Taking Names

McCartney’s confession

Paul McCartney revealed why frogs figure prominently in his new animated movies: He’s a repentant frog abuser.

The Web site Ananova.com noticed the rock legend’s mea culpa in a chat with fans on Msn.com. He said, “When I was a kid, … I remember thinking as I would have to go into the Army, cruelty to frogs seemed justified as a practice for the Army.”

“Obviously,” Mr. McCartney continued, “this is something I regret and, who knows, I may be trying to make it up to the little dears by putting them in every single one of these films.”

“Paul McCartney: The Music and Animation Collection,” a trio of DVDs, was released yesterday.

McCartney’s profession

We mean the other Mr. McCartney — as in Paul’s younger brother, Mike McCartney.

The photographer is in town today, kicking off the exhibit “MMLL: Mike McCartney’s Liverpool Life” at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

At the museum’s Carmichael Auditorium tonight, Mike McCartney will talk about the musical history of his hometown of Liverpool, England, and show slides from his new book, of the same name as the exhibit.

The program starts at 7 p.m., and the museum is on 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. For tickets and further details, call 202/357-3030.

Detox dianetics

The heroes of ground zero just got a little help from their friends in the Church of Scientology.

Tom Cruise recently helped raise $1.2 million for New York firefighters to undergo an alternative detoxification program designed by the late church founder and guru L. Ron Hubbard.

The treatment is supposed to work wonders for firefighters exposed to toxic gases during the September 11 attacks.

“Once the towers had gone down and we were faced with the aftermath of their collapse, I could not get out of my mind that huge cloud billowing across Manhattan,” the BBC quotes Mr. Cruise as saying.

As outlined in Mr. Hubbard’s book “Clear Body, Clear Mind,” originally published in 1990, the program calls for “exercise, sauna sweat-out, vitamins and minerals” to help firefighters and rescue workers cleanse their bodies.

Girls, girls, girls

Heartthrob singer Enrique Iglesias performed this week for 25,000 enthusiastic fans in Bangalore, India — and Agence France-Presse reports that it was good, old-fashioned hucksterism that packed the house.

Jyoti Shetty, who spearheaded PR for the show, said Indian women were in his cross hairs.

“The main target is women. We have targeted all women magazines and have put up advertisements,” he told AFP.

There was something in it for the boys, too.

“The men are coming to check Anna Kournikova,” Mr. Shetty said, referring to Mr. Iglesias’ on-off girlfriend, who also appeared on stage.

Special delivery

The Mailman is bringing a Carolina staple to the West Coast.

Los Angeles Lakers star Karl Malone and his agent, Dwight Manley, are partners in Kill Devils Frozen Custard & Beach Fries, a restaurant under construction at the Promenade Mall in Temecula, Calif., the Associated Press reports.

The restaurant, named for the Kill Devil Hills area of the Outer Banks — a popular getaway for Washingtonians — specializes in North Carolina barbecue, of which Mr. Malone is said to be an aficionado.

“Karl’s really into it,” said Chris Caves, another of Mr. Malone’s partners.

Mr. Caves said Mr. Malone plans to attend the restaurant’s opening, slated for May.

Down-home gal

Miss Missouri, Shandi Finnessey, a 25-year-old graduate student, was crowned Miss USA at the 52nd annual pageant Monday night.

Miss Finnessey is a Republican, has a master’s degree in counseling, plays piano and violin, and has published a children’s book called “The Furrtails.”

News reports have noted that she also loves fast food and once wrestled a greased pig in a mud pit.

We think we’re in love.

Compiled by Scott Galupo from staff and wire reports.