Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Tom Danehy: Regarding nuclear arms control, Jon Kyl is letting gamesmanship trump statesmanship (tucsonweekly.com)
When the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 14-4 to approve the New START nuclear-arms-control treaty that was signed in April by the United States and Russia, it should have been a big story.
James Ledbetter: Death of a Salesman. Of Lots of Them, Actually. (slate.com)
The troubling disappearance of salesmen and how it helps explain America's economic woes.
Susan Estrich: The Un-recession (creators.com)
Good news. The folks in charge of such things announced this week that the recession is over. Actually, it's been over for some time. It officially ended in June 2009, according to the Business-Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research, which is responsible for making such determinations. As of then, our national output stopped declining and started increasing, along with a number of other key indicators. Hurrah. I guess.
Hadley Freeman: Young Americans look to Jon Stewart for news (guardian.co.uk)
With his 'rally to restore sanity', Jon Stewart has become the figurehead for American liberalism - not bad for a comedy show host.
Marilynn Preston: Aging as Adventure: How to Grow Older, Better (creators.com)
Exercise! This is the master key to splendid aging. Stay active! It's a must. Move it, or lose it. Walk, bike, swim, enjoy whatever activity pumps your heart and brings you pleasure. Keep your brain juiced, too, by playing bridge, doing puzzles, learning ancient Greek. If you've reached a certain age and still don't have a favorite sport, do yoga. It links body and mind to breath, and from that place of strength and calm, you will discover your own secrets to graceful aging.
Emma John: Why exercise won't make you thin (guardian.co.uk)
"In theory, of course, it's possible that you can burn more calories than you eat," says Dr Susan Jebb, head of nutrition and health research at the Medical Research Council, and one of the government's go-to academics for advice on nutrition. "But you have to do an awful lot more exercise than most people realise. To burn off an extra 500 calories is typically an extra two hours of cycling. And that's about two doughnuts."
Molly Ringwald: A Conversation with Amy Reiter
"This book is about celebrating turning forty and being the sexiest, funniest, smartest, best-dressed, and most confident woman that you can be," Ringwald writes [in "Getting the Pretty Back"]. "It's about everything I've learned, thus far, and how to put it together and incorporate it all."
My Life in Books: Molly Ringwald
In this debut entry of My Life in Books, a new Review feature, we asked actress and author Molly Ringwald to tell us her life story in ten books or less. Here's the autobiographical shelf she collected and shared with us, in her own words.
Todd Martens: "Don't listen to me, I have Screeching Weasel tattooed on my arm, but ..." (latimes.com)
If the Ramones helped define the pop-punk template for urban malaise, Screeching Weasel reclaimed it for suburbia.
Tim Jonze: "Alan McGee: 'If there's one thing Creation Records wasn't, it was boring'" (guardian.co.uk)
Ahead of next month's premiere of Upside Down, a film about Creation, label founder Alan McGee remembers running out of money, feuding with Kevin Shields and babysitting Mick Hucknall.
Robert Mapplethorpe: sexual terrorist (guardian.co.uk)
Robert Mapplethorpe's dark, decadent images recall the great masters and sear themselves into your brain. At a new exhibition, Jonathan Jones is transfixed by his ruthless brilliance.
Mark Olsen: Woody Allen is already thinking beyond 'You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger' (Los Angeles Times)
The prolific filmmaker has finished editing his next and will soon start writing the one after that.
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The 'Will Lizzie Warren take an axe...?' Edition
President Obama has appointed Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren to help organize the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The question now is whether Warren, a consumer champion, will wield the full power afforded that agency to crack down on Wall Street swindlers and speculators... Right now, the jury is still out...
There Will Be "Hell to Pay" If Elizabeth Warren Does Not Have Real Power | CommonDreams.org
Do you think Ms Warren and the CFPB will effectively protect consumers?
1.) Heck, yeah... She'll kick ass and take names...
2.) Not a chance... She's merely 'window dressing'... The Bankers rule...
3.) I haven't a frickin' clue what will happen...
Send your response to
took the day off.
responded:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestions
Michelle in AZ
Grand Rapids, MI
ArtPrize
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Less marine layer, more sun.
Got a notice from the electric company warning that they're "upgrading" equipment and for us to expect to be off the grid for 9 (9!) hours, starting today at 9am.
They recommend unplugging 'sensitive' electronic devices, even if using a surge-protector power strip.
Oh, goodie!
Our Poly Jackrabbits also have a big game tonight, so gonna be getting a late, late start on Saturday's page.
If the power-mucking doesn't mess things up too much, Saturday's page will still be late.
If the power-mucking messes things up (as I half-expect), it will be even later.
P.S. This cold is really kicking my ass.
To Testify On Capitol Hill
Stephen Colbert
The United Farm Workers union says Stephen Colbert will visit Capitol Hill on Friday to testify at a U.S. House committee hearing on farm workers who are illegal immigrants.
Colbert's will appear as an expert witness. He has focused on the UFW's "Take Our Jobs" campaign on his nightly show on Comedy Central, "The Colbert Report." He had spent a day last month picking vegetables on a farm in upstate New York.
The UFW launched the "Take Our Jobs" campaign in June to invite U.S. citizens and legal residents to replace illegal immigrants who work on farms.
The hearing is before the House Judiciary Committee's immigration subcommittee.
Stephen Colbert
Gives $1 Million To Animal Cause
Katherine Heigl
Television and film actress Katherine Heigl said on Thursday pledged $1 million to spay and neuter programs in Los Angeles.
The star of Warner Bros.' upcoming film "Life As We Know It" is kicking off a pet initiative to increase awareness and help curb the pet population crisis. Each year 500,000 animals without homes are sheltered and euthanized in California, costing the state $250 million.
The project is in association with the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, which was named after her brother who was killed in a car accident 24 years ago.
In addition to the contribution to spay and neuter programs, the JDHF will continue to support Learn to be a Best Friend (a training and education obedience program); transport programs moving animals from local shelters where they would be euthanized to humane societies, rescue organizations and "no kill" shelters; and continue to promote pet adoption.
Katherine Heigl
Now Portia Degeneres
Portia de Rossi
Portia de Rossi has officially taken wife Ellen Degeneres' last name.
A Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner granted De Rossi's request to take the last name of her partner during a closed hearing Thursday. The television star will now legally be known as Portia Lee James DeGeneres.
The couple was married in August 2008. The 37-year-old Australian-born actress asked for the name change last month.
Neither woman attended the hearing. They married during the five-month window in which gay marriage was legal in California.
Portia de Rossi
Files For Divorce
Nancy Wilson
Court records show rocker Nancy Wilson has filed for divorce from writer-director Cameron Crowe after more than 20 years of marriage.
The Heart singer-guitarist cited irreconcilable differences for the divorce, which was filed Sept. 16.
The court filings say Wilson and Crowe separated in 2008.
They were married in 1986 and have twin 10-year-old sons. Wilson is seeking joint custody.
Nancy Wilson
Dissed By Sesame Street
Katy Perry
Katy Perry's cleavage is fine for Russell Brand - not so for Elmo and Sesame Street.
The children's show says it won't air a taped segment featuring the "California Gurls" singer and Elmo. The pop star - who is known for her risque outfits - wore a gold bustier top as she sang a version of her hit "Hot N Cold." But some felt it was too revealing for the kid set.
Sesame Street said in a statement Thursday that in light of the "feedback we've received" after the bit was aired on YouTube, they won't include it on the show. While the show said it was still available on YouTube, it had been removed by the official Sesame Street YouTube channel. Other versions on YouTube have generated thousands of hits.
Katy Perry
Sues Vegas Hotel
Hard Rock Cafe
Owners of the Hard Rock Cafe restaurant chain are suing owners of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas over its name, saying the casino's party image has damaged the moniker enough to justify ending a 14-year-old licensing agreement.
Lawyers for Orlando-based Hard Rock Cafe International Inc. said in the lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in New York that the cable reality show "Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock Hotel" on truTV casts its brand in a bad light.
The 110-page lawsuit including exhibits says the show portrays the hotel-casino as a place that "revels in drunken debauchery, acts of vandalism, sexual harassment, violence, criminality and a host of other behavior" that most people would find offensive, including patrons of Hard Rock restaurants.
The hotel is owned by Morgans Hotel Group Co., a company that is entirely separate from the cafe chain.
Hard Rock Cafe
Suspend Tour
Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots have postponed 12 dates on their tour in the wake of singer Scott Weiland's rambling speech onstage during the trek's Houston stop.
The group has taken a "short break" beginning with the show scheduled for Tuesday in El Paso, according to its announcement, and will return to the road on October 8 in Tampa.
The band did not give a specific reason for the break, but Weiland's outburst on Sunday may have contributed.
According to the Houston Press, STP took the stage about one hour after opener Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's set, after which Weiland offered slurred tangents about his in-ear monitors, past drug use and thoughts on grunge music.
Stone Temple Pilots
Gates Tops List
Richest Americans
Microsoft founder Bill Gates topped the Forbes magazine list of the 400 richest Americans on Thursday as Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg leapfrogged Apple's Steve Jobs in the rankings.
Gates, 54, who has stepped down from day-to-day activities at Microsoft to concentrate on philanthropy, has an estimated net worth of 54 billion dollars, according to Forbes.
Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, 80, was the second-richest American with a net worth of 45 billion dollars followed by Oracle's Larry Ellison, 66, with 27 billion dollars and Walmart's Christy Walton, 55, with 24 billion dollars.
Also in the top 10 were Charles Koch, 74, and his brother David Koch, 70, of Koch Tea Bag Industries, each with an estimated net worth of 21.5 billion dollars.
Richest Americans
Unearthed In A Letter
Lost Language
Archaeologists say scrawl on the back of a letter recovered from a 17th century dig site reveals a previously unknown language spoken by indigenous peoples in northern Peru.
A team of international archaeologists found the letter under a pile of adobe bricks in a collapsed church complex near Trujillo, 347 miles north of Lima. The complex had been inhabited by Dominican friars for two centuries.
"Our investigations determined that this piece of paper records a number system in a language that has been lost for hundreds of years," Jeffrey Quilter, an archaeologist at Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, told Reuters.
A photograph of the letter recently released by archaeologists shows a column of numbers written in Spanish and translated into a language that scholars say is now extinct.
"We discovered a language no one has seen or heard since the 16th or 17th century," Quilter said, adding that the language appears to have been influenced by Quechua, an ancient tongue still spoken by millions of people across the Andes.
Lost Language
Spanish Restorers Find Unknown Masterpiece
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Spanish restorers have revealed a previously unknown masterpiece by 16th century Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the Prado art gallery said on Thursday.
Months of restoration by Prado experts revealed the artist's signature on the painting, which depicts around 100 people celebrating the tasting of the first wine of the season at the festival of San Martin in the Netherlands.
The painting belonged to a private Spanish collection whose owners wanted to sell it and brought it to the museum for restoration. They did not know it was the work of Bruegel, the patriarch of a prolific Flemish painting dynasty, known for his landscapes and depictions of peasant life.
The Prado is negotiating with the owners to buy the work, but the minister declined to say how much the state was prepared to pay for it.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of Sept. 13-19. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. NFL Football: Baltimore vs. N.Y. Jets (Monday, 7:15 p.m.), ESPN, 10.85 million homes, 14.97 million viewers.
2. NFL Football: San Diego vs. Kansas City (Monday, 10:35 p.m.), ESPN, 8.8 million homes, 11.88 million viewers.
3. "The Closer" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 5.42 million homes, 7.2 million viewers.
4. "Rizzoli & Isles" (Monday, 10 p.m.), TNT, 5.04 million homes, 6.55 million viewers.
5. Movie: "Fred: The Movie" (Saturday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 4.8 million homes, 7.59 million viewers.
6. "Covert Affairs" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.92 million homes, 5.23 million viewers.
7. "Pawn Stars" (Monday, 10:30 p.m.), History, 3.636 million homes, 4.98 million viewers.
8. "Pawn Stars" (Monday, 10 p.m.), History, 3.631 million homes, 5.1 million viewers.
9. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.45 million homes, 4.74 million viewers.
10. "Covert Affairs" (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.39 million homes, 4.58 million viewers.
11. Movie: "Fred: The Movie" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.35 million homes, 4.68 million viewers.
12. "American Pickers" (Monday, 9 p.m.), History, 3.34 million homes, 4.86 million viewers.
13. College Football: Arkansas vs. Georgia (Saturday, 12:01 p.m.), ESPN, 3.3 million homes, 4.25 million viewers.
14. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.26 million homes, 4.39 million viewers.
15. "Penguins of Madagascar" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.09 million homes, 4.19 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher, whose huge fame as a pop singer was overshadowed by scandals ending his marriages to Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor, has died. He was 82.
His daughter, Tricia Leigh Fisher of Los Angeles, told The Associated Press that Fisher died Wednesday night at his home in Berkeley of complications from hip surgery.
Fisher's clear dramatic singing voice brought him a devoted following of teenage girls in the early 1950s. He sold millions of records with 32 hit songs including "Thinking of You," "Any Time," "Oh, My Pa-pa," "I'm Yours," "Wish You Were Here," "Lady of Spain" and "Count Your Blessings."
His fame was enhanced by his 1955 marriage to movie darling Debbie Reynolds - they were touted as "America's favorite couple" - and the birth of two children.
Their daughter Carrie Fisher became a film star herself in the first three "Star Wars" films as Princess Leia, and later as a best-selling author of "Postcards From the Edge" and other books.
When Eddie Fisher's best friend, producer Mike Todd, was killed in a 1958 plane crash, Fisher comforted the widow, Elizabeth Taylor. Amid sensationalist headlines, Fisher divorced Reynolds and married Taylor in 1959.
The Fisher-Taylor marriage lasted only five years. She fell in love with co-star Richard Burton during the Rome filming of "Cleopatra," divorced Fisher and married Burton in one of the great entertainment world scandals of the 20th century.
Fisher's career never recovered from the notoriety. He married actress Connie Stevens, and they had two daughters. Another divorce followed. He married twice more.
Edwin Jack Fisher was born Aug. 10, 1928, in Philadelphia, one of seven children of a Jewish grocer. At 15 he was singing on Philadelphia radio.
After moving to New York, Fisher was adopted as a protege by comedian Eddie Cantor, who helped the young singer become a star in radio, television and records.
After getting out of the Army in 1953 following a two-year hitch, hit records, his own TV show and the headlined marriage to Reynolds made Fisher a top star. The couple costarred in a 1956 romantic comedy, "Bundle of Joy," that capitalized on their own parenthood.
In 1960 he played a role in "Butterfield 8," for which Taylor won an Academy Award. But that film marked the end of his movie career.
After being discarded by Taylor, Fisher became the butt of comedians' jokes. He began relying on drugs to get through performances, and his bookings dwindled. He later said he had made and spent $20 million during his heyday, and much of it went to gambling and drugs.
In 1983, Fisher attempted a full-scale comeback. But his old fans had been turned off by the scandals, and the younger generation had been turned on by rock. The tour was unsuccessful.
He had added to his notoriety that year with an autobiography, "Eddie: My Life, My Loves." Of his first three marriages, he wrote he had been bullied into marriage with Reynolds, whom he didn't know well; became nursemaid as well as husband to Taylor, and was reluctant to marry Connie Stevens but she was pregnant and he "did the proper thing."
Another autobiography, "Been There, Done That," published in 1999, was even more searing. He called Reynolds "self-centered, totally driven, insecure, untruthful, phony." He claimed he abandoned his career during the Taylor marriage because he was too busy taking her to emergency rooms and cleaning up after her pets, children and servants. Both ex-wives were furious, and Carrie Fisher threatened to change her name to Reynolds.
At 47, Fisher married a 21-year-old beauty queen, Terry Richard. The marriage ended after 10 months. His fifth marriage, to Betty Lin, a Chinese-born businesswoman, lasted longer than any of the others. Fisher had two children with Reynolds: Carrie and Todd; and two girls with Stevens: Joely and Tricia.
Eddie Fisher
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