Tuesday, December 30, 2008

FAMOUS "BROMANCES" TICKLE US SILLY

What do George Clooney and Abraham Lincoln have in common other than a shared passion for saving Africans from slavery and extinction? A deep love and devotion for their guy pals...much like Robert Redford & Paul Newman, Matt Damon & Ben Affleck and Marlon Brando & Wally Cox. The "Urban Dictionary" defines bromance as: "Any relationship between creatures of the same sex, up to the point that balls do not touch. After this, things turn gay." The term is new, but the sentiment is as ancient as the inseparable male bonding in full bloom between Moses and Joshua in Cecil B. DeMille's classic film, "The Ten Commandments".

Gorgeous George swooned about his bromance with Brad Pitt to Meredith Viera on the Today show. George said he worried about his guy pal's health after Brad made back-to-back movies, trips to hurricane ravaged New Orleans and impoverished African nations, and creating an international family with six kids under age 7. He insisted Brad take some time off to visit him, sans Angelina, at his Lake Como villa. There the two superstars bromanced on Harleys whizzing through the Italian countryside, drinking vino and cavorting with George's fun loving buddies. Not amused, Angelina called Brad repeatedly to get his tush back to the chateau and their bouncing-off-the-wall progeny. Clooney often flies his male BFFs in from L.A. for mano a mano horseplay. The boys zoom around town and cross the Alps in the Harleys bought for them by Generous George. Guy bonding includes basketball, poker, fishing with the locals and playing practical jokes on each other.

In the States, George annually rents a tour bus for his testosterone soaked buds, actor Richard Kind included, for two months of touring the nation's best golf courses, always ending in Las Vegas for a roll of the dice.

Fellow Kentuckian Abe Lincoln didn't have Gorgeous George's looks or his bulging bankroll when it came to his Boys Nite Out. Politics and poverty can make for some strange bedfellows. Lincoln and his Springfield buddy Joshua Speed shared the same bed for 4 years, and remained confidantes and longtime friends through marriages and political strife. There is a diary written by Speed where he refers to Abe as "Linc" and talked about the young politican's affectionate nature. Later, Honest Abe, the prairie lawyer slept for years in the same as his male law associate to save money. Just imagine the pillow talk! In the Civil War White House, while his bipolar wife Mary Todd was away in NY manically shopping, the Commander-in-Chief shared the Lincoln marital bed with his closest bud, bodyguard Capt. David Derickson. Their bromance was the topic of much speculation among the Republican inner circle. The intimate bond was severed only by Derickson's 1863 promotion to another post. When Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, his biggest fan, the poet Walt Whitman, wrote a loving elegy, When Lilacs last in the Dooryard Bloom'd..the ultimate bromance tribute.

Quotes of the Day

"If Cher has another facelift, she'll be wearing a beard."
Jennifer Saunders, who writes her own lines for "Ab Fab"

"Never raise your hands to your kids, it leaves your groin unprotected."
Red Buttons, in a rare serious moment

Patte and Randa Starr are
entertainment columnists for
the award winning BEVERLY HILLS SHEET