What a day …hope you caught the news from yesterday morning’s PCA Nominees Press Conference — so many stars to choose from …so many actors, actresses, singers, shows and movies. Now begins the countdown til our  January 6th broadcast, when the 2010 PCA winners will be announced. And the best part, of course, is that YOU will decide who takes home EACH trophy. It’s all about you. (Me? I have to say I was absolutely  thrilled that Twilight and members of its awesome cast were nominated as I am an unabashed fan but we’ll get to that later. While we’re at it…9 days from today is the New Moon premiere.)

But wait — TV news — did you see that Aaron Carter was summarily sent home from Dancing With The Stars? Now only Donny, Mya, Kelly and Joanna remain for the final hoof-off.

Now back to the People’s Choice Awards.  Where to start with our 2010 nominees…how about Favorite Movie Actor.  One of the most popular categories ever.  In this group we have 5 guys, each of whom enjoys a more than devoted fan base, to say the least. The 5 are Brad Pitt, Hugh Jackman, Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson, and Ryan Reynolds. (2 Americans, 1  Canadian, an Australian and an Englishman). Each inspires a tremendous following, all have starred in hit movies, and all have — to a greater or lesser degree — pretty good acting chops. That said, let’s base our poll today on the work of one of them (we’ll get to the others down the road)…and see how you feel about this guy’s (multiple) movie credentials. First up, let’s take a look at some of nominee Brad Pitt’s films. He’s done a great many of them, so we’re going to try and pull a reasonable cross section for you all to think about and vote on. (In fact, I’m sure you will all suggest countless other BP pics  that weren’t included. But let’s just consider a few for now.)  So why not voice your choice in today’s featured poll and tell us which of these Brad Pitt movies is your favorite.

1) Fight Club

2) Mr. and Mrs. Smith

3) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

4) Ocean’s Eleven

National Ledger – Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie in The Tourist?

While everyone in the movie business, particularly associated with The Tourist, is likely crossing fingers and toes that this pans out, I’m not so sure I agree.

I know, I’m probably in the minority but I just don’t like Angelina Jolie as an actress. She’s boring. I’ve seen Beyond Borders, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Changeling. I know that’s only three of her many movies, but why would I watch more if I find her boring?

What’s interesting is this. In all three movies, I absolutely loved her male co-stars, or two of them. Beyond Borders was one of the best Clive Owen films I’ve seen. Brad Pitt didn’t bother me nearly as much as usual. And even the villain of Changeling, Jeffrey Donovan, was a saving grace.

Which all bodes well, of course, if Johnny Depp does happen to be in The Tourist. The plot sounds interesting and I watch nearly, yes nearly, everything that Depp does.

So, all in all, I am intrigued and interested though not necessarily excited by the prospects.

War, violence, blood splatter, gore and guts! Yes, that is Quentin Tarantino’s movie Inglourious Basterds. And it is BRILLIANT. It sounds like any given day in my house, or not! Maybe in my devious mind…

I have always been a huge fan of Tarantino’s movies as they are avant-garde, twisted and down right gut wrenching. And as he so geniously cast Brad Pitt as Lieutenant Aldo Raine, an American resistance fighter battling Nazis. The story-line takes us through a fictional whirlwind of Hitler, slaughters and bizarre battles. Pitt is out-standing in this role and his comical skills are displayed throughout.

Brad Pitt is a talented actor with a versatile resume; Fight Club, Thelma and Louise, Seven, Legends of the Fall, Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve Monkeys, Mr & Mrs Smith, just to mention a few. Aside from his talent, it is widely known that the man has been blessed with the washboard abs of the century. I know that my day would take on a new meaning if he was the tool of choice for my dirty laundry. Brad Pitt is the envy of many and loved by others.

Personally, I can’t think of a more charismatic man, as all the images flashes in my mind from his movies. Brad Pitt has 101% sex appeal! And we know it…

William Bradley “Brad” Pitt[1] (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer, who first achieved stardom in several successful films in the mid-1990s. He has been cited as one of the world’s most attractive men and his off-screen life is widely reported.[2][3] Pitt has received one Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination.

Pitt began his career in television guest spots, including a recurring role on the CBS soap opera Dallas in 1987. He was cast in supporting roles in such standard teen-oriented films, slasher flicks, comedies and family-oriented sports dramas. He gained recognition as the cowboy hitchhiker who seduces Geena Davis’ character in the 1991 film Thelma & Louise. Pitt’s first leading role in a major film was in Interview with the Vampire (1994). He starred in the 1995 well-received crime and science fiction films Se7en and Twelve Monkeys, for which he won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor. Pitt achieved fame as a result of his portrayal of Tyler Durden, a straight-shooting but charismatic mastermind individual in Fight Club (1999), and since then has established himself as an A-list actor.[4] He has had his biggest commercial successes with Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Spy Game (2001), Troy (2004), Ocean’s Twelve (2004), the action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Ocean’s Thirteen (2007), and Burn After Reading (2008).

Following a high profile relationship with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, and marriage to Jennifer Aniston, as of 2008, Pitt lives with actress Angelina Jolie, in a relationship that has attracted worldwide media attention.[5] He and Jolie have three adopted children, Maddox, Pax, and Zahara, as well as three biological children, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne. Since his relationship with Jolie, Pitt has become increasingly involved in social issues, both in the United States and internationally.

Early life Pitt was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, the son of Jane Etta (née Hillhouse), a high school counselor, and William Alvin Pitt, a truck company owner.[6] Along with his siblings Doug and Julie Neal, he grew up in Springfield, Missouri, where the family moved soon after his birth. Growing up, he was raised as a conservative Southern Baptist, singing in the church choir.[6][7]

Pitt attended Kickapoo High School, where he excelled; he was a member of the golf, tennis and swimming teams, as well as the Key and Forensics clubs.[6] He also participated in school debates and musicals.[6] Following his graduation, Pitt attended the University of Missouri in 1982, where he belonged to the Sigma Chi fraternity,[1] where he frequently acted in several fraternity shows.[6] He majored in journalism, with a focus on advertising.[8] In 1985, two weeks prior to earning his degree, Pitt left the university and moved to Los Angeles, California to take acting lessons.[1] When asked why he left the university, Pitt responded: “I had this sinking feeling as graduation approached. I saw my friends getting jobs. I wasn’t ready to settle down. I loved films. They were a portal into different worlds for me, and Missouri wasn’t where movies were made. Then it hit me: If they didn’t come to me, I’d go to them.”[9]

Once he moved to Los Angeles, he took a number of odd jobs, ranging from chauffeuring,[10] being a delivery man,[6] selling cigarettes,[6] assisting a soap opera writer,[6] and dressing up as an El Pollo Loco chicken, to pay for his acting classes.[1][6] When asked about the pivotal influence in his decision in leaving Missouri for Los Angeles, Pitt said: “I wasn’t ready to call it quits as far as getting out into the world. It wasn’t leaving something behind, it was heading for something that was nascent and ill-defined. I did not know what it would be when I got to L.A., and to me not knowing that has always been the most exciting thing about making a trip.”[9]

Acting career

Early work

While struggling in Los Angeles, he began studying acting with the late renowned acting coach Roy London.[8] In December 1987, Pitt started out in television guest spots, including a recurring role on the CBS primetime soap opera Dallas playing Randy, the boyfriend of Shalane McCall’s character, Charlie Wade.[1][6] During an interview with People magazine, he revealed, while questioned about his scenes with McCall, “It was real sweaty-palms time for me. It was kind of wild, because I’d never even met her before.”[1] His character spent five weeks in the show.[6] In 1990, he co-starred in the short-lived television drama Glory Days.[6] In 1988, Pitt received his first film role in The Dark Side of the Sun, where he played a young American taken by his family to the Adriatic to find a remedy for a skin condition. The movie was shot in Yugoslavia in the summer of 1988. However, with editing nearly complete, war broke out and much of the footage was lost; the film was released nine years later.[11] Pitt was then cast in the television movie Too Young to Die?, about an abused teenager given the death penalty for murder. Pitt played the part of a drug addict, Billy Canton, who took advantage of a runaway played by Juliette Lewis.[11][12] Entertainment Weekly wrote: “Pitt is a magnificent slimeball as her hoody boyfriend; looking and sounding like a malevolent John Cougar Mellencamp, he’s really scary.”[12]

Pitt starred alongside Vera Martins, in which he plays Joe Maloney in Across the Tracks, which he portrayed a high school runner with a difficult criminal brother played by Ricky Schroder.[13] Pitt attracted broader public attention from a supporting role in Thelma & Louise, where he played a small-time criminal drifter who befriends Thelma (Geena Davis). His love scene with Davis, which showed Pitt shirtless and wearing a cowboy hat, has been often cited as the moment that defined Pitt as a “sex symbol”.[1]

After the success of Thelma & Louise, Pitt starred alongside Catherine Keener and Nick Cave in the low budget, Tom DiCillo-directed 1991 film Johnny Suede, as an awkward dreamer who aspired to be a big-haired rock star.[11] After appearing in Cool World,[11] Pitt starred in Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It in 1992.[14] In 1993, re-uniting with his Too Young to Die? co-star Juliette Lewis, they appeared in the film Kalifornia, a road movie in which he played a scruffy serial killer and Lewis playing Pitt’s ex-girlfriend.[11] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone in his review of the film, called Pitt’s performance as “outstanding”.[15] He also noted the performances by both Pitt and Lewis, with saying: “He and Lewis… play this flapdoodle with enough urgency to make the suspension of disbelief worthwhile.”[15] That same year, he won a ShoWest Award as “Male Star of Tomorrow”.[16]

Early critical success

Pitt’s career prospects began to improve after being cast as vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac in the movie adaptation of Anne Rice’s novel Interview with the Vampire.[11][17] The role of the 18th-century vampire required Pitt to endure several hours of make-up being applied every day to achieve the characteristic white skin; Pitt wore a pair of green contact lenses and vampire fangs to complete the appearance.[18] He was part of an ensemble cast that included Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Slater, and Antonio Banderas.[11][17] Although he won two MTV Movie Awards,[19] Pitt’s performance was particularly criticized. Variety wrote: “Brad Pitt’s Louis is handsome and personable, but there is no depth to his melancholy, no pungency to his sense of loss. He also doesn’t seem to connect in a meaningful way with any of the other actors except, perhaps, to Slater’s interviewer.”[20]

He then starred in Legends of the Fall (1994) and Se7en (1995).[21][22] In Legends of the Fall, Pitt was part of an ensemble cast that included Anthony Hopkins, Julia Ormond, and Aidan Quinn. Although the film was met with mixed reviews,[23] Roger Ebert in review of the film complimented the acting by the cast, “The movie is a showcase for acting, and in addition to Ormond and Hopkins, it also shows how strong Aidan Quinn and Brad Pitt are, in roles that have inescapable parallels to the Rock Hudson and James Dean characters in ‘Giant.’”[24] For his performance in Legends of the Fall, Pitt earned his first Golden Globe Award nomination in the category for Best Performance, but lost to Tom Hanks for Forrest Gump.[25] In Se7en, Pitt starred alongside Morgan Freeman as the police detective David Mills who hunts a serial killer played by Kevin Spacey.[22] Variety noted, “This is screen acting at its best. Pitt turns in a determined, energetic, creditable job as the eager young detective.”[26]

Pitt next took the portrayal of Jeffrey Goines in the 1995 film Twelve Monkeys. The film was met with well received reviews and the film was successful at the box office. His character was particularly praised, as Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote: “Giving a startlingly frenzied performance, he electrifies Jeffrey with a weird magnetism that becomes important later in the film.”[27] Pitt won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor,[25] and received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.[28]

Pitt had a supporting role in the 1996 film Sleepers, the film is based on Lorenzo Carcaterra’s novel of the same name.[29] The film starred Kevin Bacon and Robert DeNiro.[29] The following year, he starred alongside Harrison Ford as the Irish Republican Army terrorist Rory Devany in The Devil’s Own (1997),[30] the first of several films where Pitt used an Irish accent in his performance.[31] That same year, he played the main role of Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer in the Jean Jacques Annaud film Seven Years in Tibet.[32] Pitt trained for months for the role, which demanded a great deal of trekking and mountain climbing, by rock climbing in California and the Alps with his co-star, David Thewlis.[33] Due to the themes of Tibetan nationalism in the film, the Chinese government banned Pitt and Thewlis from entering China for life.[33] Pitt had the leading role in the film, Meet Joe Black (1998), where he played a personification of death inhabiting the body of a young man in order to learn what it is like to be human.[11][34] The film re-united Pitt and actor Anthony Hopkins, with whom he had previously worked on Legends of the Fall.[11]

1999–2003

In the 1999 film Fight Club, the most successful film of his career to date, he played Tyler Durden, who runs an underground fight club. The film is an adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel of the same name. The film was directed by David Fincher, who directed Se7en.[35] During promotion of the film, he noted his interpretation of the film: “The fighting is not necessarily ‘take your aggressions out on someone else.’ The idea is just to get in there, have an experience, take a punch more importantly and see how you come out on the other end.”[36] Fight Club premiered at the Venice International Film Festival.[37] Upon the film’s release, it generated favorable reviews.[38] His performance received positive reviews; In the Variety review of the film, critic David Rooney noted: “Pitt is cool, charismatic and more dynamically physical.”[39] Peter Rainer of New York magazine wrote: “Brad Pitt jangles like a lethal jitterbug.”[40]

Following the success of Fight Club, Pitt played the role of Mickey, an Irish Gypsy boxer in the gangster movie Snatch, alongside Jason Statham, Vinnie Jones and Benicio del Toro, directed by Guy Ritchie.[41] Pitt created a barely-intelligible accent in the movie, that was criticized by critics.[42] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: “He [Pitt] is ideally cast as an Irishman whose accent is so thick even Brits can’t understand him. The picture also trades on our past associations with Pitt. For years Pitt was shackled by roles that called for brooding introspection, but recently he has found his calling in black comic outrageousness and flashy extroversion.”[43]

Also in 2001, Pitt starred alongside Julia Roberts in the romantic comedy The Mexican.[11] His next role was in the Cold War thriller Spy Game in which he starred alongside veteran actor Robert Redford, who played his mentor.[44] Also in 2001, Pitt played the role of Rusty Ryan in the remake of the 1960s Rat Pack film of the same name, Ocean’s Eleven. He starred alongside George Clooney and Matt Damon.[45] Roger Ebert, in review of Ocean’s Eleven noted, “Brad Pitt has a nice dialogue passage.”[45]

He also made a guest appearance in season eight of Friends, playing the role of Will Colbert, a man who has a grudge against Rachel Green’s character.[46] The following year, Pitt appeared on an episode of MTV’s Jackass, in which he and several cast members ran wild through the streets of Los Angeles in gorilla suits.[47] In a later Jackass episode, Pitt took part in a staged abduction of himself.[48] In 2003, he lent his voice on an episode of King of the Hill, where he played Boomhauer’s brother, Patch Boomhauer.[49] Pitt’s next film role was in the 2003 animated DreamWorks movie Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, in which he provided the voice of the title-hero, Sinbad.[50]

2004–present

In 2004, he starred in two films, Ocean’s Twelve and the epic Troy, based on the Iliad, in which he portrayed hero Achilles. The success of Ocean’s Eleven led Pitt to return to the role in the 2004 sequel, Ocean’s Twelve. Paul Clinton of CNN wrote: “Clooney and Pitt have the best male chemistry since Paul Newman and Robert Redford.”[51] The film was a big financial success, earning $125 million worldwide.[52] Before filming began for Troy, Pitt spent six months, sword training, for the required role.[53] During film production, he injured his Achilles tendon, delaying production for several weeks.[54] San Francisco Chronicle, in review of Troy, noted that Pitt’s performance was “magnetic”.[55] The film was an international success, grossing $364 million.[52] In North America however, it earned considerably less, grossing less than $133 million.[56]

Pitt starred in the 2005 film Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The film, directed by Doug Liman, tells the story of a bored married couple who find out that they are both secret assassins. Pitt starred as John Smith alongside Angelina Jolie. The film was well-received and was generally lauded for the chemistry between the two leads. The Star Tribune noted, “While the story feels haphazard, the movie gets by on gregarious charm, galloping energy and the stars’ thermonuclear screen chemistry.”[57] The movie earned $478 million worldwide, one of the biggest hits of 2005.

Pitt appeared in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s critically acclaimed 2006 film Babel, starring alongside Cate Blanchett.[60] Pitt’s performance in the film was well received by critics, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer added that his performance was “credible” and gives the film “visibility”.[61] Pitt called the film “one of the best decisions of my film career”.[62] The film was screened at a special presentation at the 31st annual Toronto International Film Festival in 2006.[63] Babel garnered a total of seven Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, one of which was a Golden Globe Award nomination for Pitt as Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.

In 2007, Pitt reprised his role as Rusty Ryan in the third Ocean’s film Ocean’s Thirteen.[64] The sequel, while not as lucrative as the first two, earned $36 million at the international box-office.[65][66] He produced and starred in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, directed by Andrew Dominik, though production of the film began in 2005, the film was not released until late 2007.[67] During promotion of the film, he noted of his portrayal of the character: “It is — everything that he’s been made famous for is, has, has already occurred. And everyone in his gang is either dead or in jail. His brother’s left. He’s quit the gang and he’s really on his own … the most important thing is, he is consumed by paranoia, most of it justified, but consumed.”[68] For his performance, he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 64th Venice International Film Festival;[69] although Pitt attended the festival to promote the movie, he left early after being attacked by a crazed fan who pushed through his bodyguards, and he was not present to accept the award.[70] The festival failed to ship Pitt the award, so he did not collect it until the 65th Venice Film Festival in 2008.[71]

Pitt appeared in the 2008 dark comedy Burn After Reading, his first collaboration with the Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan). Burn After Reading received positive reviews; Andrew Pulver of The Guardian called the film “a tightly wound, slickly plotted spy comedy”. Pulver, who also rated the film four out of five stars, noted that Pitt’s performance was one of the “funniest”.[72] He was cast as Benjamin Button, the lead in David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), loosely adapted from the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald, about a privileged man who is born an octogenarian and ages in reverse.[73][74] The film reunites Pitt with Babel co-star Cate Blanchett and Se7en and Fight Club director David Fincher.

Pitt has two new screen roles scheduled for production. In October 2008,[75] production begun in Germany for Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, a film about an American resistance fighter, Pitt’s character, battling Nazis in German-occupied France. The movie awaits release in 2009.[76][77] Pitt has signed on to appear in the Lost City of Z, where he will play a British explorer searching for a mysterious Amazonian civilization.[78] Also in 2009, he will appear in the drama Tree of Life directed by Terrence Malick and starring alongside Sean Penn. Other projects

Pitt has appeared in television commercials designed for the Asian market, advertising such products as Edwin Jeans.[81] He also appeared in a Heineken commercial which aired during the 2005 Super Bowl; it was directed by David Fincher, who directed Pitt in the feature films Se7en and Fight Club.

Pitt, along with Jennifer Aniston and Paramount Pictures head CEO Brad Grey, founded the production company, Plan B, in 2002.[84] Aniston, along with Grey, are no longer partners in the company.[85][86] Aniston, however, is still attached to many projects that were set up before her divorce from Pitt.[85] The company produced the 2005 film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp,[87][88] as well as The Departed (2006),[89] and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007).[88] Pitt has been reluctant in discussing the production company, following the events in 2005.[85] In an interview, he added that there are a lot of films in the Plan B production line in which he would never take a starring role. “We made an edict at the beginning that we would focus on stories and storytellers. I get to be part of stories that I may not be right for as an actor, but as a film lover I think they’re amazing stories to tell.”

Pitt, along with frequent co-stars George Clooney and Matt Damon, supports One, a campaign fighting AIDS and poverty in Third World countries.[90][91] He is the narrator of the Public Television series Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge,[92] which discusses current important global health issues.[92] Pitt is behind Not On Our Watch, an organization that focuses global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities such as in Darfur, along with Clooney, Damon, Don Cheadle, and Jerry Weintraub.

In 2006, Pitt gathered a group of housing professionals together in the Hurricane Katrina-stricken New Orleans to begin planning a project that Pitt calls Make It Right, with the goal of financing and constructing 150 new houses in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward.[94][95] The houses are being designed with an emphasis on sustainability and affordability, with the hope that the project can and will be replicated throughout the city, with the assistance of Global Green USA, a national environmental organization.[96][97] Thirteen architectural firms are involved in the project, many of which are donating their services. Pitt and philanthropist Steve Bing have each committed to matching $5 million in donations.

In the media

In 1995, Pitt was chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 25 sexiest stars in film history.[8] Pitt has also twice been named the Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine in 1995 and 2000.[100][101] Pitt has appeared on the annual Celebrity 100 list by Forbes magazine in 2006 and 2007, at No. 20 and No. 5.[102][103] In 2007, Pitt was listed among the Time 100 a compilation of the 100 most influential people in the world, as selected annually by Time magazine.[104] He was credited with using “his star power to get people to look at places and stories that cameras don’t usually catch”.[104]

In 2004, Pitt visited the University of Missouri campus to encourage students to vote in the 2004 US presidential election,[105] in which he supported John Kerry.[105][106] Also, in 2004, he publicly spoke for funding a tax-free embryonic stem-cell research that involves the cloning and destruction of human embryos.[107] Saying, “We have to make sure that we open up these avenues so that our best and our brightest can go find these cures that they believe they will find.”[107] He also supported California’s ballot iniative, Proposition 71, where federal government provide funding for research that use different types of stem cells, including adult and embryonic stem cells.[108]

Starting in 2005, his relationship with Angelina Jolie became one of the most reported celebrity stories worldwide. After confirming that Jolie was pregnant in early 2006, the unprecedented media hype surrounding them “reached the point of insanity” as Reuters described it in their story “The Brangelina fever”.[5] Trying to avoid the media attention, the couple went to Namibia for the birth of their daughter Shiloh, “the most anticipated baby since Jesus Christ”, as it had been described.[109] Two years later, after confirming Jolie’s second pregnancy again it fueled a media frenzy. For the two weeks, before the birth, Jolie spent in a seaside hospital in Nice, reporters and photographers camped outside on the promenade to report on the birth.[110]

Pitt was also prominently featured in the December 2006 Art Issue of Vanity Fair.[111] He is seen posing in a blue-colored photo in nothing but white boxer shorts, socks and holding a gun while appearing to be drenched with water.[111] The cover promotes an article on the Robert Wilson video portraits, a production of LAB HD that includes numerous celebrities and noted personalities.[111] This cover had drawn criticism from Pitt because, although he had signed a release for the image, he did not expect it to end up on the cover of Vanity Fair.[112][113] The video portrait, which represents Pitt’s first effort in avant-garde cinema, was exhibited at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.[111]

In September 2008, Pitt donated $100,000 to fight California’s November 2008 ballot, Proposition 8, initiative that would overturn the state Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage.[114] He stated, “Because no one has the right to deny another their life, even though they disagree with it, because everyone has the right to live the life they so desire if it doesn’t harm another and because discrimination has no place in America, my vote will be for equality and against Proposition 8.[115]

Personal life

In the late 1980s and 1990s, Pitt dated several of his co-stars, including Robin Givens (Head Of The Class),[116][117] Jill Schoelen (Cutting Class),[117] Juliette Lewis (Too Young to Die? and Kalifornia), who at sixteen was ten years his junior when they started dating,[118][117] and Gwyneth Paltrow (Se7en),[117] with whom he had a much-publicized engagement. Pitt also dated actresses Sinitta and Thandie Newton.

In an October 2007 interview with Parade magazine, Pitt revealed that he is no longer a Christian or believes in an afterlife. In this interview, Pitt said: “There’s peace in understanding that I have only one life, here and now, and I’m responsible.”[9] He is also a knowledgeable fan of architecture, particularly that of Frank Lloyd Wright, and has helped the National Trust for Historic Preservation raise money.

Pitt met Friends actress Jennifer Aniston in 1998 and married her during an enclosed wedding ceremony in Malibu on July 29, 2000.[1][120] In January 2005, Pitt and Aniston announced that they decided to formally separate after seven years together.[120] Two months later, Aniston filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.

As Pitt’s marriage to Aniston drew to a close, he and actress Angelina Jolie were involved in a well-publicized Hollywood scandal in which Jolie was often painted as the “other woman”, largely due to their chemistry during the filming of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. While Pitt denied any claims of adultery, he admitted that he “fell in love” with Jolie on the set.

In April 2005, a month after Aniston filed for divorce, a set of paparazzi photos emerged that seemed to confirm the rumors of a relationship between Pitt and Jolie. The photos, which were reportedly sold for $500,000, showed Pitt, Jolie and her son Maddox at a beach in Kenya.[125] During the summer, the pair were seen together with increasing frequency, and the entertainment media dubbed the couple “Brangelina”. Pitt and Aniston’s final divorce documents were granted by the Los Angeles Superior Court on October 2, 2005, ending their marriage. On January 11, 2006, Jolie confirmed to People magazine that she was pregnant with Pitt’s child and thereby confirmed their relationship for the first time in public.[126] In an October 2006 interview with Esquire magazine, Pitt admitted that he and Jolie will marry “when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able”.

Children

In July 2005, Pitt accompanied Angelina Jolie to Ethiopia,[127] where Jolie adopted her second child, a six-month-old girl named Zahara; later Jolie indicated that she and Pitt made the decision to adopt the child together.[128] In December 2005, it was confirmed that Pitt was seeking to legally adopt Jolie’s two (adopted) children as his own; per the legal requirements, classified advertisements in the Los Angeles paper Daily Commerce announced the name change request.[129] On January 19, 2006, a judge in California approved this request, and the children’s legal surnames were formally changed to “Jolie-Pitt”.

On May 27, 2006, Jolie gave birth to a daughter, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, in Swakopmund, Namibia by a scheduled caesarean section. Pitt confirmed that their newly born daughter will have a Namibian passport.[131] People paid more than $4.1 million for the North American rights, while British magazine Hello! obtained the international rights for roughly $3.5 million; the total rights sale earned up to $10 million worldwide, which became the most expensive celebrity image of all time.[132] All profits were donated to an undisclosed charity by Jolie and Pitt. Madame Tussauds in New York unveiled a wax figure of two-month-old Shiloh; it was the first infant re-created in wax by Madame Tussauds.

On March 15, 2007, Jolie adopted a three-year-old boy from Vietnam, Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt, (originally Pax Thien Jolie). Since the orphanage does not allow unmarried couples to adopt, Jolie adopted Pax as a single parent, with Pitt later adopting him as his son domestically.

Following media reports suggesting Jolie might be pregnant again, she attended the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards in a close-fitting dress, indirectly confirming those rumors. In May 2008, Jolie confirmed on the Today show that she and Pitt were expecting twins.[137] On July 12, 2008, Jolie gave birth to the couple’s twins, a boy named Knox Léon and a girl named Vivienne Marcheline at the Lenval hospital in Nice, France.[138][139] The rights for the first images of Knox and Vivienne were jointly sold to People and Hello! for $14 million—the most expensive celebrity baby pictures ever taken.[140][141] The money went to the Jolie/Pitt Foundation.

Source: Wikipedia

I think 'yes' is the word you wanted to say...

PG?

Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery

Harry: I guess she’s changed some, huh?
David: Well, she’s changed a little.
Harry: She once chased a dog-catcher a half a mile with a baseball bat!
David: Well…she hasn’t changed as much as you think.

David (Montgomery) and Ann (Lombard) Smith like to think that they have the perfect marriage, but one morning – after making up from a long fight – David makes the mistake of being a little too honest with Ann about something.  Later that day, they discover that their marriage was never legal due to a technicality.  This leads to a series of arguments and misunderstandings which leaves David trying to win back his wife’s love.

I’ve often thought that the romance and comedy elements of Alfred Hitchcock movies were underrated.  So, I was looking forward to seeing this romantic comedy from the famed suspense director.  For the most part, it lived up to my expectations.  Some of the screwball, physical comedy isn’t to my taste, though the scene in a crowded restaurant where David tries to give himself a bloody nose in order to get out of an awkward situation was very good.

Montgomery and Lombard work well together and create characters that clearly don’t belong with anybody but each other.  I was sad to learn that Lombard was killed in an an airplane crash shortly after this movie was made.  She was already a well established star, and no doubt had an even brighter future ahead.  She obviously had very good comedic timing and was also believable in the more serious scenes.

Another aspect I liked was that the character of Jeff, played by Gene Raymond, who Ann begins to date after separating from David, was not played as a jerk or idiot.  He’s a perfectly nice guy who would clearly be very good for Ann.  His only real problem is that he’s not David.  Often in romantic comedies, the lead will have to choose between two people, one of which is obnoxious or stupid, and one who is sweet and interesting.  There’s little mystery in that scenario.

I think I learned one more important lesson from this movie.  In fact, maybe that should be a new feature in my reviews, a “Lesson Learned” section.

When your wife asks you, “if you had it to do all over, would you marry me again,” do not say “no” if you want to stay married for long.

10 – 1.4 for some goofy physical humor that I didn’t care for – 1.2 for a couple of dull spots = 7.4

BERITA LOKAL

1.Budi Anduk Akan Cuci Otak Pelaku Pemboman

Kecaman atas aksi pemboman di Mega Kuningan masih bermunculan. Termasuk dari komedian.. read more

2.BCL Sukses Kalahkan Siti Nurhaliza

Dalam ajang Anugrah Planet Muzik (APM) 2009, Bunga Citra Lestari atau BCL berhasil.. read more

3.Gara-Gara Bom, T2 Gagal Beraksi Dihadapan MU

Sedianya saat pembuakaan laga kesebelasan All Star Indonesia melawan Manchester United.. read more

4.Jakarta Diteror Bom, Siti Nurhaliza Tidak Takut Ke Indonesia

Penyanyi Siti Nurhaliza mengaku tak takut datang ke Indonesia menemui penggemarnya meski.. read more

5.MU Batal ke Jakarta, Rico Ceper Ngaku Rugi Dua Kali

Meski sudah selang dua hari, pasca teror bom di Jakarta, Rico Ceper belum juga.. read more

6.Syahrini Sebut Pelaku Pemboman Sebagai Setan

Si cantik Syahrini ternyata juga bisa marah. Ia mengutuk aksi pemboman di Mega Kunigan,.. read more

7.Kotak Kembali Dapatkan Penghargaan

Grup band pendatang baru ‘Kotak’ kembali meraih penghargaan, kali ini mereka.. read more

8.Olga Lidya Yakin Tak Lama Lagi, MU Bakal Ke Indonesia

Ribuan penggemar MU kecewa dengan batalnya tim sepak bola asal Ingris ini, salah satunya.. read more

BERITA MANCANEGARA

1.Janet Jackson Bersedia Asuh Ketiga Anak Jacko

Sebagai rasa hormat pada sang kakak dan kecintaanya pada Prince, Paris dan Blanket, Janet.. read more

2.Sarung Tangan Jacko Ditaksir Hingga 1 Milyar

Setelah meninggal dunia, barang-barang milik dan koleksi Michael Jackson mulai diburu.. read more

3.Teror Pembunuhan Kembali Menimpa Britney Spears

Penyanyi Britney Spears termasuk artis yang kerap diancam akan dibunuh.  Takutkah.. read more

4.J.Lo Bawa Si Kembar Ke Lokasi Syuting

Sebagai ibu yang baik untuk sang bayi kembar, Jennifer Lopez memawanya ke lokasi syuting.. read more

5.Sekuel Mr & Mrs Smith Akan Dibuat Untuk Hubungan Jolie Dan Pitt

Angelina Jolie dan Brad Pitt sedang mengalami permasalahan dalam hubungan mereka. Mereka.. read more

Selengkapnya . . .

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt reportedly want to make a Mr. and Mrs. Smith sequel because they believe working together again may rekindle their romance. The couple fell in love on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith in 2004, when Pitt was still married to Jennifer Aniston. Soon after the film, they began a family together.

“They’re hoping lightning will strike twice and they can re-spark the magnetism that captivated them five years ago. It’s no secret that relationship-wise, Brad and Angie are on the ropes. The stress of raising six kids and juggling two red-hot careers is wearing them down,” says a source.

Meanwhile, the couple recently celebrated the first birth of their twins Knox and Vivienne. Jolie and Pitt threw the twins a small birthday party at their Los Angeles home on Sunday. Pitt’s parents flew in for the celebration.

###

Click here for more Entertainment News

Jeg ser for meg filmen. Jeg kan ikke for det. Det er så mange bilder her at teksten virker visuell. Jeg ser vikingskipet gli over havet, fra et norrønt nord med langhus og storbønder, til et kultivert sør med middelalderurbanisme og hvite husrekker i fjellskråninga. Jeg ser en ulveflokk som bølger over vidda, og hestene som snubler fram i altfor dyp snø. På ei fruktbar øy står en gjetergutt i høylandet og ser mengder av skip strømme mot havna, før truende søyler av røyk stiger mot himmelen. Et annet sted virvler slagfeltet opp støv, og lufta drønner av hestenes hover og mennenes brøl. Samtidig bordes et skip utenfor kysten, og jeg ser jenta og gutten som kjemper rygg mot rygg med sverd, en historisk versjon av Brad og Angelina i Mr & Mrs Smith. (Sjekk ut skytescenen her, i påvente av sverdversjonen.)

Jeg har lest den nyutkomne boka Song for Eirabu av Kristine Tofte, også kjent som bloggeren Avil. I sentrum av begivenhetene står to søstre på 14 og 15 år. Jeg hadde forestilt meg et romantisert jentefellesskap, men i praksis er de to sjelden på samme sted. Tvert imot har de hver sin rolle som venter i hvert sitt voksenliv, og dramatikken øker når vi skjønner at det handler om storpolitikk. Som Kristine Tofte selv sier i et intervju: «I den alderen har man store tanker om hvordan alt skal bli, og hva når man kastes uti de store hendelsene?» Jentene opplever fremmede og skremmende begivenheter, hvor Skjebne og profetier er sentrale igangsettere. Mange har planer for dem, og spørsmålet er: Kan jentenes vilje påvirke utfallet?

Ragna går i lære som blotgytje, og får god veiledning av ei eldre kvinne, på oppdrag av høvdingen. Berghitte kastes uforberedt inn i en minst like viktig rolle (jeg er fristet til å fortelle hvilken, men velger å unngå spoiler), som hun mestrer dårligere, av mangel på kunnskap? Mye av plottet synes å hvile på kjærlighet til kunnskap.

Berre gjennom kjennskap til alt som er, kan ein ære det som finst, og berre gjennom å kjenne og ære alt som finst, kan ein djupast ønskje å verje det. (s354-354)

Ikke minst er det klart at kunnskap er makt, og dette gjelder selv om det er mye skjebnesnakk i boka. Begivenhetene settes i gang når en gud holder spådommen om verdens undergang hemmelig. Dermed kan menneskene holde fram med sitt ei stund – men burde ikke guden vite at skjulte sannheter fortsetter å virke, og før eller seinere kommer til overflaten? (Hva er dette, terapeutisk dybdepsykologi omgjort til sagn?) Flere ganger viser det seg at talent og motiv er mindre viktig enn kunsten å manipulere. Det gjelder å kjenne rammene, og ikke minst metoder for å tøye dem. Her blir blotgydja sentral som forvalter av magiske teknikker.

Blota til menneskeborna fann vegen til gudeborna, og gåvebyte blei måten menneske og yngre gudar brukte for å gå utanom verdsordenen utan å bryte han. (s158)

Mytestoffet er inspirert av norrøn litteratur, men jeg mangler grunnlag for å avgjøre hvor mye som er lånt, og hvor mye som er lagd. Annet tankegods minner om østasiatisk filosofi, som når Ragna trener kamp på liknende måte som i Zen og kunsten og skyte med bue, ved å bli ett med naturen og strekke bevisstheten ut etter motstanderen.

Ver eitt med sverdet, Ragna (…) Ver eitt med sverdet og lufta kring deg og alt du ser. Om du tenker på kva du gjorde i går eller kva du skal gjere i morgon, gjer du skam på sverdet, og på deg sjølv. Ver her. (s73)

Men først og fremst er dette ei spennende fortelling. Det er også en slags fiksjonshistorisk totalroman, hvor mange små skjebner veves sammen. Det er mange å bli kjent med, mange å forstå og føle med, men de to søstrene står oss alltid nærmest. Spesielt Ragna, som bærer rollen som forfatterens talerør. Vi får håp, drømmer, sjalusi, skuffelser og kjærlighet jentene imellom, og spenning når de forlater hjemmet hver for seg. Innen boka er over har de også møtt en annen form for kjærlighet, eller rettere starten på noe vi aner kan bli to intense, dramatiske og kanskje fatale lidenskapshistorier. Begge er godt og medrivende beskrevet, kanskje noe knapt, men til gjengjeld uten typiske klisjéer. Til og med sexen er god!

Ho kjente seg fylt av ein fråstøytande lengt. (s438)

Hvis jeg skulle ha en innvending måtte det være at jentene virker vel modne for alderen. Berghitte beskrives først som et barn, det sies at hun ikke engang har fått menstruasjon – men kort tid etter er hun i stand til å leve ut en voldsom fysisk pasjon, riktignok hjulpet av spådomskraft.

En annen innvending kan være at fokus ligger mye på ideologi og makroblikk. Sagnet om volva i myra er etter min smak for innfløkt til å innlede boka – på tross av morsomme ordspill som «gudekvalpen» (jfr «gutekvalpen», et feministisk spark til patriarkalsk religion?) Ikke gi deg selv om prologen tar imot, du kan alltids hoppe over og gå tilbake seinere. Å starte med mytologi er kanskje er en sjangerkonvensjon? Jeg kjenner ikke fantasy godt nok til å avgjøre det.

Forøvrig er det mytologiske stoffet interessant, men skjebnetungt. Er det mulig å bekjempe spådommen? Kan hovedpersonene motvirke lagnaden sin? Det er lett å bli pessimist, og individuelle stemmer kunne iblant fått mer plass. Når gjetergutten Aun, som vi hadde god tid til å bli kjent med, mot slutten får en svært dramatisk oppgave, uten at vi får vite hvordan han selv opplever resultatet, kjennes det som et savn. Noen av herskerne blir fjerne og framtrer som roller, mer enn personer (som den mørke arveprinsen av Eirula). Passasjene om alver og dverger var tyngst å komme gjennom, siden figurene i liten grad fikk individuelle trekk. Nøyaktig hvilke oppgaver de hadde, bortsett fra å fikse opp i menneskenes dumhet ved å distribuere en bytting i ny og ne, ble heller ikke klart for meg. Men jeg antar at disse punktene blir utdypet i neste bind, som etter planen er klart om to år. Her venter kanskje også ankomsten av en tredje søster?

Det har vært mye snakk om at dette er en fantasyroman. Jeg gidder ikke bruke mye plass på det, siden boka er mer enn god nok til å leses uavhengig av sjangerkriterier. Eller forresten, jeg vil nevne et par lettelser for dem som aldri kom seg gjennom Ringenes Herre. Historien er ikke en kamp mellom det gode og onde (sorry, Cathrine Krøger i Dagbladet, men du tok feil). Den er heller ikke befolket med horder av mannlige gnomer i varierende skikkelse som fekter med våpen i tide og utide. Jeg hadde ikke trodd det skulle bety så mye at hovedpersonene er kvinnelige, men det gjør faktisk lesinga mer fristende. Vanligvis er jeg ikke glad i polariserte verdener hvor kjønnene har ulike roller og kvinnene er forvaltere av en slags mystisk kunnskap, men her forstyrrer det ikke så mye, siden karakterene er motsetningsfylte.

Når det gjelder språket har jeg en oppfordring. Jeg hater å være enig med Cathrine Krøger, men en sak må jeg støtte: Det burde fulgt med ei ordliste. Nynorsken er ikke noe problem, den venner du deg til, og Kristine Tofte skriver en nydelig versjon. Men det brukes norrøne ord som aldri blir forklart, eller som brukes lenge før de blir forklart. Det tok flyten bort fra lesinga for meg, og virket unødvendig. Jeg ville heller ikke hatt noe imot en oversikt over persongalleri og guder. Men først og fremst, her følger ei liste over ord jeg savnet forklart – hvis jeg har misforstått noen, please korriger!

BONUSMATERIALE: ORDLISTE
Blot = ofring til gudene, offerfest.
Blotgydje = offerprestinne, utfører rituelle slakteoffer.
Blotnaut = offerdyr, dyr som slaktes rituelt.
Seid = trolldom.
Seidstav = en slags tryllestav, redskap brukt i magi.
Seidhjelle (eller hjele? begge deler forekommer) = offerplass eller alter? (Korr: Får nå vite av forfatter at det heter seidhjel, altså uten -e på slutten.)
Måg = svoger (muligens innlysende for alle nynorskinger).
Hov = gudshus.
Ve = hellig sted, åsted for blot.
Træl = trell, slave.
Skutelsvein = en slags tjener.
Væring = en norrøn kriger, ifølge ordboka vanligvis en viking som dro østover og tok tjeneste i Russland eller Konstantinopel.
Herse = høvding.
Borsdag = dag for feiring av guden Bor. (Korr: Det viser seg nå at borsdag er en vanlig ukedag i Eirabu! Jfr. kommentar fra forfatter nedenfor.)
Stallare = høy embetsmann i hirden hos nordiske konger, opprinnelig med ansvar for kongens stall.
Val = slagmark, krigsplass.

Helt til slutt: Boka er ikke for lang! Noen historier passer til å fortelles kort, andre langt, og dette er utvilsomt sistnevnte kategori. Det ville vært umulig å gi innblikk i så mange aspekter av en verden på mindre plass. På hvert sted zoomer Tofte inn og ut, vi ser landet som helhet, får nærbilde av et par karakterer (gjerne på ulik plass i hierarkiet), noen fremmede ankommer, vi møter dem gjennom egne og innbyggernes blikk. Spenninga bygges opp fra det rolige og forventningsfulle, via det illevarslende og forvirrende, til et klimaks Tofte heller ikke slurver med. Jeg kjente hele tida et driv til å lese videre, og holdt øye med tyngden av boka som beveget seg fra høyre mot venstre i hånda, tenkte nei! nå er jeg over halvveis! En venn fant meg sittende med en finger på kartsida mens jeg leste, og begynte å le fordi dette ifølge ham var selve kjennetegnet på en fantasyleser. Kort sagt, Song for Eirabu er en pageturner, og minnet meg på at jeg, midt i alle tynne diktsamlinger og utsøkt språkdrevne tekster, aller mest elsker de lange fortellingene. Det er bare så sjelden jeg finner en som suger meg inn.

Jeg har tidligere skrevet om mitt første møte med Song for Eirabu her, under ei opplesning på Mono. Noen andre bloggposter om boka:

SerendipityCat: Jeg har lest… “Song for Eirabu” (Kristine Tofte)
Myriam H. Bjerkli: Lanseringsfestbilder.
Virrvarr: Jeg har lest Song for Eirabu.
En kaffebønnes sammensurium: Bok: Song for Eirabu av Kristine Tofte.
Marianne leser: Kristine Tofte: Song for Eirabu.
Rullerusk: En spennende reise til Eirabu.
Heges hobbykrok: Song for Eirabu.
Lises hobbyblogg: Song for Eirabu.
Hagen på Hytta: Jeg har lest Song fra Eirabu av Kristine Tofte.
Flimre (Aina Basso): Late dagar i Eirabu.
Delirium: Jeg har lest Song for Eirabu.
Hjorthen: Hjorthen leser bok: Song for Eirabu – Slaget på Vigrid.
Av en annen verden (Elin B. Sjølie): Song for Eirabu: slaget på Vigrid. Bok 1. av Kristine Tofte.
Grønne skoger: Song for Eirabu – Slaget på Vigrid.

Selv har Kristine Tofte blogget om boka bl.a. her og her.
Oppdatering 19. juli: Og nå har hun blogget om mottakelsen her.

Av intervjuer og medieomtaler kan jeg anbefale:

Bok & Samfunn: Inspirert av det norrøne.
Hyperion (fantasyforening): Nynorsk fantasydebut: Song for Eirabu.
NTB: Laget sitt eget Eirabu å utforske.

And here I am being lazy all day. Seriously lazy. It’s 3 pm and I am just now up and doing stuff. Too bad too, cause it’s really nice outside. I probably could have done tons more.

I’m adding a warning right here, before I get a call from my sister telling me how lame and annoying I am:

This post contains a long, possibly boring narrative of my days and nights since Saturday morning, before the party. Proceed with caution (and a drink for maximum enjoyment, I recommend the Vodka Mixer, but only if you’re over 21. Please drink responsibly.) if you continue. I cannot be held accountable for what you think is funny or not. End of warning.

I was awake at 10 am. And I had coffee and watched tv. I checked my e-mail because the kids both got their own e-mail accounts and they like to send messages and videos and chat back and forth even though we are all in the same house. It’s really fun. They send an e-mail, hand me the computer, I open my e-mail, read and reply, and hand the computer back to them. Only kids can give you this kind of entertainment.

Anyway, as luck would have it, they are at their dads right now (which is why I can lay around until 10 am in bed on a Monday. School is over for them and mine is on Tuesday’s) so since they are actually out of the house I knew there would be messages. And there were. Checked and replied. Drink more coffee. Watch a movie.

Ladies, (or guys), if you are going to cheat on your spouse, watch this movie first: Clash By Night

It’s surprisingly violent and straightforward. I flipped it on thinking that old movies sometimes are the best on days like this. And I was right. The poster and IMDB kind of make it seem like a Marilyn picture, but it’s not. It’s about love and the giant mess it makes when you get married, and have kids, and have lovers and families and live by that sexy ocean when it’s hot outside…but judge for yourself…that could be the Bailey’s talking.

After the movie, I decided that a shower might be nice. I was kind of hungry too, but way to lazy to make anything or even go out to get something. So I did all the personal hygiene stuff I like to do when the kids and BF are gone, played some Pocket Poker (lost everything) and moved onto the mail and the couch. It’s windy and keeps trying to rain. I wish it would because then I don’t have to feel guilty about sitting inside like a hermit.

After the paperwork I had to do was done, I moved onto laundry, and vacuuming. This is gripping reading I know. (Shut up! Aman-duh!) I am just now getting the house back to it’s pre-party condition. Not that there was a big mess or anything. My sisters and family toatally helped clean up! Thank you! I just like to remove our daily living paraphernalia from the public view. But, you have to put it all back because you find out you need it at hand. Stuff like, my food journal, and bills, and magazines and school books, things like that.

Speaking of the party…it was good. Really good I thought. Party was scheduled to start at 2 pm. It rained at exactly 2 pm.

But then it stopped and warmed up just enough for  everyone to go outside. I’d say a majority of those invited actually came. Very successful. You never know with these kinds of things. You want the party to NOT be a disaster. It’s really all you can hope for. The food arrived, everyone ate, drank, socialized, and left. Last people out were my sisters. 11 pm ish, I think. Not bad at all.

Sunday morning was raining a bit. Mason had grass to cut. Another job! Then we went to the movies. Land of the Lost

It’s not bad. But it’s not worth paying full price unless you really LOVE Will Ferrell. There are some really funny parts and some that just aren’t. Also, alot of swearing and jokes and visuals that might be a little too adult for the younger crowd. Mine are 10 and 11 and I was cringing a few times and working up the explanations in my head.

We had a gift card so it wasn’t too bad. The food cost more than the admission! Bleah!  Then we motored the children on over to their daddy’s. The BF and I watched Mr and Mrs Smith for the gazillionth time, ate food and hit the sack. And here I sit today.

Laundry is cooking, books are waiting, pictures need posting…I could spice up the story with some sordid little details about how I earned a buck-oh-two on Saturday night, or what vodka, 7-up and bags of ice brought to the party Sunday night, but I bet you can think of a million better things than I could come up with, including the truth. This site is interactive! YOU tell ME and I’ll let you know if you’re close.

Which reminds me, my brothers favorite movie is coming on tv soon. You can’t handle the truth! At least I think it still is. I personally don’t care for the “Jack” myself but I try to be nice. I prefer his other favorite Keyser Söze. I’m not sure why, but if it’s on tv I watch it, no matter where in the story or what time it is. I’ve watched it at 4 in the morning on Christmas Eve. Why is it even on at that time?? It’s a sickness.

Alright look around for some pictures. I have more stuff to come, including a caterpillar update. What are those crazy cocoons up to?? You know you want to know.

Find out! Later!

Le(e)ding the pack, with what to do with one’s celebrity, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, did good this week.

Angelina visited the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands yesterday, where a Congolese warlord is being charged with using child soldiers. Jolie’s comment of the hearing being a “landmark trial for children” made it a significant event that got the attention of the humanitarian for children’s causes. Thomas Lubanga stands trial for exploiting kids by recruiting them as soldiers.

Meanwhile, Brad Pitt showed some brotherly and charitable love this week. Brad along with his bro, Doug Pitt, made a $6000 donation to Dury University in Springfield, Missouri, in their dad’s name! Particularly, to the O’Reilly Family Event Center to ensure the University achieved Gold LEED (Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design) certified status. It’s the first Gold LEED certified events center arena in the nation and features “low-flow water fixtures, a dedicated recycling area and a solar-reflective roof and pavement materials.” How green friendly.

The event centers courtyard area is named, William A. Pitt Court after the Jolie-Pitt kids grandad. It’s nice to see that charity runs deep in the Pitt family from the lads.

Megan Fox must get so sick of being a stand in playboy bunny when she wants to be taken seriously as an actress. Men all over the world are thankful though that Megan Fox has agreed to be the stand-in semi naked Angelina Jolie, now that Angie fancies herself more as a global humanitarian than an underwear model these days. Megan Fox is scorching hot doing her best Angie impersonation from Mr & Mr Smith for Esquire.

The buzz today in Hollywod is that the only female in the Top 10 Box Office stars of America, Ms. Angelina Jolie, wants to be a High Arts Coroner.

Jolie has had meeting with author, Patricia Cornwell, to turn her bestselling book series on Kay Scarpetta, an Opera Loving medical examiner, into a film series.

Jolie will star in the films and she’s teaming up with Fox 200 and Cornwell to make the deal happen. I think that’s smart, having watched how The Twilight Kids and also how Matt Damon are rocking it starring in films that have a proven book audience and market, Jolie has decided that a book series is the way to go for her too.

Nice one Angelina, a good transition that gives some stability and regularity to raising a growing family of six Jolie-Pitt celebu-tots.

Variety reports that: ‘There are 16 Scarpetta novels, meaning a franchise is hoped for, but this film won’t be tied to a specific Cornwell mystery title. Much the way that Jason Bourne morphed into an action hero in plots not rigidly locked into the Robert Ludlum book series, the opera-loving coroner Scarpetta will be the lead in a suspense thriller in the vein of “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Seven.”

Deal is a mega-marriage, with Jolie one of the most bankable female movie stars, and Cornwell one of the biggest selling female authors in the world. Cornwell, whose latest installment “Scarpetta” was published last December by Putnam, last year made a deal with Lifetime Television to adapt two non-Scarpetta novels, “At Risk” and “The Front.”

Jolie is one busy working Momma, here’s what else she has on the boil: ‘Jolie is starring in the Phillip Noyce-directed “Salt” for Columbia Pictures. She will reprise the voice for her Tigress character in “Kung Fu Panda” sequel and she awaits a script for a “Wanted” sequel that would potentially re-team her with director Timur Bekmambetov and James McAvoy at Universal.

Wow, how does she get her beauty sleep? And now the real question is, while Angelina is set for a lucrative movie career, what is her man, Brad Pitt going to do while Angie looks so fab in a potential blockbuster new series and body of work? All pressure’s on Brad to keep up with his leading lady now!

Người hâm mộ đang hết sức lo ngại cho mối quan hệ của
Brad và Jolie khi chỉ trong vòng vài tuần lễ, cặp đôi quyền lực nhất
thế giới đã có hai cuộc cãi vã nẩy lửa. Chuyện tình được cả thế giới
theo dõi sát sao đang gặp phải những trục trặc nghiêm trọng…

>> Hai cô nhóc nhà Jolie thời trang>> Jolie khoe nụ cười ‘tỏa nắng’>> Jolie bị bắt ngay giữa phố

Hôm qua 31/3, “điệp viên Evelyn Salt” kiệt sức trở về
nhà sau một ngày làm việc cật lực ở phim trường và bắt gặp người tình
nhâm nhi vài chai bia trong phòng ngủ, vừa uống vừa xem DVD. Trong khi
đó, bên ngoài 6 đứa bé đang nghịch ngợm và phá phách tan hoang mọi thứ.
Hơn thế nữa, cả ngày “người hùng thành Troy” chỉ say sưa ngủ trong khi
các vú nuôi phải khổ sở trông giữ bọn trẻ.

‘Người phụ nữ gợi cảm nhất thế giới’ miệt mài tại trường quay Salt. Trông Jolie gầy hẳn đi và rất mệt mỏi. Ảnh: Splash.

Một người bạn thân của cả hai cho biết: “Trở về nhà
sau khi đã kiệt sức tại phim trường, lại phát hiện ra Brad chả làm gì
ngoài xem phim và ngủ, Jolie phát điên. Cô ấy đi lên gác để nói chuyện
với chàng tài tử điển trai, khi đó vẫn đang trong cơn say. Không những
không biết lỗi, Brad còn lè nhè bảo Jolie đi ra, để cho anh ấy được
yên. Chính thái độ đó đã khiến Jolie nổi cơn thịnh nộ và “giông tố” nổ
ra dưới mái nhà của “ông bà Smith”.

Trong khi người tình bận rộn công việc, Brad Pitt cũng chịu khó đưa các con đi chơi. Nhưng có vẻ anh cần phải chăm chỉ hơn nữa. Ảnh: Splash.

Chỉ trước đó hai tuần, Brad và Jolie cũng đã cãi nhau
nẩy lửa vì một chuyện liên quan đến vú em của hai bé Knox và Vivienne.
Nguyên do là bà mẹ sáu con đi vào phòng các bé và bắt gặp người tình
đang vuốt lưng cô trông trẻ. Dù Brad giải thích đó là hành động an ủi
cô này đang bị ốm, Jolie vẫn nổi “máu Hoạn Thư”, giáng cho anh một cái
tát và đuổi thẳng cổ người giúp việc. Việc này khiến “người hùng thành
Troy” giận đến mức phải lấy xe máy đi lòng vòng ngoài đường mấy tiếng
đồng hồ mới “hạ hỏa”.

Lễ trao giải Oscar tối 22/2 vừa qua là lần gần nhất Brad và Jolie cùng xuất hiện trước công chúng. Ảnh: JJ.

Công bằng mà nói, bộ phim mới đã lấy của Jolie quá
nhiều sức lực. Cô làm việc 15 giờ một ngày và sút cân thấy rõ. Kể từ
sau lễ trao giải Oscar hồi cuối tháng 2 vừa qua, giới săn ảnh chưa hề
chộp được đôi tình nhân hot nhất Hollywood ra ngoài cùng nhau. Việc
chăm sóc đàn con đông nhất làng giải trí cũng khiến Brad và Jolie không
có mấy thời gian dành cho nhau.

Nếu không có những “chấn chỉnh” kịp thời, chuyện tình của “ông bà Smith” có lẽ còn gặp nhiều sóng gió…

Lê Hương

先週、４泊５日のコッツウォルズ旅行をした。ホテルは、ストラットフォード・アポン・エイボンやチッピング・カムデンに近い、コッツウォルズ北部のShipston-on-Stourにある、The George hotel。先日書いた、Mr & Mrs Smithを通じて予約した。お値段は£90–£150と、Mr & Mrs Smithのセレクトの中ではリーズナブル。今回はキャンペーンを利用したので、1泊£110のところ、2泊で1泊分のお値段と、大変お得だった（その代わり、ホテルで最低２回夕食をとる事が条件）。

古い建物を改装したThe George Hotelは、もとの建物の特徴を所々生かし、ブラウンを基調としたモダンなインテリアとアンティークがうまくミックスされた、可愛いプチホテル。マシュマロやチョコレート、ストロベリー等、部屋毎に食べ物のテーマが決まっていて、私たちが泊まったのは「アスパラガス」ルーム。部屋には、大きなアスパラガスの写真が飾ってある。部屋には、紅茶やハーブティ、ホットチョコレート、コーヒーも自由に飲めるようになっており、アメニティは、モルトン・ブラウンを使用する等、気配りもうれしい。ただ、ベッドのマットレスの左側のスプリングが壊れていて、4泊目に私と寝る側を変わるまで、Mは寝苦しい夜を過ごすはめになった（私は特に気にならなかったが、Mは背が高い＝体重も重いため、辛かったらしい）。ガストロ・パブ（おいしい食事を提供するパブ）も併設しており、地元で取れた材料を生かしたイギリス料理が楽しめる。お味の方はまあまあ、可もなく不可もなくといったところだが、従業員も皆フレンドリーで、サービスはとても良かった。

We traveled to Cotswolds last week for 4 nights and 5 days. We stayed at The George hotel in Shipston-on-Stour, on the north of Cotswolds near Stratford-upon-Avon and Chipping Campden. We reserved the hotel via Mr & Mrs Smith, as I wrote the other day. Room rates is £90–£150, and it is reasonable among Mr & Mrs Smith’s selection. We used a promotional offer for ‘2 for 1 nights’, so it was a big bargain, though we had to had a dinner at the hotel at least twice during our stay.

The George Hotel is a stylishly converted cosy inn, with warm modern decor mixed with original features of the building and antiques. Each room has its own culinary theme, such as Strawberry, Marshmallow, and Chocolate, and we stayed in the ‘Asparagus’ room. There are a selection of tea, herb teas, coffee, and hot chocolate in the room. Molton Brown toiletries is another good addition to the stay. The only ‘problem’ was the mattress — the spring was broken on the left side and M has had uncomfortable nights until we switched our sides on the last night. He suffered more than me, as he is a tall man. The hotel has a gastropub (a pub specializes in high-quality food) that you can try local products. The food is OK (not great, but not bad as well), but everyone who works there is friendly and very nice — we had a pleasant time.

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Recently, I have been manifesting addictive behavior with regard to teardrop & tiny trailers.

• I was driving home from work one day and shot a picture -with my cell phone- out my window of a 1960’s Chevy pulling a new small Airstream.
• I think a teardrop trailer cereal for kids would be awesome.  The marshmallow shapes could be all the different trailers in the Hall of Fame.
• Last night, I was watching Mr. & Mrs. Smith and in the middle of the last gun battle the two “sexy” Hollywood stars are blowing things up left & right and I noticed -& got excited about- what appears to be a small yellow TAB (or close to it) trailer in the distant background.  See the two frames I pulled from the video on the right (another addictive behavior).  Signs of sickness?  I’d rather think about teardrop trailers than watch a movie.  I guess that is good and healthy.

I suppose one of the reasons that I’m so taken with the teardrops & tiny trailers is the benefits our build has already created.  Senior management & I have been able to work side-by-side on a project that is fun & encourages active bonding (literally in the trailer & inter-personally). A fellow trailer builder (Cliffmeister) found a video the captures these & other benefits of the teardrop.  It explains why many people (including myself) build teardrop trailers.  It is posted under “What is a teardrop Trailer” or you can just click here.  It is all about relationships.  Senior Management finds it hard to believe when I cry-out in the middle of a movie, press pause, and advance frame-by-frame until I find the TAB trailer in the background of an action scene.  She says I’m addicted.  I say I love her so it is OK to be addicted to her.  Perhaps we need more bonding time with the jPod.

Shifting Gears:

What does the immediate future hold?  This teacher is on spring break and going to spend a few days in Canada with family.  No progress on the jPod but guaranteed progress on catching up on sleep and dreaming of teardrop trailers.  Cheers!