AUGUST 29, 2007

THE REAL DANCING WITH THE STARS CAST
Is it possible Mark Cuban, Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Wayne Newton can dance? Viewers will find out on the new season of "Dancing With the Stars," which has assembled another eclectic field of contestants.

Cuban, the billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner, welterweight boxing champ Mayweather and Las Vegas headliner Newton are among the 12 celebrities who will compete when the show returns Sept. 24, ABC announced Wednesday.

The rest of the field:
• Melanie Brown, aka "Scary Spice" and Mel B.
• Sabrina Bryan of Disney Channel's "Cheetah Girls."
• Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves.
• Actress Jennie Garth ("Beverly Hills, 90210").
• Model-actress Josie Maran.
• Soap star Cameron Mathison ("All My Children").
• Singer Marie Osmond.
• Model Albert Reed.
• Actress Jane Seymour ("Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman").

STILL NO JACKPOT WINNER
Last night Mega Millions became the second United States lottery game in less than a week to cross the $300 million jackpot level.

On Saturday one single ticket from Indiana scored a $314 million Powerball win, and now the lottery-playing public will get another shot at an even bigger prize.

Because none of the tickets sold for Tuesday's $250 million drawing matched all five lotto numbers and the Mega Ball, the jackpot in the multi-state Mega Millions lottery game grew to $325 million for the Friday drawing.

The results of the Friday Mega Millions drawing will be shown a few minutes after the draw takes place at 11:00 PM Friday night (Eastern Time) at USA Mega (www.usamega.com).

The announcement of one or more jackpot winners, or else an even higher jackpot, will be made approximately three hours later at USA Mega.

There were 12 second prize winners from Tuesday night's drawing: 2 from California, 1 from Georgia, 1 from Maryland, 1 from Massachusetts, 1 from Michigan, 1 from New Jersey, 2 from New York, 1 from Ohio, 1 from Virginia, and 1 from Washington. Each second-prize ticket matched all five lotto numbers but not the Mega Ball number to win $250,000.

The California second prize tickets were worth $425,673 each, because California does not use the same fixed-prize amounts that the other Mega Millions states award.

Also, 135 tickets matched four of the five lotto numbers, plus the Mega Ball number. Those tickets are each worth $10,000, except the 23 California winners of the third prize, who won an extra $95.

The winning numbers from Tuesday's drawing were 37, 40, 48, 53 and 56. The Mega Ball number was 44.

DEEP FRIED WHAT?
You know I love Deep Fried Oreos at the Kern County Fair... Well, they started (like the corn dog) at the Texas State Fair... Here are the new concoctions at this year's Texas Fair... no word on whether any of these will ever make it to the Kern County Fairgrounds...

1) DEEP FRIED GUACAMOLE BITES. Small scoops of guacamole, breaded and fried. Served with salsa or ranch dressing.

2) DEEP FRIED COOKIE DOUGH. Cookie dough with chocolate chips, pecans and coconut, dipped in batter and fried.

3) DEEP FRIED PEACH COBBLER ON A STICK. Peach cobbler with dumplings rolled in pastry dough and fried. Covered with brown sugar and cinnamon.

4) DEEP FRIED CHILI FRITO BURRITO. Chili and chili-cheese Fritos wrapped in an uncooked flour tortilla, and fried. Topped with cheese sauce, shredded cheddar, jalapenos, sour cream, hot sauce and onions.

5) DEEP FRIED SWEET POTATO PIE. Sweet potato pie filling wrapped in a flour tortilla, and fried. Topped with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

6) DEEP FRIED BANANA PUDDING. Banana pudding wrapped in a flour tortilla, and fried. Topped with whipped cream, powdered sugar and cinnamon.

7) Our personal favorite: DEEP FRIED LATTES. A pastry, fried. Topped with cappuccino ice cream, caramel sauce, whipped cream and instant coffee powder. Michael Levy invented the Deep Fried Latte. Levy says, quote, "I've gained about 10 pounds, eating 300 of these to get it right."

EIGHT COMMON TICKET MYTHS
Here are the most common misconceptions surrounding tickets and how to beat them from Bankrate.com:

1. If the officer makes a single mistake on your ticket, the case is dropped -- Clerical mistakes, such as a wrong number or wrong order of a person's name, are usually overlooked. Material mistakes, like the identity of the driver, the direction of travel, the street or the description of the vehicle, can usually help a driver win the case.

2. If the officer doesn't show up in court, you automatically win -- Some judges will drop a case if the officer does not appear in court because defendants have the constitutional right to question their accusers. However, in most cases an officer not showing up will result in a dismissal.

3. Red cars get more tickets -- There are no official studies to confirm that red cars do get more tickets, but some suggest the bold color tends to attract more attention from everyone -- including police officers.

4. You need a lawyer to beat a ticket -- With a little time and homework, many people successfully fight their own traffic tickets. At the very least, first-time offenders for minor offenses can usually strike a plea bargain.

5. If you get a ticket in another state, your home state won't find out about it -- Reports on traffic violations and suspensions are usually forwarded to the home state of the nonresident.

6. You can make up an excuse to get out of the ticket -- Most police officers aren't interested in excuses. When an officer pulls you over, he already suspects you of an infraction.

7. A radar detector will ensure that you never get pulled over -- Speeding drivers are also more likely to commit other infractions, and a radar detector can't tell you when a cop is watching you run that red light or make an illegal turn.

8. If you don't sign the ticket, it will be dismissed -- Signing a ticket is not an admission of guilt, but merely an acknowledgement you received the ticket and a promise to appear in court.