Word: townes
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Given the country's appetite for whale, it's not surprising that the new mercury studies have divided the tight-knit community of Taiji. "If whaling disappears, our town disappears," says Katsutoshi Mihara, the affable town-council chief. He casts doubt on the accuracy of the mercury tests, which were commissioned by Ryono and another Taiji assemblyman after rumors circulated that locally caught pilot-whale meat might be tainted. "Look at me," says Mihara, 69. "I'm made of whale, head to toe, and I'm fine...
...used to feel the same way until he learned about the sky-high mercury levels. "I thought eating this meat was fine because it is a Japanese tradition," he says. "But protecting our culture is not worth endangering our children's health." Junichiro Yamashita, the other member of the town council who opposes serving dolphin in school lunches, believes a silent majority supports his cause but is reluctant to speak publicly. "At the last town meeting, there was a lot of pressure from fishermen not to publicize the mercury results," he says. Some are afraid of losing their jobs...
...things have been opening (with friends) Tagine, a Moroccan restaurant in Beverly Hills, where he sometimes helps out in the kitchen, and raising cash to direct a passion project about child soldiers in Uganda. "I've been all over town for that," he says. "Nobody wants to be the one that says no to the child-soldier movie. Everyone tells me, 'If you put a Hollywood actor in it,' but it's not that kind of a movie." Last year during Oscar-campaign season, Gosling was in Uganda researching the film instead of shaking hands at cocktail parties...
...Midwestern recluse named Lars who orders a sex doll on the Internet and suffers from a delusion that the doll is his real girlfriend. On the advice of a therapist (Patricia Clarkson), Lars' friends and family play along and treat Bianca like any other pretty new girl in town. To become Lars, "I had to get rid of all the posturing and ideas of what I think makes me cool or charming and turn up the more vulnerable parts of myself," Gosling says. In another actor's hands, a relationship with a silicone co-star might devolve into a farce...
Gosling thrives by flouting most Hollywood conventions. In a town that sorts its talent into neat categories--angry young man, cocky hero, quirky romantic lead--he has hopped around among all three. "It's unusual that an actor would have not only the aspiration but also the talent to move between these different gears," says William Horberg, president of production for Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, which financed the less than $15 million Lars. "He doesn't feel the need to do what's expected of him, or architect a career from the standpoint of maximizing his bankability...