Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > February
February 2007
Dallas Austin fund-raiser gets boost from Oscar
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After his unscheduled, extended Dubai vacation last year (not to mention his enduring media vow of silence on the subject), there were more than a few fund-raising veterans in the city wondering if Dallas Austin would actually get the high-end $1,000-per-ticket price for his second Don’t Stop the Music gala, set for this month.
The music mogul/film producer’s critics were silenced Sunday night when Jennifer Hudson won the Oscar for her role in “Dreamgirls.”
Months ago, Austin had the foresight to book Hudson as the featured entertainment at the fundraiser for his burgeoning public school music program. Also on the bill: R&B legend Al Green, co-hosts Denzel and Pauletta Washington and songwriter/charitable fund-raiser
Denise Rich and “Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls” actress Gabrielle Union, who will serve as the mistress of ceremonies at the March 11 event at the Georgia Aquarium.
“Given the talent we’ve assembled and the cause, we had no problem asking $1,000 a ticket,” Dallas Austin Foundation board chair Ted Florence told Buzz. “We’re really, really proud of this event and the work we’re able to do with the money being raised.”
The foundation has already installed recording studios in five Atlanta public schools, where students learn songwriting and music production. Austin’s long-range plan is to eventually take the program nationally. Florence told Buzz that the foundation will also offer one-on-one music instruction to kids and teach students the business side of the music industry.
“This year’s gala is a really special event for me with the support of a musical icon like Al Green,” Austin told us via an e-mailed statement. “The fact that celebrities such as Denzel and Jennifer want to be involved in a fund-raiser for my foundation is amazing, considering that they are inspirations to many of the kids involved in the program.”
The second annual Don’t Stop the Music also will include aquarium tours, a VIP reception and dinner before the concert, featuring Hudson and Green.
Silent auction items include a walk-on role on the ABC comedy “Ugly Betty” and a dinner with Austin, Boris and Nicole Kodjoe and Big Boi.
For tickets, call: 678-686-5683 or dallasaustinfoundation.org.
Overscene
Singer Pink and tour mates dining on chef Tom Harvey’s Memphis-style barbecued tuna, calamari, wild mushroom spring rolls and herb goat cheese stuffed inside grilled brioche bread at One Midtown Kitchen, prior to her concert with Justin Timberlake at Philips Arena. Atlanta record producer (and One Midtown neighbor) Butch Walker had introduced the singer to the eatery when she was in town recording with him.
Celebrity docket
Atlanta restaurateur Sean “Diddy” Combs is accused of battery at a Hollywood hotel the day of the Academy Awards.
Police took a report from someone who accused Combs of battery at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, said Officer Jason Lee, a police spokesman. The celebrity news Web site TMZ.com reported that the complaint was filed by real estate agent Gerard Rechnitzer, 27.
According to a document posted on the site, Rechnitzer was punched shortly after 2:30 a.m. Sunday on the right side of his face by someone who had talked to his girlfriend.
Combs’ publicist, Meghan Prophet, declined to comment.
An honor, sort of
Talk about a backhanded compliment. This week, a Georgia Senate committee urged the placing of a statue of former Gov. Zell Miller on the Capitol grounds. The motion to approve Senate Resolution 270 came from Sen. Regina Thomas, a Democrat from Savannah. But Thomas noted she was making the motion to honor the former governor and U.S. senator “in spite of what appears to be senility and erratic behavior the past couple of years” — bringing laughter from the audience. Miller’s willingness to bash his own party, his campaigning for President Bush in 2004 and his strident keynote speech at the Republican National Convention that year, along with his wish to challenge MSNBC “Hardball” host Chris Matthews to a duel, have led many to characterize Miller as a straight-talking hero, an irascible turncoat or just plain nutty. The resolution was urged unanimously by the bi-partisan panel. The House also passed a resolution asking the Capitol Arts Standards Commission to erect a statue of Miller.
Brown short of cash
Bobby Brown has been ordered to remain in a Massachusetts jail until he pays $19,000 in late child support and court fees, his lawyer said.
“We’re diligently working on getting those funds available from outside sources,” said Phaedra Parks, Brown’s Atlanta attorney.
Parks said the rhythm-and-blues singer has been struggling to meet monthly payments to Kim Ward, the mother of his two teenage children. “Although this agreement was put in place when he was Bobby Brown the star, this agreement is being enforced when he is not always able to find work,” said Parks. “He hasn’t made an album in quite some years.”
Brown is in the midst of a divorce from his wife of 14 years, pop diva Whitney Houston.
A judge in Norfolk Probate and Family Court ordered Brown held in the county jail in Dedham on Monday, one day after the singer was arrested while he was watching his daughter’s cheerleading competition at Attleboro High School. Brown owes child support payments from January, plus late penalties, Ward’s attorney fees and constable fees, Parks said.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Harry Belafonte is 80. Singer Roger Daltrey is 63. Actor-director Ron Howard is 53. Actor George Eads (“CSI”) is 40. Guitarist Ryan Peake of Nickelback is 34. Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar (“Saved by the Bell”) is 33. “Blue’s Clues” host Donovan Patton is 29. Singer Sammie is 20.
Contributing: Carlos Campos and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Timberlake in sync with low-key lunch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Normally, performers who gig at Philips Arena and book Pink as their opening act don’t stroll into the Flying Biscuit Cafe in Midtown for lunch. That’s the primary reason we might now discreetly download a Justin Timberlake album.
Before his concert in town Tuesday, the pop star and YouTube “[Junk] in a Box” video sensation shocked noontime patrons when he casually turned up at the, um, intimate eatery.
He ordered the Flying Biscuit Breakfast with eggs over easy, “creamy dreamy” grits, chicken sage sausage, large orange juice, coffee and the restaurant’s trademark baked good.
Timberlake arrived wearing a green tracksuit, bluejeans, white sneakers and black sunglasses, which he promptly removed once inside.
“Yeah, there’s no place to hide when you come here,” Biscuit assistant manager Allie Rader told us, referring to the restaurant’s size. “He was just very sweet.”
“When you come in, you’re just seated regularly, along with everyone else,” Biscuit founder Delia Champion told Buzz on Tuesday. “We like to say that nothing is special and everything is special at the Biscuit.”
Still, the eatery’s wait staff is trained not to call attention to the famous, gossip about them with other patrons or request autographs.
Said Champion: “He got in and out without a lot of commotion and not a lot of hoopla.”
Taking Timberlake’s lead, we reluctantly trimmed back the Buzz Central entourage Tuesday. (Well, except for the guy who graciously starts our car each morning… .)
‘Basic’ arithmetic
Thanks to celebrity auctioneer Sharon Stone, the Elton John AIDS Foundation doubled its take on a hotly contested auction item over the weekend.
The “Basic Instinct” actress and FOE (Friend of Elton) served as the celebrity auctioneer when a pair of tickets to the pop star-philanthropist’s ultra-private 60th birthday party in New York City were raffled off at his annual Oscar Party benefit Sunday in Los Angeles.
The package also includes a hotel stay and tickets to his long sold-out 60th birthday concert March 25 at Madison Square Garden.
When Stone noticed two fans in a bidding war as the package neared $220,000, she leaned over, whispered to Sir Elton and promptly got permission to sell another pair of tickets if each party agreed to part with $250,000 apiece.
Total take: $500,000.
Thankfully, there’s a cheaper way to catch the milestone concert. On Tuesday, MyNetworkTV (its Atlanta affiliate is WATL) announced that it has obtained the U.S. broadcast rights to the two-hour concert that will be taped. It will air April 5 on MyNetworkTV affiliates.
In the Elton gift bag
OK, so what exactly was in those weighty 25-pound gift swag bags that guests received as they departed Sir Elton’s Oscar party early Monday morning?
Possibly the coolest contraption was the iKaraoke machine, outfitted for iPods so you can perform vocals to accompany your iPod library. Also, an assortment of Elton candles and Elton Rocks potpourri and a “scentport” by Slatkin Candles, CO Bigelow body lotions and potions, Patricia Wexler skin care products, MAC cosmetics, a Chopard pen and miniature toy Audis, presumably for those too young to drive the real thing.
Shamrock’s green
Atlanta, home to the likes of OutKast, Ludacris and Lil Jon, now has a possible white rap star in its midst: Shamrock (nee Timothy Rasmussen) took home $100,000 as the winner of VH1’s “Ego Trip’s (White) Rapper Show” Monday night, beating Los Angeles resident and self-proclaimed “King of the Burbs” John Brown.
Dropping references to the ATL during the final faceoff taped last summer at a club in Harlem, N.Y., Shamrock impressed the judges with his rapping skills and driven personality. “The competition was very intense,” he told Buzz. “Hopefully, this can begin a very successful career for me.”
A lot of Spam
We did attempt to refrain from laughing Tuesday while chatting with Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant general manager Chris Ernest about the eatery’s newest menu item.
That didn’t actually work out all that well.
“That response has been fairly common,” Ernest told us earnestly, of the restaurant’s grilled Spam sandwich, a tongue-in-cheek special tied to the run of the Tony Award-winning musical “Spamalot” down the street at the Fox Theatre. “Most people get the humor connected with it,” Ernest explained. Still, the blackened sandwich served on a bun with mixed greens and a sweet chili sauce along with garlic fries is selling.
Reported Ernest: “We sold five on Sunday.”
However, the Savoy Bar & Grill inside the Georgian Terrace across the street from the Fox remains perhaps the most committed to culinary creativity concerning the much-maligned canned meat.
The eatery is offering a different daily lunch and dinner entree special made from Spam during the show’s run through Sunday. For example, today’s $15 dinner special is Spam Stroganoff.
When we informed Ernest of his competition, he replied: “Wow, I thought I was going out on a limb. That’s dedication.”
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Charles Durning is 84. Actor Gavin MacLeod (“The Love Boat,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”) is 76. Actress Kelly Bishop (“Gilmore Girls”) is 63. Actress Bernadette Peters is 59. Singer Cindy Wilson of the B-52’s is 50. Singer Pat Monahan of Train is 38.
Quote of the day
“I have a deep sense of shame for the things I’ve done. I felt very remorseful for having thrown the phone at someone that didn’t deserve it.”
— Supermodel Naomi Campbell on last year’s temporary ambition to embed a jewel-encrusted BlackBerry into the brain of an employee, to “Extra” on Tuesday.
Contributing: Rodney Ho and news services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Norcross couple in Oscar dance troupe
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Norcross husband and wife Matt and Emily Kent were among the members of Pilobolus, that gravity-defying interpretive dance troupe who turned their bodies into selected films at Sunday night’s Oscars. Hidden behind a white screen, the troupe somehow morphed into “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Snakes on a Plane” and even the dilapidated VW bus from “Little Miss Sunshine.”
“My personal favorite was when they formed themselves into the Oscar statuette,” Matt Kent’s sister, Marietta resident Christi Kasha, told Buzz on Monday. The members of Pilobolus didn’t get a lot of downtime after their high-profile gig Sunday night either. On Monday, the troupe was booked on both “Good Morning America” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
Overscene
The answer:
What is Atlanta?
A film crew for venerable TV game show “Jeopardy!” shooting footage for future clues at the Carter Presidential Center and at the Weather Channel. The Atlanta-based clues should pop up in episodes later this year.
Tea for the Queen and the pretender?
If you needed further proof that sucking up to your subject is effective, Helen Mirren, who won the best actress Oscar for playing Queen Elizabeth II in “The Queen,” may be invited to tea, Buckingham Palace said Monday.
“It is speculation, but we are looking at a number of options,” a palace spokeswoman said Monday.
News of Mirren’s win was inescapable Monday, dominating U.K. newspaper front pages and television newscasts.
Mirren, 61, saluted the queen in her acceptance speech.
Celebrity docket
If we had a nickel for every time we’ve typed the words “Bobby Brown” and “arrested,” well, we would no longer have to type those words for a living. Yes, the former Alpharetta resident was busted in Massachusetts on Sunday night.
Brown was picked up on a warrant for failing to appear at a child support hearing in October.
The singer was scheduled to appear Monday in Norfolk Probate and Family Court, said Adam Loomis of All State Constables.
“He was supposed to show up and prove everything was up-to-date,” Loomis said.
Brown’s attorney, Atlanta-based Phaedra Parks, didn’t immediately return a call to comment. The singer and wife Whitney Houston are divorcing after a 14-year marriage.
Celebrity birthdays
Actress Joanne Woodward is 77. Actress Elizabeth Taylor is 75. Actor Donal Logue (“Knights of Prosperity”) is 41. Singer Chilli (right) of TLC is 36. Singer Josh Groban is 26.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Father of Ludacris dies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ludacris, the Atlanta music mogul and actor (also known as Chris Bridges), is mourning the loss of his father, Wayne Brian Bridges, 52, who died in Atlanta on Sunday.
You may recall that the rapper referenced his ailing father during his Grammy acceptance speech this month. The performer also name drops the elder Bridges in “Grew Up a Screw Up,” a single with Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy on his Grammy-winning album “Release Therapy.”
Said Ludacris Monday to Buzz: “He was the man I got my style from, and now I have the strength of two men.”
Barry Florence, a publicist for the rapper, told the Associated Press that the elder Bridges died after a long illness but that the family had chosen not to publicly announce the cause of death and was planning a private funeral in Atlanta.
A public statement issued by the family said, “We are overwhelmed by the generous outpouring of love, condolences and support from family members, friends, fans and the many well-wishers. We thank you for your prayers and hope you will understand our need for privacy during this sorrowful time.”
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Elton’s Oscar bash
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The sometimes- lethargically paced 79th Academy Awards didn’t faze the folks at Elton John’s 15th annual Oscar Party Sunday night at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood.
Of course, an open bar, a lavish dinner of Tuscan salad, risotto, filet of sole or filet mignon and a creamy chocolate dessert plus non-stop celebrity sightings all tend to make even the dullest sound editing award acceptance speech go a bit faster.
To see a gallery of photos from the party CLICK HERE.
Among the celebrities at the Peachtree Road resident’s annual benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation: P. Diddy, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell, Natalie Cole, Oscar winner Marlee Matlin, Sarah Michelle Gellar, “24” star Keifer Sutherland, “Desperate Housewives ” actor James Denton, “Will & Grace” actor Eric McCormack, Jon Bon Jovi, Kid Rock and Cedric the Entertainer.
Singer-songwriter James Blunt performed a short set for the appreciative crowd.
As always, two table-fulls of Atlantans flew across the country to be a part of the festivities. The Cattleya orchids serving as the centerpiece at each table, along with ivory-handled flatware and gold-rimmed china did not escape the eye of Atlanta florist Robert Long. Long was “just too thrilled for words” that he got to meet film director John Waters and Sir Elton on the same night.
Atlanta real estate developer Charlie Hendon, meanwhile, scored the much-coveted private soccer lessons with David Beckham (the international soccer phenom and his wife, Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham, longtime friends of Sir Elton, recently relocated to Los Angeles where David is now playing). Price tag on the lessons: $50,000.
Atlanta plastic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Gallups, meanwhile, won one of the evening’s signature Chopard watches.
Gallups’ wife, Atlanta pediatrician Dr. Nancy Gallups, clad in an Oscar de la Renta frock, scored a double kiss from the evening’s host as he made the rounds through the party.
“The energy level is really sky high here tonight,” Nancy Gallups allowed. “Elton always appreciates seeing his friends from Atlanta who are so supportive of him.”
As always, Atlanta hair stylist Carey Carter could be relied upon to help keep track of the more tabloid-attracting celebs in the crowd (Tara Reid, for example, waged an impressive battle with the earth’s gravitational pull throughout the evening).
The festivities still dazzled Acworth couple Michael and Linda Scaturro, who were in the crowd 15 Oscar nights ago in Hollywood for the very first EJAF Academy Awards benefit, then held in a hotel with a widescreen TV.
“It’s always a terrific way to spend Oscar night and for such a great cause,” Michael Scaturro told Buzz. “And it’s very cool to see so many people from home who are now a part of this.”
Still, Michael was keeping tabs on Linda who kept busy scanning the crowd for David Beckham.
Cracked Scaturro: “I told her, ‘If you leave me for him, I want half of his money!’ But if she runs off with him, it will give me a chance to bid on that five-night stay at Donatella Versace’s house in the French Riviera!”
Long after Atlantans crashed early Monday morning, the EJAF board members in West Hollywood had a substantial reason to stay awake and celebrate: the 2007 party took in more than $4 million.
“It puts us a million dollars over last year,” EJAF-Atlanta board member Barron Segar told us. “It’s one for the record books. We couldn’t be happier.”
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
Permalink | |
Elton’s Oscar bash
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The sometimes- lethargically paced 79th Academy Awards didn’t faze the folks at Elton John’s 15th annual Oscar Party Sunday night at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood.
Of course, an open bar, a lavish dinner of Tuscan salad, risotto, filet of sole or filet mignon and a creamy chocolate dessert plus non-stop celebrity sightings all tend to make even the dullest sound editing award acceptance speech go a bit faster.
To see a gallery of photos from the party CLICK HERE.
Among the celebrities at the Peachtree Road resident’s annual benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation: P. Diddy, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell, Natalie Cole, Oscar winner Marlee Matlin, Sarah Michelle Gellar, “24” star Keifer Sutherland, “Desperate Housewives ” actor James Denton, “Will & Grace” actor Eric McCormack, Jon Bon Jovi, Kid Rock and Cedric the Entertainer.
Singer-songwriter James Blunt performed a short set for the appreciative crowd.
As always, two table-fulls of Atlantans flew across the country to be a part of the festivities. The Cattleya orchids serving as the centerpiece at each table, along with ivory-handled flatware and gold-rimmed china did not escape the eye of Atlanta florist Robert Long. Long was “just too thrilled for words” that he got to meet film director John Waters and Sir Elton on the same night.
Atlanta real estate developer Charlie Hendon, meanwhile, scored the much-coveted private soccer lessons with David Beckham (the international soccer phenom and his wife, Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham, longtime friends of Sir Elton, recently relocated to Los Angeles where David is now playing). Price tag on the lessons: $50,000.
Atlanta plastic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Gallups, meanwhile, won one of the evening’s signature Chopard watches.
Gallups’ wife, Atlanta pediatrician Dr. Nancy Gallups, clad in an Oscar de la Renta frock, scored a double kiss from the evening’s host as he made the rounds through the party.
“The energy level is really sky high here tonight,” Nancy Gallups allowed. “Elton always appreciates seeing his friends from Atlanta who are so supportive of him.”
As always, Atlanta hair stylist Carey Carter could be relied upon to help keep track of the more tabloid-attracting celebs in the crowd (Tara Reid, for example, waged an impressive battle with the earth’s gravitational pull throughout the evening).
The festivities still dazzled Acworth couple Michael and Linda Scaturro, who were in the crowd 15 Oscar nights ago in Hollywood for the very first EJAF Academy Awards benefit, then held in a hotel with a widescreen TV.
“It’s always a terrific way to spend Oscar night and for such a great cause,” Michael Scaturro told Buzz. “And it’s very cool to see so many people from home who are now a part of this.”
Still, Michael was keeping tabs on Linda who kept busy scanning the crowd for David Beckham.
Cracked Scaturro: “I told her, ‘If you leave me for him, I want half of his money!’ But if she runs off with him, it will give me a chance to bid on that five-night stay at Donatella Versace’s house in the French Riviera!”
Long after Atlantans crashed early Monday morning, the EJAF board members in West Hollywood had a substantial reason to stay awake and celebrate: the 2007 party took in more than $4 million.
“It puts us a million dollars over last year,” EJAF-Atlanta board member Barron Segar told us. “It’s one for the record books. We couldn’t be happier.”
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Busy LaBelle’s attitude great for ATL fans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
R&B legend Patti LaBelle was the anti-diva Saturday at a Super Wal-Mart in College Park.
She was the queen of accommodation, signing autographs and posing for pictures for hundreds of boisterous fans, dozens of Wal-Mart employees and even the four Fulton County cops who watched over her for the afternoon. She spent extra time with kids and the handicapped. And she didn’t require people to buy her CDs or cookbooks to get her signature.
“A lot of people don’t have the money to buy CDs, so they just come and see me!” she told the media later in the Wal-Mart break room. “I’ll sign anything!” She scribbled on backs of bank deposit slips and dollar bills.
As her greatest hits played in the background, she even sang along at times. “Even ‘New Attitude’ sounded good to me,” she said later. (One diva concession: Her son Zuri Edwards fanned her with a sheet of paper when she got warm in the break room.)
After 45 years in showbiz, she’s still incredibly busy, touring, taping her TV One reality show, promoting diabetes awareness and making cameos in films, including an upcoming comedy starring Will Ferrell. (She was also in OutKast’s “Idlewild.”)
Currently without a major label, LaBelle said she finally was able to finish her recently released gospel CD, with proceeds going to cancer research. And she’s working on a reunion album with her old group LaBelle. Lenny Kravitz is helping out, and she hopes her buddy Prince — who she dubs “Purple Magic Man” — can produce a song or two.
LaBelle also plans to open a “comfort food” restaurant in Atlanta, following in the footsteps of Gladys Knight. “I love Atlanta,” said the Philadelphia native as she left Wal-Mart. “I could move here!”
Rapper results
Timothy Rasmussen is a local 24-year-old graduate of Salem High and the University of Georgia who recently managed a Quiznos. He’s also known as Shamrock, the Irish white rapper, who might just walk off with $100,000 tonight on VH1’s “Ego Trip’s (White) Rapper Show.”
Shamrock’s rapid-fire delivery evokes Houston rapper Paul Wall, and he loves to flash his “grills,” or gold teeth. He doesn’t believe the show mocks him or other white rappers. “I know at least in Atlanta, I’m not a joke,” he said. “The people I work with in Atlanta are showing love.”
During the finale, taped last summer in Harlem, N.Y., Shamrock faced off against John Brown, a Los Angeles resident and self-proclaimed “king of the burbs.”
Shamrock said he’s not about dissing rivals and respects Brown’s skills: “His wordplay is pretty sick at times.”
Shamrock grew up in Atlanta with a cleft palate and spent his early years home schooled while he got surgeries to fix it. The radio was his friend. He would ape rappers such as Naughty by Nature and House of Pain. The rapping, in fact, greatly improved his speech when he finally attended regular school at age 12.
Nowadays, he said he practices his craft regularly at local black hip-hop clubs such as Frequency, Chocolate Night Club and Club Crunk.
And the ATL is always close to his heart. During a visit to New York hip-hop station Hot 97, the jock asked him to free-style rap and he accidentally dropped “107” instead of “97.” He admitted that he was thinking about Atlanta’s Hot 107.9.
“It’s been my dream to be on 107.9, to be on the ‘A Team’” morning show, he admitted. “That was my subconscious talking!”
‘Road’ debut set
ABC last week finally set a launch date for “October Road.” The new drama, produced in Atlanta, is set to debut at 10 p.m. March 15, subbing out “Men in Trees” in the plum spot after “Grey’s Anatomy.”
The show features Bryan Greenberg (“One Tree Hill”) as an author who returns to his small New England town after writing a fictional best-seller that thinly veils the friends and family he left behind, including a former girlfriend played by Laura Prepon (“That ’70s Show”). Buzz will be receiving advance episodes soon, and we’ll report whether Atlanta can pass for New England.
Random bits
Sharon Stone didn’t get any Oscars on Sunday night, but she did win a Razzie, the not-so-coveted worst-of award, for her performance in “Basic Instinct 2,” which was also crowned worst film of 2006. The Wayans brothers Shawn and Marlon shared worst actor and worst screen couple for “Little Man.”…
Racy photos of Antonella Barba, a top 20 finalist on “American Idol,” have surfaced on the Net in recent days, fueling speculation producers might boot her. Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe told People on Friday he had not yet seen the pictures.
Random silly joke
“We’re in the space shuttle, and they’re on land.”
— Louis J. Horvitz, who directed Sunday night’s Oscar telecast from a high-tech production truck in the parking lot at the Kodak Theatre. Horvitz watched the show on 85 screens at once.
On the iPod
Miss J. Alexander/’America’s Next Top Model’
The flamboyant judge and runway model coach returns for Tyra Banks’ popular CW reality show, which launches edition No. 8 Wednesday. He said last month at a party for TV critics in Pasadena, Calif., that this batch of girls didn’t look promising at first, but he’s happy with the winner. (The show is taped.)
His iPod, not surprisingly, includes Christina Aguilera, Fantasia and Justin Timberlake. He loves Sarah Vaughan. Plus, he has classical cuts from “Tosca” and “Carmen.”
“What else have you been downloading lately?” Buzz asked.
“Porn,” he replied. No point getting into details there.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Fats Domino is 79. Singer Michael Bolton is 54. Singer Erykah Badu is 36. Singer Corinne Bailey Rae is 28.
Contributing: news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Panda cub’s clumsy energy wows visitors
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On this beat, we routinely chronicle celebrities who enter a room and immediately topple over. But in the case of Zoo Atlanta’s biggest star, there’s no court date attached, just a growth spurt.
Yes, Friday marked baby giant panda Mei Lan’s formal public debut, the first day people could get time-specific tickets to check out the cub, now nearly 6 months old.
And the early visitors, who shivered in Friday’s chill to see the zoo attraction, weren’t disappointed.
Mei Lan came trundling out of her sleeping quarters right on schedule. She looked like a woolly worm in a hurry. The cub got as far as a bucket, which jumped in her way. Mei Lan fell. Cameras clicked. She struggled to her feet, blinked her eyes and ka-lonked into a log. Everyone cheered.
After a few more pratfalls, Mei Lan tumbled over for a midmorning snooze.
Celebrity docket
In Fulton County Superior Court on Friday, an order was filed for the immediate arrest and incarceration of former NBA Milwaukee Bucks forward Jason Caffey. The Atlantan has yet to fulfill the court-mandated requirements in relation to back child support. According to the order, Caffey still owes more than $70,000 in payments to Lorunda Brown, the mother of Justin Amir Caffey, 4. In January and February, Caffey came up with $8,300. However, the balance was due Friday. The order states that “all law enforcement officers of this state are hereby ordered to arrest Jason Caffey on sight.”
Caffey played on two NBA Championship teams while with the Chicago Bulls in 1996 and 1997.
Brown’s attorney Randall Kessler told Buzz on Friday via e-mail: “Mr. Caffey just isn’t taking this seriously.”
When we contacted a receptionist for Caffey’s Atlanta attorney James Altman and identified ourselves as an AJC reporter Friday, we were briefly placed on hold and then were subsequently put into Altman’s voice mail.
Coupling
Some CNN employees will take a brief respite from tracking the Anna Nicole Smith court drama this weekend. “Robin & Company” sports anchor Will Selva is scheduled to marry CNN news scribe Jennifer Gurka today in Pasadena, Calif. We’re told that fellow CNNers, including “Robin & Company” anchor Robin Meade, entertainment reporter Adrianna Costa and Headline anchor Christi Paul, will be among those on hand at the Ritz-Carlton.
Stork report
It’s a boy!
Country singer Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams-Paisley are the parents of a baby boy.
The couple’s first child was born Thursday morning in a Nashville-area hospital, according to a statement from the country star’s publicist.
Mother and baby were resting comfortably.
Paisley, 34, is in the studio working on his next album and will launch his Bonfires & Amplifiers Tour on April 26 in Chattanooga. Williams-Paisley, 35, stars on the ABC sitcom “According to Jim.”
Quote of the day
“It gives circuses a bad name.” — Florida defense attorney Roy Black on “Good Morning America” Friday. Black was referring to Florida Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin’s bizarre blubbering and rambling this week as he decided the issue of Anna Nicole Smith’s burial.
Celebrity birthdays
Saturday: Actor Abe Vigoda is 86. Actor Dominic Chianese (“The Sopranos”) is 76. Movie composer Michel Legrand is 75. Actress Debra Jo Rupp (“That ’70s Show”) is 56. CNN’s Paula Zahn is 51.
Sunday: Country singer Ralph Stanley is 80. CBS newsman Bob Schieffer is 70. Comedian Carrot Top is 40. Actor Sean Astin is 36. Singer Daniel Powter is 36. Actress Rashida Jones (“The Office”) is 31. Actor Justin Berfield (“Malcolm in the Middle”) is 22. Actors James and Oliver Phelps (“Harry Potter”) are 21.
Contributing: Mark Davis and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Celeb-filled Soul Session cheers Thicke
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Actor Wilmer Valderrama and R&B singers India Arie, Laurnea and Joe were among the celebs in the crowd for V-103’s Soul Session at Center Stage this week to take in sets by Musiq and Robin Thicke. In his dressing room afterwards, Thicke was still floating from the enthusiastic response he got from the heavily-female crowd.
Particularly since he was the opening act.
“You should have been the headliner!” one autograph seeker insisted. “Hey, they told me they wanted me to do 30 minutes,” Thicke said with a smile. “But believe me, I had much more to give. I love the ATL.”
Overscene
Blues Brothers Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi performing a private gig for 300 Wednesday night at the Tabernacle downtown for employees and clients of prepaid technology company InComm.
Norville reups
University of Georgia graduate Deborah Norville has inked a new multi-year deal to remain in the anchor chair at “Inside Edition.” Said CBS Television Distribution CEO Roger King of the Dalton native: “When Deborah joined ‘Inside Edition’ 12 years ago, she reinvigorated the show with her sharp interview skills and strong news judgment. I’m happy that she’ll continue to be the face of the show for years to come.”
Quote of the day
“There aren’t many real bands anymore. The ones that do well, it’s one person with the talent, and three other people who have similar haircuts and clothing, and no power. And then later, it’s a brand, but it ain’t a band.”
— Rock god Iggy Pop in the March issue of Spin.
It’s easy being green — if you’re Orlando Bloom
Actor Orlando Bloom says he’s building his house in London with the environment in mind.
“It’s as green as I can make it,” the 30-year-old British actor said this week during a pre-Oscar party benefiting the environmental organization Global Green USA and its efforts to combat global climate change.
“It’s got solar panels on the roof, energy efficient light bulbs — newer technology basically that is environmentally friendly,” he said after arriving in a plug-in hybrid vehicle.
Plug-in hybrids combine hybrid technology — which uses both gasoline and electric power — with large batteries that can be plugged into a standard wall socket.
Not everyone can live a totally green lifestyle, Bloom said, but people can start by unplugging their cell phone chargers or turning off their TVs when not in use.
“It doesn’t have to be overwhelming. There are simple things we can do,” he said.
Celebrity Birthdays
Actor-director Peter Fonda is 67. Actress Kristin Davis (“Sex and the City”) is 42. Bassist Jeff Beres of Sister Hazel is 36. Actress Dakota Fanning (“Charlotte’s Web” ) is 13.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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‘Mrs. Brown’ plans tribute album
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a daring attempt to wrestle free the “Entertainment Tonight” (not to mention the CNN) media glare from Anna Nicole Smith’s tastefully grieving loved ones and Britney Spears’ hairstylist, James Brown’s partner has inked a new record deal. Yup, Tomi Rae Hynie, The Godfather of Soul’s alleged widow, is planning a tribute album.
The disc is tentatively called “Mrs. Brown: This Is For You.” She also plans to produce television, literary and online projects with The Machines Productions.
Hynie had recorded at least four songs they wrote together, confirms Michael Nason, president of The Machines Productions. They began recording about a year before Brown’s death, he said.
“Some were duets, some others you hear James play the organ and piano. It’s fabulous stuff,” he said.
“All of his and Tomi Rae’s materials have been laid down, so all we have to do is bring in a producer and tie in the material into a finished CD,” he added.
Sadly, a release date has not been set.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Atlantan Knight designing new Starbucks T-shirts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Oh, my. Maybe we’ve run one too many items on “Project Runway” finalist Michael Knight.
On Thursday, when we received information on a brewing media event, the up-and-coming Atlanta designer’s name was now spelled Mychael Knight (as in mychaelknight.com) and even worse, the talented clotheshorse is now — sigh — shilling for Starbucks.
Yes, Knight has created the designs for the omnipresent caffeine chain’s new line of free “My Starbucks” T-shirts. (You can customize your shirt depending on your preference for foam, organic products, cinnamon, etc.)
On Monday at 10 a.m., Knight will be in store at the Starbucks at 867 Peachtree St. (at 7th Street in Midtown) to hawk the shirts and sign autographs. Through Wednesday at starbucks.com, Starbucks is giving away a limited number of the individualized shirts daily at 1 p.m.
We’re saddened to report that the Madison Avenue morphing of Mychael doesn’t end there.
When we ventured onto his Web site Thursday, here were the first two sentences of his online bio: “The lights are cued, the models are dressed and the runway is illuminated. From the translucent shadows enters the newest fashion phenom, Mychael Knight … “
The upside? With swimsuit season beckoning, we had absolutely no appetite for dinner Thursday.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Ryan Cameron dines with music royalty
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last week, Ludacris gave a shout-out to Ryan Cameron in his Grammy acceptance speech, and that alone would make for a great “thank you” from a former intern. But for an encore, the Atlanta rapper-actor invited the V-103 announcer to dinner with Prince during the NBA’s All-Star weekend in Las Vegas. “It was absolutely the highlight of my career,” said Cameron, who returned to the airwaves Tuesday afternoon. “I’ve been trying to explain to people, it was like being a computer geek and not only getting to meet Bill Gates, but sit down and break bread with him.”
Actually, the meal included corn chowder, a field greens salad and sea bass. And not only were Cameron, Ludacris and Prince there, in a private area of the Rio Hotel (where Prince performs each week), but the dinner party also featured reclusive Dave Chappelle, part-time Atlantan Toni Braxton, actress Gabrielle Union and actor Hill Harper. The highlights? “With Prince, it was just his voice. How it resonated. It’s so low and just carries, it almost sounded like he had a microphone on. But of course, he didn’t.
“Everybody has been asking: Were both of them weird?” Cameron continued. “And they were totally the opposite. They were just as normal and as engaging as any person you would be having a conversation at dinner with — for two-and-a-half hours. I mean, we talked about family, ‘Happy Feet’ … I got the feeling that if Prince didn’t have to go do a show, we would all still be talking.”
More Luda
“Runaway Love,” which Ludacris performed with Mary J. Blige and Earth, Wind and Fire at the Grammys, has reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Audience chart, becoming the second single from his 20-week-old album “Release Therapy” to reach that mark. (The first was “Money Maker,” heard on more than a half-million cellphones since September.)
Well Met
Unlike “American Idol,” auditions for the Metropolitan Opera don’t ensure household-name status and a record contract. But plenty of opera stars, from Jessye Norman to Renee Fleming, have passed through the regional competitions that the Met uses to winnow out the country’s best singers.
This time last year, tenor Ryan Smith had come back from a three-year hiatus from performing and wowed the crowd at the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions at Spivey Hall — but he left the regionals empty-handed.
Sunday afternoon, the 30-year-old Decatur resident opened with the same aria as last year, “E la solita storia del pastore” from Cilea’s “L’Arlesiana,” and walked away with the top prize, advancing to the finals in New York City. The Morehouse graduate was accompanied by Atlanta Opera’s highly regarded chorusmaster Walter Huff.
“We’ve invested a lot in Ryan, and we’re thrilled with his progress,” said Atlanta Opera general director Dennis Hanthorn. A member of the opera chorus, Smith had a small but noticeable part in “Porgy and Bess” last season and sang a solo recital at the Woodruff Arts Center in the fall, sponsored by the opera. “Ryan’s got talent and tenacity, and he makes an impression on people,” Hanthorn added. “He’s got the goods for a serious professional career.”
Lips service
Buzz is frequently inspired but rarely floored. Except by the Flaming Lips, whose September show at the Tabernacle was head-squeezingly good. Next Monday, Lips frontman and kooky guru Wayne Coyne will be heard on National Public Radio’s “This I Believe” feature speaking about his humble origins and his recipe for creating one’s own happiness. (NPR revived the feature created in the ’50s by newsman Edward R. Murrow that includes statements of core beliefs and values from everyday Americans, and some not-so-everyday Americans.)
Before making it big in the wild world of the Lips, Coyne worked for 11 years in his native Oklahoma as a fry cook at a Long John Silver’s. “I feel lucky to have fans around the world, a house with a roof, and a wife who puts up with me. But I felt this way even when I was working at Long John Silver’s,” he says. “The first year I worked there, we got robbed. I lay on the floor, I thought I was going to die. I didn’t think I stood a chance. But everything turned out all right. A lot of people look at life as a series of miserable tasks - but after that, I didn’t.” Coyne’s prescription for happiness? Recognize the good times while you’re in them. The Lips return to Georgia on April 11, playing at the Classic Center in Athens. Tickets go on sale Friday.
Overscene
Eighties funkster Larry Blackmon of the group Cameo at Smith’s Olde Bar, where local record label Brash Music was showcasing its artists, including Julie Dexter, Khari Simmons, Danny Flowers and PJ Morton.
Britney’s to-do list
>>> Shave head.
>>> Get tattoo.
>>> Check into rehab.
>>> Check out of rehab.
>>> Take Sean Preston to Gymboree.
Celebrity birthdays
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is 75. Film director Jonathan Demme (“The Silence of the Lambs”) is 63. Basketball great Julius “Dr. J” Erving is 57. Actor Kyle MacLachlan is 48. Actress Drew Barrymore is 32.
Contributing: Sonia Murray, Pierre Ruhe and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Oscar party benefit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Looking for a philanthropic way of staving off boredom between the “Little Miss Sunshine” best picture and Helen Mirren’s best actress Oscar wins Sunday (oh, er, were we projecting just then…)?
You and your friends may want to head over to the Park Tavern in Midtown to the “And the Winner Is…” viewing party benefiting Atlanta’s AIDS Survival Project. The fund-raiser, an expansion of Atlantan and Oscar fanatic Craig Eister’s annual home-viewing Oscar soiree, raised $7,000 for the charity in 2006 at Red Chair.
Organizers tell us the evening upstairs in the skyline-adorned Piedmont Room will feature various screens to take in the Oscars, plus food and — gasp — Sunday bar service. We’re told that the dress code is everything from formalwear and coming in costume as your favorite Oscar-nominated character to our personal preference, “jeans and a tube top.”
The party also has a significant tie to Sunday’s Elton John’s annual Oscar party on the Left Coast. Like the Peachtree Road resident’s annual Elton John AIDS Foundation benefit at the Pacific Design Center, guests entering “And the Winner Is…” Sunday will be asked to fill out an Oscar ballot.
The guest who picks the most winners will receive an actual shoulder-displacing gift bag from the benefit in West Hollywood, courtesy of EJAF-Atlanta and ASP board member Barron Segar, who will be busy rubbing shoulders with singer James Blunt in California. In addition to selflessly (and some would argue foolishly) handing over his much-coveted Clinique counter-size stash of facial and skin-youthening products, Segar informs us that Sir Elton himself will also autograph an Oscar party program for the winner.
Tickets to “And the Winner Is…” are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. VIP tickets are $100 each or $175 per couple. Online: www.andthewinneris.bizevent.htm, or call 404-874-7926, Ext. 16.
Overscene
Comic and “I Think I Love My Wife” director/producer/writer/actor Chris Rock taking in the Bronner Bros. International Hair Show at the Georgia World Congress Center downtown Monday. Sporting jeans, white Adidas and a sky blue-and-white jacket, Rock gamely signed autographs for about 90 minutes. We’re told that in a shrewd move designed to fit in with the locals, the “Everybody Hates Chris” namesake’s only request was a glass of sweet tea.
A stack of money
As it turns out, we somehow missed an opportunity to fill our pie hole full of free pancakes Tuesday. The International House of Pancakes (or IHOP, as it is commonly referred to while stumbling from a cab at 4 a.m.) celebrated National Pancake Day on Fat Tuesday by giving away about a million free flapjacks nationwide in exchange for donations to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network. Locally, Coca-Cola was on board to make a matching donation of up to $10,000. Early estimates indicate that $500,000 was raised nationally during this year’s flapjack feeding frenzy.
The bald facts
If organizers have their way, there’ll be a lot of skin on display at tonight’s Hawks-Spurs game at Philips Arena. Alas, it will be on the tops of heads. The Hawks are hoping to gather a world record-setting number of bald guys at an event sponsored by 790/The Zone, St. Baldrick’s Foundation and Bald Guyz grooming products. The Hawks are donating game tickets to St. Baldrick’s Foundation for families of children with cancer. The follically challenged fans are being asked to gather at 7 p.m. in Sections 204 and 206.
Happy birthday
Actress Rue McClanahan is 72. Record company executive David Geffen is 64. Actor Anthony Daniels (C3P0 in “Star Wars” films) is 61. Actor William Petersen (“CSI”) is 54. Actor Kelsey Grammer is 52. Singer Mary Chapin Carpenter is 49. Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt is 28. Actor Corbin Bleu (below) (“High School Musical”) is 18.
Contributing: Shane Harrison and news services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Rogue vehicle tickles fancy of Republican
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Over the weekend, Buzz reported that a giant mechanical elephant — built in 1947 and ridden by Dwight D. Eisenhower — was scheduled to hit the auction block at Red Baron’s Antiques on Roswell Road.
When we called Monday to see how the auction turned out, Red Baron’s Bob Brown told us, “There were quite a few bidders. There were three museums and a couple collectors and some live people.”
Before being sold, the elephant — which apparently doubles as a low-speed vehicle — was driven into the room amid laughter and pointing. The auction was driven up in $10,000 increments, and the elephant was eventually purchased for $175,000 (“plus the buyer’s premium,” Brown notes) by a private collector in Detroit.
“He bought it,” Brown said, “because he was a Republican.”
The elephant will be shipped to Detroit on a tractor-trailer.
Daddy goes to Texas
The South by Southwest music festival — held every March in Austin, Texas — is primarily known as a showcase for up-and-coming artists, a chance to get exposure and do business with music industry peeps who’ve flown in from New York and Los Angeles.
This year, however, Daddy a Go Go is crashing the party.
Daddy a Go Go is John Boydston, 48, a Dunwoody father and musician whose kid-oriented music has landed him a slot at this year’s festival. He’s playing with four other musicians, none of whom are over age 15.
“I’m practicing these guys really hard,” Boydston told Buzz on Monday. “I really am. We’re doing two-a-weeks.”
This will be a rare band gig for Boydston, who opted for SXSW credentials instead of the nominal fee offered to performing musicians.
“I’ve always played solo,” he said. “Always. Which means I’ve kind of karaoked myself, and I was never comfortable with that.”
The band will play Daddy a Go Go originals and cover tunes. Boydston said they’ve narrowed the covers down to material by Eddie Cochran and Jimi Hendrix.
We mentioned to Boydston that there was a bit of a generation gap between him and his sidemen, and he agreed.
“But if you average the ages,” he said, “it doesn’t make me look so old.”
Daddy a Go Go is scheduled to perform at an outdoor venue on March 17. Also on the bill will be the Sippy Cups and — in the headlining slot — the mighty Atlanta metal band Mastodon.
Stork report
Actress Bridget Moynahan, former girlfriend of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, is pregnant, and Brady is the father, Moynahan’s publicist said Monday.
The glamorous pair split up late last year after a three-year relationship. Brady, a two-time Super Bowl MVP, has since been seen with lingerie model Gisele Bundchen, and media outlets have reported the two are dating.
On Monday, Moynahan publicist Christina Papadopoulos said in a statement to The Associated Press that the actress “is over three months pregnant. Former boyfriend Tom Brady is the father.”
“Privacy and consideration is appreciated at this time,” the statement said. “No further comments will be made.”
News of the pregnancy was first reported by the New York Post on Sunday. The Post quoted Papadopoulos as saying the actress was feeling “healthy and excited.”
Messages left by The Associated Press with Brady’s agent, Donald Yee, were not returned Monday.
Patriots spokesman Stacey James told the AP, “I think it would be inappropriate to comment.”
Moynahan, 35, has appeared in films such as “Coyote Ugly” and “I, Robot” and the ABC television series “Six Degrees.” She grew up in Longmeadow, Mass.
Brady, 29, who has led the Patriots to three NFL titles, was named one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” in 2002.
Overscene
Orlando Magic guard Grant Hill hanging out by the bar at Sugar Hill in Underground Atlanta while his wife, R&B singer Tamia, performed a sold-out show in support of her current independent CD “Between Friends.” (And here you were thinking every NBA player of his profile was at the All-Star Game in Las Vegas this past weekend.)
Quote of the day
“It’s eye candy for the audience, and I’m comfortable with that. And if I’m gonna go and wear a small top, let me play a character who’s also got a lot of integrity and is very smart, and sincere and empathetic, so that viewers are seeing that, too.” — JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT, actress, on the cleavage-friendly garb her character displays on the CBS drama “Ghost Whisperer”
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Sidney Poitier is 80. Jazz singer Nancy Wilson is 70. Singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie is 66. Guitarist J. Geils of the J. Geils Band is 61. Singer-bassist Walter Becker of Steely Dan is 57. Singer Ian Brown of Stone Roses is 44. Model Cindy Crawford is 41. Singer Brian Littrell of Backstreet Boys is 32. Actress Lauren Ambrose (“Six Feet Under”) is 29. Singer Rihanna is 19.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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New host, same spirit for arts ball
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some 350 revelers attended Saturday night’s 30th annual Beaux Arts Ball, which was hosted for the first time by the Savannah College of Art and Design at its Atlanta campus. For decades, the ball was a benefit for the Atlanta College of Art, but last year the art college merged with the Savannah-based school.
“We updated the ball but kept the same spirit — celebrating the arts in Atlanta,” said Paula S. Wallace, president of SCAD. This year’s party featured a black-pink retro ’50s look.
The black-tie crowd was instructed to wear masks and responded by donning everything from pretty and posh to witty and wild. Guest Carolyn Tanner wore a sleek sequin-and-feather mask with a teardrop that she described as “a vintage Beaux Arts creation” since she wore it to previous balls. Prissy Swearingen’s stunning mask was made out of silk peonies.
Student models from SCAD-Atlanta entertained the crowd by performing to the song “Masquerade!” from “The Phantom of the Opera.” The girls were in white tulle and leotards while the guys wore white suits, all accessorized by fanciful hair and makeup created by Carter-Barnes Hair Artisans.
Longtime leaders in Atlanta’s art community and their spouses served as honorary chairs of the event: Lisa and Joseph Bankoff, Brigitte and Shelton Stanfill, and Carolyn and Gudmund Vigtel. “Nothing has impacted the arts community [in Atlanta] as the merger of SCAD and the Atlanta College of Art,” Joseph Bankoff said. “It’s a great joining of forces and a great day.”
Funds raised from this ball will support SCAD’s renovation of the 1883 Edward C. Peters House at Piedmont and Ponce de Leon avenues in Midtown. When it’s finished in two years, the house will serve as a cultural arts and writing center for the community.
Boortz pens sequel
Two years ago, syndicated WSB-AM talk-show host Neal Boortz became a surprise No. 1 best-selling author with “The Fair Tax Book” ($14.95), which advocated a national sales tax and abolition of the income tax.
HarperCollins would only publish his “little tax book if I sign a two-book deal,” Boortz told Buzz on Friday.
Book No. 2, “Somebody’s Gotta Say It” ($25.95), hits shelves Tuesday. It’s a potpourri of Boortz’s thoughts, ranging from teacher’s unions (he hates them) to minimum wage (“If you are an adult incapable of making more than minimum wage, you’re a loser!”).
A Libertarian at heart, Boortz even dares address his support of abortion rights, a topic he normally avoids on the air. Why do so in print? “Because nobody can talk back to me.”
His radio show is heard on 180 stations, a steady increase since the “Fair Tax” book came out. He considers himself a “second tier” talk-show host because he’s not in such major markets as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
But Boortz is happy where he is and is looking forward to seeing the “fair tax” get implemented down the road. “We’re getting more sponsors and co-sponsors in the House,” he said. “It’s got legs. We’re pushing inch by inch.”
No criminal case
Larry Wachs, formerly of 96rock’s Regular Guys morning show, may have lost his job last October, but he’s no longer under a criminal cloud.
Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Robert Wolf on Thursday informed Wachs the office would not pursue criminal charges against him after he taped a restroom conversation between sister station Viva 105 morning hosts Yogi and Panda without their knowledge, then aired it. Wolf said the event occurred in a public restroom, so there was no expectation of privacy.
Yogi, whose real name is Juan Tapia, and Panda, whose name is Jose Carias, filed a civil lawsuit against Wachs, Wachs’ former co-host Eric Von Haessler and 96rock’s radio owner, Clear Channel, for invasion of privacy and negligent hiring. Clear Channel fired Wachs and Von Haessler soon after. Tapia and Carias dropped charges against Von Haessler but filed a criminal lawsuit against Wachs for illegal eavesdropping.
Christopher Taylor, who represents Tapia and Carias, said his clients told the district attorney’s office in December they changed their minds and wanted the case dropped, citing “bigheartedness.”
Wachs said they realized they had a weak case: “I’ve been vindicated.” Wachs, who is seeking a talk radio job, had filed a civil counterclaim against Clear Channel, Tapia and Carias. The civil cases are pending.
Hair cuttery
Britney Spears won’t be on the cover of Vogue anytime soon.
The singer appeared in a tattoo parlor in the San Fernando Valley with her head shaved completely bald.
Video on KABC-TV showed Spears with tiny tattoos on the back of her neck as she sat Friday night for a new tattoo — a pair of red and pink lips.
Buzz roundup
Crashing a rival radio station’s event is typically considered bad form. But Steak Shapiro, co-prez and morning co-host at 790/The Zone, turned it around by showing up at a rival 680/The Fan radiothon for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society last week and donating $250. But popular Fan co-host John Kincade, who was recently named anchor of ESPN Radio’s Final Four coverage, wouldn’t put Shapiro on the air.
Meanwhile, Shapiro and 790/The Zone are hoping to open a high-end restaurant at 300 Marietta St. near Centennial Olympic Park this fall with restaurateur Bob Amick and Legacy Property Group. Shapiro said it will have a glassed-in ground-floor radio studio so fans can watch jocks gab.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Smokey Robinson is 67. Actor Jeff Daniels is 52. Singer Seal is 44. Actor Benicio Del Toro is 40. Singer-actress Haylie Duff is 22.
Contributing: Marylin Johnson and news services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Have trunk, will travel: Elephant for sale
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Want to get our attention on a frigid Friday afternoon while we’re busy sweeping up those last Godiva wrappers and deflating those heart-shaped Mylar balloons still hovering around at Buzz Central?
Two words: elephant robot.
That’s what the always interesting Atlanta auctioneer Bob Brown has on the block at 2 p.m. today at his Red Baron Antiques on Roswell Road. The 20-foot-tall mechanical elephant was built in 1947 by Englishman Frank Stuart, whose family still owns it. It’s one of only three ever made (the others are in museums in Austria and Chicago), and it was most notably ridden by Dwight D. Eisenhower at the 1952 Republican National Convention in Chicago and later at his inaugural. The gasoline-powered pachyderm is actually registered and licensed as an automobile. “It works good,” Red Baron owner Brown told Buzz on Friday. “We’ve driven it down Roswell Road, and people just freak out. It can get up to 20 miles per hour. It kind of handles like a bulldozer. It’s sort of a mechanical nightmare.” Still, folks are lined up from around the globe to bid on the oddity, including Ripley’s Believe It or Not and a small slew of private collectors. Brown says the opening bid on the (oh, heck, we’ve got to use it one more time) elephant robot will be $100,000, and bidding could go as high as half a million dollars. Only in-person bidders and phone bidders who call 404-252-3770 can get in on the auction action. As for our obvious question, Brown informed Buzz: “She actually gets pretty good gas mileage. The thing’s got a 3 1/2 gallon tank. She’s never run out of gas on us.” For hostessing only
It’s probably a positive thing that the champagne will be flowing today at the closing soiree for the collection of aprons by Atlanta designer Eve Mannes hanging at Uri Vaknin gallery in Midtown. The frilly kitchen staples range from $45 to $400. “The price usually relates to the level of workmanship and fabrics like silk used,” Vaknin gallery’s Pam Moore told us Friday. “And these are more like the hostess aprons your mother wore. You don’t really cook in them.” Well, unless a gravy splotch on a $400 apron doesn’t put a ruffle in your pleats, that is. The reception runs from 2 to 5 p.m. Call: 404-513-0169. An unexpected ‘Ugly’ vote
B98.5 FM Kelly and Alpha morning show producer/human piñata Will Gara got an unexpected endorsement as he competes with 23 other DJs across the country for a trip to Los Angeles to meet the cast of “Ugly Betty” on the set of the comedy. ABC’s “Ugly Betty: A Face for Radio DJ Contest” asks listeners to go to www.pciasp.com/uglybettycontest/selectphoto.aspx and vote on which radio guy is the most hideous in his cross-dressing Betty garb. Listeners can win a vacation to Cancun, Mexico. Gara has risen to the fifth spot in the contest that ends Feb. 28. E-mailed Gara to Buzz Central: “I got a ‘I voted for you’ e-mail from my ex-wife, who I haven’t talked to or seen in 15 years.” Gara theorized that someone e-mailed our previous item on the contest to her in Connecticut. Cracked Gara: “You know how you always hope to look your best before bumping into an ex? Well, so much for that.” Very bad hair day
For scribblers like us, rapper Foxy Brown is a gift that keeps on giving. Brown spent a night in jail after police said she threw hair glue at a Florida beauty shop employee and later swatted an officer, her second legal problem stemming from a salon-related scuffle. The rapper, 27, was expected to leave jail Friday after a $1,500 bond was posted for her, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office said. She was charged with battery and resisting an officer with violence. Brown’s lawyer, John Sampson, didn’t return a phone call seeking comment Friday. It wasn’t immediately clear how the arrest would affect her sentence of three years’ probation and anger management classes for attacking a pair of manicurists in New York City in 2004. According to the Florida arrest report, Brown was applying beauty products in the bathroom when a Queen Beauty Supply employee told her the business was closed and it was time to leave. She refused and threw hair glue at the employee, the report said. Brown then spat on the man as he called 911, staining his shirt. A police officer had to “use a takedown maneuver to gain control” of Brown, according to the report. At press time Friday, Buzz was still preoccupied with visualizing what that particular hot mess looked like.…
UNCOUPLING
Singer Chris Cornell is leaving rock group Audioslave, citing “irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences” in a statement. “I wish the other three members nothing but the best in all of their future endeavors.” Cornell, 42, said he’ll release a solo album May 1 called “Carry On.”
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Saturday: Actor Hal Holbrook is 82. Comedian Larry the Cable Guy (above) is 44. Actor Dominic Purcell (“Prison Break”) is 37.
Sunday: Author Toni Morrison is 76. Vocalist Yoko Ono is 74. Actress Cybill Shepherd is 57. Actor John Travolta is 53. Actor Matt Dillon is 43. Rapper Dr. Dre is 42.
Contributing: News services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
500 tunes over 10 days means help for kids
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Josh Rifkind, manager for local band the Whigs, thinks big.
He has produced the annual Open Mic Madness competition featuring upward of 400 musicians. And now Rifkind wants to gather 500 musicians May 3-12 at Smith’s Olde Bar to each sing a song from Rolling Stone magazine’s top 500 greatest tunes of all time. The money raised will help musicians entertain sick kids at special summer camps in Georgia.
“I’m insane,” Rifkind admitted to Buzz this week. “It’s a logistical monster.” But he said the eclectic list, which features songs from Elvis Presley to Nirvana to Run DMC, “felt like something we could rally people around.” He hopes to get big Georgia musicians involved, especially those who have songs on the list, such as R.E.M. and OutKast. Already, Rifkind and his charity foundation have assigned about 200 selections to local acts including Aslyn, Dead Confederates and Second Shift. More information can be found at www.500songsforkids.org.
Ice cream politics
Everyone knows those Communist sympathizers at Ben & Jerry’s discriminate in favor of leftist flavors, what with their cool desserts named after Jerry Garcia and Wavy Gravy. Now they’ve decided to allow a new voice at the dinner table by naming a new flavor for comedian Stephen Colbert.
“I’m not afraid to say it. Dessert has a well-known liberal agenda,” Colbert said in a statement. “What I hope to do with this ice cream is bring some balance back to the freezer case.”
Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream is composed of vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and caramel. Ben & Jerry’s describes it as “the sweet taste of liberty in your mouth.” Colbert is donating his proceeds to charity through the new Stephen Colbert Americone Dream Fund.
Love blooms
Love was in the air Wednesday night, and Atlanta restaurants and nightspots were clotted with duos holding hands and pledging troths. The Valentine’s in the Garden event at the Atlanta Botanical Garden drew 500 romancers to the steamy orchid center, where at least five eager fellows had informed garden personnel they planned to pop the question.
Spokeswoman Geri Laufer said the Bulbophyllum orchids, which permeate their surroundings with the smell of rotting meat, had blessedly ceased blooming, and only the more pleasing scents of cinnamon, vanilla and other orchid aromas filled the air.
At Medieval Times, Patrick Donovan of Sandy Springs surprised his sweetie, Rhonda Barnes, with a proposal during the knighting ceremony. He had some help from radio station Q-100, which hosted the “dream proposal” contest, and from Q-100 personality Dylan Sprague, who conspired to lure Barnes to the event with a fabricated free “evening at the castle.”
After Donovan proposed in front of a lustily cheering crowd, Barnes smiled through her tears, said yes, then asked when she was going to get to meet Sprague.
Malibu beach access settled
The commission that regulates California’s coast settled a decades-long dispute with David Geffen over public access to the beach in front of his Malibu estate.
The California Coastal Commission agreed Wednesday to forgive Geffen, 63, for building a deck that intruded into a public easement. In exchange, Geffen agreed to open a stretch of beach in front of his home that had been closed to the public.
Commissioners allowed the entertainment mogul to keep a wooden stairway to the beach. They also gave him a privacy buffer so the public cannot legally intrude on his property.
The decision comes 24 years after Geffen first promised a public walkway to Malibu’s Carbon Beach.
In addition to the new access point, the DreamWorks co-founder agreed to pay $125,000 to a special state public beach access fund to help build a metal ramp so the public can get from the pathway to the sand.
Public access to the state’s shoreline is a major issue for the Coastal Commission, which was meeting this week in San Diego.
Television
An end to California scheming
“The O.C.” will breathe its last next week. Among producers’ favorite “O.C.” lines:
“I love shopping, tanning and celebrity gossip. Always have, always will.” — Summer, getting to the heart of the true Summer
“Well, you know, since my grades went from Bs to As, I was actually wondering if you could change my As to Bs.” — Kaitlin, totally messing with Dr. Roberts about wanting breast augmentation
“Men to me are what chardonnay is to you. One sip and I’m upside down on a chandelier.” — Julie, explaining to Kirsten why she’s swearing off men. And reminding Kirsten that she’s a boozehound.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor William Katt (“Carrie”) is 56. Actor Levar Burton (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) is 49. Rapper-actor Ice-T (“Law &Order: SVU”) is 48. Tennis legend John McEnroe is 47.
Contributing: Rodney Ho and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Posh emerges as spot where notables nosh
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s been open less than a month but Posh, Atlanta restaurateur Tom Catherall’s latest culinary creation, is already pulling in its share of intriguing diners.
For example, when we poked our head in for a look-see at the former Seeger’s space at 111 W. Paces Ferry Road this week, the busy bar area was occupied with Star 94’s Vikki Locke and her PR pal Meg Reggie. Across from them sat Kitsy Rose (who recently opened her own shop, Kitsy Rose P.R. on Monroe Drive) and Dave FM’s Holly Firfer.
Buckhead Beef Co. co-founder Lynne Halpern glided past as she made her way to a table upstairs.
In the kitchen, Catherall was in his chef whites, awaiting the dinner crunch, always the multitasker: A BlackBerry sat at arm’s length on a counter.
With the addition of lots of candles, fresh flowers and music, along with floral photography and paintings done by the chef himself, Posh feels quite a bit warmer than previous owner Guenter Seeger’s no-nonsense approach to cuisine.
Among the items exiting the kitchen: hunter-style pâté of venison and cognac, a crab and shrimp tower with a lemon oil vinaigrette, veal sirloin porcini mushroom ravioli with Madeira jus and lobster medallions with truffle mashed potatoes.
Catherall also has added seats in the main dining room and in eating areas upstairs and down. We’re told that even the wine cellar was being temporarily converted into a cozy table for two for Valentine’s night.
But our fave piece of decor on the walls? A color, framed and autographed photo of the previous owner downstairs. It reads simply: “Tom — Good Luck. Guenter Seeger.”
We’re told that a gracious Seeger has even been in to sample the short ribs of beef with red zinfandel sauce.
Couple breaks out the Krystal on V-Day
Unlike a lot of husbands, Rockmart’s Danny Smith had no problem scoring a Valentine dinner reservation at his and wife Cindy’s memorable spot. A white linen tablecloth was awaiting the Smiths and friends Wednesday at the Krystal in Cedartown.
The Smiths first dined at a Rome Krystal in 1976 when they attended the Rockmart High School prom together. The couple recently celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary.
“She was my high school sweetheart,” explained Danny Smith on Wednesday. “And to be real honest about it, there wasn’t a whole lot else open to eat that night after the prom.”
The Smiths’ Chili Pup-filled romance was recently recognized by the fast-food chain after Danny read some customer testimonials on burger boxes and decided to submit their tale. “I told Cindy, ‘Our story is better than some of these,’ ” Smith recalled.
While Danny didn’t max out his credit card on dinner Wednesday, Cindy, a caterer, received other goodies: a chocolate fountain and a DVD transfer of a video of the couple’s grown daughter as an infant, wishing her parents a happy Valentine’s Day.
A ‘Better’ Murdock hits ATL shelter
In her 1980s “Quiet Storm” radio classics, singer Shirley Murdock proved forever relatable with listeners via her hits chronicling infidelity, “As We Lay” and “Husband.”
This week, the R&B diva hits Atlanta with a new single, “I Love Me Better Than That” off her upcoming inspirational CD, “Soul Food.”
While Murdock did a traditional “Ladies Night Out” gig Wednesday at Twelve Hotel at Atlantic Station for Praise 97.5 FM, she’s booked at a more unusual venue today.
Murdock will unveil the song at the Atlanta Day Shelter for Women on Ethel Street.
“We’ve got history, OK?” Murdock explains of her relationship with female listeners.
“We’ve all been in that relationship that’s past its expiration point. I’m singing at the shelter in Atlanta because you’ve got to take the music and the message where it’s needed.”
On “Better Than That,” Murdock sings: “I want my joy back/ I want my peace back/ I want my hope back/ I want my dreams back/ I want my keys back.”
“Oh, yes,” Murdock says, laughing. “You gotta get those keys back, too!”
Quote of the day
‘There is no tongue, and it is really not a big deal. … If you think it is just about a major make-out session, you will be disappointed.’
— “Dirt” actress Courteney Cox on her and “Friends” friend Jennifer Aniston’s upcoming on-screen smooch. Aniston plays a lesbian magazine editor on the March 27 season finale of the FX series.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Kevin McCarthy is 93. Comedian Harvey Korman is 80. Actress Jane Seymour is 56. Cartoonist Matt Groening (“The Simpsons”) is 53. Model Janice Dickinson (“America’s Next Top Model”) is 52. Actress Sarah Wynter (“24”) is 34. Singer Brandon Boyd of Incubus is 31.
Contributing: news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Fat Joe: Large and in charge
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Everything’s extreme with Fat Joe,” said the humongous rapper, explaining the rock-studded watch on his wrist and the doorknob-size diamond in his ear. “It’s Fat Joe!”