Cynthia Nixon attends the opening night of 'Distracted' at the Roundabout Theatre Company's Laura Pels Theatre in New York. (photo: Jemal Countess/
WireImage.com)

Pounding the Pavement

David Simon warned against the softening of American newspapers long before hand-wringing over the New York Times' insolvency became a dinner table discussion topic. So it's hardly a surprise that he's still on the case, with a story published in the Washington Post pointing out the real danger of a world without city reporting. "There is a lot of talk nowadays about what will replace the dinosaur that is the daily newspaper," Simon writes. "So-called citizen journalists and bloggers and media pundits have lined up to tell us that newspapers are dying but that the news business will endure, that this moment is less tragic than it is transformational ... But I didn't trip over any blogger trying to find out [a police officer's] identity and performance history. Nor were any citizen journalists at the City Council hearing in January ..." (photo: Jemal Countess/WireImage.com)

[Washington Post]

Patrick Fabian and Deirdre Lovejoy attend Venice Magazine celebrating 30 Years of Sushi Excellence in Venice, California. (photo: Barry King/WireImage.com)

You Lookin' at Him?

George Lopez has been so busy working his way up the comedy ladder he sometimes forgets he's made it. You'd think a guy with an HBO special or two (he's filming his second in August), a successful sit-com and a gig at President Obama's inaugural celebration wouldn't be surprised if he's occasionally recognized. "I still think of myself as a traveling, working comedian, but I forget," he said. "I took my daughter to school, and this lady in an SUV waved at me and this little kid in the back waved. Is that crazy?" (photo: John Shearer/WireImage.com)

[ElPasoTimes.com]

Carla Gugino arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of 'Watchmen' in Hollywood.

Southern Hospitality

As if landing your first big television role on an HBO comedy produced by Will Ferrell weren't great enough, 'Eastbound & Down' star Katie Mixon also spent the shoot kicking it oceanside with one of the coolest boys' clubs on earth: "We love us some Wilmington, North Carolina, I'll tell you that," she says. "We stayed on Wrightsville Beach; I was living in just a beautiful house right on Wrightsville Beach. All of us were in our own houses and it was phenomenal, honey. It was like a vacation, yet we're filming a television show. So it's the best of both worlds . . . We had a ball. It was literally spring break." (photo: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic.com)

[StarNewsOnline.com]

Behind Every Great Man...

Sometimes 'Ringlife' 's James Kirkland gets grief for being trained by a woman, but thanks to his chief second Ann Wolfe, he's man enough to take it. "All I can say is, [it's easy] if a woman says for you to run five miles, and you look around and she's right behind you and she's running five miles, or she says to hit the bag for 10 rounds or get on the treadmill and she's right alongside doing the same thing with me. She's in there doing the same thing that I do."

Wolfe was a homeless mother of two when she first started boxing, perhaps explaining where she got her drive and endurance. "Every time you get up and you're coming to the gym, you know you're coming to battle," Kirkland said. "Not as far as a fight in the ring but a fight as far as endurance, for your heart and your soul, how much effort you're going to put into it, because every part of your mind, body and soul, she's going to make you put it into a workout."

[ESPN.com]

[HBO.com/Ringlife]

Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick attend the opening night of 'Guys & Dolls' at the Nederlander Theatre in New York. (photo: Michael N. Todaro/FilmMagic.com)

This is Your Brain on 'Big Love'

It's no secret that the plotlines on 'Big Love' have amped up in a major way this season. And if you think all the intrigue is tough to sort out as a viewer, try stepping into the Henricksons' shoes. "We would sit at the table read," says Chloë Sevigny, "and be like: 'Is this serious? Is all of this going to remain?' It was 'Big Love' on crack." Even series co-creator Will Scheffer admits to the brisk pace: "Everything that we hinted at, that we were building to, we said: 'Let's just do it — let's go as far as we can this year and burn through it.'" (photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com)

[LA Times]

Spike Lee and Rosie Perez attend the 20th anniversary celebration of 'Do the Right Thing' at Lincoln Center in New York. (photo: Johnny Nunez/WireImage.com)

All Dolled Up

Normally kissing a frog wouldn't get an actress so enthused, but Anika Noni Rose (who appears in 'No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency') couldn't be happier to play Disney's latest animated character: Princess Tiana. "This feels amazing," Rose says. "Not only is she the first black princess, she's the first American princess. So, the scope and the significance is larger than people even realize." Of course, part of the thrill is seeing her character immortalized in plastic for every child to play with. "This is so silly," she says, tearing up over her first look at the character's figurine. "I've seen dolls, I wasn't even a doll kid, but this is mine." (photo: Bennett Raglin/WireImage.com)

[People.com]