My suggestion for what to call this secular year:
MMX, pronounced "MeMex".
The Mural behind the KMart
Hmm... a short
one this week, as I've been busy. Playing with my post-Chanukkah
splurge Flip video camera, I revisited an old posting... and it
became a larger project.
I like to play with my toys. When I
upgraded to my current digital camera, one of the first things I did
was walk across the street to take a little photo essay of the mural
behind the building I can see from my computer desk. Full report
here
Mural behind the KMart on Lake St. and Nicollet in
Mpls report and another picture on Baron Dave's
LiveJournal from May 10, 2008.
I then went on to do a
series of Hidden Minneapolis pictures (in LJ, follow the "hidden
Minneapolis" tag) some of which turned into Bartcop-E
columns.
Last week, my new toy arrived. Using the
pocket-sized camcorder, I walked across the street and made my first
YouTube video, and made the link on Facebook as well as LJ:
Facebook allows for more
connections than LiveJournal does. I prefer LJ for longer
conversations and threaded comments, but there's no question that FB
casts a larger net.
The response to the video included people
who had lived in the area before it was painted. Before the KMart
was built, Nicollet Ave. went straight through. The city's decision
(by one vote in the City Council) to allow the street to be blocked
off was and remains controversial. The neighborhood association was
granted permission by the city and KMart to paint a mural, and made
the current one, depicting (apparently), someoneonesomeone closing
the door on the neighborhood to reveal a battleship, symbol of
corporate power.
So I started doing research for deeper
story. In the few days since posting the video, I've talked to
several people on the Whittier Association (then and now), one of the
artists who painted the mural, became Facebook Friends with another
artist, have leads on more people, and talked to the manager of the
KMart.
Amazingly (to me), the KMart guy was the least
helpful. The manager was friendly and told me what he could, but he
simply didn't have information about his own building. He declined
an interview, largely because he didn't feel qualified to say
anything useful, and promised to ask higher-ups in the organization.
I haven't heard anything back from them, and am not holding my
breath.
Plan is to make a longer video report/podcast, with
interviews and better pictures. That will involve figuring out how
to compile an HD movie and voiceovers on iMovie 6 and other techie
considerations. Whee!
So I'm celebrating Martin Luthor King
Jr. Day by promoting neighborhood associations instead of listening
to new CDs or chasing down Heartland Perverts. More later,
probably.
Vikings vs. Cowboys: Ghosts laid to
rest
Vikings won decisively, 34-3. Somewhat
anti-climactic, actually. The Cowboys looked sharp early, but then
the Vikes dominated the rest of the game. For all the footage of the
Vikings losing to Dallas in 1975 and reminders of major chokes in
playoff games past, the Vikings are now a game away from the
Superbowl. Further, they are the underdog against the Saints next
week. Traditionally, the Vikings have won games they weren't
expected to and lose games in which they are heavily favored. The
Saints are very good, but not invincible. We shall see.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to
play on the air.
--////
"One guy is talking, perhaps inelegantly, about why he's
wholeheartedly supporting our first black president; the other is
wishing the country had elected a racist. That's exactly the same
thing!" -- Joan Walsh re Harry Reid being compared to Trent Lott
Susan Estrich: The Resolutions Racket (creators.com)
The other day, I walked into a bookstore looking for some escapism and stumbled right into a wall of diet books. It's January. I published a diet book right around this time back in the '90s, which is why I've been able to mostly avoid the diet book section ever since. But did I ever used to know that world.
Froma Harrop: Why Profiling Can't Ensure Airline Security (creators.com)
Fifty years ago this month, a lawyer living in a posh New York suburb with his former model wife was being investigated for embezzlement. Julian Andrew Frank of Westport, Conn., took out nearly $900,000 in life insurance and then, investigators believed, boarded a National Airlines plane with a bomb and blew it up over North Carolina, killing himself and 33 others.
Randy Lewis: 'Crazy' luck for author (Los Angeles Times)
Jeff Bridges' star turn in "Crazy Heart" as downtrodden country music legend Bad Blake has been earning the veteran actor some of the most glowing reviews of his career, from writers who have invoked the names of many real-life musicians in their assessments of Bridges' portrayal of the fictional Blake.
William Zinsser: Writing English as a Second Language (theamericanscholar.org)
I've given you these examples because writing is learned by imitation. We all need models. Bach needed a model; Picasso needed a model. Make a point of reading writers who are doing the kind of writing you want to do. (Many of them write for The New Yorker.) Study their articles clinically. Try to figure out how they put their words and sentences together. That's how I learned to write, not from a writing course.
David Medsher: A Chat with Russell Leetch, Editors bassist (bullz-eye.com)
We did become a little bit formulaic with how we write the songs. We know what the hi hat hand might do, and the bass is going to chug along and the guitar can be quite stabby. We just said, 'this is going to get really boring for us,' and it did.
The 'What ever happened to... Where are they now?' Edition
Every now and again, an article appears about what a former 'Celebrity', e.g. an actor/actress, politician, author, musician or sports star, is now doing in their present state of obscurity and where they're doing it.
Is there a former 'Celebrity' that you'd be interested in knowing where they are and what they're doing?
mj was first, and correct, with:
Undoubtedly sweetened with
High fructose corn syrup. Kool-aid (also made in colors not appearing in nature.)
Alan J answered:
Kool-Aid
Jim from CA, retired to ID, responded:
Kool Aid
Marian the teacher replied:
Kool-Aid
Sally said:
I can't believe it, but my keyboard is going out... Better make this short 'n sweet.
As I remember, Kool-Aid is the second "Official" drink up thar in Kneebraska...
Made with the "Real" sugar that you added, not the "Corn syrup" crapola you get nowadays...
MAM wrote:
Nebraska's other official beverage is Kool-Aid. (Awful stuff !!!! )
And, Joe S responded:
My god, it's Kool-aid. Michigan has two state beverages too, they are both beer. But enough of beverages we want to know why zEN mAN didn't tell us who the breasts belong to.
We also want to know why everyone who included a picture of the horse of a different color chose the purple one. Also.
We is the royal We.
I had heard great things about a new "Bollywood" feature film called "3 Idiots"….all the way from Nashville……when I went to my Bay Area theater guide it was only playing in one place…..the "Century 25" in remote Union city. So I drove all the way down highway 880 to a bustling Mall Complex created out of the Alvarado-Niles mud flats. With ticket stub in hand and a big bag of popcorn, I sidled into a front row seat. I turned back and looked around at the sparse audience….saris and turbins…I was surrounded by Indian Families….out to see a movie in American that is a huge hit in their homeland!
"3 Idiots" ….Bad Title?
As I was sitting through myriads of summer trailers and up and coming attractions (and "Stella Artois" beer ads) it occurred to me that "3 Idiots" was a bad title for a movie…..We've had "The Three Stooges". …"The 3 Musketeers"….."¡3 Amigos!"….."3 Kings"…."3 Ninjas" and even "3 Men and a Baby"…..all comedies…..maybe something was lost in translation…perhaps, in Hindi, it means "3 Buddies" or "3 Mates" or even "3 Goofy Guys"…but "3 Idiots" ????? I wasn't sure ! But as I discovered in the first few minutes of this flick, this was a weird engineering grad school reunion extravaganza that started with the end and was one big wonderful Bollywood flashback for 3 funny fellows!
Where is "Rancho" 10 years later?
I.C.E. stands for the "Imperial College of Engineering". This is where poor and rich Indian families send their sons to become successful and wealthy engineers. Farhan and Raju are enrolled in I.C.E. and are the sons of not so well off parents and are under great pressure to get their degrees….they are enrolled in the most important class of all in terms of passing exams…it is run by a cruel teacher/taskmaster named "Virus"….he is a proponent of text book learning, rote memory and torturous testing. Farhan and Raju make friends with a creative free spirit named "Rancho" (Aamir Khan)….who takes great pleasure in perplexing all the professors with his fantastic genius for practical jokes and problem solving….these students become known as the 3 idiots….and amid all the antics, Rancho falls in love with professor Virus's daughter Pia (Kareena Kapoor) an up and coming medical student (she looks a little like an raven haired Indian version of Paris Hilton). After upsetting the whole school with their odd antics the threesome plot to foil Virus's intentions to flunk them….Rancho (with help from Pia) expose the plot and Farhan and Raju graduate ….barely…and Rancho graduates with the highest honors….and then disappears for 10 years…
"Runaway Bride"…Revisited!
The end of this 3 hour long epic musical is a mad car chase…first of all Farhan and Raju find out that Pia is about to get married to a vain and selfish man that she doesn't love…so they drive to the wedding and abduct her..... willingly……Then they set off to find Rancho…..who they not only believe is probably rich but they also hope he is still in love with Pia! They end up finding out that Rancho is not who they think he is and that he is somewhere in the mountains of Ladakh doing god knows what!
You won't believe the Ending!
"3 Idiots" has so many twists and turns (and 2 fantastic musical numbers) that you get dizzy with laughter and delight. The central theme is whether one should follow their dreams or accept a life of drudgery….we really don't know what has become of Rancho who was a proponent of people doing what they love …not what they are told to do. But the end of this elaborate masterpiece is well worth the wait….."3 Idiots" is a far cry from "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Monsoon Wedding" and perhaps the best Bollywood feature film yet!
I've been watching the NFL playoffs on Fox over the weekend.
If you watch behind the studio announcers (Howie, Jimmy, Terry, et. al) they have television personnel walking around, talking on the phone, sitting by computers, etc.
I think one of television personnel walking around is Jeff Gannon!
Halfway between Pinckney and Hell (Yes, there actually is a Hell, Michigan and it's not Detroit), more than 100 buffalo have a home on the range. Their owner, Kevin MacRitchie, has two goals in mind: humanely raising healthy meat and bringing back the mighty animals that once roamed the West... MacRitchie is a member of a unique niche group in Michigan, ranchers and farmers who raise American bison. Bison once roamed most of the U.S., including Michigan...
CBS opens the night with a FRESH'How I Met Your Mother', followed by a FRESH'Accidentally On Porpoise', then a FRESH'2½ Men', followed by a FRESH'Big Bang Theory', then a FRESH'CSI: The 2nd One'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Kristen Bell, Randy Jackson, and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Marion Cotillard and Steve Jones.
NBC begins the night with a FRESH'Chuck', followed by a FRESH'Heroes', then a FRESH'Leno' (Emily Blunt and Ringo Starr & Ben Harper).
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Martin Scorsese, Colin Firth, and a performance from Cirque du Soleil's "Kooza".
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Fallon are Ashley Judd, Jimmie Johnson, and the Cribs.
On a RERUNCarson 'The Scab' Daly (from 11/26/09) is Weezer.
ABC starts the night with a FRESH'The Bachelor', followed by a FRESH'Murder He Wrote Castle'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 1/12/10) are Chevy Chase, Elisha Cuthbert, and Melanie Fiona.
The CW offers a FRESH'One Tree Hill', followed by the SERIES PREMIERE'Life Unexpected'.
Faux fills the night with a FRESH'24'.
MY recycles an old 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', followed by another old 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent'.
A&E has 'Intervention', another 'Intervention', followed by a FRESH'Intervention', then a FRESH'Hoarders'.
AMC offers the movie 'Daylight', followed by the movie 'Superman Returns'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Ep 17 Lawton
[1:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Ep 23 Paling
[2:00 PM] Antiques Roadshow - Episode 15
[3:00 PM] Antiques Roadshow - Episode 25
[4:00 PM] Antiques Roadshow - Episode 16
[5:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep. 4 Moore Place
[6:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 6 Clubway 41
[7:00 PM] BBC World News America
[8:00 PM] Top Gear - Episode 8
[9:40 PM] The F Word Meets Top Gear - The F Word Meets Top Gear
[10:00 PM] BBC World News America
[11:00 PM] Top Gear - Episode 8
[12:40 AM] The F Word Meets Top Gear
[1:00 AM] Top Gear - Episode 3
[2:00 AM] Top Gear - Episode 4
[3:00 AM] Friday Night with Jonathan Ross - Ep 12 Jeremy Clarkson, Peter Kay, Laurence Fishburne, Muse
[4:00 AM] How Clean Is Your House? US - Episode 9
[4:30 AM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 1
[5:00 AM] BBC World News
[6:00 AM] BBC World News (ALL TIMES EST)
Comedy Central has 'RENO 911!', another 'RENO 911!', still another 'RENO 911!', still another 'RENO 911!', 'Futurama', another 'Futurama', 'The Goode Family', and 'South Park'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is David M. Walker.
Scheduled on a FRESHColbert Report are Dr. Margaret Palmer and Emily Pilloton.
FX has the movie 'The Simpsons Movie', followed by the movie 'Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer', then the movie 'Daredevil'.
History has '1968 With Tom Brokaw', 'King', 'Pawn Stars', and another 'Pawn Stars'.
IFC -
[6:00 AM] The Lesser Evil
[7:45 AM] The Firemen's Ball
[9:05 AM] The Castle
[10:35 AM] Man of the Century
[12:00 PM] The Firemen's Ball
[1:15 PM] The Castle
[2:45 PM] Man of the Century
[4:10 PM] The Whitest Kids U'Know
[4:40 PM] The Firemen's Ball
[6:00 PM] The Castle
[7:30 PM] Monty Python's Flying Circus
[8:00 PM] Human Nature
[9:45 PM] Larry Flynt: The Right to Be Left Alone
[11:00 PM] Witchblade
[11:30 PM] Witchblade
[12:00 AM] The Notorious Bettie Page
[1:35 AM] The Whitest Kids U'Know
[2:00 AM] The IT Crowd
[2:30 AM] Monty Python's Flying Circus
[3:00 AM] Human Nature
[4:45 AM] The Castle (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[04:30 AM] Dog Eat Dog
[06:15 AM] Fighter
[08:00 AM] The Talent Given Us
[09:45 AM] Grass (1999)
[11:10 AM] The Fortune Hunter
[12:00 PM] The Talent Given Us
[01:45 PM] Harvie Krumpet
[02:15 PM] Grass (1999)
[03:40 PM] The Fortune Hunter
[04:30 PM] Man On Wire
[06:15 PM] Dreams With Sharp Teeth
[08:00 PM] The Opposite Of Sex
[09:45 PM] West Bank Story
[10:15 PM] I Love Sarah Jane
[10:30 PM] Be Good Johnny Weir - Episode 1: Pop Star on Ice
[12:00 AM] Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... John Prine, Ray LaMontagne, and Lyle Lovett
[01:00 AM] Be Good Johnny Weir - Episode 1: Pop Star on Ice
[02:30 AM] The Opposite Of Sex
[04:15 AM] West Bank Story
[04:45 AM] I Love Sarah Jane
[05:00 AM] Man On Wire (ALL TIMES EST)
Actor Jeff Bridges from the film "Crazy Heart" and wife Susan arrive at the 67th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 17, 2010.
Photo by Danny Moloshok
With 88 bison from Yellowstone National Park facing possible slaughter, billionaire Ted Turner has swept in and offered to hold the animals for five years on his sprawling Montana ranch while a new home for them is found. But Turner, ever the shrewd businessman, won't do it for nothing. The media mogul says he will care for the bison only if he can keep up to 90 percent of their offspring.
Hunters, environmentalists and property law experts have all weighed in and most say Turner's plan sets a dangerous precedent for the commercialization of public wildlife. Others describe Turner as a responsible steward of the land with the resources needed to take care of animals that desperately need a home.
Despite warnings from Montana about possible slaughter, federal officials said earlier this month that the bison could be kept longer if needed at a quarantine compound north of the park. They have already been there for several years to make sure they are disease free.
Dennis Tilton, a rancher from nearby Livingston who worked for a year feeding the animals under government contract, said giving the animals to Turner amounted to "robbing from the public domain." He said the state should put them onto public land to establish new herds.
Actress Mo'Nique poses with her award after winning best supporting actress for a motion picture for her role in "Precious" at the 67th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 17, 2010.
Photo by Lucy Nicholson
The Saudi billionaire whose investment firm is one of the biggest stakeholders in Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. said he is looking to expand his alliances with the media giant, in the latest indication that his appetite for growth remains robust even as his company retrenches.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a nephew of the Saudi king and who was listed last year by Forbes as the world's 22nd richest person, met with News Corp.'s chief executive Rupert Murdoch on Jan. 14 in a meeting that "touched upon future potential alliances with News Corp.," according to a statement released by his Kingdom Holding Co. late Saturday.
Media reports have indicated that News Corp, parent to Fox News and Dow Jones & Co., among others, may be thinking of buying a stake in Alwaleed's Rotana Media Group, which includes a number of satellite channels that air in the Middle East.
Kingdom Holding's statement said Alwaleed is already the second largest stakeholder in News Corp., with 5.7 percent of the shares of the media company. The stake is held through Kingdom Holding, in which Alwaleed holds a 95 percent stake.
A hummingbird rarely seen in Massachusetts and trying to survive a brutal Cape Cod winter has wound up in the hospital. The Cape Cod Times reported that the Allen's hummingbird was brought to the Wild Care of Cape Cod animal rehabilitation center in Eastham after being found in the snow with ice crystals on its wings on Sunday.
The thumb-sized bird had survived two major snow storms, subfreezing temperatures and high winds by feeding on sugar water from a Harwich woman's back yard feeder.
Lela Larned, Wild Care's executive director, said the bird was "at the end of the line."
The bird is native to California and Mexico and rarely seen east of the Rockies.
Lead actors Jimmie Wilson (R), as U.S. President Barack Obama, and Della Miles, as Michelle Obama, perform during the world premiere of the German musical "Hope" in Frankfurt January 17, 2010.
Photo by Ralph Orlowski
Some snow in a Buffalo neighborhood turned a deep shade of pink after a cloud of powder was released during demolition of a business that used to make food coloring. As surprised parents and pet owners wondered whether to ban outdoor play, state health and environmental officials collected samples.
A demolition contractor said a pipe that contained about five pounds of residual red dye No. 40 ruptured at a building being torn down near the former Buffalo Color plant Thursday afternoon. John Yensan of Ontario Specialty Contracting says powder was carried by the wind across homes, cars and streets.
Authorities said the dye didn't appear to pose a health problem.
Poverty is the most serious problem facing the world, according to a major worldwide poll out Sunday which put the issue well ahead of climate change, terrorism and war.
Overall, 71 percent of people named extreme poverty as the biggest global issue, compared to 64 percent who cited the environment or pollution and 63 percent the rising cost of food and energy.
Terrorism, human rights and the spread of disease were singled out by 59 percent, climate change and the state of the world economy by 58 percent and war by 57 percent.
Japan was the only country to view climate change as the most serious issue, while China ranked it second and the United States ninth.
In this Jan. 5, 2010 photo, founder Elizabeth Streb, top, lays atop a contraption she designed for her company's performances as it's members pose inside it at the Streb Laboratory for Action Mechanics in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn in New York. The company will perform Jan 22-24 as part of the Vancouver Winter Olympics cultural festival.
Photo by Kathy Willens
Disabled by chronic back pain and unable to afford medical insurance, Lea Walker hoped President Barack Obama's health care overhaul would close a coverage gap that has trapped her and millions of other workers.
It won't.
Although disabled workers can expect improvements, the legislation moving toward final passage in Congress doesn't deliver the clean fix that advocates for people with serious medical conditions hoped for. Some of the neediest could find themselves still in limbo.
In 2007, the government declared Walker, a home health nurse from Indian Trail, N.C., too sick to work. She started receiving monthly disability checks from Social Security, but found she would face a 24-month wait for Medicare. Insurance available through her husband's job was out of reach at $800 a month.
At any given time, an estimated 1.8 million disabled workers languish in the Medicare coverage gap, a cost saver instituted nearly 40 years ago. Many, like Walker, are uninsured. Lawmakers had hoped to eliminate the gap as part of health care overhaul, but concluded it would be too expensive.
An Ohio county has agreed to pay $1,500 to a man who was bitten by a rabid bat and turned to a little-known state law that allows for compensation. Commissioners in Delaware County, north of Columbus, voted Thursday to provide 61-year-old David Froehlich with the maximum reimbursement under the law, even though he put in his request for the money two days late.
The law allows a person hurt by a rabid animal to seek a county's help with the medical bills. But the request must be made within four months of the bite, and Froehlich just missed the window.
A prosecutor who reviewed Froehlich's claim said he was surprised to learn of the law.
Froehlich's wife said her husband was bitten Aug. 22 and that insurance didn't cover the $5,000 hospital bill.
Actors from Spain, Germany, U.S. and Japan of the 'Alicia Soto, Hojarasca & Post Theater' theatre company perform 'Super Gravity Zero Gravity' during the 'Escena Abierta' theatre festival in Burgos, northern Spain, January 16, 2010.
Photo by Felix Ordonez
Fire officials said a San Diego middle school was evacuated when a student's science project was mistaken for a bomb. Fire-Rescue spokesman Maurice Luque said a vice principal's concerns prompted the evacuation of Millennial Tech Magnet Middle School Friday afternoon. Luque said an arson team took photos and x-rays of the empty plastic bottle with wires and determined it was harmless.
Luque says the 11-year-old boy was trying to build a motion detector from instructions he found on the Internet and parts he bought online with help from his father. His parents did not realize that the object looked threatening.
He said the student was "a genius-type kid" who undertook the project on his own, had no intentions of hurting anyone or causing any disruptions.
James Cameron's "Avatar" had a $41.3 million weekend to shoot past "Star Wars" as the No. 3 movie on the all-time domestic box office charts. Next stop, "The Dark Knight."
No. 1 for the fifth-straight weekend, Cameron's sci-fi saga raised its domestic total to $491.8 million and should top $500 million after revenues are counted on Martin Luther King Day, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Worldwide, 20th Century Fox's "Avatar" lifted its total to $1.6 billion, second only to Cameron's last movie, 1997's "Titanic," at $1.8 billion.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Tuesday.
1. "Avatar," $41.3 million.
2. "The Book of Eli," $31.6 million.
3. "The Lovely Bones," $17.1 million.
4. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," $11.5 million.
5. "Sherlock Holmes," $9.8 million.
6. "The Spy Next Door," $9.7 million.
7. "It's Complicated," $7.7 million.
8. "Leap Year," $5.8 million.
9. "The Blind Side," $5.6 million.
10. "Up in the Air," $5.5 million.
Actor John Ratzenberger, who played Cliff Clavin on the TV show 'Cheers,' speaks in support for Massachusetts State Senator Scott Brown, R-Nude Model, at a rally in Worcester, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010. Brown is running against Democrat Martha Coakley and Joseph Kennedy, a Libertarian who is running as an independent, in a special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat left empty by the death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.
Photo by Robert F. Bukaty
You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
Make yourself home, take your shoes off...
Go ahead, scratch it if it itches.
The idea is to have fun.
Do you have something to say?
Anything that increased your blood pressure, or, even better, amused or entertained?
Do you have a great album no one's heard?
How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
A popular artist that just plain pisses you off?
A box set the whole world should own?
Vile, filthy rumors about Republican hypocrites?
Just plain vile, filthy rumors?
This is your place.
wrote:
