From the EUR: 1.30.04

MOS DEF GETS THE LEAD
Rapper extraordinaire lands role.

*Mos Def is balancing his rap career
with a successful acting career that has
put him on Broadway as well as the
big screen.
Now, Def has been chosen to star
as "Ford Prefect" in Spyglass Entertainment's
"The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy."
The film will be directed by Garth
Jennings and Nick Goldsmith,
and will start filming in April.
"The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy"
is based upon the acclaimed novel by
Douglas Adams, which depicts a British
man who is perplexed when he's saved
from the destruction of Earth by his
best friend, who turns out to be an alien.
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HOT BOYZ RAPPER CHARGED IN SHOOTING
'Turk' arrested in Memphis

*Some rappers really do live the thug life.
Such is the case of Tab Virgil Jr., a 22-year-old
rapper who performs with the Hot Boyz rap crew
under the name "Turk."
The New Orleans rapper has been charged
in Memphis with attempted first-degree murder
in the shooting that wounded two Shelby County
deputies serving a search warrant earlier this week.
Sheriff’s officials said that Tab Jr. of Metarie,
La., is being held on a $1 million bond in the
Shelby County Jail.
SWAT deputy Jason Pagenkopf, 31, a 10-year
veteran with more than four years on the sheriff’s
special weapons team, was shot in the neck
while serving the search warrant at the
Hickory Pointe apartments.
SWAT deputy Chris Harris, 29, a six-year
veteran was struck in the mouth, hip and leg.
The suspect is also wanted in Louisiana for
violation of probation, officials said.
The two wounded deputies were part of a team
of 12 officers who went to the apartment to search
for heroin. They did not find any of that illegal drug,
but did find a small amount of marijuana and
drug paraphernalia, sheriff’s officials said.