Anderson Cooper did a "Stupid Human Tricks" segment during yesterday’s 360, his last day broadcasting from Los Angeles.  He did his own version of the 200 liters of Diet Coke and 500 Mentos mints video by lowering a string of Mentos into a bottle of diet coke. It’s hilarious!  And does he really say, "Mentos: The Freshmucker?" The video is below, screencaps are in the gallery, and a  Time magazine article is after the jump!

10 Questions for Anderson Cooper

The host of CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 is famous for withstanding hurricanes and war zones. Now Cooper, 39, has successfully taken on the challenge of memoir writing. Dispatches from the Edge will hit No. 1 on next week’s New York Times best-seller list. And this fall he will add stints on CBS’s 60 Minutes to his busy schedule. Cooper talked with Time’s Andrea Sachs about growing up with a famous mom, dealing with family tragedy and learning lessons from Katrina.

You write about growing up as Gloria Vanderbilt’s son. When did you realize you had an unusual situation? I didn’t really know my mom was famous until I was probably about 12. That’s when she was doing fashion stuff and her name became much more talked about. I’d met famous people as a kid, like Charlie Chaplin when he returned from exile, Truman Capote, Andy Warhol. What was cool about my parents was, my brother and I were expected to sit at the adult table. There was never a kids’ table. To me, the greatest privilege of the way I grew up was realizing at a very young age that these people are just as unhappy as everyone else. Once you realize that, it frees you up from believing that fame or riches are going to bring you happiness. I think it takes a lot of people a long time to figure that one out.

You were 10 when your father died. What impact did that have? When my dad died, I felt like my life restarted. The person I was disappeared, and this sort of new person was formed. Sometimes I get glimpses of the person that I was, but it’s just shards of memory.

Your brother committed suicide when you were 21. How do you handle something like that? I don’t know that you do handle it. Suicide is such a strange thing. It’s still shrouded in mystery and, for some people, shame because of their religious beliefs or whatever reason. It’s like someone steps out of the shadows and stabs you with a stiletto. Then you have to figure out how to move on from there.

Was it tough to pick between TV and print journalism? I’ve been addicted to TV since I emerged from the womb. I recently found a schedule I made for myself in fourth grade, which was all blocked out based on the TV schedule. When I got home, it was Magilla Gorilla, then The Andy Griffith Show. I think I allotted 15 minutes for dinner, and homework was done in front of the television. News was always on the schedule as well. I had a reading problem when I was a kid, so writing came a little slow.

Your specialty seems to be war and disaster. Why? I sort of numbed myself after my dad’s death and certainly after my brother’s death. I wanted to go places where the pain outside would match the pain that I was feeling inside. War seemed like really my only option.

In what way was Katrina life changing for you? There’s always this expectation that it wouldn’t really happen here and that, if it did, there would be a safety net. To see it actually happen here was an eye-opening experience.

After Katrina, you challenged Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu about what officials were doing. Did you step over the line? I don’t think I did. I’d been on Larry King several nights that week, hearing politicians thank one another and talk about how this was an unpredictable and unprecedented disaster. And you know what? It might have been unprecedented, but it was certainly predicted. There was a lot of anger out there. People were desperate for answers. The least our elected representatives can do is try to provide those answers.

You’re like a movie star now. I don’t know about that. I’m on basic cable. I come with a package, so it’s not that big a deal.

Does fame hurt your reporting? If someone knows me and likes me or my work, they’re more likely to allow me to tell their story. But it also cuts the other way. The thing I love about reporting is being able to blend in with any group, whether that’s neo-Nazis or pedophiles. Frankly, I’m the same person I’ve always been, and I’m pretty good at blending in.

Will you stay where you are? I love what I’m doing. CNN is a cool place to work because I’m able to anchor and still do a lot of field reporting. But I’ve never hung anything on the walls in the offices I’ve had because nothing seems to last very long in TV. Who knows what will happen down the road?

Last year was insane. From tsunamis and hurricanes to the insurgency in Iraq, all manner of calamity reared its ugly head in 2005. During all the madness, one of the few constants was Anderson Cooper on our TV screens. Unlike other talking heads on the front lines, he delivered the news in a sincere way that stood out. Viewers recognized it, making Cooper the breakaway star of cable news. Now the host of CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360° has a new book, Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival. In it, Cooper shares stories from the scenes of last year’s tragedies while also looking back at the deaths of his own father and older brother and the start of his journalism career. He took time out from informing the masses to talk with us.

Of all places, CNN’s Anderson Cooper (wearing a matching New York Times blazer and tie!) is featured in the July 2006 issue of Stuff Magazine with former Wild on E!’s bikini-clad Brooke Burke on the cover. Anderson is currently the most trusted name in cable news is now the most trusted name on your bookshelf!  Read the full interview after the jump where we learn that Anderson gets his haircut every three weeks (he pays for it himself!).  And I think it’s time to drop the Steven Seagal story.  I’ve heard it over three times already.

Your book can get a little depressing. Are you a total stick-in-the-mud at cocktail parties? [Laughs] Actually, I don’t even go to cocktail parties. I’m kind of a loser in social situations. But yeah, the subject matter is pretty serious. I just didn’t want to write that sort of cheesy book that’s easy to churn out.

Why didn’t you write a really boring book like Tim Russert? [Laughs] I haven’t read his book.

Neither have we, but the back seems really boring. So all you have to do is read the back? Then I’m in trouble.

In a press release, HarperCollins describes you as "a prototype for a 21st-century newsman." Please translate that for us. Oy. I don’t know what that means, frankly. Although maybe the prototype for a 21st-century newsman wouldn’t know what that means. There you go. Maybe there’s layers to it.

Last year was obviously crazy. What was the most boring thing that happened to you in 2005? I find getting my hair cut to be the most boring. The thing I don’t like about it is it constantly seems to happen. Like, every three weeks.

CNN does groom you, right? We have an extensive grooming process. [Laughs] What are you talking about? I work in basic cable.

You ‘re telling us you have to pay for your own haircuts? Of course! Do you think someone shaves me every morning? We’re pretty bare-bones, but I like it this way. I mean, I take the subway to work. The thing I find about this job is that I don’t really have time to see friends, so the subway allows you interaction with people.

Are they friendly? People are really nice. What’s interesting about being on television is that it makes living in New York similar to living in Mayberry. It’s like, "Hey, Andy" when I’m on the street.

What do you think of all the billboards with your face on them around New York? I try not to notice that sort of thing. It’s a little weird, but I just don’t pay attention. I haven’t sat there and gazed at them fondly.

In the book, you mention all the celebrities who showed up in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Does any one encounter stand out as the most bizarre? Steven Seagal. A cop car pulls up, and I’m thinking, Weird, that guy looks like Steven Seagal. Then I realize that it is Steven Seagal. And it’s not just Steven Seagal; it’s Steven Seagal in uniform out on patrol with the Jefferson Parish SWAT team. I was oddly transfixed, so I went up to him. He was like, "Yeah, I’m just out here doing my thing. I don’t want to make a big deal out of it." The next day I saw him on MSNBC with Rita Cosby. I’m like, Oh, OK. Real D.L. Then when he leaves, he makes eye contact and does a little Buddhist bow—that little sensei thing. [Laughs] It’s hard to beat that one.

You’ve said before that an event jumps the shark once Ricky Martin shows up. Did these disasters become sideshows? It was actually very limited and, frankly, it’s now at the point where I’m all for any celebrities that go down there, because they need as much attention as they can get.

So does the American public not care anymore? I was just down in New Orleans, and there were about 10,000 college kids on their spring break volunteering instead of going to Cancun and, you know, taking off their tops for Joe Francis. To me, that’s a sign that people do care.

Well, there are 51 other weeks in the year when you can take your top off for Joe Francis. [Laughs] Yes, there’s always time for that, I suppose.

What do you think about tabloids? There’s nothing wrong with sneaking a peek, but it seems like there’s a lot of obsession about the same four people. I don’t know them, but it doesn’t seem like they’re all that interesting.

If you didn’t have your job, what would you be doing? I have no actual skills, so I don’t have many options. That’s the great thing about a liberal-arts education: One graduates without skills.

You did do a good job grilling Vin Diesel when you subbed for Regis. Maybe that’s an option. I can take Vin. [Laughs] It’s a whole different kind of thing to fumble my way through. But it’s fun.

Do you ever go on vacation? I just went to Morocco. I had always wanted to try a camel safari. They are miserable animals. It’s like a glorified pony ride. There’s a guy holding onto the camel while you’re riding, and he’s on his cell phone. It’s totally not Lawrence of Arabia. I was sitting in a bedouin tent getting e-mail. It was ridiculous.

How long before you burn out because of your schedule? I don’t know what the life span is. Another anchor said to me, "They never give you the crown." There’s never a moment in this business when you feel comfortable.

You were just an answer on Wheel of Fortune, so you must have some staying power. Really? You know, as a former Jeopardy! champion, it’s hard for me to watch Wheel of Fortune. See how I worked that into the conversation?

How long ago was that? It was quite long ago for me to still be talking about it. [Laughs] And it was the dumbed-down version. Like Washington, politico Jeopardy!

Whom did you take down? Maria Bartiromo and Kweisi Mfume. I crushed them. It got to the point where I was giving clues during the commercial breaks— how to work the buzzer and things like that. I was pissed because there was no Tournament of Champions. It just ended.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper, 38, served as a co-host alongside Kelly Ripa this morning, filled in for Regis Philbin.  Below is a video clip of Live with Regis and Kelly (pictures in the gallery after the taping — across the street from Gramercy Cleaners?) and to the right of that is Anderson Cooper sounding off on K-fed. More pictures in the gallery!

Anderson :: I’m not down with K-Fed.  Not yet.
Erica Hill :: Word
Anderson :: Alright. Out.
Erica Hill :: Catch ya later.

• Ashlee Simpson dressed like a boxer on the set of her new music video, "Invisible."  You can watch the full music video below.

• Looks like Scarlett Johansson is totally getting a wedgie.
• Hurry, claim your free $500 gifts cards from: Kenneth Cole and Home Depot.  Or maybe a $250 Olive Garden Gift Card!!
• 90210’s Brian Austin Green gets groped by girlfriend Megan Fox (NSFW).  Nastiness!
• More candid pictures of the shrinking Janet Jackson.
• I’m sure many of you will be thrilled to hear that the Aishwarya Rai rumors are not true.  She is, in fact, still alive.
• Faye Dunaway falls victim to Madamism (one too many face lifts).
• Paris Hilton shoots a music video of her own on the beach… wow, in a one-piece.
• Candid pictures of Jessica Simpson shopping at Kitson… without hairdresser Ken Paves.  Say what?
• Lost’s Michelle Rodriguez starts jail time… then vows to leave the U.S. for good.  Makes sense.
• Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen will be launching, of all things, a nutrition TV show. Ummmmmm…….
• CNN’s Anderson Cooper no longer watches My Super Sweet 16 (it has gone downhill this season) because he watches Tiara Girls!
  

  But you do have a lighter side as well. Like your affinity for My Super Sweet 16?  Oh, yeah. Totally. But now I’ve moved on to Tiara Girls. My god, they should all be lined up and shot. It’s fantastic! And these parents… I don’t know if you saw the promo, with the mother encouraging her daughter to get liposuction?! The girl’s already getting collagen and the mother’s like, "How about some liposuction." I’m also addicted to Idol.

"The past is all around, and in New Orleans I can’t pretend it’s not."

"For so long I tried to separate myself from my past. I tried to move on, forget what I’d lost, but the truth is, none of it’s ever gone away," writes CNN correspondent Anderson Cooper in an exclusive excerpt for Vanity Fair from his new memoir, Dispatches from the Edge (HarperCollins). The horror of Katrina forced Cooper to confront his painful past, including the death of his father when he was 10 and his brother Carter’s suicide in 1988. "The past is all around, and in New Orleans I can’t pretend it’s not."

Cooper writes that his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, once told him that she survived the traumas of her own childhood because she always felt that inside she had a crystal core, a diamond nothing could get at or scratch. "I’d felt that same rock form inside me when my father died [in 1978]. In New Orleans, however, it started to crack."

Cooper writes of the effect the loss of his father had on him and his older brother, Carter. "After the funeral, both of us retreated into separate parts of ourselves, and I don’t think we ever truly reached out to each other again. I can’t remember ever discussing my father’s death with my brother. Perhaps I did, but I have no memory of it."

Following his father’s death, "the world seemed a very scary place, and I vowed not to let it get to me. I wanted to be autonomous, protect myself from further loss. I was only 10, but I decided I had to earn my own money, so I could save for a future I couldn’t predict." Although his mother was wealthy, Cooper "got a job as a child model and opened a bank account," because he "didn’t want to have to rely on someone else."

Moments before Carter Cooper leapt to his death from his mother’s balcony, he asked her, "Will I ever feel again?" "It didn’t make sense to me at the time. I’d even forgotten he said it until my mother recently reminded me," Cooper writes. "We both had tried to cauterize our pain, push our pasts behind us. If only I could have told him that he wasn’t the only one. I abandoned him long before he abandoned me.

"I see that now. I could have reached out to him, talked with him, but he didn’t make it easy, and I was a kid, and had myself to worry about."

Self-reliance was a recurrent theme in Cooper’s childhood, and when he was in high school he began taking "survival courses: monthlong mountaineering expeditions in the Rockies, sea kayaking in Mexico," because, he says, "I needed to prove to myself that I could survive on my own." As for his brother, "I assumed he’d come up with his own way to deal with the loss. I thought he could take care of himself."

Cooper tries not to imagine the last moments of his brother’s life, he says. "That’s the thing about suicide. No matter how much you try to remember how that person lived his life, you can’t forget how he ended it. It’s like driving by a car smashed on the side of the road. You can’t resist craning your neck to take stock of the damage."

People often ask Cooper if he was close to his brother. "Inevitably I get that question," he writes. "Sometimes it’s right after a person finds out about my brother’s death; sometimes it’s only after weeks of their knowing me. Were we close? Not so close that I knew he was going to kill himself. Not so close that I understood why he did."

Cooper writes that he keeps some of his brother’s things and will go through them someday. "I keep the pictures, as well as his scribbled notes and magazines—the things I found in his apartment. I tell myself that one day I’ll go through them and perhaps discover some clue that will help me understand, help me answer the question: Were we close?"

Although his childhood was a privileged one, Cooper writes, and his mother played host to the likes of Truman Capote and Andy Warhol, "I didn’t know my mother was famous until I was about 12. I was in middle school when she designed a line of jeans that became wildly successful. On the street, suddenly people began to stare at us and point. My brother and I thought it was funny. We’d count how many times we saw our mother’s name stitched on the back pocket of somebody’s pants."

CNN’s Anderson Cooper reflects on family loss, his brother’s suicide, and the horror of Katrina in an exclusive excerpt from his new memoir in the June issue of Vanity Fair hitting newsstands in New York and L.A. on May 3 and nationally on May 9.

U.S. television reporter Anderson Cooper gives beads to a spectator during the Endymion parade along St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans February 26, 2006. Mardi Gras revelers crowded the sidewalks of storm-shattered New Orleans in a turnout that was lighter than years past, but large enough to line the streets, fill the bars and remind people of better days.

New Orleans,  Louisiana :: The Krewe of Endymion Parade rolled along Napoleon Avenue during Mardi Gras last night. Celebrity guest CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper threw beads and other trinkets from his float to the crowd below. And what better way to flaunt it with a shiny CNN medallion.  Pretty.  More pictures in the gallery!

UPDATE :: Anderson Cooper breaks down the science of Mardi Gras bead distribution on his official blog!

It’s a very public event, of course, but there’s something intensely personal about the throwing of the beads. You make eye contact with someone, toss them a necklace. They say thank you, and you roll on. The only beads people want are the ones they catch themselves. I find that very telling. The beads that fall on the ground are rarely picked up. They lack the personal connection, the bond has been broken. 

U.S. television reporter Anderson Cooper gives beads to a spectator during the Endymion parade along St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans February 26, 2006. Mardi Gras revelers crowded the sidewalks of storm-shattered New Orleans in a turnout that was lighter than years past, but large enough to line the streets, fill the bars and remind people of better days.

New Orleans,  Louisiana :: The Krewe of Endymion Parade rolled along Napoleon Avenue during Mardi Gras last night. Celebrity guest CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper threw beads and other trinkets from his float to the crowd below. And what better way to flaunt it with a shiny CNN medallion.  Pretty.  More pictures in the gallery!