Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Mike Steinberger: Veddy Unfortunate (slate.com)
How the greatest wine hoax ever has diminished a brilliant British oenophile.
Sara Ost: 20 Foods That Make You Smarter (EcoSalon. Posted on AlterNet.org)
Here are some healthy, environmentally friendly ways to kick-start your brain.
Blackwell Convergence: A Review by L.B. Jeffries (popmatters.com)
The third game in Wadjet Eye's Blackwell series, The Blackwell Convergence, returns to the story of Rosangela Blackwell and her ghostly partner Joey.
Jody Rosen: "Sinatra's Legacy: The Best Is Yet To Come?" (slate.com)
I shuddered when I read that Twyla Tharp is planning a new dance-musical, 'Come Fly With Me,' built around the Frank Sinatra songbook.
Mike Farley: A Chat with Colin Hay, Singer/songwriter, Men at Work singer (bullz-eye.com)
Maybe there are some people that want to hear Men at Work songs, and that's cool. But for the last decade or so, the people that come to see me tend to not mind the Men at Work songs, but they tend to want to hear new things.
Jon Bream: The great Pretender speaks her mind (Star Tribune)
Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde is one of the most outspoken singers in rock 'n' roll. Let her rip.
Dominic Wells: Rocky Horror? It was about my mother (timesonline.co.uk)
Richard O'Brien gave the world 'The Rocky Horror Show.' Now he reveals its secret origins for the first time.
Best of times, worst of times: Richard O'Brien, creator of 'The Rocky Horror Show' (timesonline.co.uk; from 2003)
In 1973, Richard O'Brien, 61, wrote 'The Rocky Horror Show,' a hit stage musical that was made into a cult movie two years later. A father of three, he reflects on his early learning difficulties and sexual confusion - and his desire to give birth. By Caroline Scott.
Hadley Freeman: Abortion is the one taboo left in the world of comedy (guardian.co.uk)
Abortion is the one taboo left in the world of comedy. Why 'Family Guy' has offended everyone.
Roger Ebert: Quentin Tarantino glouriously basterdizes World War Two
It is fairly widely known, three months after the film's premiere at Cannes, that Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" has, shall we say, a surprise ending. How did Tarantino feel about rewriting history? He uses admirable logic in arguing that he did not: "At no time during the start, the middle or ever, did I have the intention of rewriting history. It was only when I was smack dab up against it, that I decided to go my own way. It just came to me as I was doing what I do, which is follow my characters as opposed to lead."
Quentin Tarantino: champion of trash cinema (guardian.co.uk)
Who cares if his new film misses the mark? Quentin Tarantino's biggest achievement is as an advocate of trash cinema, says John Patterson.
RENE RODRIGUEZ: "Remaking History: An Interview with Quentin Tarantino" (popmatters.com)
Tarantino talks about his decision to rewrite world history with 'Inglourious Basterds' and the critical reaction to his recent films.
The Weekly Poll
New Question
The "History's Mysteries' Edition
If you could find out the answers to three of the many historical mysteries that have puzzled and perplexed the world, what would they be?
1. ) ______________________
2. ) ______________________
3. ) ______________________
Send your response to
replied:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and cool.
Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
Bill Cosby
The comedian who kept NBC viewers entertained on Thursday nights well after "The Cosby Show" was gone will salute Bill Cosby when he receives the nation's top humor prize.
Jerry Seinfeld will honor Cosby on Oct. 26 with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.
The center announced the lineup Thursday and says the event will be broadcast nationally Nov. 4 on PBS.
Seinfeld will be joined by Chris Rock, "Cosby" co-stars Phylicia Rashad and Malcolm-Jamal Warner and others.
Bill Cosby
Australian Bank Buys Into Catalog
Sheryl Crow
A fund run by a group 50 percent owned by Commonwealth Bank of Australia has acquired the music publishing catalog of U.S. singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow, behind hits "All I Wanna Do" and "Everyday is a Winding Road."
The deal by Ireland-based First State Media Group Ltd. (FSMG) is the latest foray by financial and media firms into music publishing rights, seen as a reliable source of revenue generated when songs are played on the radio, in films and elsewhere.
Dutch pension fund ABP was estimated to have paid around $200 million for the Rodgers & Hammerstein catalog of songs in April while private equity firm Pegasus Capital paid an estimated $55 million for Spirit Music Group, a song publisher with rights to artists from Frank Sinatra to Madonna.
Through its deal with Crow, the terms of which were not disclosed, FSMG adds 153 songs released by the singer between 1993 and 2008 and also secures publishing rights to her next two albums.
Sheryl Crow
Sparks Casino?
Max Baer Jr
Max Baer Jr. is considering buying a closed hotel-casino in Sparks and turning it into Jethro's Beverly Hillbillies Hotel and Casino based on the television sitcom he co-starred on during the 1960s.
Sparks Mayor Geno Martini confirmed Baer has met with city officials about the possible purchase of the Silver Club.
The former actor and director who has a home at Lake Tahoe already has approval to build his casino next to a retail complex being built in northern Douglas County about 30 miles south of Reno.
But his spokesman Don Smit says he's exploring other options because the construction of that retail complex has stalled.
Max Baer Jr
Restricts Access To Book
Brooklyn Public Library
The Brooklyn Public Library has restricted access to a book whose controversial title character will be featured in a Steven Spielberg movie.
The library system took the rare step after a patron complained "Tintin au Congo" portrayed Africans as monkeys.
The book is accessible only to staff. Patrons must make an appointment to see it.
Makers of the Spielberg movie, due out in 2011, say they won't use any objectionable material.
Brooklyn Public Library
California Division of Occupational Safety and Health
Porn
An AIDS advocacy group filed complaints Thursday with state officials against 16 production companies that show unprotected sex in porn movies.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed the action with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, alleging the practice amounts to unsafe behavior in a California workplace.
By law, U.S. adult film actors must prove they have tested negative for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases within 30 days of going to work on a film.
The labor complaints are part of the AIDS advocacy group's broader campaign to mandate the use of condoms in porn.
Porn
"Twilight" Author Sued
Stephenie Meyer
A woman who wrote an obscure vampire book as a teenager has sued "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer, accusing her of stealing ideas from the work for the fourth book in her vampire series, "Breaking Dawn."
Meyer's publisher responded that the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in federal court in California, is a meritless claim meant to further the career of the aspiring screenwriter making the complaint.
Jordan Scott's lawsuit accuses Meyer of copyright infringement and argues that, as Scott wrote her vampire novel "The Nocturne," she posted passages online, and that Meyer stole ideas from Scott's work for her own book.
"The Nocturne" and "Breaking Dawn," which was published in 2008, show similarities in language, plot lines, characters and other points, Scott's lawsuit stated. For instance, the lawsuit said both books contain a wedding passage and an after-wedding scene of sex on the beach.
Stephenie Meyer
Assault Lawsuit: Filed
David Copperfield
A Seattle woman has sued magician David Copperfield, contending he sexually assaulted and threatened her while she was a guest on his private island in the Bahamas.
Copperfield's lawyers Angelo Calfo and Patty Eakes deny the allegations and say the lawsuit is "extortion for money, plain and simple."
No criminal charges have been filed.
The Seattle Times says the lawsuit was filed July 29 in federal court in Seattle against David Seth Kotkin, Copperfield's given name. That date was the deadline for a two-year statute of limitations.
David Copperfield
Hired Xtian Merc Hit Squad
CIA
The CIA hired private contractors from Blackwater USA in 2004 as part of a secret program to kill top-level members of al-Qaida, but a spokesman says it never resulted in the capture or killing of any terrorist suspects.
Former Rep. Porter Goss was CIA director at the time, and the contract ended during his time in office, according to a former senior intelligence official and another person familiar with the program. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the program remains classified.
The CIA began the hit squad program shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but it never became fully operational.
The New York Times, citing unidentified current and former government officials, said Blackwater executives helped with planning, training and surveillance for the program.
It was unclear whether the CIA had planned to use the contractors to capture or kill al-Qaida operatives or just to help with training and surveillance. Government officials said bringing outsiders into a program with lethal authority raised deep concerns about accountability in covert operations, the Times reported.
CIA
Now A Life Coach
Jayson Blair
Jayson Blair knows his new profession - life coach - smacks some people in the face like a bad punchline.
"People say, 'Wait a minute. You're a life coach?' That makes no sense,'" says Blair, the ex-journalist best known for foisting plagiarism and fabrications into the pages of The New York Times. "Then they think about my life experiences and what I've been through and they say 'Wait a minute. It does make sense.'"
Blair, 33, resigned from the Times in 2003, leaving a journalistic scandal in his wake. The resulting furor led the paper's top two newsroom executives to resign. Blair wrote a book, then mostly disappeared from view.
For the past two years, he has been quietly working as a certified life coach for one of the most respected mental health practices in northern Virginia.
Jayson Blair
German Auction
Hitler Watercolours
A German auction house intends to sell three watercolour paintings attributed to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler at the start of next month.
The works, depicting cottages, mills and churches nestled in rural landscapes will go under the hammer on September 5, Weidler's auction house in Nuremberg said on Thursday.
The three paintings are dated from 1910 and 1911 and originate from Vienna where Hitler spent several years as a struggling artist. He then joined the army and fought in World War One.
One of the paintings, "White church in the Wachau", was authenticated in 1963 by the late Peter Jahn, a renowned expert on Hitler's early pieces. "He ranked it as among Hitler's chief works," Weidler said.
Hitler Watercolours
Cable Nielsens
Rankings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Aug. 10-16. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. "The Closer" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 5.17 million homes, 6.95 million viewers.
2. "Royal Pains" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), USA, 4.11 million homes, 5.66 million viewers.
3. Auto Racing: Spring Cup/Michigan (Sunday, 2:15 p.m.), ESPN, 3.99 million homes, 5.62 million viewers.
4. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.98 million homes, 5.75 million viewers.
5. "Monk" (Friday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.76 million homes, 5.3 million viewers.
6. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.64 million homes, 5.23 million viewers.
7. Exhibition Football: Arizona vs. Pittsburgh (Thursday, 8 p.m.), ESPN, 3.56 million homes, 4.75 million viewers.
8. "NCIS" (Monday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.19 million homes, 4.22 million viewers.
9. "Army Wives" (Sunday, 10 p.m.), Lifetime, 3.18 million homes, 4 million viewers.
10. "NCIS" (Thursday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.12 million homes, 3.99 million viewers.
11. "NCIS" (Thursday, 7 p.m.), USA, 3.07 million homes, 3.83 million viewers.
12. "NCIS" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.03 million homes, 3.84 million viewers.
13. "True Blood" (Sunday, 9:02 p.m.), HBO, 3.03 million homes, 4.46 million viewers.
14. Movie: "Ratatouille" (Saturday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 3.02, 4.56 million viewers.
15. "Psych" (Friday, 10 p.m.), USA, 2.96 million homes, 4.19 million viewers.
Ratings
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