Surprise! Bob Woodward has to step aside for the piece in Vanity Fair:
"I'm the Guy They Called Deep Throat"
By JOHN D. O'CONNOR
In a V.F. exclusive, W. Mark Felt, 91 years old and formerly second-in-command at the F.B.I., says that he is the confidential Watergate source who assisted Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein—and helped bring down President Richard Nixon
On a sunny California morning in August 1999, Joan Felt, a busy college Spanish professor and single mother, was completing chores before leaving for class. She stopped when she heard an unexpected knock at the front door. Upon answering it, she was met by a courteous, 50-ish man, who introduced himself as a journalist from The Washington Post. He asked if he could see her father, W. Mark Felt, who lived with her in her suburban Santa Rosa home. The man said his name was Bob Woodward.
John D. O'Connor is a San Francisco attorney. This is his first piece for Vanity Fair.
Saturday, June 04, 2005
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Tom Cruise has issues, Part 2
.
---from throwing a fit on Oprah, to this? This is pure HighVizPR, anyway you slice it babay!
Paramount should be basking in this! After all, it sells tickets, or does it? Is Cruise's career OVERDONE? Am I naive = confused by BAD PUBLICITY (?????) REF: Time Mag, too, for "Tom Cruise has issues, Part 1": Corliss makes sense, as always. And now,
From: The Venerable New York Times
June 2, 2005
How Personal Is Too Personal for a [gay?] Star Like Tom Cruise?
By SHARON WAXMAN
LOS ANGELES, June 1 - Just months into his tenure as chairman of Paramount, Brad Grey is facing the sort of decision that makes Hollywood executives quiver: whether to proceed with production of the hugely expensive "Mission: Impossible III," even as its star, Tom Cruise, is puzzling associates and members of the public with his behavior while promoting another Paramount venture, "War of the Worlds."
An executive for Viacom, Paramount's parent company, said the studio had not yet decided whether to push ahead with production of "Mission: Impossible III," one of the company's most valuable franchises and a project on which tens of millions of dollars has already been spent. Shooting was planned to begin in Italy on July 18 and to continue on location in Europe and elsewhere.
"No definitive decision has been made; it's a discussion," said the executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared endangering the studio's relationship with Mr. Cruise. Other executives involved in the discussion said the production became an issue in recent days as the budget has climbed well over $150 million. A studio spokeswoman, Janet Hill, declined to comment.
The uncertainty comes at a critical time for Paramount as it prepares to release "War of the Worlds," a big-budget science fiction epic directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Mr. Cruise. The movie, jointly financed with DreamWorks, is to open on June 29.
While promoting that film over the last several weeks, Mr. Cruise engaged in an increasingly public discussion of his religion, Scientology. Then he set tongues wagging in Hollywood and elsewhere with an hourlong appearance on the May 23 "Oprah" show, during which he jumped around the set, hopped onto a couch, fell rapturously to one knee and repeatedly professed his love for his new girlfriend, the actress Katie Holmes.
The two studios have already curtailed the normal promotional press junket ahead of the June 29 release of "War of the Worlds," limiting it to what Mr. Levy called a smaller number of "preselected interview sessions." He said the decision had nothing to do with Mr. Cruise but was made because there had been enough promotion already.
Mr. Cruise's recent comments and behavior have been fodder for Internet bloggers, radio talk show hosts and late-night comedians, who, among other things, have questioned whether the love affair with Ms. Holmes was a publicity stunt. A spokeswoman for Mr. Cruise denied that this was the case. [YEAH. RIGHT. SURE.]
But within Hollywood, the discussion among agents, producers, studio executives and other actors has been focused more on whether Hollywood's biggest box office star was doing long-term harm to his career. And there was sincere confusion over what Mr. Cruise, a 20-year veteran of the publicity machine, had in mind with his recent public appearances and statements. [his sister is NOT an A.PR, is she?]
Mr. Cruise's spokeswoman, his sister Lee Anne De Vette, said she had not heard anything negative after the "Oprah" appearance. "You're looking at someone who's genuinely very happy," she said. "The response we've gotten back is complete enthusiasm and exhilaration for his enthusiasm and exhilaration. He's a very happy person."
Still, there have been other publicity hiccups related to Mr. Cruise's increasingly public association with Scientology, the religion founded by the science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. In a series of television interviews on "Access Hollywood" last week, the star spoke at length about his passion for Scientology, at one point criticizing Brooke Shields for taking anti-depressants: Scientology considers modern psychiatry and its medications to be harmful.
And in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel in April, Mr. Cruise got into a heated exchange with an interviewer who called Scientology a pseudo-science after the star said he had personally "helped hundreds of people get off drugs." Mr. Spielberg was present at the interview and found himself defending Mr. Cruise's dedication to Scientology by comparing it to his work for his Shoah Foundation, which promotes education about the Holocaust. A DreamWorks executive called the exchange unfortunate.
One Spiegel interviewer, Lars-Olav Beier, said he was given a tour of Scientology's celebrity center before the interview. Ms. De Vette said Mr. Cruise talked about Scientology simply to answer questions. "Scientology didn't come up on 'Oprah,' " she observed. "It's a matter of what's being asked. He's not talking about it more than in the past." [IT'S SIMPLY ATTACK TOM TIME! Got that? Good]
Ms. De Vette also said she had not heard that plans for "Mission: Impossible III" were under review, and added that Mr. Cruise was in training for the film's stunts. "I know nothing about that," she said, referring to a Tuesday report on the Web site huffingtonpost.com that the film might be suspended. "As far as I know we're moving ahead."
Mr. Cruise's insistence on making his religion a prominent part of his current work has raised some resistance in Hollywood. Some executives from the United International Pictures, which is releasing "War of the Worlds" overseas, complained earlier about being asked to take a four-hour tour of Scientology facilities in Los Angeles in late January.
And Mr. Cruise's insistence on having a Scientology tent on the set of "War of the Worlds" created a conflict at Universal, where the movie was being shot, two executives involved said. The executives, who asked not to be identified to protect industry relationships, said that Mr. Cruise, his agent Kevin Huvane and Mr. Spielberg all had to appeal personally to the president of Universal Studios, Ron Meyer, for the tent to be permitted on the studio lot, where no solicitation is allowed.
The studio required that the tent not be used for recruitment purposes, they said. A studio spokesman declined to comment.
---from throwing a fit on Oprah, to this? This is pure HighVizPR, anyway you slice it babay!
Paramount should be basking in this! After all, it sells tickets, or does it? Is Cruise's career OVERDONE? Am I naive = confused by BAD PUBLICITY (?????) REF: Time Mag, too, for "Tom Cruise has issues, Part 1": Corliss makes sense, as always. And now,
From: The Venerable New York Times
June 2, 2005
How Personal Is Too Personal for a [gay?] Star Like Tom Cruise?
By SHARON WAXMAN
LOS ANGELES, June 1 - Just months into his tenure as chairman of Paramount, Brad Grey is facing the sort of decision that makes Hollywood executives quiver: whether to proceed with production of the hugely expensive "Mission: Impossible III," even as its star, Tom Cruise, is puzzling associates and members of the public with his behavior while promoting another Paramount venture, "War of the Worlds."
An executive for Viacom, Paramount's parent company, said the studio had not yet decided whether to push ahead with production of "Mission: Impossible III," one of the company's most valuable franchises and a project on which tens of millions of dollars has already been spent. Shooting was planned to begin in Italy on July 18 and to continue on location in Europe and elsewhere.
"No definitive decision has been made; it's a discussion," said the executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared endangering the studio's relationship with Mr. Cruise. Other executives involved in the discussion said the production became an issue in recent days as the budget has climbed well over $150 million. A studio spokeswoman, Janet Hill, declined to comment.
The uncertainty comes at a critical time for Paramount as it prepares to release "War of the Worlds," a big-budget science fiction epic directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Mr. Cruise. The movie, jointly financed with DreamWorks, is to open on June 29.
While promoting that film over the last several weeks, Mr. Cruise engaged in an increasingly public discussion of his religion, Scientology. Then he set tongues wagging in Hollywood and elsewhere with an hourlong appearance on the May 23 "Oprah" show, during which he jumped around the set, hopped onto a couch, fell rapturously to one knee and repeatedly professed his love for his new girlfriend, the actress Katie Holmes.
Is Tom really Gay? Ask the NEW AND IMPROVED NATIONAL ENQUIRER!
Many Hollywood stars are involved with the Church of Scientology, and there is nothing particularly unusual about trumpeting a new love. But some executives at Paramount and DreamWorks have voiced concern that fans were becoming distracted from the movie, which cost some $130 million to produce.
The two studios have already curtailed the normal promotional press junket ahead of the June 29 release of "War of the Worlds," limiting it to what Mr. Levy called a smaller number of "preselected interview sessions." He said the decision had nothing to do with Mr. Cruise but was made because there had been enough promotion already.
Mr. Cruise's recent comments and behavior have been fodder for Internet bloggers, radio talk show hosts and late-night comedians, who, among other things, have questioned whether the love affair with Ms. Holmes was a publicity stunt. A spokeswoman for Mr. Cruise denied that this was the case. [YEAH. RIGHT. SURE.]
But within Hollywood, the discussion among agents, producers, studio executives and other actors has been focused more on whether Hollywood's biggest box office star was doing long-term harm to his career. And there was sincere confusion over what Mr. Cruise, a 20-year veteran of the publicity machine, had in mind with his recent public appearances and statements. [his sister is NOT an A.PR, is she?]
Mr. Cruise's spokeswoman, his sister Lee Anne De Vette, said she had not heard anything negative after the "Oprah" appearance. "You're looking at someone who's genuinely very happy," she said. "The response we've gotten back is complete enthusiasm and exhilaration for his enthusiasm and exhilaration. He's a very happy person."
Still, there have been other publicity hiccups related to Mr. Cruise's increasingly public association with Scientology, the religion founded by the science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. In a series of television interviews on "Access Hollywood" last week, the star spoke at length about his passion for Scientology, at one point criticizing Brooke Shields for taking anti-depressants: Scientology considers modern psychiatry and its medications to be harmful.
And in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel in April, Mr. Cruise got into a heated exchange with an interviewer who called Scientology a pseudo-science after the star said he had personally "helped hundreds of people get off drugs." Mr. Spielberg was present at the interview and found himself defending Mr. Cruise's dedication to Scientology by comparing it to his work for his Shoah Foundation, which promotes education about the Holocaust. A DreamWorks executive called the exchange unfortunate.
One Spiegel interviewer, Lars-Olav Beier, said he was given a tour of Scientology's celebrity center before the interview. Ms. De Vette said Mr. Cruise talked about Scientology simply to answer questions. "Scientology didn't come up on 'Oprah,' " she observed. "It's a matter of what's being asked. He's not talking about it more than in the past." [IT'S SIMPLY ATTACK TOM TIME! Got that? Good]
Ms. De Vette also said she had not heard that plans for "Mission: Impossible III" were under review, and added that Mr. Cruise was in training for the film's stunts. "I know nothing about that," she said, referring to a Tuesday report on the Web site huffingtonpost.com that the film might be suspended. "As far as I know we're moving ahead."
Mr. Cruise's insistence on making his religion a prominent part of his current work has raised some resistance in Hollywood. Some executives from the United International Pictures, which is releasing "War of the Worlds" overseas, complained earlier about being asked to take a four-hour tour of Scientology facilities in Los Angeles in late January.
And Mr. Cruise's insistence on having a Scientology tent on the set of "War of the Worlds" created a conflict at Universal, where the movie was being shot, two executives involved said. The executives, who asked not to be identified to protect industry relationships, said that Mr. Cruise, his agent Kevin Huvane and Mr. Spielberg all had to appeal personally to the president of Universal Studios, Ron Meyer, for the tent to be permitted on the studio lot, where no solicitation is allowed.
The studio required that the tent not be used for recruitment purposes, they said. A studio spokesman declined to comment.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
I love Paris! Paris is to marry Paris - she must ~ reinvent~ herself 24 x 7, didn't you know?
~
from car wash burgers to becoming a double-heiress with a name to match her own! Yes, that's [my] blonde bubble head Paris Hilton! Oh, my dears, step-gramma-auntie mame Zsa Zsa Gabor would be proud if she could only snap out of that coma! Our heiress Paris, she is trying valiantly to straddle two worlds - The Debutante as Slut or vice-versa?
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050531/D8AE55IG1.html
~
from car wash burgers to becoming a double-heiress with a name to match her own! Yes, that's [my] blonde bubble head Paris Hilton! Oh, my dears, step-gramma-auntie mame Zsa Zsa Gabor would be proud if she could only snap out of that coma! Our heiress Paris, she is trying valiantly to straddle two worlds - The Debutante as Slut or vice-versa?
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050531/D8AE55IG1.html
~
The opposite of Malcolm Gladwell's "BLINK"
is LOOSE CANNONS
The May 1998 issue of the UTNE Reader offered the following compendium of what we should hear, read, part of which I have included here (and the rest of which you can check out at http://www.utne.com/. Well worth the three bucks for their magazine---more, I think!
http://www.englishcompanion.com/Readings/booklists/utnelist.html
Hmmmmmmmm.....
~
The May 1998 issue of the UTNE Reader offered the following compendium of what we should hear, read, part of which I have included here (and the rest of which you can check out at http://www.utne.com/. Well worth the three bucks for their magazine---more, I think!
http://www.englishcompanion.com/Readings/booklists/utnelist.html
Hmmmmmmmm.....
~
Monday, May 30, 2005
You have to love those Clintons, and yet another book!
'Hillary Berates Aides As Not Real Men' -- 'Tipper Calls Clinton 'That man'... President angry, agressive and emotionally immature -- demands records be changed to show weight loss, calls Sally Quinn 'bitch'... MORE...
Matt Drudge gets another scoop. Bill and Hill get more PR. And so it goes, once again.
Matt Drudge gets another scoop. Bill and Hill get more PR. And so it goes, once again.
Hello, this is Blog No. 2
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