Congrats to Leianne, whose name was selected at random. Thanks to all who entered! We’ll do another prize drawing soon.

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Black Friday’s over. Cyber Monday is done. Welcome to Free Stuff Tuesday!

Take a gander at this cute VeggieTales goodie basket. Does it need to go under your Christmas tree this year?

Just leave a comment below if you’d like to enter to win. One commenter will be selected by random drawing. We’ll email the winner and this will be on its way to you! When you leave a comment be sure to log your real email address (they are not published; but that’s how we’ll contact you if you win).

Good luck and happy holidays!

- Jennifer Brett/The Buzz/jbrett@ajc.com

Continue reading VeggieTales winner announced! »

Tionne Watkins in 2009 when she appeared on NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice." CREDIT: NBC

This is not crazy, sexy or cool: Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins of Atlanta’s TLC last month filed for bankruptcy protection for a second time in less than a year.

Watkins, 41, entered a similar bankruptcy protection filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court of Northern District of Georgia in February. It was dismissed the next month.

Her attorney Peter Bricks Monday declined to comment.

TMZ broke the news. We looked at the Duluth resident’s bankruptcy filing and gleaned that her problems are not exorbitant spending but a relative lack of income:

- Her total assets are $1.716 million, mostly her property. Her liabilities total $768,642.99, mostly her mortgage. (Her claimed assets in her February filing were $1.892 million and liabilities $742,258.52.)

- The filing says her monthly income is averaging $11,700, $1,200 from royalties tied to her days with TLC. Her estimated monthly expenses are …

Continue reading TLC’s T-Boz files for bankruptcy protection again »

Mary J. Blige and friends at Luckie Food Lounge

After performing her sold-out concert at the Tabernacle Friday night, Mary J. Blige celebrated with friends at Luckie Food Lounge at a party hosted by Hennessy.

Accompanied by her husband, Kendu Isaacs, Blige joined friends including Monica, Jeezy and DeVyne Stephens.

Here’s a link to a gallery of photos from the show.

There was lots for Blige, who has received the World Music Legends Award for combining hip hop and soul in the early 1990s, to celebrate following the concert.

A singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress, Blige is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. Blige is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in pop, rap, gospel, and R&B categories.

Monica and Mary J. Blige

She was ranked number 100 in the list of 100 greatest singers of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. As of 2010, Blige has sold over 50 million albums and 15 million singles worldwide.

All photos by Thaddaeus …

Continue reading Photos: Mary J. Blige’s after-party at Luckie Food Lounge »

Ben Stiller is auctioning a walk-on role in the movie he is filming now in Atlanta, “Neighborhood Watch.”

Bidding ends Tuesday, and hopefuls have already run up the price past $20,000! Proceeds will benefit Stiller’s charitable foundation, which builds schools in Haiti.

Full details:

“Walk-on role is valid for 1 person. One guest may travel with winning bidder to visit the film set. Both guests must be over 18 years old. Filming takes place in Atlanta and ends December 6. Travel and accommodations not included. Winner and guest may be subject to security screenings. NO photos or video recording will be allowed on set. Winner is subject to background checks and security screenings.”

Here’s the link to the auction site. Happy bidding!

- Jennifer Brett/The Buzz/jbrett@ajc.com

Continue reading Would you pay $20K to star in a scene with Ben Stiller? »

AP Photo/Herbert Knosowski

Denzel Washington’s movie “Flight,” also starring John Goodman and William H. Macy, is filming in downtown Atlanta today, at the Marriott Marquis, we’re told.

More details as we find out more. If you drive down Peachtree Center Avenue today you might experience delays.

The Morton’s steakhouse right across the street from the Marquis might be a good place for star searching today. It caters to any number of high-profile guests (Atlanta Falcon Michael Turner is a regular) and USA’s football-themed show “Necessary Roughness” has filmed there in the past.

In other filming news, “Neighborhood Watch,” starring Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and Ben Stiller, is about halfway done. Stiller threw a bash celebrating the milestone by renting out part of Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room and Ping-Pong Emporium on Edgewood.

The entire cast and crew came out for a night of ping pong, darts and rounds of tequila, we’re told.

Church is the new celeb go-to spot, …

Continue reading Denzel Washington filming updates; Ben Stiller parties in Edgewood »

Someone robbed the cradle at Star Provisions on Wednesday. Now employees are praying for the return of Jesus.

The folks at Star Provisions are eagerly praying for the return of Jesus.

Sometime on Wednesday, a thief who perhaps has not contemplated the possibility of eternal damnation swiped the Christ Child from a manger scene set up in the West Midtown store.

“Merry Christmas,” said a disgusted Dana Kirkpatrick, floor manager at Star Provisions. “It’s wrong on so many levels.”

The shop was pretty busy on Wednesday so employees have no idea who robbed the cradle.

“This is a hand-carved set from Germany. It’s kind of pricey,” said Tim Gaddis, the store’s cheese monger. A former Gilmer County law enforcement officer, we asked how he’d go about investigating the crime if he still wore a badge.

“I would talk to everybody who was working that day, review security tapes,” said Gaddis, whose anguished tweet earlier today alerted us to the caper. “But fingerprints would be …

Continue reading Lord have mercy! Jesus stolen from west Midtown manger »

AP

Tyler Perry had no idea Kim Kardashian would cause him so much grief.

“I could not have imagined I’d be getting all these emails about Kim Kardashian,” he said in a letter to fans posted on his web site. “Now, may I say something? Can a brother get a word in?….LOL. Y’all gave me a new movie title: Tyler Perry’s ‘Diary of a Mad Black Woman Cause You Hired Kim Kardashian, Don’t Make Me Take Off My Earrings and Boycott Yo A**.’ ”

Kidding aside, he explains the movie thusly:

“This movie is about a young lady named Judith (Jurnee Smolett), who grew up in the countryside of Virginia in a trailer park. She was raised in the church by her mother Sarah (Ella Joyce). Judith married her childhood sweetheart Brice (Lance Gross) and had the perfect life until she graduated college and went to work in the big city. After college, all she wanted to do was be a marriage counselor, but the only job she could find was working for a matchmaker named Janice (Vanessa Williams). …

Continue reading Tyler Perry defends casting Kim Kardashian »

The Twilight cast visited Ellen DeGeneres

We saw an advance screening of “Twilight: Breaking Dawn, part 1″ last night. B 98.5 FM Morning Show members Vikki Locke, Kelly Stevens and Jessica Forkel were on hand to get the crowd revved up with trivia contest and giveaways.

Not that the crowd needed much revving up. The theater at Regal Atlanta Station was packed to the gills with diehard Twi-hards.

So, the movie. We don’t want to give away details, since the movie hasn’t officially opened yet. Suffice it to say the movie, which will come as no surprise to fans of the books and series, is much gorier than others. Childbirth is usually a messy affair. The birth of a half-human, half-vampire is off-the-charts messy!

Given the many grim moments you know are coming, there are many bits of humor early on, including many quips that only insiders will get. We attended with a friend who has devoured each of the books numerous times and she had to clue us in at times. She rated this movie …

Continue reading Twilight: Breaking Dawn sneak peek »

Justin Bieber at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards, where his vocal coach Jan Smith was honored. Photo submitted to the AJC

Baby, baby, baby  … no.

Justin Bieber’s supposed baby mama has quietly gone away. TMZ reports that plaintiff Mariah Yeater’s case has been dismissed and that her lawyers are done with her. But his representatives may not be ready to drop the matter.

“We intend to still hold them accountable,” publicist Matthew Hiltzik told TMZ.

After coming forward with bizarre allegations that she and the Biebs met backstage at a concert and that she left pregnant with his child, Team Bieber announced he’d take a DNA test – and then would file his own lawsuit. These photos of Yeater, showing off her multiple piercings and tattoos, also surfaced.

Bieber kept above the fray, tweeting that he was focusing on what was real. He’s been busily promoting his Christmas album.

The case may make for interesting legal fodder. We just heard from New York-based family law …

Continue reading Justin Bieber paternity suit dismissed »

Is anyone not planning on turkey and football with the family this year?

Are you taking a trip? Breaking bread with folks in your community instead of making the trek over the river and through the wood to Grandmother’s house?

Or simply going out to eat instead of chaining yourself to the oven all day? The Ritz-Carlton Buckhead, which puts on a fantastic brunch every year, is adding a new feature this year. Here’s a link with full details.

Award-winning master carver Victor Dagatan, a member of the pastry kitchen staff whose elegant ice sculptures grace many special events at the Ritz-Carlton, will create giant pumpkin scultpures instead on turkey day. You can watch him creating his art by the fireplace in the lobby.

It’s amazing how fast he works. We covered a pumpkin carving competition he won at the Atlanta Botanical Garden once. Check out these photos. The guy’s got serious skills! He was practicing on a regular-sized pumpkin today in the kitchen and let us take his …

Continue reading Non-traditional Thanksgiving plans? »