Polo Playahs?

Overheard at dinner in the Polo Lounge: (The OMG version)

Wow, that Bollywood actress. She was stunning wasn't she?

Yeah sure. I guess.

So Mr. Beatty, can you ask something?

Call me Warren kid, I like you. You remind me of my friend Monty. You're an actor you can make it look like you like anybody, even stone cold blondes. Look at me with Dunaway.

No no not that.

Kid I've seen your work off screen. Take some free advice, if you want anyone to believe you like you're a ladies man, you gotta at least look at them a little.

Mr. Bea..

Warren.

Mr. Beatty, I just want to ask you how you played a quarterback in the 70's. I gotta do this Namath movie, and wanted to get your advice.

You're Broadway Joe. Yeah you got the look kid, and you can do the dandy duds Joe liked, and think you can do the pantyhose thing, but you gotta lot a work to do...

Is it hard to make people think your a real quarterback?

Nah, that's easy, get a good technical advisor, and editing helps kid, get some kind of say in that. You know Joe was a lot of fun, fun fun guy. Always lots girls followed Joe. Man it was fun back then.

Mr. Beatty..

You know kid, I think your challenge isn't make people believe girls wanted to sleep with Joe, your hardest thing for you playing Joe, unlike real Joe, is that you want to sleep with them. Never had that problem myself.

Mr. Beatty...

Warren Listen kid I know you want to get into producing. It's a good thing, you get control of what goes on screen, you get to call the shots, and when you know something's good, Oscar answers. But for every Bugsy there's a Reds. Remember that kid.

Mr. Beatty...

Don't worry about the acting sister thing, it works.

Mr. Beatty....

What kid?

Could you help me with one more thing, someone very close to me loves Hal Ashby and I was wondering if you could help me get something cool from Shampoo for him.

Out Spotlight XCV

Today's Out Spotlight is Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate of Great Britain, who is not only is the first woman laureate, she is the first Scot, the first mother, and the first lesbian in it's 341 year history.

Carol Ann Duffy, is a poet, playwright, and freelance writer, Professor of Contemporary Poetry at the Manchester Metropolitan University and Creative Director of the Manchester Writing School, in the university's Department of English.

Born December 23 1955, in Glasgow, the oldest child of Frank Duffy and May Black, and the only girl to four boys. she moved to Stafford, England when she was six, her father working as a fitter for English Electric. Her father also ran as a parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party and managed Stafford Rangers football club in his spare time. Raised a Roman Catholic, she was educated at Saint Austin's Roman Catholic Primary School, St. Joseph's Convent School ) and Stafford Girls' High School - where her literary talent was encouraged by English master J. A. Walker. She was also influenced by the 'Liverpool poet' Adrian Henri.

Duffy was a passionate reader from an early age, and she always wanted to be a writer. "She began writing poems when she was 11; when her English teacher died. She began publishing her poetry at 16. Many of her poems reflect on time, change, and loss." In dramatizing scenes of childhood, adolescence, and adult life, whether personal or public, contemporary or historical, she discovers moments of consolation through love, memory, and language. She explores not only everyday experience, but also the rich fantasy life of herself and others.

The origins of Britain's poet laureateship are hazy, but it is believed by many that Ben Jonson was the first to hold the position; the role (along with a pension of 100 marks a year) was conferred on him by James I. Other laureates include William Wordsworth, Alfred Lloyd Tennyson, Cecil Day-Lewis and John Betjeman.

With a such a rich history of poets, and the gravity of the position, Duffy thought long and hard about accepting the offer.

"The decision was purely because they hadn't had a woman," she said. "I look on it as recognition of the great women poets we now have writing, like Alice Oswald" and for all the women considered for the laureateship over the years, the first, Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 1850, when Wordsworth died, but Tennyson was chosen instead. Forty-two years later, Christina Rossetti was overlooked upon Tennyson's death, and rather than appoint a woman to the position it was left vacant until Alfred Austin, viewed today as one of the worst ever laureates,was appointed.

Taking the position, Duffy said she was ready to deal with the scrutiny which comes with it, suggesting that her experience as one of Britain's popular modern poets would be beneficial, but that she would vigorously defend her private life.

Duffy, narrowly missed out on the laureateship to her friend Andrew Motion in 1999 after the death of Ted Hughes, who had held the post since 1984, but her friend Motion was eventually offered the role. It was widely speculated at the time, based on remarks from a Blair staffer that Duffy was passed over in part because Blair was concerned about how Duffy's sexuality would go over with the public. Others saying she was reluctant as well to take up the prominent role given her status as a mother in a lesbian relationship. Duffy has a 13-year-old daughter, Ella, and ended a 10-year relationship with Scottish poet Jackie Kay a few years ago.

At the time, Duffy told the Guardian that she "didn't want to do the thing", but when "all these stories started appearing, I got scores of letters from women saying do it, do it, do it. But I was never really sure. I never really came out and said whether I wanted it or not." Quoted as saying that the role needed to be "much more democratic", being more the people's poet than monarch's, and that she would "not write a poem for Edward and Sophie - no self-respecting poet should have to", she'd actually backed the late UA Fanthorpe for the post.

This time, she declared herself ready to tackle the official verse which the laureateship requires, but only if the occasion inspired her. "If not, then I'd ignore it," she said.

She plans to donate her yearly stipend of £5,750 to the Poetry Society to fund a new poetry prize for the best annual collection. "I didn't want to take on what basically is an honor on behalf of other poets and complicate it with money," she explained. "I thought it was better to give it back to poetry." However, she did asked that her "butt of sack" – 600 bottles of sherry traditionally given to the laureate – be delivered up front, after learning that her predecessor Motion has yet to receive his payment.

One of the bestselling poets in the UK, she has managed to combine critical acclaim with popularity: a rare feat in the poetry world. Her 1999 collection The World's Wife, which saw every poem told in the voice of a wife of a great historical figure, from Mrs Aesop to Queen Herod, was the first to gain her mass appeal.

Duffy received the OBE in 1995 and went on to add a CBE in 2002. She won the TS Eliot prize in 2005 for her collection of linked love poems, Rapture. She has also won the Dylan Thomas award, the Whitbread poetry prize, the Somerset Maugham award and the Forward prize, and features regularly on school and university syllabuses.

“If I am a lesbian icon and a role model, that’s great, but if it’s a word that is used to reduce me, then you have to ask why someone would want to reduce me.” She said she preferred to define herself as “a poet and a mother — that’s all.”

Minstry of Silly Talks

This is why I want to see Jake do interviews again. Those silly funny moments and charming ths socks off people, and how that giggle slips out and those blue eyes twinkling. That is what we haven't gotten in almost two years, and what has been missed so much. But have no doubt that will see it again.

A monkey in a diaper, this could be another classic Gyllentale.

Seeing You

Remember when we had to do this, because we hadn't seen Austin. Well it looks like that won't be a problem anymore.

We will be seeing a lot of him, especially on One Tree Hill.

Mark Schwann revealed that Julian will be in a lot of episodes,if not all of them in Season 7. He said, “Yeah. I think last season we got into a bad habit of giving every couple a beginning, middle and an end.

But this year is more like season one where there may be a character in an episode for just one scene, but they’re servicing something that’s going to advance over the serialized nature of the show. So, yeah, so far, Austin’s been in every episode and I can’t imagine that won’t continue.”




And just like you do with friends, you'd rather not see them in things like


Snuggies


Double Knit Slacks


Getting Set Up

Fiscal F-it ' esses

Austin has talked about the trying to watch his language around his little niece Ella, and now his nephew Link, and .... uhmmm well let's say at home. ; ) But he's gotta watch it at work too, because each swear around Jackson Brundage, who Haley and Nathan's son Jamie, on the set it's a $20.00 fine.

Talk about an economic stimulus package for the future of America.




You can see how well Austin took the news.

Nichols, Little advice just give the kid your scooter and call it even for your "between now and Christmas" swears.

Who does Jackson make the most cash from? Sophia.
Looks like a lady, swears like a sailor.

But she might competition this season from new castmate Shantel.

For the gag reel of the best of the mess ups, flubs, f-bombs (Mr. Nichols!) and a dancing tall Texan check it out.

Sand 'em smooth

As much as things change somethings remain the same.





All this sand and Jake such the woodworker made me think of this.

"I was on the beach - a bit secluded area about two miles north of the Ritz Carlton- Laguna Niguel. I was there with my bf - we like the beach and no one is ever in that corner - the water not quite as easy to deal with but fine if you are not planning on serious swimming or water sports. So we hear some sounds and we see that there are two guys totally making out but they are in shorts and tee shirts so don't get all hyper. And as soon as they hear us they quickly separate and pretend that nothing was going on. I guess because we were behind some rocks they didn't realize that we saw them.

As we get closer we realize one of them is Jake and I have no idea who the other guy is. Sandy hair kinda short and wavy. Couldn't see eye color because both put their sunglasses on really quickly. and Jake put on this baseball cap as we got closer but we already realized it was him.

[I]We probably should have said something but it was kinda awkward. They just nodded and we nodded and kept going. As soon as we were about 20 feet away, they quickly picked up whatever they had and left."

At the time there was all kinds of debate about the sandy short and wavy haired beach bud. But looking at the pictures from Informers makes you wonder if there was that was in the early blonding of the tall Texan. Because we know from Austin himself he does change his hair for the auditions, why not then.

Just a little sandy.



Pictures: IHJ/Austin Nichols Journal/Various

A-bomb

Talk about dropping while its hot. There's so much Austin today that I had to start in the wee hours of the morning to give it enough space. It's a blitzkrieg of Austiness. And we're just talking about regular scheduled Austin business. Not the BushNic (thanks LoL) that dropped over the weekend.

It might have bomb at the box office, but there's new life in DVDs. The Informers comes out today on DVD and Blue Ray. All eyes are looking for those delete scenes and missing minutes. And more more more of Austin in all of his blond bad boyness.



Another Sortee:

Season Six of One Tree Hill is available today too. And if you haven't check out the sneak peeks of Austin dancing in Clothes over Bros with Sophia and creator Mark Schwann what are you waiting for? Go check it out over on Austin Nichols Journal!!! Spooky has this and one of the deleted scenes with Julian and Sam. Check out the Texan snacking on popcorn.

Spooky and Vesperlynd do such an awesome job keeping on top of all the Austin news and pics, just need to give them another shout out.

Oh you know this make Jake's Jiffy PoP.

And dropping the big one for Season 7.
The first pictures of from the first episode of Julian and Brooke. It looks like it they are going for a direct hit this season and will make their target.

Surf

and turf

Where are the other set of my favorite magical floating shoes ?

Where are my heels when I need them?

Pictures: Informers/ Austin Nichols Journal/ Daemon's TV

Hand some more ?

A little Jakey today with all the Austin that is coming tomorrow.



Despite the long pause for Jake on the big screen, and almost two years without any interviews Jake still has staying power. Jake is number 7 on Premiere's The 40 Most Handsome Hollywood Men list. Not too shabby in the company of James Franco, Robert Pattinson, Bradley Cooper, Hugh Jackman, Josh Duhamel, and Ryan Reynolds, who proceeded him and in the company of 10. Orlando Bloom, 12. Brad Pitt, 17. Chris Pine,and Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio at 23 and 24 respectively.

Now they mentioned the Past,Present and Future hotness of each man by movie, but thought would look at it a little different way.

It is amazing to realize that just 28 Jake has played two iconic roles in modern movie history. And he has years to go in his career. While like most here are enamored of Jake's past, many are not happy with his public present, and a lot had debated about his future.



Two years is a long break from interviewing and with just pictures it tends to people seeing what they want to see. What will be interesting is what we will hear, and see if the interviews for upcoming his movies if he will bring his sparkle and and shine back. Sometimes still become the passive answer to things, its the interviews that bring back the dynamic to the party.

First up of course is Brothers, and it is getting more talk in circles, with more buzz, and just 3 months till it opens. One new development that happened over the weekend that might have given Brothers' better chances come Oscar time, not only the increase in the number of movies for best picture, but Scorsese's Shutter Island has been pushed back until February, taking a big contender out of race for this year's Oscars.



Looking at the trailer and Jim Sheridan's work, you can see that he has drawn out great performance from all three, Toby, Jake and Natalie. The picture seems to be firming up its place on the definite contenders.

Tommy (Jake), the "charismatic younger brother, is a drifter just out of jail who’s always gotten by on wit and charm." With that sentence you can see why Sheridan cast Jake. Because he has that in spades.

Will we see that wit and charm again in his interviews? I have no doubt we will. And think it that is which gives Jake the staying power on list like these despite his pauses.

It not just physical features but couple with that wit and charm that makes men so handsome. It's the look, the wink, the twinkle, the sparkle, the undefinable charm that's there, and that's why there is no doubt that even 10, 20 or even 40 years from now, Jake will still be on Handsome Hollywood lists. Past present and future.