The reality: Tommy Lee is a study in perseverance

The reality: Tommy Leeis a study in perseverance
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Former Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee said he's finding his experience at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to be a lot of work.
In a news conference Sunday, Lee said he loves horticulture, but finds chemistry to be unbelievably hard.
Another shock: Learning he had to wake at 6 a.m. to be at Memorial Stadium for drum practice with the school's band.
"This is the total fish-out-of-water experience for me," Lee said. "I didn't have the opportunity to go to college. I was busy touring since the age of 17. So this is completely strange and bizarre, but a lot of fun and a lot of work."
Lee, 42, is attending classes and activities during the filming of an NBC reality show, "Tommy Lee Goes to College." Filming began in early October.
"It's the real deal," Lee said of his studies. "I'm playing catch-up since we jumped in [during] the middle of the semester."
The "Smokin' in the Boys Room" rocker said he really is buckling down.
'Ladies in Lavender'and queen in the house
LONDON -- It was more regal than most movie premieres -- two dames and the queen were in attendance at a showing of "Ladies in Lavender" in Leicester Square.
Dame Judi Dench and Dame Maggie Smith, both 69 and co-stars of the film, were given second billing Monday as Queen Elizabeth II was the guest of honor.
Proceeds from the event went to the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund, of which the queen has been a patron for 52 years.
Dench and Smith, who have previously appeared together in "A Room With a View" and "Tea With Mussolini," portray two spinsters in a post-World War II Cornish fishing village who take in a mysterious young Polish man they find half-drowned on a beach.
Dench said she enjoyed the ease of working with Smith again.
"It's the shorthand that we get to know," she said.
Director Charles Dance said the two were a fantastic double act.
The Boss has clout,so The Rising is out
ASBURY PARK, N.J. -- It's good to be The Boss.
Less than a month after the city broke ground on a waterfront redevelopment project, Bruce Springsteen rendered his verdict on a planned condominium called The Rising, the same name as his Grammy-winning album and song.
The Boss called the name a "mistake." Almost immediately the developer agreed to change it, city Manager Terry Reidy said Monday.
He said the turnabout was sparked by a letter the rocker wrote to a local weekly newspaper, and praised Springsteen, who lives nearby, for his continuing devotion to Asbury Park.
Springsteen, a Monmouth County native who rose to fame playing Asbury Park clubs as the city's fortunes declined, wrote that he agreed with the newspaper's assessment that "it's time for a little originality on the waterfront."
"First, 'The Rising' was written in the shadow of September 11th and should remain connected to the heartbreak and courage of that day," Springsteen wrote in a letter to the triCityNews.
"I respectfully ask the city fathers and developers to place both my and my song's names out of the running for any new buildings, streets, hot dog stands (well, maybe hot dog stands) as the city moves toward its exciting future," he wrote.
Today's birthdays
Actor Russell Johnson is 80. Film composer Ennio Morricone is 76. Actor Roy Scheider is 72. Blues singer Bobby Rush is 70. Actor Albert Hall is 67. Lyricist Tim Rice is 60. Actress Alaina Reed-Hall is 58. Rock singer-musician Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) is 56. Actress-dancer Ann Reinking is 55. Movie director Roland Emmerich is 49. Actor Matt Craven is 48. Actor-comedian Sinbad is 48. Actress Mackenzie Phillips is 45. Actor Michael Jai White is 40. Country singer Chris Cagle is 36. Rapper-producer Warren G is 34. Rock singer-musician Jim Adkins (Jimmy Eat World) is 29. Actress Brittany Murphy is 27. Rapper Eve is 26.