Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check

Top talkables of the day:

What's more important: A strong marriage or professional success?
   In a recent NY Times column, DAVID BROOKS wrote about the good and the bad for SANDRA BULLOCK: She won the Oscar, and then found out her husband was an adulterous jerk, but one whom she credited for her incredible year, capped by an Oscar win (the scandal broke after Oscar night).
   So it raises the philosophical question: "Would you take that as a deal? Would you exchange a tremendous professional triumph for a severe personal blow?"
   It's yet another spin on an age-old question: Money or happiness? And maybe the greater and more public the success, the greater the personal setbacks. Just ask TIGER WOODS (though, he brought his problems on himself).
   Brooks cites several findings from research on happiness, all reinforcing his idea that the personal trumps the monetary almost entirely in determining true emotional well-being. "The second impression," writes Brooks, "is that most of us pay attention to the wrong things. Most people vastly overestimate the extent to which more money would improve our lives."
   Brooks writes: "Marital happiness is far more important than anything else in determining personal well-being. If you have a successful marriage, it doesn't matter how many professional setbacks you endure, you will be reasonably happy. If you have an unsuccessful marriage, it doesn't matter how many career triumphs you record, you will remain significantly unfulfilled."
   What's your take on professional or monetary success vs interpersonal relationships? Have you grown markedly happier with more material gains, or have they mattered less than the personal side of things? (Maiman)

Trolling for publicity:

HEIDI MONTAG made medical history when she had ten different plastic surgery procedures in one day, but chose some interesting nips and tucks. The reality "star" tells RYAN SEACREST that in addition to lipo, a breast augmentation and several facial procedures she also underwent a "back scoop." Going under the knife isn't for the weak --Heidi says her new body is very fragile and she can no longer jog with her big (ahem) assets. (Lee)

CHRISTIAN BALE is becoming an American citizen:

Star magazine reports that the actor is ticked at his native Britain for his arrest in 2008 and since he's married to an American and has been living here for 20 years, he thought it was time.

Designer Update:

Women's Health magazine reports that the average woman would actually prefer to have dental work done than shop for a new bathing suit, and that 22% prefer just to wear shorts and T-shirt and forget about the whole thing. (Kaye)

Grace notes:

WILL SMITH will not be playing MARVIN GAYE. Daily Variety says the actor-rapper turned down the lead in director CAMERON CROWE's bio-pic about the late Motown legend. There were months of negotiations, but in the end, Will and Cameron just could not come to terms. But, Cameron is determined to get the project off the ground and will keep looking for his Marvin. (Marino)

Recall alert:

The country of Sweden is banning several breast implants because of a danger they might explode!
   The Local says Sweden's Medical Products Agency is not telling women who already have the implants to take them out. They just don't want anyone else to put them in.
   The implants --manufactured by Poly Implant Prothese --have also been outlawed in France. Apparently there have been several reports out of that country that a faulty mix of silicone is causing them to burst apart. (Still)