Batman credits drinking milk to help retain his super strength

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BY PHILIP POTEMPA ppotempa@nwitimes.com 219.852.4327 | Tuesday, July 08, 2008 | (No comments posted.)

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Following his signal

The countdown is on and in just 10 days, Batman will be back in movie theaters everywhere saving the world.

Warner Bros. "The Dark Knight" starring Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader and the late Heath Ledger as the nefarious Joker flies into theaters July 18.

In the meantime, Bale, suited up in black leather as Bruce Wayne's heroic alter ego with the pointed ears, is currently appearing in a new series of got milk? promotional ads for the latest magazine campaign touted by America's Milk Processors.

Just the opposite of the Joker's chalk-white complexion and red leering smile, do-gooder Batman wears the campaign's trademark milk mustache under his cowl and mask.

Under his image, are the words: "Others reload. Batman refuels."

The verbiage continues with: "Research suggests that milk's unique mix of nutrients can help you recover after exercise. And its protein can help build muscle. So train hard and drink low-fat or fat free milk, because the Batmobile isn't the only thing that needs to refuel."

Other recent celebrities donning milk mustaches and featured in the latest campaign include Miley Cyrus, David Beckham and New York Yankees baseball stars Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. Check out www.bodybymilk.com to see all the new got milk? ads featuring famous faces.

Flying high

Back in April, I wrote about the fascinating (and short ) life of famed female aviator Amelia Earhart.

Her legacy and image as a celebrity remain as alive as ever.

At the time, the Purdue North Central Women's Association Spring Luncheon at the PNC Westville campus featured a lecture about the amazing pilot who disappeared so suddenly over the Pacific Ocean as this year's topic.

"Amelia Earhart's Enduring Legacy and Luncheon" focused on Earhart and her two passions, aviation and women's rights, and why she is still such an important figure to girls and women today.

Earhart actually was part of Purdue University's faculty from 1935-37; a resident dormitory on the West Lafayette campus bears her name. Then-Purdue President Edward Elliott invited Earhart to lecture at the university, because she was considered an inspiration to women to pursue nontraditional roles. She joined the faculty as a counselor in the study of careers for women and an adviser in aeronautics.

In July 1936, she acquired a new Lockheed Electra airplane she called her "Flying Laboratory." It was bought with funds from the Purdue Research Foundation. With her new airplane, Earhart began planning what was to be her ill-fated last flight.

Purdue's spring luncheon program speaker was Prof. Sammie Morris, head of Archives and Special Collections and assistant professor of Library Science at Purdue University. Morris authored "What Archives Reveal: The Hidden Poem of Amelia Earhart" (Provenance Press 2005).

I think one of the reasons so many people remain so fascinated with Earhart, besides her in-flight disappearance on July 2, 1937, just weeks before her 30th birthday, is because even back then, she knew how to embrace her celebrity status, including plenty of controversy during her three-decade life.

I was in Dallas covering the Pillsbury Bake-Off, so I had to miss the lecture. But my mom Peggy attended and gave it a stamp of approval with flying colors.

But besides picking up a copy of Prof. Morris's new book, you'll soon have a chance to follow the footsteps of Earhart via a new movie.

Fox Searchlight Studios is currently in Toronto filming a big-screen biopic called "Amelia" starring actress Hilary Swank as Earhart in this story penned by Ronald Bass.

The movie will include her stormy marriage to book-publishing mogul George P. Putnam, played by Richard Gere, the husband she informed by letter, hand-delivered to him on the day of the wedding, that: "I want you to understand I shall not hold you to any medieval code of faithfulness to me nor shall I consider myself bound to you similarly."

It also will chronicle her passionate affair with Gene Vidal, played by Ewan McGregor, who was the father of author Gore Vidal. Actress Virginia Madsen plays Dorothy Binney Putnam, the publisher's first wife and heiress to the Crayola Crayon Co., which her father Edwin Binney founded.

The film crews have had to shoot scenes around McGregor's schedule, since the actor is still finishing up Director Ron Howard's sequel to "The DaVinci Code" called "Angels and Demons."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at ppotempa@nwitimes.com or 219.852.4327.

celebBirthdays

Munchkin actor Mickey Carroll ("The Wizard of Oz") is 89. Singer Jerry Vale is 76. Singer Steve Lawrence is 73. Actor Jeffrey Tambor ("Arrested Development," "The Larry Sanders Show") is 64. Actress Kim Darby is 61. Children's singer Raffi is 60. Celebrity Chef Wolfgang Puck is 59. Actress Anjelica Huston is 57. Self-help guru Marianne Williamson is 56. Actor Kevin Bacon is 50. Country singer Toby Keith and guitarist Graham Jones of Haircut 100 and keyboardist Andy Fletcher of Depeche Mode are 47. Singer Joan Osborne and TV producer Rob Burnett are 46. Actor Ricky Carroll ("Chicago Hope") is 45. Actors Billy Crudup ("Almost Famous") and Michael Weatherly ("NCIS," "Dark Angel") are 40. Singer Beck and country singer Drew Womack of Sons of the Desert are 38. Actress Kathleen Robertson ("Beverly Hills 90210") is 35. Guitarist Stephen

Mason of Jars of Clay is 33. Actor Milo Ventimiglia ("Heroes," "Gilmore Girls") and trumpeter Tavis Werts of Reel Big Fish are 31. Actress Sophia Bush ("One Tree Hill") is 26. Guitarist Jamie Cook of Arctic Monkeys is 23. Taylor Maine Pearl Brooks (daughter of Garth Brooks ) is 16. Jaden Smith (son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith) and Maya Thurman-Hawke (daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke) are 10.

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