Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check

Trash talk and satellite dish:

We have a new MISS WORLD... and she's an American! ALEXANDRIA MILLS, an 18-year-old from Kentucky and a member of the Elite Modeling Agency, won the 60th pageant, beating more than 100 other girls in Southern China. Miss Botswana was second; Miss Venezuela third.
   There have only been two other Miss World's since the pageant began in 1951, in 1973 (MARJORIE WALLACE) and 1990 (GINA TOLLESON). Oscar-winning actress HALLE BERRY was also a finalist in 1986.

Recall:

Pfizer is recalling two more lots of its cholesterol medication Lipitor.
   Chemicals from wooden pallets contaminated the bottles used for the world's top-selling prescription drug. Consumers noticed a musty odor to the product's bottles. That's what prompted the latest recall. It's the same thing that caused Johnson & Johnson to make a series of recalls of their over-the-counter medications not that long ago.
   According to the Wall Street Journal, Pfizer has taken steps to reduce the risk of contamination in the future, exchanging the wooden pallets for plastic ones in the transportation of their empty bottles. (Page)

Collegiate capers:

Forget the millions of dollars made and records sold, forget her status as the "It" Costume of Halloween, 2010. This is how you know LADY GAGA's really made it: She's the sole subject of a college course.
   Beginning in the spring, Gaga uber-fan and University of South Carolina professor MATHIEU DEFLEM will offer students a course on "Lady Gaga and the sociology of fame." The University of South Carolina is set to offer a course called "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame."
   The professor has met the singer several times, been to 28 LADY GAGA concerts and has even launched his own fan site, gagafrontrow.net.
   Deflem, who also has purchased 300 of her recordings, "believes it is the only such full-time college course in the country." He tells the school newspaper, the Daily Gamecock, the "central objective" of his course "is to unravel some of the sociologically relevant dimensions of the fame of Lady Gaga."
   Editor's note: No word on what the class dress code will be, but we'll be disappointed if anyone is allowed to wear pants.
   --I guess People magazine just wasn't doing a good enough job covering this vital topic.
   --Should be an easy lesson plan: Just dust off the college course on MADONNA.
   --Now I really understand why the USA is getting behind in education worldwide. This course is right up there with basket-weaving and the like. But at least a basket is functional. (Maiman)

Grace Notes:

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN finally revealed why the sessions for his "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" album were videotaped. Those tapes are the basis of the new 90-minute documentary about the making of that classic LP, and NME.com says The Boss showed up at a screeening of the film on Friday in London. Bruce said that some kid from the neighborhood wanted to be a filmmaker and had a video camera, so they let him shoot anything he wanted in the studio. Bruce was happy that the guy sat on the footage for 30 years, and then paid him for the tapes. (Marino)

Brain dead:

Witnesses say 23-year-old MICHAEL LEE BEDFORD of England only ate two spoonfuls of caffeine powder before dropping dead.
   But, according to the Toronto Sun, it was the same as drinking 70 cans of energy drink. Make, that 71 cans --since he drank one to wash the powder down. Shortly after that, friends saw him puking up blood.
   Now, officials have launched an investigation. They say Bedford bought the caffeine powder online for around 5-bucks. The local coroner says, "Caffeine is so freely available on the Internet. But, it's so lethal if taken in the wrong dose and here we see the consequence."
   Bedford's death has been ruled an accident. (Still)