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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > December > 29
Friday, December 29, 2006
A year of stars and Star, brides and cake
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What a year.
Breakfast with “Coffy,” coffee with Jane, Oscaring with Elton, risking a Ritz-y ejection with Paula and covering a civil rights icon’s passing.
It was only fitting that the year marking our 10th anniversary at Buzz Central was the most incredible yet.
Read on.
Best benefit in need of policing
The city’s inaugural Policeman’s Ball in April featuring honorary chairwoman and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and police Chief Richard Pennington raised $200,000 with the generous help of a raffle. Alas, organizers inadvertently violated a state law by not getting the required $100 raffle license.
Best excuse for retinal damage
Would-be rapper Kevin Federline made his Atlanta debut as a rentable nightclub guest in March at Vision. He lingered in the VIP section with wife Britney Spears for about 59 minutes before exiting. Beefy security types kept the female fans huddled around K-Fed at bay with halogen-penlight flash blasts to the eyes.
Best breakfast interview
Our January chat with “The L Word” actress and legendary “blaxploitation” film star Pam Grier. Grier disclosed that she based her iconic film characters Coffy and Foxy Brown on the influential women in her life — her mother and her aunt, respectively. Those strategically placed razor blades in Coffy’s afro and that Derringer tucked inside Foxy Brown’s do? Both were based in reality.
“I knew girls who really put razor blades in their hair,” Grier said. “For protection. When my aunt died, we found jalapeño peppers in her purse. You didn’t ever want those rubbed in your eyes!”
Best coffee klatch
In May, prior to her annual Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention benefit, Jane Fonda invited us over for coffee at her Poncey-Highland loft. As her cat Mouse and dog Tulea snoozed around us, the activist-actress relaxed barefoot on the couch while reflecting on her life here.
Gazing out her window, a contented Fonda told us: “I look forward to the sun hitting those buildings downtown and turning them pink. This is one of the most beautiful skylines I’ve ever seen. And Atlanta is by far the friendliest place I’ve ever lived.”
Best celebrity roast
The sold-out fund-raiser for Fonda’s G-CAPP in June at the Georgia Aquarium. Celebrity roasters Larry King, Big Boi, Eve Ensler, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Rosie O’Donnell, Peter Fonda, Chris Tucker and Fonda’s date Ted Turner traded zingers all evening. Even former President Jimmy Carter cut loose for the occasion.
Riffed Carter: “I never dreamed how jealous Ted Turner could be. He had no reason to be. He was younger, more handsome and wealthier. This was before the Time-Warner merger.”
Best Oscar party
Fearing that we might miss something, we attempted not to blink during Elton John’s star-studded, 10-hour Oscar party at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood back in March. The benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation attracted Lindsay Lohan, Donatella Versace, Patty Hearst, John Waters, Tab Hunter, Eric McCormack, Al Roker, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton, who somehow changed outfits and boys to swap spit with during the party.
Surveying the crowd, John told us: “It’s always extremely touching to me to see so many Atlantans here. Their support is very important to me.”
Exiting in early morning, Dr. Jeffrey Gallups quipped: “You always know you’ve been to one of Elton’s parties when you can bench-press the goody bag.”
Best example of civic duty
It all started in May when Buzz poked a wee bit of fun at the Central Atlanta Progress-sponsored “Week at Woodruff” festivities. But after we lobbed the idea of a Woodruff Park theme song to celebrate the spiffed-up downtown green space, Buzz readers helped contribute lyrics. By the end of September, singer-songwriter Melanie Massell debuted the resulting “A Patch of Peace” in front of lunchtime attendees and her father, Sam Massell, who as mayor created the park in 1973. Observed Central Atlanta’s Wilma Southern of Melanie Massell’s efforts: “And she found something to rhyme with ‘free Wi-Fi.’ “
Best ‘Spinal Tap’-inspired radio promo
Q100’s Big Cake Dive at the Lenox Square in February. The teetering, multitiered pastry — which brides-to-be were supposed to toss themselves into for prizes — wasn’t exactly baked with diving in mind.
Unless you wanted to window-shop for a neck brace.
When TV news crews were diverted to cover a house fire, mall rep Kitsy Rose sighed and said: “Normally, I’d be upset if TV got called away from an event. But not today.”
Best assignment
In February, we interviewed the hearty souls who waited outside the state Capitol for hours to say goodbye to Coretta Scott King. The civil rights icon’s six-plus hour “home-going” featured four U.S. presidents and Stevie Wonder at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Afterward, church usher Gerald Graham didn’t have to pick up a single pink-hued program. “We printed 15,000 of them, and they’re all gone,” he explained. “Nobody was going to drop one of those. Folks can probably get $25 for them come tomorrow.” Sure enough, the next day, the programs turned up on eBay fetching bids of $450.
Best lunch interview
Our riotous October lunch with old pal Food Network goddess Paula Deen and hubby Michael Groover almost resulted in our expulsion from the Buckhead hotel. She was in town promoting her latest book, “Paula Deen Celebrates!” Tasting the hotel’s $14.50 hot dog, Deen dished: “I don’t think there’s any snouts or toenails in it. They probably used too much meat. It’s a little high-falutin’. “
Star of the year
Who but Star Jones Reynolds. In January, the daytime diva hung up on Star 94’s Steve and Vikki.
And then there was the canceled Atlanta book-signing for the instant-classic, “Shine: A Physical, Emotional & Spiritual Journey to Finding Love.” Thus, we began the ongoing public service known as “A Moment to Shine,” where we quoted bits of wisdom from the tome.
In June, Jones Reynolds quit “The View” live on the air. The next day, all traces of her had been removed, as executive producer Barbara Walters gravely intoned: “We wanted to protect Star, and we wanted her to leave with dignity. But Star made another choice.”
Or as we explained the riveting appeal of the show: If every morning at 11, you knew there’d be a 14-car pileup on I-285, wouldn’t you watch?
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Singer-guitarist Bo Diddley is 78. “Today” anchor Meredith Vieira is 53. “Today” anchor Matt Lauer is 49. TV host Sean Hannity is 45. Singer-actor Tyrese is 28.
Sunday: Actor Anthony Hopkins is 69. Guitarist Andy Summers (the Police) is 64.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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