Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
There were three rules for the 250 or so Hanson fans who finagled their way inside Planet Hollywood Friday afternoon for the popular pop trio’s press conference. No screaming. No standing. No flash photography. All three rules were broken quicker than you could say “MMMBop” when 15-year-old Taylor Hanson announced that his secret, unfulfilled fantasy was “to meet every single person here.”
Richard Ashcroft had his work cut out for him when the Verve kicked off their American tour in Chicago. Instead of performing at the 13,400-capacity Rosemont Horizon as originally planned, poor ticket sales forced the Englishmen to move the show to the Aragon Ballroom, a venue one-third the Horizon’s size. Then, too, the quintet performed minus lead guitarist Nick McCabe, who had announced earlier this month that he would not go on the road with his bandmates.
“It’s OK if people make fun of us because we’re young or whatever,” says 15-year-old Taylor, the keyboardist and lead vocalist. “Howard Stern makes fun of our music, but it’s cool because he makes fun of everyone. We enjoy making music and performing together, but we have a sense of humor about all of it, too. You can’t take it all too seriously.”
Dumping your friends is different from losing touch. The latter is passive action that happens because one of you moves away, or he gets married, or she has a baby and is too busy to listen to you harp about a Kate Spade handbag that you absolutely have to have. Eventually, you run into each other again, exchange new numbers and addresses and make an effort to renew your friendship.
Outside Wrigley Field, surrounded by thousands of other Cubs fans, David Boreanaz hit the ground and bowed. “I’m not worthy,” he said, half-jokingly. “I’m totally in awe. I’m mesmerized right now.” The same could be said for the gaggle of teenagers nudging each other, asking, “Hey, isn’t that Angel?”
Spanning two centuries, the latest IMAX three-dimensional film, “Mark Twain’s America,” celebrates the puckish author through his own words, 3-D stills and re-enactments of historic events.
Whatever happened to three-dimensional films? You know – the kind where you strapped on a pair of goofy glasses, sat in a dark movie theater and squealed as Vincent Price worked his magic in “House of Wax.”
The upcoming feature film “The Avengers” may be set in England, but the film’s soundtrack has a strong Chicago vibe, thanks to Veruca Salt’s Louise Post, Yum-Yum’s Chris Holmes and Brian Liesegang, a former member of Filter and Nine Inch Nails.
“Chink-a-Chink-a Chinaman sitting on a fence; Trying to make a dollar out of 59 cents.” My parents were mortified when their 5-year-old daughter came home from school singing this chant. My friends and I had learned to jump rope to this song from older kids who thought it would be fun to teach a bunch of kindergartners a thing or two. At the time, I had about as much concept of what a “Chink” was as I did the actual value of 59 cents. But I was too young to see past my parents’ forced smiles.
Singer-songwriter Steve Poltz had a strange reaction when he saw himself starring as the male lead in his buddy Jewel’s video. He shaved his head. “I was in a bar in Boston when the video came on and I thought, `God, Jewel looks great, but who’s this stupid guy?’ ” said Poltz, phoning from an airport in Montreal. “I just cringed. Then I went and cut all my hair off. It seemed like the right thing to do.”