Prince owes $3 million in Ireland, High Court Justice says

TMZ reported today that Ireland's High Court Justice Peter Kelly has announced that entertainer Prince owes almost $3 million to concert promoters for failing to perform a Dublin show in 2008. Kelly says a settlement was reached in February, but Prince has yet to pay up.

An agent who worked with Prince told the court that when he told Prince about the problem, the singer responded, "Tell the cat to chill. We will work something out," according to TMZ.

I'll give Kristen Stewart another chance in 'The Runaways'

IrishCentral readers got a little up in arms a couple of weeks ago when I commented on Kristen Stewart's seeming lack of Hollywood-worthy stage presence at the Academy Awards. I think it's exactly this genuine, anti-starlet teenage energy that's going to serve her well in her critically lauded portrayal of Irish-American rock star Joan Jett in The Runaways, released April 9 and co-starring Dakota Fanning.

Joan Jett was born Joan Marie Larkin (Anglicized from the Gaelic O'Lorcain) in a suburb of Philadelphia, and the upcoming film is a coming-of-age biopic chronicling Jett and her bandmates' rise to fame as a history-making all-girl underage rock band.

I'm excited to see Stewart break out of her Twilight persona and stand on her own, rather than as part of the K-Stew/R-Patz phenomenon. Jett (pictured with Stewart, left) was impressed with her performance, as were numerous critics.

"Stewart, known mainly for mumbling and stumbling through the Twilight movies, is the revelation [in The Runaways]," wrote Mick LaSalle in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Lindsay Lohan sues E*TRADE over commercial

Lindsay Lohan is suing online stock trading company E*TRADE to the tune of a hundred million because of a commercial spot about (what else?) babies who are diversifying their portfolios, cheating on their baby girlfriends, and dealing with milkaholism. Trouble.

The spot features one baby dude convincing his baby fly honey that he stood her up because he was diversifying his portfolio, not because "that milkaholic Lindsay" was over.

TMZ reports Lohan filed suit in the Nassau County, NY, claiming her "name and characterization" were used without her consent. Her lawyer didn't comment on the "milkaholic" part, claiming it's the name that's a lawbreaker and it doesn't matter that her last name wasn't mentioned.

"Do you know the name Oprah? Do you know the name Madonna? Same thing." said her lawyer, Stephanie Ovadia told TMZ.

...my two cents? No, it really isn't. But two thumbs up on trying to make a buck off your "milkaholic" reputation!

Watch the commercial spot here

Kristen Stewart gets super awkward at the Oscars

I watched the Academy Awards last night with my grandparents and their friends, and a large part of the conversation was nostalgic: the spotlight was on aged and aging stars, and the young 'talent' in line to replace them seemed, well, lacking.

I know Kristen Stewart's only nineteen, and I'm sure she's a lovely girl. But I was surprised to find a dearth of snarky blogs or mentions at all today in regards to her stage presence, which I found frankly appalling. When she took the stage with Twilight co-star Taylor Lautner to introduce a montage of horror films (it's unclear to me what, if anything, the Twilight franchise has to do with classics like Psycho and Frankenstein), I thought she looked less like a confident, spotlight-ready star than an awkward kid forced to give a class presentation.

Her posture was awful, her speech was uncomfortable and halting, she stopped at one point to cough, and worst of all, she seemed to be unfortunately a victim of RLS (restless leg syndrome.) She was fidgeting the whole time.

I may be only three years older than Kristen, but I was taught that when you're onstage, you stand up straight, speak slowly and clearly, and stand still. And that's for a middle school chorus recital, let alone the Academy Awards.

Stood up by 'Jersey Shore' star The Situation

Last Thursday, our own Niall O'Dowd gave me a very serious journalistic assignment. He'd heard that the Jersey Shore's reigning king, "The Situation," was making his first New York appearance at McFadden's, and Niall wanted me to go and cover the story. "No, seriously," he said, "You write very well about lowbrow culture."

Gee, thanks, Niall.

I tried to explain that open bar parties often advertise an all-star headliner to draw crowds, but I'd never heard of them actually showing up. Nevertheless, for the sake of commitment to my craft (and trying vehemently to channel Nellie Bly), I braved Snowpocalypse '10 and went.

Believe it or not, I've only watched a few episodes of the MTV hit: I'm half Italian and from South Jersey, so it hit a little close to home for my taste. But being a general reality show fan, I see the appeal. We all like to get cozy in our pajamas with a pint of ice cream and watch the shitshow unfold.

This was kind of like that, but without the sofa, the pajamas, the ice cream or the ever-important fourth wall. Guys in popped collars and awful ties, bright orange half-naked girls falling all over themselves, dixie-cup jello shots. I'm not judging: I understand the we're-young-we're-cute-let's-have-fun agenda. Unfortunately, no one there was young or cute so much as they were epically wasted.

Bartenders were dancing on the bar. Then girls were dancing on the bar. Then dudes were dancing on the bar. Then dudes were dancing on the bar and unbuttoning their shirts like some cheap retro Chippendale's theme party. Then the DJ announced "Dave the Situation," who, while indeed washboardtastic, was hardly...erm...famous.

So I decided to "bounce like a coin off The Situation's abs," to quote my friend Justin who valiantly accompanied me on this adventure.

Well, he may be a flake, but at least The Situation's Italian. In further research, I've learned that the show's stars Snooki and J-WOWW are, respectively, Chilean and...wait for it....Spanish/Irish.

Maybe this explains why some unnamed members of the IrishCentral team have been calling me K-WOWW for the last month.

Coinín bán: rabbit rabbit white rabbit

When I was small, I remember having sleepovers at my best friend Sophie's house on New Year's Eve and sometimes on the last nights of other months. I remember being woken up with her mother saying "rabbit rabbit," which, if you said it first before opening your mouth to say anything else on the first day of each new month, would bring you good luck for the next thirty days. It's one of the superstitions I've carried into adulthood, one of the rituals that I enjoy keeping.

For those of us raised in secular households, these rituals can sometimes feel few and far between. The religious basis of my youth was mysterious and scattered. While my father was raised in a large Italian Catholic family and later converted to Christianity, he kept his faith mostly to himself, while my mother took me sometimes to Unitarian church but stressed the feeling of community more than the belief in anything in particular. I went to a Quaker elementary school but didn't feel spiritually touched by the difficulty of keeping silent during Meeting for Worship. When we visited my grandparents in New York, I was overwhelmed by the majesty of 5th Avenue Presbyterian Church, but the context of the sermons often escaped me. I was raised by my mother to understand how religion can be misused to hurt and oppress people, including, largely, women, but I also saw how my father was deeply comforted by it. I spent a long time ignoring this complex and haphazard personal history, but as I get older I feel drawn back into it, wanting to make sense of what I believe and why.

The words, rabbit rabbit, feel sacred and magical, written or whispered, like a spell or a prayer. "Rabbit rabbit white rabbit" appeared first in print in 1954, in Bromley, Kent, near London. It is believed to have originated even earlier in the 1800s. In Yorkshire, the superstition is confined only to the first of March. In Ireland, children traditionally say 'coinín ban' (white rabbit) to the first person they encounter on the first of each month for good luck.

Rabbit rabbit isn't a religious habit. It's a superstition, based on folklore. For me, this feels unapologetically related. For the first time this year, I'm honoring Lent. It's not because I'm suddenly ascribing fully to Catholicism--although it does feel oddly comfortable: I love the pagan roots, the varied and eclectic saints, the importance of Mary reflecting the personhood of women more so than in other branches of Christianity. But regardless, Lent is a ritual, about the giving up and letting go of something loved and taken for granted. We could all do to think about that at least once a year. And rabbit rabbit makes me think about the passing of time, the opportunities there are to start over and do better and wish luck on ourselves and each other. It's not a religion, held fast and fully formed. But it's a ritual, and that's a start.