'TBH Politoons'
Baron Dave Romm
From Earth to Planet X
By Baron Dave Romm
Images from another world
Mosaic of
river channel and ridge area on Titan
Our friends at the European Space Agency were responsible for the Huygens Space Probe, which took the picture above. They have just announced a Science fiction writing competition
Meanwhile, back on the Red Planet...
Opportunity Continues on the Plans After Marking One Year On Mars. The second Mars Rover last longer than a year. After several embarrassing failures, NASA hits three home runs: The Mars Rover Spirit, the Mars Rover Opportunity, and the Cassini Spacecraft that carried the Huygens Probe.
To keep time for those of us on Terran work shifts, NASA marks time on Mars in sols, or Earth days. Martian days are only 41 minutes longer than ours, but scientists are paid by the Terran hour, or else the FICA taxes would be harder to calculate. As of sol 358, Opportunity has travelled 2,200.6 meters or 1.37 miles. Not bad for a solar powered, remote controlled car with a billion miles of space dust on the windshield.
This is the part where the crazy ol' coot with the telescope brandishes his slide rule at the young whippersnappers.
Perhaps we in the 21st Century CE don't have flying cars or jet packs, but we our society would be full of wonders for anyone from a hundred years ago. We have Flash Gordon's space craft (not to mention Ming the Merciless aka Osama bin Laden), Dick Tracy's two-way wrist tv (though we might have to pay roaming charges), James Bond's gadget-filled cars, HG Wells' Earth-Mars connection (though we're invading them), Jules Verne's submarines (and ours have nukes), Arthur C. Clarke's weather satellites (and Earth mapping) and more that our greatest dreamers couldn't imagine.
On the other hand, we also have George Orwell's dystopian government, Theodore Sturgeon's environmental effects on humans, Harry Harrison's overcrowded cities, JohnWyndom's nuclear threat coupled with Stanley Kubrick's nuclear insanity and Philip K Dick's lack of trust in reality.
I love living in the future... but a lot of it looks worse than the past. Like well plotted fiction, reality has a main character: You. If you forget the wonders small and great, which future will you help create?
No, you can't have your ball back. Now you kids, get off of my lawn!
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.
--////
But Untrue
Strangely Believable
During Alberto Gonzales' confirmation hearing, Mrs. Marisol Morales testified that in the years she lived next door to the Gonzaleses, young Alberto was always such a nice, quiet boy who kept to himself and never caused any trouble.
~Jeff Crook
Jeff Crook is the Ceci Connolly of the Left. ~ J. Howard Tuft
Strangely Believable but Untrue is now available online at the Untrue Fact of the Day web calendar. Help spread disinformation and misunderstanding by sharing this with your friends and enemies.
Reader Comment
Re: Cheney Attire II
"Hunting I-Wackis"??????? How fucking sick!
Makes you REAL proud to be a "MURKAN." Small wonder we're hated all over the world.
I loved it when I clicked on the link and saw that these losers are STILL whining and crying about Jane Fonda...for something she did back in 1972.
These people and the Swift Boat Liars are in dire need of lives!
Terry C
NJ
Thanks, Terry!
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Jules Siegel: The Inquisition Strikes Back (AlterNet)
Lisa Sorg: Whose side is it anyway? (San Amtonio Current)
Don't Fear the Reapers: A special series on the alleged "Death of Environmentalism" (Grist)
The LGBT Community Comes Together to Assist Tsunami Survivors
ROGER EBERT: Sundance #6: The talent among us
ROGER EBERT: Sundance #7: Striking movie gold
A Fresh Rant
Avery Ant
Avery Pope Robe by Spud Fashions Inc.
With Paul & Palmer
Afternoon Connection
Here's this week's program, from Saturday January 29, 2005 - Palestinial Election etc. with Congresswoman Lois Capps live
Purple Gene Reviews
'Little Cigars'
Purple Genes' review of the movie "Little Cigars" (1973) Directed by Chris Christenberry:
Imagine Tod Brownings' classic movie "Freaks", the 1938 midget movie "The Terror of Tiny Town" and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" all mixed together in a "modern" milieu !!!!! I just happened to catch this "curve" of a film on the Family Channel called "Little Cigars" thinking it might be like the "Bad News Bears" or some "Disneyesque" Dwarf flick, but I was wrong…..this was a gritty "Little" Grifter Gang with a beautiful blonde babe who becomes the "Moll" of the "midgets"………
Cleo (Angel Tompkins "Walking Tall II" - "Alligator" - "Amazon Women on the Moon") is a stately waitress type with long straight blonde hair…. She has a big bad boyfriend who's a big time crook and he gets a big kick out of slapping her around. He makes a big score and decides to kick Cleo to the curb…..So one night she goes to the carnival and see this act called the "Little Cigars" perform - in a tent - with back lit sheets and cheesy props……while the crowd is watching them, two of the little buggers slip out to the parking lot and fleece the cars of anything of value…..well, Cleo sees them steal the camera out of her car…and she decides to come back the next day and confront them. The head of the midget minnie mob is Slick Bender (Billy Curtis "Terror of Tiny Town" - "Wizard of OZ" - "Eating Raoul") and he is a nasty unshaven disheveled little shit and when Cleo accuses them of stealing her camera he starts swearing at her…and she starts spitting at him….She proves to Slick that the deed was done by showing where they hid the stuff……oddly enough this 60 + year old seedy small man and this tall twenty something babe fall in love and decide to go into to business together ….
We've got Cadillac (Jerry Maren), Monty (Frank Delfino), Frankie (Felix Silla) and Hugo (Emory Souza) plus their little leader Slick stealing people blind while the blonde fronts….. Meanwhile we have a ribald romance going on between Cleo and Slick .. Cleo regularly slaps the foul mouth Slick around…picks him up and throws him, punches him….and he loves it….Pretty soon it's time for the big caper……and we got the briefcase full of cash and Cleo and Slick get away but the other midgets get caught…..and as Cleo and Slick are lazing around in their hotel room ….the midget mob escapes and finds them and slaps Cleo around and kicks the shit out of Slick and takes the money…..and the last scene is Cleo and Slick selling stuff out of the back of a pick up truck….and I guess they live happily ever after………..
Purple Gene gives "Little Cigars" 6 little cigars out of 10 for being so damn strange and unusual !
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, clear & a bit warmer.
Last night's late rerun of 'Saturday Night Live' was from 1977 - Candice Bergen was hosting & Frank Zappa provided the music.
Wins Directors Guild Honor
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood was declared filmmaker of the year by his peers on Saturday, winning the Directors Guild of America honor for the boxing saga "Million Dollar Baby."
In other guild directing honors, "The Story of the Weeping Camel" won the documentary prize over Michael Moore's political hit "Fahrenheit 9/11." Directed by Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni, "The Story of the Weeping Camel" chronicles a crisis over a camel calf belonging to a family of Mongolian nomads.
"Ray" director Taylor Hackford lost the feature-film contest for his Ray Charles portrait, but TV winners included Bruce Gowers, who won the musical variety honor for "Genius: A Night for Ray Charles."
Among other TV recipients were Walter Hill, honored for series drama for the pilot of the Western "Deadwood"; Timothy Van Patten, chosen for comedy series for the "Sex and the City" finale; and Joe Sargent, winner of the small-screen movie prize for the medical drama "Something the Lord Made."
Clint Eastwood
Making Rounds
'Graffiti' Gown
A "Hollywood Graffiti" gown signed by more than 350 stars, including Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn, has kicked off the first leg of its world tour at a Michigan museum.
The gown, designed by Randy McLaughlin and Jerry Skeels, was displayed at the Port Huron Museum Saturday and Sunday. The worldwide tour will take it to Trinidad and Tobago, India and Austria for Vienna's Life Ball, one of Europe's largest AIDS fund-raisers.
In two years, the dress will be auctioned off for a minimum bid of $1 million, but McLaughlin said the final offer could be much higher. Proceeds from the gown's sale will be used for AIDS research.
'Graffiti' Gown
Hometown Turns Out for Memorial
Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson didn't want a public memorial in Los Angeles, but people from the Nebraska town where the comedian was raised gathered Sunday at the high school auditorium that bears his name for a last chance to say goodbye.
Far from a somber tribute, the event was mostly high-spirited and included a monologue, a jazz ensemble playing the "Tonight Show" theme and stage props such as a desk and guest chairs where those who had known Carson talked about him.
Born in Iowa, Carson was raised in Norfolk from the age of 8 until he left after high school to join the Navy and serve in World War II.
Fame did not diminish Carson's fondness for his hometown. His known donations to causes in the town amounted to more than $5 million, including $2.27 million for a regional cancer radiation center.
Johnny Carson
To Open Grammy Show
Maroon 5
Neo-soul rock band Maroon 5 will perform the opening musical number at next month's Grammy Awards.
Maroon 5 has earned two Grammy nominations for its debut album, "Songs About Jane," which has sold more than eight million copies since its June 2002 release and was the seventh best-selling album in 2004. The Grammies are televised Feb. 13.
Maroon 5
Wedding News
Rickter - Piazza
Mets catcher Mike Piazza married former Playboy Playmate and "Baywatch" star Alicia Rickter in a candlelight church ceremony. With baseball superstars including former Mets pitcher Al Leiter and Detroit Tigers catcher Ivan Rodriguez in attendance, Piazza and Rickter took their vows at St. Jude's Catholic Church on Saturday before boarding a yacht to a lavish reception on nearby Fisher Island.
Rickter, 32, wore a white satin Vera Wang gown and was joined by five bridesmaids, including maid-of-honor Angelica Bridges, a "Baywatch" co-star, and Playboy Playmates Brande Roderick and Lisa Dergan.
Rickter - Piazza
Sweeps Annie Awards
'The Incredibles'
It was an incredible night for "The Incredibles." The Pixar Animation Studios superhero film swept the 32nd annual Annie Awards on Sunday winning top honors for best animated feature, best directing and best voice acting for Brad Bird, the film's director who voiced the diminutive seamstress Edna Mode.
The Annie Awards are presented by The International Animated Film Society to honor outstanding animation in television and film. Winners, including last year's "Finding Nemo," have typically gone on to win the Academy Award for best animated feature.
The film also took awards for writing, production design and music for the throbbing score composed by Michael Giacchino.
Among the other winners on Sunday were Nickelodeon's "SpongeBob SquarePants" for best animated television production, and actress Brittany Murphy for giving voice to the character "Luane" in the Fox TV show "King of the Hill."
'The Incredibles'
Gang Reunites for Special
'Happy Days'
You know the main reason for TV reunion specials. It's to let viewers get a look at the show's stars today and then react one of two ways: Either "Gosh, they look old," or "Gosh, they look REALLY old." Take a look at "The `Happy Days' 30th Anniversary Reunion," which ABC is airing 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST Thursday.
It brings back original cast members Scott Baio, Tom Bosley, Erin Moran, Don Most, Marion Ross, Anson Williams and Henry Winkler. Also Ron Howard, of course, who scarcely more than a year ago appeared on an "Andy Griffith Show" reunion special. Also: Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, who have done at least two reunion specials honoring their "Happy Days" spinoff, "Laverne & Shirley."
"Happy Days" began its run on Jan. 15, 1974 (which, by traditional, non-ABC math computes to 31, not 30, years ago). Set in Milwaukee in a problem-free version of the 1950s, this sitcom centered on high schooler Richie Cunningham (Howard, though he left the show in 1980), his family and friends, particularly charismatic dropout Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli (Winkler).
'Happy Days'
Booed Santa
Eagles Fans
Those famously churlish Philly fans can't hide behind the urban legends. The truth is out there: They simply booed Santa Claus. Frank Olivo - the erstwhile Santa in question - wasn't drunk, nor was his red suit in tatters that December day in 1968 when he walked onto the field for the halftime show, only to be met by a chorus of jeers and a snowball fusillade from Eagles fans.
The antics at halftime of the Eagles' final regular-season game, beamed around the country on Howard Cosell's national sports show, helped cement Philadelphia's reputation for having rogue, rowdy sports fans.
"There's nothing that sounds worse than throwing snowballs at Santa," said sports radio host Glen Macnow of WIP-AM in Philadelphia. "It's like spitting on Miss America."
For the rest, Eagles Fans
No Curtains?
Daryl Clark
A Canadian who masturbated at a window in his house won his appeal against a conviction for indecency on Thursday after Canada's top court ruled there was no evidence of intent to commit an indecent act, and a home was not a public place.
The Supreme Court of Canada noted that British Columbian, Daryl Clark, had agreed it was an indecent act to have masturbated "in an illuminated room near an uncovered window visible to neighbors."
But Justice Morris Fish, writing the 9-0 decision, said such acts have to be done in public places to be a crime -- and a home was not a public place. The law also says indecent acts are only crimes in every location if the person intends to give offense.
Daryl Clark
