July 20th, 2009 by rz1231
Rashida Leah Jones (born February 25, 1976) is an American actress, model, and musician, best-known for her portrayal of Louisa Fenn on Boston Public, Karen Filippelli on The Office and Zooey Rice in I Love You, Man. Jones currently stars in the series Parks and Recreation with Saturday Night Live alumna Amy Poehler.
Jones was born in Los Angeles, California, the youngest daughter of media mogul and musician Quincy Jones and his former wife, actress Peggy Lipton. Her father is African-American and her mother is Jewish, descended from immigrants from Ireland and Russia. She has an elder sister, Kidada Jones, and five half-siblings by her father’s other relationships. She was raised in Bel Air, California. According to her father, as a child Rashida was bitten by Michael Jackson’s chimp Bubbles.
In his autobiography, Jones’ father recalled how he would often find his five-year-old daughter under the covers after bedtime with a flashlight reading five books at a time. Jones also displayed musical ability at a young age by playing classical concerts and winning awards. Her mother told Entertainment Tonight that Jones is “also a fabulous singer and songwriter, so she has inherited it (from Quincy), there’s no question about it. Her dad’s teaching her how to orchestrate and arrange too.” Read the rest of this entry »
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July 17th, 2009 by rz1231
MARINA DEL REY, Calif.—A 17-year-old Californian Thursday became the youngest person to sail around the world alone.
Zac Sunderland docked in the coastal community west of Los Angeles, completing a 28,000-mile trip that began last year. His family, friends and hundreds of onlookers cheered as his 36-foot Intrepid boat entered the harbor.
Also on hand was a team from the American Sailing Association, which certified his accomplishment.
The shaggy-haired sailor later gave a whoop of joy before addressing the crowd.
“It’s been a crazy 13 months,” said Sunderland, hugging his younger siblings.
Sunderland was 16 when he left Marina del Rey on June 14, 2008 — a voyage that included encounters with pirates and wild storms.
His father, shipwright Laurence Sunderland, met him at various stops and helped him repair damage to the boat while Zac surfed.
Sunderland’s father was tearful and prayerful when he took the microphone. Read the rest of this entry »
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July 17th, 2009 by rz1231
Update 12:07 pm: About 20 minutes ago, CNN’s Anderson Cooper interviewed by phone Jakarta resident Greg Wollstencroft, who lives across the street from the Ritz-Carlton, lived in the hotel for 12 months and works for a Jakarta TV station. Given his profession and his familiarity with the hotel, the interview was the most interesting one I’ve read or heard so far tonight. The Ritz-Carlton blast is said to have happened about five minutes after the J.W. Marriott blast. Here’s what he told Cooper:
Wollstencroft said he’d just arrived back at his home after a walk. He saw the first bomb go off, so he went to his home to get his iPhone and as he was walking back to the street, the second bomb went off at the Ritz-Carlton. Despite the potential risks of a second bomb, Wollstencroft went to the scene to get a first-hand account. As he walked into the chaotic scene, he saw what he thinks was the mangled body of a suicide bomber. It was so mangled he could not tell its nationality. “I saw the body just before it was covered. It was so badly mutilated, you couldn’t tell.”
The bomb appeared to have gone off in the restaurant, he said. “The inside of the Airlangga restaurant has been totally devestated,” he said. Since it was early morning, Wollstencroft told Cooper that he imagined that many people would have been inside eating breakfast at the restaurant. Read the rest of this entry »
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July 16th, 2009 by rz1231
As a fan of old cop shows and movies like “Baretta” and “Serpico,” Dylan McDermott was immediately drawn to the role of Carter Shaw on TNT’s new police drama, “Dark Blue.”
“I’ve always been intrigued by undercover cops,” McDermott told the Daily News. “The last real undercover cop show that worked was [1987's] ‘Wiseguy,’ which was quite a while ago. So initially, I was excited just because of the concept. Then I read the script.”
Premiering July 15 at 10, “Dark Blue” follows a team of undercover Los Angeles agents so covert that other officers in the city don’t even know they exist. The team is led by McDermott as Carter, who’s become the dark, brooding type since his wife died.
“He’s a fascinating character because he’s so conflicted,” McDermott said. “It’s not black and white. There’s so much gray in him. He’s not sure about anything, except his job. It’s the one thing he’s good at.”
The cast also includes Omari Hardwick, Logan Marshall-Green and Nicki Aycox as the ragtag bunch who fill out the rest of Carter’s squad. Read the rest of this entry »
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July 16th, 2009 by rz1231
The major beats of the undercover genre are all crystalized. You await the scene where the stern authority figure threatens to pull our hero off the case because he’s in too deep. You await the scene where the hero’s wife/girlfriend complains that she doesn’t know who she’s sleeping with anymore, because he’s in too deep. You await the scene where our hero has to cross that line and do something illegal, because he’s in too deep to let his cover slide. In a movie each of things things can happen two or three times, but in a TV series, you can be stuck playing out the same beats multiple times in every episode.
No matter how bland the genre has become, it can still be a showcase for some terrific performances. I watched CBS’ “The Handler” for Joe Pantoliano and Hill Harper. I watched A&E’s “The Beast” for Patrick Swayze.
While some of the performances in TNT’s new drama “Dark Blue” are solid, none of them are compelling enough to elevate what is otherwise an oppressively gloom, by-the-numbers entry that just pushes the genre deeper into its rut.
[Full review after the break...]
Dylan McDermott stars as Carter Shaw, a street-wise cop so consumed with law and order that he’s let his marriage, his family and his personal life slip away. Yes. He’s that street-wise cop.
He runs a team that includes Ty (Omari Hardwick), still trying to be the best husband he can be, in-too-deep Dean (Logan Marshall-Green) and newcomer-with-a-past Jaimie (Nicki Aycox). They’re an elite off-the-books undercover squad with mostly unlimited resources, getting close to Los Angeles’ biggest drug pushers, arms dealers and potential terrorists.
But there’s a catch. Read the rest of this entry »
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July 15th, 2009 by rz1231
Dash Snow, a promising young New York artist, died Monday night at Lafayette House, a hotel in Lower Manhattan. He was 27 and lived in Manhattan. His death was confirmed by his grandmother, the art collector and philanthropist Christophe de Menil, who said that Mr. Snow had died of a drug overdose.
Mr. Snow gained prominence after being featured in an article titled “Warhol’s Children” that appeared in New York magazine in 2007. He worked in video and photography and also developed a distinctive collage style that fused and contrasted found images in fresh and suggestive ways. He exhibited in galleries and museums in New York, Los Angeles and Europe.
Ms. de Menil said that he had been in rehabilitation in March and had been off drugs until very recently.
Tags: Dash Snow, Dies at 27, New York Artist
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July 14th, 2009 by rz1231
WASHINGTON — Firefighter Frank Ricci, scheduled to testify about Sonia Sotomayor’s ruling against his reverse discrimination lawsuit, was targeted for criticism Monday by powerful liberal groups who support her confirmation to the Supreme Court.
Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans decided last week to make Ricci, a white New Haven, Conn., firefighter, one of their showcase witnesses on Thursday. His reverse discrimination suit against the city of New Haven was rejected by a three-judge appeals court panel that included Sotomayor.
Ricci challenged New Haven’s decision to scrap the results of a promotion test because too few minorities scored high enough to qualify. Two weeks ago the Supreme Court, on a 5-4 vote, overturned the decision to dismiss the suit.
People for the American Way, a liberal group, said Monday that Ricci got his firefighting job in New Haven “by claiming discrimination under the Americans With Disabilities Act, which protects Americans from discrimination over disabilities.” Ricci has dyslexia, a learning disability that impairs the ability to read.
“I don’t think Mr. Ricci thought that his being hired was a case of reverse discrimination against those who weren’t disabled,” said Marge Baker, the group’s vice president. “But you can’t have it both ways; these laws can’t be good when you use them to protect yourself and bad when they’re used to protect someone else.” Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: conservatives battle over Ricci, Liberals
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July 14th, 2009 by rz1231
After appearing in a string of downer movies, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has decided to lighten up this summer.
He stars opposite Zooey Deschanel in the Marc Webbdirected romantic comedy (500) Days Of Summer, and he gets to snarl as the Cobra Commander villain in the action flick G. I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra.
First, there’s his Tom in (500) Days Of Summer, which opens on Friday after receiving lots of praise at last winter’s Sundance Film Festival.
In the quirky relationship flick, Gordon-Levitt portrays a hopelessly devoted greeting-card writer who recounts his love connection with Summer (Deschanel) through time-shifting recollections covering the good times and the bad times and all the times in between.
As usual, Gordon-Levitt’s performance is controlled and contains the awkward essence of the struggling everyman.
“I think that a lot of movies that get called comedies shirk
the need to be emotionally honest,” the 28-year-old says. “They say, ‘We’re just trying to make people laugh, So we don’t have to feel anything.’ I think that’s exactly wrong.” Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: The man feels for his comedies
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July 13th, 2009 by rz1231
After 25 years, the Sundance Film Festival has become an icon of the American film industry. While the festival is not without its naysayers, it has brought me some of my favorite films. The following is a list of successful films either in box office sales or award nominations that originally appeared at Sundance. Then again, it might be on the list just because I love the film.
1989—sex, lies and videotape
The first film to make the list in chronological order is the 1989 film called “sex, lies and videotape” premiered at Sundance. The darkly disturbing picture of lovers John and Anne would put Sundance on the map. The film earned the Audience Award at Sundance and an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay later that year. Director Steven Soderbergh continues to have a successful career with films like “Erin Brockovich” and “Ocean’s Eleven.” Soderbergh’s professional success makes him one of Sundance’s most famous alumni.
1992—Reservoir Dogs
Then another Sundance alumnus, Quentin Tarantino came along with a film that was big on violence and loud on laughter. Tarantino’s distinctive “Reservoir Dogs” premiered at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival after being work shopped at the Sundance Institute Directors Lab. The film became a cult favorite after its DVD release. Tarantino’s violent style continues to enthrall audiences with films like “Pulp Fiction,” “Kill Bill” and “Grind House.” This director/writer keeps a tight script with carefully directed shots always telling the audience exactly what he wants them to know.
1994—Clerks
Two years later the world was treated to another DVD cult classic with “Clerks.” This surprising black and white comedy won crowds over in 1994. The film’s deadpan delivery of vulgar humor is hysterical. And of course, there’s Jay and Silent Bob. Director Kevin Smith continues to work as a writer, director and producer in both television and film. His television credits include “Clerks” and “Reaper.” Film credits include “Dogma,” “Clerks II” and “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.” Read the rest of this entry »
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July 13th, 2009 by rz1231
John Goode, Jr. (May 27, 1829 – July 14, 1909) was a prominent Virginia Democratic politician who served in the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War and then was a three-term post-bellum United States Congressman, as well as the acting Solicitor General of the United States.
Goode was born in Bedford County, Virginia. He was graduated at Emory & Henry College in 1848, studied law at Lexington, Virginia, and was admitted to the bar in 1851. In the latter year he was elected a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, and in 1861 sat in the State convention that passed the ordinance of secession.
With the impending dissolution of the United States in 1861, Goode was elected to the Virginia secession convention. With the affirmative vote and Virginia’s subsequent secession, Goode was elected to both the First Confederate Congress and the Second Confederate Congress, serving from February 22, 1862, until the end of the war, and during the recesses of that body acted as volunteer aide on the staff of Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early.
After the war, Goode resumed his law practice and again served in the state House of Delegates in 1866 and 1867. In 1887, Goode moved to Norfolk and engaged in the practice of the law in Washington, D.C. Shortly after he moved to Norfolk, he was again elected to the Virginia legislature. Read the rest of this entry »
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