WOODY ALLEN DUMPS PARIS AS THE SITE FOR NEXT MOVIE

Woody Allen dumps Parisas the site for next movie
PARIS -- France's film commission is disappointed: Woody Allen won't shoot his next movie in Paris after all.
Allen has been working on a Paris script, but it turned out to be too ambitious for his budget, the commission said in a statement.
Instead, he will return to an earlier project set in London, where he shot 2005's "Match Point."
"This is obviously bad news for French film networks and professionals, who were already delighted to be able to work with Monsieur Allen," the Film France commission said in a statement.
A beloved figure in France, the 70-year-old director appeared in a 2003 promotional video to lure American tourists back to the land of champagne. Tourism had dropped during the diplomatic standoff over U.S. plans to invade Iraq.
"I don't want to have to refer to my French-fried potatoes as freedom fries and I don't want to have to freedom-kiss my wife when what I really want to do is French-kiss her," Allen said in the short film produced by the French government.
Man who inspired Belushiis diagnosed with cancer
EUGENE, Ore. -- Curtis Salgado, who is credited with visually inspiring John Belushi's Blues Brothers act, has been diagnosed with liver cancer.
"I am fortunate to be under the care of an incredible team of doctors and nurses, and I'm inspired by the courageous people who have faced this fight before me," the 52-year-old singer and bluesman said in a recent statement.
Salgado, who grew up in Eugene and lives in Portland, was diagnosed three weeks ago. He expects to begin radiation treatment next month and eventually hopes to have a liver transplant, said his longtime manager, Shane Tappendorf.
Salgado was singing and playing harmonica for blues guitarist Robert Cray in 1977 when he met Belushi at the Eugene Hotel. Belushi was in town to film "Animal House."
In a 2005 article in Guitar Player magazine, Cray recalled: "Curtis wore prescription Ray-Ban sunglasses, and he had a little growth of hair under his bottom lip. Right then, Belushi got the idea to start the Blues Brothers, basing his character on Curtis."
Salgado has been working in Nashville, Tenn., on new material for his fourth album. He expects to be performing by early June, Tappendorf said.
Rowling donates moneyfor MS research center
EDINBURGH, Scotland -- J.K. Rowling says she has given money to help set up a center for research into multiple sclerosis.
The best-selling "Harry Potter" author didn't say how much she had given toward the $4 million facility, which will be housed at The Center for Regenerative Medicine at Edinburgh University's medical school.
"It means a great deal to me to be able to provide support for this much-needed research center," Rowling, patron of the Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland, said.
Her mother died of multiple sclerosis at age 45.
"It is an extremely exciting step forward in the ongoing battle to try to unlock the mysteries of MS and which will hopefully, one day, lead to a cure," Rowling said.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease of the central nervous system that may result in speech defects and loss of muscular coordination.
There are about 85,000 sufferers in Britain, about one in every 700 people.
The new research center is expected to open by the end of the year.
Today's Birthdays
Actress Janet Blair is 85. Actress-turned-diplomat Shirley Temple Black is 78. Actor Alan Oppenheimer is 76. Actor David Birney is 67. Actor Lee Majors is 67. Irish nationalist Bernadette Devlin McAliskey is 59. Actress Blair Brown is 58. Writer-director Paul Brickman is 57. Actress Joyce DeWitt is 57. Actor James Russo is 53. Filmmaker-author Michael Moore is 52. Actress Judy Davis is 51. Actress Jan Hooks is 49. Actress Valerie Bertinelli is 46. Actor Craig Sheffer is 46. Actor George Lopez is 45. Rock musician Gen is 42. U.S. Olympic gold medal skier Donna Weinbrecht is 41. Actress Melina Kanakaredes is 39. Rock musician Stan Frazier (Sugar Ray) is 38. Country musician Tim Womack (Sons of the Desert) is 38. Actor Scott Bairstow is 36. Actor Barry Watson is 32. Actress Jaime King is 27. Actress Rachel Skarsten is 21. Actor Camryn Walling is 16.