41 Doesn't Plan to Be Outdone by 43
He's an old dog, but former President George H.W. Bush is certainly up to learning new tricks. Especially when the 41st president's son is on his trail, this time looking for good ideas for the George W. Bush Presidential Library. It's no secret that the president's library search committee, now mulling over bids from several Texas schools, has been visiting other presidential libraries for tips and ideas to make the 43rd president's facility dazzle. But what the committee members might not know is that the former president's library at Texas A&M University is planning its own $8 million upgrade--one that could change the model for future libraries.
The library was state of the art when it opened in 1997. But archivists say renovations should be made every eight years to keep the library and museum fresh. And "41," as the former president is referred to in his son's White House, wants to update the technology. "We don't want to be left behind," says an insider. What will wow most are the planned additions of models of the White House Situation Room and the Press Room, where visitors will get to play press secretary and reporter. They're also adding an Oval Office, a presidential-size desk, and a Cabinet Room. The museum's new look, however, will still include the popular Camp David office. The new changes will debut in November 2007, around the facility's 10th anniversary.
This Gentleman Prefers Natalie
Actor Joe Pantoliano knows news. "Ever since 9/11," he tells us, "I've been addicted to the news." And not just any broadcast: The star noted for his beret likes a lovely lady reading him the headlines. "I like Natalie Morales " of MSNBC, he says. Not Fox News Channel, known for its blonds, we asked? "The girls are better on MSNBC."
At Least They Saved the Bubbly
When a disaster like Hurricane Katrina hits, it's often the little things people miss most once reality sinks in. Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott knows. His 154-year-old house was demolished, but Lott reveals that he and his wife found a few trinkets to keep the memories alive. As Lott and his wife, Tricia, walked through their Pascagoula neighborhood, they found their refrigerator--three blocks from the house. "The pictures that my wife had put on there with those magnetic things? Intact. It was so amazing," he says. "I opened it, and two bottles of champagne that we had saved from my daughter's wedding a few years earlier were just sitting there pretty as you please."
The Last Laugh for Robert Bork
Turns out that Robert Bork, the conservative curmudgeon rejected for a Supreme Court job, can be a witty guy. Over a breakfast of bacon and eggs last week, he told a joke heard in conservative circles that touches on the community's distrust of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. "How do you pronounce Souter in Spanish?" he asked, referring to moderate Republican Justice David Souter. "Gonzales." And when we asked what it's been like over all these years to be a celebrated court reject whose name symbolizes persecution by liberals, he said: "Using my name as a verb is a good thing. It's a form of immortality."
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