Features

The Ru Report #121

New Year's News
Today is the big day--New Year's Day: A time for rejuvenation and newness; A time for self-reflection and trueness; Time to let go of the past and live for the future (or at least take progressive steps towards it). In our trademark style, The RuU Report invited some of our favorite celebrity notables to share their thoughts on the New Year, resolutions and affirmations. Here's what who and what we came up with:

Celebrated tele-chef Sara Moulton can be seen every single day on her great show "Sara's Secrets" on the Food Network. Of course she has family plans in the kitchen, but overall she wants something for the greater good: "I'm not much of a party girl, so my plans for New Year's Eve were pretty modest. The early part of the evening was to have dinner at home with my husband and kids. I tried out two new recipes--a seven-hour roast leg of lamb and the best fried chicken ever (from the new cookbook by the staff of the test kitchen at the Food Network). Later in the evening my husband and I stole away and joined up with some old pals of ours to see in the New Year. For myself, I haven't made any formal New Year's resolutions. However, I am definitely looking forward to the presidential election in the fall. I hope that a new administration is voted in, one that cares about working people, the environment, universal health care, and civil rights. That's it."

Rock & Soul Superdiva Patti LaBelle promises to keep true to something that she has been proposing for years: "For me, the New Year's holiday means that I've been blessed to live through another year and I will be able to see 2004. Everyone knows my life story and the many deaths that I have personally experienced, so to me each day is a blessing and another year is a special gift. We all plan to do better and take better care of ourselves and I always say that I'm going to start putting myself first and make myself a better Patti, but I'm really going to do it this year. I'm going to work on being a better person by trying to be more honest and fairer with myself so that I'll be happier and more at peace."

Actress On The Rise Jazsmin Lewis, who appears in the white-hot ABC drama "In The Line Of Fire," and will star in Barbershop 2, which opens on February 6 shares her resolutions and her fondest family memories: "New Year's means to me, a time for new beginnings. A time to reach for new goals and complete the old ones, and a new chance to reach out to all the loved ones you may have lost touch with in the old year. Some of my special memories are of when my whole family would get together every New Year's Eve and I would cook dinner and we would all eat together. Then we would sit through the night and tell stories about each other until midnight and count down the ball in Times Square."

Sitcom actor Victor Williams, co-star of the hit series "King Of Queens," wants to enjoy the fruits of his labor. He also has a patriotic heart: "New Year's is the opportunity to reflect on where we are and what we've done with our lives. For me, it's been a good year. I've grown as an artist, businessman and son. There's been a lot of hard work done in 2003. This coming year I plan on having some more play time. I plan on enjoying the simpler life. I'll read more books, go to more movies and spend more time with friends. I like alternating from year to year between work and play. Next year, I play. The conflict in Iraq has been foremost in my thoughts this year. I truly hope that our troops can get a well deserved respite in 2004."

Grammy Award Fashion Forward Song Stylist Jody Watley is a working gal throughout the season and still has to be thankful for her glamorous life: "I am thrilled and blessed to be working again as the new year rings in. It's always a good way to start the New Year--having a job! I'll be in Orlando, Florida this year but I always make sure I have a quiet moment to reflect and give thanks for my life and that of my children and family. I write in my journal and have a nice chilled glass of exquisite champagne. Then it's off to do my thing--in my own inimitable way!!!"

Stage and screen actress Ebony Jo-Ann, who next stars in Broadway's "Drowning Crow" this spring, keeps it real and keeps it moving in her spiritual journey. She also takes time to reflect on her true passion; an extraordinary Black man: "What 2004 means to me is yet another opportunity to get it right. I just want a closer walk with God. I have thought about this extensively and nothing else matters to me. I know that everything else will be in Divine Order if I place God first in my life. As far as my reflections of 2003, I have watched my son, Kenneth's growth and development very closely this past year and I discover that I have raised an extraordinary Black man. I am very proud of this young man who lives the life that he imagines."

Extra, Extra
The boys from R&B/pop group B2K are having a career renaissance of sorts. The teeny bop dreamboats have a new film coming out within the coming weeks, and are now apart of a new Dr. Pepper television advertising campaign. The 2004 campaign for regular Dr Pepper continues with the "Be You" tagline that kicked off the campaign in 2002. The campaign features new musical artists paying tribute to pioneers of a particular genre. In the 30-second commercial spots B2K celebrates the achievements of R&B music legend Smokey Robinson in a recording studio. In other spots, country music star LeAnn Rimes pays tribute to country music superstar Reba McEntire while on the road in the desert southwest, and Latin heart throb Patricia Manterola pairs up with Ana Gabriel at a rural train station for their festive and upbeat commercial, which was recorded in Spanish and English versions. Produced by advertising agency Young & Rubicam New York, the new 2004 Dr Pepper and Diet Dr Pepper commercials will begin airing in January on network and cable programming.

From caffeine to carbohydrates...

Chefs to the stars Stephanie Goldfarb and Marissa Mitchell will open the Pure Foods Low Carb Cafe in a few weeks in the heart of Beverly Hills. The duo--who has styled food for the likes of Halle Berry, Quentin Tarantino, Marcus Allen and Cameron Crowe, amongst others--have created a menu with over 15 low carb lunch and dinner items for this exciting new venture, that will hopefully turn the sugar-filled, oil-fueled, money-grubbing fast food industry on its ear. Their thriving company Pure Foods, LLC has a ground-breaking business model in store that will roll this concept out in several Southern California cities at the same time as they expand their low carb retail stores and introduce a line of low carb desserts, low carb pizza crisps and low carb ice creams in mid February 2004 to supermarkets and low carb retail stores nationally. The average Pure Foods Low Carb Cafe will be 800 square feet and offer their low carb menu via counter service. The cafes will serve only non-alcoholic low carb beverages. "We are making it easier not to cheat" said Brad Saltzman, Co-Founder of Pure Foods, LLC. "No bread, no potatoes, no potato chips--all the things I used to love to eat, I just don't eat anymore." Pure Foods, LLC is a privately held Beverly Hills based company with low carb retail stores in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills with twelve California locations opening in 2004.

From food to fetish...
The whole cottage industry of Playboy is celebrating its 50^th anniversary, and the 25-year-plus art form of hip hop has been invited to the part. On January 9, the premiere of "Buckwild," Playboy TV's first music oriented hip hop themed show will commence. Merging hip hop and adult entertainment in what has been described as a "a liaison of extreme proportions." "Buckwild" will thrust hip hop's top entertainers, a bevy of Black "Buckwild" beauties and uncensored videos to the forefront of the network's new programming agenda. Hosted by underground video veteran Ken "Buckwild" Francis, "Buckwild" is a six-episode commitment, with new shows to air and repeat monthly. "Buckwild" promises to feature interviews from the likes of Outkast, Snoop Dog, Busta Rhymes, Lil Jon and the Eastside Boys, the Ying Yang Twins, Loon and Treach of seminal rap group Naughty by Nature. Unlike your average promotional interviews, "Buckwild" will literally get buck wild with the artists, accompanying them at strip clubs, lingerie shopping for their mates or engaging in their favorite extreme sport. Uncensored music videos will be interspersed with segments such as "Sex Tip of the Day," "That's Ass" and "Eye Candy." In addition to that, Playboy TV will release Snoop Dogg's Buckwild Bus Tour on DVD in the coming months. Part one of a two-part DVD release, the Buckwild Bus Tour is a reality show DVD, which goes behind the scenes with Snoop and his new Buckwild beauties on the recent "Roc the Mic" tour.

And I won't even use the irony of the word when mentioning the artistic talents of the late, great Phyllis Hyman.

On January 27, BMG Heritage documents this essential artist with the release of Ultimate Phyllis Hyman, a digitally re-mastered 19-track collection spanning her entire career across several labels and comes complete with full, lush photos and packaging, and liner notes from the British Ambassador of Soul David Nathan. Kicking off with the breakout hit "Betcha By Golly Wow," the first songs chart Ms. Hyman's evolution with selections from her self-titled debut, including "Loving You, Losing You," and "I Don't Want To Lose You." Subsequently joining with Arista and famed executive Clive Davis, Hyman was produced by Barry Manilow for the major hit "Somewhere In My Lifetime." "You Know How To Love Me" marked her next hit, and in 1981 Ms. Hyman proved she could both break out of the clubs and wow audiences with her Jazz chops when she joined the Broadway cast of "Sophisticated Ladies," a tribute to Duke Ellington. Her career kept its vitality for years to follow, in a remarkably long-running string of hits that included four top 10 R&B singles, including the 1991 number one "Don't Wanna Change The World," "Living In Confusion," "Can't We Fall In Love Again," and "When You Get Right Down To It. A voice silenced long before its time, Phyllis Hyman's legacy lives on with this collection.

The newest change will be: no changes!!!

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