Tag Archives: talks
Jay and Silent Bob’s Jason Mewes talks drug addiction, cannabis and laughter
If laughter is the best medicine, then Jason Mewes is quite healthy these days. We caught up with Mewes, best known as best known as the talking half of the duo Jay and Silent Bob, in advance of tonight’s live taping of their successful (and hysterical) weekly comedy podcast, Jay and Silent Bob Get Old at the Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colorado.
For fans, it’s basically Mewes and Smith as two dirty-minded teenagers stuck in the bodies of men approaching middle age, complete with fart and poop jokes. Probably not too different from you and your friends on any given Friday night after a joint or two.
The duo are in Colorado this week recording for an episode of the podcast dubbed, appropriately, the POTcast. I had a chance to catch up with Mewes about the show, his addiction to oxys an cocaine, and his undying love for cannabis–even if he’s not smoking it these days.
“Our podcast is something we started nearly two years ago, talking and telling behind-the-scenes stories behind our friendship. We’ve known each other for 25 years, so we’ll talk about stuff that happened twenty years ago and stuff that might have happened a week ago,” Mewes said over the phone earlier this week. “We talk about everything and put it out there and try and make it entertaining. Like the first time I had a threesome, or the first time I woke up next to some random girl and had crapped my pants.”
For the rest of our interview with Mewes, head over to our sister paper Westword.com. And to check out Jay and Silent Bob Get Old, click over to their Smodcast page and spin one up. Snoochie Boochies.
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Volleyball Champ Kerri Walsh Jennings Talks Baby No. 3
By Gina Walsh
WebMD Magazine – Feature
At the London Olympics last summer, beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh Jennings and her teammate, Misty May-Treanor, set a record that may stand for decades: three straight Olympic gold medals. In the four years since the pair stood atop the podium in Beijing, Walsh Jennings, now 34, had given birth to two sons, one year apart.
As the unbeatable pair watched the U.S. flag rise to claim their third gold, Walsh Jennings had other big news brewing: She was five weeks pregnant with her third child. Here, she muses about pregnancy cravings, juggling two toddlers and an Olympic career, and her plans for the future. (Hint: She’s not slowing down.)
1. Did you realize at the Olympics that you were pregnant?
I knew as well as I could know without getting it confirmed. I was late, about a couple of days, and then I got more and more late. And then I started having something happen that had only happened during my previous pregnancies: When I’d sneeze, I’d feel a … pain in my tummy muscles. I thought, “Hey, this only happens when I’m pregnant!”
2. Boy or girl — are you going to find out?
We found out on Christmas morning with the boys and we’re going to do the same with this one. I have an appointment in two weeks for my 4D ultrasound, and we’ll bring in two different ornaments, pink and blue, and have my doctor [secretly] select the right one and put it in a box. We’ll wrap it up and put it away for safekeeping, and it will be the last present under the tree that we open.
(Update: Over the holidays she announced she’s expecting a baby girl.)
3. How did you juggle training for international competition while riding herd on two toddler boys [Joseph Michael, born in May 2009, and Sundance Thomas, born in May 2010]?
Basically, my husband [beach volleyball player Casey Jennings] and I are a really good team. He made me really comfortable with my schedule. He made our family a priority so Misty and I could go in and win a gold medal, and that took all the pressure off. My little sister KC was our nanny on the road in London. It’s always been my dream in life to be a working mom and have this amazing career. We knew the madness of it all, but we do it as a team. In 2011, they went wherever we went: all around the world, from China to Brazil to Europe. In 2012, there was a little less travel for them: They only went to Rome and London. My husband and I want to keep playing and go for the gold in Rio as well, so we’ll hopefully see a lot more places as a family. That’s my dream.
IGDA invites gun violence task force talks
The International Game Developer’s Association has offered its services to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s gun violence task force. While Biden plans to meet with several gaming industry representatives about the role of violent games in tragedies such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, the IGDA’s letter of invitation leaves no doubt about the organization’s views on the matter.
“We welcome more evidence-based research into the effects of our work to add to the large body of existing scientific literature that clearly shows no causal link between video game violence and real violence,” the letter reads.
The IGDA states that it is the primary membership organization serving individuals who create games. As a representative for the people behind many of the violent games called into question, the IGDA pointed to several studies which have already shown no link between real-world violence and gaming. Still, the group recognizes media creators have responsibilities along with their rights.
“One way that game developers choose to recognize our responsibilities is by creating games with richer, deeper meanings in the lives of our audiences and by offering a wider range of experiences available than ever before. For example, some violent games add non-violent options and solutions based on problem-solving and player creativity. Other games offer greater rewards for mercy and compassion.”
We weren’t expecting the IGDA to hold, say, non-lethal Dishonored runs up as a beacon of gaming righteousness, but when the National Rifle Association has already shunted the conversation into amateur flash game Kindergarten Killers, we can’t really blame it.
The letter’s last point hearkens back to the creation of the Comics Code Authority in the 1950s, a voluntary self-censorship organization formed in response to public outcry and congressional inquiries.
“Censoring violent comic books did not reduce juvenile delinquency or increase literacy, it decimated the production of one of the few kinds of literature that at-risk youths read for pleasure. Censoring video games could have similar unintended consequences that we cannot currently foresee. Ironically, comic books are now used as part of the solution to illiteracy, even by the government. It may seem counter-intuitive, but video games, even violent video games, could be part of the solution here, as well.”
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Russian PM talks Father Christmas, aliens and “jerks”
Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev speaks during his interview with national television channels in Moscow December 7, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Dmitry Astakhov/RIA Novosti/Pool
MOSCOW |
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Father Christmas, aliens, President Vladimir Putin’s lateness and “jerks” – Russia’s prime minister gave the nation his views on more than he intended on Friday.
Dmitry Medvedev let his guard down after an interview with five Russian television stations when he failed to realize the cameras were still rolling.
“I believe in Father Frost. But not too deeply. But anyway, you know, I’m not one of those people who are able to tell the kids that Father Frost does not exist,” he said in a jovial reply to a question about Russia’s equivalent of Santa Claus.
He went on to make an unflattering allusion to Putin’s frequent lateness for meetings.
“Colleagues, somebody should be extremely punctual, while somebody else is exhausting all the limits for being late,” he said, smiling wryly on a day when his mentor was more than an hour late for an event in southern Russia.
The comments touched off satire on the Internet which is unlikely to help Medvedev, whose star has waned since Putin took over from him as president in May after a four-year interval.
In the interview itself, Medvedev underlined his allegiance to Putin and appeared determined to show he is in step with his ally to dismiss rumors he is about to be fired.
Medvedev defended Kremlin-backed laws which critics say will be used to stifle dissent and which appear out of synch with the prime minister’s relatively liberal image.
But in the off-air comments, he was less guarded.
When one of the five journalists who interviewed him complained about federal investigators arriving to search the home of a witness in an inquiry early in the morning, Medvedev told the journalist not to worry before stepping out of shot.
But his microphone was still switched on when he said casually: “They are just jerks, so they come at eight in the morning. It’s just their set of habits. I know many people who work in the police. They think if they come at seven in the morning they will get everything in the world.”
ALIENS AMONG US?
Another of the journalists asked whether the president is handed secret files on aliens when receiving the briefcase needed to activate Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
“Along with the briefcase with nuclear codes, the president of the country is given a special ‘top secret’ folder. This folder in its entirety contains information about aliens who visited our planet,” Medvedev answered playfully.
“Along with this, you are given a report of the absolutely secret special service that exercises control over aliens on the territory of our country … More detailed information on this topic you can get from a well-known movie called ‘Men In Black’ … I will not tell you how many of them are among us because it may cause panic,” he says.
None of the television stations that interviewed Medvedev broadcast the off-air comments, but they were delivered to Reuters as a pool signal and some were shown on YouTube.
Medvedev’s standing has declined since he and Putin announced in September last year that the former KGB spy planned to return to the presidency, ending speculation his protégé could stay on.
They worked jointly in St.Petersburg in the 1990s and it was Putin who ushered Medvedev, now 47, in to power in 2008.
But some political analysts give Medvedev only until March or April as prime minister, citing turf wars between rival interest groups.
Even during the interview itself, Medvedev answered some unusual questions. Asked whether he believed the world would end on December 21 under a New Age prophecy, he said no.
He said he might have another tilt at the presidency if the Russian people want it. But he won little acclaim on the Internet.
“It’s sad when the former president and current prime minister of your country is simply a pathetic person,” Yekaterina Kudinova wrote on Twitter.
(Writing by Timothy Heritage and Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Stephen Powell)
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Interview: Nintendo Talks eShop Disparity, Miiverse, and Wii U’s Online Focus At Launch
While Nintendo’s press conference in New York City on Thursday revealed many of the key details on Wii U we had all been waiting for — namely its price and release date — there were many lingering issues left to be addressed. Nintendo of America’s Bill Trinen may be best known as the frequent translator for Shigeru Miyamoto, but he’s also the company’s Product Marketing Manager. Jose Otero and Anthony Parisi turned to him to find out more about transferring digital content from a Wii to Wii U, the reason for the disparity between the Japanese and North American eShops, plans for selling standalone GamePads, lessons learned from WiiConnect24, and why online play wasn’t an emphasis for Nintendo’s first-party games at launch.
1UP: From what you’ve seen, how is Nintendo adapting to the U.S. market right now, considering the state of the Japanese yen versus the dollar? How does that influence the approach?
