'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast morning, partly sunny afternoon.
Did the usual Farmer's Market/CostCo loop today. Lots of food ladies - and it's Upscale Tequila month at CostCo. Although this year, at least at my store, there is no Chinaco. Of course, I registered a complaint!
Today the new 'Rolling Stone' comes out - the one with the tales of Ashton Kutcher & the Bush Twins.
Tonight, Friday, CBS opens the evening with a FRESH 'Star Search', followed by a FRESH made-for-TV movie, 'Murder She Wrote: The Celtic Riddle'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are Albert Brooks and Libertines.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are Dennis Miller and Brian McKnight.
NBC starts the night with a 2-hour 'Dateline', followed by a FRESH 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Ewan McGregor and Richard Belzer.
Scheduled on a FRESH Conan are David Hyde Pierce, Craig Ferguson, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Greg Fitzsimmons, and Vendetta Red.
ABC begins the evening with the 2-hour Season Finale of 'America's Funniest Home Videos', followed by '20/20'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel Frankie Muniz, Shannon Elizabeth, Isaac Hayes, and this week's guest co-host Patton Oswalt.
The WB offers the Season Finale of 'What I Like About You', followed by the Season Finale of 'Greetings From Tucson', then
the Season Finale of 'Reba', followed by the Season Finale of 'Grounded For Life'.
Faux has the movie 'The Matrix'.
UPN has the movie 'Eraser'.
Check local PBS listing for 'NOW With Bill Moyers' - guest this week is Bill Gates.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Special Bonus!
Disinfotainment Today
Egg Boy Gets It Wrong, Again
Jesse Ventura
Jesse Ventura said rumors on the Drudge Report that his planned MSNBC television show is in trouble are false.
The Web site quoted an anonymous MSNBC source as saying that Ventura has been having "just a terrible time" and that "rehearsals have been extremely trying." Ventura said production planning is proceeding in the Twin Cities Public Television studio and that the show probably will be on the air on or about June 1.
Meanwhile, Gov. Tim Pawlenty got a ride in Ventura's new car, along with some advice from his predecessor.
The former wrestler-turned-governor, who had many a dust-up with the press during his term, swung by the Capitol grounds Tuesday to show off his new deep-blue Porsche Biturbo to his friends working in security.
Pawlenty was standing nearby, and the two chatted for a bit before Pawlenty jumped in the passenger side for a ride.
Jesse Ventura
British actor Edward Fox holds his OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) at Buckingham Palace, London, May 8, 2003. Fox was one of many people, including British cricket commentator and royal photographer Arthur Edwards of Britain's Sun national newspaper, who were presented with awards by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday.
Photo by John Stillwell
Browning, Tennyson, Kipling, Tolkien & More
Rare Voice Recordings
Rare voice recordings by some of Britain's most revered literary figures like Rudyard Kipling and H.G. Wells are being released in a set of CDs.
Compiled by the British Library, they include some of the world's earliest sound recordings and feature the haunting voices of poets Robert Browning and Alfred Tennyson recorded in 1889 and 1890 respectively.
In all, 'The Spoken Word' features the voices of 48 of the country's greatest literary talents, all born before 1900.
Among the writers, J.R.R. Tolkein reads extracts from his Lord of the Rings trilogy, Arthur Conan Doyle explains the origins of Sherlock Holmes and Wells laments the rise of the motor car.
In poetry, Tennyson reads his own Charge of the Light Brigade while Kipling reads an extract of his poem France, Hillaire Belloc recites Tarantella and Siegfried Sassoon reads Attack.
The CDs are available from the library's Web Site www.bl.uk/nsa.
Rare Voice Recordings
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Eminem Says No To Video Parody
Weird Al
Eminem has told "Weird Al" Yankovic to get lost when it comes to doing a video parody of his hit "Lose Yourself."
"Eminem gave his permission to have my 'Lose Yourself' parody on my album but he had a problem with me doing a music video for it," the parody king said. "He felt that a Weird Al video would somehow detract from his legacy or make him seem like a less serious hip-hop artist, I'm not exactly sure."
"It's the first time in my 20-year career that this has happened," Yankovic said. "I mean nobody has said nobody couldn't do a video of the lead track of my album. So yeah, it is pretty disappointing."
"He seemed to like the song. That was one of the stipulations," he said. "He wanted to hear the final mix before he gave his approval, and he did approve the track for use on the album, but he just wasn't comfortable with there being a music video for it."
Yankovic doubts Eminem will reconsider.
"That would be great if he changed his mind but I'm not holding my breath on that one."
Weird Al
'King Of Skiffle' Remembered
Lonnie Donegan
Rock stars gathered in a central London church to honour Lonnie Donegan, the Glasgow-born "king of skiffle" who died in November at the age of 71.
Donegan, who inspired the likes of the Beatles and Brian May, the guitarist from Queen, scored more than 30 British pop-music hits in the 1950s and 1960s, including "My Old Man's a Dustman" and "Cumberland Gap."
May, the Rolling Stones' Ronnie Wood, Van Morrison and Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler were among the musicians due to attend the memorial service at St Paul's church in Covent Garden.
Donegan, who collapsed and died mid-way through a concert tour of Britain, is credited with launching the skiffle movement, a precursor to rock and roll played with simple instruments and a strict minimum of chords.
In 1956 Donegan debuted the Top 10 in Britain and the United States with his cover of the blues classic "Rock Island Line." A later tune of his was titled "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (on the Bedpost Overnight)."
Lonnie Donegan
This is Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 'Dans Les Roses (Portrait de Madame Leon Clapisson).' Las Vegas casino mogul Stephen Wynn purchased the painting at a Sotheby's auction for $23.5 million on Tuesday, May 6, 2003 in New York, then picked up a self-portrait by Paul Cezanne the next day at Christie's for $17.3 million.
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Backs Away From Deal
Aaron Brown
CNN's Aaron Brown on Wednesday backed away from filming messages for health care companies, and it appeared ex-CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite would, too.
The two newsmen had agreed to do work for WJMK Inc., a Florida-based company that provides television stations with video segments on health care or drug companies. But an article in The New York Times on Wednesday called into question whether the men were being paid to help produce commercials that seemed like news.
Brown and Cronkite were to replace CBS' Morley Safer, who worked for WJMK four years ago but concluded it was wrong to continue.
Safer stood in a news-style set to record general introductions to segments, the Times said. In one video where Safer appeared, drug company executives promoted their experimental antidepressant nemifitide. The government recently ordered a stop to human trials of the drug because a study showed it was toxic to beagles, the Times said.
Safer believed the job would meet CBS News standards because he was told the segments were being made for PBS, which is non-commercial, spokesman Kevin Tedesco said.
CNN had given Brown the OK to film the messages this winter. CNN was told the messages would be independent news vignettes for PBS stations, and that Brown would have editorial oversight, said spokeswoman Christa Robinson.
"Based on information we recently learned, WJMK is not sufficiently independent to satisfy the editorial standards of CNN or Aaron Brown," Robinson said. "Aaron Brown has not done any work for WJMK and has no intention to based on the new information."
It's lucrative work. Safer was reportedly paid $100,000 for one day of filming, according to someone familiar with WJMK's operations who spoke on condition of anonymity.
For more, Aaron Brown
Jeff Crook
Lost Her Yellow
Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell is back in the magazine business.
The comedian and former talk show host, whose Rosie magazine lasted for a year and a half, will be a regular contributor to the gay and lesbian magazine The Advocate. Her first column appears in the May 13 issue.
In the column, titled "The Yellow," O'Donnell describes how fame robbed her of her "yellow" — a metaphor she uses for energy and happiness.
"It started to show on my face and body. And as I became bigger and sadder — starved for yellow," she writes. "I filled my craving with food — getting madder still with my expanding girth and with my inability to make more yellow."
Rosie O'Donnell
Hosting SARS Telethon
Yao Ming
National Basketball Association sensation Yao Ming of China will host a multi-national telethon to raise funds to battle SARS, the NBA announced.
The three-hour telethon, co-organized by NBA TV and the Shanghai TV Great Sports Channel, is scheduled to air live in the United States on Sunday, May 11, from 5-8am (1200-1500 gmt).
During the show, viewers in the United States can made donations to the American Red Cross to help in the fight against SARS, and other NBA stars, including league Most Valuable Player Tim Duncan and Yao's Houston Rockets teammate Steve Francis, have pleged their support.
The programme is also to be televised in China, and according to the NBA will be the first major telethon ever conducted in that country.
Yao Ming
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Woman With An Opinion
Isabel Allende
Chilean writer Isabel Allende accused the governments of Cuba and the United States of violating human rights during a radio broadcast.
"Just as I do not approve of the human rights violations committed by the US in Iraq, I cannot approve of what is happening in Cuba," said Allende in an interview with Radio Cooperativa in Santiago.
Allende, considered the most widely read Latin American woman in the world ("The House of the Spirits," "Of Love and Shadows," "Eva Luna," and "Daughter of Fortune," among other works), criticized US television coverage of the war in Iraq.
Viewers "felt that the war was to be viewed like a video game. We did not see dead Iraqis anywhere. Atrocities (of allied troops) were nowhere to be seen," she said.
"News such as the destruction of the Museum of Baghdad, appears on a strip moving along the bottom of the screen, accompanied by a different image. Also the most popular channel in the US right now is Fox, which is pure political propaganda. It does not have any impartiality, doesn't even try to. Personal commentary is passed off like confirmed news and, later, when it turns out to be a lie, the retraction appears in small print and nobody finds out," according to Allende.
Isabel Allende
A chocolate dress especially made by Godiva is put on display to mark the opening of a Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey, south London, May 8, 2003. The museum, the brainchild of designer Zandra Rhodes, will present the best of vintage and modern fashion and textile design from around the world.
Photo by Hugo Philpott
Puppet Collection Auctioned
Thunderbirds
Original items from the puppet television series Thunderbirds went under the hammer for more than 100,000 pounds (160,000 dollars/140,000 euros) at an auction of cult toys.
The memorabilia, originally expected to fetch 20,000 pounds, sold for 112,863 pounds, Christie's auction house said.
The haul was found by the seller's grandfather more than 30 years ago as it headed for a rubbish dump shortly after Thunderbirds production ceased, according to Christie's.
Items put up for sale included the only head of International Rescue astronaut John Tracy still in existence, which fetched 37,600 pounds.
Other puppet heads snapped up at the auction were the man servant Kyrano and pilot Virgil Tracy, which sold for 11,750 pounds and 18,800 pounds respectively.
A blue International Rescue cap belonging to a puppet of pilot Scott Tracy sold for 2,600 pounds and a cream suit belonging to astronaut Alan Tracy for 1,300 pounds.
In total, 23 Thunderbirds lots were up for sale at Christie's toys, dolls and mechanical music sale in South Kensington, central London.
Thunderbirds
Wins Round
Paula Zahn
Paula Zahn's attorney has won another round in his battle with Fox News Channel over Zahn's move from Fox to CNN in September 2001.
A five-man New York State Appellate Court last week denied Fox's appeal after a federal court judge dismissed the network's suit against Zahn's agent Richard Leibner, the head of the N.S. Bienstock agency. Fox had sued Leibner, saying Zahn, who now anchors a 7 p.m. show on CNN, violated her contract by leaving the network.
The case became a bitter affair, with Fox chairman Roger Ailes attacking Leibner as a liar, adding that Zahn was as valuable to his network as a 'dead raccoon.' When Fox hired Zahn away from CBS in 1999, Ailes said she had 'the right blend of authority with likability.'
Paula Zahn
Album Bumped To September
Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit's long-percolating new album has been retitled and rescheduled yet again.
According to a post from frontman Fred Durst on the group's official Web site (www.limpbizkit.com), the Flip/Interscope set is now called 'Panty Sniffer' and will be out 'for sure the first week in September.'
In prior posting, Durst has referred to the album as 'Less Is More,' 'Bipolar,' and 'The Search for Teddy Swoes.' The set seemed ready for release in May, but after Bizkit finally named Mike Smith as the replacement for guitarist Wes Borland, the group scrapped the finished tracks and began working on new material.
Limp Bizkit
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
L.A. Judge Upholds Lawsuit
Penn vs. Bing
A Los Angeles judge on Thursday upheld actor Sean Penn's right to sue movie producer Steven Bing for $10 million for allegedly firing him from a movie because he opposed the U.S. war in Iraq.
In what he described as 'an easy call,' Superior Court Judge Irving Feffer rejected Bing's attempt to kill the lawsuit because of a lack of evidence.
Bing, who became famous last year during a bitter paternity dispute over the child he sired with British actress Elizabeth Hurley, has countered with his own $15 million lawsuit accusing Penn of trying to extort money for a role he never accepted.
The feud has escalated to high drama in court filings, with Penn accusing Bing of 'borrowing a page from the dark era of Hollywood blacklisting' and Bing saying the actor wanted 'to turn their business dispute into a First Amendment crusade.'
In his countersuit, Bing seeks compensation for costs -- such as hiring famed director Woody Allen -- that he incurred before finding that Penn never intended to appear in the film, 'Why Men Shouldn't Marry.'
Penn vs. Bing
Curator Martin Clayton gets a close up view of 'a bust of a grotesque old woman,' drawn between 1510 and 1520, before the opening of the exhibition 'Leonardo da Vinci: The Divine and the Grotesque,' at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London, May 8, 2003. The show, which opens on Friday and runs until November 9, explores the Renaissance master's obsession with the human form, and all 77 works come from the Royal Collection, which comprises the world's finest collection of Leonardo's drawings.
Photo by Toby Melville
Motorcycle Crash
Gerard Depardieu
Gerard Depardieu, star of the 1990 Hollywood romantic comedy "Green Card" and dozens of French films, lightly injured his right leg in a motorcycle accident near Paris' old opera house, police said.
The 54-year-old actor was able to walk away from the scene of the accident, the Paris police prefecture said Wednesday.
In 1998, Depardieu crashed his motorcycle when his blood-alcohol content was five times over the legal limit, escaping with leg and face injuries.
His 32-year-old son, Guillaume, also an actor, fell off a motorcycle in 1996 and needed several operations, one of which led to a bacterial infection that never properly healed.
The younger Depardieu recently announced that after years of pain in his right leg, he planned to have it amputated next month.
Gerard Depardieu
Auction Of WWII Souvenirs
Richard Dimbleby
Two Iron Cross medals taken from Adolf Hitler's bunker by the first British radio reporter to enter Berlin in the final days of World War II are to be put up for auction on May 21.
Also up for sale will be an unissued certificate for the Order of the German Eagle with Hitler's printed signature, and a sheet of Hitler's own letterhead on which the reporter, Richard Dimbleby, scribbled a note to a teenaged BBC shortwave radio listener in New York.
"Don't lose the paper. It is quite precious. You will see that the old man (Hitler) had his name printed in gold on the top, but it did not get him very far!" wrote Dimbleby.
Dimbleby, a pioneer of British broadcasting, reported from the front lines throughout World War II, and was the first journalist to enter the Belsen concentration camp before going on to the German capital.
He remained on the air for many years after, and took the microphone for the 1965 state funeral of wartime prime minister Winston Churchill not long before his own death at age 52.
Richard Dimbleby
Recovering in Hospital
Roger Moore
Roger Moore, the suave star of seven James Bond movies, was recovering in a hospital Thursday after collapsing during a Broadway performance.
Moore, 75, was diagnosed as suffering from exhaustion and dehydration after fainting during a Wednesday matinee performance of the comedy "The Play What I Wrote," according to Jerry Pam, the English actor's agent in the United States.
Moore was expected to be discharged from the hospital Thursday or Friday, according to Jackie Green, a spokeswoman for the show's press agent.
Moore was playing the part of the "mystery guest star" — a rotating cameo role filled by celebrities — in "The Play What I Wrote," when he fainted toward the end of the second act, Green said.
Moore finished the performance after a 10-minute break, Green said. After the show, EMS personnel took Moore to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, Pam said.
Roger Moore
Roger Moore's Web site
Out of Masks
Try a Bra
Villagers in southern Taiwan are strapping bras to their faces to guard against the deadly SARS virus due to a shortage of surgical masks.
'I went to every pharmacy in the village and it's impossible to find a proper mask,' a middle-aged man told cable television on Thursday, his face partially covered by a dark red cup.
A small bra factory is producing the make-shift masks, with workers cutting each of its colorful bras into two and sewing on extra straps to help the desperate villagers.
Try a Bra
SeaWorld aquarists Chad Spicer (L) and Chris Schreiber release a 196-pound loggerhead turtle into the Atlantic Ocean, about one half mile off the Port Canaveral, Florida shores, May 8, 2003. The animal spent six years in the park's rehabilitation area after a December 1997 rescue from a boat hit in the Indian River Lagoon. SeaWorld aquarists and veterinarians nursed the male turtle and his fractured shell back to health and weighed him in at nearly double his rescue weight, a mere 99 pounds, before his release to nature today. Loggerhead turtles are a threatened species.
Photo by Chris Gotshall
'Ark of Darkness'
"The Ark of Darkness", a Political/Science-Fiction work, in tidy, weekly installments (and updated every Friday).
Fresh Today
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
