'Best of TBH Politoons'
Million Writers Award
Southern Gothic
I am pleased to announce that two stories published at Southern Gothic Online last year have been honored as Notable Stories in the storySouth Million Writers Award:
"An Aesthetic Education" by Catharine Savage Brosman
"Space is Kindness" by Christopher Howard.
Congratulations to Catharine and Christopher! The Top Ten finalists will be posted at storySouth on April 1st, and I have high hopes that at least one of these will make the list.
Please stop by Southern Gothic Online and read these stories, as well as new fiction by D.B. Cox and new poetry by Catharine Savage Brosman and Joy Beshears Hagy.
While you're there, be sure to click a few Google ads. All ad revenues go directly to the Pay the Damn Authors Fund, which is the matching fund necessary in order to obtain grants from the NEA, Tennessee Arts Commission and local grant providers. It is my goal to make Southern Gothic Online a professionally paying market for fiction and poetry by 2007, and so far we have a loooooong way to go. Please help out with your clicks and tax deductible donations!
Jeff Crook
editor, Southern Gothic Online
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Tom Malinowski: Who's really locked up in Guantanamo? (latimes.com)
Pakistan let Al Qaeda and the Taliban slip through its nets, and we got the small fry.
Garrison Keillor: Day of reckoning for the Current Occupant
The Republicans led us into a reckless foreign war and steered the economy toward receivership and wielded power as if there were no rules. Democrats are accused of having no new ideas, but Republicans are making some of the old ideas look awfully good, such as constitutional checks and balances, fiscal responsibility, and the notion of realism in foreign affairs and taking actions that serve the national interest. What one might call "conservatism."
Mark Trumbull: Is Rising National Debt Sustainable? (Christian Science Monitor; Posted on cbsnews.com)
Today, the national debt totals $8.3 trillion, a level that could force Congress this week to raise the debt ceiling for the fourth time in George W. Bush's presidency.
Marilyn Gardner: A Penny Earned Is A Penny Spent (Christian Science Monitor; Posted on cbsnews.com)
"People who are younger just really believe that nothing bad can happen to them. Either they think Social Security is going to be there for them when they retire, or they may feel that the government will never let them starve."
Ask Auntie Pinko (democraticunderground.com)
During the 2004 primaries, Howard Dean ended up being portrayed as a wacky, angry, certifiably insane al-Qaeda loving communist. I don't understand where this bogus Dean came from. Who was vilifying him? And why? And how? I'm utterly bemused.
The Selfish Gene (timesonline.co.uk)
"There are times," one reader said, "when I wish I could unread it." Another was persuaded by it that "life was empty and without purpose." A powerful book.
Martin Gayford: When genius met madness (arts.telegraph.co.uk)
Gauguin had no idea what had happened. But he must have been extremely alarmed; he no sooner appeared than he was arrested because the house "was full of blood". Presumably Gauguin came along before the police had entered the Yellow House, otherwise they would rapidly have established that Vincent was still alive. They had probably seen the evidence of carnage through the glass at the top of the studio door.
Joel Stein: You're so fired! (latimes.com)
If your own company won't pay you, forget about 'The Apprentice.' (latimes.com)
Andrew Tobias: The Man Who Ate Five Democrats (andrewtobias.com)
"But the first trial remained the most dramatic because of a memorable quote by District Court Judge Melville Gerry during sentencing. 'Stand up, Alferd Packer, you voracious, man-eating, son-of-a-b-,' Gerry ordered. 'There were seven Democrats in Hinsdale County, and you ate five of them.'"
Carbonfund and Working Assets
Equality Ride
Reader Suggestion
Pittsburghese
Hubert's Poetry Corner
Error'n Go Ricky
Happy St. Patrick's Day (and even a happier one next year without 'Little Ricky')
Update From Colby
Re: Katherine Harris
Hi,
In her attempt to come from WAY behind against a popular incumbent
Katherine Harris is going to spend $10 million dollars that she recently
inherited from her father.
She really turned it on when talking to Sean (the Nazi) Hannity about her
late father. I thought that if she cried all of her mascara would run.
Harris Attempts to Buy Nomination
Colby B
in Frostproof
Thanks, Colby!
Purple Gene Remembers
Ann Calvello
The Real 'Roller Girl'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly sunny & breezy.
No new flags.
Bowl Being Auctioned
Richard Pryor
A ceramic bowl painted by Richard Pryor is being auctioned on the Internet for an animal welfare organization.
Pryor sent the bowl to the Geauga Humane Society weeks before his death on Dec. 10. The actor-comedian, who was 65, died of a heart attack. He had been ill for years with multiple sclerosis.
He painted a self-portrait inside the bowl with the words, "Little Black Man in Big White World." The side of the bowl has Pryor's signature and drawings of a martini glass, lips and a cigarette.
The humane society offered to return the bowl to his wife, Jennifer, but she told the group to use it to raise as much money as possible and endorsed the sale on the eBay auction Web site.
Richard Pryor
Legion of Honor Medal
Jerry Lewis
France formalized its fascination with Jerry Lewis Thursday with a uniquely Gallic gift for his 80th birthday: a medal and induction into the Legion of Honor.
Lewis, who has long been venerated in France, received the honorary title of "Legion Commander" in a raucous ceremony in Paris - hamming it up for the cameras, winking, sticking out his tongue and making his trademark funny faces.
Lewis, who bucked formality by wearing slippers to the ceremony, clowned around with Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres - yawning, checking his watch, and even pretending to fall asleep during Donnedieu's 20-minute-long speech in French. The crowd roared at Lewis' antics, their laughter often drowning out Donnedieu's lofty words.
When he finally took the microphone, Lewis apologized for not speaking French, but said that "even if the French people cannot hear my language, they have always heard my heart."
Jerry Lewis
Probes Authenticity of 3 Picassos
Costco
A drawing listed at $145,999.99 was removed from Costco Wholesale Corp.'s Web site this week after one of Picasso's children, Maya Widmaier-Picasso, questioned the authenticity certificates of that drawing and two others the company already has sold.
Costco has begun probing the authenticity of "Picador in a Bullfight," along with two others it sold over the past two years, Jim Sinegal, chief executive of the nation's largest wholesale-club, said Thursday.
Sinegal said both customers have declared themselves satisfied with their purchases, but if it turns out the drawings are not authentic, they will be offered their money back.
Costco
Estranged Husband Wants Some Property
Shannon Elizabeth
Actress Shannon Elizabeth's estranged husband filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking half of all property and assets the pair accumulated during the five years they lived together before they were married.
Actor Joseph D. Reitman and his then-girlfriend, who was born Shannon Elizabeth Fadal, began living together in 1997, according to papers filed in Superior Court.
Until their marriage on June 15, 2002, the couple agreed to "be equal partners in the acquisition of assets and in financial affairs whether such transactions were separate or joint," the lawsuit states.
Reitman claims that Elizabeth secretly transferred assets acquired during the years before their marriage and contends that he deserves half.
Shannon Elizabeth
Seek Strike OK
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild said Wednesday it will seek strike authorization from its members for the basic cable, live-action contract that expired last month without a new deal.
The strike authorization, which gives negotiators added leverage with the networks but does not commit the union to a work stoppage, will be sought in meetings over the next 10 days in San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, New York and Hollywood. Strike authorization is necessary for the national board or its designated body to call a strike.
Those urged to participate include paid-up members who work under the contract on such shows as "The Closer" on TNT and "The Shield" on FX.
A strike authorization requires the support of at least 75% of those who voted.
Screen Actors Guild
Settlement Reached
John Ritter
The family of late actor John Ritter has reached a tentative settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit against Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, where the actor died, an attorney for the hospital said Wednesday.
Court documents filed by the hospital on March 10 indicate Ritter's family members "are potentially receiving a large monetary settlement in this case." Ritter's widow, Amy Yasbeck, has claimed damages in excess of $25 million, court documents show.
Yasbeck and Ritter's four children accused the hospital of negligence when they filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Sept. 3, 2004.
John Ritter
Psychics To Contact In TV Seance
John Lennon
Ex-Beatle John Lennon, who was murdered over 25 years ago, is the latest subject of a pay-per-view seance arranged by the producers of a 2003 attempt to contact the dead Princess Diana. That show made money but was slammed by critics as hitting a new low in television tastelessness.
"People say this is disgusting and I accept that criticism, but we're making a serious attempt to do something that many, many millions of people around the world think is possible," said Paul Sharratt, who heads Starcast Productions, which made "The Spirit of Diana." That show drew over half a million U.S. viewers willing to pay $14.95 to watch it.
The special will culminate as psychics, colleagues and confidantes sit at a seance table for 30 minutes surrounded by infra-red cameras that can capture any "presence" or spirit that enters the room.
John Lennon
Georgia Senate Defeats Resolution
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda's 1972 trip to North Vietnam is haunting her again. The Georgia Senate on Thursday nearly unanimously defeated a resolution that would have honored the actress' charity work in the state.
The Democratic sponsor had tried to withdraw the resolution after a rocky reception from colleagues and a phone call from Fonda's office, but a Republican leader forced a vote, saying members of his caucus wanted to go on record against it.
Fonda, who is out of the country, had asked for the resolution to be withdrawn to avoid the controversy, said the sponsor, Sen. Steen Miles of suburban Atlanta.
The effort was defeated 38-1, with even Miles voting against it.
Jane Fonda
Ex-Wailer in Court Over Royalties
Aston Barrett
A former member of Bob Marley's band, The Wailers, has taken his fight for a slice of the reggae great's royalties to a British courtroom.
Aston Barrett, who was Marley's bassist for almost a decade, is suing Universal-Island Records Ltd. for $105 million. His lawsuit was also brought on behalf of his deceased brother, Carlton, who played drums in the band.
Barrett claims he is owed royalties from a 1974 contract with Island as well as earnings from songs he co-wrote with Marley, who died of cancer in 1981.
Aston Barrett
Will Appeal Conviction
Gary Glitter
British rocker Gary Glitter has decided to appeal his three-year sentence for child molestation, his lawyer Le Thanh Kinh said Thursday.
Glitter, 61, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was found guilty of committing obscene acts with a 10-year-old girl and an 11-year-old girl at his rented seaside villa in southern Vung Tau last year. He was convicted and sentenced on March 3 at a court in Vung Tau province.
Kinh said he met with Glitter at Phuoc Co prison on Wednesday and that his client signed the appeal petition, which will be forwarded to the appeals court in Ho Chi Minh City.
Gary Glitter
Starts Free Internet TV Service
AOL
Dulles-based America Online has launched a new online television network showing classic Warner Brothers TV shows.
The In2TV channel on AOL.com was announced in November and began yesterday with 30 series, including "Growing Pains" and "Eight is Enough." The network will also offer games, polls and other interactive features.
The shows are free to anyone with high-speed Internet access. The network is supported through advertising.
AOL
16th Century Avian Artist
Pierre Eskrich
Three hundred years before American artist-naturalist James Audubon crafted his landmark Birds of America series, French illustrator Pierre Eskrich fled religious persecution and set up his easel in Switzerland, where he produced his own astonishing collection of 218 bird paintings.
It would be easy to say they inspired Audubon, except, as far as is known, Audubon never knew they existed. Nor did many other people, as Eskrich's birds migrated into private hands in England in the late 1700s, and a century later to America.
In late 2003, Roberta J.M. Olson rediscovered the four large, leather-bound albums of paintings in the archives of the New York Historical Society, where they had lain at least since 1889, mislabelled as "anonymous 18th century European birds" and of British origin.
In examining the books, Olson said, she quickly realized what they were - previously unknown work by a legendary French illustrator and a "missing link" in the field of ornithological art.
Pierre Eskrich
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
