Greetings and happy 2007! We hope you all had a great holiday season. Now that the last carol has been sung, the final champagne cork popped, etc., we’ve got some news to catch you up on.

• A New Year’s message from Gary, as well as new concert dates, have been posted on the Lt. Dan Band web site.
  
• You might remember that Gary and the LDB performed for Operation Support Our Troops Illinois back in July. A chunk of the funds raised at that event have gone to help provide internet access to wounded veterans at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Maywood, Ill. (If any of you are visiting — a very special hello!)
  
• Kim Basinger and Gary are officially the new ambassadors for Swiss watchmaker Baume & Mercier. They participated in a photo session with celebrity photographers Jeff Lipsky and Black Little. The proceeds from the rights to the images have been donated to charitable organizations - environmental protection and the education of underprivileged children, two causes supported by Baume & Mercier’s charitable campaign. You can see one of the photos of Gary here.
  
• Open Season will be released on DVD on January 30.
  
• Gary was mentioned in an article about celebrity philanthropy in the Ottawa Sun.
  
• In an article about the CSI franchise from the Independent (UK) (via tvgrapevine.com) Gary’s character is referred to as “the most modern and complex and the least archetypal of the trio, his greyness suiting the post-September 11 Manhattan location.” And the National Post (Canada) has a Q&A with CSI creator Anthony Zuiker.
  
• Finally, OMG, are people really still asking this question? (At least they are asking someone who isn’t me.) Did this guy miss the first hour of Forrest Gump? Really, I want to know.

The AFI show was interesting — some of it was great — Sidney Poitier, Steven Spielberg, and of course Gary! Not only talking about his own films, but classics like Lawrence of Arabia. Awesome.

Some of it, though — seriously, does anyone really have a burning desire to know why Jessica Alba finds The Sound of Music inspiring? But even with some quibbles about the broadcast and what was chosen and left out, it’s a pretty impressive list overall, and it gave me some ideas for my Netflix queue.

In case you didn’t make it through all three hours, Gary had two films on the list — Apollo 13 at no. 12 and Forrest Gump at no. 37. You can find the complete list at the AFI site.

…albino alligator? Well okay then! We never doubted for a moment, really.

Also, a (vaguely annoying) article about the 10th anniversary of Bubba Gump restaurants.