Baron Dave Romm
Maldives
By Baron Dave Romm
Shockwave Radio Theater podcasts
Maldives makes a grand gesture
Maldavian President Mohammed Nasheed must be a fellow Conceptual Artist. Global Warming/Climate Change is the most important issue facing the world today, and the conservative news media barely covers any real story.
Cabinet
makes splash with underwater meeting MSNBC World News/Weird News
Oct. 17, 2009CE:
Maldives calls attention to the threat climate change poses to island nation
GIRIFUSHI, Maldives - Members of the Maldives' Cabinet donned scuba gear and used hand signals Saturday at an underwater meeting staged to highlight the threat of global warming to the lowest-lying nation on earth.
President Mohammed Nasheed and 13 other government officials submerged and took their seats at a table on the sea floor - 20 feet below the surface of a lagoon off Girifushi, an island usually used for military training.
With a backdrop of coral, the meeting was a bid to draw attention to fears that rising sea levels caused by the melting of polar ice caps could swamp this Indian Ocean archipelago within a century. Its islands average 7 feet above sea level.
Nasheed is a certified diver, but the others quickly took lessons. Two cabinet members were excused on health issues, and one was out of the country.
This is a stunt, a grand gesture, but it's a damn good one. Congratulations to all involved.
Are you sure?
Southbound entrance ramp to Hwy 55 (Hiawatha) at
Lake St. in Mpls.
The politics of the Hiawatha AVe/Light Rail corridor are amazing and stupid and I won't bore you with them. Suffice it to say that while the new roadway and train system work okay, they occasionally had to be shoehorned into locations that had changed since the original design.
Thanks to 35W being closed for repairs this weekend, I took Hiawatha, and got on from Lake Street heading west, which I rarely do. The intersection is a major pain, made worse because it's probably the best that could be done under the circumstances.
After the turn off Lake, you are greeted with this sign. Yes, it actually makes sense, but it doesn't fill one with a sense of confidence.Rio's Olympic bid puts them in the spotlight
Brazil vows safe Olympics after 14 killed in RioRocky Mountain Telegram Oct. 18, 2009CE:
RIO DE JANEIRO - At least 2,000 police officers patrolled this coastal city Sunday and Brazilian officials pledged to host a violence-free 2016 Olympics despite bloody drug gang shootouts that left 14 people dead.
An hourslong firefight between rival gangs Saturday in one of the city's slums killed at least 12 people, injured six and saw a police helicopter shot down and eight buses set on fire.
...
Rio state Public Safety Director Jose Beltrame told reporters...."We proved to the Olympic Committee that we have plans and proposals for Rio de Janeiro," Beltrame said. "We proved that our current policy not only consists of going into battle, it also consists of keeping the peace."
...
Saturday's fighting raged about five miles (eight kilometers) southwest of one of the zones where Rio's 2016 Olympics will be held.
All those blithering conservatives who hate America so much that they cheered when Chicago didn't win the Olympic bid are probably smiling. The violence is not their fault, but sphincter conservatives just don't care about the consequences of what they wish for.
TV Quick Takes
Or: How to pad a short column.
Well, I've done my duty. I gave several new shows a shot. I've already given up on Hank and The Middle is out. the forgotten fell by the wayside and I think it's time to give up on The Good Wife. Stargate: Universe isn't going anywhere.
So far, the last season of Monk isn't one of the best, Psych is just grating and Criminal Minds is even sicker than last year. Dollhouse has flashes of quality buried in a soap opera that makes no sense.
On the other hand, The Big Bang Theory is still hilarious, The Simpsons still throws enough curves through retread plotlines, Two And A Half Men isn't quite worn out its welcome, Bones is doing okay, House occasionally rises above petty bickering, Numb3rs put more money into sfx and The Daily Show/Colbert Report are still the main reason to get cable tv.
I watch tv so you don't have to. Unless you want to.
Vikings vs. Baltimore: Ick
I didn't watch the game, which is just as well since I predicted the Vikings would lose. The good news: The Vikings won an ugly 33-31 victory over the Ravens. The bad news: This may be another poor week for me in the football pool. Still, last week was mediocre and I wound up in first place, tied with only one person. We'll see how this week shakes out.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog maintains a Facebook Page, 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
Susan Estrich: The Promise of Peace (creators.com)
OK, so President Barack Obama hasn't accomplished enough to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize under the conventional approach. There is, no doubt, some courageous political prisoner somewhere in the world who has been in home confinement for decades fighting a repressive and dictatorial regime and deserves it more. Granted. The thing is, though, I didn't hear too many of the world's political prisoners, or their advocates, denouncing the choice of Obama.
Froma Harrop: Science and the Female Brain (creators.com)
The recent award of Nobel Prizes in biology and chemistry to three women dredges up Larry Summers' suggestion in 2005 that differences in the female brain may account for the dearth of top women scientists. Now President Obama's economic adviser, Summers was then speechifying as president of Harvard. Carol Greider, who just won a Nobel for biology, recalls being astounded by the remark. "I thought he couldn't possibly say that," the Johns Hopkins biologist told me. "I looked up the transcript, and he really said that.
Susan Estrich: A Big Difference for Science and Medicine (creators.com)
Dr. Carol Greider may be the only Nobel laureate to have been folding laundry when she got the call.
Rosanna Greenstreet: "Q&A: Paris Hilton" (guardian.co.uk)
'People have really come together and started these amazing charities for people who are suffering. This decade has been a lot about giving back'.
David Sirota: The Zombie Zeitgeist (creators.com)
What's with all the zombies lately? That could be a question about one of the hippest retro fads that pop culture has going these days.
Rosanna Greenstreet: "Q&A: Ricky Gervais" (guardian.co.uk)
"The most significant event of the decade? The war on terror. Or writing an episode of 'The Simpsons.'It's hard to choose, isn't it?'"
Paul Constant: Michael Chabon Writes About Owning a Penis (thestranger.com)
Because publishers are idiots, the wall of women's studies books at Elliott Bay Book Company is a shockingly bright shade of pink.
Paul Constant: Nick Hornby, Naked (thestranger.com)
Nick Hornby is a real rarity: an incredibly successful author you just can't help but feel sorry for. His first novel, 'High Fidelity,' became the kind of freakishly successful book that only hits once in a generation.
DAVE STEINFELD: When Everything Cliks (curvemag.com)
The band talks musical influences, their new album Dirty King and the challenges of being role models - shortly before their recent split.
Terry Jones remembers Douglas Adams, 'the last of the Pythons' (timesonline.co.uk)
Thirty years ago, the first 'Hitchhiker's Guide' book was published. But before that Douglas Adams was sinking pints with Monty Python.
Veronica Schmidt: Monty Python and the cardboard cut-out (timesonline.co.uk)
In a feat only they could pull off, all six members of the troupe were reunited yesterday... including the late Graham Chapman .
Neal Justin: And now for something completely different - and illuminating (Star Tribune)
If the six members of the group had practiced their silly skills a few decades later and across the pond, they'd probably be living in "South Park."
Hubert's Poetry Corner
"Kindergarten Catastrophe"
Another adult lesson NOT learned in childhood?
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The 'Nobel Peace Surprise' Edition...
WASHINGTON/OSLO (Reuters) - Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a stunning decision that honored the first-year U.S. president more for promise than achievement and drew praise... (U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, "His commitment to work through the United Nations gives the world's people fresh hope and fresh prospects."... Former President Jimmy Carter says (it) is a "bold statement of international support for his vision and commitment.")
... and skepticism around the world...
War and Peace Prizes | CommonDreams.org
Comment: absurd decision on Obama makes a mockery of the Nobel peace prize - Times Online
Do you think awarding Obama the Peace Prize was appropriate?
Send your response to
Results tomorrow
wrote:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Link from RJ
Hanging with the Home Birds
Hi there
Hope you are keeping well! Here is a possible link for you - thanks for taking a look.
Reader Photo
Green Heron
Hi Marty
Confound Herons...
Reader Suggestion
'Change Direction'
Reader Comment
ain't no neo-con tree
I've got only one Haiku-less observation for the Zen Man (10/18/09) ...
I THINK THAT I SHALL
NEVER SEE A PERSON AS
LOVELY AS A TREE
Got Wood?
DanD
Thanks, Dan!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny, but cooler.
Elephant In The Living Room
Sunday Talking Heads
White House advisers pledged on Sunday to book administration officials on Fox News despite claims by the president's inner circle that the cable network is a GOP mouthpiece whose programming "is geared toward making money."
Last week, White House communications director Anita Dunn said Fox News operates "almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party." On Sunday, Rahm Emanuel, President Barack Obama's chief of staff, said, "It is not a news organization so much as it has a perspective."
Karl Rove, a Fox News contributor and former White House adviser to resident George W. Bush, said the Obama administration is trying to demonize Fox News for asking questions officials do not like. He compared Obama's approach to that of President Richard Nixon, who included journalists on an "enemies list."
Appearing on ABC's "This Week," senior Obama adviser David Axelrod said Fox News shouldn't be treated as a news organization. "And the bigger thing is that other news organizations, like yours, ought not to treat them that way, and we're not going to treat them that way," he said.
Sunday Talking Heads
Charity Auction
Barbra Streisand
A robe worn by Barbra Streisand in "The Way We Were" sold for nearly $6,000 and an outfit from "Meet the Fockers" went for $3,500 at an auction of hundreds of the entertainer's personal items.
A Stickley china cabinet brought in $15,000 and a wig worn by Streisand in "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever" sold for $3,500.
More than 400 of Streisand's dresses and suits, books, designer furniture, paintings and vintage collectibles were on the block at the weekend sale conducted by Julien's Auctions.
All proceeds go to Streisand's favourite charities - including City Year, the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation and the Cedars-Sinai Women's Heart Health Center.
Barbra Streisand
Obama Deserves Nobel
Bono
Rock star Bono on Sunday praised Barack Obama for helping "re-brand" the United States as a leading force in combating the world's most pressing problems, and deemed the president's controversial Nobel Peace prize deserved.
In an article Sunday in The New York Times, the U2 rocker and rights activist praised Obama's dedication to "the eradication of extreme poverty in our time," as well as Obama's commitment to "fighting nuclear proliferation and climate change, improving relations in the Middle East and, by the way, creating jobs and providing health care at home."
And the world-famous singer said the US president is the central figure in the "re-branding" of the American image to one of hope, optimism and action.
"I will venture to say that in the farthest corners of the globe, the president's words are more than a pop song people want to hear on the radio. They are lifelines," he said.
Bono
X-Rated Heavy Metal Parody Band
Steel Panther
Most of the lyrics by the hard rock/glam metal band Steel Panther are too vulgar for radio. And Michael Starr, the parody act's frontman, says MTV handed Steel Panther the longest edit sheet in the network's history in response to the group's first attempt at a music video.
But those roadblocks haven't kept the Los Angeles quartet from its ongoing mission: to bring heavy metal back to the masses. Through long-running West Coast residencies, grassroots marketing and unexpected radio exposure, Steel Panther has secured an opening slot on ZZ Top's upcoming overseas tour and is filming a pilot for Comedy Central.
According to the band members' tongue-in-cheek back story, Steel Panther was huge in the '80s, disappeared before the release of its debut and returned to the scene decades later. The four tattooed musicians are usually clad in Spandex, go only by their stage names (Starr, Satchel, Lexxi Foxxx and Stix Zadinia) and won't discuss their outside lives.
Created in 2000, the potty-mouthed quartet -- whose songs almost exclusively talk about women, one-night stands and heavy metal -- has been playing frequently sold-out residencies for about a decade. These include stints in Las Vegas at Green Valley Ranch and the Aliante, as well as the Key Club in Los Angeles, during which the band has been joined onstage by the likes of Kelly Clarkson and Pink.
Steel Panther
German Book Trade Peace Prize
Claudio Magris
The 25,000-euro Peace Prize of the German Book Trade was awarded to the Italian writer Claudio Magris on Sunday on the last day of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
The prestigious award has been given every year since 1950 to a person who has "significantly advanced ideas of peace" through his or her literary, scientific or artistic work.
In his acceptance speech he warned against political populism in Europe and criticised "invisible barriers" between immigrants and natives in major European cities.
And without directly attacking Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Magris said he hoped "as an Italian patriot that my country will not again be seen as a pioneer for the wrong reasons: after all we invented fascism in Europe".
Claudio Magris
Hair Sells For $15K
Elvis Presley
A clump of hair believed to have been trimmed from Elvis Presley's head when he joined the Army in 1958 has sold for $15,000 at a Chicago auction house.
Also among the 200 Elvis-related items up for grabs at the Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in Chicago on Sunday was a shirt that once belonged to the King which sold for $52,000.
Other items included scarves, photos from the reception of Presley's 1967 wedding to Priscilla, Christmas cards he sent and lots of records. Elvis dolls and Elvis Pez dispensers numbered among the memorabilia.
All the items had belonged to the late Gary Pepper, who ran a fan club and was a friend. Pepper, who had cerebral palsy, died in 1980.
Elvis Presley
Speaks Out For Gaza's Children
Mia Farrow
Actress Mia Farrow headed back to the United States on Sunday haunted by the image of a young girl who spoke in a tiny voice of the destruction of her home and the death of her loved ones in the Gaza war.
She said she'll never forget the face of the 12-year-old who told her "about about when her house was destroyed, the people who were killed."
Farrow also recounted visiting a Gaza hospital where "doctors had to make the agonising decision to release babies of only one kilo (2.2 pounds) because there weren't enough viable incubators and they can't get spare parts in."
Farrow also visited the Israeli city of Sderot, which has borne the brunt of the rockets attacks from Gaza, just a few kilometres (miles) away.
Mia Farrow
Arrested For DUI
Stephanie Pratt
Authorities say reality television star Stephanie Pratt has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.
Los Angeles police say the 23-year-old Pratt was arrested early Sunday outside a party in Hollywood. Pratt is featured on the MTV show "The Hills" along with her brother, Spencer Pratt.
She was booked at Van Nuys jail on suspicion of driving under the influence and was released a few hours later after posting $5,000 bail.
Stephanie Pratt
How Christian
Witch Children
The nine-year-old boy lay on a bloodstained hospital sheet crawling with ants, staring blindly at the wall.
His family pastor had accused him of being a witch, and his father then tried to force acid down his throat as an exorcism. It spilled as he struggled, burning away his face and eyes. The emaciated boy barely had strength left to whisper the name of the church that had denounced him - Mount Zion Lighthouse.
A month later, he died.
Nwanaokwo Edet was one of an increasing number of children in Africa accused of witchcraft by pastors and then tortured or killed, often by family members. Pastors were involved in half of 200 cases of "witch children" reviewed by the AP, and 13 churches were named in the case files.
Some of the churches involved are renegade local branches of international franchises. Their parishioners take literally the Biblical exhortation, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."
Witch Children
NYC Neighbor Sues
Madonna
One of Madonna's New York neighbors says the superstar's loud music and frequent dance sessions are causing a commotion.
Karen George, of Manhattan, lives above Madonna in a building on Central Park.
She said in a lawsuit filed Friday against the building's co-op board that the Material Girl is using her apartment as a rehearsal studio, forcing neighbors to endure "blaring music, stomping and shaking walls," for up to three hours each day.
The building's board says it has already threatened to evict Madonna.
Madonna
Cancels North American Tour
Def Leppard
British rock band Def Leppard has cancelled the final leg of its North American tour.
The band said in a statement on its website that it cancelled 23 shows in the US and Canada "due to unforeseen personal matters".
The last leg of the tour was to start on October 22 in Reno, Nevada, and wrap up November 28 in Beaumont, Texas.
Before cancelling, Def Leppard had one of the top 20 shows on tour, according to information from the trade publication Pollstar.
Def Leppard
Promises A Winter Without Snow
Moscow Mayor
Pigs still can't fly, but this winter, the mayor of Moscow promises to keep it from snowing. For just a few million dollars, the mayor's office will hire the Russian Air Force to spray a fine chemical mist over the clouds before they reach the capital, forcing them to dump their snow outside the city. Authorities say this will be a boon for Moscow, which is typically covered with a blanket of snow from November to March. Road crews won't need to constantly clear the streets, and traffic - and quality of life - will undoubtedly improve.
The idea came from Mayor Yury Luzhkov, who is no stranger to playing God. In 2002, he spearheaded a project to reverse the flow of the vast River Ob through Siberia to help irrigate the country's parched Central Asian neighbors. Although that idea hasn't exactly turned out as planned - scientists have said it's not feasible - this time, Luzhkov says, there's no way he can fail.
Controlling the weather in Moscow is nothing new, he says. Ahead of the two main holidays celebrated in the city each year - Victory Day in May and City Day in September - the often cash-strapped air force is paid to make sure that it doesn't, well, rain on the parades. With a city budget of $40 billion a year (larger than New York City's budget), Moscow can easily afford the $2-3 million price tag to keep the skies blue as spectators watch the tanks and rocket launchers roll along Red Square. Now there's a new challenge for the air force: Moscow's notorious blizzards.
Moscow Mayor
Weekend Box Office
'Where the Wild Things Are'
"Where the Wild Things Are" proved a bigger hit with adult audiences than family crowds as the adaptation of Maurice Sendak's beloved children's book debuted at No. 1 with $32.5 million.
Moviegoers 18 and older accounted for 43 percent of the audience, while parents with children made up 27 percent, according to distributor Warner Bros.
Expanding into wider release, Paramount's low-budget horror sensation "Paranormal Activity" moved up to No. 3 with $20.2 million.
Hollywood had its strongest weekend yet this fall, with overall business at $141 million, up 41 percent from the same weekend last year.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Where the Wild Things Are," $32.5 million.
2. "Law Abiding Citizen," $21.3 million.
3. "Paranormal Activity," $20.2 million.
4. "Couples Retreat," $17.9 million.
5. "The Stepfather," $12.3 million.
6. "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," $8.1 million.
7. "Zombieland," $7.8 million.
8. "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" in 3-D, $3 million.
9. "Surrogates," $1.92 million.
10. "The Invention of Lying," $1.9 million.
`Where the Wild Things Are'
In Memory
Daniel Melnick
Daniel Melnick, the producer who brought gutsy, smart movies like "Straw Dogs," "Network" and "Midnight Express" to the big screen, has died at his home in Los Angeles. He was 77.
Melnick was head of production at MGM and Columbia, where he helped develop the divorce drama "Kramer vs. Kramer" and the nuclear suspense thriller "The China Syndrome."
Melnick also produced the 1960s spy-spoof television series "Get Smart" that starred Don Adams as bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart.
In addition to his son, Peter, Melnick is survived by his daughter, Gabrielle Wilkerson-Melnick, and two grandchildren.
Daniel Melnick
In Memory
Dickie Peterson
Dickie Peterson, the bassist and lead singer for Blue Cheer, the San Francisco power trio best known for its high- volume 1968 hit rendition of the rock 'n' roll classic "Summertime Blues," has died. He was 63.
Peterson, who had prostate cancer that spread to other parts of his body, died Monday in Erkelenz, Germany, where he lived, said Ron Rainey, the band's manager.
Taking its name from a potent strain of LSD -- as well as giving a nod to love of the blues -- Blue Cheer began as a six-piece band in 1966 and downsized a year later to a trio consisting of Peterson on bass and vocals, Leigh Stephens on guitar and Paul Whaley on drums.
The group's 1968 debut album, "Vincebus Eruptum," which included their signature powerhouse version of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues," peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard chart.
The heavily amped Blue Cheer was a musical sign of the times.
They were not only outraged over the Vietnam War, Peterson said in a 2008 interview with the Albuquerque Journal, "we were outraged at society in general and we were expressing it in a way that had never been done."
As for drugs: "We took a lot of 'em," Peterson told the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle in 2007.
"I still believe LSD and such drugs have a positive effect, but we took it over the top," he said. "We got very involved in all sorts of drugs, and it's a hard way to go. I was addicted to heroin for years."
Peterson, who was born Sept. 12, 1946, in Grand Forks, N.D., reportedly began playing bass guitar at 13. (His brother, Jerre, played rhythm guitar in Blue Cheer when it was a six-piece band.)
The trio split up in 1971. But Peterson reformed Blue Cheer intermittently through the years, Rainey said. Since the '90s, the band primarily has consisted of Peterson, Whaley and Andrew "Duck" MacDonald on guitar.
Blue Cheer did its last show at a music festival in Bilbao, Spain, in December 2008 and was still living up to its high-volume reputation.
Peterson is survived by his wife, Ilka; a daughter from a previous marriage, Corrina Peterson Kaltenrieder; and a grandson.
Dickie Peterson
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