'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Baron Dave Romm
New CDs For '03
By Baron Dave Romm
Folk UnderGround is the latest incarnation of the Minneapolis science fiction music scene. Violin player Lorraine Garland is a former (and current?) member of The Flash Girls. Featured on the album are members of Boiled In Lead and the Tim Malloys. Somw of the songs are written by Neil Gaiman (including the two songs quoted here) and Shockwave Rider Jane Yolen. Musician/voiceover artist Trevor Hartman and geneticist Paul Score round out the group. These people have been making music, separately and together, for a long time, and it shows in how tight they play and in the precision of the vocal harmonies. Their debut album Buried Things is terrific.
Morbid, but terrific. As the song Folk Underground explains, the reference is not to the alternative folk music scene, but:
Idumea/City of the Damned is about the dead partying. Vampires swing to Rue the Day. Making a deal with the devil is Faustian bargain in The Butterfly Road:
Roving guys, double entendres and sprightly instrumentals get the Folk UnderGround treatment. Reviewing music made by friends can be tricky, but Buried Things is a great album that I can recommend without reservation.
The Prince Myshkins CD Shiny Round Object has been out for a few years, but it just came to my attention this summer, so it counts as new for me. Named after the character in Dostoyevsky's The Idiot, the group comprises two guys playing accordion and guitar. Some of the music seems a bit unpolished, and there's a lot of gay humor, but most of it works. My favorite song is Nothing On The Moon, about the commercialization of everything. Their take on Golden Slippers is pretty good. Political controversies get the treatment in The Ten Commandments Mambo (about religion and politics), Let Me Into The Military (gays wanting to serve), The Approval Song (spin control and needing to be liked) and A Toddler's Tale (a love song for Tinky-Winky). Many of these can be heard on the CD page above, and some lyrics are here.
The Prince Myshkins have a devoted following and a growing reputation. They'll be playing in Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison this week. I bet their concerts are even more fun than the CD.
If you're an arrested adolescent from a Polish background with an obsession with jelly donuts and gross-out humor, you may just be one of the Rugged Hoarhadees. Chaston & Goditski have been performing many of these songs since the late 60's, and revel in the "moronic tunes", some of which have been played on Dr. Demento. This recent release is not exactly a concept album though many of the songs relate to one another, or at least feature characters from other songs on the CD (notably the last, uncredited, track). My favorite track is The Saga of Aunt Sauerkraut, who has a jelly donut head. They sing about The Village Kiss as they face big lips, and the uncaring bystanders when She Fell Into A Sewer. Their music is more sophisticated then when they were teens (presumably) with a nice donut doo-wop Tell Me, Jelly Donut and the rap Boo Hoo & Bosco Rap'n Rock and the nearly angry punk challenge Shove It Up Your Krzywa Dupa Dziura. They patiently explain how to Be A Rugged Hoarhadee.
Sort of the Polish equivalent of Da Yoopers, Patsy & Elmo or other ethnic groups, Chaston & Goditski are loads of fun if you're into it, and just dumb if you're not. I confess... I'm a little into it.
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.
He's Been Busy!
The Worried Shrimp
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
Exclusive Bonus
Hurricane Isabel Blog
I don't know if this will be important or not but I thought I'd give it a whirl and write you anything about the hurricane if it comes within the D.C. area and my Arlington apartment.
My digital camera is broken so sadly I can't provide any pictures if something becomes "picture-worthy".
Tonight things are very smooth. My weather sensitive cat is rolling herself in catnip - although she was a bit extra fiesty today - hey that's not unusual. I was home this weekend. The cats always celebrate when I stick close to home on a weekend (it's rare). I brought a big boutique of flowers from the Farmer's Market. The late summer harvest has manefestied itselt. Beautiflul tomatoes and lovely red bell peppers stole the show. We have had adequate rain this year and the fall promises to be especially pretty in the Mid-Atlantic region.
But this huge Mother-fucker of a storm is threatening in the Atlantic. I checked all the old records of hurricanes, the one the old folks talk about was Hazel (1954). Hazel raised havoc on the Eastern Shore and Chesapeake and lower Potomac River areas. My mother says it took out all the trees along the front of Colonial Beach, Virginia, where we had a summer home during the early sixties. Still, looking at the historical records, Hazel didn't come that close to shore, she was at least 25 miles off the coast of the Atlantic from what I've seen.
Camille was the one I remembered - that was the early seventies. It was a huge hurricane that came up through the Gulf of Mexico and dropped devestating amounts of rain on the fragile strip-mined Appalachians, There were counties in West Virginia that were devastated. Many people died in the wild uphills along the creekbeds that feed the rivers of Virginia and Maryland. The water shed for D.C. comes through the Appalachian mountains and although we did not suffer the initial affects of the storm, in my Northern Virginia community of Woodbridge, we suffered from the huge amount of water flowing down. The tiny town of Occoquan (30 miles from D.C., and right next to Woodbridge) was two-thirds covered in water and one night on the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite even mentioned Occoquan. They shut down the water supply for the Fairfax County Authority because the dam for the Northern Virginia Fairfax Water Authority was in danger of bursting and flooding the banks of the Occoquan which would have wiped the cute little town of Occouquan off the map. In Woodbridge we were without running water for three days and the storm took out two bridges over major highways in the area. Like many suburban families, we had a backyard pool and that was our source of water.
So back to my Isabel blog - well this hurricane is one of the meanest looking things I've seen on radar. I remember Andrew. My oldest brother lives in Naples, Fl - which is on the Gulf side but very south in Florida on the western edge of Alligator Alley. We held our breath and hoped that Andrew wouldn't hit him. His area really wasn't badly affected, the storm went to the north of them.
Anyway that's the take for tonight. I'll write every night as the storm progresses.
Nancy Maynard
Excellent, Nancy! Thank you.
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The nice weather is holding.
Got the CA sample ballot in the mail Saturday, and our polling place has changed. In talking with my old-timer neighbors, this is the first time in over
40 years that the local polling place has changed. Of course, it has been moved to a more inconvenient location, further away, with very limited parking.
Was up way too late Saturday/Sunday - but, got to watch a real 'Saturday Night Live' (the 3am 'rerun'). So old, Chevy Chase was still in the cast - so old, the show was still funny. Steve Martin was hosting & he
danced with Gilda Radner. Damn.
Tonight, , CBS opens the evening with a RERUN 'Yes, Dear', followed by a RERUN 'Still Standing', then a
RERUN (that runs 45 minutes long), then a RERUN 'CSI: Miami' (that starts 15 minutes before the top of the hour).
On a RERUN Dave are Colin Farrell and Robert Randolph. (RERUNs all week)
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are Kate Beckinsale, Donny Osmond, and Cheap Trick.
NBC begins the evening with a RERUN 'Fear Factor', followed by a RERUN 'Third Watch', then another RERUN
'Third Watch'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Sharon Osbourne, Wanda Sykes, and Leona Naess.
On a RERUN Conan are Magic Johnson, Tom Green, and Jim Gaffigan.
On a RERUN Carson Daly areColin Quinn, Anderson Cooper, and A.R.E. Weapons.
ABC starts the evening with 'MNF', and follows with the Series Premiere of 'Primetime Monday' on the left coast - on the east coast, it's 'Primetime Monday', then 'MNF'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Tony Danza, Steve Miller, and burlesque dancers from Forty Deuce, with this week's guest co-host Mick Foley aka "Mankind".
The WB offers the Season Premiere of '7th Heaven', followed by the Season Premiere of 'Everwood'.
Faux has a RERUN 'The O.C.', followed by a FRESH 'Parasite Hotel'.
UPN has the Season Premiere of 'The Parkers', followed by the Series Premiere of 'Eve', then Season Premiere
of 'Girlfriends', followed by the Season Premiere 'Half & Half'.
A&E has 'Biography' (Barbara Stanwyck), 'Cold Case Files', and 'City Confidential'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Day The Earth Stood Still', followed by the movie 'Beneath The Planet Of The Apes', then the movie 'Escape From Planet Of The Apes'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Parkinson' - David Bowie;
[7pm] 'Ground Force' - Northampton;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Blackpool;
[8pm] 'Red Cap' - Cold War;
[9pm] 'Rebus' - Black and Blue;
[11pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Michael Richards;
[11:30pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Jennifer Love-Hewitt;
[12am] 'Rebus' - Black and Blue;
[2am] 'Red Cap' - Cold War;
[3am] 'So Graham Norton' - Michael Richards;
[3:30am] 'So Graham Norton' - Jennifer Love-Hewitt;
[4am] 'Rebus' - Black and Blue; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'West Wing', then the movie 'Internal Affairs'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jon Stewart is Cuba Gooding, Jr.
History has 'Perfect Crimes?', 'Mail Call', 'Guts & Bolts', then the movie 'Platoon'.
SciFi is all 'Stargate SG-1' all night.
TCM celebrates 2 child stars - Bonita Granville all night, and
the amazing Jackie Cooper all day. Today is also his birthday. In 1989 he
walked away from the industry, saying: "I'm sixty-seven, and worked sixty-four years." Enjoying retirement ever since, he refuses to participate in industry retrospectives which dwell too wistfully on the so-called good old days.
Jackie Cooper rocks!
[6am] 'The Champ' (1931);
[7:30am] 'Divorce In The Family' (1932);
[9am] 'Broadway To Hollywood' (1933);
[10:30am] 'Dinky' (1935);
[11:45am] 'O'shaughnessy's Boy' (1935);
[1:15pm] 'Tough Guy' (1936);
[2:30pm] 'The Devil Is A Sissy' (1936);
[4:30pm] 'White Banners' (1938);
[6:30pm] 'Gallant Sons' (1940);
[8pm] 'Nancy Drew--Detective' (1938);
[9:15pm] 'Nancy Drew--Reporter' (1939);
[10:30pm] 'Nancy Drew And The Hidden Staircase' (1939);
[11:45pm] 'Nancy Drew, Trouble Shooter' (1939);
[1am] 'These Three' (1936) (first screen version of 'The Children's Hour');
[2:45am] 'The Beloved Brat' (1938); and
[4am] 'Love Laughs At Andy Hardy' (1946). (ALL TIMES EDT)
Former president Bill Clinton shakes hands with California Gov. Gray Davis before a service at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church Sunday, Sept. 14, 2003, in Los Angeles.
Photo by Ric Francis
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Creative Arts Winners
Emmy Awards
Here is a list of winners in the creative arts categories of the "55th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards" by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences:
Animated Program Less Than One Hour: "The Simpsons: Three Gays of the Condo," Fox.
Animated Program One Hour or More: "Chased by Dinosaurs," Discovery.
Art Direction for a Multicamera Series: "Will & Grace: 24," NBC.
Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series: "Without a Trace: Birthday Boy," CBS.
Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special: "Hitler: The Rise of Evil: Part 1," CBS.
Art Direction for a Variety or Music Program: "75th Annual Academy Awards," ABC.
Casting for a Comedy Series: "Sex and the City," HBO.
Casting for a Drama Series: "Six Feet Under," HBO.
Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special: "Live From Baghdad," HBO.
Choreography: "Smuckers Stars on Ice," A&E.
Cinematography for a Multicamera Series: "Will & Grace: Sex, Losers and Videotape," NBC.
Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series: "CSI: Miami: The Simple Man," CBS.
Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie: "Out of the Ashes," Showtime.
Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming (Single or Multicamera): "Nova: Mountain of Ice," PBS.
Commercial: "Fish," PBS Promo.
Costumes for a Series: "American Dreams: Where the Boys Are," NBC.
Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special: "Napoleon: Part 2," A&E.
Costumes for a Variety or Music Program: "Cher — The Farewell Tour," NBC.
Directing for Nonfiction Programming: "American Experience: The Murder of Emmett Till," PBS.
Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series: "24: 5:00 A.M. — 6:00 A.M.," Fox.
Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series: "Malcolm in the Middle: If Boys Were Girls," Fox.
Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special: "Live From Baghdad," HBO.
Multicamera Picture Editing for a Series: "Frasier: Rooms With a View," NBC.
Multicamera Picture Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special: "AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Passions: America's Greatest Love Stories," CBS.
Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming Single or Multicamera: "Journeys With George," HBO.
Hairstyling for a Series: "American Dreams: I Want to Hold Your Hand," NBC.
Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special: "Door to Door," TNT.
Lighting Direction (Electronic, Multicamera) for VMC Programming: "75th Annual Academy Awards," ABC.
Main Title Design: "Hysterical Blindness," HBO.
Makeup for a Series (Nonprosthetic): "Alias: The Counteragent," ABC.
Makeup for a Series (Prosthetic): "Primetime Glick: No. 301," Comedy Central.
Makeup for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Nonprosthetic): "Normal," HBO.
Makeup for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Prosthetic): "Door to Door," TNT.
Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore): "24: 10:00 P.M. — 11:00 P.M.," Fox.
Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Dramatic Underscore): "Eloise at the Plaza," ABC.
Music Direction: "75th Annual Academy Awards," ABC.
Music and Lyrics: "The Concert for World Children's Day," Song Title: "Aren't They All Our Children," ABC.
Main Title Theme Music: "Monk," USA.
Writing for Nonfiction Programming: "American Experience: Seabiscuit," PBS.
Guest Actor in a Comedy Series: Gene Wilder, "Will & Grace," NBC.
Guest Actor in a Drama Series: Charles S. Dutton, "Without a Trace," CBS.
Guest Actress in a Comedy Series: Christina Applegate, "Friends," NBC.
Guest Actress in a Drama Series: Alfre Woodard, "The Practice," ABC.
Classical Music-Dance Program: "CONTACT (Live From Lincoln Center)," PBS.
Children's Program: "Through a Child's Eyes: September 11, 2001," HBO.
Nonfiction Special Traditional: "Benjamin Franklin," PBS.
Nonfiction Series Traditional: "American Masters," PBS.
Nonfiction Program Alternative: "Cirque Du Soleil Fire Within," Bravo.
Sound Editing for a Series: "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Fight Night," CBS.
Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special: "Hitler: The Rise of Evil: Night 1," CBS.
Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming (Single or Multicamera): "James Cameron's Expedition: Bismarck," Discovery Channel.
Single-Camera Sound Mixing for a Series: "ER: Chaos Theory," NBC.
Single-Camera Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie: "Live From Baghdad," HBO.
Multicamera Sound Mixing for a Series or Special: "Everybody Loves Raymond: She's the One," CBS.
Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or Special: "The 45th Annual Grammy Awards," CBS.
Sound Mixing for Nonfiction Programming (Single or Multicamera): "American Masters: Joni Mitchell: Woman of Heart and Mind," PBS.
Special Visual Effects for a Series: "Firefly: Serenity," Fox.
Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special: "Frank Herbert's Children of Dune: Night 1," Sci Fi.
Stunt Coordination (two winners): "Alias: The Telling," ABC, and "Fastlane: Asslane," Fox.
Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video for a Series: "Saturday Night Live: Host: Christopher Walken); Musical Guest: Foo Fighters," NBC.
Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special: "Cher — The Farewell Tour," NBC.
Previously announced juried awards given Saturday:
Voiceover performance: Hank Azaria, "The Simpsons: Moe Baby Blues," Fox.
Individual achievement in animation (multiple winners): Dan Krall and Scott Wills, "Samurai Jack," Cartoon Network; Maciek Albrecht, "Through a Child's Eye: Sept. 11, 2001," HBO.
Emmy Awards
Coaches Son's Football Team
Snoop Dogg
To his fans, he's a pioneering rap artist, to authorities who have tangled with him, he's a felon. But to players and parents in the Orange County Junior All America Football League, he's just coach Dogg.
"Teaching kids is something fun," said Snoop Dogg, who watched Saturday night as his son's Rowland Heights Raiders defeated the Huntington Beach Dolphins 18-0.
"I give them a lot of strength and vision," added the rapper, who is a former football player and who attended a clinic to become certified as a coach.
Parents and players alike said they were impressed with Snoop's dedication to his 8- to 10-year-old charges.
Snoop Dogg
Members of the British non-governmental organization Oxfam lampoon leaders of the G8 countries, from left to right, (Gerhard Schroeder of Germany, Jean Chretien of Canada, Jacques Chirac of France, Tony Blair of Great Britain, Junichiro Koizumi of Japan, Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, and George Bush of the USA) during an event held on the sidelines of the World Trade Organization meeting in Cancun, September 14, 2003. Oxfam is trying to illustrate the G8's failure to listen to voices urging them to rewrite the rules of international trade.
Photo by Juan Carlos Ulate
MSGOP & Joe Scarborough's Ethics
'Rat of the Week'
Two weeks ago, MSNBC talk show host Joe Scarborough introduced a guest, attorney Mike Papantonio, to point a finger at the "Rat of the Week."
Papantonio slammed a wood-preserving company called Osmose, saying it makes a dangerous product used in playground equipment and has "figured out how to poison our children and make a profit in the meantime."
What Scarborough didn't say is that Papantonio is his law partner, and that their firm has filed a lawsuit against Osmose. Instead, he urged viewers to demand that the government recall the company's product.
Phil Griffin, an MSNBC vice president, said what happened was "unacceptable" and that viewers "were misled. . . . It is troublesome that we didn't disclose that this guest was a law partner and had a lawsuit against this company. That's wrong from the beginning. We were not fair to the audience, and that won't happen again."
Scarborough, a Florida Republican who left the House in 2001, declined to be interviewed. He said on his program that he took a leave from the law firm when he launched the MSNBC show in February, but remains a shareholder and receives a fixed stipend.
For even more, 'Rat of the Week'
Affleck & Lopez
Splitsville?
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, the most overexposed couple on the planet, was supposed to exchange wedding vows Sunday — but instead there was a report that they had ended their tabloid-chronicled storybook romance.
Amid the frantic speculation surrounding the pair last week, People magazine reported Sunday that Affleck has dumped Lopez due to "second thoughts" about their impending wedding.
Citing unidentified "sources close to the couple," People reported that Affleck initiated the breakup with Lopez, who was "devastated" and "in tears." However, the magazine hedged its scoop by adding "it was unclear whether the separation was permanent."
Splitsville?
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Carnegie's New Concert Hall Opens
Zankel Hall
It wasn't exactly classical Carnegie Hall: The pianist hopped on the bench and played the Steinway with his feet while the audience snapped its fingers in rhythm.
That joyously jazzy inspiration featured Cuban-born Omar Sosa, whose octet's performance packed Carnegie's new Zankel Hall for its first night of public concerts.
Zankel's inaugural 22 concerts mark the opening of the first of three major concert halls in America this year. The others are the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the Max M. Fisher Center in Detroit, both opening in October.
For more, Zankel Hall
The Dalai Lama speaks during a symposium on the mind with scientists and academics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Sunday, Sept. 14, 2003. The symposium is part of the Dalai Lama's four-day visit to Boston.
Photo by Michael Dwyer
'Songbook, Vol. 1'
Randy Newman
On "The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 1," out Sept. 30 on Nonesuch Records, Randy Newman re-creates 18 works spanning his 33-year career. But to hear him tell it, he wasn't much for the idea originally.
"It was what the label wanted, and it didn't seem particularly interesting to me," he says. "I was a little surprised that I did what the record company wanted me to."
But as the project progressed, and as he "tried his hardest" in the studio with producer Mitchell Froom, Newman says he changed his mind. "I now think it's probably a good idea to have a record of them the way I usually perform them," he says.
That means the album is just Newman and his piano; it's the first to feature the artist -- Billboard's 2000 Century Award recipient -- solo at the keyboard since 1970's "Live" album.
For the rest, Randy Newman
Too Many Details
Lisa Marie Presley
Wacko Jacko's sex romps with ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley left Elvis' daughter breathless and wanting more.
"Apparently, Michael is hot stuff in bed," Lisa Marie's friend, Monica Pastelle, told J. Randy Taraborrelli, whose update of his book, "Michael Jackson: The Magic and The Madness," caused ripples when it was excerpted last week in London's Daily Mail.
"Lisa said he was amazing. And she's been around. Everyone was saying, 'No way, Lisa. It can't be true. Michael Jackson? Are we talking about the Michael Jackson, the one with the glove?' But she wasn't joking."
"The first time, she went to turn on the lights afterwards, and he leapt out of bed and ran into the bathroom so she wouldn't see his body," she said.
"He emerged 20 minutes later, in full makeup and wearing a silk robe. Then they went at it again. They were into role-playing games, although Lisa would never say who was playing what kind of roles."
For even more, Lisa Marie Presley
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
London's Science Museum
'The Lord of the Rings'
The fantasy saga "The Lord of the Rings" is breaking box office records again -- and this time it is at London's Science Museum.
From Hobbit feet to Orc teeth, the exhibition lifts the special effects lid on the Oscar-garlanded trilogy which won millions of new fans around the world for J.R.R. Tolkien's classic tale of good and evil in the fantastical Middle Earth.
On display are hundreds of artefacts, including armoury, models and costumes. Animatronics and interactive technology reveal how one of the 20th century's most popular stories was brought to life.
'The Lord of the Rings'
An Indian craftsman makes an idol of the Hindu Goddess of power Durga in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh September 14, 2003. The annual five-day Durga Puja (Prayer) festival starts on October 1 across the country and is one of the most popular Hindu festivals in India. In Hindu mythology, Durga symbolizes power and the triumph of good over evil.
Photo by Ajay Verma
NASA to Crash Into Jupiter
Galileo
NASA plans to crash its $1.5 billion Galileo spacecraft into Jupiter next weekend to make sure it doesn't accidentally contaminate the planet's ice-covered moon Europa with bacteria from Earth.
After Galileo's orbit carries it behind Jupiter at 3:49 p.m. EDT Sunday, the aging probe will plunge into the planet's stormy atmosphere at a speed of nearly 108,000 mph. Its suicide dive comes at the end of its 35th orbit of the planet — far longer than the 11 orbits the spacecraft originally was planned to complete.
The intentional crash will be the first since 1999, when NASA plowed the Lunar Prospector orbiter into the moon. In 1994, NASA crashed the Magellan orbiter into Venus. Satellites routinely crash to Earth, as NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory did in 2000.
The 14-year mission has been among NASA's most successful, despite a litany of glitches. Its focus was to have been Jupiter itself, but the planet's quirky, diverse moons — including Io, the solar system's most volcanically active body — stole the spotlight.
Galileo
Galileo mission
Planetary protection
Holds Celeb Fund-Raiser
Michael Jackson
Pop star Michael Jackson hosted a fund-raiser at his Neverland Ranch with a celebrity invitation list that included boxer Mike Tyson and musicians Patti LaBelle and Boyz II Men.
About 700 people were invited to Saturday's event, which cost $5,000 to attend. The proceeds were to go to Make-A-Wish Foundation, Oneness and E Ai Como E Que Fica, a Rio de Janeiro organization that provides food, clothing and medical care for poor children.
Fans outside the ranch gates traveled as far away as Denmark and Croatia to catch a glimpse of Jackson and other celebrities.
Michael Jackson
Star-Spangled
Sam Walters
A comedian failed to win over his audience when he unzipped his pants on stage and exposed his penis -- painted red, white and blue like the American flag.
Sam Walters, 29, was one of two stand-up comedians battling for laughs on Thursday night at a comedy club near Harvard University in Cambridge.
As part of a September 11-themed contest, each comic was asked to come up with an offensive sentence, describe Islam in 100 words or less and pay a special tribute to America.
Walters' tribute involved decorating his penis with stars and stripes and showing it at the appropriate moment. Audience members laughed, but Walters lost the contest.
"I don't think my penis has ever been more embarrassed or looked so small," the comic told Reuters on Friday. "You would have thought the vertical stripes would have made it seem longer."
Sam Walters
Albino gorilla 'Copito de Nieve' (Snow Flake) the only one known in the world, sits inside his cage in Barcelona zoo, September 14, 2003. Copito de Nieve was diagnosed as having skin cancer and vets think he has only two or three months to live.
Photo by Albert Gea
'The Osbournes'
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