The Police

Meet Sting, Grammy-winning singer, songwriter — and organic farmer.

Last night at a town theater in Figline Valdarno, Italy, the rock star opened up about his 300-hectare Tuscan estate, which includes a 100 percent organic farm. There, he produces extra virgin olive oil, chestnut and acacia honey, fruits, vegetables, jam, salami, and other food products that are popular among fellow Tuscans.

"I came here and I decided to stay and be a farmer, because I wanted to nourish my family with genuine quality products in a healthy environment," the singer explained. "With this business in Tuscany I am trying to help myself and those who are close to me to live better in a natural context."

The celebrity also spoke about another highly anticipated product of his estate: his own label of wines, scheduled to roll out in September. The line will include a Chianti and a Toscana made primarily from Sangiovese grapes grown on his estate. The first release will be 30,000 bottles of 2007 vintage that have been cellared for two years.

Although I knew Sting was a notable environmental activist, I must admit that I had no idea he had a 100 percent organic farm that produced goods such as olive oil and salami. Would you buy Sting's wine to support his efforts?

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• The Hollywood Reporter has the news that Martin Scorsese is in talks with HBO to direct a dramatic pilot titled Boardwalk Empire. Scorsese is already a producer for the upcoming show about Atlantic City gamblers in the 1920s.
• According to Variety, Pineapple Express had the best Wednesday opening ever for August. The comedy took in $12.1 million.
• Regis Philbin is following in the footsteps of Britney Spears and is set to appear on the second episode of the upcoming season of How I Met Your Mother, Entertainment Weekly says.
• The reunited Police closed its tour, the last live show ever for the band, last night in New York, reports Billboard.
• The AP reports that Philip Seymour Hoffman is slated to direct a play in London later this year. The play, Riflemind, is about a rock band reuniting after a 20-year split. Sounds a lot like The Police!
• Reuters reports that Hollywood producer Bernie Brillstein died last night of lung disease at the age of 77. He was best known for his work on The Blues Brothers and Happy Gilmore fame.
• Pitchfork has the scoop on the soundtrack for the upcoming Michael Cera film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Vampire Weekend is collaborating with a member of Devo for the project. Awesome.

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I spit out my drink in laughter when I read that an MTV reporter asked Mark Wahlberg about the possibility of reuniting with the Funky Bunch during an interview to promote The Happening. Even more astonishing than the question itself was that Wahlberg was a good sport and answered with, "Part of me would love to run around and act like a freaking a–hole again but I can’t do that." It would be hilarious if he'd reunite with those guys, though. His brother certainly has no problem rejoining the boy band that made him a household name.

That got me thinking about which bands I would love to see reunite for an album or a tour. The first group that sprang to mind was Sleater-Kinney, which sadly went on an indefinite hiatus in 2006. I was also glad to see the The Police announce a world tour, but I'm still holding out for a new album.

What bands would you love to see reunite?

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I was going to find you some videos of hipster kids from Brooklyn, New York performing in their awesomely named bands, Toxic Muffin, Care Bears on Fire, and The Tiny Masters of Today. But after seeing them display premature (and studied) cynicism and cooler-than-thou attitudes, I decided on these kids workin' their way through "Message in a Bottle." Sorry, but they're way cuter!

• In a press conference with Mayor Bloomberg yesterday, The Police announced that the final show of their reunion world tour will be this Summer in NYC. — AP
• Barack Obama handily won the North Carolina primary last night, while Hilary Clinton narrowly eked out victory in Indiana. — CitizenSugar
• Ellen Page has been chosen to play Jane Eyre in BBC's big screen adaptation of the classic Charlotte Bronte novel. — BuzzSugar
• Along with revealing her affair, Barbara Walters opened up yesterday on Oprah that Star Jones made The View hosts cover up her gastric bypass by lying and attributing her weight loss to "portion control and Pilates." — Oprah
• Ugly Betty is moving production to the Big Apple after two seasons of filming in LA. — E! Online
• Another celebrity got voted off of Dancing With the Stars; what do you think of the elimination? — AP
• After filing for divorce two months ago, Robin Williams and his wife pledged to try to keep the proceedings civil. — People
• Al Gore went on NPR yesterday to say that he thinks the cyclone in Myanmar is a result of global warming. — CitizenSugar

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Tina Fey will host the first post-strike episode of Saturday Night Live on Feb. 23, and Ellen Page will follow the next week, writes The New York Times.
• John Legend and Isaac Hayes have joined the cast of the comedy Soul Men, which includes Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac, writes Billboard.
• ComingSoon has news that Wes Craven's first horror project since 1994 will be 25/8, based on the 1972 George Romero film.
• Benjamin Bratt will star in a new series for A&E about an interventionist, while Timothy Hutton will portray a modern-day Robin Hood in the TNT series Leverage; details on both are at The Futon Critic.
• Ashton Kutcher and Jennifer Jason Leigh will star together in the indie sex comedy titled Spread, reports Variety.
• Aretha Franklin is not pleased with Beyonce after Beyonce's Grammy intro referred to Tina Turner, not Franklin, as "the queen," the Associated Press reports.
• Zap2It writes that Joel Surnow, co-creator of 24, is leaving the show to pursue other projects.
• According to Billboard, this summer's tour will be the last for The Police.
• Fox is remaking a Japanese TV show in which people must fit into shapes like human Tetris pieces, according to Variety.

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• The Library of Congress has added Back to the Future, Dances With Wolves, and 23 other movies to the National Film Registry, UPI reports.
• The Police were the top-grossing live act of 2007, followed by Kenny Chesney, Variety reports.
• The Hollywood Reporter writes that David Letterman and the WGA have yet to reach a deal that would allow Letterman to come back on air with his writers.
• Who's happy about the writers' strike? The video game industry is pretty pumped, the Associated Press reports.
• According to the New York Daily News product placement is outselling ads on television. It looks like we can look forward to more blatant advertising on 30 Rock.
• In January iTunes will announce a video service enabling users to rent movies for 24 hours to the tune of $2 to $5 per film. According to Variety, Fox and Disney are already onboard.
• Chris Crocker and Obama Girl are among the most watched clips on YouTube in 2007, writes Reuters

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Take the characters from our favorite cartoon strip, add the voice of Sting, and you got one helluvah cute love story. I guess Linus is a ladies man after all, with a little rock star on the side. Who knew he had it in him?

MTV's occasional "Unplugged" series is back — big time.

The series, which features rock stars performing in a more stripped-down style, returns tonight with Bon Jovi, the act most often credited with starting the series in the first place after an acoustic performance at the 1989 Video Music Awards. In all, three different versions of the set will air: one tonight on MTV, one Saturday on VH1 and one Sunday on CMT. Bon Jovi is expected to draw heavily from its new country-tinged album, Lost Highway, though each of the three versions of the performance will be tailored to the particular channel's audience.

Upcoming "Unplugged" concerts this summer include The Police, Kenny Chesney, Mary J. Blige and John Mayer. Though air dates for those shows haven't been announced, The Police are reportedly filming their special in mid-July in Miami.

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