New & Noteworthy: Don’t hate her because she’s beautiful

The 40-year old model/actress, who recently launched a line of sexy swimwear, told Easy Living magazine that show wouldn’t be caught dead wearing her line’s bikinis or terrycloth minis.
“Those days are over,” she sighed.
Liz, who became a household name after landing a gig as the face of cosmetics giant Estee Lauder, attributes her lack of confidence to the passing of years, the demands of motherhood, and a fondness for junk food.
“For two years I’ve done almost no exercise and I’ve been surviving on crisps and coffee,” she said. And as though that weren’t enough to keep a girl away from skimpy swim togs, she’s also developed a taste for high-calorie comfort food.
“I’m obsessed with sausages,” she admitted. “I’d like to eat them every day.”

Briefings
For once, it wasn’t Brad Pitt’s good looks that attracted unwanted attention and intruders last week. It was his cooking.
The hunky actor, who has made headlines of late thanks to his romance with whatshername, found himself face to face with a bunch of brown bears at his cabin in Calgary last week. The star, who’s living in the woods while shooting his new film, “The Assassination of Jesse James,” immediately called the police, who passed his call on to the forest rangers.
According to TeenHollywood.com, Brad was a bit surprised when the Canadian rangers scolded him for leaving his window open. Apparently, the animals are impressed not by beefcake, but by beef. And cake. (Ba-dum-DUM!)

Brian McFadden may have left his Westlife days far behind – but that won’t stop him from mining the group’s songbook for his next record.
The singer, who is struggling to follow up the success of his first solo album, “Irish Son,” has announced that he is planning to cover the band’s biggest hit, “Flying Without Wings” as a duet with his girlfriend, Aussie pop star Delta Goodrem.

Sinead O’Connor fell madly in love with Jamaica – and the Rastafarian community – while she was in the country recording her new album, “Throw Down Your Arms.” Her connection to the island nation and its people is so strong that she breaks down in tears whenever she has to leave.
“I love Jamaica so bad,” the singer told U.S. Magazine Flaunt. “The people there are magical – so gentle and beautiful. [And] there’s a spirituality there of all kinds.”
Sinead says that she wishes some of her Rasta friends were with her in Dublin, but she understands their reluctance to relocate.
“It’s [bad word] freezing in Ireland,” she laughed. “So Granny’s gonna have to get a place in Jamaica.”

Pierce Brosnan is meticulous when it comes to researching a movie role – but he draws the line at spending time with hardened criminals.
The former “Bond” star told Irish reporters that while he was determined to do a good job playing a hit man in his new film, “The Matador,” he “didn’t want to go to a prison and hang out with a psychopath.”
The actor took a more practical approach to the problem. He called a pal in the LAPD, who put him in touch with a criminologist.
“I gave them the script and said, ‘Try to distill the essence of who this man might be, his psychopathic tendencies,'” said Pierce. “So I approached it from that side, and then I approached it from a visual side.”

Victoria Beckham is looking to trade Madrid for Los Angeles – with an eye to jumpstarting her acting career.
The singer, whose film experience has been limited, thus far, to playing herself in 1997’s “Spice World,” thinks that she and her family will thrive in sunny California. Plus, the place is crawling with so many producers, directors and assorted film pooh-bahs that she can’t help but become the next Meryl Streep. (Or at least, the next Jennifer Love Hewitt.)
A friend told Closer magazine, “Victoria [feels] that the house in Madrid is basically David’s place because of his career. Now she wants a home in a city she’s picked.”
Aside from career advancement, Victoria and David are also looking forward to other aspects of Los Angeles life. And no, they’re not talking schools, the scenery, the neighbors or the property taxes.
“Victoria is relaxed in L.A.,” confided the friend. “She’s not conscious about her wealth because there are so many rich people, and hat makes her feel more comfortable.”

You know the old saying: those who can, do, and those who can’t, direct. But given Madonna’s award-winning career as an actress, one would think her behind-the-cameras days are far, far off.
Wait – I just checked the Internet Movie Database, and it seems that Madge’s statuettes are Razzies – Raspberry Awards, distributed annually to the entertainers who turn in the worst performances of the year. The pop queen is a two-time winner in the Worst Actress category, for her work in “Body of Evidence” (worst moment: snogging Willem Dafoe on a bed of broken glass) and “Swept Away” (worst moment: um, all of it).
Anyway, the 47-year-old Material Mom, whose new album, “Confessions on a Dancefloor” hits Rokr phones this week, told the New York Daily News that what she really wants to do now “is direct.” The singer, a model of multitasking, figures she can fit it in between recording, touring, mothering, riding horses, writing children’s books and studying Kabala. And just because she’s competing with teen singers who probably warbled “Lucky Star” in utero, don’t think Mrs. Ritchie has any intention of slowing down as the years go by.
“I’m not thinking of quitting,” she laughed. “I ain’t going anywhere.”

Rod sings to the bump
British rocker Rod Stewart has gone from serenading babes to serenading babies – specifically, babies who have yet to make an appearance. And though he’s up to Volume Four of his Great American Songbook series, Rod’s choosing his repertoire from a different set of classics.
The soccer-mad star seems determined to ensure that the baby pops out a Glasgow Celtic fan, so he’s been singing football songs to Penny Lancaster’s bump. The leggy model, who’s been dating Stewart since his breakup with Rachel Hunter, told the Daily Mirror, “Rod loves singing to the baby, [and] he or she is his biggest fan.”
She also revealed Rod’s penchant for rally songs. “He’s always launching into ‘The Field of Athenry’ and other Celtic football songs,” she laughed.

One could argue that girl who are pop stars are as close to dolls as it was possible to get: they’re pretty, kind of plastic and always have big, cheesy grins plastered on their faces. That is, unless they’re Charlotte Church, who’s pretty, often plastered and normally has a big, mischievous smirk on her face. But I’m getting off the subject.
Irish pop impresario Louis Walsh will notch another first in his career next week, when one of his acts is immortalized in a line of toys. The five members of Girls Aloud are the inspiration behind a new line of limited edition dolls by Mattel, the makers of Barbie. The toys will be launched in time for the Christmas buying season, and will carry a price tag of