'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Comment
Re: The Ruling Class
Read what Dave Romm had to say about The Ruling Class and I am glad it's one of his favorites. I don't know where you all are based, but there is a production of the play that begat the movie being mounted at The Knightsbridge Theatre, 1944 Riverside Dr., Los Angeles, CA - opening this October 25th. It's sure to please...
~jaz davison
Thanks, Jaz - I'm down in Long Beach, so if you remind me again, I will probably show up.
Reader Suggestion
Re: Election 2000
Tip From Kip
Alejandro Escovedo Fund
Following a show in Phoenix on April 26, 2003, acclaimed singer-songwriter
and playwright Alejandro Escovedo collapsed and was hospitalized due to
complications from Hepatitis C. He is currently at home in Canyon Lake,
Texas, resting and undergoing treatment to alleviate the effects of his
condition. Alejandro's rigorous touring schedule and recording sessions for
a new album that had begun the week before are both on hold as he
recuperates.
There is no health insurance to cover the mounting medical bills and loss
of income as Alejandro continues to pursue treatment. In response to an
outpouring of concern from friends, fans, and associates from across the
nation, a trust has been established to handle donations on his behalf. If
you'd like to contribute, you may make donations directly and securely from
this Web site using a Pay Pal account or by mailing a check to the fund's
administrator. GIVE NOW and receive a free download of a previously
unreleased song from Alejandro Escovedo.
Alejandro Escovedo Fund
Thanks, Kip!
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Nice weather is still holding.
E-mail problems continue. The volume of missives with viri attached is phenomenal. So, if you send something & it bounces, try again - or try a different addy.
Talked to dear old dad - the rainy weather has gotten to him to the point he's cleaning house! OMG!
Got a fresh load of crickets today & they're chirping pleasantly.
Tonight, Friday, CBS opens the evening with a FRESH 'Big Brother 4', followed by a
RERUN 'JAG', then a RERUN 'CSI: Miami'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are Bonnie Hunt and Don Gavin.
On a RERUN Craiggers are Scott Glenn, Traci Lords, and Ben Lee.
NBC starts the evening with 'Dateline', followed by a RERUN 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit', then a
RERUN 'Boomtown'.
On a RERUN Jay are Ashton Kutcher, Kelly Rowland, and Lang Lang.
On a RERUN Conan are Dennis Miller, John Corbett, and Adam Glasser.
On a RERUN Carson Daly are James Van Der Beek, Sienna Miller, Train, Mike Birbiglia, and Eric "Badlands" Booker.
ABC begins the night with a RERUN 'America's Funniest Home Videos', followed by a FRESH
'Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown', then a FRESH 'Whose Line?', followed by '20/20'.
On a RERUN Jimmy Kimmel (from 8/13/03), are Ashton Kutcher and Louie C.K., with guest co-host Super Dave Osborne.
The WB offers 'NFL Preseason'.
Faux has a RERUN 'Bernie Mac', followed by a RERUN 'Wanda', then a RERUN
'Boston Pubic'.
UPN here is baseball, with the Rockies visiting Rupert's Doggers.
Check local PBS listings for the best show on over-the-air-TV, 'NOW With Bill Moyers'
A&E has 'Biography' (Humphrey Bogart), followed by another 'Biography' (Bob Newhart: The Last Sane Man).
AMC has the movie 'Trespass', followed by the movie 'Alien Resurrection', then the movie 'Highlander'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Parkinson' - Tracey Ullman;
[7pm] 'Ground Force' - Garforth;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Bolton;
[8pm] 'Coupling' - Unconditional Sex;
[8:40pm] 'Absolutely Fabulous' - Mother;
[9pm] 'The Office' - Episode 6;
[9:40pm] '3 Non-Blondes' - Episode 3;
[10:20pm] 'Coupling' - Unconditional Sex;
[11pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Nia Vardalos;
[11:30pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Isaac Hayes;
[12am] 'The Office' - Episode 6;
[12:40am] '3 Non-Blondes' - Episode 3;
[1:20am] 'Coupling' - Unconditional Sex;
[2am] 'Coupling' - Unconditional Sex;
[2:40am] 'Absolutely Fabulous' - Mother;
[3am] 'So Graham Norton' - Nia Vardalos;
[3:30am] 'So Graham Norton' - Isaac Hayes;
[4am] 'The Office' - Episode 6;
[4:40am] '3 Non-Blondes' - Episode 3;
[5:20am] 'Coupling' - Unconditional Sex; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Boy Meets Boy', followed by the movie 'Selena', then the movie 'Selena', again.
HBO has a 'Real Time With Bill Maher'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', followed by the movie 'Apollo 13'.
SciFi has the movie 'Stephen King's Sometimes They Come Back', followed by the movie 'Stephen King's Sometimes They Come Back...Again'.
TCM celebrates Paul Newman, all day & all night.
[6am] 'Sweet Bird Of Youth' (1962);
[8am] 'The Rack' (1956);
[10am] 'The Prize' (1963);
[12:30pm] 'Exodus' (1960);
[4pm] 'Somebody Up There Likes Me' (1956);
[6pm] 'Lady L' (1965);
[8pm] 'Cool Hand Luke' (1967);
[10:15pm] 'The Mackintosh Man' (1973);
[12am] 'Absence of Malice' (1981);
[2am] 'The Color of Money' (1986); and
[4am] 'Until They Sail' (1957). (ALL TIMES EDT)
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Britney Spears (L) gets a kiss on the mouth from Madonna as they open the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards show, at Radio City Music Hall in New York, August 28, 2003.
Photo by Win Mcnamee
2003 MTV Video Music Awards
Winners
Video of the Year: "Work It," Missy Elliott
Viewer's Choice Award: "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," Good Charlotte
Rap Video: "In Da Club," 50 Cent
R&B Video: "Crazy in Love," Beyonce featuring Jay-Z
Hip-Hop Video: "Work It," Missy Elliott
Rock Video: "Somewhere I Belong," Linkin Park
Female Video: "Crazy in Love," Beyonce featuring Jay-Z
Male Video: "Cry Me A River," Justin Timberlake
Pop Video: "Cry Me a River," Justin Timberlake
New Artist in a Video: 50 Cent, "In Da Club"
Group Video: "The Scientist," Coldplay
Dance Video: "Rock Your Body," Justin Timberlake
Video from a Film: "Lose Yourself," Eminem
Breakthrough Video: "The Scientist," Coldplay
MTV2 Award: A.F.I., "Girl's Not Grey"
Direction: "The Scientist," Coldplay
Choreography: "Crazy in Love," Beyonce featuring Jay-Z
Special Effects: "Go With the Flow," Queens of the Stoneage
Art Direction: "There, There," Radiohead
Editing: "Seven Nation Army," White Stripes
Cinematography: "Hurt," Johnny Cash
VMA Winners
Showed No Mercy at MTV Awards
Chris Rock
For those who forgot how brutal Chris Rock's comedy can be, he took every chance to remind them while hosting the MTV Awards on Thursday night. A few pieces of the Rock:
"Our next presenter saves a lot of money on Mother's Day. Give it up for Eminem!"
"You'll be hearing those songs at strip clubs for years to come" — after Christina Aguilera performed "Dirrty."
"Our next presenter is being sued by more people that the Catholic church. Give it up for P. Diddy!"
"Doesn't Lil' Jon look like a black Cousin It?" — on the super-dreadlocked "Get Low" rapper.
For more, Chris Rock
Actor and veteran Civil Rights leader Ossie Davis, center, speaks at the Kennedy Center Thursday, Aug. 28, 2003, in Washington, D.C., in honor of the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s ''I Have A Dream'' speech and March on Washington. Members of the Metropolitan Music Ministry of Metropolitan Baptist Church is in background.
Photo by Vivian Ronay
Performing for Prince's Trust
Gwyneth Paltrow
Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow and British actor Joseph Fiennes will recreate the famous Romeo and Juliet balcony scene for Prince Charles at a charity show, organizers said on Thursday.
The co-stars of the 1998 film "Shakespeare in Love" will play the star-crossed lovers for the heir to the throne at an open-air London theater next Monday.
Among other actors performing selected Shakespeare scenes will be Paul Scofield, Diana Rigg and Jane Lapotaire.
Guests will pay between 20 pounds ($31.36) and 300 pounds to attend the event at Shakespeare's Globe, a replica Elizabethan theater on the south bank of the River Thames.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Empire Residents Split
Burning Man
Residents of the privately-owned town of Empire have come to know the
Burning Man.
To some, it's an abomination of everything that is civilized. It's anarchy,
where nudity, drug use and bizarre lifestyles run rampant.
For others, it's just fun. It's something out of the ordinary in a place
where nothing ever seems to move.
"I'm not into their techno music or nothing, but it's a change. You meet
people from all over the world," said Empire resident Daniel Carter, 36,
who, like most people in the town, works at the U.S. Gypsum factory, one of
the nation's largest manufacturers of Sheetrock.
Indeed, to live in Empire -- about 75 miles north of Reno with about 350
people -- someone in the family must work at the factory. The town has one
post office, two churches and everyone calls each other by their first name.
Burning Man, the weeklong festival that drew an estimated 30,000 people last
year, began its 13th year in the Black Rock Desert on Monday, amidst a
political battle between its organizers in San Francisco and a group of
Hualapai Valley and Gerlach residents.
For a lot more, Burning Man
Thanks, EJ2E!
Named Poet Laureate
Louise Gluck
Louise Gluck, winner of a Pulitzer Prize and a dozen other poetry awards, will be the next U.S. poet laureate. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington announced the appointment Thursday.
Gluck (pronounced glick) has been an English professor at Williams College for 20 years. She has published nine volumes of poetry and in 1993 won a Pulitzer for "The Wild Iris." Her latest work, "October," is due this fall.
Gluck, who shuns publicity, said her first undertaking in her new position will be "to get over being surprised." Then she will concentrate on promoting young poets and poetry contests, she said.
The one-year poet laureate's job includes an office at the Library of Congress, a $35,000 salary and an obligation to deliver and organize readings. Previous poets laureate including Robert Frost, Gwendolyn Brooks and Rita Dove.
Louise Gluck
Library of Congress Poetry and Literature Center
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Estate Seals Music, Video Deal
John Lee Hooker
The estate of bluesman John Lee Hooker has sealed a worldwide licensing deal with Eagle Rock Entertainment for audio and video projects featuring the late singer/guitarist.
The first release under the agreement will be "Face to Face," an album of previously unreleased Hooker studio recordings, completed under the supervision of his daughter, singer Zakiya Hooker, after his death in June 2001. The RED-distributed Eagle Records label will issue the album Sept. 23.
John Lee Hooker
The lord mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Ron Gould, right, and Yoko Ono, walk together in Strawberry Fields in New York's Central Park Thursday August 28, 2003, during a ceremony in the park which included the unveiling of a bench donated by the city of Liverpool in honor of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Photo by Tina Fineberg
VMA Goodies
Gifts
Backstage at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, the gifts available at the celebrity "retreat" lounge included custom-fitted Fendi eyewear, Tommy Hilfiger jackets, iRiver portable MP3 players, roundtrip helicopter rides by Blue Star Jets to the Hamptons and Motorola cell phones.
Beyonce Knowles, 50 Cent, Britney Spears, Missy Elliott and others participating in Thursday night's show at Radio City Music Hall were invited to peruse the gifts.
Karen Wood, president of Backstage Creations, said Carmen Electra and boyfriend Dave Navarro, and the groups Good Charlotte and Coldplay visited the celebrity lounge Wednesday.
Do celebrities ever take more free gifts than they've been offered?
Since they're able to take home an estimated $20,000 in gifts, not that often, Wood says, although she allows that "sometimes, people will say, `I'd like some more sunglasses.'"
Gifts
www.backstagecreations.com
CD Set Offers 35 Years
Sesame Street Music
Most children, parents and former children will find "Songs from the Street -- 35 Years: The Ultimate Sesame Street Music Collection" plenty interesting when it hits stores on Sept. 2.
The discs offer digitally remastered songs from the classic children's show performed not only by some of television's most beloved characters -- Big Bird, Kermit the Frog and even Oscar himself -- but by a flock of famous guest musicians.
From Cab Calloway and Lena Horne to Dixie Chicks and Destiny's Child; Johnny Cash, Tony Bennett and B.B. King to R.E.M., Los Lobos and Diane Schuur; from James Taylor and Paul Simon to Billy Joe and Pete Seeger; Gloria Estefan and Celine Dion to Goo Goo Dolls and *NSYNC; from Stevie Wonder to Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the list of superstar singers is as long and varied as any television show can boast.
Thirty-two guest performances are among the 63 songs, or 2-1/2 hours of music, on three CDs, with a 68-page booklet.
Sesame Street Music
'Reggae Heritage: Jamaica's Music Culture and Politics'
Lou Gooden
A book chronicling reggae's roots and its rise to worldwide fame has been released in Jamaica by a former disc jockey credited with giving the music a voice.
"Reggae Heritage: Jamaica's Music Culture and Politics," was released late Tuesday night in Kingston, the capital, by Jamaican author Lou Gooden.
The 370-page book traces the music's origins to the 1940s when Jamaican musicians were influenced by American jazz and R&B artists. It also looks at how in the 1960s, jazz-based ska eventually paved the way for reggae that gained worldwide recognition with Bob Marley.
Lou Gooden
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Six-Figure Reward
Stolen Da Vinci
Insurers on Thursday offered a six-figure reward for the recovery of a painting credited to Leonardo da Vinci which was stolen from a castle in Scotland by thieves posing as tourists.
Police said two men walked into Drumlanrig castle, near the southern Scottish town of Dumfries on Wednesday, overpowered a female guard, disabled an alarm and pulled Leonardo's "Madonna of the Yarnwinder" off the wall.
A spokesman for the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensbury, one of Scotland's richest men whose family own the castle, said insurers Tyler & Co, representing Lloyd's underwriters, had now offered an six-figure reward for the return of the valuable painting. They would not disclose the exact sum.
Stolen Da Vinci
American magician David Blaine stands on the London Eye Thursday Aug. 28, 2003, as part of his latest challenge for the programme David Blaine- Above The Below. Blaine aims to spend 44 days starting in early September suspended in a clear glass box over the River Thames without food, communication or distraction of any kind.
Photo by Tim Anderson and Chris Lobina
Sings Duet with Japan's PM
Tom Cruise
Actor Tom Cruise had nothing but praise for Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday -- including the leader's musical talents.
"He's really an extraordinary man -- and a pretty good singer. We sang Elvis together," Cruise told reporters after meeting Koizumi at his official residence. "I think he's a charismatic and very intelligent man."
He declined to reveal which of the hits of rock 'n' roll legend Elvis Presley he sang with Koizumi, an eclectic music lover whose favorites also include Wagner.
But the prime minister said later it was "I want you, I need you, I love you," the first song he had ever learned in English.
Tom Cruise
National Ratings
Syndication
What follows are updated season-to-date household ratings in syndication. Percent change versus the comparable year-ago period is in parentheses for all established series.
TALK
Oprah: 5.9 (+4 percent), Dr. Phil: 4.7, Live With Regis and Kelly: 3.5 (-3), Maury: 3.4 (+3), Jerry Springer: 2.8 (-7), Montel: 2.5 (-4), Jenny Jones: 1.8 (-10), Ricki: 1.7 (-11), John Edward: 1.6 (-32), John Walsh: 1.4, Good Day Live: 1.0, Caroline Rhea: 0.9, The Other Half: 0.8 (-27)
-Next up:
Ellen DeGeneres and Sharon Osbourne, both from Warner Bros., and King World's Living it Up! With Ali and Jack.
-Best shot at survival:
Although all three are long shots, based on the recent panels at the Press Tour, Ellen could be a sleeper if viewers are looking for a few good laughs. Make that many good laughs.
-So Long:
Jenny, Caroline and The Other Half.
----------
COURT
Judge Judy: 7.4(-10), Judge Joe Brown: 4.5 (+5), Divorce Court: 3.8 (+9), Texas Justice: 3.0 (+11), Judge Hatchett: 2.4 (+14), People's Court: 2.1 (+5), Judge Mathis: 1.9 (excluded due to being rated differently this season)
No new court next season in a genre that remains considerably healthy means you can expect more of the same in 2003-04.
---------
GAME/RELATIONSHIP
Wheel of Fortune: 8.8 (-2), Jeopardy: 7.0 (-9), Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: 3.0, The Hollywood Squares: 2.5 (- 7), Pyramid: 2.1, Family Feud: 2.1 (-13), Blind Date: 2.0 (-5), ElimiDate: 1.9 (+12), The Weakest Link: 1.8 (-18), The 5th Wheel: 1.5 (no change), Street Smarts: 1.6 (-6), Change of Heart: 1.2 (-25), Extreme Dating: 1.0, Shipmates: 0.9 (-18)
No new game next season in a genre that remains considerably cluttered means that Wheel and Jeopardy will continue to reign supreme.
----------
NEWSMAGAZINE/REALITY
Entertainment Tonight: 5.6 (- 5), Inside Edition: 3.3 (+ 6), Access Hollywood and Extra: 2.6 (- 4 each), Celebrity Justice: 1.3, Life Moments: 0.7
-Next up:
NBCE's Starting Over, an ambitious reality hour that dares to be different. If you're tired of the same old same old in daytime, this could be an hour worth watching.
-Looking Ahead:
Entertainment Tonight spin-off The Insider, which will debut in fall 2004.
----------
OFF-NETWORK SITCOMS
Friends: 8.0 (+3), Seinfeld: 7.9 (+18), Everybody Loves Raymond: 6.9 (+11), Will & Grace and That'70s Show: 4.5 each, Home Improvement: 4.1 (+116), King of the Hill: 3.8 (+12), Frasier: 3.1 (-11), Dharma & Greg: 2.8, Drew Carey: 2.2 (-12), Steve Harvey: 2.1 (+11), Just Shoot Me: 1.9 (-30), 3rd Rock From the Sun: 1.8 (-18), The Hughleys: 1.6, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch: 1.1 (-15), Cosby: 0.7 (no change), City Guys: 0.5
-The rich get richer in off-net sitcoms thanks to cable exposure (Home Improvement, in particular).
-On that note, look for the debut of Everybody Loves Raymond on TBS next summer.
----------
FIRST-RUN HOURS
Stargate: SG1: 2.5 (-11), Mutant X: 2.2 (-12), Andromeda: 2.1 (-22), She Spies and Adventure, Inc.: 2.0 each, Maximum Exposure: 1.7 (-11), BeastMaster: 1.5 (-25), The Lost World: 1.3 (-24), The Outer Limits: 1.3 (no change), Livin' Large: 1.1, Relic Hunter: 1.1 (-35), Once A Thief: 0.7, Starhunter: 0.6
-Although the genre is not what it used to be, because this is a cyclical business don't necessarily count out an eventual comeback.
----------
OFF-NETWORK HOURS
ER: 2.7 (-4), The Practice: 2.5 (-7), The X-Files: 2.4 (-17), World's Wildest Police Videos: 2.1 (-13), Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: 2.2 (-15), Profiler: 1.1 (-27)
Syndication
In Memory
Jinx Falkenburg
Jinx Falkenburg, an actress, model and radio and television star who along with her husband, Tex McCrary, helped establish the talk show genre, died Wednesday. She was 84.
Falkenburg and McCrary, together known as "Tex and Jinx," had two radio talk shows, several television shows and a column in The New York Herald Tribune.
Their first show together, "Hi Jinx," was broadcast on WEAF in 1946, and they later hosted the popular "Meet Tex and Jinx."
On television, the couple starred in "At Home" on NBC, interviewing guests in their home, and later hosted the "The Swift Home Service Club."
Born Eugenia Lincoln Falkenburg in Barcelona, Spain, she was nicknamed Jinx by her mother. Falkenburg appeared in Spanish-language movies before her career took off after she was featured on the cover of The American Magazine in 1937.
She appeared in such films as "Sing for Your Supper," "Sweetheart of the Fleet," "Lucky Legs," and "Cover Girl," among others. She also entertained troops during World War II.
Falkenburg and McCrary, who worked to persuade Dwight D. Eisenhower to run for president in 1952, were fundraisers for the Republican Party, and Falkenburg was appointed head of the party's women's division in 1954.
Jinx Falkenburg
Merdeka, left, a two week-old African white rhino (Ceratotherium simum), plays with his mother Hima as they're shown to the public at the Safari Park in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2003. This is the first time for the second largest land mammal after the elephant to give birth in Indonesia.
Photo by Mohammad Noval
'Ark of Darkness'
"The Ark of Darkness", a Political/Science-Fiction online novel.
'The Osbournes'
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