'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Baron Dave Romm
?
By Baron Dave Romm
Baron Dave Romm Bonus
Time To File A Claim?
In case you didn't know (and most people don't), the music industry
has been screwing up more than usual recently. After their
successful effort to shut down Napster, the industry has been failing
so badly that Musicland had to close a hundred Sam Goody and related
stores. It turns out that the distributors had been overcharging
their customers all along! I wonder if Napster raised this defense.
Story at www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4889636.htm
Anyone may file a claim at www.musiccdsettlement.com/english/default.htm, and get back
anywhere from $5 to $20. Maybe.
TTFN,
Baron Dave
--
////
"I hate racists. I hate everything about them. Their music. Their
food. Their so-called 'religion'. The way their men are so skinny
and their wives are all so fat. But mostly I hate the way they judge
people based on tired stereotypes."
-- Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Thanks, again, Baron Dave!
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, breezy day. The kid started some tomato plants from cuttings (it was an experiment), and it worked. Spent the afternoon planting them in the garden.
The rose bush outside the kitchen window is in full bloom. It's an old, old plant - so old the roses still have scent! The camellia's are also in bloom - one's red & the other is pink. Even the kaffir lilies are up. So,
while the calendar says 'winter', my backyard is saying spring has sprung.
Nicole Kidman is getting Star #2211 on the 'Hollywood Walk of Fame' today.
Tonight, Monday, there's nothing fresh til 'Dave'. Starts out with a RERUN 'King Of Queens', RERUN 'Yes, Dear', RERUN 'Raymond',
RERUN 'Still Standing', and a RERUN 'CSI: Miami'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave are Jimmy Kimmel and Simon Baker.
Scheduled on a fresh Craiggers are Estella Warren, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, and Todd Snider.
NBC offers a fresh 'Fear Factor', a fresh 'Third Watch', adn a fresh 'Crossing Jordan'.
Scheduled on a fresh Jay are Salma Hayek, Derek Luke, and Seether.
On a traditional Monday RERUN Conan are Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Dennis Haysbert, and Spoon.
On a RERUN Carson Daly (from 12/12/02). are Andy Richter and Busta Rhymes.
ABC has 'The American Music Awards' (live on the east coast), with the Osbourne family hosting.
The WB has a RERUN '7th Heaven', and a RERUN 'Everwood'.
Faux offers a fresh 'Boston Pubic', and a fresh 'Joe Millionaire'.
UPN has a RERUN 'The Parkers', a RERUN 'One On One', a RERUN 'Girlfriends', and a RERUN
'Half & Half'.
A&E has the made-for-cable movie 'Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor'.
VH1 has '100 Moments That Rocked TV'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Actor Martin Sheen addresses thousands of anti-war protestors in downtown Los Angeles, January 11, 2003. The Los Angeles Police Department estimated the crowd at roughly 3,000 but organizers said at least 20,000 people participated in the protest.
Photo by Jim Ruymen/Reuters
For more, go here.
Airs Tonight
AMA Presenters
Britney Spears, Beyonce Knowles, Vanessa Carlton, and LeAnn Rimes have all been added as presenters for the 30th annual American Music Awards program, airing Monday, January 13 on ABC-TV.
Other new presenters joining the lineup are Outkast, Busta Rhymes, Solange Knowles, comedian Steve Harvey, Marques Houston, and Trista Rehn from the reality series The Bachelorette.
Performers already added to the show this week are Mariah Carey, slated to sing "Through The Rain"; Missy Elliott, who'll deliver "Work It"; and Bobby Brown, who will join Ja Rule onstage for "Thug Lovin'."
Other previously announced AMA performers are Christina Aguilera, B2K, Kenny Chesney, Matchbox Twenty, Nickelback, Shania Twain, Kelly Osbourne, a duet of "Tiny Dancer" from Elton John and Tim McGraw,
and another duet by Toby Keith and Willie Nelson.
The program will be hosted by the Osbourne family, including Ozzy and wife Sharon. The executive producer is Dick Clark.
AMA Presenters
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Honored For Support Of Civil Liberties
Norman Lear
The man who brought Archie Bunker into America's living rooms has been honored for his sponsorship of a traveling exhibit on the Declaration of Independence and his longtime support of civil liberties.
Television producer Norman Lear is the recipient of the 2003 National Award from the Council for America's First Freedom, based in Richmond. The group presented the award Sunday at its annual National
Religious Freedom Day commemoration.
During the 1970s and '80s, Lear produced several TV comedies — among them "All in the Family", "Maude" and "The Jeffersons" — that featured a strong element of social commentary.
Norman Lear
The Council for America's First Freedom's Web site
Tourist visits an outdoor ice sculpture exhibition in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjing province, January 11, 2003. China expects to earn $21.5 billion from overseas tourists this year, up from $20.4 billion in 2002, state media said.
According to the China Daily, total tourism income, which included that from domestic travellers, is expected to reach $73 billion in 2003, up 8.5 percent from last year.
Photo by Guang Niu
Animal Shelter Stiffed
Bo Derek
A Philadelphia animal shelter says '10' stunner Bo Derek stiffed them for $21,402 when she took the cash to headline a fund-raiser and then skipped the party. Bill Smith,
of Main Line Animal Rescue, sued Derek for $71,000 in damages last month, accusing the former Playboy model/actress of accepting payment for the September 2001 event - including
$6,400 for two first-class plane tickets - but bailed on the event after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Now Smith says he's organizing a rally at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.,
to protest Derek's appointment to the center's board by President Bush. Though a rally date has not been scheduled, Smith told The Washington Post's Lloyd Grove: "One of our friends
has filed for a permit, and we've contacted the Kennedy Center." Smith is also trying to enlist Pennsylvania Governor-elect Ed Rendell to pressure Derek to give back the unearned money.
"Other than getting in touch with Bo Derek or her representative, there's nothing I can do legally," Rendell said.
Bo Derek
Wedding News
Toni Collette
Australian actress Toni Collette, who played a woman obsessed with getting married in Australian comedy movie "Muriel's Wedding," has tied the knot in a Buddhist ceremony near Sydney, Australian media reported on Sunday.
Around 100 guests gathered to witness Collette, 30, exchange vows with Australian musician Dave Galafassi, 25, in a ceremony at the bride's rural retreat presided over by Buddhist monks, before a vegetarian banquet and a
dazzling fireworks display, the Sun-Herald newspaper reported.
Toni Collette
To Head UK Film Body
Anthony Minghella
Oscar-winning film director and writer Anthony Minghella was named on Friday to head the British Film Institute, created 70 years ago to make film more accessible to the public.
"I am delighted and honored to be joining the BFI as Chair," Minghella, 49, said in a statement. "Most of all I want to promote a BFI whose work is better understood by the public."
Minghella, a former drama teacher who moved to writing for Muppeteer Jim Henson and then into filmmaking, is best known for his 1996 Oscar-winning "The English Patient" for which he wrote the screenplay and directed.
Minghella will head the 15-seat board of governors of the BFI, a charity which was set up in 1933 to spread the word about British cinema. Among its assets it has what is billed as the world's most extensive film
and television archive including 275,000 feature films dating back to 1894, 210,000 television programs and seven million film stills.
Anthony Minghella
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
To Be Installed At Buckingham Palace
Panic Rooms
Concerns over a possible terror attack have prompted Britain's Queen Elizabeth to order high-tech "panic rooms" to be installed at Buckingham Palace, a British newspaper reported on Sunday.
The Sunday Times said the secure rooms encased in 18-inch-thick steel walls would provide shelter for the royal family from bombings, gas attacks, assassination attempts -- and even a direct hit by a light aircraft.
The rooms, which the paper said were ordered after a security review after last year's Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, would be equipped with secure communications, and everything needed to survive for at least a week.
Tom Gaffney, owner of Gaffco which manufactures the panic rooms, told the paper each room would cost about $1 million and would be concealed from view.
Panic Rooms
A man demonstrates to prospective buyers the new video game, called 'Bin Laden versus USA,' which shows the faces of the prime terrorist suspect and U.S. President George W. Bush at a street stall in Baguio, northern Philippines, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2003. The China-made version of the current craze Game Boy's gameplan is for the player to defend the twin towers from being bombed by Bin Laden's suicide bombers by using American anti-terrorist weapons. It sells for 250 pesos (US$5).
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Hardly Humble History
'Joe Millionaire
Hargrave Military Academy is the epitome of a southern military school, strait-laced and steeped in tradition.
It is as remote from the world of desperate damsels on "Joe Millionaire" as any place on the planet. For five years, Evan Marriott attended the school and endured its rigors.
Why his parents sent him to the $20,000-a-year boarding school four hours west of his Virginia Beach home remains a mystery, although his father, Hank, is a former Marine.
Marriott, 28, was shipped to the tough boarding school in the seventh grade and continued to attend through his junior year.
'Joe Millionaire'
Seeks to Challenge MTV
MuchMusic
The people who run the MuchMusic USA cable channel believe they can build a solid business by following the model essentially abandoned by MTV about 15 years ago.
Seen now in nearly 30 million homes in the United States (out of 107 million with TV), MuchMusic USA is trying to become MTV's first serious competition. It claims to be about music, nothing else, and will take
its direction from its 12-to-24-year-old audience.
MuchMusic was a Canadian service, started in 1984, and began simulcasting on some U.S. cable and satellite systems a decade later. The Long Island-based Rainbow Media bought the U.S. network in 2000, and has
been replacing the Canadian programming with an all-U.S. feed.
The network airs a heavy dose of videos, concerts and profiles with an interactive twist.
"Oven Fresh" plays new videos, and lets viewers vote on whether or not they join the regular rotation. "Soundtrack to Your Life" interviews viewers about songs that are important
to them and "Dedicate Live" allows fans to dedicate songs and e-mails the recipient.
There's evidence that some artists are interested in MuchMusic: Melissa Etheridge, Wyclef Jean, Alanis Morissette and the Goo Goo Dolls have all made concert appearances for the network.
MuchMusic
MuchMusic USA
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Court Revives Suit
'The Perfect Storm'
A federal appeals court has agreed to hear arguments on an appeal of a lawsuit that alleges two fishermen were portrayed without consent and in a negative light in the movie "The Perfect Storm."
The decision Friday by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta came on an appeal by the fishermen's families, whose suit was dismissed last year by a federal judge in Orlando.
The film tells the story of Tyne's final fishing expedition in October 1991. Tyne and five crew members on the Gloucester, Mass.-based vessel Andrea Gail all drowned. Tyne was portrayed in the film by George Clooney.
In dismissing the suit last May, U.S. District Judge Anne C. Conway said the movie was protected by the First Amendment, and that the Supreme Court has given filmmakers broad leeway in depicting people and events.
'The Perfect Storm'
Disney Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner (R), Disney president and Chief Operating Officer Robert Iger (C) and Hong Kong's Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa pose with Mickey and Minnie Mouse during the groundbreaking ceremony
for the first-ever Disney theme park and resort in China, Hong Kong Disneyland at Penny's Bay on Lantau Island, January 12, 2003. Hong Kong's Disneyland theme park will open in early 2006 in an attempt to inject some life into its sagging economy and lure more tourists.
Photo by Kin Cheung
Breaks Ground on Hong Kong Park
Disney
At a groundbreaking ceremony for Hong Kong Disneyland, top executives of Walt Disney Co. said Sunday they were confident their first theme park on Chinese soil will draw millions of visitors a year despite the global economic downturn.
Hong Kong's political leader, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, and Disney's chairman and chief executive officer, Michael Eisner, were among those who attended Sunday's ceremony, which featured a traditional Chinese lion dance and classic Disney characters.
Disney initially expects the 310-acre park — the company's fifth — to draw at least 5.6 million visitors a year, one-third of them from the Chinese mainland. Attendance is expected to eventually reach 10 million annually, said Irene Chan, a Disney spokeswoman.
Hong Kong Disneyland, designed to resemble the park in Anaheim, Calif., is scheduled to open by 2006. The project includes two hotels, shops and restaurants and will be connected to downtown Hong Kong and the nearby airport by rail and highway.
China recently signed a preliminary agreement with Disney rival Universal Studios to build a theme park in Shanghai, the mainland's wealthiest city.
The government is spending $416 million for a 57 percent stake in the Disney project and the equivalent of $2.8 billion for related infrastructure. Disney is paying $314 million for the remaining 43 percent stake.
Disney
Joan Rivers
Brash comedian Joan Rivers brushed off her recent pen-throwing tantrum last week, saying she is too much of a "coward" to attack a rental-car agent the way cops have described.
In a stand-up routine Thursday night at Fez, the performance space under Time Cafe at 380 Lafayette St., Rivers was asked about the incident.
Rivers made numerous references to her docile nature as part of her performance, citing her inability to defend her fur-loving, meat-eating tendencies to PETA members because she "doesn't need arguments and is a grandma."
The incident will not deter the queen of caustic comedy from bussing the stars on the red-carpet for the People's Choice Awards tonight for E! Entertainment television.
Nor has it slowed down the barbs in her act. She had a lot to get off her chest, including:
"My grandson calls me 'Grammy new-face.' When my daughter Melissa and my grandson were watching 'Return of the Mummy,' my grandson ran towards the TV saying 'Grammy, Grammy.' "
"God can't get me because I've had so much f---ing plastic surgery, he wouldn't recognize me."
Joan Rivers
Arrest Made in '93 Slaying
Mia Zapata
A Florida man has been arrested and charged with murder after DNA linked him to the death of rising punk-rock star Mia Zapata in 1993, police said Saturday.
Seattle police said Jesus C. Mezquia, 48, was arrested late Friday in the Miami area. His DNA profile matched a sample taken from the crime scene more than nine years ago, police said.
Zapata, the 27-year-old lead singer of The Gits, was last seen alive July 7, 1993, in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. Her beaten body was left on a street curb more than a mile away. She had been
strangled with the drawstring of her Gits sweatshirt.
Zapata was little-known nationally but popular locally at the height of Seattle's grunge-rock scene in the early '90s. Her death prompted an all-night vigil attended by 1,000 people as well as the creation of a self-defense group, Home Alive.
The Seattle music community — including its biggest names, Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden — raised $70,000 to hire a private investigator for three years, but eventually the funds dried up.
Mia Zapata
In Memory
Mickey Finn
British glam rock star Mickey Finn, bongo player with 1970s band T.Rex, has died in hospital aged 55, his manager said on Sunday.
Barry Newby said Finn died in hospital in Croydon, south of London, on Saturday night after an illness. "Mickey had been having health problems for a while," Newby told Reuters. Newby said Finn was believed to have died of kidney and liver problems, but the exact cause of death had not been announced yet.
Finn's death came within a few hours of that of his musical contemporary, Bee Gees member Maurice Gibb, 53, who died in Miami after undergoing an abdominal operation.
Formed by flamboyant lead singer Marc Bolan in 1967, T.Rex shot to fame with hits such as "Get it On," "Hot Love" and "Children of the Revolution" in the early 1970s.
The band was originally called Tyrannosaurus Rex but the name was shortened to T.Rex in 1970 after Finn joined, replacing original member Steve Took.
The band achieved a huge following in Britain -- sparking a period of "T.Rextacy" among devoted fans -- but achieved more limited popularity in the United States and elsewhere.
Credited with introducing the phenomenon of "glam rock" to pop music and influencing artists such as David Bowie, the band played to crowds of up to 100,000 and sold 39 million albums, according to Rolling Stone music magazine.
But by 1975, their heyday was all but over with T.Rex's demise fueled by internal feuds and bickering.
The band has been dogged by premature deaths. Bolan, the most famous member of the band, died when the car he was a passenger in hit a tree in 1979.
Former member Took also died in a car crash a year later while bass player Steve Currie choked to death in 1981.
In later years, Finn revived the band as Mickey Finn's T-Rex, which last performed in Germany on December 28, Newby said.
Mickey Finn
Chinese tourists enjoy a slide built from blocks of ice and illuminated with color lamps from inside during the Snow and Ice world at Harbin, China, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2003. The ice capital of China,
Harbin hosts a series of ice festivals and winter sports competition to boost tourism during winter months.
Photo by Ng Han Guan
'The Osbournes'
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