Kazakh writer: 'Borat' actor deserves award

Kazakh writer: 'Borat'actor deserves award
ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- A leading Kazakh writer has nominated actor Sasha Baron Cohen for a national award for popularizing Kazakhstan.
Novelist Sapabek Asip-uly called on the Kazakh Club of Art Patrons to give Cohen its annual award, according to a letter published by the Vremya newspaper Thursday.
Cohen's fictional Kazakh character Borat "has managed to spark an immense interest of the whole world in Kazakhstan -- something our authorities could not do during the years of independence," said Asip-uly, who chairs the writers' guild "The Land and Destiny of Kazakhs."
Authorities in the ex-Soviet republic have been enraged by Borat's unflattering portrayal of Kazakh life in the spoof documentary, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit of Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."
"If state officials completely lack a sense of humor, their country becomes a laughing stock," Asip-uly said.
The film, following Borat on a journey across America to report to his homeland on its culture and lifestyles, has become a runaway hit and generated controversy for its misogynist and racist scenes. Despite the film's worldwide success, Cohen has not received recognition in Kazakhstan, Asip-uly said.
The award of the Kazakh Club of Art Patrons was established in 2005.
Asip-uly is known for novels describing the Russian colonization of Kazakh lands and the Stalinist purges that decimated Kazakhstan's political and cultural elite in the 1930s.
The fashionable Jaggerknows when to dress up
NEW YORK -- Like his voice, Mick Jagger's wardrobe is still rocking after all these years.
His sexagenarian frame hasn't missed a beat when it comes to fashion. Whether it's tight shirts or jeans, Jagger never fails to impress audiences with his style.
"It doesn't matter if you're starting out or you're doing it for years," Jagger told The New York Times. "There's no point in having a huge dress-up if you're playing a 500-seat club. And if you're playing for 50,000 people, there's no point in wearing rags."
Over the decades, Jagger has donned jeans and jackets by the Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquiere and T-shirts by the Dior designer Hedi Slimane.
But that wasn't always the case, said Jagger, 63. Like many bands just starting out, clothes were a luxury he and his mates couldn't afford.
"We wore clothes very similar to what we wore offstage because we didn't have any money and that was the look," Jagger said.
Notable death
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- John R. Pepper II, co-founder of the first nationwide radio station with programming targeting a black audience, died Monday. He was 91.
Still one of Memphis' top stations, WDIA-AM was the first in the South with an all-black on-air staff. Clear Channel Broadcasting Inc. now owns the station, which reaches five states.
WDIA, which Pepper founded with Bert Ferguson in the 1940s, helped launch the careers of B.B. King and Isaac Hayes, among others, and eased the way for blacks throughout the country to break into broadcasting.
Today's birthdays
Former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet is 91. Actor Ricardo Montalban is 86. Actress Noel Neill is 86. Actress Kathryn Crosby is 73. Actor Matt Clark is 70. Singer Percy Sledge is 66. Actor Tracey Walter is 64. Author, actor and game show host Ben Stein is 62. Singer Bob Lind is 62. Actor John Larroquette is 59. Movie director Jonathan Kaplan is 59. Singer Amy Grant is 46. Rock musician Eric Grossman (K's Choice) is 42. Rock singer Mark Lanegan is 42. Singer Stacy Lattisaw is 40. Rock musician Rodney Sheppard (Sugar Ray) is 40. Rapper-producer Erick Sermon is 38. Actress Jill Hennessy is 37. Actress Christina Applegate is 35.