'Best of TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Baron Dave Romm
Lojo Russo
By Baron Dave Romm
Janus is the symbol of beginnings and endings, so it's appropriate that I review something new and something old.
Lojo Russo is part of the music scene vaguely related to the science fiction community here in Minneapolis, and her name has been bandied about in this column before.
Stoic Abandon is Lojo's latest effort, backed by Folk Underground (among others) and produced by Adam Stemple. Her songs twist with bittersweet endings and emotional leavings. In the same way that Richard Thompson's songs tend to be about balance and the emotion you feel just before you go over the edge, Lojo invokes kinesthetic sensations and how she feels just after a transition. I'm Sorry (I Love You) and I Cry When You Leave (two of my favorite songs on the album; three, actually, since the latter is done twice. Thanks for including a version I can play on the air!) are about (respectively) her leaving and being left. A tomboy grows up in Girrl.... Last Time I Saw California is when she left, and Jeremy's Wind blows Across the Canyon.
Unlike some blues musicians, Lojo's life isn't one of constant pain. Maybe that's because she takes My Own Purple Pill, but she does have fun where she's planted. Her Gramma... is cool and her unreal life has made her Hollywood Savvy.
Lastly (and unfairly), I should mention the delightful cartoon-inspired ditty I Wanna Be A Powerpuff Girl. It's unfair because the song is unreleased as yet, and she sent it along as a single. If you order Stoic Abandon (or another of her CDs) perhaps you could talk her into a copy, or at least find out when it will be available. Lojo sent it to me because I collect this sort of thing, and did indeed play it on Shockwave Radio last weekend.
Lojo Russo is a feminist without slipping into the self-parody of Lisa Koch. A blues/rock musician who's not afraid to poke fun at herself. Stoic Abandon is a fine album for those who have lived life and can confront the past while looking toward the future. Her reviews are predictably effusive, and rightfully so. Recommended.
Waaaay back in the mid-60s, when I was in fifth or sixth grade, a friend of mine played a record with the story of Snoopy vs. the Red Baron intertwined with the three songs. Most people don't even know there are more than the one. Ha! I've been searching for it ever since, and once encountered a record that was mostly unplayable but I got the other Red Baron songs but not the spoken WWI introductions. Well, to make a long story short, I finally found it, conveniently combined with another album to make one long CD. The Royal Guardsmen were busier than you could tell from their single hit, but Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron/Snoopy And His Friends is delightful. The second half of the CD is the vinyl I remembered, and the first contains their cover of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence and other hits of the time. The group eked out more contemporary songs, even running Snoopy for president in 1968, but I haven't heard that one as yet. Still, their one hit and sequels are worth the price of the double CD at oldies.com. Fun stuff, eh Maynard?
Quick Though 1: Congrats to Spirit, for finally landing successfully on Mars. Maybe it'll find the other landers together at a playoff game.
Quick Thought 2: This Saturday, January 10 at 3:30pm Central, Shockwave Radio will air my interview with Mpls mayor RT Ryback. See below for web streaming and archive information. Eventually, it'll be up on my Shockwave audio archive.
Quick Thought 3: Britney Spears is married, maybe. Do you feel safer now?
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia with a radio show, a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E , and you can hear the last two Shockwave broadcasts in Real Audio (scroll down to Shockwave). Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
He's Been Busy!
The Worried Shrimp
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Clear, sunny, and a bit warmer.
The kid doesn't like the cats prowling in his room when he's asleep, but if the door was closed there was no heat, so we hung a screen door. Sounds funny hearing the screen door noise coming from that part of the house, but it's working out quite well.
My niece will be joining the household next week. She's 19 & tired of the backwoods. Mom would be proud.
The kid pulled a crapper load of homework out of his backpack today. Could have wrung his neck.
Tonight, Monday, CBS starts the night with a FRESH 'Yes, Dear', followed by a FRESH 'Still Standing', then a
FRESH 'Raymond', followed by a FRESH '2½ Men', then a FRESH'CSI: Miami'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are Jennifer Aniston and Ryan Adams.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are William H. Macy, Rachel Bilson, and Seal.
NBC begins the night with a FRESH 'Fear Factor', followed by a FRESH 'Las Vegas' (starts 1 minute before the top of the hour), then a
FRESH 'Average Joe: Hawaii' (also starts 1 minute before the top of the hour).
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Nicole Kidman, Orlando Bloom, and Alicia Keys.
On a RERUN Conan (from 10/16/03), are Tim Robbins, Natasha Henstridge, and Kaki King.
On a RERUN Carson Daly (from 12/10/03), are Jessica Alba, Heru Ptah, and the Stills.
ABC fills the night with the movie 'Cast Away'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Ice Cube, Jessica Capshaw, and Westside Connection, with this week's guest co-host Dane Cook.
The WB offers a FRESH '7th Heaven', followed by a RERUN '7th Heaven'.
Faux fills the night with the movie 'Billy Madison'.
UPN has a RERUN 'The Parkers', followed by a RERUN 'Eve', then a RERUN 'Girlfriends',
followed by a RERUN 'Half & Half'.
A&E has 'American Justice', 'Michael Jackson Case', 'House Of Dreams', the Series Premiere of 'Airline', followed by another FRESH 'Airline'.
AMC offers the movie 'Internal Affairs', followed by the movie 'Jaws 2', then the movie 'Beneath The Planet Of The Apes'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Crawley;
[7pm] 'House Invaders' - Walsall;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Birmingham;
[8pm] 'Murder in Mind' - Landlord;
[9pm] 'Wire in the Blood' - Shadows Rising;
[11pm] 'Murder in Mind' - Landlord;
[12am] 'Wire in the Blood' - Shadows Rising;
[2am] 'Murder in Mind' - Landlord;
[3am] 'Wire in the Blood' - Shadows Rising;
[5am] 'Murder in Mind' - Landlord; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'West Wing', the movie 'The Terminator', and 'Celebrity Poker'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'State & Main', 'South Park', and 'Comedy Central Roast' (Denis Leary).
On a RERUN Jon Stewart it's TBA.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Mail Call', another 'Mail Call', 'Titani: High Tech At Low Depth', and 'Hunt For The Lost Squadron'.
SciFi is all 'Stargate SG-1' all night.
TCM celebrates collaborative film efforts of
Myrna Loy and
William Powell in all 6 'Thin Man' movies & 2 to spare.
[6am] 'Evelyn Prentice' (1934);
[7:30am] 'Double Wedding' (1937);
[9am] 'The Thin Man' (1934);
[10:30am] 'After The Thin Man' (1936);
[12:30pm] 'Another Thin Man' (1939);
[2:30pm] 'Shadow Of The Thin Man' (1941);
[4:30pm] 'The Thin Man Goes Home' (1944);
[6:30pm] 'Song Of The Thin Man' (1947);
[8pm] 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' (1946);
[10pm] 'Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde' (1941);
[12am] 'The Wind And The Lion' (1975);
[2:15am] 'Where The Boys Are' (1960);
[4am] 'Follow The Boys' (1963). (ALL TIMES EST)
New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey, from left, actor Christopher Reeve and his wife, Dana Reeve, await the start of the bill signing ceremony for stem cell research at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, Sunday, Jan 4, 2004, in West Orange, N.J.
Photo by Warren Westura
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Hosting 'Poker Dogs'
Vince Van Patten
Actor Vince Van Patten has inked a deal to develop and host a reality show that aims to capitalize on TV's current craze for poker.
"Poker Dogs" would bring together professional poker players in an elimination-style competition series to compete for a big grand-prize pot. The project is set up at LMNO Prods., which is shopping the project to network and cable buyers.
Van Patten has already generated a cult following on the TV poker circuit as co-host of Travel Channel's "World Poker Tour" series.
Vince Van Patten
Debuts Anti-War Ballad
Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson has premiered his new anti-war ballad at an Austin fund-raising concert for Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich.
Nelson has said he wrote "What Ever Happened to Peace on Earth" on Christmas Day at the Lake Elsinore, Calif., home of his in-laws.
"There was nothing but bad news, and here it was Christmas Day," Nelson told the Austin American-Statesman last month. "I said, 'There sure are a lot of babies dying and mothers crying,' and (wife) Annie said, 'That sounds like a song.'"
The song asks questions such as, "How much oil is a human life worth?"
Asked if his new song might cause a backlash with conservative country music fans, Nelson said, "I sure hope so. I don't care if people say, 'Who the hell does he think he is?' I know who I am."
Willie Nelson
www.willienelson.com
Josie Waugh, 7, left, and her sister Carly, 7, watch their father leave for Iraq with the 216th Engineer Battalion Sunday, Jan. 4, 2004, at the National Guard Armory in Tarlton, Ohio.
Photo by Apryl A. Pilolli
15 Pages Long
NRA's Enemy List
What do Britney Spears, the United Methodist Church, the St. Louis Rams and Hallmark Cards have in common? They're among the hundreds of celebrities, organizations and companies on the National Rifle Association's roster of entities that it considers hostile to gun-ownership rights.
The Fairfax-based NRA has compiled a 15-page list of supporters of the Brady law — which requires federally licensed gun dealers to do background checks on gun buyers — and other gun-control measures.
Many consider being included on the blacklist a badge of honor, and some have even complained about being left off. Dustin Hoffman's name was added after he wrote to NRA President Kayne Robinson in October, saying that "as a supporter of comprehensive gun safety measures, I was deeply disappointed when I discovered that my name was not on this list."
Along with Spears, and usual NRA targets Michael Moore and Barbra Streisand, the organization's anti-gun roster names actors Julia Roberts and George Clooney. Professional athletes Doug Flutie and Rick Fox join entire teams on the list, including the St. Louis Rams and Cardinals, and the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals.
NRA's Enemy List
NRA List
Premieres Tonight
Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley has lofty goals for his new late-night talk show, which premieres Monday night on PBS.
"I want to challenge folks to re-examine the assumptions that they hold -- politically, socially and economically," Smiley says. "I want to expand their inventory of ideas."
For Smiley, that means examining headline issues from a different perspective than is offered in most mainstream TV news/commentary programs. "Tavis Smiley," produced by KCET Los Angeles, will tackle subjects that are particularly important to black Americans, but Smiley aims to put as much emphasis on examining news and trends in politics and culture from the vantage point of blacks and other minority groups in the country.
In so doing, Smiley hopes to provide a kind of bridge to help America's black and white subcultures understand each other a little better. He's taken the same approach with great success during the past two years on his self-titled weekday program on National Public Radio.
For more, Tavis Smiley
UPDATED FOR 2004!
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Hosted 'Drag Bingo'
Tammy Faye
A "drag bingo" event hosted by Tammy Faye Messner drew about 700 people to raise money for an AIDS service organization.
About 15 drag queens participated in "An Evening with Tammy Faye," including "Sierra Nevada," who wore a royal blue dress and heels.
The event was expected to raise $10,000 for Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina. Those who attended filled out bingo cards as numbers were called by Messner, who joined the drag queens in entertaining the crowd.
Tammy Faye
Drag bingo
Tammy Faye Messner
A woman walks along the beach at sunset on La Barrosa beach, in southern Spain, January 4, 2004. Planet earth made its annual closest approach to the Sun on Sunday, an event astronomers call perihelion.
Photo by Marcelo Del Pozo
Wedding News
Inman - Rawls
Lou Rawls, the velvety voiced blues and jazz singer best known for his 1976 hit "You'll Never Find (Another Love Like Mine)," married his girlfriend of two years on New Year's Day in Memphis.
The 70-year-old crooner wed Nina Malek Inman, a 33-year-old flight attendant, at midnight after performing New Year shows at the Liberty Bowl and the Peabody Hotel.
Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton performed the ceremony before a handful of people in a small room at the hotel, Rawls told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Inman - Rawls
Annulling Vegas Wedding
Britney Spears
Pop star Britney Spears married a childhood friend from Louisiana in an early-morning ceremony, but quickly arranged to have it annulled, a source close to the singer told The Associated Press on Sunday.
George Maloof Jr., owner and operator of the Palms Casino Hotel, confirmed that the 22-year-old Spears married Jason Allen Alexander of Kentwood, La., about 5:30 a.m. Saturday at a Las Vegas wedding chapel.
The two arranged an annulment Saturday afternoon in the presence of several people, including a Las Vegas lawyer, said a source close to Spears who spoke on condition of anonymity. The signed annulment will be official when the courts open Monday morning, the source said.
Spears and Alexander journeyed by limousine to the Little White Wedding Chapel on the Strip after a stop at the Ghostbar, a club in the Palms Casino Hotel. The chapel staff told the couple they couldn't get married without a license, so they were taken to the Clark County Marriage Bureau office in the downtown Las Vegas courthouse. They applied for and were granted the marriage license, then driven back to the chapel, where they were married.
Britney Spears
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Princess Sending Dog to Shrink
Florence
Princess Anne will send her dog to an animal psychologist to avoid having it euthanized after it attacked a royal maid and fatally mauled one of Queen Elizabeth II's beloved corgis, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
Psychologist Roger Mugford said he expected to begin work with Florence the bull terrier next week. Mugford said that he believed the attacks were related to an underlying medical factor.
"We are not talking about an inherently aggressive or dangerous dog," Mugford was quoted as saying in newspaper. "I am sure it is just a dog who is feeling a bit out of sorts about something, perhaps pain or old age, and is feeling a bit cranky on the day."
British media reported that Florence had no history of violent behavior, unlike Dotty, who bit two children in a park in 2002 and landed Princess Anne with an $880 fine.
Florence
A worker cleans up a Buddhist temple to greet the upcoming Chinese New Year in Kuala Lumpur Saturday, Jan. 3, 2004. Ethnic Chinese Malaysians will celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year of Monkey, which falls on Jan. 22 this year.
Photo by Teh Eng Koon
First Down Year Since 1991
Hollywood
Ticket sales at the North American box office last year fell for the first time since 1991, despite higher ticket prices and aggressive marketing that ensured strong opening weekends for Hollywood movies.
According to data issued on Sunday by tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, sales in 2003 fell 0.5 percent to $9.27 billion, from $9.317 billion in 2002. Those were the only two years where sales exceeded $9 billion, Exhibitor Relations President Paul Dergarabedian said.
Attendance -- or the number of tickets sold -- slid by 4.5 percent to 1.53 billion from 1.6 billion in 2002. A drop is not uncommon, but Dergarabedian said the slide was unusually steep. It now costs about $6.03 to attend a movie, up from $5.85 in 2002, and the $10 threshold has been broken in major markets.
Hollywood
Copenhagen Enclave Tears Down Stands
Christiania
Residents who openly bought and sold hashish at a famous hippie enclave in Copenhagen abruptly demolished their booths on Sunday, trying to head off a government crackdown on illegal drug sales.
Drugs are illegal in Denmark but sales of hashish in the enclave, called Christiania, are tolerated. Residents banned the sale of harder drugs in 1980.
Many of Christiania's residents believe the drug crackdown will lead to the eviction of some 1,000 residents and the realization of government plans to redevelop the 84-acre area for upscale housing. Residents said they were trying to pre-empt any government action by dismantling Pusher Street, as the hashish-selling area is known.
Christiania took root in 1971 when dozens of hippies moved into the derelict 18th-century fort on state-owned land behind the capital's old ramparts.
They proclaimed their freewheeling society Christiania and it became a counterculture oasis with psychedelic-colored buildings, free marijuana, no government, no cars and no cops.
Christiania
Lucknow zoo mahout Kisan massages an elephant with oil as a prevention from cold in Lucknow, India, Friday, Jan. 2, 2004. Cold weather sweeping across northern India, neighboring Nepal and Bangladesh has killed nearly 200 people in the last two weeks.
Photo by Ajay Kumar Singh
'The Osbournes'
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