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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > August
August 2007
Roberts goes from CNN to ‘The Insider’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For Atlantans wondering why they haven’t seen former CNN Headline News anchor Thomas Roberts at the local Starbucks or the Publix lately, we have an update.
Roberts has relocated to Los Angeles where he’s been hired by “The Insider,” the news magazine corporate sister of “Entertainment Tonight.”
CBS Television Distribution made the announcement Friday.
“Thomas is a seasoned reporter whose sincere disposition on and off camera gives him an extraordinary rapport with viewers,” “Insider” executive producer Linda Bell Blue said in a statement.
Still, we wanted a few additional details so we rang up “Insider” press rep. Lisa Summers Haas’ office in Los Angeles.
Alas, we were almost embarrassed that we called.
When “The Insider” debuts its new season on Sept. 10, we were told that Roberts will have his own segment called “The Rumor Report” where he “will cover the full gamut of what’s going on in Hollywood.” Roberts will also work on other stories for “Insider.” At CNN, Roberts notably co-anchored coverage of the Columbia shuttle tragedy and the ongoing Iraq war.
But Roberts’ local fans won’t have to become insomniacs to catch his new gig.
While “The Insider” is currently seen in the wee hours on WSB-TV, it is scheduled to relocate over to WXIA-TV weeknights at 7:30, starting Sept. 10.
‘Gimme More’ or less Britney?
Britney Spears is trying to defibrillate her non-tabloid related career via a new single. “Gimme More,” debuted locally Thursday night on Q100’s Adam Bomb show, and a new album is due for release Nov. 13 by Jive Records, the label’s representative, Wendy Washington, told The Associated Press on Friday.
The song — a clubby, flirty dance track produced by Danja, a protege of hit-maker Timbaland — has the 25-year-old singer bringing back the thumping beats and breathy come-ons of her pop-star past.
On Friday morning, Q100’s The Bert Show also gave the song a spin. Response was mixed. Some listeners called in to say Spears had cribbed too many notes from Madonna’s playbook. Show namesake Bert Weiss conceded the point.
“With all Britney’s sketchiness, a lot of people just seem closed to her right now,” Weiss told Buzz. “A few years ago, it would have been a different story.”
Spears was last on the airwaves momentarily in 2004 with a cover of Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative.” Since then, her primary activities have consisted of marrying and divorcing various men and spawning two car seat-resistant, soda-slurping moppets. The former pop princess is currently embroiled in a nasty custody fight with fedora-favoring ex-hubby and upcoming “One Tree Hill” guest star Kevin Federline.
Calling the cheese police
This weekend’s Dragon*Con is still mostly about costumed Jack Sparrows, Darth Vaders and garden variety wenches, but the sci-fi/fantasy orgy throws in a few random pop-culture icons — including former “CHiPs” actor Erik Estrada.
Though Estrada’s sci-fi cred is zero, his cheese cred is off the charts.
And during a Q&A session Friday with Estrada at the Hyatt Regency, Ponch had no problems mocking himself and his penchant for reality shows.
“I don’t mind laughing at myself,” he said. “But I don’t like comedians who are vicious and don’t know me.”
An example: George Lopez. Lopez asked him to be on his sitcom and Estrada said he had a conflict. But Lopez bad-mouthed him on talk shows. “It didn’t hurt my feelings,” Estrada said. “It [expletive] me off!”
When Buzz asked him about his “Surreal Life” castmate, the late Tammy Faye Bakker, Estrada said: “We were like brother and sister. I sent her an invite last year when I had my Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony, but she couldn’t make it. She called me crying. But she was dealing with her cancer. She really walks with Jesus. I made sure nobody in that [‘Surreal Life’] house was ever rude to her. I’d get in their face.”
After the session, he was escorted quickly to the “Walk of Fame” autograph room ($25 for an 8x10, $15 for a photo with him), where he joined the likes of James Marsters (Spike on “Buffy”) and William Katt (“The Greatest American Hero.”)
“Brad Pitt coming through!” he joked, gladhanding admirers on the way. “Tony Orlando coming through!”
OVERSCENE
The Dolce Group’s and former “Big Brother” houseguest Mike “Boogie” Malin with 50 Cent at the rapper’s listening party for his new album held at Geisha House Atlanta at Atlantic Station. Fitty gave sampled tracks for locals who “danced and bobbed along to the tracks,” we’re told. Spies at the party said that 50 Cent was “holding court at the best table in the house.”
ON MY iPOD
Swizz Beatz, producer and rapper :
“I don’t really download too much but I did just get UGK’s new CD [‘Underground Kingz’]. Common’s new CD [‘Finding Forever’] and Collie Buddz’ [‘Collie Buddz’]. I’m all over the place. But I usually like to buy the CDs though. I like to see the credits. Hold it in my hand. Live it.”
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Comedian-actress Lily Tomlin is 68. Singer Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees is 61. Talk-show host Dr. Phil is 57. Singer Gloria Estefan is 50. Actor Ricardo Antonio Chavira (“Desperate Housewives”) is 36. Guitarist Joe Trohman of Fall Out Boy is 23.
Sunday: Jazz pianist Horace Silver is 79. Sportscaster Terry Bradshaw is 59. Actor Mark Harmon is 56. Actor Keanu Reeves is 43. Actress Salma Hayek is 41. Actress Cynthia Watros (“Lost”) is 39. Drummer Spencer Smith of Panic! At The Disco is 20.
Contributing: Rodney Ho, 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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Celebs hatch great idea for women, girls
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thanks to Poncey-Highland resident Jane Fonda’s friendship with “Vagina Monologues” playwright Eve Ensler, Atlantans can anticipate another one-of-a-kind fund-raiser aimed at ending violence against women and girls.
On Sept. 26 at Opera in Midtown, Ensler and Fonda — along with Atlanta and Broadway director Kenny Leon, singer/songwriter Doria Roberts, Q100’s Melissa Carter and Jenn Hobby and WSB-TV anchor JaQuitta Williams among others will present the Atlanta premiere of “A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer: Writings to End Violence Against Women and Girls.” The five-minute pieces come from a June-release book of monologues by world-famous authors and playwrights edited by Ensler and Mollie Doyle.
“It’s a ground-breaking event and we’re thrilled to have so many well-known Atlantans involved,” event organizer Nikki Noto told Buzz Thursday.
Unlike “The Vagina Monologues,” “Memory” enlists men in the effort.
“While the pieces follow in the vein of ‘Monologues,’ we’re excited that we’re getting men involved in the mission as well this time out,” Noto said. In addition to the confirmed Leon, two other notable male Atlantans are being sought for two remaining spots.
Funds raised from the performance will support V-Day Atlanta charities and other local beneficiaries, including Men Stopping Violence and Charis Circle.
A VIP reception with Fonda, Ensler and the cast will precede the performance. For $50 general admission tickets to the performance and $300 “Eve’s Angel” tickets that include admission to the performance and the VIP gathering, go to www.inticketing.com. For higher-end sponsorship opportunities from $1,000 to the deluxe $7,500 package (which includes 15 stage level seats and your own private bar and bartender along with 15 tickets to the VIP reception), call 770-315-2838.
Tickets are also available at Charis Books & More in Little Five Points.
Rathbuns headed for ‘Iron Chef’
Inman Park restaurateur and chef Kevin Rathbun jets to New York City next month with his Dallas chef brother, Kent, to compete in Food Network’s “Iron Chef America.” We’re told that the Rathbun boys will be paired off together in competition against two other as-yet-unnamed chefs and the always impossible to predict “secret ingredient.” In an e-mail to Buzz, Kevin Rathbun said: “My brother and I will be ready for any curveball that will be thrown at us.”
Without even being privy to their competitors, Buzz is putting its money firmly on Kevin Rathbun. After all, with the success of Rathbun’s, Krog Bar and Kevin Rathbun Steak, the Atlanta chef has proven he can entice even the city’s most casual foodies into an alien (and sometimes MapQuest impervious) neighborhood. In comparison, whipping up an entree with, possibly, a pickled walrus tusk should be a snap …
Aquarium host to the dark side
If Georgia Aquarium visitors felt a certain tickling of apprehension Thursday, it’s understandable. Darth Vader was in their midst.
Dave Prowse, the towering Brit who donned cloak and Nazi-like helmet 30 years ago, visited the fishtank for a while before this weekend’s DragonCon convention. A celebration of the weird and the scary, DragonCon is an annual phenomenon in Atlanta.
Prowse, 72, has been making the horror and sci-fi circuit off and on since George Lucas released the first of the “Star War” films in 1977. He does not, repeat, does not wear the costume that creeped out millions to these conventions. That outfit belongs to Lucas and is insured for millions, Prowse said.
Instead, he goes to gatherings where his name alone is enough to alert others that an icon stands in their midst. Invariably, he said, people ask: Is he really as rotten as the guy he portrayed?
“You have to remember, it was an acting role,” said Prowse. “I’m not like that in real life.”
In real life, he’s the father of three and the grandfather to two kids who recently learned that he was one of the worst movie villains of all time. At first, he said, the kids were dismayed, but accepted the dark truth: Grandpa was a film fiend.
“Now, they have a couple of light sabers,” Prowse said. “They fight with them in the back garden.”
HIGH FIVE
Television
The Top Five On Demand programs for the week of Aug. 22-29 as determined by Comcast customers in metro Atlanta:
1. “Bed,” J. Holiday music video, Music Choice
2. “Entourage,” “Snow Job” Episode 53, HBO
3. “SpongeBob Squarepants: Best Day Ever,” Nickelodeon
4. “Piles,” Shawnty music video, Music Choice
5. “Corporate Thuggin,’” U.S.D.A. music video, Music Choice
— Courtesy: Rentrak’s OnDemand Essentials
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I looked at her face and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, that was me just three years ago.’ I could see the pain in her eyes, and I know what she’s feeling. I empathize with her.” — Dina McGreevey, who stood next to her husband, then-New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey, in 2004 as he declared himself a “gay American,” on “Extra” Thursday night talking about Suzanne Craig attending a news conference this week by her husband, embattled U.S. Sen. Larry Craig
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Van Morrison is 62. Actor Richard Gere is 58. Singer Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze is 50. Singer Debbie Gibson is 37. Actor Chris Tucker (“Rush Hour”) is 35.
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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Collective Soul men keep it real
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Earlier this summer, the members of Collective Soul donned designer duds and succumbed to hair and makeup before a daylong photo shoot for their new album “Afterwords.” Buckhead hair salon owner and budding shutterbug Richie Arpino, a friend of the Stockbridge-birthed act, was assigned to photograph brothers Ed and Dean Roland, Will Turpin, Joel Kosche and Ryan Hoyle.
Afterward, the hungry band changed into street clothes and headed to MetroFresh in Midtown for some grub. The eatery is owned by Arpino’s partner, Mitchell Anderson. For laughs, Arpino fired off a few shots of the boys downing their soup.
Guess which image Ed Roland selected for the cover of “Afterwords,” the album that hit Target stores nationwide this week?
“I must have submitted 567 images to him and he picks the shot with them looking as un-glam as possible!” Arpino told Buzz laughing. “At the time, I thought, ‘Maybe they’ll use these on their Web site or something.’”
The charming image is so unposed, a MetroFresh receipt and a pen to sign the tab remains on the table in the center of the shot.
With lunch patrons whizzing past him Wednesday, Anderson recalled the late afternoon visit in June: “They were hungry. We scooped up some Mitchili [the eatery’s trademark bowl named for the owner] and opened some wine for them and the boys were happy. They were just being themselves, having fun. I think that’s what Ed picked up on in that photograph.”
A framed, signed copy of the album cover photo now sits in a window at MetroFresh since Target and Apple’s iTunes have the exclusive rights to sell the actual music. A detail we noted? The food photography on the wall in the shot was also taken by Arpino.
In addition to the CD exposure, a MetroFresh entry was recently added into the prestigious Zagat restaurant guide. And to celebrate all this?
MetroFresh is closed today through Tuesday for an interior spruce-up.
“Great timing, right?” conceded Anderson. “Our work had already been scheduled, though. But now, we might use eBay to auction off the old seat cushions the band sat on!”
And those more formal images of the band shot that day weren’t completely wasted. One of Arpino’s photos was featured in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times with a profile of Collective Soul.
The rockers will debut their new single, “Hollywood” on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” Friday night.
Overscene
NBA player Shandon Anderson, who most recently played for the Miami Heat, had a new venture to fill us in on when we ran into him the other night. The Atlanta native and former University Georgia Bulldog is readying Nani Spa and Hair Salon for a mid-September opening at Atlantic Station.
“I looked around and realized there really wasn’t another concept like what we wanted to do over at Atlantic Station. It seemed like the perfect fit.”
We’re told that Anderson personally flew to Italy to hand-select the salon’s fixtures and furniture.
Breakfast with Fitty
Thrive nightclub and restaurant got an early start Wednesday. The downtown hotspot was selected to host a live radio interview with rapper 50 Cent and a private breakfast with Hot 107.9 FM listeners.
“He was really cool and humble,” related Thrive general manager A.D. Allushi. “I was expecting him to be intimidating but he was very polite.” Between bites of eggs, bacon and Danish, Hot 107.9 listeners happily posed for pictures with Fitty as he went table to table to greet fans.
As always, the ever-efficient Allushi had all his bases covered. A sushi chef was positioned at the ready.
“I felt bad because our chef just stood there,” Allushi told us. “I know 50 Cent works out and eats healthy. The sushi was there in case he wanted it.”
Nealon takes Paris
Kevin Nealon, the stoner accountant on Showtime’s “Weeds,” got to show off his bum in the third season premiere of the show earlier this month.
“That was tough to watch,” said Nealon, who spoke to Buzz to promote the “World’s Funniest Commercials” on Atlanta’s TBS at 9 tonight. “I thought my shirt covered it, but it didn’t. My agent called the next day and asked if I needed a nudity clause. I said, Nahh, if it’s OK with him, it’s OK with me.”
Last season, Nealon’s character Doug cheated on his wife with Elizabeth Perkins’ character Nancy. This year, he has to deal with the ramifications.
“He’s devolved,” Nealon said. “He’s become more of a kid in a bigger candy store.”
Other characters on the show will show off their bums, too. “There’s a ton of skin on ‘Weeds’ this year. Nobody goes unscathed.”
As for hosting the “Funniest Commercial” gig, he said he actually asked the producers half-seriously about shooting in Paris this time and shockingly, TBS said fine.
Plus, it’s a job that Ryan Seacrest didn’t take.
“I’m beginning to think that guy’s a workaholic,” Nealon cracked.
ON MY iPOD
Travis Tritt , country singer and Marietta native: “I love Rob Thomas’ stuff and I’m a big Nickelback fan,” Tritt told us. “I even recorded a cover of theirs [“Should’ve Listened”] for the new album [“The Storm”]. I’ve also got entire libraries of Ray Charles, Bob Seger, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash that I take everywhere. Oh, and Alison Krauss. I got all her stuff. She’s amazing.”
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actor Bill Daily (“I Dream of Jeannie,” “The Bob Newhart Show”) is 80. Actor-turned-politician Ben Jones (“The Dukes of Hazzard”) is 66. Comedian Lewis Black (“The Daily Show”) is 59. Actor Michael Chiklis (“The Shield”) is 44. Actress Cameron Diaz is 35. Guitarist Ryan Ross of Panic! At the Disco is 21.
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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Swizz Beatz, Cartel, Travis all debut in top 30
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It was a good week for metro Atlanta acts on the Billboard CD charts, with hip-hop, rock and country all represented.
Atlanta producer Swizz Beatz landed at No. 7 with his first solo album “One Man Ban Man,” which sold 45,000 copies its first week out, according to Nielsen/SoundScan in a story on Billboard.com.
Those sales also placed Swizz Beatz at the top of the R&B/hip-hop CD sales chart.
Local rock band Cartel, which holed itself up in a New York City “bubble” in May and June (sponsored by Dr. Pepper) and recorded its self-titled CD, sold a respectable 28,000 copies last week and opened at No. 20.
Country veteran and Georgia boy Travis Tritt followed close behind with his soulful-country hybrid indie-released CD “The Storm,” which debuted at No. 28 and sold 23,000 copies.
The soundtrack to Disney phenom sequel “High School Musical 2” slipped a relatively modest 40 percent in sales from week one and moved 367,000 copies, keeping it at No. 1.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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De La Renta lends star power to Fashion Cares
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New York and Atlanta fashion retailer Jeffrey Kalinsky isn’t often at a loss for words. However, as his 15th annual fund-raiser for breast cancer and AIDS got under way Monday night at 55 Allen Plaza downtown, the founder of Fashion Cares was momentarily rendered speechless. (Click here to see photos from the event.)
The fashion arbiter was attempting to articulate what having the evening’s special guest, fashion legend Oscar de la Renta in attendance meant to him and to the fund-raiser that’s become synonymous with the arrival of Atlanta’s fall social season.
“He is a gentleman,” Kalinsky told Buzz. “He’s such an incredibly busy man with an incredibly big life. For him to make time to be here tonight is one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received.”
Another nice gift for Kalinsky and the evening’s co-chairs: The event netted more than $700,000.
After a champagne reception in the gleaming lobby of the glitzy new downtown high-end office building, fashionably chic supporters were transported by elevator to the unfinished seventh floor where cool white curtains, white leather furniture, illuminated plastic carts filled with hors d’oeuvres and a breathtaking view of the city awaited.
While physically in the South of France, Atlanta philanthropist Elton John made one of the biggest contributions to the evening’s success. Not only did his Elton John AIDS Foundation offer a $90,000 matching grant to one of the evening’s beneficiaries, the Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund, he also donated an unprecedented pair of tickets to his 2008 Oscar Party in Hollywood.
After an intense bidding war, Intimacy undergarments founder Susan Nethero is going to Hollywood next year.
In exchange for $23,000, that is.
“With all of the charitable work he does, Elton is such a positive force in our world,” Nethero told us while handing over her American Express card to organizers. “I had to be the one walking that red carpet. That was my goal tonight.”
EJAF-Atlanta board member Barron Segar was ecstatic.
“It will be my pleasure to get on the phone Tuesday morning to pass along this amount,” he said. “And believe me, Elton will be waiting to hear as well. This is just another incredible example of how generous his U.S. hometown is when it comes to fund-raising for AIDS.”
And Nethero didn’t stop there. Her custom-fitted bra company also donated $25,000 to the evening’s other beneficiary, Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Finally, at 9:45 p.m., after the final bottle of bubbly had been drained, fall and winter 2007 fashions finally hit the white catwalk.
And if the trends strutting down the runway are any indication, global warming is now fashionable. Pastel floral dresses, white and bold violet and pear hues dominated the evening, along with lots of gray.
Aside from a bulging Jeffrey goodie bag, DAVE FM’s Mara Davis had a unique memento of the evening: a digital camera photo of her striking a pose with de la Renta.
“To me, Oscar de la Renta means awards shows and glamour,” Davis explained. “For him to be here at Atlanta’s premiere fashion event is incredible tonight.”
Davis being Davis, then scanned the room and added: “And I have never seen so many hot gay men in my entire life.”
The folks at Barry Real Estate Companies, who graciously supplied the venue for the fund-raiser Monday night, couldn’t have asked for a more monied captive audience to introduce to the mixed-use development project under way downtown. And the company’s sales pitch couldn’t have been more truthful either.
“Thanks to Atlanta’s gridlock, people are re-discovering downtown,” Hal Berry told the assembled. “This is a wonderful opportunity for us to demonstrate what we’re doing.” The ambitious project includes the hulking W Atlanta Downtown hotel under construction next door.
Buckhead Village’s luxe redevelopment project was also well represented. The Streets of Buckhead developer Ben Carter and his guests were seated mere inches from us. Alas, before we could squeeze the names of a few new boutique lessees out of Carter, he quietly departed the event. The real estate magnate was overseeing de la Renta’s chartered transportation in and out of Atlanta, you see.
OVERSCENE Indigo Girl and Watershed restaurant co-owner Emily Saliers picking up take-out consisting of a vegetarian plate (featuring hummus, baba ganouj and falafel), a gyro sandwich and bowls of summer gazpacho and red lentil soup Tuesday at Mediterranean Grill in Decatur.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS Actor-director Richard Attenborough is 84. Actor Elliott Gould is 69. Movie director William Friedkin is 68. Singer Michael Jackson is 49. Actress Rebecca De Mornay is 45. Guitarist Kyle Cook of Matchbox Twenty is 32. Actor John Hensley (“Nip/Tuck”) is 30. Bassist David Desrosiers of Simple Plan is 27.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Oct. food gig to offer taste of celebrity
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Oct. food gig to offer taste of celebrity
Foodies will get to ogle three of their favorite TV reality stars this fall when the annual Taste of Atlanta food festival flings out the flatware Oct. 13 and 14 at Atlantic Station.
“Top Chef” and “Iron Chef America” judge Ted Allen is flying in to help attendees pair wine with the right recipes. New York chef and former boss of “The Restaurant” Rocco DiSpirito will host a cooking demonstration and book signing. Jonesboro resident and former Waffle House short-order cook Julia Williams, meanwhile, is due to offer the crowds inspiration and a few perspiration prevention skills she learned recently while participating on Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen.”
As usual, the weekend also will offer tastes and tips from more than 70 of the city’s best restaurants, lots of cooking demonstrations and a “wine experience” at Ten Pin Alley.
For details, www.tasteof atlanta.com.
Still on the menu: Flaming Falcon
Michael Vick’s third-person-laden, “I found Jesus” public mumblings Monday didn’t exactly slow the contributions of Falcons No. 7-related trinkets at Vito Goldberg’s N.Y. Pizzeria in Marietta.
“We’ve now got a bag full of stuff that customers have brought in,” Vito’s Larry Preston Jr. told Buzz. “Our bar customers have been talking about it today, but I don’t think he really changed a lot of people’s minds.”
As Buzz readers will recall, when the Atlanta Falcons prepare to kick off at the Metrodome against Minnesota on Sept. 9, the pizza joint will be preparing a Vick souvenir bonfire outside in the parking lot as a benefit for local humane societies and animal shelters. Organizers are also encouraging any animals in attendance to heed nature’s call on the assembled Vick memorabilia prior to ignition.
The oddest piece so far donated?
“This little hard plastic statue of him that someone brought in,” says Preston Jr.
A Vick bobblehead?
“No, it’s not a bobblehead, unfortunately,” sighed Preston Jr. “It would be awesome if someone brought one in though! Most people get that this is all tongue in cheek. Let’s face it — he’s only apologizing not because he’s sorry but because he got caught.”
Urban cowboy
It’s not often that a Wild West cowboy sitting astride his quarter horse (complete with mule in tow, no less) ambles through downtown Atlanta. But for the next day or so, you might come across Couy Griffin perched atop Daisy with Black Jack trailing close behind. It’s his second year riding across the United States in what he calls “horseback street ministry.” Last year alone, he passed out more than 4,500 pocket-size Gospels of John to people who came up to visit with his animals. And it’s not just show. Griffin, 33, is a real-life cowboy. He grew up rodeoing and spent six years as a professional cowboy in Paris working as part of the Wild West Show in EuroDisney. As his stint in France was coming to an end, he had been praying for guidance as to his place in the ministry. “I noticed how the animals were a non-threatening draw,” says Griffin. “So I call Black Jack my bait.” But traveling cross country is not inexpensive, so to earn money for his journey from San Francisco to New York, he’s spent the last few winters working in his family’s saw milling business and guiding elk hunters on their quest in his hometown of Reserve, N.M. “It’s a tiny one-horse town, at least it is when Daisy and I are there.”
For more on his travels, go to www.ridingforisrael.com.
Early retirement? Not so much
Despite what you may have read in this space on Saturday, Buckhead Coalition president Sam Massell was at his desk as usual when we rang the former Atlanta mayor to apologize Monday. Due to a last-minute reworking of a sentence, we inadvertently retired the Buckhead institution in Saturday’s column.
“Since it was the weekend, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I came in today,” Massell quipped. “After all, with prior positions I’ve held, the locks have been changed on me.”
Still, our blunder had its upside.
Said Massell: “For about a minute there on Saturday, my wife was extremely happy.”
OVERSCENE
Four nights of back-to-back capacity crowds can apparently make a stand-up comic hungry. Between his Tabernacle gigs, Dave Chappelle became a fixture at Midtown’s South City Kitchen over the weekend. Chappelle was spotted at the eatery three times, enjoying spicy creole tagliatelle with crab and seared scallops, Dorothy’s chicken salad sandwich, the chilled cucumber soup du jour and the crab hash. On Monday, Chappelle was spotted signing autographs outside Rosa Mexicano at Atlantic Station.
HGTV host Vern Yip and a male companion shopping at the new guys and gals downtown boutique, 1-FIVE-0.
ON MY iPHONE
Jermaine Dupri, Atlanta producer, rapper and record label president:
“I’ve got pretty much everything on my iPhone. It’s old music, stuff that I can’t find anywhere anymore, that I go on iTunes and try to pull. I had to find my own bass compilation— ‘So So Def Bass All-Stars’ — because I didn’t have that. I had to actually buy that. That was kind of sad for me not to have that. I don’t even have my own [1998] album — ‘Life in 1472.’ ” Considering the mixed reviews on the new iPhone, Buzz couldn’t help inquire about Dupri’s: “It doesn’t have ring tones. It’s not loud enough. You can’t make your own ring tones. There’s just a lot of stuff they ain’t offering us.”
With that, Dupri pulled out his BlackBerry. Then his T-Mobile Sidekick. Then, a Boost Mobile phone. “I’ve got every phone — like five — on me,” he announced. And which one has the most important number (i.e., which is the hotline for girlfriend Janet Jackson)? “The one I answer,” he replied.
Contributing: Elizabeth Cobb, 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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Ciara plays coy on 50 Cent dating rumors
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ciara fans, we asked. Really, we did. Many of you are dying to know if she and rapper 50 Cent are the latest hip-hop juggernauts to hook up since Janet and Jermaine and Beyonce and Jay-Z.
So when we met up with the R&B darling Sunday during an interview at Lenox Square’s Macy’s store prior to her autograph signing and promoting Jay-Z’s Rocawear clothing line, we pressed the issue:
Buzz: Are you dating 50 Cent, yes or no?
Ciara: [with the biggest, probably most adorable smile to come out of Riverdale High] We’re good friends.
Buzz: C’mon, Ciara, that was a yes or no question. We’re trying to break some news here.
Ciara: [after a hearty laugh] We’re just good friends.
Buzz: OK, so who would you like to date past or present if not 50 Cent?
Ciara: Oh! Tupac … he was soooo fine!
Buzz got to thinking — date Tupac, eh? Let’s see, he was a bad boy rapper. Had gotten shot. Not afraid to ruffle feathers. ‘Tats everywhere, chiseled abs. Hmm. Who else fits that description?
OK, so moving on, Buzz, feeling a connection since we were decked in the same style Rocawear jeans as Ciara (we mentioned she was worth hammering out a few wrinkles even though we detest ironing), enjoyed speaking with the ScreamFest Tour artist. We found her to be cordial, down to earth and a pure sweetheart.
She explained she wasn’t satisfied with her 3.4 grade point average at Riverdale High and that if she wasn’t a singer she’d like to be CEO of a modeling and acting company. She’d also like to run hair salons. Ciara’s most happy when she makes other people happy, she said, and her favorite fast food? Chick-fil-A — with barbecue sauce.
Buzz got a slight tummy ache after the singer explained why she only had water for breakfast Sunday morning.
“Last night, I pigged out on a cheeseburger with Swiss cheese and grilled onions with french fries that you put on the burger. Then, I had ice cream with strawberry shortcake.”
And, miraculously, she was able to still fit into her Rocawear low-risers the day after.
Verve serves up music, good menu
Buzz had an interesting evening out Friday at Verve Lounge. Soul singers Donyale Renee and Kermit Quinn spun a mesmerizing web of R&B, jazz and funk on the second level as guests sipped cocktails and noshed on dinner. The range and prowess of the melodies against the Teddy White Band made us wonder why these guys aren’t on tour somewhere.
Our suggestion for the lounge would be to perhaps turn those amps down. The live and DJ grooves should caress and complement the ambience, not put it in a choke-hold. That way, diners won’t have to fight to hear each other. Speaking of dinner, we took in grilled wild salmon fillet with roasted ancho chili glaze and wild mushroom pancakes, charred corn and Swiss Chard. When we say a primo dish, we mean primo! Never mind our companion Jarvis spilled his Hennessy martini all over the place and later had his car towed. Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all.
Sony gloats with ‘Superbad’ summer
For a second week, enough moviegoers chugged down “Superbad” to keep it the No. 1 film over the weekend.
Sony’s flick, about three dorky high-schoolers trying to score booze for a party, racked in $18 million in ticket sales, according to The Associated Press. The movie raised its 10-day total to 68.6 million.
“It just goes to show, you make them laugh, and they’ll come,” says Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony, which kicked off Hollywood’s big summer with a record-breaking debut weekend of $151.1 million for “Spider-Man 3” in early May. “To start the summer with ‘Spider-Man’ and end it like this is an absolute blast.”
Pavarotti goes home to recuperate
Tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who has pancreatic cancer, was released from the hospital Saturday after being admitted two weeks ago with a high fever, according to The Associated Press.
In a statement, the Modena, Italy, hospital where he was treated said the 71-year-old opera star left his room at 6 a.m. for home, where it said he could continue his recovery and stay in contact with doctors.
Overscene
Celebrity chef G. Garvin, outside Verve Lounge Friday night chatting with security. He was in town for the Ebony Black Family Reunion Tour Saturday morning.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee Herman) is 55. Gospel singer Yolanda Adams is 45. Actress Chandra Wilson (“Grey’s Anatomy”) is 38. Bassist Tony Kanal of No Doubt is 37. Rapper Mase is 30. Singer Mario is 21. Actress Alexa Vega (“Spy Kids”) is 19.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Standup Tim Wilson back in town
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former long-time Atlanta resident Tim Wilson came to the Punchline over the weekend. He now has a house in Nashville and a pad in Louisville, Ky. Buzz caught up with him after his Friday night late show.
Wilson, a sharp-tongued standup comic and music satirist who lived in Atlanta for decades until about 18 months ago, said he is geographically closer to his primary promotional tools: syndicated radio hosts John Boy & Billy in Charlotte and Bob & Tom in Indianapolis, both of whom failed miserably when they aired in Atlanta. Nobody in metro Atlanta plays his satirical songs, though he gets occasional support from Moby, who now is on stations circling metro Atlanta.
“I’m out of style in Atlanta,” said Wilson, who is 46, balder and grayer than he was when the AJC profiled him in 2002 but more at ease now that he’s happily married. “And radio doesn’t do anything to help.”
Wilson recently got partial songwriting credit for a top 10 Toby Keith hit called “High Maintenance Woman.” The Keith song features the lyrics “It’s just a high maintenance woman/Don’t want no maintenance man.” Keith wrote the song but here’s the story he tells on his Web site:
I got to the studio and played it for the session guys and they said, “Aw, man. There’s a comedian named Tim Wilson who’s got a skit about that and has a little ditty song that’s kind of the same thing.”… Tim’s a friend of mine, so I called him and told him about my song and what the session musicians had told me about his. I said I wouldn’t even record mine without his blessing, which he gave. And just because I don’t want anyone to ever think I copped his song, we threw him a small share of the writing and put their names on it.
Wilson, who has a strong Southern accent and admires Don Nickles, said it was 10%, which he split with Danny Simpson, his frequent co-writer. He said Keith pockets about 4 cents per song he wrote per CD so Wilson and Simpson share .4 of a penny per CD. Wilson gets one-fifth of a penny. So far, Keith’s CD has sold about 450,000 copies. So Wilson has made just under $1,000. Not bad considering Wilson had nothing to do with the song, but Toby was courteous enough to give him some credit for the joke.
He has a recent CD “But I Could Be Wrong,”, which Wilson said isn’t doing too badly in sales. But the DVD “Tim Wilson: Live in Atlanta” “is sucking,” he said. The DVDl, released in June, was shot 18 months ago at the Punchline. As of this writing, it’s ranked, 42,008 on Amazon.com among DVDs. His CD is ranked 9,316 in the music category.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Population sign soon will count again
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s Buckhead’s answer to The Big Chicken.
And when the Darlington Apartments “Atlanta’s Population Now” landmark sign went dark earlier this year, some Atlantans began squawking, much like the folks in Cobb County did when the Kentucky Fried Chicken icon’s mechanical beak went slack a few years ago.
Staff / 1965 photo
On March 16, 1965, Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. shows — or tries to, anyway — Scott Silvis, 16 months, the new sign at the Darlington Apartments that shows a running count of Atlanta’s population.
Since the announcement was made in March that metro Atlanta’s population officially blew past the 5 million milestone in 2006, the old-school, light bulb accented sign hasn’t been able to officially report the occasion. The landmark has been keeping a record of the area’s growth for locals since the 1960s.
On Friday, the sign, situated outside the apartment complex at 2025 Peachtree Road, remained out of commission.
Naturally, Buckhead Coalition president Sam Massell was plugged in about the unplugged landmark.
“Along with our area’s marvelous growth, the population sign has had some growing pains,” the former Atlanta mayor told Buzz. With its original technology, Massell says the sign lacked the ability to go past 4,999,999.
“It quite literally couldn’t keep up with the times,” Massell said.
We’re told that the Darlington Apartments folks who maintain the sign are on the case, however, and a new numeral read-out system has been dispatched.
On Friday, the city of Atlanta announced it has approved the permit to make the necessary changes to the landmark.
Look for the sign to spring to life again — complete with a five in front for the first time — some time next month.
Sour 16 turns sweet
In these high-priced, MTV “My Super Sweet 16” times, it can be rough on a parent when their child turns the big 1-6. “I didn’t have the money to do anything real nice for my daughter,” Griffin resident Felicia Lindsey told Buzz, tears rolling down her face. So on Friday morning, Hot-107.9’s “A-Team” did.
Morning show members Rashan Ali, Emperor Searcy, Griff, Akini and Beyoncé held a birthday party for Griffin High School 10th-grader Contrail Lindsey.
And the extra surprise treat was that her mother was “Griffd” — translation: She was given a T-shirt, a box of Kit Kats and other prizes — by Griff and special guest, R&B singer and former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland.
“This is sooooo good,” the birthday teen said. And the best part? “They gave me a candle,” she said, motioning toward her plum-scented Kenya’s Kandle Kreation.
Ray OK after ‘Design’ ouster
Christina Ray, the sweet-as-pecan pie interior designer from Canton, was abruptly ousted in Sunday’s episode on HGTV’s popular reality show “Design Star” without even a judge involved.
Instead, a couple about to get married deemed her wedding reception presentation too feminine, even for the bride’s taste.
“It was fairly shocking she was gone,” Atlanta interior designer and judge Vern Yip told Buzz this week. “She is a very talented designer. She has an innate sense of certain design principles.” He said he honestly thought she’d go further. (Four contestants remain.)
Ray, immediately after she was ousted, was heartbroken. “I feel like a failure,” she said on the show.
But months later, she was back to her chipper self. “I don’t have any regrets of the design plan I chose,” she said.
Ray, 30, who is married with two young children, said Christina Ray Designs business has blown up since the series launched last month. “I’m getting a lot more commercial work,” she said. “Clubhouses for apartment complexes. Model apartments for display. Office space. I’m getting calls from all over America!”
Tickets hot items for ‘Fashion Cares’
Organizers behind this year’s 15th annual “Fashion Cares” are learning to never underestimate the global reach of Peachtree Road resident Sir Elton John. After Elton John AIDS Foundation-Atlanta board member Barron Segar went on Star 94 this week to publicize that the pop star has donated an unprecedented pair of tickets to his coveted (and very exclusive) annual Oscar night party in Los Angeles to the event’s live auction, fans have responded in droves.
On Friday, co-chair Sacha Taylor estimated that organizers have logged more than 100 e-mails from interested fans, “including a number of Elton John fan clubs and attendees coming from New York, Los Angeles, Italy and France.” The EJAF is a longtime presenting sponsor.
The breast cancer and AIDS charity fund-raiser — featuring a special appearance by fashion legend Oscar de la Renta — will be Monday night downtown at 55 Allen Plaza. We hear that developer Ben Carter, the driving force behind the Buckhead Village makeover project, is set to pick up de la Renta in a private jet.
For tickets and info: www.jeffreyfashioncares.com
HIGH FIVE
The top-selling albums at Decatur CD this week:
1. Josh Ritter, “The Historical Conquests of …”
2. Flight of the Conchords, “The Distant Future” EP
3. Rilo Kiley, “Under the Blacklight”
4. The Budos Band, “The Budos Band II”
5. New Pornographers, “Challengers”
Courtesy: Decatur CD, 356 W. Ponce de Leon Ave.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Saturday: Actor Sean Connery is 77. Talk show host Regis Philbin is 76. Actor Tom Skerritt is 74. Musician Elvis Costello is 53. Director Tim Burton is 49. Country singer Billy Ray Cyrus is 46. TV chef Rachael Ray is 39.
Sunday: Actor Macaulay Culkin is 27. Actress Keke Palmer (“Akeelah and the Bee”) is 14.
Contributing: Rodney Ho, 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.
Kitty Kelley comes calling about Oprah
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta playwright and columnist Topher Payne concedes that there’s a certain unsavory sensation in your stomach when celebrity bio author Kitty Kelley contacts you for an interview.
“It’s like hearing Mike Wallace and the ‘60 Minutes’ film crew is camped on your front steps,” the 27-year-old tells Buzz.
As it turns out, Payne is from Kosciusko, the same small town in Mississippi as the subject of the “Jackie O!” scribe’s next book: talk show gazillionaire Oprah Winfrey. Kelley is collecting stories from the town’s natives while researching what might be the first in-depth — albeit unauthorized — look at Winfrey’s life.
Payne says he was well aware of Kelley’s dubious reputation (the woman inspired words from Frank Sinatra that we can’t reproduce here after the publication of “His Way,” her dishy tell-all on the late Chairman of the Board).
“But she was as cute as Christmas,” Payne says. “And the girl knows her Google, too. How else would she have ever heard of me?”
The part-time actor agreed to the interview but with a stipulation: He would not discuss Winfrey directly, a woman he’s “never laid eyes on,” only his memories of growing up in Kosciusko.
“What many people might not realize is that Oprah was still not Oprah back then,” he explains. “She had a little talk show. Phil Donahue was the deal. She was better known for her acting in ‘The Color Purple.’ “
According to Payne, due to the racial makeup of the town, Winfrey still had to clear a few hurdles even after she became an icon.
“I grew up in a town where the high school prom is still segregated,” Payne says. “But when she opened the Boys and Girls Club there and began giving back, public perceptions shifted. But as much as I hate to admit this, Oprah did not change the rules in Kosciusko. She became the exception.”
And Kelley’s skills as an interviewer?
“I honestly didn’t feel like she was pushing any agenda,” Payne says. “It felt more like she was just collecting a clearinghouse of information.”
The playwright had news of his own to share. Next spring, Atlanta’s Process Theatre Company will play host to the world premiere of three new works by Payne: “Above the Fold,” “Perfect Arrangement” and “Don’t Look at the Fat Lady.” They’ll be staged at Whole World Theatre. That is, if an in-talks project that would debut “Above the Fold” in New York doesn’t happen first.
Payne, a three-time cancer survivor, plans to donate his royalties to the Atlanta chapter of Gilda’s Club, the charity co-founded by actor Gene Wilder and named for his late wife, comedienne Gilda Radner.
“Gilda’s Club makes it OK to laugh at yourself while you’re going through the darkest parts of cancer treatment,” Payne explains. “Maintaining a sense of humor has been such a huge part of my recovery each time. I want to do as much as possible for them.”
Vick fishing boat on eBay has it all
One of the odder pieces of Michael Vick-related paraphernalia floating around on eBay Thursday? That would be the 22-foot 2002 Aquasport fishing boat going for an opening bid of $20,000. According to the posting, the package comes complete with “a GPS system, marine radio and numerous fishing pole holders, coolers and live wells. It can carry as many as eight adults and has the ability to pull water skis and wake boards.” And yes, the trailer is included. While we did not receive an immediate response to our e-mailed inquiries to the seller, a photo of a certificate of title apparently signed by the disgraced Atlanta Falcons quarterback is posted online with images of the boat. At deadline Thursday, no one had yet posted a bid for the boat. The sale is set to end on Aug. 30.
Stix-ing to honesty
This may shock you, dear Buzz reader, but occasionally in this racket, people will try and pass off fibs as reality. That’s why we so appreciated the honesty of the press statement we received regarding this week’s scheduled media party for the much-anticipated Hot Stix Stir Fry Kitchen at the fast-growing Lindbergh City Center. The create-your-own stir fry eatery will allow you “to pick the rice or noodles, vegetables, sauces, spices and meats, pile them as high as the bowl can handle and with swords flying, it all cooks on the 700-degree Mongolian grill-in-the-round, custom made especially for Hot Stix.”
Sounds great, right?
Alas, the press event had to be postponed this week when the aforementioned pricey grill hadn’t yet arrived. Explained Hot Stix reps: “Without the ability to really cook on the property, we have made the executive decision to bump the party.” Free-food-snarfing scribblers and the general public can now look forward to Hot Stix’s debut in the first week of September.
Overscene
Archbishop Desmond Tutu and a group of five associates dining at Chops. We’re told that the esteemed South African leader and human rights icon was recognized but not approached by other Chops guests. Tutu and company dined on a meal of steak and lobster, chef Daryl Gassmann’s specialties.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Kenny Baker (R2-D2 in “Star Wars”) is 73. Actor Steve Guttenberg is 49. Talk show host Craig Kilborn is 45. Singer John Bush (Anthrax) is 44. Actress Marlee Matlin is 42. Actor-comedian Dave Chappelle is 34. Actor Carmine Giovinazzo (“CSI: New York”) is 34. Actor Chad Michael Murray (“One Tree Hill,” “A Cinderella Story”) is 26. Actor Rupert Grint (“Harry Potter”) is 19.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
Slugger Francoeur pitching for cancer center
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta Braves slugger and Parkview High School grad Jeff Francoeur will try his hand at pitching today as he and his fiancee Catie McCoy help to raise needed funds during the 7th Annual WSB Care A Thon to benefit the Aflac Cancer Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Today just after noon, Frenchy will be phoning into “The Neal Boortz Show” from Cincinnati where the Braves are playing the Reds tonight. Jeff and Catie will be auctioning off seats to a Maggiano’s Little Italy lunch with Francoeur and some assorted Braves pals. The 50 spots are going for a $1,000 pledge to the charity. We’re told that each attendee will receive two tickets to the September luncheon and also an autographed baseball and photo as well. An exact date hasn’t yet been set.
“I’m just going to show up whenever they tell me to,” the 23-year-old told Buzz on Wednesday. Francoeur says he first got interested in the charity by watching his teammate John Smoltz’s work with the organization.
“Obviously, hanging out with Smoltzy has had an impact on me,” he explained. “When you go up there and meet with the patients, you can’t help but be affected by it. Hopefully, I can take over for John when he retires.”
We also squeezed a small scoop of out Francoeur: the former Parkview sweethearts are getting married in November here in Atlanta after the season ends.
Listeners can tune in to 750 AM on the radio dial, call 1-888-750-2772 to support the Aflac Cancer Center or listen online, read patient stories and donate by logging on to www.wsbradio.com. Info: www.choa.org/careathon.
The fund-raiser continues on-air through 6 p.m. Friday.
Festival of Fonda will be on TCM
The plasma TVs at Buzz Central will be cranked to Turner Classic Movies today as we conduct daylong, um, research. Jane Fonda, our fave Poncey-Highland two-time Oscar winner, is the film channel’s subject as part of its monthlong “Summer Under the Stars” series. For Fonda fans, today’s schedule offers a look at many of her rarely seen early films, including “Tall Story,” her 1960 debut with Tony Perkins along with 1962’s “Period of Adjustment,” 1963’s “In the Cool of the Day,” 1964’s “Sunday in New York,” 1965’s “Cat Ballou” and 1966’s “Any Wednesday.” Fonda’s in-depth “Private Screenings” interview with TCM host Robert Osborne is also on the program. Alas, Fonda’s fascinating 1964 French film,”Les Felins” did not make the cut. At Buzz, however, we prefer to refer to the film by its U.K. title: “The Love Cage.” Check TCM.com for schedule details.
Overscene
R&B singer Ledisi at South City Kitchen in Midtown, where she was enjoying the fried green tomatoes appetizer and the vegetable plate before her appearance Tuesday night at Grown Folks Radio 102.5’s Cafe 102 at Sugar Hill. The vocalist will return to Underground Atlanta Sept. 1, first for a performance on the Neo Soul Stage at the Montreux Jazz Festival. And later that night she’ll host an album release party scheduled at the Event Loft for her CD “Lost And Found,” that hits stores next Tuesday.
Celebrity docket
Rapper Foxy Brown was hauled off to jail Wednesday after a judge revoked her probation.
The 27-year-old rapper was accused of violating the terms of her release in New York after she was arrested this month on charges she smacked her neighbor with her cellphone (or as we refer to it at Buzz Central: “going all Naomi Campbell on somebody.”). Shockingly, authorities said Brown also skipped her anger management classes and traveled out of the city without permission.
In perhaps the most understated quote uttered so far this year, Department of Probation attorney Matilde Leo told the court: She has an air of entitlement about her. Probation is a privilege, not a right. … She has finally abused that privilege to the point of no return.”
Judge Melissa Jackson ordered Brown jailed until her next hearing on Sept. 7.
Brown’s lawyer, state Sen. John Sampson, argued that it wasn’t necessary to send her back to jail.
He told the judge the case against Brown in Brooklyn, N.Y., was weak, and that Brown is three months’ pregnant. He said Brown has turned her life around with her pregnancy, wedding plans and deals for a new album and reality TV show.
ON MY iPOD
Chamillionaire, Grammy-winning rapper:
“I’ve got an iPod but I don’t even use it. It’s just that, you know, you’ve got to like plug it up to the computer. And then you’ve got to download songs. And put them in your playlist. I’d rather just get the CD and pop it in. I’m cool with the Discman. The Walkman.”
(By the way, Buzz was also surprised to learn that the artist who sold a record-breaking 4 million-plus ring tones of his single “Ridin, ” doesn’t have a ring tone on his own phone. “I’ve never been one who even participates in all of that,” said Chamillionaire, whose new CD, “Ultimate Revenge” is in stores Sept. 18. “I respect it. But I’m just not one of those people who’ll spend my money to buy all of these ring tones.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“On a table, next to the bed. Where else would you keep your BlackBerry?”— Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin on where herzzoner keeps the mayoral electronic link to the city at night, during an interview with Q100’s “The Bert Show” Wednesday.
Celebrity birthdays
Actress Vera Miles is 77. Satirist Mark Russell is 75. Actress Barbara Eden is 73. Actor Richard Sanders is 67. Singer Linda Thompson is 60. Actress Shelley Long is 58. Singer-actor Rick Springfield is 58.
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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Aretha lures Swiss bigwigs from Montreux to Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Camille Love, the executive director of Atlanta’s cultural affairs office, personally reached out to us Tuesday to spread some scoop about international dignitaries jetting into the city on Labor Day weekend to see the Queen of Soul.
Because Aretha Franklin travels exclusively by bus when on tour, it’s unlikely she’s been to Switzerland. So Claude Nobs, the founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, and Pierre Salvi, the mayor of Montreux, have committed to come to her and will be in the audience to see Franklin’s Sept. 1 show at Chastain.
Unlike spoiled American audiences, the pair never has been treated to a live performance by Franklin.
“We’re thrilled that these two prestigious guests will have an opportunity to see a soul legend in our city,” Love told Buzz on Tuesday.
Love sees Franklin’s show here as the same kind of coup city leaders achieved when they booked James Brown at the venue on Labor Day weekend in 2003. Alas, the date turned out to be the Godfather of Soul’s last Atlanta show. The city also has brought legends like Nina Simone, Shirley Horn, Jimmy Scott and Nancy Wilson to town in recent years.
“Part of our mission is to provide the city with cultural experiences,” Love explained. “Presenting these legends is a part of that mission.”
Love, meanwhile, is downplaying the Queen’s recent concert cancellation in Detroit during a summer heat wave.
“We’re putting out positive vibes about the weather,” Love said. “Plus, we have an air-conditioned stage for Aretha at Chastain. We’re going to do everything we can to make the queen comfortable while she’s here.”
VIP tickets can be obtained by calling 404-817-7907 or at atlantafestivals.com. | • Map and details
Personally? We’ll be in attendance just to see Love groove to “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?”
Hoedowns shuts its doors
Hoedowns, arguably, the city’s sole gay and lesbian country-western nightclub that also featured weekly two-step dance lessons, Charlie Brown’s Drag Cabaret, the comedic stylings of Emmy-winning actor Leslie Jordan and a refrigerated Jagermeister shot machine under a single roof, has closed inside Midtown Promenade. We’re hearing there was plenty of backstage drama between the joint’s battling co-owners as the club was not-so-quietly shuttered last week. Employees were informed of the closing via a thoughtful note taped to the front door as they arrived for their shifts.
Upside? Those folks who use hand trucks to haul out cases of Trader Joe’s famed Two Buck Chuck wine will now have to circle the parking lot fewer times while looking for an open space in the busy shopping center.
ABC to show ‘Raisin’ on Feb. 25
Atlanta director Kenny Leon and Atlanta restaurateur Sean “Diddy” Combs are no doubt hatching one heck of a viewing party for Feb. 25. That night, the evening after the Oscars, is when ABC will broadcast the three-hour film adaptation of the pair’s Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of “A Raisin in the Sun.” The film is the first starring and executive produced by Combs’ Bad Boy World Wide Entertainment Group, among others. The February sweeps event also serves as Leon’s debut as film director. Said executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (who are enjoying big-screen success for the pair’s summer hit “Hairspray”) via a statement: “We are honored to have brought a new movie version of ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ to ABC. We are humbled by our formidable cast.” Co-stars Phylicia Rashad and Audra McDonald both won Tonys for their roles in the stage revival of the classic.
Overscene
Former NBA bad boy Dennis Rodman and his posse of three on the patio noshing on sushi and smoking cigars at Goldfish at Perimeter before an outing at Fever nightclub. We’re told that Rodman arrived “complete with piercings and flair” as he strolled through the dining room of the posh eatery.
Atlanta City Councilwoman Mary Norwood, in an eye-catching red jacket and black skirt at the always bottle-necked intersection of Briarcliff Road and Ponce de Leon Avenue on Tuesday morning. “I needed something that would pop out here, through all this greenery, for TV,” Norwood whispered to us of her news conference wardrobe. Norwood was introducing constituents and media types to a “Late Show With David Letterman“-like list, detailing the city’s Top 10 worst intersections.
Celebrity birthdays
Newsman Morton Dean is 72. Correspondent Steve Kroft (“60 Minutes”) is 62. Actress Cindy Williams (“Laverne and Shirley”) is 60. Country singer Holly Dunn is 50. Actress Regina Taylor (“The Unit,” “I’ll Fly Away”) is 47. Singer Tori Amos is 44. Singer Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys is 34. Guitarist Jeff Stinco of Simple Plan is 29.
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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10 years later, Tritts still happily married
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ten years ago this spring, we camped out — along with a gaggle of Florida-based tabloid scribblers — on a neighbor’s lawn outside Travis Tritt’s Paulding County home as he married Theresa Nelson. At one point during the ceremony, one tabloid reporter grumbled, “I don’t even know why we’re here. This marriage won’t last six months.”
On Monday, when we related the story to the Marietta native who just celebrated his 10-year anniversary with his wife and the couple’s three children, the 44-year-old roared and replied, “Well, I guess we showed them, didn’t we?” (The couple, with two of their three children, are pictured at right at the dedication in 2001 of a portion of Ga. 92 in Tritt’s name.)
Indeed, it took the likes of “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson to persuade Tritt to temporarily leave his quiet family life here for a Los Angeles studio earlier this year to create “The Storm,” the singer’s new disc in stores Tuesday.
“That was the only difficult part about making this album, the period apart from my wife and kids. [Theresa’s] what keeps me going.”
The singer says Jackson signed on as a producer after he heard Tritt’s duet with soul legend Sam Moore and wanted to bring out Tritt’s tendencies toward “blue-eyed soul” vocals. Tritt says the mix of musical styles on “The Storm” harkens back to what he grew up listening to in Georgia in the 1970s.
“Oh man, I remember listening to WSB radio as a kid,” Tritt recalled. “Dude, they would play Patsy Cline followed by Marvin Gaye followed by the Captain and Tennille. I realized that living here, we’re right in the center of a whole lot of musical influences.”
For old fans of the now-reformed Southern bad boy, Tritt still cranks up the naughty on “Rub Off on Me,” a sexy song about a guy helping his stressed-out working woman relax at the end of the day.
“That’s just one of those songs that’s right in my wheelhouse,” explained Tritt.
The song could also heat up the fanning crowds at Chastain on Wednesday when Tritt performs a homecoming show for fans here.
“I’m jazzed,” he said of the show. “The venue has such an intimate feel to it. Coming up, I saw [Jimmy] Buffett, Gordon Lightfoot, Dan Fogelberg and Ray Charles there. It means a lot to me.”
For tickets: www.classicchastain.com.
CD Review: Travis Tritt: ‘The Storm’
Overtime for Seacrest
Dunwoody High School grad and Star 94 alum Ryan Seacrest is clearly allergic to free time. Last week, Fox gave the “Idol” man (who also hosts an L.A. morning radio show and E! News) “entertainment” hosting duties for the Super Bowl in January. Then Monday, Fox handed him the Emmy Award hosting gig Sept. 16, airing on the network. Buzz can’t confirm this, but Fox may have him join the casts of “House” and “24,” too, for good measure.
Hunting bounty in metro Atlanta?
Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman ironically ended up in jail himself last year for allegedly breaking Mexican law by hunting down a fugitive over the border. At the moment, he’s free and the case is on appeal.
“I thought [going over the border] was a misdemeanor, but they charged me with felony kidnapping and conspiracy,” said Chapman, who attended a book signing at the Borders at Stonecrest Mall in Lithonia over the weekend for his new autobiography, “You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide.” He is also scoping out Atlanta for potential cases for Season 5 of his popular A&E reality show.
“There aren’t enough warrants in Hawaii now,” he said, referencing his home base. “So we’re checking out different parts of the country.”
Chapman said his book delves frankly into his multiple marriages, his days of drug addiction, his time in jail for an alleged murder he said he didn’t commit and his Christian faith.
“If you knew what I used to be, you might not love me,” he said.
Season 5, he said, will feature more of his family members, especially his 20-year-old daughter who goes by Baby Lyssa. “She wants to do what I do and that’s fine with me,” he said, despite the inherent dangers.
Hair-raising ‘Battle Royale’?
We hear that the Bronner Bros. International Hair Show got a little, well, wild downtown over the weekend. A colleague who was there says that during the “Hair Battle Royale,” hair artisan Jason Griggers styled the tresses of some scantily clad lovelies. But folks we talked to Monday apparently weren’t put off by the racy content.
“Very theatrical, very electric,” was how Gee-Gee Cain, doing marketing and public relations work during the show, put it. Nicole Martin, a coordinator and consultant for some of the stylists, had a similar take.
“The whole show is based on the creativity of the stylists,” she said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”
Monday’s agenda featured a tamer exhibitors’ brunch that included gospel music and the unveiling of a portrait of family matriarch Robbie Bronner, who asked that her sons and daughters-in-law join her on stage to a rousing ovation.
“This is a special moment,” she said.
Photos: Bronner Bros. Hair Battle Royale | Barber battle
Overscene
Singer Macy Gray bowling in the posh VIP lanes at Atlantic Station’s Ten Pin Alley after her Chastain show Saturday night. We’re told the R&B songstress was in the mood to have fun with friends. Her cocktail of choice? A glass of pinot grigio — with a splash of Sprite.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor-filmmaker-writer Melvin Van Peebles is 75. Singer and Atlantan Kenny Rogers is 69. Actor Clarence Williams III (“The Mod Squad”) is 68. Singer Jackie DeShannon is 63. Actress Loretta Devine (“Boston Public”) is 58. Actress Kim Cattrall (“Sex and the City”) is 51. Singer Kelis is 28. Actor Cody Kasch (“Desperate Housewives”) is 20. Actress Hayden Panettiere (“Heroes”) is 18.
Contributing: Jennifer Brett, 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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Hey, Bronner Bros.: Bald’s beautiful, too
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dear Bronner Bros.,
What about us?
Buzz understands your hair show, one of the largest in the nation, is about hair and all, but sometimes genes step in and make some of us — gulp — bald.
All weekend, we walked among an ocean of no-lye relaxers, weaves and straightening combs. We perused guys with expertly tapered fades and healthy dread locks.
That’s fine and dandy, but what about us guys who have been watching our hairline slowly creep backward? Or those of us who, smack dab in the middle of our head, hair thins till we have to shave it all off? We have feelings, too, you know.
But no one photographed us for promotional material. We weren’t featured in any live stage demonstration on, say, the art of holding your ear so as to not cut it off while shaving your head.
So as runway walkers strutted, hip-hop dancers two-stepped (all with hair, what’s up with that?) and vendors pitched their products, we stopped by a few hair care booths to inquire about stuff for us baldies.
“Wow, good question,” says Troy Williams of Desceed Inc. hair care products based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “I need to rethink that one.”
A woman over at the Virgin hair care booth recommended something called “hair fertilizer.” Uhh, no thanks. That doesn’t smell like a good idea. Besides, would our hair grow back or a grass patch?
Billie Jean Evans of Image America asked us to try a hair and weave detangler. Huh? We politely reminded Evans, after a good laugh, we have no hair, real or fake, to untangle.
On the way out of the exhibition hall, we finally came across something called ChaZap’s Bald Shine. It’s a head balm that prevents dry, patchy skin and bumps.
What a relief, and Buzz was even moved to buy a couple of jars. It, in fact, leaves the scalp shiny and refreshed. Thanks, ChaZap; we almost felt unwanted, like a bowl of cold, lumpy grits.
And Bronner Bros., let’s talk about that ear-holding demonstration for next year. Baldies would eat it up.
J.K. Rowling going sleuth route
It appears J.K. Rowling is trading in her magician’s wand for a magnifying glass.
The “Harry Potter” author — now Britain’s richest woman, worth more than $1 billion — has been seen in Scotland cafes working on a detective novel, according to The Associated Press.
Rowling said she doubted she would match the success of “Harry,” but confirmed she has plans to work on other books. Her seven “Potter” books have sold more than 335 million copies worldwide.
“I’ll do exactly what I did with Harry,” Rowling says. “I’ll write what I really want to write.”
Court TV’s got a new Star
Star’s back.
Star Jones, who left “The View” in a huff last year after ABC failed to renew her contract, sat down on “Larry King Live” Friday to come clean about her weight loss, discuss her new Court TV show, and make a statement or two about good ol’ Barbara Walters.
“It’s sad that I learned everything I could from one of the great broadcasters on TV and she didn’t learn anything from me,” Jones said about Walters after King replayed the segment in which Walters said Jones could have left “The View” with dignity, “but Star made another choice.”
Jones also expanded on her recent Glamour magazine spread, in which she finally admitted to having gastric bypass surgery. She says, “I was 307 pounds on the day of the surgery four years ago. I’m 140-145 now.” Jones says she’s a different person now and has learned to eat better, diet and exercise. As for corrective surgery, Jones had a breast lift and her tummy tightened but that’s it, she says.
Jones heads for national airwaves today as host of, what else, “Star Jones” on Court TV. She says it’s a talk show that combines pop culture with entertainment and people sharing interesting stories.
Her first guest? Fired “Grey’s Anatomy” star Isaiah Washington. Hmmm, they should have a lot to talk about.
“Star Jones” airs Monday at 3 p.m. on Court TV.
Senator gets spot in superhero flick
Sen. Patrick Leahy is going batty. Well, sort of.
The Vermont Democrat is appearing in the next “Batman” installment, “The Dark Knight,” and filmed his scene this summer, according to The Associated Press.
The longtime “Batman” fan wouldn’t reveal too much but did say he is called “the distinguished gentleman.”
“It’s a pretty tense scene,” says Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “It’s going to be a very interesting one.”
The film, scheduled for release next summer, stars Christian Bale (Batman), Heath Ledger (the Joker) and Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth).
Billboard’s top 10 singles
- Sean Kingston, “Beautiful Girls”
2. Fergie, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”
3. Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson, “The Way I Are”
4. Plain White T’s, “Hey There Delilah”
5. Rihanna featuring Jay-Z, “Umbrella”
Celebrity birthdays
Singer-actor Isaac Hayes is 65. News personality Connie Chung is 61. “Today” show weatherman Al Roker is 53. Rapper KRS-One is 42. Singer Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit is 37. Guitarist Brad Avery of Third Day is 36.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Back to school with Ludacris
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ludacris has been a charitable whirlwind of late. The Atlanta rapper-producer-actor’s foundation just held a back-to-school fair for 200 north Fulton County kids from low-income homes.
On Tuesday, he’s headlining a free concert at a private location for the Samsung/AT&T Summer Krush series.
Aug. 30, he’s turning his focus back on the little ones with a school supply giveaway at the Chick-fil-A at Camp Creek, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Buzz managed to catch up with him this week as he helped athletic capmaker New Era cut the ribbon on its 117 Luckie Street downtown store — which opens to the general public today at noon.
“Me and my foundation and our label are serious about giving back to our community, the people who do so much for us,” said Ludacris, who was joined at New Era by his Disturbing Tha Peace artists (Chingy, Playaz Circle), other Atlanta acts (Gipp, Jonelle Monae, Dallas Austin’s new group Just A Girl) and retailers (Sherlita Patton of P. Valentine, Ernel Dawkins of Laced Up ).
Homecoming at Chastain
Saturday night’s show at Chastain Park Amphitheatre is a homecoming of sorts for R&B acts Macy Gray and the Brand New Heavies.
“A ton of my mom’s brothers and sisters — and all their kids — live in Atlanta,” Gray said before the show. “I’m there all of the time, and I love partying there. I’ll never forget, when I was a teenager, the first time I went to Fat Tuesday’s. I love that my uncle let me drink!”
N’Dea Davenport of the Heavies, on the other hand, wasn’t loving our fair city when she made an early stop here to visit her parents. “How do y’all deal with this heat?! I have never seen my dog cry and bark as much as when we had to take a walk …He’s a poodle, but he’s not a wussy one.”
On my TiVo
Inspirational tough-love TV judge Greg Mathis (seen locally at 5 p.m. weekdays on WUPA-TV):
Mathis was in town to attend his “Youth and Education Expo” at Stonecrest Mall in Lithonia Friday. His favorite TV show: “It’s ‘Entourage.’ It reminds me of the shady side of the business I have to deal with: the agent, the lawyers, the studio executives.”
And his fave TV judge show, besides his, natch?
” ‘Judge Judy’ is the most entertaining to me. She’s the queen of judge shows and she’s my favorite.”
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Movie director Roman Polanski is 74. Actor Robert Redford is 70. Actor Patrick Swayze is 55. Comedian-actor Denis Leary is 50. ABC Evening News anchor Bob Woodruff is 46. Actor Edward Norton is 38.
Sunday: Actor John Stamos is 44. Actress Kyra Sedgwick is 42. Actor Kevin Dillon (“Entourage”) is 42. Country singer Clay Walker is 38. Actor Matthew Perry (“Friends”) is 38. Actress Tracie Thoms (“Cold Case”) is 32. CNN anchor T.J. Holmes is 30.
Contributing: Rodney Ho, 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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CNN, fund-raiser controversy lingers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Controversy continues to lift and separate behind the scenes of the upcoming Keep a Breast Foundation and Susan G. Komen for the Cure benefit to be held this fall at LUXE Atlanta boutique downtown.
For starters, CNN public relations reps remain unhappy with Buzz for our “misrepresentations” of CNN anchor’s Nicole Lapin’s “role or lack there of” with the unique fund-raiser that will auction off artistically rendered plaster busts of prominent Atlanta media women’s, well, busts.
New York-based CNN public relations senior vice-president Christa Robinson sent us a series of e-mails Thursday to say in part that Lapin “should not have been mentioned at all in association with this event… My understanding is that she never agreed to participate.”
However, after surveying a series of Lapin’s e-mails sent to a fund-raiser rep, it’s possible to see how organizers were confused. In e-mails sent in July, Lapin initially expressed interest in covering the event and even entertained the idea of being casted for a possible story. In August, those plans were ultimately scrapped when scheduling conflicts arose.
Lapin was not in attendance at a casting session held last week.
Meanwhile, radio participants, including 99X’s Leslie Fram, DAVE FM’s Mara Davis and Q100’s Jessica Dauler continue to support their involvement in the cause. Fram devoted a segment of 99X’s morning show to it Thursday while Davis has blogged about her experience and Dauler was featured in WXIA-TV anchor Karyn Greer’s televised and online report from the casting session.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Elvis lives, if only in this Grayson man
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Before transforming himself into “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” for his two sold-out performances commemorating the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s passing at Johnny’s Hideaway on Thursday night, Grayson resident Mark Phillips reflected on his hip-swiveling 16-year night shift gig.
“I kinda got into it by accident,” Phillips, 44, conceded to Buzz. “I’m a regional manager with a meat company. Back in 1993, we were having a Vegas-themed trade show. I was asked to do Elvis so I rented a jumpsuit for $300.”
These days, Phillips owns a $2,500 custom-tailored “Aloha, Elvis” outfit created from the King’s original costume templates. (It’s $300 more for the accompanying cape and belt.)
Phillips’ tribute shows encompass all of Elvis’ musical eras in music, from his first “Sun Studios Memphis” recordings to his 1960s movie music and his later hit, “Suspicious Minds.”
“It’s a little strange,” he says. “When I’m in that outfit, people just go crazy. They get into it. When you hear that screaming and get people a huggin’ and a kissin’ on you, it’s real easy to get into that Elvis mood.”
Thirty years ago Thursday, Phillips recalls being a 14-year-old playing “a cheap guitar” along to the radio when an announcer came on-air to report Presley’s death.
“It was one of those moments that just stopped everyone in their tracks,” he remembers. “But when that line is out the door at the Hideaway, it reminds you that people still care about his music.”
Justice is served
Former Atlanta Braves slugger David Justice enjoyed some ice cream with store co-owner Andrew Gillman at the new Carvel Ice Cream and Cinnabon shop downtown across from the Georgia Aquarium near Olympic Centennial Park. Friday night, before the Braves game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Turner Field, Justice, 41, along with former all-star Dale Murphy, will be inducted into the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame.
McClellan on Merv
As talk show and game show creator Merv Griffin is laid to rest Friday in Beverly Hills, senior WSB reporter Don McClellan e-mailed us his remembrances of the former big band vocalist.
McClellan says he first met Griffin here in 1961 when he was booked as a headliner for the station’s very first “Salute 2 America” parade.
“As part of the celebration, WSB staged a two-day show at the old Municipal Auditorium across from Hurt Park,” McClellan said. “The young Griffin was the headliner supported by several local professional entertainers.”
McClellan recalls being pressed into service, along with other WSB television employees as the show’s back-up dancers.
“Former professional dancer and ‘Today in Georgia’ host Ruth Kent taught us some simple group steps, then, each in turn, would move out front for our spotlight routine. Because of my long legs, Ruth taught me to flip my round straw hat, and kick it back into place.
“As we came off stage, Griffin remarked, ‘They’re pretty good hoofers, but I doubt they could make it on Broadway.’ We were bursting with pride that a man of his talents thought we were professional dancers. After Griffin learned who we really were, he hung me with the nickname of Bo Jangles. Merv was real people.”
Singing, eating and fund-raising
After another busy summer on the road with Lyle Lovett as a featured vocalist in his Large Band, it was entirely appropriate to welcome Francine Reed home with an outing to Watershed in Decatur for fried chicken night.
As an added garnish, the eatery’s James Beard-award winning chef and longtime Reed fan Scott Peacock was able to join us the other night.
After months of “barbecue done wrong, baby!” at various stops across America, Reed was ready to tuck into Peacock’s pimiento cheese, corn meal-dusted fried okra, shrimp and grits and a heaping plate of that golden fried chicken.
On Aug. 28, Reed’s vocals (along with a CD cover photo of the back of her head, snapped with her Large Band co-workers from behind the stage) will be featured on Lovett’s new studio recording, “It’s Not Big, It’s Large” via Lost Highway.
A two-disc set with live performances and a behind-the-scenes DVD also will be offered.
Before we lose her again to another multimonth run of “Teatro Zinzanni” dinner theatre in San Francisco next week, Reed will headline, along with the Sundogs, the fourth annual Kate’s Club Cabaret event at the The Foundry at Puritan Mill Friday night.
It benefits the Atlanta-based charity that assists children and teens after the death of a parent or sibling (Info: katesclub.org).
With an autographed copy of Peacock’s “The Gift of Southern Cooking” (and various to-go containers) tucked under her arm, Reed exited Watershed, exclaiming: “Where’s Grandma? I need to smack her!”
Celebrity birthdays
Actress Maureen O’Hara is 87. Actor Robert DeNiro is 64. Actor Robert Joy (“CSI: NY”) is 56. Singer Belinda Carlisle is 49. Actor Sean Penn is 47. Drummer Steve Gorman of the Black Crowes is 42. Rapper Posdnuos of Del La Soul is 38. Donnie Wahlberg, formerly of NKOTB, is 38.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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CNN anchor taken off breast cancer fund-raiser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Could CNN have a few internalized body image issues? We hear that certain CNN types were more than a little displeased by our piece in Wednesday’s column detailing the upcoming “Keep a Breast” Susan G. Komen for the Cure fund-raiser Oct. 18 at LUXE-Atlanta boutique downtown.
You’ll recall that local media women, including CNN’s Nicole Lapin, WXIA-TV news anchor Karyn Greer, WGCL-TV’s Corinna Allen, Star 94’s Cindy Simmons, DAVE FM’s Holly Firfer and Mara Davis, Q100’s Jessica Dauler and Grammy’s Atlanta chapter president Michelle Caplinger lent their names to support the event with many even lending their chests and torsos to be casted for charity. The casts are slated to be painted, displayed and auctioned off for the breast cancer non-profit.
When CNN folks saw Lapin’s name attached to the event in this space Wednesday, somebody’s push-up bra pushed back.
For starters, the fund-raiser’s publicist Kitsy Rose got a lecture.
“I feel like I should still be sitting in a corner with a dunce cap on,” Rose told Buzz. “Apparently, this was not run by certain people at CNN, and I was informed that this was not something CNN anchors would ever participate in.”
For the record, Lapin was not one of the women who lent their chests to the charitable endeavor. All references to Lapin have been deleted from press materials pertaining to the fund-raiser.
CNN public relations director Jennifer Martin told us the news network has a policy in place regarding its anchors’ participation in outside endeavors.
“Things like this have to be approved,” Martin said. “This wasn’t. There was a miscommunication. Nicole was aware of the event, but it was not on her calendar. Susan G. Komen is a great foundation. But if our talent is involved or if their name is being used in connection to an outside event, we need to know about it.”
Rose says the castings will be “artful and tasteful” and anonymous.
Explains Rose: “It’s not like we were going to post a sign reading ‘Nicole Lapin’s Rack’ with an arrow. People need to realize, though, that even women in their 20s are getting breast cancer. We’re all affected by this disease. This is a unique way to get that message out there.”
For more info: www.luxeatlanta.com.
Sick bay update
Meanwhile, there was good news for WSB anchor JaQuitta Williams as she underwent breast cancer surgery Wednesday. Wsbtv.com updated anxious viewers, telling them that “doctors report there was no sign of cancer in JaQuitta’s lymph nodes.”
On Williams’ decision to go public with her diagnosis, WSB-TV news director Marian Pittman told Buzz: “There are opportunities in television to send a message, and this is a way to use television in a very powerful way.”
Case in point: The Augusta native is only 36 and has no family history of the disease.
WSB-TV reporter Jeff Dore, himself a stage-four leukemia survivor, was selected to cover Williams’ story.
The anchor also will blog about her treatment journey at www.wsbtv.com.
If Williams needs any assistance at work, WSB-TV health reporter Diana Davis and veteran anchor Monica Pearson, both breast cancer survivors, can lend support.
“It is amazing how many of my contemporaries are facing breast cancer, [‘Good Morning America’” co-anchor] Robin Roberts and now JaQuitta,” Pearson wrote to us in an e-mail.
“And while it is scary, it is important to remember, early detection means a better chance of a cure. Both women have excellent attitudes and that goes a long way. It is just one more opportunity for those of us who have been through it to remind everyone else — do those breast self- exams each month and get a mammogram yearly. If it can happen to us, it can happen to you.”
If the pages and pages of emotional messages posted online at wsbtv.com are any indication, Williams can also count on plenty of support from WSB viewers.
Moore on Mayer
Oh, fine. I suppose this means we won’t catch former Buckhead boy John Mayer canoodling at Bluepointe any time soon with Mandy Moore. The actress and pop star tells “Extra” that the “Wonderland”-like body language the two were displaying recently during a lunch together in New York was purely platonic.
Out pimping the premiere of her new film “Dedication” this week, Moore was asked about the coziness. “Oh my goodness,” she told “Extra.” “John and I have been friends for years, no romance.”
High Five
Television
Top downloaded TV shows on iTunes this week
1. “Greek,” “Friday Night Frights” episode, ABC Family
2. “Greek,” “Liquid Courage” episode, ABC Family
3. “Kyle XY,” “House of Cards” episode, ABC Family
4. “Greek,” “Picking Teams” episode, ABC Family
5. “Harry Potter: The J.K. Rowling Interview,” NBC News Special
—Source: iTunes
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Fess Parker is 83. Sportscaster Frank Gifford is 77. Singer Eydie Gorme is 76. Actress Julie Newmar is 74. TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford is 54. Director James Cameron (“Titanic,”) is 53. Actress Angela Bassett is 49. Singer Madonna is 49. Actress Laura Innes (“ER”) is 48. Actor Steve Carell is 44. Country singer Emily Robison of The Dixie Chicks is 35.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Get ready for the Montreux headliners
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Plans for the city’s Labor Day weekend Montreux Jazz Festival were officially unveiled Tuesday. In addition to Aretha Franklin’s Sept. 1 concert with Naturally 7 at Chastain, Gordon Chambers, Ledisi and Sleepy Brown (pictured) are among the headliners at Underground Atlanta, while there will be a “Blues, Bourbon and Barbecue Boat Ride” Aug. 31 at Stone Mountain Park, a Fat Matt’s Rib Shack Blues Stage and classic Montreux filmed performances featuring Weather Report and Marvin Gaye will be screened. For details: www.atlantafestivals.com or 404-853-4234.
A LUXE benefit
99X’s Leslie Fram, meanwhile, reached out to Buzz on Tuesday to inform us of a notable Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation fund-raiser she’s heading up this fall. Fram is the co-owner of LUXE-Atlanta, a high-end downtown boutique that will feature some unique artwork for auction Oct. 18 as part of a “Keep a Breast” fund-raiser. Last weekend, Fram and Atlanta broadcasters, including WXIA-TV news anchor Karyn Greer, WSB-TV’s Jovita Moore, CNN’s Nicole Lapin, WGCL-TV’s Corinna Allen, DAVE FM’s Holly Firfer and Mara Davis, Q100’s Jessica Dauler and Grammy’s Atlanta chapter president Michelle Caplinger all turned up at LUXE to have their chests and torsos casted. The casts will be painted, displayed and auctioned off for the breast cancer charity in a “fashionable event” at the shop 6:30-9 p.m. Oct. 18.
“I have to admit, at first I thought it was a little creepy,” Davis told us Tuesday. “But when I saw all the castings lined up, I recognized what a powerful statement this is. This is a great way to get women to think about their breasts and their health.”
Davis also has a personal reason to participate: This weekend she’ll go home to celebrate the first anniversary of her mother’s successful lumpectomy.
‘Ice Tour’ heats up
Want further proof that ‘tweens and the Disney Channel have taken over the earth? Demand for tickets to “Disney’s High School Musical: The Ice Tour” at Philips Arena Oct. 24-28 is now so high, the ice skaters’ understudies may soon have understudies. Shows have been added for 10:30 a.m. Oct. 25 and 26. (Metro school principals take note: These are both school days.) On Oct. 27, shows are 11 a.m. and 3 and 7 p.m. The Oct. 28 shows are at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
“The additional shows will help to accommodate the numerous box office requests,” explains a press statement e-mailed to Buzz on Tuesday. The ice shows are based, natch, on the insanely popular “High School Musical” series of kid flicks on the Disney Channel. And on the off chance you happen to be over the age of 16 and reading this, “High School Musical 2” will make its world premiere Friday night on the basic cable channel at 8 p.m. (that’s, like, only two days from right now, OMG!).
Sick bay update
Luciano Pavarotti, 71, who was admitted to an Italian hospital last week with a fever, is expected to be released “imminently” and plans to resume recording a new album, his manager said Tuesday.
Doctors have cleared the tenor to leave the Modena hospital where he has been undergoing tests since last Wednesday, his manager, Terri Robson, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
The opera superstar, who underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer last year, was hospitalized in his hometown after a routine examination revealed a high temperature, Robson said. She said a newspaper report that the tenor was suffering from pneumonia was “completely exaggerated.”
Celebrity birthdays
Actress Rose Marie (“The Dick Van Dyke Show”) is 84. Actress Pat Priest (“The Munsters”) is 71. Actress Debi Mazar (“Entourage”) is 43. Actress Debra Messing (“Will and Grace”) is 39. Actor Anthony Anderson (“Barbershop”) is 37. Actor Ben Affleck is 35.
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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Native Atlantans Club making Mei Lan a member
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Early presents continue to stack up for Mei Lan, Zoo Atlanta’s star attraction, as the panda cub nears her first birthday Sept. 6. Native Atlantans Club reps tell us that the 200-member organization is planning to make Mei Lan a lifetime member during an event at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 8. Former Atlanta mayor Sam Massell will make the presentation.
“Once, when I was mayor, our friends Down Under in Australia sent a baby kangaroo to the city,” Massell recalled Monday. “It could really kick too as I recall. This will be considerably easier, I think, as I’ll be at some distance from the panda.”
As we were concluding our business with him, the Buckhead Coalition president couldn’t resist adding: “You do realize that it’s much hotter downtown today than it is in Buckhead, don’t you?”
As the Buzz Central summer intern staff fanned us with large palm leaves, we politely replied: “Of course, sir.”
Springsteen’s latest due in fall
According to Mrs. Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa, the recording project that her hubby has been working on here at Southern Tracks with Brendan O’Brien may be out as early as October. In an interview with Billboard.com, the singer-songwriter says that both her third solo album and Springsteen’s next studio project may be issued within weeks of each other this fall.
“It’s just the way it worked out,” Scialfa tells Billboard.com. Her disc, “Play It As It Lays” which also features her hubby, is being readied for a Sept. 4 release. Says Scialfa: “It’s been an exciting time at home because we’re both pretty busy. It feels like a great, creative time. It just feels very positive.”
Springsteen’s E Street Band members contributed to both projects.
Queen of Soul decides to cool off
Aretha Franklin’s heat-related cancellation in Detroit over the weekend, meanwhile, must have Camille Love over in our fair city’s Office of Cultural Affairs praying for a cold snap over Labor Day weekend. That’s when the Queen of Soul is booked on Sept. 1 at Chastain Amphitheatre.
With temperatures in Detroit climbing into the 90s last week, Franklin released a statement saying: “I am exhausted from the heat and cannot tolerate heat in these extremely high numbers and being in concert simultaneously.”
Brown trustee pays, resigns
Even though he’s technically no longer around, the drama in soul legend James Brown’s personal life continues on. A trustee accused of misappropriating $350,000 of the singer’s money has resigned and handed over a check in that amount during a court hearing.
David Cannon also resigned Friday as co-executor of the late soul singer’s will during a four-hour hearing before Circuit Judge Jack Early, The Augusta Chronicle reports.
Cannon has an unlisted telephone number and another trustee, Buddy Dallas, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
A follow-up hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 24 as various people wrangle over the late soul singer’s estate.
It’s not clear how much money is left in the estate, says Louis Levenson, the Atlanta attorney who is representing several of the singer’s children. Before he died Christmas Day at age 73, Brown had been on an allowance of $100,000 a month.
Levenson said his firm is trying to find out where the singer’s money went.
Brown’s former pastor has filed a motion to intervene on behalf of needy children who are supposed to benefit from the James Brown “I Feel Good” Trust. That is one of two trusts Brown had set up: one to pay for poor children in South Carolina and Georgia to attend school, the other to pay for Brown’s grandchildren to go to school.
The Rev. Larry Fryer said he’s worried the money meant for poor children is being squandered by the court battles. “If we’re paying all of the money to all of the legal sources,” Fryer said, “what’s left for the children?”
One of Brown’s grandchildren, Forlando Brown, meanwhile, is accusing his aunts and uncles of trying to break the trusts to get their father’s money.
“People are greedy,” the West Georgia University student tells the Chronicle.
Forlando Brown said he, his brother and his father, Terry Brown, have been ostracized by the rest of the family for siding with the trustees.
Overscene
CNN founder Ted Turner (below) dining with “a beautiful blonde” at French-American Brasserie downtown. … Outkast member Andre 3000 taking in the “Art in the City” event at the High Museum in Midtown.
High five
Television
The top On Demand features for the week of Aug. 1-8, as determined by Comcast customers in metro Atlanta:
1. “Can’t Leave ‘Em Alone,” Ciara music video, Music Choice
2. “South Park” “Ginger Kids” episode, Comedy Central
3. “Girlfriend,” Avril Lavigne music video, Music Choice
4. “Beautiful Girls,” Sean Kingston music video, Music Choice
5. “Cupid Shuffle,” Cupid music video, Music Choice
Courtesy: Comcast
Celebrity birthdays
Actress Alice Ghostley (“Designing Women”) is 81. Singer David Crosby is 66. Actor-comedian Steve Martin is 62. Actress Susan Olsen (“The Brady Bunch”) is 46. Actress Halle Berry is 41. Actress Mila Kunis (“That ’70s Show”) is 24.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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That’s ‘Mr. Sedgwick’ to you
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Actor Kevin Bacon used to be far better known than his wife and fellow thespian Kyra Sedgwick. But Sedgwick’s Emmy-nominated role as Detective Brenda Johnson on basic cable’s biggest drama, “The Closer,” has balanced the scales a bit.
Bacon isn’t shying away. He recently directed his second episode of “The Closer,” which airs at 9 Monday night on TNT.
“On the set, they give directors a chair with your name on it,” Bacon told Buzz last week while in New York shooting the HBO film “Taking Chance.” “Mine said, ‘Kevin Sedgwick.’ “
Then he joked, “It’s obvious. I’m shamelessly trying to ride her coattails.”
Bacon said directing his wife is easy because she knows the character so well. “I just say action and stay out of her way,” he said.
It’s the episode after Johnson killed a serial killer, and she’s still grappling with the ramifications — and a visit from her parents. “The murder,” Bacon said, “comes out of the blue.” (Buzz saw the episode and agrees.)
Compared with directing films, which is far more hands-on, being a TV director, Bacon noted, “is much more a hired gun. In this case, it’s an incredibly well-oiled machine. You can’t come in and change it.”
Friendship counts for Mo’Nique
So how exactly did the Uptown Comedy Corner — with a capacity of just under 400 — manage to snag Mo’Nique for four shows this coming weekend? A talent that sells out theaters? Well, Buzz asked Mo’Nique herself.
“The truth of it is, somebody who works at the club is a really good friend of mine,” said the actress-comedian, referring to Uptown’s Valarie Farrow. “When I first started out in Atlanta, she was really supportive. She let me know then how much money I should be making. So when she said, ‘Mo, I need you to come down,’ of course I’m coming down.”
Mo’Nique is scheduled to appear Aug. 17 and 18 at Uptown Comedy Corner, 800 Marietta St. For more information or tickets, call 404-881-0200, www.uptowncomedy.net.
M Bar cozy in Castleberry Hill
Castleberry Hill is really doing its thing. From restaurants to galleries and new lofts and nightspots, it’s developing into a hip, artsy gathering spot for young adults. (We just can’t help but wonder how area residents feel about the crowds and lack of street parking along Peters Street).
Buzz checked out M Bar lounge one evening and found the place to be rather small yet cozy and inviting. There are a few boutique chairs and tables up front, with four TVs on the wall playing VH1 Soul videos. The bar is a blue-tile mosaic, and the walls have a (stale) grayish-blue tint.
In the rear space, banquettes line the wall and has a separate bar. The place, which opened in September, gets packed with people listening to house, downtempo, R&B and acid jazz as they mingle.
Last Thursday, there was “the hired help” in the back blowing balloons for a private birthday party for the Oakland Raiders’ No. 1 draft pick JeMarcus Russell.
A nice assortment of food is served at M Bar, such as calamari, crab cakes and salads, and if you’re wondering what the “M” stands for, it’s music, martini and margaritas.
And speaking of drinks, Buzz found a spinachlike thingy floating in a $12 Long Island Iced Tea and was told, “Oh, it’s just a mint leaf from the shaker. Do you want me to make you another one?”
We were glad bartender Ariane Davis asked. “Yes, please.” And this go-round, the look and taste were spot on.
‘Voltron’ movie reportedly in the works
First “Transformers,” now this.
New Regency, a 20th-Century Fox-based production company, is looking to bring “Voltron: Defender of the Universe” to the big screen in the next year or so, according to Variety.com.
The company will team up with the Mark Gordon Co. to produce the live-action flick, which deals with five survivors of an alien attack who pilot five mechanical lions that form a warrior behemoth and slashes Earth invaders.
“Voltron,” which started as a 1980s animated cartoon series, has been in production for three years and is set in New York City and Mexico, according to Variety.com,
So what other cartoons and comic books are being developed for theaters? “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” “He-Man: Master of the Universe,” “Street Fighter” and “Supermax,” featuring Green Arrow, according to Variety.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Actor gets a hatful of lines
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Judah Friedlander, who plays scruffy sketch comedy writer Frank on NBC’s critically acclaimed sitcom “30 Rock,” is a regular on the show but didn’t get nearly as much airtime the first season as bigshots Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey or Tracy Morgan, much less newcomer and former Conyers resident Jack McBrayer.
But he isn’t complaining. “It’s out of my hands,” he told Buzz while in Atlanta for a series of comedy shows this weekend at the Punchline. “I don’t make any push for [more airtime.] I have fun and do the best that I can.”
Friedlander, known for always wearing trucker hats, said he has to fend off accusations that he’s copying Ashton Kutcher. In fact, he’s been wearing them since the late ’80s. “Before they became popular, people would say I was racist for wearing these hats because they associate them with rednecks,” he said. “Once they became trendy, those same people would say, ‘Where can I get one?’ “
On the show, Friedlander purposely wears hats with different sayings in each episode and he tries to tie the sayings to something on the show.
One episode, his character misspelled the word “vagina” in a fictional script so he wore a hat with the words “Kung Fu Beech,” with beach purposely misspelled. Unfortunately, he said, they cut the “vagina” reference out of the show so all that was left was a now-inscrutable hat message.
Here comes Atlanta Weddings
The weather was working against one of the sponsors of the posh wedding party at Opera nightclub in Midtown this week as Atlanta magazine launched its latest speciality glossy, Atlanta Weddings. The majestic pieces created by Ice Sculpture Inc. were threatening to disappear even as attendees arrived. The inaugural issue, overseen by editor Susan Forehand, is now on newsstands. A second issue will bow in December. On Friday, Atlanta magazine publisher Sean McGinnis told us how the mag plans to distinguish itself in a crowded marketplace. “We’re tailoring this to a higher-end, affluent bride and specifically the Southern bride.” McGinnis says he’s already receiving tips for future issues. “Some women have suggested we also offer something for the second, third- and fourth-time bride,” he said, laughing. “If there’s a market, we’ll take it into consideration!” And as Atlanta Weddings moves forward, the title’s publisher Marita Kahler has a secret weapon working behind the scenes — former AJC style guru Marylin Johnson has just been signed as AW’s fashion editor.
“We’re blessed and thrilled,” McGinnis said. “Marylin’s reputation is stellar.”
The wedding reception replica at Opera ended with a lavish fashion show of gowns and tuxedos.
Put on your ‘Sunday Best’
Atlanta is feeling like audition central lately. There was the casting call for “Flavor of Love” Thursday at Uptown Comedy Corner. There is the monster of all star searches — “American Idol” — coming Tuesday at the Georgia Dome. And this weekend, BET is soliciting gospel singers for its new reality show, “Sunday Best.” Auditions begin at 9 a.m. today at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel, 590 W. Peachtree St. Contemporary gospel superstars BeBe Winans and Mary Mary will judge the finalists Sunday afternoon. “Sunday Best” is scheduled to debut Oct. 2. For more information go to www.BET.com or call 1-888-PSALM-95.
Dishing with DJ Drama
When Buzz ran into a buoyant DJ Drama recently, he was feeling so Drama-free he was actually calling himself something else. But we’ll get to that in a minute. First, his partner DJ Don Cannon and his co-worker Miss Shyneka were celebrating their birthdays. He and his fellow Aphilliates DJ team had just completed their first week on the air. (Their Gangsta Grillz show is now on Hot-107.9 from 10 p.m. to midnight weekdays, along with their Saturday installment.) He’s also on the Scream Tour, behind the turntables for rapper-actor T.I. His long-put-off CD debut now has a Thanksgiving release date. And though there were earlier reports that the mixtape titan would have to put out his album under a different moniker —Â because he didn’t own it — “I am proud to say we have acquired the name Drama,” he told Buzz. “So that’s big!”
And what about that January arrest on state racketeering charges of selling unauthorized music material, for which he and Cannon face one to five years, if convicted?
“The case is still pending, but everything is moving in a good direction,” Drama said. “We’re definitely looking forward to coming to terms with everybody involved.
“And our [mixtapes] have been on the up and up since our situation. [They’re] in two continents besides North America. And 36 states… Everything is on and popping. We’re taking over. Just call me Barack Odrama!”
On my iPod and TiVo
Macy Gray, Grammy-winning R&B singer and actress:
“I’ve got ‘The View’ and ‘Entourage’ and a lot of reality shows. ‘Making The Band’ is hilarious to me. As for downloading, well, I’m a DJ too. Mostly [for] parties in California. So I do that a lot. And maybe the last thing I downloaded was Timbaland’s new album. Gotta have that as a DJ.”
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Wrestler-actor Hulk Hogan is 54. Singer Joe Jackson is 53. Rapper Chris Kelly of Kris Kross is 29.
Sunday: Country singer Porter Wagoner is 80. Singer-guitarist Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits is 58. Rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot is 44. Actor Peter Krause (“Six Feet Under”) is 42. Actress Maggie Lawson (“Psych”) is 27. Actress Imani Hakim (“Everybody Hates Chris”) is 14.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and Rodney Ho.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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‘Irresponsible’ photo op?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta attorney Phaedra C. Parks came out swinging Thursday after Tmz.com published a camera-phone image of her client Bobby Brown and ex-wife Whitney Houston taken Tuesday night at Joe’s Crab Shack in Alpharetta and hinted that the pair was high. Tmz.com also sent out a news alert to e-mail subscribers with the headline: “Whitney and Bobby: Livin’ the High Life Again.”
“It’s incredibly irresponsible of Tmz.com to take cheap potshots at people who have experienced problems in their past,” Parks told us. “My phone has been ringing all day. Bobby asked me, ‘What are they saying?’ I had to tell him, ‘They’re saying you were high.’ ‘He replied, ‘Oh my God, that’s terrible.’ “
Parks says that the parents of Bobbi Kristina are in town this week to help their daughter enter high school here.
“They are both sober and they’re both trying to have positive careers,” Parks said. “This is extremely unfair to both of them. She’s a mother. He’s a father. And they’re here trying to be good parents. It was just an easy thing for Tmz to tag them with.”
Brown told Parks that while they were eating at the Haynes Bridge Road restaurant, another patron approached them with a camera phone and started snapping images.
When contacted by Buzz on Thursday, a manager at Joe’s Crab Shack told us that Houston and Brown were cordial and friendly during their visit and that no one working the shift reported either pop star as being impaired.
While the singers maintain ties to Atlanta, the couple’s former residence at Country Club of the South was sold in May for $1.1 million.
Luxury lifestyle launches online
As Tonya Ellerby readies today’s launch of Cliqueatlanta.com, her Atlanta social scene Web site, the businesswoman has assembled quite the advisory board of bold-face names to assist her. The former PaperCity magazine senior account manager has asked Material World creative director Kevin Knaus, A Legendary Event president Tony Conway, Four Seasons Hotel public relations director Marsha Middleton, Aida & Company owner Aida Flamm, charitable fund-raiser Angela Karatassos, Blue Med Spa owner John Stupka and other notable Atlantans to serve on the board. We’re told that the Web site aims to be “Atlanta’s only online social and luxury lifestyle magazine (think Town & Country meets New York Social Diary).” And unlike those slick glossies stacking up on coffee tables throughout the city, Cliqueatlanta can report on and post photos from social functions in mere hours. Or as the site’s tagline assures: “Instant Social Gratification.”
Quote of the day
“I mean, [divorce is] really, really hard. And for both Chris and me, our main focus is, and was [the couple’s 3-year-old son] Ryder. … I love Chris to pieces. … We still talk every day. He still cracks me up. And Ryder feels that.” — Actress Kate Hudson on her ex-husband and former Atlantan, Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson, in Harper’s Bazaar
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes is 64. Singer-flutist Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull is 60. Actor Antonio Banderas is 47. Actress Angie Harmon (“Law & Order”) is 35.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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‘Rush Hour 3’ family and friends party in the ATL
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When “Rush Hour 3” star Chris Tucker decided to provide his hometown with a sneak peek of his new action-comedy Wednesday night at Atlantic Station, half of the city turned out.
And not everyone present was related to the comic.
Tucker’s parents, five brothers and sisters, his son, several aunts and uncles and his grandma all arrived for the private screening at the Regal Atlantic Station and after-party at Dolce.
Rick Diamond/wireimage.com
The evening also attracted: Former Atlanta mayor and U.N. ambassador Andrew Young; record producers Jermaine Dupri and Dallas Austin; “Hustle and Flow” Oscar nominee Terrence Howard; former Atlanta Brave Brian Jordan; DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones; EcoManor owners Rutherford Seydel and Laura Turner Seydel; Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin; TV judge Glenda Hatchett; former NBA player Dikembe Mutombo; Atlanta City Council member Kwanza Hall and Atlantic Station vice-president Brian Leary.
At the screening, the comic ribbed Jones for showing up early (or White Folks Standard Time, observed Tucker) since announcing his bid for U.S. Senate last month.
“The whole place just fell out laughing when he said that!” Jones told us Thursday. “What I love about Chris is that he will tell everybody that he’s from DeKalb County. He’s not afraid to show his roots. Not only were big celebrities invited but he also made sure his family and folks from the neighborhood and old class mates from Columbia, his old high school were there as well.”
And Jones’ fave scene in the sequel?
Tucker’s riotous turn in the beginning of the picture as a traffic cop singing a Prince song to passersby.
After Tucker and co-star Jackie Chan neutralized half the earth’s population on-screen for a third time, attendees made their way to Dolce where chicken Parmesan, lump crab cakes with champagne lemon sauce, Caprese salad and farfalle pasta with chicken, broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes and white wine awaited.
Guests were also treated to homemade chocolate truffles, mini tiramisus and Georgia strawberries dipped in chocolate.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Chappelle to do 3 nights at Tabernacle
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Comedy Central “Chappelle’s Show” creator Dave Chappelle has just booked a three-night stint at The Tabernacle in Atlanta Aug. 23 through Aug. 25 at the downtown venue.
Tickets to the controversial, always topical comic’s shows here go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. Reserved seating is $55 per ticket. Interestingly, Live Nation reps tell us that “all ages are welcome” at the event.
However, you may want to schedule extra time to attend a disciplinary meeting at your child’s school after your offspring inevitably tries out Chappelle’s material in the school cafeteria…
Joiner: Working with Sedgwick’s ‘tremendous’
People have been staring and pointing at actor and model Rusty Joiner at the gym this week as the former Snellville resident does his crunches in Los Angeles.
On this week’s episode of the TNT drama, “The Closer,” the Shiloh High School grad took a cattle prod to basic cable’s most beloved cop. Oh, and then Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson’s portrayer, actress Kyra Sedgwick, pumped Joiner’s serial killer character full of hot lead during the episode’s shocking climax.
“It was cool because it was such a departure for the show,” Joiner, 34, told Buzz Wednesday. “She didn’t get a confession and I turned out to be her first kill on the show.”
Of working with Sedgwick, Joiner said: “She was just tremendous. She wanted it as real and as physical as possible. When I pushed her, she really went flying across the room.”
Joiner says the scene got so physical that producers actually trimmed part of what was shot.
“We shot a sequence where my character spits in her face as she’s trying to get me to confess while I’m bleeding to death,” Joiner spills. “Kyra told me, ‘No, really do it.’ I actually had to spit in Kyra Sedgwick’s face. That was crazy. I guess they decided it got a little too graphic.”
His family in Conyers, older brother Michael Joiner, along with Cindy and Jack Ohlin, his mom and little brother, were all tuned in.
“My mom told me, ‘You scared me. For a minute I forgot you were my son.’ ”
Joiner also is featured in two high-profile TV commercials at the moment: He’s co-starring in those sexy “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”-esque Suzuki spots and is the bare-chested runner who jogs through a lake in that omnipresent Excedrin commercial.
“Oh, man, a pharmaceutical spot like that is a dream commercial,” Joiner explains. “It runs during ‘Oprah,’ ‘Dr. Phil’ and all over primetime.”
Still, the March shoot had its downside.
Joiner reports that the lake was approximately 35 degrees during his 50 runs through the water. “At one point, they asked, ‘Hey Rusty, could you stay under for about 15 seconds so we can shoot a flat surface on the lake?’ They had a paramedic and a hot tub there for me. It’s the coldest I’ve ever been in my entire life. I learned the value of unions that day!”
Sunday Special: Flaming Falcon
When the Atlanta Falcons prepare to kick off at the Metrodome against Minnesota on Sept. 9, Larry “Vito” Preston will be busy preparing a bonfire outside Vito Goldberg’s N.Y. Pizzeria in Marietta. While embattled Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has yet to inspire much more than fiery talk radio rhetoric, Preston says the federal dogfighting indictment against the player inspired him to torch a pile of Vick-related memorabilia.
“So far, our customers have donated a Vick jersey, a pair of sneakers, a cap and a bumper sticker,” Preston told Buzz on Wednesday. “We’re just reacting to the public sentiment out there. People are angry and upset.”
During the game’s first half, the memorabilia will be spread out in the pizzeria’s parking lot so leashed canine customers can heed nature’s call on the merch. Donations also will be taken up for local humane societies and animal shelters, according to Preston. At halftime, everything will be piled up and set on fire.
Predicts Preston: “I’m not sure how thrilled the neighbors will be but it’s all in fun.”
Overscene
“Simple Life” reality TV star Nicole Richie was spotted leaning up against a wall at the Gwinnett Arena taking in Good Charlotte’s set Tuesday night before the Justin Timberlake concert. Richie’s boyfriend/baby daddy, Good Charlotte vocalist Joel Madden, is one of the twin brothers in the pop punk act.
Celebrity birthdays
Comedian-director David Steinberg is 65. Actor Sam Elliott is 63. Atlanta actress Amanda Bearse (“Married…With Children”) is 49. Rapper Kurtis Blow is 48. Singer Whitney Houston (above) is 44. Actress Gillian Anderson (“The X-Files”) is 39. Actor Eric Bana (“Munich,” “Troy”) is 39.
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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Real hillbilly? Naw, just call him true ‘grits’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Back in the prehistoric early ’90s, one of the most memorable characters on MTV’s seminal reality series “The Real World” was Jon Brennan, the Kentucky good ol’ boy country singer.
About 14 years and 17 “Real Worlds” later, MTV has resurrected the “country boy” archetype courtesy of Blue Ridge, Ga.’s Cohutta Grindstaff.
The affable, big drawlin’ 23-year-old Grindstaff joined six other young men and women going to Sydney, Australia, for three-plus months of partying, drinking and soap-operatic machinations.
Grindstaff, who works construction, auditioned after his buddies teased him into it and he was soon Down Under on his first overseas trip.
“Sydney was really clean,” he said. “There ain’t a whole lot of trash and the sidewalks are all brick. It’s a pretty city.”
But he said he missed the North Georgia mountains: “I’d rather see trees and build buildings.” (While in Australia, he especially enjoyed snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef and bungee jumping.)
Don’t expect to see him partaking in the big tiffs and love triangles the “Real World” producers pray for. “I got along with everybody,” Grindstaff said. “I don’t think the house changed me. I sure hope I didn’t hurt anybody.”
And he’s not worried about MTV editing him. “They may make me this rube hillbilly but I am who I am. I’m a small-town Southern boy who loves sweet tea and grits.”
“Real World: Sydney” premieres at 10 tonight on MTV.
‘Out of Sync’ in ATL
Outwrite Books owner Philip Rafshoon tips us that his Midtown bookstore has booked former ‘N Sync boy band member Lance Bass for an 8 p.m. Oct. 25 book signing in Atlanta. The out-gay singer and former cosmonaut-in-training will be on tour this fall, supporting his upcoming memoir, the inevitably titled “Out of Sync.” We’re told that in the autobiography, “Bass tells all about his life, his music and his sexuality in candid and compelling terms.”
However, his appearance here might prove the teensiest bit awkward since the singer’s ex, “Amazing Race” reality star Reichen Lehmkuhl had a, er, memorable signing at Outwrite this year that, according to celebrity bloggers (and countless anonymous e-mail tips sent to Buzz Central), resulted in the pair’s break-up.
It seems that after he signed copies of his book, “Here’s What We’ll Say” and a visit to Midtown’s WET Bar and an alleged tryst with an Atlanta-based TV reality star here in January, Bass and Lehmkuhl split.
In an open letter to fans posted on the Web, Lehmkuhl later acknowledged his lapse in judgment while in the ATL.
Of the ongoing dish, Rafshoon told us: “I’m certain that I wouldn’t know anything about all that. We’re just very pleased to have booked Lance.”
Riches v. Vick, Part 2
Bless his heart, enterprising litigant Jonathan Lee Riches just doesn’t quit. As Buzz readers will recall, Riches recently filed a handwritten lawsuit against embattled Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick alleging everything from stolen copyrighted property to “microwave testing” to a shady arms deal with Iran. In his latest dispatch, Riches, a prisoner in Salters, S.C., demands the judge in the case recuse himself.
He doesn’t actually name the judge.
Now, Riches alleges Hizzoner has certain conflicts of interest that could taint the previously filed case. That’s the one, legal scholars no doubt recall, where he claims Vick stole Riches’ dogs for dogfighting purposes, sold them on eBay and used the proceeds to buy missiles from the Iranian government. In that filing, Riches demanded $63 billion “backed by gold and silver,” and delivered by Atlanta-based UPS, for his trouble.
In the Aug. 6 motion, Riches ticks off a slew of alleged violations of his state and federal constitutional rights and says he wants the judge’s “yearly financial disclosure forms.” He lobs in a few more complaints against Vick, claiming No. 7 “hired robotic guards” at the prison Riches is in, and that Vick supposedly sold Riches’ name to a CNN producer.
That’s not all. “Michael Vick threw snowballs at plaintiff’s car,” the motion alleges.
We learn a little more about Riches in his latest missive. Namely, he says he’s doing time for “wire fraud, identity theft, hacking, ‘phishing,’ spamming and conspiracy.”
Overscene
“How Stella Got Her Groove Back” actress Angela Bassett and former L.A. Lakers and Boston Celtics player Rick Fox dining at Chops in Buckhead. We’re told the pair was “dressed down” during what appeared to be a business dinner. Our insiders report that the attractive duo was “un-fussy and gracious.”
Celebrity birthdays
Film producer Dino De Laurentiis is 88. Actress Esther Williams is 86. Actor Dustin Hoffman is 70. “Inside Edition” anchor Deborah Norville is 49. Guitarist the Edge of U2 is 46. Rapper Kool Moe Dee is 45. Singer Scott Stapp is 34. Country singer Mark Wills is 34. Singer J.C. Chasez of ‘N Sync is 31. Singer Drew Lachey of 98 Degrees is 31.
Contributing: Jennifer Brett, Sharon Gaus, 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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In and out at Chastain
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
First, the good news.
The “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin has been booked as part of the city’s Montreux Jazz Festival Atlanta set for Labor Day weekend. The soul legend will perform Sept. 1 at Chastain Park.
Tickets range from $36.50 to $58.50 and are on sale now.
Folk legends Peter, Paul and Mary meanwhile, have had to cancel their appearance at the venue this Friday.
Member Mary Travers recently had back surgery and her recovery is taking longer than expected. Ticket-holders are asked to contact their place of purchase by Thursday for refunds.
Usher: ‘We are happily married’
It’s official: Atlanta pop star Usher and Tameka Foster, who are expecting their first child together, have tied the knot.
“I exchanged vows with Tameka Foster in Atlanta on Friday and we are happily married,” Usher told Usmagazine.com in a story posted online Monday.
According to the magazine, a small, private ceremony was held in the office of Usher’s lawyer and, yes, his mother and former manager, Jonetta Patton, was in attendance.
The lawyer was not named.
E-mails to Usher spokeswoman Patti Webster seeking details and an official statement did not bring an immediate response.
In a postponement reported globally last week, Usher and Foster called off their July 28 wedding amid reports that Foster had checked into a hospital because of problems with her pregnancy.
Usher told Us Weekly last week: “Everybody’s fine. Tameka and the baby are fine.”
And no, we still haven’t been given any guidance on where to send the couple’s fondue pot. But at this late date, we may just have to find an alternate use for the fresh strawberries and dark chocolate sauce …
Dogs get chance to chew on Vick
The latest creative entrepreneur to seize upon Michael Vick’s woes for a fast buck is selling, that’s right, Michael Vick chew toys for dogs. Get it?
We weren’t able to reach anyone from the corporate headquarters of www.vickdogchewtoy.com, apparently a Jacksonville-based enterprise. But the creative minds behind the merchandise are clearly troubled by Vick’s alleged involvement in dogfighting, as evidenced by the polemic on the Web site.
“Now a new type of retribution has been created to give every dog a little pay-back,” the site trumpets. The items go for $7.99 and look an awful lot like Michael Vick figures that just happen to be marketed as chew toys.
The chew toys are but the latest in a stream of Vick-related opportunism. One eBay seller is hawking a “Dog Fighting Special” Michael Vick jersey for $6 (it’s just a plain old jersey), while another is hoping to rake in close to $30,000 for the domain names www.MichaelVicksDogFights.com and www.RonMexicosDogFights.com.
Proceeds of the questionably hot Vick chew toys reportedly will be given to the Jacksonville Humane Society, where spokeswoman Chere Garrard says she’s getting calls from all over the country but hasn’t actually talked with anyone from the Vick chew-toy outfit.
North Carolina: ‘A Better Place’
Pssst, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin: Here’s a humble suggestion. Herzzoner may just want to spend a second or two in the city that elected her twice in favor of all that glitzy globe-trotting that’s been on the itinerary of late.
Why?
For starters, next Monday night North Carolina Secretary of Commerce Jim Fain has rented out the Georgia Aquarium, your city’s biggest tourist attraction, for a business recruiting session.
For North Carolina.
Fain will be in town to introduce local business leaders to the state’s nifty new Internet software that can be utilized “to provide maps and data to business leaders looking to expand or relocate to the state.”
Interestingly, when we reached out to North Carolina marketing rep Jessica Tuquero for additional info Monday, we were briefly put on hold before being transferred to her voice mail. The music being pumped through the phone? Billy Joel singing “New York State of Mind” at ear-shattering decibels.
Oh, and herzzoner? You might also like to know that, in your absence, nearly every single street in your city is currently impassable due to street-devouring sinkholes, pot holes, omnipresent tire-shredding steel plates or sewer projects.
You’re welcome.
On my TiVo and iPOD
Dallas Austin, Atlanta music, film and TV producer: ” ‘Boondocks’ and ‘Weeds’ are on the TiVo. I think ‘Weeds’ is brilliant. And I’ve downloaded recently, of course, Amy Winehouse, TV on the Radio and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are on my iPod as well. Actually I have iPods! An iPhone. I’m all about i right now.”
Celebrity birthdays
Writer-producer-humorist Stan Freberg is 81. Humorist Garrison Keillor is 65. Country singer Rodney Crowell is 57. Actor Wayne Knight (“Seinfeld”) is 52. Actor David Duchovny (“The X-Files”) is 47. Country singer Raul Malo of the Mavericks is 42. Actress Charlize Theron (right) is 32.
Contributing: Jennifer Brett 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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Usher’s ‘I do’s’ a done deal, magazine says
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
That Usher is apparently full of surprises.
According to People.com, the singer and his fiancée Tameka Foster tied the knot Friday in a quiet ceremony in his lawyer’s office here in Atlanta.
If you recall, a more lavish ceremony was supposed to go down last week in the Hamptons, but Usher pulled the plug at the last minute for unknown reasons.
Then all the rumors started swirling — oooh, she didn’t sign a prenup. Usher’s mom can’t stand her. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Foster denies all of that, but did mention there was a pregnancy “scare,” according to People. She said she was pushing herself “way too hard.” “But I am fine, and the baby is fine,” she said.
Usher and Foster are expecting their first child together later this year.
OK, moving on, if you want to see one of the coolest magazine pictures of Usher, check out the Vogue magazine supplement Fashion Rocks with Jennifer Lopez on the cover. It’s a preview to the CBS concert special coming in September.
He says in a brief interview, “I don’t listen to the radio that often, but in the event that I do, I always keep it on the oldies station. I was just speaking to Quincy Jones about it. … We talked about how the music industry is so dumbed down.
I think the sound of music has become synthesized, and it’s time to put it in check.”
He goes on to mention that his next album will be heavier on live instrumentation than the last one.
“I’m trying to do classic pieces of work.”
From one old-school junkie to another — bless you, Usher, bless you!
And speaking of old-school …
R.M. Lathan is one of the hardest-working men in the old-school business. He’s one of the maestros behind Old School Saturdays, a monthly “floating nightclub” that takes classic R&B, house, pop and reggae to various locales.
This month, it’s at Sheraton Atlanta Hotel downtown and if it’s like any of the ones we’ve dropped by, watch out for the Soul Train line, Cabbage Patch, Errol Flynn, Kid ‘N Play, Pee Wee Herman, electric slide and other wild dances on the floor.
DJs Tron, LV and Cowboy do mighty good things on the turntables (Buzz suggests giving Chaka Khan’s “Do You Love What You Feel,” Pet Shop Boys’ “West End Girls” and Quincy Jones’ “Ai No Corrida” a whirl and see how the crowds respond).
Part of the proceeds each month benefit organizations like AID Atlanta, UNICEF, Toys for Tots and others, so while you’re grooving, you’re also giving.
Old School Saturdays at Sheraton Atlanta, 165 Courtland St., 9 p.m. Saturday. $10-$20. 404-659-6500, www.oldschoolsaturdays.com.
Clay Aiken Atlanta-bound
The AJC caught up with “American Idol” runner-up Clay Aiken last week. He was in rehearsals for a show in San Diego but took about 15 minutes to talk with us about his tour and what to expect during his show here Aug. 15 at Chastain.
We found Aiken to be fun, funny — and a fast talker. He said he’s really enjoying the tour and is feeling much more comfortable as an entertainer. He said in the music industry he’s learned to watch out for himself more, be more assertive and protect his interests.
As far as becoming a celebrity, he’d much rather simply surround himself with people who really care about him — like the folks on his tour — and his family. He says that’s why he got out of L.A. and built a house in North Carolina.
Aiken noted he doesn’t fit the L.A. mold and he’s too much of a nerd to hang with popular socialites.
And who does he keep in touch with from “A.I.”? “I have Kelly [Clarkson]” and Ruben [Studdard] in my cellphone.”
For more of the interview, go to accessAtlanta.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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People report: Usher finally hitched
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Usher married Tameka Foster in a private ceremony Friday in his attorney’s office in Atlanta, according to People.com..
The Chicago Sun Times officially broke the news Saturday..
Their original marriage was cancelled last weekend for reasons never fully illuminated by Usher or his wife.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Chef travels upriver for taste of U.S.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Food Network loves to use its personalities, such as Rachael Ray and Emeril, all over the schedule until you can’t avoid them.
Atlanta’s Alton Brown is part of the club. He works not only on his seminal show “Good Eats” but also helps out with “Iron Chef America” and is debuting the second season of “Feasting on Asphalt” Saturday night at 9.
“Feasting,” he said, is far tougher than mugging for the camera in a studio.
“It’s the hardest work ever,” Brown tells Buzz.
The host spent a month this past spring on his motorcycle traveling about 3,333 miles up the Mississippi River sampling local fare from Louisiana to Minnesota. “In order to do it right, you have to go out every day without a clue. I made six hours of television with no plan.”
In other words, he’d enter a restaurant without the owner knowing so he could get spontaneous reactions. “You have an hour before everything changes. People are real at first. But after a while, their personalities change. The site is sullied.”
His rationale for the trip, he said, is to “capture an important part of our cultural heritage that we’re losing to chains and the big Wal-Marts of the world. The Mississippi River is one of the richest veins in this country, with vital diners, truck stops and little mom-and-pop roadside restaurants.”
Brown will join Dave FM’s Mara Davis as guests tonight at the Lucky Yates Talk Show at the Laughing Skull Lounge next to the Vortex in Midtown. Tickets are available at www.ticketalternative.com. Show starts at 9.
Couture, cocktails and cash
The city’s social season officially got under way Thursday night as hundreds of Atlanta’s glitterati assembled at Urban Chic ‘07 inside Fever nightclub to survey the latest fashions, raise money for AID Atlanta and dish.
At the bar area, VIP reception attendees daintily dangled designer necklaces created for the event by Goldwasser Signature Jewelry — (the accessories translated into free drinks, you see). Others happily noshed on nibbles caterer Dennis Dean was busy whipping up.
To his considerable credit, Ted’s Montana Grill co-owner George McKerrow Jr. didn’t work us over with a piece of the silent auction when he spotted us (his wife, Ginair, is a devoted member of Urban Chic’s host committee).
While he cheerfully declined to discuss his business partner Ted Turner’s personal relationship with novelist Elizabeth Dewberry (the romance was made public this week via a dubious e-mail sent by the writer’s ex), McKerrow did have plenty of praise for Dewberry.
“We like her very, very much,” McKerrow said. “I’m hopeful that more people will be introduced to her work.”
Other notable attendees included: Atlanta attorney Mark Trigg and his wife, Darlene, photographer Harriet Leibowitz and jewelry designer Mark Edge.
Downstairs on the catwalk, the fashionably attired crowd got an advance peek at new looks provided by Bill Hallman, Deka, Fab’rik, Merci Woman, Sage, Sandpiper, T. Boutique and others.
Runway fashion show producer Randi Layne added edge to the evening by including “real life”-sized models into the show.
Each time the gals in gorgeous full-figure frocks came down the runway, the entire venue burst into applause.
Their malnourished counterparts, however, drew a more subdued response from the crowd.
A ‘Chic’ Holliday
Thanks to Urban Chic co-chair and Blue Med Spa co-owner John Stupka, the evening also boasted its own Tony Award-winning guest, Jennifer Holliday. The powerhouse vocalist was a customer at the spa during her recent run at the Fox Theatre.
On playing her signature role for the final time in last month’s production of “Dreamgirls” at the Fox, Holliday told us: “I think I’m finally ready to let Effie go. I was so blessed and grateful to be able to do the show here one last time as well. Atlanta holds such an emotional connection for me for this show.”
Holliday says returning to the role helped her spiritually leave “the battle of the two Jennifers” effectively behind her. When the film version came out last year, some media outlets wanted to compare film actress Jennifer Hudson’s performance to Holliday’s original. “I felt that I needed to fight to reclaim my song [the musical’s showstopper, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”] and my place in ‘Dreamgirls.’ I was able to do that here with a lot of love from the audience each night.”
After losing many of the Broadway production’s original cast members and creative team to AIDS in the 1980s, the actress said she was only too happy to turn out at Urban Chic to support the charity.
High five
Top-selling CDs at Criminal Records in Little Five Points for the week of July 28
1. “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga,” Spoon
2. “Our Love To Admire,” Interpol
3. “Easy Tiger,” Ryan Adams
4. “Era Vulgaris,” Queens of the Stone Age
5. “Fragile Army,” Polyphonic Spree
— Courtesy: Criminal Records
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Actor-comedian Richard Belzer (“Law & Order: SVU”) is 63. Actor Billy Bob Thornton is 52. Actor Daniel Dae Kim (“Lost”) is 39.
Sunday: Actress Cammie King (Bonnie Blue Butler in “Gone With The Wind”) is 73. Actress Maureen McCormick (“The Brady Bunch”) is 51. Rapper Adam Yauch (“MCA”) of the Beastie Boys is 43.
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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Urban Chic mixes fashion, fundraising
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The city’s social season officially got under way Thursday night as hundreds of Atlanta’s glitterati assembled at Urban Chic ‘07 inside Fever nightclub to survey the latest fashions, raise money for AID Atlanta and dish. (Click here to see photos from the Urban Chic event.)
99X’s Leslie Fram, a co-owner of participating boutique 4Bags told us many small high-end shops are banding together to combat the recent rash of burglaries occurring around the city.
“The most disturbing aspect of this is that [the thieves] are batting a thousand so far and they’re brazen enough to break in in the middle of the day.”
Fram says businesses have added more security and cameras as a precaution.
Still, the recent robbery of a store’s worth of designer jeans from their shop didn’t dissuade the charitable contributions of P Valentine boutique owners Tracy Valentine and Sherlita Patton (Patton’s hubby, Big Boi of OutKast even turned out for support).
VIP reception attendees daintily dangled designer necklaces — specially created for the event by Goldwasser Signature Jewelry — to bartenders (the accessories translated into free drinks, you see). Others happily noshed on nibbles caterer Dennis Dean was busy whipping up.
To his considerable credit, Ted’s Montana Grill co-owner George McKerrow Jr. didn’t use a piece of silent auction sports equipment on display to brain us when he spotted us (his wife, Ginair is a devoted member of Urban Chic’s host committee).
While he cheerfully declined to discuss his business partner Ted Turner’s personal relationship with critically acclaimed novelist Elizabeth Dewberry (the romance was made public this week via a dubious e-mail sent by the writer’s ex), McKerrow did have plenty of praise for Dewberry.
“We like her very, very much and she’s incredibly talented,” McKerrow said. “I’m hopeful that more people will be introduced to her work.”
Other notable attendees included: Dave FM’s Mara Davis, Atlanta attorney Mark Trigg and his wife Darlene, photographer Harriet Leibowitz, Project Open Hand’s Christopher Nave, and jewelry designer Mark Edge.
Thanks to co-chair and Blue Med Spa co-owner John Stupka, the evening also boasted its own Tony Award-winning legend, Jennifer Holliday. The powerhouse vocalist was a customer at the spa during her recent run at the Fox Theatre.
On the conclusion of playing her signature role of Effie for the final time in last month’s production of “Dreamgirls” at the Fox, Holliday told us: “I think I’m finally ready to let Effie go. If not entirely, at least to allow her and the show to move forward to the future. I was so blessed and grateful to be able to do the show here one last time as well. Atlanta holds such an emotional connection for me for this show.”
After losing many of the Broadway production’s original cast members and creative team to AIDS in the 1980s, the actress said she was only too happy to turn out to support the charity.
Downstairs on the catwalk, the fashionably attired crowd got an advance peek at new looks provided by Bill Hallman, Deka, Fab’rik, Merci Woman, Sage, Sandpiper, T. Boutique and others.
Runway fashion show producer Randi Layne added edge to the evening by including “real life”-sized models into the show.
Each time the gals in gorgeous plus-size frocks came down the runway, the entire venue burst into applause.
Their malnourished counterparts, however, drew a more subdued response from the crowd.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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‘E-mail Gone Wild’: More Bob & Liz & Ted…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Ted Turner-Elizabeth Dewberry-Robert Olen Butler love triangle and Butler’s e-mail posted ‘round the world has now fully evolved from being mere fodder for gossip columns and celeb Web sites. On Thursday, under the headline “The Affair of an E-mail Gone Wild,” the bizarro soap opera became newsworthy even for The Washington Post.
Wrote Post staffer Neely Tucker of the Pulitzer winner: “Butler has never sold a lot of books, but his startling e-mail about his divorce is getting the kind of buzz writers dream about.”
Over at Slate.com, meanwhile, a think piece titled “Ted Turner’s Big Love” wryly observed that Butler “explained in bizarrely fine-grained detail why his wife of 12 years left him to be Ted Turner’s part-time girlfriend.”
Heck, even National Public Radio weighed in.
Inexplicably, Butler himself kept the media feeding frenzy on his personal life churning by sending yet another explanatory letter to the fiendish editors at Gawker.com whom he had publicly chastised just one news cycle prior for posting his original e-mail.
A winning summer
Former Sutton Middle School teacher John Armbrust found a novel way of unwinding on his summer vacation — he won $381,000 at the “World Series of Poker” in Las Vegas this week. With ESPN and Pokernews.com cameras rolling and about 250 people watching, Armbrust “went on a sick, sick rush,” finishing 18th in the tournament. The former Atlantan who just moved to the left coast tells Pokernews.com he plans to spend his winnings on a new hybrid car and to celebrate with a Mexican feast and “a victory cigar.” When asked if he planned to turn poker pro, the idealistic 26-year-old shook his head and replied: “No. I teach for a living. I love my job and I love my kids.”
High five
Top On Demand TV selections as determined by Comcast digital cable customers in metro Atlanta for the week of July 25-Aug. 1:
1. “Entourage,” Season 4, Episode 48, HBO
2. “Beautiful Girls” music video, Sean Kingston, Music Choice
3. “Cupid Shuffle” music video, Cupid, Music Choice
4. “Wall to Wall” music video, Chris Brown, Music Choice
5. “Dora the Explorer,” “Baseball Boots” episode, Nickelodeon
— Courtesy of Comcast
Dispatch from Paris
Like most of us, Q100 news director Melissa Carter had a pile of mail greeting her when she returned from vacation this week. Unlike the rest of us, however, Carter’s correspondence included a hand-written thank-you note from Paris Hilton and an autographed picture. A while back, Carter and her cronies on “The Bert Show” decided to write to Hilton while she was cooling her heels inside a jail cell. The goal: to see who could craft a sticky-sweet missive that would result in a return letter.
“At first, I thought someone was jacking with me,” Carter said of the Paris parcel.
“The letters I’m [receiving] really do put a smile on my face as I sit here in my cell, sad and alone,” Hilton wrote in the hand-written note which was photocopied and mailed out. For the record, Hilton incorrectly spelled the word “receiving” and confirming our worst fears, signed her name by dotting her “i’s” with tiny hearts.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires is 83. Singer Tony Bennett is 81. Actor Martin Sheen is 67. Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart is 66. Actress Evangeline Lilly (“Lost”) 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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Colorful Chastain crowd welcomes B-52’s home
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
To help celebrate the band’s 30th anniversary, fans of the Athens-birthed B-52’s packed into Chastain on Wednesday night sporting beehive hairdos, cocktail dresses and Day-Glo hair, carrying cans of aerosol cheese and boxes of Chicken in a Biskit crackers.
One woman had even whipped up a tasty dish of “Quiche Lorraine” in tribute to the party act’s song of the same name.
Taking the stage at dusk, front man Fred Schneider, singers Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson and guitarist Keith Strickland electrified the screaming amphitheater audience with “Mesopotamia,” a seldom-performed fan favorite from the band’s three-decade catalog.
Eager to introduce fans to the album’s worth of fresh material the band has recorded this year in Athens and Atlanta, the B’s treated the crowd to five new songs, including “Ultra Violet,” “Juliet of the Spirits” and “The Fun Plex.”
Throughout the new material, the band’s trademark sonic imprints — Wilson and Pierson’s soaring vocals, Schneider’s wry ironic commentary and Strickland’s full-bodied ax work, all set to memorable melodies — was strongly evident.
“The Fun Plex,” the band’s kitschy account of America’s obsession to the shopping mall and rampant consumerism, especially ignited the audience’s interest. Previewed Schneider on stage: “Hello, Hot-lanta! We’re the B-52’s and here’s a new song from our forthcoming CD.”
Added Wilson: “Which is coming out forthcomingly.”
The as-yet-untitled album marks the first full-length new recording from the band in 17 years. It’s tentatively set for a February release.
By the time Wilson leaned into her microphone and shouted her now-iconic lyric from “Love Shack,” “Tin roof rusted!” the entire audience was on its feet dancing.
After the show, the act eagerly greeted fans, friends and family members who had clustered in the backstage Club Chastain to welcome the band home to Georgia.
“Since there are some really bad cellphone videos [of the recordings] posted on YouTube, a lot of people are already singing along to the new songs,” Schneider told us.
The singer said he was pleased with the response to the new material. Of “The Fun Plex,” he cracked: “You just can’t beat a song about a shopping mall. We couldn’t have asked for a better setting than here.”
When asked if, after 30 years beyond the band’s first gig at a 1977 Valentine’s Day house party in Athens, Schneider had any idea he would still be performing in the B’s three decades later, he just shook his head.
“Oh, no, not at all. But thank God I am. I have no other skills!”
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Big Boi ups ante for doing right thing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As of deadline Wednesday, the $50,000 reward offered by one-half of Outkast wasn’t enough to flush out a very determined crook or crooks. Buzz reported last week that Antwan “Big Boi” Patton went on V-103’s Ryan Cameron Show to tell all of Atlanta he had $50,000 for whoever turns over the thief(s) who broke into his wife’s Edgewood Avenue boutique, P. Valentine.
At that time, the store’s entire pricey ($198-$250) jean collection had been swiped. P. Valentine’s neighbor Ernel Dawkins, owner of Laced Up, says he believes there’s a “boutique bandit” out there, noting retailers in Little Five Points and East Atlanta have experienced increased crime as well.
“We’re trying to get the attention of the police commissioner, something, to get some kind of surveillance in these areas,” Dawkins said. “We’re like sitting ducks here. … I just happened to drive by my store Saturday, and I caught somebody yanking on the door. It’s getting crazy.”
P. Valentine co-owner Sherlita Patton told Buzz Wednesday: “There’s been no arrest yet, but we remain hopeful. We’re passing along the information we receive to the detectives on the case.”
If you have info about the theft, call the shop at 404-521-3660.
Turner soap opera gets wide release
Given that he’s a writer who, until Tuesday, was best known as a Pulitzer Prize winner for a collection of short fiction, Robert Olen Butler adapted amazingly well Wednesday to life as a lead New York Post Page Six column item. After Butler’s e-mail to five of his Florida State University graduate students detailing the end of his marriage to novelist Elizabeth Dewberry (and her budding relationship to nonpracticing monogamist Ted Turner) was unfortunately forwarded and posted on Gawker.com Tuesday, the novelist has been thoroughly maligned online. On Wednesday, the story was picked up nationally by Fox News, TMZ.com and other outlets.
In response to some particularly hateful postings on Gawker.com, the professor sent a withering e-mail to the celeb and media site.
“That email, intended strictly for those who personally know Elizabeth and me, was to explain an event that, if not explained, would be spun in ways that would unfairly make Elizabeth look bad,” Butler wrote in the missive that was posted on the site Wednesday. “It had its intended effect around Tallahassee and in some other places where she and I are actual human beings. The sad thing about your sneeringly printing this in a blog is that both of us are easily dehumanized. Which, of course, is your point. Dehumanization is the essential ingredient for the daily pleasure of gossipers and gawkers.”
Since we’re a family-friendly news gathering organization, the boss of Buzz wouldn’t allow us to reproduce the final line of Butler’s e-mail. Suffice it to say, however, we shorted out a computer keyboard as we spit coffee while reading it.
And while Buzz also placed the unfolding drama at the tippy top of our column Wednesday, Butler’s subsequent e-mail to us was far kinder: “Thanks for a balanced, fair, compassionate job with the article, given its inevitable basic characteristics.”
New ‘View’ for Goldberg
On Wednesday’s edition of “The View,” the show’s creator Barbara Walters announced that Oscar, Grammy, Golden Globe and Tony winner Whoopi Goldberg will be the ABC Daytime hen party’s new moderator.
“I love this show,” said Goldberg, 51. “I love coming on it. I love hanging out with you guys.”
Replacing Rosie O’Donnell with another film, TV and Broadway star gives “The View” another big name to fill the slot of moderator, who generally steers the discussion.
And given Barbara Walter’s babblings on air Wednesday, fewer “View” responsibilities might be in order for the veteran newswoman. Walters recounted a recent conversation with Barack Obama where she invited the presidential candidate onto the show. “He told me, ‘Barbara, I’ve been on ‘The View,’ ” Walters recalled sheepishly. “I said, ‘Well, obviously I wasn’t on that day.’ He said, ‘Yes, you were.’ “
What’s worse, Wednesday’s broadcast marked the second time Walters has related the anecdote on-air.
Quote of the day
“Animals are extremely important to me. If you take the word God and spell it backwards, it’s God.”
—“American Idol” judge Paula Abdul attempting to record an animal rights PSA on her Bravo reality show “Hey Paula!”
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Peter O’Toole (above) is 75. Director Wes Craven is 68. Actor Butch Patrick (“The Munsters”) is 54. Actress Cynthia Stevenson (“Men In Trees”) is 45. Actress Mary-Louise Parker is 43. Director-actor Kevin Smith (“Clerks”) is 37. Actor Edward Furlong is 30.
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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