Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Republican Wisdom (YouTube)
"One hopes it's unfair to post this clip, because, one hopes, she is - in her ignorance and certitude - representative of almost no one. And yet, sadly, that is just not the case. Thanks to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck (whom she credits), among others, she is one of millions. It's a short clip, as gripping as a train wreck. And a tribute to what Karl Rove, Roger Ailes, et al, have managed to do polarize the country and steer so many of its citizens so far off-course." - Andrew Tobias
Tom Danehy: "Idea: Use this column as a drinking game during the GOP presidential debates!" (Tucson Weekly)
At the most recent count, there are 18 more Republican presidential debates to be held.
Malcolm Gladwell: The Tweaker (New Yorker)
The real genius of Steve Jobs.
Sanford Pinsker: We Get Emails (irascibleprofessor.com )
I launched my teaching career in an age that didn't know a whit about electronic mail (yes, I can hear some readers snorting, that long ago), and all things considered, that was probably a better time -- at least for teachers. Students were always anxious, including those who showed up at office hours to tell me sadder stories than once paraded across the stage in moth-eaten tragedies: not only my dog devoured my homework but also my folks have planned a skiing trip to Aspen and we leave at a time when classes are still scheduled. Hard to tell who's worse, Fido or trip-planning mom.
thirteen movie poster trends that are here to stay and what they say about their movies
1. Tiny People On the Beach, Giant Heads in the Clouds
These movies are always sappy dramas. Do not allow you to be mislead by the trailer or calibre of the people involved into thinking otherwise. The protagonist/his little brother/father and/or love interest is very likely to end up dead. You probably should keep your tissues handy because you'll cry tears of sorrow, tears of joy, tears because you just wasted 13 dollars on this movie. This sort of poster is inevitably used for anything that involves Nicholas Sparks.
Bob Westal: A Chat with Mickey Rourke, Co-star of "Immortals" (Bullz-eye)
I've learned my lesson about pissing those people off, so I'm not going to name the names. But yeah, there's quite a few movies that I regret passing up for stupid reasons back in the day. And sure, there's a whole bunch that I'm glad I didn't do."
Bill Wyman: "'Blue Velvet,' 25 Years Later" (Slate)
An almost unrelieved carnival of perversion, corruption, mayhem, and spectacle.
Randall Roberts: "Book review: 'Rock and Roll Always Forgets'" (LA Times)
Longtime pop music critic Chuck Eddy offers previous writings and fresh insights in his curmudgeonly yet entertaining style.
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
wrote:
answered:
Reader Suggestions
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Review
Popcorn Time
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast and gray - rain on the way.
Hosting The Oscars
Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal is doing it again.
The 63-year-old comedian and veteran Oscar host said Thursday on Twitter that he is hosting the Feb. 26, 2012, Academy Awards "so the young woman in the pharmacy will stop asking my name when I pick up my prescriptions."
This will be the ninth Oscar stint for Crystal, one of the most popular Oscar hosts of recent years. His last time was in 2004. Only Bob Hope hosted more Oscar shows, with 19 ceremonies between 1940 and 1978.
The naming of Crystal follows a groundswell of sentiment for his return after he led a tribute to Hope on the 2011 Oscar show for which he received a standing ovation. Crystal said later he was moved by the warm reception and that "it might be fun" to host the show again.
Comedian Eddie Murphy had been chosen to host the 2012 show, but pulled out Wednesday following the departure on Tuesday of producer and friend Brett Ratner, who left amid criticism of his use of a pejorative term for gay men at a screening of the director's action comedy "Tower Heist," which stars Murphy and Ben Stiller.
Billy Crystal
"America's Got Talent" Replacement?
Howard Stern
"America's Got Talent" could be getting just a tad bit edgier.
Radio shock jock Howard Stern is in negotiations with NBC to replace outgoing judge Piers Morgan on the performance show, an individual with knowledge of the negotiations confirmed to TheWrap.
Stern, who's already making a hefty sum for his Sirius XM Radio show, will pick up another big chunk of change if he decides to join Howie Mandel and Sharon Osbourne on the panel -- the talks are currently hovering around a $15 million annual sum.
Morgan announced Wednesday that he's leaving the popular reality show, tweeting that he'll be focusing on his CNN show, "Piers Morgan Tonight," which he began hosting in January.
Howard Stern
Current TV Sets Date
'"Young Turks With Cenk Uygur"
Former MSNBC host Cenk Uygur will launch his new Current TV show December 5 at 7 p.m. ET, the network announced Thursday.
The nightly show, titled "The Young Turks With Cenk Uygur," will air ahead of Keith Olbermann's "Countdown," with an encore running at 10 p.m. ET.
Uygur will be joined by numerous contributors to his web series of the same name, including Ana Kasparian, Jayar Jackson, Jesus Godoy, Wes Clark, Jr., Michael Shure and Brian Unger.
Uygur left MSNBC amid disputes over his contract and his timeslot, after the cable outlet attempted to oust him from its 6 p.m. ET "MSNBC Live" time period. Uygur also claimed that MSNBC tried to tone down his opinions, an allegation the cable outlet denied.
'"Young Turks With Cenk Uygur"
Renewed For 8th Season
"Weeds"
Nancy Botwin will be back to sling dope for another year.
Showtime has renewed the pot comedy "Weeds" for an eighth season, the network announced Thursday.
The 13-episode season will go into production sometime next year.
The Jenji Kohan-produced series, which stars Mary-Louise Parker as mother/pot dealer Botwin, aired its seventh-season finale in September.
"Weeds"
Renewed For Second Season
"Anderson"
Anderson Cooper's syndicated daytime talk-show, "Anderson," has been renewed for a second season by Fox Television Stations, distributor Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution announced.
In addition to the stations that had carried the show's first season, "Anderson" has been acquired by Fox Television Stations in New York, Minneapolis and Tampa.
Though it hasn't performed spectacularly, "Anderson" has improved after a soft start. The show had a lackluster 1.1 household rating for its September 12 premiere and averaged a 1.4 in its first month.
Warner Domestic TV Distribution president Ken Werner said that he feels that the show is "well on the way to creating a valuable news lead-in."
"Anderson"
Senate Defeats Effort To Block
Net Neutrality
New U.S. Internet traffic rules cleared a hurdle on Thursday, surviving an attempt by the Senate to block them from taking effect later in the month.
President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats in the Senate blocked a Republican-backed resolution to disapprove of the Federal Communications Commission's rules on "net neutrality." The vote was 52-46 against the resolution.
Adopted by a divided FCC last December, the rules forbid broadband providers from blocking legal content while leaving flexibility for providers to manage their networks.
The rules still face a court challenge. Lawsuits by Verizon Communications Inc and others have been consolidated before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Net Neutrality
Blames Underlings
Rupert, Jr.
He didn't see. He wasn't told. He didn't know.
Called back to Britain's Parliament after former News Corp. employees challenged his credibility, senior executive James Murdoch insisted he'd been kept in the dark about widespread phone hacking at his now-defunct News of the World tabloid, blaming two of his senior lieutenants for failing to warn him of the paper's culture of criminality.
Over more than two-and-a-half hours of questioning, Murdoch stuck to that line.
Speaking quickly and confidently, Murdoch laid the blame at the door of former News of the World Editor Colin Myler and former in-house lawyer Tom Crone, both of whom resigned soon after the scandal broke earlier this year. Over the past few months, the pair have challenged the credibility of their former boss, accusing the 38-year-old News Corp. executive of not telling the truth when he claimed they never told him about the incriminating email back in 2008.
Murdoch made one important concession to their version of events - acknowledging that he'd been briefed on the incriminating email back in 2008 - but insisted that its importance was kept from him.
Rupert, Jr.
Push Repeal Of DOMA
Democrats
Senate Democrats who back gay marriage have decided now is the time to repeal a federal law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
The Democrats may satisfy their gay marriage supporters, but the bill won't get very far.
The repeal could be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, but the next stop - the full Senate - could be a long way off. The bill's chief sponsor, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., says she doesn't have the votes for Senate passage, and the bill would have no chance in a House controlled by Republican conservatives.
The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., defended the timing of the panel's likely vote on the Defense of Marriage Act. "It is never the wrong time to right an injustice," he said.
Feinstein's bill has 31 Senate sponsors, all Democrats. Most Republicans fiercely oppose the repeal.
Democrats
Accountant Admits Bilking
Tamara Tunie
An accountant admitted Thursday he made "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" actress Tamara Tunie a real-life crime victim by stealing more than $1 million from her, the Kansas City Symphony's music director and other clients.
Joseph Cilibrasi, who was Tunie's business manager for more than a decade and cultivated other clients in the arts, pleaded guilty to grand larceny and other charges. He used some of the stolen cash to finance his own forays into entertainment, including investing in movies and Broadway shows and hiring a screenwriter to pen a script about a historic building, prosecutors say.
Cilibrasi's plea deal calls for 2 1/2 to 7 1/2 years in prison. He is free, pending a Jan. 4 sentencing.
Cilibrasi, 51, told a Manhattan judge he secretly opened a credit card account in Tunie's name - and got his own card on the account by falsely listing himself as her husband - and wrote checks to himself from her accounts without her permission.
Tamara Tunie
Sony Suspends Production On Film
Roland Emmerich
Sony has put production of "Singularity," Roland Emmerich's big-budget sci-fi film, on hold while the filmmakers revise the script, TheWrap has confirmed.
The producers have brought on Ray Kurzweil -- perhaps the world's foremost expert on the futuristic topic of "singularity" -- to help.
An individual close to the studio told TheWrap that Sony does not expect the delay in entering production will affect the targeted release date of May 2013.
Emmerich and composer Harold Kloser are writing the screenplay. The movie has a budget estimated at $175 million.
Roland Emmerich
Record Set At Auction
"Rhein II"
A 1999 photograph of the Rhine river by German artist Andreas Gursky has sold for $4.3 million in New York City, setting a record for any photograph sold at auction.
Titled "Rhein II," the chromogenic color print face-mounted to acrylic glass, had a pre-sale estimate of $2.5 million to $3.5 million.
The previous record for any photography sold at auction was Cindy Sherman's "Untitled," which fetched $3.8 million at Christie's in May.
Gursky's panoramic image of the Rhine is one of an edition of six photographs. Four are in major museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Tate Modern in London.
"Rhein II"
Vanishing From The Wild
Western Black Rhino
The Western Black Rhino of Africa has been declared officially extinct, and two other subspecies of rhinoceros are close to meeting the same fate, a leading conservation group said Thursday.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature said a recent reassessment of the Western Black Rhino had led it to declare the species extinct, adding that the Northern White Rhino of central Africa is now "possibly extinct" in the wild and the Javan Rhino is "probably extinct" in Vietnam, after poachers killed the last animal there in 2010.
A small but declining population of the Javan Rhino survives on the Indonesian island of Java, it added.
About a quarter of all mammals are at risk of extinction, IUCN said, adding that some species have been brought back from the brink with successful conservation programs.
Western Black Rhino
2011 Indeuctees
Toy Hall of Fame
Is Linus jumping for joy?
The blanket, an all-purpose plaything and a comfort for generations of thumb-suckers like Charlie Brown's best friend in the "Peanuts" comic strip, landed Thursday in the National Toy Hall of Fame along with Hot Wheels and the dollhouse.
The three take their places at The Strong, a children's and cultural history museum in upstate New York, alongside 46 other classics ranging from the bicycle, kite and teddy bear to Barbie, Jack-in-the-Box and Mr. Potato Head.
Curators said the blanket was a special addition in the spirit of two earlier inductees, the cardboard box and the stick. They praised its ability to serve either as recreational raw material or an accessory transformed in myriad ways by a child's daydreams.
Toy Hall of Fame
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen for the week of Oct. 31-Nov. 6. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. NFL Football: San Diego at Kansas City (Monday, 8:30 p.m.), ESPN, 9.06 million homes, 12.03 million viewers.
2. "Walking Dead" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), AMC, 4.02 million homes, 6.29 million viewers.
3. Movie: "John Sandford's Certain Prey" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.91 million homes, 5.12 million viewers.
4. "NCIS" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.37 million homes, 4.26 million viewers.
5. Auto Racing: NASCAR Sprint Cup (Sunday, 3 p.m.), 3.36 million homes, 4.72 million viewers.
6. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.19 million homes, 4.6 million viewers.
7. "Good Luck Charlie" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 3.05 million homes, 4.55 million viewers.
8. College Football: Michigan vs. Iowa (Saturday, 12:02 p.m.), ESPN, 3.04 million homes, 3.94 million viewers.
9. "NCIS" (Wednesday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.01 million homes, 3.92 million viewers.
10. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 2.986 million homes, 4.36 million viewers.
11. "Hell on Wheels" (Sunday, 10 p.m.), AMC, 2.985 million homes, 4.36 million viewers.
12. "Jessie" (Friday, 9 p.m.), Disney, 2.949 million homes, 4.44 million viewers.
13. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.942 million homes, 3.98 million viewers.
14. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.84 million homes, 4.06 million viewers.
15. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.81 million homes, 4.07 million viewers.
Ratings
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
