Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Television viewers know Ian Harding as Ezra Fitz on Freeform’s “Pretty Little Liars” — the role that won him seven Teen Choice Awards. With the release of his first book, “Odd Birds” (St. Martin’s Press, $25.99), he can also add author to his resume. In his collection of essays, Harding shares vignettes of his life in Hollywood, interspersed with tales about his hobby, bird-watching. Harding will next be seen in the indie film “Office Uprising.”
I had a difficult time reconciling myself with the fact that I enjoyed “Boys Over Flowers,” while being disgusted that the showrunners never addressed how cruel the main characters were to kids outside of their circle.
“A Small Revolution” author Jimin Han says, “When I was about 10 years old, we drove to Boca Raton, Florida. My great aunt joined us, flying in from South Korea. We went to the beach a lot, but one afternoon we went with her to a cemetery. She knelt at a grave and cried. I heard later that it was the grave of her estranged son, who had been a marine biologist and died in a scuba-diving accident. I’ve developed a novel around that visit and that mysterious great aunt.”
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Phillip Keene lived in England, Holland and Miami before moving back to California 20 years ago. The actor is recognizable to television viewers as Buzz Watson, the character he portrays on TNT’s crime procedural, “Major Crimes.” He also played the same role in the long-running Kyra Sedgwick series, “The Closer.” A fun fact about the actor: He worked as a flight attendant before landing his best known role.
Born in Paris, New York-based author Anka Muhlstein has written biographies of James Mayer de Rothschild, Robert Chevalier de la Salle and Queen Victoria. Winner of the Academie Francaise and the Goncourt Prize for Biography, she and her husband, Louis Begley, co-authored “Venice for Lovers.” In her latest book — “The Pen and the Brush: How Passion for Art Shaped Nineteenth-Century French Novels” (Other Press, $18.95) — Muhlstein take readers into the world of an elite artistic community that included Proust, Cezanne and Balzac.
Modeling runs in Hunter McGrady’s family. Her mother, aunt and grandmother all modeled. And she, too, started modeling when she was 16. At nearly 6-foot tall, McGrady grew disheartened when agents told her she should trim a little fat from her already gaunt, size two body. Now 23, McGrady is one of the most popular “plus size” models, having recently appeared in Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue.
As expected, “Top Chef” winner Brooke Williamson is quite the foodie. “I’m a fan of anything that tastes yummy,” says Williamson, 38. “I don’t care where it comes from — street cart or restaurant.” Based in the South Bay of Los Angeles, the chef says she finds inspiration in her food creations during her travels.
I’m not sure what happened, but this latest entry in 989 Sports’ football (as the rest of the world calls it) franchise kicks major butt over the previous installment.
Based out of Los Angeles and Brooklyn, where he was born, comedian and actor Tony Rock says his favorite cities include Houston, Atlanta, Miami and Washington, D.C. But like his elder brother, Chris, he says nothing can replace New York City. “New York is home,” he says. “It’s so unique that there is no other place like it.” The host of TV One’s game show, “The Game of Dating,” Rock’s previous work includes hosting Russell Simmons’ “All Def Comedy Live” and roles in “Everybody Hates Chris” and “The Redemption of a Dog.”
This is the story of a cake, a Pyrex bowl and a raccoon attack. Intrigued, aren’t you?
Let’s cut to the chase: the plot revolves around a high school student and a doctor who switch bodies after an accident. Yoon-Jae, the 30something doctor is in a vegetative state in the body of 17-year-old Kyung-Joon. Meanwhile, the teenager is alive and well, but he is trapped in the buff body belonging to Gong Yoo, er, I mean Yoon-Jae. Caught between these two is Gil Da-Ran, a wet dishrag of a woman, who (despite her beauty) has absolutely no confidence in herself. When she realizes that Yoon-Jae really isn’t Yoon-Jae and that it may take a while for the two to switch bodies again, she plays along with the charade.
During a break from rehearsal, Luka Sulic phoned from his home in Slovenia for this interview. “Stjepan (Hauser) is based in Croatia and that’s where our studio that we record in is,” said Sulic, 29. “So we travel a lot for work. But we love it. Over the past few years, the best reward for us has been doing something that seems to inspire a younger generation to play an instrument or make music. That’s the best reward you can get and we are very happy when parents tell us that their children started playing music because of us.”
Composer Zina Goldrich and lyricist/author Marcy Heisler have collaborated on numerous projects, including Julie Andrews’ Netflix series “Julie’s Greenroom” and the stage adaptation of the popular children’s book series “Junie B. Jones.” (“Junie B. Jones the Musical Cast Album” is on sale now.) Based out of New York City, the musicians’ work has also been heard on the Disney Channel, PBS and Nickelodeon.
If I were to rate this series, I would give it a 
for the first half. But the second half … wow. It was worth sitting through eight hours of meh to get to the satisfying ending. Bok-Joo is the top female wrestler at her school. In order to give the other women on her team a chance of medaling, her coach asks her to go up a weight class. The 5-foot-9 athlete weights roughly 127 pounds and must go up by about 10 pounds. Bear in mind that by U.S. standards, she would be considered thin. But much is made of the fact that she’s a big, overweight girl.
There are few things in life that would be more difficult than to watch generations of loved ones grow old and die, while you live on for centuries without them. Such is the case with Kim Shin, a dokkaebi (goblin). For more than 900 years, he has been cursed to live a life of loneliness as atonement for all the enemies he killed during his days as an unbeatable general. Yes, his victims would’ve slain him if they had the opportunity. But, as God says in the narration, they were all precious creations, as well.
As the daughter of Kiss frontman Gene Simmons and former Playboy model Shannon Tweed, Sophie Simmons is no stranger to the limelight. Simmons, 24, appeared with her family on the A&E reality series, “Family Jewels,” auditioned on “X-Factor” and (along with Rebel) released a cover of “Kiss Me.” The Los Angeles-based host of Refinery 29’s “Body Image School” digital series and the face of Adore Me’s inclusive lingerie campaign, Simmons also advocates for child abuse victims with Sophie’s Place in Vancouver.
Many fans of reality TV are familiar with Mandana Dayani from her days on “The Rachel Zoe Project.” A former attorney and vice president of Zoe’s fashion empire, she offered a cool and calm presence on the sometimes frenetic series. Dayani has parlayed her love of vintage pieces, fashion and antiques into a new career with the tech start-up, Everything But the House (ebth.com), which makes estate sales accessible online.
As one of the breakout stars of the Netflix original series “Orange Is the New Black,” Jessica Pimentel brings life to complicated inmate Maria Ruiz. The actress has another side to her as well: musician. She fronts the indie death-metal band Alekhine’s Gun. A huge fan of New York, Pimentel resides in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn.
I am an anti-hoarder who has no use for a lot of “things.” But, I will never turn down old family photos. The memories that are tied to them are things that money and “experiences” can’t replace.
Born and raised in Chicago, Suzy Nakamura credits her career at The Second City for honing her comedic chops. Her prolific film and television work includes “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Veep” and “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.” Nakamura, who stars opposite Ken Jeong in the ABC comedy series, “Dr. Ken,” will appear alongside Brooke Shields in the upcoming indie film, “Daisy Winters.”