'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Assist
Re: Kinzua Bridge
Thought you might be interested in this site. My daughter's
Mother-in-law is very active in the Foundation to raise money
for the bridge:
Reader Suggestion
Re: 'Bowling for Columbine'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Not as hot as yesterday, and that's a good thing.
Visited in the Valley - had a great time, of course. But, the more time I spend on the local freeways the more I wish the car had a 2nd horn that screams
'hang up the freaking phone & drive!'.
Updated the WTC page.
Still getting bucketloads of viri in the yahoo & hotmail accounts.
Tonight, Friday, CBS has a 'NFL Preseason' double-header, in a 6-hour block.
On a RERUN Dave are Seann William Scott, Jonathan Ames, and Fountains of Wayne.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are Martin Sheen, Busy Philipps, and Dane Cook.
NBC opens the night with 'Dateline', followed by a RERUN 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit', then a RERUN 'Boomtown'.
On a RERUN Jay are Will Smith, Brian Williams, and the Wallflowers. (RERUNs all next week)
On a RERUN Conan are Vin Diesel, Shannen Doherty, and Leo Allen. (RERUNs all next week)
On a RERUN Carson Daly are Cheri Oteri, Joey Fatone, Jack Hanna, and Jewel. (RERUNs all next week)
ABC starts the night with a RERUN 'America's Funniest Home Videos', followed by a
FRESH 'Whose Line?', then another FRESH 'Whose Line?', followed by '20/20'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Travis Draft and Dave Sheridan, with this week's guest co-host Horatio Sanz. (RERUNs all next week)
The WB offers an hour-long RERUN 'Reba', followed by a RERUN 'Grounded For Life', then another RERUN 'Grounded For Life'.
Faux has a RERUN 'Bernie Mac', followed by a RERUN 'Wanda At Large', then a RERUN 'Boston Pubic'.
UPN here is baseball with the Mets visiting Rupert's Doggers.
Check local PBS listings for a FRESH 'NOW With Bill Moyers'.
A&E has 'Biography' (Ted Danson), then 'The Mayor Of Casterbridge'.
AMC offers the movie 'Tora! Tora! Tora!', followed by the movie 'Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers', then the movie 'Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers'.
BBC -
[7pm] 'Ground Force' - Torquay;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Edinburgh;
[8pm] 'Coupling' - Faithless;
[8:40pm] 'Absolutely Fabulous';
[9pm] 'The Office' - Episode 5;
[9:40pm] '3 Non-Blondes' - Episode 2;
[10:20pm] 'Coupling' - Faithless;
[11pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Heidi Klum;
[11:30pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Kyle MacLachlan;
[12am] 'The Office' - Episode 5;
[12:40am] '3 Non-Blondes' - Episode 2;
[1:20am] 'Coupling' - Faithless;
[2am] 'Coupling' - Faithless;
[2:40am] 'Absolutely Fabulous';
[3am] 'So Graham Norton' - Heidi Klum; and
[3:30am] 'So Graham Norton' - Kyle MacLachlan. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Boy Meets Boy', followed by the movie 'La Bamba', then the movie 'La Bamba' (again).
HBO has a FRESH 'Real Time With Bill Maher'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Deadmen's Secrets', 'Heavy Metal', and more 'Modern Marvels'.
SciFi has 'Tremors: The Series', 'Stargate SG-1', 'Scare Tactic', and another 'Scare Tactic'.
TCM celebrates 24-hours of the 'King of Hollywood', Clark Gable.
[6am] 'Strange Interlude' (1932);
[8am] 'They Met In Bombay' (1941);
[9:45am] 'Red Dust' (1932);
[11:15am] 'Saratoga' (1937);
[1pm] 'Hell Divers' (1932);
[3pm] 'Command Decision' (1948);
[5pm] 'Betrayed' (1954);
[7pm] 'Clark Gable: Tall, Dark And Handsome' (1995);
[8pm] 'It Happened One Night' (1934);
[10pm] 'Mogambo' (1953);
[12am] 'Run Silent, Run Deep' (1958);
[2am] 'The Misfits' (1961); and
[4:15am] 'Lone Star' (1952). (ALL TIMES EDT)
Two Radio City Rockettes and a camel pose at an event promoting the start of ticket sales for this season's ' Radio City Christmas Spectacular' show at Radio City Music Hall in New York, August 21, 2003. The show, featuring the 'Parade of the Wooden Soldiers' and the Rockettes, opens November 6.
Photo by Dave Allocca
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Cast Reunites in Parade
'Animal House'
A class reunion of the rowdy "Animal House" gang shut down Hollywood Boulevard on Thursday with a parade featuring a live elephant, an ROTC contingent, a cheerleading squad and an interruption by the "Deathmobile."
Actors Tim Matheson, Karen Allen and Stephen Furst rode on a cake float in the procession, which recreated the 1978 comedy's catastrophic climax.
The event, organized by Universal Pictures to promote the 25th anniversary DVD set for release next Tuesday, culminated in a faux-foodfight between scores of extras sporting generic "College" sweat shirts worn by the late John Belushi in the film.
Otis Day And The Knights performed the song "Shout," getting a little bit louder, a little bit LOUDER now, and then a little bit softer before wrapping up the parade.
Other cast members at the parade were Matheson, who played slickster Otto; Furst, the chunky newbie Flounder; Martha Smith, who was the sexpot Babs; Mark Metcalf, the uptight Neidermeyer; and John Vernon the blustery villain Dean Wormer.
Belushi's widow, Judy Belushi Pisano, also participated in the event. In the movie, she played an extra who danced with Belushi and laughed at him smashing a guitar in the film's famous toga party scene.
'Animal House'
'Queer Eye' Cop NOT In Trouble With Boss
Officer John Verdi
A Port Authority police officer, who went on television for a makeover courtesy of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," is in no trouble with his bosses.
"Our police superintendent watched the show and enjoyed it thoroughly," Pasquale DiFulco, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said on Thursday.
Officer John Verdi, 29, went on the Bravo network show in hopes of changing his image with the help of the show's five gay consultants. While touring his Staten Island apartment, style gurus Thom Filicia and Carson Kressley tried on Verdi's uniform shirt.
The Daily News reported Thursday that Port Authority officials said Verdi didn't get clearance to say he was a police officer on television, and that he shouldn't have let a civilian wear his uniform.
But DiFulco said it's OK with the Port Authority for its cops to be stylish when it's off the clock. "The officer did this on his own time. We have no issue with this."
Officer John Verdi
www.bravotv.com/Queer_Eye_for_the_Straight_Guy/
Chinese visitors drink Budweiser beer during the opening of a 17-day beer festival in China's eastern port city of Qingdao, Shandong province August 15, 2003. 'China is our fastest growing market and our focus right now. Sales of Budweiser are growing 15 to 20 percent annually,' Anheuser-Busch chief executive Patrick Stokes told Reuters in the coastal city of Qingdao. China now brews 237 million hectoliters of beer a year, about 60 percent of the country's capacity, after a haphazard expansion and acquisition spree over the past two years. Picture taken August 15,2003.
Photo by Claro Cortes IV
Writing Children's Books
Billy Crystal
Comedian and actor Billy Crystal, recently renowned as the voice of a cartoon monster extracting the screams of frightened boys and girls, will be trying his hand at two new children's bedtime books.
HarperCollins Children's Books said on Thursday it bought the North American rights to the books by the "Monsters, Inc." star, which will focus on the relationship between grandchildren and their grandparents.
The first book, titled "I Already Know I Love You," is due to be published in April next year, HarperCollins said in a statement. HarperCollins is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp .
Billy Crystal
Ben & Jerry's Woodstock Concert Canceled
'One World One Heart Festival'
Ben & Jerry's "One World One Heart Festival" scheduled this weekend at the original 1969 Woodstock concert site has been canceled.
Tracy Chapman and LeAnn Rimes had been scheduled to headline the festival, slated for Saturday and Sunday at the former farm, now the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, 80 miles northwest of New York City.
Only 1,000 of the 30,000 tickets had been sold, USA Today reported Wednesday.
Ben & Jerry's said automatic refunds would be provided.
'One World One Heart Festival'
www.benjerry.com/index.cfm
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Talks Cosmetic Surgery
Jamie Lee Curtis
Plastic surgery isn't necessarily the answer for women who want to change their looks, says Jamie Lee Curtis.
The actress, who most recently starred in a remake of "Freaky Friday," won't say specifically what surgery she's had, but says, "I did all of it in attempting to stave off (aging)."
The result: "It made me look worse and feel worse. What they say works doesn't," Curtis says in the Sept. 1 issue of People magazine, in which stars including Roseanne Barr, Sharon Osbourne and Dolly Parton discuss the work they've had done.
Jamie Lee Curtis
Part of an inscription is seen on the tomb traditionally thought to belong to the biblical King David's son Absalom in the Kidron Valley in Jerusalem August 13, 2003. Archaeologists say the recently discovered inscription leads them to believe the 2,000 year-old tomb belonged to John the Baptist's father, Zacharias, and maybe even James, who some Christians regard as the brother of Jesus.
Photo by Gil Cohen Magen
Celebrate It Today!
National Slacker Day
Stressed-out Britons are set for a day of doing nothing as workers and managers alike are being urged to relax and slack off on Friday.
Organizers of National Slacker Day are calling on people to "stand up for your right to sit back down again" as a reminder that life does not revolve around the office.
With British employees working the longest hours in Europe, the campaign wants people to recognize the value of rest and relaxation.
Organizers are also promising on their Web Site www.slackerday.com to contact blue-chip firms to urge them to set up a disciplinary framework for staff who insist on working through the slackest day of the year.
National Slacker Day
Says Co-Star Likely to Return
Ray Romano
"Everybody Loves Raymond" star Ray Romano said that holdout co-star Brad Garrett will likely return to the CBS sitcom.
"You know we want him back as soon as he can get back. And, you know, we want everything back to normal and I'm sure it will be," Romano told the syndicated program "Entertainment Tonight."
The series' other co-stars, Doris Roberts, Peter Boyle and Patricia Heaton, had briefly failed to show up for work. Roberts and Heaton cited health issues.
But Daily Variety reported Wednesday that the return of the three actors to the set indicates "back-channel talks" may be taking place to address their salary concerns.
Ray Romano
Sets Bravo Rating Record
'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'
Bravo's "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" boasted its best ratings yet Tuesday night.
The 10 p.m. episode of "Queer" locked 2.9 million total viewers, nearly doubling the cable network's previous highest-rated program before the series joined the schedule. It also reset Bravo records in the 18-49 and 25-54 demographics, where it was basic cable's top draw for the night.
Also at 10 p.m., the FX drama "Nip/Tuck" held onto the total viewers lead, outdrawing "Queer" by 27,000 viewers. Although "Nip/Tuck" prevailed with just under 3 million viewers, it dropped from 3.3 million the previous week.
'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Becomes Internet Star
'Star Wars Kid'
It was a moment of unadulterated goofiness, the kind of thing anyone might do with no one watching: A teen from Quebec videotaped himself as he pretended to wield a light saber "Star Wars" style.
But that private moment went public, very public, when classmates at his high school found the tape in a cabinet and uploaded it onto an Internet file-sharing site this past spring.
Now Ghyslain Raza is known far and wide as the "Star Wars Kid," with a fan base that only seems to be growing — even though he doesn't want the attention.
The video shows the slightly portly teen awkwardly twirling a golf ball retriever like "Star Wars" bad guy Darth Maul, and has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times. Web sites have been dedicated to the youth. Supporters have raised money for him. And several techies have created their own "clone" versions of the video, adding sound and visual effects or placing his image in any number of backdrops — from "The Hulk" to "The Matrix."
Many teens who post their images on the Web would probably be thrilled to get this kind of attention. But Ghyslain, who made the video while doing a school project when he was 15, has said he didn't intend for it to be seen by his classmates, let alone people across the world.
For the rest, 'Star Wars Kid'
A small puppet dressed in concentration camp clothes by Polish artist Agata Siwek is pictured on sale in Guardianenhof art gallery in Den Bosch, the Netherlands, August 21, 2003. The artist has sparked controversy in the Netherlands by selling 'Auschwitz souvenirs' -- from crematorium fridge magnets to 'Arbeit Macht Frei' keyrings -- to remind people of the horrors of the Nazi death camp.
Photo by Michael Kooren
Says Germany Hurt His Reputation
Don Johnson
A lawyer for Don Johnson said he's preparing a damages claim against the German Finance Ministry over an incident in which customs officials found documents listing transactions totaling $8 billion in a car in which the actor was traveling.
Johnson is complaining of damage to his reputation because his name was allegedly made public by officials at the ministry, which oversees customs authorities, Hamburg-based lawyer Matthias Prinz said Wednesday.
His car was stopped for a routine check as he entered Germany from Switzerland last November with two other men. Officials photocopied the documents but didn't seize them. They allowed Johnson to continue his trip without formally questioning him.
In May, German customs investigators said they had determined that the documents belonged to another person who had remained in Switzerland, and said no offense had been committed. German authorities never launched a formal investigation and consider the matter closed, they said.
Don Johnson
Actor Arrested for Using Real Bullets
Flavio Peniche
An actor in a low-budget action movie shot and killed a colleague after apparently being handed a gun with real bullets instead of blanks, authorities said Thursday.
Flavio Peniche, the brother of internationally known soap-opera star Arturo Peniche, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and then released on nearly $40,000 bail Wednesday, according to the attorney general's office of Morelos state, just south of Mexico City.
The shooting occurred Saturday during filming of "The Scorpion's Vengeance" at a hotel in Cuernavaca.
Police said they were still seeking the film's producer, Eduardo Martinez Sanchez, and a props manager who disappeared after the incident.
Flavio Peniche
Post Office Halts
'Operation A.C.'
After collecting and shipping more than 400 air conditioners to U-S troops sweltering in Iraq's desert heat, a Bear-area mother is being told by the Postal Service to cease the shipments.
Frankie Mayo started the mailings last month to help her son and other soldiers in Iraq. She figures that the air conditioners will help the troops sleep, so they'll be alert and safe while on duty.
But the Postal Service says the machines contain compressed gas, which is banned on international air shipments.
Mayo tells W-I-L-M Radio that she may look for help from the military. She's hoping the air conditioners can be shipped aboard cargo planes departing from Dover Air Force Base.
'Operation A.C.'
Man Dies Laughing
Damnoen Saen-um
An ice-cream truck driver in Thailand died while laughing in his sleep, a newspaper reported Thursday.
Damnoen Saen-um, 52, laughed for about two minutes on Wednesday and then stopped breathing, The Nation said, quoting officials.
The newspaper said Damnoen's wife tried to wake him up but he kept laughing. An autopsy suggested that he might have had a heart attack, The Nation quoted a doctor as saying.
The incident occurred in Phrae province, 300 miles north of Bangkok.
Damnoen Saen-um
Diver Mike Lombardi, of Providence, R.I., right, interacts with 'Myrtle,' a 500-pound green sea turtle, left, while demonstrating the use of a bubble-free underwater breathing apparatus, in a tank at the New England Aquarium, in Boston, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2003. The device, called a closed-circuit rebreather, recycles oxygen by cleaning the gas, then returning the 'scrubbed' oxygen back to the diver, enabling them to remain underwater for longer periods of time compared to traditional diving gear.
Photo by Steven Senne
'Ark of Darkness'
"The Ark of Darkness", a Political/Science-Fiction work, in tidy, weekly installments (and updated every Friday).
The Ark Group reunites and Flazer fulfills his destiny.
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 5
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
