NAMES & FACES

Pre-Wedded Blitz for Pete Wentz?

Note to Pete Wentz: It's harder to deny that you're about to get married when you're spotted at your own bachelor party.

Or so one could glean from a People magazine report that the Fall Out Boy bassist, 28, was seen partying in Los Angeles on Thursday night with a handful of friends -- as well as fiancee Ashlee Simpson's dad, Joe Simpson, who reportedly clapped his hands onto Wentz's shoulders and called him "the man" when the groom-to-be was congratulated on his way out of a restaurant.

Then it was on to a night of drinking at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel; a source told People, "It was Pete's bachelor party!" (Although Wentz and Ashlee Simpson, 23, have made public their engagement, they have not addressed rumors of a wedding this weekend at the bride's parents' home in Encino, Calif.)

Meanwhile, People reports, Ashlee Simpson had a bachelorette party at Kiki De Montparnasse, a luxury lingerie store.

Here Come the Brides

Wasting no time after the California Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the state's ban on gay marriage, Ellen DeGeneres told an audience gathered that afternoon for a taping of her talk show that she and longtime girlfriend Portia de Rossi plan to marry.

"It's something . . . of course we've wanted to do, and we want it to be legal, and we're just very, very excited," DeGeneres, 50, said after her announcement drew a standing ovation.

De Rossi, 35, was in the audience and clapped while smiling broadly. The couple began dating in December 2004, while de Rossi appeared alongside Will Arnett and Jason Bateman on the now-defunct Fox sitcom "Arrested Development." No word yet on when or where the nuptials will take place.

Here for the Graduation Party

Country singer Gretchen Wilson donned cap and gown for a GED ceremony in Tennessee on Thursday, People reports.

Wilson, 34, best known for her 2004 hit "Redneck Woman," dropped out of high school in ninth grade and worked as a cook and bartender in Illinois before heading to Nashville to pursue a music career. In 2007, she decided to get her GED and enrolled in an adult education program, completing homework assignments while on the road and tutoring others in math -- her most challenging subject.

"It's something I should have done a long time ago, and now I can file it away," Wilson told the Tennessean newspaper.

End Notes

Spotted : Gary Sinise (and his limo) outside the Carnegie Endowment's building near Dupont Circle yesterday afternoon. Not sure what he was looking for -- some onlookers thought he might have been lost on his way to another building -- but later last night the "CSI: NY" actor was expected to attend an awards ceremony for the GI Film Festival.

Welcomed: It's another boy for rapper T.I. (real name: Clifford Harris), whose girlfriend, Tameka "Tiny" Cottle, gave birth to 5-pound 15-ounce Major Harris early yesterday morning. He is the fifth child for T.I., 27, and his second with Cottle, 32; the baby joins their 3-year-old son King Harris.

Quoted: "If Senator Obama can run our country half as good as he runs a pool table, we are in for eight great years!" -- International Pool Tour pro Corey Deuel, 30, after we asked for his take on some video clips of Sen. Barack Obama playing pool while on a campaign stop in West Virginia on Monday. Deuel, who is currently ranked second in the country by the United States Professional Poolplayers Association, said Obama's break shot and "straight stroke" seem particularly formidable.

-- Marissa Newhall, from staff and wire reports