'Best of TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Week 3
'Survivor: Vanuatu'
Locks, Knots and Two Tribal Councils
They tried to throw a twist on last night's show. A combination Reward/Immunity challenge resulting in TWO TRIBAL COUNCIL'S. With both teams competing against each other a through a "three walls competition". First knots to open a gate, then they had to fetch keys using a grappling hook to open the next gate and finally move poles out of the way to open the last gate and make their way to the winning mat. Men won pretty easily. The women had a chance to catch up but Scout was throwing the grappling hook line out there like a bad Clinton joke. The reward was fishing gear, Spear, Goggles and fishing line.
Then men then go to move directly on to the next challenge for individual immunity. They had to dig up 7 ladder rungs that fit specifically into the spaces like puzzle pieces. Chad let John K come from behind and win the immunity. This led to Jeff Probst revealing the final part of tonight's plot twist in that John would now go back with Yasur (women) and spend the day with them so he could choose a girl to give the immunity to when the women went to council. He could not tell them which one he was going to pick until they came to council that night.
Surprisingly he gave it to Ami our Colorado local favorite as she was least likely to get voted off. He wanted the women's team to "figure out who they were" by not saving one of the doomed girls, who where thought to be Twila and Eliza. In the end surprisingly the girls voted off Mia who I had about enough of by the end of this show. They said they did it to get some more "peace and harmony" at camp.
The men's vote was fairly straight forward the old guys kept together even though the youngsters were trying to sway Sarge into voting Rory off (which I thought he was going to do.) Instead they canned John P. thought to be one of the biggest threats.
Kind of BORING?! Well that is what I have been thinking. I have watched every survivor since it started about 4 years ago, and I will have to say this unexciting Vanuatu edition is leaving me wanting to be voted off. There is still barely any character development or stand outs and just about the time you don't like someone they vote them out !! (thankfully)
I will give them this though: Both the Men and Women's teams have voted smarter than I have seen any teams in previous shows. They are keeping their alliances and voting off the biggest threats and the people you just want to see go. We might get a worthy winner at the end of this one.
I have to throw in my two cents on the debate last night. Basically I gave a big sigh of relief at the end. John came off very strong. He certainly did not have any "windsurfing" incidents last night. I see the networks and polls tipping it to Kerry if only slightly and probably begrudgingly. If tonight was supposed to be about Bush's strong points of "War President" and "Keeping us Safe" and he did such a marginal job, Kerry will absolutely kill him in the last two debates. Lets see how many people come back to see round two. I watched the whole thing on CSPAN and they showed both candidates split screen the whole time. I read today that a lot of networks did show split screens but when I turned to other channels (FOX and NBC) they only had the speaking candidate on. I thought I was getting a bonus. Did anyone else see Karl Rove and Bill Gillespie come out right after the debate on "Spin Alley" on CSPAN and send out the "Talking Points" immediately after the debate? I say Gulianni on the Daily Show with John Stewart repeating the same things Rove had said.
Ok well thanks for reading and lets hope they can salvage this season of Survivor with some drama and excitement !
Denver Dude
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Intel Crests & Badges
Eyespy Magazine - - (Thought you might enjoy seeing these...)
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Bush/Cheney: Four More Weeks
Bush/Cheney: Over 1050 American Dead in Iraq? So What!
Thanks, Bruce!
Purple Gene's Review
"Maria Full Of Grace"
I went over to my local theater (the California in
Berkeley) by myself to take in a Foreign film that I'd
seen a couple of trailers for; "Maria Full of Grace"
directed by Joshua Marston and staring Catalina
Sandina Morena as a 17 year old pregnant Columbian
girl who is unhappily employed at a Rose bouquet
arranging factory (I assume that the US was the
destination for the flowers).
Her pissant wages were
being gobbled up at the Casa that she shared with her
mother, bitchy sister and her child. "You can't quit
your job (Maria's sister says) we need the money for
my babys' medicine (born out of wedlock). Maria's
mother tells her she must keep working to help pay for
"Things" (food, rent etc.).
Well, needless to say, Maria is fed up with the petty
small town bullshit - including her clueless immature
boyfriend......Cut to the chase.........Maria meets a
cute guy from another town who takes on the back of
his motorcycle to help her get a job...and what a job
he helps her get!!!!! "DRUG MULE" - swallow 60 pellets
of Heroin (I thought it was Cocaine), fly to new york
and shit them out, get paid and come home rich!!!!!
This movie is amazingly masterful at staying beside
Maria the whole time as she travels through a living
hell of drugs, death and her final decision to stay in
America - with her new Baby.
I give this movie 9 out of 10 drug pellets....It would
have been 10 out of 10 but I think the director didn't
portray her life in Columbia being horrible enough to
throw it all away and stay in a shitty New York
Neighborhood.
Purple Gene says: a must SEE
Beautiful scenery
Thanks, Purple Gene!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny but cool.
Lots of food ladies at CostCo today and the kid was delighted.
Had to make it a quick trip - 'Open House' at the school started at 4pm.
It went well, but got the feeling the principal made a point of meeting me. OTOH, this is the latest in a school term that I've met a principal...
Saturday Night Live cast members (L-R) Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch laugh with actor Ben Affleck (C) as they pose for the photographers during the Directors Guild of America Honors ceremonies in New York, on September 29, 2004.
Photo by Albert Ferreira
Campaigns for Kerry in Arizona
Ted Danson
Actor Ted Danson returned to his hometown in northern Arizona for half a day to campaign for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.
Danson, best known for playing Sam Malone on the sitcom "Cheers," said Wednesday he was concerned about the environment and believes Kerry will do a better job than resident George W. Bush.
Danson lived in northern Arizona as a child.
Ted Danson
Challenges O'Really to Bowling
Al Franken
Who's the kingpin, Al Franken or Bill O'Reilly? If Franken had his way, the answer would be decided with a bowling ball.
On his radio show Wednesday, the satirist-commentator challenged the Fox News commentator to a "friendly" bowling match.
The proposed face-off would be a part of The Great American Bowl-Off, a one-day event being organized by the Web site Meetup.com in bowling centers around the country. The Oct. 7 event is designed to give political partisans a breather from the fractious campaigning.
Franken said the bowling match would be an opportunity for O'Reilly "to prove his working class bona fides," alluding to his frequent claim that O'Reilly exaggerates the impoverishment of his upbringing.
Al Franken
Aspen Filmfest Honors
Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas has been honored by the Aspen Filmfest for his contributions to film culture.
Aspen Filmfest Executive Director Laura Thielen said it was the versatility of Douglas' work that stood out, saying he had acted in "every conceivable type of movie, bending and blending genres to reinvent them."
He received the festival's Independent by Nature Award - a silver aspen leaf belt buckle - in a ceremony Wednesday at the Wheeler Opera House.
Michael Douglas
Actor Steve Martin (L), Lorne Michaels (C) and Ben Affleck (R) pose for the photographers during the Directors Guild of America Honors ceremonies in New York, on September 29, 2004.
Photo by Albert Ferreira
Musicians Honor With Concert
Ray Charles
An eclectic lineup of musicians honored Ray Charles in a tribute concert, praising the late singer's rich life and his ability to transcend race and musical genres.
"Make no mistake about it, there will be no pity party," said music producer Quincy Jones, who met Charles when the two were teens.
Performers included Stevie Wonder, country singer Travis Tritt, former Doobie Brother Michael McDonald, and R&B artists James Ingram and Patti Austin. They sang Charles' hits, such as "Georgia On My Mind," "What I'd Say" and "Hit the Road Jack."
Bill Cosby was host of the event, which raised money for the $15 million Morehouse College Center for the Arts in Atlanta. Charles gave the black liberal arts college $2 million to help fund the complex, which will contain a performance space in his name.
Ray Charles
Judge Orders FBI to Release Files
John Lennon
The FBI must turn over the remaining secret files on Beatle John Lennon to a professor who has waged a more than 20-year legal battle to get the documents, a judge ruled.
U.S. District Judge Robert Takasugi rejected government arguments Tuesday that releasing the last 10 pages would pose a national security risk because a foreign government secretly provided the information. The government was not publicly identified.
Jonathan Wiener, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, sued the U.S. government for the documents in 1983 under the Freedom of Information Act. He received 248 pages in 1997 as part of a settlement.
Wiener, a historian, originally sought the files for his 1984 book, "Come Together: John Lennon in His Time." After the 1997 release, he wrote "Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files."
John Lennon
Tears Leg Muscle While Dancing
Beyonce
Beyonce tore a leg muscle rehearsing dance moves with Destiny's Child and her injury could delay some of the group's plan, a record company spokeswoman said Wednesday.
The singer tore her right hamstring, one of the muscles at the back of the knee, while practicing Tuesday in Los Angeles for an upcoming TV special.
The performer was treated by a private sports-injury specialist. She is able to walk, but was advised to steer clear of dancing and other strenuous physical activity for about a week.
Beyonce
80th Birthday Today
Jimmy Carter
Former president Jimmy Carter celebrates his 80th birthday Friday, basking in newfound respect both abroad and from his own Democratic party, which shunned him for many years.
Carter is to celebrate at a low-key ceremony in the museum and bookshop of the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, spokesman Jay Hakes said.
Although he has long been known for his work supervising foreign elections, Carter has re-emerged recently as a player in US politics, with a month to go before the November 2 presidential elections.
In an opinion piece Monday in the Washington Post, Carter said that "basic international requirements" for a fair vote are missing in Florida, scene of a bitter dispute over votes in 2000.
Jimmy Carter
Hans Christian Andersen Bicentennial Goodwill Ambassador
Isabel Allende
Crown Prince Frederik made Chilean novelist Isabel Allende a goodwill ambassador for the upcoming Hans Christian Andersen bicentennial, presenting her with a gold pin and plate in a ceremony fit for a fairy tale.
"A prince, a real prince, has awarded me with a prize in a real fairy-tale castle," Allende said Thursday, prompting laughter from some 200 guests gathered in the ornate Knights' Hall at the Dutch Renaissance-era Rosenborg Castle, which dates back to 1606.
The list of goodwill ambassadors also includes Elizabeth Hurley, Harry Belafonte, Suzanne Vega, Harvey Keitel, Connie Nielsen, Susan Sarandon, Pele, Cathy Freeman and Yao Ming.
Isabel Allende
Unidentified protestes carry a sign asking 'is this your child' referring to a mock coffin, one of 76, symbolizing the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq during the month of September at a pre-presidential debate rally at Coral Gables, Fla. Thursday, Sept. 30, 2004.
Photo by J.Pat Carter
More Acts Join
Ramone's Cancer Benefit
Sonic Youth, David Johansen, Andrew W.K., Sean Lennon and Suicide's Alan Vega have joined the lineup for an Oct. 8 New York show to benefit Cedars Sinai Cancer Research Center and the Lymphoma Cancer Research Foundation.
Before his Sept. 15 death from prostate cancer, Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone was spearheading the event, which also will feature Blondie and the Strokes.
Ramones bassist CJ Ramone and producer Daniel Rey will lead the evening's house band, while the band's original drummer, Tommy Ramone, will read a special message to Ramones fans. Additional acts are expected to come on board.
Ramone's Cancer Benefit
Speaks for Cancer Screening
Fran Drescher
Actress Fran Drescher urged cancer screening tests be included as part of standard women's health care during an appearance at Lifetime Television's WomenRock! concert.
"I know what it is to battle cancer and survive," Drescher, who had uterine cancer in 2000, said Tuesday night. "Early detection is what equals survivors. Our lives are more valuable than the insurance companies' profit margins."
Also part of this year's lineup was Blondie, Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson and soul singer Angie Stone. Organizers said newly reunited pop trio Wilson Phillips had to drop out after Wendy Wilson gave birth to her second child recently.
Blondie lead singer Deborah Harry teamed with Manson for a duet, then tossed yellow roses to the crowd during an abbreviated version of Blondie's '80s hit "Heart of Glass."
The concert, hosted by actress Vivica A. Fox, will air Oct. 28 on Lifetime.
Fran Drescher
Hurt in Mishap
Debbie Matenopoulos
"Good Day Live" co-host Debbie Matenopoulos was briefly hospitalized after a show segment about firefighter training went awry.
Matenopoulos landed incorrectly on an air bag after a practice fall from a three-story building Wednesday at a downtown fire station, according to show producer Twentieth Television.
She was taken to Cedars-Sinai Hospital for examination and observation for a possible head injury and was released Wednesday evening, studio spokesman Les Eisner said. She did not suffer a concussion, he said Thursday.
Debbie Matenopoulos
'Smile' - 38 Years Later
Brian Wilson
Surf's up, aboard a tidal wave of events tied to this past Tuesday's release of Brian Wilson's finally completed magnum opus "Smile" from Nonesuch Records.
On Sunday, two full performances of the work were taped at a Burbank soundstage for a DVD release in April by Warner Home Video.
Thursday (Sept. 30), Wilson kicks off a monthlong tour featuring complete performances of "Smile"; stops will include Carnegie Hall in New York (Oct. 12-13) and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (Nov. 2-3). And on Tuesday, Showtime will premiere "Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson and the Story of Smile," a startling feature documentary about the arduous birthing of the album, directed by David Leaf, Wilson's longtime Boswell.
It took only 38 years to realize the project.
"Smile" was of course earmarked as a project for Wilson's band, the Beach Boys. The back story is the stuff of legend.
Brian Wilson
Calls Africa AIDS, Poverty a Crisis
Bono
Rock star Bono called Wednesday on Europe and the United States to do more to tackle the scourge of AIDS and poverty in Africa and said the continent was "bursting into flames."
The front man of the Irish band U2 is well known as an activist for the world's poor and brought his campaign for fair trade, debt relief and increased assistance for developing countries to the governing Labour Party's annual conference.
Bono told delegates that 6,500 Africans were "dying a day of treatable, preventable disease, dying for want of medicines you and I can get at our local chemist."
Bono
Brothers Gregg Spiridellis, left, and Evan pose at the offices of JibJab Media Inc., Thursday, Sept. 30, 2004, in Santa Monica, Calif. The brothers created an online animated Flash video that pokes fun at Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and resident Bush, with a spoof sung to Woody Guthrie's tune 'This Land is Your Land.'
Photo by Kevork Djansezian
Making Cereals Whole Grain
General Mills
The Trix Rabbit and that Lucky Charms leprechaun are going on a whole-grain diet. General Mills announced Thursday that it will convert all of its breakfast cereals to whole grain.
The nation's No. 2 cereal producer behind Kellogg Co. is the latest food company to give its products a nutritional makeover as pressure grows from the government and consumer groups to make children's food healthier.
General Mills spokesman Tom Johnson said the whole-grain conversion will include 29 cereals, including Trix, Golden Grahams, Lucky Charms and Rice Chex. Other General Mills cereals, such as Wheaties, Cheerios and Total, already were made with whole grain.
The new recipes and packaging will be launched in October, Johnson said. He declined to say whether the change would affect General Mills' manufacturing costs, but the company said it would not increase the price retailers pay for cereal.
General Mills
Celebrates 50th Anniversary on TV
Lassie
In the early 1950s, when television sent Hollywood into the doldrums and studios were thinning their contract lists, some stars began appearing in their own TV series. Among them: Lucille Ball, Loretta Young, Donna Reed - and Lassie.
The talented collie had become a full-fledged star with MGM's much-loved "Lassie Come Home" in 1943 and six more hit movies after that, only to be pink-slipped in 1951.
But Lassie came back. On a Sunday night as the 1954 fall TV season got under way, a new four-legged franchise was born when CBS premiered its "Lassie" TV series. In the years that followed, the loyal collie would become one of the planet's most beloved animals.
At the peak of Lassie's career, the dog was allowed to travel on airplanes with trainer Rudd Weatherwax, with one airline even calling to find out how the dog would like his steak cooked.
For a lot more, Lassie
An undated handout photograph shows the missing leaf from the Sforza Book of Hours - an illuminated miniature depicting the occupations of the month of October - acquired by the British Library in London, September 30, 2004. A page stolen more than 500 years ago from a celebrated Italian book of prayers, one of the most lavish books of the Italian Renaissance, has finally been recovered, the British Library said on Thursday.
Carrying Michael Jackson's Twins?
Sholeh Bocchelli
An actress in Los Angeles is reportedly claiming that she is pregnant with pop star Michael Jackson's twin sons following IVF treatment.
Sholeh Bocchelli, 35, was originally due to give birth to quads but was forced to abort two of the babies on medical advice, the Sun newspaper in London said in a report from Los Angeles.
Jackson, 46, who earlier this month appeared in a California court on charges of molesting a 13-year-old boy, has denied on his Internet site that he is the father of Bocchelli's children.
Sholeh Bocchelli
Would Have Been 100 Saturday
Graham Greene
Graham Greene, who was born 100 years ago on Saturday, was a rarity in an increasingly parochial literary world -- a genuine internationalist with a keen political awareness who nevertheless refused to consider himself as a political writer.
Were he alive today, though, it is clear that his avowed anti-Americanism would have made him a keen opponent of the US involvement in Iraq, just as he was highly critical of the Vietnam war and, later, of president Ronald Reagan's foreign policy.
Not only did he characterise the dangers of American imperialism, as he saw it, in Vietnam in his novel "The Quiet American", but he was openly scathing of the war, telling V.S. Naipaul in a 1967 interview, recently resurrected and republished to mark the centenary of his birth: "The Vietnam war is not only horrible but foolish ... There is something menacing about great power combined with great foolishness."
Graham Greene
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. 20-26. Each ratings point represents 1,096,000 households. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses.
1. NFL Football: Tampa Bay vs. Oakland (Sunday, 8:28 p.m.), ESPN, 6.4, 6.99 million homes.
2. Auto Racing: Dover (Sunday, 1:05 p.m.), TNT, 3.2, 3.45 million homes.
3. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), Spike, 3.0, 3.31 million homes.
4. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.0, 3.26 million homes.
5. "Law & Order" (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 3.0, 3.23 million homes.
6. "WWE Raw Zone" (Monday, 10 p.m.) Spike, 2.9, 3.16 million homes.
7. Auto Racing: Dover Wreck (Sunday, 2:36 p.m.), TNT, 2.9, 3.14 million homes.
8. "NFL Prime Time" (Sunday, 7:30 p.m.), ESPN, 2.7, 3 million homes.
9. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.7, 2.99 million homes.
10. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Sunday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.6, 2.83 million homes.
11. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.6, 2.8 million homes.
12. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.5, 2.73 million homes.
13. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodoen, 2.5, 2.73 million homes.
14. "Nip/Tuck" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), FX, 2.5, 2.7 million homes.
15. "The O'Reilly Factor" (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 2.5, 2.7 million homes.
Ratings
A newly born yet to be named baby elephant nestles underneath his mother at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, England Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2004. The four-day-old calf weighed 140 pounds when he was born to his 20 year old mother Azizah after a 22 month pregnancy.
Photo by Chris Young
