'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Susanne Shaphren: As the Song Says "Girls Rule, Boys Drool" (irascibleprofessor.com)
A recent New York Times article by Alan Finder spotlighted the need for a new breed of tutor. Combining the traditional skills of those who help students improve their grades in specific subjects with the new age methods of personal counselors and life coaches, these scholarly magicians earn up to $100 per hour by helping boys bridge the widening educational gap separating them from their more successful female counterparts.
Paul Roberts: Your friend, the kitchen (latimes.com)
We've been fed high prices and bad nutrition for too long -- break free of the food industry and start cooking.
CRAIG LUCAS: Leaving Your Artistic Legacy (huffingtonpost.com)
As I see it, you are the first generation in a long time to register to vote and oppose reactionary politics, and this could mean the arts finally receive some of the attention and federal support the Dinosaurs stole from us twenty-years ago. You guys have the power to remind everyone, as preceding generations failed to do, that Art is a quality of life issue! It makes things better. Worth living.
STUART HENDERSON: "Trains and Boats and Covers and Toddlers: An Interview With Laura Cantrell" (popmatters.com)
Cantrell returns with an album of covers influenced by motherhood, the war, and, mostly, the need to just play.
Jon Bream: "Rush redux: Canadian trio's return is much the same as last fall" (Star Tribune)
Rush is returning to St. Paul, Minn., this week after playing there last fall. Does the band check September's set list to avoid too much repetition? Heck, no. "Once we've established what the set is for the tour, it stays that way," Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson said recently during tour rehearsals in Puerto Rico.
Tom Lynch: The Long Blondes are More Than Just Clothes (Chicago Newcity)
"It wasn't our intention to make a dark record. We maybe got a little bit annoyed with the press from the first album, who compared us to the Fifties and Sixties girl groups, [talked about] the fashion ... we wanted to get away from that, be recognized for musical achievement rather than the fact that some of us like to dress up pretty."
Jordan Levin: After 40 years, Sergio Mendes courts a new generation (McClatchy Newspapers)
Sergio Mendes found fame as part of an era, symbolized in the name of his first band, Brasil 66, inventing a smooth, jazzy bossa nova pop sound that's the very essence of the cooled-out `60s. Later versions of the group in subsequent decades - Brasil 77, Brasil 88 - didn't have nearly the same impact.
Erin Podolsky: Laptop mixologist Gregg Gillis bares (almost) all (Detroit Free Press)
What Gregg Gillis does on stage under the moniker Girl Talk is about as minimalist as you can get, which may be why he's known, in addition to his prowess in mashing up song samples into sound collages, for getting undressed during performances.
'I've been a thorn in people's sides just by existing' (guardian.co.uk)
She burst on to the scene with an album full of rage - and then lapsed into years of self-indulgent songwriting. Now, her anger is back. Lucy O'Brien speaks to Alanis Morissette about fame, feminism and the creative benefits of a breakup.
Brett Callwood: The Gore Gore Girls Return to Detroit as Conquering Heroes (Metro Times)
There's always that struggle of getting the public to take an all-girl rock 'n' roll band seriously. "I think girl rock bands will always be considered a novelty," says Amy Gore. "At this point, our band is one of the best all-girl bands around, of all time, within the rock 'n' roll genre."
Mark Morford: Sit down, shut up, breathe (sfgate.com)
Can meditation make you a calmer, more compassionate person? Does the goddess sing in the shower?
Doug Bremner: The Vitamins are Coming! The Vitamins are Coming! (huffingtonpost.com)
There is now a large body of research, including studies with tens of thousands of patients, that shows that vitamins do not prevent heart disease or lengthen your life.
Hubert's Poetry Corner
Ghost Soldiers of McLennan County
Interesting?
He may well have visitors he may NOT want - and may NEVER leave him?
A: Del Finno Hair Salon
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly sunny here, but much whackier weather everywhere else. Thunder, lightning and heavy rain in WLA. Snow up in Frasier Park. 3 tornadoes near Palm Springs. And enough hail out in Corona to where it looked like it had snowed.
Honorary Doctorate
Dalai Lama
Reverentially kissing his degree certificate, the Dalai Lama was clearly delighted to receive an honorary doctorate from London's Metropolitan University on Tuesday.
Dressed in a purple and silver graduation cap and gown the spiritual leader was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy for his work promoting peace on a global level.
Apologising for his "broken English", the 72-year-old recounted tales of his own early education, before particularly praising the achievements of the Tibetan students gathered in the room for the special ceremony.
Dalai Lama
Festival USA
Spoleto
The Spoleto Festival USA celebrates renewed ties with its namesake festival in Italy and features a new version of the opera "Amistad" during its 17-day season that opens Friday.
The opera, which is being performed in a newly renovated theater in this city where the Civil War began, tells of the 1839 revolt by Africans enslaved on the schooner Amistad.
The festival opening coincides with a visit from the Freedom Schooner Amistad, a replica of the original that sails from port to port telling the story of the revolt.
Composer Gian Carlo Menotti created the Italian festival a half century ago and then created the Spoleto Festival USA here in 1977. The festivals worked together, but the collaboration ended in 1993 when Menotti left the American festival in a dispute over money and his successor.
Spoleto
Rare Bhutan Exhibit
The Dragon's Gift
Assistant curator John Johnston scaled steep cliffs for seven hours to reach a bronze sculpture of a Buddha at a small Himalayan monastery 4,000 metres above sea level. And where there was no trail, he and two companions grabbed trees to pull themselves up the mountain.
The gilt bronze figure is now one of the key pieces in "The Dragon's Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan," a rare display of centuries-old sculptures and paintings that have never before left the remote, mountainous kingdom.
Even in Bhutan, the public rarely gets to see the rich collection of work now showing at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. The exhibit is due to travel to New York, San Francisco, Europe and possibly Singapore over the next two years.
Almost all the art is normally kept in active temples, monasteries and dzong - fortress-like buildings home to both monasteries and government offices. About a quarter of the items were gathered from far-flung monasteries and temples reachable only by hiking several hours from the nearest road.
The Dragon's Gift
Memorabilia Site Fights Fraud
LiveAutographs
Trekkies can boldly go online to get a personalized message from Captain Kirk himself via a Web site that puts a new twist on the global $4 billion memorabilia market often beset by fraud.
Actor William Shatner, beloved by legions as Captain James T. Kirk in the cult "Star Trek" series and a member of the "Boston Legal" cast, joins celebrity wrestlers, rockers, sports stars and an astronaut on www.liveautographs.com, which claims to lower the velvet rope between fans and their heroes.
For Rob Dwek, LiveAutographs chief executive, it's all good.
About $400 million is spent yearly on signed memorabilia via the Web, but much of the merchandise turns out to be counterfeit, Dwek said, citing an investigation conducted by Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service. The three-year probe found that more than 50 percent, and perhaps as much as 90 percent, of items comprising the overall $1 billion U.S. memorabilia market in 2000 were fake.
LiveAutographs
VH1 Etiquette Show
Sharon Osbourne
Former MTV reality star Sharon Osbourne has signed on to star in the second season of sister network VH1's "Rock of Love Girls: Charm School," premiering in the fall.
The wife of Ozzy Osbourne will attempt to teach 14 former "Rock of Love" contestants about etiquette, fashion and manners. After a series of challenges, one winner will be awarded $100,000. The previous season, called "Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School," was hosted by comedienne Mo'Nique.
Sharon Osbourne
Gets Bail Pending Appeal
Wesley Snipes
Actor Wesley Snipes was granted bail on Thursday pending an appeal of his conviction and sentencing last month to three years in prison for failing to file income tax returns for 1999 through 2001.
Snipes' lawyers and court officials in Ocala, Florida, said a judge had granted a request by the star of the "Blade" movie series to remain free on bond while he tries to overturn his federal tax convictions.
U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges wrote that he was "dubious" of Snipes appeal arguments. But Hodges agreed to bail, noting that Snipes otherwise could easily serve his entire sentence before a decision could be reached on his appeal.
Wesley Snipes
Sentence Reduced
Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio received a reduced sentence of three years' probation for a drug conviction after he successfully completed a counseling and treatment program.
The former Phish frontman had pleaded guilty to a felony charge for possessing painkillers without a prescription during a traffic stop in December 2006. He faced up to three years in state prison if he failed the drug program, which he began in April 2007.
The 43-year-old's guilty plea was reduced to a misdemeanor Wednesday because he'll graduate from the drug program next month and has completed community service. In January, he spent two days in jail for missing a scheduled drug counseling session.
Trey Anastasio
Vandals Damage
Stonehenge
Vandals used a hammer and screwdriver to vandalize England's world-famous Stonehenge ancient monument, the first such incident for decades, officials said Thursday.
The night-time attack by two men last week involved the central megalith in the 5,000-year-old ring of standing stones, said the conservation body English Heritage, adding that they could have been looking for a souvenir.
A chip of stone about the size of a large coin was removed, while a 2.5-inch- (6.5 centimetre-) long scratch was left on the Heel Stone, at the centre of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, near Salisbury, southwest England.
"Thanks to the vigilance and quick action of the security team at Stonehenge, very minimal damage was caused," said a spokeswoman for English Heritage.
Stonehenge
Funds Religious School
Will Smith
Unable to find an appropriate school to educate his two young children Will Smith decided to take matters into his own hands.
After coming across the Indian Hills High School in the Californian town of Calabasas, the 39-year-old actor has paid almost half a million pounds to take over the the school's lease for three years.
Nine-year-old Jaden, who starred alongside his dad in The Pursuit Of Happyness, and seven-year-old I Am Legend child star Willow - both of whom were previously home schooled - will now attend the renamed New Village Academy, close to the family home in LA.
According to its website the school, which costs around £6,000 a year, will teach children to be leaders and have a sense of ethics - "to reflect on the choices they make and actions they take for themselves". A longer day - lessons wind down at 4pm - aims to create less homework and more family time in the evening, while an organic, low-fat breakfast and lunch, plus healthy, sugar-free snacks, are included to maintain students at their optimum learning potential.
Teaching at the institution is based on the Study Tech approach to learning, a method developed by Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard.
Will Smith
Fraud Fraud-Prevention
Lifelock
Todd Davis has dared criminals for two years to try stealing his identity: Ads for his fraud-prevention company, LifeLock, even offer his Social Security number next to his smiling mug.
Now, Lifelock customers in Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia are suing Davis, claiming his service didn't work as promised and he knew it wouldn't, because the service had failed even him.
Attorney David Paris said he found records of other people applying for or receiving driver's licenses at least 20 times using Davis' Social Security number, though some of the applications may have been rejected because data in them didn't match what the Social Security Administration had on file.
Paris said the fact Davis' records were compromised at all supports the claim that Tempe, Ariz.-based LifeLock doesn't provide the comprehensive protection its advertisements say it does.
Lifelock
In Memory
Martin Kelly
Actress Natascha McElhone is in mourning following the sudden death of her husband, plastic surgeon Martin Kelly.
The 42-year-old was found slumped on the doorstep of the couple's London home on Tuesday night. He is thought to have suffered a heart attack.
McElhone, 36, who is pregnant with their third child together, was filming in Los Angeles at the time, and left to return to the capital on Wednesday.
The tragic news comes just one day after the couple celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary.
Kelly was one of the country's top cosmetic surgeons, and had earned himself the title of 'king of rhinoplasty' for his skilful work.
The couple has two young children - Theodore, eight, and Otis, five.
Martin Kelly
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