MISTER POPULARITY
By MICHAEL SNEED msneed@suntimes.com April 9, 2012 9:40PM
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Updated: May 11, 2012 8:11AM
Click. Click . . .
Clack. Clack: Actor George Clooney, whose seatmate was first lady Michelle Obama at a recent White House state dinner, is going to the White House Correspondents’ dinner this month with his latest significant other, girlfriend Stacy Keibler.
◆ Where’s George? The headline grabbing celeb couple are the guests of Time Magazine at the annual media event this year.
◆ Book ’em: Of course, the last time Clooney hit the nation’s capitol, he wound up in handcuffs for participating in a protest outside the Sudanese Embassy trying to expose the nightmare in Sudan.
The Blago file . . .
It was jailed ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s wife, Patti, who celebrated her birthday with her daughters Monday. Imagine.
For sale . . .
$$$$: The spectacular Lake Forest Tudor home of the late screenwriter/director/producer John “Home Alone” Hughes, who died in 2009, is now on the market for $5,890,000 — and, of course, it includes a media room. It’s ironic: The Winnetka house used for his hit film “Home Alone” recently sold for $1.585 million. Hughes also made “Ferris Bueller’s Day’s Off” and the “The Breakfast Club.”
Turf talk . . .
Color it red: National female tempers may have flared over news that IBM. chief executive Virginia Rometty, whose company is a major sponsor of the Masters golf tournament, was not permitted to wear the tournament’s traditional green jacket or become a member of the Augusta National Golf club — which hosts the tournament.
◆ Color it pink: Rometty had the last laugh. Not only did she zip her lip to the press, but she decided to show her feelings in another way: She sported a pink blazer while watching the game in the club gallery.
The wheel man . . .
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who wants to bring rental bikes to Chicago, owns a pricey Parlee road bike that he refers to as his “mid-life crisis bicycle.”
◆ Spoke bloke: Rahm, who is reportedly very thrifty, must have coughed up big cash for this bike, which was custom fit, is made of light weight carbon fiber and costs somewhere between $4,800 and $15,600.
Where’s Kelsey?
Crews from the STARZ TV series “The Boss,” starring actor Kelsey Grammer — which is being filmed in Chicago — were spotted shooting recently at Cook County Hospital and environs.
◆ The big question? Is Grammer, who portrays an uber tough Chicago mayor privately battling a dementia issue, going to spend some time in the hospital? Just asking.
The Quinn bin . . .
Dateline: The dog house . . .
Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, an animal activist who rescues Scottish terriers, wants to fill up Gov. Pat Quinn’s empty dog house at the Springfield mansion.
◆ The offer: Topinka “read in Sneed’s column that Gov. Quinn’s family terrier, Bailey, had died so she pitched purchasing a pooch to Gov. Quinn,” said a source. The response: Quinn says he appreciates the offer but hasn’t decided how to fill the hole that Bailey left.
Sneedlings . . .
He won’t be tumbling, he’ll be throwing: Watch for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White to throw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field on Thursday, Organ Donation Day . . . Tuesday’s birthdays: Omar Sharif, 80; John Madden, 76; Steven Seagal, 60; Haley Joel Osment, 24, and Mandy Moore, 28.
