nlike any number of actresses her age, she's neither too maudlin nor too plucky." [49] In the late 1990s, Portman was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The first part, Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, opened in early 1999, and the popularity of the film made Portman well known to audiences.[1] She then signed on to play the lead role of a persevering teenaged mother in Where the Heart Is.
2000-2005
After filming Where the Heart Is, Portman moved into the dorms of Harvard University to pursue her bachelor's degree in psychology.[1] She said in a 1999 interview that, with the exception of the Star Wars prequels, she would not act for the next four years in order to concentrate on studying.[50] During the summer break, from June to September 2000, Portman filmed Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones in Sydney, including additional production in London. In July 2001, Portman opened in New York City's Public Theater production of Chekhov's The Seagull, directed by Mike Nichols, playing the role of Nina alongside Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.[1] The play opened at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.[51] That same year, she was one of many celebrities who made cameo appearances in the comedy Zoolander. In 2002, the film opened around the world. Portman was cast in a small role in the film Cold Mountain alongside Jude Law and Nicole Kidman.[1]
In 2004, Portman appeared in the independent movies Garden State and Closer.[1] Garden State was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, and won Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. Her performance as Alice in Closer saw Portman win a Supporting Actress Golden Globe as well as a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination.[52][53]
2005 saw the worldwide release of the final Star Wars prequel, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith on May 19. The film was the highest grossing film of the year, and was voted Favorite Motion Picture at the People's Choice Awards. Shortly before the film's opening, Portman shaved her head for her role in the film adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel V for Vendetta, released in March 2006. Her shaved head was first seen publicly at the Revenge of the Sith premieres. "Making a dramatic change that isn't reversible is always a worthy experience", she said of the drastically different hairstyle, "and that sort of gave me the courage to do it."[54] She kept her hair short for most of 2005, had a fauxhawk, and briefly sported a full mohawk in late August, saying that it was "kind of wonderful to throw vanity away for a bit".[55] Also in 2005, Portman filmed Free Zone and director Milos Forman's Goya's Ghosts. Forman hadn't seen any of her work, but thought she looked like a Goya painting so he requested a meeting.[56]
2006-present
Portman appeared on Saturday Night Live on March 4, 2006,[57] hosting the show with musical guest Fall Out Boy and special guest star Dennis Haysbert. In a SNL Digital Short,[58] she portrays herself as an angry gangsta rapper (with Andy Samberg as her Flava Flav-esque partner in Viking garb) during a faux-interview with Chris Parnell, saying she cheated at Harvard University while high on pot and cocaine.[59] In another sketch, she portrays a student named Rebecca Hershlag (her actual surname) attending a Bar Mitzvah, and in an installment of the recurring sketch The Needlers (also known as Sally and Dan, The Couple That Should Be Divorced), plays a fertility specialist (her father's profession).
Portman promoting V for Vendetta at Comic Con 2005.V for Vendetta opened in early 2006. Portman portrayed Evey Hammond, a young woman who is saved from the secret police by the main character, V. Portman worked with a voice coach for the role, learning to speak with an English accent, and had her head shaved.[60] Maxim magazine named Portman #33 on its annual Hot 100 list, citing her V for Vendetta hairstyle as a huge accomplishment proving "you don't need hair to be hot."
Portman has commented on V for Vendetta's political relevance, and mentioned that her character, who joins an underground anti-government group, is "often bad and does things that you don't like" and that "Being from Israel was a reason I wanted to do this because terrorism and violence are such a daily part of my conversations since I was little." She said the film "doesn't make clear good or bad statements. It respects the audience enough to take away their own opinion".[61] Both Goya's Ghosts and Free Zone received limited releases in 2006. Portman starred in the children's film Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, which began filming in April 2006 and was released in November 2007; she has said that she was "excited to do a kids' movie."[60] In late 2006, Portman filmed The Other Boleyn Girl, a historical drama in which she plays Anne Boleyn; Eric Bana and Scarlett Johansson co-starred in the film. She was also named one of the hottest women of film and TV by Blender Magazine.[62]
In 2006, she filmed Wong Kar-wai's road movie My Blueberry Nights. She won acclaim for her role as gambler Leslie, because "[f]or once she's not playing a waif or a child princess but a mature, full-bodied woman,...but she's not coasting on her looks;...She uses her appeal to simultaneously flirt with and taunt the gambler across the table"[63].Portman had a small role in the 18th season of The Simpsons as the voice of Bart Simpson's first girlfriend, Darcy.[64] She also appears in Paul McCartney's music video "Dance Tonight" from his 2007 album Memory Almost Full, directed by Michel Gondry.[65]Portman co-starred in the Wes Anderson short film Hotel Chevalier, opposite Jason Schwartzman, in which she performed her first nude scene.[66] She is scheduled to star opposite Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal in the drama film Brothers, a remake of the 2004 Danish film of the same name.[67]
In May 2008 Portman served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival jury.[68]
New Englanders!
Forget Rednecks .....here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about New Englanders...
If your local Dairy Queen is closed from October through April , you live in New England
If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in New England .
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in New England
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in New England
If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of New York City for the weekend, you live in New England .
If you measure distance in hours, you live in New England ..
If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in New England .
If you have switched from 'heat ' to 'A/C' in the same day and back again, you live in New England .
If you can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in New England .
If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you live in New England .
If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use th em, you live in New England .
If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in New England
If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 70 and everybody is passing you, you live in New England .
If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in New England .
If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you live in New England..
If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in New England ..
If you find 20 degrees 'a little chilly', you live in New England .
If there's a Dunkin Donuts on every corner, you live in New England
If you actually understand these jokes, and forward them to all your New England friends & others, you live in New England ..
Thanks, BioBob, for the great celeb background and for the weather report from New England.
Love this one about Pirates of the Caribbean, y'all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-r3eDioQTw&feature=related
Incidentally, that movie was based on one of the features at Disney World.
Hey, Miss Letty. Thought I'd drop by during the day for a change.
I gotta lot of respect for Les Paul...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP7qI5RVtxw&feature=related
RH
Sorry, all. MSN Internet Explorer has once again hijacked our studio equipment.
First, allow me to address RH. Our radio format doesn't have a specific time line, buddy. I really enjoyed your video of Les Paul. When I was a wee thing, my first cousin, Billy, taught me the chord changes, in the key of Bflat, to Les and Mary's "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise". I did not know that Les Paul was a jazz musician, frankly, but I just found out.
Raggedy, thanks again for the quartet of famous folks. I only recognized Michael and Johnny, but I'll check back through Bob's bio's later.
Right now, let's listen to an unusual duet by Les and Chet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByGsHTlKmWk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CtHsjSkKnU
In this rendition of Hava Nagilah, we have Bob Dylan on harmonica, but some vocalists I had not heard before.
edgar, I always though the hora was danced to Hava Nagilah, but when I saw this, I doubt that I could have done it, Texas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc0qN4QXV1c&feature=related
Never heard that one by Bobby Darin, however.
this is pretty interesting
this english band decided to use londons security camera's and englands freedom of information act to put together an inexpensive video, they played around town in view of the security cameras, accessed the footage and put together the video
The Get Out Clause - Paper
Hav a Tequila. Very entertaining.
It did sound like " have a tequila" edgar. That was funny.
dj, Paper were upstarts, no? Love that song by them, however, and I wonder if there were any repercussions, Canada.
Didn't know Poppy Family song, but thanks for letting us listen.
Wow! That Beach Boys song I know. Wonder if anyone else did "I Wanna Go Home."
My goodness, I just realized that Bob's bio was about Cole Porter. He is one of my very favorites, folks. I had no idea about his tragic demise, however, nor about his orientation.
I better hurry up and pay this tribute to Cole before anything else happens.
Ah, I had forgotten what a fantastic voice Perry Como had.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CbCCykrW3gA&feature=related
Hope you all enjoy this, and I shall be back shortly with my goodnight song.
and sweet dreams to all of us, Raggedy. Loved that one by Bing and Princess Grace. Sang right along with it.
How could I forget that Cole Porter did this one, y'all.
My Goodnight song, then..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTR-QTvr0BA
Tomorrow my friends.
From Letty with love
Ah, the Spanish night. Tole 'em Englebert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIArqvGo-8A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or8eayS1Y4A
A plaintive story by Chuck Willis. Early rock blues.
I listened to the Cole Porter songs. All I can say is, Cole was one of the all time best.
