'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
CATHERINE McALOON: U.N. Study: Earth's Health Deteriorating (Associated Press)
Growing populations and expanding economic activity have strained the planet's ecosystems over the past half century, a trend that threatens international efforts to combat poverty and disease, a U.N.-sponsored study of the Earth's health warned on Wednesday.
JAMES HOWARD KUNSTLER: The Long Emergency (Rolling Stone)
What's going to happen as we start running out of cheap gas to guzzle?
A Test of Principle (New Democrats Online)
Get the picture: the federal budget deficit and long-term national debt are spiraling out of control, threatening not only vital public services and the solvency of our retirement system, but the stability of our economy, increasingly in hock to foreign governments.
Sara Thompson: Between a rock and a gay place (The Advocate)
Her sister came out to her, and that was cool-except to their fundamentalist parents, who have since begun a relentless war to "cure" their daughter. What's a supportive sister to do?
Book Reviews of Paul Fussell's Class
and
Book Reviews of Paul Fussell's Class
The Coffee Geek Website
The World of Croquet
Music/Political Video
Purple Gene Reviews
Errol Flynn 'City Boy' Night on TCM
Purple Genes' review of Errol Flynn and "City Boy" night on TCM:
I guess I owed it to the Heir of Fletcher Christian, the Author of "My Wicked, Wicked Ways" and the amazing swashbuckling, sword fighting, gun slinging gin soaked sot of an actor….that's why I settled in for "four in a row" "City Sagas" from Errol Flynn….
We started out with "Dodge City" (1939) where, with Olivia de Haviland and Ann Sheridan, Wade Halton (Flynn) is the fearless Marshall who's going to clean up this ruthless Cattle Town.
Then came "Virginia City" (1940) where Union Officer Kerry Bradford (Flynn) with the help of Miriam Hopkins, foils a Confederate plot to send 5 million dollars in gold to defeat the North.
I've got my slippers on and a shot of Rombauer Brandy in my hand and up comes the credits for "Santa Fe Trail" (1940) and Jeb Stuart (Flynn) along with Olivia de Haviland is fighting John Brown…
Finally, in "San Antonio" (1945) we have Clay Hardin (Flynn) along with Alexis Smith as a Cowboy trying to clean up a Texas Cattle town…
For anyone who's never seen "Captain Blood" (1935) or the "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1939) and watched Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone Sword Fight….For those who have missed seeing Bette Davis Slap the shit out of Errol in "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex" (1939)…..Perhaps some don't remember Errols' infamous rape trial where he was acquitted and the phrase "In Like Flynn" was born……Some folks said that Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power did a Mick Jagger-David Bowie - wake up in bed together thing (after a lot of alcohol)…..This happened when Flynn and Powers starred in "The Sun Also Rises" (1957) which was a Hemingway novel ….and finally Flynns' last flick called "Cuban Rebel Girls" starring his 17 year old girlfriend Beverly Aadland and filmed with Fidel Castros' approval in Civil War Cuba…..This guy lived life and "Died with his Boots on" !!!!!!!!
Purple Gene gives Errol Flynn his "Lifetime Achievement Award" for being a pretty good actor by living an amazing life !!!!!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny spring day.
What's with the Popeye's commercial with the huge guy talking about seeing his old aunt naked being enough to take away his appetite? They may be pitching 'naked' chicken, but my mind's eye is stuck on the visual of this guy and/or his aunt naked. Ewwww.
OTOH, it's not quite as annoying as the unfunny talking fetus for Carl's Jr.
Katie Couric Presented Award
Caroline Kennedy
Katie Couric praised Caroline Kennedy for handling the "privilege and pressure of her last name" while presenting her with an award during a forum named after Couric's late sister.
Kennedy received the Women's Leadership Award Wednesday during the Emily Couric Leadership Forum, held in honor of the late state senator from Charlottesville. The forum honors Emily Couric's commitment to lifelong learning and public service.
Kennedy, who received the award for her education advocacy work with the Fund for Public Schools in New York, called the nation's public schools a "national crisis in our urban areas."
Caroline Kennedy
Ode To The Osbournes
Benjamin Zephaniah
Poet Benjamin Zephaniah has written a poem dedicated to The Osbournes.
The Rastafarian wrote the five-stanza poem earlier this year after learning that their reality TV show was coming to an end.
Zephaniah, who like Ozzy Osbourne comes from Birmingham, said: "I've been a bemused observer of The Osbournes since the very first episode.
Zephaniah, who famously turned down an OBE, said: "On the night I wrote the poem I was thinking about all the things that I loved and how much I would miss them if they went.
A stanza from the poem reads:
There'll be no more father figure
And the mother we all crave
Will not inspire us sinners
As her children rant and rave
They'll be no one left to ruin us
And make us shout out loud
We need stuff that is ridiculous
To make us all feel proud.
Benjamin Zephaniah
Eggs Hatched
Aurora the Octopus
Aurora - with all eight of her arms - held tight to her dream of motherhood. The aging Giant Pacific octopus, a resident of the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, embraced her maternal instinct and was rewarded this week as her eggs finally began hatching.
The first of thousands have burst out into pearly white, tear-shaped babies with huge eyes and stubby appendages.
As of Wednesday, there were nine baby octopus in a rearing tank. Every hour, food was being dispensed through an electronic, automatic feeder. Three other tanks with thousands of eggs were set up in different locations in the center.
Aurora began her long march toward motherhood last May when she was introduced to J-1, a long-in-the-tentacle bachelor. To the delight of aquarists, the two hit it off, flashing colors and retreating to a dark corner of the center's "Denizens of the Deep" display.
For more, Aurora the Octopus
Alaska SeaLife Center
Also see: BartCop Entertainment - 14 May, 2004,
BartCop Entertainment - 18 June, 2004, and
BartCop Entertainment - 8 December, 2004.
Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition
Alexander Gavrylyuk
Australian virtuoso Alexander Gavrylyuk took first place Wednesday night in the finals of the 11th annual Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, named for one of the 20th century's greatest pianists.
Trailing Ukrainian-born Gavrylyuk were Germany's Igor Levit, followed by Korean Yeol Eum Son. The competition and the judges' announcement were broadcast live by local TV and radio.
The Rubinstein competition, held once every three years, carries a first prize of $25,000 and a gold medal bearing a likeness of Rubinstein based on a Pablo Picasso sketch. Second place earns a silver medal and $15,000 while the third-placed entrant takes home a bronze medal and $10,000.
Alexander Gavrylyuk
$103,000 Fine For Sidewalk Ads
NBC
NBC Universal will pay $103,000 to the city of San Francisco for defacing dozens of sidewalks last summer in a guerrilla marketing campaign to promote its television series "The 4400," according to a settlement agreement to be announced today.
The Department of Public Works spent $4,000 scrubbing off the stenciled messages, which read, "The 4400 are coming." In addition, the city attorney's office spent about $3,000 investigating the incident.
The network will reimburse those costs and donate $96,000 to the San Francisco Clean City Coalition.
NBC
Gets Warning for Speeding
Emmanuel Lewis
Emmanuel Lewis, the former child star of the '80s TV series "Webster," got off with a warning for speeding after giving his autograph and posing for a photo with police, officials said.
Officer Ron Kirk said he stopped a vehicle Tuesday afternoon in rural southwestern Georgia that had been traveling 70 mph in a 45 mph zone. Kirk immediately recognized Lewis.
Kirk said Lewis, who lives in the Atlanta area, was probably unfamiliar with the road and didn't realize there were speed-limit changes.
Warwick, a tiny lakeside town about 30 miles northeast of Albany, gets most of its police department revenues from speeding fines, Kirk said.
Emmanuel Lewis
Possible FCC Nominee Withdraws
Earl Comstock
U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens's (R-Pave Paradise, Put Up A Parking Lot) pick to be a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission, Earl Comstock, has withdrawn from consideration, sources familiar with the decision said on Thursday.
Several sources briefed on the matter said the issue concerned whether he had properly handled financial arrangements with a household employee. Comstock did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Comstock, a former aide to Stevens, is now a lawyer at Sher & Blackwell LLP, where he represents Internet service providers, wireless cable operators and competing local telephone carriers.
Comstock recently helped Internet service providers like EarthLink Inc. defend a court decision that said high-speed Internet, known as broadband, offered by cable companies should be subject to traditional telephone network access requirements.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule on that case later this year. His involvement in the case made some cable lobbyists wary of him becoming an FCC commissioner, with the power to regulate the cable companies.
Earl Comstock
Porn Profits Offered to Canada Hospital
Natel King (Taylor Sumers)
Agent
A porn star's first, and last, film about lesbian sex could end up boosting the coffers of Canada's best known children's hospital, if the agent for dead actress Natel King has his way.
Agent Stephan Sirard said he had approached Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children about accepting the proceeds from King's last movie, "Lesbian Lover," in memory of the 23-year-old Canadian star, who was stabbed to death last year in the United States.
Hospital spokeswoman Carol Duncan said she has not heard anything about the issue, and she declined to say how the hospital might react to a donation of this kind.
Sirard said King, whose stage name was Taylor Sumers, had helped raise money for the hospital before she was murdered. He described her as a "porn star with principles" who had refused to perform sexual acts with others on screen until this film.
Natel King (Taylor Sumers)
New Hot Button For Cable, Satellite
'Decency Standards'
Resident Bush expressed support on Thursday for applying decency standards to cable and satellite television shows and offering help to parents so they can decide what their children should watch.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-King Of Pork), has said he would like to apply those limits to cable and satellite or require providers to offer packages of channels that exclude channels with unsavory shows.
Bush said he favored the government setting standards to help parents decide what to permit their children to watch.
'Decency Standards'
Festival In Indiana
James Dean
Martin Sheen and Dennis Hopper will be among the celebrities visiting Indiana to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of James Dean.
The James Dean Fest is scheduled June 3-5 at the airport in Marion, about 60 miles northeast of Indianapolis.
Included on the festival schedule, released by organizers Tuesday, is the American premiere of a documentary on Dean's life, "James Dean: Forever Young," narrated by Sheen.
Organizers had wanted to show Dean's movies on the Fairmount farm where he grew up, but the plans outgrew the farm. Warner Bros. moved the event to Marion, where Dean was born.
James Dean
Sues Judith Regan Over Reality Show
Jenna Jameson
Jenna Jameson is suing in federal court to bar her publisher from getting a cut of a proposed reality show featuring the adult film star.
Jameson's suit in Phoenix federal court asks a judge to rule that an April 2004 development agreement signed with Regan Media doesn't apply to a deal that Jameson negotiated herself with A&E for a show based on her daily life.
Jameson says in the suit that the A&E deal was negotiated before the Regan Media agreement.
Regan Media owner Judith Regan countersued, saying the 2004 agreement with Jameson gives Regan Media the exclusive rights to negotiate with television networks for a reality show.
Jenna Jameson
Chimp Barely Rates A '2'
Esquire Poll
He may be leader of the free world and Time magazine's "Person of the Year," but a new international survey of women makes certain that resident Bush is far from being the sexiest man alive.
In a recent online poll conducted by Esquire magazine, 11,000 women in 15 countries were asked to rate Bush's sex appeal on a scale of one to 10, and America's commander-in-chief failed to register much more than a two.
Women in Australia, Germany and the Netherlands were the harshest judges of George W.'s sexual allure, giving him an average rating of 1.4 each, Esquire said in its survey released earlier this week.
By contrast, Indonesian women were the most generous, giving Bush an average score of 2.2; American women found their president slightly less appealing, rating him a 2.1
Esquire Poll
Bet they'd get higher numbers polling male 'journalists' like Jeff Gannon/James Guckert...
Performing in Off-Broadway Musical
Victoria Gotti
This soprano is actually a Gotti. As she stands alongside her vocal coach, her impossibly blond hair cascading down her black-as-midnight knit top, Victoria Gotti sings the scales. The reality show star with the Mafia lineage is prepping for something even she finds unreal: a role in an off-Broadway musical.
"I remember when I was in the fifth or sixth grade, doing the school play and trying out for the talent show," Gotti recalls during a break in her rehearsal. "It was upsetting to me, because I was always an introverted kid, and I got up there and always bombed."
Gotti hopes things will be better in "We're Still Hot," in which she makes her professional acting debut on April 30. Gotti, stepping into a show that opened three months ago, plays one of four 50-something women reunited for their 35th high school reunion.
For the rest, Victoria Gotti
Basic Cable Networks
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on basic cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of April 4-10. 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, 3.6, 3.98 million homes.
2. Movie: "Odd Girl Out" (Monday, 9 p.m.), Lifetime, 3.6, 3.91 million homes.
3. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), Spike, 3.3, 3.57 million homes.
4. "Law & Order" (Monday, 10 p.m.), TNT, 3.1, 3.44 million homes.
5. "Law & Order" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 3.1, 3.35 million homes.
6. "Super Volcano" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), Discovery, 3.0, 3.31 million homes.
7. "Law & Order" (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 2.9, 3.22 million homes.
8. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.9, 3.22 million homes.
9. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.8, 3.11 million homes.
10. Movie: "Kim Possible Movie" (Friday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 2.8, 3.09 million homes.
11. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.8, 3.09 million homes.
12. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.8, 3.06 million homes.
13. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Sunday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.7, 2.9 million homes.
14. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.5, 2.74 million homes.
15. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.4, 2.65 million homes.
Ratings
