The Reliable Source

Welcome to "The Reliable Source" with Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts. Appearing in the Style section on Tuesdays through Fridays and Sundays, The Reliable Source brings you gossip from across the region and around the world -- candid looks at the lives and loves and hijinks of all your favorite bold-faced names, be they congressmen or millionaires, ballplayers or newsbabes, nightlife divas or master thespians, DJs or gadflies, has-beens or will-bes.

Argetsinger and Roberts are online each Wednesday at Noon ET to discuss your favorite gossip, what you thought about their recent columns or who you want to see them writing about in future ones.

Reliable Source Columns

Argetsinger is a veteran of all leafy-green, protein-rich sections like Metro and National while Roberts brought you the champagne and bon-bons of Style's society beat.

A transcript follows.

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Amy Argetsinger: Good morning everyone. This week we brought you news of local Catholic school field-hockey star, Hilary Rhoda of Chevy Chase, who just hit supermodel status with a big Estee Lauder contract. We dished up dishy excerpts from the former White House pastry chef's memoirs. We explained the difference between Washington Post editor Vanessa Williams and another woman you may have heard of. We blushed around Tim Daly and debated sex vs. violence with Heather Graham. We dove into a big off-field fight in the local charity polo match scene. We listened to Will Smith (sort of) explain digital piracy and intellectual property rights. We stalked Harry Hamlin and Steven Tyler, but ended up only finding Justin Timberlake's guitarist, not JT himself. How about you?

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Leesburg, Va.: So, now Gavin Newsom is joining the long list of folks who do something bad and then going to rehab for alcohol/substance issues. Don't people realize that their bad behavior is not caused by the substance abuse? Very lame.

Amy Argetsinger: Oh, yes, another highlight from the week: Gavin Newsom, the glossily handsome young mayor of San Francisco, confessing to having an affair with his campaign aide's wife (said confession prompted by the aide abruptly resigning), and then announcing that he was going to go into alcohol counseling -- not that the drinking, you know, *caused* the affair, for which he makes no excuses and takes full responsibility, blah blah blah, but he has decided he shouldn't have alcohol in his life.

Yeah, these folks give alcoholics a bad name.

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Barack shock: Please tell me Barack Obama isn't a smoker! The first chink in the armor. What's next -- leaves his dirty socks on the floor, doesn't remember birthdays, chews with his mouth open?

washingtonpost.com: And for Best Performance at a Lectern . . . ( Reliable Source, Feb. 7)

Roxanne Roberts: Gotta break it to you sometime: The guy's human. Not clear how much he smokes----he's not a chain-smoker, but likes a cig once in a while. The interesting thing is how people will react to his quest to quit. I'm guessing most will be supportive.

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Anne Heche: Did Anne Heche leave her husband for her "Men in Trees" costar?

Amy Argetsinger: That's the word. And according to Lisa de Moraes' TV column today, "Men in Trees" saw a nice little bump in the ratings last week, thanks to the news.

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Washington, DC..: I want to be famous, but I'm not attractive, talented, rich, smart, funny, hard-working, lucky or shameless. What other options are there?

Amy Argetsinger: Have you tried showing up to the American Idol auditions and purposefully singing terribly? Oh wait -- that requires standing in line a long time, and checking the "lucky" and "shameless" boxes. Anyone else have any ideas?

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When Astronauts Attack!: Ladies: Is this not the best story, like, ever? However many billions of dollars have been spent on the space program, they have clearly been worth it for leading up to this.

Amy Argetsinger: Mesmerizing stuff. Nothing but readers. Anyone care to break down why we're so fascinated by this? I guess it's the woman-who-seems-to-have-it-all-flipping-out-in-the-name-of-love angle.

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Re: Jessica Simpson: I find it interesting that after all the reports that she wanted the divorce, Jessica now wants us to feel sorry for her because her feelings were hurt when Nick Lachey started dating other women. It seems like a lame attempt to get sympathy and attention form someone who has most recently been known for being weird at the Kennedy Center Honors.

Roxanne Roberts: Yes, another case of It's All About Jessica. The Ken Cen flub would have gone unnoticed if she'd kept her mouth shut about it .Now Me-me-me (hooking up with John Mayer) is in pain because the husband SHE dumped (after seeing "The Notebook"---deep, Jessica) started dating soon thereafter. Really, can't she and a mirror just go somewhere and leave us out of it?

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washingtonpost.com: With Discipline Honed by Training, Police Say, Astronaut Set Out to Kill ( Post, Feb. 7)

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Casting Central: In the movie version of the onging saga of the Astronaut Love Triangle, Anne Heche to play Lisa Nowack, and Matthew Fox to play the guy in the middle. Haven't seen the other person in the triangle, but Scarlett Johansson seems to be the go-to girl these days.

Amy Argetsinger: Oh, those are good choices. Anne Heche is an absolute natural. I mean, she's BEEN there before. Scarlett Johansson doesn't seem right, though -- too young, too bombshell, and too A-list to play a supporting role to Anne Heche and Matthew Fox.

Meanwhile, we should have a link by now to Peter Whoriskey and Dan DeVise's masterful A1 story on the stalker lady astronaut story, for those of you who have been hibernated the past 24 hours.

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Washington, D.C.: Do they have rehab centers that cure people of being a jerk? They'd make a killing.

Roxanne Roberts: In my dreams.

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Quest for fame: Well, there's always driving halfway across the country in adult diapers to stalk the unwanted vertex of your love triangle ....

Seriously, there's something about the diapers that just catapults that story into a whole 'nother level of bizarro.

Amy Argetsinger: So true.

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Brooklyn, N.Y.: You have to love Hilary Rhoda. Not only is she local, gorgeous, and not emaciated, but she has the name of two strong, intelligent, successful role-model women: Hilary Clinton and Rhoda Morgenstern. She is the ultimate modern woman.

Amy Argetsinger: I cannot improve upon your observation, BK.

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Steven Tyler: Dolce and Gabbana sex elf? More like an overdressed cadaver.

Amy Argetsinger: Yes, but don't you think "Dolce & Gabbana sex elf" is funnier? I'm laughing at that all over again.

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Washington, D.C.: I was talking to a friend in New York last week, and he said that it's fairly common to see local celebrities on the subway. Athletes, theater actors, SNL cast members, etc. Have you ever gotten any Metro celebrity sightings, local or otherwise?

Amy Argetsinger: Hey, that's a good point. I can't think of when we last got a sighting of a well-known person on the Metro. Why is that? Are they not taking Metro, or are you all just nose-down in your copies of Express?

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Rehab question: If Scooter Libby confesses and enters a rehab facility, will all be forgiven? Is there a rehab facility for leakism?

Roxanne Roberts: It's called Depends.

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Virginia: Why did Christina Aguilera have to talk about her naked Sundays? While my husband found it intriguing (go figure), I just thought it was too much information!

Amy Argetsinger: For those of you not lucky to be snuggled up in front of the TV this morning:

"We claim ourselves to be the coziest couple ever. We have something called `naked Sundays,'" the 26-year-old pop star tells Ellen DeGeneres in an interview set to air Wednesday on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

"You have to keep marriage alive, spice it up," says Aguilera, who married Jordan Bratman in November 2005. So the couple stays in on Sundays, she says. "We do everything naked. We cook naked."

"You cook naked?" asks DeGeneres.

Aguilera replies: "Yeah, we cook naked."

"Nothing with grease - that could splatter," says DeGeneres.

"Well, unless you want the grease," Aguilera replies.

Thanks, Xtina. Thanks a lot.

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White House Chefs: Loved your piece on pastry-chef Mesnier! But I see that there is another former chef with a book out. What's up with this? Which is better?

washingtonpost.com: A Pastry Chef's Sweet Memories (and Some Crusty Ones, Too) ( Post, Feb. 4)

Roxanne Roberts: You're probably talking about "White House Chef: Eleven Years, Two Presidents, One Kitchen" by former executive chef Walter Scheib. Scheib was fired by Laura Bush and went on to a successful free-lance business. Personally,I'd read both because they give interesting perspectives on how the White House staff and first families interact.

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Washington, D.C.: Loved, loved, loved the JT concert on Friday. Pretty sure I saw the man himself stick his head out the window of a white tour bus as it pulled away. Any good JT/Timbaland stories for us?

Amy Argetsinger: Sadly... no. There were rumors/speculation that he'd show up at one or another club, but frantic phone calling around over the weekend turned up no confirmed sightings.

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Astronaut Saga: Maybe we're so fascinated because it involves a segment of the population that we've always rather idolized; intelligent, fit, good-looking people; and a masterful plan (those diapers were genius). This was real movie-of-the-week stuff! If it had been written by John Grisham, we would have called it "far-fetched".

Amy Argetsinger: But this isn't so much the Grisham genre as it is... I don't know, what author out there has tackled the stalker lady astronaut genre?

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washingtonpost.com: The White House Gave an Order to Go; Now, It's the Ousted Chef's Turn to Dish ( Post, Oct. 29, 2006)

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Astronaut Attack: Can't speak for everyone, but the reason I'm so interested is ... well ... the diapers! Are you kidding me!!!

Amy Argetsinger: Think maybe they'll catch on among the general public? I have to admit I'd never considered them as a long-car-trip strategy.

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Shelton, Wash.: So did you catch the article in the New York Times ("All the sneering that's fit to print") last week about gossip in D.C.? Did you offend someone up there?

washingtonpost.com: Titillating or Not, Washington Gossip Blossoms ( The New York Times, Feb. 2)

Amy Argetsinger: Oh, I thought it was an interesting story -- there are a ton of new politics-focused columns out there, and it's an interesting phenom to mull. In defense of our CapHill-centric gossip homies, though, I don't recall ANY of them running the Denny Hastert gallbladder item that Leibovich cites in his lead -- I think that was just an AP brief floating around out there. And in fairness, those columns are aimed not at the general public but at a Capitol Hill audience which IS going to be interested in those kinds of things.

BTW, if you actually sit down and read a week's worth of the NYC gossip columns, you will be amazed at how banal and unrevelatory they are. Seriously. Lindsey Lohan doesn't meltdown *every* week (even if it seems like it), and when she does it's on the front of the tabloids, not in the columns.

Roxanne Roberts: Gossip? In the nation's capital? Shocking. Next thing you know, senior administration officials will start leaking information to reporters.

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Xtina: I think her latest "claim" is brilliant. It's like a how-to on having the public repeatedly mention your name, associate you with nudity, while rising above the skank factor because it also involves your husband, the privacy of your own home and avoids public crotch shots. Well done indeed.

Amy Argetsinger: You know who else does that trick? Jennifer Love Hewitt, the ultimate famous-for-what-again? starlet. Without fail, there's a cutesy quote from her every other week on US Weekly's quote page about her own body.

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Why we like the space stalker:1. The public loves it when someone wigs out, especially if she's wearing a wig.

2. Until now, NASA stories were always boring (new planet discovered in a far-away galaxy, water on Mars, blah, blah, blah).

3. A love triangle, even if one side was missing (a love "V")

4. Hits the Valentine's Day news cycle.

5. The urgency of driving 950 miles to beat an airplane makes a heart-pounding thriller.

6. Chick fight! Chick fight!

7. Diapers.

Man oh man is Weingarten mad that his chat is on hiatus

Amy Argetsinger: Cannot improve upon your brilliant observations.

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Roxanne Roberts: Re Astronut: Plus, I'm dying to know how she got the other chick's flight information and e-mails to the guy. And had the two women ever met?

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Chevy Chase, Md.: Gavin Newsom vs. Martin o'Malley (in a short-sleeved shirt). Who is prettier?

Amy Argetsinger: Newsom is prettier. Anyone disagree?

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Dysfunction, AL: Would the Ryan O'Neal family qualify for some group discount on a rehab facility program?

Amy Argetsinger: Yeah, except that I don't think any such facility has enough insurance to allow them all to be in the same room together. The O'Neal family -- that's a rough scene. Have you read Tatum's memoirs? They're pretty damning. Okay, I didn't actually read it but I skimmed it at an LAX bookstore, and looked at the photos, but I got the picture.

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Naked Sundays: I'm looking forward to hearing about the status of this tradition after they have kids.

Perhaps the weekly scenario will lead to the best-ever celebrity child tell-all book.

Amy Argetsinger: NO! Don't encourage them. You know they'll tell us if we even hint that we'll listen.

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Diapers -- true story: In China, just before the massive New Year's holiday where people take long bus and train rides back home to see the family village, there is a run on adult diapers. Train bathrooms inadequate, bus bathrooms nonexistent.

Roxanne Roberts: I believe you, but not sure I needed to know that.

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Washington, D.C.: I turned on my TV on Sunday, expecting to watch football, instead saw Prince playing "Purple Rain," and got confused thinking that it was actually 1984. How did that guy get the Super Bowl halftime show? Has he done anything since "Batdance" or "Under The Cherry Moon"?

Amy Argetsinger: Well, actually, he did put out a pretty great album three years ago. And he remains a genius musician and showman.

By the way, did any of you get offended by the fake controversy about Prince's provocative guitar-stance silhouette? I didn't. (link to follow)

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Arlington, Va. : This is more of a story suggestion than question ... I'd love to see you all do a piece on women's tailors. It's clear that many fashionable women around town have custom clothes. How do normal women find places where we can get things made for ourselves and what does it cost to get fabulous clothes that actually fit?

Amy Argetsinger: We'll pass the idea along to the fashion and shopping writers.

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washingtonpost.com: Dirty Minds Dominate Super Bowl, New Stuff From Satellite Party, Janet's Man's Got A New Gig ( Rock and Roll Daily, Rolling Stone, Feb. 7)

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Get it right: For those heterosexual males, please say we are handsome, not pretty!

Amy Argetsinger: Well, if you're handsome, we'll say you're handsome, and if you're pretty we'll say that. Doesn't matter what your orientation is.

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Newsom vs. O'Malley: I'm pretty sure that Gavin Newsome is prettier than all men and 85 percent of women!

Amy Argetsinger: And you know, honestly? He's way too pretty/handsome/shiny/clean to be a real alcoholic. That's what I think. No way a serious drinker can stay that glossy looking on the cusp of 40.

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W.H. Chefs: Didn't Sheib just win Iron Chef America against Cat Cora?

Roxanne Roberts: Wow, sharp eyes. The show just aired Sunday and Monday, but I bet there will be repeats.

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Amy Argetsinger: Confidential to Arlington: I totally don't believe that your roommate's mother saw Justin Timberlake at the grocery store.

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Washington, D.C.: Hello Ladies,

At his concert on Friday, Justin Timberlake mentioned that he'd visited Walter Reed the day before. Any scoop on how that visit went? He strikes me as someone who actually might know how to behave himself in a situation like that.

Amy Argetsinger: Huh. Didn't know about that. Well, good for JT for making a visit to Walter Reed without alerting the media. Even if he did then announce it to the thousands at Verizon Center.

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Central Virginia:... the month has just begun and already Dave Barry has his February entry for his Yearly Summary.

Roxanne Roberts: The month is young but yes...hard to imagine a better love story---demonstrating once again Why I Love Journalism. It would impossible to make the astronaut up because an editor would say, "Nah. Okay, I'll buy the wig and pepper spray, but the diaper thing would never happen."

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Philadelphia, Pa.: What happened to that great Super Bowl tradition of showing a well done, entertaining, high profile TV show following the game? I watched the first couple minutes of that "Criminal Minds" before quickly realizing it would fall short of "The Wonder Years," "The A- Team," "Homicide," "Grey's Anatomy" and even that awful hour-long episode of "Friends" ten years ago. Is this a reflection of how far network TV has fallen?

Amy Argetsinger: Uh, I don't know. Didn't watch. Was too busy looking up the YouTube videos that Ann Hornaday recommended in her Sunday story (link to follow), most notably the 10-part "Yacht Rock" saga (dramatizing the epic power struggle between Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald), which was completely transcendent and way more interesting than anything network television could have offered me at that hour.

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Arlington, Va.: I recently watched an episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent in which a woman stalked someone all night wearing ... wait for it ... DIAPERS! Wonder if that's where she got the idea?

Amy Argetsinger: Oh, you are totally making that up.

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Prince's Phallicism: I certainly noticed it, but wasn't offended, even as I did not believe it was the Purple One's actual phallus. Actually, seemed more satanic to me. No, not really, but just thought we'd get it all out there -- and thought he did a great job, btw.

Roxanne Roberts: Like this surprises anyone who has followed Prince's career? Didn't anyone notice the guitar (like the stage) was his symbol?

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Phoenix, Ariz.: So she wore diapers so she wouldn't have to stop for bathroom breaks. But didn't she have to stop anyway for gas? This question has so far remained unaddressed in the media. And where are the reaction interviews from her (ex?) husband and nominal boyfriend? Granted, both of them are probably looking for assignments in Tierra del Fuego about now.

Amy Argetsinger: Hold on -- he's not her boyfriend... As she said, it's more than a working relationship, less than a romantic relationship. Anyway, he's not talking to reporters (reporters have certainly tried), and I suspect her ex is lying low as well.

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NYC: The subways in NYC are more extensive and open 24 hours. And cabs in D.C. are cheap.

Amy Argetsinger: Interesting point.

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washingtonpost.com: Rules for YouTube: Make Art, Not Bore ( Post, Feb. 4)

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Heterosexual Male: First, some men are handsome and others are pretty. I give you David Beckham and anyone from a boy band as evidence. Harrison Ford, the late great Ed Bradley, ear rings aside were never pretty. But certainly handsome. Just as it was once complementary to say that "she is a handsome woman". Now we'd see that as an insult. Just wanted to make that point. Second, it seems as though Reali from ESPN is the only semi-celeb that's been spotted and listed in the column as being a regular on the metro. Third, you both look wonderful today.

Roxanne Roberts:"Wonderful." Hmmmmm.....is that better or worse than "pretty?"

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Newsom Vs. O'Malley: I think Newsom wins, due to his high marks in the "hair product abuse" competition.

Roxanne Roberts: Is there rehab for that, too?

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JT in the Safeway: I just love the idea that somebody's roommate's mother saw Justin Timberlake in the grocery store. It's almost like seeing the Virgin Mary on your pizza toppings, or something. And if it was JT, I want to know what was in the cart.

Amy Argetsinger: Arlington's roommate's mother thought she saw him and his band mates buying a lot of beer for what looked like a Super Bowl party. Even if JT weren't fairly widely reported to be romancing Scarlett Johansson in Miami during pre-Super Bowl festivities, I don't think he'd be doing his own Amstel-and-Tostitos shopping in NoVa.

But we by no means want this to be read as a discouragement to those of you who have celebrity sightings of any kind -- including you, Arlington, to whom we are most grateful that you thought to share this. Send them all to reliablesource@washpost.com.

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Amy Argetsinger: That goes for you with the marginally-more-credible-sounding JT sighting at a D.C. hotel -- drop us a line. reliablesource@washpost.com.

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Arlington, Va.: Roxanne, was "astronut" a typo, or deliberate?

Either way, good job.

Roxanne Roberts: Deliberate, although God knows I can't type.

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New York, MY: I can't believe one of your readers is so out of touch that they think Prince hasn't done anything since the 1980s. He's BIGGER now than he was then.

And I've never been much of a Prince fan, but his performance was the best SB halftime show I've ever seen. "Proud Mary" with that marching band was incredible, and "Purple Rain" in the pouring rain? Awesome.

Props to Prince

Amy Argetsinger: Props to Prince is right.

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Washington, D.C.: More reasons to love BBC on NPR -- they were talking about the nutty astronaut lady and instead of saying "diapers" they said she wore "adult nappies" on her cross country trip -- sounds even more insane and fun!!

Amy Argetsinger: Nappies!

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CNN: My favorite moment (so far) of the Crazy Astronaut story was yesterday when "Miles O'Brien -- Space Correspondent" commented after the taped piece that he knows, because he is a "Space Correspondent," that astronauts use diapers during shuttle launches, so it would not be that strange for her. Soledad just blew by this and moved on, and you could hear Miles in the background say, "Well, I thought it was interesting." Priceless.

Roxanne Roberts: Lost in space....

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MCO: I keep thinking of the Muppets Pigs in Space skits. Did our tax dollars pay for the NASA officials to be with the accused astronaut and show they are one big family? Or did they fly to Orlando on their own dimes?

Amy Argetsinger: I don't know, but thanks for bringing up the Muppets.

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Washington, D.C.: Anyone who thought Prince was trying to be lewd with that silhouette has THEIR mind in the gutter. They just look and wait for anything sexual. The way I saw it, it was an ingenious way to allow more people in the stadium to see the performing. Prince ain't big to begin with. In a massive stadium he's a dot. It was artistic and clever.

Amy Argetsinger: Also: rock guitarists have been posturing in that stance for, like, 50 years. Of course it's phallic. But ain't nothing new.

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Plus, Prince will outlast: Justin Timberlake! Probably in more ways than one ...

Amy Argetsinger: All righty, then...

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Roxanne Roberts: So much fun, so little time. Try to tear yourselves away from our favorite moonstalker to send us tips and sightings to reliablesource@washpost.com ----extra points if you see a bold-face name in a wig and diapers. Same time, next week.

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