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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > July > 12
Thursday, July 12, 2007
On the Palm’s wall of fame — as a blonde
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While her loyal Dave FM listeners have long considered her to be one, midday jock Mara Davis officially became a rock star Wednesday night.
Rodney Ho/AJC staff
That’s when her likeness was officially unveiled as a celebrity caricature on the bar wall at the Palm restaurant in Buckhead. The posh steak and lobster chain’s caricature tradition dates to the eatery’s first New York location in the 1920s.
There was just one minor glitch with Mara’s mug: It has blond hair.
“I have no idea how that happened!” Davis told Buzz, laughing. “The only thing I can think of is that we submitted a black-and-white photo for the artist to work from. It’s interesting being a blonde tonight!”
On hand to help Davis soak up the free booze flowing for the celebration: Palm general manager Willy Cellucci; Atlanta Peach editor Elizabeth Schulte Roth; Davis’ agent Norm Schrutt; Michael Kane, her husband and CNN Headline News producer and writer; Sandpiper boutique owner and pal Melissa Murdock; Pecan Pie Couture’s Clint Zeagler; Atlanta Falcons sideline reporter Nicole Watson; CBS 46 “Better Mornings” entertainment reporter Corinna Allen; Dave FM afternoon drive jock Sully; Dave FM marketing director Will Davis; and publicists Karen Canavan and Jamie Annarino.
We’re also pleased to report that attendees and newlyweds Dave FM morning gal Holly Firfer and her husband, Shawn Arnold, an Active Golf Solutions account exec and Atlanta musician, are still in the honeymoon phase as they approach their first anniversary.
How could we tell? For one thing, Arnold is still talking to his spouse after she accidentally backed over his golf clubs.
“I literally looked like one of those cartoon characters who slap their hands over the face when something bad happens,” Arnold told us. “But it’s cool. I just have to straighten out a few of the shafts. And I’m billing her.”
ON MY iPOD & TiVO
Kyle Davies, Atlanta Braves pitcher
On his TiVo, Davies routinely records “Lost” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” Of the 4,000 songs on his iPod, the Decatur native lists among his favorites “any Linkin Park song” and country artist Clay Walker.
UNCOUPLING UPDATE
Columbus native and Atlanta businesswoman Kim Porter is setting the record straight about her personal life. She wants to make one thing clear: She dumped Diddy.
“After 10 years, I have decided to end my on-again/off-again relationship with Sean “Diddy” Combs,” Porter says in a statement to syndicated entertainment TV show “The Insider.”
“In ending this relationship, I made a decision that was in the best interest of myself, Sean and our family. I look forward to moving on with my life and my career, and wish him prosperity, health and happiness in life and in love,” the 35-year-old model said. “We will remain friends and committed parents to our children.”
Porter and Combs have three children: a 9-year-old son, Christian, and 6-month-old twin daughters, D’Lila Star and Jessie James.
The 37-year-old rap mogul announced their split this week.
He has another son, Atlanta restaurant namesake Justin, 13, with ex-girlfriend Misa Hylton-Brim.
TASTY ‘TIPS’ FROM STEAK EXPERTS
When the owner of Inman Park’s Kevin Rathbun Steak popped by our table the other night, he brought along a tasty scoop. From 10 a.m. to noon July 21 , Rathbun will co-host with Steak Shapiro the latest edition of “Steak Tips,” 790/The Zone’s occasional food call-in show. “We answer questions about where to eat in other cities, grilling and marinade recipes and listen to callers’ pet peeves,” Rathbun dished.
And his favorite part?
“Oh, man, the peeves are great,” he said. “People in this town eat out a lot, and if you’re not bringing your A-game to the table, you won’t last long. It’s been terrific to have that direct communication with diners, too. You hear what’s on their mind, but you also get to explain a little bit about how things run from your end, too!”
By phone Wednesday night, Shapiro said he enjoys doing the show with his partner in red meat: “We’re essentially known as a sports station. But we’re also a lifestyle station and ‘Steak Tips’ is a great part of that.”
COUPLING
“Two and a Half Men”actor Charlie Sheen is engaged.
His bride-to-be is Brooke Mueller, a real estate investor, Sheen’s spokesman, Stan Rosenfield, said Thursday.
Rosenfield said Sheen, 41, proposed to Mueller, 29, during a recent trip to Costa Rica. He said the couple met in April 2006. Sheen has two daughters, Sam, 3, and Lola, 2, from his marriage to Denise Richards, a union that generated approximately 2.8 billion tabloid stories. They divorced last year.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actor Patrick Stewart is 67. Singer-guitarist Roger McGuinn of the Byrds is 65. Actor Harrison Ford is 65. Actor-comedian Cheech Marin is 61. Actress Didi Conn is 56. Director Cameron Crowe is 50.
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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Nipping online leaks and musical piracy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s a new way to nip online leaks and musical piracy in the bud: release your album as soon as you’ve finished it.
That’s what Canadian band Stars is doing. An announcement on the Web site for the band’s record label, Arts & Crafts, notes that the master tapes for “In Our Bedroom After the War” were delivered on July 6. On July 10, the album was available for download ($9.99 at iTunes). The originally announced release date was Sept. 25, which remains the official street date for the physical CD and a double-vinyl album.
The announcement notes that this is the time the label would normally begin sending out advance copies to media outlets to help secure coverage around the release date, but “inevitably someone will leak the album.”
It continues, “Throughout this process, the most important people in this value chain, the fans, are given only two options — wait … to legally purchase the new album or choose from a variety of sources and download the album for free, at any time.”
Arts & Crafts and Stars aren’t going to make you wait anymore — or make you turn to a life of digital crime. “We hope you’ll choose to support the band, and choose to pay for their album,” the statement continues. “However we don’t think it’s fair you should have to wait until September 25th to do so.”
Could this quicker turnaround time be the wave of the future? That could depend on the success — or failure — of Stars’ model.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Setting the stage for controversy?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The folks at 7 Stages Theatre in Little Five Points were contemplating security measures Wednesday as word spread about the venue’s guest speaker this weekend prior to a performance of Howard Zinn’s play “Marx in Soho.”
In conjunction with a visit to the city, organizers at the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition and the Atlanta International Action Center are bringing anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan to 7 Stages prior to Saturday night’s performance of the play that envisions Karl Marx “returning to Soho in New York City to clear his name.” Portions of the proceeds from the theater’s Friday and Saturday performances of “Soho” will go to the organizations, associate artistic director Melissa Foulger said.
Foulger told Buzz that the theater is “working on safety provisions” regarding Sheehan’s visit, given her status as a lightning rod for the Iraq war. Still, Buzz can’t help but fantasize about the potentially entertaining tussles that could occur outside the theater between Sheehan haters and the neighborhood’s trademark tatted-up counterculture residents.
ATLANTANS RETURN FOR ‘POP CULTURE’ 2
A year ago, an Atlanta trio pocketed $250,000 for having plenty of useless knowledge in the first VH1 “World Series of Pop Culture.”
The team called El Chupacabra will be back for more this season in an episode set to air tonight and taped this past spring in New York. Mason Spencer and Jodi Roth both used last year’s winnings to pay off debt while Alexandra Burris, now pregnant with twins, bought a new Honda Pilot.
With 15 other teams competing, “We knew going in that everybody would be gunning for us,” Roth told Buzz. But they had a fun time, commandeering a nearby karaoke bar in Manhattan a couple of nights in classic dork-like fashion.
VH1 sent Buzz the episode featuring El Chupacabra’s first-round appearance. We won’t spoil the results, but if you want to impress your friends, bone up on these topics: “Saturday Night Live” skits, “Weird Al” Yankovic parodies, actor names from “The Breakfast Club” and “Ocean’s Eleven,” Kevin Bacon flicks and most important, “Rocky” opponents.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actor-comedian Bill Cosby is 70. Singer Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac is 64. Fitness guru Richard Simmons is 59. Actress Cheryl Ladd is 56. Gospel singer Sandi Patty is 51. Actor Topher Grace (“That ’70s Show”) is 29. Actress Michelle Rodriguez (“Lost”) is 29.
SICK BAY UPDATE
Opera legend Luciano Pavarotti is “fighting like a lion” against his pancreatic cancer and is reacting well to radiotherapy, his wife told an Italian newspaper.
“I can now say he is doing well,” Nicoletta Mantovani said in an interview published Wednesday in the Italian daily La Stampa.
The 71-year-old singer underwent surgery after doctors discovered a malignant pancreatic mass last year.
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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