LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's tetchy and uncompromising appearance at a British inquiry into phone hacking could come back to haunt him this week when politicians give their verdict on the scandal at his defunct News of the World newspaper.
Three days of grilling at the Leveson judicial press inquiry last week extracted few new facts from Rupert and his son James as the 81-year-old casually threw out insults at politicians and described himself as a victim of a corporate cover-up.
That appearance will only increase pressure on a powerful parliamentary committee to be harsh in its verdict on the scandal, putting Murdoch's News Corp further on the defensive.
'The timing of the select committee report, following the week we've just had at Leveson, is crucial,' a person familiar with the thinking and mechanics of the committee, told Reuters.
'Anyone putting their name to an amendment that supports Rupert and James, or dilutes the criticism of Rupert and James, would look very different now than they would have done a week ago.'
Another person familiar with the situation said the report had become much more critical in recent months.
The committee will meet on Monday to vote and agree the final wording for the report, which had originally been expected late last year. It will be published on Tuesday.
Murdoch shut the 168-year-old News of the World in July after journalists and investigators admitted hacking the phones of ordinary people, crime victims and politicians to gather exclusive and salacious news.
INFLUENCE
The evidence from the Leveson inquiry could particularly increase the pressure on members of the committee from Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative party, traditionally seen as close to the world's most powerful media tycoon.
The release of emails between James Murdoch and his top London lobbyist suggesting possible influence over the government led to the resignation of a senior ministerial aide and demands for the minister himself to quit.
The committee is expected to criticize James Murdoch for his handling of News Corp's British newspaper arm and is considering whether to implicate Rupert Murdoch for his influence over the wider company culture.
A tough report could make it harder for 39-year-old James Murdoch in his role as News Corp's deputy chief operating officer after the damage the company has already taken to its value and reputation.
Committee members believe Murdoch staff have shown little respect for the parliamentary system and accused them at one point of suffering from 'collective amnesia'.
Since the committee has to be careful of criticizing any of the people arrested over phone- and computer-hacking and bribery to avoid prejudicing court cases, the criticism of the Murdochs may be even more pointed. They have not been arrested.
Rupert Murdoch told the Leveson inquiry on Thursday that staff within the News of the World had hidden the hacking scandal from himself, James and ex-News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, a protégée of his.
He put the blame on the journalists and the paper's former top lawyer and said he wished he had shut the paper sooner. He brushed off any suggestion that he could be held responsible for a culture that allowed criminality to flourish.
'I think Rupert showed his true lights... belligerent, testy, laying the blame everywhere but himself and passing the buck,' Roy Greenslade, who worked under Murdoch at the Sun and Sunday Times, told Reuters.
(Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
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Monday, April 30, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Obama, Kimmel target Kardashian at Correspondents dinner
April 29 (TheWrap.com) - Lindsay Lohan may have gotten more attention than any other guest before Saturday night's White House Correspondents Dinner, but Kim Kardashian was the celebrity who took the most hits from the dais during the annual event.
Host Jimmy Kimmel, for instance, remembered last year's dinner, which took place after President Obama had dispatched a team that would track down and kill Osama bin Laden. 'If you're looking for the greatest threat to America right now, she's right there,' he said, pointing into the audience. 'She's Kim Kardashian.'
As the reality-TV star laughed, Kimmel scolded the president. 'When you took office, the Kardashians had one reality show,' he said. 'Now they have four. This is not a good trend.'
But Kimmel saved his best ammunition to mow through the Republican presidential candidates:
Mitt Romney: 'When I think of Mitt Romney, I don't think of Etch-a-Sketch. I think of Twister: One foot on red, one on blue and both hands on green.'
Rick Santorum: 'I guess it wasn't Rick's year. Rick's year was 1954.'
Ron Paul: 'To me, Ron Paul looks like the guy who gets unhooded at the end of every 'Scooby Doo' episode.'
Newt Gingrich: 'It's great to see the Gingriches here tonight, because I guess that means the check cleared.'
And on the GOP: 'I think that Abraham Lincoln has a vision of what the Republican Party would become in 150 years,' he said, 'and he shot himself.'
The jibes aimed at Kardashian -- which also included Kimmel's suggestion that Obama had Navy Seal Team Six outside the Kardashian compound in Beverly Hills disguised as the Denver Nuggets 'so they can sneak in undetected' -- were among the spiciest in the comic's 20-minute monologue, which stuck mostly to politics and tweaked the president only slightly more often than it took aim at his Republican critics.
As for the guest of honor's own remarks, President Obama was perhaps not as biting as last year, when he went after guest Donald Trump for continually raising questions about Obama's birth certificate.
And he got perhaps his best laugh with a jibe at himself and a recently dredged-up confession from his 'Dreams From My Father' autobiography that he ate dog meat as a child in Indonesia. 'What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?' he asked. 'A pit bull is delicious.'
This time around, the president -- who has attended the annual dinner every year that he's been in office -- used some of his sharpest lines in a pre taped opening bit, in which his voice was heard from 'backstage' on a microphone that was purportedly left open.
And his targets included, yes, Kim Kardashian.
'Seriously, guys, what am I doing here?' said Obama's voice to an unseen aide. 'I'm the President of the United States, and I'm opening for Jimmy Kimmel?...Why am I telling knock-knock jokes to Kim Kardashian? What is she famous for, anyway?'
The crowd was typically varied for a WHCD, with guests including Lohan, Kardashian, George Clooney, Steven Spielberg, Kevin Spacey and cast members from 'Glee' and 'Modern Family,' alongside a host of politicians and Washington insiders.
Or, as Kimmel said, 'Here is one room we have members of the media, politicians, corporate executives, advertisers, celebrities...Everything that is wrong with America is here tonight.'
For a host the dinner, held at the Washington Hilton, is a minefield of sorts. The event has been criticized for showcasing a too-chummy relationship between the White House and those who cover it. But it is also slammed when its emcee plays too rough, as some thought Stephen Colbert did in 2006 when his comments caused several Bush administration staffers to walk out.
The correspondent's association responded by booking the considerably creakier Rich Little the following year, the first time that comic impersonator had hosted the dinner since the Reagan administration. Since then the gig has gone to Craig Ferguson, Wanda Sykes, Jay Leno and Seth Meyers.
Kimmel continued the tradition of taking jabs at the Chief Executive as he sat only a few feet away, poking fun at Obama for the compromises he's made and the disappointment some supporters feel.
'He has guided us through some very difficult times and paid a heavy price for it,' said Kimmel. 'There's a term for guys like President Obama. Maybe not two terms, but one.'
Later, pointing out that the dog who starred in 'The Artist' was a guest, Kimmel added, 'Uggie can roll over on command. He's a Democrat.'
He also jabbed at conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh ('For the right wingers, here's the difference between Bill Maher and Rush Limbaugh: the people who watch Bill Maher know he's an asshole') and then skewered the GOP when he said he had a new theory that John Wilkes Booth did not, in fact, assassinate Abraham Lincoln.
In his own speech, President Obama took gentler shots at his rivals, beginning when he noted how many members of Congress were in attendance.
'I've tried to be civil and not take any cheap shots,' he said, 'and that's why I want to thank all the members who took a break from their exhausting schedule of not passing any laws to be here tonight.'
After referring to the large Hilton ballroom -- 'or, as Mitt Romney would call it, a little fixer-upper' -- he congratulated the Huffington Post on winning a Pulitzer Prize.
'You deserve it, Arianna,' he said to founder Arianna Huffington. 'There's no one else out there linking to the kind of hard-hitting journalism that the Huffington Post is linking to every day.'
And the president also revealed that the conspiracy theorists who think he's ready to unleash a secret agenda if he wins a second term are right.
Among the items on that agenda, he said: 'In my first term, I sang Al Green. In my second term, I'm going with Young Jeezy...In my first term, we repealed the policy known as 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' In my second term, we will replace it with a policy known as 'It's Raining Men.''
At the end of their speeches, both Kimmel and Obama paid tribute to the press, with the president calling 'a free press that isn't afraid to challenge and criticize' one of the traditions 'that make us greater than the challenges we face.'
Kimmel closed the night by suggesting, 'If we truly want to overcome the problems that we face, we have to do it together. It doesn't matter if you're black, like President Obama, or white, like President Obama, or red, like President Obama's agenda.'
Then he mentioned a grade-school teacher, Mr. Mills, who predicted that Kimmel would never amount to anything. 'I'm about to high-five the President of the United States,' he said. 'Eat it, Mills.'
Host Jimmy Kimmel, for instance, remembered last year's dinner, which took place after President Obama had dispatched a team that would track down and kill Osama bin Laden. 'If you're looking for the greatest threat to America right now, she's right there,' he said, pointing into the audience. 'She's Kim Kardashian.'
As the reality-TV star laughed, Kimmel scolded the president. 'When you took office, the Kardashians had one reality show,' he said. 'Now they have four. This is not a good trend.'
But Kimmel saved his best ammunition to mow through the Republican presidential candidates:
Mitt Romney: 'When I think of Mitt Romney, I don't think of Etch-a-Sketch. I think of Twister: One foot on red, one on blue and both hands on green.'
Rick Santorum: 'I guess it wasn't Rick's year. Rick's year was 1954.'
Ron Paul: 'To me, Ron Paul looks like the guy who gets unhooded at the end of every 'Scooby Doo' episode.'
Newt Gingrich: 'It's great to see the Gingriches here tonight, because I guess that means the check cleared.'
And on the GOP: 'I think that Abraham Lincoln has a vision of what the Republican Party would become in 150 years,' he said, 'and he shot himself.'
The jibes aimed at Kardashian -- which also included Kimmel's suggestion that Obama had Navy Seal Team Six outside the Kardashian compound in Beverly Hills disguised as the Denver Nuggets 'so they can sneak in undetected' -- were among the spiciest in the comic's 20-minute monologue, which stuck mostly to politics and tweaked the president only slightly more often than it took aim at his Republican critics.
As for the guest of honor's own remarks, President Obama was perhaps not as biting as last year, when he went after guest Donald Trump for continually raising questions about Obama's birth certificate.
And he got perhaps his best laugh with a jibe at himself and a recently dredged-up confession from his 'Dreams From My Father' autobiography that he ate dog meat as a child in Indonesia. 'What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?' he asked. 'A pit bull is delicious.'
This time around, the president -- who has attended the annual dinner every year that he's been in office -- used some of his sharpest lines in a pre taped opening bit, in which his voice was heard from 'backstage' on a microphone that was purportedly left open.
And his targets included, yes, Kim Kardashian.
'Seriously, guys, what am I doing here?' said Obama's voice to an unseen aide. 'I'm the President of the United States, and I'm opening for Jimmy Kimmel?...Why am I telling knock-knock jokes to Kim Kardashian? What is she famous for, anyway?'
The crowd was typically varied for a WHCD, with guests including Lohan, Kardashian, George Clooney, Steven Spielberg, Kevin Spacey and cast members from 'Glee' and 'Modern Family,' alongside a host of politicians and Washington insiders.
Or, as Kimmel said, 'Here is one room we have members of the media, politicians, corporate executives, advertisers, celebrities...Everything that is wrong with America is here tonight.'
For a host the dinner, held at the Washington Hilton, is a minefield of sorts. The event has been criticized for showcasing a too-chummy relationship between the White House and those who cover it. But it is also slammed when its emcee plays too rough, as some thought Stephen Colbert did in 2006 when his comments caused several Bush administration staffers to walk out.
The correspondent's association responded by booking the considerably creakier Rich Little the following year, the first time that comic impersonator had hosted the dinner since the Reagan administration. Since then the gig has gone to Craig Ferguson, Wanda Sykes, Jay Leno and Seth Meyers.
Kimmel continued the tradition of taking jabs at the Chief Executive as he sat only a few feet away, poking fun at Obama for the compromises he's made and the disappointment some supporters feel.
'He has guided us through some very difficult times and paid a heavy price for it,' said Kimmel. 'There's a term for guys like President Obama. Maybe not two terms, but one.'
Later, pointing out that the dog who starred in 'The Artist' was a guest, Kimmel added, 'Uggie can roll over on command. He's a Democrat.'
He also jabbed at conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh ('For the right wingers, here's the difference between Bill Maher and Rush Limbaugh: the people who watch Bill Maher know he's an asshole') and then skewered the GOP when he said he had a new theory that John Wilkes Booth did not, in fact, assassinate Abraham Lincoln.
In his own speech, President Obama took gentler shots at his rivals, beginning when he noted how many members of Congress were in attendance.
'I've tried to be civil and not take any cheap shots,' he said, 'and that's why I want to thank all the members who took a break from their exhausting schedule of not passing any laws to be here tonight.'
After referring to the large Hilton ballroom -- 'or, as Mitt Romney would call it, a little fixer-upper' -- he congratulated the Huffington Post on winning a Pulitzer Prize.
'You deserve it, Arianna,' he said to founder Arianna Huffington. 'There's no one else out there linking to the kind of hard-hitting journalism that the Huffington Post is linking to every day.'
And the president also revealed that the conspiracy theorists who think he's ready to unleash a secret agenda if he wins a second term are right.
Among the items on that agenda, he said: 'In my first term, I sang Al Green. In my second term, I'm going with Young Jeezy...In my first term, we repealed the policy known as 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' In my second term, we will replace it with a policy known as 'It's Raining Men.''
At the end of their speeches, both Kimmel and Obama paid tribute to the press, with the president calling 'a free press that isn't afraid to challenge and criticize' one of the traditions 'that make us greater than the challenges we face.'
Kimmel closed the night by suggesting, 'If we truly want to overcome the problems that we face, we have to do it together. It doesn't matter if you're black, like President Obama, or white, like President Obama, or red, like President Obama's agenda.'
Then he mentioned a grade-school teacher, Mr. Mills, who predicted that Kimmel would never amount to anything. 'I'm about to high-five the President of the United States,' he said. 'Eat it, Mills.'
Friday, April 27, 2012
Nobel winner Pamuk opens novel museum in Istanbul
ISTANBUL (Reuters Life!) - Nobel prize-winning Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk realizes a long-nurtured dream on Saturday with the opening of an actual 'Museum of Innocence' - a collection of relics of a half-century of ordinary life - as depicted in his 2008 novel of the same name.
Pamuk set out 'not to do a spectacular or monumental museum but something in the backstreets, something that represents the daily life of the city,' he told a news conference after a press preview.
Situated in a bright, wine-red building in the district of Cukurcuma, the Museum of Innocence houses real and fabricated artifacts from everyday Turkish life between 1950 and 2000, in an homage both to the novel and to Pamuk's Istanbul.
'Our daily lives are honorable, and their objects should be preserved. It's not all about the glories of the past,' he said. 'It's the people and their objects that count.'
He conceived of the museum more than a decade ago, at the same time he came up with the idea for the novel. A New York Times bestseller, 'The Museum of Innocence' was his first book after winning the 2006 Nobel prize for literature.
The book tells the story of Kemal, who hoards ordinary items to recapture the happiness he felt during a passionate but ill-fated love affair.
The real life museum contains odds and ends that Pamuk collected from Cukurcuma junk shops, family and other donors. There are china dog figurines, old shaving kits and a wind-up film projector. A toothbrush collection, which features in the novel, was contributed by its real-life owner.
Pride of place goes to Kemal's lover's 4,213 cigarette butts, lovingly dated, archived and gently pinned to a canvas that occupies a full wall. Pamuk described the painstaking process of vacuuming out the tobacco to prevent worms.
The space was originally meant to open with the book's publication, but was beset with delays. It took Pamuk - working closely with a team of architects, artists and product designers - another four years to complete the project.
His Nobel prize money of more than 1 million euros did not fully cover costs, he said, declining to specify the exact cost of the museum. Royalties from the book will go towards upkeep.
While the project is distinctly personal, Pamuk insisted it is not autobiographical.
His protagonist Kemal is far too obsessed with his love and his compulsive hoarding to pay much attention to the social and political upheaval around him. His story takes place in Istanbul in the 1970s, a decade bookended with coups.
Pamuk, 59, is among Turkey's best selling writers. His work, including 'My Name Is Red,' 'The Black Book' and the memoir 'Istanbul,' has been translated into some 60 languages.
He was charged with 'insulting Turkishness' in 2005 for remarks he made about the World War One massacre of Armenians and the state's fight against Kurdish separatism since 1984. He was acquitted.
Pamuk is now at work on a new book told from the view of a street vendor eking out a living in one of sprawling Istanbul's shantytowns. His first book, 1982's 'Cevdet Bey and His Sons,' is now being made into a serial for television.
(Editing by Peter Graff)
Pamuk set out 'not to do a spectacular or monumental museum but something in the backstreets, something that represents the daily life of the city,' he told a news conference after a press preview.
Situated in a bright, wine-red building in the district of Cukurcuma, the Museum of Innocence houses real and fabricated artifacts from everyday Turkish life between 1950 and 2000, in an homage both to the novel and to Pamuk's Istanbul.
'Our daily lives are honorable, and their objects should be preserved. It's not all about the glories of the past,' he said. 'It's the people and their objects that count.'
He conceived of the museum more than a decade ago, at the same time he came up with the idea for the novel. A New York Times bestseller, 'The Museum of Innocence' was his first book after winning the 2006 Nobel prize for literature.
The book tells the story of Kemal, who hoards ordinary items to recapture the happiness he felt during a passionate but ill-fated love affair.
The real life museum contains odds and ends that Pamuk collected from Cukurcuma junk shops, family and other donors. There are china dog figurines, old shaving kits and a wind-up film projector. A toothbrush collection, which features in the novel, was contributed by its real-life owner.
Pride of place goes to Kemal's lover's 4,213 cigarette butts, lovingly dated, archived and gently pinned to a canvas that occupies a full wall. Pamuk described the painstaking process of vacuuming out the tobacco to prevent worms.
The space was originally meant to open with the book's publication, but was beset with delays. It took Pamuk - working closely with a team of architects, artists and product designers - another four years to complete the project.
His Nobel prize money of more than 1 million euros did not fully cover costs, he said, declining to specify the exact cost of the museum. Royalties from the book will go towards upkeep.
While the project is distinctly personal, Pamuk insisted it is not autobiographical.
His protagonist Kemal is far too obsessed with his love and his compulsive hoarding to pay much attention to the social and political upheaval around him. His story takes place in Istanbul in the 1970s, a decade bookended with coups.
Pamuk, 59, is among Turkey's best selling writers. His work, including 'My Name Is Red,' 'The Black Book' and the memoir 'Istanbul,' has been translated into some 60 languages.
He was charged with 'insulting Turkishness' in 2005 for remarks he made about the World War One massacre of Armenians and the state's fight against Kurdish separatism since 1984. He was acquitted.
Pamuk is now at work on a new book told from the view of a street vendor eking out a living in one of sprawling Istanbul's shantytowns. His first book, 1982's 'Cevdet Bey and His Sons,' is now being made into a serial for television.
(Editing by Peter Graff)
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Ex-president George H.W. Bush opens up for HBO film
(Reuters) - Former President George H.W. Bush, who has never written a memoir, has told his story in his own words for an HBO documentary to be broadcast on television in June.
HBO said on Thursday that the documentary, called '41' to reflect Bush's position as the United State's 41st president, sees Bush reflecting on his childhood, family and a life that took him from World War Two navy aviator to CIA director, vice-president and the White House.
It was filmed over a 17-month period at Bush's Kennebunkport, Maine summer home and his presidential library in Texas, and will be aired two days after he marks his 88th birthday on June 12.
HBO said Bush agreed to take part in the documentary after meeting writer and director Jeffrey Roth and seeing his documentary film 'The Wonder of It All' about the Apollo moon walkers. The film is executive produced by long-time family friend Jerry Weintraub.
Bush was U.S. president from 1989 to 1993. Although he released a collection of letters and diary entries in 1999, he has not written an autobiography or memoir of his years in power.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
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HBO said on Thursday that the documentary, called '41' to reflect Bush's position as the United State's 41st president, sees Bush reflecting on his childhood, family and a life that took him from World War Two navy aviator to CIA director, vice-president and the White House.
It was filmed over a 17-month period at Bush's Kennebunkport, Maine summer home and his presidential library in Texas, and will be aired two days after he marks his 88th birthday on June 12.
HBO said Bush agreed to take part in the documentary after meeting writer and director Jeffrey Roth and seeing his documentary film 'The Wonder of It All' about the Apollo moon walkers. The film is executive produced by long-time family friend Jerry Weintraub.
Bush was U.S. president from 1989 to 1993. Although he released a collection of letters and diary entries in 1999, he has not written an autobiography or memoir of his years in power.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
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Thursday, April 19, 2012
Oprah not among Time's Most Influential People
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Oprah Winfrey has been on Time's list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World every year the magazine has published the list... until now. After being included by Time for nine years, more times than any other influencer, Winfrey is missing from the just-released 2012 list.
In the past year, Winfrey has ended her syndicated daytime talk show, pulled the plug on Rosie O'Donnell's OWN show, and announced layoffs as OWN struggles for ratings.
Among those who snagged spots on the list for the first time are Claire Danes, Mitt Romney, Tim Tebow, Louis C.K., Kristen Wiig, Jeremy Lin, Matt Lauer and 'The Help' stars Jessica Chastain and Viola Davis.
Besides Winfrey, other people who've made multiple appearances on the Time list include Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (seven times each), Steve Jobs (five times) and Bill Clinton (four times).
This article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE.
In the past year, Winfrey has ended her syndicated daytime talk show, pulled the plug on Rosie O'Donnell's OWN show, and announced layoffs as OWN struggles for ratings.
Among those who snagged spots on the list for the first time are Claire Danes, Mitt Romney, Tim Tebow, Louis C.K., Kristen Wiig, Jeremy Lin, Matt Lauer and 'The Help' stars Jessica Chastain and Viola Davis.
Besides Winfrey, other people who've made multiple appearances on the Time list include Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (seven times each), Steve Jobs (five times) and Bill Clinton (four times).
This article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
A Minute With: Carly Simon on writing songs and books
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Singer-songwriter Carly Simon, 66, known for 1970s smash hits like 'You're So Vain,' is being honored this week with the prestigious ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) Founders Award.
The award comes four decades after Simon released her first solo record, the self-titled 'Carly Simon' with the break-through hit 'That's the Way I've Always Heard it Should Be,' followed quickly by her 'Anticipation,' album and then 'No Secrets' with the single, 'You're So Vain.'
The winner of multiple Grammys and an Oscar for her song 'Let the River Run' from the 1988 film 'Working Girl,' Simon is the daughter of the late Richard Simon, co-founder of book publisher Simon & Schuster. She also has penned five childrens books and is currently working on an autobiography.
Simon spoke with Reuters by phone from her house in Martha's Vineyard about her upcoming book, her fear of performing and her battle with breast cancer in 1997-1998.
Q: Did having cancer affect your career, your creativity and writing?
A: 'There's a bigger story about the breast cancer than the cancer. It's about relationships.'
Q: How did your relationships change?
A: 'I wasn't treated well. I think I was let go of certain jobs and affiliations. It was very confusing but everything was smoothed over because people are smart and don't want you to be hurt. People were saying it's got nothing to do with that. It is hard to disregard.
Q: How did you deal with that?
A: 'It was like I was the disappearing woman. When I went to the Grammys that year, I noticed how many people avoided me. There were a lot of people who were just not looking at me. It was the first time I was out in public since I'd been diagnosed. The record that I had (just) put out had been dropped and the head of my record label didn't look at me. It's like there were masks on. I had disappeared in the audience. Some people were so scared they moved away from me in their hearts and minds.'
Q: What did you work on after that?
A: 'Then I went into a wonderful period where I did some work for Disney on the Pooh films. It was about three years of work. They were not big movies, but I got a lot of good feeling in my heart. And then I moved lock, stock and barrel to Martha's Vineyard ... moving to the Vineyard was like coming home to Tara. The land held me in its embrace.'
Q: Do you plan to sing at the ASCAP event? It's well known that you are stage shy.
A: 'My whole life has been very much led by the fact that I have a handicap. I have a bad stammer. When I was a child it was much, much worse. And when you see me talk, it's worse. I have ticks in my face when I talk. I'm going to sing a song at the ASCAP event. It's not easier when I sing.'
Q: That's must be very difficult. How do you deal with it?
A: 'There was no specific remedy for it when I was a kid, so I never coped with it. I just had my mom's lap. I would sit on her lap and cry all the time. I'd be so embarrassed and afraid to go to school. When my nervous system was bad, my mom would just say 'Sing it.' I started living an opera beginning when I was 7. I would sing as much as I could or start tapping my hand on my thighs. As long as there was a rhythm, I could get through it.'
Q: You think it would have been easier now?
A: 'It's another thing that people didn't know that much about. If 'The King's Speech' had come out when I was in high school, then people would have had more understanding about stuttering.'
Q: Sounds like you've had some difficult times in spite of all your success.
A: 'I've had a very glorious and glamorous and wonderful life and a very scary and handicapped existence, which is promoted by fear. It's made for a very pointy edge on my fear knife. As a result, I could disappear from the scene or be open and talk about it so that people can identify with it.'
Q: What makes you happy these days?
A: 'I have a wonderful partner, a man who is a surgeon. He's a very Type A personality, but I can't imagine a surgeon not being that way. He's great. His name is Richard and he's handsome and he's brilliant and very dear and loving.'
Q: And how's your work?
A: 'I'm trying to spend the rest of the year getting completed with the book. I'm not sure how I'll sell it, either as a memoir or an autobiography. I have an agent. It seems like everyone is writing memoirs or everyone in the music business is. Hopefully, by the time mine comes it will have died down. But this is not as (crucial) as the writing of the story.'
Q: Does writing a book feel the same as writing a song?
A: 'Yes. It's like baking. Writing books is like a combination of writing a song and a letter. I love writing songs. It's my love.'
(Editing by Patricia Reaney and Bob Tourtellotte)
This article is brought to you by MATCHMAKING.
The award comes four decades after Simon released her first solo record, the self-titled 'Carly Simon' with the break-through hit 'That's the Way I've Always Heard it Should Be,' followed quickly by her 'Anticipation,' album and then 'No Secrets' with the single, 'You're So Vain.'
The winner of multiple Grammys and an Oscar for her song 'Let the River Run' from the 1988 film 'Working Girl,' Simon is the daughter of the late Richard Simon, co-founder of book publisher Simon & Schuster. She also has penned five childrens books and is currently working on an autobiography.
Simon spoke with Reuters by phone from her house in Martha's Vineyard about her upcoming book, her fear of performing and her battle with breast cancer in 1997-1998.
Q: Did having cancer affect your career, your creativity and writing?
A: 'There's a bigger story about the breast cancer than the cancer. It's about relationships.'
Q: How did your relationships change?
A: 'I wasn't treated well. I think I was let go of certain jobs and affiliations. It was very confusing but everything was smoothed over because people are smart and don't want you to be hurt. People were saying it's got nothing to do with that. It is hard to disregard.
Q: How did you deal with that?
A: 'It was like I was the disappearing woman. When I went to the Grammys that year, I noticed how many people avoided me. There were a lot of people who were just not looking at me. It was the first time I was out in public since I'd been diagnosed. The record that I had (just) put out had been dropped and the head of my record label didn't look at me. It's like there were masks on. I had disappeared in the audience. Some people were so scared they moved away from me in their hearts and minds.'
Q: What did you work on after that?
A: 'Then I went into a wonderful period where I did some work for Disney on the Pooh films. It was about three years of work. They were not big movies, but I got a lot of good feeling in my heart. And then I moved lock, stock and barrel to Martha's Vineyard ... moving to the Vineyard was like coming home to Tara. The land held me in its embrace.'
Q: Do you plan to sing at the ASCAP event? It's well known that you are stage shy.
A: 'My whole life has been very much led by the fact that I have a handicap. I have a bad stammer. When I was a child it was much, much worse. And when you see me talk, it's worse. I have ticks in my face when I talk. I'm going to sing a song at the ASCAP event. It's not easier when I sing.'
Q: That's must be very difficult. How do you deal with it?
A: 'There was no specific remedy for it when I was a kid, so I never coped with it. I just had my mom's lap. I would sit on her lap and cry all the time. I'd be so embarrassed and afraid to go to school. When my nervous system was bad, my mom would just say 'Sing it.' I started living an opera beginning when I was 7. I would sing as much as I could or start tapping my hand on my thighs. As long as there was a rhythm, I could get through it.'
Q: You think it would have been easier now?
A: 'It's another thing that people didn't know that much about. If 'The King's Speech' had come out when I was in high school, then people would have had more understanding about stuttering.'
Q: Sounds like you've had some difficult times in spite of all your success.
A: 'I've had a very glorious and glamorous and wonderful life and a very scary and handicapped existence, which is promoted by fear. It's made for a very pointy edge on my fear knife. As a result, I could disappear from the scene or be open and talk about it so that people can identify with it.'
Q: What makes you happy these days?
A: 'I have a wonderful partner, a man who is a surgeon. He's a very Type A personality, but I can't imagine a surgeon not being that way. He's great. His name is Richard and he's handsome and he's brilliant and very dear and loving.'
Q: And how's your work?
A: 'I'm trying to spend the rest of the year getting completed with the book. I'm not sure how I'll sell it, either as a memoir or an autobiography. I have an agent. It seems like everyone is writing memoirs or everyone in the music business is. Hopefully, by the time mine comes it will have died down. But this is not as (crucial) as the writing of the story.'
Q: Does writing a book feel the same as writing a song?
A: 'Yes. It's like baking. Writing books is like a combination of writing a song and a letter. I love writing songs. It's my love.'
(Editing by Patricia Reaney and Bob Tourtellotte)
This article is brought to you by MATCHMAKING.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Jolie fame to highlight humanitarian crises: UNHCR
GENEVA (Reuters) - Film star Angelina Jolie will use her powerful box office fame to draw attention to some of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday.
Jolie, who has already served more than 10 years as goodwill ambassador for the U.N2005 interview with The Boston Globe wh. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is taking on a new role as special envoy for large-scale crises that cause huge numbers of civilians to flee their homelands.
She is expected to concentrate on complex emergencies and protracted refugee crises including Afghanistan and Somalia which have driven millions of people into neighboring countries, the UNHCR said.
'UNHCR is pleased to announce today that Angelina Jolie will take on a new and expanded role for the U.Nay morning news broadcast, . refugee agency as Special Envoy of High Commissioner Antonio Guterres,' UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told a news briefing in Geneva.
Jolie was due to be named Special Representative on the Afghan refugee crisis last October, but there has been no final agreement.
'In her new role, she is expected to focus on large-scale crises resulting in the mass displacement of people, to undertake advocacy and represent UNHCR and Mrreport for CBS sent Wallace into a personal ta. Guterres at the diplomatic level,' Edwards added.
Jolie has already made 40 field visits to hotspots in 20 countries on behalf of the agency, including Pakistan, Haiti, Iraq, Syria and Chad attempt were some of the most produ. She has donated at least $5 million for its life-saving operations, Edwards said.
'This is an exceptional position reflecting an exceptional role she has played for us,' he said.
Jolie and her longtime partner Brad Pitt, one of the world's best known couples, are engaged to marry, ending a fevered, seven-year celebrity media dance over whether they will ever say 'I do'.
A spokesman for Pitt confirmed last Friday that the pair had agreed to wed after Jolie was photographed in Los Angeles wearing a large diamond ring, designed by Pitt.
The couple, dubbed Brangelina by celebrity media, are raising six children together, three of whom are adopted.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles, editing by Paul Casciato)
This article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE.
Jolie, who has already served more than 10 years as goodwill ambassador for the U.N2005 interview with The Boston Globe wh. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is taking on a new role as special envoy for large-scale crises that cause huge numbers of civilians to flee their homelands.
She is expected to concentrate on complex emergencies and protracted refugee crises including Afghanistan and Somalia which have driven millions of people into neighboring countries, the UNHCR said.
'UNHCR is pleased to announce today that Angelina Jolie will take on a new and expanded role for the U.Nay morning news broadcast, . refugee agency as Special Envoy of High Commissioner Antonio Guterres,' UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told a news briefing in Geneva.
Jolie was due to be named Special Representative on the Afghan refugee crisis last October, but there has been no final agreement.
'In her new role, she is expected to focus on large-scale crises resulting in the mass displacement of people, to undertake advocacy and represent UNHCR and Mrreport for CBS sent Wallace into a personal ta. Guterres at the diplomatic level,' Edwards added.
Jolie has already made 40 field visits to hotspots in 20 countries on behalf of the agency, including Pakistan, Haiti, Iraq, Syria and Chad attempt were some of the most produ. She has donated at least $5 million for its life-saving operations, Edwards said.
'This is an exceptional position reflecting an exceptional role she has played for us,' he said.
Jolie and her longtime partner Brad Pitt, one of the world's best known couples, are engaged to marry, ending a fevered, seven-year celebrity media dance over whether they will ever say 'I do'.
A spokesman for Pitt confirmed last Friday that the pair had agreed to wed after Jolie was photographed in Los Angeles wearing a large diamond ring, designed by Pitt.
The couple, dubbed Brangelina by celebrity media, are raising six children together, three of whom are adopted.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles, editing by Paul Casciato)
This article is brought to you by DATING ADVICE.
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