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From 'TBH Politoons'
Great Site!
Thanks, again, Tim!
Dave Romm's Review
Music From Television - Commercials!
By Dave Romm
Commercials are why tv is free, and why you have no say over what's on. Commercials are a part of your life as much as any program; more, perhaps. Many ads write their own jingles, the more annoyingly catchy the better. Some grab already famous music for recognition, like hiring an actor or sports figure to associate with a product. Sometimes even beer frogs get famous... too famous. TeeVee Tunes: The Commercials has 55 cuts, mostly recognizable. And (I hate to say this), a lot of fun. From the Slinky song to Plop Plop Fizz Fizz to I'd Like to Buy The World A Coke, these are the music of our lives as much as the Beatles or Rolling Stones. Perhaps I'm dating myself, but any age could write a similar sentence using different ads and different groups. Indeed, just check out a CD commercializing commercials, As Seen On TV: Music from the commercials. While some of those songs go way back, many are music only young whippersnappers appreciate. Still, the whole idea of selling music for money (imagine that) is more than a little controversial for Pure Artists (tm). Frankly, if I could write a hit song and then 20 years later sell the commercial rights for several million dollars while keeping the rights to perform it in public and sell albums, I'd be hard pressed not to go for it. Not that I'd buy the product...
Indeed, commercial music has become so, er, commercial that they even track the Top 5 Most Popular and keep records of past seasons. Some people brag about their commercial music. You can, of course, commission some. None of this is to be confused with the Residents Commercial Album, which is highly recommended for other reasons.
Aside: The recent (Feb. 20, 2002) ruling on web broadcasting of music affects only commercial stations. It seems that the musicians don't mind so much, but the ad agencies wanted to get paid for the commercials! This led to a ruling saying that web broadcasters had to pay musicians more money than their royalties generated. An overview of the legalisms around web broadcasts here and an angry story about the ruling here. Fortunately, Shockwave broadcasts on a Fresh Air Radio a non-commercial radio station, so I just sit back and let the techies argue with the lawyers.
It's sometimes fun to recognize an obscure song dug up. Many years ago I picked up an album by The David, Another Day, Another Lifetime because I liked their name and it has a stylized picture of Michealangelo's David on the cover. Not a particularly great album so I haven't upgraded to the CD, but it does feature a song called Time M, which has been used as background in several commercials. The CD Now link will let you listen to a bit of it.
Hmmm... a short one this week. Time for a Bonus Review.
The Ruling Class, starring Peter O'Toole is described such: "An institutionalized schizophrenic with a Messiah complex inherits the position of an English Earl in this cutting satire of British society". While the film was released about the time of the Watergate breakins, it sure could be about George W Bush today. Except that it's hilariously funny, not dark and scary. O'Toole plays a member of the British nobility who thinks he's Jesus Christ, and is protected because he's the son of a very rich man and has inherited his wealth and title. Alastair Sim, Arthur Lowe and many others do a great comedy turn, but O'Toole is notable for his role in the movie, one of my favorites. The Ruling Class Fan Club doesn't seem all that interesting, but you can get movie memorabilia.
Just like the Bush administration, the adults in The Ruling Class are desperate in their attempt to present the best face possible to the world, even if it means covering up the horrible truth. The other side of the politics, how a member of the lower class can become a member of the ruling class, is portrayed much more darkly in Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. Both films only work if you take them as fiction. The reality of both situations is too frightening to contemplate, even as we see it played out on the news everyday.
You can rent The Ruling Class from Netflix and other places, so there's no excuse not see it, if you haven't already (or want to see it through slightly different eyes these days). Scathing satire about class warfare, religion and just who gets to run the world and why.
Dave Romm is a conceptual artist 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.
He's Been Busy - Again!
the worried shrimp
Big Oil
Religious Nationalism
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The magnolia trees are working overtime. Living downwind from refineries, you get to appreciate a pleasant stench for a change.
Fired up the grill again. As the summer heat increases, prefer cooking outside as much as possible. Did burgers and made the kid happy.
Went to Lowe's today (bit more upscale than the local Home Depot), and brought home a cobra lily for the kid and a papyrus plant for me.
Got the 'Steven Spielberg/Lego MovieMaker' System' installed with no problems. Quite partial to Lego software. Much better than that crap Disney poops out. The new DVD of
the old 'Winnie The Pooh' has it's own viewing system included, and it bites.
Tonight, Monday, CBS has reruns of the usual sitcoms - 'King Of Queens', 'Yes, Dear', 'Raymond', 'Becker', and then an episode of '48 Hours'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave are Tom Hanks and Dolly Parton.
Scheduled on a fresh Craiggers are Daisy Fuentes, Robert Goulet, and Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
NBC has 'Fear Factor', then a fresh 'Dog Eat Dog', and a rerun 'Crossing Jordan'.
Scheduled on a fresh Jay Michelle Williams, Geraldo Rivera, and Bryan Ferry.
Conan has a traditional Monday night rerun with Tim Robbins, Eddie Kaye Thomas, and Ben Kweller.
Carson Daly is also a rerun (original airdate 2/07/02) with Heidi Klum and Everlast.
ABC has the movie 'The Horse Whisperer'.
The WB has reruns of '7th Heaven' and 'Dawson's Creek'.
Faux has reruns of 'Boston Public' and 'Ally McBeal'.
UPN has reruns of 'The Hughleys', 'One On One', 'The Parkers', and 'Girlfriends'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Big Dog Watch Continues
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton didn't win the celebrity golf tournament, but at least he was the best player in his threesome Sunday outside the Swedish capital.
The former U.S. President, admittedly jet-lagged after flying from the United States for a speaking engagement in Sweden, finished the 18 holes eight
shots over his listed handicap of 14.0 in the World Celebrity Golf event.
After missing birdie putts on the 11th and 17th holes, Clinton hit a 7-iron over a pond and onto the green, about 5 meters (yards) behind the hole on
the short par-3, 17th as the big gallery roared.
His putt, however, on the tricky, undulated green went just wide, but he tapped in for par as yet another rain shower moved past the golf course.
"I was terrible, but I love the game," Clinton told the Associated Press. "I didn't make any putts. I made some great shots, but had eight three-putt greens.
"I used to play once a week when I was president, but I don't play so much any more, mostly because I travel. I felt jet-lagged today."
"I had a wonderful time, it's a beautiful course," said Clinton, adding that he's favorite courses are Ballybunion in Ireland, Royal Dornoch in Scotland,
the Old Course in St. Andrews and Pebble Beach, California. "Those are the ones I like."
Despite rainy weather, nearly 6,000 spectators watched the tournament at Stockholm Lindo Park, one of Sweden's biggest golf facilities with four different parklands courses.
Bill Clinton
We Called It 'Pop'
Pop vs. Soda
The Pop vs. Soda Page
International Tennis Writers Association
US Open
Foreign sportswriters might boycott the U.S. Open rather than submit to extensive background checks by the Justice Department. The International Tennis Writers Association is
balking at the U.S. Tennis Association's demand that reporters covering the tournament in Flushing Meadow next month sign a waiver releasing "any and all records concerning me
and my background . . . without limitation" to federal law-enforcement agencies. An ITWA rep told the U.K.'s Guardian the waiver sets a precedent and infringes on the journos' freedom to work.
International Tennis Writers Association
A Fishmonger?
Jenna
resident Bush hauls in a striped bass caught by his daughter, Jenna, right, while fishing near Walker's Point aboard his father's boat, Fidelity II,
Sunday, July 7, 2002, in Kennebunkport, Maine. Bush is spending the weekend with family at his parent's summer home on the Maine coast. Two men at
left are unidentified.
Photo by Robert F. Bukaty
The ''Liberal'' Media?
Edward Monks
'' Talk radio shows how profoundly the FCC's repeal of the Fairness Doctrine has affected political discourse. In recent years almost all nationally syndicated political talk radio hosts on commercial stations
have openly identified themselves as conservative, Republican, or both: Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved, Michael Reagen, Bob Grant, Ken Hamblin, Pat Buchanan, Oliver North, Robert Dornan, Gordon Liddy, Sean Hannity,
Michael Savage, et al. The spectrum of opinion on national political commercial talk radio shows ranges from extreme right wing to very extreme right wing - there is virtually nothing else. ''
and
'' For anyone old enough to remember 15 years earlier when the Fairness Doctrine applied, it is a breathtakingly remarkable change - made even more remarkable by the fact that the hosts whose views are given this
virtual monopoly of political expression spend a great deal of time talking about "the liberal media."
Political opinions expressed on talk radio are approaching the level of uniformity that would normally be achieved only in a totalitarian society, where government commissars or party propaganda ministers enforce the acceptable view with threats of violence. There is nothing
fair, balanced or democratic about it. Yet the almost complete right wing Republican domination of political talk radio in this country has been accomplished without guns or gulags. Let's see how it happened. ''
Edward Monks
Hated Working With Marilyn Monroe
Richard Widmark
Hollywood star Richard Widmark found Marilyn Monroe "God-awful to work with."
Widmark, one of the last survivors of Hollywood's golden era, told Monday's Daily Telegraph: "I liked Marilyn but she was God-awful to work with. Impossible, really. She would hide
in her dressing room and refuse to come out."
Widmark, who appeared with Monroe in "Don't Bother to Knock" 50 years ago, said: "When she would finally show up, she was a nervous wreck. It was all a result of fear. She was insecure
about so many things and was obviously self-destructive. She was a wounded bird from the beginning."
Richard Widmark
''Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-To-Dragon''
Fake Harry Potter
Roll away, "Sorcerer's Stone"! Step aside, "Prisoner of Azkaban"! Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-To-Dragon are here!
Chinese fans of the British boy wizard with the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead are snapping up the fifth book in the wildly popular series.
There's just one problem. It's fake — written by a Chinese author for a Chinese audience.
The 198-page book — titled "Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-To-Dragon" after its mysterious villain — has the name and bio of British author J.K. Rowling on its cover. But the tale
in which Harry turns into a hairy dwarf after a "sour-sweet rain" is the unauthorized work of an anonymous author.
In a bizarre touch, the book is dedicated to the owner of a house in Edinburgh, Scotland, where Rowling lives and to the owner's 3-year-old granddaughter.
True Harry Potter fans won't be fooled for long. Rowling's imitator just doesn't have her touch. Consider the opening paragraph:
"Harry is wondering in his bath how long it will take to wash away the creamy cake from his face. To a grown-up, handsome young man, it is disgusting to have filthy dirt on his
body. Lying in a luxurious bathtub and rubbing his face with his hands, he thinks about Dudley's face, which is as fat as Aunt Petunia's bottom."
Fake Harry Potter
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
The Wimbledon Streaker - Part 1
Mark Roberts
For the second time in six years, the men's final at Wimbledon was interrupted by a naked prankster cavorting on Centre Court.
In 1996, a young woman wearing only a tiny apron dashed across the court just before the match between Richard Krajicek and MaliVai Washington.
On Sunday, it was a 37-year-old man — a self-described "serial streaker" — who enlivened the proceedings during a rain break in Hewitt's three-set victory over David Nalbandian.
With Hewitt leading 6-1, 1-0, the man jumped onto the court, shed all of his clothes, kicked off his shoes and did a little dance at the net. As
spectators laughed and cheered, he did a pirouette, bowed, flipped over the net and flexed his muscles.
It took about two minutes before security officials reacted. The man hopped over the net to evade two male guards, before he was finally caught from
behind by a female guard and escorted away with a red sheet around him.
Some of the incident was shown live on BBC-TV, which screened full-frontal footage of the man before cutting away. NBC showed most of the episode to
its U.S. audience, but with strategically placed blurring.
Police identified the man as Mark Roberts, of Liverpool. Roberts also streaked during a doubles match involving Anna Kournikova on Court 14 two years ago.
Roberts, who boasts of 150 streaking "performances" during an eight-year career, was taken to Wimbledon police station for questioning.
The Wimbledon Streaker
David Niven and The Oscar Streaker
Streakers
The Wimbledon Streaker - Part 2
Mark Roberts
Military stewards apprehend a male streaker police identified as Mark Roberts, during a rain-delay at the Men's Singles final between Australia's Lleyton Hewitt and Argentina's
David Nalbandian on the Centre Court at Wimbledon, Sunday July 7, 2002.
Photo by Ted S.Warren
45 Years In Show Business
Tina Turner
Mick Jagger, George Michael and Elton John were among the invited at an all-star party thrown by Tina Turner Friday at her mansion in the south of France. The delayed Fourth of
July bash doubled as a celebration of the sexy 62-year-old's 45 years in show business. It was held at Turner's villa on the Riviera she shares with her longtime lover, German
record exec Erwin Bach, who is 16 years younger. Guests toasted Turner's career in her personal amphitheater overlooking Nice.
Tina Turner
Looks to Rebound
USA Network
When you program a cable network that aspires to reach a big, general audience, you have to hope that the broadcast networks overlook some things.
That's the case with the USA Network's two new original series, "The Dead Zone" and "Monk."
Based on a Stephen King story about a man who wakes up from a coma with the ability to see the future, "The Dead Zone" was developed for UPN but never made it onto the air. USA snapped it up.
Similarly, the crime-fighting drama "Monk" was written for ABC but never cast. When an ABC executive joined USA recently, she brought the project with her.
"I don't care where the stuff comes from," said Doug Herzog, who took over as USA Network president a year ago. "I just care about finding good projects and getting them on the air."
As recently as two years ago, before it lost professional wrestling, USA was the top-rated basic cable network. Now, Lifetime, Nickelodeon and TNT outpace USA in prime time.
For a lot more, USA Network
BartCop TV!
5000 Year-Old Copper Factory
Jordan
Researchers from Southern California uncovered a 5,000-year-old copper factory in Jordan that is yielding thousands of well-preserved artifacts and suggests that ancient desert dwellers
may have been more advanced in metal working than previously believed.
The 70-room complex on a mesa 30 miles south of the Dead Sea has already produced more ingots, tools and other artifacts than any other ancient copper production facility ever discovered,
said Thomas Levy, a University of California, San Diego anthropologist, one of the excavation leaders.
A British road engineer found the site in the early 1970s, but no excavations were undertaken at the time and researchers weren't aware of its potential significance.
The ancient factory complex, known as Khirbat Hamra Ifdan, collapsed in an earthquake in 2700 B.C., but the remarkably well-preserved remnants indicate that it produced copper ingots,
hammers and other tools for use throughout the Middle and Near East, researchers said.
The team's findings, which were published in the June issue of the journal Antiquity, provide detailed evidence about the evolution of metal technology in the ancient world.
Given the arid climate and scorching desert temperatures, the researchers speculate the factory may have only been used part of the year. But the team found 5,000 tons of slag at the
site's 13 smelters, indicating that the complex produced several hundreds tons of copper over its lifetime.
For a bit more, Jordan
Lima, Peru
1st Gay Parade
A transvestite participates in a Gay Pride parade in Lima, Peru, Saturday, July 6, 2002. Several hundred people Saturday took part in Lima's first parade for
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights. The placard reads "He's human, he's gay, he's my brother."
Photo by Martin Mejia
Snarky Gossip
Michael Ovitz
Fallen Hollywood titan Michael Ovitz is backtracking on his comments about homosexual movie moguls, but one industry chronicler doesn't buy it.
Ovitz apologized last week for blaming filmdom's "gay Mafia" for the decline of his company, Artists Management Group. "I made some statements that were inappropriate during
an open and frank discussion with Vanity Fair. In particular, the term 'gay Mafia' does not reflect my true feelings or attitudes," Ovitz said in a statement.
But L.A. Weekly writer Nikki Finke claims Ovitz has a "history of homophobia." She cites the time then-HBO Chairman Michael Fuchs asked Ovitz why he wouldn't help cast the
film of Randy Shilts' AIDS best seller, "And the Band Played On."
Ovitz "smugly replied, 'We don't have any gay agents,'" Finke claims.
Then there was the time DreamWorks SKG partner David Geffen chartered a yacht for a Mediterranean cruise off the coast of Italy with Terry Semel, Ron Meyer, Irwin Winkler
and Ovitz, and their respective wives and girlfriends. "But Ovitz found out Geffen had brought along a male lover and was manic to get as far away from them as possible."
Finke claims Ovitz left the boat. "He got all the way to Rome to get a plane," Finke quotes shipmate Cyndy Garvey as saying, but he couldn't find a flight, "so he had to
come back to the boat. We were all on the floor laughing."
Michael Ovitz
Useful Link
Trifecta Card
TRIFECTA CARD
Performs at Her Old School
Jewel
Toward the end of her senior year at Interlochen Arts Academy, Jewel Kilcher invited voice instructor Nicole Philibosian to hear her sing at a coffee bar.
"I sat there with tears streaming down my face," Philibosian said. "Such a straight-from-the-heart performance, such absolute confidence in an 18-year-old kid. ... I really knew this was a star in the making."
A decade later, the "kid" is known simply as Jewel, one of the biggest names in pop-folk music. In a triumphant homecoming, she performed Friday at sold-out Kresge Auditorium
after talking shop with a small group of awe-struck youths at Interlochen's summer arts camp.
She drew laughs by admitting she'd gotten drunk for the first and only time while a student — "It cured me of it" — and that she hated the uniforms. But she prized the school's emphasis on artistic excellence,
the topflight instruction and the opportunity to experiment.
Jewel
Echo Lake Park, Los Angeles
Water Lotus
A bee buzzes around a blooming water lotus on Echo Park Lake, Monday, July 1, 2002, in the Echo Park section of Los Angeles. At regular annual intervals the bed of water lotus
plants suddenly blooms creating one of the largest stands of water lotuses outside of Asia.
Photo by Nick Ut
'The Osbournes'
Fairly freshly updated - 'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2 !
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
