Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Tom Danehy: On the matter of gay marriage, Tom has had a change of heart (tucsonweekly.com)
Last November, 7 million Californians voted for Proposition 8, which amended that state's Constitution to make the legal definition of "marriage" as being between one man and one woman. It was shocking to many, especially since Californians also voted for Barack Obama in large numbers (although Obama has steadfastly said that he does not support gay marriage, but rather fully protected civil unions).
Garrison Keillor: Nice 67 y.o. male has brush with mortality
The doctor who saw me in the ER wrote in her report: "nice 67 y.o. male, flat affect, awake, alert and appropriate." I had appeared with slurred speech and a balloon in my head, had driven myself to United Hospital in St. Paul, parked in No Parking, walked in and was triaged right in to a neurologist ...
Libby Brooks: The day I met Patrick Swayze (guardian.co.uk)
I had been in love with Johnny in 'Dirty Dancing' since I was a teenager. But then I got the chance to meet my idol, Patrick Swayze, in the flesh.
Peter Bradshaw: Patrick Swayze obituary (guardian.co.uk)
Rugged leading man in the hit films 'Ghost' and 'Dirty Dancing.'
Troy Patterson: The Jay Leno Show (slate.com)
The great experiment in low expectations kicks off with a surreal Kanye moment.
Anthony Statler: A Chat with Joe Frazier (bullz-eye.com)
"You know, I'm not going to run away - I'm going to run after (my opponent). And I got the job done very well. I lost to that big guy, (George Foreman) which we don't want to talk aboutŠ "
Will Harris: A Chat with Amanda Tapping, Co-star of "Sanctuary" (bullz-eye.com)
Season 1 (was) 'introduce everyone, get them comfortable with who they are,' and Season 2 is, 'Now we know everyone, let's build these relationships, put them in crazy situations, tear them down, and then build them back up again.'
Brent Hartinger: One Hot Brady Mess! (afterelton.com)
We talk to the authors of a new book, including Susan "Cindy Brady" Olsen, about one of TV's worst shows ever, "The Brady Bunch Variety Hour."
Roger Ebert: A girl named Precious goes from nobody to the toast of Toronto
It was a hit last January at Sundance, and now the intensely emotional indie drama "Precious" is gathering more applause at the Toronto film festival. Here to support it are two of the biggest names in media, Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. Both actually signed on as executive producers after seeing the completed film.
roger ebert's journal: Oy vey, such a film you should see
There is something about the Jewish way of humor and storytelling I've always found enormously appealing.
The Weekly Poll
New Question
The 'Helping out The Man' Edition
I think I can safely say that we all support President Obama's efforts to enact an effective, comprehensive Health Care Reform Bill... Right? Right!
Well then, have you contacted your congressional representatives and senators and asked them to support his plan?
If not, here's your opportunity to do just that! Then you can answer yes and become a member of my Badtothebone for Barack club. How cool is that, eh?
Details of the plan are included in the link for your perusal...
Do the right thing, I'm sayin'! Walk the walk!
Send your response to
DanD was late in responding, but you can read it here.
wrote:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Starting to warm up.
Signed Magazine Sells
John Lennon
A 1966 magazine signed by John Lennon containing his remark that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus has sold for $12,713.
An orthopedic surgeon at New York's Mount Sinai Medical Center had the winning bid Thursday in a 17-day online auction run by RR Auction of Amherst, N.H.
Lennon signed "John C. Lennon" above his photo in the September 1966 "Datebook," even though his middle initial is W. for Winston.
In the magazine, Lennon said: "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now. I don't know which will go first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity."
John Lennon
Higher in Highly Religious States
Teen Birth Rates
U.S. states whose residents have more conservative religious beliefs on average tend to have higher rates of teenagers giving birth, a new study suggests.
The relationship could be due to the fact that communities with such religious beliefs (a literal interpretation of the Bible, for instance) may frown upon contraception, researchers say. If that same culture isn't successfully discouraging teen sex, the pregnancy and birth rates rise.
Mississippi topped the list for conservative religious beliefs and teen birth rates, according to the study results, which will be detailed in a forthcoming issue of the journal Reproductive Health. (See the full top 10 below.)
However, the results don't say anything about cause and effect, though study researcher Joseph Strayhorn of Drexel University College of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh offers a speculation of the most probable explanation: "We conjecture that religious communities in the U.S. are more successful in discouraging the use of contraception among their teenagers than they are in discouraging sexual intercourse itself."
Teen Birth Rates
London Charity
Jail Guitar Doors
Former members of The Clash, Mick Jones and Nicky "Topper" Headon, have recorded together for the first time in almost 30 years by reworking a version of the punk rock band's 1978 song "Jail Guitar Doors."
The pair teamed up with folk activist Billy Bragg in the studio to promote the singer's campaign to help rehabilitate prison inmates.
Bragg's Jail Guitar Doors initiative, named after the song, supplies musical instruments to prisoners. Several inmates have gone on to pursue careers as performers since the scheme started two years ago.
Bragg, who was inspired to become an artist after seeing The Clash play live at a Rock Against Racism gig at Victoria Park in east London in 1978, said there had to be much more to prison than simply locking people up.
Jail Guitar Doors
Comedy Central Revives
American Comedy Awards
Comedy Central says it is reviving the defunct American Comedy Awards.
The awards show took place for 15 years, the last time in 2001 and televised by Comedy Central. The network said Thursday it plans to bring the awards show back to life and is teaming with prominent awards show producer Don Mischer.
It will honor a year's worth of best comedy writing and performance in film, television and over the Internet.
Comedy Central says it expects the first new American Comedy Awards to air near the end of next year, simultaneously on its network and corporate partners Spike TV and TV Land.
American Comedy Awards
Enters Late 20th Century
'Newlywed Game'
Even as states and jurisdictions made gay and lesbian marriages legal, "The Newlywed Game" has played it straight - until now.
The long-running game show, now on the GSN cable network, said Wednesday it will feature its first gay couple this season on a celebrity edition. George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu on "Star Trek," will appear with his partner, Brad Altman.
They just celebrated their first anniversary after being married in Los Angeles last September, but they're nothing like the giggly young couples the game is known for. Takei and Altman have been together for 22 years.
"The Newlywed Game" has been on TV off and on since it premiered in prime-time on ABC in 1967, mostly with Bob Eubanks as host. Singer Carnie Wilson is now host of the show, which is in its second season on GSN and done well in the ratings for the network.
'Newlywed Game'
Baby News
Nancy Leigh Kelley
Katherine Heigl and husband Josh Kelley have completed their adoption of a baby girl from Korea.
Heigl spokeswoman Melissa Kates says the couple named the 10-month-old Nancy Leigh, after the actress's mother Nancy and her sister Margaret Leigh. The girl will go by the nickname Naleigh.
Heigl plays Dr. Izzie Stevens on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and is currently shooting the film "Life as We Know It."
She and Kelley, a singer-songwriter, have been married since 2007.
Nancy Leigh Kelley
Every 12 Minutes
Medical Insurance
Nearly 45,000 people die in the United States each year -- one every 12 minutes -- in large part because they lack health insurance and can not get good care, Harvard Medical School researchers found in an analysis released on Thursday.
"We're losing more Americans every day because of inaction ... than drunk driving and homicide combined," Dr. David Himmelstein, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard, said in an interview with Reuters.
Overall, researchers said American adults age 64 and younger who lack health insurance have a 40 percent higher risk of death than those who have coverage.
A similar study in 1993 found those without insurance had a 25 percent greater risk of death, according to the Harvard group. The Institute of Medicine later used that data in its 2002 estimate showing about 18,000 people a year died because they lacked coverage.
Medical Insurance
Memorial Planned
Lake Lure, NC
The residents of a North Carolina community where much of "Dirty Dancing" was filmed are planning a memorial service for star Patrick Swayze.
The town of Lake Lure will remember the 57-year-old during a memorial service at 7 p.m. Saturday at Firefly Cove, a housing development that was Camp Chimney Rock when "Dirty Dancing" was filmed. Many of the film's outdoor scenes were filmed there, as was the cabin of Johnny Castle, Swayze's character.
Although the service is free, visitors will be asked to donate to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
Lake Lure, NC
Proxy Wedding
Hotaru Ferschke
Hotaru Ferschke just wants to raise her 8-month-old son in his grandparents' Tennessee home, surrounded by photos and memories of the father he'll never meet: a Marine who died in combat a month after marrying her from thousands of miles away.
Sgt. Michael Ferschke was killed in Iraq in 2008, leaving his widow and infant son, both Japanese citizens, in immigration limbo: A 1950s legal standard meant to curb marriage fraud means U.S. authorities do not recognize the marriage, even though the military does.
Ferschke and his bride had been together in Japan for more than a year, and she was pregnant when he deployed. They married by signing their names on separate continents and did not have a chance to meet again in person after the wedding, which a 57-year-old immigration law requires for the union to be considered consummated.
Hotaru Ferschke and the baby, Michael "Mikey" Ferschke III, are staying for now on a temporary visa at the home of her parents-in-law, in the Smoky Mountains town of Maryville. Robin and Michael Ferschke Sr., who are fighting for their daughter-in-law to stay, have emblazoned their son's picture on everything from a blanket draped on the back of the couch to a waving banner on the fence outside.
Hotaru Ferschke
Builds Pickup Truck From Scrap
Johnny Bolton
Johnny Bolton gets some funny looks as he drives his pickup around this northeast Missouri town - but he also gets the last laugh. He built the truck himself, using little more than spare parts, a tape measure and a welding torch. "And a lot of thinking," Bolton told the Hannibal Courier-Post.
It's a real-life version of the Johnny Cash song "One Piece at a Time." But unlike the hero in the song, Bolton didn't sneak out parts from an auto plant; he just used anything he could get his hands on.
Like the old license plates that serve as the floorboard or the bedpan that works as an air cleaner.
It took Bolton eight months to build the truck in his one-car garage. He used Ford axles, a Chevrolet bed, an Oldsmobile engine and the frame from a 1949 International.
Johnny Bolton
Manga With French Wine
"Kami no Shizuki"
In the cobblestone square of Bages, a tiny village in the Medoc wine country, a dozen influential Bordeaux vintners dressed in flowing red robes gathered for an unlikely event.
The vintners from southwest France were about to induct two Japanese comic book authors into their exclusive wine brotherhood, the Commanderie du Bontemps.
Yuko and Shin Kibayashi, a fashionable sister-brother duo publishing under the pseudonym Tadashi Agi, created "Kami no Shizuki" (The Drops of God), a phenomenally successful manga series that has brought wine to subway commuters across Asia, and sparked a wine boom.
The authors, with millions of manga sales already under their belt, fell in love with wine the easy way: over a bottle of 1985 Echezeaux, Domaine de la Romanee Conti, a Burgundy legend that retails for 600 euros (880 dollars).
The "magnificent floral aromas" astonished them. Inspiration struck. They would go where no other manga artist had gone before -- wine.
"Kami no Shizuki"
Cablel Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable television networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Sept. 7-13. Days and start times (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. College Football: USC vs. Ohio St. (Saturday, 7:50 p.m.), ESPN, 7.24 million homes, 10.58 million viewers.
2. "2009 Video Music Awards" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), MTV, 5.83 million homes, 8.97 million viewers.
3. College Football: Miami vs. Florida St. (Monday, 8 p.m.), 5.82 million homes, 8.4 million viewers.
4. "ICarly" (Saturday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 4.98 million homes, 7.56 million viewers.
5. "2009 VMA Post Show" (Sunday, 11:31 p.m.), MTV, 4.95 million homes, 7.35 million viewers.
6. Movie: "Scooby Doo: Mystery Begins" (Sunday, 7 p.m.), Cartoon, 3.9 million homes, 6.1 million viewers.
7. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.82 million homes, 5.56 million viewers.
8. "The O'Reilly Factor" (Wednesday, 9:15 p.m.), Fox News, 3.76 million homes, 5.12 million viewers.
9. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.75 million homes, 5.39 million viewers.
10. "NCIS" (Monday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.42 million homes, 4.74 million viewers.
11. "Monk" (Friday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.41 million homes, 4.82 million viewers.
12. "True Blood" (Sunday, 9:02 p.m.), HBO, 3.35 million homes, 5.11 million viewers.
13. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.28 million homes, 4.22 million viewers.
14. "NCIS" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.22 million homes, 4.13 million viewers.
15. "Army Wives" (Sunday, 10 p.m.), Lifetime, 3.21 million homes, 3.9 million viewers.
Ratings
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