People talk

Rocker Joan Jett performs for troops

BAGRAM, Afghanistan -- Wearing black boots, camouflage pants and a fishnet top, American rocker Joan Jett performed for several hundred soldiers at the U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan.

About 500 coalition troops, mostly Americans, attended a concert Friday night in an airplane hangar with automatic weapons slung behind their backs.

Some soldiers stood atop stacked boxes of MREs -- or Military Meals Ready To Eat -- to catch a glimpse. A giant U.S. flag was draped behind Jett while she sang.

Jett saved her top hits, including "I Love Rock and Roll," for last. After the first show ended, troops shouted for more, and Jett returned to perform an encore -- a song called "Everyday People."

Dano Goforth, Jett's tour manager, said she performed for about 2,000 U.S. troops on Sept. 25 in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.

Prince suing Internet site over pirated recording

MINNEAPOLIS -- Prince's production company is suing the operator of an Internet site that allegedly offered pirated recordings of the rock star's live performances from his "Xenophobia" concert series in June.

Paisley Park Enterprises, based in Chanhassen, Minn., filed the copyright-infringement lawsuit in federal court Wednesday.

Prince names Matthew Lankford of Seattle, operator of FreeMyHeart.com -- a Web site devoted to singer Me'Shell Ndegeocello.

The lawsuit alleges Lankford broke federal copyright laws by allowing Web users to download Prince songs that included "specific information describing which day the unauthorized recording of the 'Xenophobia' concert took place."

Lankford denied violating the copyrights and said he doesn't think he's done anything illegal.

"What he's claiming is that I put up files on my Web site. What happened is I put up links to other Web sites that had files on them," he said Friday.

Lankford said there's no mention of Prince on the Web site now and won't be any in the future.

Prince's official site -- www.npgmusicclub.com -- says he plans to release a three-CD box set from his recent U.S. tour. He hasn't released anything from the "Xenophobia" sessions.

Former nannies sign deal for two more books

NEW YORK -- Fans of "The Nanny Diaries" be prepared: more adventures of Park Avenue's "X" family are on the way.

Co-authors, and ex-Manhattan nannies, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus have signed a two-book deal at Random House that includes a "Nanny" sequel and a comic novel about a young woman "bedeviled by bosses of various stripes," according to a Random House statement issued Thursday.

"We were enormously impressed by these two women. Emma and Nicky are whip smart. They have something to say and a terrifically funny way of saying it," said Random House senior editor Lee Boudreaux.

Financial terms weren't disclosed, but a source close to the negotiations told The Associated Press on Friday that the deal was worth seven figures.

A best seller for months, "The Nanny Diaries" was published by St. Martin's Press, which paid just a $25,000 advance to the first-time authors. Julia Roberts has taped the abridged audiobook edition, and Miramax has bought movie rights.

The authors, who met while students at New York University, spent years working as childcare providers in the same neighborhood in which their novel is set. They have said that while none of their 30 former families is portrayed in the book, the things their heroine experiences during her year with the characters named Mr. and Mrs. X and their 4-year-old son, Grayer Addison X, aren't exaggerations.

Jack LaLanne gets Hollywood star

LOS ANGELES -- Fitness guru Jack LaLanne received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his 88th birthday.

LaLanne, who hosted his self-titled exercise show for 34 years, accepted the honor at a ceremony Thursday in front of the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard, across from Mann's Chinese Theater.

"I want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my athletic heart," LaLanne said. He did fingertip push-ups and then told the crowd he hoped to live to be 150 years old.

Throughout his career, LaLanne, whose star is No. 2,204 on the Walk of Fame, preached exercise regimens and balanced nutrition as a way to keep healthy.

He opened his first health studio in 1936 in Oakland and became a national daytime TV fixture by the 1950s, advocating a red meat-free diet, calorie counting and weight training.

LaLanne often performed outrageous stunts to show off his physical prowess, such as towing boats while swimming handcuffed. In 1956, the then-42-year-old performed 1,033 push-ups in 23 minutes on the TV show "You Asked for It."

Statue of Charlton Heston to be unveiled

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A bronze statue of Oscar-winning actor Charlton Heston will be unveiled in November at a benefit for the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

Heston, who recently announced that he has symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease, is expected to attend the unveiling of the 7-foot sculpture at the "Visions of the West" benefit on Nov. 19.

The bronze statue, modeled after Heston's character in the 1968 Western "Will Penny," is a gift from Ackerman McQueen and members of the National Rifle Association.

Actor Tom Selleck and comedian Jeff Foxworthy are expected to attend.

--From wire reports