Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Phoning from her tour bus en route to Phoenix, India.Arie is funny, candid and polite. She’s also hungry. “My cook just asked if I wanted a fruit salad,” says the 26-year-old singer-songwriter. “She picked up some ripe mangoes when we were in New Orleans and also has some grapes–two of my favorite fruits–and is going to make it with lemon and tahini dressing.”
You hear of rock stars turned actors. But musicians parlaying a second gig as a renovator? That’s a little more unusual. But Dave Pirner makes it all sound like the norm when he phones from a place he’s working on in New Orleans.
March Madness nears its close this weekend with the matchups of the Final Four men’s college basketball teams, with only one emerging Monday night as the NCAA titleholder. Hoop dreams don’t have to end, though. Thanks to hardworking video game programmers, another season is as nearby as your video game system.
Joe Meredith is the type of guy who’ll sit through the Oscars to find out who won all the fringe awards. This year, Meredith, 30, will have to set his VCR. And, if he’s very lucky, he’ll come home to a tape showing him running from the back of the venue to accept an Oscar for best animated short film for his charming “Stubble Trouble.”
Oprah Winfrey had better start taking some tips from Suze Orman, the financial whiz who writes for Winfrey’s magazine. Seems our billionairess is so cautious about investing her own money in the stock market that she once hoarded $50 million in cash, calling it her personal “bag-lady fund.”
Jamie Kennedy is nowhere to be found. At first, you wonder whether he’s wandering around in disguise as a bellhop, waiting to fool you as he does on his TV series, “JKX: The Jamie Kennedy Experiment,” which airs at 7 p.m. Sundays on WGN-Channel 9. On this twisted homage to “Candid Camera,” Kennedy dresses up as different characters and fools people into thinking he’s some funky Valley Boy taking their daughter out on a blind date or an insensitive boss who makes his temp fire the entire staff.
At Brian Eccles’ Final Four party this year, he’ll offer his guests pizza and beer. But don’t look for a platter of crudites anywhere near the buffet table.
Chicago may have been dubbed the second-fattest city in the nation, but we’re moving on down–the scale, that is–thanks to all of you who’ve joined our Chicago Sheds a Ton campaign.
Here’s what separates the weekend biking enthusiast from Chris Naunheimer, founder of the northwest suburbs’ cycling club the Arlington Flyers. Every year just about this time, we may dust off our Schwinns and go for leisurely rides that usually end with a frothy drink or a scoop of ice cream. When it rains (or we get tired), we quickly pedal back to the comfort of our homes.
Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe are doing it. So are Tonya Harding and Barry Williams. And come to think of it, Danny Bonaduce and Long Island Lolita Amy Fisher are doing it, too. Hey now, get your minds out of the gutter. We’re talking about that other contact sport– boxing.