Flash

By Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 13, 2000

Ventura regrets making controversial comments

Gov. Jesse Ventura says he wishes he hadn't granted an interview to Playboy magazine in which he criticized organized religion.

"Personally, I'll survive it, and I knew I would. But it was very difficult for my family in light of what happened," he said Friday.

In the November issue, Ventura ignited a firestorm by saying organized religion was "a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people's business."

Ventura also said he was thinking about running for a second term. But when he leaves office, he said he plans to change his appearance, go into deep seclusion, and the only people who will be able to find him will be the CIA.

"Practice' star overcame tough childhood

Dylan McDermott, star of the TV series The Practice, has been leading a charmed life lately.

But his childhood was anything but: His parents split before he was 2, he lost his mother at 5 and he grew up in a rough town in Connecticut while his dad tended bar in New York City.

From his father, he learned how to tend bar, serving William Hurt, John Belushi, Ray Sharkey and other celebrities.

"When you're a kid and you see for the first time how famous people are treated like royalty, how people give them things that they don't give normal human beings, it's like, "Whoa, this is something I want. And need! How do you get that?' "

Sting plans free concert in New York's Central Park

Sting is winding up the U.S. leg of his "Brand New Day" tour in Central Park, where he will give a free concert next month, the New York Daily News reported.

The show is set for Sept. 12, but there's a catch: Fans can't just show up. Tickets, although free, will be required for admission to the big event.

Best Buy, the retail chain sponsoring the event, will handle the approximately 25,000 tickets to be distributed. Sting will give out the first ticket Sept. 7.

The stores plan contests to dole out the rest of the prized tickets.

Musician/actor LL Cool J returns to musical roots

LL Cool J took some flak for heading to Hollywood after achieving fame. But for his latest album, "G.O.A.T.," he returned to New York for inspiration.

"I didn't want to be in Beverly Hills writing songs that deal with my community," said the 31-year-old rapper in the September issue of The Source. "But it wasn't about me trying to be a tough guy; it was about me going back to my roots.

Married to his childhood sweetheart, he and his wife have four children.

"We are trying to raise responsible children who will one day marry people of substance. They may not be perfect people, but anyone who marries into this family is going to have to be about something. I'm a winner, and I want to make sure my kids are winners."

Tonight Show host headlines classic car show

Jay Leno is revving up for California's premiere rich-man, richer-man classic car display. Leno, Nicolas Cage and Ralph Lauren are among the auto enthusiasts heading up the California coast for the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance show on Aug. 20.

"This is the millionaires versus billionaires car show. It's the more money than brains club," Leno said Friday. The Tonight Show host has his own collection of more than 150 cars and motorcycles.