He may not be running for governor of New Mexico, but Pecos-area actor Val Kilmer is definitely raising his profile. He attended last week's American Music Awards with 50 Cent as his red carpet "date" — just a bit of publicity for the men's next project. Kilmer will be starring with 50 in The Gun, from a screenplay which 50 wrote. It tells the story of, what else, a gun as it goes from hand to hand. With a sleek black hat and matching suit, Kilmer even made a few best-dressed lists, although another description was more snarky, saying Kilmer resembled "Truman Capote's evil twin."

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Artist and former Santa Fean Nicole Panter flew back into town earlier his month for her first trip back since moving to California in May. She was in for a quick weekend with New York City designer/builder Randy Polumbo, architect Dara Shaeffer and their client, Joshua Rachnitz, to look at some contemporary Santa Fe art. Panter took them to meet artist/inventor Pippa Garner and then we went to Susan York's show at The James R. Kelly Gallery. York gave the group a tour of her show, and ended up with a commission for Rachnitz's NYC penthouse, Panter writes. She will be doing a large graphite piece for the penthouse Polumbo is building for Rachnitz.

The weekend also included a foray to Los Alamos, where the four foraged through the inventory of The Black Hole for material that Polumbo will repurpose into sinks, bookcases and other furnishings for Rachnitz's place. In the midst of art/design/architecture, Panter made sure to take time for lunch at Tomasita's and dinner at Café Pasqual's.

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Army Lt. Col. Nicholas Aranda and his wife, Debbie, will be attending the Christmas Holiday Reception hosted by first lady Michelle Obama at the White House on Tuesday. Aranda had the pleasure of introducing the first lady when she was visiting Santa Fe for the military forum during the Obama campaign at the Santa Fe Community College.

"When Michelle Obama was here, she said she would invite us to the White House if they were elected," Debbie said. We'll let you know how the reception went, and Debbie promises to look for the tree with New Mexico ornaments for a Land of Enchantment photo in the White House.

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Taos might be a tad crowded this Christmas — the historic village recently made the list as one of Travel + Leisure's best places in the world to spend Christmas. Why? According to the magazine, Taos is "especially magical at Christmas." Singled out are the lighting of Ledoux Street, Las Posadas, and, of course, Christmas Eve at Taos Pueblo with bonfires and a procession. Oh, and don't forget the skiing.

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Truth in advertising? The Wyoming Tourism Board is excited because the state is the setting for the soon-to-be-released (Dec. 18) Did You Hear about the Morgans?, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant. Tourism folks think that film publicity means an increase in tourism. The Montana film industry is excited, too. "Capturing that storyline for the film was huge for us, because this could have ... supposedly taken place in Montana," a film official told the Casper, Wyo., Star-Tribune. "And at least we're in that storyline and getting the Wyoming promotion out of it — which we will try to definitely capitalize on as this film releases in the next few weeks."

Of course, as we all know, the film might have been set in Wyoming — but it was filmed right here in New Mexico.

Send your gossip to elmitote@sfnewmexican.com.