Recommended Reading
from Bruce
WHY JERRY BROWN WILL BE THE NEXT GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA
"Note: the woman in this 30-second spot is his opponent." - Andrew Tobias
Tom Danehy: Ten really bad things that could happen on Election Day
Now that Rip Van Obama has awakened from his 20-something-month slumber and is back on the trail reminding us why we voted for him, things might be looking up slightly for next Election Day-but it will still probably be a bleak night. Here are 10 things that I really don't want to happen, in order from Relatively Sucko to Potentially Life-Altering.
Clarence Page: O'Donnell was right (chicagotribune.com)
Some people love the U.S. Constitution so much that they just can't wait to change it.
Susan Estrich: What Should Happen in Nevada (creators.com)
Harry Reid should win.
Jim Hightower: THE CORPORATE ASSAULT ON AN HONEST SENATOR
If you look at the whole flock of 535 congress critters, it's hard not to giggle - or break out in uncontrollable sobs at the thought that - oh my God! - this is the United States Congress. As Peggy Lee sang years ago: "Is that all there is?" Well, no - within the manure pile, there are quite a few genuine gems, and one of the finest is a fellow who consistently stands for common sense and the common good. He's Russ Feingold, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin.
Russian criminal tattoos: breaking the code (guardian.co.uk)
Soviet prisoners had a secret language - tattoos. Will Hodgkinson deciphers the hidden meaning of skulls, cats, grins and swastikas.
Ray Bradbury, The Art of Fiction No. 203: Interviewed by Sam Weller (The Paris Review)
"You can't learn to write in college. It's a very bad place for writers because the teachers always think they know more than you do-and they don't. They have prejudices."
The Other 'G' Spot (wsj.com)
In "How Intelligence Happens," John Duncan shares with us his fascination with intelligent behavior-and how the brain brings it about. Christopher F. Chabris reviews.
20 Questions: Greil Marcus
Indeed, a skilled bridge-builder who spans the chasm between academia and pop culture, the critic who cut his teeth on Rolling Stone, Creem and The Village Voice has another book out this month, Bob Dylan by Greil Marcus: Writings 1968-2010. We're pleased to have him back with us, this time in the playful framework of PopMatters 20 Questions.
With No Ax to Grind (wsj.com)
With his new autobiography, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards reveals himself in far greater detail than any fan could have hoped for. A Cultural Conversation with Mr. Richards, by the Journal's Jim Fusilli.
Amy Kaufman: Noomi Rapace is not Lisbeth Salander (latimes.com)
She's more feminine, nicer, working on her English and on to the 'Sherlock Holmes' sequel. Her last turn as Stieg Larsson's heroine, in 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest,' hits theaters Friday.
Amy Kaufman: "Noomi Rapace: I'm glad Rooney Mara is a relative unknown" (latimes.com)
Since she was cast in the Salander role several months ago, Mara has faced criticism about whether she could walk in the actress' footsteps.
David Bruce has 39 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $39 you can buy 9,750 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," and "Maximum Cool."
Hubert's Poetry Corner
"The Last Prisoner of Qari"
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The 'Call it as ya See it' Edition...
The 2010 Mid-term Elections. No media intro or links are needed, I'm thinkin'...
We all know what's at stake here... So, gaze into yer Crystal Ball, break out the Ouija board, shuffle the Tarot cards, read yer tea leaves or just take a wild-ass guess and make yer prediction on the outcome, if'n ya dare...
The Democrats will:
1.) Retain the majority in both the House and the Senate
2.) Lose the House, but retain the Senate
3.) Retain the House, but lose the Senate
4.) Worse case scenario... and you know what that is, dagnabbit!
Predictions will be posted the morning of November 2nd.
... and may The Force be with us!
Send your response to
wrote:
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From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Lower Trail Lake
Vic in AK
Wifey and I went hiking around Lower Trail Lake where we found a huge stash of late season High & Low Bush Cranberries that we made up into syrup for Sourdough Pannycakes in the morning, we disturbed a bear snoozing so made a gracious exit with pepper spray at the ready.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and warm.
Launches Documentary Series
TCM
That bastion of old films, Turner Classic Movies, is making its most dramatic foray yet into original programming.
TCM will broadcast the seven-part documentary series "Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood" beginning Monday. The series will run for seven weeks and cover Hollywood's history from 1890-1970. Movies from the eras covered in the series will air after each episode.
Robert Osborne, the face of TCM, is quick to caution that the series doesn't represent a change in programming philosophy for the cable station. He says it's still all about the movies at Turner Classic.
The project is the brainchild of executive producer Bill Haber, who turned to documentary filmmaker Jon Wilkman to write and direct it. Wilkman spent 2 1/2 years on it.
TCM
Nashville Flood Benefit
Garth Brooks
County music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood said Thursday they will play a concert in December to benefit flood relief in middle Tennessee.
Brooks made the announcement during a news conference Thursday morning at the state capital that was attended by Gov. Phil Bredesen, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and a host of other politicians.
He formally retired about a decade ago to spend more time with his children and Yearwood. But he began performing at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas last December, and expects to do 15 weeks of shows a year at least until his youngest daughter graduates from high school.
The benefit will be held Dec. 17 at Bridgestone Arena and tickets will go for $25. Information on how to buy tickets will be released Nov. 3.
Garth Brooks
Plummer Joins Reunion
"Sound of Music"
Liesl admitted she had a crush on Christopher Plummer's Captain von Trapp, and Plummer said he dubbed "The Sound of Music," "The Sound of Mucus," as the entire von Trapp family cast reunited for the first time in 45 years.
In a broadcast of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Thursday, the 80 year-old Plummer, who has been reluctant over the years to even talk about the movie, joined Julie Andrews and the seven actors who played the children in the beloved 1965 Oscar-winning film for a session of reminiscing.
The award-winning stage actor who had never before done a group interview with the rest of the cast since the movie was released, said he nicknamed the film "Sound of Mucus" because, "there needed to be a cynic of some kind around to stop it from getting too saccharine."
Plummer recalled that drinking sessions in Austria, in gaps between shooting, had left him too big for his costume as the stern widower who whistles for his children.
"Sound of Music"
Video Goes Viral
Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin's status as an extraordinary talent was already known. A new Web video would have him be a visionary, too.
A video from a bonus feature of the DVD to Chaplin's 1928 film "The Circus" shows a woman talking into something she's holding up to her ear.
It appears to be a mobile phone, although they weren't invented until the 1970s. It's likely the actor is holding a hearing aid, but that hasn't stopped the video from amassing more than two million views on YouTube.
The clip was discovered and uploaded by Irish filmmaker George Clarke. He claimed the person is a time traveler and that "you just can't explain it."
Charlie Chaplin
Tasteless Blog
Marie Claire
A Marie Claire magazine blogger who slammed "fatties" and the "obese" stars of new TV comedy "Mike & Molly" apologized on Wednesday after complaints from tens of thousands of readers.
In a blog post called "Should 'Fatties' Get a Room? (Even on TV)", Marie Claire's sex and relationship blogger Maura Kelly wrote this week that she would be "grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other...I'd be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything."
Kelly called the "Mike & Molly" characters "downright obese", adding that she finds it "aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room" even in real life.
Kelly said on Wednesday she regretted having upset so many people. "I would really like to apologize for the insensitive things I've said in this post. Believe it or not, I never wanted anyone to feel bullied or ashamed after reading this."
Marie Claire
Bun In The Oven
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is going to have to add lullabies to her repertoire.
The superstar singer confirmed on NBC's "Today" show Thursday that she and husband Nick Cannon are expecting their first child. Carey says the baby is due in the spring.
Carey had declined to discuss her pregnancy, the subject of rampant speculation for months, until now.
Mariah Carey
NZ Bows To Warners
"The Hobbit"
After a day of angry debate, the New Zealand parliament has bowed to the will of Warner Bros., passing labour legislation designed to keep production of "The Hobbit" in New Zealand.
The legislation, which impedes or prevents unionization of film industry workers in the country, passed 66-50 on a party-line vote Friday local time, with the ruling centre-right National Party and its partners in favour, and centre-left Labour and the Greens opposed.
National emphasized the financial benefit of retaining the "Hobbit" production in country and described the legislation as a clarification of existing law. Labour, in contrast, charged angrily that the move "reduced New Zealand to a client state of a U.S. movie studio."
Under the new legislation, workers involved with film or video game production will be independent contractors rather than employees, unless they enter into an agreement that provides that they are employees. Independent contractors cannot collectively bargain under New Zealand law.
"The Hobbit"
Jury Convicts 2 Of 3
Anna Nicole Smith
A jury on Thursday convicted Anna Nicole Smith's psychiatrist and boyfriend of conspiring to use false names to obtain prescription drugs for the former Playboy model and reality TV star but acquitted the doctor who prescribed a plethora of drugs for her.
Prosecutors contended during the nine-week trial that the defendants were dazzled by Smith's glamor and filled her demands for prescription drugs to protect their insider status in her personal life and her celebrity world.
The jury was asked to decide if the three defendants were trying to relieve Smith's emotional and physical pain or were feeding her addiction to prescription drugs.
Smith eventually died of an accidental drug overdose in Florida in 2007, but the defendants were not charged in her death.
Anna Nicole Smith
Bigot Resigning
Clint McCance
A school board member who posted on Facebook that he thinks gay youths should kill themselves announced Thursday night that he would quit, hours after protesters rallied outside of a high school to call for his resignation.
In an appearance on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," Clint McCance he would resign from his school board seat "to help my school, my community," though he said he might run again for the board in the future.
McCance said he had been made aware that the way he expressed them was hurtful. He said the language he had used in his Facebook posts was "too harsh ... too emotional" and apologized if his remarks approving gays committing suicide had hurt anybody.
In a follow-up response to Facebook users who criticized his comments, McCance wrote that he liked that gay people "can't procreate (and) I also enjoy the fact that they often give each other AIDS and die."
Clint McCance
Runs Afoul
Ted Nugent
Rocker and celebrity hunter Ted Nugent may have run afoul of South Dakota game laws by shooting pheasants after some of his hunting privileges were revoked in California.
South Dakota honors other states' license revocations through the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, and a state law doesn't differentiate between large game, such as deer, and small game, such as pheasant.
California revoked Nugent's deer hunting license on Aug. 13 after he pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges.
According to Nugent's online Twitter posts, the 61-year-old was hunting pheasants Oct. 16 in southwest South Dakota.
South Dakota officials on Thursday wouldn't confirm or deny an investigation. Nugent's spokeswoman was trying Thursday to reach him for comment.
Ted Nugent
Says He's A Victim, Not Crazy
Randy Quaid
Hollywood actor Randy Quaid, who has sought asylum in Canada, said on Thursday he is not crazy but rather the victim of a criminal conspiracy to take his wealth, and perhaps his life.
Quaid, his voice at times cracking with emotion, read a statement alleging a long-standing plot by former business associates, who he has called "star whackers", to steal money through secret business deals and court cases.
He repeated an allegation he made last week that eight of his acting friends have been secretly murdered in recent years, and that he believes other Hollywood stars are being "played to get at their money."
He declined to answer questions after reading the statement. Evi Quaid did not attend the hearing, which was set to resume November 8.
Randy Quaid
Sells 4 London Theatres
Andrew Lloyd Webber
British composer and impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber is selling four of his company's seven London musical theatres in order to reduce debt, he said on Thursday.
Webber's Really Useful Group (RUG) will sell the Palace, Her Majesty's, the Cambridge and the New London, with a combined seating capacity of 4,900 seats.
The group described them as "mid-sized" music houses. It will retain the larger Palladium, Theater Royal Drury Lane and its 50 percent interest in the Adelphi, which together represent 6,100 seats.
Proceeds of the sale, details of which were not given, will be used to invest in and develop the Palladium and the Theater Royal Drury Lane, as well as cutting debt. A major reconstruction of the Palladium's front of house is already underway.
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of Oct. 18-24. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. American League Championship Series, Game 6: Texas vs. N.Y. Yankees (Friday, 8 p.m.), TBS, 8.33 million homes, 11.86 million viewers.
2. American League Championship Series, Game 4: N.Y. Yankees vs. Texas (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), TBS, 7.26 million homes, 9.84 million viewers.
3. NFL Football: Tennessee vs. Jacksonville (Monday, 8:30 p.m.), ESPN, 7.15 million homes, 9.66 million viewers.
4. American League Championship Series, Game 3: N.Y. Yankees vs. Texas (Monday, 8 p.m.), TBS, 6.01 million homes, 8.21 million viewers.
5. American League Championship Series, Game 5: N.Y. Yankees vs. Texas (Wednesday, 4 p.m.), TBS, 4.72 million homes, 6.1 million viewers.
6. "Jersey Shore 2" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), MTV, 4.19 million homes, 6.06 million viewers.
7. "Inside the MLB" (Friday, 11:18 p.m.), TBS, 3.49 million homes, 4.76 million viewers.
8. "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf" (Saturday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.46 million homes, 5.81 million viewers.
9. "The O'Reilly Factor" (Thursday, 8 p.m.), Fox News, 3.31 million homes, 4.28 million viewers.
10. "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.24 million homes, 4.98 million viewers.
11. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.23 million homes, 4.27 million viewers.
12. "NCIS," (Wednesday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.18 million homes, 4.09 million viewers.
13. "WWE Entertainment" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.13 million homes, 4.53 million viewers.
14. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.1 million homes, 3.98 million viewers.
15. "Pawn Stars" (Monday, 10:30 p.m.), History, 3.089 million homes, 4.24 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
James Wall
James Wall, Captain Kangaroo's neighbor "Mr. Baxter" on the children's show and longtime stage manager for CBS News, has died. He was 92.
The former vaudevillian joined the popular children's show in 1962 as a stage manager before persuading the show's producers to create its first black character in 1968.
Wall was a stage manager for many CBS broadcasts over the years, including "60 Minutes," "Face the Nation," and the US Open Tennis Championships.
James Wall
In Memory
James MacArthur
Stage and screen actor James MacArthur, who played "Danno" in the original version of television's "Hawaii Five-0," died Thursday at age 72.
In a career that spanned more than four decades, MacArthur was most recognized for his role as Detective Danny "Danno" Williams on "Hawaii Five-0," which aired from 1968 to 1980. Episodes often ended with detective Steve McGarret, the lead character, uttering what became a pop culture catch phrase: "Book 'em, Danno."
Jack Lord, who starred as McGarret, died in 1998.
MacArthur, born Dec. 8, 1937, seemed destined to become an actor. He was the adopted son of playwright Charles MacArthur and Helen Hayes, an award-winning actress often referred to as "First Lady of the American Theatre." Silent film star Lillian Gish was his godmother.
His breakout role was in the 1957 "Climax!" television series production of "The Young Stranger," in which he starred as the 17-year-old son of a movie executive who has a run-in with the law.
As a young actor, MacArthur appeared in the Walt Disney movies "Kidnapped," "Third Man on the Mountain," "Swiss Family Robinson" and "The Light in the Forest."
He also had roles in "The Interns, "Spencer's Mountain," "Battle of the Bulge" and "Hang 'Em High," as well as many guest roles on TV series such as "Gunsmoke."
He performed in many stage plays, including the lead role of Hildy Johnson in a 1981 production of "The Front Page," which was co-written by his father in the late 1920s, at the Stanford Community Theatre in Palo Alto, Calif.
MacArthur said that one of his favorite "Hawaii Five-O" episodes was a 1975 segment called "Retire in Sunny Hawaii Forever" because it marked one of the rare times that he worked on screen with his mother. Hayes played Danno's Aunt Clara, who visits Hawaii and helps the detectives solve a murder.
James MacArthur
In Memory
Lisa Blount
Lisa Blount, an actress and Oscar-winning filmmaker, was found dead in her home in Little Rock, Ark., on Wednesday by her mother. She was 53.
According to Pulaski County Coroner Garland Camper, Blount likely died Monday. He said there were no signs of foul play.
Blount, as producer, and her husband Roy McKinnon, as director and star, won Academy Awards in 2002 when "The Accountant" was named best live-action short film.
Blount received a Golden Globe nomination for her supporting turn as the best friend of Debra Winger's character in "An Officer and a Gentleman." Her other credits included "Prince of Darkness" and "Great Balls of Fire!"
Blount recently filmed the pilot for FX's "Outlaw Country." A native of Arkansas, she and McKinnon moved to Little Rock in 2005.
Lisa Blount
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