Roger Ebert: The Newtown Killings
What's different about about the Newtown Massacre? Not very much. On top of the Columbine tragedy, the Batman "homage" and so on and so on, it still doesn't even have its own Twitter hashtag. I haven't had the heart to look for any theme music that has been drummed up for cable news.
Paul Krugman: Assimilated by the Peterson Borg (New York Times)
So this is ridiculous - and the fact that all these people don't realize that is in itself evidence of the bubble in which Very Serious People still live. It's also evidence of the desperation of the deficit scolds, who are evidently horrified that they aren't managing to exploit the fiscal cliff - which has nothing at all to do with our debt - to ram their agenda through.
Andrew Fishman: "Blake Fall-Conroy, 'Minimum Wage Machine,' 2008-2010"
This machine allows anyone to work for minimum wage for as long as they like. Turning the crank on the side releases one penny every 4.97 seconds, for a total of $7.25 per hour. This corresponds to minimum wage for a person in New York.
Portraits of People Who Look Alike But Aren't Related At All
Canadian photographer François Brunelle is fascinated with the human face and the question of whether everyone has a doppelganger somewhere on Earth that looks exactly like them. For years now, he has been working on a project called I'm Not a Look-Alike!, which features portraits of people who look like identical twins but aren't actually related at all. Brunelle looks for subjects whose faces are so similar that their close friends might have trouble telling them apart.
Will.i.am: 'I want to write code!' (Guardian)
Will.i.am is no ordinary rapper, TV star and philanthropist. What really excites him is technology, and how it can advance social change. He talks to Carole Cadwalladr.
Fridays is the name of ABC's weekly late-night live comedy show, which aired on Friday nights from April 11, 1980 to April 23, 1982 with repeats airing until October 22, 1982. The show was originally 70 minutes in its first season, but was expanded to 90 minutes in season two.
The program was ABC's attempt to duplicate the success of NBC's Saturday Night Live (especially since SNL was facing a decline in quality in the early 1980s following the departure of show creator Lorne Michaels and the remnants of his original cast). Like SNL, each week Fridays featured music acts and, in the second season, celebrity guest hosts, as well as fake newscasts and spoofs of television shows and commercials.
Source
Baron Dave ("If Mark Twain were back today, he'd be at Comedy Central." -- Bill Moyers, The Daily Show 6/22/05) was first, and correct, with:
I actually watched Fridays for a bit. Mostly, not as good as SNL, though it had a few moments. Of course, SNL isn't as good as SNL.
Alan J said:
Fridays
Charlie wrote:
Fridays. Never watched it.
Adam answered:
Fridays (how original...).
Sounds like a bad chain restaurant.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, responded:
Fridays is the name of ABC's weekly late-night live comedy show, which
aired on Friday nights from 1980 to 1983
Sally said:
"Fridays" was the name of ABC's weekly late-night live comedy show, which aired on Friday nights. The program was ABC's attempt to duplicate the success of NBC's "Saturday Night Live."
I do not remember this show at all.
PS: 9 more days...
Marian replied:
Friday
Dale of Diamond Springs responded:
ABC's version of SNL was "Fridays". Droll and very witty. Michael Richards as the Pharmacist was one of my favourites.
MAM wrote:
'Fridays'
BttbBob took the day off.
Walt said:
Take a pill, it was Fridays. I remember nothing of the show except for the
strung out pharmacist.
And, Joe S answered:
Fridays. Another show I never watched. Most of the time that the show aired we lived in the woods with no electricity, those were the Reagan years you know.. We had a television powered by a marine battery, but TV time was limited. Even so we never would have watched Fridays because we could only get CBS and NBC networks. ABC was out of range. Actually I've don't remember even hearing about Fridays.
My precious granddaughters. I would hug them every day if I could reach them.
CBS opens the night with a FRESH hourlong 'How I Met Your Mother', followed by a FRESH'2 Broke Girls', then a FRESH'Mike & Molly', followed by a FRESH'Hawaii Five-0'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Tom Cruise and MNDR.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Sarah Chalke and Anne Rice.
NBC begins the night with a FRESH'The Voice', followed by a FRESH'1600 Penn', then a FRESH'Take It All'.
Scheduled on a FRESHLeno are Megan Fox, Johnny Manziel, and Colbie Caillat.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Fallon are Ewan McGregor, "Ask This Old House", Charles Grodin, and Dave Matthews Band.
Scheduled on a FRESHCarson 'The Scab' Daly are Common, Dallas Clayton, and Desaparecidos.
ABC starts the night with a FRESH'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition', followed by another FRESH'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition', then a RERUN'Castle'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Hugh Jackman, Jenna Fischer, and 2 Chainz.
The CW offers a FRESH 2-hour 'Gossip Girl'.
Faux has 'DreamWorks Dragons: Gift of The Night Fury', followed by 'Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas', and 'Happiness Is A Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown'.
MY recycles an old 'L&O: SVU', followed by another old 'L&O: SVU'.
A&E has 'Hoarders', another 'Hoarders', followed by a FRESH'Hoarders', then a FRESH'Intervention'.
AMC offers the movie 'Yours, Mine & Ours', followed by the movie 'A Christmas Carol', then the movie 'A Christmas Carol', again.
BBC -
[6:00AM] BBC WORLD NEWS
[7:00AM] BBC WORLD NEWS
[8:00AM] THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW - Season 9 - Ep 3 - Miranda Hart, Jack Whitehall, Nico Evers-Swindell, Camilla Luddington, Adele
[9:00AM] TORCHWOOD - Season 2 - Ep 13 - Exit Wounds
[10:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 2 - Ep 2 - Tooth and Claw1
[1:00AM] BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - Season 3 - Ep 14 - The Woman King
[12:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES UK - Season 3 - Ep 3 - Rococo
[1:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES UK - Season 2 - Ep 7 - Oscars
[2:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 4 - Ep 9 - Capri
[3:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 17 - Episode 1
[4:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 17 - Episode 2
[5:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 17 - Episode 3
[6:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 17 - Episode 4
[7:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 17 - Episode 5
[8:00PM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 11-12-Episode 3 NEW
[9:00PM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 11-12-Episode 4 NEW
[10:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 17 - Episode 6
[11:00PM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 11-12-Episode 3
[12:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 11-12-Episode 4
[1:00AM] TOP GEAR - Season 17 - Episode 1
[2:00AM] TOP GEAR - Season 17 - Episode 2
[3:00AM] TOP GEAR - Season 17 - Episode 3
[4:00AM] TOP GEAR - Season 17 - Episode 4
[5:00AM] TOP GEAR - Season 17 - Episode 5 (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', 'Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills', and another 'Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills'.
Comedy Central has an old 'Colbert Report', an old 'Jon Stewart', 'Futurama', another 'Futurama', 'South Park', another 'South Park', and 'Denis Leary's Merry F#$%n' Christmas'.
On a RERUNJon Stewart (from 12/6/12) is Gov. Chris Christie.
On a RERUNColbert Report (from 12/3/12) is Ian McKellen.
FX has the movie 'The Karate Kid', followed by the movie 'The Karate Kid', again.
History has 'American Pickers', 'Pawn Stars', another 'Pawn Stars', followed by a FRESH'American Pickers', followed by a FRESH'Pawn Stars', then another FRESH'Pawn Stars'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] Deliver Us From Evil
[8:15AM] Chapter 27
[10:00AM] From Within
[12:00PM] Deliver Us From Evil
[2:15PM] Chapter 27
[4:00PM] From Within
[6:00PM] Malcolm in the Middle-Houseboat
[6:30PM] Malcolm in the Middle-Emancipation
[7:00PM] Malcolm in the Middle-Book Club
[7:30PM] Malcolm in the Middle-Malcolm's Girlfriend
[8:00PM] Monster's Ball
[10:30PM] The Thin Red Line
[2:00AM] Monster's Ball
[4:30AM] Whitest Kids U'Know
[5:00AM] The Ben Stiller Show
[5:30AM] Whitest Kids U'Know (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00A] FREAKS AND GEEKS - Noshing and Moshing (Episode 15, Season 1)
[7:00A] The Pool
[8:45A] Pablo's Hippos
[10:15A] I Hate Valentine's Day
[11:45A] The Pool
[1:30P] Pablo's Hippos
[3:00P] THE MORTIFIED SESSIONS - Comedian Tig Notaro & Parenthood's Jason Ritter (Episode 4, Season 2)
[3:30P] I Hate Valentine's Day
[5:00P] The Pool
[6:45P] This Way Up
[7:00P] Angel Heart
[9:00P] ALL ON THE LINE WITH JOE ZEE - Ina Soltani (Episode 7, Season 3)
[10:00P] THE MORTIFIED SESSIONS - Actor Adam Goldberg (Episode 5, Season 2)
[10:30P] ICONOCLASTS - Christy Turlington Burns + Tory Burch (Episode 4, Season 6)
[11:00P] WarGames
[1:00A] ALL ON THE LINE WITH JOE ZEE - Ina Soltani (Episode 7, Season 3)
[2:00A] WarGames
[4:00A] A Film With Me in It
[5:30A] MAN SHOPS GLOBE - Argentina (Episode 8, Season 1) (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Blade II', followed by the movie 'Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End'.
TBS:
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Amanda Seyfried, Adam Pally, and Jon Dore.
Musician Bruce Springsteen, center left, performs with, from left, Ronnie Wood, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012.
Photo by Evan Agostini
Actor Morgan Freeman said on Sunday that he did not issue a statement blaming the media for sensationalizing the Newtown School shootings that left 20 children and several adults dead.
The award-winning actor added that he never made or posted the statement that became a Facebook and Internet sensation, saying it was a hoax.
His publicist Stan Rosenfield told TheWrap that the actor's camp was trying to determine the origin of the hoax statement.
The hoax statement also takes CNN to task over its use of the phrase "body count" in relation to the Newtown shootings and said the news coverage would incite more killings.
U.S. actress Goldie Hawn speaks during the "Ein Herz fuer Kinder" (A Heart for Children) TV charity telethon in Berlin, December 15, 2012.
Photo by Axel Schmidt
Hollywood has responded to the rampage at a Connecticut elementary school by pulling back on its offerings, and one star says the entertainment industry should take some responsibility for such violence.
Fox pulled new episodes of "Family Guy" and "American Dad" that were to air Sunday to avoid potentially sensitive content. The originally scheduled episode of "Family Guy" had Peter telling his own version of the nativity story. The "American Dad" episode told the story of a demon who punished naughty children at Christmas. Both series plan to substitute reruns.
In addition, Fox confirmed that a schedule repeat of "The Cleveland Show" for Sunday was swapped for another rerun of that series out of the same concern, and premieres for Tom Cruise's "Jack Reacher" and the family comedy "Parental Guidance" were postponed after Friday's shooting rampage in Newtown, Conn., that ended with 28 people dead, including 20 children as well as the gunman.
A two-day sale of clothing, jewelry and other memorabilia belonging to reclusive movie star Greta Garbo fetched $1.6 million, more than three times the original estimate, according to Julien's Auctions.
Garbo's Louis Vuitton streamer trunk, which sold for $37,500, was among the top sellers in the auction of 800 items which began on Friday, along with three leather driving caps she wore in a 1924 car advertisement that fetched $15,000.
A U.S. passport issued to her in 1964, which carried an estimate of $3,000-$5,000, also sold for $15,000, and a 1930s black velvet evening dress that had an estimated value of $1,200 went to the highest bidder for $13,750.
"Greta Garbo commanded Marilyn Monroe prices," Martin Nolan, the executive director of the Beverly Hills auction house, said in a statement. "Her beauty, extraordinary screen presence and fashion trending style were proven to be timeless."
Actor and comedian Larry David (front L) watches the New York Knicks play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the fourth quarter of their NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York December 15, 2012.
Photo by Adam Hunger
More than 100 years after two groups of men raced each other to be the first to reach the South Pole, modern-day explorers have re-discovered what appears to be one of their camp sites on the slopes of the world's southernmost volcano.
Norwegian Roald Amundsen and Englishman Robert Falcon Scott were the explorers who led teams of their countrymen on grueling journeys across the frigid continent in an effort to be the first to go where no man had gone before. Amundsen won the race, reaching the pole on Dec. 14, 2011. Scott also made it there, on Jan. 17, 1912, but perished with the remainder of his crew on the arduous trek back to the edge of the continent.
Scott and his team camped on the slopes of Mount Erebus, the southernmost volcano, during their journey. The spot was known as "the highest camp," according to a National Science Foundation release.
Clive Oppenheimer, a volcanologist at Cambridge University in England and working at Erebus as part of an NSF team, found what he thinks is the same camp site using written accounts and historic images from the Scott Polar Research Institute in Great Britain, the NSF release said. (The institute was founded by one of the men from Scott's party who climbed Erebus as part of the 1912 Terra Nova expedition.)
Gerard Depardieu, one of France's best-known actors, has chastised his country's Socialist prime minister for insulting remarks over his decision to move to tax-friendly Belgium and said in an open letter published Sunday that he's turning in his passport.
The letter, which the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche said was penned by Depardieu, quickly propelled him into the spotlight, not for his acclaimed acting skills but for raising the sensitive issue of tax exiles as France looks to fill state coffers with a stiff tax on the rich.
"We no longer have the same country. I'm a true European, a citizen of the world," Depardieu wrote in the letter. He said his 2012 tax bill - 85 percent of his revenue - is fully paid.
The letter drew quick reaction but little sympathy.
A week after a leader of Hungary's far-right Jobbik party called for lists of prominent Jews to be drawn up to protect national security, Janos Fonagy stepped forward.
"My mother and father were Jewish, and so am I, whether you like it or not," the state secretary of the Development Ministry told parliament, explaining he did not have dual citizenship with Israel and was not religious.
"I cannot choose, I was born into this. But you can choose, and you have chosen this path," he said, addressing Jobbik deputies. "Bear history's judgement."
The Jobbik party, the third biggest in parliament, has used anti-semitic slurs to boost its standing before elections in 2014, drawing international scorn.
The strongest yet greeted last month's call by Marton Gyongyosi, who runs Jobbik's foreign policy cabinet, for Jewish members of government and parliament to be listed in the wake of Israel's recent military campaign to stop rocket fire from Gaza.
A dancer from London's the Dream Engine performs under the heliosphere, a massive helium balloon, with the backdrop of Hong Kong's skyline December 16, 2012.
Photo by Tyrone Siu
Diet Pepsi is quietly changing its sweetener, with the goal of helping the soda maintain its taste longer.
Cans of Diet Pepsi around the country now list a mix of two artificial sweeteners, a pairing that is commonly found in newer diet sodas. Previously, Diet Pepsi used only aspartame, which is sensitive to heat and breaks down more easily.
This summer, PepsiCo Inc. had declined to say whether it would go ahead with such a change after reports surfaced that it was testing the new sweeteners. Although the switch is only intended to help prevent the taste from degrading over time, companies are often sensitive to public perceptions that they might be tinkering with major brands. PepsiCo executives likely don't want to call any attention to the use of artificial sweeteners in the drink either.
In addition to aspartame, cans of Diet Pepsi found in New York, Omaha, Neb., and the Bay Area now list acesulfame potassium as an ingredient. The ingredient is often used in combination with other artificial sweeteners and can be found in a wide range of foods including baked goods, chewing gum and gelatin desserts.
John Sicher, editor and publisher of the industry tracker Beverage Digest, said the synergistic effect of mixing the two sweeteners is intended to help keep the drink's sweetening power at a constant level, making it taste fresh longer.
Ukrainian violinist Oleksandr Bozhyk plays four violins as he attempts to establish a new Guinness world record, organizers said, in Lviv December 8, 2012.
Photo by Marian Striltsiv
Santa has kicked the habit in time for Christmas. No, not the sugar plum habit, or his fur-wearing habit, or his penchant for romping recklessly around open flame.
No, gentlepeople, this is the year the man in red gave up pipe tobacco, at least in a new book version of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" that has received attention from some lofty corners, including the American Library Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The self-published Pamela McColl of Vancouver, Canada, has a mission for her story, to protect children and their parents from the ravages of smoking. She mortgaged her house and sunk $200,000 into her telling of the 189-year-old holiday poem, touring the states to promote it ahead of its September release.
What, particularly, did McColl do? She excised these lines: "The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth. And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath." And she added to the cover: "Edited by Santa Claus for the benefit of children of the 21st century."
Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the ALA's deputy director for intellectual freedom, doesn't have a hard heart. But she doesn't see tobacco addiction when she considers what McColl has done. She sees "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer."
A publisher put out a combined version of those classics last year as edited by Mark Twain scholar Alan Gribben, who replaced about 200 occurrences of the N-word with "slave." Of McColl, Caldwell-Stone said:
"This wasn't a retelling. This wasn't a parody. This wasn't an adaptation. This wasn't a modernization. This wasn't fanfic. This was presenting the original but censoring the content. That kind of expurgation that seeks to prevent others from knowing the original work because of a disapproval of the ideas, the content, is a kind of censorship that we've always disapproved of."
Participants are hit by colored powder during the "The Color Run" in Rio de Janeiro December 16, 2012. The Color Run is a 5 km race where runners are hit with a powder of different colors at each kilometer they pass.
Photo by Ricardo Moraes
Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" led the box office with a haul of $84.8 million, a record-setting opening better than the three previous "Lord of the Rings" films.
The Warner Bros. Middle Earth epic was the biggest December opening ever, surpassing Will Smith's "I Am Legend," which opened with $77.2 million in 2007, according to studio estimates Sunday. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" also passed the December opening of "Avatar," which opened with $77 million. Internationally, "The Hobbit" also added $138.2 million, for an impressive debut well north of $200 million.
"The Hobbit" was far and away the biggest draw in theaters, with no other new wide release. Paramount's "Rise of the Guardians" continued to draw the family crowd, with $7.4 million, bringing its cumulative total to $71.4 millon. The Oscar contender "Lincoln" from Walt Disney crossed the $100 million mark, adding another $7.2 million to bring its six-week total to $107.9 million. And Sony's James Bond film "Skyfall," with another $7 million domestically, drew closer to a global take of $1 billion.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," $84.8 million.
2. "Rise of the Guardians," $7.4 million.
3. "Lincoln," $7.2 million.
4. "Skyfall," $7 million.
5. "Life of Pi," $5.4 million.
6. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2," $5.2 million.
7. "Wreck-It Ralph," $3.3million.
8. "Playing for Keeps," $3.2 million.
9. "Red Dawn," $2.4 million.
10. "Silver Linings Playbook," $2 million.
Meerkats gather around food treats at Taronga Zoo in Sydney December 14, 2012. Animals at Taronga Zoo were given food treats as part of their Christmas celebrations.
Photo by Daniel Munoz
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 hypocrites?
Just plain vile, filthy rumors?
wrote:
took the day off.
answered:
