'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Request
The Breast Cancer Site
The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman.
It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on "donating a mammogram" for free (pink window in the middle). This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers
use the number of daily visits to donate a mammogram in exchange for advertising. Here's the web site!
Special Bonus
from Michael Dare
Deer Sierra,
I are pleesed as punch to here from you.
You are an arteest. Together, we am going to make the bestest gosh darn movy ever maid. Have your mommy right a check for 8 bazillion dollers and send it to Disinfotainment Today, 0 Fact Street, Hell, CA 96666.
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Rained off & on most of the day, and the yard is turning green-green, again.
The kid went to school, with about a pound of Kleenex rammed in all his pockets.
The orange male kitten with the tail like a squirrel got bit on the butt a few days back. Seems there is always something going on with one cat or another.
Tonight, Friday, CBS opens the evening with a 'special' - 'The Stars' First Time ... On Entertainment Tonight With Mary Hart', then a FRESH
'Hack', followed by a RERUN 'Without A Trace'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave is Kate Winslet.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are William Shatner, Julie Chen, and Tori Amos.
NBC starts the night with a 'special' - 'TV's Most Memorabel Weddings', followed by 'Dateline', and a FRESH
'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Matthew McConaughey, and Evan Marriott, David Gray.
Scheduled on a FRESH Conan are Kurt Russell, Chris Elliott, and Smilez & Southstar.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Stuart Scott, Kevin Brennan, and 50 Cent.
ABC has a FRESH 'America's Funniest Home Videos', followed by a FRESH
'Whose Line', then a FRESH 'Drew Carey', and finally, '20/20'.
The WB has a FRESH 'What I Like About You', a FRESH 'Sbrina', a FRESH
'Reba', and then a FRESH 'Greetings From Tucson'.
Faux has a FRESH 'Fastlane', and a FRESH 'John Doe'.
UPN has the movie 'On Deadly Ground'.
Check local PBS listings for 'NOW With Bill Moyers'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Banjo legend Earl Scruggs, center, is presented his Walk of Fame Star, the 2,215th, by Hollywood honorary major Johnny Grant, left, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2003.
In the back from left are Donna Douglas and Max Baer from the 'Beverly Hillbilies,' Dwight Yoakum, Henry Juszkiewicz, Gibson Chairman, and Kevin Nealon.
Photo by Jean-Marc Bouju
Leading Anti-War Poetry Protest
Arthur Miller
Playwright Arthur Miller, rapper Mos Def and at least four former U.S. poets laureate will be among the artists and performers appearing at "Poems Not Fit for the White House," an anti-war gathering
to be held Monday at Lincoln Center.
The event was inspired by the White House's postponement of a poetry symposium to be hosted by first lady Laura Bush. A spokeswoman for the first lady has said there was concern that the forum would
be politicized by opponents of war against Iraq.
Former poets laureate Rita Dove and Stanley Kunitz, both of whom turned down invitations to the symposium, will read at Lincoln Center. Others expected are former poets laureate Robert Pinsky and
Mark Strand and actor-writer Wallace Shawn.
Arthur Miller
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Job Offers
Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea Clinton may end up being one of the best-paid college graduates ever. The McKinsey and Boston consulting firms are both vying for the Oxford scholar, and one source said, "McKinsey has upped
the ante and offered her close to $100,000 a year." It beats the $60,000 reported she was offered last month. Clinton's area of specialty? Health care, of course. "Chelsea wants to take over where her mother left off."
Chelsea Clinton
Mulls Reporters Place
Dan Rather
CBS News anchor Dan Rather says he hopes that embedding journalists among U.S. troops if there's a war with Iraq will help coverage, but he has doubts.
Rather is cautious because of experiences during the Gulf War, when much of the material gathered by journalists traveling with the military was not allowed to be printed or aired until long after the war was over.
"There's a pretty fine line between being embedded and being emtombed," Rather said Thursday at a news conference where CBS outlined war preparation plans.
At least eight CBS News teams, one including White House reporter John Roberts, are being trained to go along with the military, the network said.
Dan Rather
Two flamingos strike a Valentine pose at the Honolulu Zoo on Jan. 29, 2003. The two birds eat together, bathe together, do eveything together, just like human lovers, said photographer Ricky Oshima, who had to
wait 30 minutes to get the shot.
Photo by Ricky Oshima
Pulls UK Gig on Terror Fears
Kelly Osbourne
Rock tearaway Kelly Osbourne has pulled out of performing at one of Britain's biggest music awards, fearing a terror attack on London while she is there, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.
The spiky-haired singer, who was due to belt out her latest hit "Shut Up" at the NME awards on Thursday, canceled the show after pressure from her showbiz parents Sharon and Ozzy.
"Sharon and Ozzy are concerned about their children's safety and they don't want them flying about while the world is on high alert," said a UK spokeswoman.
The teenage rebel "freaked" when she saw images of British troops patrolling Heathrow, according to the Web Site of the show's organizer NME (www.nme.com).
"The Osbournes were in New York on September 11 (2001)," said Kelly's spokeswoman. "That had a big effect on them."
Kelly Osbourne
A Force to Be Counted
Britain's Jedis
It's official -- "Star Wars" has created almost 400,000 Jedis in Britain.
Over 390,000 people wrote "Jedi" on their 2001 census form, more than those who registered their faith as Jewish, Buddhist or Sikh in the optional question on religion, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Thursday.
The Jedis declared their belief after a campaign on the Internet asked people to "do it because you love Star Wars" or "just to annoy people."
"Star Wars devotees stated their faith as 'Jedi' in the mistaken belief that if 10,000 did so it would be recognized as an official religion," a spokesman for the ONS said.
The census question on religion offered a series of tick-boxes for the major religions in the UK, including a free space for "any other religion."
Britain's Jedis
In 'Vagina Monologues'
Dawn Wells
Dawn Wells, best known for playing girl-next-door castaway Mary Ann on the '60s sitcom "Gilligan's Island," is a featured guest performer starting Tuesday in Columbia's national touring production of Eve
Ensler's provocative play about women and their sexuality.
But Wells has appeared in scores of plays, from Tennessee Williams to Neil Simon, and says mature-themed material doesn't frighten her.
"A lot of people think Mary Ann is all I can do," she added. "I also want them to walk away saying that play has a message. Besides, what do you think you are seeing when you come to a play called 'The Vagina Monologues?' You don't see 'The Sound of Music.'"
"I don't have any filthy words to say, and there is no nudity, which my 91-year-old mother wouldn't approve of anyway," Wells said.
She spoke from Reno, Nev., while starring in a production of A.R. Gurney's play "Love Letters," co-starring another '60s TV star, Adam West, better known as the caped crusader Batman. She grew up in Reno and
competed in the 1960 Miss America pagaent as Miss Nevada.
She stays in touch with many of the people who worked on "Gilligan's Island." Surviving cast members include Russell Johnson (the Professor), Tina Louise (sultry actress Ginger Grant) and Bob Denver, who played
the hapless Gilligan, first mate of the shipwrecked S.S. Minnow.
Wells said with a laugh that she, Louise and the late Natalie Schafer, who played millionaire castaway's wife Lovey Howell, would have "done a beautiful job" filling the three stage chairs for "The Vagina Monologues."
"All three of us could have done it and Natalie would have been the first to say yes, because the messages are so important and the material is so powerful," Wells said.
Eight performances of "The Vagina Monologues" are scheduled from Tuesday through Feb. 23 at the historic Missouri Theatre in downtown Columbia.
Dawn Wells
Ticket information: Missouri Theatre, 573-875-0600.
Dawn Wells Web site
Hollywood Ramps Up
Antiwar Message
Though solidly behind resident Bushs war against terrorism in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Hollywood community has started its own war of words against a military move targeting Iraq.
Directors and actors are using public platforms, including premieres, the Berlin Intl. Film Festival and Spain's Goya film awards, to register their disapproval -- a development that might concern Oscarcast producers.
On Wednesday, "25th Hour" helmer Spike Lee and thesps Edward Norton, Rosario Dawson and Barry Pepper became the latest to criticize the U.S. government's stance at the picture's premiere at the Berlin fest.
Norton joins a list of industryites, including Martin Scorsese, Martin Sheen, Sean Penn, Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford, who have spoken out against a new Gulf War; more than 100 celebrities have signed an open letter
urging resident Bush to give peace a chance.
In Spain, the Goya awards on Feb. 1 set out to celebrate Spanish film, but ended up an antiwar rally that deepened the divide between the film industry and the government.
In Australia, where Prime Minister John Howard is expected to commit troops to any U.S.-led strike on Baghdad, Oscar winner Jane Campion Wednesday urged Australians to attend peace rallies this weekend.
"There shouldn't be a war," said Campion, who wrote and directed "The Piano." "There are many other opportunities and ways to resolve this conflict yet," she added, urging opponents to take to the streets "because we will make a difference."
But News Corp. boss Rupert Murdoch is in favor of military action. "I think Bush is acting very morally, very correctly," he said this week. "We can't back down now, where you hand over the whole of the Middle East to Iraqi president Saddam Hussein."
Antiwar Message
Valentine's Card Up for Sale
Princess Diana
A Valentine's card sent by the late Princess Diana to a loyal servant is set to go under the hammer next month, a British auction house said on Thursday.
The princess sent the card -- printed on the front with the message: "Not many men will receive a Valentine's card from Princess Diana" -- to Ron Lewis, whose job was to look after her on trips abroad under the tile of "Traveling Yeoman."
"There's nothing scandalous about it," said Simon Vickers of Cheffin auction rooms in the university city of Cambridge. "This was just a bit of fun."
Vickers said the princess had also sent a birthday card from the same "quite tacky" series to Lewis, bearing the printed message: "There can't be many people who get a birthday card from Princess Diana...." On the inside
she had written herself: "See, I was right!"
Vickers said over 60 cards and letters from Diana and Prince Charles, mostly thank-you notes, had been put up for sale by Linda Lewis the widow of Ron, who died two years ago after a 30-year career with the royal family.
Princess Diana
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Donates $1M to Boys & Girls Club
Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington brought a $1 million check with him to a dinner celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Mount Vernon Boys & Girls Club, a city councilman says.
"The Oscar-winning actor "is truly a great person and very dedicated to the club," said Councilman Lyndon Williams, who is a member of the club's board. "First, he spent most of Friday at the club.
He stayed there until sometime past midnight, hanging out with everybody and with no fanfare at all. Then he comes to the dinner Saturday with $1 million for an endowment."
Sponsors were hoping to raise about $200,000 from the black-tie, $150-a-plate event, which also featured actor Ossie Davis, singer Jermaine Jackson and several public officials.
Denzel Washington
A neolithic statue of a mother holding her baby dating back to 6,000-5,500 B.C. is seen in this undated hand out picture. It was found in the Greek-Bulgarian borders and was presented along with other antiquities in the northern port city of Thessaloniki, Greece, during an archaelogical meeting on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2003.
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Jackson Charity Neglected Law
'Heal The Kids'
Michael Jackson's children's foundation "to break the cycle of neglect" is now in jeopardy because it neglected to file any of the required financial disclosure firms.
Heal The Kids, created in January 2001 by the self-proclaimed King of Pop, failed to report any of its basic spending, fund raising, activities and pay roll as required under
state law, said Paul Larrabee, spokesman for state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
In a February letter, Spitzer's office notified the Jackson charity that it failed to comply with the law aimed at protecting those who donate to a charity and those who are supposed to benefit from it.
No phone number was available for the charity at its New York City office and there was no immediate response to an e-mail sent through the charity's Web site.
The charity's Web site, apparently not updated since 2001, states: "The aim of Heal The Kids is to educate adults on the importance of reprioritizing their lives in order to bring
children into the main focus in order to imbue them with the love and devotion which they so badly need and to break the cycle of neglect."
'Heal The Kids'
The Smoking Gun: Archive - Michael Jackson - page 1
The Smoking Gun: Archive - Michael Jackson - page 2
The Smoking Gun: Archive - Michael Jackson - page 3
The Smoking Gun: Archive - Michael Jackson - page 4
Renewed For 2nd Season
'The Surreal Life'
The WB has greenlit a second season of "The Surreal Life, the half-hour unscripted comedy that mines yuks from putting C-list celebs under one roof. Casting has already started on the second batch of episodes, with a new season set to unspool later this year.
The renewal of "Surreal" comes barely a month after the skein bowed to boffo numbers as part of the WB's Thursday lineup, setting a record tune-in for a WB premiere on that night. Overall, the show has boosted the
WB's 12-34 Nielsen numbers 64% vs. the network's 9 p.m. Thursday average last fall.
The current "Surreal" cast includes a diverse roster of celebs, from Hammer and Vince Neil to Emmanuel Lewis and Corey Feldman.
'The Surreal Life'
Visiting Dave Next Monday
Dr. Phil
Even after months of relentless taunting, Dr. Phil McGraw has agreed to appear on the "Late Show" with David Letterman on Monday.
Since last fall when the mega-hit "tough-love" talk show "Dr. Phil" debuted, Letterman has been poking fun at McGraw almost nightly.
The running gag features one-line sound bites taken out of context from the "Dr. Phil" show that the gap-toothed comic likes to call "Dr. Phil's Words of Wisdom."
The "Late Show" segments which have aired more than 50 times include Dr. Philisms like: "I wanna be Miss America."; "You're fat, stupid, and a pig."; "I'm a drunk pimp." And "Don't
think you don't know what you don't know, only you know what you don't know."
Dr. Phil
Likely to Perform at Oscars
U2 & Paul Simon
U2 and Paul Simon will likely perform their Oscar-nominated songs at the March 23 ceremony, Oscars producer Gil Cates said.
"We don't have any complete confirmations today as to who will perform but it is likely that U2 will perform because their schedule allows for it. It is likely that Paul Simon will perform," Cates told
reporters. "The other thing, Eminem we're not sure about in terms of the schedule. We haven't heard."
The three acts are nominated for best original song: U2's "The Hands That Built America" from "Gangs of New York," Paul Simon's "Father and Daughter" from "The Wild Thornberrys Movie," and Eminem's "Lose Yourself" from "8 Mile."
If Eminem does accept the invitation, Cates said he's not concerned that the usually foul-mouthed rapper will use profanity during the broadcast.
"Eminem has an airplay version of that song. Listen, the Academy Awards show is a show for the family. I mean, everyone watches the show and we're very much aware of that. Obviously we would not knowingly have anything on the show which would be offensive," he said.
U2 & Paul Simon
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Disputing Densmore
Doors: 21st Century
Drummer John Densmore was widely quoted following his Feb. 4 filing of a lawsuit in L.A. Superior Court to stop his former bandmates Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger from hiring a new drummer and singer
and taking the band on the road and recording a new album under the moniker the Doors: 21st Century.
Manzarek and Krieger, fresh off last Friday's successful reunion gig at the Universal Amphitheater, aren't waiting for a court date to fight back.
"John has an open invitation," said keyboardist Manzarek. "Everybody asked him and he said, 'No, my ears (are too damaged).' Then I said, 'Why not play hand percussion?' and John said, 'No way.
I'm not a sideman.' Instead he then chose to sue us. He gave Robby his blessing (to use the name).
"This is ridiculous. The guy who put together the band and plays keyboards is performing with the guy who wrote 'Light My Fire,' 'Love Me Two Times' and 'Love Her Madly.' If we're not the Doors, then who is?" Manzarek asked.
Stewart Copeland of the Police, who has been rehearsing with Manzarek, Krieger and singer Ian Astbury, bowed out of Friday's concert due to an elbow injury; his participation in the spring shows
is in doubt. Ty Dennis, a member of Krieger's band, has filled in.
Doors: 21st Century
Painting by Vincent Van Gogh titled 'Still life with coffeepot,' 1888, on display at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday Feb. 12, 2003, part of an exhibit called 'Vincent's Choice', or 'The Musee Imaginaire of Van Gogh', marking the 150th birthday of the Dutch master and highlighting the influences of other painters in Van Gogh's work. The exhibit runs from Feb. 14 to June 15, 2003.
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Special 'Dateline'
'Michael Jackson Unmasked'
A Los Angeles plastic surgeon says Michael Jackson has had "well over" 50 operations on his alarming face - although Jacko will admit to only a couple of nose jobs.
Dr. Wallace Goodstein, who shared a practice with Jacko's primary plastic surgeon, tells NBC's "Dateline," in a report airing Monday that he believes the pop star has remade his face through a horrific number of operations.
Goodstein's claim is part of "Michael Jackson Unmasked," a one-hour "Dateline" special that follows in the wake of Martin Bashir's documentary "Living with Michael Jackson."
"Unmasked" will also feature an exclusive interview with Bill Dworin, who investigated allegations back in 1993 that Jacko had molested a young boy. Jackson was never charged but paid the boy a reported
$20 million in an out-of-court settlement.
"We'll deal with [Jackson's] plastic surgery and will also deal with other things, like his finances, his friendships and his family to some degree," said "Dateline" executive producer David Corvo.
"We're not going to be judgmental - just reportorial."
'Michael Jackson Unmasked'
The Smoking Gun: - Michael Jackson - page 1
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The Smoking Gun: - Michael Jackson - page 3
The Smoking Gun: - Michael Jackson - page 4
No Arrangements Made
Roman Polanski
The Motion Picture Academy says it will make no special arrangements for a winner to accept an award.
The issue has come up since Roman Polanski's movie 'The Pianist,' a Holocaust survival story, has been nominated for seven Oscars, including best director, best picture and best lead actor.
But the Polish director won't set foot on U.S. soil for fear of being arrested in an old sex case. He is a fugitive from the United States for having had unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977, would
risk being jailed if he attended the ceremony. He currently lives in Paris.
The Academy also says that if they made any special arrangements for someone like Polanski it would likely open the flood gates for other actors who would want to accept via satellite feed. Gil Cates, the
producer of the Oscars says that if people want to give an acceptance speech, they have to come to the show.
Roman Polanski
Winds Create Snowballs
'Rollers'
Strong winds across Indiana and Illinois whipped a fresh layer of snow into balls - some as big as hay bales - that most folks had never seen the likes of.
Lenora Dodd, who lives about 30 miles south of Indianapolis, did a double take when she looked out her bathroom window Wednesday and saw a snowball roll up by itself. Later, she and a neighbor went outside to inspect the thing.
"I'm 66 and she's 77," Dodd said, "and we've never seen anything like it."
Called "rollers" by meteorologists, the formations are usually found in arctic regions because they need the right combination of wind speed, temperature and snow condition to form.
"It's the same sort of idea as when you make a snowman, but the wind is doing all the work, because it's so strong," Jason Puma, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis.
The wind was so strong Tuesday night - up to 60 mph in some parts of Illinois - that the snow rollers bounced across fields like tumbleweeds.
Rollers can range widely in size - from the size of a golf ball to a 30-gallon drum.
'Rollers'
Two swans form the shape of a heart with their necks as they float on Lake Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, Feb. 10, 2003, heralding the upcoming Valentine's Day on Friday, Feb 14.
Photo by Martial Trezzini
'The Osbournes'
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