The North American box office saw a record haul of $9.78 billion in estimated grosses, almost 2% higher than last year.

It’s important to note, however, that this is because ticket prices were so much higher in 2008. There were only 1.36 billion tickets sold in the U.S. and Canada in 2008, compared to 1.4 billion in 2007. That’s a 4.7% increase in ticket prices compared to a 2% increase in grosses.

Still, movie theaters have done quite well this year compared to other industries, but entertainment typically does comparatively well during a recession. So don’t worry, people! You may have lost your job and found yourself unable to land another, but there’ll be no lack of demand for Lindsay Lohan’s services in the foreseeable future. Big sigh of relief, I know.

Is it really, really horrible of me that I’m totally rooting for like a billion cell-phone camera pics of Sasha and Malia Obama at Sidwell Friends to hit the web in the next couple of days?

It probably is, but I can’t help myself.

On Monday, the First Daughters will attend their first day of school at Sidwell Friends, the exclusive, private D.C. school they’ll be at while their father is President. The country hasn’t had a First Kiddo since Chelsea (who also attended Sidwell), and she was just the one. Now there are TWO! And they’re YOUNG! And ADORABLE! And BLACK!

Paparazzi field day.

Rumors are already swirling that photo agencies are looking to pay the Obamas’ Sidewell classmates for cell-phone camera pics of the girls. Plus you can bet that they’ll be camped outside the school all day tomorrow, hoping for pics of the girls walking in with their lunch pails and backpacks.

Although I will be cooing over these photos with the rest of the country, part of me is really nervous for Sasha and Malia. Not only are they instant, super-young celebrities, they’re also de facto role models for every young black girl on the planet — and a type of role model that has never really existed before in this country. We’ve never had young, black First Kiddos before. I think if anybody’s up to the challenge, it’s Sasha and Malia, but, man, it sure is an awful lot of pressure to put on two little girls. I hope they can have some semblance of normalcy to their lives.

For whatever reason, Chris Rock took his grandmother to sit courtside and watch the Knicks play the Pacers on Friday. Granny looks like she knows way more about sports than I do. She knows when to clap! I always clap at the wrong time. I’m all like “FUCK YEAH WHO’S BOSS NOW???” and whatever poor soul is at the game with me is like, “Uh, that was the other team scoring. Have another beer and shut up please.”

Grandparents are the cutest.

My grandfather actually sent a package of Hannukah gelt (and pens! Grandpa loves pens!) to Wendie’s kiddos, as promised, and she uploaded the video of them opening it to her personal website, and it was just so cute. I showed it to my grandfather today, and his face lit up. I wanted to make a video of my grandpa watching the video of Wendie’s kids opening his presents. Kind of like the reaction videos to the reaction videos to the 2 Girls 1 Cup thing, except with way less vomiting (and NO I AM NOT GOING TO LINK TO THAT MADNESS). Anyway, you can watch the vid of Wendie’s kids here. The whole thing is just unbelievably precious and I’m beside myself with the wonderfulness of grandparents and small children right now.

Oh, and also, Grandpa Sam is soooo excited about all the comments you guys left him on his birthday post. He was like “Did you see that I’m an international celebrity now? People left comments from other countries! You’ve made me a star overseas!” He was just so happy about all of it. My younger cousins, who are in high school right now, didn’t even know that he fought in the war, so they read it and were all like “Grandpa Sam fought in a war???” and it gave him an opportunity to regale these teenage boys with his war stories (“I lived in a tent for 18 months!”), and really everybody was just so delighted about the whole thing. So thank you, all of you guys, for the wonderful messages you left for Grandpa Sam. You really made this a special birthday for him, and I am forever indebted to you.

I was reading this article on my Treo this morning at brunch, and I looked up at my friends and said, “Hey, looks like Al Franken’s gonna win the Minnesota Senate race!” and they were like “That thing is seriously still going on?” and then promptly returned to more important matters, like drinking mimosas and spoon-feeding coffee to their one-year-old daughter, which actually happened.

But, yeah, they’re still counting votes in the Minnesota Senate race, and now it looks like former SNL-er Al Franken won the race by 225 votes. A state election board on Monday will announce his victory on Monday. His opponent, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman, plans to challenge the findings on the grounds that hundreds of absentee ballots were improperly rejected, but it’s probably a lost cause. Al Franken will almost certainly be the new Minnesota senator.

Interestingly, the initial count of votes had Coleman winning by 215 votes, but Franken came out on top in the recount.

So here’s the point, kids: No, your vote doesn’t really count in the Presidential election, especially if you don’t live in a swing state, but it does count in matters like these. A Senate seat in Minnesota just changed parties because of a couple hundred votes. That is a huuuuge fucking deal.

Your. Vote. Counts.

You know, I don’t know much about Promises, but I get the impression that they don’t like people to leave before they’ve logged their 30 days.

And it turns out that early reports that Tara Reid had left after 22 days were false.

Tara is still at Promises, says her rep, and sources inside her camp say “she’s doing well” and that “the whole family is very positive about this being the new beginning for her.”

Aw, Tara, I’m rooting for you, girl. This has been a long time coming. I’m hoping you can keep your ass sober after you do get out — or, better yet, spend some time in a sober living before jumping right back into the shreds of your career. Lord knows you stand to gain a lot in the long run for investing in your sobriety right now.

Regarding the tragic loss of their son, Jett, the following statement was released on Kelly Preston’s website:

We would like to extend our deepest and most heartfelt thanks to everyone who has sent their love and condolences.

Jett was the most wonderful son that two parents could ever ask for and lit up the lives of everyone he encountered. We are heartbroken that our time with him was so brief. We will cherish the time we had with him for the rest of our lives. We have received many messages of condolence from around the world and we want to thank everyone for their prayers and support. It has meant so much to us. It is a beautiful reminder of the inherent goodness in the human spirit that gives us ahope for a brighter future.

With love,
John, Kelly and Ella

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday with a burial planned for mid-week.  Obviously, it is just the worst thing that could happen to any parent.  Really no words…