Fertile imagination

Matthew McConaughey says he kept the placenta from the July birth of his son and plans to plant it in an orchard. In an interview on CNN's "House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta," McConaughey said he hopes it will fertilize the land, a ritual followed in several cultures. "It's going to be in the orchards, and it's going to bear some wonderful fruit," he said. "When I was in Australia, they had a placenta tree that was on the river . . . and all the placentas of all that tribe, all that clan, whatever aboriginal tribe that was, all the placentas went under that one tree and it was this huge behemoth of just health and strength. This tree was just growing taller and stronger above the rest of Mother Nature around it." (AP)

A founder of the country band Sugarland is suing the two current members of the popular group for $1.5 million. According to a lawsuit filed in Atlanta, Kristen Hall was to get a cut of the group's profits even after she left in 2005 for a solo career. The suit says Hall, who founded the band in 2002, has an agreement with Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush to equally share profits and losses. Hall claims that she has been excluded from the group's profits since she left. (AP)

Producers say Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman will direct a play in London's West End later this year. "Riflemind" tells the story of a rock band reuniting 20 years after its members split up. The play is by Australian writer Andrew Upton, husband of Hollywood star Cate Blanchett. The production will star Scottish actor John Hannah, whose films include "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "The Mummy" series. Hoffman is co-artistic director of New York's LAByrinth Theater Company. (AP)

Former "American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken is a father. The 29-year-old crooner from Raleigh, N.C., announced the birth of Parker Foster Aiken on his blog. "No hyphens. One first name," he wrote. "One middle name. One last name." The baby's mother is Jaymes Foster, Aiken's friend and record producer whom he met while performing on "American Idol." Their son was born yesterday. (AP)

"The real triumph of this tour is that we haven't strangled each other. Not to say it hasn't crossed my mind -- or Andy's or Stewart's."-- Sting, in New York during the final show of the Police's tour