‘Blind Date’ no stranger to players here
Shadow T. Carr, 28, bills himself as a 1988 Buick Grand National. Would-be contestants wait to audition for a spot on the syndicated show “Blind Date” recently in Chicago.
Year: 2002
Workplace safety has reached a new low: lunch
A downtown office worker was so offended by the smell of a colleague’s spicy lunch, she called security. Now that’s passive aggressive.
Jessye Norman’s charisma is difficult to ‘Miss’
It’s never a good sign when a diva doesn’t like the way you address her. For instance, if you refer to opera star Jessye Norman as “Jessye,” she has no qualms about expressing her distaste. “That’s Miss Norman,” she tells the reporter in a deliciously regal voice that sounds much deeper than her sweet soprano singing voice would indicate.
Coke hopes for taste of success with vanilla
Vanilla gets a bad rap. Vanilla ice cream is dismissed as bland. Boring celebrities are put down as vanilla. And let’s not even get into Vanilla Ice. But Coca-Cola hopes to boost the hip factor of the much maligned flavor with its latest soft drink, Vanilla Coke, which debuts today at stores nationwide.
‘Angelina Ballerina’ keeps author on her toes
When she was a little girl growing up on the North Side of Chicago, children’s book author Katharine Holabird imagined herself as a beautiful, graceful ballerina whose jumps were as light as a feather.
“I was a theatrical, melodramatic child,” says Holabird, phoning from Los Angeles. “I was also a tubby little 4-year-old waltzing around the house who thought I was this beautiful archetype–a ballerina.”
‘X’ marks the spot for IMAX sports thrills: “ESPN’s Ultimate X”
There are many dangerous sports. Athletes have been paralyzed in gymnastics and football. And the dangers of boxing don’t need to be explained. But there’s nothing like the litany of thrilling events at an X Games competition to make you wonder, “Why would anyone do that?”
Speaking with … Cee-Lo
Cee-Lo has 50 tattoos, a bald head and a repertoire of songs that could fill several albums. For now, Cee-Lo–who is best known as one of the members of the Atlanta hip-hop band Goodie Mob–is content to tout his debut solo record, “Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfection.”
Entrepreneurs make book on various bad boyfriends
Maria Peevey and Megan Weinerman dated them all–the “It’s Not You It’s Me Guy,” the “Couldn’t Be Nicer Guy,” the “Girl Hair Guy.” You probably have, too, which is why the sassy entrepreneurs wrote Are You My Boyfriend? (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $14.95)–a humorous look at 19 types of men they’ve dated.
Programs certain to bring kids into the culture club
Cultured children. They are the ones clutching their ballet programs, clapping politely after the end of a particularly beautiful pas de deux. They know about Van Gogh’s art as much as they do the legend of his severed ear. And when they go through their CD collection, they have as much Bach and Beethoven as they do Britney.
Sarah Hughes: 2002 Olympic gold medalist in figure skating
Sarah Hughes had a heart-to-heart with President Bush, met ‘N Sync (twice!) and won an Olympic gold medal in figure skating. Oh yeah, in between all that, the honors student attends school in Great Neck, N.Y., where she’ll be a senior next fall. Hughes plans to compete next year. But her immediate goal isn’t the 2006 Olympics. It’s all about scoring well on the SAT.