Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Garrison Keillor: "Floating village: The good life"
The cruise ships sail from Tampa and Fort Lauderdale and Miami, great ocean-going pueblos, 10 decks high, passengers lounging on their verandas, gazing at the sea, workhorse Americans trying to get out of cell-phone range for a week and sweeten up to their families. It is a beautiful thing to behold.
Connie Schultz: Time To Add Another Woman to Nation's Statuary Hall (creators.com)
For more than 100 years, two men have represented Ohio, my home state, in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol in Washington.
They are James A. Garfield and Gov. William Allen, otherwise known as the President and Who?
RICHARD ROEPER: Stars aim high and low with '10 resolutions (suntimes.com)
Being better parent right up there with honing game skills.
Tom Danehy: Few may realize the harm that will come as a result of the Legislature's assault on teachers (tucsonweekly.com)
It is dismaying that there hasn't been a huge public outcry against the Arizona Legislature's all-out assault on the state's teachers. Perhaps it was the timing of the legislative action, which took effect just before the holidays. Perhaps it was the low-key and lackluster coverage it got in the media. Or maybe it's just that the average person just doesn't give a damn about teachers or education.
CAROLYN BUCIOR: The Replacements (nytimes.com)
Two years ago, during lunch with a second-grade teacher in the Chicago area, I mentioned that I was going to substitute teach. The teacher - I'll call him Dan - started into a story about his own experience with a substitute, which is easily summarized: Dan left a lesson plan; the sub didn't follow it. So, he ended by asking, how hard can substitute teaching be?
KATE ZERNIKE: Making College 'Relevant' (nytimes.com)
THOMAS COLLEGE, a liberal arts school in Maine, advertises itself as Home of the Guaranteed Job! Students who can't find work in their fields within six months of graduation can come back to take classes free, or have the college pay their student loans for a year.
JAMES RAINEY: Freelance writing's unfortunate new model (latimes.com)
With many outlets slashing pay scales, the well-written story is in danger of becoming scarce. The hustle is just beginning for new and seasoned freelancers.
John Guare: 'Writing is a blood sport' (guardian.co.uk)
John Guare, author of 'Six Degrees of Separation,' tells Emma Brockes why drama is a brutal business - and why Amanda Knox is his new muse.
Kerry Howley: It Takes a Village Atheist (reason.com)
Barbara Ehrenreich's jeremiad against cheerful thinking.
Interview by Nosheen Iqbal: "Portrait of the artist: Tori Amos, musician" (guardian.co.uk)
'My father was a minister and banned rock music at home. So I played the Stones on piano when he was out.'
Andrea Swensson: Nellie McKay talks A Prairie Home Companion, politics, and Doris Day (citypages.com)
Comedic jazz singer returns to the Dakota Jazz Club with mates
Luaine Lee: It's back to sword and sandals for Lucy 'Xena' Lawless (McClatchy-Tribune News Service)
Lucy Lawless, who played "Xena: Warrior Princess" for six years, is a warrior in her own right. A New Zealand scrapper who doesn't acknowledge borders of any kind, she's managed to be true to herself in spite of the notoriety that show brought.
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The "That's Mr. Flipper to you, bub" Edition...
Dolphins have been declared the world's second most intelligent creatures after humans, with scientists suggesting they are so bright that they should be treated as "non-human persons"... The researchers argue that their work shows it is morally unacceptable to keep such intelligent animals in amusement parks or to kill them for food or by accident when fishing...
Scientists say dolphins should be treated as 'non-human persons' - Times Online
Do you agree with the scientists's assertions?
Send your response to
wrote:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Freshly Updated!
2 Dudes
Hi Marty,
I just thought I'd let you know I put a couple of new things on 2dudes. There's now a page
that has a picture of Sarah Palin you can mess with. You use your mouse you make the picture
look weird.
There's a few new pictures of Glenn Beck, also. I just thought you might get a kick out of a couple of them.
The links to the other pages are at the bottom of the home page. I have been embedding MSNBC shows,
mainly Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, on one of the pages. I have been keeping them up to date as
much as I have time for. I have kept a few 'classic' shows. I'm going to add some links to other sites soon.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
Leno Comes Out on Top
NBC Shakeup
Jay Leno is going back to his 11:30 PM time slot, and it's looking like Conan O'Brien is the odd man out ... sources tell TMZ.
We've learned Jay's 10:00 PM show will go on hiatus February 1. After the Olympics, Jay will take back his 11:30 PM time slot. What has not been decided -- whether Jay's show will be a half hour, followed by Conan, or whether Jay's show will be an hour and NBC says sayonara to Mr. O'Brien.
We're told Jay and Conan have both been told of the changes. As for Jay, interestingly, he'll get what he always wanted -- his 11:30 PM time slot.
NBC Shakeup
NBC to Conan O'Brien -- The Choice Is Yours | TMZ.com
Toronto TV Station Turns To Liberal Bloggers
Citytv
As Canadian broadcasters opt for breaking news and populist talking heads for ratings, Toronto TV station Citytv has turned to an online community of mostly liberal bloggers for punditry.
Citytv, a division of media group Rogers Communications, tapped the Mark (http://www.themarknews.com) to provide "hyper-local" opinion for its online and TV audience on issues like poverty, transportation, changing neighborhoods and city hall politics in Toronto.
Claude Galipeau, senior vp and GM of digital at Rogers Media, said the partnership with the Mark aims to complement the TV stations' existing output of daily news, sports, traffic and weather coverage.
The Mark's online magazine includes commentary and debate from about 600 Canadian experts on national politics, business, science, technology and the arts, including politicians, academics and social planners.
Citytv
"Precious" Tops Nominations
NAACP Image Awards
The harrowing tale of a struggling Harlem teen in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" earned a leading eight nominations for the NAACP Image awards on Wednesday.
The independent movie garnered acting nods for newcomer Gabourey Sidibe as well as Mo'nique, Lenny Kravitz and singer Mariah Carey, along with a best movie and best director nomination for Lee Daniels.
When the awards are handed out on Feb 26, "Precious" will compete for best movie with Michael Jackson's posthumous concert film "This Is It", Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" which features the studio's first black princess in a major animated film, South African rugby tale "Invictus" and football film "The Blind Side."
Sandra Bullock, playing a white mother who takes in a homeless African-American teen in "The Blind Side", also earned an NAACP Image Award best actress nomination. She will compete against Sidibe, Anika Noni Rose for her work in "The Princess and the Frog," Sophie Okonedo in "Skin" and Taraji P. Henson for "Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself."
In the best film actor race, "Invictus" star Morgan Freeman playing South African leader Nelson Mandela will face off against Denzel Washington for "The Taking of Pelham 123," Idris Elba in "Obsessed," Jamie Foxx for "Law Abiding Citizen" and Quinton Aaron with "The Blind Side."
NAACP Image Awards
Top Film Nominations
DGA
The Directors Guild of America unveiled nominees for its film awards on Thursday, pitting James Cameron and his box office hit "Avatar" against his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow and her war film "The Hurt Locker," among others.
Joining them on the list of five nominees for 2009's best film director are Jason Reitman and his tale of mid-life crisis "Up in the Air," Lee Daniels and the dark drama "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," and Quentin Tarantino for his World War Two fantasy "Inglourious Basterds."
Awards from the Directors Guild, or DGA, which represents U.S. makers of film and television shows, are considered a key indicator of movies that will compete for Oscars, Hollywood's top honors.
In all but six years since the industry group began handing out film awards in 1948, the winner has gone on to take home the best director Oscar, and very often that filmmaker's movie also has claimed the best picture Academy Award.
DGA
Return To ABC News?
Ted Koppel
Ted Koppel may soon return to ABC News - this time during daylight hours.
The former "Nightline" host is being considered as a host of "This Week," ABC's Sunday morning political talk show. That's according to two people with knowledge of the discussions who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to talk about them.
Koppel, who is 69, left "Nightline" in 2005. He works as a commentator for BBC America and NPR.
ABC's Terry Moran and Jake Tapper, along with PBS' Gwen Ifill, are also considered candidates.
Ted Koppel
Honored With Blues Marker
Cassandra Wilson
Jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson can easily explain why the Mississippi Blues Trail would embrace jazz artists.
"Blues is an essential component of jazz. It's like one of the building blocks. It's what we use in order to navigate changes. You always have to keep close ties to that original sound and feeling," Wilson said Thursday after a blues marker was unveiled in her honor at a school she attended as a child.
The ceremony drew a crowd of some 200 students, friends and other musicians, including singer Dorothy Moore and bluesman Bobby Rush.
Wilson, a two-time Grammy Award-winner whose eclectic repertoire has included covers of blues tunes, absorbed music from her earliest years. Her father, Herman Fowlkes Jr., was a bassist who recorded with blues harmonica icon Sonny Boy Williamson II.
Cassandra Wilson
Smithsonian Celebration
Elvis Presley
On the 75th anniversary of Elvis Presley's birth, the Smithsonian Institution is showcasing the King of Rock 'n' Roll's ubiquitous image through exhibits opening Friday in Washington and Los Angeles.
"One Life: Echoes of Elvis" will be on view at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington through August. The one-room exhibit is devoted to the evolution and influence of Presley's image after his death.
The exhibit features portraits, images from Graceland the mansion where Elvis lived, Elvis merchandise and a reminder that Elvis' manager put his face on just about anything that could be marketed. The commercial images include an Elvis-imprinted lunch box, nutcracker, action figure and snow globe.
In Los Angeles, the Grammy Museum on Friday is opening the Smithsonian's traveling exhibit, "Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer." The photojournalist was hired to shoot promotional images of the young recording artist just before Elvis became famous. The show features 56 of Wertheimer's images from 1956.
Elvis Presley
Attendence Up
Smithsonian
With 30 million visitors in 2009, the Smithsonian Institution -- which oversees 18 of the most prestigious museums and cultural centers in the United States -- has rebounded to pre-2001 attendance levels, it said Wednesday.
The increase can be explained in part by the reopening of one of the Smithsonian's jewels, the National Museum of American History, which holds one of the first versions of the Stars and Stripes flag, among other invaluable objects.
After a two-year renovation, the museum saw 4.4 million visitors during 2009, the Institution said.
In explaining the rise, spokeswoman Linda St Thomas also cited museums being open in the evenings during summer months.
Smithsonian
Hospital News
Gary Coleman
Gary Coleman's agent says the "Diff'rent Strokes" actor is fine after a slight seizure sent him to a Los Angeles hospital for less than a day.
Agent Robert Malcolm says the 41-year-old Coleman was released from a Los Angeles hospital Wednesday night. He was taken there by ambulance earlier in the day after feeling faint and vomiting at a hotel.
Malcolm says he returned to the hotel after his release and planned to go home later Thursday.
Coleman, who has had two failed kidney transplants, was in town to meet with producers of his latest film, "Midgets vs. Mascots." Coleman says he wants them to remove a brief scene of frontal nudity that he did not authorize.
Gary Coleman
Republican Family Values In Action
Cameron Reagan
The grandson of former president Ronald Reagan was arrested Thursday at the home of his father, police in Los Angeles said.
Police apprehended 31-year old Cameron Reagan shortly after midnight at the home of his talk show host father, Michael Reagan.
"The suspect was very uncooperative and belligerent, and he was arrested for resisting arrest," LA police department spokeswoman April Harding said.
Harding said Reagan was being held on 10,000 dollars bail.
Cameron Reagan
Perelman Must Pay
Ellen Barkin
A New York judge has ordered billionaire financier Ron Perelman to pay more than $4 million to a film development company he co-founded with his ex-wife, actress Ellen Barkin.
Manhattan-based Applehead Pictures LLC sued Perelman in 2007 in New York state Supreme Court, alleging the Revlon Inc chairman failed to make payments he had pledged to cover the company's operating expenses.
Justice Debra James issued the order in December that Perelman pay $3.4 million promised to the company, plus interest. The judgment was formally entered against Perelman on Thursday.
Perelman and Barkin, his fourth wife, went through a bitter divorce in 2006. Barkin, who starred in "Sea of Love" and "Ocean's Thirteen," reportedly got a $40 million settlement.
Ellen Barkin
Plea Deal
Parker-Broderick Case
The second Ohio police chief charged with snooping on the woman who bore twins for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick pleaded no contest Thursday to a misdemeanor.
Chad Dojack entered the plea to a dereliction-of-duty count during a pretrial hearing. In exchange, prosecutors dropped felony charges of complicity to burglary and complicity to receiving stolen property. A trial on those charges had been scheduled for next week.
Dojack is chief of Bridgeport in eastern Ohio. He and the ex-chief of neighboring Martins Ferry, Barry Carpenter, were accused of scheming to take things from the pregnant woman's home in Martins Ferry to sell to paparazzi.
Carpenter was convicted in November on charges of receiving stolen property, theft in office and evidence tampering but acquitted of other counts, including burglary. He was sentenced last month to two years, eight months in prison.
Parker-Broderick Case
Arf, Arf
WH Budget Director
Modern relationships can be complex. Just ask White House budget director Peter Orszag, whose ex-girlfriend gave birth to his daughter a few weeks before he got engaged to a different woman.
Orszag and his ex-girlfriend, Claire Milonas of New York, released a joint statement on the birth of their daughter this week after The New York Post reported the story.
"In November, Claire gave birth to a beautiful baby girl," they said. "Although we are no longer together, we are both thrilled she is happy and healthy, and we would hope that everyone will respect her privacy."
Orszag's fiance, ABC News reporter Bianna Golodryga, announced their engagement on "Good Morning America" Dec. 29. They met at the White House Correspondents Dinner last May.
WH Budget Director
Allegations Not Believable
Keanu Reeves
Allegations that Keanu Reeves disguised himself as an Ontario woman's husband and fathered her four children are simply not capable of belief, an Ontario judge ruled Thursday, though he added he doesn't doubt the woman herself truly believes them.
Karen Sala had alleged that Reeves was the father of her four adult children and was seeking $3 million a month in spousal support and $150,000 a month in retroactive child support.
Further allegations contained in an affidavit from Sala ranged from the fanciful to the mundane. She alleged Reeves told her he would take her to the Academy Awards and that they would get married. She also alleged he helped her move to this central Ontario city and that she runs into him at the local McDonald's and No Frills grocery store.
"The applicant's evidence is so incredible that it is not capable of acceptance by any reasonable trier of fact," Judge Fred Graham said in dismissing the paternity suit.
Keanu Reeves
Quits BBC
Jonathan Ross
One of the BBC's highest-paid television personalities announced Thursday he is leaving the broadcaster, 15 months after he was caught up in a scandal over lewd prank phone calls.
Talk-show host Jonathan Ross said he had decided not to renegotiate his contract when it ends in July.
Ross, 49, is one of the BBC's best-known faces, with a salary widely reported at 6 million pounds ($9.5 million) a year. The BBC won't confirm that figure.
His improvisational wit and off-color jokes have won him many fans - and many critics, who feel his routines cross the line into tastelessness.
Jonathan Ross
Beats Boys
Katerina Munguli
A 16-year-old Albanian girl broke with tradition by retrieving a cross from the bottom of a wintry Ionian Sea ahead of a dozen boys and men diving for it as part of a male-only Orthodox ceremony.
Katerina Munguli plunged several meters to pick up the metal cross on Wednesday to the surprise and delight of the crowd and the priests near the pier of Kakome Bay, which faces Greece's holiday island of Corfu, an official said.
"We were all happy a girl got it. She is the youngest of four sisters and behaves a bit like a boy," Vladimir Kumi, the chairman of the local council, who co-organized the ceremony, said by telephone.
Diving for the cross is done in several Orthodox countries to mark Theophany, also known as Epiphany, a Christian feast day in January. In Greece, women began to take part several years ago, but in Albania, Munguli was the first female reported to have joined in.
Katerina Munguli
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