Actor Aaron Paul won an Emmy for his work on Breaking Bad, but I’ll always love him best as Sarah’s husband Scott on Big Love. However, I didn’t know that his dad was a Baptist minister. Here’s a quote from a recent interview with Paul in New York magazine: Paul grew up in Idaho, and his father was a Baptist minister in towns like Emmett, Twin Falls, and Boise. He was the youngest of five, precocious but not too rebellious.... Read more
Vice President Joe Biden‘s daughter Ashley Biden got married last weekend. She married a surgeon named Howard Krein, and they had a Catholic-Jewish ceremony that reflected both of their religious backgrounds. And that segues into the fact that we have a picture of Joe Biden doing the hora with his daughter. And it is magnificent. Read more
Benji Schwimmer, the dancer and choreographer best known for winning the second season of So You Think You Can Dance and for being the brother of Dancing with the Stars pro Lacey Schwimmer, has come out. He also says that he remains deeply committed to his Mormon faith and does not consider the two things contradictory. The news came via a five and a half hour long interview for the “Mormon Stories” web series (the same one Brandon Flowers was... Read more
… and not just any church. The Church of the Nativity, one of the holiest sites in Israel. Naomi Campbell is best known for being a supermodel and for treating her employees like shit, but since the whole throwing-a-BlackBerry incident she has been trying to clean up her image. That includes spending today, her 42nd birthday, in the Holy Land. “As much traveling as I’ve done, I’ve never come here. I’m happy to be here,” Campbell said in an interview.... Read more
Last night, Mad Men took a break from exploring Judaism to introduce another religion. In a nice surprise, we finally got to see Paul Kinsey, who left the show after season three when he wasn’t brought along to the newly formed Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Turns out Paul has been busy: he joined the Hare Krishnas. He has shaved his head, wears traditional dress, and chants. And now he wants to hang out with his old friend Harry Crane, I... Read more
Recently, actress Carey Mulligan and musician Marcus Mumford got married. Unlike lots of other celebrities, though, they did so without any paparazzi or without the press even finding out until after it happened. Carey reportedly wore a Prada dress and pink Wellington boots, because they got married in the English countryside and it is muddy out there. Although Carey and Marcus both have careers that make them famous, they have actually known each other quite some time. As kids, they... Read more
Okay, that’s it. If Mad Men keeps getting Jewy I am going to have to come up with some kind of cute name for a feature here, because I am seriously writing about the show every week. This week in Mad Men Jewiness: Roger tried to sign an account from a Jewish-owned wine company who is trying to go mainstream. That wine company would be Manischewitz, and Roger enlists the help of the two Jews he knows: his soon-to-be-ex-wife Jane... Read more
It’s no secret that John Travolta is a longtime member of the Church of Scientology. What has been a secret – although a loudly gossiped about one – is his sexuality. Though Travolta is married to fellow Scientologist Kelly Preston, rumors have circulated since his Welcome Back Kotter days that Travolta is bisexual or gay. Now, his sexuality is about to become a more public issue. Last Friday, a male masseuse filed a suit against Travolta, saying that the actor... Read more
Last night’s episode was titled “Lady Lazarus,” which fellow lit nerds will recognize as the title of a famous Sylvia Plath poem. Several of the characters’ lives had moments that seemed reminiscent of Plath’s own, including a small but meaningful turn by Alexis “Rory Gilmore” Bledel (pictured) as a depressed suburban wife who quietly tolerates her husband’s cheating. “Lady Lazarus” is full of religious symbolism – Lazarus rose from the dead, if you’ll remember – and also references to the... Read more
How do you say “adults only” in Korean? Lady Gaga was scheduled to perform an all-ages concert in Seoul this week, but a group of Christians began protesting the concert venue, dubbing Gaga’s music and act “obscene” and “pornographic.” Rather than cancel the show, an agreement was reached: the show would be limited to adults only. A representative from the Christian Council of Korea, Reverend Yoon Jung-hoon, will be attending the show to monitor it for “pornographic” material. I’m sure... Read more
Faith Goes Pop
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