'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Apology
Got this in the mail last night:
Page six (and you repeated it) has mispelled my husband's name : it's Stephen King. The bunny story is bogus. It's on Page Six, for shit's sake. Do you know that Page Six is crap, don't you?
Tabitha King
Holy crap!
Page Six, being a 'Rupert-rag', is not the most reliable source, granted.
But, being a fan of Stephen King (who's name I will never misspell again), large rabbits (a la 'Harvey'), and chocolate, it seemed silly & harmless.
Mea culpa - Sorry if it caused any consternation or grief to the King family.
~ Marty
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny & breezy.
Did the Farmer's Market/CostCo loop today. I wanted to get strawberries, but the kid begged for cauliflower. Ended up buying both (but, jeez, sure get some weird looks when a 10 year old is carrying on for cauliflower).
Sweeps started last night.
Tonight, Friday, CBS is supposed to open the evening with a FRESH 'Star Search', followed by a FRESH
'Hack', and then a RERUN 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'
On a RERUN Dave (from 4/9/03), are Lisa Marie Presley and Jamie Kennedy.
On a FRESH Craiggers are Andy Garcia and Blur.
NBC is supposed to start the night with a FRESH 2-hour 'America's Most Talented Kid', followed by a FRESH
'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
On a FRESH Jay is Lou Reed.
On a FRESH Conan are John Cusack, Regina Hall, and the White Stripes.
On a FRESH Carson Daly are Seann William Scott, Roselyn Sanchez, Pete Correale, and Pete Yorn.
ABC is supposed to begin the night with a FRESH'America's Funniest Home Videos', followed by another FRESH
'America's Funniest Home Videos', and then '20/20'.
On a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Carmen Electra, Terry Bradshaw, and this week's guest co-host Jamie Kennedy.
The WB has a FRESH 'What I Like You', followed by a FRESH 'Greetings From Tucson', then a
FRESH 'Reba', followed by a FRESH 'Grounded For Life'.
Faux offers the Season Finale of 'Fastland', then the Season Finale of 'John Doe'.
UPN has the movie 'The 6th Man'.
Check local PBS listings for 'NOW With Bill Moyers'.
HBO has the last FRESH 'Real Time With Bill Maher' until a new season debuts in July.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
The Louisiana Purchse Treaty signed April 30, 1803, in Paris, the first page of which is seen in this undated image, added 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River to the United States for roughly 4 cents an acre. Robert Livingston and James Monroe were authorized to pay France up to $10 million for the port of New Orleans and the Floridas, but when offered the entire territory of Louisiana, an area larger than Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal combined, the American negotiators swiftly agreed to a price of $15 million.
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BBC Chief Attacks U.S. Media
Greg Dyke
The head of the BBC launched a broadside against American broadcasters on Thursday, accusing them of "unquestioning" coverage of the Iraq war and blatant patriotism.
BBC Director General Greg Dyke said many U.S. television networks had lacked impartiality during the conflict and risked losing credibility if they persisted with their stance.
"Personally I was shocked while in the United States by how unquestioning the broadcast news media was during this war," Dyke said in a speech at a University of London conference.
"If Iraq proved anything, it was that the BBC cannot afford to mix patriotism and journalism. This is happening in the United States and if it continues, will undermine the credibility of the U.S. electronic news media."
U.S. broadcasters came under attack for "cheerleading" during the Iraq conflict, with what some critics saw as gung-ho reporting and flag-waving patriotism. In one example, a U.S. network described U.S. soldiers as "heroes" and "liberators."
Dyke singled out Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, the most popular U.S. cable news network during the conflict, for its "gung-ho patriotism."
The British media veteran also attacked U.S. radio broadcaster Clear Channel Communication Inc. and warned against British media becoming "Americanised."
"We are genuinely shocked when we discover that the largest radio group in the United States was using its airwaves to organize pro-war rallies. We are even more shocked to discover that the same group wants to become a big player in radio in the UK when it is deregulated later this year," said Dyke.
Greg Dyke
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Draws Ire With Anti-War Statements
Andy Rooney
Andy Rooney, who covered World War II and was one of television's few voices to strongly oppose the war in Iraq, says he's chastened by the quick fall of Baghdad but doesn't regret his "60 Minutes" commentaries.
Rooney said Thursday he received thousand of letters in response to his anti-war statements.
"I'm in a position of feeling secure enough so that I can say what I think is right and if so many people think it's wrong that I get fired, well, I've got enough to eat," the 84-year-old Rooney said.
The commentaries were noteworthy since they were a departure from his good-natured comic riffs this Sunday he'll tell about an unfortunate encounter with vanilla Coke and because they stood out at a time television was featuring relatively few antiwar voices.
He said on CBS April 6 that he couldn't remember any more unpleasant times.
"I hate everything about this war except that we're winning it," he said. "You can't even be critical, either, without sounding unpatriotic."
He mocked the idea of the war being a coalition, and said "the only real good news will be when this terrible time in American history is over."
A week earlier, Rooney said that "we didn't shock them and we didn't awe them in Baghdad. The phrase makes us look like foolish braggarts. The president ought to fire whoever wrote that for him."
Since Osama bin Laden hasn't been caught, Americans were transferring the blame for Sept. 11 to Saddam Hussein, he said.
Except for a brief attack by Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, Rooney's comments attracted little public attention.
For a bit more, Andy Rooney
Remains 'Daily Show' Host
Jon Stewart
Comedy Central has locked up its biggest star, Jon Stewart, to continue as host of the comic newscast "The Daily Show" through next year's presidential election.
Stewart and Comedy Central have extended a contract that was to expire this year, said Bill Hilary, the network's general manager. Terms were not disclosed.
"The Daily Show" has increased its audience by 10 percent over the past year, mostly among viewers aged 18-to-34 who hadn't shown much interest in topical humor before, Hilary said.
Jon Stewart
Polar bear cub nuzzles its mother Simona in Moscow's zoo, April 24, 2003. Two polar bear cubs were born in December, and started playing in the open in spring when it became warmer.
Photo by Adlan Khasanov
Appearing on Costas Show
Sarandon & Robbins
Stars of the 1988 film "Bull Durham" recently snubbed by baseball's Hall of Fame will talk about baseball, movies and politics when "On the Record With Bob Costas" begins its third season on HBO next month.
Tim Robbins and his longtime companion, Susan Sarandon, will be among the guests joining Costas on May 2. They'll revisit the classic baseball film about life in the minor leagues in North Carolina. The roundtable session will include actor Robert Wuhl and writer-director Ron Shelton.
Robbins and Sarandon had been invited to appear at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., this weekend to commemorate the movie's 15th anniversary. But the invitation was withdrawn by Hall of Fame President Dale Petroskey because of their antiwar views.
Petroskey has said he should have called the actors before canceling the "Bull Durham" celebration. But he's made no mention of whether he still believes the decision to scrap the event was the right one.
Robbins has said he appreciated the "non-apology apology."
Sarandon & Robbins
HBO Web site
Honored for Film Career
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman, one of Hollywood's leading actors, said that even after all his years in the business he is still not sure when he has put in a good performance.
"We artists are forever in doubt," he said at a Wednesday night dinner honoring his work and that of director Robert Altman at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
In introductory remarks, actor Robin Williams made fun of Hoffman's reputation as an obsessive perfectionist on the set.
"A hundred and three thousand takes in one film -- in one film!" he said, imitating Hoffman's slightly nasal voice.
Dustin Hoffman
No Fight Over Credits
Yoko Ono
John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, says she will not fight with Paul McCartney over the changes he made to the songwriting credits on some of the Beatles songs he's recently re-released. Since 1962, every song John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote for the Beatles was credited as "Lennon-McCartney," even if the two songwriters worked independently. McCartney surprised fans and raised Ono's ire when he reversed the order of the names to read "McCartney-Lennon" on some of the Beatles songs he re-recorded on his 2002 live album, Back In The U.S., and this year's European release, Back In The World.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Beatles drummer Ringo Starr stated that he believed McCartney should have consulted with Ono before making the switch. "He's wanted to do it for years," Starr said. "I'm not going to tell you his reasons--he'll tell you them. But I think the way he did it was underhanded. I thought he should have done it officially with Yoko. But he didn't. It was the wrong way to go about it."
Ono and McCartney have always had a strained relationship at best. After McCartney's credit switch, many people assumed Ono would take legal action. However, in an interview with Britain's Daily Record, Ono said, "I find it very strange and petty that he would want to do something like this after so many years. If it's something he feels he has to do, then I'll just let him get on with it."
Yoko Ono
Question U.S., Chinese Regimes
Beastie Boys
When the Beastie Boys traveled to Taipei, Taiwan, for an April 20 Tibetan Freedom Concert, they found themselves advocating their old cause in a unique political middle ground between the U.S. and China.
Adam Yauch (MCA) and Michael Diamond (Mike D) on Monday commented on issues related to both superpowers, namely corporate censorship of anti-war music in the U.S., and their continuing crusade against Chinese government oppression in Tibet.
On the American front, Yauch responded to a question about cuts in airplay for the anti-war Dixie Chicks, saying, "most of the media outlets are basically acting like cheerleaders for the whole war and for the Bush administration. Shortly after Sept. 11, some of these major corporations stopped playing things like John Lennon songs that just said anything about peace because they just wanted to be very careful not to do anything anti-American," he said.
Facilitating the trend, he added, "most of the radio stations are being bought up by Clear Channel and a few other corporations."
For a lot more, Beastie Boys
Britain's Richest
Musicians
Former Beatle McCartney, 60, already the country's richest musician with an estimated fortune of $1.2 billion has become one of the country's top 30 richest people after seeing his earnings soar $74 million in the past year, the Sunday Times newspaper said.
Several of McCartney's musical peers -- David Bowie, 56, Eric Clapton, 58, Tom Jones, 62 and Elton John, 55 did well, consolidating their places in the top 15 richest music figures.
Rolling Stone Jagger, 59, the sixth wealthiest music industry figure, entered the top 200 richest Britons for the first time with a fortune of about $278.7 million, up from about $246.8 million last year largely due to the success of the band's Forty Licks world tour.
Rocker Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon almost doubled their wealth to $135.4 million, thanks to the runaway success of a MTV reality show about their lives "The Osbournes."
But it is not just pop and rock stars who have done well. Composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber and theater producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh rate as the second and third wealthiest music figures thanks to the success of their musical stage shows.
Britain's Richest Musicians
Slams American Values
Madonna
U.S. pop superstar Madonna, one of music's richest performers, has attacked her fellow Americans for being obsessed with the "wrong values" such as getting rich and looking good.
Madonna told the Radio Times that Americans had opportunities people in other countries did not have but got caught up in superficial dreams.
"We as Americans are completely obsessed and wrapped up in a lot of the wrong values -- looking good, having cash in the bank, being perceived as rich, famous and successful or just being famous," Madonna told the television listings magazine.
"It's the most superficial part of the American dream and who would know better than me? The only thing that's going to bring you happiness is love and how you treat your fellow man and having compassion for one another."
Madonna
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Reunion Show Scheduled
'Beverly Hills 90210'
"Beverly Hills, 90210: 10-Year High School Reunion," is scheduled to air on the U.S. network May 11.
Jason Priestley, Luke Perry, Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth and Gabrielle Carteris are among the actors who will discuss their memories of the show that turned them into teen idols.
But Tori Spelling the daughter of series executive producer Aaron Spelling won't be taking part because she's busy working on other projects, the network said Wednesday. Brian Austin Green won't make it because he's shooting a film in Toronto, and Ian Ziering also will be absent.
'Beverly Hills 90210'
A boy tastes traditional South Korean kimchi, or fermented cabbage, at a department store's food section in Seoul April 24, 2003. The local Kyunghyang Daily News reports on Thursday that Beijing residents are buying out supplies of kimchi in the belief that it will prevent the flu-like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Photo by Rhee Dong-Min
Tattoo in Thailand
Angelina Jolie
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie has gone under the needle in Thailand, having her left shoulder blade emblazoned with a traditional Khmer tattoo.
Tattoo master Noo Kamphai, from Pathumthani province just north of Bangkok, performed the 15-minute operation with a traditional needle, the Nation newspaper reported.
"She can endure pain very well. She didn't say a word, although she admitted to feeling it," he told the daily English-language paper.
The black tattoo featured five vertical rows of ancient Khmer script, which Noo reportedly said would ward off bad luck and help her avoid accidents.
Angelina Jolie
No Plans for Reality Show
O.J. Simpson
Contrary to widely circulated reports, O.J. Simpson said Thursday he won't be the star of a reality television show, but might consider becoming a news commentator for actor Robert Blake's murder trial.
"I have no plans in any way to do a reality show even though people have approached me about it," Simpson said in a telephone interview from his Miami home. "I'm not looking to do anything. I don't have agents out there looking for something for O.J."
Urban Television Network Corp., a Fort Worth, Texas, satellite and cable channel, and Miami production company Spiderboy International said they're planning to create 13 one-hour episodes of the show using archived footage of Simpson.
"We've got everything done, the reality show is coming," Spiderboy founder Norman Pardo said Wednesday. But Simpson's lawyer said he hadn't been contacted about it.
O.J. Simpson
Society of Singers ELLA Award
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow will be presented with the Society of Singers' 12th annual ELLA Award Monday in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The ELLA Award, named after its first recipient, Ella Fitzgerald, is presented to singers whose contributions to the music world are equaled by their dedication to humanitarian causes and community support.
Michael Feinstein, Brian McKnight and Dave Koz are among those scheduled to perform Manilow's songs. The 56-year-old singer will do a special solo set.
Previous recipients include Julie Andrews, Tony Bennett, Lena Horn, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney and Peggy Lee.
Barry Manilow
Society of Singers Web site
Barry Manilow Web site
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Video Game Debut
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is coming back to movie theaters as the "Terminator" this summer, has finally made the move over into video games.
Franco-American games publisher Infogrames Inc. on Thursday said it is developing a video game based on the July film "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," starring Schwarzenegger.
But unlike earlier "Terminator" games, which were not allowed to feature the legendary action-movie star, the new game will include both his voice and his likeness.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Workers climb along the structures of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Thursday, April 24, 2003. Since February, climbers and technicians have been installing equipment to ready the 324-meter (1,069-foot) tall tower for its nightly light show. The tower's special millenium lighting show that ran for 18 months until July 2001 was so spectacular that officials are bringing it back for 10 years, beginning this summer.
Photo by Remy de la Mauviniere
Producer Displeased
'Just Shoot Me' Pulled
After a disastrous ratings performance earlier this week, NBC informed the producers Wednesday that it was immediately pulling the sitcom from the schedule and shelving 13 unaired episodes until sometime in the summer. The workplace comedy starring David Spade will be temporarily replaced with specials through the upcoming sweep, including "The Most Outrageous Game Show Moments 4" on May 6.
The move drew an outraged response from "Just Shoot Me" executive producer Steve Levitan, who accused NBC entertainment president Jeff Zucker of breaking his word about the show's future and killing it this season through poor scheduling and a lack of promotion.
Levitan said that at the final season taping last month, "Jeff Zucker came and assured our cast, promised our cast, that (NBC) would not pull us and they would be airing these episodes. Now it's clear to me his word meant nothing.
Levitan -- whose public criticism echoed David E. Kelley's attacks on ABC earlier this season over a scheduling switch for "The Practice" -- emphasized that he was speaking out because he felt NBC's handling of the show was representative of a larger trend in the business, with network executives growing increasingly enamored of reality shows and impatient with scripted fare.
"If they're going to toss you aside for 'Game Show Moments,' where's the integrity and dignity in this business?" said Levitan.
'Just Shoot Me' Pulled
Bids Farewell to Music Business
Sinead O'Connor
Controversial Irish singer Sinead O'Connor, once famously booed offstage for tearing up the Pope's picture, declared on Thursday that she's had it with the music business and with being famous.
"As of July 2003, I shall be retiring from the music business order to pursue a different career," wrote O'Connor -- who distinguished herself in the 1990s as much with her shaven head and brash opinions as with her music -- on a Web site devoted to all things Sinead, (http://www.sinead-oconnor.com).
Although the site is not the official home page for the singer, Lellie Capwell, a spokeswomen for Vanguard Records, O'Connor's U.S. label, confirmed the message was authentic.
Speculation of her retirement has surfaced in the past, but recent reports suggested O'Connor, 36, recently canceled several European performances because she is suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome.
Sinead O'Connor
New Celebrity Roast Franchise
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is launching a celebrity roast franchise, and has recruited actor-comedian Denis Leary to produce it.
Leary is also going to be the first to step into the roasting pit with "The Comedy Central Roast of Denis Leary," which will be taped June 26 and air Aug. 10.
In the past five years, Comedy Central carried the New York Friars Club annual roast ceremonies, with the telecasts ranking as the five top-rated specials in the channel's history. This year, the Friars Club decided not to have cameras.
Meanwhile, Comedy Central has been exploring the idea of launching its own roast franchise better suited for TV than the designed-as-a-live-event Friars ceremony and approached longtime collaborator Leary with the idea.
Comedy Central
Desert Music Festival
Coachella
This Saturday and Sunday, music lovers will stampede their way to the Empire Polo Fields in the desert outside Palm Springs for the fourth run of the eclectic Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. This year, not only will they be chomping at the bit for performances by the long-silent Beastie Boys, or the όber-hip White Stripes, but they'll be there to see nearly 75 other bands, deejays and performers, along with an expanded film festival and newly added spoken-word sessions.
Anchored by two main stages and peppered with plenty of tents for deejays and smaller acts, Coachella's bill includes Queens of the Stone Age, Blur, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Iggy Pop, Gomez, the Hives, Badly Drawn Boy, Groove Armada, the Polyphonic Spree, N.E.R.D., Sonic Youth, Bens Harper and Folds, and a double dose of art-theater troupe the Blue Man Group, who are debuting their touring live show.
Lest you worry such a lineup could make attendees go all Woodstock '99, think again. Goldenvoice, the festival's creator, has promised the 70,000 attendees get free parking, ample drinking fountains and rows of picnic tables under plenty of shade--all on a well-groomed grass field that keeps even the Southern California desert's temperature from getting out of hand.
Goldenvoice president Paul Tollett says it's just about keeping in touch with the people. "I rarely, if ever, have used a restroom in the backstage area," he says. "I go always in the public area. Because I want to experience what the ticket buyer is going through that day. We've been doing this for a while, so luckily now I can spend my time watching bands and visiting booths and feeling what's wrong and what's right. Coincidentally, I like the artists that play Coachella, so that's kind of cool."
In a tented Coachella Film Festival area, fans can lounge on bubble furniture while watching music-related reels that range from out-of-print Bob Marley concert footage to a doc on electro wild-childs Fischerspooner. Hipsters such as Fugazi's Ian McKaye, and hip-hoppers Michael Franti have signed on for intimate spoken-word performances. There will be more artwork throughout the area and, for the first year, there will be on-site camping.
Coachella
Tickets are still available at $75 per day; more info and the complete lineup is online at
www.coachella.com.
'Matrix' Sequels To Larger Screens
Imax
"The Matrix" sequels are coming to a big and bigger screen near you.
Large-screen theater operator Imax said Wednesday that Warner Bros. Pictures and producer Village Roadshow's upcoming "Matrix" films, "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions," will be released on Imax's 15 frames-per-second/70mm screen format to accompany the standard theatrical releases debuting this year.
Using Imax's new Digital Re-mastering (DMR) technology that allows 35mm films to be transferred to the larger format without compromising quality, the Imax version of Andy and Larry Wachowski's "The Matrix Reloaded" will open two to three weeks after the film's May 15 release in 35mm. Warner Bros. Pictures president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman said Warners is looking at June 6 for the Imax release. The Imax version of "The Matrix Revolutions" will bow day and date with the film's Nov. 5 theatrical release, marking the first time a Hollywood event film is released concurrently in both formats.
Financial terms of the "Matrix" deal were not disclosed, but Imax co-chairman and co-CEO Brad Wechsler said the higher ticket price charged for the Imax experience should benefit both the exhibitor and Warner Bros.
Imax
Aim to Keep Tradition
Hula Dancers
On the wind-swept rim of one of the world's most active volcanoes, dancers in raffia skirts sway to music and chants as they prepare for the Merrie Monarch, the Olympics of hula competition.
Among those dancing on the summit of Kilauea this week were 13 men from the Hula Na Mamo O Pu'uanahulu hula school who are something of a rarity. Dance veterans say the number of men trying to preserve one of Hawaii's most storied and treasured traditions has been dropping for years after a revival in the 1970s.
"It's hard to get men to dance," said Robert Cazimero, a popular Hawaiian singer and a hula teacher. He said it's especially hard to find Hawaiian men willing to dance.
"When the Hawaiian renaissance of the 1970s ended, certain parts of the Hawaiian culture continued on but men dancing did not for whatever reason," he said.
An annual visit to Kilauea is a tradition for the halau, or schools, participating in this weekend's hula competition in nearby Hilo. The finals are telecast statewide and are more popular than some sporting events.
There are 10 men's groups among the 29 halau competing this year. But the state's only all-male hula troupe has lost 60 percent of its members and another brought fewer than half its men to the competition.
For more, Hula Dancers
Merrie Monarch Festival
Cora, an eight-month old orangutan who was purchased in Jakarta for 5 million rupiah ($580) and handed over to a government run animal shelter, is bottle-fed by a keeper from the shelter in Jakarta on April 24, 2003. The center shelters many exotic animals, including some endangered species like orangutans, confiscated from animal markets around the country or taken from owners who consider the animals a symbol of status. Orangutans, native to the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, are being pushed closer to extinction by deforestation and human negligence.
Photo by Supri
Fresh on Friday
'Ark of Darkness'
"The Ark of Darkness", a Political/Science-Fiction work, in tidy, weekly installments.
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
