(Display Name not set)March 2006 Archives

As if it isn't enough to be badgered by paparazzi and crazed fans, now David and Victoria Beckham, Britain's celebrity royals, are reportedly being fought over by Tom Cruise and Madonna. Does Tom want the soccer phenom to star in his next movie? Nope. Does Madonna want the former Spice Girl to do a duet? Nope. According to MSNBC.com's The Scoop, Madge and Tom are waging a battle to win the super couple over to Kabbalah and Scientology, respectively.

Pictures of Posh with Cruise's fiance, Katie Holmes, have been splashed all over the celebrity gossip magazines for the past few months. But it seems that Jewish mysticism is winning out: Those same tabloids are now carrying pictures with Mrs. Beckham sporting the red string bracelet popular among Kabbalah enthusiasts.

"Perhaps Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie have the edge," Rick Ross of Cultnews.com tells Scoop, "since Ritchie after all is a Brit and his wife keeps a house in the English countryside."

Perhaps Madonna and Cruise should just get together and form a religion called Sciencabbalism. Maybe then they'd finally land America's celebrity royal, Oprah--who according to reports, has so far been able to resist the efforts of both the couch jumper and the Material Girl.

"This song goes out to everybody that wants to be free. Your addiction, lifestyle, or situation may be big, but God is bigger," proclaimed "American Idol" contestant Mandisa as she strutted onto the stage last night to sing the 2000 hit "Wanna Praise You" by the gospel duo Mary Mary. The song, also known as "Shackles" was described by the powerful vocalist--a leader at Living Proof Live conferences who's not shy about talking about Jesus, especially to judge Simon Cowell--as a "testimony that there's nothing too hard for God."

While her spirited performance had members of the audience, including Season 3 contestant George Huff, up in their seats, Cowell found the performance to be "a bit indulgent," noting that he "just didn't get the performance." Paula Abdul, however, judged it more than worthy, saying, "There's a new religion and 40 million people have now joined the church of Mandisa."

So, while we know Abdul's a convert, we'll have to wait and see on tonight's results show how viewers judge Mandisa's no-holds-barred testimony.

The metaphysical motif of the final “Sopranos” season rolled on last night, as a comatose Tony, shot by his Uncle Junior, chose not to “walk into the light,” even as he was driven toward it by Paulie Walnuts’s yammering at his bedside.

As revealed during last week’s episode, Tony's mind, in his coma, is replaying his life, though this version is far different than what actually happened. In his reverie, Tony, some sort of salesman, is in possession of a briefcase belonging to a Kevin Finnerty. Checking into a hotel, he is asked to present ID, and having no other ID, he uses Finnerty’s. At that point, a group of Buddhist monks accost him, demanding accountability for a bum heating system Finnerty sold their monastery.

Forward to this week’s episode, and Tony finds himself served with papers by the Crystal Monastery. Hoping to uncover the true identity of Kevin Finnerty, he seeks out the monks, who chuckle each time he tells them that he isn’t Finnerty. If you haven’t gotten it by now, Tony’s new name is a thinly veiled reference to the concept of infinity. One of the merry monks explains that, in the end, everything is one, but for now, someone needs to be responsible--for the heating system, in this case. Tony has also been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and therefore, isn’t sure whether or not he really isn’t Finnerty, so he heads to a Finnerty family reunion in search of more answers.

Upon reaching the Inn at the Oaks, he is greeted by a man he does not recognize, played by Steve Buscemi--who played Tony’s cousin in season five, and whom Tony had to murder. Tony starts walking toward the door, but doesn’t want to relinquish his briefcase. The man tells him that he has to, that his family is waiting for him, and that there’s no business allowed inside. Tony is hesitant to let the man have the case, though he doesn’t seem to know why, until he hears a small voice--Meadow’s voice--calling him back. Tony slowly opens his eyes to see a blurry Meadow and Carmella at his side.

Will Tony be a changed man after his near-death experience? Will he take responsibility for his actions, as the monks have asked? In his coma, did he overhear anything that he shouldn’t have?

The episode raises many questions and is full of just as many afterlife clichés--the Buddhist concepts of consciousness and existence, the idea of heading into the light (Tony keeps seeing a beacon in the distance), and the hope that we are all to be reunited with family at the end. But Tony chooses not to transcend. No matter how tempting the afterlife looks, his family still needs him.

In "National Lampoon’s European Vacation," Rusty Griswold discovers, much to his dismay, that every English television station airs the exact same show on cheese-making. So, when I saw that my local PBS station was airing a documentary called “The Cheese Nun,” I was both intrigued and hesitant. What Sister Wendy is to art, Sister Noella is to cheese. A Benedictine nun in Bethlehem, Conn., this former Sarah Lawrence student has been dubbed the “celebrated champion of France's famous raw-milk cheeses” by the New York Times, which also notes that she has “achieved near rock-star status among cheesemakers and cheese-lovers."

A cloistered nun--and in-house cheesemaker--at the Abbey of Regina Laudis, Sister Noella earned a doctorate in microbiology from the University of Connecticut after the abbey sent several sisters out into the world in order to learn new techniques to help with their farming and food production routines. She soon earned a Fulbright Scholarship and traveled around France for a year, visiting with traditional cheesemakers. Not only did she learn techniques passed down from generations, but she also studied the microbes and fungi from the historical cheese caves that give les fromages their distinctive tastes.

Due to modern methods of mass production, traditional cheese making is a dying art, and these microbes may be lost to modernity--though not if Sister Noella can help it. This is one nun on a distinctively different crusade.

The documentary, originally aired in 2004, is fascinating for a number of reasons: The microbiology of cheese, as it turns out, is extremely engaging, as is the French tradition of cheese-making. But most delightful is Sister Noelle herself, whose enthusiasm is absolutely contagious. And while she enjoys a cloistered lifestyle, much like her cheeses as they age, she does get out to accept numerous honors, including the French Food Spirit Award.

Check your local listings.

Who says there's no "Passion" effect, no rush to mimic Mel Gibson's phenomenal success? Details magazine reports in its April cover story featuring Vin Diesel--whose recent filmography includes "The Chronicles of Riddick" and "The Pacifier"--that he is preparing to star as "one of the baddest conquerors in all history: Hannibal, the elephant-riding Alps-crosser." And, oh yeah, he's doing the film in Punic.

So, the sword-and-sandals epic isn't exactly the type of "religious revival" media speculated about after "The Passion of the Christ," but Diesel certainly is making like Mel and joining the dead language club. "It is nutty!" Diesel explained to queries from Detail's Kevin Gray. “But I don’t have a choice. I got to do it right."

Let's hope it's more "Boiler Room" right, than "xXx" right.

SciFi Channel is looking for a few good psychics.The cable channel is planning a reality show, slated to air this summer, that promises to delve "into the world of psychic phenomena in a way never seen before." "The Gift," as...

The long-awaited opener to the sixth season of "The Sopranos" started out more Beatnik than Bayonne. Viewers were treated to a surreal roundup of what’s happened since we last checked in the Sopranos, some 18 months ago, with William S....

What’s that saying about getting out of the kitchen if you can’t stand the heat?Looks like Isaac Hayes, the voice of Jerome "Chef" McElroy, doesn’t like what those "South Park" boys--Matt Stone and Trey Parker--have been cooking. E! Online reports...

John Travolta's decision to play Edna Turnblad in the upcoming musical film version of "Hairspray" --based on the stage musical, which was based on the original film--has "raised eyebrows of Scientology watchers," reports MSNBC.com's Scoop.Made famous by cross-dressing legend Divine...

With homes in London, the British countryside, and Los Angeles, why would Madonna be interested in a "shack" by the Sea of Galilee? According to the The Times of London and other news organizations, the Material Girl's representatives have been...

Those viewers who didn't turn off the televisions directly after the Best Picture acceptance speech last night were treated to a bit of tasteless self-promotion by ABC. Pumping the return of its regularly scheduled Sunday night lineup--"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,"...

Actress Michelle Williams, who first shot to fame as beleaguered ex-bad-girl Jen Lindley on “Dawson’s Creek” and has since been Oscar-nominated for her turn as the beleaguered, heartbroken wife of gay cowboy Ennis Del Mar in “Brokeback Mountain,” won’t be...