Nine-year-old Avery Griggs is headed to Hollywood on Sunday with her lovebird Carla – to tape an appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
Seems her mom, Jackie Griggs, had 9News anchor Kim Christiansen and videographer Don Brookins at her house for an unrelated story last week when Brookins spotted Carla the Lovebird ripping a piece of paper into long strips and placing them into her tail. Seems Carla does this all the time for reasons not quite clear.
Brookins taped it, 9News showed it, Ellen’s people saw it – and before you could say “Polly want a cracker?” Avery was booked to appear on the show.
You can see Carla at 9News.com; click on 4 O’Clock and scroll down to the clip titled “Bird with a love for paper.”
Avery explains that she first named the bird Carlos after Carlos “El Pibe” Valderrama the soccer player but changed it to Carla, “because she started laying eggs.”
Carla shares the animal duties at the Griggs household with another lovebird, Harriet (who started out as Harry – you guessed it), Marbles the Dog, Ozzie the Other Dog and Nigel the Snail. Marbles can play dead, but it’s Carla who’s the star – except with Avery’s dad, Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain exec Tim Griggs, who hates the bird because she bites him.
Avery knows that Ellen played Dory in “Finding Nemo.” John Travolta comes on the show right after Avery, and she knows he was in “Grease.”
In addition to shredding paper and biting Dad, Carla cleans Avery’s teeth and sticks her head in Avery’s mouth. The show will air 3 p.m. Wednesday on Channel 9.
High-country babies
Maybe it’s the water in the mountains.
People magazine reports that Aspen couple Kevin Costner, 52, and Christine Baumgartner, 32, are expecting their first child together.
And America’s sweethearts, Vail couple Ryan and Trista Sutter, are expecting their first child.
It’ll be Costner’s fifth child, and he says, “I’m excited. My kids are excited.”
Vailites have been wondering when the Sutters would start a family. “We are so happy after two years of trying,” Trista tells People magazine. They were married in 2003 on an ABC special after hooking up on “The Bachelorette” in 2002.
Action!
The James Ivory flick “The City of Your Final Destination” was set to shoot four days in Boulder this month – with stars Laura Linney, Omar Metwally and Charlotte Gainsbourg. The crews showed up, say Colorado film industry insiders, but they
only had credit cards for payment
– a no-no in the high-end movie
business. The four days turned to one
day at the CU-Boulder campus. No stars showed up, just students and extras.
City spirit
Catherine “Birdy” Hurlbutt, a.k.a. The Bird Lady, celebrates her 94th birthday Saturday at The Birdbrain parrot store. … Baby Loves Disco is a dance party for toddlers that rocks, coming down 1-4 p.m. Saturday at the Gothic Theatre, $12 “per walking human.” Organizers say come early or late, “Because one hour of Baby Loves Disco is a lot!” … Sez who: “They say that exercise and proper diet are the keys to a longer life. Oh, well.” Drew Carey
Bill Husted’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Husted also appears Tuesdays and Fridays on “Good Day Colorado” on Fox 31. You can reach him at 303-954-1486 or bhusted@denverpost.com. Take a peek at Husted’s next column at denverpostbloghouse.com/husted.
