Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Jun 2, 2011

Father's Day spending:

A new survey from the National Retail Federation finds Americans plan to spend $11 billion on dear old Dad this Father's Day. It works out to about $106 each, up from $94 last year. The most popular gift is a special outing, with 42% of survey respondents saying they plan to take Dad somewhere special, like golfing, eating out or to the movies.
Clothing will be the choice of 38% of shoppers, closely followed by gift cards and gift certificates (37%). Books and CDs are also a popular choice (25%), as are consumer electronics (18%). And 67% plan to buy a greeting card. (Kaye)

Top talkables of the day:

Should the possible extinction of a small sand lizard stand in the way of what could potentially be a huge oil find in Texas --one experts say is big enough to significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil? The U-S Fish and Wildlife Service tells ABC News that it might prohibit drilling in what could be an immense oil find in part of Texas over concern about the Sand Dune Lizard.
Despite that threat, Marathon Oil plans to pay $3.5-billion-dollars to lease several thousand acres for drilling in Texas' Eagle Ford Shale Field. (Pacelli)

The Economy:

No sour grapes for winemakers. Business is booming.
For the first time, American wines are outselling French wines. The main reason? There are more of us than there are French, and more of us are drinking wine that we used to. But other people are drinking American wines, too. Exports are up 26 percent from last year. (Maiman)

Trolling for publicity:

Things may not have worked out between JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE and JESSICA BIEL, but the singer has nothing but respect for the brunette bombshell. JT gave an intimate look at his life to Vanity Fair magazine and says his ex-girlfriend is "the single-handedly most significant person in my life" and very, very special. As for another former love named BRITNEY SPEARS? Justin says they were "two birds of the same feather" as teenagers living in the spotlight, but the two haven't spoken in nine or ten years. (Lee)

KATE GOSSELIN has to cough up money for therapy. Us Weekly reports that the mom of eight was ordered to pay over ten thousand dollars to a marriage counselor she and ex-hubby JON used in 2009. Her lawyer is fighting the bill.

Designer Update:

Remember LADY GAGA's meat dress? Well, now we have a Chanel bag made entirely out of beef jerky.
Design student NANCY WU created it. She's a student at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. The Daily Mail newspaper says she re-created the handbag by hand-stitching sheets of the dried meat together so that it looks like quilted leather. She also added a Chanel logo and a chain handle with strips of jerky threaded through it.Nancy loves her jerky so much she also made a Louis Vuitton wallet using the meat.
Now, according to website beef-jerkey-dot-com, a half-pound of the stuff costs less 20 bucks --and that includes the shipping. Real Chanel bags start at about 25-hundred dollars. And Louis Vuitton wallets? $500.
Editor's Note: --And now, they're delicious!
--If you're going to spend that much money on a handbag, you better be able to eat it.
--Finally, the perfect handbag to carry those tiny dogs in. (Bartha)

Hot punks in the Summertime:

Cops in Columbus, Ohio, are looking for not-so-smart bank robber.
The NY Post says the suspect was standing in line wearing a hoodie that covered most of his face. But, an employee warned him about the "no hat, no hoods" policy. So, he pulled back the hood and gave security cameras and witnesses a clear look at his face. Then, he handed the teller his note and escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Police haven't made any arrests. But, they have a very clear picture of the thief. (Still)