It seems that girls love boys with balls. Hot on the heels of rumours she was seeing George Clooney, professional media whore Paris Hilton has been spotted out sharing drinks and a cosy night out with Barry Zito, the pitcher for baseball team the San Francisco Giants. Barry is 30, and worth a cool US$126 million from his seven-year-deal with the team.

I know Paris doesn't look seem like the WAG type. She may have the look down pat, but she wouldn't dare let someone else outshine her in the spotlight. But this fella is not your typical jock. He reportedly carries pink satin pillows while he's on the road, and collects stuffed animals - which I can imagine would go down real well with his teammates.

Apparently he surprised journalists at a press conference when he signed with the Giants a couple of year ago. Zito professed that he liked the way his uniform number 75 looked on the back of his shirt - because the 7 and 5 are like a ‘shelf' to hold the name ‘Zito' up. Er, okay.

And Paris isn't the only girl who's kicked off the New Year with a sportsman in tow. Kate Hudson has been photographed in Hawaii spending some serious beach time with Aussie pro golfer Adam Scott. They met through friends. He says they're just friends. And oh, did I mention he's hot?

He's been ranked as high as fourth in the PGA men's rankings, and the US media also seem to be a bit enamoured with this 28-year-old Aussie. Sports Illustrated referred to him as "dressed as a model with the looks of a movie star" in a recent interview, while Trump magazine swooned over his "crystalline blue eyes."

Oo-er. I doubt with those looks they'll be just friends for much longer - not if man eater Kate has her way. And who could blame her? But Scott's stayed on in Hawaii for another golf tournament, and Kate Hudson has left for the mainland already. I'll keep you posted.

Baby Affleck gets named

After what seemed like a very long pregnancy Jennifer Garner finally birthed last week, spawning a second daughter for she and husband Ben Affleck. A little sister for Violet, one of the cutest kids in celebdom (those dimples! But yes, I am a dimple-sporter myself), they named the baby Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck.

Yes, that sounds like a character from Touched By An Angel, but I guess she could be Sera for short. Babynames.com has the name as meaning ‘an angel of the highest order,' which is rather sweet.

Here's a pic of Violet getting picked up from nursery school by dad Ben. Her t-shirt says 'Big Sister'. How cute! 

Seraphina's certainly better than the name bestowed on the first born son of singer Lee Ryan, from faded English boy band Blue, and his fiancé Sammi. Why do names that end in ‘I' like that always make me think of a stripper? But I digress.

The pair dubbed their baby Rayn Lee Amethyst Ryan. Rayn Ryan. It's almost the same word, except two measly letters are the other way around! And Amethyst, because they wanted to get the name of a precious stone in there. Yes, they did this on purpose. I think I might prefer the name of Lisa Bonet's new baby, Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa. It's a mouthful alright, but at least it means something.

The Golden Globes in the cold light of day

So, the Golden Globes. Were you a lover or a hater? After strike action forced last year's winners to be announced via a couple of spokespeople and a very unglamorous big screen, Hollywood turned up the wow factor in 2009 with the biggest lineup of stars to take to the carpet in quite some time - Cameron, Tommy Girl, Brad n' Ange, Jennifer Lopez, Steven Spielberg - they were all present and accounted for. One who appeared inside but didn't show face on the red carpet was my other choice for husband, Johnny Depp. (I would have said yes, but Regan got in first. Your loss, J-boy).

Proving he doesn't need the publicity, Johnny showed up out of sight of the cameras to do his job and looking rather dashing as he did so. See, Jennifer Aniston and Eva Longoria Parker and Victoria Beckham? It really is possibly to be ridiculously famous and stay away from the camera lens. Y'all should try it sometime.

Someone that was persona non grata though was nominee Sean Penn, his Milk co-star and fellow nominee James Franco - and actually anyone to do with the cast and crew of their movie Milk. Maybe because it missed out on nominations for Best Picture and Best Director nominations, but I couldn't say for sure. Do you want to see Milk? I do. I'm going to try and go see all the Academy Awards frontrunners this year.

Sure, the Oscars are more prestigious, but they're also more staid and stuffy. At the Golden Globes the stars get to chatter, mix and mingle in the breaks, and quaff Moet at their tables. This can lead to some rather interesting speeches and presentations - as shown this year by Tina Fey calling out her online haters after winning Best TV Actress in a Comedy (love her!).

There were some classic moments. It shouldn't really have been a surprise that Sacha Baron Cohen managed to shock some straight-laced Hollywood stars with his tales of economic hardship hitting celebrities, to the point that Madonna had to let one of her personal assistants go.

"Our thoughts go out to you, Guy Ritchie," he quipped. Haha!

Cue camera cutting to Sandra Bullock and Salma Hayek, gobs hanging open in shock.

I mean, the guy invented Borat.

The other classic bit was when a gob-smacked Kate Winslet got up on stage after winning Best Actress in a Drama for Revolutionary Road (which I am going to see tonight! I'll let you know how it goes). She'd already won Best Supporting Actress, and even a woman who pretends to be someone else for a living couldn't hide her shock. Thanking her fellow nominees, Kate made her way through Anne (Hathaway), Meryl (Streep), and Kristin (Scott Thomas) before pondering out loud, "oh God, who's the other one? Oh, Angelina."

Hee.

It wasn't a good night for the Brange awards wise, although word is they cheered themselves up at their table with plenty of smooching and fondling off camera. After four years and six kids together! Go on, you two.

Later at the ultra-exclusive CAA agents' after party, a woman who reports say had supped on a bit too much of the happy juice bowled up to Brad Pitt and decided to give him a piece of her mind. Face to face fan feedback! I like the way girlfriend works.

First she told him the ageing makeup he wore in the Curious Case of Benjamin Button made him look like shit, basically. He explained that it was part of the story. Unperturbed, my new personal hero then went on to let him know that "you should definitely shave off that goatee, because it looks just horrible."

Drunks speak the truth! Or this one did at any rate. Booze hag doesn't understand the ageing process, but she is on the ball with her hatred of facial hair. I say down with all goatees. No good can come of them.

Reportedly Angelina was heard chatting with Drew Barrymore, who was confiding in Saint Ange about the increasingly loud ticking of her biological clock. They swapped digits, with Angie telling Drew she'd be happy to help her if she decides to adopt.

Why aren't these two better friends? This just occurred to me. They're the same age, both grew up in LA from famous Hollywood families, have dealt with drugs in their past, and have impulsive marriages under their belts. But Drew is all about her girlfriends. And Angelina, reportedly, doesn't have any.

Spotted

Live Schreiber all wrapped up against the New York cold with eldest son Alexander...A rather limber Amy Winehouse working out in St Lucia...Jared Leto wearing paint splattered trackies and a plaid shirt in LA...Don Cheadle leaving the dentist's office in Los Angeles...Adrian Grenier working out on a Miami beach...Little Britain's David Walliams on holiday in Barbados...Kate Moss and Jamie Hince leaving a Japanese restaurant in London...Ricky Gervais and girlfriend Jane Fallon checking out of the Four Seasons Hotel in LA...Katherine Heigl on a low key outing with her mum in Beverly Hills...Tina Fey at JFK airport in New York reading Oprah's Omagazine...