'Best of TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Review
LOTR: Return of the King
Peter Jackson's last installment of "The Lord of the Rings" is a real beauty to behold.
The first thirty or forty-five minutes I was kind of surprised at not being inundated by special effects. But I was being inundated by special effects. They just weren't the two by four over your head variety. It was the big set-up. And I did'nt mind at all.
The sets and matte shots in this final film are a real treasure. From the fantastic dreamlike Minas Tirith to the foreboding nightmare of Mordor, this is a treat for the eyes.
The big set-up also involved plenty of good acting too, preparing for fruition of the major characters desires and dreads. The vistas and panoramas in this movie are going to be wasted on the small TV screen. Please don't wait to see it on video tape. That would be a real shame.
So, once the action picks up it doesn't dissapoint. It is more hellish and nightmarish than the previous movie, "Two Towers". Sauron's orc army from Mordor makes the orc army from Isenguard look downright photogenic.
Once the big battle is engaged there is about an hour of non-stop action. There is a duel between catapults and trebuchets that I found really neat.
Be forewarned, if you have a fear of heights (altophobia) or a fear of being trampled to death (don't know whatcha call that) then this movie might be too much for you!
Gollum is not nearly as fascinating in this movie as he was in the middle movie, but he still steals every scene he is in.
There is only one complaint I have with this movie, it runs pretty long. Jackson could have tightened up the ending in a lot of places. If you have a big fat wallet, take it out of your ass pocket before you sit down. This movie clocks in at about three and a half hours. It is a pretty forgiveable flaw, considering how beautiful the movie is.
There are scenes at the end where you may be induced to get choked up too. Oh yeah, Legolas has another Roy Rogers scene that tops the last movie.
I hear that Peter Jackson's next project is gonna be "King Kong". I can't wait to see it!
~ David Lindsay
Thanks, David! Great job!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
So, started having trouble getting online late last week - peculiar connection rates, intermittent outtages, lots of wasted effort.
Initially, I blamed ao-hell, because history has validity.
Turned out it was the phone line. The line went from the house, through some tree branches to the pole. The tree has grown, and the wire was nearly woven between some branches.
Now we have a new line, going over the garage & phone service, again!
It's gonna take a few days to get back to what passes for normal.
Tonight, Friday, CBS starts the night with a RERUN 'Joan Of Arcadia', followed by a RERUN 'JAG', then a
RERUN 'The Handler'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are Charlize Theron and Dave Matthews.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers is Jason Mraz.
NBC opens the night with 'Dateline', followed by a RERUN 'Miss Match', then a RERUN 'Third Watch'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Jessica Simpson, Terry Bradshaw, and Howie Long.
Scheduled on a FRESH Conan are Natalie Portman, Bill O'Reilly, and Patty Loveless.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Darrell Hammond, Nick Cannon, Stephen Lynch, Jeff Ross, Kelis, and Hurry-Up.
ABC begins the evening with a RERUN 'George Lopez', followed by a RERUN 'Married To The Kellys', then a RERUN
'Hope & Faith', followed by a RERUN 'Bonnie', then '20/20'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Jeffrey Tambor, with this week's guest co-host Zach Galifianakis.
The WB offers a RERUN 'Reba', followed by a RERUN 'What I Like About You', then a RERUN
'Grounded For Life', followed by a RERUN 'Like Family'.
Faux has 'TVs Naughtiest Blunders From Around The World 3', followed by a FRESH 'Boston Pubic'.
UPN has the movie 'Goldfinger'.
Check local PBS listings for the best show on over-the-air-tv, 'NOW With Bill Moyers'. This week, Helen Thomas and a discussion of the downside of Wal-Mart.
A&E has 'American Justice', the made-for-A&E-movie 'Horatio Hornblower: Loyalty' (part 1 of 2), followed by the made-for-A&E-movie 'Horatio Hornblower: Duty' (part 2 of 2).
AMC offers the movie 'King Kong' (Jessica Lange/Dino DeLaurentis version), followed by the movie '48 HRS', then the movie 'Love At First Bite'.
BBC - ;
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic - Smith';
[7pm] 'House Invaders - Droylsden';
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms - West Norwood';
[8pm] 'Fawlty Towers - Gourmet Night';
[8:40pm] 'Monty Python's Flying Circus - Owl-Stretching Time';
[9:20pm] 'The Office' - Episode 4';
[10pm] 'At Home With the Braithwaites - Episode 4';
[11pm] 'So Graham Norton - Kate Beckinsale, Martine McCutcheon, Alison Moyet';
[12am] 'Fawlty Towers - Gourmet Night';
[12:40am] 'Monty Python's Flying Circus - Owl-Stretching Time';
[1:20am] 'The Office' - Episode 4';
[2am] 'At Home With the Braithwaites - Episode 4';
[3am] 'Fawlty Towers - Gourmet Night';
[3:40am] 'Monty Python's Flying Circus - Owl-Stretching Time';
[4:20am] 'The Office' - Episode 4';
[5am] 'At Home With the Braithwaites - Episode 4'; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Inside The Actors Studio' (Ben Affleck), 'Queer Eye', and 'Entertainers Of The Year', then the replay of 'Entertainers Of The Year'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Dead Men's Secrets', 'History Undercover', and more 'Modern Marvels'.
SciFi has 'Stargate SG-1', 'Tremors: The Series', 'Stargate SG-1', 'Scare Tactics', and 'Shock TV'.
TCM:
[6am] 'The Enchanted Cottage' (1945);
[8am] 'Of Human Hearts' (1938);
[10am] 'Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House' (1948);
[12pm] 'Blackboard Jungle' (1955);
[2pm] 'Ransom' (1956);
[4pm] 'The Subject Was Roses' (1968);
[6pm] 'Mrs. Soffel' (1984);
[8pm] 'A Yank At Oxford' (1938);
[10pm] 'Red Dust' (1932);
[12am] 'The Grass Is Greener' (1960);
[2am] 'The Wide Blue Road' (1956) [AKA: La Grande strada azzurra];
[4am] 'Riffraff' (1935). (ALL TIMES EST)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Entertains Troops In Afghanistan
Robin Williams
Robin Williams flew into Afghanistan to entertain US troops and bring some comic relief from their hunt for Taliban militants.
Williams, who played a motormouth military DJ in the 1987 film Good Morning Vietnam, had hundreds of soldiers in stitches as he did a one-man comedy routine in a large tent at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul.
It was not the first visit to Afghanistan for Williams, who also entertained US troops at Bagram in October 2002.
Robin Williams
Released From Hospital
Stephen King
Stephen King was released from the Eastern Maine Medical Center on Wednesday after spending 25 days in the hospital fighting pneumonia and complications from a 1999 accident, his spokeswoman, Marsha DeFilippo, told The Associated Press.
"He's home and on the mend. He's happy to be home for the holidays," she said.
King, 56, was diagnosed with pneumonia before a November trip to New York to receive the National Book Foundation's 2003 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
The pneumonia largely dissipated two weeks ago but King remained in the hospital while doctors looked into lingering problems tied to a 1999 accident in which a van hit him near his vacation home in North Lovell.
Stephen King
This copy of a 1980 Playboy magazine cover, featuring actress Bo Derek, brought $11,950 when sold at auction at Christies auction house in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2003. The cover was part of a lot of Playboy memorabilia that netted $2.75 million.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Star in 'Raisin in the Sun'
Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs
Sean Combs, better known as rap star P. Diddy, will make his Broadway debut this season in a revival of "A Raisin in the Sun," Lorraine Hansbury's landmark drama about a black family moving into an all-white Chicago neighborhood.
"It is an American classic alongside `Streetcar,' `Death of a Salesman' and `The Crucible,'" producer David Binder said Wednesday. "And it has never had a Broadway revival."
The production, to be directed by Kenny Leon, will most likely begin rehearsals in mid-February, with preview performances starting in mid-March and an opening a month later, Binder added. The exact dates, the rest of the casting and the theater will be announced.
The original production, which starred Sidney Poitier, Claudia MacNeil, Ruby Dee and Diana Sands, was a success on Broadway in 1959 and later as a 1961 movie with the same lead cast. It was made into a Broadway musical, starring Virginia Capers and Joe Morton, in 1973.
The title comes from a line in a poem by Langston Hughes: "What happens to a dream deferred?/Does it dry up/Like a raisin in the sun?"
Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs
Endorses Wesley Clark
Madonna
Former vice president Al Gore may be supporting Howard Dean, but retired army general Wesley Clark has support in his quest for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination from ... Madonna.
The Material Girl on Tuesday publicly threw her support behind the retired four-star general, one of nine Democrats seeking to replace George W. Bush in the November 2004 election.
"I endorse him because I think he's a great guy," the pop superstar said on CNN Tuesday. "I think he's a natural born leader."
Madonna believes that because of his military experience Clark "knows how to deal with pressure," and as the former NATO supremo "has a good handle in foreign policy."
Madonna
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Plans USO Visit to Persian Gulf
Ben Affleck
The United Services Organization, USO, on Wednesday said Ben Affleck will head to the Persian Gulf this Christmas and New Year season to shake hands with troops and show off his new movie, science fiction flick "Paycheck," directed by John Woo.
As a general rule, the USO does not publish dates or locations of celebrity visits to U.S. troops overseas.
In a statement, the USO said only that Affleck "will sign autographs, participate in photo sessions and tour duty stations at various locations" in the Persian Gulf.
The non-profit USO has been arranging entertainment and providing other services for U.S. military troops since World War II.
Ben Affleck
American rock singer Patti Smith poses in front of a painting by Swiss photorealist Franz Gertsch, showing her performing, during a visit to the 'Pinakothek der Moderne' art museum in Munich, southern Germany, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2003. The rock legend had come to inaugurate the show 'Strange Messenger: The Work of Patti Smith' on display at Haus der Kunst art museum from Dec. 19, 2003 to Feb. 29, 2004. The exhibition shows more than 100 drawings from the early sixties to recent works.
Photo by DietherEndlicher
Breaks Leg, Recovering
Hunter S. Thompson
Journalist Hunter S. Thompson is recovering but faces surgery after breaking his leg in a fall at his Waikiki hotel, his wife said Tuesday.
Thompson had traveled to Hawaii to cover Sunday's Honolulu Marathon as a columnist for ESPN.com. His wife said he was injured early Friday when he slipped on the bathroom floor.
After a brief hospital say, Thompson, 66, and his wife were returning Tuesday night or Wednesday morning to their home in Aspen, Colo., where he will have surgery.
"The first few days he was in a lot of pain," Anita Thompson told The Associated Press. But "he is a fast healer."
Anita Thompson was the writer's 30-year-old assistant when they married in Aspen on April 24.
Hunter S. Thompson
Burbank Airport Renamed
Bob Hope
Bob Hope entered aviation history on the 100th anniversary of flight when a key Los Angeles-area airport was named after him.
City fathers rechristened the decades-old Burbank-Pasadena-Glendale airport in honour of Hope just as the United States celebrated the centennial of the first powered flight by the Wright brothers.
The name change was approved by the city councils of Burbank, Pasadena and Glendale in November as part of an effort to memorialize the entertainer who dies in July at the age of 100.
In a Hollywood touch, signs at the newly-named Bob Hope airport will bear the face of the ski-jump-nosed funnyman who lived near the airport flew in and out of it for decades.
Bob Hope
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Tour of Mansion Auctioned
Playboy
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's stretch limousine, along with an exclusive tour of the Playboy mansion and two tickets to an invitation-only New Year's Eve party, fetched $77,675 at auction.
The 1988 Mercedes Benz limo, converted for Hefner in 1989, was among more than 300 items from the Playboy archives that sold at the Christie's auction Wednesday for a total of $2.75 million, according to Playboy Enterprises Inc.
Also sold were works by artists LeRoy Neiman and Alberto Vargas that were featured in Playboy, an original manuscript by Jack Kerouac and the 1968 Shel Silverstein cartoon "Silverstein Among the Hippies."
Playboy
The first dazzling images from NASA's newly named Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility. Clockwise from lower left, the images show a glowing stellar nursery; a swirling, dusty galaxy; a disc of planet-forming debris; and organic material in the distant universe, demonstrating the power of the telescope's infrared detectors to capture cosmic features never before seen. The Spitzer Space Telescope was also officially named Thursday, Dec. 18, 2003, after the late Dr. Lyman Spitzer, Jr., one of the 20th century's most influential scientists.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hosting Radio Show
Alice Cooper
Welcome to Alice Cooper's radio show.
The 55-year-old rock star, who was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame earlier this month, will host the syndicated "Nights With Alice Cooper" starting Jan. 26.
The show, which will originate at Phoenix's KDKB-FM, will air on at least six stations in the Midwest and New England.
Alice Cooper
Painting Stolen From Museum
Georgia O'Keeffe
A painting by Georgia O'Keeffe is missing from a state-owned museum and authorities have posted a reward for its return.
The painting, titled "Special 21 (Palo Duro Canyon)," was discovered missing Tuesday by a security guard at the Museum of Fine Arts, officials said Wednesday.
Santa Fe art dealer Gerald Peters, who has bought and sold more than 200 O'Keeffe works, said the painting is worth more than $500,000. But he added that the painting is "not marketable because it's so well documented. It's kind of a crazy theft."
The oil painting measures about 13 inches by 16 inches. It was painted by O'Keeffe in 1916 and given to the museum by the artist's estate in 1993, the museum said.
The museum is in downtown Santa Fe, just a few blocks from the privately owned Georgia O'Keeffe museum.
Georgia O'Keeffe
Short List
Golden Globe Nominees
Short list of nominees for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Golden Globe Awards, to be presented Jan. 25:
Motion pictures:
Picture, Drama: "Cold Mountain"; "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"; "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"; "Mystic River"; "Seabiscuit."
Actress, Drama: Cate Blanchett, "Veronica Guerin"; Nicole Kidman, "Cold Mountain"; Scarlett Johansson, "Girl With a Pearl Earring"; Charlize Theron, "Monster"; Uma Thurman, "Kill Bill — Vol. 1"; Evan Rachel Wood, "thirteen."
Actor, Drama: Russell Crowe, "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"; Tom Cruise, "The Last Samurai"; Ben Kingsley, "House of Sand and Fog"; Jude Law, "Cold Mountain"; Sean Penn, "Mystic River."
Foreign Language: "The Barbarian Invasions," Canada; "Goodbye, Lenin!" Germany; "Monsieur Ibrahim," France; "Osama," Afghanistan; "The Return," Russia.
Supporting Actress: Maria Bello, "The Cooler"; Patricia Clarkson, "Pieces of April"; Hope Davis, "American Splendor"; Holly Hunter, "thirteen"; Renee Zellweger, "Cold Mountain."
Supporting Actor: Alec Baldwin, "The Cooler"; Albert Finney, "Big Fish"; William H. Macy), "Seabiscuit"; Tim Robbins, "Mystic River"; Peter Sarsgaard, "Shattered Glass"; Ken Watanabe, "The Last Samurai."
Director: Sofia Coppola, "Lost in Translation"; Clint Eastwood, "Mystic River"; Peter Jackson, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"; Anthony Minghella, "Cold Mountain"; Peter Weir, "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World."
___
Television:
Drama Series: "24," Fox; "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS; "Nip/Tuck," FX; "Six Feet Under," HBO; "The West Wing," NBC.
Actress, Drama: Frances Conroy, "Six Feet Under"; Jennifer Garner, "Alias"; Allison Janney, "The West Wing"; Joely Richardson, "Nip/Tuck"; Amber Tamblyn, "Joan of Arcadia."
Actor, Drama: Michael Chiklis, "The Shield"; Anthony LaPaglia, "Without a Trace"; William Petersen, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"; Martin Sheen, "The West Wing"; Kiefer Sutherland, "24."
Musical or Comedy Series: "Arrested Development," Fox; "Monk," USA; "The Office," BBC America; "Sex and the City," HBO; "Will & Grace," NBC.
Actress, Musical or Comedy Series: Bonnie Hunt, "Life With Bonnie"; Reba McEntire, "Reba"; Debra Messing, "Will & Grace"; Sarah Jessica Parker, "Sex and the City"; Bitty Schram, "Monk"; Alicia Silverstone, "Miss Match."
Actor, Musical or Comedy Series: Ricky Gervais, "The Office"; Matt LeBlanc, "Friends"; Bernie Mac, "The Bernie Mac Show"; Eric McCormack, "Will & Grace"; Tony Shalhoub, "Monk."
Golden Globe Nominees
Should have the 'Big List' page up over the weekend.
Mei Sheng, the four-month-old giant panda cub, is held by his mother, Bai Yun, during his first day on display at the San Diego Zoo Wednesday Dec. 17, 2003. Mei Sheng was named yesterday and translate into 'Born in the USA'.
Photo by Lenny Ignelzi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 5
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~