'snootiloP HBT fo tseB'
Reader Suggestion
Re: American Dreams
Hey Marty -
Tell Marian to check this site -
American Dreams- Episode Guide: Season Three: Episode 61- It's My Life.
Fans do all the posting.
Brianna
Thanks, Brianna!
Mr. Hawk Reviews
'Clone Wars'
The DVD of the first two series is out and Cartoon Network has run the third episode of this series. I'm sure the third series will be repeated soon so know I can give an over view of the whole experince.
This is an in between series, the event happening between Episode II and Episode III and is intended to fill in some of the backround for the events in Episode III. The producer, Genndy Tartakovsky, was hand selected by Lucas for work done on Dexter's Lab and the critically acclaimed Samuri Jack series. He has the Powderpuff girls in his stable so he is a versatile animator. The style of Clone Wars matchs Jack a fair amount. Though Yoda has a slightly Dexter look to him. Its easy on the eyes and the characters behave within physical limits. No eyes bugging out or elongated legs. The "roger-roger" droids look the same as is the movies as do most of the characters, though I believe that less thought was given to styling some of the minor characters.
The plot takes us to the ongoing battles that begun after Episode II. Each Jedi seems to in control of a clone army fighting for the Republic. Anikan is still apprenticed to Obi-wan but there is obvious resentment. In one of the first scenes Palpatine more or less orders Anikan be given a command and the resentment of Obi-wan and Yoda to this come thru. We see later that the plan from Palpatine is to drive a wedge between Anikan and the Jedi Order. Palpatine also is pushing Anakin from another direction. His apprentice Count Dooku selects a Sith wanna be to try to kill Anikan. Palpatine does this because it will make Anikan powerful and the Sith wanna-be is expendable. Battles rage on and the Jedi are being whittled down slowly. Then come the rise of General Grievous. Mostly metal, he has been trained by Dooku until he is more than a match for any Jedi. He takes on five Jedi at once and kills two, severely wounds two more and is only driven off when a rescue squad of clone troppers show up.
The last five episodes of Clone Wars have brought everything home. Anikan become a full Jedi, Palpatine is "captured" and the Jedi Order is severely depleted. After reading the spoiler that was posted at http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=19763, I now see the vision and cannot wait unitl Episode III is released.
Buy this DVD then watch it before Cartoon Channel repeats part 3. You'll be well rewarded.
~ Mr. Hawk
Thanks, Mr. Hawk!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
dlohesuoH soahC ehT nI
thgiN tsaL
Sunny, breezy day.
The kid & I visited the Aquarium of the Pacific this afternoon.
The place was packed - and they seemed to be seriously under-staffed.
The aquarium is just off Shoreline Drive - which is set up for the Long Beach Grand Prix.
Kinda cool to tool along the concourse in my aged little car, with the grandstands up & the banners flying. Vrooom.
Another Rant
Avery Ant
Receiving Starlight Award
Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys will receive the Starlight Award, which honors gifted songwriters in the early years of their careers, at the 2005 Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards gala.
Keys' selection was announced Wednesday by Hal David, chairman and chief executive officer of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The awards dinner will be held June 9 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel.
Inductees at this year's event include Steve Cropper, John Fogerty, Isaac Hayes and David Porter, Richard and Robert Sherman, and Bill Withers.
Les Paul will receive the lifetime achievement award.
Alicia Keys
New Dr. Who Debuts, Star Quits
Christopher Eccleston
It doesn't debut in Canada until next Tuesday night but already the latest incarnation of the British science fiction series Dr. Who is making trans-Atlantic waves.
Last Saturday's debut episode on the BBC netted a staggering 9.9 million viewers, a 43 share, and yet the star, Christopher Eccleston, has already announced he's quitting the show, apparently concerned that he might get typecast. His replacement is expected to be David Tennant although, the BBC News reports, Bill Nighy and comic Eddie Izzard are also in the running. Eccleston's last appearance is expected to be around Christmas.
Since its first on-air incarnation in 1963, the time travelling hero has been played by no less than nine actors. Tennant has starred in the Brit TV series Casanova and will play a Deatheater in the upcoming film version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Christopher Eccleston
Bemoans Lip-Synching Modern Popsters
Bette Midler
Veteran diva Bette Midler labelled modern female pop singers characterless and criticised them for lip-synching during supposedly live performances.
The 59-year-old singer and actress, whose career spans four decades, said she found it difficult to relate to the rap-dominated chart music of recent years and expected many modern female pop stars to "fall by the wayside".
Midler, who performs her latest show 'Kiss My Brass' with a full horn section on stage, said she would never lip-synch her way through performances like many younger stars.
The singer said she was still distressed at US resident George W. Bush's election last November, after she backed Democrat candidate John Kerry.
She said it was a vicious election campaign marked by frightening media behaviour and uncalled for personal attacks on candidates.
Bette Midler
Newest Face for M.A.C.
Pamela Anderson
Pamela Anderson is the newest face of the VIVA GLAM V lipstick and lipglass, the primary fund-raising tools for the M.A.C. AIDS Fund.
The former "Baywatch" actress joins the roster of the VIVA GLAM V lipstick advertising campaign that includes Christina Aguilera, Missy Elliott, Linda Evangelista, Chloe Sevigny and Boy George.
The company says 100 percent of the sales of the lipglass and lipstick directly benefits the fund.
Pamela Anderson
Japan's First Opera Company
Seiji Ozawa
After bringing Japan its first international music festival, Seiji Ozawa, the globally acclaimed maestro who is a hero in his country, has given it its first opera company, the Tokyo Opera Nomori.
"Japan has always imported high-level opera productions from Italy, Vienna or Paris and I thought its about time we create one here," Ozawa told AFP.
"It is really the first time in Japan," he said with pride, a beer in his hand, in the hallowed halls of Tokyo's Bunka Kaikan.
Dressed in a yukata, a casual kimono, Ozawa, the music director of the Vienna State Opera, has reason to relax. He has just finished the fourth and final performance of Richard Strauss' "Elektra," the first production of the Tokyo Opera Nomori.
Seiji Ozawa
Regrets 1972 Visit
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda regrets her visit to a North Vietnamese gun site in 1972, the actress and fitness guru said in an interview with CBS television show "60 Minutes" to be aired on Sunday.
The actress defended her trip to Vietnam in 1972, which won her the nickname "Hanoi Jane." But she said her visit to a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun site used to shoot down U.S. pilots was a "betrayal" of the U.S. military.
"The image of Jane Fonda, Barbarella, Henry Fonda's daughter ... sitting on an enemy aircraft gun was a betrayal," she said, calling the act, "The largest lapse of judgment that I can even imagine."
Jane Fonda
Leaving 'ER'
Noah Wyle
The doctor is out: Noah Wyle is leaving "ER" as a regular cast member at the end of this season, NBC said Thursday.
Wyle, 33, the only original star who remained with the medical drama through its 11 years, will return for four episodes in each of the next two seasons. "ER" has been renewed through the 2007-08 season.
True love steals away his character, Dr. John Carter, who reunites in the May 12 episode with girlfriend Kem (Thandie Newton), a health administrator he met doing volunteer medical work in Africa.
Noah Wyle
Flee House Fire
Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne had to flee their English country mansion last week after a fire broke out in the living room, a British newspaper reported Thursday.
The couple were alerted by a fire alarm and ran into their backyard when the blaze broke out late Friday at their house in Buckinghamshire county, northwest of London, the Sun tabloid said.
A spokeswoman for Buckinghamshire Fire Service confirmed that two fire engines had been sent to a blaze at a house in the area. Two men and a woman were treated for minor smoke inhalation, she said.
Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne
Leaving 'Nightline'
Ted Koppel
Ted Koppel, who has provided a late-night alternative to laughs as anchor of ABC News' "Nightline" since it began 25 years ago, said Thursday he will leave the network when his contract expires in December.
Koppel, 65, said he's not retiring. His departure casts doubt on the future of "Nightline," although Koppel and ABC News President David Westin expressed confidence that it will continue.
The broadcast's longtime executive producer, Tom Bettag, will leave ABC News with Koppel.
Bettag, who has been Koppel's off-screen sidekick for 14 years, said the two men anticipate sticking together in some future projects.
Ted Koppel
Fox Business News Channel Not Certain
Roger & Rupert
The fate of the much talked about Fox business news channel, expected to debut in the second half of this year, is in question as the company tries to find out whether viewers would want a third cable business news channel, the chief of Fox News said on Thursday.
Comments from Fox News CEO Roger Ailes appeared to soften definitive public comments by executives of parent company News Corp. who in January said they were aggressively pushing for a launch in the second half of this year.
"I keep telling Rupert, 'Quit saying that,"' Ailes -- referring to News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch -- told attendees at a breakfast hosted by Syracuse University's Newhouse School in New York.
Ailes stopped short of saying Fox was not committed to launching a channel, whose programing is expected to appeal to retail investors. "We'll decide whether or not that's viable," he said. "We are committed until we're not committed."
Roger & Rupert
Slams World Bank Selection Rules
Bob Geldof
Irish rocker and anti-poverty campaigner Bob Geldof Thursday slammed the selection process at the World Bank as "preposterous," but added he was prepared to work with its likely new head Paul Wolfowitz.
The nomination and European endorsement of the U.S. deputy defense secretary, with a neo-conservative image closely associated with pre-emptive military action in Iraq, has been met with some skepticism in Europe and among aid groups.
Wolfowitz is the only candidate for the job, which by tradition is headed by an American, while the top position at the International Monetary Fund usually goes to a European.
Bob Geldof
That 'Magic R™' - PA Version
Jeffrey E. HabayMagic R™
Is there a handbook for Republicans to do this, just as Delay is doing? This is the same guy a few years back that was reprimanded for himself and his buddies target shooting at a poster of his opponent and filming it. Typical Nazi
deeeee
Thanks, deeeee!
The Allegheny County district attorney has filed a 20-count complaint against state Rep. Jeffrey E. Habay, R-Shaler, charging him, among others things, with falsely claiming to police that a political opponent had sent him an envelope containing suspicious white powder.
The political harassment charges, filed yesterday, outline a broad pattern of vindictive acts by the veteran lawmaker aimed at opponents who had questioned his official spending.
Habay, 38, a graduate of Fox Chapel Area High School and American University, was the youngest member of the state House when he was elected in 1994. Now he faces a litany of complaints of ethical and criminal lapses.
Last year, the ethics panel found that the lawmaker had used state employees for campaigning, and ordered him to pay $13,000 in restitution. Later, the state attorney general charged him with two felony violations of the state ethics act over the same charges of mixing official and political business.
George Radich, whose wife formerly worked in Habay's district office, is one of several constituents to have raised questions in recent years about the legislator's official spending. Last May, he sent Habay a letter in connection with the constituents' legal request for an audit of Habay's campaign finances.
Habay told Shaler police and U.S. Postal inspectors that the envelope contained a white powder, which the postal inspectors determined to be harmless. Radich, who had mailed the envelope from a local post office and paid for its postage with a credit card, denied any knowledge of the white powder. Yesterday's complaint states that Habay knew that his complaint against Radich was false.
Jeffrey E. HabayMagic R™
Truth In Government
Belgians
Belgian trainers helping police to understand body language have caused a row by likening George Bush's facial expressions to a chimpanzee's.
Interior Minister Patrick Dewael said he was unaware of the pictures when he signed a letter promoting the training package for police dealing with unruly soccer fans, and said the idea was "of bad taste", Het Laatste Nieuws daily reported.
The training presentation pictured the U.S. president's face in various expressions beside photographs of a chimpanzee, the paper showed on its front page, in what was meant to be a humorous introduction to the subject of reading expressions.
Belgians
Joplin's Old Band Hunts for New 'Pearl'
'Big Brother'
Sam Andrew will soon embark on what mildly might be called a challenging task: to replace his rock band's long-dead singer -- Janis Joplin.
This time around, his band's recruitment may not involve seduction, wild sex, drinking and drugs as, according to legend, happened with Joplin's induction and adventures with Big Brother and the Holding Company.
Rather, if the aging San Francisco-area rockers have their way, the 21st century auditions to replace a 1960s icon will become a television reality show called "Search for the Pearl," a reference to Joplin's nickname.
Laura Joplin, who oversees her sister's estate, said the "Search for Pearl" could provide a fitting tribute.
'Big Brother'
Basic Cable
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on basic cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of March 21-27. Each ratings point represents 1,096,000 households. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses.
1. "WWE Raw Zone" (Monday, 10 p.m.), Spike, 3.2, 3.46 million homes.
2. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), Spike, 3.1, 3.42 million homes.
3. "Kojak" (Friday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.1, 3.42 million homes.
4. "Law & Order" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 3.0, 3.23 million homes.
5. Movie: "Mom at Sixteen" (Monday, 9 p.m.), Lifetime, 2.9, 3.22 million homes.
6. "Law & Order" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 2.9, 3.16 million homes.
7. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.8, 3.07 million homes.
8. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.8, 3.02 million homes.
9. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Sunday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.7, 2.95 million homes.
10. Movie: "The Mummy Returns" (Sunday, 7:01 p.m.), USA, 2.7, 2.94 million homes.
11. "Law & Order" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), TNT, 2.6, 2.89 million homes.
12. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.5, 2.79 million homes.
13. "Law & Order" (Monday, 8 p.m.), TNT, 2.5, 2.72 million homes.
14. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.5, 2.7 million homes.
15. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.4, 2.66 million homes.
Ratings
In Memory
Mitch Hedberg
Even family and close friends had a hard time understanding Mitch Hedberg, a St. Paul native who ran away from home and, despite living a scattershot life, became a runaway success as a standup comic.
Hedberg, whose space-case persona was as much part of his soul as it was his act, died early Wednesday morning in a New Jersey hotel room. He was 37. A medical examiner hasn't issued findings, but Hedberg's family is told he suffered a heart attack. His wife was with him.
After graduating from St. Paul's Harding High School, Hedberg rose through the local comedy ranks but made more of a splash on the road, catching his big break through a Comedy Central special. He became the Twin Cities' first breakout comedian of the 1990s.
He made several appearances on "Late Show With David Letterman" and Conan O'Brien's show, did more Comedy Central shows, produced two comedy CDs, was a favorite of Howard Stern and made cameo appearances in television and movies. His big dream, to have an HBO comedy special, was in the works.
Hedberg's one-liners, dished off in a spacey staccato, were based on absurdist, random observations. His long, dirty blond hair harked to the image of a 1970s stoner, and his success occurred in light of, in spite of and even because of his quarter-century affair with drugs and alcohol.
Hedberg was demonstrably thankful to his fans. Not long ago, a group of college students in Florida, speaking with Hedberg backstage after a show, mentioned how hot their dorm room was. Hedberg surprised them the next morning by showing up at the dorm with a new air conditioner.
Mitch Hedberg
In Memory
Fred Korematsu
Fred Korematsu, who became a symbol of civil rights for challenging the World War II internment orders that sent 120,000 Japanese Americans to government camps, has died. He was 86.
Korematsu died Wednesday of respiratory illness at his daughter's home in Larkspur, said his attorney Dale Minami.
After finally getting his conviction overturned in the early 1980s for opposing internment orders during the war, Korematsu helped win a national apology and reparations for internment camp survivors and their families in 1988.
He was honored by President Clinton in 1998 with the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Korematsu, the son of Japanese immigrants, was a 23-year-old welder living in Oakland in 1942 when military officials ordered all Japanese-Americans on the West Coast - including U.S. citizens like Korematsu - to report to remote internment camps.
Nearly all complied, including Korematsu's family and friends, who urged him to go along. But he refused.
"All of them turned their backs on me at that time because they thought I was a troublemaker," he recalled. "I thought what the military was doing was unconstitutional. I was really upset because I was branded as an enemy alien when I'm an American."
He was arrested, convicted of violating the order and sent to an internment camp in Utah. The Supreme Court upheld Korematsu's conviction in December 1944, agreeing with the government that it was justified by the need to combat sabotage and espionage.
Current legal scholars almost universally regard the ruling as one of the worst in the court's history. But it was not repudiated until the early 1980s, when Asian-American lawyers and civil rights advocates unearthed new evidence that undermined the internment order. Korematsu's conviction was overturned in 1983.
Korematsu remained active in civil rights issues in recent years, speaking out against parts of the Patriot Act that he felt violated the rights of Arab-Americans.
Korematsu is survived by his wife, Katherine, his daughter, Karen, and son, Ken.
Fred Korematsu
