Issue Date: December 23, 2001
During this time of war in Afghanistan, I find it disconcerting when national news anchors report "business as usual" stories here. I want all the info I can get on our post-attack efforts. Do other people share my feelings?
Lois Hoover, Berkeley Springs, W.Va.
Yes. And your impression notwithstanding, Lois, ABC, CBS and NBC actually doubled the number of news stories on their nightly broadcasts to meet our increased news appetite after Sept. 11. A journalism think tank in Washington, D.C., documented that in October the three big networks devoted 80% of the evening report to "hard news." Last June it was 45%. And celebrity news, which in June was about 5% of each evening broadcast, disappeared after Sept. 11. On the three network morning shows, hard news stories increased sevenfold between June and October. Celebrity news dropped, from 25% in June to 12% in October.
It's been too long since Alanis Morissette put out any new music. I'm looking forward to a third album. When will I be able to buy it?
Steven Baker, Dover, Ark.
"Under Rug Swept" is to be in stores Feb. 25. The weird thing is, it's finished, yet no one affiliated with Morissette, 27, or her record company will talk about why they did not put it out in time for the holiday shopping season. That lends credence to reports that there's a rift between the singer (whose first album, Jagged Little Pill, made her a top-selling artist) and her label, Maverick. Still, it's doubtful that the intriguing title for CD No. 3 will be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
With the record-breaking release of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", we've been hearing about the movie cast but not much about creator J.K. Rowling. What has she been doing during the hoopla? When can we expect the next "Harry" book? Tom Schulz, Louisville
Summer is when everyone thinks Rowling's next work will appear, and I've learned not to argue about that with the pre-teen kid network. But Rowling's U.S. publisher, Scholastic, refuses to give us an actual date, saying only that the fifth book, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", is madly being written even as I write this. Rowling, 36, participated in a bit of the Sorcerer's Stone promotion -- as if it needed any -- but for the most part she is holed up at her home in Edinburgh, Scotland. She has little time for more than Harry ... and Jessica, her 8-year-old daughter. Unlike her pre-"Potter" days, Rowling can well afford a nanny to care for Jessica twice a week. The author was very involved in the movie's creation and also is for the sequel, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", which Warner Bros. plans to release about a year from now.
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Ben Stiller has done about every ridiculous, gross or absurd stunt an actor could possibly try in a movie, but he says, "I hope I have some dignity left." Not a shred, Ben. The hilarious star of fall's "Zoolander" and, more currently, "The Royal Tenenbaums" says, "I like to make a lot of people laugh, but I've got to do things on my own terms." So far, that hasn't been a problem. With "There's Something About Mary" and "Meet the Parents", Stiller, 36, established himself as a commanding screen comic. Yet, he tells us, "I'm not a funny, ha-ha person like Robin Williams." He is happy, though, and he gives credit for that to his wife, actress Christine Taylor, who is pregnant with their first child. "Having a happy home life is the key," Stiller says. "I'm figuring that out as we go along."
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Actor-director Mario Van Peebles is so knowledgeable about the racial politics of the 1960s, I told him he should be teaching a course at his alma mater, Columbia. Smart (he has an economics degree) and engaging, Van Peebles, 44, was connected to that turbulent era long before he was cast as Malcolm X in "Ali", opening Christmas Day. His father, Melvin, a journalist-turned-film-director, was among the last to interview Malcolm X, knew Ali and wrote extensively about the Black Panthers. Mario stored away all he saw around him. But then, he's like that. He thinks of life as having a line: "On one side is doing what you want. On the other side is having what you want. ... I tend to like the 'do' side." That's why he has visited Bali, China, India and more with his family, which includes five kids, ages 2 to 9. They were to go to Egypt this year, but the trip's on hold. "As a kid I was lucky enough to see the whole cross section of humanity. I think you just see the world differently if you see the world."
Contributing: Tameka Hicks, Nancy Mills
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BIRTHDAYS
December 23, 2001: Lusan Lucci, 55
December 24, 2001: Ricky Martin, 30; Mary Higgins Clark
December 25, 2001: Annie Lennox, 47; Jimmy Buffett, 55
December 26, 2001: Jared Leto, 30
December 27, 2001: Chyna, 32; Cokie Roberts, 58
December 28, 2001: Denzel Washington, 47
December 29, 2001: Jude Law, 29; Ted Danson, 54; Jon Voight, 63; Mary Tyler Moore, 65
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