August 20th, 2010 at 1:13 pm by Ted Nesi under General Talk
James Franco (via Wikipedia)
The actor James Franco – the bad guy in the “Spider-Man” movies – is headed to the Rhode Island School of Design this fall to study art. That is, when he’s not two hours away working on his Ph.D. at Yale, The New York Times reports:
James Franco … is at 32 a famous actor and celebrity movie star of considerable self-made means. But he also has an interest in art dating back to childhood. He studied painting in high school and has apparently at times considered being an artist.
These ambitions have perhaps been diminished by Mr. Franco’s determined multitasking, which has received quite a bit of attention in the press.
He has combined a movie career with activities as a screenwriter, director and producer, simultaneously attending graduate school in writing, filmmaking and poetry at four separate schools. A book of his short stories is due out this fall, at which point he will begin work on a doctorate in literature at Yale and also study at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Between him and Emma Watson, College Hill is going to be a hot spot for celebrity sightings.
(hat tip to the AP’s Michelle Smith)
August 9th, 2010 at 10:24 am by Ted Nesi under General Talk
Justice Scalia (Wikipedia)
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia visited the Federal Hill restaurant and food emporium Venda Ravioli on Sunday during a trip to Providence, WPRI has confirmed. (WLNE reported that the justice took a tumble outside the restaurant, but we haven’t confirmed that.)
Not sure what Scalia was up to in Rhode Island over the weekend. (Did anyone see him at Mass?) His visits to New England have made headlines in the past.
The justice, now in his 24th year on the high court, visited RWU School of Law in 2008 at the invitation of board member Ronald A. Cass, a well-known conservative legal thinker and former dean of Boston University’s law school. Cass practices law in Virginia, but his wife is a Rhode Island native and Brown University graduate.
Update: The AP confirms that Scalia did indeed fall down after leaving Venda Ravioli on Sunday. He’s fine, a court spokeswoman says.
August 6th, 2010 at 1:10 pm by Ted Nesi under General Talk
That last post was a little heavy, especially for a Friday, so here’s something a bit lighter – Emma Watson, the “Harry Potter” star and part-time Providence resident, has a new look. Here’s a photo, via her Facebook page:
Miss Emma Watson, 2010 edition
Quite a change for the 20-year-old soon-to-be-sophomore at Brown. She told EW.com it was “the most liberating thing!” (People always use exclamation points in interviews with celebrate magazines.)
The last two Harry Potter movies finished filming this summer – they’ll hit cinemas in November and next July, respectively – so it’s farewell, Hermione.
