Ashby, 22, earned a communications degree from BYU, lives in South Carolina and hopes someday to open her own health club. In the brief video clip, the bubbly gal talks about her "moral standards" as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while expressing hope that being on TV will make her a sex symbol.

In the clip's most eye-popping bit, Ashby says people find her religious faith somehow incompatible with her physical attributes: ''They're astonished to believe that, 'You're Mormon? You haven't had sex? And yet you have huge, humongous breasts!' ''

Reactions posted on nauvoo.com, an LDS-themed Web site, have not been kind:

"How embarrassing for the Church."

"She must not have made it to Seminary on the days they discussed modesty."

"Did she need to tell us that her breasts are huge? Did she really feel it was important to clear that up? Yikes."

"Let's not judge her too quickly, I'm sure her ward will gossip her into little pieces and toss her into the funeral potatoes. She's not the only Church member with issues, after all."

''I wanna know what kind of people say things like, 'You're a Mormon? Yet you have enormous breasts!' Is the non-sequitur there blowing anyone else's mind? 'You're a Baptist? But you're so tall!' ”

"I miss Ken Jennings."

The Work and the Booty: Three months after it opened in Utah, "The Work and the Glory" is still rolling out in theaters across the country. The fictionalized account of the LDS Church's origins in upstate New York has grossed almost $2.7 million, topping such low-budget Mormon hits as "The Singles Ward" ($1.2 million) and "God's Army" ($2.6 million).

The movie played last week on 51 screens nationwide. It has earned more than half its revenues in Utah, thanks in part to Larry H. Miller, one of the film's investors, who keeps flogging it in his movie theaters. Excel Entertainment, which distributes the film, will bring it to an additional 75 to 85 theaters, mostly in the Midwest, in early March.

"The Work and the Glory" seems unlikely to recoup its $7.5 million budget, but its distributor is not complaining.

"We never expected to make the money back theatrically," says Dean Hale, Excel's vice president of motion-picture distribution. "Do we wish we did better? Absolutely. But we're very pleased."

Hale says the film's DVD will be released on May 3 - just in time for Mother's Day.

And the Winner Is . . . In this space two weeks ago, I wrote about bartenders at Salt Lake City's Bambara restaurant "forecasting" the Oscar race by tracking sales of special martinis representing each of the five Best Picture nominees. Oscar handicappers in Hollywood list "The Aviator" and "Million Dollar Baby" as co-favorites for the top prize awarded Sunday night, but Bambara's barflies see the contest differently.

As of Monday, Bambara's tally had "Finding Neverland" barely ahead of "The Aviator," with "Million Dollar Baby" a distant third. "Sideways" and "Ray" trailed the field.

Don't like these results? It's not too late to stuff the ballot- er, vote (hic) for your favorite. Responsibly, of course.

---

Do you have an entertainment news tip, celebrity sighting or comment about pop culture in Utah? Send it to griggs@sltrib.com.