I love writing
tests. I was Lead Instructor at a technical college a while back,
and wrote the tests for my section. My working theory is that the
test itself is a teaching instrument. I don't really like multiple
choice questions, but they're certainly easier to grade. If I'm
going to use multiple choice, I like the "one of these things is not
like the others" set. I'd rather have the students stare at four
correct answers and pick out the wrong one. I was generating
trivia for Bartcop-E when I realized that I should just write up a
whole slate of them. Marty will dole out the multiple choice daily,
but here are some matching. Consider your answers
carefully.
A hunger for books (books.guardian.co.uk)
... Doris Lessing, aged 88, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. In her acceptance speech she recalls her childhood in Africa and laments that children in Zimbabwe are starving for knowledge, while those in more privileged countries shun reading for the 'inanities' of the internet.
HomoRevoluton Tour Wraps in Ohio (curvemag.com)
The HomoRevolution Tour 2007 is wrapping up performances after the successful first year with the homo-hip-hop tour. Gay and lesbian hip-hop artists from all over the nation gathered together in March of 2007 and began to spread vocal awareness of homosexuality and personal experiences through up-beat tempos and hardcore lyrics.
LeeAnn Kriegh: Interview With Charlotte Mendelson (afterellen.com)
"I really think any woman who even vaguely wants to write should just try it and not think she has to be different to do it. There's no secret. There is no secret. You just sit on your bottom and you type words into the computer. That really is all it is. And you work and work and work until they're less rubbish, and you work some more and they're less rubbish, and eventually they might be quite good."- Charlotte Mendelson
Colleen McCaffrey: Has Jodie Foster Come Out? (curvemag.com)
Rumors continue to fly about actor Jodie Foster's closet status. The Brave One star has worked hard to maintain a firm wall between her personal and professional life, which has led to gossip she's in the closet. But a recent speech has been called by some gossipers Foster's coming out.
Roger Ebert: Preview: 'Juno' and the standing O (4 stars)
I don't know when I've heard a standing ovation so long, loud and warm as the one at the Toronto International Film Festival after Jason Reitman's "Juno," which I predict will become quickly beloved when it opens at Christmas time, and wins a best actress nomination for its 20-year-old star, Ellen Page.
Live in San Francisco? Borrow Bruce's Books
Available: "The Funniest People in Books and Music," "The Funniest People in Religion and Families," "Bride of the Funniest People in Religion and Families"
A: Zsa Zsa Gabor
B: Barbara Rush
C: Mamie Van Doren
D: Tina Louise Source
mj was first, correct, and remembers where I first saw the movie, too:
On Chiller Theatre with Chilly Billy Cardille, it's Zsa Zsa, the police botherer.
Tab was second, and right, writing:
It was Zsa Zsa, but really, the Internet makes this
easier than it used to be. You can just look this
crap up.
How about something not as easy, although it's one of
the things people will either know or they won't. In
which (in)famous movie did the lead actor die partway
into the filming and was replaced?
Answer (another outer space movie): Plan 9 from Outer
Space, directed by Ed Wood. Bela Lugosi died partway
into the filming of it, and was replaced, but the
movie was so bad, no one even noticed.
joe b was correct, too:
It was "A" and it was a pretty funny show.
Sally P got it right, writing:
One of the all-time best ever (campy) "B" movies, starred, "A" Zsa Zsa Gabor in, "Queen of Outer Space," circa 1958. She certainly was the "Paris Hilton" of her day (though a bit more refined version).
Marian the Teacher points out:
According to Google, it was Laurie Mitchell who starred in the film. I guess that nobody really wanted to admit they were even in it!!
Zsa Zsa was in in, just not the star.
And, Joe ("As long as someone else controls your history the truth shall remain just a mystery."
-Ben Harper) was also right:
That would be A: Zsa Zsa
Thanks to Buzzcook* for yesterday's and today's question.
Truer words were never spoken…especially when you're talking about a Coen Brothers movie….I mean the Coen Brothers who brought us "Raising Arizona" (1987), "Fargo" (1996) and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (2000)! Well I thought they might just be tapped out by now ….but NOOOOOOOOOOOOO…..they come up with another dark and quirky classic…..I daresay, a damn masterpiece…maybe not for everyone….but definitely for me!
There's a Killer on the loose!
Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem - "The Sea Inside" (2004) - "Before Night Falls" (2000) is a psychopathic killer on the loose….he's the Terminator with a hippie haircut and a scary cattle stun gun. He's escaped from prison and is after $ 2 million and a load of heroin from a Mexican drug deal gone awry.
Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin - "Grindhouse" (2007) - "In the Valley of Elah" (2007) - "American Gangster" (2007) is out in the high desert with his binoculars poaching pronghorns and stumbles onto the Mexican drug deal gone awry…..so he grabs the $2 million in cash and heads home.
Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones - "Cobb" (1994) - "Men in Black" (1997) - "The Hunted" (2003) - "The Missing" (2003) is tired of hunting down criminal out here in the wasteland of West Texas. He wants to retire back up with his ex-wife on a little spread in the hills. But this psychopath is killing too many people in his jurisdiction and he's got to do something about it….or does he?
What a great ending?
This is a bloody and hell bent movie with twists and turns and lots of dead people. The Coen Brothers attention to detail is thrilling. The dialogue is absolutely amazing. In the theater that I saw this movie, there was a great gasp at the end…..as if there could be clean conclusion…..but NOOOOOOOOO…..the Coens just keep messing with us and I love it!
Purple Gene gives "No Country for Old Men" 9 gnarly door locks shot out with a stun gun out of 10 for being a bang up blockbuster. Though not for everyone, I predict, along with "Enchanted", to picked as one of the best pictures of the year!
CBS opens the night with a FRESH'How I Met Your Mother', followed by a STRIKE-related RERUN'Big Bang Theory', then a STRIKE-related RERUN'2½ Men', followed by a STRIKE-related RERUN'Rules Of Engagement', then a FRESH'CSI: The 2nd One'.
On a STRIKE-related RERUNDave (from 12/17/98) are Jeff Goldblum, Angelina Jolie, and Third Eye Blind.
On a STRIKE-related RERUNCraig it's TBA.
NBC begins the night with a FRESH 2-hour 'Deal Or No Deal', followed by a FRESH'Journeyman'.
On a STRIKE-related RERUNLeno (from 1/19/04) are Kelly Ripa, Simon Cowell, and Liz Phair.
On a STRIKE-related RERUNConan (from 6/20/07) are Wanda Sykes, Nick Offerman, and Hans Klok & Pamela Anderson.
On a FRESHCarson 'The Scab' Daly it's TBA
ABC starts the night with the chestnut 'I Want A Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown!', followed by a FRESH'Samantha Who?', then a FRESH'Notes From The Underbelly', followed by a FRESH'October Road'.
On a STRIKE-related RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 9/5/07) are Will Forte, Perez Hilton, and Rilo Kiley.
The CW offers a FRESH'Everybody Hates Chris', followed by a FRESH'Aliens In America', then a FRESH'Girlfriends', followed by a FRESH'The Game'.
Faux has a RERUN'House', followed by a FRESH'K-Ville'.
MY fills the night with the movie 'White Christmas'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', 'Intervention', another 'Intervention', 'Paranormal', and another 'Paranormal'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Quick And The Dead', followed by the movie 'Open Range', then the movie 'Waterworld'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep. 1 Bonapartes;
[1:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Ep 19 Gray;
[2:00 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 27 Carmarthen 28;
[2:30 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 28 Newark 37;
[3:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 1;
[3:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 2;
[4:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 5;
[4:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 6;
[5:00 PM] My Family - Ep. 5 Imperfect Strangers;
[5:30 PM] Coupling - Episode 1;
[6:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 1 Lanterna;
[7:00 PM] BBC World News America;
[8:00 PM] Top Gear - Episode 4;
[9:00 PM] Top Gear - Episode 3;
[10:00 PM] BBC World News America;
[11:00 PM] Top Gear - Episode 4;
[12:00 AM] Top Gear - Episode 3;
[1:00 AM] Coupling - Ep. 5 The Freckle, the Key, and the Couple Who W;
[1:40 AM] The World Stands Up - Episode 11;
[2:00 AM] The Weakest Link - Episode 10;
[3:00 AM] Changing Rooms - Ep.6 Maidstone;
[3:30 AM] Changing Rooms - Episode 13;
[4:00 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 25 Detling 32;
[4:30 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 26 Shepton Mallet 12;
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 14 Davies;
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 15 Mitchell;
[6:00 AM] BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Inside The Actors Studio', followed by the movie 'National Lampoon's European Vacation', then the movie 'National Lampoon's European Vacation', again.
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', an old 'Jon Stewart', an old 'Colbert Report', 'Chappelle's Show', 'South Park', 'Scrubs', and another 'Scrubs'.
On a STRIKE-related RERUNJon Stewart (from 9/26/07) is Jamie Foxx.
On a STRIKE-related RERUNColbert Report (from 2/14/07) is Lance Armstrong.
FX has the movie 'Big Momma's House', followed by the movie 'Are We There Yet?', then the movie 'Big Momma's House', again.
History has 'Modern Marvels', another 'Modern Marvels', 'Gangland', and 'History Rocks'.
IFC -
[06:15 AM] A Decade Under The Influence: Part 1;
[07:15 AM] The Endless Summer 2 - The Journey Continues;
[09:15 AM] The Prince of Pennsylvania;
[10:55 AM] Media Lab Results;
[11:05 AM] All over Me;
[12:45 PM] A Decade Under The Influence: Part 1;
[01:45 PM] The Endless Summer 2 - The Journey Continues;
[03:45 PM] The Prince of Pennsylvania;
[05:25 PM] IFC News Special;
[05:40 PM] A Decade Under The Influence: Part 1;
[06:45 PM] Pret-a-Porter;
[09:00 PM] Looking for Richard;
[11:00 PM] In the Bleak Midwinter;
[12:45 AM] IFC News Special;
[01:00 AM] Looking for Richard;
[03:00 AM] In the Bleak Midwinter;
[04:40 AM] Proof. (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[03:30 AM] Topsy-Turvy;
[06:15 AM] Djangomania!;
[07:30 AM] Seven-Per-Cent Solution;
[09:30 AM] Slaughterhouse Five;
[11:15 AM] French Beauty;
[12:25 PM] I Am Cuba, the Siberian Mammoth;
[02:00 PM] Stephen Fry: HIV & Me (Part 1);
[03:00 PM] Stephen Fry: HIV & Me (Part 2);
[04:00 PM] Arna's Children;
[05:30 PM] Djangomania!;
[06:30 PM] The Grace Lee Project;
[07:45 PM] French Beauty;
[09:00 PM] Episode 5;
[09:30 PM] Episode 6;
[10:00 PM] Bowery Dish;
[11:00 PM] Sean Penn + Jon Krakauer;
[12:00 AM] John Mayer, Norah Jones & Richard Ashcroft;
[01:00 AM] Happy Campers;
[02:35 AM] Gridlock'd;
[04:15 AM] What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?. (ALL TIMES EST)
Actor Brad Pitt, left, and actress Angelina Jolie pose for a picture before the Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Ricky Hatton WBC welterweight boxing title fight at the MGM Grand hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007.
Photo by Jae C. Hong
US movie star George Clooney, who has campaigned strongly to end bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur, said on Sunday he hoped the United Arab Emirates could use its influence in the region to help end the conflict.
"We are trying to find places (through which) we can have a real conversation with people in Sudan and President Omar al-Beshir. And obviously here (in the UAE) they have an influence," Clooney told AFP in Dubai, which is one of seven emirates that makes up the Muslim Gulf state of the UAE.
The Oscar-winning actor is in Dubai to attend the regional premier of his new film "Michael Clayton" at the start of the cosmopolitan emirate's fourth international film festival.
U.S. director Michael Cimino arrives with a companion at the opening ceremony during the 4th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival in Dubai, December 9, 2007.
Photo by Ahmed Jadallah
John Edwards is the latest U.S. Democratic presidential candidate to show off his celebrity support, announcing Sunday that actors Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins will join him on the campaign trail in early-voting Iowa.
Edwards' announcement came as talk-show host Oprah Winfrey campaigned for Barack Obama over the weekend in Iowa, and as Hillary Rodham Clinton's famous husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, planned to return to the state Monday and Tuesday.
Last week, Edwards, a former U.S. senator and the 2004 vice presidential nominee, was joined on the campaign trail by Jean Smart, who plays the first lady on the popular FOX series "24," and movie actress Madeleine Stowe, who appeared in films such as "The Last of the Mohicans" and "Twelve Monkeys." Last month, performers Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne campaigned in Iowa on Edwards' behalf.
The very same week Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor launched his remix site independent of his former label, a group of other artists and managers quietly unveiled a like-minded initiative called CASH Music.
The site is the braintrust of former Throwing Muses frontwoman Kristin Hersh and L7's Donita Sparks, along with Hersh's manager/husband Billy O'Connell, Sparks' manager Bob Fagen and other partners. An acronym for Coalition for Artists and Stake Holders, CASH was designed as a means for artists to release new music, videos or other content and give fans the chance to interact with it in their own way.
Allowing fans to remix artist content and even submit their own original work inspired by anything posted by participating artists is the "lynchpin" of the service. At present, Hersh is the only artist with content available. Her single "Slippershell" is posted along with the Pro Tools multitrack file, which fans also can download to make remixes.
Park Place, Boardwalk, and a hidden map with a secret escape route? For Allied POWs during World War II, Monopoly® games came equipped with real-life "get out of jail free" cards.
During World War II, the British secret service hatched a master plan to smuggle escape gear to captured Allied soldiers inside Germany. Their secret weapon? Monopoly boxes.
The original notion was simple enough: Find a way to sneak useful items into prison camps in an unassuming form. But the idea to use Monopoly came from a series of happy coincidences, all of which started with maps.
Maps are harder to smuggle than you might think. They fall apart when wet, and they make a lot of noise when unfolded. Allied officials feared paper maps might draw the attention of German troops, so they turned to an unlikely source for help -- silk. Not only would silk maps hold up in all kinds of weather, but they'd also come with the life-saving benefit of being whisper quiet.
To produce these silent maps, the Brits turned to John Waddington Ltd., a company that had recently perfected the process of printing on silk and was already manufacturing silk escape maps for British airmen to carry. What else was Waddington known for? You guessed it -- being the licensed manufacturer of Monopoly outside the United States.
French Louis Palmer sits inside his solar taxi at the venue of the UN Climate Change Conference 2007 in Nusa Dua, on Bali island, 07 December 2007. Delegates at a key climate change summit feeling guilty about exhaust-spewing taxis have another solution -- call a solar taxi that has travelled over land to Asia all the way from Switzerland.
Photo by Jewel Samad
Bravo has ordered second seasons of its reality-competition series "Shear Genius" and "Top Design."
Jaclyn Smith will be back to host the second season of "Shear Genius," in which hairstylists compete for a $100,000 prize.
"Top Design" features interior designers, artists and architects vying for a $100,000 grand prize. It's unclear whether "Top Design" host Todd Oldham or judges Jonathan Adler, Margaret Russell and Kelly Wearstler will be returning.
Cover bands and tribute bands have been a mainstay of the music scene for decades. When a company licenses a composition, it may find that licensing the original master recording is outside the budget or unavailable for licensing. Hiring the original band members to rerecord the song may not be an alternative because of contractual rerecording restrictions in the band's record deal, the members no longer sound like they once did or they may be dead.
So when someone wants to record a cover version of a song, when does it violate the original artist's rights?
Michael Novak, the Detroit-based personal lawyer for the Romantics, says he believes a violation occurs when consumers think they're listening to the original band.
A man dressed as a 'Krampuss' parades at Munich's Christmas market, December 9, 2007. Young single men will wear the traditional attires known as 'Krampusse', consisting of animal skins and masks, with large cow-bells to make loud and frightening noises and parade through the city. They follow 'Saint Nicholas' from house to house in December each year to bring luck to the good and punish the idle.
Photo by Michael Dalder
The heads of enemy soldiers impaled on roadside trees. Hundreds of prisoners tortured, killed and dumped in mass graves. Napalm dropped on jungles where guerrillas sheltered, and grass-hut villages torched with cigarette lighters.
These gruesome acts were carried out in Portugal's name two generations ago during its colonial wars in Africa. But for most Portuguese, the events aren't history - they're news.
A groundbreaking series aired by public broadcaster Radiotelevisao Portuguesa is confronting Portugal with unsettling aspects of its recent history that for decades have been shrouded in silence. The series has become a top-rated prime-time program and the most-watched documentary in years, regularly drawing more than a million viewers in a country of 10.6 million.
Portugal isn't the only European country being forced to address unpalatable aspects of its colonial legacy.
One of Liza Minelli's crew members was detained by police in Stockholm late Saturday on suspicion of beating up a photographer who was filming the U.S. singer's performance, police said.
Minelli, 61, was performing in Sweden as part of the big gala event "A Classic Christmas Night," alongside a string of Swedish artists.
Police spokesman Gunnar Samuelsson said the man was a member of Liza Minelli's crew, but that he did not know his exact position.
Icicles hang from a statue of Abraham Lincoln in front of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library in Springfield, Ill., Sunday, Dec. 9, 2007. The brunt of an icy winter storm system hit central Illinois leaving up to a quarter of an inch of ice accumulation and creating dangerous driving conditions.
Photo by Seth Perlman
A unique collection of pots and pans found down a well in central London has given a rare insight into the lives of the bourgeoisie in what was then a remote northern outpost of the Roman empire.
Dating from the late fourth century the 19 gold colored copper-alloy cooking and tableware implements are almost perfectly preserved because of the 1,700 years they spent under water, protected from the ravages of oxidization.
They were all found together in the silted-up well near what is now known as Moorgate in central London but which in the late fourth century would have been just inside the northern end of the Roman defensive wall enclosing the city.
"The Golden Compass" proved a mild fantasy at the box office, pulling in $26.1 million, a modest opening weekend compared to such recent December heavyweights as "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" flicks.
Disney's "Enchanted," the No. 1 movie the previous two weekends, fell to second-place with $10.7 million, raising its total to $83.9 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "The Golden Compass," $26.1 million.
2. "Enchanted," $10.7 million.
3. "This Christmas," $5 million.
4. "Fred Claus," $4.7 million.
5. "Beowulf," $4.4 million.
6. "No Country for Old Men," $4.2 million.
7. "August Rush," $3.5 million.
8. "Hitman," $3.48 million.
9. "Awake," $3.3 million.
10. "Bee Movie," $2.6 million.
In this photo released by the Wildlife Conservation Society, a polar bear named Ida wears the container that previously held her holiday gift of peanut butter, trout, and whipped cream, at New York City's Central Park Zoo, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2007. Along with Ida, other residents of the Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, and Queens Zoo will receive presents from the staff every weekend in December up until Christmas.
Photo by Kate McIntyre
You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
Make yourself home, take your shoes off...
Go ahead, scratch it if it itches.
The idea is to have fun.
Do you have something to say?
Anything that increased your blood pressure, or, even better,
amused or entertained?
Do you have a great album no one's heard?
How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
A popular artist that just plain pisses you off?
A box set the whole world should own?
Vile, filthy rumors about Republican musicians?
Just plain vile, filthy rumors?
This is your place.
