The Word

Newcastle Herald

Saturday February 16, 2008

with Amy Edwards and Anita Beaumont

'You try wagging these puppies

around a while and see if you

don't have back problems.'

- Busty country singer Dolly Parton, who has had to postpone

her forthcoming US tour because of back ache.

METALLIC MOMENTS

LOOK OF THE WEEK

EVA LONGORIA PARKER

THE actress glitters backstage at the

Michael Kors Fall 2008 fashion show in

New York City on February 6.

KATE HUDSON

THE star of Fool's Gold found her own bit of

sparkle with this frock. She is at the British

Academy of Film and Television Arts awards

ceremony at The Royal Opera House in

London on February 10.

HAYDEN PANETTIERE

THE Heroes actress looks great in this short

frock. Panettiere poses during a photocall

to present her film Fireflies in the Garden at

the 58th Berlinale International Film Festival

on February 10.

RACHEL BILSON

ACTRESS Bilson attends the premiere of

the movie Jumper at the Zeigfeld Theatre in

New York on February 11.

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY

KNIGHTLEY shines in silver at the BAFTA

Awards in London.

HEIDI RANGE

CUTE dress but it would be even better

without black stockings. The Sugarbabe

is at the Elle Style Awards 2008 at The

Westway in London on February 12.

Scarlet fever

ACTRESS Scarlett Johansson

will release her debut album,

Anywhere I Lay My Head, on

May 24.

The album features

10 Tom Waits songs and

includes one original track.

Johansson is joined

by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

guitarist Nick Zinner

and Sean Antanaitis

from Celebration, as

well as others.

Johansson spent five

weeks last year

recording at Dockside

Studios in Louisiana.

The Lost in Translation,

Girl With A Pearl

Earring and Match

Point star claims her

other talents include

'my ability to do the

running man [dance]

and the fact that I can

sing all the words to

Salt-n-Pepa songs'.

Groover.

Abbie hour

THE awards are often politically incorrect and

tongue-in-cheek but Lochinvar actress Abbie Cornish

has managed to be nominated in a serious category

for the upcoming Movie Extra Filmink Awards.

Cornish, whose family still live in the Hunter, has

been nominated for Best Performance by an Aussie

in an Overseas Movie.

She is up against Hollywood bigwigs such as Hugh

Jackman and Cate Blanchett.

Cornish has been nominated for her portrayal of

the perfect English rose in Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

Hosted by the pay TV channel of the same name,

the Movie Extra Filmink Awards will be held in

Sydney next month.

Guests will include Academy Award nominee

Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider), Joel Edgerton

(Secret Life of Us) and Chris Taylor from The Chaser's

War on Everything.

Other awards categories include Best Hair, Best

Nude Scene and Best Sort.

Cornish, who starred opposite Heath Ledger in

gritty 2006 drug drama Candy, recently attended a

moving private service for the actor in Hollywood.

Q&Q

QUESTION TIME

STUART CUBA

SINGER AND BASS PLAYER

STU Cuba has a passion

for the law and being the

frontman of an energetic live

music act. While many might

think this sounds problematic,

the muso juggles them both

just nicely. Well, except for that

Border Security incident. Stu

is part of the Newcastle-based

seven-piece Ska band known as

Rubix Cuba.

The group, which has

performed alongside Killing

Heidi and The Butterfly Effect,

have been recording their debut

album,With Life, due for release

in August. Their next gig is at

the Northern Star, Hamilton, on

February 29.

1. YOU WILL TOUR JAPAN

THIS YEAR. HAVE YOU

LEARNT ANY JAPANESE?

I haven't learnt Japanese.

However, I did eat at the Iron

Chef dinner in November last

year.

2. HOW DOES BEING A

SOLICITOR HELP WITH YOUR

MUSIC CAREER?

When record labels say 'no

unsolicited material' I ring them

up and tell them I'm a solicitor so

its OK. They don't get the joke.

3. DID BORDER SECURITY

CHECK YOUR MASCOT, CUBIE,

FOR ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES?

On our latest tour in New

Zealand our sound engineer,

Sean Brown, and myself were

pulled up by New Zealand

Border Security, much to our

amusement, and checked for

illicit substances. Unfortunately,

Sean also works at a popular

pub and a few particles from

someone's idea of a big night

out ended up on his sunglasses.

Barely enough to talk about,

and we were both amused given

Sean does not smoke,

drink or do

drugs. New Zealand Border

Security weren't so amused and

we ended up stuck at Wellington

Airport for several hours being

personally searched and our

gear taken apart. It made for a

great episode of Border Security.

Our trumpet player, Sara,

was disappointed she wasn't

searched.

4. HOW DID YOU GUYS GET

THE NAME RUBIX CUBA?

I don't know, and I started the

band. I suppose there are worse

names. I can tell you what it

means, only because once you

come up with a band name for

no particular reason you have to

invent reasons to justify it. It's a

contradiction in that it is a cross

between a communist stalwart

and commercial '80s fad - Cuba

versus Rubik's Cube.

5. OUT OF ALL THE BANDS

YOU?VE PLAYED ALONGSIDE,

WHO IMPRESSES YOU THE

MOST?

The Royal Crown Revue are the

most impressive band I've played

alongside. They are a swing band

from the US who perform on The

Mask while Cameron Diaz and

Jim Carrey dance away. They

are amazing musicians with an

amazing work ethic.

TOP 10 NEWSMAKERS

THIS WEEK LAST WEEK

1 KEVIN RUDD 1

2 GARY VAN EGMOND -

3 JOEL GRIFFITHS 6

4 BRENDAN NELSON -

5 JADE NORTH -

6 SONG JIN-HYUNG -

7 ANDREW JOHNS -

8 JOSE RAMOS-HORTA -

9 MORRIS IEMMA/

RICKY PONTING 2/7

10 BARACK OBAMA/

HILLARY CLINTON 8/10

BBQ STOPPERS

* IT took 200 years and 41

parliaments, but finally Australia's

newest prime minister got it out. 'Sorry,'

Kevin Rudd said. Not once, but thrice.

The best bipartisan by-play of all came

when PM and Opposition Leader Brendan

Nelson reached across the political divide

to shake hands. In the public gallery at

Parliament House and in gatherings right

around Australia people wept, cheered and

cried 'thank you, Prime Minister'. Well, some

of them did. All living prime ministers, bar

one, were in attendance. The bloke in the

Wallaby tracksuit stayed away. A small group

of Liberal MPs, led by backbencher Wilson

Tuckey, boycotted proceedings.

* THE Barack barrackers were out in force

as the Obama bandwagon rolled through

Virginia and Maryland. Next week,

it's Wisconsin, and Hawaii where

polls are picking more grief for

his opponent. That will mean 10

straight losses for Hillary Clinton.

Texas, on March 4, may be her last

hope. Remember the Alamo!

HATCHES

US actor Kyle MacLachlan

and his wife, Desiree

Gruber, are expecting their

first child. MacLachlan, 48,

starred in Twin Peaks. His

TV credits also include Sex

and the City and Desperate

Housewives.

MATCHES

FORMER Diff'rent Strokes star

Gary Coleman, 40, revealed this

week that he married 22-year-old

Shannon Price in August, playing

down the couple's 18-year age

difference and 31-centimetre height

difference.

ACTRESS Penelope Cruz and Ben Kingsley

team up in a movie based on Philip Roth?s

short novel The Dying Animal, about a

charismatic and selfish professor who loses his

composure when he falls in love with a student

half his age. Elegy, which premiered at the Berlin

Film Festival, deals with universal themes of

love, death and illness, and portrays beauty

as a burden as well as a blessing. The

movie will be released later this year.

FRACTURES

PARIS Hilton's younger

brother, Barron, was

arrested on suspicion

of drunken driving

this week. Hilton, 18,

was stopped after a

witness reported seeing

a black Mercedes-Benz

weaving on the Pacific Coast

Highway, drifting into the oncoming

lane, according to the Los Angeles

County Sheriff's Department. Deputies

arrested Hilton after he pulled over and

got out of the car. He was booked in Malibu, where

he registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.14 per cent.

The legal limit in California is 0.08. Paris Hilton

pleaded no contest last year to alcohol-related

reckless driving and was sentenced to 45 days in jail.

The 26-year-old reality show star and hotel heiress

served a little more than two weeks.

ROCK star Lenny Kravitz was admitted to

a Miami hospital this week suffering from

severe bronchitis. The 43-yearold

musician had been

suffering from a series of

severe respiratory tract

infections in tandem

with the flu since

mid-January.

SOUL singer Natalie

Cole has spoken out

against Amy Winehouse's

haul of Grammy awards, saying

the British star's multiple wins sent a

'bad message'. Cole, a multiple Grammy

winner who helped announce Winehouse's

Record of the Year victory at the ceremony in

Los Angeles, criticised the award in an interview

on People magazine's website. 'She needs to

get herself together . . . this is about discipline

and hard work, and you don?t get to just do your

drugs and go onstage and get rewarded,' Cole

said.

PATCHES

HEATHER Mills will leave Britain after she finalises

her divorce with former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney,

her father says, because 'she knows everybody

hates her'. Mark Mills, Heather's father, has

told reporters his daughter will likely move to

France or the United States with the couple?s

four-year-old daughter Beatrice, once

the divorce is finalised. 'I think she'll go

abroad and then just slowly fade away into

obscurity,' he said.

DISPATCHES

ROY Scheider, a two-time Oscar

nominee best known for his

role as the police chief in the

blockbuster Jaws, has died. He

was 75.

Country music icon Smoky

Dawson - the man dubbed

Australia's first cowboy - died

on Wednesday after a short

illness. He was 94.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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