'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Congressman John Conyers Talks About Bush Lying America Into War and His Campaign to Hold Bush Accountable: The Downing Street Memo and More (A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW)
We have got 160,000 signatures, and it's probably larger than that now. It's gone up from the last week when it was 130,000. And now it's 160,000 and more.
George E. Lowe: Can "It" Happen Here? Hasn't "It" Already? A Fascist Christian America (A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW)
They're planning ... to create a nation where you can change the Constitution with simple majorities, where you can pass laws with simple majorities, where you can pack the courts and thereby create a Christian nation through a simple majority vote.
Vince Darcangelo: Feel like suicide (boulderweekly.com)
Best-selling author Nick Hornby talks about writing, rock 'n' roll and learning how to live after deciding to end it all
'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for June 10: Read the transcript to the Friday show
Guests: Bill Maher, Bill Moyers, Darrell Hammond
ROGER EBERT: Batman Begins (4 stars)
'Batman Begins" at last penetrates to the dark and troubled depths of the Batman legend, creating a superhero who, if not plausible, is at least persuasive as a man driven to dress like a bat and become a vigilante.
Multifaith Calendar
Bush and Fascism: Worth Another Viewing (Video)
Purple Gene Reviews
O'Really
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sun finally broke through around 4pm.
Felt the earthquake - first a thud, then a gentle rolling - the car alarms didn't even go off. Not too bad as these things go.
Raised Funds For Stem Cell Research
Willie Nelson
Country singer Willie Nelson is making a name for himself in a new field - stem cell research.
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas is planning to establish the Annie and Willie Nelson Professorship in Stem Cell Research. An official announcement is planned later this week, a university official said.
Nelson and his wife received the honor for helping to raise about $250,000 for the stem cell program at a March 4 concert in Grand Prairie, the Austin American-Statesman reported in Saturday's editions.
Willie Nelson
Unveiled In Salem
'Bewitched' Statue
Welcomed by many - including the mayor and some city councilors - but reviled by others, a statue of 1960s TV icon Samantha Stephens of "Bewitched" was unveiled amid a puff of smoke in Salem on Wednesday.
The statue depicts the late actress Elizabeth Montgomery, who played the nose-wiggling Stephens in the 1960s sitcom, sitting sidesaddle on a broomstick, her skirt flying behind her in the breeze, in front of a crescent moon.
The ceremony was attended by show director William Asher, who was married to Montgomery, as well as a number of actors who appeared in the original series, including Bernard Fox (Dr. Bombay), Kasey Rogers (Louise Tate) and Erin Murphy (Tabitha Stephens).
The network has placed similar statues of famous sitcom characters around the country, including Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden of "The Honeymooners" at the Port Authority in New York and Mary Richards in Minneapolis, where "The Mary Tyler Moore" show was set.
'Bewitched' Statue
Take To The Streets
Stuntmen
Hollywood's stunt community will take the action to the doorstep of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Thursday in a bid to get a long-desired Oscar category for stunt coordinators.
The morning stunt display by members of six of the leading companies and associations is timed to Tuesday's meeting of the Academy board, which has again been petitioned to consider the new award.
Organizers hope the rally, scheduled to take place in front of the Academy's Beverly Hills headquarters, will get them an opportunity to present their case at the meeting.
The proposed presentation would be a first for the stunt community after having its requests turned away year after year.
Stuntmen
Performing at ESPY Awards
Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child will perform at the ESPY Awards in one of the trio's final national television appearances before the group disbands in the fall.
The sports awards show will be taped July 13 at the Kodak Theatre and will air on the sports cable channel four days later. Actor Matthew Perry is the host.
Nominations for the 13th annual ESPY Awards will be announced June 24. Fans vote for the winners in all categories recognizing major sports achievements, performers and moments of the past year.
Destiny's Child
Hot Script
Jeff & Tim Buckley
A script currently making the rounds in Hollywood could further build interest in a pair of musicians, father and son, whose posthumous reputations have remained durable.
Writer-producer Train Houston has secured the rights to "Dream Brother: The Lives & Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley," Entertainment Weekly music critic David Browne's 2001 book about the titular singer-songwriters, and has penned a screenplay on their eerily entwined lives.
Tim Buckley, whose style ranged from accessible folk-pop to ethereal jazz-rock and lubricious funk, recorded nine studio albums from 1966-74 and penned such oft-covered tunes as "Morning Glory," "Buzzin' Fly" and "Song to the Siren." A heroin overdose in 1975 in Venice Beach, Calif., took his life at age 28.
His son Jeff attained a far brighter celebrity: His mercurial voice, masterful guitar playing and sensitive compositions stirred talk of great things ahead after the release of his sole studio album, 1994's "Grace." In 1997, at 30, he accidentally drowned in Memphis.
Jeff & Tim Buckley
Bess Lomax Award
Janette Carter
Janette Carter, of the founding family of country music, will get the Bess Lomax award for lifetime achievement in the folk and traditional arts for her contributions to the music of the Appalachian mountains.
The National Endowment for the Arts also announced a dozen fellowships, each worth $20,000. These are given annually for work in folk art. All the recipients are invited to Washington for the presentation and a concert on Sept. 23.
The 2005 fellows are:
-Eldrid Skjold Arntzen, painter of Norwegian American floral decorations, Watertown, Conn.
-Earl Barthe, decorative building craftsman, New Orleans, La.
-Chuck Brown, African American musical innovator, Brandywine, Md.
-Michael Doucet, Cajun fiddler, composer, and band leader, Lafayette, La.
-Jerry Grcevich, musician and player of the tamburitza and prim, two types of guitar-like Yugoslav instrument, North Huntingdon, Pa.
-Grace Henderson Nez, Navajo weaver, Ganado, Ariz.
-Wanda Jackson, early country, rockabilly, and gospel singer, Oklahoma City, Okla.
-Hermina AlbarrDan Romero, paper-cutting artist, San Francisco.
-Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman, Yiddish singer, poet, songwriter, New York.
-Albertina Walker, gospel singer, Chicago.
-James Ka'upena Wong, Hawaiian chanter, Waianae, Hawaii.
Janette Carter
Bob Dylan, Norah Jones, Bill Maher
Amazon.com
Amazon.com Inc. is planning a concert featuring Bob Dylan and Norah Jones to celebrate its 10th anniversary next month.
The concert will be streamed live on the Internet retailer's home page the evening of July 16 - 10 years after Chairman and CEO Jeff Bezos officially launched the virtual bookstore.
Bill Maher will serve as host for the actual concert at Benaroya Hall. Maher, of HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher," is the author of the upcoming book, "New Rules: Polite Musings of a Timid Observer."
Amazon's Seattle-area employees will be invited to attend. Tickets will not be sold to the general public.
Amazon.com
Cops Plea
Kid Rock
A disc jockey has sued Kid Rock for $575,000, claiming the singer punched him at an adult entertainment club in February.
Jerry Campos of Cedar Hill, Tenn., is seeking $500,000 in punitive damages and $75,000 in compensatory damages in the lawsuit filed Monday in Circuit Court.
On Monday, the performer pleaded no contest to criminal assault and was given a suspended sentence of 11 months and 29 days in jail. He also was ordered to complete eight hours of anger management classes and pay $180 to replace Campos' eyeglasses.
Kid Rock
Ice-Pick Found In Mexico
Leon Trotsky
One of the most notorious murder weapons in modern history, the ice-pick that killed Leon Trotsky, appears to have been found, 65 years after it was apparently stolen from the Mexican police.
The daughter of a former secret service agent claims she has the steel mountaineering instrument, which is stained with the blood of the Russian revolutionary.
Exiled by Joseph Stalin, Trotsky lived a relatively settled life in a leafy suburb of Mexico City until his death in 1940.
Trotsky's grandson Seva Volkov, who lived with his grandfather at the time and still lives in Mexico, is willing to provide samples for a DNA test against the blood on the handle only if Salas donates the pick to the museum in the house where the murder took place.
Leon Trotsky
Tops Forbes List
Oprah
Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey reigns supreme among celebrities, according to Forbes magazine's power rankings of the top 100 celebrities released on Thursday.
Winfrey moved up from No. 3 in 2004 to supplant "Passion of the Christ" director Mel Gibson at the top of the list. Golf star Tiger Woods held on to his runner-up position and Gibson slid into third place.
George Lucas, director/producer of the "Star Wars" movies, was fourth on the power list and topped the money table with $290 million made over the past 12 months.
Rounding out the top 10 were basketball star Shaquille O'Neal in fifth place, followed by film director/producer Steven Spielberg, actor Johnny Depp, pop music stars Madonna and Elton John and actor Tom Cruise.
Oprah
Poor Weather Fails To Dampen
'Bloomsday'
Grey and misty weather in Dublin failed to dampen the spirits of fans from Ireland and around the world joining in the festivities to celebrate James Joyce's famed, fictitious "Bloomsday".
Every year the clock in the Irish capital goes back to June 16, 1904, so famously depicted in the epic day-in-a-life novel "Ulysses", written by the city's most celebrated author.
In the 700-page book, Joyce wrote about the adventures of Leopold Bloom, a Jewish advertising salesman, and young poet Stephen Dedalus as they wander the streets of Dublin.
Devoted fans were marking the day by dressing up in period costume, following the duo's fictional trail and listening to readings from the book -- including parts of the celebrated earthy monologue by Bloom's wife, Molly, one of the main reasons Ireland long banned "Ulysses".
'Bloomsday'
Sanitation Problems Plague Mountaineers
Mount McKinley (Denali)
Mountaineers who ascend North America's loftiest peak are often brought down to earth by "virus-laden poo" left behind by previous climbers, a medical report says.
The unsanitary conditions created by piles of human feces on Mount McKinley can cause diarrhea among climbers, which can lead to widespread problems when combined with the physical stress of a mountain expedition, according to the report in the journal Wilderness and Environmental Medicine.
The National Park Service already has started a clean-up campaign, including the distribution of devices called clean mountain cans to store feces for removal from the mountain, said Roger Robinson, lead mountaineering ranger for Denali National Park and Preserve, site of McKinley.
Mount McKinley (Denali)
Mother Vilifies Bush Over War
Cindy Sheehan
The president of Gold Star Families for Peace, a mother who lost a son in Iraq, criticized the United States' "illegal and unjust war" yesterday during an interfaith rally in Lexington.
Cindy Sheehan of Vacaville, Calif., accused resident Bush of lying to the nation about a war which has consumed tens of billions of dollars and claimed more than 1,700 American lives -- including the life of Army Specialist Casey Austin Sheehan.
Sheehan ridiculed Bush for saying that it's "hard work" comforting the widow of a soldier who's been killed in Iraq.
"Hard work is seeing your son's murder on CNN one Sunday evening while you're enjoying the last supper you'll ever truly enjoy again. Hard work is having three military officers come to your house a few hours later to confirm the aforementioned murder of your son, your first-born, your kind and gentle sweet baby. Hard work is burying your child 46 days before his 25th birthday. Hard work is holding your other three children as they lower the body of their big (brother) into the ground. Hard work is not jumping in the grave with him and having the earth cover you both," she said.
Cindy Sheehan
In Memory
Robert I. Clarke
Robert I. Clarke, an actor best known for his roles in 1950s cult films such as "The Man from Planet X" and "The Astounding She-Monster," died Saturday at his Valley Village home, the Los Angeles Times reported. He was 85.
While best known for his roles in horror and monster films, Clarke also appeared in dozens of television programs, including "The King Family Show." Clarke also appeared in more than 85 movies, including "The Incredible Petrified World" and "The Hideous Sun Demon," the last of which he wrote and produced.
Born June 1, 1920, in Oklahoma City, Clarke planned a career in the military until asthma kept him out of World War II. He attended the University of Oklahoma and then the University of Wisconsin, where he began acting.
He moved to Hollywood in 1942 and landed a contract with RKO. By 1950 he had done small roles in about 40 motion pictures, including his first horror films, "The Body Snatcher," starring Boris Karloff, and "Zombies on Broadway," starring Bela Lugosi.
Robert I. Clarke
In Memory
Scott Young
Acclaimed Canadian journalist and author Scott Young, a rock-star dad whose career carried him through the Second World War, Olympic Games and Stanley Cups, was remembered above all as a supportive father at a memorial service Thursday.
Music icon Neil Young performed a new song at the service dedicated to his father, who died Sunday in this eastern Ontario city at the age of 87. "I remember him with a lot of love in my heart," a sombre Young said following the service before he ducked into a chauffeur-driven black van with several relatives.
The music legend was the subject of one of his father's books, 1984's Neil and Me, which Young wrote about his relationship with his famous son.
Scott Young's writing has been hailed as some of the finest to grace Canadian sports pages.
Apart from his accomplished newspaper career, he also wrote more than 40 books, including the 1952 Canadian classic, Scrubs on Skates.
Young was born in Cypress River, Man., and lived in several Prairie towns throughout his youth.
Scott Young
In Memory
Jaime Mendoza-Nava
Jaime Mendoza-Nava, a Bolivian native who composed music for "The Mickey Mouse Club" and hundreds of movies, has died. He was 79.
Born in La Paz, Bolivia, Mendoza-Nava was a child prodigy who by age 11 had composed, performed and organized a children's orchestra. After studying in South America, he trained in piano and composing at New York's Juilliard School, and later at Madrid's Royal Conservatory of Music and elsewhere in Europe.
In 1951, still in his 20s, Mendoza-Nava was named director of Bolivia's National Symphony Orchestra.
The musician immigrated to Los Angeles in 1953 and soon went to work for Disney, where he composed music for 1950s television series including "The Mickey Mouse Club" and "Zorro."
In 1961, he became music director for United Productions of America, where he worked on the theatrical cartoon series "Mr. Magoo," among others.
Mendoza-Nava went on to form his own company and score music for more than 200 movies, including sci-fi, horror and adventure films. Among his credits were "Ballad of a Gunfighter" in 1964, "A Boy and His Dog" in 1975, "Vampire Hookers" in 1978 and "Terror in the Swamp" in 1985.
Mendoza-Nava is survived by his wife, four children and four grandchildren.
Jaime Mendoza-Nava
