Honey Boo Boo (Alana Thompson) and her family, including mom June Shannon and dad Mike "Sugar Bear" Thompson, along with sister Anna and Anna's month-old baby, Kaitlyn

Honey Boo Boo is our new BFF.

We trekked down to the Middle Georgia town of McIntyre in search of Alana Thompson and her family this week. They could not have been nicer.

“It’s been a blast,” said her dad Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson, referring to the TLC show, airing at 10 p.m. Wednesdays, that has catapulted the family from their tiny town into the national spotlight. (Here’s my colleague Rodney Ho’s latest recap).

“Honestly, it’s still surreal to me,” said Alana’s mom June Shannon. Even though they had gotten somewhat used to life in front of the cameras from the TLC show “Toddlers and Tiaras,” from whence “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” sprang, she didn’t immediately jump at the opportunity.

Honey Boo Boo says the best thing about pageants is getting to dress up.

“It took us a couple of months,” June said. “I was …

Continue reading My day with Honey Boo Boo »

“Motor City,” described as a “gritty action film about Detroit in the late 70s,” will be filming in Atlanta soon. They need all sorts of extras, including “poor people” of various races and ages, including children.

“Please submit photos where you don’t look glamorous. We are looking for poverty-level photos. Unkempt hair.. etc.,” the casting call reads. “Impoverished pictures, please – We do not want fancy or professional pictures.”

Send your impoverished photos to ATLMotorCity@gmail.com with your height, weight, age and phone number.

Other looks needed for this movie:

African Americans with Afros – looking for both males and females

Morse Code Transmitter – Must be a proficient Morse Code Copier

Baker – Looking for an African American Male, Older.. maybe on the larger side

Older African American Gentlemen ages 60-80

African American Garbage Men (prefer experienced, or people that don’t mind being around garbage)

Hasidic Jewish Men

Hispanic Car Maintenance Men

CUBAN …

Continue reading Casting call: Movie needs “poor people” »

VH1

Tameka “Tiny” Cottle, who with husband T.I. shares her life with reality show viewers on “The Family Hustle,” will soon reveal whatever she may have been holding back. The entertainer is now getting ready for a new VH1 show of her own, called “Tiny Tonight.”

This blog post on VH1 has full details.

“I’ve been wanting to do a late night talk show with my homegirls, my friends, for a while now,” Tiny told VH1, which interviewed her about the new show that the channel will air. “So I’ve got my new show, it’s called Tiny Tonight, it’s gonna be…the first late night talk show on VH1.”

Details, such as when the show premieres and will air, are being worked out.

The couple manages to make headlines, both with T.I.’s past legal woes and by showing up here and there. Sometimes the two collide, like the time a couple of years ago when they attended a comedy club performance that turned into a riff on T.I.’s past encounters with law enforcement.

That’s all in the …

Continue reading Tameka “Tiny” Cottle gets own VH1 show »

Photo by Jim Fitts

Atlanta’s real “real housewives” do not yank each other’s hair or cause scenes in restaurants. They work hard to raise funds and awareness for worthy causes. While nice people doing good things don’t seem to merit reality television contracts for some strange reason, we were happy to spend some time with sisters Paula Dickey and Kim Lape the other day. The philanthropic powerhouses, shown in this photo at the right, are lending their considerable talents to this year’s Garden of Eden Ball, planned for 6:30 p.m. Sept. 29 to benefit the Atlanta Botanical Garden. The annual event is one of Atlanta’s loveliest charity galas, but things are going to be a little bit different this year. While Kathy Rainer and Tricky Wolfe are spearheading the decor as usual, the event has no single honoree this time. Dickey and Lape explained that the gala, themed “A Celebration of Seasons,” is meant to thank patrons following the conclusion of the garden’s successful …

Continue reading Atlanta’s *real* real housewives chair Atlanta Botanical Garden ball »

Margaret Cho, who appears in the locally filmed Lifetime show "Drop Dead Diva," performs live at the Punchline next month. Tickets are on sale now.

“My favorite comedians are women,” said Margaret Cho, a comedian and a woman. “I’ve never thought or understood why people didn’t think women were funny. I do think it’s harder for women to withstand some of the pressures. Men have a better sense of community.”

We’d asked for her thoughts on male comedian Adam Carolla’s pronouncement earlier this summer that “dudes are funnier than chicks.” He expanded some on that thought in an interview with the New York Post, spurring a minor Twit- and blogosphere dust-up before everyone moved on to more important topics.

Three days after the article ran, Alec Baldwin helpfully deferred attention by mixing it up with a New York Daily News photographer.

Anyway, Cho is proud that “Drop Dead Diva,” her locally filmed Lifetime drama-comedy, features such strong female roles …

Continue reading Margaret Cho: “My favorite comedians are women!” »

Here's a photo we took of the happy couple a few months ago, appropriately enough at the "What to Expect When You're Expecting" movie premiere.

“Real Housewives of Atlanta” cast member Kim Zolciak and husband Kroy Biermann of the Atlanta Falcons are parents again.

“I’m so happy to announce that today we Kim Zolciak and I welcomed our second son Kash Kade,” Biermann tweeted. “Mommy and baby are doing great!”

The Biermanns have another son, KJ, and Zolciak also has two daughters from past relationships.

We saw them a few months ago at a perfectly tailored public appearance, the premiere of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” which was filmed in Atlanta. At the time Kim told us that pregnancy #4 had been her most pleasant.

If past coverage is a guide, we’re guessing you can look for an exclusive baby spread in Life & Style magazine, which has documented many of Zolciak’s past milestone moments.

- Jennifer Brett/The …

Continue reading “Real Housewife” Kim Zolciak welcomes new baby »

The scene at "Church" last night.

Owen Wilson, in Atlanta filming “The Internship,” hit the town last night. He was spotted first having dinner at Ecco and then much later playing ping pong at Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room & Ping Pong Emporium, known colloquially simply as Church.

The high priest of Church, owner Grant Henry, who likes to send news tips in the form of hymnal liturgy, blessed us with the following this morning:

“I got awoken

by a midnight call

from my bartender

saying,

‘Owen Wilson

wants to play you

in Ping Pong

down at CHURCH.’

I said,

‘Tell him I’ll be there

in 10 minutes

to kick his (word found in the Bible)!’

I pull on clothes,

walked down to CHURCH,

and took 2 shots of Fireball upstairs,

and we shared a shot.

We played the first game

and I beat him 21-18 I believe.

He said:

‘Let’s play again!’

so I said:

‘Only if the winner

gets the other person’s

trucker hat!’

We played the second game

and I beat him again,

near the same score.

He …

Continue reading Owen Wilson at Ecco, Church »

Toni Braxton couldn’t make it, but mom Evelyn and sisters Trina and Traci stopped by WSB (the AJC’s corporate cousin) the other day for interviews to promote upcoming episodes of “Braxton Family Values,” their WE channel reality show. Season 2.5, as they’re billing it, launches at 9 p.m. Thursday on WE.

We visited with the ladies one afternoon last week prior to their visit with KISS 104 afternoon host Art Terrell.

“When we decided to do this show, we decided to put the ‘real’ in ‘reality’,” Trina said. “We are women with really strong opinions.”

And they have shared personal matters, including health issues, business deals, sibling tension and relationship drama, with viewers. In past episodes, for example Evelyn and her daughters started planning for a wedding that never happened. Mother Braxton is happy on her own, she said.

“If it’s not broke, why fix it?” she asked, explaining that she enjoys her single life. “It’s always been about someone else – my ex-husband, my …

Continue reading Braxton siblings, mom discuss next “Braxton Family Values” season »

Julia Child fires up a creme brulee in the kitchen of the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead, during a 1996 visit. AJC file photo by Joey Ivansco.

Bon Anniversaire, Julia Child!

In recognition of the beloved cookbook author and television chef’s 100th birthday, which would have been Wednesday, Atlanta restaurants are featuring her cuisine and sharing fond memories this week.

At the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead, bartender Chris King well remembers meeting Ms. Child in the hotel’s famous Lobby Lounge.

“I walk in here one morning and I heard that piercing voice, ‘helloooo! ‘There sits Julia Child. She had a cup of tea.”

Child made her way into the kitchen at some point during that visit – there she is at the right putting the finishing touches on a creme brulee. (”Every woman should have a blowtorch,” was among her axioms.)

“I told her, ‘I love your book!’ She said, ‘Do you cook?’ I said, ‘I’m trying!’ Then she signed a cocktail napkin – unsolicited,” recalled King, who has been at the …

Continue reading Restaurants remember Julia Child with special dinners »

AP photo

Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen and a bunch of clowns: All part of what’s going to make “Scary Movie 5″ a cinematic classic for the ages.

The fifth in the horror spoof series starts filming soon in Atlanta. No LiLo sightings yet. We’ll let you know.

Anyway it sounds like there’s going to be a circus or carnival scene, as casting folks need “a male little person over 18 years old,” along with “experienced ballet dancers” and “real clowns that can arrive in own costume and make up.”

They ask that you “email a good, clear recent photo, contact info, clothing sizes to: sm5extras@gmail.com.”

Oh, and if you’re going for one of the clown parts, please make sure to send them at least one photo with your clown look.

Continue reading “Scary Movie 5″ needs clowns »