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From 'TBH Politoons'
Great Site!
Thanks, again, Tim!
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Even living in Long Beach, we still heard/felt the 2 sonic booms of the shuttle coming for the landing up at Edwards. Pretty freaking cool.
The ever-fabulous Malcolm McDowall and French Stewart really shone on Bill Maher Thursday night!
Am in the midst of trying to set-up a trivia meet for Friday night. Tater Tots are having a face-down, by gender. Any ringers out there? Let me know by noon Friday if you wanna play, too.
The garden now has tomatoes on all 9 plants. Won't need to buy lettuce for a couple of months, too. Will have more blackberries over the weekend - think there's pie in my future...LOL
Tonight, Friday, CBS starts the night with '48 Hours' and follows with the tv-movie 'Diagnosis Murder: Town Without Pity'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave are
Scheduled on a fresh Craiggers are
NBC fills 2 hours with regurgitated 'Dateline' and follows with 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
Scheduled on a fresh Jay are
Scheduled on a fresh Conan is Peter Gallagher.
ABC plumbs new depths with another rerun of 'America's Funniest Home Videos', then an hour long infomercial for the latest Disney animation disaster 'Disney's Lilo & Stitch: Aloha From Hollywood', and follows with '20/20', featuring Barbara Walters and her pet penniped, John Miller.
Scheduled on a fresh Bill Maher are
The WB has reruns of 'Sabrina', 'Maybe It's Me', 'Reba', and 'Raising Dad'.
Faux has reruns of 'Dark Angel' and 'X-Files'.
UPN has the movie 'Death By Magic'.
Check your local PBS listings for 'NOW With Bill Moyers', and see how the media is supposed to work.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Extracts Aid Pledge
Bono & Chirac
U2 singer Bono visited French President Jacques Chirac at his Paris palace Thursday and emerged with a promise that France's contribution in aid to poor countries would increase in coming years.
"I'm here because he (Chirac) has a passion for Africa and I want to turn that passion into cash," the singer, wearing his trademark wraparound blue sunglasses, said just before going into the meeting at the imposing Elysee Palace.
Asked afterward if he had succeeded, Bono joked: "Well, he gave me 50 francs ($7) for the taxi."
But he quickly went on to say: "France has been generous but in the last years it's gone down. He promised me they (the new French government) would reverse that
trend, and I'm very happy about that."
Chirac's center-right party won a landslide in parliamentary elections last Sunday, giving the recently re-elected president unfettered policy-making powers.
"My relationship with all politicians is based on the idea that if the money is not forthcoming, I'll be back," the singer said after his 90-minute talk with the French leader.
He said pestering politicians and reminding them of their words was part of his campaign and just as useful as participating in confrontational protests.
"It's much more glamorous being on the barricades with a handkerchief over your nose throwing rocks than it is for me to be standing here in a suit, though
it's not my own," the style-conscious singer said. He revealed the khaki tie he was sporting for the occasion was also on loan.
Bono & Chirac
Calls Osbournes 'Sad Family'
Bill Cosby
Famous TV father Bill Cosby doesn't think much of the home life of his MTV counterpart, Ozzy Osbourne.
"The Osbournes," an inside look at the heavy-metal rocker's home life with his wife, Sharon, and two of their children has become a hit for MTV and the same kind of
watercooler show that Cosby's "The Cosby Show" was in the 1980s.
Some observers, including former Vice President Dan Quayle, have called the Osbournes dysfunctional but loving. Cosby thinks less of them.
"This is a sad, sad family. It is a sad case. The children are sad and the parents are sad. And this is not entertainment," the 64-year-old comedian told "Access Hollywood"
in an interview airing Friday.
Bill Cosby
Big Dog Watch Continues
Bill Clinton In NYC
Former President Bill Clinton plays tag with children from the Family Life Academy of the Latino Pastoral Action Center in New York, Thursday, June 20, 2002. Clinton visited the school as part
of the first "National Service Day," sponsored by the Democratic Leadership Council.
Photo by Suzanne Plunkett
Snarky, But Sad, Gossip
Beth Ostrosky
Beth Ostrosky is a 6-foot blonde with her parts in all the right places. But it sounds like she values herself mainly for dating Howard Stern. The lingerie model, who
recently graced the cover of FHM because of her romance with the King of All Media, tells Steppin' Out's Chaunce Hayden that her self-worth lies in dating Stern. "I don't
mean to put myself down, but the most attractive thing about me is definitely my boyfriend! It's so true! I'm being so truthful!" We believe you!
Beth Ostrosky
'Celebrity 100'
Britney Tops Forbes' List
She's not yet a woman, but Forbes magazine ranks pop princess Britney Spears as the world's most powerful celebrity, dethroning movie star Tom Cruise from the No. 1 spot he held last year.
The seemingly ubiquitous 20-year-old singer from Louisiana tops Forbes' annual "Celebrity 100" list, which combines earnings with media exposure to calculate the relative status
of entertainers, athletes and other famous people.
Spears, who heralded her own coming of age in the recent hit "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman," actually ranked No. 25 in terms of money-making clout, earning an estimated
$39.2 million during the past 12 months. "Star Wars" director George Lucas was the leading breadwinner on the list at $200 million.
Cruise, who was No. 1 on the list last year and stars in the much-anticipated Steven Spielberg sci-fi action film "Minority Report," did not even make the cut this year.
Cruise's ex-wife, actress Nicole Kidman, however, ranks No. 27 on this year's list.
Rounding out the top 10 were golf champion Tiger Woods, director Steven Spielberg, pop superstar Madonna, Irish rock group U2, boy-band sensation 'N Sync, songstress Mariah Carey,
talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, basketball star Michael Jordan and actor Tom Hanks.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton also figures prominently on the list, at No. 18. Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani ranked No. 43.
Britney Tops Forbes' List
From Alex
Cindy Crawford
Supermodel Cindy Crawford said Thursday she was considering taking a multi-million dollar trip into space with Russian cosmonauts.
"I would go if I could be there and back in a week," Crawford told reporters during a visit to the Russian capital.
"If they invite me, maybe, I don't know," said the 36-year-old U.S. model, whose personal fortune has been estimated at more than $30 million.
Valery Korzun, the new commander of the International Space Station (ISS) joked earlier this month he would rather see Crawford aboard the outpost than Lance Bass of U.S. boy
band 'NSYNC, who is preparing himself for an October trip.
Korzun and his crewmates aboard the ISS, Sergei Treshchyov and Peggy Whitson, are scheduled to spend four-and-a-half months aboard the station.
Cindy Crawford
Non-Reader 'Contribution'
Complaint
John Currier
Searching around the net, trying to find something interesting to read, I came across your web site. Now, being there are dozens of e-mails listed, I couldn't find any that I should (sic) write to to(sic) express myself about bartcop.com. After all, it's not as if you have an e-mail address saying 'Tell us what you think about the web site-send e-mail to:'. (punctuation) Although finding an (sic) link to send you money wasn't a problem.
Hey John - I DARE you to find one request for money or donations on this website
I'm always amused to see Al-Quida (sp) expressing itself on the Internet. After all, it's not as if anything you've posted on your, ahem, web site is worth a dollar of truth or facts. Mostly it's just propaganda, from my observations.
Hey John - That's just dumb. Like I'm gonna root for any group that wants me in a burqa. Oh, and spelling does count.
But I did come across this useful bit of information:
Contribution standards for Bartcop.com!
Truly, in a world without much (sic) scruples, you people are above the rest!
Hey John - you say the world lacks scruples, yet, 'your side' is in power. Hmmm.
Let's take a stroll through your 'standards':
"If you're male, white, rich, straight and healthy - no need to contribute."
Wow, quite a lot of people you're excluding there! What if they're just white, rich and straight, can they contribute? What if they are white, straight, and healthy, is that OK? I want to make sure when I write my check, I'm not one of these guys.
Hey John - I have no question that you don't fit in that category. White, most likely. Rich, I doubt it. Straight, nah, too much projection. So far as 'healthy,' are you referring to spiritually, physically, or emotionally?
Incidently (sp), do I have to include my checking account balance, so as (sic) Bartcop.com can determine if I'm 'rich' or not. (punctuation - in English, it is customary to end questions with a question mark) Because, while the other descriptions are pretty objective, the term 'rich', (interesting punctuation, again) which you use quite frequently, is never defined.
Hey John - if you need a definition of 'rich,' you ain't in the game.
Let me ask you this, then, if a person is black, rich, straight and healthy, should HE contribute? Guess I'm curious if you hate ALL of those groups of people individually, or do you whittle down to only those that are 'male, white, rich, straight and healthy.'
Hey John - you sure are obsessed with men.
The really funny thing is, the guy you claim to be supporting, Al Gore (punctuation)Jr., is in fact, Male, White, Rich, Straight and Healthy. Would you suggest he don't (sic) contribute to bartcop.com, also??
Hey John - perhaps a remedial English class should be in your future. (And, how do you know Al Gore isn't a donor to bartcop?)
Another standard I seem perplexed about is this:
Hey John - you seem perplexed? Why does this not surprise me?
"If you think liberal web sites shutting down is no big thing - no need to contribute."
Hey John - I still DARE you to find one request for money or donations on this website
I guess it would depend on WHY they are shutting down, wouldn't it? Are they shutting down because of lack of interest, because they seem hypocritical (see above), or because someone is purposely shutting them down.
Hey John - can you name one website that has been shut down?
If it's due to lack of interest, I can't understand anyone really being perturbed about it. Web sites come down everyday, due to lack of interest. Is this the result of some Bush hidden agenda?
If you have proof that the Federal Government is closing these web sites, I'd be very interested to read them. If they're porn sites, don't waste my, or your, time.
Hey John - that's funny. Porn sites make a healthy profit from lonely boys like you.
And further on, you write:
'If you think TV and radio are "fair and balanced," then there's no need to contribute.'
Hey John - your boy Raygun killed the 'fairness doctrine.' You do know that previous to Raygun, American broadcasters were required to provide more than one viewpoint. It was the law. Enter Rupert and his $.
Who really cares if it's 'fair and balanced'? From the title part of your web site, my opinion of fair and balanced is obviously light years away from your idea of fair and balanced.
Hey John - only a fascist doesn't care about 'fair and balanced.' And, only a fascist who feels his side is in control. Bet you prefer the 'fair & balanced' outlook of Faux or the Moonie Times. No ulterior motives there...LOL
I don't support censorship in anyway, even if it's in the name of 'fair and balanced' TV or radio. Just because Rush Limbaugh has a huge audience on the radio, doesn't give anyone--even crusading liberals out to 'save the children', (punctuation, again) the right to hijack a radio station and start presenting there ideas. If Rush Limbaugh is popular on the radio, it must mean people are willing to, and desire to, hear his message--or his style of entertainment.
Hey John - you say you don't support censorship, yet consider only your view to be 'fair and balanced.' Now, if your boy Rush was 'fair and balanced,' one would expect his site to be archived. But, since it's not, he must be afraid he's wrong, or too cheap to let any of his money 'trickle' down.
'If you think the next election will be fair and the people's choice will prevail - no need to contribute.'
Hey John - I don't think the last election was anywhere near fair. Thankfully, I live in a blue state. And to be honest, it's a lot easier to explain a blow job to a 9 year old than why his government wants him to live in fear.
And so it ends, with the dismal, emotional plea for the future: No more fair elections. Because, as we all know from Bartcop.com, a fair election is when Democrats are elected, and an unfair election is when Republicans are elected.
Hey John - learned a long time ago if I wanted fair, it was held in Pomona in September.
Already, Bartcop.com is throwing in the towel, and admitting defeat. Because, as we all know, if Al Gore was elected President in 2004--or really any Democrat--bartcop.com would be the first to exclaim it was a fair election. But, if somehow, Bush were to be re-elected, it would have nothing to do with his handling of the war on terrorism, his massive tax cuts, the economy, or his handling of the office of President, in the opinion of the voters. It could only be an unfair, and fraudulent election Bush would have won.
Hey John - Bush would have to be elected in the first place for him to be re-elected. He was selected, not elected.
In short, I'm glad you have this web site on the Internet. I'm glad the hate from the liberal left is put into full view. When people used to think 'liberal', (punctuation, again) they thought of flower children, free love, good herb, and 'mood music'. (punctuation, AGAIN) Thanks to all of you, a real example is set of what being a liberal is really about--it's about hate, propaganda, and jealousy. It's about 'getting even', (punctuation, still again) it's about half-truths and it's about distorted cartoons, with captions based solely on emotions, meant to harm and incite.
Hey John - why do you associate dope & free love with liberals? The cool kids wouldn't share with you? As to 'getting even,' people who have been treated fairly have no reason to 'get even.' Besides, we've had some masters of propaganda from which to learn. Your boy Rush took lessons from Newt who transcribed Goebbels. BTW, check the definitions of 'conservative' and 'liberal' in a real dictionary. You do know what a dictionary is, don't you?
Clearly, from what I've read on your site, it's not about issues, it doesn't seem to be about presenting opposing view points, and it doesn't even seem to be about protecting anyone's rights but your own. It's not as if you're screaming about the infringements on the 2nd amendment, just those you agree with, apparently. Take your forum for example--where's the freedom of speech there? It must be approved for posting by the moderator? You might as well have Himmler as you're (sic) moderator!
Hey John - you have accurately summed up my opinion of your boy Rush. I'm trying to think of the last time he actually allowed an opposing viewpoint to be tolerated.
No wonder there are so many requests for money, and so few links to express our (sic) view of your web site.
Hey John - Once again, show me one request for money or donations on this website. Just ONE!
It's all about the money!
John Currier
Hey John - What strikes me funny is how anyone making under a million a year could vote repuglican and then, defend those who rip them off. But, then it is the party that excuses all excesses from their male members til sometime after their 40th birthday - a lifestyle open only to the wealthy and well-connected. Having been raised in the country club set, it's not foreign to me. Just inexcusable.
Oh, and BTW, I DOUBLE-DOG DARE you to find one request for money or donations on this website.
Now, begone. And don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split you.
Suing Disney
Zippo
Lighter maker Zippo is burned up over a cartoon dinosaur.
The Bradford, Pa.-based company has sued Walt Disney Co. and the ABC television network, claiming an animated dinosaur with the same name as the lighter is cashing in on the Zippo name, the Erie Times-News reported recently.
The lawsuit, filed June 7 in Erie federal court, wants Disney and ABC to rename the dinosaur, featured in the "Dinotopia" miniseries, and give the lighter maker any profits made from Zippo dinosaur merchandise.
"We're bringing this lawsuit to make ABC stop using Zippo as the name of the dinosaur and to protect our trademark," said Paul Perlman, a lawyer representing the company.
The cartoon Zippo is a main character in the miniseries, based on books by James Gurney, where humans and dinosaurs live together on a lost continent.
The Zippo name started with lighters in 1933, but now is used on a variety of items, including pocket knives, golf accessories and clothing.
Zippo & Disney
Zippo Web site
World Refugee Day
Angelina Jolie
A celebration of World Refugee Day on Thursday brought together a unique diplomatic pair: Secretary of State Colin Powell and actress Angelina Jolie.
"Ms. Jolie is the only ambassador I deal with who has her own fan club," Powell joked before about 100 invited guests and uninvited throngs of curious tourists and commuters in the cavernous main hall of historic Union Station.
Jolie, a United Nations goodwill ambassador, has visited refugee camps around the world, including in Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Cambodia, Pakistan and Ecuador. Thursday, she helped Powell present awards to four students and cut a ribbon to open an exhibit of pictures, children's artwork and performances by refugee artists.
During a recent visit to Colombia, Jolie said, she was missing her newly adopted son — until she spoke to a refugee whose three children were murdered. She praised refugees for the courage they show despite being uprooted from their homes and losing all they had.
Angelina Jolie
Incentives & Perks
Wee George 'Judas' Stephanopoulos
It was, of course, no surprise when ABC made the formal announcement that wee George Stephanopoulos is taking over in September (after his baby is born) as sole anchor of the
ratings-deprived "This Week" Sunday talkfest. While industry estimates put his salary for the new gig at only $1 million a year, rumor has it the deal is a lot sweeter. Disney
will provide lavish accommodations, cars, drivers and a support staff in Washington so that George can continue living in Manhattan and commute at the end of each week to do
the live show. More important, his contract has all kinds of heady incentives. Tim Russert of NBC makes $1 million a week with his Sunday show "Meet the Press," and if Stephanopoulos
can pull "This Week" up to anything like that level, there are contract provisions for him to earn more than anyone else ever got for talking on a Sunday morning (with the
possible exception of a TV evangelist.)
Wee George 'Judas' Stephanopoulos
Phenomenon Rolls On
'O Brother'
Nearly two years after its release, the soundtrack of the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" film continues to cause ripple effects in the music industry.
The Grammy-winning album of blues, mountain and other Americana music has sold more than 6 million copies and is still hovering on Billboard's chart of the Top 20 albums in the country.
Mercury Records in Nashville capitalized on the success of "O Brother" with its Lost Highway Records, which has issued critically acclaimed albums by alternative country acts Lucinda Williams, Ryan Adams and Tift Merritt.
Producer T Bone Burnett and filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen are partners in the new DMZ Records label, and "O Brother" artists are touring the country this summer.
The second Down From the Mountain tour, which begins next Tuesday in Louisville, Ky., includes Ralph Stanley, Alison Krauss, The Whites, the Fairfield Four, Emmylou Harris and Patty Loveless. Forty-two dates are booked,
with stops scheduled in Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle and Los Angeles. (Not all the artists listed will play every show).
Kevin Lyman, president of Immortal Touring & Events, which organized the tour, says it's significant that some performers — Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash and The Flatlanders among them — are not on the "O Brother" soundtrack.
"I just refer to these acts as punk rockers from Appalachia," Lyman said. "They're so hardworking and have been neglected by the broader audience. We're trying to expand beyond their core audience,
and that's why they're working with us."
Despite its success, the "O Brother" soundtrack has largely been overlooked by commercial radio, and Burnett said the increasingly consolidated music and radio industries are missing the mark.
'O Brother'
Down From the Mountain tour Web site
Ralph Stanley Web site
"O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Bill Revived In CA
Recording Artists
Legislators turned to a parliamentary maneuver to revive a bill that seeks to stop California's $41 billion recording industry from locking singers into contracts
for long stretches of their careers.
The Senate Judiciary Committee converted the bill, already three weeks past its legislative deadline to reach the Senate floor or die, into a special legislation
device called a "spot" bill. The procedure keeps the bill's idea alive while the record industry and its biggest artists try to resolve an issue that's divided them for months.
Singers say they're fed up with the standard seven-album contract that can bind them to the same record company for 15 years or more. But record labels — which won
an exemption from state labor law in 1987 for the practice — say it's necessary in a business that loses fortunes on acts that fail.
The bill has set up a monumental clash among some of California's biggest singing stars, their allies in organized labor and some of the world's largest media corporations.
Representatives for record companies, largely dominated by five global corporations, called them spoiled superstars who forget that the industry once took a chance on them. They
also accused the singers of trying to renege on legal commitments and creating fewer opportunities for new artists.
Recording Artists
Read SB1246
California Music Coalition Web site
Recording Artists' Coalition Web site
Your Tax Dollar$ At Work
Fitne$$-Crazed WH
In the fitness-crazed George W. Bush White House, staffers spend hours getting buff in executive office gyms under the new regime, reports The Washington Post, and last week when the
White House announced a three-mile run with the president at Fort McNair, 400 staffers signed up in the first hour. Among the biggest female fitness freaks are domestic-policy advisor
Margaret Spellings, Laura Bush's chief of staff, Andrea Ball, top presidential adviser Karen Hughes and Dick Cheney's counselor Mary Matalin, who likes to "pump a few Arnies" - as in Schwarzenegger.
Fitne$$-Crazed WH
Ponders Credits Revamp
Writers Guild
Hollywood's scribes have begun to re-examine the sticky issue of exactly who deserves writing credits on features and TV.
"Because credits help determine and define writers' careers and salaries and reputations, the integrity of credits is a matter of the greatest importance to all of us," said
Writers Guild of America West president Victoria Riskin and her WGA East counterpart Herb Sargent.
Their declaration was featured in the premiere issue of an eight-page "Credits Forum" newsletter sent to 11,500 WGA members this week. Guild leaders also plan to discuss the
credits issue at the July 11 town hall meeting in Beverly Hills and in the newsletter's next issue in August.
The officers also noted that the guild won the right to sole jurisdiction over writing credits in 1942 as part of its first contract with studios.
Under current rules, no more than two writers may share teleplay/screenplay credit except in unusual cases. The names of three writers or teams may be used, solely as the result
of arbitration; story and screen story credit is also limited to two writers.
Issues include rules for production execs receiving writing credits; differences between TV and screen rules; contribution requirements for second writers to receive screenplay
credit; arbitration procedures; and the rule allowing feature writers to be granted anonymity in the arbitration process.
Writers Guild
MSEmbarrassing
Microsoft Staff Members
Microsoft staff members have their faces painted as butterflies while demonstrating e-mail software which allows users to download e-mail from Microsoft's Hotmail service during the
CommunicAsia2002 exhibition at Singapore Expo Center Thursday, June 20, 2002. The exhibition showcases the latest products in communications and information technology until June 21.
Photo by Naashon Zalk
Advising Senior Drivers
Art Linkletter
Although he joked about getting older, television personality and producer Art Linkletter had serious advice for seniors: Ask loved ones who are dangerous drivers to stop driving.
"It is important that the one who is well be firm about things like that," the 89-year-old TV and radio host said Wednesday at a seminar about elderly drivers and safety.
Older people who aren't safe drivers are often reluctant to admit it, Linkletter said.
The issue of keeping unsafe older drivers off the road has risen in Iowa because the state has one of the highest concentrations of elderly people in the nation. Nearly 42.4 percent
of the state's population is 65 and older, census figures show.
Art Linkletter
BartCop TV!
Splitting From Arista
Sean "P. Diddy" Combs
Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records, which has produced such platinum-selling artists as the Notorious B.I.G., 112 and Dream, has ended its decade-long joint venture with Arista Records.
Combs announced Wednesday that he now owns 100 percent of Bad Boy, retains ownership of its catalogs, and keeps all its current artists, including R&B singers Faith Evans and Carl Thomas,
the group 112, the teen pop quartet Dream and rapper Black Rob.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but both sides described the split as amicable.
Recently, the label enjoyed platinum success with 112 and Dream, as well as hits from Combs. Last month, his latest disc, "We Invented the Remix," debuted at No. 1. It has already gone gold.
Combs said he was leaving Arista because he wanted to take the project to the level of a major rather than a boutique label, and felt he couldn't do that at Arista.
Sean "P. Diddy" Combs
Arista Web site
Bad Boy Web site
Sites To See
Cleveland
A businessman reads the wording on a giant guitar on a downtown Cleveland street corner Thursday, June 20, 2002. Some 91 of the 10-foot, fiberglass instruments will be displayed throughout the city through mid-October.
Most were painted by local artists, but some were done by celebrities including Yoko Ono, Joe Walsh, Graham Nash and Cleveland Indians shortstop Omar Vizquel.
Photo by Mark Duncan
Shares Drop to Seven-Month Low
Walt Disney Co
Shares of Walt Disney Co. dropped to a seven-month low on Thursday after Merrill Lynch cut its earnings outlook for the entertainment giant, citing troubles at its TV and film units.
Burbank, California-based Disney, one of the 30 components to the Dow Jones Industrial Index, fell $1.27 or 6.1 percent to $19.59 in mid-afternoon trading day on the New York Stock Exchange. The 52-week low is $15.50.
The stock decline comes on the heels of a 2 percent drop on Wednesday, and threatens to close below the psychologically significant $20 mark for the first time in seven months.
Walt Disney Co
Hits 50-Year TV Mark
`Guiding Light'
In the rehearsal room at "Guiding Light," several actors are practicing a musical number.
To be aired July 4th, it's a fantasy sequence visualized by ailing Rick Bauer, who will jump to his feet from his wheelchair (he desperately awaits a heart transplant) and do a little hoofing, accompanied by pompon
girls, to the tune of "The Yankee Doodle Boy."
It's just another workday at "Guiding Light", as another episode joins an unbroken strand reaching back 65 years to its radio premiere in January 1937. That's 16,400 episodes ago.
The longest-running drama in broadcasting history, the CBS soap came to television on June 30, 1952 — which means it soon will mark its golden anniversary.
An open-ended story told in real time — that's what sets apart a daytime soap from any other drama. And after decades of evolving narrative and a steadily replenished community of characters,
a soap like "Guiding Light" has become what it always pretended to be: an alternate version of life, experienced by the actors and the audience alike in tandem with their own. "I've met as
many as four generations of `Guiding Light' fans," reports Kim Zimmer, who has played oft-wed Reva Shayne since 1983. "I've gotten mail saying `My mother loved your show and she's passed now,
but I have such fond memories of watching our show together.'"
`Guiding Light'
Snarky Gossip
Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder dissed her new movie "Mr. Deeds" by blowing off the New York premiere Tuesday night - and don't expect the sticky-fingered sexpot to do much more stumping. "She
is in the heart of other issues going on," Ryder's rep said. "I think she has done her best to support the picture." Ryder, who just weeks ago was poking
fun of her predicament on "Saturday Night Live," is taking it more seriously now that L.A. prosecutors say they plan to introduce evidence she's shoplifted before.
Winona Ryder
Not Going Quietly
Jesse Ventura
He may be a lame duck, but Gov. Jesse Ventura has a few splashes left to make - some literally.
Next month, Ventura plans to ride the length of the Mississippi River on a personal watercraft, promoting Minnesota as he goes. In the fall, he hopes to go on a trip to Cuba.
And in the meantime, he'll continue to use his weekly radio program to zing the reporters who cover him and the major party candidates who want to replace him.
In short, he plans to enjoy himself.
"I feel very much like Dr. Martin Luther King, when he said `Great God almighty, free at last,'" Ventura told Twin Cities Public Television this week.
There's one question Ventura will answer: Has America seen the last of Jesse Ventura? "Certainly I'll appear somewhere," he said. "I'll reinvent myself in some way, shape or form."
Jesse Ventura
Mr. Jennifer Lopez
Chris Judd
Chris Judd, who is staying in Lopez's Jane Street pad while she entertains Ben Affleck in her Beverly Hills house, left the party alone. It's been a precipitous fall for the young man,
who has recently been staying with his family in Niceville, Fla. Judd was spotted there helping out at his mom's modest Chinese restaurant, Eggrolls R Us, reports MSNBC's Jeannette Walls.
Chris Judd
Warner Music's Label to Expand
Lava Records
Warner Music Group's Atlantic Group division on Thursday said it will expand its Lava Records label, home to such acts like Kid Rock, and increase its staff from about five to 35 people.
Under the new structure, Lava will also increase its artist roster, and add dedicated radio promotion, publicity, and marketing departments.
Lava Records was established in 1995 as a division of Atlantic and has sold in excess of 80 million records worldwide, and 50 million in the United States alone.
Among the label's artists are Kid Rock, Uncle Kracker, matchbox twenty and Sugar Ray.
Lava Records
Midsummer Night's Eve
Sweden
Sofia Lillemae, left, and Maja Hansson, right, with flower garlands in their hair, pick bouquets of wild flowers in Hassleholm, Sweden, June 20, 2002, as preparation for the annual midsummer holidays. Swedes traditionally celebrate Midsummer with dancing and feasting and maidens sleep on
wildflowers to dream of their loved ones during the shortest night of the year.
Still Seeking Volunteers
'The Osbournes'
Fairly freshly updated - 'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2 !
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
C'mon....send your thoughts, your impressions, your views, your favorite quotes...
Scroll down for lots of addys to pick from (or 'from which to pick', for the truly anal retentive).
