'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Alert
'COUNTING ON DEMOCRACY'
from tim h
In the face of the controversial decision by the PBS network to refuse to
transmit the investigative report, the nation's top PBS stations will independently
broadcast COUNTING ON DEMOCRACY.
Directed by Emmy-award winner Danny Schechter, the 57-minute
documentary follows BBC television reporter Greg Palast as he discovers how Katherine
Harris removed up to 57,000 legal voters from registries - mostly black - five months before
the 2000 election. While the public broadcast network chiefs refused to schedule
this important report, dozens of local stations are insisting on showing the expose
before the mid-term elections.
TONIGHT!!! ~~~>11/1 (12 am) KLCS --- Los Angeles, CA <~~~ TONIGHT!!!
11/3 (1 pm) WLRN --- Miami, FL
11/3 (2 pm) WHUT --- Washington, DC
11/3 (5 pm) WNED --- Buffalo, NY
11/3 (10 pm) WUFM --- Missoula, MT
11/3 (10 pm) WUSM --- Butte - Bozeman, MT
11/4 (Midnight) WNET --- New York, NY
11/5 (10 pm) KCET --- Los Angeles, CA
11/6 (8 pm) WHUT --- Washington, DC
11/24 (1 am) KPBS --- San Diego, CA
For more information - www.globalvision.org/program/fla/fla.html
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Halloween went well here. Had over 200 visitors, most kids. Always creeps me out, but there are some mighty old trick-or-treaters around here - figure it's the bar around the corner.
The kid, decked out in his 'killer whale' costume, brought home pounds of cavity-generating materials.
Earlier, he pointed out how the Disney Channel had NO Halloween programming - it was all Christmas in nature. Bright kid that he is, he also puzzled together that the premiere of
the new Tim Allen as Santa Claus movie was the cause. He also pointed out Toon Disney was doing an all 'Gargoyle' marathon - for 2 days, but this was day 2.
I've been informed that my 'name' has been hijacked, and virii is being sent out in it. Some systems filter out the virii (like hotmail & yahoo), while some (like AOHell) don't. Bottom line, if you get a note from me &
there's a huge file attached - it's NOT from me! If I'm responding, no files will be included without an explanation. Period.
Finally had the opportunity to watch 'Counting On Democracy'. Holy shit! I can see why the 'new' PBS doesn't want it broadcast (if it were post-WWII France, most everyone working for them would be
sporting a shaved head) - talk about damning. Without a doubt, the finest PBS documentary of the new century, and 'they' don't want you to see it. Wow! TV at it's finest!
Tonight, Friday, CBS opens with '48 Hours', then a fresh (and picked up for a whole season) 'Hack', and caps it with a fresh 'Robbery Homicide Division'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave are Don Rickles and Jim Gaffigan.
Scheduled on a fresh Craiggers are Adam Sandler, Mila Kunis, and Shaggy.
NBC offers a fersh 'Providence', 'Dateline', and then a fresh 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
Scheduled on a fresh Jay are Megan Mullally, Jamie Kennedy, and Pink.
Scheduled on a fresh Conan are Eric McCormack, Mykelti Williamson, and Alexandra Pelosi.
Scheduled on a fresh Carson Daly are Thandie Newton, Colin Quinn, Verne Troyer, Rod Stewart, and Damon Wayans.
ABC has 'America's Funniest Home Videos', and then part 1 of the movie 'Gladiator'.
The WB has a fresh 'What I Like About You', a fresh 'Sabrina', a fresh 'Reba', and a fresh 'Greetings From Tucson'.
Faux has a fresh 'Firefly' and a fresh 'John Doe'.
UPN has the movie 'Eraser'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Big Dog Watch Continues
Bill Clinton In Eugene
Former President Bill Clinton and U.S. Senate candidate Bill Bradbury greet the crowd at a 'bring out the vote' rally at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore., Thursday, Oct. 31, 2002. Clinton was in
Eugene in support of Bradbury's campaign against Republican incumbent Gordon Smith.
Photo by GregWahl-Stephens
#31
'Late Show' Visit
Warren Zevon
A terminally ill Warren Zevon joked to David Letterman that his diagnosis "means you better get your dry cleaning done on special."
The singer, one of Letterman's favorite artists, made a poignant appearance on CBS' "Late Show" Wednesday, singing three songs.
Zevon, whose more than three-decades long career began with "Wanted Dead or Alive" in 1969, has been diagnosed with lung cancer.
Zevon said he had suffered from shortness of breath for several months and only saw a doctor after he confided his condition to his dentist.
"I might have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years," the 55-year-old singer said. "It was one of those phobias that didn't pay off."
Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon's Web site
The Late Show
To Conduct Cuban Orchestra
Sir George Martin
George Martin, who produced most of the Beatles' music, will conduct a local orchestra alongside famed Cuban composer Leo Brower during his visit to the Caribbean island this week.
The performance will be held Friday evening. The following day, Martin will give a speech about the Beatles' music.
Sir George Martin
Halloween
'The Other Half'
Co-hosts of the daytime talk show 'The Other Half,' wearing Halloween costumes from left, Dorian Gregory as Tina Turner; Danny Bonaduce as Lucy Ricardo from 'I Love Lucy;' Dick Clark as Dorothy from 'The Wizard of Oz,' and Mario Lopez, as the legendary entertainer Carmen Miranda, take a moment
while taping their annual Halloween special episode at the NBC Studios in Burbank, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 24, 2002, to announce support of Kathy Thompson, who went on strike against household chores until women everywhere are better appreciated by their companions, and who will be on the episode scheduled to air October 31.
Photo by Kathy Hutchins
Faux to Rerun Season Premiere
'24'
Fox has moved quickly to take advantage of the best-ever ratings for its sophomore drama "24."
The season-opening episode, which drew 13.5 million viewers on Tuesday night, will be rerun Monday at 9 p.m. ET. It fills the time slot that had been occupied
by the David E. Kelley legal program "girls club," which was cancelled after two episodes.
The rerun was scheduled to fill that time slot for one week only, but could continue if it does well in the ratings.
'24'
Joining 'Alias' For 3 Episodes
Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway is set to infiltrate "Alias" in a three-episode arc.
The actress is scheduled to start shooting her role on the ABC drama Friday. Episodes featuring Dunaway as head of counterintelligence for the Alliance -- a group of crooked spies
the CIA is trying to bring down -- are expected to air early next year.
Dunaway's character will investigate the death of the wife of Ron Rifkin's character.
Rifkin portrays Arvin Sloane, head of SD-6, for which series lead Jennifer Garner's character Sydney Bristow is a CIA double-agent. Sloane was instructed earlier this season to kill
his wife, played by Amy Irving, because she discovered that SD-6 is not the classified CIA division it's disguised as.
Faye Dunaway
HST Gossip
Josh Hartnett
"Blackhawk Down" star Josh Hartnett will be "scarred for life" by Sen. Paul Wellstone's tragic death, says his pal Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson was at the Chateau Marmont in L.A. meeting
with Hartnett, Nick Nolte, Benicio Del Toro and Johnny Depp about making his book "The Rum Diary" into a movie when they got news that Wellstone's plane had crashed. "It utterly destroyed
Josh Hartnett, age 21, who was on his way back to Minneapolis to personally campaign for Paul Wellstone," Thompson writes in his ESPN.com column. "It will be a nasty scar on his brain for
the rest of his life . . . I was 22 when JFK was murdered, and I will never recover from it. Never. And neither will Josh. Take my word for it. Those things are forever." Thompson almost
died himself trying to open a window at the Marmont, putting his hand through the glass and opening an artery. "I lost enough blood [to] keep two or three people alive for 22 hours," he
writes. "Or at least it looked that way to the manager and the frightened workers dressed in biohazard suits who were ordered to mop up my blood."
Josh Hartnett
Waits For Kidney Donor
Barry White
Deep-voiced soul singer Barry White was resting at home while his search for a kidney donor continued, his manager said.
White, 58, had dialysis treatment in September to stabilize his condition, a complication from years of chronic high blood pressure.
Potential donors include White's own children, Shankman said.
Barry White
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Comedy Central Try-Out
Colin Quinn
Colin Quinn, who spent a couple of years as sole anchor of the Weekend Update segment of "Saturday Night Live," will get a two-week/eight-episode test of a series targeted as a companion piece to "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" on Comedy Central.
The still-untitled half-hour series will feature Quinn and some of his comedian cronies, plus celebrities, sounding off on issues of the day before a studio audience. Some of the banter will be scripted and some spontaneous. The on-air test begins Dec. 9.
After the eighth and final half-hour runs on Dec. 19, the network will assess how well the format works, how well the comedians play off well against each other and whether the comics featured should be permanent or rotating,
said Lauren Corrao, senior VP of original programming for Comedy Central.
In addition, the network will ponder whether the show would be better in another time period, or as a weekly rather than a daily show.
Colin Quinn
Lobpuri, Thailand
Mother & Child
In der einen Hand ihr Baby, in der anderen Hand eine Betäubungsspritze: Eine Äffin sitzt am Mittwoch auf dem Areal eines Palastes in der thailändischen Provinz Lobpuri. An die 300 Affen leben auf dem Gelände des Palastes. Die Tiere leiden an einer Hautkrankheit.
Thailändische Soldaten betäuben die Tiere, um sie einer medizinischen Behandlung unterziehen zu können. Die Palast-Affen gelten als eine touristische Attraktion.
Photo by Sukree Sukplang
Bruce Willis Pic
Stuntman Presumed Dead
A stuntman is presumed dead after shooting a scene for the upcoming Bruce Willis actioner "Tears of the Sun."
As of late Wednesday, the Coast Guard was still searching for Michael Barber, a day after he and seven other parachutists leapt from a plane and were supposed to land on California's Pismo Beach.
In the Revolution Studios picture, Willis plays a Special Ops commander who leads his team into the jungle of Nigeria to rescue a doctor, played by Monica Bellucci, who will only go with them if they agree to rescue 70 refugees.
Stuntman Presumed Dead
Hospital News
Kevin Costner
Actor-director Kevin Costner is recuperating at his Los Angeles area home following surgery last week to remove his appendix, a spokesman said.
The surgery was described as a common appendectomy and wasn't serious.
"He is recovering at his home in Los Angeles for two weeks. He has another week at home," publicist Paul Bloch said Wednesday. There were no other details.
Kevin Costner
Donates to NYU
Clive Davis
Record executive Clive Davis has donated $5 million to create a department of recorded music at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
Thanks to Davis, who graduated from NYU, the Tisch School said Wednesday it will create the first degree in the country that focuses on record producing as an artistic discipline.
The Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music will offer a four-year undergraduate program that educates students in all aspects of contemporary recorded music.
Davis is founder, chairman and chief executive officer of J Records. He graduated from NYU in 1953, and from Harvard Law School in 1956. Successively head of Columbia Records, Arista
and J Records, Davis has signed artists such as Janis Joplin; Blood, Sweat and Tears; Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen.
Clive Davis
Tisch School of the Arts Web site
BartCop TV!
New Toy
John Travolta
The 747 jumbo jet predates "Saturday Night Fever" and even "Welcome Back Kotter," so it was somehow fitting that actor John Travolta, king of the
career makeover, should take the key to the newest version of The Boeing Co.'s flagship, 34-year-old jet.
Boeing on Wednesday delivered its first 747-400ER, or Extended Range jet, handing the key to Travolta, a trained pilot who has been hired by Australian carrier Qantas Airways as its ambassador at large.
"You know what they say, `If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going,'" said Travolta, who was wearing a pilot's uniform and recently flew around the world in a Boeing 707
for Qantas. "You guys are my movie stars."
The jet, the first of six to be delivered to Qantas, is Boeing's first redesign of the 747 since 1993. With structural changes, an additional fuel tank and stronger fuselage and landing gear, the new jet
can carry 15,000 more pounds of people or cargo and can fly about 410 nautical miles farther — 7,760 miles — than existing 747-400s.
The 747-400 sells for between $185 million and $211 million, with freighters costing as much as $215 million, the highest-priced Boeing commercial planes currently in service. Boeing believes there's a market
for 1,000 or more of planes of the 747-size or larger in the next 20 years.
John Travolta
Halloween
Regis, Gelman & Kelly
Regis Philbin, left, and co-host Kelly Ripa, right, of 'Live With Regis and Kelly' played role reversal dressing as each other for their Halloween program, in New York Thuersday Oct. 31, 2002. They flank the show's producer Michael Gelman dressed as Britney Spears.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No Such Thing As Bad Publicity?
Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe has ripped off the Red Cross after promising to aid victims of the Bali bombing. The surly star of "A Beautiful Mind" and "Gladiator" had agreed to tape an
appeal for an Oct. 20 Australian Red Cross telethon that raised relief funds for the mostly Aussie victims. He insisted that the camera crew travel to Mexico, where he is
making the Napoleonic naval epic "Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World." But when the five-man crew got there, Crowe flat-out refused to participate, leaving the
Red Cross with a big bill for expenses and nothing to show for it. "He should be ashamed of himself," a TV exec involved with the project fumed to the London Sun. "It would
have taken 10 minutes of his time. This telethon was put together in days and we didn't have a second to waste." Crowe's rep told the paper: "The film Russell is working on
in Mexico is somewhat behind schedule and as a result additional rehearsals and filming have to take precedence over everything else . . . Russell was set to record something,
but at the last minute he could not leave the shoot to do this." Luckily, Nicole Kidman and Kylie Minogue found time to help.
Russell Crowe
Ask to be Left Alone
Thalia's Sisters
Two sisters of Mexican Latin Grammy performer Thalia, freed after relatives paid a ransom to kidnappers, are pleading to the press and public to leave them alone.
Laura Zapata and Ernestina Sodi were kidnapped Sept. 22 after they left a play in which Zapata had a starring role. Zapata was released 18 days later, and Sodi was freed on Saturday.
Appearing outside her Mexico City home on Tuesday, Zapata objected to reports that the ransom payment was in the millions.
Zapata said Thalia's husband, Sony Music Chairman Tommy Mottola, did not help pay the ransom.
The family asked police to stay out of the case and hired a private team to carry out negotiations with the kidnappers.
Thalia's Sisters
'Mole' Roles
'Celebs'
ABC has finished casting -- and shooting -- its celeb edition of "The Mole."
"Spin City" co-star Michael Boatman, "L.A. Law" vet Corbin Bernsen, "Living Single" regular Kim Coles and "Dinotopia" thesp Erik von Detten all signed on to participate in the six-week series, which is likely to bow in January.
They joined previously announced players Stephen Baldwin, Kathy Griffin and Frederique.
The show quietly wrapped production earlier this month following nearly two weeks of on-location production in Hawaii. Former NBA commentator Ahmad Rashad is replacing Anderson Cooper as host.
Exec producer Scott Stone said he and partner David Stanley had been worried about finding celebs to sign on to a show like "The Mole," which requires them to commit a significant chunk of time to production. But shooting in Hawaii -- as well
as allowing celebs to bring along one friend or family member during the trip -- helped producers in the casting process.
What's more, the fact that there are no vote-offs in "The Mole" ensured no celebrity egos would be too seriously bruised in the making of the program.
'Celebs'
Faux Takes It A Notch Lower
Arranged Marriage Series
Take "American Idol," add a bit of "The Bachelor" and sprinkle in the arranged marriage element of "Monsoon Wedding" -- and you've got the idea behind Fox's next big reality franchise.
The network is developing "Married by America," a weekly reality series that will search for folks hungry to get hitched -- and then set them up with arranged marriages. The American
viewing public will play matchmaker, voting on which couples will get engaged.
The concept borrows from a practice that, while rare in the United States, is prevalent in many other cultures.
Arranged Marriage Series
Well, hell, gotta take exception to this one...all 4 of my dad's sisters had marriages that were arranged.
Secret Nerve Gas Tested In 1967
Hawaii
The military secretly tested sarin nerve agent in a Hawaii forest preserve in 1967, the Pentagon acknowledged Thursday in the latest disclosures about Cold War-era testing of biological and chemical weapons.
Other secret tests in Hawaii in 1966 and the Panama Canal Zone in 1963 released a germ meant as a harmless stand-in for the bacteria that cause anthrax, the Defense Department said. A 1966 experiment in an
undisclosed "tropical jungle type environment" involved spraying tear gas on unprotected U.S. military volunteers.
The Defense Department released summaries of five chemical and biological weapons tests Thursday. The disclosures were part of an effort to research and make public such tests from the 1960s and 1970s to
alert veterans who may have been exposed.
The tests were part of Project 112, a military program in the 1960s and 1970s to test chemical and biological weapons and defenses against them. Parts of the testing program done on Navy ships were called
Project SHAD, or Shipboard Hazard and Defense.
Other tests made public Thursday involved the use of Bacillus globigii bacteria, which are related to the Bacillus anthracis germ that causes anthrax. Although at the time officials believed that BG was
harmless, researchers later determined that it can cause life-threatening infections in people with weakened immune systems.
For some head-shaking reading, Hawaii
Descriptions of some of the tests
Jeweler to the Stars
JAR
His clientele is strictly "A-list" celebrities or top flight socialites -- few others have ever heard of reclusive American jeweler Joel Arthur Rosenthal or JAR as he and his glittering creations are known.
But that is all about to change as the first public exhibition by a man fashion writer Suzy Menkes has called "the greatest living jeweller" opens at London's Somerset House on Saturday.
Rosenthal counts the likes of Candice Bergen, Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Capshaw, Betsy Bloomingdale and Olimpia de Rothschild among his clients -- 145 of whom have loaned their treasured
gems to the exhibition.
Rosenthal, 59, born and brought up in the Bronx, opened his discreet shop off Paris' Place Vendome in 1978. There is no sign to advertise its purpose and no jewels on show in the window.
The London exhibition, which runs to January 26, tries to emulate the atmosphere in Rosenthal's shop.
For more, JAR
Shuts Fashion House
Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent, a towering figure of 20th-century fashion, closed the doors Thursday to the legendary fashion house he started 40 years ago.
Saint Laurent, 66, who stunned the fashion world in January by announcing his retirement, paid an emotional farewell to his staff on a final visit to the
company's elegant Right Bank headquarters Wednesday, according to a company official, who declined to give his name.
Although the designer's house of haute couture has closed, the Yves Saint Laurent name will not disappear.
In 1999, Saint Laurent sold the rights to his ready-to-wear label, Rive Gauche, to Gucci, which now controls the brand's boutiques, fragrances and cosmetics.
Saint Laurent is widely credited with putting women into pantsuits and breaking down other barriers between the sexes with cutting-edge designs that changed the way women dressed.
Yves Saint Laurent
In Memory
Nathan Juran
Nathan Juran, who won an Academy Award for art direction for 1941's "How Green Was My Valley," then went on to direct B-movies
including "Attack of the 50-Foot Woman," has died. He was 95.
Juran died Oct. 23 of natural causes at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, the Daily Breeze of Torrance reported.
The Austrian-born son of an immigrant shoemaker, Juran grew up in Minneapolis and earned an architecture degree from the University of Minnesota and a master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He was an architect in Depression-era New York before entering the film business in 1937 as an art director.
For "How Green Was My Valley," Juran helped transform a Malibu ranch into a Welsh mining town. He and Richard Day shared the Oscar for art direction of a black-and-white film.
Juran's career was interrupted by World War II, during which he performed photographic work with the Office of Strategic Services.
He returned to Hollywood after the war as an art director on movies including "Harvey," starring James Stewart, and later turned to directing films and television shows.
Most of his films were low-budget Westerns, science fiction and horror films, such as 1958's
"Attack of the 50-Foot Woman" and
"The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad."
In 1970 he retired from filmmaking and returned to architecture.
Nathan Juran
Nathan Juran directed some of my favorite cheesy sci-fi movies - from the above mentioned
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958), to
The Deadly Mantis (1957),
The Brain from Planet Arous (1957), and
20 Million Miles to Earth (1957).
But, wait, that's not all! Nathan Juran was the
director of Hellcats of the Navy (1957), which is the film that brought together
Ronald Reagan and
Nancy Davis. 'Nuff said.
In Memory
Kam Fong Chun
Kam Fong Chun, the man TV viewers around the world knew as Detective Chin Ho Kelly in the hit
crime series "Hawaii Five-O," died in Honolulu after a long fight against cancer, his family said on Wednesday. He was 84.
Chun, who died on Oct. 18, suffered from inoperable lung cancer, said his elder son, Dennis Chun. Family members did not announce the actor's death until Wednesday because they said they wanted some private time after
having shared him with the public for so many years.
Working under the stage name Kam Fong, the Honolulu native appeared on "Hawaii Five-O" from its debut in 1968 to 1978, two years before the series was canceled. He was the trusted, tough detective working alongside
the show's main character, Steve McGarrett, who was played by Jack Lord. Lord died in January 1998.
"Like his character, our father faced his last battle with courage, determination and a deep faith in God," Dennis Chun said of his father. "There is no need to feel sorry either for us or our dad. He had a good long life."
Kam Fong Chun was a real-life Honolulu Police Department officer for 16 years before leaving the force in 1959 to put more time into acting. To help pay the bills, he ran a real estate business and talent agency before joining the CBS-TV crime drama.
His son said that adversity early in life shaped his father. In June 1944, the actor's first wife and two young children were killed when a pair of military bombers collided above Honolulu and crashed into their home below.
"Twelve people were killed and my father had to carry his daughter from the house," he said.
Kam Fong Chun said in a 1977 interview that he left the show because he felt the scripts were stale. The show's writers killed off his character. In that episode, his character's dying words were: "It was all worth it."
"We think those words sum up our father's life," Dennis Chun said. "It was a life that was worth it. A life that mattered."
Kam Fong Chun
In Memory
Andre De Toth
Andre de Toth, the macho, eye-patch-wearing director of noir, Western and horror films,
including "The House of Wax," the most critically successful of the 1950s 3-D movies, has died of an aneurysm in his home in Burbank, associates said on Wednesday.
He was believed to be 90.
The Hungarian-born de Toth broke into the American movie industry in 1942, as an assistant director on the film "The Jungle Book," directed by Alexander Korda. He went
on to direct Westerns like "The Gunfighter," "Ramrod," "Riding Shotgun" and "The Bounty Hunter" and stark underworld sagas, like "Pitfall" and "Crime Wave."
"De Toth had one of the bleakest and hardest of all noir styles," wrote Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Wilmington recently, "and he's especially good with
ambivalent heroes and psychopathic villains."
It was a style widely admired and emulated by younger directors, from Martin Scorsese to Quentin Tarantino.
His last directorial effort was "Terror Night" (1987), the gory tale of a former silent movie star who kills, one by one, a group of young adults who have intruded on his mansion.
Born in Hungary around 1912, de Toth escaped World War II by fleeing to England in 1939. He arrived in Hollywood in 1942.
De Toth was married seven times. His wives included movie idol Veronica Lake, to whom he was married between 1944 and 1952.
One of the curiosities of his career was his success with the 3-D format in
"The House of Wax," the story of a psychopathic actor that marked the beginning of an illustrious career by
horror movie star Vincent Price. Having lost an eye in an accident in his youth, de Toth had limited depth perception.
De Toth is survived by his wife, Ann Green, and several children.
Andre de Toth
Andre de Toth also worked in episodic TV, and directed episodes of
"Maverick" (1957) and
"77 Sunset Strip" (1958), among others.
Kaziranga National Park
Elephants
Elephants graze as the sun sets in Kaziranga National Park, in India's northeastern state of Assam, October 29, 2002. Kaziranga is renowned for both being a habitat for the Indian one-horned rhinoceros and also having the highest Asiatic elephant population in the country.
Photo by Ritu Raj Konwar
'The Osbournes'
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