'Best of TBH Politoons'
Baron Dave Romm
Emily's List
By Baron Dave Romm
Hell
and High Water: Global Warming--the Solution and the Politics--and
What We Should Do by Joseph Romm.
A clear, concise and
convincing book on climate change and why we need to hurry to fix the
problem.
Climate Progress: An
Insider's View of Climate Science, Politics and Solutions
Shockwave Radio Theater
Podcasts
for iTunes and iPods, with pictures
Shockwave Radio
broadcasts on archive.org
Bookmark my bookmark page.
Nascent Wikipedia entry for Shockwave Radio Theater
Not too late to pledge or simply drop a note for Shockwave Radio at KFAI-FM (links to Pledge Drive then Pledge Now, be sure to mention Shockwave!).
Women of the Future
Emily's List held it's 16th Annual Majority Council Conference while I was in town, and I shook hands with the front runner for the 2008 Presidential election.
Emily's List -- Early Money Is Like Yeast -- a political fundraising organization, the largest PAC in the country -- "is dedicated to building a progressive America by electing pro-choice Democratic women to federal, state, and local office". They're doing exceptionally well, and the 2006 election was very good for them. The Majority Council Conference (ie big donors, like my mother) took place at the Omni Shoreham hotel.
The sessions were a mix of "hooray us!" and "this is how we did it", sprinkled liberally (of course) with "thank you, now give more money" boosterism. All the speakers were top-notch, and I really got a sense of optimism for the political process that has been in abeyance for many years. Hillary Rodham Clinton was the Big Name speaker on Monday night. She gave her standard stump speech (I've heard parts of it for a long time), emphasizing how tough it was as a woman in a man's world. She was best when off-script, answering questions from the audience. Clearly, she is smart, dedicated and knows how to win a crowd. In front of the friendliest crowd she's likely to have in her campaign, I gave her talk about a B+.
I'd give all the other female elected officials who spoke at least an A and some an A+. I missed Amy Klobuchar (my senator) to hear my brother speak near the Capitol, but several newly elected Congresswomen were on hand, and they were all smart and excited. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius (one of my favorite politicians, male or female) and Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill were terrific, gaining energy from being on the same podium together. The scope of victory and the organization were impressive.
The List was started in 1986 by Ellen R. Malcolm. Under her guidance, the organization achieved success and grew rapidly. She was superb, in overall charge of the conference and acting as host.
I have hope for the 2008 elections. It's time for adults to run the White House and extend their majorities in the House and Senate. I don't know how the Democratic primaries will play out, but the election is the Democrats' to lose, and the Republicans are doing everything in their power to go down in flames. If Clinton wins the nomination, she will win the presidency. Hillary will make a great president.
The Capitol Steps
While in DC, I saw a live performance of The Capitol Steps. Their new album, Springtime for Liberals, was released April 20. They scrounge humor from recent headlings, and the April 14 show had many of these songs/skits, plus a few newer ones that postdate the CD (such as a devastating satire on Don Imus). Highly recommended. longer review later.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog, plays with 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. Podcasts of Shockwave Radio Theater. Permanent archive. More radio programs, interviews and science fiction humor plays can be accessed on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
--////
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
David Downs: The Age of Dark Payola (eastbayexpress.com)
Netcasters take it in the pooper from the Copyright Royalty Board. The FCC certifies the HD Radio scam.
Nat Hentoff: In New Orleans, the Saints Are Marching In Again (villagevoice.com)
Just as Hitler and Stalin couldn't ban jazz, Hurricane Katrina can't keep it and New Orleans down
Father Says Sons Traumatized By Lesbian Library Book (365gay.com)
(Bentonville, Arkansas) A Bentonville, Arkansas man is demanding the city pay him $20,000 for the pain and suffering of his sons after they discovered a book on lesbian sex in their local library.
Kim Ficera: Don't Quote Me: Selling Out to God (afterellen.com)
Charlene Cothran's decision to turn "Venus" into a home for ex-gays.
Interview With Terry Moore (afterellen.com)
The creator of "Strangers in Paradise" talks about the end of the comic book series.
Interview by Michael Kress: David Lynch's Peace Plan (beliefnet.com)
The filmmaker discusses his love for Transcendental Meditation--and why he's seeking $7 billion and 8,000 meditation students.
Josef Molnar: Christopher Landon makes the boys scream
Openly gay screenwriter Christopher Landon-son of Michael-hits his stride with the new Hitchcockian shocker "Disturbia."
BRIAN ABRAMS: Finding Walter (fwweekly.com)
The partial inspiration for John Goodman's memorable character from The Big Lebowski isn't all guns and bowling pins.
Strangers in Paradise
Hubert's Poetry Corner
GEORGE W AND HIS SECRET GIFT
GIVING NEW LIFE TO AN OLD BUSH FAMILY TRADITION THROUGH DEATH?
Reader Suggestion
Tacky President Park
"Presidents Park captivated my three young children and kept their full
attention for 90 minutes"
---John M. Bridgeland, former Assistant to George W. Bush
Presidents Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota
Presidents Park, Williamsburg, Virginia:
Julie's Tacky Treasures Presidents Park Review
A President Park Family 4:20 Vacation Would be Fun!
Kevkev
in Apache Junction, Arizona
Thanks, Kevkev!
A field trip would be nice.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
A little more rain.
Turdblossom Encounter
Sheryl Crow & Laurie David
Karl 'Turdblossom' Rove's debate with singer Sheryl Crow and producer Laurie David about global warming heated the atmosphere at a black-tie Washington dinner.
On the eve of Earth Day, Crow and "Inconvenient Truth" producer David walked over to the presidential adviser's table at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday night at the Washington Hilton.
Their differences on global warming quickly bubbled over, the Washington Post reported Sunday.
"You work for me," Crow told Rove, according to the Post column "The Reliable Source."
"No," was his response. "I work for the American people."
Sheryl Crow & Laurie David
Instruments Auctioned For Katrina Victims
U2
The beloved Gibson Les Paul guitar of U2's The Edge fetched $240,000 (120,000 pounds) and Bono's sunglasses pulled in $20,000 at an auction on Saturday to benefit musicians who lost everything in Hurricane Katrina.
The auction at New York's Hard Rock Cafe by Julien's Auctions raised $2,436,900, including a 20 percent buyer's fee, for Music Rising, a charity set up by The Edge and other musicians after the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricane. It marked the first time such a wide selection of U2 memorabilia was available to collectors, organisers said.
Among the more than 200 items sold were Jimi Hendrix's 1966 Red Fender Mustang guitar, which fetched $400,000, former President Bill Clinton's saxophone ($54,000) and a pair of John Lennon's round, blue-tinted sunglasses ($30,000).
The autographed Irish Falcon Gretsch Guitar of U2 frontman Bono sold for $180,000, while U2 bassist Adam Clayton's Fender Active Jazz Deluxe went for $22,000 and the tom tom used in the U2's Vertigo tour by drummer Larry Mullen Jr. sold for $19,000.
U2
Party For Old Vic
Kevin Spacey
Hollywood star Kevin Spacey has hosted a benefit in New York to raise funds for London's famous Old Vic theatre.
The 47-year-old actor has been the theatre's artistic director since 2003 and is determined to make the theatre more accessible to young people.
"If we don't begin to establish a way to reach out to younger people and make theatre affordable for them, we are going to lose them all to television and film and every other darn thing there is to pay attention to in terms of entertainment," the two-time Oscar winner said.
Kevin Spacey
Old Interviews Redefine Mythology
'Star Wars'
"Star Wars" is so firmly ensconced in the pop culture firmament that its success -- in a movie universe a long time ago -- would seem to have been pre-ordained. But that was hardly the case.
As the movie celebrates its 30th anniversary, George Lucas will be joined by many of his collaborators at a special screening at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences' Goldwyn Theater on Monday. Simultaneously, Ballantine Books is publishing J.W. Rinzler's "The Making of Star Wars," which bills itself as "The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film."
More than just a promotional making-of book, Rinzler's account seeks to strip away a lot of the mythology about the movie's creation that has grown up over the years. Rinzler, an executive editor at Lucasfilm, was aided in that quest when he discovered a treasure chest of interviews that Charles Lippincott, Lucasfilm's vp marketing and merchandising in the mid-'70s, conducted with the film's principals between 1975 and 1978. They provided him with a contemporaneous view into the movie's origins, uncolored by its eventual success.
'Star Wars'
Visits Japan
Prince Albert
Prince Albert II of Monaco arrived in Japan on Sunday for a three-day visit to attend a travelling exhibition of memorabilia of his late mother, Hollywood star Grace Kelly.
The prince will also meet with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, and hold talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on ways to further expand bilateral ties, the Japanese foreign ministry said.
Japan could not post an ambassador to the seaside Mediterranean principality for years due to a 1918 treaty that put Monaco under limited French protection.
But the treaty was replaced by a new agreement in December 2005 which allows foreign envoys in Monaco which, with 32,000 residents, is the world's smallest state after the Vatican.
Prince Albert
Opens On Broadway
'We Will Rock You'
For more than 10 years, the Pantages, a restored movie and vaudeville house on a shabby block of Yonge Street, was home to "The Phantom of the Opera," the wildly popular Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
Now, nearly eight years later, the theater, corporately rechristened the Canon, is occupied by another British import, "We Will Rock You," which uses songs of that iconic 1970s and '80s rock band Queen. And while no one is suggesting this futuristic comic strip of a musical will last as long as "Phantom," its producer and creative team undoubtedly would like to see a successful Toronto run.
"We Will Rock You," which opened here April 10, premiered in England in May 2002 and is still running there despite what its British director and book writer Ben Elton laughingly says "were possibly the worst reviews in the history of London theater."
'We Will Rock You'
Closes On Broadway
'The Producers'
Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom said goodbye Sunday to Broadway, as "The Producers," the hit Mel Brooks musical, ended its New York run after 2,502 performances.
It was an emotional, highly charged matinee at the St. James Theatre as the show's current Max (John Treacy Egan) and Leo (Hunter Foster) led the company through the show - to raucous cheers, particularly during its legendary "Springtime for Hitler" number.
At the curtain after the cast took its bows, Mel Brooks came on stage with director-choreographer Susan Stroman and co-book writer Thomas Meehan to even more wild applause.
'The Producers'
70 Years Later
Guernica
Itziar Arzanegi can still hear the roar of the German warplane overhead, and see the old woman shaking her fists at the foreigners destroying her town. She remembers the look of horror on the woman's face as the plane swooped low, opened fire and cut her dow
It has been nearly 70 years since German and Italian fighter planes backing the fascist forces of Gen. Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War leveled this historic Basque town on April 26, 1937.
Myths and misinformation have shrouded the bombing from the outset, starting with the death toll, which historians have been gradually revising downward for decades. But Guernica has come to be seen as a foretaste of the aerial blitzes of World War II, immortalized in Pablo Picasso's "Guernica," one of the most iconic paintings of the 20th century.
But while the images of destruction are etched indelibly in the world's consciousness - and in the minds of a dwindling number of survivors - the 70th anniversary is causing barely a ripple in Spain itself. Little is planned to mark the event on a national level, and no major Spanish politicians are expected to attend a Mass, concert and wreath-laying ceremony for the dead in Guernica's town cemetery.
Guernica
Scientists Help Restore
Aging Artworks
When white masquerades as yellow and green might actually be blue, a call goes out to Henry DePhillips.
DePhillips, a Trinity College chemistry professor, is among a cadre of specialists using cutting-edge science to solve the color mysteries of paintings and other cultural treasures often several centuries old.
Art collectors and museums, including Hartford's Wadsworth Atheneum, increasingly are turning to DePhillips and other experts to analyze artwork that has deteriorated over time.
With tiny samples invisible to the naked eye, they use special microscopes and other equipment to sleuth out the compounds that comprise the color pigments and materials.
Aging Artworks
Aces Rock, Paper, Scissors
Ray Scott
A burly 64-year-old retiree who resembles jolly old St. Nick will be going mano a mano with other contestants in a national title bout - in Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Ray Scott won the New Hampshire title by advancing through eight rounds of tournaments at Manchester bars and pubs. With his white beard and spectacles, fans cheered "Go Santa Go" during the New Hampshire finals earlier this month.
Next month Scott heads to Las Vegas to compete in the USA Rock, Paper Scissors League's national competition. If he makes the right move, he wins the $50,000 grand prize. The competition will be broadcast on ESPN.
"I don't have a strategy. I can't be thinking 'What's he gonna throw?'" he said. "I just throw something."
Ray Scott
Administration Awash
Scandals
Campaigning in 2000, Texas Gov. George W. Bush would repeatedly raise his right hand as if taking an oath and vow to "restore honor and integrity" to the White House. He pledged to usher in a new era of bipartisanship.
The dual themes of honesty and bipartisanship struck a chord with many voters and helped propel Bush to the White House in one of the nation's closest-ever elections. Americans re-elected him in 2004 after he characterized himself as best suited to protect a nation at war.
Now, with fewer than two years left of his second term, the Bush administration is embroiled in multiple scandals and ethics investigations. The war in Iraq still rages. Bush's approval ratings are hovering in the mid-30s. And Democratic-Republican relations have seldom been more rancorous.
The furor over Gonzales and Rove's e-mail practices follow disclosures of shoddy medical treatment of war-injured veterans, FBI abuses of civil liberties, and the conviction of a top White House aide of lying to a grand jury.
Scandals
In Memory
Juanita Millender-McDonald
Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Calif.), 68, who'd taken leave from
Congress after being diagnosed with cancer, died Sunday, a congressional
source said.
Millender-McDonald had been serving her seventh term in Congress. She
was the first African-American woman to chair the House Administration
Committee. She has five children and several grandchildren.
The chair of the House Administration Committee's is sometimes referred
to as the Mayor of Capitol Hill. The position confers authority over
salaries and expenses for committees and staff, the Franking Commission,
benefit and retirement structures, and many other administrative issues.
Millender-McDonald's Long Beach-based district is solidly Democratic. In
2004 Democrat John Kerry got 74 percent to President Bush's 25 percent.
According to the Almanac of American Politics, she has easily won
re-election in the past. In the 2002 primary, she beat Peter Mathews, 78
percent to 22 percent. In 2004, Mathews challenged her again and lost
the primary 65 percent to 16 percent. Millender-McDonald easily won the
general each time.
Juanita Millender-McDonald
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