Jumpin' Jack Flash

LEGAL BRIEFS Kate Hudson is suing her former personal assistant for allegedly spending $63,000 of the actress' money on herself. The suit seeks restitution and damages from Margaret Miller, who, the suit says, spent Hudson's money for her own plane tickets, clothes, hotel rooms, limousines, and beauty treatments, usually while Hudson was out of town.

CAAN FESTIVAL So far, Scott Caan seems to be following in dad James Caan's footsteps, playing various thieves, thugs, and tough guys in movies like ''Gone in 60 Seconds'' and the soon-to-open ''American Outlaws.'' But he wants Hollywood to know he's versatile. In fact, he's written a play, a romantic drama called ''Almost Love,'' in which he will also star and codirect, in a production that opens in North Hollywood later this month. Caan sees the show as a calling card. ''People in Hollywood -- the real deal people -- they look at that stuff and respect it. They think it's worth something, worth getting involved with somebody like that,'' the 25-year-old actor tells Reuters. ''If you want to hire me to act, I love it and I'll do it. If you want to hire me to play a tough guy, I'll do it. If you want me to play a sensitive guy, a lead, a gay guy, or a black guy, I'll play whatever you want. I dig it.''

ELO GOODBYE It's lights out for what would have been the Electric Light Orchestra's first North American tour in 15 years. The recently reunited ELO had planned to play two dozen dates in 20,000-seat arenas, with a massive light show like it used to display in the '70s. But the ticket sales were almost nil for the British group, whose new album, ''Zoom,'' has sold only 52,000 copies and dropped off the Billboard chart two weeks after its June release.

PASSING NOTES The coroner's report is in on Matthew Michael Ansara, the bodybuilder/actor son of Barbara Eden, who was found dead in his pickup truck in June, parked at a gas station outside Los Angeles. The death has been ruled an accidental heroin overdose, as an autopsy revealed a lethal amount of the drug and no hint of foul play....

Today is the 24th anniversary of the day Elvis Presley left the building to take up permanent residence elsewhere -- call it heaven, limbo, the RCA back catalog, Vegas, or the all-night Krispy Kreme donut shop out on Highway 61. Commemorate the occasion by reading William F. Buckley Jr.'s new novel, ''Elvis in the Morning,'' and contemplate the implications of living in a world where even William Freakin' Buckley is an Elvis fan.