In the new edition of Parade Magazine, due out this weekend, Angelina Jolie talks about her life with Brad Pitt and their four children, Maddox, 6, Pax 3, Zahara 2, and Shiloh 1, as well as their future plans as a family, and her humanitarian efforts.

Angelina on being a working mom with four small children:

“Brad and I are very lucky that we’re in a situation where we can choose to take turns, and one of us can be home with the kids, and so we kind of have that plan of who is doing what. So I have been home, and now I am going to go to work for a little bit, then he is going to work, then I m going to work, then basically we’re going to try to take a year off and just be with the kids. So certainly, we’re trying to find a few projects that we love or that we think would be good to do for one reason or another. But mainly our focus is, ‘OK, let’s look at our schedule, and try to figure out when we’re going to have our family time.’”

She and Brad’s plans for their future, work and family:

“Brad and I have a lot of kids, and we want to have more kids. It’s fun, and we love it. But you can’t balance everything.I think both of us only plan to work for a few more years. We’ll try to stop sooner or later, so we can be home and travel, and just live.”

Are they abandoning the Hollywood lifestyle?

“Certainly we’re not running from all that. That’s not our motivation. We’re public people. We know that, and the world is what it is today, with press and media. But, yeah, I think it will be nice to, you know, just not be so – so out there.”

Angie’s mother died this past January after a long bout with ovarian cancer, she now opens up about how her mother influenced her own humanitarian efforts:

“I am my mother’s daughter. I mean, I hope but don’t think I’ll ever be as good as her.She was just such a pure, kind, unbelievably gracious mother. From a very young age, I saw my mother doing aid work. I saw how it made her life very happy and fulfilled. But really the biggest lesson she taught me was: It’s the little things. This was somebody who the world didn’t know about at all, but her simple acts of kindness left a huge impression.”

Angelina admits that her life hasn’t always been a model one and shares some insight on what intrinsically changed her outlook:

“I think that when I was in my early 20s, I knew, innately, that I wasn’t living an important life. I think that I didn’t so much lose my way, but I hadn’t found my way. I wasn’t giving very much. My life was not really benefiting anyone. That just doesn’t feel good.”

What does she think about her star-status and the impact this has had on her pet causes?

“There’s a part of me that understands that I can get people to pay attention to certain things. When that happens, there’s nothing that feels better. But my intention was never, ‘I need to go out there and teach other people something. Whether people’s thoughts about my family are positive or negative, at the end of the day, I get to come home to these four little people who are the greatest things in the world.”

Angie also gives some practical advice on how the average person can help those in need around the world:

“My advice for [those who want to help in the world]: People have the Internet, they have access to magazines, newspapers from other countries, they have access to human rights Web sites, U.N. Web sites, all kinds of discussions on many different things—justice, aid abroad, volunteer vacations. There are many things to explore.

I think the first step is to try to navigate your way through some of that and see where your heart goes. That’s a big part of it. I do think it has to be personal. It has to be strong for it to last and grow, and then it will be a pleasure to work hard to do it.

I know people who now work in Washington, very high-powered jobs, who simply started as young people who decided they would just GET to different countries, and say, ‘I’ve got a pair of hands, and I’ll help—does anybody need me?’ There is a lot to be said for that. If you investigate, there are a lot of volunteer organizations, a lot of NGOs [non-governmental organizations], a lot of religious groups. But first I do think that there is something to knowing who you are and where your heart goes and what you feel you can contribute.”

For more on Angelina Jolie, check out Sunday’s Parade Magazine. Also, she is making it really difficult to hate her. Her beauty is spellbinding. Witch!

Photo: Marie Claire

We almost forgot to wish the world’s most beautiful celebrity child Happy 1st Birthday. Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt turned 1 over the weekend (May 27) and she’s had quite a year. Here’s a nice little retrospective of my favorite celeb child who has a quite a 1st year.  We wish we had more recent pics of you and more candid shots with you and your family, but, you know how your mom is.

She made her film debut in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Buttons with proud papa Brad.

She gained another sibling, older brother Pax Thien.

She weathered many a tabloid storm while her parents were stalked by the paparazzi.

She likely bonded with her army of nannies and hopefully has learned to defend herself as her older sister Zahara is said to be a real terror with a jealous streak.

Don’t worry Shiloh, we got your back. If you start to feel neglected you can come stay with Aunty D. I promise not to ignore you. At least not anymore than my other kids! Happy Belated B-Day.

Angelina Jolie has been talking to the press more lately than she has in some time, all part of her and partner Brad Pitt’s media blitz for their new film A Mighty Heart, which opens in theaters on June 22.

The film was produced by Brad’s production company Plan B, and features Angelina in the starring role as Mariane Pearl, a journalist and slain wife of fellow journalist Daniel Pearl. Daniel Pearl, who worked for the Wall Street Journal, was investigating “shoe-bomber” Richard Reid in Pakistan, when he was kidnapped and killed in 2002. His story was riveting, and made all the more tragic as his murder was captured on film and made public while his wife was pregnant with their first child.

Angelina was handpicked by Mariane Pearl to play her in the film. Pearl had to be convinced by studio heads to adapt the memoir she wrote (also title A Mighty Heart) which detailed happier times with Daniel and the events leading up to his horrific death. Mariane has stated that while she was approached by several Hollywood types about her book, only Brad Pitt had actually read it - and having Jolie’s involvement most certainly sealed the deal.

Pearl and Jolie became friends (prior to any plans for the film) after Mariane read an interview with Jolie where she spoke about adopting her son Maddox and how that had changed her perspective on life. The two have been close since.

Now, with the film’s premier in Cannes, and the world premier in just weeks, Jolie has been prompted to speak to the press not only about the film, but about her life with Brad, her kids and their life through the eye of the paparazzi.

On NBC’s Today, Angie sat down with Ann Curry to discuss ii all. Much of the interview, which can be seen here, focuses on the film and Jolie playing a person who isn’t just a “real” individual, but also a friend of hers. Curry attempts to make some side-by-side comparisons between Jolie and Pearl and their life in the media, but Jolie is quick to point out that while there are flashbulbs to contend with, her life has not been marked with tragedy — and in fact — she is quite lucky to have a loving family that she can enjoy during her private times away from the spotlight.

What struck me as “intriguing” in this interview, which was mostly predictable, was Angie’s summation of the difference between journalists like Daniel Pearl and celebrity journalists. Jolie readily admits that journalism as a profession (and as is portrayed in the film) can be a heroic quest, but that when the media focuses only on “silly stories” about her, that’s what truly bothers her.
But wait, there’s more…

Angelina Jolie talked to Reader’s Digest about her efforts to help her newly adopted son, 3-year-old Pax Thien adjust to life in a family, after spending his early years in an orphanage.  The newest addition to the Pitt-Jolie clan has been with the family almost two-months now, since being adopted from Vietnam back in mid-March and is beginning to adapt to his new life.  But the transition has had challenges and some funny moments.  The things most kid’s take for granted growing up in a family with a mom or dad, or hopefully both, were quite foreign to little Pax. 

Baths have taken on a new meaning for Pax, Jolie explains:

“Pax is almost three and a half and has never made a real decision for himself because everybody does everything in a group in the orphanage. There were all these things he’d never had. The first time I gave him a bath, he was suddenly laughing, out of his mind. He took five baths in one day. We’d be talking and he’d take his clothes off and run into the bathroom.”

I have to say though, that’s very normal for 3-year olds.  My son’s 3 1/2 and he takes great joy in dropping his pants in the yard, so it’s great to see Pax doing normal toddler boy things. Angelina also talked about the first couple of days home with Pax after leaving his “institutionalized” life behind.  His new mom, an international celebrity devoted some special attention to him hoping to make him feel more comfortable and secure in his surroundings.

Nighttime rituals settled in pretty quickly Jolie says:

“The first two days, he cried a lot. I hired a translator, and he would explain what was going on. The first night, I slept alone with him. I was expecting him to wake up and scream, but he woke and just stared at me. I handed him a stuffed animal, and we walked around the room pointing at things. By day three, he didn’t want me to put him down. I think he got used to the reality that somebody loves you and that’s what a mommy is.”

Angelina also talked about her and Brad’s decision to have a biological child, despite her early choice not to:

Before I met Brad, I always said I was happy never to have a child biologically. He told me he hadn’t given up that thought. Then, a few months after Z came home, I saw Brad with her and Mad, and I realized how much he loved them, that a biological child would not in any way be a threat. So I said, “I want to try.”

Does Brad bring out the best in Angelina?  Angie thinks so:

“He encourages the right things. If I’ve had a full day and just really been a hands-on mom, he’ll make a point to let me know that’s something he’s proud of. If I’m writing an Op-Ed, he’s the first person to want to read the drafts. I could be dressed up in the sexiest outfit for a photo shoot, and by his behavior, he’ll let me know that’s nice, but it’s nothing as sexy as when I’m home surrounded by the kids or reading books, educating myself. He slows me down to kind of get it right, to relax into the strength of my family and the love.”

With all these kids, how do they make time for themselves? Angie reveals her secrets:

“Right now, that’s our problem! We hang out. We try to talk over the swing set. We’ll have a date night once everybody is settled…..Especially now with Pax; he still gets scared if I’m gone more than a few hours. But we’ll get them occupied with a movie and popcorn and try to run off and lock the door for a bit. “

Ewww, TMI!

How do they cope with all the negativity and gossip that surrounds, and those pesky marriage rumor:

“Our first question is what paper is it in. The New York Times? If not, do we really need to worry? …. There’s no big conspiracy behind our decision not to. We’ve both been married before. Our focus when we got together was family, and we are legally bound to our children. That really seems to be the most important thing.”

Clearly Angelina comprehends the needs of a child and seems quite committed to helping her adopted children feel the love they deserve.  I applaud her efforts, I just hope in her quest to save the world, her own biological child is getting what she needs from her mother as well.  Even in the best of circumstances with a family of normal people (non-celebrities) taking care of four kids can be challenging at best and very stressful at worst.  I am sure the Pitt-Jolie family have an army of people to help them though, and certainly someone’s looking out for Shiloh while her mom tends to the needs of her adopted siblings.

And there’s some more good news, Pax Thien Jolie will soon have a new surname, as Angelina has almost completed the required legalities to change his last name to Jolie-Pitt like her other children.  Even if she employed some rather stealthy techniques.  Jolie is like genius or something; a mad, child-saving, homewrecking, gorgeous genius!

Looks like she’s flipping Brad the bird!

Just kidding. Good to see these two attention-whores hanging out in Prague. I hear Prague in the spring is like Paris in the Fall.

No, I didn’t, that was a false. Just like the love these two share.

Ok Brangelina fans, do your worst.

Us Magazine is quoting a source as saying that Angelina Jolie gave her one-time co-star and reported former flame, Oliver Martinez a lapdance while the two were out together for an afterparty to celebrate her directorial debut in the documentary, A Place In Time.

Martinez participated in the film with Jolie and previously on the movie Taking Lives - when the two are said to have had a fling before Jolie hooked up with current partner of two years Brad Pitt.

From the Us Magazine story titled, Angelina Gives Ex Lapdance While Brad Babysits:

After an official bash at Hotel Gansevoort – where the star drank wine and, a source tells Us, was “really outgoing and very chatty” – Jolie headed to a small VIP afterparty at nearby eatery Gin Lane. Encouraged by a group of drummers, the actress eventually began waving her arms around. But it wasn’t until Jolie started dancing for Martinez that things got really wild.

“She turned to him on the banquette and was shaking it in front of him. She was giving him a lap dance, ” another reveler tells Us. “She was looking over her shoulder, tossing a glance his way.” As another partygoer describes it, “It was very, very flirty.” “When she is with someone she knows, she might appear to be flirtatious, but it’s just affection.”

Where was boyfriend Brad Pitt? Should he be worried about the couple’s recent outing? When are Brad and Angie going to see each other next? For more details on Angelina’s recent flirtation and how it will affect her relationship with Brad, check out the current issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands this week.

I would LOVE to believe this story. Why? Because I have made it no secret that I think Angelina is some kind of man-eating she-devil with the moral fiber of an ethnic-cleansing third-world-leader. This story is like low-hanging fruit, ripe for my brutal picking.

But after dealing with Us Magazine recently and unraveling a blatant fabrication that they refused to acknowledge, their mode of operation hast has become abundantly clear to me. Us Magazine, like some mainstream media sources, have ZERO interest in the facts and are in the business of selling magazines even if it destroys lives.

Do I suffer from some sort of crippling naivete? Is it so wrong for me to want to find safe harbor in the MSM — the last vestige of credibility — in a field that lives and breathe untruths and misrepresentations. I have genuinely formed opinions about people I don’t know based on news items I have taken at face value. Some people will brush off my incredulity as silly. Many times I have heard “Well, those are tabloid rags, you don’t really believe what they write do you?” Yes, in fact I do. I don’t read the OBVIOUS sources full of outrageous claims. I assume(d) that a magazine like Us is believable. I assume they fact-check. I assume they know what libel is.

Yes, I know I am screaming into a vacuum of non-interest. Whatever, I hope this one’s true, because I would love to believe that Angie Jolie is a dirty two-timing whore. But really, who gives a crap. It’s a headline worth repeating whether it’s true or not.

Actor Jon Voight told the “No Spin Zone” host Bill O’Reilly that he is fascinated by his daughter Angelina Jolie.

This should come as no surprise considering the two have been estranged since 2002 when Voight made unfavorable remarks about Jolie in an interview suggesting she had “serious mental issues.”

Despite having given birth to her biological daughter Shiloh with partner Brad Pitt, adopting three children and losing her mother to cancer earlier this year, Angelina has continued to keep her father at arms lengths. Perhaps this fascination stems from the alienation, or it could be that Voight, like the rest of the world, just can’t seem to figure the gorgeous actress out.

Angelina, an Oscar-winning actress, is extremely famous for two reasons: her humanitarian work and her home-wrecker status. These two symbolic actions don’t co-exist favorably. Whether she and her partner of two years, Brad Pitt, want to admit it or not, it’s clear they forged an unmistakable bond while Brad was still married to actress Jennifer Aniston. It doesn’t matter when they consummated the act (something they both allege happened after he was separated from his wife) or before - a high profile marriage of two extremely likable celebrities was left in shambles. Symbolically it divided people into two camps. Pro-Angelina vs. Pro-Jennifer.

Then, almost miraculously and with strange coincidence, Angelina embarked on a crusade to bring awareness of the plights of the poor and down-trodden, most especially children, to the eye of world. Truly noble and kind-hearted. Almost the only possible next move of someone wanting to overhaul their image of temptress to saint. I’m not judging, I’m just saying is all.

I applaud her efforts to help children, few things are more important. But I also value the importance of honesty and staying true to your dignity. Breaking up a marriage is NOT cool any way you slice it. Shame on Brad most of all.

So back to Bill O’Reilly and Jon Voight’s fascination.

Here’s what they had to say:

Bill O’Reilly: “Now, your daughter, Angelina Jolie. You know, we checked her out. I don’t know whether you know this or not. Big investigation on her. And we found out she walks the walk, that she gives all the money, millions of dollars and this and that. She has become, I believe, the most interesting celebrity in the world. In your opinion, why?”

John Voigt: “Yes, she is fascinating. She’s fascinating to me. She’s my daughter. I’m completely fascinated with her. And I have a great admiration for all the work she does and in her humanitarian effort. I think she’s quite stunning, of course. Very attractive gal. And she, for whatever reason, she has a certain charisma.”

O’Reilly agreed, “In the acting — in the acting profession, you’ve known them all. Some people have charisma and some don’t. She obviously has it.”

Can’t disagree, Jolie is both charismatic and fascinating.

But then again, so is Tom Cruise.

 

The tabloids can’t seem to make up their mind.  One minute, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are splitting, the next minute they are madly in love.  Then there are reports that a journalist lied about Pitt defending Angelina, and now, the couple’s spokespeople are of course stating they are still happily together.

It makes it difficult to know where the truth in all this conjecture and speculation really is. 

What we do know is that Brad and Angelina as a couple have four children under the age of five, we know that three of those children are adopted, 5-year-old Maddox, 2-year-old Zahara, 3-year-old Pax and their one biological child, 11-month-old Shiloh.

We also know that as of yet, none of the three children Angelina Jolie adopted have been officially adopted by Brad Pitt, though he has submitted a petition to adopt both Zahara and Maddox and they do have Pitt as their surname. Only their daughter Shiloh, 11 months, is officially Brad Pitt’s child.  As of yet, no petition has been filed for Pax on behalf of Pitt, but in fairness, there may be a waiting period for Angelina Jolie’s paperwork to be finalized in Pax’s native country Vietnam. 

Another thing we know is Angelina told the press in Vietnam at the time of Pax’s adoption her intentions were to stay at home for a while and mother and nurture her expanding brood, when in fact within the first days of returning back home with Pax, Maddox and Zahara, she flew to Chicago for a screen test for her new movie Wanted, which will begin shooting in Prague in May.

And what about those children?  Maddox had been enrolled in school for two months when the couple moved to New Orleans at the beginning of the year, and has since been uprooted again and is now back in L.A. living in their Los Feliz home.  The two pre-schoolers, Zaraha and Pax are being dropped off at studio lot daycare center.  Sure, kids are resilient, but only when they have a constant and stabilizing force in their lives to balance all the uprooting and moving around.  Who is their constant?  Brad?  He’s been working on his film, The Curious Case of Bejamin Button, and Angelina’s getting ready to begin her new film — not too mention all her globe-trotting as UN Ambassador and various charitable works.

Obviously, Angelina and Brad want it all: a multi-national family, thriving movie-careers, to save the world and have mind-numbing sex lives.  Who wouldn’t?  But the reality is, no one can have it all.   Not regular folks, not movie stars.  Throw in the estrangement of Angelina and her father Jon Voight, the death of her mother,  the disapproval Brad’s parents have towards Angelina, and then Angelina’s own unwillingness to marry Brad — and that’s a lot of issues to deal with.  

The couple’s spokeperson tells In Touch: “Their plan is to always be together, with the kids, too.”

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans.  Both In Touch and Life & Style are reporting the couple got into a heated exchange on the phone while Angelina was doing a photo shoot for St. John’s which they say “raised eyebrows” on set and Angelina was mad when the call ended. She then refused to take anymore of Brad’s calls. 

The L&S article says that Brad has had enough and in fit of anger, let out some suppressed feelings that have been building up over the tension within the relationship:

According to a friend of Brad’s, he yelled at Angie, “I don’t love you anymore — you’re not the woman I fell in love with!” Then, after calming down, says a friend of the couple, Brad quietly asked her, “Why are we doing this? We’re both unhappy — let’s walk away before it gets worse.”

There are also reports that Brad and his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston have been communicating throughout all this turmoil and she is providing him a shoulder to cry on and a place to crash if he needs it. Hmmm….

Clearly, something is amiss, and the fact that the couple released a statement tells me that are trying to do some damage control.  If they make to the end of the year as a couple, I will be amazed.  But they sure aren’t going to break up now.  Not with promotions for their latest movies Oceans 13 and A Mighty Heart coming out. 

Can’t afford bad press during movie promotion time can we?

The Tittle-Tattle has excerpts from an interview with Angelina Jolie in the UK’s Ok! Magazine, where she talks about her sexual precociousness, which dates back as early as kindergarten:

“I was a member of a group called the Kissy Girls. I was very sexual in kindergarten. I created a game where I would kiss the boys and give them cooties. “Then we would make out and we would take our clothes off. I got in a lot of trouble!”

Hmmm.. Angelina also goes on to talk about losing her virginity and how she began her ritual of self-harming:

“I had started having sex with my boyfriend and the sex and the emotions didn’t feel enough. I was no longer a little girl. In a moment of wanting to feel closer to my boyfriend I grabbed a knife and cut him. He cut me back. We had an exchange of something and we were covered in blood, my heart was racing. Then whenever I felt trapped, I’d cut myself. I have a lot of scars. “It was an age when I felt adventurous and after a few beers things happened.”

Here’s where I would put in some kind of snarky insight, but you know, I think we can all draw our own conclusions about what this implies about Angelina’s inclinations. But the good news is, when Angelina adopted her first child, five-year-old Maddox, she claims she was fundamentally changed as a person:

“It had something to do with becoming a mother. That was the biggest change in my life and made me feel complete. I learned to accept responsibility for myself, my children and my partner.”

I have no doubt that Angelina was changed by becoming a mother when she adopted Maddox. We can see the transformation as she progressed from an uncomfortably sexual being, bordering on predator. I don’t mean like a pedophile, but rather how she stalked her prospective conquests like some kind of caged lion, until she either devoured them whole, or they limped away broken and scarred. I truly feel that if Angelina Jolie sets her sights on a man, there isn’t one in the universe who could resist. She’s single-minded in her efforts and gets what she wants. Brad didn’t stray from Jennifer, he was captured alive.

But the new Angelina has replaced her addiction of overt sexuality and male manipulation with a new addiction: adopting children.

While it’s reasonable to assume that on the surface, Angelina was moved by the lost souls of poor and orphaned children, deep down this collecting children has come to replace the emptiness she feels in her soul. An emptiness she once filled with controlling the emotions of men, cutting, heroin and acting.

Let’s be clear, addiction in whatever form is as dangerous as addiction to drugs, sex or any other all-consuming activity. If you merely adopt to fill some void, where does it end? Unless she plans to fund an orphanage of her own, staffed with highly dedicated surrogate moms, even she must admit that all her children need the same time and attention as any other child would. So far she has not shown a commitment to her brood.

Angelina at her core is pathological, while father Jon Voigt may be a deadbeat, its possible he’s on to something about her mental state.

Brad Pitt, perhaps tired of seeing his mate smeared in the tabloid magazines, shot back with some criticism of his own when he ran into a reporter for the Daily Mail while at a hotel with some friends. Us Magazine, one magazine who’s given Jolie a fair bit of criticism for her seemingly addiction to adoption has the story:

“You know what it’s like to be on the cover of every magazine, having your personal life dissected with all the lies, all the rubbish?” he asked the writer, taking a swig from a bottle of beer. “It’s hell. Certainly, pick on me — but why pick on Angelina? That’s so low. She’s such an amazing woman - like Supergirl, in every way.”

Pitt, 43, quickly apologized: “I’m sorry if I seem to be taking my frustration out on you.”

It’s good that someone is defending Angelina, as she seems to be gaining more detractors lately than allies - and this for a woman who’s been on a one person crusade to rid the role of orphans — by adopting them. A man who claims to have known Brad for years, Jim Cruse wasn’t so kind about the journey Angelina has taken Brad on:

“Brad always said he wanted a family. But you should be careful what you ask for. He got four kids in two years, all under the age of six. It’s no picnic.” Cruse also took issue with Jolie’s attitude that she can “have it all” and balance being a working mother, a loving partner, and a U.N. ambassador. I don’t think she’s ever really been content,” says Cruse. “ If you ask me, this thing about her ‘wanting it all’ is just another way of saying she’s never happy. The truth is that she makes no excuses for who she is. She thinks of herself as a survivor.”

Yikes! Perhaps we aren’t reading Brad’s message correctly. Maybe when he says Angie’s a “Supergirl” he’s talking about the XTC version of “Supergirl.” Here’s a little food for thought from Andy Partridge and the boys about ’supergirls.’

That’s really super Supergirl
How you saved yourself in seconds flat
And your friends are going to say
That’s really super Supergirl
How you’re changing the world’s weather
But you couldn’t put us back together
Super Supergirl
How you stopped the universe from dying
But you’re never going to stop me crying
Super Supergirl
I’m here in your Fortress of Solitude
Don’t mean to be rude
But I don’t feel super