Seen: Katherine Heigl, Jill Zarin, & More

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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Leah Michaels, GoLocalProv Contributor

It took 24 hours for the Katherine Heigl effect to lift RI author Ann Hood's fortunes. Heigl announced signing with HBO to produce and star in an adaptation of Hood's best-selling novel, The Knitting Circle, which features many Rhode Island sites, including Wickenden Street. By the next day, Hood's Amazon.com rankings on all three versions of her book: hardcover, softcover, and Kindle, had skyrocketed with the news, often by more than 100%.

Here’s one for the Bravo fans. GoLocalProv recently reported that Real Housewife of NY Jill Zarin was spotted at Brown University with her daughter, potentially scouting it out to transfer. Was she shopping for colleges or inking a deal to speak at a Reality TV symposium held by Brown’s Department of Modern Culture and Media on Friday, April 22? She’ll be there representing a “real” reality TV celebrity, in between academic presentations by professors and scholars. She’s talking at 5:45 PM, and it’s open to the public, but better get there early to hear the truth about all the behind-the-scenes-drama…

Brown grad Deb Talan is really hitting the big time. Her band The Weepies, which has already had hits on Grey’s Anatomy and in an Old Navy commercial, is included on the original soundtrack for Disney’s upcoming movie Prom. The soundtrack features many new and upcoming artists, in addition to established acts like Neon Trees and Travis McCoy, and The Weepies’ song “Please Speak Well of Me” is up there with the best of them. Hopefully we’ll be seeing them around Lupo’s or the Dunk soon…

And speaking of the Dunk... when Lil' Wayne and Nicki Minaj were in town recently, turns out there was some R-rated joking backstage, which just hit MTV's video pipeline. To watch the banter straight from the Dunk, go here. Warning, it's adult content.

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