There are no boos in Sarah Palin's world

Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas perform on Dancing with the Stars. Photograph: Adam Larkey/AP

Finally, there is troubling news from the set of America's Dancing With the Stars, where Sarah Palin's shy and retiring daughter Bristol is one of the contestants.
Mommie dearest was in the studio to watch Bristol take on the quickstep this week, but just prior to her beginning a supportive interview, a wave of booing swept through the audience. "Why is there booing?" wondered show host Brooke Burke. "There's booing in the ballroom . . . I don't know why."
I've got an inkling meself, Brooke – but it's encouraging to find people have since suggested the boos were for something else entirely.
Still, Sarah does have a preternatural gift for calling black as white. Lost in Showbiz read her enchanting book Going Rogue last weekend, and while it's hard to pick a favourite passage, special mention must be made of the bit where she explains that the New Deal caused the Great Depression. Based on this model of thinking, there's every reason to believe the boos were correlated, not causal, and we must wish Bristol all the best as she continues to embody the lives of ordinary Americans through the medium of lucrative primetime dance.

When Paris Hilton met Nancy Reagan

A young Paris Hilton with Nancy Reagan. Photograph: parishilton.com

Behold, above, a newly unearthed photo of one of the key American figures of recent decades, granting an audience to Nancy Reagan. On the right, of course, is Nancy, pictured during her time as first lady of the United States. On the left, however, is a little lady who would go on to eclipse even the B-movie actress who ended up in the White House as a symbol of the transformative power of the American Dream, and the infinite possibilities of life in that golden land. She is, of course, Miss Paris Hilton – heiress, celebutante, DUI star, and coiner of mid-noughties hipster catchphrase "that's hot".
Now, you might assume the picture to be part of a newly released presidential archive, or perhaps the centrepiece of a major Smithsonian exhibition entitled something like: "Eleanor's Heirs: from Roosevelt to Richie." But it was in fact tweeted this week by Paris herself, who elaborated that the historic meeting took place at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel, presumably some time in 1983.
The pair's body language will not have escaped your attention – see how Paris's determined forward advance evokes the pioneer spirit, while Nancy's ignored hand is more reminiscent of the pliant helpmeet tradition without which America could never have been built.
As for the minutes of this extraordinary meeting, they remain undisclosed. Perhaps a second after the shutter snapped, Paris gave definitive intellectual shape to the still-sketchy series of decisions that would come to be known as the Reagan Doctrine, and urged the invasion of Grenada. Then again, perhaps she simply burbled "talk to you never" at the first lady. But we must salute her generosity in posting the picture now, clearly anxious that Nancy's twilight years should not see the American public forget with what interesting individuals she rubbed shoulders – and indeed shared carpet time – over the years.

The harshness of reality shows

Charlotte Church, who decided not to marry Gavin Henson after he appeared on a reality show. Photograph: Simone Joyner/Getty Images Europe

A New Jersey restaurateur, Joe Cerniglia, killed himself in New York this week. His body was found in the Hudson river. Normally, the lonely death of an indebted father of three would make few headlines. But Cerniglia had appeared on Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, and been told that unless he sorted his business out it was "about to fucking swim down the Hudson". See that coincidence? Newsworthy.
It's not only that though. Another person, Rachel Brown, who had been on another Ramsay show, Hell's Kitchen, also killed herself, also in the US. This death wasn't newsworthy until now, under Oscar Wilde's rule about misfortune and carelessness.
What, quite, is being said about Ramsay here, though? That appearing on his show makes people suicidal? The Cerniglia family has nothing but praise for Ramsay, whose advice helped Joe to turn around his restaurant, if not his debt. What possible influence Ramsay had on Brown remains entirely opaque.
Maybe it all just feeds the belief that being in the presence of celebrities is "transformative" for better or worse, or that reality shows are weird and creepy. Take Gavin Henson. His former partner, Charlotte Church, says his appearance on the reality show 71 Degrees North changed him, and prompted her decision not to marry him. What was the specific problem, though? Had he become a bit cold?

Celebrities who protest about tabloids happily take the papers' money

Celebrities routinely complain about popular newspapers. But editors are quick to point out that the bellyaching celebs are happy to do business with them when it serves their purposes.
Two examples in the past week are Russell Brand and Coronation Street actor Bill Roache.
Brand, in a wonderfully entertaining Newsnight interview with Jeremy Paxman on Friday night, made a lot of sense in talking about the cult of celebrity.
At one point he railed against the Daily Mail and Rupert Murdoch for using the incident in which he and Jonathan Ross were damned for their phone messages to Andrew Sachs in October 2008 in order to pursue their campaign against the BBC. Fair enough.
But which paper was given serialisation rights to Brand's latest book? The Sun (prop: Rupert Murdoch). Which publisher produced the book? HarperCollins (prop: Rupert Murdoch).*
Then there is Roache, better known as that Ken Barlow off the telly. In his latest memoir,** he has devoted a whole chapter to his infamous 1992 libel case against The Sun (which he sued for calling him as boring as Barlow).
Having turning down an out-of-court settlement of £50,000, he eventually won, but the costs led him into bankruptcy. So which paper has been carrying extracts from his book? None other than the News of the World, The Sun's stablemate.
*Booky Wook 2: This time it's personal (HarperCollins, £20)**50 years on the Street (Mainstream Publishing, £14.99)

Tony Curtis and Tutankhamun: coffin hoarders

Hoarders: Tony Curtis and Tutankhamun. Photograph: Composite

Tony Curtis was buried on Monday with many of his earthly possessions, according to the Las Vegas Sun. But how does he compare with that other famous tomb hoarder?
Tony Curtis
His Stetson hat.
Seven packets of Splenda.
An iPhone.
A travelling bag packed full of favourite photos and letters.
A model of his 25th-anniversary Trans Am.
Driving gloves.
Cash.
A pair of his grandson Nicholas's baby shoes.
Two watches.
Stones he had collected.
Tutankhamun
139 ebony, ivory, silver and gold walking sticks.
Musical instruments.
Lamps.
Six chariots.
Two thrones.
Ritual beds and headrests.
Gilded statues. Chests.
Clothing, including tunics, kilts, gloves, scarves and headdresses.
Ebony gaming board.
30 jars of wine.