'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Week 2
'Survivor'
Blind's Man Bluff
Well we got a better peek at the castaway crowd this week and it seems to me that there is still not a stand out in the lot of them. The men seemed to move on without a second thought about Brook. Travis informed John P that he was "a threat". It seems Travis along with Rory, Chris and Chad have formed the old men's club and are sticking to it. Couple of the guys were actually eating worms. They get fire, well a flint, at the immunity challenge but we have yet to see them with a fire.
The women are still trending down the same line of young and old as well but when the flip-flopping sheep farmer Dolly was discovered to be playing both sides (I don’t think she really was, she was just indecisive) she got singled out and surprisingly got the hatchet. Leann got just one less vote at council and hopefully it wakes her up and she switches over to the more appropriate elder distaff side of the tribe. While the men had their worms the women found maggots in there plantains, however they did see a chicken and although they didn't get the chicken they got about 5 eggs. So far these girls are living a much easier life than the guys.
The reward challenge was yet another walk the plank scenario. Each tribe was spread out standing on a plank over the water and they were numbered 1 to 8 number 1 on the farthest end had to cross to the end past number 8 where there was a winning platform. Obviously there was some close quarters going across, you could only touch one person at a time and if you fell in the water you had to start over. The women smoked the guys in this challenge, they got all 9 across and I think the guys ended up with 2. Reward was blankets, hammock and pillows. Needless to say the girls looked well rested the next day.
The immunity was the yearly Blind leading the blind. They was one person calling the shots as the others were tied together and blind folded and had to find pieces to puzzles that had to be put together to win. The men had the lead through the whole race and won immunity and the flint. Really was not that exciting.
Overall there has not been much drama or character development. My wife called them a "surly bunch" and they seem to be fairly smart so far, normally there are a lot of stupid choices made and lots of most popular votes but they seem to be playing the game well this time. One thing we didn’t understand is to keep hearing from the women's team "how hard this is". Have none of them ever watched the show? Were they expecting Friday to be there and help them with the daily chores?
I guess I do have one favorite emerging so far and that is Twiala last night she said "These young ones, I don't know what they was thinking. If it comes down to eating maggots, I'm gonna eat maggots. Protein. Eat 'em. Shut up!". She is a tough one and we will see how she does.
Well that is it for now, I am hoping for a little more excitement next week.
Denver Dude
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
Link from Bruce
Censorship at Work
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
A bit cooler - the wind is moving offshore, and that's a good thing.
Clear enough to see Catalina Island from Signal Hill today.
Irish Rock star and frontman for U2, Bono, right, accepts the Pablo Neruda Medal of Honor from the Chilean Ambassador to Ireland Alberto Yoacham at the embassy in Dublin, Thursday Sept. 23, 2004. The award is presented to the 100 most outstanding figures in public life for their contribution to arts and culture all over the world.
Photo by John Cogill
'Lost' Episode Found
'The Honeymooners'
It's news that would make Jackie Gleason shout out his trademark "And away we go!" A new "lost" episode of the classic 1950s TV comedy "The Honeymooners" has been uncovered in the Peabody Awards archive at the University of Georgia.
The episode, titled "Love Letter," originally aired on Oct. 16, 1954, on "The Jackie Gleason Show," said Ruta Abolins, director of the Peabody Awards Collection and Media Archives at UGA.
"It does not exist in another archive and is a unique `lost' episode in `The Honeymooners' history," Abolins said in a statement Thursday.
Archivist Margaret Compton discovered the "Love Letter" episode during a preservation review of the archives' kinescopes and videotapes. She said plans are being made by Gleason Enterprises to release the never-rebroadcast episode on home video.
'The Honeymooners'
'For the Lady: Dedicated to Freeing Aung San Suu Kyi'
Benefit Album
Clapton, McCartney Join for
Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Sting and U2 are joining forces on a benefit album for Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.
R.E.M., Avril Lavigne, Coldplay and Travis are also contributing to a 27-track CD, "For the Lady: Dedicated to Freeing Aung San Suu Kyi."
Proceeds from the CD, to be released Oct. 26, will go to the U.S. Campaign for Burma, it was announced Tuesday.
"Aung San Suu Kyi is truly one of the world's most important, yet least known, heroes," said Chris Martin of Coldplay.
Benefit Album
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., talks with Kristen Breitweiser, center, whose husband was killed in the World Trade Center attacks, and retired Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy, right, during a town hall meeting, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2004, in Davenport, Iowa.
Photo by Charlie Neibergall
Interview with Faux News
O'Really
Fox News Channel's star commentator Bill O'Reilly scored a rare sit-down television interview on Wednesday with resident Bush that will air in three parts next week, the network said.
In the interview, conducted in New York, Bush discussed topics ranging from the war in Iraq and weapons of mass destruction to his National Guard record and the Swift boat ad campaign that challenged campaign opponent John Kerry's service in the Vietnam War, Fox News said.
No excerpts from the interview, which Fox News spokesman Rob Zimmerman said lasted about 30 minutes, were immediately released.
O'Really
Car Winners Hit With Hefty Tax
Oprah
When Oprah Winfrey gave away 276 cars last week to the audience of her show, images of people laughing, jumping, crying -- some hysterically -- filled the airwaves and the give-away became stuff of legend. Late night talk show hosts and newspaper columnists are still talking about it.
But now some of those eager prize-winners have a choice: Fork over $7,000 or give up the car.
For a brand new Pontiac G-Six, the model given away on the show, the sticker price is $28,500. The $28,500 would need to be claimed as income so, depending on the individuals tax bracket, the tax could be as high as $7,000. And that was after Pontiac agreed to pay most of the local charges, including state sales tax and licensing fees.
The Harpo Spokeswomen said winners had three choices. They could keep the car and pay the tax, sell the car and pay the tax with the profits or forfeit the car.
Oprah
Resurrected As Villain
Laurence Olivier
The idea of raising Laurence Olivier from the dead for "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" started with producer Jon Avnet.
Old footage of Olivier, who died in 1989, was used to create Dr. Totenkopf, an evil scientist who plans to destroy the world. The role is small and fragmented, comparable to the wizard in "The Wizard of Oz."
The filmmakers acquired nondescript documentary footage from the actor's estate. Director Kerry Conran then manipulated the images into 3D to create a figure they could move and mouth the scripted lines. Soon Conran and Avnet were busy trying to find a voice that sounded like the British actor.
Laurence Olivier
Sascha Baron Cohen (L) star of 'Da Ali G Show' on HBO poses with girlfriend Isla Fisher as they arrive the premiere of her new film 'I Heart Huckabees' in Los Angeles, September 22, 2004. The film also stars Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin and Jason Schwartzman.
Photo by Fred Prouser
Thanksgiving Special
'Seinfeld'
Jerry Seinfeld is returning to NBC, along with TV pals Elaine, George and Kramer, for a special Thanksgiving Day retrospective on the smash hit "show about nothing," the network said on Thursday.
The planned Nov. 25 broadcast, highlighting the origins of "Seinfeld" and the early years of the mega-hit comedy that ran on NBC for nine years, is timed for two days after the DVD release of the series.
Seinfeld himself will host the hourlong special, featuring clips from the show and interviews with co-creator Larry David and co-stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine), Jason Alexander (George) and Michael Richards (Kramer).
'Seinfeld'
Calls U.S. Deportation 'Ridiculous'
Yusuf Islam
Yusuf Islam, the pop star formerly known as Cat Stevens, returned to Britain Thursday after his deportation from the United States over "potential" terrorism links sparked a diplomatic row.
"The whole thing is totally ridiculous," Islam, 57, said on arrival at London's Heathrow airport. "Half of me wants to smile, half of me wants to growl."
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw raised the issue with Secretary of State Colin Powell in person at the United Nations. Straw "expressed concern that this action should not have been taken," a Foreign Office spokesman said.
Powell said Washington had no criminal case against him. "But it is the procedure that we have been using to know who is coming into our country, know their backgrounds and interests, and see whether we believe it is appropriate for them to come in."
Yusuf Islam
CD Set
Lenny Bruce
Lenny Bruce was broke when he died of a drug overdose in 1966, but the incendiary, profane comedian left a rich legacy that included a string of obscenity arrests, a durable comedic influence and a vast archive of tapes.
Later comedians from Richard Pryor to George Carlin and Bill Maher have been cited as beneficiaries of Bruce's style, which shocked the public not only with blue humor that may seem mainstream today but with social satire that can sting four decades later.
Highlights of his recordings were released this month on a carefully packaged and well-documented 6-CD set called "Lenny Bruce: Let the Buyer Beware." The set includes rare versions of nightclub routines, such as "How to Relax Your Colored Friends at Parties," and a recording of a police warning to the comedian.
For a lot more, Lenny Bruce
L.A. Weathercaster Sues NBC
Christopher Nance
Former KNBC-TV weathercaster Christopher Nance has sued his former employers in Los Angeles and NBC Inc. for allegdly firing him to cover up the fact that he was subjected to racial and religious discrimination at work.
After being fired Dec. 27, 2002, Nance filed a discrimination complaint with the California Dept. of Fair Employment and Housing. That agency granted him the right to sue in January.
Nance, who is African-American, filed the claim Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that he was discriminated against on the basis of his race and subjected to ridicule for his religious practices, which included reading the Bible at work.
Christopher Nance
Frances Kaji looks at artwork at a Little Rock, Ark., gallery Thursday, Sept. 23, 2004, made by children at the Rowher, Ark., internment camp that housed Japanese-Americans in the early 1940s. Former camp detainees, their families, historians and others came to Little Rock Thursday for the start of a four-day conference devoted to the history of Arkansas camps.
Photo by Danny Johnston
Exhibit Opens in Milan
Andy Warhol
Some 200 paintings by Andy Warhol went on display Wednesday in Milan in one of the largest shows ever held in Italy on the late Pop Art icon, organizers said.
The exhibit also features sketches, pictures, fashion illustrations and covers from Warhol's Interview magazine. A section of the show is devoted to the artist's style and fashion.
Born in 1928, Warhol grew up and developed his early artistic skills in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the center of the Pop Art movement in the 1960s, he turned commonplace objects such as dollar bills and soup cans into works of art. He died in 1987.
Andy Warhol
DUI Charges Filed
Tracey Gold
Prosecutors filed three felony counts Thursday against former "Growing Pains" kid star Tracey Gold in the alleged drunken driving rollover crash of her sport utility vehicle.
Tracey Gold Marshall, 35, of Santa Clarita was behind the wheel of the SUV when it flipped on Highway 118 in Moorpark on Sept. 3, injuring her husband and two of her three children, authorities said.
The district attorney's office filed charges of driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury, driving with a blood alcohol level in excess of 0.08 causing injury, and felony child endangerment, Senior Deputy District Attorney Kim Gibbons said.
Tracey Gold
LAX
John Miller
The head of the Police Department's counterterrorism bureau was detained by federal authorities Thursday after trying to board a flight at Los Angeles International Airport with a loaded handgun in his carryon luggage.
John Miller, commanding officer of the Critical Incident Management Bureau, was off duty and heading to New York with his family when Transportation Security Administration officials discovered the .38-caliber Smith & Wesson in his bag about 12:10 p.m., TSA spokesman Nico Melendez said.
Miller is authorized to carry the weapon, but he failed to disclose he was traveling with the gun.
Miller was on his way to New York to tape a farewell message to ABC's Barbara Walters, who is retiring. Before joining the LAPD, Miller co-anchored the network's "20/20" news magazine with Walters.
John Miller
GE Settles with SEC Over Retirement Perks
Jack Welch
Industrial giant General Electric settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday over its failure to disclose former CEO Jack Welch's lavish retirement package.
In a case that highlighted the massive compensation awarded to corporate America's CEO elite, the SEC slapped GE with a cease-and-desist order, but imposed no other terms.
The Consumer Federation of America expressed disappointment at the settlement, with its investor advocate Barbara Roper saying: "It certainly does seem like a missed opportunity" for the SEC to make a strong statement about executive pay and the right of shareholders to know about it.
Jack Welch
Aboriginal artist John Mawurndjul sits in front of one of his paintings at the launch of the exhibition 'Crossing Country-The Alchemy of Western Arnhem Land Art' at the New South Wales Art Gallery in Sydney September 23, 2004. The exhibition is the first major display of key artists from the Aboriginal communities in western Arnhem Land, and features hundreds of bark paintings, sculptures, fibers and weavings.
Photo by David Gray
Goes on Auction Block
Koresh's Camaro
A 1968 Chevrolet Camaro once owned by former Branch Davidian leader David Koresh is expected to fetch up to $60,000 at auction this weekend.
Auctioneer Daniel Kruse of Auburn, Ind.-based Kruse International said the 500-horsepower engine has the words "DAVID'S 427 GO GOD," which Koresh had stamped on the engine block. The "427" refers to the 427 cubic-inch engine.
Koresh's Camaro
Reaches Milestone
Hong Kong Disneyland
Workers used a crane to put a mock turret atop the castle at Hong Kong Disneyland on Thursday, giving locals their best look yet at the theme park intended to boost tourism revenues when it opens.
The main structure of Sleeping Beauty's castle was complete once the trademark blue pointed turret was installed at a ceremony attended by invited guests and journalists who were allowed onto the park site for the first time to view the construction.
The castle will be the centerpiece of the Disney park and spokeswoman Esther Wong called the completion of the roof "a significant milestone." The ceremony featured fireworks and confetti and obligatory appearances by Disney characters including Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Facelifts for Last Frescoes
Michelangelo
The last two frescoes painted by Renaissance master Michelangelo are to be restored to their original brilliance, the director general of the Vatican Museums said on Wednesday.
A decade after experts completed one of the 20th century's most ambitious restoration projects -- the cleaning of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel frescoes -- they are ready to tackle the giant works in the adjacent Pauline Chapel.
Water seepage, botched previous restorations and years of grime will be gently removed during the process which should take four years.
Michelangelo
Man Fighting Neighbors' Stench
Marijuana
James Kerr decided the smell of James and Nancy Matthews's pot plants was too much, so on Friday, Kerr filed a civil suit in Mendocino County Superior Court.
"People can do something about the stench of marijuana gardens in their neighborhood," Kerr said. "It doesn't matter whether growing medical marijuana is legal or not. All you have to do is convince a judge or jury that the smell is offensive and interferes with your enjoyment of life or property, and you can be awarded monetary damages."
Kerr hopes to convince a judge or jury he lost the use of his property and suffered general damage because of the unpleasant smells. He filed an unlimited civil suit, which means he is seeking more than $25,000.
Marijuana
Basic Cable Networks
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on basic cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Sept. 13-19. Each ratings point represents 1,084,000 households. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses.
1. NFL Football: Miami vs. Cincinnati (Sunday, 8:28 p.m.), ESPN, 6.2, 6.83 million homes.
2. "NFL Prime Time" (Sunday, 7:30 p.m.), ESPN, 3.5, 3.89 million homes.
3. "Law & Order" (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 3.0, 3.29 million homes.
4. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.0, 3.23 million homes.
5. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), Spike, 2.9, 3.21 million homes.
6. "Nextel Post Race Show" (Sunday, 4:21 p.m.), TNT, 2.8, 3.09 million homes.
7. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Sunday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.8, 3.09 million homes.
8. "WWE Raw Zone" (Monday, 10 p.m.), Spike, 2.8, 3.07 million homes.
9. Auto Racing: Nextel Cup (Sunday, 1:03 p.m.), TNT, 2.8, 3.05 million homes.
10. "Sportscenter" (Sunday, 11:50 p.m.), ESPN, 2.7, 3 million homes.
11. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.6, 2.88 million homes.
12. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Monday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.6, 2.86 million homes.
13. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.6, 2.84 million homes.
14. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.6, 2.83 million homes.
15. "Nip/Tuck" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), FX, 2.6, 2.82 million homes.
Ratings
A yaguarete, an Argentine mountain cat, named Fabio smells flowers at the Buenos Aires Zoo, September 21, 2004. The Zoo placed flowers in the animal cages and prepared special meals to celebrate the start of the Spring season.
Photo by Marcos Brindicci
