Hennessy At Halftime

Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest has said that he drank alcohol during games when he was a member of the Chicago Bulls.

"I used to drink Hennessy at halftime," Artest said in an interview with Sporting News. "I [kept it] in my locker. I'd just walk to the liquor store [near the stadium] and get it."

Artest also said that he was a "head case" when he broke into the NBA with the Bulls, for whom he played from 1999-2002. The 30-year-old Artest said in the interview that the drinking happened in part because the Bulls lost so often.

Artest is now in his first year with the Lakers. In the interview, Artest commented on accepting a role in Kobe Bryant's supporting cast. "It's weird because people don't think about the whole basketball game," Artest said. "There's offense: Kobe averages 30 and is a great offensive player. Then you have defense. So on defense, now I have my supporting cast. ... I'm one of the best defenders to ever play basketball, so I'm still the first option on defense."

In the article, Artest said he's still ready to fight Detroit center Ben Wallace, the player who shoved him on he play that preceeded the brawl with Pistons fans. "He said he wanted to fight me? You all need to check and see if he's still drinking," Wallace said Wednesday night before Detroit's game in Chicago. "He's just running his mouth. You all know who you're talking about. It's Ron Artest, just talking."

Judge And Jury

Court officials say a Birmingham, Alabama woman who changed her name to Jesus Christ didn't live up to it when she reported for jury duty this week. The woman, previously named Dorothy Lola Killingworth, was sent to Judge Clyde Jones's courtroom for a criminal case Monday.

Court officials told The Birmingham News Tuesday that the 59-year-old was excused because she was disruptive and kept asking questions instead of answering them.

Efforts to reach Christ for comment were unsuccessful.

Court administrator Sandra Turner said people there were shocked when the woman insisted her name was Jesus Christ and some potential jurors laughed out loud when her name was called.

But Turner said unlike some Jefferson County residents, Christ didn't try to get out of jury duty and was "perfectly happy to serve."

The Name Is Stephen

Honestly....

The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in Baghdad last year had a taste of his own medicine Tuesday when he nearly got beaned by a shoe thrower at a news conference in Paris.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi ducked and the shoe hit the wall behind him. "He stole my technique," al-Zeidi later quipped.

The identity of the new shoe-thrower — and his motivation — weren't immediately clear, but he appeared to be an Iraqi. It was not known if the intruder was a journalist or just pretended to be one to attend the news conference at a center for foreign reporters.

Al-Zeidi's brother, Maithan, chased the attacker in the audience and — what else? — pelted him with a shoe as he left the room.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi, a TV reporter, became a hero to many opponents of the Iraq war when he hurled his shoes at Bush during a news conference in Baghdad in December 2008 while shouting: "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq." Al-Zeidi was quickly wrestled to the ground by security guards, then imprisoned for nine months before being released in September.

The Paris news conference was held so he could talk about his experiences.

It Just Feels Right...

Welcome Home.

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Basting The Baby

A Boston woman has succeeded at one of the all-time great Thanksgiving Day juggling acts: She cooked the turkey while helping deliver her baby granddaughter.

Patricia McCalop was in the middle of preparing the meal when her daughter suddenly went into labor two weeks early.

McCalop called 911, and a dispatcher talked her through the delivery and helped her confirm that the baby girl was breathing.

Paramedics arrived shortly afterward and took Africa McCalop and her newborn to the hospital. They are both in good health.

Patricia McCalop said she kept running between the kitchen and her daughter in labor because she didn't want the turkey to burn while helping her child deliver the baby.

York!

The Salvation Army says someone dropped a gold coin worth more than $1,000 in a collection kettle in south-central Pennsylvania. York Salvation Army Maj. Lurlene Mudge said the South African gold Krugerrand was wrapped in a $1 bill and later discovered in counting the collections. It was placed Friday in a kettle outside a Kmart store in Springettsbury Township, just outside York.

Mudge said the coin is a morale booster for the people who ring bells by the collection kettles. She says it's been two years since the York Salvation Army got a gold coin as a donation.

Camera Phone - Shown!

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You Might Be A Redneck...

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Butt Death

A 38-year-old former Miss Argentina has died from complications after undergoing cosmetic surgery on her buttocks.

Solange Magnano, a mother of twins who won the crown in 1994, died of a pulmonary embolism Sunday after three days in critical condition following a gluteoplasty in Buenos Aires.

Close friend Roberto Piazza said the procedure involved injections and the liquid "went to her lungs and brain."

"A woman who had everything lost her life to have a slightly firmer behind," he said. Magnano's burial Monday was shown on Argentine television.

Dr. Gonzalo Cortes y Tristan said she arrived at his hospital with an acute respiratory deficiency. Her condition deteriorated until she suffered the embolism.

Brett Dennen

Mellow.