CS BRINGS YOU THE REAL DEAL ON JONATHAN TAYLOR THOMAS!!!
Have you read every article ever written about Jonathan Taylor Thomas? Do you know his “Wild America” lines by heart? Are you more likely to take your grandmother to the prom than miss “Home Improvement?” If you answered yes to any (or all) of these questions, then you definitely qualify as a mega-fan, and you’re going to love Celebrity Sightings!
Not to sound conceited or anything, but we DO have exclusive info on the hottest teen in Hollywood, straight from the source!! (Don’t even get us started on those never-before-seen photos).In this edition, CS has the word (Jonathan’s word, that is) on the recent conflict between the United States and Iraq, as well as his current favorite CD’s! (TRUE Mega-fans know how politically aware Jonathan is). If this sounds a bit more in-depth than the usual teen celebrity fare, remember that Jonathan has tons of input about what goes into his only official website. CS is bringing you exactly what’s on his mind!
JONATHAN ON CONFLICT IN IRAQ
Those of you who are REALLY down with your Jonathan facts probably know that he is definitely a deep thinker (we think he should maybe look into a double major in history and philosophy in college). CS asked him to share his thoughts on the recent conflict in Iraq, and as usual, Jonathan spoke passionately and intelligently about his view of the situation: “We [the United States] spend a hundred million dollars a day keeping our troops over there waiting. Just waiting! Keeping all our troops and everything lined up in there.
I’m going, ‘Do you KNOW what you can do in this country with a hundred million dollars? Do you know how many people you could feed? You could fix up an inner city, you could re-do our complete education system, you could buy new books.’ You could do so many things with a hundred million dollars.
Either fix the situation or get out of it. But we have people just waiting — are we gonna bomb them, aren’t we gonna bomb them, what are we gonna do, and what’s UNSCOM doing? [UNSCOM is the United Nations Special Commission overseeing the destruction of Iraqi weapons] It’s like, come on! Yes, he’s manufacturing this stuff; we know Saddam Hussein is a threat, we know he produces these materials. But it needs to be an international effort. It can’t just be the United States versus Iraq – it needs to be the United Nations.”
 Curious about where Jonathan gets his news? Here’s the scoop: “I read the paper, I watch CNN International. I’m more interested in international events than I am in U.S. politics. I watch all that stuff. I like it.” |
We asked Jonathan to expand on the idea of the United States as the self-proclaimed worldwide “defender of democracy,” and here’s what he told us: “Unfortunately, we [the U.S.] are in that position. We have to be, because the reality is, America is the most powerful country in the world. We have a responsibility to fulfill. But at the same time, people have to realize that we [the American people] don’t necessarily see everything. What we hear is talk about Iraqi propaganda – we’re told that they manipulate people, but we do the same thing! Are we getting the whole picture? No. All we hear is that this crazy dictator is running around producing deadly chemicals and that he’s going to bomb us.”
CS wondered how Jonathan (both a pacifist and a realist, by the way) felt about the United States demanding to have access to Iraqi military information. Jonathan replied, “It’s extremely invasive. We’re going, ‘We need to look at these places [military bases and such] because you’re dangerous.’ It’s like, we [Americans] produce those chemicals too! Do you think we don’t have chemical weapons? We have every weapon of mass destruction you can imagine. But we’re saying no one else can, because your leader is dangerous, our leader is not.
As for Saddam Hussein – do I think he’s a threat? I don’t know. I really don’t know enough about him as far as remembering the Gulf War – I was so much younger then. But I do know the U.S. has an agenda – we have a [political] interest in everything we do. That’s the nature of politics [in this case, foreign policy]. We’re not just on some great humanitarian mission – that’s not what this is about. We have interest here, we have an interest there. That’s not a bad thing, but at the same time, people should recognize that for what it is.”
FROM CORRUPT DICTATOR TO COMPACT DISCS!!
| Who Are The CS Stars Listening To? Andrew Keegan = Savage Garden, Backstreet Boys, Jonny Lang Danielle Fishel = Bloodhound Gang, Natalie Imbruglia Larisa Oleynik = countless ska and punk bands! Visit her site! Tia and Tamera Mowry = Kirk Franklin, Boyz II Men |
Now that I’ve set the mood for a topic switch, I’ll bet you’re wondering where the one and only Jonathan Taylor Thomas fits into this wide world of music taste. Is he anything like his fellow CS celebs? Jonathan told us he is rarely in his car without the radio on (People in LA spend a LOT of time in cars, so he must know the rotation on alternative stations like KROQ and STAR 98.7 pretty well.) Of course one’s favorite CD’s are subject to change, but Celebrity Sightings recently asked him to tell us what he was into at press time. Here’s what this superstar had to say about his most recent, what’s-on-your-changer CD purchases: “Let’s see, I just went out and got the Wallflowers CD. I also got Radiohead, which is good. I like a couple of their songs (it’s the new “OK Computer” album). Some of it’s too bizarre for me, though, just weird. Oh, and I also got the new Everclear CD.”
At the risk of sending female fans into hysterics at the mention of her name (wink), CS wondered if Jonathan’s girlfriend Nikki is into the same CD’s he is – that’s important in a relationship! Jonathan assured us, “Oh, yeah, the same stuff as me – we definitely have the same musical tastes. We both really like Fiona Apple.” |
Though Jonathan did say he likes to rock out to slightly harder bands every now and then, he told us, “my favorite is still the Dave Matthews Band. I love that stuff. But actually, the Wallflowers CD is very mellow. It’s almost like soft rock. So it’s kind of like all across the board.” Jonathan went on to talk about his CD shopping habits, saying, “I generally don’t buy CDs that I don’t know anything at all about. I wouldn’t want to get it and have it be horrible. With Ben Folds Five, though, I got that album a while ago, because I heard their big song “Brick” before it was played on the radio stations. I went, ‘Wow, that’s an awesome song.’ I heard just that one song, didn’t hear anything else, and then I went and got their album. 
I do that sometimes. I don’t like to wait until I’ve heard eight songs on the album I like before I go buy it. I mean, one is generally enough for me to go buy the album. And sometimes you make a mistake and buy the album, and it’s the only good song on it!”
Note to self: catch up on CNN and NPR before Jonathan’s next chat! 😉 We told you he was super-sharp! That should hold you mega-fans for a while, but don’t worry, Celebrity Sightings will absolutely be back with more on this incredible young star. Next time, find out what Jonathan thinks about the complex issue of FAME. Until then, peace out, and we’ll see you in the chat lounge!