Garrison Keillor: The skinny guy's time has arrived
I was messing around in Tulsa last week and got talking with a big, burly man with a McCain/Palin pin on his blue blazer who told me he was descended from yellow-dog Democrats who thought the sun rose and set over FDR and Republicans were people who wore spats and top hats and sailed off Newport, R.I. So I told him that my Republican ancestors believed that only lazy people were unemployed in the 1930s. He said, "So each of us is heading back to where the other one is coming from." He found that rather amusing. I said, "If that's so, I hope you're ready to be good and poor and endure some hard Minnesota winters."
JOSEPH WILSON: E-books get some traction (nowtoronto.com)
I've been slamming the e-book concept for years. I've argued that readers in love with the crinkle of a novel's pages (myself included) would never accept an electronic substitute. Yet newspaper subscriptions and fiction sales continue to free-fall, and at last month's Word On The Street festival, Sony's e-reader booth was jammed with excited customers.
John Mark Eberhart: Dearth of scary tales haunts us (McClatchy Newspapers)
I am really jonesin' for a fright. But it's hard to be haunted these days. I am sorry to say that when it comes to ghost stories, I have absolutely nothing new to read this Halloween. Has the ghost story itself passed away? I fear the answer is yes.
Mike Farley: A Chat with Snow Patrol drummer Jonny Quinn (bullz-eye.com)
"We've created our own sound on this album. We've got no ballad in the sense of we don't have a 'Chasing Cars' and that was a conscious decision. I think if we did, we would just be crucified for treading the certain path of guaranteed sales."
What is popularly regarded as 'The Celtic New Year'?
A Beltane
B Boxing Day
C Midsummer's Night Eve
D Samhain
E St. Patrick's Day
Source
Samhain is a festival on the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture, with aspects of a Festival of the Dead. It is popularly regarded as 'The Celtic New Year'
Source
mj was first, but wrong, with:
Let's see
I got married on Walpurgisnacht, and that was a beginning of sorts, so I'm thinking A, Beltane, the spring, renewal type festival
Jim from CA replied correctly:
Samhain
Alan J answered:
D Samhain
Charlie responded:
It's called
D Samhain
which (surprise) has something to do with Halloween.
Adam in NoHo answered:
D- Samhain; Halloween.
Sally said:
'The Celtic New Year' begins with the festival of Samhain on 31 October (D) when nature appears to be dying down. Tellingly, the first month of the Celtic year is Samonios, ¡Seed Fall.¢ IOWs, from death and darkness springs life and light.
Best regards from you ethnically Celtic, but culturally Jewish reader (and fan),
socdan replied:
I hear it's samhain (at my house, we rend the veil between the hard world and the spirit world and have dinner with dead folk...), although many self respecting celts would say that beltaine is really the annual new beginning...
Marian the Teacher replied:
Samhain
MAM responded:
D Samhain
Samhain is the cross quarter of the astronomical year, half way between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture, and is generally regarded as the Celtic New Year.
The Celtic year was divided into two seasons: the light and the dark, celebrating the light at Beltane on May 1st and the dark at Samhain on November 1st. Therefore, the feast of Samhain marks one of the two great doorways of the Celtic year. Some believe that Samhain was the more important festival, since it marked the beginning of a new dark-light cycle. The Celts observed time as proceeding from darkness to light because they understood that in dark silence comes whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of the seed below the ground.
CBS begins the night with a FRESH'Ghost Whisperer', followed by a RERUN'NCIS', then a FRESH'NUMB3RS'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Marcia Cross, Alan Zweibel, and George Clinton, plus a big pumpkin gets blowed up real good.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Lauren Graham and the Damned.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH'Deal Or No Deal', followed by a FRESH'Crusoe', then a FRESH'Lipstick Jungle'.
Scheduled on a FRESHLeno are Elizabeth Banks, Jack McBrayer, and Death Cab for Cutie.
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Mary-Kate Olsen, Will Forte, and Tom Nardone.
On a RERUNCarson 'The Scab' Daly (from 9/29/08) are Kat Dennings and the Airborne Toxic Event.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH'Wife Swap', followed by a FRESH'Supernanny', then another unwatchable '20/20'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Nicolette Sheridan, Craig Robinson, and N.E.R.D.
The CW offers a FRESH'Everybody Hates Chris', followed by a FRESH'The Game', then a RERUN'America's Next Top Model'.
Faux has a FRESH'Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?', followed by a FRESH'Don't Forget The Lyrics!'.
MY fills the night with a FRESH'WWE Friday Night Steroid SmackDown!'.
PLEASE check local PBS listings for a FRESH'Bill Moyers Journal', and a FRESH'NOW With Bill Moyers David Brancaccio'.
AMC offers the movie 'Constantine', followed by the movie 'Resident Evil', then the movie 'House On Haunted Hill'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 15
[12:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 16
[1:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 8 La Gondola
[2:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Episode 10
[3:00 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 22 Wetherby 54
[3:30 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 23 Newark 63
[4:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 11
[4:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 12
[5:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 17
[5:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 18
[6:00 PM] Newsnight - Episode 34
[7:00 PM] BBC World News America
[8:00 PM] Monty Python's Flying Circus - Ep. 4 Hamlet
[8:40 PM] Monty Python's Flying Circus - Ep. 5 Mr. Neutron
[9:20 PM] Catherine Tate Show, The - Episode 4
[10:00 PM] Newsnight - Episode 34
[11:00 PM] Monty Python's Flying Circus - Ep. 4 Hamlet
[11:40 PM] Monty Python's Flying Circus - Ep. 5 Mr. Neutron
[12:20 AM] The Catherine Tate Show - Episode 4
[1:00 AM] Monty Python's Flying Circus - Ep. 4 Hamlet
[1:40 AM] Monty Python's Flying Circus - Ep. 5 Mr. Neutron
[2:20 AM] The Catherine Tate Show - Episode 4
[3:00 AM] The Graham Norton Show - Ep 7 Alanis Morrisette and Dame Edna Everage
[4:00 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 22 Wetherby 54
[4:30 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 23 Newark 63
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 5 Maddison
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 6 Chislett
[6:00 AM] BBC World News - BBC World News (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has all 'The 100 Scariest Movie Moments' all night.
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', last night's 'Jon Stewart', last night's 'Colbert Report', 'Chappelle's Show', another 'Chappelle's Show', 'Chocolate News', and 'Comedy Central Presents' (Ted Alexandro).
HBO offers a FRESHReal Time with Bill Maher - scheduled guests
include
John Legend, Connie Schultz, and independent conservative Amy Holmes. Plus via satellite, scholar Cornel West and Michael Moore.
FX has the movie 'Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later', followed by the movie 'Ghost Ship'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', another 'Modern Marvels', followed by a FRESH'Gangland', and 'Primal Fear'.
IFC -
[7:00 AM] IFC Short Film Showcase
[8:00 AM] The Honeymoon Killers
[9:50 AM] Hurricane Streets
[11:20 AM] Miller's Crossing
[1:20 PM] Manderlay
[3:45 PM] Hurricane Streets
[5:15 PM] Miller's Crossing
[7:15 PM] Eaten Alive
[8:55 PM] The Burning
[10:30 PM] Z Rock
[11:00 PM] The Whitest Kids U'Know
[11:30 PM] Hell Girl
[12:00 AM] The Razor: Who's Got the Gold?
[1:30 AM] Z Rock
[2:00 AM] The Whitest Kids U'Know
[2:30 AM] Hell Girl
[3:00 AM] The Razor: Who's Got the Gold?
[4:30 AM] Madman (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[06:00 AM] Wetback
[07:35 AM] Street of Crocodiles
[08:00 AM] Flying: Confessions...: Part 5
[09:00 AM] Big Ideas for a Small Planet - Season 2: Fashion
[09:35 AM] Eco Documentaries - Season 2: Escape From Suburbia: Beyond the American Dream
[11:15 AM] Outrageous Wasters: Episode 3
[12:15 PM] Iconoclasts - Season 4: Tony Hawk + Jon Favreau
[01:00 PM] La Moustache
[02:30 PM] Kadosh
[04:30 PM] Street of Crocodiles
[05:00 PM] The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle: Episode 2
[05:30 PM] Marvelous
[07:00 PM] Spider
[08:45 PM] Right at Your Door
[10:15 PM] Subject Two
[12:00 AM] Day Night Day Night
[01:45 AM] Hotel Infinity
[02:00 AM] John Safran vs. God: Episode 1
[02:30 AM] The Hill: Episode 4: What Should Democrats Be Saying?
[03:00 AM] One Punk Under God: Episode 5
[03:30 AM] TransGeneration: Episode 2
[04:00 AM] Marvelous (ALL TIMES EST)
Jimmy Smits speaks at rally on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in Kissimmee, Fla., Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008.
Photo by John Raoux
Rocker Peter Frampton is wishing someone would show him the way to keep his Barack Obama yard signs from getting swiped.
The Grammy winner is complaining that signs showing his preference for the Democratic presidential candidate have been stolen repeatedly at his home in the upscale and predominantly Republican Cincinnati suburb of Indian Hill.
Frampton, 58, is so angry, he called The Cincinnati Enquirer asking to be interviewed.
The British-born singer of "Show Me the Way" and other hits told the newspaper that one reason he became a U.S. citizen was so he could vote. Now, he says his American rights to free speech and political speech are being violated and it bugs him.
Frampton said he has installed a video camera to catch the thieves.
Actress Ashley Judd, left, talks with Valerie Biden Owens, sister of Democratic vice presidential candidate, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., during a Women For Obama event in Chapel Hill, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008. Judd is one of a string of celebrities actively backing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Photo by Gerry Broome
Barack Obama's campaign "infomercial" drew 26.4 million viewers to three major networks, proving modestly more popular than typical prime-time programing, preliminary figures showed on Thursday.
The Democratic presidential candidate's 30-minute message on Wednesday night garnered 2.1 million more viewers on CBS, NBC and Fox combined than those three networks drew in the same half-hour last Wednesday, according to Nielsen Media Research.
For NBC and CBS, the Obama ad marked an audience bump of 43 percent and 11 percent respectively over last week's action drama "Knight Rider" (7 million viewers) and the sitcom "The New Adventures of Old Christine" (7.8 million).
Fox did better last week with its World Series pre-game broadcast -- 9.6 million viewers.
Neil Young has scrapped a Los Angeles concert scheduled for Thursday out of respect to a planned union picket, representatives for the veteran rocker said.
The show was set to take place at The Forum, an indoor arena whose striking workers are engaged in a contract dispute with the venue's owner, Faithful Central Bible Church.
Since Young and his wife Pegi are honorary lifetime members of the workers' union, the Intl. Assn. of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), he decided to scrap the show rather than cross their picket line.
"I am extremely disappointed to have to choose between satisfying my fans or backing my brothers and sisters of the IATSE," Young said in a statement issued late on Wednesday.
"The Exorcist," William Friedkin's 1973 iconic movie, has been voted the best horror film ever made, according to a new poll of British filmgoers published on Thursday.
Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining," the 1980 film remake of Stephen King's classic novel, was placed second in the survey, followed by Ridley Scott's 1979 movie "Alien."
Four other films in the top 10 were released between 1970 and 1984 -- "Halloween" (1978), "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984), "The Wicker Man" (1973), and "The Omen" (1976).
The three others featuring at the top of the list were "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991), "Saw" (2004), and "Ring" (1998).
Actors Danny Devito,right, and Michael Douglas kiss as the arrive to the opening night of the 23rd Annual Israel Film Festival at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008.
Photo by Peter Kramer
Britain's best-known time traveler is ending his journey.
The BBC has announced that Scottish actor David Tennant will leave long-running science fiction series "Doctor Who" in just over a year.
Tennant has played the show's time- and space-traveling alien hero since 2005. He will appear in a Christmas special and four hour-long episodes to be aired in 2009 and early 2010. But he said Wednesday that when the series returns for a full season in 2010, "it won't be with me."
"This show has been so special to me," Tennant said. "I don't want to outstay my welcome."
The head of BBC Radio 2 resigned and Jonathan Ross was suspended for 12 weeks on Thursday over prank phone calls made to actor Andrew Sachs on Britain's most popular radio station.
Lesley Douglas told BBC Director-General Mark Thompson that she took responsibility for the furor over messages left by Ross and Russell Brand on the "Fawlty Towers" actor's answer phone.
Pressure has mounted on the BBC to act all week after the calls drew 30,000 complaints, criticism from Prime Minister Gordon Brown and newspaper condemnation of the corporation's handling of the episode.
Douglas, who was appointed controller of the music and chat station in 2003, said the decision to quit was hers alone.
A drag queen dressed as Republican vice presidential nominee Alaska Governor Sarah Palin runs down the street after the High Heel Drag Race near Dupont Circle in Washington October 28, 2008.
Photo by Molly Riley
British comedy legend John Cleese is happy to be single again at nearly 70 years old, but resents having to pay millions to divorce his third wife, he said in an interview published Thursday.
The 69-year-old, facing an expensive divorce from psychotherapist Alyce Faye Eichelberger, voiced anger at the over one million pounds (1.66 million dollars, 1.26 million euros) a year he has to pay to "feed the beast."
"People would think I'd have enough money, but I do have a very expensive, or comparatively expensive, divorce," he told The Times newspaper.
"I feel angry sometimes. But my anger is not so much about sharing the property but having to go on working hard to provide alimony for someone who's already going to have at least 10 million dollars' worth of property."
It's Halloween, and Anne Rice has a new book - a memoir in fact - that's climbing best-seller lists. Everything is normal, then.
Normal if it were 1994 - the height of Rice's megaselling fame as a queen of Southern Gothic pulp.
For those who haven't been paying attention lately to vampire lit, America's most famous chronicler of bloodsuckers doesn't live in New Orleans anymore - and hasn't since before Hurricane Katrina hit - and she's riding new waves of enthusiasm: the memoir and Christian lit.
Her memoir, "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession," is the latest piece of evidence that Rice is reinventing herself in an attempt to build a reputation as a serious Christian writer.
In this image released by Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 'Smoke Over Rooftops', a piece by cubist painter Fernand Leger, is shown. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has sent the painting back to the heirs of a Jewish art collector in France, after concluding it had been stolen by the Nazis during World War II. The museum had owned the 1911 Leger painting since 1961.
"Otzi," Italy's prehistoric iceman, probably does not have any modern day descendants, according to a study published Thursday.
A team of Italian and British scientists who sequenced his mitochondrial DNA -- which is passed down through the mother's line -- found that Otzi belonged to a genetic lineage that is either extremely rare or has died out.
"Our research suggests that Otzi's lineage may indeed have become extinct," Martin Richards of Leeds University in Britain, who worked on the study, said in a statement.
The findings published in the journal Current Biology reverses previous research from 1994 on a small section of Otzi's DNA that suggested the so-called "Iceman" had relatives living in Europe.
To put it in a tasteful way, a vote in Ohio is determining which White House hopeful is the pick of the litter. The ballot boxes are cat litter boxes in the 2008 "Kitty Caucus" being conducted by the Capital Area Humane Society in Columbus and local radio station WBNS-FM, known as Mix 97.1.
The presidential preferences of the animal shelter's feline residents are being determined by their "votes" dropped into a red box for Republican John McCain and a blue one for Democrat Barack Obama.
Perhaps thankfully, the site doesn't go into detail about how the votes are being counted. But it says McCain was leading Thursday by a close 50 to 49.
Estelle Reiner, who uttered the famous line, "I'll have what she's having," after watching Meg Ryan fake an orgasm in the movie "When Harry Met Sally," died Saturday. She was 94.
Reiner, the wife of actor-director Carl Reiner and mother of Lucas Reiner and Rob Reiner, died of old age at her home in Beverly Hills.
Besides a handful of movie roles, Reiner was a painter and late in life became a jazz singer. During the Vietnam War, she was one of the organizers of the group Another Mother For Peace.
Reiner had small roles in several other movies, including "The Man With Two Brains," which her husband directed, and "Fatso," directed by her friend, the late Anne Bancroft.
Reiner was 65 when she began a career as a jazz singer. Over the next 28 years, she recorded seven albums and performed in clubs in New York and Los Angeles.
In the Halloween spirit, a mama lion, with her nine week old cubs watching, enjoys a meat stuffed pumpkin at the Fort Worth Zoo in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008.
Photo by LM Otero
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