'Best of TBH Politoons'
Baron Dave Romm
Elvis 42 - George W. 39
By Baron Dave Romm
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I had fun playing with Bush's plummeting approval ratings on Shockwave Radio, spinning cuts by Pinkard and Bowden, Mojo Nixon, the great Luke Ski, Big Daddy, Dread Zeppelin and Elvis himself. Here is my introduction to the 2/18/06 show, suitably edited and linked for the Bartcop-E.
Let's talk Elvis. Elvis Presley has been highly popular for 50 years, and for very good reasons: He was a very good singer and highly entertaining crowd pleaser, up until his death in 1977. But let me get back to Elvis in a minute.
The Bush/Cheney Administration came into office as The All DUI Ticket. Now, thanks to Dick Cheney's latest comical misadventure, the Bush Cheney administration is officially The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. Cheney shoots a guy in the face and tries to cover it up. The absurd spin put on the incident put lie to one of the ultra-right's most cherished beliefs: Gun Control is Straight Shooting. (Unanswered question: How can two hunters lose face with one shot?) The NRA and 2nd Amendment types should be all over the VP for screwing up royally, yet they're his staunchest defenders. Instead of a golden opportunity to talk about gun safety, the sphincter conservatives just lash out at "the media" for attempting (and failing) to report the story. Once again we see the ridiculous double standard from the right. Once again we see that Republicans are soft on crime... when it's theirs.
Religious fanatics of many religions are being dumber than usual, from Pat Robertson encouraging the assassination of elected leaders to West Bank Muslims electing a terrorist organization to represent them. Who are these people? Don't they realize just how bad they make their religion look? Do they care what you or I think? You see...
Oops... I dropped my Rose of the Prophet Mohammed on my Danish Rug. I should draw a cartoon about it. Where was I? Oh yeah... Hey people, control your own religious fanatics. The so-called blasphemous cartoons are pretty mild, as criticism goes, and if people are going to throw bombs in the name of the prophet, it's completely justified for critics to make the same connection. Further, they were published in September, and the religious leaders only made a big deal over old cartoons in January when 350 died in Mecca during the Hadj. If you went ga-ga over a few cartoons and let the Saudis off the hook, no virgins for you.
Meanwhile, the religious fanatics on the Christian Right here in the US are suffering from an association with the Bush/Cheney gang. They have the presidency. And they have the Congress And they have the courts. But what they don't have is the hearts and minds of the American people. Fewer and fewer people actually support the lunatic, illegal, un-American activities of the Republicans who have to cheat to win elections. So much so, that George W. Bush's approval ratings have fallen under the percentage of the population that believes that Elvis is alive.
You knew I'd get back to Elvis, eh? With Bush's approval ratings in the mid-30s and falling, and Elvis-is-alive believers in the low 40s and holding steady, how much overlap can there be? I strongly suspect most Elvis-is-alive believers fall into Bush's core constituency. For some reason, no poll asks both questions. But surely there are those too smart to believe anything George W. Bush or Dick Cheney says and yet can't find it in their hearts to let go of Elvis? What does it say about America? Who are those people who believe Elvis is alive and also don't trust Bush? To be a Republican these days, you have to believe lies and not believe the truth. What is the truth about Elvis? Are his believers on to something the more cynical of us refuse to admit? Maybe I voted for the wrong stamp. I dunno, but I bet the GOP spin on this will be as humiliating as trying to defend a hunting accident where alcohol was involved.
Thanks to everyone who had a kind word to say about my Antarctica pictures or ordered a Vernadsky Station CD.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia with a radio show, a Live Journal demi-blog, 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.
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Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Right Wing Humor, It's funny when people die (theobfuscationreport)
I have to admit, I've never understood Right Wing Humor. I just didn't get it and I often don't find it funny.
Cathy Lynn Grossman: Hindu Lite (USA TODAY; Posted on beliefnet.com)
With Britney going to a Hindu temple, karma on NBC, and yoga everywhere, Hinduism--or something like it--is hot in pop-culture.
Shoba Narayan; Pop-Karma (beliefnet.com)
NBC's 'My Name Is Earl' bandies about a key Hindu term without any idea of its real meaning--but that's not such a bad thing.
Jack Kenny: Where was the gay mafia when I needed a hit? (Advocate.com)
The creator of NBC's short-lived The Book of Daniel wonders why his fellow gays and lesbians didn't fight back when the American Family Association attacked him
Kim Ficera: Don't Quote Me: Sex and the "Whatever" Generation (afterellen.com)
But perhaps the most interesting aspect of the article is this: the sexual behaviors of the cuddle puddle don't appear to be politically motivated. No one's civil liberties are at issue, and if there's a gay/straight alliance at Stuyvesant, no one is threatening its existence. Apparently, the students are sowing their queer oats simply because they can.
The Daily Show's Gay Sensibility (afterelton.com)
Its take on gays and lesbians in American life is truly subversive.
Brokeback Backlash (frontierspublishing.com)
Two views on Hollywood's biggest "gay movie"
Malinda Lo: Shine Louise Houston Will Turn You On (curvemag.com)
Talking about porn on a sunny Friday afternoon in San Francisco isn't exactly the worst job I've ever had - and it's even more fun when the conversation partner is Shine Louise Houston, the founder of Pink and White Productions, a new porn production company that recently released its first video, The Crash Pad.
Hubert's Poetry Corner
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Avery Ant
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Heckuva hail storm this morning, sunny & crisp the rest of the day.
No new new flags.
'Good Night, and Good Luck'
George Clooney
For George Clooney, it was the ultimate Oscar -- his father loved "Good Night, and Good Luck."
The tale of CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow's battle against Senator Joe McCarthy's anti-Communist witch-hunt could not have been closer to both their hearts; hence the actor's nerves when he showed the film to his father, newscaster Nick Clooney.
"Believe me, of all the people you show it to, at all the film festivals and all the places you go, the harshest critic is your old man. The fact that he liked it -- I was very excited about that."
Clooney said: "I wrote the film coming back from the Berlin Film Festival. It was in the lead-up to the (Iraq) War. I said we should be asking a few questions before we go in and send 150,000 kids to be shot at.
"I came home and was called a traitor to my country on the cover of magazines."
George Clooney
"Brokeback Mountain" Star Of UK Film Awards
BAFTAs
"Brokeback Mountain," already a hot favorite for next month's Hollywood Oscars, was the big star of the night at the British Film Academy awards on Sunday, scooping four BAFTAs.
The gay cowboy love story won the coveted Best Film Award, Ang Lee was picked as Best Director, Jake Gyllenhaal was chosen as Best Supporting Actor and it also won the Best Adapted Screenplay statuette.
Philip Seymour Hoffman took home the Best Actor BAFTA for his mesmerising portrayal of writer Truman Capote in "Capote" and Reese Witherspoon was selected as Best Actress for her role in the Johnny Cash biopic "Walk The Line."
The Best Supporting Actress award went to British star Thandie Newton for her role in the low-budget racial drama "Crash."
"Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit," another in line for Oscar glory in Hollywood next month, was chosen as The Best British Film of the Year, much to the delight of Nick Park, creator of the two plasticine pals.
BAFTAs
Meets With Brazil's President
Bono
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hosted singer and social activist Bono of the Irish rock band U2 for lunch on Sunday at his presidential retreat.
Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil, who became famous as a pop music star before joining the government, joined them.
U2, which performed in Brazil in 1998, will play two concerts on Monday and Tuesday in Sao Paulo.
Bono
Reunite for Charity
Gibb Brothers
Barry and Robin Gibb, two-thirds of the Bee Gees, reunited on stage for a Miami charity concert, their first performance since the death of brother Maurice three years ago.
The Gibb brothers performed a private concert Saturday night at the Diplomat Hotel to raise money for the Diabetes Research Institute at an annual benefit for the organization, Paul Bloch, Barry Gibb's publicist, said Sunday.
The brothers performed dozens of Bee Gees hits spanning 35 years, including "Stayin' Alive," "Massachusetts," "How Deep is Your Love" and what Bloch called a stunning tribute to Maurice with the song "Don't Forget to Remember."
Gibb Brothers
Eyes Fey's NBC Pilot
Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin is in final negotiations to star opposite Tina Fey in Fey's untitled comedy pilot for NBC.
The show is set behind the scenes at a "Saturday Night Live"-type show, familiar territory for Baldwin, who has become a fixture on "SNL," on which Fey stars and is a head writer.
If the pilot goes to series, it will be Baldwin's first major series gig since his 1984-85 stint on CBS' primetime soap "Knots Landing."
Alec Baldwin
New Bond Gir
Eva Green
The new James Bond now has his Bond Girl.
Eva Green, whose screen credits include Bernardo Bertolucci's erotic drama "The Dreamers," will co-star as the enticing Vesper Lynd in "Casino Royale" opposite Daniel Craig.
Danish-born actor Mads Mikkelsen will play Le Chiffre, Bond's nemesis, and Jeffrey Wright ("Syriana," "Basquiat") has joined the cast as Felix Leiter.
Eva Green
Explains Reality TV Flop
Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart believes her version of NBC's popular reality show featuring Donald Trump flopped this past fall because of too much "Apprentice."
Her show was supposed to be the sole show, starting out by having her fire Trump on the air, she told Newsweek for its issue on newsstands Monday.
"Having two 'Apprentices' was as unfair to him as it was unfair to me," she said. "But Donald really wanted to stay on."
Martha Stewart
Opens Its Doors
Red Light District
Dutch prostitutes gave the public a peek behind the curtains of Amsterdam's famed Red Light District on Saturday, hoping to stave off an attempt by city politicians to stop lingerie-clad women from advertising themselves in neon-lit windows.
Thousands of tourists and Dutch visitors took up the offer by the district's sex clubs and topless bars to step in for a free drink and a look around to counteract the establishments' seedy reputation.
Women allowed visitors into the cubicles where they conduct their business to explain hygiene regulations and the alarm system used when a prostitute encounters a difficult customer.
The open house came in response to proposals by the head of Amsterdam's Labor Party, the city's largest party, to discourage women from marketing themselves in windows.
Red Light District
Rules As Orpheus Monarch
Steven Seagal
Actor Steven Seagal will reign as this year's celebrity monarch for the Krewe of Orpheus, the lavish parade group started by musician and New Orleans native Harry Connick Jr.
Seagal will lead the 27-float parade on Feb. 27, or Lundi Gras. Mardi Gras - Fat Tuesday - is Feb. 28.
Steven Seagal
'Psychic' Admits Bilking Clients
Linda Marks
A self-proclaimed psychic and fortuneteller pleaded guilty Thursday to bilking elderly clients in south Florida out of more than $2 million over an eight-year period, federal officials said.
Linda Marks, 57, of Delray Beach, was accused of preying on the elderly and people suffering from incurable diseases, telling them she could cure them by praying over their money.
Marks pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to fraud and corruption charges and admitted cheating her elderly victims out of more than $2 million between 1994 and 2002, U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta said in a statement.
Linda Marks
In Memory
Richard Bright
Richard Bright, a character actor who appeared in all three "Godfather" movies and more recently on "The Sopranos," was struck and killed by a bus, police said.
Bright, 68, was hit by a private Academy Bus as he crossed the street at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday in his Manhattan neighborhood, police Detective Bernard Gifford said.
Bright played mob enforcer Al Neri in the "Godfather" movies, a bodyguard to the Corleone family patriarchs played by Marlon Brando and Al Pacino.
He played a con artist hustling Ali MacGraw in 1972's "The Getaway" and acted in dozens of other films such as Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America" and "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" and in TV shows such as "Hill Street Blues."
Bright was arrested in 1965 on an obscenity charge for language he used in a San Francisco production of poet Michael McClure's two-person play "The Beard," which was shut down.
The American Civil Liberties Union took up the case and the charges against Bright were later dismissed in what was considered a precedent for artistic expression rights.
Richard Bright
In Memory
Billy Cowsill
William (Billy) Cowsill, 58, lead singer of the 1960s family band The Cowsills, has died at his home in Calgary after a lengthy illness.
News of his death Friday night was confirmed by family members who had gathered in Rhode Island for a memorial service for Barry Cowsill, a brother also in the band who drowned in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in September.
Billy Cowsill had moved to Canada 35 years ago and continued his music career with Blue Northern and later The Blue Shadows. But it was the Cowsills that led to his greatest success as lead singer with such hits as Hair and Indian Lake.
Family members gathered Saturday at the memorial service for Barry Cowsill say Billy had been ill for several years with emphysema, osteoporosis, Cushing syndrome and other ailments. But they did not have details on his cause of death.
Billy is survived by two sons, Travis and Del.
Billy Cowsill
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