Reader Response
Re: The Olympics
As many of you BartCop regulars know, I live near Detroit. Being in this
area allows me to watch Windsor Channel 9, a CBC affiliate. I am so
grateful to be able to do this because I can watch the Olympics knowing I
will get some reasonably "fair and balanced" coverage.
YES, I DO WATCH THE OLYMPICS!
I am a fan of the athletes: I admire their absolutely astounding abilities.
As a duffer downhill skier, I am awed by what I see Olympic skiers do. And
yes, I like the hockey too, eh?
Friday night, I was at my girlfriend's apartment watching the opening
ceremonies. She does not get the Canadian station, so we had to endure
NBC's coverage. Bob Costas said stuff that just totally pissed me off!
Here's an example:
As the tiny Iranian team marched in, Costas said something to the effect
that President Chimpster had this "stern" look on his face as they passed.
What an awful thing to say during an Olympic Games. Is this not a time to
celebrate peaceful athletic competition? Oh, I forgot, we live in a
fucking
commercial, jingoistic world that forgot what this was all about...sorry!
For the past four summer and winter Olympic event, I have spent more time
watching the Canadian channel during the games. Like ABC or NBC, they
root
for Canadians (when appropriate. To be honest, I root for the Canadians,
and the Americans too, (if they deserve it), if I think they deserve
rooting
for. What sets CBC apart from our networks is that they provide more
extensive coverage, while giving a truly fair assessment of athletes from
all countries.
Anyone who follows sports knows that it's one thing to root for the home
team-to be loyal and have pride, etc. But, real sports fans are also
fair.
They understand that it is just as difficult, if not more, for someone from
Podunk Manitoba to overcome adversity, than it is for the kid from Aspen,
Colorado to do well in the Super G event. In that sense, I always look for
the coverage that shines the light on all who compete, irregardless of
where
they are from.
A funny thing happened on Friday night. I left my friend's apartment and
drove home to watch the end of the ceremonies. I arrived in time to watch
Sting do a really nice song with Yo Yo Ma. After the ceremony ended, the
Canadian announcer said that he did not hear the chant "USA, USA!" overdone
by the fans at the event. He also was glad that the 1980 U.S. hockey team
got to light the cauldron, as was I. Koresh, can you imagine if Smirk or>who knows what got to light that fire?
So here we are, on Sunday, only two days into these Olympics. Many of you
will ignore the Olympics for some very valid reasons. I will not ignore
them, thanks to Canadian sports television.
~~ Mad Dog
Mad Dog's Home Page
Thanks, Mad Dog. Back when I cared about the Olympics, I was driven to watching them on the TV channels we fortunate
enough to get over the air from Mexico. But, the Canadian coverage always shines. You are one of the lucky ones!
Another New Series
'The Worried Shrimp'
'The Worried Shrimp'
Thanks, Marc!
More From 'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Placated the kid, and spent most of the evening at Faux. He loves his 'Simpsons'.
Spent the rest of the night online...sorta-kinda.
Tonight, Monday, there is very little counter-programming to the Olympics. CBS throws away
the night with nothing but reruns ('King of Queens', 'Yes, Dear', 'Raymond', 'Becker'), and then
'48 Hours'.
ABC has 'Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls', followed by another gimmick-laden 'Regis', with
''stars'' from Aaron Spelling shows.
Faux has fresh 'Boston Public' and 'Ally McBeal'.
The WB has a fresh '7th Heaven' and a rerun '7th Heaven'.
UPN has a fresh night with 'The Hughleys', 'One On One', 'The Parkers',
and 'Girlfriends'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
'A Lowbrow From The Upper-Crust Ghetto'
New Bio
The United States is being led by a lowbrow from the upper-crust ghetto, largely unaware of culture — high, pop
and maybe even yogurt — a forthcoming biography of President Bush says.
New York Times reporter Frank Bruni, who was assigned to cover Bush during the 2000 presidential campaign and the
first eight months of Bush's presidency, describes the 43rd President of the United States as affable and good-natured,
but shallow and largely clueless about many aspects of the culture of the nation he heads.
Bruni's book, "Ambling into History," goes on sale March 5, and offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Bush's interaction
with reporters on the campaign trail.
"At long last, the Republican Party had nominated its first baby boomer for the presidency, and the man they had chosen
was no more culturally 'with it' than Bob Dole, the septuagenarian previous nominee, had been," Bruni writes.
Bush viewed the musical "Cats" as modern theater at its finest, Bruni writes, and openly admitted that martial artist Chuck
Norris was his favorite film actor.
The candidate had never heard of actor Leonardo DiCaprio or television newscaster Stone Phillips — despite the enormous
nationwide exposure of both, Bruni writes.
Asked about HBO's smash hit "Sex and the City," Bush thought it was "an inquiry into his erotic and geographic whereabouts," Bruni writes.
Bush, who gets generally positive treatment from Bruni in the book, nonetheless comes off in parts as a stranger to America
outside his own upper-class WASP background. When reporters on the campaign trail used words like "vegan" or "yenta," Bush
had no idea what they were talking about, Bruni writes.
Bush bragged to sushi-eating reporters about how good his peanut butter sandwiches were. His snacks of choice on the campaign
trail were Fritos and Cheez Doodles.
Though he wasn't familiar with DiCaprio's role in "Titanic," the highest-grossing film ever, Bush knew the "Austin Powers" movies inside out.
Bruni writes that Bush often lifted his pinkie to the corner of his mouth to mimic the Dr. Evil character in the Powers flicks.
Bush, a competitive and ordinarily focused politician, was nonetheless prone to distraction by trivial matters, Bruni writes.
On the night before the South Carolina primary, which Bush desperately needed to win to stop the momentum of Arizona Sen. John McCain,
Bush spotted "an attractive brunette" slipping into the hotel room of campaign staffer Matthew Dowd.
Bush, "in a manner more voyeuristic and gossipy than judgmental," became obsessed with asking campaign officials whether Dowd's wife
was with him on the trip. (She was.)
On one of the biggest nights in his political career, "Bush was focused on whether one of his deputies was having a little naughty
extracurricular fun," Bruni writes.
'A Lowbrow From The Upper-Crust Ghetto'
Big Dog Watch
Bill Clinton
It's a Bill Clinton love fest in Miami Beach this week. At a children's charity benefit Thursday at Level, where sweaty
sybarites dance until dawn, the crowd cheered: "Four more years! Four more years! At my age, I can't go to places like
this anymore, it's fantastic," the ex-president said. Later, at the black-tie Women's International Zionist Organization
dinner, he gave a 45-minute treatise on the Middle East and terrorism. Clinton also planned to play golf, raise money for
the Democratic National Committee, and attend the 40th birthday party for Dem fundraiser Phil Levine.
Bill Clinton
In Rio On Sunday
Carnival
Noch bis zum Dienstag beherrschaft der Karneval in Rio de Janeiro das Leben in der brasiliansichen Metropole. Diese
Tänzerin trat am Samstag bei der Parade einer Samba-Schule Sambadrome-Stadion von Rio auf.
Photo by Sergio Moraes
Getting Married
Elle Macpherson
It was a proposal six years in the making, but The Body has been asked to be a bride again.
Supermodel Elle Macpherson agreed to wed longtime partner Arpad "Arky" Busson after the millionaire Frenchman surprised
her with a romantic proposal on a beach in the Bahamas.
The couple have been dating since 1996 and have a son, Flynn, who was born on Valentine's Day 1998.
Elle Macpherson
Washington Press Club & 'The Axis Of Evil'
HIllary Rodham Clinton
They only make jokes about you when you're hot, so Roger Ailes and his soaring Fox News Channel should be very pleased
at the ribbing they took during the Washington Press Club's annual congressman dinner the other night. Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton (D-N.Y.) claimed that when she heard President Bush refer to "the axis of evil" she thought he was referring to
the FNC primetime lineup.
'The Axis Of Evil'
In Berlin On Sunday
Robert Altman
Maverick U.S. film director Robert Altman defended his patriotism on Sunday as he visited Berlin to collect a lifetime
achievement award, calling reports he had blamed Hollywood for the September 11 attacks "lies."
"I am an American citizen. I love my country. I always have. I am not a fan of this current administration but I am not
a politician, I am an artist and I am concerned about the films I make," he told a news conference.
The director of a scathing portrayal of Hollywood in his 1992 "The Player" also dismissed suggestions he was at odds
with the more mainstream film business: "We're not against each other. They sell shoes and I make gloves."
The 76-year-old was at the Berlin film festival to collect a "Golden Bear" award for his life's work, but said he had
no retirement plans yet, saying that he would start shooting his next picture "Voltage" in New York on May 15.
Altman said he had decided to make "Gosford Park" because he had never tackled the murder mystery genre, dubbing the film set
at an English country manor in 1932 a cross between an Agatha Christie and "The Rules of the Game," the 1939 expose of the French social classes.
"It is not so much a whodunnit but a why didn't they do it earlier," he says of the murder in the library of Sir William
McCordle as his guests play cards after a lavish dinner.
Robert Altman
Not Married
Portia de Rossi
"Ally McBeal" stunner Portia de Rossi is gaga over girlfriend Francesca Gregorini - but they did not get
hitched in a secret lesbian wedding.
London's Daily Star reported that de Rossi exchanged vows with Gregorini, the step-daughter of Ringo Starr,
at De Rossi's 29th birthday bash last week. But Portia's mouthpiece, Heidi Schaefer, denied that the couple walked down the aisle.
"There was no ceremony," Schaefer said. "There was a cake, Portia blew out the candles. [Gregorini] was there,
but there was no marriage."
Openly gay Francesca, 33, is the daughter of ex-Beatle Ringo's wife Barbara Bach. She has an apartment in Hollywood,
but usually stays at Portia's pad, the Daily Star reports.
Portia de Rossi
At The Olympics
Beach Boys
An outdoor Beach Boys concert before thousands Saturday launched a series of musical concerts intended to entertain
visitors and athletes at the Olympic Games.
"Salt Lake City has been a tradition for the Beach Boys," founding member Mike Love said in an interview with Reuters prior to the concert.
Dressed in his Olympic Torch relay uniform Love bantered with the crowd about the 1960's and memories from earlier concerts in the state.
Love carried the Olympic Flame on January 19 in Concord, California.
The special Olympic concert was the first of the year for the group that performed 120 concerts last year throughout
the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
Beach Boys
Hollywood Dermatologist
The ''Skinnies'' Awards
Call them the Os-Scars. Famed Hollywood dermatologist Vail Reese has announced the winners of his annual "Skinnies" awards,
which recognize "the most significant entertainment skin conditions of the past year." Reese honors Benjamin Bratt's turn
in "Pinero," with "Best Performance to Distract From Strange Skin Lesions." Jennifer Connelly in "A Beautiful Mind" and Aki
Ross in "Final Fantasy" tie for "Most Facial Lesions on an Otherwise Perfect Face." Gwen Stefani snags "Performer with the
Most Moles." The award for "Baldest Cast" goes to "Heist," starring follicly feeble actors Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Delroy
Lindo and Ricky Jay. "Most Unexpected Cameo" goes to actual photos of Joseph "The Elephant Man" Merrick in "From Hell," which
Reese chides for casting gorgeous Heather Graham as the "most unrealistically attractive 19th century prostitute a filmmaker
could envision. No smallpox scars or syphilitic ulcers?"
The ''Skinnies'' Awards
Quality Counts
Christopher Reeve
Actor Christopher Reeve, paralyzed in a 1995 horse-riding accident, stressed the importance of improving the quality of
life for people with disabilities during a surprise visit here.
Reeve, who played the man of steel in "Superman," spoke at an American Business Clubs banquet on Saturday. He has been
active in urging neuroscientists to conquer diseases of the brain and central nervous system.
"While we look for a cure, we really want to help people living in the here and now," he said. "It's really our responsibility
to think, `What if it was me in that wheelchair, wouldn't I want the best?'"
He also spoke about fighting with insurance companies for coverage, saying few people battle when claims are denied.
"Thirty percent fight back, 70 percent roll over," he said. "I believe that we're on the verge of being able to convince
insurance companies that it is in their best interest to give us proactive care."
Christopher Reeve
Has No Cachet?
Ashley Hamilton
Ashley Hamilton, the son of George Hamilton and ex-husband of Shannen Doherty, gets no respect. The other night, Hamilton
was hanging with a pal in a booth at Joseph's in Hollywood when the club's promoter, Pantera Sarah, asked him to move. "She
had to make room for Mark Wahlberg," said our spy. When Wahlberg refused the seat, Hamilton was allowed back, but seconds
later was booted when Matthew Perry walked in. "Ashley has no cachet anymore," our source theorized.
Ashley Hamilton
In Rio On Sunday
Bar
Barbara Bush, the mother of U.S. President George W. Bush, watches the Carnival parade from a VIP room at the Sambadrome
stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, February 10, 2002. Carnival festivities throughout Brazil will run through February 12.
Photo by Jamil Bittar
New Documentary
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was not the femme fatale she played in her films, but an emotionally distant woman and a harsh disciplinarian
with her only child, her grandson said Sunday.
Yet this is not the side of the German-born actress and singer that U.S. director J. David Riva, the son of Dietrich's
daughter, chose to explore in a documentary about his grandmother. "Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Story" focuses on her
hatred of the Nazis and her passion for the Allied effort to defeat Hitler's Third Reich.
Nearly 50 documentaries have explored Dietrich's private life but none captured her soul, Riva said. Other directors
wrongly depicted her as a woman who cried a lot, with a lot of "wrist-slitting, Joan Crawford stuff," he said.
"She was not an emotional woman," Riva said. "She was extremely Prussian."
A star in pre-Nazi Germany, the blonde, beautiful woman whose father was a Prussian general symbolized the Nazi ideal
of the "Aryan" woman. Dietrich's decision to become a U.S. citizen and work in Hollywood after the Nazis took power in
1933 was a huge defeat for Hitler and his propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels.
In wartime, she performed for U.S. soldiers and used her celebrity to promote the war bond effort, knowing the money
the government raised would be used to buy bombs that were to be dropped on German towns. Riva's film notes that
Dietrich's mother lived in Berlin at the time.
Marlene Dietrich
The Ever-Fabulous Cindy Adams
Greta Van Susteren
So Greta Van Susteren just had an eye job. Fine. I only know some people - not me - but some people - but not me - say she had
so much lifted there's nothing left in her shoes.
They say - not me, mind you - but "they" are saying, and ask not who "they" are - but they say so much got schlepped up that
her navel is now her nose. Naturally, I would not be so crass and vulgar and snotty and ratty as to myself say something of
this nature. I absolutely totally 100 percent did not say this. I resent anyone who says I said this. I did not say this. I
don't, however, mind repeating it.
When she was at that Jane Fonda network, I thought she looked like a senior version of Kiefer Sutherland. Now, for Kiefer
Sutherland, that's not bad looking. But for a Greta Van Whatserface to look like a Kiefer Sutherland is not terrific.
For the rest, The Ever-Fabulous Cindy Adams
Oscar Pulls All-Nighter Tonight
Nominations Tuesday
Imagine being locked up overnight with your co-workers. The phones are shut down. You're not allowed to sleep, you're not allowed to leave. It sounds
like a Freudian nightmare. But for two dozen workers at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, it's an annual ritual.
Monday night, leading up to Tuesday's predawn announcement of Oscar nominations, the upper floors of the academy's headquarters in Beverly Hills will
be sealed from 9 p.m. until 5:45 a.m.
Delivery people bring food to the lobby. Also in the lobby is a technician, on standby in case of glitches to the photocopier. But if the techie or
caterer ventures into the Forbidden Zone upstairs, he or she will have to stay there until 5:45 a.m. If somebody wanders into the quarantine area,
"We have to kill him or make him a certified public accountant, which is worse," academy executive administrator Ric Robertson said quietly.
By 2 p.m., most Academy employees have gone home. But a member of accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers is already on site with the official
list of nominees and has been locked into the massive sixth-floor mailing room, to begin photocopying the list.
"A little before 9 p.m., people start to wander in," Robertson said. There are about two dozen Academy workers, mostly supervisors who've been
doing this for a number of years.
Then the phones are shut down. Of course, in an era of cell phones, this is a bit of a ritual as well. But if anyone is seen walking around with
a cell phone, he or she is told to turn it off.
For the rest, Oscar Pulls All-Nighter Tonight
Man With An Opinion
Denzel Washington
Jesse Jackson has accused Hollywood of "institutional racism," but Denzel Washington doesn't see the Oscar race as a black-and-white issue.
"The year I was up for 'Malcolm X,' Al Pacino won for 'Scent of a Woman,'" Washington said. "He had been nominated eight
times. If he had lost, what would he have blamed it on? I've been nominated four times and I won once, so who would
Pacino blame had he lost?"
Denzel Washington
Documentary Recounts 'Don Quixote'
Terry Gilliam
Illness. The deafening roar of fighter planes. A flood, followed by drought. Nervous investors.
It seemed that everything that could go wrong did on the set of "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote," director Terry
Gilliam's ill-fated bid to bring Cervantes' "Don Quixote" to the big screen.
Shooting of the $32 million film in Spain was scrapped 16 months ago, but its memory lives on in the form of a
90-minute documentary that premieres Monday in Berlin.
"I'll be reliving the pain and the torture," Gilliam, 61, told the Los Angeles Times, referring to the documentary,
"Lost in La Mancha."
Terry Gilliam
Madaba's Nebo Ostrich Farm
Ostriches gather at Madaba's Nebo Ostrich farm near Amman, February 10, 2002. Ostrich Nebo farm has become one of the
largest of its kind in the Middle East harboring 1,500 ostriches, with its owners saying the farm will soon offer their
fresh meat to consumers for the first time in Jordan. The farm is one of a few farms are specializing in breeding and
raising them for the purpose of selling their healthy meat, expensive skin and feathers.
Photo by Ali Jarekji
Meeting On Larry King
Sly & Kirk
Sly Stallone had one question for Kirk Douglas when he met the 85-year-old screen legend backstage at Larry King's
show the other day: "How did you jump onto those horses?" "I've tried it, and it's painful!" Stallone added.
Douglas, promoting his new memoir, "My Stroke of Luck," confided, "I had a little secret. I used a trampoline." An
excited Stallone immediately sprang onto an invisible horse and galloped around the greenroom.
Sly & Kirk
Aaliyah's Ex-Husband
R. Kelly
He married a 15-year-old. He's twice been sued by women who claim he had sex with them as teenagers.
And now R&B star R. Kelly is battling new allegations he videotaped sex acts with a 14-year-old girl.
The first documented case of Kelly wooing a too-young lover came when he wed tragic teen pop star Aaliyah - when she was just 15.
The August 1994 match came as Aaliyah was releasing her Kelly-produced debut album, "Age Ain't Nothing But a Number."
The marriage lasted about as long as it took Aaliyah's furious parents to find out. It was annulled in February 1995.
Shortly before Aaliyah's death in a plane crash last year, a source said: "When R. Kelly comes up, she doesn't even speak his name."
Then in December 1996, former Chicago choir girl Tiffany Hawkins sued Kelly for $10 million, claiming she began having sex with him at 15.
Kelly and Hawkins settled the lawsuit in January 1998 for a reported $250,000.
Yet another civil lawsuit was filed against Kelly last August by Tracy Sampson, an intern for Epic Records in Chicago.
R. Kelly
Jack Henry Abbott
Jack Henry Abbott, whose prison writings became the best-selling book "In the Belly of the Beast," hanged himself in
his cell Sunday, officials said.
Abbott was found dead Sunday morning in his single cell at Wende Correctional Facility, said to Jim Flateau, spokesman
for the state Department of Corrections. He hanged himself with a bedsheet and a shoe lace and left a suicide note,
Flateau said. Flateau would not disclose the contents of the note.
Abbott, who was 58, gained fame from writing "In the Belly of the Beast," a best-seller composed of letters he wrote
to author Norman Mailer from prison between 1978 and 1981.
During those years, Abbott was behind bars first for bank robbery and then for fatally stabbing another inmate. Mailer
supported Abbott's parole, but six weeks after Abbott was released in 1981, he stabbed a 22-year-old aspiring
actor outside a New York City restaurant.
Abbott was sentenced to 15 years to life for manslaughter in the man's death. He was denied parole in August and would
not have been eligible again until June 2003.
In 1990, Abbott lost a nearly $7.6 million court judgment to the victim's family, who sued for proceeds from the book.
Jack Henry Abbott
In Memory
Dave Van Ronk
Folk singer Dave Van Ronk, a respected figure on the early 1960s New York music scene and an early mentor of Bob Dylan,
died Sunday after a battle with colon cancer, his record company said. He was 65.
Nicknamed "the mayor of Greenwich Village" on account of his authoritative knowledge of jazz and blues, Van Ronk
died at 9:30 a.m. at New York University Medical Center, said Mitchell Greenhill, president of Folklore Prods.,
who was at his bedside.
Although Van Ronk never achieved commercial success, he remained an influential performer in the folk community. He toured
and recorded -- and taught guitar -- until the end of last year when he underwent colon cancer surgery in November.
His most recent album was the jazz-influenced "Sweet and Lowdown," which was released last year via Santa Monica-based Folklore.
He received a traditional folk Grammy nomination in 1996 for "From ... Another Time & Place."
Van Ronk's last concert, performed in Adelphi, Md. on Oct. 22 had been recorded and Van Ronk spent his last weeks going through
the tapes to prepare a live album, Greenhill said.
Van Ronk, a Brooklyn, N.Y. native befriended Dylan after the young Minnesotan arrived in New York, and frequently allowed him to
stay in his Greenwich Village apartment. Even after Dylan became a star, they maintained a "sporadic but warm" relationship, Greenhill
said. In 1974, Van Ronk appeared with Dylan and others at a benefit for Chilean political prisoners.
Van Ronk recorded some 20 albums from the late 1950s, winning praise for his gritty interpretations of artists as diverse as Louis
Armstrong, the Rev. Gary Davis, Leonard Cohen and Randy Newman. Greenhill said Van Ronk was also an excellent songwriter, and
showcased his talents on the album "Going Back to Brooklyn."
Perhaps most notably, Van Ronk expanded the melody of the old blues song "He Was A Friend Of Mine," which was later adapted by the
Byrds as a tribute to John F. Kennedy. Van Ronk also added the chords to "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down," and co-owned the copyright, said Greenhill.
Dylan recorded both those songs, along with other tunes covered by Van Ronk such as Bukka White's "Fixin' To Die," Blind Lemon
Jefferson's "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" and "Cocaine Blues." On the liner notes of his self-titled debut album, Dylan credited
Van Ronk with turning him on to "House of the Rising Sun."
According to music writer David Hajdu's recently published book "Positively 4th Street," Van Ronk was so respected by the city's folk
musicians that New York Times reporter Robert Shelton -- who gave Dylan his first major press exposure in 1961 -- asked him to vet
important pieces before he submitted them to his editors.
Van Ronk is survived by his wife, Andrea Buocolo. A memorial service is pending, Greenhill said.
Dave Van Ronk
'Bob Woodward vs. John Belushi and Me'
Michael Dare - 'The Life and Death of Captain Preemo'
BartCop TV!
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Watergate v$ Enron!
From BartCop
The Bush Rap (Sheet)
Special Bonus From BartCop
