Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Gay McDonald's ad in France (youtube.com)
Tom Danehy: In these tough economic times, Arizona should re-examine its charter-school program (tucsonweekly.com)
One of the most disappointing aspects of the Obama administration is the president's almost-giddy support for charter schools. It is a head-scratcher on par with his predecessor George W. Bush's backing of No Child Left Behind. And, based on a mountain of data, it is support that is largely unwarranted.
Connie Schultz: Let's Give the Kids a Real Summer (creators.com)
Ah, June. Time for the carcinogenic clouds of outdoor grills, the buzz of neighborly yard tools drowning out low-flying aircraft and family arguments over who gets to wear the inflatable starfish armbands in the swimming pool.
Sarah Ebner: Historians are so horrible, says Terry Deary (timesonline.co.uk)
Bestselling author of the Horrible Histories children's series says that historians are 'nearly as seedy and devious as politicians.'
"Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women Are Transforming the Middle East" by Isobel Coleman: A review by Christina Asquith
As the United States continues its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, promises to broaden women's rights in these two predominantly Muslim countries have not materialized.
Stephen Moss: "William Boot: Evelyn Waugh's legendary journalist" (guardian.co.uk)
Tina Brown, editor of the Daily Beast, agreed to be interviewed by William Boot (as played by James Naughtie). Why has the character survived in the public consciousness?
Louise Wener: memoirs of a rock chick (timesonline.co.uk)
The former lead singer of Sleeper reveals the reality and excesses of life on the road.
Hadley Freeman: Madonna didn't free the gay Malawians - she just signed a petition! (guardian.co.uk)
Celebrities don't make the difference they think they do.
Hilary Rose: "Jon Bon Jovi: what I've learnt" (timesonline.co.uk)
The singer on fame, family and life on the road.
Louise Bourgeois: a web of emotions (guardian.co.uk)
Louise Bourgeois was most famous for her spiders, but sex, rage and fear fuelled her greatest art. Adrian Searle salutes her dirty mind and tender heart.
Eric Banks: The Art Dealer of the Century (slate.com)
How Leo Castelli created the gallery as we now know it.
Grayson Perry: This is a healthy moment for art (guardian.co.uk)
We've got a Conservative government to fight against. It might not feel like it, but this is a healthy time for art .
roger ebert's journal: The quest for frisson
The French word 'frisson' describes something English has no better word for: a brief intense reaction, usually a feeling of excitement, recognition, or terror. It's often accompanied by a physical shudder, but not so much when you're web surfing. You know how it happens. You're clicking here or clicking there, and suddenly you have the OMG moment.
The Weekly Poll
New Question
The 'Shut up and Pay up' Edition
Hillary Clinton struck a strong populist chord while wading into territory secretary of states rarely go last Thursday: Domestic policy... "The rich are not paying their fair share in any nation that is facing the kind of employment issues [like the U.S.] - whether it's individual, corporate or whatever the taxation forms are," ...
I think we can all agree that corporations are getting off easy, tax-wise, but what about 'rich' individuals? Two questions:
1.) What is your definition of 'rich' for an individual/family?
and
2.) What do you think their 'fair share' in taxes should be?
Send your response to
wrote:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestions
Michelle in AZ
Links from RJ
Another Two-Fer
Hi
Some more possible links (am on holiday hence the glut!).
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and still on the cool side.
Facebook | 1,000,000 People Who Want to Plug the BP Oil Spill with Sarah Palin
BP Turned Down Help Offer
James Cameron
Film director and deep-sea explorer James Cameron said on Wednesday that BP Plc turned down his offer to help combat the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
"Over the last few weeks I've watched, as we all have, with growing horror and heartache, watching what's happening in the Gulf and thinking those morons don't know what they're doing," Cameron said at the All Things Digital technology conference.
Cameron, the director of "Avatar" and "Titanic," has worked extensively with robot submarines and is considered an expert in undersea filming. He did not say explicitly who he meant when he referred to "those morons."
Cameron said he has offered to help the government and BP in dealing with the spill. He said he was "graciously" turned away by the British energy giant.
James Cameron
Kicks Off World Tour Symphonicity
Sting
Sting, former frontman of The Police, kicked off a world tour of his greatest hits on Wednesday but replaced the familiar guitar, drum and base riffs with the gentle strains of oboes, violins and cellos.
Backed by the London Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, the 58-year-old rocker rolled out crowd-pleasers like "Roxanne" and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" in front of a sold-out crowd in downtown Vancouver on Canada's West Coast.
His interest in working with orchestras was piqued in 2008 when he was invited to perform with the Chicago Symphony. Then in January he worked with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
"Symphonicity" heads next to Portland, Oregon, for two shows.
Sting
"ThunderCats"
Cartoon Network has commissioned a new version of the 1980s animated series "ThunderCats" from Warner Bros. Animation.
The update will combine swords and science with high-stakes battles as good and evil clash for the Stones of Power. The announcement comes on the heels of the news that Cartoon Network will develop another iconic action title, "Green Lantern."
WBA will partner on the project with Studio 4C, a Japanese animation studio whose credits include "The Animatrix" and "Gotham Knights."
"ThunderCats" will be Warner Bros. Animation's first anime series.
"ThunderCats"
Tennessee May Honor
Isaac Hayes
Legendary soul musician Isaac Hayes may get a memorial stretch of highway in his home state of Tennessee.
A measure to designate a section of Interstate 40 the "Isaac Hayes Memorial Highway" passed the state Senate unanimously Thursday. The House approved it without opposition in April.
The commemorative stretch would be near Memphis, where Hayes had a home until he died of a stroke in 2008 at the age of 65. He was raised in Tipton County, north of Memphis.
The bill now goes to Gov. Phil Bredesen, who is not expected to oppose it.
Isaac Hayes
Baby News
Li Jefferson Clayton
According to People's Cynthia Wang, Laura Ling gave birth to a girl, Li Jefferson Clayton, on Wednesday night in Burbank, Calif. (The father is Ling's husband, financial analyst Iain Clayton.) The baby's first name, Li, is a nod to Ling's sister Lisa, a former co-host of "The View," and Jefferson is Clinton's middle name.
Ling, along with her colleague Euna Lee, was detained for five months last year after the North Korean military arrested them as they were reporting along the country's border with China. Accused of spying and illegally crossing the border, the women were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in a government detention camp, but last August, Clinton negotiated their release.
Ling is still tight with the former prez, telling People that Clinton had followed up with her. "He has checked in on me several times to see how I'm doing and has been so concerned and caring, " Ling said. "He's such a wonderful human being."
Li Jefferson Clayton
Baby News
Grace Avery Costner
Kevin Costner and his wife have welcomed their third child, a girl, into the world.
Costner's 36-year-old wife, Christine, gave birth to Grace Avery Costner on Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles.
The couple have two other children, 1-year-old Hayes and 3-year-old Cayden. The 55-year-old actor has three grown children from a previous marriage.
Grace Avery Costner
Dolphin Hunt Film Canceled In Tokyo
"The Cove"
A movie theater in Tokyo decided against showing the dolphin-hunt documentary "The Cove" after nationalist pressure and warnings of protests, the distributor said Thursday.
In recent months, activists have protested and screamed slogans outside the Tokyo office of the Japanese distributor, Unplugged, alleging that support for the film signals betrayal of Japanese pride.
Theater N Shibuya was scheduled to start showing the film June 26. Unplugged said the theater changed its mind after getting deluged with angry telephone calls and being warned that screenings would be met with protests.
The American movie that won the Academy Award for documentary this year shows undercover footage of the dolphin hunt in a Japanese village and documents efforts by Ric O'Barry, a former trainer for the "Flipper" TV series, to stop the slaughter of dolphins for food.
"The Cove"
Rock Problem
Rand Paul
It looks like Rand Paul is in trouble again - this time for using music he's not supposed to. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal's James Carroll, the Canadian rock band Rush sent Paul's campaign a letter this week ordering the candidate to stop using its music without permission. Apparently, the GOP Senate hopeful used one of the band's best-known hits, "Tom Sawyer," as background music for a fund-raising video. And Rush's "The Spirit of Radio" has also been something of an unofficial theme song for Paul's campaign, played to jazz up supporters at campaign rallies around Kentucky.
But Paul isn't just using Rush as background music. Not unlike the characters in last year's "bromance" film, "I Love You, Man," Paul genuinely seems to be a Rush superfan - perhaps fitting, since some observers have touted the band's libertarian tendencies. On the stump, Paul frequently quotes a line from "The Spirit of Radio" - "Glittering prizes and endless compromises/shatter the illusion of integrity" - to describe the backroom dealings in Washington.
Fortunately for Paul, it's not illegal to quote a song, but it is a violation of copyright to actually play the music without permission. Robert Farmer, the band's attorney, tells Carroll it's nothing personal. "This is not a political issue - this is a copyright issue," Farmer said. "We would do this no matter who it is."
Still, considering that Jackson Browne sued John McCain, and Charlie Crist is in trouble with the Talking Heads, The Awl's David Bry has a point: Republicans should just give up and simply score every political ad and rally with "Stranglehold" by Ted Nugent, a known conservative who probably wouldn't mind.
Rand Paul
Widow Files Wrongful Death Suit
David Carradine
Court records show David Carradine's widow has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a film company handling the actor's last film.
The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on Thursday is against MS2 S.A., a French company responsible for the production of the movie "Stretch."
The lawsuit claims the company promised to provide Carradine the best possible amenities and an assistant to help him navigate the city, but left him behind for dinner on the night before the actor was found dead.
Carradine was found hanging dead last June in a Bangkok hotel room.
David Carradine
Parents Seek Custody Of Remains
Gary Coleman
The estranged parents of former child TV star Gary Coleman are seeking custody of his body and want it returned to the star's boyhood home in Illinois, his former manager said Thursday.
His former manager and family spokesman Victor Perillo said Coleman's parents, Sue and Willie Coleman, are the legal custodians of his body because Coleman was divorced from his wife, Shannon Price, in 2008. It was Price who ordered that Gary Coleman be taken off of life support.
Utah Valley Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Janet Frank said Price was named in an advanced health care directive that allowed her to make health care decisions for Gary Coleman when he couldn't make them for himself.
In 1989, when Gary Coleman was 21, his mother filed a court request trying to gain control of her son's $6 million fortune, saying he was incapable of handling his affairs. The move "obviously stems from her frustration at not being able to control my life," he said.
Gary Coleman
May Bar Hebrew Version Of Books
Henning Mankell
Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell may prohibit the translation of his popular books into Hebrew after the Israeli attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, he said in an interview published on Thursday.
Mankell was one of 11 Swedes who participated in the aid flotilla -- consisting of six ships carrying 682 people from 42 countries -- which was attacked by Israeli commando soldiers early Monday leaving at least nine people dead.
The 62-year-old author, whose books about world-weary detective Kurt Wallander have sold more than 25 million copies worldwide and have been adapted to film and television, said he was struggling to understand "the stupidity" of the Israeli attack.
"If they had wanted to stop us without losing face, they could have broken the propellers or the rudder and towed away the ships. But to consciously go into a violent confrontation and kill people, I just don't understand it," Mankell said.
Henning Mankell
Court Halts Release Of Film
Jim Carrey
A California District Court judge has issued a preliminary injunction preventing the U.S. release of the indie comedy "I Love You Phillip Morris," starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.
The Glenn Ficarra/John Requa film, about a married man who gets into a car crash, discovers he's gay and goes on a crime spree that eventually lands him in jail, was produced by French movie studio EuropaCorp, which licensed domestic rights to Consolidated Pictures Group.
The film premiered in 2009 at Sundance, where it received a warm but not overwhelming response. Buyers weren't exactly jumping at the difficult subject matter, but upstart distributor Consolidated took U.S. rights and planned to release it, first in February, then March, April, and then July.
Regardless of the outcome, the film won't be in theaters next month as planned. In fact, the movie's website has disappeared, and October is now Consolidated's target release date, just in time for Oscar season.
Jim Carrey
Hosting Game Show "Downfall"
Chris Jericho
Pro wrestler Chris Jericho, who made his big-screen debut this summer in "MacGruber," has been tapped in to host ABC's upcoming extreme game show "Downfall."
Jericho is well known to wrestling fans, having been in the ring since the 1990s and winning the WWE World Championship six times.
ABC's latest reality contest premieres June 22.
On the six-episode series, contestants try to answer questions while on the roof of a Los Angeles high-rise. Meanwhile, "the largest conveyor belt ever seen on TV" will send potential winnings (cash and prizes), the player's personal possessions and even friends and family over the side of the building.
Chris Jericho
Feds Back Off Plan
Franklin, VT
The federal government has decided to close a tiny U.S.-Canada border station rather than push ahead with a controversial plan to expand it by seizing a dairy farmer's land, officials announced Thursday.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection had sought to renovate the sleepy Morses Line port of entry in Franklin - which gets about 2 1/2 vehicles an hour - by seizing a 2.2-acre parcel from the Rainville family dairy farm, which adjoins the station.
By any measure, the Depression-era border station - a small brick building surrounded by pastures and hayfields - was a better candidate for closure than a big-ticket renovation.
But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which got $420 million from the federal bailout to modernize land ports like it, wanted to make it a project.
Customs officials initially wanted to take 10 acres from the dairy farm, then cut it to 4.9 acres, warning the family in a letter that if it didn't agree to sell for $39,500, the land would be seized through eminent domain. Last month, officials reduced that to 2.2 acres.
Franklin, VT
"Lunch Under The Grass"
1980s Lunch
An avant-garde offal-heavy art banquet laid for 100 that literally wound up underground is giving new depth, three decades later, to "garbage archaeology".
Pigs' ears, smoked udders, veal lungs and other assorted offal tidbits left over from the luncheon are under the scrutiny of a team of French archaeologists working hand-in-hand with anthropologists, art historians and the organiser of the banquet himself.
On April 23, 1983, Swiss artist Daniel Spoerri, a key figure of post-war European art and inventor of the Eat-Art concept, invited artists, gallery-owners and critics for a lunch-cum-performance where guests buried the remains of the banquet underground.
This week, with 80-year-old Spoerri looking on, a team of diggers led by prominent French archaeologist Jean-Paul Demoule excavated part of the artsy site -- "to see what the remains tell us about artistic circles in the 1980s", said Demoule.
1980s Lunch
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of May 24-30. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. NBA Playoffs: Phoenix vs. L.A. Lakers (Thursday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 6.09 million homes, 8.67 million viewers.
2. NBA Playoffs: Orlando vs. Boston (Monday, 8:29 p.m.), ESPN, 5.67 million homes, 7.96 million viewers.
3. NBA Playoffs: L.A. Lakers vs. Phoenix (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 5.64 million homes, 7.64 million viewers.
4. NBA Playoffs: L.A. Lakers vs. Phoenix (Saturday, 8:34 p.m.), TNT, 5.51 million homes, 8.15 million viewers.
5. NBA Playoffs: Orlando vs. Boston (Friday, 8:29 p.m.), ESPN, 5.31 million homes, 7.53 million viewers.
6. NBA Playoffs: Boston vs. Orlando (Wednesday, 8:29 p.m.), ESPN, 5.04 million homes, 6.83 million viewers.
7. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.13 million homes, 4.51 million viewers.
8. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.05 million homes, 4.46 million viewers.
9. "NCIS" (Wednesday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.02 million homes, 3.88 million viewers.
10. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.79 million homes, 3.86 million viewers.
11. "NCIS" (Monday, 8 p.m.), USA, 2.71 million homes, 3.45 million viewers.
12. "NCIS" (Monday, 7 p.m.), USA, 2.61 million homes, 3.37 million viewers.
13. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 1:30 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.58 million homes, 3.71 million viewers.
14. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 1 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.57 million homes, 3.68 million viewers.
15. "SportsCenter" (Friday, 11:20 p.m.), 2.56 million homes, 3.41 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan, the Emmy-winning actress who brought the sexually liberated Southern belle Blanche Devereaux to life on the hit TV series "The Golden Girls," has died. She was 76.
McClanahan had an active career in off-Broadway and regional stages in the 1960s before she was tapped for TV in the 1970s for the key best-friend character on the hit series "Maude," starring Beatrice Arthur. After that series ended in 1978, McClanahan landed the role as Aunt Fran on Mama's Family" in 1983.
But her most loved role came in 1985 when she co-starred with Arthur, Betty White and Estelle Getty in "The Golden Girls," a runaway hit that broke the sitcom mold by focusing on the foibles of four aging - and frequently eccentric - women living together in Miami.
After "The Golden Girls" was canceled in 1992, McClanahan, White and Getty reprised their roles in a short-lived spinoff, "The Golden Palace."
McClanahan continued working in television, on stage and in film, appearing in the Jack Lemmon-Walter Matthau vehicle "Out to Sea" and as the biology teacher in "Starship Troopers."
She stepped in to portray Madame Morrible, the crafty headmistress, for a time in "Wicked," Broadway's long-running "Wizard of Oz" prequel.
In 2008, McClanahan appeared in the Logo comedy "Sordid Lives: The Series," playing the slightly addled, elderly mother of an institutionalized drag queen.
McClanahan was born Eddi-Rue McClanahan in Healdton, Okla., to building contractor William McClanahan and his wife, Dreda Rheua-Nell, a beautician. She graduated with honors from the University of Tulsa with a degree in German and theater arts.
McClanahan's acting career began on the stage. According to a 1985 Los Angeles Times profile, she appeared at the Pasadena (Calif.) Playhouse, studied in New York with Uta Hagen and Harold Clurman, and worked in soaps and on the stage.
She won an Obie - the off-Broadway version of the Tony - in 1970 for "Who's Happy Now," playing the "other woman" in a family drama written by Oliver Hailey. She reprised the role in a 1975 television version; in a review, The New York Times described her character as "an irrepressible belle given to frequent bouts of `wooziness' and occasional bursts of shrewdness."
She had appeared only sporadically on television until producer Norman Lear tapped her for a guest role on "All in the Family" in 1971.
She went from there to a regular role in the "All in the Family" spinoff "Maude," playing Vivian, the neighbor and best friend to Arthur in the starring role.
McClanahan was married six times: Tom Bish, with whom she had a son, Mark Bish; actor Norman Hartweg; Peter D'Maio; Gus Fisher; and Tom Keel. She married husband Morrow Wilson on Christmas Day in 1997.
Rue McClanahan
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
