'TBH Politoons'
Reader Recommendation
Joan of Arcadia
'Joan of Arcadia'
"While shooting her surroundings for a public television videography project, a stunned and hurt Joan catches a tender moment between Adam and Judith. Meanwhile, Will and Kevin hire a cutthroat lawyer without consulting Helen, who has a secret of her own."
- - TV Guide, CBS
Thanks, Bruce!
Reader Suggestion
A Bumper Sticker
Bush/Cheney: Four More Years Of The Same, Only Worse
Thanks, Bruce!
Reader Observation
what the british think
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny & cool.
Today is Guy Fawkes Day - A Celebration of Guy Fawkes Day/Fireworks Night.
Bono, McCartney Join Lineup
Band Aid 20
Paul McCartney, U2 frontman Bono, Robbie Williams and Dido are among the performers lined up for the new recording of the all-star Band Aid charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas."
The tune, which will be credited to Band Aid 20 in acknowledgement of the anniversary of the 1984 release, will be issued Nov. 29 in the U.K. on Mercury/Universal.
Others on board include Snow Patrol and Natasha Bedingfield. McCartney will play bass on the track and Bono will reprise one of the most famous lines in the original lyric: "Well tonight, thank God it's them instead of you."
Band Aid 20
Military Afraid to Tell Truth
Sy Hersh
Seymour Hersh, the famed reporter known for breaking stories from My Lai to Abu Ghraib, said in a Washingtonpost.com chat today that "the major media have been part of the problem since 9-11, merely because they have far too often taken the president's public utterances at face value."
He added: "There also is a terrific unwillingness, perhaps understandable (though not by me), to make a moral judgment about a president's policies. There are plenty of people on the inside who are worried about the policies, especially among military guys, and I'm sure their views will increasingly become known."
Asked how the Republicans can refer to the narrow Bush victory as a mandate, Hersh said, "You would be right in a rational world. Welcome to the Bush White House."
Will Bush now strive for unity? "In my view, he's got his mandate and he's going to carry on with his mantra -- bringing democracy to the Middle East. Bush will consider many scary options [there]. What he can do, as opposed to what he wants to do, is the issue. Not much intelligence for some of his desires. ... I worry about the inability to the men running the U.S. government to accept information that challenges their assumptions and their belief. It's very frightening and the fact is that our senior military are very reluctant to give Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld any bad news. Sounds insane, doesn't it?"
On Iraq: "The military are scared of telling Cheney and Bush the truth and that will have to end within the next six months. They cannot deliver in Iraq what the president wants, and we'll have to start getting out. So I believe anyway."
Sy Hersh
Developing Rock-Star TV Comedy
Elton John
Elton John is making his first foray into series television by developing an ABC comedy about an aging rock superstar and the people around him, Daily Variety reported in its Thursday edition.
The flamboyant musician told the Hollywood trade paper that the as-yet-untitled show would not be based on himself but rather a mix of other fellow pop icons like Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, Freddie Mercury and David Bowie.
Daily Variety said John's longtime business manager Bob Halley came up with the basic concept about three years ago, and his boss warmed to the idea. Songwriter Bruce Roberts, producer Michael Edelstein and "Sex and the City" screenwriter Cindy Chupack eventually entered the mix.
Elton John
Thanksgiving Halftime
John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp will perform at halftime of the Thanksgiving Day game between the Detroit Lions and the Indianapolis Colts.
Mellencamp will perform for the NFL and the United Way on Nov. 25. He'll sing "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." and his new single, "Walk Tall." Accompanying Mellencamp on "Walk Tall" will be singer-producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.
John Mellencamp
Search Narrows for Kilborn Replacement
'The Late Late Show'
CBS and producers of "The Late Late Show" said on Wednesday that four performers who recently filled in for former host Craig Kilborn would return for what insiders say amounts to on-air tryouts to replace him permanently.
Former ABC sitcom stars D.L. Hughley and Craig Ferguson, comic Michael Ian Black and MTV "Total Request Live" host Damien Fahey, have been invited back to the show later this month for multi-night stints as guest hosts.
Insiders familiar with the situation said the planned returns of Hughley, Ferguson, Black and Fahey were tantamount to on-air call-back auditions for the permanent hosting job.
'The Late Late Show'
No. 1 Dance Song in U.S.
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono isn't known for her voice, but it's still a hot commodity. The famously off-key singer and wife of John Lennon has the No. 1 single on the dance chart.
"Everyman.../Everywoman... (Basement Jaxx Club Mix)" is a mix of techno beats and her screeching vocals. It's her second No. 1 dance song this year.
Yoko Ono
Country Music Hall of Fame
Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame next week with help from Faith Hill and Willie Nelson.
Hill and Nelson will perform in a tribute to the 68-year-old Kristofferson on "The 38th Annual CMA Awards," to air live on CBS Tuesday night from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tenn.
Kristofferson won the CMA song of the year award in 1970 for "Sunday Morning Coming Down." He has hosted the show twice, in 1985 with Anne Murray and in 1986 with Nelson.
Kris Kristofferson
Reschedules 3 Shows
Barry Manilow
Singer Barry Manilow canceled three concerts this weekend because of severe bronchitis, according to a statement released Wednesday.
His shows in Denver, Houston and Dallas have been rescheduled to Nov. 10, Nov. 17 and Nov. 20, respectively. Shows in Phoenix on Nov. 12 and Anaheim on Nov. 13 were not affected.
Barry Manilow
Has Always Been the Standard
Lip-Synching
It seems Ashlee Simpson will forever bear the scarlet "L" - for lip-synching. The 20-year-old "singer" has been lampooned and shamed, held up as an example of today's style-over-substance culture - all because of one lip-synch gone famously awry on "Saturday Night Live."
Yet must Simpson bear the cross alone, while all the entertainment world goes free? Consider this:
_ Now-classic footage from shows like "American Bandstand" featured artists lip-synching.
_ Michael Jackson mouthed part of his superstar-making moment on the "Motown 25" TV show in 1983.
_ Whitney Houston's spine-chilling rendition of the "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the 1991 Super Bowl was prerecorded.
_ And perhaps the only moments when Britney Spears did not lip-synch during her recent tour was when she said hello and goodbye to her audience.
"It doesn't make the least bit of difference," Dick Clark, America's oldest teenager and the creator of the now-defunct "American Bandstand," told The Associated Press.
For a lot more, Lip-Synching
Just Put A Stake In It
'Saturday Night Live'
The always fierce competition among comics to land a gig on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" is set to become the basis of a reality series for the network.
Sources said NBC is working on a reality-competition series fronted by "SNL" creator/executive producer Lorne Michaels. The project would chronicle a group of comedians vying for a grand prize that is believed to be a role on the long-running sketch comedy series.
Michaels is expected to play a Donald Trump-like role, winnowing the pool of contestants until a victor is selected. Sources indicated that the project is eyed for a possible summer launch. NBC declined comment.
'Saturday Night Live'
Sitting Pretty
Sinclair Broadcasting
Sinclair Broadcasting said its controversial program on John Kerry's war record was hugely profitable for the company, so much so that it intends to produce more such shows from its centralized news operation near Baltimore.
Fewer ad spots were sold during "POW Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media," which caused the outrage of liberal groups, but the ads sold at a higher rate. Ratings were higher for the show, and the uptick seems permanent.
"We made more revenue on that show than we would have otherwise across our platform," said Sinclair topper David Smith. "The lesson learned is that the central news structure we've created has the capability of producing relevant content and we are convinced we can make more money in other dayparts."
He said ratings were up across the station group as a result of the controversy. "My guess is we're going to keep a lot of that, and the long-term value is going to be huge," he said.
Sinclair Broadcasting
Closed Well Into 2005
Munch Museum
Oslo's Munch Museum could remain closed until June 2005 while officials upgrade its security system following a brazen daylight robbery in August of two Edvard Munch masterpieces.
The city-owned museum on Thursday released a report it had commissioned after the Aug. 22 armed robbery, and said the security flaws it found could cost as much as $7.8 million to fix and take until June 2005 to complete.
Munch Museum
Fall Auction
Christie's
The fall auction season kicked off on Wednesday with a solid but undramatic sale of Impressionist and modern art at Christie's, as a Monet went on the market for the first time ever and stole the show as expected, fetching $20 million.
The 1904 oil on canvas from Monet's series of 19 works depicting London's Houses of Parliament, one of only four not hanging on museum walls, had been estimated by Christie's to sell for $12 million to $18 million and achieved a final price including commission of $20,167,500.
Miro's "La caresse des etoiles" sold for $11,767,500, nipping at the heels of the $12.7 million record for Miro and making it sale's second-highest priced lot.
The sale's third-highest lot, van Gogh's "Le pont de Trinquetaille," managed only $11,207,500, well shy of its low estimate of $12 million and far less than its high estimate of $18 million.
Christie's
Not-So-Good Headlines
Europe
The re-election of resident Bush dominated British newspapers Thursday, and many cast impartiality aside in reporting the result.
"How can 59,054,087 people be so DUMB?" the liberal Daily Mirror asked in a Page One headline. Inside, several pages of coverage were headed "U.S. election disaster."
The Independent bore the front-page headline "Four more years" on a black page with grim pictures including a hooded Iraqi prisoner and an orange-clad detainee at Guantanamo Bay.
"Oops - they did it again," Germany's left-leaning Tageszeitung newspaper said in a front-page English headline. The cover of the Swiss newsmagazine Facts called Bush's re-election "Europe's Nightmare." "Victory for the hothead: how far will he go?" asked another Swiss weekly, L'Hebdo.
Europe
Vow To Continue Fight
Anti-Bush Artists
They urged young people to "Vote for Change" and "Rock the Vote." They gave concerts and readings in "battleground" states. They made movies meant to turn Republicans into Democrats and the president into both a monster and a laughingstock.
Rarely have so many artists committed themselves to the defeat of a politician as Bruce Springsteen, Michael Moore and many others did in opposing George W. Bush. Now, with the resident's re-election, those artists find themselves asking whether they made a difference and whether they would do it again.
Artists may well have made a difference. According to CIRCLE (the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement), a leading research organization, 4.6 million more young people cast their votes in 2004 than in 2000 and the turnout rate for 18-to 29-year-olds was 51.6 per cent, compared with 47.9 per cent in 1992, considered the previous high point for youth involvement.
For the rest, Anti-Bush Artists
Calls Calif. Dems 'Losers'
Ahnold, Another Uniter
Two days after the Democrats took at drubbing at the polls across the country, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger referred to leaders of the state's majority party as "losers."
At a Thursday news conference, the Republican governor who branded Democrats "girlie men" during a budget fight last year was asked whether he would listen to tax-increase proposals from Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata or other Democratic leaders.
"Why would I listen to losers?" Schwarzenegger asked. "Let's be honest."
Ahnold, Another Uniter
Strafes N.J. School
F-16
A National Guard F-16 fighter jet on a nighttime training mission strafed an elementary school with 25 rounds of ammunition, authorities said Thursday. No one was injured.
The military is investigating the incident that damaged Little Egg Harbor Intermediate School in southern New Jersey shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday. The school is a few miles from a military firing range.
Police were called when a custodian who was the only person in the school heard what sounded like someone running across the roof.
Police Chief Mark Siino said officers noticed punctures in the roof. Ceiling tiles had fallen into classrooms, and there were scratch marks in the asphalt outside.
F-16
Basic Cable Networks
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on basic cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Oct. 25-31. Each ratings point represents 1,096,000 households. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses.
1. NFL Football: San Francisco vs. Chicago (Sunday, 8:28 p.m.), ESPN, 5.5, 6.07 million homes.
2. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.3, 3.62 million homes.
3. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.2, 3.56 million homes.
4. "NFL Prime Time" (Sunday, 7:30 p.m.), ESPN, 3.2, 3.46 million homes.
5. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.2, 3.46 million homes.
6. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), Spike, 3.1, 3.35 million homes.
7. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.0, 3.3 million homes.
8. "Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius," (Sunday, 8:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.0, 3.29 million homes.
9. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.0, 3.26 million homes.
10. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.9, 3.21 million homes.
11. "WWE Raw Zone" (Monday, 10 p.m.), Spike, 2.9, 3.18 million homes.
12. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Sunday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.7, 2.97 million homes.
13. "Danny Phantom" (Saturday, 11 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.6, 2.87 million homes.
14. "Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius" (Saturday, 8:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.6, 2.84 million homes.
15. "Law & Order" (Monday, 8 p.m.), TNT, 2.6, 2.81 million homes.
Ratings
