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Generous Sir Elton
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The winning bid for a collection of goodies donated by Sir Elton John hit $10,000 Monday on air during the Steve McCoy and Vikki Locke morning show on B98.5 FM.
The money goes toward this year’s Fashion Cares fund-raiser for the city’s breast cancer and AIDS charities set for Aug. 25.
The generous Sir Elton donated several items, including a pair of tickets to his “Red Piano” concert in Las Vegas and a two-night stay at Caesar’s Palace.
McCoy told Buzz they opened the phone lines to bidding at 8 a.m. and got the $10,000-bid just before 9 a.m. Pat Tylka of Alpharetta secured the winning bid, McCoy said.
McCoy said Tylka was going to surprise his wife who is “a huge Elton John fan.”
“It’s astounding in this economy, people were able to open their hearts and check-books. It’s for worthwhile charities and certainly for memorabilia collectors and Elton John fans, it was a great prize.”
GOLDEN BOY GETS HYPNOTIC WITH HIP-HOP
The ties between hip-hop music and competitive swimming at its highest level aren’t as tenuous as one might expect.
Thirty years ago, after all, the original smash rap single, “Rapper’s Delight,” referenced water sports in the lyric, “After school I take a dip in the pool.’ And eight-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps has let it be known that he habitually listened to hip-hop while psyching himself up to race.
The explicitly hip-hop single ‘A Milli’ by New Orleans rapper Lil’ Wayne helped fuel the fire in Phelps, the Olympic swimming sensation.
When Phelps sought motivation en route to winning eight Olympic gold medals, he tuned his iPod to a variety of hip-hop artists who hail from the “Dirty South.”
According to a recent New York Times profile: “The music transforms him. His goofy grin dissolves into a glower, his eyes turn cold as ice. The hip-hop beats have a hypnotic effect on Phelps, who sometimes, after a race, is unable to recall the songs that locked him into his groove.”
Phelps has referenced the Miami-based rapper Rick Ross and New York’s preeminent hip-hop artist Jay-Z as two of the artists he prefers for motivation.
But, of course, no self-respecting rap fan could go without shouting out rappers with ties to the “Dirty South” in general and Atlanta in particular. OutKast, Young Jeezy and Lil’ Wayne are on heavy rotation on Phelps’ iPod as well.
The play list that Phelps provided to Yahoo.com during his historic Olympic turn reads as follows:
1. “Overnight Celebrity” — Twista
2. “Burn” — Usher
3. “Roses” — OutKast
4. “Till I Collapse” — Eminem
5. “Smile” — G Unit
6. “A Milli” — Lil’ Wayne
7. “Hustlin” — Rick Ross
8. “Hello Brooklyn 2.0” — Jay-Z (featuring Lil’ Wayne)
9. “I Got What It Takes” — Young Jeezy
SOAP SEEKS VETERAN
An open casting call for “All My Children” is far from business as usual: The soap opera is seeking an Iraq war veteran to play an injured veteran.
The ABC daytime show has created a romantic story line to combine entertainment and a window into the challenges faced after combat, said executive producer Julie Hanan Carruthers.
“All My Children” has launched a broad search to fill the role, inviting veterans to contact the show’s New York casting director (You can e-mail Judy Wilson at judy.wilson@ABC.com). The series also is working with a veterans’ support group, USA Cares, as well as the military.
“It will make it such a heightened experience for the audience and for us … to cast a real-life soldier, a veteran, and bring him into our created drama,” Carruthers said.
The veteran-turned-actor will play the character of Brot, a key figure in a plot that’s already under way and involves a visitor to fictional Pine Valley, Army Lt. Taylor Thompson (Beth Ehlers).
Taylor, who was stationed in Iraq and is on medical leave, has come to town to deliver medals to fellow soldier Dr. Frankie Hubbard (Cornelius Smith Jr.). But it’s Brot, the soldier and lover she believes died in combat, who’s on her mind.
Brot, however, survived. Unwilling to involve Taylor in his suffering, he’s allowed her to think he’s dead.
Their story will begin unfolding when the right veteran is found for the part, Carruthers said. The casting call isn’t limited to those who were wounded in the war, an ABC spokesman said.
But the role will be shaped around a veteran’s experience, possibly including a war-caused disability, Carruthers said.
CSI: FISHBURNE
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” has solved the mystery of who will replace departing CBS series star William Petersen: It’s Laurence Fishburne.
Fishburne, an Emmy and Tony winner, will be introduced in the ninth episode of the upcoming 10th season, the network told The Associated Press Monday. He’ll play a forensics scientist with a secret.
“I am elated and delighted to be joining the cast of ‘CSI,’” Fishburne said in a statement, adding that he looked forward to a “wonderful collaboration” with those involved in the series.
Fishburne plays a college lecturer and former pathologist focused on why people commit acts of violence.
The air date for Petersen’s final episode has yet to be determined but will be early next year. Petersen has been with the series since it debuted in fall 2000 and will remain a “CSI” executive producer, the network said.
Fishburne’s character has a deep connection to his work: His genetic profile has been identified in serial killers, CBS programming chief Nina Tassler said before Fishburne’s casting was announced.
“This gentleman knows this about himself and is … in this journey to discover who his true character will ultimately become,” Tassler said last month — but he’s keeping the crucial information to himself.
The character meets members of the “CSI” team during a murder investigation and ends up joining them.
Fishburne, 47, received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Ike Turner in 1993’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and a Tony in 1992 for “Two Trains Running.”
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actor-turned-U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson is 66. Bassist John Deacon of Queen is 57. Actor Peter Gallagher is 53. Actor Adam Arkin is 52. Singer-songwriter Gary Chapman is 51. Singer Ivan Neville is 49. Actor John Stamos is 45. Actress Kyra Sedgwick is 43. Country singer Lee Ann Womack is 42. Actor Matthew Perry (“Friends”) is 39. Rapper Romeo (formerly Lil’ Romeo) is 19.
Contributing: Scott Walton and news services
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Zuffy’s resurrecting memory of Fuzzy’s
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Starting Monday night, a slightly dyslexic version of a 40-year-old Atlanta favorite re-opens. And the hugs are on the house.
Zuffy’s Place, the rebirth of the old Fuzzy’s Place on North Druid Hills Road, will debut around the corner from the old location at its new space at 1860 Corporate Blvd. The original joint closed last year after the untimely death of namesake and owner Fuzzy Cawthon.
Buzz was invited to pop in during a soft opening for old Fuzzy’s regulars last week. And the hugs were as plentiful as Cajun chef Joe Dale’s classic shrimp and grits.
Yup, co-owners and former Fuzzy’s staffers Keirsten Alexander and Montie Henderson have retained the use of Dale’s old Fuzzy’s favorites at the new location. Alas, something looked amiss.
The shrimp is now fresh, not frozen, and the grits are stone-ground, not instant.
“We wanted to raise the bar a bit with Joe’s classic recipes,” Alexander told us. “They’re such great dishes. They deserved ingredients that are top-notch. People always came to Fuzzy’s for the music, the drinks and to see their friends. We wanted to highlight Joe’s menu a bit more.”
The late chef’s son Paul Dale is on hand to oversee the cuisine as well. And while the family has graciously allowed Zuffy’s to continue spotlighting Dale’s dishes, Paul still comes in himself to create the Dale salad dressing and the secret ingredients in the seafood patsy appetizer.
Pointing to her temple, Alexander laughed and said: “They’re up here and Paul’s not telling.”
As for the fanciful take on the Fuzzy’s name (various legal hurdles were involved in using the old name for the new business), Alexander says she doesn’t quite recall who came up with it. For months, she’s been too busy squaring away permits and licenses with DeKalb County. Oh, and delivering her now 7-week-old daughter Lily.
Pointing to the infamous strip club across the street, Alexander cracked, “I didn’t care if we called it ‘The Place Across From The Pink Pony’ just as long as people come and bring their wallets!”
The owners were also able to lure back 11 former Fuzzy’s wait staffers, bartenders and kitchen employees.
On hand to celebrate the business’ rebirth tonight: two of Fuzzy’s main-stay musical acts, The Mike Veal Band and Java Monkey.
CLASSY EVENING OF CLASSIC FILM MUSIC
Movie film scores haven’t always gotten a lot of respect. But they still resonate decades later.
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Turner Classic Movies stitched live music and the magic of film together on a mild Saturday evening at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, playing clips from classics such as “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “North By Northwest” and (of course) “Gone With the Wind.”
The always impeccable TCM film guru Robert Osborne provided the commentary, and Hollywood music supervisor Richard Kaufman conducted.
Osborne noted that films provide separate tracks for dialogue and music so the dialogue can be dubbed in foreign countries. By happenstance, that enabled the symphony to play the soundtracks live while the audience could hear the dialogue while watching the film on a huge screen above the orchestra.
This platform also gave Osborne a chance to appreciate how integral music can be in capturing the mood of a scene, especially in a film such as Alfred Hitchcock’s spy thriller “North By Northwest.”
“You don’t recognize the music,” he told the audience, “but the music gets you caught up in the story.”
Osborne salted in amusing trivia before each song, noting for instance that MGM burned down the set of “King Kong” to portray the burning of the Atlanta Depot during “Gone With the Wind.” And dance genius Gene Kelly, self conscious of his relatively short height, made sure clever choreography with dancer Cyd Charisse during “Singing in the Rain” disguised the fact she was taller than he was in heels.
“I had a wonderful time,” Osborne told Buzz after the concert. “It’s definitely a change of pace from what I normally do.”
MAYER’S, ANISTON’S ‘CHEMISTRY’ ISSUES
Though former Atlanta resident John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston were decidedly mum about their romance, the singer is opening up about their breakup.
“There’s no lying, there’s no cheating, there’s no nothing,” Mayer told reporters Saturday about his split with Aniston after working out at an Equinox Gym in New York’s SoHo neighborhood.
If anything, Mayer had only praise for his ex, saying: “Jennifer Aniston is the smartest, most sophisticated person I think I have ever met.” So what went wrong?
“People are different, people have different chemistry,” said Mayer, who appeared emotional, nervous and sad.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Movie director Roman Polanski is 75. Actor Robert Redford is 71. Actor Patrick Swayze is 56. Comedian-actor Denis Leary is 51. ABC News reporter Bob Woodruff is 47. Actor Christian Slater is 39. Actor Edward Norton is 39. Actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner is 38. Comedian Andy Samberg (“Saturday Night Live”) is 30.
COUPLING
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi tied the knot Saturday in a small ceremony at their Los Angeles home, a spokeswoman confirmed to People.com on Saturday.
The couple have been dating since December 2004. DeGeneres announced her plans to wed de Rossi during a taping of her talk show in May after California’s Supreme Court ruled a previous ban on gay marriage to be unconstitutional.
Contributing: Rodney Ho and news services
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Va-Hi’s Sala getting new name, Shaun help
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fifth Group Restaurants has penned a deal with chef Shaun Doty of Shaun’s in Inman Park to turn Sala, its hip space in Virginia-Highland, into the Original El Taco, to open in mid-October.
Doty is developing recipes for funky Mexican fare, including tacos and tortas. He will work with an as yet unnamed chef de cuisine.
So was the single-dad chef getting too much shut-eye these days?
“You know me, man,” Doty told Buzz Friday while taking a break from slicing fish. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead. I adore the people at Fifth Group. They’ve been friends and clients for years. When the opportunity happened to do a fresh, healthy, affordable-but -chef-driven Mexican concept with them, I took it. The creative part is just so much fun for me.”
But don’t fret, Shaun’s fanatics, Doty will remain the executive chef and owner at his namesake.
“I’ll be in my own kitchen every night,” he assured us. “I know what’s important.”
Interior designer William Peace of Peace Design has been hired, meanwhile, to change the look and feel of the restaurant.
“The Original El Taco will be lively, bright, open and — most of all — fun,” Fifth Group co-owner Robby Kukler said. “We have known Shaun for years, and when we found out he had been thinking about doing Mexican, too, we knew it was a great partnership.”
“I love Mexican food and have wanted to do a restaurant like this for a while,” Doty said. “To have this opportunity to work with the pros at Fifth Group Restaurants is great.”
“We are going to create an easy, approachable destination for great Mexican food,” Kukler added.
Doty will work with a chef de cuisine at El Taco when the restaurant opens, while remaining executive chef at Shaun’s.
The Original El Taco will be located at 1186 N. Highland Ave. N.E. and will be open for dinner nightly.
Jurrjens hits Jezebel
More than a few single ladies were no doubt disappointed Friday night when they learned that Jair Jurrjens was the starting pitcher as the Braves took on the Giants at Turner Field. The 22-year-old native of Curacao is one of the sexy singles saluted in the 2008 Most Eligible Bachelors and Bachelorettes issue of Jezebel magazine. This year’s inductees were feted at a party in their honor Friday night at Tongue & Groove in Buckhead. When he’s not pitching, Jurrjens tells Jez that he hits the PlayStation pretty hard. Oh, and ladies, he routinely calls his parents back home to catch up on family matters.
But don’t expect an express trip to the Shane Co.
Said Jurrjens: “I’m just trying to date right now. I’m 22. I’m not trying to settle down right now. My dad would kill me!”
Prize-winning periwinkle
A Legendary Event owner Tony Conway needed some extra space on his recent flight home from Philadelphia. Conway’s catering company scored two prestigious industry awards presented by the National Association of Catering Executives in Philly. The NACE has about 800 members worldwide, and Conway and company were up against the likes of high-end caterers from New York and Los Angeles. Legendary scored the award for “Best Catered Off-Premise Event of the Year” for the wine-inspired menu created for the High Museum Wine Auction Gala. It also won “Best Table Presentation of the Year,” which was awarded to Legendary creative director Steve Welsh, who dreamed up the winning “Periwinkle Fantasy” table top design. There was one minor hiccup: The NACE unintentionally put Legendary publicist Dawn Brewer’s name on the award since she sent in the paperwork during the nomination process. “Dawn was mortified,” Conway told us Friday. “But it’s been fun to give Steve a hard time about. Plus, the entire team did earn those awards, and Dawn’s a part of that effort. I was so happy that the entire Legendary team got recognized.”
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Today: Actor Fess Parker is 84. Sportscaster Frank Gifford is 78. Singer Eydie Gorme is 77. Actress Julie Newmar is 75. Director James Cameron (“Titanic,” “The Terminator”) is 54. Actress Angela Bassett is 50. Singer Madonna is 50. Actor Steve Carell is 45. Country singer Emily Robison of The Dixie Chicks is 36. Actor Shawn Pyfrom (“Desperate Housewives”) is 22.
Sunday: Actress Maureen O’Hara is 88. Actor Robert DeNiro is 65. Actor Sean Penn is 48. Singer Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block is 39.
CELEBRITY DOCKET
Rapper DMX was arrested this week in Miami on a warrant for failing to attend a Phoenix court hearing. Lawyer Charles Kozelka says DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, checked into a Miami hospital the day he was to appear in Phoenix and was planning on entering a rehab facility afterward. Kozelka says the warrant stopped those plans, and that he had been trying to arrange for DMX to turn himself in at the airport. A Phoenix judge issued the warrant for DMX on Tuesday after he didn’t appear for a pretrial conference on four counts of possessing drug paraphernalia and one count of possession of marijuana. The case is one of several Simmons is facing in Phoenix, including several animal cruelty and drug possession counts.
Contributing: News services.
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Anchor’s new gig back home significant one
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Brand new Action News reporter and anchor Justin Farmer had a doozy of a first assignment this week: covering legendary Braves announcer Skip Caray’s funeral. And while he had to hit the ground running during a live shot outside 103 West in Buckhead, Farmer had his research firmly committed to memory.
The late broadcaster was college roommates with his dad, former WSB anchor Don Farmer, when the pair studied journalism at the University of Missouri. And dad turned out to be Justin’s first on-air interview. The elder Farmer retired from WSB in 1997.
“He said, ‘Is it OK if I interview my father for the
story?’ ” WSB news director Marian Pittman told Buzz laughing. “I said, ‘Sure, since Don is able to provide such unique perspective on Skip for our viewers. Plus, it was just wonderful to see Don back on the airwaves here.”
“What are the odds, right?” Justin said. “It’s been a rough week for my dad and so I approached the interview with some sensitivity. He had just lost a good friend. But I also think it was kind of special for Dad to see me back in Atlanta and working at a station he loved.”
Pittman has tracked Justin Farmer’s on-air work for years and signed him last December while he was still working out a contract in Dallas.
“Justin is a Georgia native and knows the area and the people here well,” explains Pittman. “Whenever you can hire a reporter with that kind of intelligence and who knows Georgia’s history as well as he does, it does a lot to enhance WSB’s legacy.”
“In this business, you tend to bounce around a lot,” Justin says. “It’s very satisfying to be back home. I’ve even been getting e-mails this week from my old seventh-grade classmates in Alpharetta.”
Plus, the Atlanta Falcons have a returning fan at the Georgia Dome this season. Farmer graduated from rookie quarterback Matt Ryan’s alma mater, Boston College.
Said Farmer: “You can be sure I’ll be out there watching as Matt experiences his first bruises and bumps here in Atlanta this season.”
Texting tutorial
East Cobb County grandmother Betty Smith was among the first in line at Thursday’s “Cell Phones For Seniors” session at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta. She turned up to learn how to text message her 12-year-old grandson Tommy Woodyard of Cumming. “It’s really the most effective way to communicate with him,” Smith, 74, told us. “I wanted to increase my confidence.” Smith and her husband, Joe, were among 50 seniors who attended the free tutoring sessions set up by AT&T, OASIS and the Atlanta Regional Commission/Area Agency on Aging.
“Most people wanted to increase their comfort level,” AT&T trainer Cedric Washington explained. “A lot of folks wanted to know how to retrieve a text message, how to send one and how to set up their speed dials.” Washington said Smith caught on right away.
Said Cedric: “Miss Betty could end up in the national texting championship if she keeps this up.” Smith also selected a new ring tone during the session. “I don’t know the name of it, but it’s pretty,” she said. “But I have to keep it on the loud setting these days if I’m being honest with you.”
Bid on Sir Elton’s jacket, Vegas show
The auction is more than 72 hours away, but bids already are coming in from as far away as Arkansas and New York. A certain Peachtree Road resident once again is flinging open his closet door to benefit this year’s Fashion Cares fund-raiser for the city’s breast cancer and AIDS charities set for Aug. 25. Sir Elton John has donated a hound’s tooth jacket from his wardrobe to be auctioned off live on the air Monday on the Steve McCoy and Vikki Locke morning show on B98.5 FM. Helping the duo to start the bidding? This year’s Fashion Cares’ celeb designer attendee Isaac Mizrahi. As usual, Sir Elton is feeling generous: In addition to the jacket, the Elton John AIDS Foundation is throwing in a pair of tickets to his “Red Piano” concert in Las Vegas, first-class Delta airfare and a two-night stay at Caesar’s Palace.
The bidding starts at 8 a.m.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actress Rose-Marie (“The Dick Van Dyke Show”) is 85. Actress Pat Priest (“The Munsters”) is 72. Author-journalist Linda Ellerbee is 64. Songwriter Jimmy Webb is 62. Actress Debi Mazar (“Entourage”) is 44. Actress Debra Messing (“Will and Grace”) is 40. Actor Anthony Anderson (“Barbershop”) is 38. Actor Ben Affleck is 36. Singer Joe Jonas (below) of The Jonas Brothers is 19.
HARRY’S ON HOLD
Hold onto your wizard’s hat. The next Harry Potter movie just got bumped to 2009.
Warner Bros. officially has moved “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” from Nov. 11, 2008, to July 17, 2009.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the studio is blaming the move in part on the writers’ strike, which created a limited number of big releases, especially for summer 2009.
Contributing: Bob Longino and news services
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Ty chooses Oprah over Decatur fest
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Oh, Tygert Burton Pennington, how could you? That’s the reaction at the Decatur Book Festival when news broke that one of their big draws, Ty Pennington — host of TV’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and hammer-swinger-made-good — is going back on his agreement to appear at the festival.
Pennington’s people have informed festival organizers via e-mail that Pennington has made another commitment for the same weekend — Aug. 29-31 — and is pulling out of the book bash. That other commitment is Oprah Winfrey, who wants Pennington to tape a segment for her TV show.
So just like that, Pennington dropped the Decatur Book Fest like a high school boy who scored a hotter prom date at the last moment. And this from an Atlanta native and Sprayberry High School grad in Cobb County, no less.
The last-minute snub is an unwelcome surprise for the festival, as organizers already had printed thousands of posters and programs with Pennington’s name on them. He had committed to promote his upcoming book “Good Design Can Change Your Life.”
“This is obviously very disappointing for us and for his fans here in Atlanta,” Daren Wang, the festival’s executive director wrote in an e-mail. “The publisher understands the hardship this places on a young festival, even one as successful as ours. We are working with them to bring somebody even bigger and better.”
Alexis Welby, Pennington’s publicist at Simon & Schuster told us in an e-mail: “Due to a change in a TV project Ty is involved in, he regrettably had to cancel his appearance at the Decatur Book Festival. But he hopes to be able to reschedule sometime in the future.”
‘Tropic’-al storm
On Wednesday afternoon, Betty Hasan-Amin arrived first at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema on a MARTA mobility bus for the disabled that she had reserved 24 hours in advance and ridden from her Stone Mountain home.
Hasan-Amin, 42, who has been disabled since a spinal cord injury when she was 17 and uses a wheelchair, immediately began speaking out against language used in the new Ben Stiller war comedy “Tropic Thunder.” The film contains frequent use of the word “retard” to describe Stiller’s character who made a movie called “Simple Jack.”
“It creates barriers,” Hasan-Amin says of the use of what she and others refer to as the R-word. Hasan-Amin was one of at least four protesters who showed up at the first of nine statewide protests planned for Wednesday in connection to the film. Other metro Atlanta protests were set at the Perimeter Pointe in Dunwoody, the North Point Market in Alpharetta and the Southlake Pavilion in Morrow.
Advocates for people with disabilities from the Arc of Georgia, disABILITY Link and the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities were involved. Kate Gainer, 59, who organized the Midtown protest, said by phone. “When you use the word ‘retard,’ that is hate language.”
Late Wednesday afternoon, DreamWorks Studios issued a statement through spokesperson Chip Sullivan, saying “Tropic Thunder” satirizes Hollywood and its excesses, and is in no way meant to disparage individuals with disabilities.
“We have had productive discussions with representatives of disability advocacy organizations and look forward to working with them closely in the future,” Sullivan said. “However, no changes or cuts to the film will be made.”
Carter under fire
Occasionally, we’ll begin to suspect that some ajc.com bloggers are, well, less than kind. But the New York magazine bloggers commenting on “Who’s Afraid of Jimmy Carter?” — reporter Amy Wilentz’s recent reported-in-Atlanta profile of the former president — are lobbing verbal Molotov cocktails online this week.
Says blogger Robmac: “Jimmy Carter is what you get when you tie colossal ego to unfettered sanctimony.”
Too kind you say? Get a load of what blogger Quercus has to say: “Carter was a dismal president, the greatest failure in the job in my lifetime until W came along. But he has set a sort of standard for the behavior of ex-presidents, devoting what prestige he has retained to causes he believes in, public opinion be damned.”
Helping to create a balance of opinions was this posting by Rubyduby, however: “Jimmy Carter is far too much of a gentleman to say ‘I told you so’ but you can’t escape the truth. If the policies his administration put in place had been allowed to continue, the U.S. would be energy independent today … It takes a true leader to always do what is right, not necessarily what is popular and that is exactly what Jimmy Carter did.”
Celebrity birthdays
Singer David Crosby is 67. Actor-comedian Steve Martin is 63. Romance novelist Danielle Steel is 61. Cartoonist Gary Larson (“The Far Side”) is 58. Film composer James Horner (“Titanic”) is 55. Singer Sarah Brightman is 48. Actress Susan Olsen (“The Brady Bunch”) is 47. Actress Halle Berry is 42. Actor Christopher Gorham (“Ugly Betty”) is 34. Actress Mila Kunis (“That ’70s Show”) is 25.
OVERSCENE
Congressman John Lewis, former Atlanta Mayors Sam Massell and Andy Young, Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts, Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall and U.S. Senate candidate Jim Martin extending birthday wishes to politico and upcoming author Tom Houck at the new Vita, an Italian restaurant at 2110 Peachtree Road in Buckhead.
HIGH FIVE
Television
The Top OnDemand programs for the week of Aug. 4-10, as determined by Comcast customers in metro Atlanta:
1. Jonas Brothers, “Burnin’ Up,” music video, Music Choice
2. House of Payne, “Father’s Day” episode, TBS
3. Miley Cyrus, “7 Things,” music video, Music Choice
4. “House of Payne,” “Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?” episode, TBS
5. “House of Payne,” “All Is Not Lost,” episode, TBS
Courtesy: Rentrak’s OnDemand Essentials
Contributing: Phil Kloer, Bob Longino and news services
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Actor sold by Downey in blackface
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Even before mental disability groups started threatening to protest Wednesday’s opening of writer-actor-director Ben Stiller’s new action-comedy “Tropic Thunder,” actor Brandon T. Jackson knew the film would be pushing some societal buttons.
For starters, his co-star Robert Downey Jr. plays a spoiled Oscar-winning Australian actor who dons blackface for his role in “Thunder’s” faux action flick. Oh, and Downey creepily stayed in character and make-up throughout most of the lengthy outdoors shoot in Hawaii.
“I started believing that Robert really was black,” Jackson, 24, told us over lunch recently at Spice Market in Midtown. “It was weird when I saw ‘Iron Man’ and Robert was white. My mom came to visit me on the set and thought I was shooting a movie with Don Cheadle.”
Jackson plays an aspiring actor / hip-hop performer and “Scarface” devotee named Alpha Chino (who’s also a spokesperson for an energy drink named Booty Sweat). He got used to Downey with dark skin but other things were more jarring for the newcomer.
“He started showing up late to the set to prove that he was black,” Jackson says. “That tripped me out. Robert said to me, ‘Well, you know, how we are.’ I said, ‘No, I don’t know how we are. I’m here on time!’ “
Jackson says he researched the history of blackface in Hollywood films before the “Thunder” shoot and emerged from the experience with mixed feelings about how Downey’s character will be received at the local multiplex.
He says that Stiller did come to him at the start of the shoot to make sure the use of blackface wasn’t offensive to Jackson. The young actor only put his foot down when it came to one scene — the script originally called for Downey’s character to utter the N-word.
“I told them, ‘You all are going too far with all that. That won’t fly with me.’ ” Instead, Stiller opted to shoot Jackson’s suggestion to have his character utter the ugly epithet and have Downey’s character correct him.
Said Jackson: “Now that was funny to me.”
The film hits theaters today.
‘Digital exploitation’?
You can bet a lot of catalog-heavy recording artists will be watching this case as it winds through court. The Allman Brothers Band is suing its record company to demand a bigger cut of recordings sold through third parties such as Apple’s iTunes music service.
The Macon-birthed rock band filed its lawsuit against UMG Recordings Inc. in federal court in Manhattan this week, saying it’s a victim of “digital exploitation.”
The band wants at least $13 million and additional royalties from the sales of newly configured compact disc sets and digital downloads for use on telephone ring tones.
The Allmans were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1998.
A telephone message left with a lawyer for UMG wasn’t immediately returned.
Norwood on tour: ‘Call me!’
Within hours of Atlanta City Council president Lisa Borders’ surprise announcement that she’s withdrawing from the city’s mayoral race Monday, at large councilwoman and mayoral candidate Mary Norwood had an e-mail out to voters. And to Buzz Central.
To be honest, just reading the exhaustive five-page missive announcing Norwood’s ambitious upcoming “neighborhood conversations” with voters had us reaching for a Red Bull. In the coming weeks, Norwood has scheduled 24 different neighborhood meetings with residents. As Norwood explains in the e-mail: “You can tell a lot about the kind of mayor I will be by the way I ask for your vote. Hearing from you directly, face to face, with no in-betweens, is on top of my ‘to do list.’ No one knows your neighborhood better than you.” At the end of the e-mail, Norwood lists her home phone number. So natch, Buzz rang it to see if it was legit. Sure enough, a chipper Norwood answers the voice-mail recording and encourages voters “to leave a message of any length.” In other words, the Norwood campaign already has some really dedicated volunteers.
Celebrity birthdays
Aug. 13: Actor Pat Harrington (“One Day At A Time”) is 79. Actor Kevin Tighe (“Emergency,” “Murder One”) is 64. Actress Gretchen Corbett (“The Rockford Files”) is 61. Actress Dawnn Lewis (“Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper”) is 47. Actor John Slattery (“Desperate Housewives”) is 46. Actress Quinn Cummings (“Family”) is 41. Country singer Andy Griggs is 35. Country drummer Mike Melancon is 30.
OVERSCENE
Current Atlanta Brave Chipper Jones and former Brave Ron Gant dining separately at Morton’s The Steakhouse in Buckhead Tuesday night, following Braves announcer Skip Caray’s memorial service. Chipper was with his wife Sharon. We’re told that the couple drank Aqua Panna Water, Crown Royal and a thyme lemon drop Mortini and ordered two iceberg wedge salads, filet mignon, hash brown potatoes and sautéed mushrooms.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“[WXIA news anchor ] Brenda Wood is doing a great job covering the Olympics in Beijing but apparently, she didn’t get to bring a hairstylist with her.”
— Dave FM’s Mara Davis, in between songs during her Olympics-themed “Radio Free Lunch” Tuesday
Contributing: News services
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Coldplay adds second ATL show
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Monday, Live Nation announced that a second Atlanta Coldplay show has been added to the British act’s “Viva La Vida” U.S. tour. The new show is booked for Nov. 5 at Philips Arena at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $49.50 to $97.50. Tickets go on sale Saturday at noon.
Clothes must be just right for HGTV
As school starts for many metro Atlanta kids this week, Duluth real estate agent Angie Holcomb is accustomed to parents anxious to finalize their housing arrangements.
Normally, she does her job without TV cameras trained on her.
But when Wisconsin’s Czerwinksi family phoned her back in June and asked the Keller-Williams Atlanta Partners agent to help them find a house here, the clients came complete with an HGTV “House Hunters” film crew.
“Even with the cameras, the family was a joy to work with,” Holcomb tells Buzz. Unlike some buyers who remain convinced the right house is the one they haven’t yet been shown, Holcomb says the mom and dad, Sharon and John Czerwinksi, were low maintenance. Among the family’s modest requests: a house with four bedrooms and a basement in Gwinnett County’s Peachtree Ridge school district.
Holcomb also was mindful of the couple’s children, Hannah, 14, and Jack, 11, who had some anxiety about leaving their friends back home.
The kids scored Atlanta Braves tickets and a trip to Stone Mountain Park.
“It’s always important to make the kids feel welcome,” says Holcomb. “I wanted them to fall in love with this area the way I have. By the end, the kids were more excited than anybody.”
Holcomb also had to select five camera-ready wardrobes for the three-day shoot.
Says Holcomb: “I probably drove my husband [WXIA meteorologist Chris Holcomb] crazy trying to find the perfect outfits.”
And while the agent says she can normally show 10 houses to clients in a day, the “House Hunters” production schedule allowed for only one home a day.
Viewers will find out which home the Atlanta transplants selected this fall on HGTV.
Sugarland suit on the sour side
A lawyer representing Atlanta country duo Sugarland responded on Monday to the $1.5 million lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court last month by founding member Kristen Hall. In the suit, Hall contends that she was to get a cut of the group’s profits even after she left in 2005 for a solo career. The lawsuit says Hall, who founded the band in 2002, has an agreement with Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush to equally share profits and losses.
On Monday, via a statement from the group’s label, Universal Music Group in Nashville, Sugarland attorney Gary Gilbert told us: “This lawsuit is totally baseless and without merit. Among other factual inaccuracies suggested in the complaint, it is indisputable that Ms. Hall left the group voluntarily and on her own accord. We are absolutely confident that this matter will be resolved in favor of Jennifer and Kristian.”
Separating the crimson, orange
Aug. 30’s instant sell-out Chick-fil-A College Kickoff event at the Georgia Dome features the first football matchup between the University of Alabama and Clemson University since 1975. Before the 8 p.m. kick-off? The pregame fan parties, the Tiger Tailgate event and the Bama Bash. Interestingly, the $55 per person parties are both being held from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Georgia World Congress Center downtown. So how will organizers avoid any pre-kickoff dustups between the two passionate sets of fans?
“The gatherings are going to be held in very different locations of the Georgia World Congress Center,” Chick-fil-A College Kickoff communications veep Matt Garvey told us.
While tickets remain for the parties, every single $70 RV parking space at the Georgia Dome vaporized a week ago. Explained Garvey: “For Alabama fans, there’s a whole RV culture attached to the team.”
For info: www.chick-fil-abowl.com.
Classy exit
After Burrell Ellis’ decisive win in last week’s run-off election for the DeKalb County CEO job, Ellis’ opponent, state Rep. Stan Watson quietly conceded and avoided the media. Privately, however, Watson has proven to be a class act. The following thank you note was e-mailed to Watson supporters over the weekend (a copy was awaiting Buzz on Monday): “On August 5, our campaign for DeKalb CEO did not turn out the way we had hoped, but I want to thank each and every one of you for sticking with me until the end. Your support has meant the world to me. … Although I am taking time to enjoy my family, I want you to know that my career in politics is far from over. There is a calling on my life to serve and that is what I must continue to do. … Thank you again and may God bless you and yours. Your friend, Stan Watson.”
In the often not-so-nice blood sport of politics, perhaps Watson could consider teaching an etiquette course …
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Singer-guitarist Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits is 59. Singer Kid Creole is 58. Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny is 54. Rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot is 45. Actor Peter Krause (“Dirty Sexy Money”) is 43. Actor Michael Ian Black (“Ed”) is 37. Actor Casey Affleck is 33. Actress Maggie Lawson (“Psych”) is 28. Actress Imani Hakim (“Everybody Hates Chris”) is 15.
Contributing: News services
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Spiff’s fifth station in six years — 106.7
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Spiff Carner, best known for his 14 years with the Randy & Spiff show on Fox 97, will be joining True Oldies 106.7 Monday with Freddie Brooks from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays.
Carner has been rather peripatetic since Fox 97 died in early 2003. He and Randy Cook moved to Cool 105.7 for two years, followed by 18 months at Lite 94.9, then nine months at WGST-AM. This will be his fifth radio station in six years.
True Oldies general manager Paul O’Malley said hiring Spiff was a no brainer.
“It’s pretty simple math,” he told Buzz. “He’s a recognizable name in the market. There are two things we look for: ratings and revenue. He has the opportunity to bring in both.”
Spiff is just glad to be able to talk to his fans again and get a regular paycheck: “And I don’t have to move!”
Asked how he got the job, he cracked: “They finally spotted me at the end of Barrett Parkway with my ‘Will tell jokes for food’ sign.”
Woodfire Grill sold
Woodfire Grill, chef Michael Tuohy’s iconoclastic California-inspired restaurant on Cheshire Bridge Road, has been sold. The proud new owners are Nicolas Quinones and Bernard Moussa, under the name Five Senses Restaurants. Quinones and Moussa have worked together as manager and assistant manager, respectively, at Midtown’s Loca Luna for four years. Tuohy’s last day as chef-owner will be Tuesday.
Tuohy, a San Francisco Bay-area native, has been at the forefront of the farm-to-table movement in Georgia. Before he opened Woodfire Grill six years ago, he chef-owned acclaimed Chefs’ Café on Piedmont.
Quinones and Moussa will keep Tuohy’s existing kitchen team intact, and chef de cuisine Kevin Gillespie has been promoted to executive chef. The partners plan to continue with Tuohy’s concept of using locally sourced, sustainable and organic ingredients, and the name will remain the same.
“My hope is that Kevin will remain in the Woodfire Kitchen,” Tuohy said in a recent interview. “He knows the vision we’ve all had for the restaurant and will be able to keep it alive.”
Tuohy leaves the kitchen on the lauded restaurant’s sixth anniversary, cooking a special dinner for guests before leaving to helm the kitchen at the Grange restaurant in Sacramento’s boutique Citizen Hotel. For info about the event: 404-347-9055 or woodfiregrill.com.
Sporty Girls swim
In the 1990s, Hot 107.9 morning host Rashan Ali got a full scholarship at Florida A&M University for swimming, uncommon for African-American women.
She held her first big fund-raiser Saturday in Atlanta for her new nonprofit, Sporty Girls, which targets girls who might not otherwise join in sports such as swimming, golf, tennis and soccer. “I really want to encourage girls to try sports that could help them later,” Ali said after the charity swim meet, in which she emceed and swam a 50-yard freestyle round.
Her morning team (Emperor Searcy, Griff, Akini and Beyonce Alowishus) and former morning co-host C.J. Simpson (95.5/The Beat) came by, too.
HIGH FIVE
Music
Top selling albums at Decatur CD for the week ending Aug. 9:
1. Conor Oberst, “Conor Oberst”
2. Randy Newman, “Harps and Angels”
3. Amy Ray, “Didn’t it Feel Kinder”
4. Gentleman Jesse, “Gentleman Jesse”
5. Nas, untitled
— Courtesy: Decatur CD
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actress-TV personality Arlene Dahl is 80. Wrestler-actor Hulk Hogan (above) is 55. Singer Joe Jackson is 54. Actor Joe Rogan (“Fear Factor”) is 41. Rapper Chris Kelly of Kris Kross is 30. Singer J-Boog (B2K) is 23.
Contributing: Rodney Ho, Meridith Ford and news services
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Urban Chic benefit heats up runway with record $100K night
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In its third year, Urban Chic, the annual fashionably minded benefit for AID Atlanta finally hit its stride on and off the runway. (SEE RUNWAY PHOTOS)
Not to mention a record $100,000 raised in a single evening for the charity. In past years, looking good in the month of August in hipster overheated nightclubs had been an ongoing challenge for the glittering moneyed crowd. Thursday night’s event was held in the larger, lavishly air-conditioned Egyptian Ballroom at the Fox Theatre in Midtown.
Eyeing a nearly naked, leggy blonde model graciously submitting to body paint applications from attendees, co-chair Ken Goldwasser told Buzz: “This year, the only body heat in here is being generated by the models. And it doesn’t appear that anyone minds that!”
Still, the always-outrageous co-chair Richie Arpino (pictured left with co-hosts Tom Sullivan and Karyn Greer) dressed for the occasion, sporting a red tartan kilt and black combat boots.
“These people have seen me in everything else,” Arpino claimed. “Now I know why women wear dresses. They’re very comfortable. Especially when you go commando.”
Considerably more refined was host committee member Darlene Trigg, who turned up in Armani Black Label with sexy candy apple red Valentino shoes.
Discussing her distress at recent spikes in HIV infection among African-American women, Trigg told us: “I’m delighted with the diversity here tonight. I’m thrilled that this year’s event is bigger and that more people are embracing this cause.”
Providing the evening’s emotional center was former Clinton administration AIDS advisor Denise Stokes, who’s been living with HIV for 25 years. A spoken word artist, Stokes silenced the crowd as she rapped about being raped as a teenager and her later substance abuse struggles after being diagnosed.
“I took the wrong path and fell a few times,” Stokes told the crowd. “But I’m telling it like it t-i-s. I’m going to keep on keeping on.” Stokes received a standing ovation as emcee Greer observed: “That’s why we’re here folks.”
A fashion show, creatively conceived by catwalk expert Randi Layne, wowed the crowd with the latest threads from Atlanta boutiques, including Luxe, Tootsies, Kaleidoscope, Sage, Threadhouse, Bill Hallman and Festivity.
Opening the evening, was rising Atlanta singer-songwriter Ben Deignan, whose noisy quartet rocked arrivals at the VIP party. Deignan’s impressive set took us back to the days when we piled into Eddie’s Attic to watch a young John Mayer trying out his latest compositions. Only the scrappier Deignan and mates might well wipe the floor with Mayer’s band in a bar fight.
Deignan wasn’t fazed that most of the crowd was ignoring his set. The singer told us: “It’s like being that cool band that has a cameo in a cocktail party scene on an episode of ‘Sex and the City.’ It’s early, people are drinking and finding their hook up. We’re just excited to be here.”
Ready for football?
Preparing for tonight’s Atlanta Falcons pre-season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars? You may want to visit the team’s online store or its retail locations at Perimeter or Lenox Square malls. Among the products that tempted Buzz on Friday: the all-wood Falcons cheese board, the team’s official hammock, a black-and-red bed comforter (“the perfect addition to your Atlanta Falcons sheet set!” as the Web site tells us) and a snack helmet with a detachable top perfect for chips. But the biggest bargains we found? Dog tags from former Falcons Warrick Dunn and DeAngelo Hall were going for just 93 cents a set. Current Falcon Keith Brooking’s will run you $5.56, however. Perhaps not unexpectedly, there was no sign of Michael Vick dog tags to be found anywhere on the site. For info: Falcons365.com.
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Youth grasp energy alarm, writer says
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta author Jay Hakes is drawing standing-room-only crowds this week. But his new book doesn’t bother with brooding vampires or boy wizards.
The Carter Presidential Center Library and Museum executive director’s new offering is “A Declaration of Energy Independence: How Freedom From Foreign Oil Can Improve National Security, Our Economy and the Environment.”
“I feel a bit like a fireman who’s only needed when something is on fire,” Hakes joked to us via cellphone Thursday from a tour stop in Raleigh. “Initially I had a little trouble getting a publisher interested. When I signed the deal last September, gas was $2.75 a gallon.”
Hakes will appear at Margaret Mitchell House’s Literary Center Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. for a talk and signing. He’s also set to address the National Press Club in Washington next week.
One big surprise in “Declaration”? From 1977 to 1982 — motivated by record prices and lines for gas that plagued motorists — the U.S. actually cut its foreign oil imports in half.
Explains Hakes: “Presidents Ford and Carter both put forth initiatives that had us on the right track but then we got complacent again. In order to solve this thing, the grandparents, the children and grandchildren have to get around the table and talk about what the world is going to be like in 30 years.”
Consequently, Hakes will be speaking on many college campuses.
“The younger generation is more willing to take on the tougher behavioral changes needed to make a difference.”
The former head of the Energy Information Administration at the U.S. Department of Energy also is doing his part.
Says Hakes: “I live in a Midtown condo. I have a three-mile commute to work and I can walk to 30 great restaurants and about seven playhouses. I can often go for a month on a single tank of gasoline.”
For info: www.gwtw.org.
Doc shocker
The new documentary “Chris & Don: A Love Story,” playing at Midtown Art Cinema through Tuesday, offers plenty of surprises as it explores the 30-year relationship of “Berlin Stories” author Christopher Isherwood and artist Don Bachardy. For starters, there was a three-decade age difference between the two men. But directors Guido Santi and Tina Mascara leave the biggest shocker for the film’s emotional finale.
On camera, the now-70-something artist sifts through a drawer full of drawings of the dying Isherwood as he reflects on the author’s 1986 death from prostate cancer.
In Isherwood’s final months, Bachardy chronicled him in daily drawings. In the harrowing final batch, the anguish on Isherwood’s gaunt features has resulted in squirming at some screenings.
On the day he died, the writer and artist were alone in their home. Bachardy describes “spending the rest of the day drawing Chris’ corpse.”
The final work depicts Isherwood dead with his eyes and mouth open.
“I always know that scene is going to get to audiences,” Mascara told Buzz. “But in the film, we also illuminate why Don did it.”
Choking back tears in the film, Bachardy explains: “One of the things that spurred me on was that this is what an artist would do. And that’s what an artist did do. Chris would have been proud of me.”
Caray tribute set
Skip Caray fans will want to set their TiVos for this: Turner Sports and Peachtree TV will pay tribute to the late beloved Atlanta Braves broadcaster with a special video presentation that will air Aug. 12 before the Braves/Chicago Cubs game. The special is being produced by Glenn Diamond, who worked with Caray for 23 years. For the game, Caray’s son Chip will be in the booth, calling the game with Joe Simpson. The tribute will air on what would have been Caray’s 69th birthday.
New chef at Serenbe
The Farmhouse at Serenbe has announced a replacement for chef Nicolas Bour, who left just weeks ago to head for the Willard Intercontinental in Washington. The Farmhouse is noted for a farm-to-table approach that starts in Serenbe’s own backyard (and the sequestered community’s own organic farm). In is chef Nick Melvin, a New Orleans native whose most recent activity behind the kitchen line has been as sous chef for Concentrics Hospitality’s Tap in Midtown. (He also worked for that group’s Room at Twelve and Murphy’s.) “I can’t wait to create the menu each week while literally walking through the farm, checking to see what’s ripe,” the chef said via press release. Aug. 28 will be his first night in the Farmhouse’s kitchen.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Producer Dino DeLaurentiis is 89. Actress Esther Williams, below, is 87. Actor Dustin Hoffman is 71. News anchor Deborah Norville is 50. Guitarist The Edge of U2 is 47. Singer J.C. Chasez of ‘N Sync is 32. Singer Drew Lachey of 98 Degrees is 32.
RE-COUPLING
Usher’s mother is back as his manager.
The 29-year-old Atlantan announced Thursday that he has ended his partnership with manager Benny Medina and has rehired Jonnetta Patton.
Patton had managed her son’s career since he was a teen star. But the performer broke with his mother in 2007, saying he just wanted her to focus on being his mom.
Usher has said their relationship has improved since their professional union ended.
“I had a great time and we parted ways amicably,” Medina said.
Contributing: Meridith Ford and news services
