'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Baron Dave Romm
Joe Scruggs II
By Baron Dave Romm
The more I hear of Joe Scruggs, the more I appreciate him. Often, the best stuff out there is for children, and doesn't quite make it to mainstream. Too bad. I reviewed three of his CDs last week, and here are three more.
Traffic Jams is subtitled Songs for Kids on the Go. That is, Car Songs for the Car Seat Set. Lots of fun stuff done in a variety of styles with female doo-wop singers every now and then. Goo Goo Ga Ga is a sing-along for toddlers, where baby talk rescues our plucky travelers from witches and alligators. The People In The Car is a variant on The People On The Bus, but with a staggering amount of vocal sound effects for the horn, transmission, windshield wiper and more. Mom can make what's Under Your Bed go back to normal, but it's nice to see childhood fears dealt with respectfully. The CD deals with children's worries with the proper amount of respect and humor, as in admonishing dad over the Speed Bump Blues or what to do for some Car Seat Exercise. Buckle Up takes care safety seriously, and the lyric sheet has some nice Travel Tips. Raindrops and Lemon Drops is a pretty duet, called in the lyric sheet a "traditional kindergarten song", but I've never heard it before:
If all of the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops
Oh, what a wonderful world it would be.
I'd walk around with my mouth wide open
Ahh, Ahh, Ahh, Ahh, Ahh, Ahh, Ahh, Ahh, Ahh, Ahh, Ahh, Ahh
If all of the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops
Oh, what a wonderful world it would be.
Late Last Night, released originally in 1984, is probably on its second generation of kids, and it stands up wonderfully. What Do They Do With The Children? confronts a very real fear: Being separated from your mother or father in a large public place. While the same song might be more cautionary today, several scary scenarios are run through with sober humor until the issue is resolved at the end. Perhaps not a big problem in your area, the request Please Don't Bring A Tyrannosaus Rex To Show and Tell is reasonable school policy, and should be enforced more diligently. And perhaps your doctor won't prescribe the Grape Jelly Cure, but it couldn't hurt to ask. My favorite cut on the CD is the dance Ants In My Pants, about wriggling. Sure to liven up kid birthday parties, though if you're in school you should be careful of the Wiggle In My Toe, as the teacher might be displeased. The title song is a long list of activities you have while asleep. Some dreams are reliving the day's activities, some are wishes.
Not every song on Ants is about ants, but The Parade is a military march that the adults will like more than the kids, with references to old songs like When Johnny Comes Marching Home and High Hopes. But if you don't follow the same parade, you follow a Different Drum: "You like to run in the sun I like to dance in the shade, I'm marching to my own parade". On the Two Thumbs Date, your digits go dancing in the pale moonlight in 50s-style doo-wop. A five-year-old whines Not Fair, and takes it to court which rules in gospel-style. Some Andean pan flutes pop up In My Closet, a darker song that, once again, deals with scary issues before being resolved at the end. Daddy Can't Rock The Baby because she's grown up, though not as grown up as when Rapunzel Got A Mohawk and various fairy tale characters get updated. The ants return in time to leave The Farm. Euphemisms are explored, since you mother doesn't really Change The Baby, darn it. The wonderment of building and looking out from atop your own Tree House is a testament to independence. Even if you need a Night-light. (I'll have to play this one back-to-back with They Might Be Giant's Birdhouse In My Soul.) The magic of rainfall at night is sung by an ethereal chorus as Joe urges the raindrops to Come On Down. Ants, from 1997, is darker than previous releases and musically more adventurous. Whether you grew up on Joe Scruggs or not, this CD will has something for kids and grownups too.
As with the first three, all the CDs have lyric sheets, and the hellojoe.com website has samples. Highly recommended even if you don't have kids.
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. He reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E here, and you can hear the last two Shockwave broadcasts in Real Audio here (scroll down to Shockwave). Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air, and I'm collecting extra-weird stuff for a possible CD compilation.
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny & cool.
Trip behind the Orange Curtain went well, in spite of the $18 hamburgers (fries were extra).
Supposed to rain again tonight. The scented geraniums are blooming (really got 'into' them a few years back, and they've sort of run wild in places) - there are rose, lime, nutmeg, lemon & peppermint remaining.
My mom's parents were 'snowbirds'. Almost every winter, they'd drive from PA to Florida, where they'd always visit Cypress Gardens, and bring back cool stuff. Still have some old ViewMaster reels, and a couple of jigsaw puzzles. My brother has a stuffed alligator, that was the hit of numerous grade school 'show & tells'.
Sad to see a great example of Americana close.
Tonight, Monday, CBS is supposed to open the evening with a FRESH 'King Of Queens', followed by a FRESH
'Yes, Dear', then a FRESH 'Raymond', followed by a FRESH 'Still Standing', and then a FRESH 'CSI: Miami'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim, and Pete Yorn.
On a RERUN Craiggers are Rosie Perez, Joshua Malina, and Finesse Mitchell.
NBC is supposed to start the night with a FRESH 'Fear Factor', followed by a FRESH 'Third Watch', and then a FRESH 'Crossing Jordan'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Julia Louis Dreyfus, Bob Costas, and Kelly Clarkson.
On a RERUN Conan are Tina Fey, Joe Pantoliano, and Coldplay.
On a RERUN Carson Daly (from 3/26/03), are Tom Sizemore and Sigur Ros.
ABC is supposed to offer a FRESH 'special' - 'John Stossel: Help Me! I Can't Help Myself', followed by a FRESH 'The Practice', and then another FRESH 'The Practice'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Joan Rivers, Sum 41, and this week's guest co-host Deion Sanders.
The WB has a RERUN '7th Heaven', and a RERUN 'Everwood'.
Faux offers the Season Finale of 'Married By America'.
UPN has a FRESH 'The Parkers', followed by a FRESH
'One On One', and then the Series Premiere of 'Platinum'.
Check local PBS listings for 'Avoiding Armageddon', a 4-part documentary. Tonight, 'Silent Killers: Poison & Plagues'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Actor Jim Carrey is 'slimed' at the finale of Nickelodeon's 16th Annual Kids' Choice Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., Saturday, April 12, 2003.
Photo by Chris Pizzello
Take Back The Media!
Met With Karl
Arnold
Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, weighing a run for the job, met Thursday with Karl Rove, President Bush's top political adviser.
If he decides to run, Schwarzenegger may face a challenge from national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, who has spoken to senior Republicans about running for California's top job, according to a Bush adviser. Rice's candidacy is a "real possibility," this adviser said, adding that Rice wants to take on an executive role.
A senior Republican official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Rice has told friends and associates she will not run for the Senate in 2004, but she has been careful in conversations not to rule out a gubernatorial bid two years later. This official, who talks frequently with Bush and his top advisers, said that while Rice does not seem to spend much, if any, time talking about politics, no one in the White House, including the president, would be surprised to see her run in 2006.
White House officials said Schwarzenegger simply dropped by to talk about an after-school program that California voters approved last year and to see what he could do to support U.S. troops overseas. Schwarzenegger also met with Lezlee Westine, director of the White House Office of Public Liaison; Education Secretary Rod Paige and lawmakers.
Arnold
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Florida's Oldest Theme Park Closes
Cypress Gardens
Cypress Gardens, which billed itself as Florida's oldest theme park and served as the backdrop for Esther Williams movies during its heyday, opened its gates for the last time on Sunday.
The park, which opened in 1936, has seen a steady decline in attendance since 1995. Park President Bill Reynolds says owners have lost $6 million in the last eight years.
In addition to water-skiing, the park boasts 8,000 varieties of plants, canal rides, educational shows, and children's rides and games.
Officials have already found new homes for most of the park's 100 animals and recruiters from other theme parks plan to interview its 350 employees.
Cypress Gardens
'Radio Free Europe' Needed for Arabs
Karl Rove
When the Iraq war is concluded, the United States must devote itself to winning the hearts and minds of the Islamic world just as America in the Cold War contended against Communism with propaganda outlets such as Radio Free Europe, White House senior advisor Karl Rove told the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) at its concluding convention session in New Orleans Friday.
"Just as we did after World War II with Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, we must make a similar long-term commitment to sharing our values with the Islamic world," Rove said.
In a speech largely devoted to praising resident Bush's leadership and economic policies, Rove both complemented and criticized the news media for its coverage of the Iraq war. The policy of embedding reporters with military units, he said, has given the public a true picture of the war: "The public has been helped to see the reality of things in a way they never have before." Embedding has also helped the military and journalists understand each other better, he added.
Rove was critical, however, of what he called the "media's mood swings" from euphoria to despair and back again while commenting on battleground developments. "The sheer intensity of the coverage ... made it difficult to maintain perspective," he added.
Karl Rove
Inducted Into Hall of Great Western Performers
John Carradine
The sons of actor John Carradine serenaded the audience and reminisced about their late father as he was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers.
Actors David, Keith and Robert Carradine strummed guitars and sang "Amazing Grace" at the celebrity-laced 42nd annual Western Heritage Awards at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum on Saturday.
John Carradine acted on stage, film and television for more than 60 years, appearing in more than 500 films. He performed Shakespeare and horror movies, but films such as "Stagecoach" and "Jesse James" secured his induction into the Western performers hall. Carradine died in 1988 at the age of 82.
John Carradine
Western Heritage Museum
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Media Watchdog Concerned - CNN & Armed Guard
Reporters Sans Frontieres
A media watchdog expressed concern on Sunday that a CNN team reporting from Iraq was traveling with an armed guard, saying it set a "dangerous precedent" that could imperil other journalists.
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) made the comments after an incident in the northern Iraqi town of Tikrit in which a security guard hired by CNN fired his machinegun at a checkpoint when the CNN convoy came under gunfire.
"This behavior creates a dangerous precedent that could imperil all other reporters covering this conflict and others in the future," Robert Menard, RSF secretary general, said in a statement.
"There is a real risk that belligerents will believe all press vehicles are armed," he said, adding that the use of armed private security guards only increased the confusion between reporters and combatants in the conflict.
"CNN appears to be going too far. This could come back to haunt them and other journalists. Journalists should not be traveling around with armed guards," he added.
Reporters Sans Frontieres
Zhian Khonsary, left, from New York, NY, and Cheryl Clayton, from New Jersey, look at a display of kimchi at the Kimchi Field Museum in Seoul, South Korea Thursday April 3, 2003. The museum, originally opened in 1986, satisfies the appetites of those curious to learn about the spicy fermented vegetable dish which has been enjoyed on the peninsula for hundreds of years.
Photo by Lee Jin-man
Busy Bad Boy
Brandon Davis
Bad boy Brandon Davis has had a tumultuous few weeks. On March 28, the grandson of Beverly Hills billionaire Marvin Davis got into a scrap with "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest in the
VIP room of the White Lotus nightclub in L.A., reports the National Enquirer. The tab tattles that Davis, 21, was "cold-cocked" by a friend of Seacrest and ended up "unconscious on the
floor in a puddle of his own blood." The fight was allegedly over the affections of Spencer Margaret Richmond, 17, the sexy daughter of former "Charlie's Angel" Jacklyn Smith.
Davis was arrested for drunken driving in the early hours of April 5 after he left White Lotus in his swerving Mercedes GL 500 filled with young women. And a spy says that this past Thursday
night, Brandon was rushed to Cedars-Sinai with a kidney stone. He was released early Friday morning. The source says Brandon's grandmother Barbara Davis caused a stir when she visited him in
the hospital dripping in jewels.
Brandon Davis
Slices Assistant Live On TV
Knife Thrower
A record-breaking knife thrower shocked viewers when one of his daggers sliced into the head of his assistant on live TV.
Circus performer Jayde Hanson, 23, was demonstrating his skills when one of his knives hit his assistant and girlfriend, 22-year-old Yana Rodianova on Thursday.
As she clutched the side of her head, horrified presenter Fern Britton shouted: "Oh my God, there is blood, quick -- get her off."
A spokeswoman for ITV's "This Morning," one of the country's most popular daytime programmes, said the wound was only "a nick".
He had been trying to emulate the pace of his world record-breaking effort of 120 knives thrown in two minutes which he achieved as part of National Circus Day on Tuesday.
"In 11 years of performing, I've only hit my assistant on five occasions," he told the Daily Mail recently.
Knife Thrower
Thanks, Marian!
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Recovered, But Guns Are Missing
Sean Penn's Car
Sean Penn's car, stolen as he had lunch near the University of California campus at Berkeley, has been recovered but two guns inside were missing, police said on Sunday.
The car was found on Friday in Richmond, nine miles from where it was stolen, said Lt. Arnold Threets of Richmond police department.
Penn, 42, who lives just north of San Francisco, was driving a black 1987 Buick Grand National, a collector's favorite. Penn had permits for the guns.
Sean Penn's Car
Aboriginal performer Glen Doyle (R), plays a Didgeridoo as he entertains the crowd at the 10,000 strong "Palm Sunday Rally for Peace" in central Sydney
Photo by Greg Wood
Turns 20
Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo Disneyland turns 20 this week -- the age when Japanese children officially become adults -- needing a little bit of magic to keep up the success enjoyed by Mickey, Donald and the gang over the past two decades.
On April 15, the Magic Kingdom on the outskirts of Tokyo celebrates its 20th anniversary against the backdrop of a bleak Japanese economy, rival amusement parks in bankruptcy court and, possibly, some early signs of slowing growth.
For a decade, the grim reality of Japan's economy stopped at the gates of Tokyo Disneyland, but it may finally be creeping in as per-customer sales fall and attendance figures fall short of target.
Since opening in April 1983, 309 million people have visited the park. Stocking up on food, drinks and souvenirs, Disney fanatics fork out almost 10,000 yen ($85) per visit.
It now seems that no Japanese childhood is complete without a visit to the sprawling kingdom, but Mickey has also attracted a loyal and lucrative following from young Japanese women, renowned for their love of anything "kawaii," or cute.
For a lot more, Tokyo Disneyland
Court Upholds Decision to Disbar
F. Lee Bailey
Defense attorney F. Lee Bailey's storied legal career has been brought to an end, for the near future at least.
In an unanimous decision, the Supreme Judicial Court on Friday upheld a decision to disbar Bailey, rejecting his argument he was entitled to spend the appreciation on about $6 million in stock he was holding for his client. The state's highest court ruled Bailey deliberately broke ethical rules.
Bailey was disbarred in Florida in November 2001. A single justice of Massachusetts' highest court then revoked his license to practice law in Massachusetts in March 2002.
Bailey, 69, can petition for reinstatement to the Massachusetts bar in 2010 and the Florida bar in 2006.
F. Lee Bailey
Men Say Women Need Educating
Baseball & Politics
In a departure from traditional sports philanthropy, more than 90 former or current baseball stars are trying to raise $1 million for a national organization of abortion opponents.
The money is to help build an educational campus near Washington, D.C., for the American Life League, which opposes abortion without exceptions for cases involving rape, incest or saving a woman's life. The group also opposes artificial birth control, euthanasia, living wills and classroom education that examines sex "in any concrete, detailed or descriptive way."
Three members of the Minnesota Twins from the 1970s and '80s -- Gary Gaetti, Tom Herr and Geoff Zahn -- are listed as backers on the group's Web site.
The Battin' 1000 drive, which aims to recruit fundraising teams in every city with a major-league team, has been controversial since it was started by Arizona Diamondbacks owner Jerry Colangelo at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix. There was a protest at Arizona's home opener this month, arguing that Colangelo shouldn't use a taxpayer-funded stadium to promote his personal views.
Players may not agree with all of the American Life League's positions, Zahn said, but they want to see abortion stopped, they believe that life begins at conception, and "obviously babies in the womb don't have a lot of voice."
Backers of the campaign include Hall of Fame players Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., and Robin Yount, former managers Sparky Anderson and Tom Lasorda, Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella and former Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. Former Detroit Tigers owner Tom Monaghan, long an activist in the Catholic church, also is involved. The chairman is former All-Star Sal Bando.
The drive hasn't asked players to pony up money, but to lend their names -- and signatures on memorabilia -- to the cause, said Berlucchi, who runs a consulting center for nonprofit groups and is a former director of the International Association of Catholic CEOs.
For the rest, Baseball & Politics
Murderous Cannibal
'Big Lurch'
An aspiring rap star who has been charged with murdering his roommate and eating part of her lung did so as part of his record label's plan to cultivate a "gangsta" image for him, the victim's mother charged in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles.
Antron Singleton, a rapper who goes by the stage name "Big Lurch," faces murder and torture charges after police found him staggering naked and covered in blood on a southeast Los Angeles street April 10, 2002.
In a nearby apartment, police said they found the mutilated body of Tynisha Ysais, 21, with teeth marks on her face and on pieces of her lung, which had been torn from her chest.
A subsequent medical examination showed Singleton had human blood and flesh in his stomach, police said when they charged the rapper. Singleton, who would be eligible for the death penalty if convicted, is still awaiting trial.
In a wrongful death lawsuit filed just before the close of business on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Ysais's mother, Carolyn Stinson, claimed that Singleton's record label had provided him with drugs "to encourage (him) to act out in an extreme violent manner so as to make him more marketable as a 'Gansta Rap' artist."
The lawsuit named Singleton, Death Row Records, headed by rap mogul Suge Knight, and Stress Free records, and two employees as defendants.
'Big Lurch'
North American Box Office
Top 10 Movies
The top 10 movies at the North American box office for the April 11-13 weekend, according to studio estimates collected on Sunday by Reuters. Final data will be issued on Monday.
1 (*) Anger Management .......... $44.5 million
2 (1) Phone Booth ............... $ 7.5 million
3 (2) What A Girl Wants ......... $ 6.7 million
4 (5) Bringing Down the House ... $ 4.6 million
5 (3) A Man Apart ............... $ 4.5 million
6 (4) Head of State ............. $ 4.0 million
7 (*) House of 1,000 Corpses .... $ 3.4 million
8 (8) Chicago ................... $ 3.3 million
9 (6) The Core .................. $ 3.2 million
10 (7) Basic ..................... $ 2.2 million
NOTE: Last weekend's ranking in parenthesis.
"*" = new release.
TOTALS TO DATE:
Chicago ........................ $156.9 million
Bringing Down the House ........ $117.7 million
Anger Management ............... $ 44.5 million
Head of State .................. $ 30.9 million
Phone Booth .................... $ 26.6 million
The Core ....................... $ 25.7 million
Basic .......................... $ 23.8 million
What A Girl Wants .............. $ 20.4 million
A Man Apart .................... $ 18.3 million
House of 1,000 Corpses ......... $ 3.4 million
Top Movies
The first California condor chick to hatch this year is fed by a condor puppet at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park Wednesday, April 9, 2003. The chick, weighing 188 grams, hatched Monday morning and shows signs of good health. This chick is the 105th condor to hatch in the Zoological Society of San Diego's condor program. Animal care staff at the Park plan to raise the chick which will be a candidate for release into the wild.
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'Ark of Darkness'
"The Ark of Darkness", a Political/Science-Fiction work, tells the tale of a frightening journey into the last place anyone would want to be left behind, Hell.
Set in the present day, a biblical researcher and former astronaut discovers, via satellite imaging, an ancient shipwreck, not on Mount Ararat, the legendary location of Noah's Ark, but 1000 miles due east in the mountains of southern Russia.
The expedition quickly meets with disaster.
'The Osbournes'
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