PEACE OF ACTION

It used to drive me nuts to watch George Clooney on ER because he had a way of looking at other people which was just completely annoying - he would angle his face down, tuck his chin into his collarbone and then (awkwardly) look up with his eyebrows raised and forehead all scrunched up. I think he thought it was sexy or something, but really I just found it annoying. Anyhoo, I got over that and now I like him. Actually I think he's hot now. But aside from all that, GEORGE was given a new job-title on Friday - George Clooney is now a United Nations messenger of peace:

George Clooney had gotten a lot of honors over career – from an Oscar to the title PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive – but now he is being honored for his humanitarian work. The actor, who is also an advocate for refugees in Darfur, has been named a United Nations "messenger of peace," it was announced Friday. The actor is being "recognized for focusing public attention on crucial international political and social issues," according to U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas. Clooney, 46, joins Michael Douglas and musician Yo-Yo Ma as previous celebrity U.N. honorees. Clooney and friend Don Cheadle were given the Peace Summit Award by a group of Nobel Laureates Dec. 13 for their work for Darfur. With Cheadle and Brad Pitt, Clooney has raised money for refugees through the "Not On Our Watch" charity and helped draw attention to the crisis in Darfur in western Sudan. (Root) (Pic Root)

Gimme more of that! Congratulations to George on this truly great honor. Not only is he a fantastic actor and tres easy on the eyes, but now he's also spreading his peaceful message from an even higher profile than before. Wouldn't it be great to attend a dinner party or something with George and his gorgeous, altruistic friends like Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, etc. Good food + hot dudes with a heaping helping of intelligent conversation about things that really matter in this world of ours. Now that whets the 'ol appetite.

IF I HAD A NICKEL(BACK) FOR EVERY CELEBRITY DUI...

After doing the good deed of donating sales of Nickelbacks' "If Everyone Cared" to well-deserving charities, it looks like Chad Kroeger from NickelCrap has returned to his former selfish self.
Remember back in the summer of '06 when Kroeger was pulled over near his Vancouver-area home and blew a point One-Four on the breathalyzer? He was charged with drunk driving. If you have a hard time believing that Chad would go anywhere near Molson Canadian, here's an amateur shot of Kroeger getting his drink on with Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock. He's at the far left:

The pathetic story of his DUI died on the vine for awhile when, in early '07, his band and record label announced that 100% of proceeds from digital sales of their single "If Everyone Cared" would be donated to charity. Then, in May, they put out the following self-congratulatory press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 2, 2007
LATEST SINGLE “IF EVERYONE CARED” HITS #1; RAISES $500,000 FOR CHARITY
New York, NY, April 30, 2007 — “If Everyone Cared,” the latest single from Nickelback’s five-times platinum album All The Right Reasons, reached # 1 on last week’s Hot A/C chart, making it the sixth consecutive single from the album to reach #1. An unprecedented feat, all singles from All The Right Reasons have reached #1 at various formats: “Photograph,” “Animals,” “Savin’ Me,” “Rock Star,” “Far Away” and most recently “If Everyone Cared.” A #1 debut on the Billboard Top 200 in October 2005, All The Right Reasons has now produced four Hot A/C #1 hits, a success achieved only by Matchbox Twenty, according to Nielsen BDS.
On January 29th, Nickelback announced a charity initiative that has the band, along with Roadrunner Records, WEA Corp. and Warner Chappell donating 100% of the proceeds from the digital sales of the single and video for “If Everyone Cared” to charity. Since the single’s February release, the band has raised $500,000 for Amnesty International and International Children’s Awareness Canada. Now, just halfway through the campaign, YouTube is reporting 1,000,000 streams of the track, while the single has been downloaded over 500,000 times.

Good for Chad and the boys and REALLY good for Amnesty International and International Children's Awareness Canada. BUT!.. now Chad's lawyer is trying to get the charges against his client thrown out of court. Here's the story reported by CKNW radio:
Jan, 08 2008 - 2:10 PM SURREY/CKNW(AM980) - The lawyer for a Vancouver based rock star facing a drunk driving conviction is trying to convince the judge to toss out the case. Chad Kroeger was charged in the summer of 2006 after his blood-alcohol level test at .14. The legal limit is .08. His lawyer, Marvin Stern, claims the arresting officer did not follow proper procedure before making kroeger take a roadside breath test. Stern says his client's rights were violated because the officer waited too long to administer the test and he did not have reasonable grounds to suspect Kroeger was driving while impaired. Kroeger, whose real name is Chad Turton, was initially pulled (over) for speeding.

I think that's pretty gross. Why is he trying so hard to avoid the Celebrity DUI Club? All the cool kids are in it. Whatevs... all I have to say is this: Forget about 'If Anyone Cared' because 'If CHAD Cared' about the safety of other innocent drivers on the road... he would suck it up, be a man and face up to his own dangerous behaviour.

For more on International Children's Awareness Canada, CLICK!
For more on Amnesty International, CLICK!