Beckham

Ladbrokes, a British bookmaker, is even giving odds on just what sort of "do" Beckham will sport when he makes his Galaxy debut.

Would-be gamblers can get 33-1 on him bleaching stars and stripes into his hair in honor of his U.S. adventure.

Sometimes all the attention borders on the ridiculous.

In 2003, for instance, Britain's Channel Four aired a documentary titled "Black Like Beckham," in which it argued that Beckham's taste in clothes, cars and music -- he is a fan of and friends with rappers Snoop Dogg and Diddy -- make him Britain's most famous black man.

"He may really be white, but he has borrowed and begged so much from black culture that he should be considered black," a Channel Four spokesman said at the time.

As good a reflection as any of their rich and famous lifestyle is the way the Beckhams celebrated their respective birthdays earlier this year.

When Beckham turned 32 on May 2, he chose to spend the day shopping for a new suit on London's fashionable Savile Row, being measured for a new pair of custom-made shoes and buying himself a $28,000 watch.

He capped the day by going to dinner at Cipriani -- not with one former Spice Girl but with all of them.

That was tame, however, compared to how the couple spent Victoria's 33rd birthday a few weeks earlier on April 17. Beckham rented a private jet, flew her to Paris for a shopping spree that ended with dinner amid the dark wood and rich leather of the Guy Savoy restaurant and a $12,000-a-night suite at the swank Paris Ritz hotel.

Beckham's track record for splurging on ostentatious and outrageous gifts for his wife is well-documented.

For another birthday, he gave Victoria a $336,000 painting by Damien Hirst, controversial British artist perhaps best known for his exhibition of various animals preserved in formaldehyde.

On another occasion, while Victoria was expecting their third child, Beckham spent $1.8 million for a diamond-encrusted sex toy with matching 16-carat diamond necklace.

All this, amid their skiing holidays in Switzerland, their beachfront holidays in the South of France and all their other trappings of life in the very fast lane.

The fat contract given to him by MLS means that the ride isn't over.

"It's an amazing amount of money," Beckham told ABC's "Good Morning America" the day after signing. " ... but this move for me is not about the money."

grahame.jones@latimes.com

--

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Mixing sports and entertainment

David Beckham and wife Victoria (the former Posh Spice) aren't the first to blend two worlds of celebrity:

Other power couples:

Bob Waterfield-Jane Russell

John McEnroe-Patti Smyth

John McEnroe-Tatum O'Neal

Mike Tyson-Robin Givens

Jason Sehorn-Angie Harmon

Rick Fox-Vanessa Williams

Pete Sampras-Bridgette Wilson

Jeff Gordon-Ingrid Vandebosch

Dean Paul Martin-Dorothy Hamill