PAUL CONSTANT: 28 Beers Later (thestranger.com)
You can't just stroll into this house party: At the door, partyers are greeted by big guys dressed up like soldiers. They're all talking in Russian accents, and once you confirm you're on the list, you get a passport and a burlap sack filled with a shot glass, a first-aid kit, a glow stick, and a copy of Night Zero: Volume One, a comic book told in photographs about a weird pandemic that turns nearly everyone in Seattle into "scratchers," basically zombies with bad attitudes.
Roger Ebert: Saint Agnes of Montparnasse
Dear Agnes Varda. She is a great director and a beautiful, lovable and wise woman, through and through. It is not enough that she made some of the first films of the French New Wave. That she was the Muse for Jacques Demy. That she is a famed photographer and installation artist. That she directed the first appearances on film of Gerard Depardieu, Phillipe Noiret--and Harrison Ford! Or that after gaining distinction as a director of fiction, she showed herself equally gifted as a director of documentaries. And that she still lives, as she has since the 1950s, in the rooms opening off each side of a once-ruined Paris courtyard, each room a separate domain.
Roger Ebert: WATCHMEN (R; 4 stars)
After the revelation of "The Dark Knight," here is "Watchmen," another bold exercise in the liberation of the superhero movie. It's a compelling visceral film - sound, images and characters combined into a decidedly odd visual experience that evokes the feel of a graphic novel. It seems charged from within by its power as a fable; we sense it's not interested in a plot so much as with the dilemma of functioning in a world losing hope.
Roger Ebert: We're all puppets, Laurie. I'm just a puppet who can see the strings
Inside many superhero stories is a Greek tragedy in hiding. There is the godlike hero, and he is flawed. In early days his weaknesses were simplistic, like Superman's vulnerability to Kryptonite. Then Spider-Man was created as an insecure teenager, and comic books began to peer deeper. Now comes the "Watchmen," with their origins as 1940s goofballs, their development into modern costumed vigilantes, and the laws against them as public nuisances. They are human.
Richard Roeper: Beyonce's Oscar nudity (suntimes.com)
You probably didn't notice it during the actual Oscar telecast, but during the big musical number, Hugh Jackman dipped Beyonce -- and her right nipple emerged. ... This is what happens when the Democrats are in charge. All of a sudden the gays are celebrating Oscar wins, and nipples are slipping out all over the place.
Roger Ebert: Wardrobe malfunction in Paris: Emma Thompson to the rescue
PARIS--The Cesars were telecast Friday night and, as you know, there is no censorship to speak of on French TV. Emma Thompson, who speaks brilliant French (of course she does) was seated in the front row next to Sean Penn when a French comedienne I was unfamiliar with came out to give an award, with one breast exposed from the nipple up.
Clint Eastwood has slammed Political Correctness, saying "I think the PC madness is what's refreshing about playing this character. When I grew up there were a lot of people like this, and everybody didn't take themselves so seriously. People would kid themselves about everybody's... whatever race they were, whatever ethnic, religious groups they were. Everybody would joke about it and everybody got along just fine,"
He continues with "But then we've come to this now where everybody has to be walking on eggshells - kind of very... sensitive. And so it's become boring, kind of, and I think everybody would like to be Walt Kowalski for about 10 minutes."
A two-parter...
Do you agree with his take about Political Correctness stifling humor?
Botanically speaking, eggplant is classified as a ?
A Berry
B Crucifer
C Gourd
D Legume
E Melon
Source
The fruit is botanically classified as a berry, and contains numerous small, soft seeds, which are edible, but are bitter because they contain (an insignificant amount of) nicotinoid alkaloids, unsurprising as it is a close relative of tobacco.
Source
Marian the Teacher was first, and correct, with:
berry
Alan J responded:
A Berry
Sally said:
Eggplant is a member of the nightshade family, and is native to India. The name eggplant was originally applied to a white skinned variety. Eggplants are actually fruits, and classified botanically as berries (A)!
PS: I have outstanding success growing both eggplants and green peppers here in northern NJ. I suspect it's the soil, but I also do cucumbers, zucchini, and such veggies pretty well. However, since I discovered my beautiful eggplants, I have collected various recipes - some of which are quite good... I would really like to grow cabbages, but the large rabbit community here consists of the piggy variety (i.e., they eat everything you plant of that selection...) Where I used to consider myself an animal lover, the high rate of crime committed by the rabbits, woodchucks, squirrels, and deer in Jersey, have changed my mind! I still don't kill them, but I have served eviction notices to ALL of them! Unfortunately, they just won't go... Anyone have a recipe for good hossenpheffer perchance??
How the Jersey rabbit appears to me...
MAM responded:
A Berry
Eggplant is a fruit . . . berry, that is commonly used as a vegetable in cooking. Broiled eggplant with mozzarella cheese . . . yum!
And, Joe S wrote:
A Berry
The absolute best use of eggplant, moussaka.
CBS opens the night with a FRESH'Big Bang Theory', followed by a FRESH'How I Met Your Mother', then a FRESH'2½ Men', followed by a FRESH'Rules Of Engagement', then a FRESH'CSI: The 2nd One'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Russell Brand and Jack Hanna.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Jason Segel and Dave Attell.
NBC begins the night with a FRESH'Chuck', followed by a FRESH, then a FRESH'Medium'.
Scheduled on a FRESHLeno are Elisabeth Hasselbeck (R-Intellectually Challenged), Demetri Martin, and Rocco De Luca & The Burden.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Fallon are Amanda Peet, Rose Byrne, and Joshua Topolsky.
Scheduled on a FRESHCarson 'The Scab' Daly are Daniel Suarez, Jeff Dunham, and Razorlight.
ABC starts the night with the SEASON PREMIERE'Dancing With The Stars', followed by the SERIES PREMIERE'Castle'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 2/23/09) are The Jonas Brothers, Jimmie Johnson, and Darius Rucker.
The CW offers a RERUN'Gossip Girl', followed by a RERUN'One Tree Hill'.
Faux has a FRESH'House', followed by a FRESH'24'.
MY has a FRESH'Masters Of Illusion', followed by a RERUN'Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', 'Intervention', another 'Intervention', 'Paranormal State', and another 'Paranormal State'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Untouchables', followed by the movie 'Batman Begins'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 2
[12:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 2
[12:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 3
[1:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? US - Episode 10
[1:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 9
[2:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 2 The Fenwick Arms
[3:00 PM] Gordon Ramsay's F Word - Episode 2
[4:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? US - Episode 12
[4:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? US - Episode 12
[4:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 11
[5:00 PM] Gordon Ramsay's F Word - Episode 3
[6:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares Revisited - Ep 3 Moore Place
[7:00 PM] BBC World News America
[8:00 PM] Top Gear - Episode 5
[9:00 PM] Top Gear - Episode 4
[10:00 PM] BBC World News America
[11:00 PM] Top Gear - Episode 5
[12:00 AM] Top Gear - Episode 4
[1:00 AM] Top Gear - Episode 5
[2:00 AM] Top Gear - Episode 9
[3:00 AM] The Graham Norton Show - Ep 17 Alice Cooper, Sandi Toksvig and Gareth Gates
[4:00 AM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 2
[4:30 AM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 3
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Episode 4
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Episode 7
[6:00 AM] BBC World News (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has the movie 'Flatliners', followed by the movie 'Flatliners', again.
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', an old 'Jon Stewart', an old 'Colbert Report', 'Futurama', 'South Park', another 'South Park', and another 'Futurama'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is Nathaniel Frank.
Scheduled on a FRESHColbert Report it's TBA.
FX has the movie 'My Super Ex-Girlfriend', followed by the movie 'Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story', then the movie 'Duce Bigelow: Male Gigolo'.
History has 'Ax Men''Modern Marvels', followed by a FRESH'Battles B.C.', then a FRESH'Ax Men'.
IFC -
[6:30 AM] Antwone Fisher
[8:35 AM] Diabolique
[10:35 AM] Max
[12:25 PM] Antwone Fisher
[2:30 PM] Diabolique
[4:30 PM] Max
[6:20 PM] Trauma
[8:00 PM] Day Watch
[10:15 PM] Brotherhood of Death
[11:40 PM] Universe Expanded: Halo Wars
[12:00 AM] Madman
[1:30 AM] Day Watch
[3:45 AM] Brotherhood of Death
[5:05 AM] Trauma (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[06:00 AM] On the Road in America: Episode 10 - Middle East, Part 1
[06:30 AM] On the Road in America: Episode 11 - Middle East, Part 2
[07:00 AM] Texas Gold
[07:30 AM] A Summer in the Cage
[09:00 AM] Return to the Border
[09:55 AM] A Path of Purpose
[10:35 AM] Texas Gold
[11:00 AM] Nimrod Nation: Episode 2
[11:30 AM] One Punk Under God: Episode 2
[12:00 PM] The Drug Years: Feed Your Head
[12:45 PM] Paper Dolls
[02:15 PM] A Summer in the Cage
[03:45 PM] Return to the Border
[04:35 PM] A Path of Purpose
[05:15 PM] Texas Gold
[05:45 PM] Paper Dolls
[07:15 PM] Deliver Us From Evil
[09:00 PM] Crossing The Line
[10:45 PM] Helmer & Son
[11:00 PM] TransGeneration: Episode 6
[11:30 PM] Architecture School: Episode 5
[12:00 AM] The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
[02:35 AM] Spider Forest
[04:35 AM] A Summer in the Cage (ALL TIMES EST)
In this photo provided by Disneyland, actress and host of 'The View,' Whoopi Goldberg is greeted by Mickey Mouse at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif., on Sunday March 8, 2009. 'The View' is broadcasting live from the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, Calif., this week.
Photo by Lisa Rose
"Black Watch," a play about a famous Scottish army regiment's deployment to Iraq, won four Laurence Olivier awards on Sunday, more than any other production at the annual celebration of British theater.
The National Theater of Scotland's play, which first wowed audiences and critics in 2006 before its transfer to London's Barbican, walked away with awards for best new play, best director, best theater choreographer and best sound design.
Elsewhere, stage and film star Patrick Stewart won his third Olivier, this time for best performance in a supporting role for his portrayal of Claudius in "Hamlet."
In other acting categories, the best actress title was won by Margaret Tyzack for her performance as the self-obsessed Mrs. St Maugham in "The Chalk Garden."
Derek Jacobi's portrayal of Malvolio in "Twelfth Night" was awarded best actor while Elena Roger was recognized for her role as Edith Piaf in "Piaf," winning best actress in a musical.
U.S actor Kevin Spacey and Irish singer Andrea Corr, arrive for the Laurence Olivier Awards at a West London hotel, Sunday, March 8, 2009. The Awards were established in 1976 as The Society of West End Theatre Awards, and Lord Olivier agreed to have his name associated with them in 1984.
Photo by Joel Ryan
A bronze rabbit's head was the first to go under the hammer, then came Mohandas Gandhi's glasses and sandals.
Auctions are becoming a new battleground for art dealers, activists and aggrieved countries dueling for plundered antiquities and lost pieces of heritage.
Roger Keverne, a London-based dealer in Chinese art, says the politicization of art has become "inevitable, and unfortunate."
"Who has a right to the world's culture?" he said.
Dutch police have recovered eight valuable paintings, including works by Renoir and Pissaro, 22 years after they were stolen from a gallery.
Prosecutors said in a statement three suspects have been arrested - a 45-year-old German man who lives in Dubai, his 62-year-old mother and a 66-year-old man. All three suspects, whose identities were not released, were due to appear in court on Monday.
Some of the paintings, which were stolen from the Noortman gallery in the southern city of Maastricht in 1987, were badly damaged by being folded, the Dutch National Prosecutor's Office said in a statement posted on its Web site Saturday.
Prosecutors said they are investigating where the paintings have been since their disappearance. Six were found in the southern town of Valkenburg and two more in the nearby village of Walem, where one of the suspects lives.
Lauren Bacall, left, and Phyllis Newman give a presentation on stage at The Kennedy Center during a musical birthday salute to Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., Sunday, March 8, 2009, in Washington.
Photo by Kevin Wolf
A 450-year-old painting by Renaissance artist Lucas Cranach the Elder has been stolen from a Lutheran church in the southern Norway town of Larvik, police said Sunday.
Art expert Gunnar Krogh-Hansen estimated "Suffer the Little Children to Come Unto Me" could be worth 15-20 million kroner ($2.1-$2.8 million). It was probably painted around 1540.
The theft was discovered when firefighters responded to an alarm at the church around 1:30 am (0030 GMT) Sunday, and found a broken window and a ladder outside.
The roughly three-foot- (one-meter-) wide work, painted on a wooden panel, had hung in the church about 330 years.
Military convoys rumble along winding mountain roads, the Internet has been cut in potential trouble spots and motorists must run a gantlet of inspection checkpoints as Beijing mounts a show of force in Tibetan areas to prevent a repeat of uprisings against Chinese rule.
A volatile period begins Tuesday, the 50th anniversary of a failed revolt that sent the Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, into exile.
A year ago, Tibetans erupted in protest - sometimes violently. Today, checkpoints and garrisons seem as numerous as the fortress-like Buddhist monasteries and white-domed shrines that dot the steep slopes and pastures of western China bordering Tibet. The result is a kind of martial law, with constant tension across a third of Beijing's territory.
In Daofu, a town in Sichuan province where Buddhist mantras are carved into the sides of 13,000-foot (4,300-meter) snow-dusted mountains, the streets where local nuns protested a year ago are calm. Officials say monasteries are closed to visitors, with monks remaining inside studying Buddhist scriptures.
Actor Matt Damon, left, pushes a tandem bicycle with his brother Kyle Damon, right, before the start of the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle tour in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, March 8, 2009. Thousands of people attend the cycling tour every year.
Photo by Schalk van Zuydam
NBC plans to bring back "Heroes" for another season, entertainment president Angela Bromstad said.
The action-drama's ratings decline has led to media speculation as to whether the show will return next fall. As part of The Hollywood Reporter's annual Q&As with the five broadcast network chiefs, Bromstad was asked if "Heroes" could be considered "on the bubble" -- or in uncertain territory -- for a renewal.
"No," she said, and added that the network plans to order 18 to 20 episodes of the show for next season.
For all its headline-making audience erosion, "Heroes" is still tied with NBC's "The Office" as the network's top-rated series among adults 18-49 this season.
Somewhere in Hollywood, writers are polishing the pilot episode for a "Gossip Girl" spinoff set in a distant time that much of the CW network's target audience has no memory of - the 1980s.
Teenage angst is teenage angst, and the CW expects that its viewers can appreciate it, no matter the era. The untitled spinoff is a flashback to the youthful years in Los Angeles of Lily van der Woodsen, the mom of Blake Lively's "Gossip Girl" character.
The three-year-old television network is betting its future on the whims of young women, almost to the exclusion of everybody else. By designing a schedule that appeals to them, the CW hopes to build an identity where there really hasn't been one in the three years that it's been operating.
Studios owned by the parent companies supply the CW's women-centric programming. Even if the CW itself doesn't make money, these studios are realizing profits from the shows.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, congratulates Kai Greene on his victory in the 2009 Arnold Classic body building competition during the Arnold Sports Festival Saturday, March 7, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio.
Photo by Jay LaPrete
Pennsylvania liquor store clerks need to be more bubbly when they're selling Champagne.
The state's Liquor Control Board is spending more than $173,000 to try to make workers friendlier and more well-mannered at the nearly 650 stores it operates. The board says it wants to make sure clerks are saying "hello," "thank you" and "come again" to customers shopping for wine and spirits.
It has hired Pittsburgh-based consulting firm Solutions 21 to help coach store managers so they can instruct their clerks on issues such as how to greet customers and where to stand. Training begins this month.
"Watchmen" clocked in with $55.7 million in ticket sales to claim the top spot at the box office, making director Zack Snyder's comic book adaptation about a team of twisted superheros the biggest opening of 2009 so far.
With no other new releases to compete against, "Watchmen" easily bumped off "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail," which had held the top spot the two previous weekends. The Lionsgate comedy took in $8.8 million, good for second place, according to studio estimates Sunday. 20th Century Fox's "Taken," starring Liam Neeson, took the No. 3 position with $7.5 million.
For the year, movie attendance continues to soar, with revenue at $1.9 billion, up 16 percent through the same point in 2008. Even factoring in 2009's higher ticket prices, movie attendance is running 14 percent higher than last year.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Watchmen," $55.7 million.
2. "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail," $8.8 million
3. "Taken," $7.5 million.
4. "Slumdog Millionaire," $6.9 million.
5. "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," $4.1 million.
6. "He's Just Not That Into You," $4 million.
7. "Coraline," $3.3 million.
8. "Confessions of a Shopaholic," $3.1 million.
9. "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience," $2.8 million.
10. "Fired Up," $2.6 million.
Canadian musher Sebastian Schnuelle, the 2009 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race Champion, wears his racing hat as he talks to race fans before the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Saturday, March 7, 2009, in Anchorage, Alaska. Sixty-seven mushers are racing to Nome in the 1,100 mile sled dog race.
Photo by Al Grillo
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 musicians?
Just plain vile, filthy rumors?
This is your place.
responded:
