Photo by Chris Moukarbel and Valerie Veatch
Friday, June 29, 2012
The Two Things Bizarre Food’s Andrew Zimmern Doesn’t Like to Eat
Courtesy of Travel
Channel
Season 7 of Bizarre Foods kicks off with a 100th
episode celebration in Las Vegas, including an inside peak at Muhammad Ali’s
70th birthday bash. But as lavish as that sounds, Andrew says that the remainder
of the episodes will not disappoint. He revealed, “The rest of the season has
got some of my favorite episodes… We go to Austin, Texas. We do Florida and
Miami — two separate Florida [shows] — more strange stuff going on in Miami. We
just couldn’t cover it in one and decided to head into the center lands of the
state and go through central Florida and make another episode.”
But the highlight of
the upcoming season just might be the Los Angeles episode. Andrew described it
as “one of the most unusual episodes we’ve ever filmed, which is certainly in
my all time top five… In that episode, we managed to create a pop-up restaurant
— a one night only bizarre foods menu — and I used that mechanism to explore
Los Angeles. [If] I’m going to compete as a lonely restaurateur in that city,
I’d better know what the diners like and what the chefs are cooking.”
Thursday, June 28, 2012
This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: Laura San Giacomo
Samhsa
Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.
This week Laura San Giacomo starred in the movie of the week TalhotBlond. But when the actress isn’t working on film or TV projects, she’s championed a much more compelling cause.
Laura’s 16-year-old son, Mason, was born with cerebral palsy. Like any mother, she wanted her child to have a well-rounded life. So she took incredibly inspiring measures.
Elijah Wood Talks About Some of the Guest Stars on Wilfred
Photo by Frank Ockenfels/FX
Elijah told us that one his favorite things about doing Wilfred is the guest stars they get to have on the show. He stated, “We do get to include these wonderful characters and then doing that get some wonderful guest stars that come and join us and color our world.”
And although Wilfred is getting some pretty big names to guest on the show, they try not to fall prey to stunt casting. Elijah said, “We’re always looking for people that feel right for the characters. We’re certainly interested in actors who are familiar to people and we’re excited to get a chance to work with people that we’re fans of. But at the end of the day our casting decisions really come from a place of wanting to fill out these characters with the best possible people that can make them come to life in the way that they’ve been written. This season is no exception to that.”
He added, “It’s really a fun show to cast, because the characters that do come in to interact with Ryan and Wilfred are extremely well written and really funny, and some of them are quite bizarre. So they’re always really fun to cast and it’s a joy for us to bring in people that we love, that we’re a fan of, and more often than not these wonderful actors tend to elevate the work that we’re doing, which is great.”
He talked specifically of some of the guest spots this season. In the first episode Robin Williams makes a special appearance as Ryan’s doctor in the psychiatric hospital. Elijah, who had worked with Robin before on both Happy Feet movies, recalled, “It was a joy. It was such a treat for all of us. We’re all massive fans of his… He’s just a delightful human being, so incredibly humble and so hilarious, and obviously an icon. To get a chance to bring him in to our world on Wilfred was a total joy.”
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Laura San Giacomo Tackles a TalhotBlond
Samhsa
Laura San Giacomo returned to television this week in the TV movie TalhotBlond. Based on the real life story, and a documentary of the same name, the telepic explores a viral love-triangle that goes terribly wrong.
The Just Shoot Me star appears as the wife of a man played by Raising Hope’s Garret Dillahunt, who gets mixed up with a woman in an Internet chat room. You might think you can imagine where it all leads, but the wild tale might surprise you in the end.
And it’s the psychological drama that drew Laura into the story. She explained, “When I read the script I was really surprised by how involved these people got in the world of their own minds. And it was intriguing to me from that aspect. As well as, I was really surprised by what happened at the end of the story and how these people's lives were devastated by something that they created in their imagination.”
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Jason Ritter Talks About Gravity Falls
Photo from The Disney Channel
We recently got the chance to do an exclusive interview with Jason. And, yes, we restrained from gushing about his Joan days. Instead we talked about what drew him to the show, how he thinks it will go over with adults and what he’s most passionate about.
Jason admitted, while he has never voiced a cartoon character before, he has always had an interest in the art form. He noted, “I grew up watching Disney films and I grew up going to animation festivals with my parents. I just always loved the magic of that.”
So when he made up his mind that it was a genre he wanted to pursue, he started auditioning, thinking, “It’s just a fun thing. Nothing bad can come from just auditioning. The worst thing that happens is you don’t get the part.”
Be when he read the script for Gravity Falls, something changed. “It was so funny, in such a unique way, that it was the first time that I got really excited and really invested in it.” He got the part and has been working with the creators for several years on the project. He stated, “It’s been a really a fun, long road… and it’s so exciting that we finally get to share it with everybody.”
He says it is the show’s unique, strange humor that will draw in the adult audience. He pointed out that what he liked about the series initially is that rather than having jokes for the kids peppered with a few under the radar grown-up jokes, the humor is written for everybody. He stated, “To see a Gnome get kicked in the stomach and throw up a rainbow for ten full seconds is funny to everybody. We can all laugh at that.”
Monday, June 25, 2012
Chris Crocker Is No Longer Begging People to Leave Britney Alone
Photo by Chris Moukarbel and Valerie Veatch
Britney Spears was an easy target for ridicule in 2007. The once brightly shining pop star was seen tarnishing her reputation with bizarre behavior — shaving her head and attacking an SUV with an umbrella. But while most of the world laughed and pointed their finger at the fallen idol, Chris Crocker came to her defense.
At the time the 19-year-old from Bristol, Tennessee, was the world’s biggest Britney fan. He was also an up-and-coming Internet star. Even before YouTube was what it is today, Chris was posting homemade videos on his Myspace page. His first clip garnered eight million hits and a slew of supporters (he doesn’t like to call them fans) would download them and repost them on YouTube.
But when Chris uploaded his “Leave Britney Alone” video, everything changed. The bullied teed from the Pentecostal family became an Internet sensation. His ode to Britney landed him on every talk show imaginable. He even got offers for his own TV series.
Friday, June 22, 2012
This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: I'm Fine, Thanks
How often have you uttered the words, "I'm fine, thanks," but didn't really mean it? Countless people go through their lives unwilling to admit they are unhappy and accepting complacency as the answer. Indie filmmakers Adam Baker (producer) and Grant Peele (director) set out with a five-person crew to find people who made the choice to change their lives.
I'm Fine, Thanks is a new feature-length doc. The film's Facebook page describes the project as "a collection of stories about life, the choices we all make and the paths we ultimately decide to follow." It looks at what drives people to make certain decisions and questions why that crucial moment happens when you make up your mind to change.
The film is currently in post-production and, thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, is scheduled to premiere in July at the World Domination Summit in Portland, Oregon. The film will become available online a few weeks later.
The filmmakers traveled across the country conducting over 60 interviews and want to share the stories they found and inspire others to take action and change their lives. On their Kickstarter page they wrote, "Our goal is to ignite a movement of people who are tired of settling for mediocrity. We want to eliminate 'getting by,' 'doing fine,' 'could be worse' and 'can't complain' from the vocabulary of our modern culture."
Watch for I'm Fine, Thanks coming online this summer. And visit the film's Facebook page for more information.
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Thursday, June 21, 2012
Debbie Reynolds’ Blog Keeps Classic Hollywood Alive
Photo by Pop Culture Passionistas
Not only is Debbie Reynolds a film icon, she’s quite the historian as well. Over the years, the star of Singing in the Rain amassed an unparalleled collection of Hollywood memorabilia. Originally she had hoped to open her own museum but unfortunately that dream never became a reality.
So last year, Debbie auctioned off a portion of her assemblage. In the event’s catalog, she explained how her obsession started. “My love for collecting began early in my MGM career. I used to spend my spare time in the wardrobe department, watching the most talented people create costumes for the actors. I was fascinated by how they were able to translate a simple suggestion in a script, sometimes even a piece of dialogue, into a magnificent costume. I loved everything that went into the process – the sketches, the fabrics, the construction.”
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
DailyFeats.com — Changing the World One Feat at a Time
Have you ever set a goal for yourself, but just got too overwhelmed by the steps it took to get there? Well there's a new website that just might be able to help. DailyFeats.com helps break down your larger goals into "Feats," baby steps you can take every day to become your best self and help build a better world. Users of DailyFeats.com can work towards achieving personal goals in an inspiring and fun way. Simply log on, make a list of feats you want to commit to and then keep track of your accomplishments.
And the best part? As you move along the path towards your goal, you not only gain confidence, self-respect and pride, you also earn rewards. These points are redeemable for things like subscriptions to O Magazine, discounts at Walgreens, coupons for Tommy Hilfiger purchases or gift cards to eBay, iTunes, Home Depot, Starbucks and many more.
Or if being your best self makes you feel generous, you can donate your rewards to worthy causes like the American Heart Association, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Companions for Heroes. Plus as a Passionistas reader, if you sign up now using the code "popculturepassionistas100," you automatically get 100 points just for creating a DailyFeats.com account. That's $2 donated to the charity of your choice or 15% off at the MTV shop.
Using DailyFeats.com is easy. After you create an account start browsing the list of feats. When you see something that you'd like to tackle, add it to your dock. By doing this you're making a promise to yourself that you will try to complete this task and make it a habit. When you've accomplished a feat, check-in that you've done it and start earning points.
DailyFeats.com defines a feat as "actions that make a substantive contribution to good, proven either by accepted science or common sense to be beneficial to people and their communities." They cover all aspects of life including parenting, food, finances, fitness, health and giving back.
In addition to choosing your own feats, you can join a challenge. DailyFeats.com and their partners have come up with timely ways for you to do good and test yourself. The challenge will outline the feats you need to accomplish and the time period you have to complete them. Some of the partners involved include The Oprah Magazine Summer Reading Challenge, Ebay's Cash in Your Clutter Challenge and, our personal favorite, Ian Somerhalder's Favorite Feats.
To join in the Vampire Diaries star's challenge you will need to commit to completing nine feats including speaking for your beliefs, being kind, signing a petition and caring for your pet. There are just 14 days left to earn 100 points from Ian's challenge.
The website describes the company's mission, "Our purpose is to make positive change part of everyday life. Together with our partners, DailyFeats offers a way for everyone and anyone to take action toward a better life and a better world."
Why not give it a try. Log on to DailyFeats.com to get started.
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Tuesday, June 19, 2012
An Exclusive Chat with the Stars of Baby Daddy
ABC Family/Andrew Eccles
The New ABC Family series Baby Daddy premieres on Wednesday, June 20. We had a chance to chat with two of the series stars.
Here's what Jean-Luc Bilodeau and Melissa Peterman had to say about how they got cast on the show:
See the full interview on our YouTube channel.
Patricia Steffy Shares Her Letters to Fear for a Good Cause
Photo credit is Meghan Wilson c/o IBG Inc 2012
In 2008, Patricia Steffy founded IBG Inc. a non-profit that uses the power of philanthropy through the arts to benefit a wide range of charities across the world. But this weekend Patricia will be using her platform to benefit a cause near and dear to her heart.
On Sunday, June 24 at 12:30 p.m., her collection of essays called My Letters to Fear will be performed at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Steffy as assembled an eclectic cast of actresses including headliner Constance Marie, Dallas’ Charlene Tilton, Harry’s Law’s Tracie Thoms and Stargate Universe’s Elyse Levesque. Each woman will present a monologue on various topics, which Patricia described, saying, “My Letter to Fear covers a lot of ground. It deals with joy and conflict, heartbreaking loss, painful abuse, the power of self-confidence, the perils of aging (and there are many) and the contentment of inner peace (which I’m still trying to find).”
Monday, June 18, 2012
Pair of Kings’ Geno Segers Got into Theater on a Bet
Photo by Jaimie Trueblood
Before this he never considered what he sounded like. In a recent exclusive interview he told us, “I really didn’t think too much about it because I grew up with this thing. I went to bed with it. I woke up with it and it just seemed pretty normal to me. But what was normal to me, seemed very unusual and unique to others.”
Soon a friend dared him to try out for The Lion King. He said he had bet against himself that there was no way he would be cast. He lost the bet and joined the Australian touring company playing Mufasa, the King of Pride Rock. But after working with the Australian, Chinese and American casts of The Lion King, Geno considered quitting show business. No one was hiring bass singers.
Once back in New Zealand, he got a request to send a tape for a new TV series. He told the Sioux City Journal that they were looking for someone who “spoke like James Earl Jones but looked like the Rock.” Perfect. Geno took the job on Pair of Kings playing Mason, the royal advisor to the heirs to the throne of Kinkow, played this season by Adam Hicks and Larramie Doc Shaw. Season 3 premieres tonight on Disney XD.
Geno described the series, “The show is basically about two young boys who are growing up, learning how to navigate their way through the pitfalls of life. Now those pitfalls of life on the island of Kinkow are quite unique and unusual. Because Kinkow is a magical island there are lots of different things that the normal world would not actually see like mummies, mermaids, ghosts, dinosaurs and so on.” He added, “The role of my character is to guide them, help them and protect them.”
Friday, June 15, 2012
Patty Duke on Drop Dead Diva and Her Quest to Be Meemaw
Photo by Annette Brown ©2012 A&E Television Networks, LLC
But in a recent conference call interview the Golden Globe, Emmy and Oscar-winning actress proved she doesn’t shy away from the legendary parts that have followed her for over 50 years. In fact she looks back on it all with joy and love.
When we mentioned to Patty that we recently had interviewed her TV dad (and uncle), William Schallert for the Archive of American Television she gushed, “He is the father I never had.”
She recalled working with him on The Patty Duke Show, saying, “He’s the consummate professional and then he does a 180 and he acts like a baboon, [keeps] the troops laughing and forging on. But I have been blessed with him in my life. He has been there for me at every turn — good, bad or indifferent and a matter of fact.”
Thursday, June 14, 2012
This week's inspiring pop culture moment: Bruce Sellery
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network
Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things, a TV shows that inspires us to be better or a philosophy that we should all strive to live by. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.
On the new series Million Dollar Neighborhood, financial advisor-turned-host Bruce Sellery and clinical psychologist Dr. Joti Samra move into the town of Aldergrove in Canada. Their mission sounds daunting — to help 100 families in the financially challenged town increase their collective net worth by $1 million in three months.
While viewers will undoubtedly pick up some major money tips when they watch the show, they’ll also get totally sucked in to the emotionally charged sagas of the participants. In a recent exclusive interview Sellery, the author of Moolala: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things with Their Money and What You Should Do About It, talked about the one story that touched him the most.
Sellery acknowledged that so many of the families in Aldgrove have big dreams, conflicts or simply been “dealt a really crappy deck of cards.” But one tale really struck a cord with him — that of Diane and Michelle Bloom.
He explained, “They are a mother and daughter pair and Michelle was in a very, very serious car accident in 2004 in which she almost did not survive. Her car was hit head on and the doctors said to Diane, ‘It is unlikely Michelle will survive and if she does survive she will suffer from debilitating brain injuries.’”
Michelle, once an avid equestrian, beat the odds and survived the accident. But as Sellery pointed out, “Here’s this young woman eight years later, who does have brain damage. She is developmentally challenged now but she is literally, this is metaphorically true as well as literally true, she got back on her horse. She fell off and she got back on her horse.”
He recounted, “The first time I had time with them was at their farm and her mom, Diane, credits Michelle’s horse for getting her out of her wheelchair again. So it’s just this miraculous story of rehabilitation and family and love and pursuing your dreams, really against all odds.”
It’s also a great example of how the Million Dollar Neighborhood process can help people make a major transformation. Sellery acknowledged, “It is the perfect story for the show because they’re a family who has barely got two pennies to pinch together. And they said, ‘Well, we’ve got a basement, a lower level, that we could rent if someone would help us get it rentable.’”
And with that one simple idea, the neighborhood rallied and Diane and Michelle were helped on their journey. Sellery recalled, “First the community shows up and clears all the junk out of the basement. And they’re now renting that basement suite for $1,000 a month to a family that also provides free labor on the farm. So it’s just this beautiful story and it never would have happened if the Blooms hadn’t said, ‘This is what we need.’ And the community, of course, as it does, they show up and provide the support, the ideas and the accountability and now they’ve got $1,000 that they didn’t have every month.”
To see all of the inspiring stories from Aldergrove, watch Million Dollar Neighborhood on Saturday nights at 9 p.m. EST/8 p.m. Central on OWN.
Cybill Shepherd on The Client List and Her Passions
Photo by Stephanie Diani/Lifetime
On The Client List
“It’s just a fantastic concept, and it’s really about how difficult it is right now for women, especially if you’re a mother, to try to support yourself. These are very hard times. There’s not a lot of jobs out there, a lot of men losing jobs, a lot of women losing jobs. It’s a story about how women struggle to survive.”
On Her Character Linette
“Linette has survived a lot. She has a great line in the first season when Riley, Jennifer’s character, says, ‘How did you get through being a single mom?’ And I said, ‘With Chardonnay and a prayer.’ So she loves her wine. She’s a Texas woman. She’s what I would call an iron butterfly, like Lady Bird Johnson. You could also refer to her as kind of a steel-magnolia southern woman. I’m from Tennessee, so I’ve done so much work set in Texas that I feel like I’m from there, too. We seem very feminine. We are very feminine, but underneath that, we are strong, strong. We may have big hair. In Texas, the bigger the hair, the closer to God.”
On How Much of Cybill Is In Linette
“I always like to bring a lot of myself to whatever I’m doing, but certainly one of the things I love about playing Linette is I get to do really both sides of the coin, so to speak — be comic relief but then do the dramatic thing. There’s a particular relationship between a mother and her only child, that’s a very, very special relationship sometimes. My character may get a little too involved, as mothers sometimes do, not me, of course, I’m the perfect mother, right? I think that ups the ante and makes it fun to play as well.”
On Aging
“One of the most difficult things for women as we age is the fact of learning to love ourselves past a certain age because most of the time we get really down on ourselves because we’re changing. But we still have the opportunity to grow and to keep your eye on the prize, to remember that beauty is what you do in life. It’s not how you look. And learning to love our bodies as we age, especially for women, is a challenge that we have to meet and make — in other words, don’t fight getting older, because we’re all going to get older. The alternative is not to be around.”
On Her Passions
“We all want passion. We all want love. And we all want a way to give back. And I think right now is a time in this country where we’ve got some really strong issues that need to be addressed. One is pro-choice and birth control, and I’ve led marches on Washington, hope I’ll be leading another one — also gay and lesbian rights, marriage equality. This is kind of political, but I’ve been this way my whole career that I think it’s very important for us to speak up about what we believe in and support that and support women.”
On What She Does for Fun
“I love to ride bikes. I love to swim and walk. I’m 62, so one of things you learn as you grow older I’m not going to be running a marathon. I’m not going to push myself too much. I just want to enjoy life, because you get to a certain age — like 62 as I am — and you know that you don’t have forever and I want to have that time to be with the people I love. And the other thing that’s really important for all of us to remember — and I think especially women — is to indulge ourselves. It doesn’t have to be a big thing, just a little something just for yourself. Just remember that you need to reward yourself. Doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, but your me time or whatever it is.”
Watch the season finale of The Client List on Sunday, June 17 at 10 p.m. EST/9 p.m. Central on Lifetime.
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Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Bruce Sellery Transform a Community on Million Dollar Neighborhood
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network
We’ve spoken to some famous financial advisors, but we’ve never enjoyed it as much as we did when we talked to Bruce Sellery. For the first time we were chatting with someone who seemed to break the fine art of saving down into very non-threatening and applicable terminology. So it’s not a surprise that he’ll be able to help transform the town of Aldergrove on the new OWN series Million Dollar Neighborhood.
During our recent exclusive interview, Bruce talked about his journey from author to TV host. “I wrote a book called “Moolala: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things with Their Money and What You Should Do About It.” And I was on my book tour and the production executive at Force Four Entertainment saw me on TV and said, ‘We gotta talk to that guy.’ So I came in and talked to them and they told me the concept.”
Little did the producing team know that the concept of Million Dollar Neighborhood was so perfectly aligned with Bruce’s own philosophy. He recounted, “I said, ‘You’ll never believe it but I have four pillars in my book. There are four things that I talk about, speak about, natter on about, and am passionate about and one of them is community. So I’m a real fan and believer in the power of community and I can’t name another personal finance expert that talks about community as loudly and as passionately as I do.’ So it was a match made in heaven because what they wanted to do was all about community.”
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
A Flash Mob for the History Books
This past Saturday a flash mob took place in Portland, Oregon. But it didn't involve synchronized dance moves or an elaborate wedding proposal as so many do these days. Instead it went back to the basics, the roots, if you will, of country music.
A few musicians began playing the Carter Family's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" to a curious crowd of onlookers at Portland’s Skidmore Fountain. Slowly other musicians with varying instruments from flute to banjo to mandolin emerged from the sidelines and joined in. By the end of the rousing chorus, dozens of people from all walks of life were singing the classic country tune.
The flash mob was orchestrated by the producers of a documentary called The Winding Stream: The Carters, the Cashes and the Course of Country Music. In the spirit of full disclosure, the film is being made by our big sister Beth Harrington, and we even have helped her out with the project from time to time. But this latest stroke of marketing genius was an idea thought up by Beth and a team who is helping her get the film finished.
She is done with principal photography and is now trying to raise funds for post-production with a Kickstarter campaign. They are over 40% of the way to reaching the goal of $50,000 by June 28. The film tells the story of country music's founding fathers and the family that has carried the torch through several generations. It includes Johnny Cash's last interview just weeks before his death.
If you'd like to contribute to preserving this piece of music history consider donating even $5. Larger contributions will earn cool gifts like a spot at a reception with Roseanne Cash, tickets to premieres, copies of the companion book, private screenings and a trip to the Carter Family Fold. To see a trailer and learn more about the film visit The Winding Stream website.
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