Fan Fare

from Tales from the Trail:

Stewart, Colbert rally gets ‘puzzling’ endorsement

First came celebrity endorsements from Oprah and Arianna. Now Jon Stewart's Washington "Rally to Restore Sanity" has a more puzzling promoter.

Here's a clue: German summer pants for little William? (10 letters) 

Stumped? The answer is "Will Shortz". He's editor of the New York Times crossword puzzle, which today devotes no fewer than eight clues to the Daily Show host, his fellow satirist Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report and the joint rally they're planning for Saturday on the National Mall.

For anyone flummoxed by the clues to 54 and 65 Across, Colbert's version of the event is called the "March to Keep Fear Alive."

The Stewart-Colbert gathering is a reaction to Fox News commentator Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally, which was held at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on this year's anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech.      Stewart is also a big fan of Shortz and appeared in the 2006 documentary Wordplay, which focused on the Times crossword puzzle editor and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.       Do Stewart and Colbert need the fiery presence of thousands of crossword puzzle enthusiasts? Now that's a question. But the idea may be too inside the box for rally organizers.

"It's great. But how does this help? That's not something for us to answer because this is not something we solicited or planned on," said Steve Albani, spokesman for Comedy Central, the cable TV channel that airs Stewart and Colbert.       Folks at the Times were not immediately available for comment. (If they intend to respond via their puzzle, they may miss our deadline.)      Meanwhile, Stewart and Colbert are expected to draw about 150,000 people to the National Mall. That's a Wall Street Journal estimate based on the number of portable toilets ordered by Comedy Central.  No _____. (4 letters).

Click here for more political coverage from Reuters.

Bijou Phillips calls Mackenzie’s incest claim “devastating”

Singer and actress Bijou Phillips has weighed in on her half sister Mackenzie’s claim of a 10-year incestuous affair with their father, The Mamas & The Papas singer John Phillips, and while Bijou’s reaction shows that she has some doubts about her sister’s credibility, she has not dismissed the story either. John Phillips died in 2001, so for now it’s been left to his surviving family members to speak out about Mackenzie’s story.

“”When I was 13, Mackenzie told me that she had a consensual sexual relationship with our father,” Bijou Phillips, 29, said in a written statement sent to “The Oprah Show,” where Mackenzie spoke about her relationship with her father earlier this week.

Bijou said that the news was confusing, especially since Mackenzie shortly afterward recanted her story about sleeping with her dad, which she has described as occurring from when she was age 19 to about 29, and has since said that it was true after all.

Bijou added that her 49 year-old half-sister, who began using cocaine and heroin at an early age, has a history with their father which is “clouded with 30 years of drug abuse.”

“The life I had with my father was very different,” Bijou said. “He was ‘Mr. Mom.’ He was encouraging and loving. The man that raised me would never be capable of doing such things. And if he was, it was heartbreaking for me to think that my family would leave me alone with him. I understand Mackenzie’s need to come clean with a history that she feels will help others, but it’s devastating to have the world watch as we try and mend broken fences, especially when the man in question isn’t here to defend himself.”

Chynna Phillips, another half-sister of Mackenzie, said earlier this week that she believes the affair took place.  But John Phillips’ former wife, Genevieve Waite, who is also the mother of Bijou, has denied the allegation, saying that she believes he would never commit incest with a child of his. Michelle Phillips, another of John Phillips’ former wives, has also questioned Mackenzie’s story.

Amid the tumult that Mackenzie Phillips’ story has caused within her own family, it has also touched a chord with the public. Writing on Thursday on blog website The Huffington Post, health and wellness author Deborah King took issue with Mackenzie’s contention that the relationship was consensual.

Bought at auction: meet Oprah, lunch with Tim Gunn, tennis with Agassi

                                 Lunch with “Project Runway” fashion guru Tim Gunn? About $250

                                         Tennis lesson with Andre Agassi?  About $2,750

                                       Meeting Oprah Winfrey backstage? Priceless — or close to it.

Shocker! Simon Cowell most obnoxious celeb — Parade.com

Is it really a surprise? Simon Cowell, the king of mean judge on U.S. TV talent show “American Idol,” was voted Hollywood’s most obnoxious celebrity in a pop culture poll conducted by Parade magazine’s website, Parade.com.

Cowell, known for acidic comments aimed at contestants on the show after their performance has been less than adequate, topped the list followed by real estate mogul turned reality TV star Donald Trump, “Hell’s Kitchen” cook Gordon Ramsay and “The Hills” star Spencer Pratt, in that order.

While talk show host Oprah Winfrey is easily the most wealthy celebrity as judged by Forbes magazine, Parade.com readers don’t like her as much as Ellen DeGeneres or Tyra Banks. Ellen earned 40 percent of the vote as best daytime talk show host, followed closely by Tyra with 39 percent. Oprah garnered only 11 percent. 

Among other findings in the poll, whose full results are at http://www.parade.com/celebrity/surveys/pop-culture-summer-2008/results.html, comedian Jon Stewart would beat presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama in a race for the White House, 55 percent to 45 percent.  Simon Cowell was not even in the race.

Oprah’s gifts to Stanford grads: Self-help books.

Media mogul and talk show host Oprah Winfrey had gifts for Stanford University’s graduates when she spoke at their commencement on Sunday – but they didn’t include new cars.      “I really wanted to give you cars  . . .  just couldn’t pull that off,” said Winfrey. Instead, the roughly 2,600 grads in attendance got two books: Daniel Pink’s “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future” and Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose.”

In, September 2004, Winfrey made headlines and stunned 276 audience members of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” with gifts of Pontiac G6 sports cars donated by General Motors.       O.K., so self-help books aren’t as great as a car — especially for grads. They just finished at least four years of study. More for graduate students. But as far as gifts go, they are less likely to get you in trouble with the tax man.      Winfrey delivered the prestigious university’s commencement address on Sunday and was among friends. Her goddaughter Kirby Bumpus, daughter of her Oprah’s BFF Gayle King, was among the graduates.      Winfrey in June topped Forbes Celebrity 100 Power list after earning $275 million in the past year. And for the longest time, she was not a college grad.      Winfrey, speaking on Father’s Day in the United States, said her dad never let her forget that she was one credit short of a college diploma. Even after she had her own TV show, she remembered him saying, “Oprah Gail, I don’t know what you’re going to do without that degree.”      In 1987, when she was asked to speak during Commencement at her alma mater, Tennessee State University, she finished her course work, turned in her final paper, and earned her degree.      “I know if anything happens that one credit will be my salvation,” she said.

(Reporting by Clare Baldwin)

Tom Cruise risks Oprah’s couch again

Who could forget it? Tom Cruise, jumping up on talk show queen Oprah Winfrey’s couch and proclaiming his love for Katie Holmes in 2005. Some thought Mr. Cool had lost his cool. Others thought it was a rare and tender display of human emotion from an A-list Hollywood celebrity whose personal life is shrouded in mystery.

Whatever the outcome, three years later Cruise is headed back to Winfrey’s couch. Cruise will be interviewed by Oprah on May 2 from his home in Telluride, Colorado. A statement from the “Oprah” show says he will discuss “his family, his life and the future.” Then, on Monday May 5, he is headed to Chicago and Oprah’s studio where he will tape a new show celebrating 25 years of his Hollywood films since his breakout role in “Risky Business.”

No doubt, millions of viewers will tune in to see if Cruise cooks up any wild displays of affection again. We’ll be watching, too. 

(Note: the picture above is not a photo of Cruise on Oprah’s couch but is a recreation Cruise jokingly displayed a few weeks later when he appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”)

Is Idol’s King of Mean, Simon Cowell, kind at heart?

Simon Cowell plays the King of Mean on the panel of judges on “American Idol,” telling some wannabee stars they must be deaf if they think they can sing, calling others’ dancing hideous, and telling one female contestant she looked like the Incredible Hulk’s wife. But a story emerged this week that shone a new light on 48-year-old Cowell — he gave a couple whose three-year-old daughter is suffering cancer a check of $162,000 to pay off their mortgage.

The bombastic Brit, who was recently estimated by Forbes magazine to earn about $43 million  year, was so touched by the story of Madelaine Stoen when she appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s U.S. TV chat show that he declared he would be her “guardian angel.” Madelaine’s parents Amy and Randy Stoen from Claremont, Minnesota, were struggling financially after the youngster was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and would take turns traveling more than 100 miles from  home each day so she could get treatment.

After presenting the couple with a check, Cowell was quoted on the Oprah Winfrey Web site saying that he’s only just learned about the joy of giving. “I didn’t realize that. It’s taken me 48 years. It’s going to catch on, this, because it is a very, very good feeling,” he said.

Wonder if he’ll be as generous to the remaining finalists in ”American Idol.”