Blaine comes up 2 minutes short

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, May 9, 2006

Divers pulled stunt artist David Blaine from an aquarium Monday nearly two minutes short of his goal of setting a world record for holding his breath under water.

Blaine was trying to free himself from chains and handcuffs while bidding to break the world record for holding one's breath under water of 8 minutes, 58 seconds. The stunt, following a weeklong endurance challenge under water, was televised live by ABC.

With Blaine's face contorted in pain and bubbles coming up to the surface, divers went in to release him from the chains and pull him out. Blaine held his breath for 7:08.

"He is pushing his body insanely to the limits," said Dr. Murat Gunel, who heads Blaine's medical team and is associate professor of neurosurgery at Yale University School of Medicine, before the attempt.

Gunel said the challenge had taken a toll on the magician's body, including liver damage, pins and needles in his feet and hands, some loss of sensation and rashes all over his body, which glistened pale white.

On Sunday, Blaine, 33, wearing a diver's helmet with a two-way communication system, told AP Television News he would "give it my best shot" to complete the feat despite peeling skin, sharp pains in his joints and a severe earache.

The stunt artist planned to put on chains and handcuffs, remove his oxygen tube and then escape while holding his breath longer than anyone else has.

A HOLE IN HIS HEAD

KEITH RICHARDS had surgery in New Zealand to relieve pressure in his head following a fall, his representative said.

The Rolling Stones guitarist was "up and talking" soon after surgery Monday at The Ascot Hospital in Auckland, but was expected to take several weeks to recuperate, LD Communications said in a statement issued in London.

"Last week Keith was under observation in Auckland following a fall in Fiji and was feeling well after being examined by doctors last week," the statement, issued Monday, said. "However after complaining of headaches yesterday, doctors thought it prudent to move ahead with a small operation to remove the pressure."

The Stones' "A Bigger Bang European" tour, scheduled to start in Barcelona, Spain, later this month, will be postponed until June, the agency said.

Richards, 62, suffered the injury April 27, but details have not been confirmed. Various news reports have claimed that he fell out of a palm tree or from a Jet Ski.

EEK, HE PROCREATED!

ADAM SANDLER is now a real-life "Big Daddy."

Sandler's wife, Jackie, gave birth to the couple's first child, according to a posting on the comedian's Web site.

Under the headline "Sandler had a kid!!" he writes, "Kid is healthy!! Wife is healthy!!" No other details were provided.

People magazine reported the couple had a daughter, born Saturday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Sandler, 39, and Jackie, 31, were married in 2003. She is a model and actress who appeared briefly in Sandler's 1999 film, "Big Daddy."

SCORSESE DEFENDS KCSM

FILMMAKER MARTIN SCORSESE defended KCSM-TV in San Mateo, fined for profanity after airing his documentary on the blues, saying the language was an "essential part" of the story.

"Editing these words out of the film would strip the documentary of essential authenticity and historical accuracy -- in effect, 'whitewashing' the blues," Scorsese, 63, told the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in a written appeal.

The comments by Scorsese, who produced "Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues" for the Public Broadcasting Service, were part of a 130- page appeal filed by the San Mateo Community College District. The district, owner of KCSM-TV, asked the FCC on Friday to reconsider its $15,000 fine.

"We'll be reviewing it carefully," David Fiske, spokesman for FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, said Monday.

The FCC's March fine of the station was one of a dozen penalties proposed at the time against TV broadcasters for airing indecent material. The four major TV networks sued the FCC last month over some penalties, saying they are unconstitutional.

FROM WIRE REPORTS