Jack Black conserves energy (his own)
Writer David Hochman is fresh from an interview in Los Angeles with funnyman Jack Black for an upcoming magazine cover story. We asked him to give us his take on one of Hollywood’s best, baddest, wildest guys:
"With Black, what I always appreciated was how he gets away with doing everything your mother told you not to do. He doesn't comb his hair. He dresses like a slob. He screams and jumps around and he never acts his age. At least, that's the impression you get from the persona he's created. In the flesh, Jack is a mellower man. In fact, it catches you off guard at first. Is he being aloof? Is he exhausted? Where's the legendary energy? What you realize is that Jack is 'on' so much that he looks for any chance to conserve his natural resources. He's not going to be your monkey, as they say. But that doesn’t mean he's not funny in person. The whole time we were together at Smashbox studios in Hollywood, where the photo shoot for our interview was done, he made me laugh by being real. He talked about parenting, about his childhood, about handling the joys and headaches of fame. That said, he'd occasionally break out into song — like when he told me how he likes to dance with his older son. 'I made an iPod mix with my all-time favorite dance songs on it,' he told me, and then listed them: DeeLight's Groove is in the Heart, The Beastie Boys' We Got the Power and N.E.R.D’s Lapdance. I knew that last one especially has some questionable language, especially for toddler dance time, but Jack scrunched up his face and gave me one of his faux I'm-gonna-kill-you stares. 'The boy is two! Come on!' he screamed, becoming the Jack Black we all know. 'The kid just wants to play with the jam.' In that respect, he's kinda like his dad."
For the rest of David's yak with Jack Black you'll have to wait for our Aug. 1-3 issue.
(photo by Robert Sebree for USA WEEKEND)
Shigeru Miyamoto: meet the mind behind Wii Fit
If there's one electronics item that could rival the iPod in terms of popularity, it's the Nintendo Wii. When it was released a year and a half ago, stores couldn't keep them in stock, and the little white box was being sold on eBay and Craigslist for hundreds of dollars more than the set price. Now Nintendo has released the game Wii Fit, which lets users try all sorts of exercise activities, from yoga to hula hooping to soccer (pictured at right). In this weekend's issue, writer Scott Jones interviews game inventor Shigeru Miyamoto, the mastermind behind Wii Fit (not to mention classics like Donkey Kong, Mario and Zelda) and one of Time's 100 Most Influential people this year. Read the full story here, and click below for a little more from Scott's interview.
Meet the real Jimmy Buffett
We need to come clean about the Jimmy Buffett cover story in this weekend's magazine. The writer, Ann Oldenburg, an entertainment blogger/reporter for our sister publication, USA TODAY, is an unabashed Jimmy Buffett fan. Truth be told, she had personal plans to see him in concert at Jazz Fest in New Orleans, so it worked out great that she was willing to do a little work while there — though Ann might not call it work. Here's Ann on Jimmy:
"The first time I interviewed Jimmy Buffett was 15 years ago. He sauntered unaccompanied and wearing flip-flops, of course, into the New York offices of USA TODAY. He was just what he seems — a laid-back charming storyteller with a twinkle in his eye. And he hasn't changed much. I've gone to dozens of his concerts and interviewed him for a variety of his projects, including two books, a play and a film. Before one concert, I walked in on him only to find him on a yoga mat, not a single margarita in site.
Now, he's written a book about a pig in Manhattan — only Jimmy could get away with that. When we met in New Orleans on a sunny morning last month, he was casually having breakfast at the nicest hotel in town and planned to try to roam around unnoticed — if he could — at the annual Jazz Fest fairgrounds later that day. He was in a bit of a nostalgic mood, happy to be back 'home,' he said. He remembered playing clubs in the French Quarter earlier in his career, and, as a kid, he visited his grandfather, a steamship captain, there. We sat and chatted - no publicists, entourage, Blackberries or cell phones - for more than an hour about his book, his music and his life. Toward the end of our visit, an old friend of Jimmy's, Allen Toussaint, happened by our table. Toussaint is one of the most influential figures in New Orleans R&B music. They embraced, and later that weekend, he and Jimmy would sing together at the fair as a result of this chance run-in.
What people don't realize about Jimmy is that he's much more than just a musical idol to legions of Hawaiian-shirted 'Parrothead' fans. He's a smart businessman, too, devoted to both job and family. And for all his fame and fortune, if you check out my chat with him, you'll find out what his idea of a 'board meeting' really is."
Ann has gone to dozens of Buffett's concerts. How about you? Are you a Parrothead and proud of it? Tell us your Jimmy Buffett stories by using the comments below. Can't wait to read them.
And, for all you creative Parrotheads: Try channeling Jimmy and write an original, new first verse of Margaritaville. If it’s a winner, you could land a free trip to your own tropical paradise. Send us your lyrics here.
Weekend Outlook
Happy Friday, everyone! How are you spending your weekend? My parents are making a trip to Washington from the Midwest, so we'll be doing a lot of the requisite touristy D.C. things — monuments, museums and trying to stay cool. We definitely won't be smoking in any Smithsonian bathrooms like Indiana Jones star Shia LaBeouf did earlier this week. Someone needs to tell that guy that smoking is bad for his health.
In between doings with the parents, and before The New York Times is out with a fresh Sunday magazine, I'll finish an insightful article from last Sunday on Mad Men and its creator. It makes Season Two, which begins next month, seem all the more interesting.
Who else hopes the rumored Arrested Development movie gets seriously fast-tracked? Star Jason Bateman said the film's a go for next year, but I say the sooner the Bluths hit the big screen, the better.
When you're singing along to Journey's Don't Stop Believing at the bar this weekend, take a moment to ponder how you feel about the band's new lead singer, Arnel Pineda. He was discovered singing spot-on covers of Journey songs, and before he knew it was filling Steve Perry's old shoes. Former Journey bassist Randy Jackson gave the new guy the thumbs up.
My roommate just burned me a copy of the new Coldplay album -- which, no surprise, is No. 1 on the charts -- so I'll be listening to that this weekend. For a hilarious look at just who makes up Coldplay's fanbase, besides Gwyneth Paltrow that is, check out Vanity Fair's interview with the author of the blog Stuff White People Like.
Coldplay may be Billboard's No. 1 this week, but Bob Dylan is tops on Barack Obama's iPod. Be sure to read the profile on him in this week's Rolling Stone to find out which Dylan song is his favorite and what he thinks about being endorsed by Bruce Springsteen. Obama is smart to talk to popular media outlets (although we couldn't get him to talk to us about those crisp black suits he wears) but that US Weekly cover of him and his wife was a little too cheesy for me. 
I've been on a reading binge lately (though just like Lorrie asked
last week, don't tell my book club, since I didn't make it
through this month's book, Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture) and just finished The Diving Bell and the
Butterfly. Yes, I'm several years late on this, but it's an incredible
book -- with vivid, compelling writing and an inspiring look at just what makes life worth living -- and I'm interested to see how it translated to film. It got multiple Oscar nominations, so I doubt I'll be disappointed.
If I were Oprah Winfrey I'd be breaking open a bottle of wine this weekend. She finished her well-publicized 21-day cleanse but confessed she missed wine the most. Heck, she survived, and I say cheers to that.
Tobey Maguire's birthday is today
Happy birthday to Tobey Maguire (at right), who turns 33 today. Rumors have been swirling lately about the fate/release date of Spider-Man 4, but hopefully he can find some quiet time to celebrate today. Designer Vera Wang turns 59 today, and politician Ross Perot turns 78.
(photo courtesy movie.moldova.org)
June 26, 2008
Vlade Divac among athletes honored in Boise
Executive editor Jack Curry just returned from the annual Most Caring Coach awards, presented in conjunction with our partner The World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame in Boise, Idaho. The Hall, dedicated to celebrating the philanthropic works of athletes, honored Tampa Bay Buccaneer Warrick Dunn, Olympic skier Jimmie Heuga and L.A. Laker great Vlade Divac (at right). The hit of the night, for an unexpected reason, Divac. Here's Curry's report:
"Who knew there were so many Serbians in Boise Idaho? By far the biggest turnout at Tuesday's World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame annual presentation was for Serb-NBA great Vlade Divac. Asking for autographs in their native language, the Serbs of Boise crowded the very accommodating AND tall former L.A. Laker-Sacramento King, who graciously bent down from his 7-feet-plus heights to sign each one. It was funny to see one of the NFL's smallest players, Warrick Dunn, standing next to the giant Divac. The highpoint for me was when Divac's wife Ana, with whom the basketballer runs the charitable trust You Can Too, was introduced as having careers in 'journalism and theater' and I of course said, 'They're the same thing.' "
(photo courtesy Idaho Sports Photography)
Chris O'Donnell, Sean Hayes turn 38 today
Happy birthday to actors Chris O'Donnell (at left) and Sean Hayes, both of whom turn 38 today. Baseball all-star Derek Jeter celebrates his 34th birthday today, and singer Chris Isaak celebrates his 52nd.
(photo via es.yahoo.com)
June 25, 2008
James Roday on new season of 'Psych'
I am a big fan of the USA Network comedy Psych - as are our readers - so I said yes to an interview with star James Roday (at left, in Psych mode). I had once before had the pleasure of conversation with Roday, so I asked Kathy to bring fresh perspective. She has not been an avid Psych watcher, though after seeing a couple of episodes on the Season Two DVD, she's planning to make it a habit in Season Three, which begins next month. The two talked about what's happening in the new season, the rapport between Roday and co-star Dule Hill, and Roday's doubts about that Ebony & Ivory video we showed you last week. Read below for her full report.
Rescue me from the minisodes
Is it me or are the "minisodes" (you gotta love how TV marketers think up new labels) of Rescue Me running now on FX just absurd? I caught the first one as I clicked by FX last night and was almost offended that one of my favorite shows should be reduced to showing what looked like the first take of a badly written scene in an effort to keep me interested until 2009. Yes, 2009. Sorry, guys. It's not working for me. How about you, readers? Are these minisodes a brilliant idea or a waste of everyone's time? Post your thoughts below.
(photo by Craig Blankenhorn / FX)
Cool summer reads about famous people
The Doris Day biography is getting a lot of attention, and not just here on the blog. Check out the tabloids next time you're in the grocery store line. But there are other books about famous people - biographies and autobiographies - worthy of your attention this summer. Our Jon Tollestrup put together a few titles you might like. Read about them below.
