Daily Post

Earned Stripes ; Eileen Condon Meets the Man Behind Hollywood's True Heavyweight Stars

HE sports a stunning golden-red mane, has huge, mesmerising eyes and is strikingly beautiful. She always travels with a huge entourage, has special dietary requirements and can silence a room just by her very presence. She walks with the grace of a model, but one false move and she'll have your head off -- literally. As movie divas go, you won't have seen anything like Hollywood's latest star, Them is the tiger.

Backstage - Superman 'Jinx' Strikes

THE Superman curse strikes again! Yet another top Hollywood director trying to put the Man of Steel back on the big screen has departed from the project in acrimony. Charlie's Angels director McG, who is also the man behind this year's standout US TV hit, The OC, was unhappy about the film's pounds 120 million budget and about plans to shoot the movie in Australia rather than New York.

Backstage - Leonardo's 'Wrong Look'

JANE Russell, one of the last surviving Hollywood grand dames, isn't too impressed with the choice of Leonardo Di Caprio to play the movie mogul who discovered her, eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes. "He is a really nice boy, but he doesn't look like Howard at all, " said Russell. "It should have been a Jimmy Stewart-type -- a long, thin guy. "

Backstage - J-Lo 'Bad for Ben's Career'

MATT Damon says his buddy Ben Affleck's career was being destroyed by his high-profile relationship with Jennifer Lopez. "He stayed in it because he loved her. The cynical perception was that he was courting the attention, when he was actually embarrassed by the situation, " Damon told Playboy.

Artists to Give Diners Real Food for Thought ; Alun Prichard Looks at a New Concept in Eating Out with a Side Order of Art

ORDON Ramsay in his Hell's Kitchen show often threw dishes back at their creators because they lacked seasoning or sufficient taste, but never because they were short on music or film. But for all his Michelin stars and best selling recipe books, grumpy Gordon might be missing out on one element in the dining experience -- artistic accompaniment.

Curtain Call - Cerys Heads Sesiwn Fawr

FORMER Catatonia front woman Cerys Matthews tops the bill at this year's Sesiwn Fawr in Dolgellau. Cerys will follow DJ Dyl Billi and Anweledig on Stage A tonight while the exciting up and coming band Gola Ola pave the way for the multi award winning Kentucky AFC on Stage B.

Cinema: The Spider Who Loved Me ; Spider-Man 2 (Pg, 127mins) Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina, James Franco, Rosemary Harris, Jk Simmons, Donna Murphy, Dylan Baker, Daniel Gillies. Rating: 9. 5/10 the Prince & Me (Pg, 110mins) Julia Stiles, Luke Mably, Ben Miller, James Fox, Miranda Richardson, Eliza Bennett, Alberta Watson, John Bourgeois. Rating: 6/ 10

'I HAVE been stung by fate. I am its prisoner; a prisoner of my own conscience. My love for the girl I want always to be with is locked within me, " laments Peter Parker (Maguire) as he wrestles with his lifelong yearning for his beautiful next door neighbour Mary Jane Watson (Dunst). "With me, she is always in danger from those who fight against me. Without her, I travel a lonely road. My story will always be about the loss of a girl. . . and every day, I ask myself, 'How long can I endure t...

Eisteddfota: Language Rule Under Threat ; Cylch Say It Is Not Constitutionally Possible to Change the Language Rule Adopted in 1981

T HERE are fears this week that the body with direct control over the National Eisteddfod -- Llys Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru -- is being undermined by radical plans put forward by consultants commissioned to streamline the future of the Eisteddfod. The main fear by the long established Cylch yr Iaith centres on the official language of the Eisteddfod, namely Welsh.

Guys Who Grin and Bare It ; the Full Monty Musical Will Soon Be Here in the Flesh, As One of Its Stars Tells David Powell

K, let's cut to the quick. What's it like to strip in front of thousands of baying women? Is it exhilarating or plain terrifying to be a member of the cast of The Full Monty musical and be on the receiving end (if you'll forgive the expression) of their desires? Alex Gaumond, 26, who plays one of the brave-as-brave-could-be strippers, wimpy Malcolm MacGregor -- the ginger-haired character -- laughs a rascally, frankly dirty laugh and replies: "Well, I'm used to it now. As in the film it's don...

Nudity On Stage -- The Bare Facts

MANY historians believe some of the early Greek plays were performed nude, and it is also thought that nudity on the stage was far from uncommon until the Victorian era. n The first theatre to use nudity in the UK in the 20th century was The Windmill Theatre in London which from the 1930s onwards would have a number of naked women on stage at one time in a nude tableau. Bizarrely the laws of the day demanded that these women did not move. No naked men ever appeared. The Windmill was a top com...

Ear Buzz: Crying Shame to Miss Gigs ; These Days the Feedback Comes Out of Ava's Mouth, and Makes Even the Lairiest Metal Band Sound Like the Incoming Tide

AH, to be 18 again! I would have just finished my A-Levels and there was an endless, panoramic summer holiday stretching out before me. Oh, and I would still have 13 years of freedom left before the demon seed that is my daughter was due to be born. Normally such familial matters are relegated to page 9 of this esteemed publication, a page read by my mum and dad and a couple of bored senior citizens in Nannerch. This week, I'm afraid that toddler Ava's shrill and aromatic presence is going to...

Arts: Work in Progress

THERE is a danger in art of becoming too involved in a piece of work and becoming incapable of letting it go or even frightened of going out on a limb. It is exactly this pitfall that the Marianglas-based artist Huw Jones has striven to avoid, by making a point of always working on more than one piece at any one time.

By the Book - Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres

Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres, hardback, Secker & Warburg, pounds 17, 99 IN the 10 years since Captain Corelli's Mandolin made his name and fortune, Louis de Bernieres has hardly published.

Valerie Hill: Bride and Prejudiceprejudice

FTER the all too -familiar defeat in Portugal, and with the last gasps of Henmania at Wimbledon an embarrassing, faded memory, there's only one way that our collective spirits can be bucked up. It's time for a Royal Wedding. Mmm. I know the possible contenders aren't looking too spirited or pretty, or too young for that matter.

Valerie Hill: The Rich Do Things Differently -- Even On Canals

IF YOU'RE among the highest-paid entertainers in the world, where do you go on summer holiday? I'm still aghast at the thought of film star Harrison Ford and Calista "Ally McBeal" Flockhart, plus two children, spending their vacation aboard a narrow boat on a Welsh canal. A canal boat holiday is something that you graduate up from. To me, Harry and Cally's behaviour is like the rich who spend a weekend in a medieval house without electricity or running water as a kind of decadent experience.

Valerie Hill: The Cure and Morrissey

THOSE veteran British purveyors of popular musical gloom, The Cure and Morrissey, have blasted up the American charts where chirpy Britpop drivel has failed. US record buyers have discovered the maudlin strains of "gothic" rock. The Cure (celebrating 25 years in the biz) have sold 100, 000 copies in the US of their comeback album and reached Billboard's No 7 spot. King of Glum Morrissey (formerly of The Smiths) has sold 250, 000 copies of his comeback album You Are The Quarry in the US. The r...

Valerie Hill: Bbc

Valerie Hill: David Selwood, Qc

A FORMER Crown Court judge who downloaded 75 images of naked young boys "out of curiosity" was sentenced to a 12-month community rehabilitation order. Major-General David Selwood, QC, 70, a father of four, who resigned in disgrace as Portsmouth resident judge, had pleaded guilty to 13 offences of making or possessing indecent images of children. Selwood was told by senior district Judge Timothy Workman that his prior record was exemplary with a long and distinguished public service and he wou...

Restaurants: Restaurants Tips

SINGER Christina Aguilera is such a fan of British food -- her favourites are "traditional Sunday roasts and fish and chips" -- that she wants to open a New York restaurant in its trendy Soho district serving the specialities. The star recently opened the Harrods sale, and a friend says: "Christina always loves coming to London and travelling around different UK cities and wants to incorporate little things she's seen and learned back home in America. "

Restaurants: Good, Honest Chinese Cuisine ; John Staples Knows a Decent Oriental Dish When He Tastes One . .

HAVING recently moved to Liverpool, one of the things that has struck me most is the vibrant Chinatown that is here. Situated near the city centre, it is a lively and col ourful area with a vast array of cafes and restaurants. Though it has to be said some look of them look a little less pleasing on the eye than the others. However, before moving to Merseyside I lived in Glasgow. This is a city that tries to pretend it has a Chinatown. In reality, though, it has a bizarre shed-looking buildin...