Happy 20th birthday, Kat Dennings!

Michael Cera (Movie Star)

Reese in Tokyo

Jun. 11 - Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon takes part in a Japanese tea ceremony, serving green tea for breast cancer survivors in Tokyo.

Wearing a traditional Japanese kimono, Witherspoon was taught the tea-making procedure in which powdered green tea, or matcha, is ceremonially prepared and served to others.

The Legally Blonde star is an Avon Global Ambassador promoting women's health and safety, a project supported by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

She is visiting Japan this week to raise awareness of breast cancer and domestic violence. A study shows only 12% of Japanese women get regular screenings for breast cancer". Source: www.reuters.com
Source of pictures: tressedoutcelebs.com

"The Tea Ceremony, which is a multi-faceted traditional activity designed to capture the spirit of healing the body, mind and soul, offered an open forum to discuss breast cancer issues and needs in Japan, which is a critical topic due to a high rate of breast cancer in the country and the Asia Pacific region. At the Tea Ceremony, Ms. Witherspoon met Dr. Matsuda, Chairman of the Japan Breast Cancer Association, and three Japanese breast cancer survivors, and talked with them about the lack of breast cancer awareness and screening facilities."As Avon's Global Ambassador, I'm honored to have this opportunity to meet with such extraordinary women, and experience a highlight of Japanese culture" said Ms. Witherspooon. "While their courage is inspiring, I was
saddened to hear that only about 12% of women in Japan receive regular breast cancer screening. The lack of testing equipment and breast cancer experts in Japan means that many women here do not have access to the medical technology and care that is critical to diagnose and fight this deadly disease." Source: www.prnewswire.com

Brokeback Mountain Opera

"The New York City Opera commissioned Charles Wuorinen to compose an opera based on "Brokeback Mountain," the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx that became the basis for a 2005 movie that won three Academy Awards.

The opera is scheduled to premiere in spring 2013, City Opera said Sunday. It will be City Opera's second Wuorinen premiere, following "Haroun and the Sea of Stories," which was based on a Salman Rushdie novel and opened in October 2004.

"Ever since encountering Annie Proulx's extraordinary story I have wanted to make an opera on it, and it gives me great joy that Gerard Mortier and New York City Opera have given me the opportunity to do so," Wuorinen said in a statement".
Source: www.msnbc.msn.com"Yep, 12-tone gay cowboys ... It's not a hoax ...

When word emerged this week that an operatic version of Brokeback Mountain is in the works, with a score by Charles Wuorinen, a lot of people in the classical music world weren't sure what to think. For a start, the news appeared in the Rush and Molloy gossip column in New York's tabloid Daily News — not a place the industry thinks to look for breaking developments. And the combination of material, medium and music seemed wildly improbable: a spare short story by Annie Proulx about inarticulate Wyoming sheepherders — which, granted, had been made into a film that was very compelling but was far from histrionic — translated into the most histrionic of art forms? With a composer who's one of America's last major unrepentant modernists?

"I think it's a marvelous idea," Wuorinen's manager, Howard Stokar, told Playbill Arts. "And so did Annie Proulx ... she liked the idea of it being an opera, and she liked the idea of Charles composing it."

There's no commission or opera house involved just yet — says Stokar, "Right now, it's really just under discussion. Who knows what's going to happen?" — but Proulx's approval means that one major hurdle that fells many worthwhile projects has been cleared. (Leonard Bernstein, for instance, is said to have worked on a treatment of Nabokov's Lolita but couldn't get rights to the story.)

The idea for a Brokeback opera was all Wuorinen's. "He wanted to work on a dramatic piece," said Stokar, "and this seemed like the perfect subject."

After Haroun and the Sea of Stories, the composer's adaptation of Salman Rushdie's novel for children which premiered at New York City Opera in 2004, Wuorinen was eager to create another stage work. "He was very impressed with the movie adaptation of the short story," said Stokar, "and he thought it would be quite marvelous as an opera. In a way, it's a good old-fashioned love story."

Would Proulx's taciturn characters fit best in a chamber opera? "It would be a big piece," Stokar said, "something for an actual opera house."

Wuorinen is certainly aware of the problems involved in translating the story for the stage. "What's impressive about the film adaptation is that it really has an excellent screenplay," Stokar pointed out. "Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana did a terrific job of turning this little work of prose" — the original "Brokeback Mountain" is barely more than 10,000 words — "into a two-hour movie. Something similar would have to be done for an opera — for example, the language in the film is not language you can use in an opera. Who that's gonna be [to write the libretto], of course, it's much too early to say."
Source: www.playbillarts.com

Kirsten in green

"It was another afternoon of shopping in NYC for Kirsten Dunst, on a break from filming All Good Things on Sunday. Judging from that smile, it doesn't look like the heat wave on the East Coast was slowing her down any. Now that Kirsten's opened up about depression being the reason behind her trip to rehab, we're glad to see her looking happy and healthy — hopefully a little retail therapy is just what the doctor ordered.
Source: popsugar.com

More romance rumours

May 24 - Out to Lunch with Reese in Los Angeles.

Reese Witherspoon has reportedly refused to move in with her partner Jake Gyllenhaal.

The actress will not live with Gyllenhaal until they are married, according to Now magazine.

Actor Jake Gyllenhaal is desperate to settle down and start a family with girlfriend Reese Witherspoon, according to reports.

The Brokeback Mountain hunk has been romantically involved with divorced mother-of-two Witherspoon since meeting on the set of their 2007 film Rendition.

The couple has been inseparable since, and, according to U.S. magazine Ok!, Gyllenhaal has made his intention to begin a family with Witherspoon clear - despite having yet to propose.

A source says, "He knows he might be jumping the gun thinking of kids, but he knows that Reese is the one. He laughs and says he needs to propose and do this the right way. It really is first comes love, then comes marriage...

"(Reese) reminds him that it's more than just coming over to take the kids to the park. Your entire life has to change. She's admitted that he has grown from when they first met into this very dependable dad type. He is ready to have his whole life change."

Witherspoon's eight-year marriage to actor Ryan Phillippe ended in 2006, and their divorce was finalised on 5 October. The former couple has two children together, eight-year-old Ava and four-year-old Deacon.
Source: www.imdb.com/news via wenn.com"Witherspoon is apparently a believer in strong family values and doesn't want her children, Ava, 8, and Deacon, 4, to change home unless she is wed.

"Reese doesn't want to live with Jake until they're married," said a source. "She has very traditional values.

"The thing that's convinced her that she wants to spend the rest of her life with Jake is how well he has fitted into family life.

"He is a good influence on her children and they have just a very strong relationship. Expect an engagement announcement any day now."

Gyllenhaal allegedly purchased a $7 million mansion in California for Witherspoon and her kids earlier this month". Source: www.digitalspy.co.uk

Jake (Gay Icon)

"Jake Gyllenhaal has seen off competition from famous hunks David Beckham and Brad Pitt to land the title of hottest gay icon.

The Brokeback Mountain actor, who starred in a camping love scene with the late Heath Ledger in the 2005 film, has topped the poll for the second year running.

Soccer ace Beckham and Pitt only managed 12th and 15th respectively, while Torchwood actor John Barrowman and Brothers and Sisters star Luke MacFarlane scooped second and third place respectively.

The poll was compiled by gay website AfterElton.com.
Comedienne Tina Fey claimed the top spot in the Hot 100 gay women list on sister site, AfterEllen.com. Source: www.imdb.com/news