'Best of TBH Politoons'
Baron Dave Romm
Laughter Is A Powerful Weapon
By Baron Dave Romm
Shockwave Radio Theater
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Laughter Is A Powerful Weapon Volume 2 is 77:35 minutes of demented music and skits from many of today's most warped performers. All of the profits go to relief for hurricane Katrina victims. None of the artists got paid: We all donated material. Here is your chance to get a sampler of the best of the 21st Century (so far) and donate money to charity!
A great Holiday gift, no matter what holiday! Order now!
My own contribution is The Possible Dream (or The Power of Non-Negative Thinking), one of the most requested Shockwave Radio Theater skits, performed by the great Luke Ski as Sancho Panza and Dennis Sherwood as Don Quixote. It's a segment of Let's Play Doctor which features (in other parts of the play) Dr. Demento, who wrote the liner notes for the charity CD.
Speaking of the Great Luke Ski (which should be done more often), Luke contributes two otherwise unavailable tracks from his vast collection of sardonic asides. Give Lindsay Lohan A Sammich Foundation and the unlisted bonus track Stone Cold Steve Austin Powers International Man Of Mystery are both spoken bits that take on pop culture icons (or pop culture icon wannabes).
Barnes and Barnes (of Fishheads fame) contribute a new song, Granny and the Kid, which is an unconventional lust song.
Another unique track is You Were Wrong Cabinet Sanchez by Worm Quartet. In it, =ShoEboX= deftly details just how, um, Cabinet Sanchez is wrong.
Before they broke up, local Mpls band The Nick Atoms contributed the previously unreleased My Urinal Cake. Departing from their usual punk rock covers of tv theme songs, this one is about... well, I'm not entirely sure, but it's fun.
Weird Al Yankovic updates Happy Birthday from his first album: It's now in stereo!
Grant Baciocco of Throwing Toasters produced Laughter Is A Powerful Weapon, and gets the last, uncredited but popping up in the CDDB listing, track ScrewU. A live country version of their song about dealing with grocery store managers.
Roy Zimmerman, Tom Smith, Eric Coleman, Cab City Combo and many more bands, some of which I'm not (yet) familiar contribute favorite or brand new tracks.
Laughter Is A Powerful Weapon Volume 2 is highly recommended for anyone with a slightly off kilter sense of humor or who simply wants to help out the victims of Katrina. You will hear a wide assortment of talent never before collected in one place. A most worthy project and I'm proud to be a part of it.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia with a radio show, a Live Journal demi-blog, 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 , and you can hear the last two Shockwave broadcasts in Real Audio (scroll down to Shockwave). Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
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Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Bush Had No Choice on Torture Ban: Evidence of 'enhanced interrogation' just kept piling up (villagevoice.com)
George Bush's retreat on torture-as shown by his agreeing yesterday not to veto a measure backed by Senator John McCain that would ban U.S. interrogators from engaging in it-comes less because he checked his conscience, than because he had no other choice.
Nat Hentoff: CIA War Crimes (villagevoice.com)
Now, here is a smoking gun from the Ross report: "According to CIA sources, Ibn al Shaykh al Libbi, after two weeks of enhanced interrogation, made statements that were designed to tell the interrogators what they wanted to hear . . . al Libbi had been subjected to each of the progressively harsher techniques in turn and finally broke after being water boarded and then left to stand naked in his cold cell overnight where he was doused with cold water at regular intervals. His statements became part of the basis for the Bush administration claims that Iraq trained Al Qaeda members to use biochemical weapons. Sources tell ABC that it was later established that al Libbi had no knowledge of such training or weapons and fabricated the statements because he was terrified of further harsh treatment." (Emphasis added.)
Senator Gary Hart Challenges the Unholy Alliance of 'Faith' and Government: A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW
... the reason you can't mix religion and politics is, religion is about absolutes, right and wrong, good and evil. Politics is about compromise. If you cannot compromise on issues that are not central to a person's faith - and that's about 99% of the issues our country faces - then the country doesn't work. The government doesn't work. That's why we've had government grinding to a halt in recent years. People are frustrated by it.
Interview by Lisa Schneider: Aging Body, Unchanging Spirit
Integrative medicine expert Andrew Weil talks about what we have to gain by embracing the aging process rather than fighting it.
Roger Ebert's Best 10 Movies of 2005
How in the world can anyone think it was a bad year for the movies when so many were wonderful, a few were great, a handful were inspiring, and there were scenes so risky you feared the tightrope might break? If none of the year's 10 best had been made, I could name another 10 and no one would wonder at the choices. There were a lot of movies to admire in 2005. These were the 10 best: 1. "Crash" 2. "Syriana" 3. "Munich" 4. "Junebug" 5. "Brokeback Mountain" 6. "Me and You and Everyone We Know" 7. "Nine Lives" 8. "King Kong" 9. "Yes" 10. "Millions"
Richard Roeper: Taking stock of the good, the bad and the ugly (suntimes.com)
LEAST BELIEVABLE PERFORMANCES OF THE YEAR:
Martin Lawrence as a college basketball coach in "Rebound."
Jessica Biehl as a top naval officer and pilot in "Stealth."
Adam Sandler as a former pro football player in "The Longest Yard."
Heather Locklear as a desperate single mom who can't find a decent guy in "The Perfect Man."
By Charles Karel Bouley II: "It's very brave of them" (advocate.com)
Everyone who's tired of the media-and Madonna-calling Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger "brave" for acting in Brokeback Mountain, please raise your hands. Then say it with me: "poppycock."
Video: One Year After Abu Graib
War Crimes Watch
Commentoon: Ho Ho Ho
Hubert's Poetry Corner
Frequent Alternate Responsive Therapy
Purple Gene Reviews
'Memoirs of a Geisha'
Purple Gene's review of the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" (2005) [view trailer]
Directed by Rob Marshall ("Chicago"): Produced by Steven Spielberg (original director): Cinematography by Dion Beebe: Music by John Williams: from the novel by Arthur Golden:
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly overcast & brisk.
Poor old Jo, the (lucky) lizard, isn't enjoying this weather very much.
Katrina Tour
Arlo Guthrie & Friends
Folk singer Arlo Guthrie and Willie Nelson gave a sold-out crowd something they've needed since Hurricane Katrina - good music, a good time and a reminder of what they love most about this city.
Guthrie welcomed the crowd late Saturday at legendary Tipitina's, his last performance in a two-week railroad tour to raise money for musicians left homeless and without a place to work by Katrina.
Nelson took the stage after 11 p.m. and, following his set he joined Guthrie with a stirring rendition of the Steve Goodman song "City of New Orleans" that Guthrie made popular in 1972. The song was based on a train operated by Illinois Central before the creation of Amtrak. The City of New Orleans name was discontinued in 1971, but Amtrak christened an overnight train that runs much of the same route in 1981.
Money and equipment from the Arlo Guthrie & Friends benefit tour will be donated to performers and to churches and schools that have music programs. Tour spokeswoman Cash Edwards did not have definitive figures on how much the tour has raised.
Arlo Guthrie & Friends
Documentary Due Early Next Year
Harry Nilsson
A documentary focusing on the life and career of late singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson will be released next year.
"Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him?)" features interviews with Yoko Ono, Randy Newman, Micky Dolenz, Eric Idle, the Smothers Brothers, Brian Wilson and Robin Williams, as well as home videos, portions of Nilsson's recently discovered oral autobiography, and more than 60 songs.
Set to premiere at the Santa Barbara Film Festival on February 4, the film is directed by John Scheinfeld. His LSL Prods banner is in post-production on the documentary "U.S. vs. John Lennon," also due in 2006. Details regarding domestic distribution for "Nilsson" have yet to be nailed down.
Harry Nilsson
Keeping The Werewolves At Bay
Forrest J. Ackerman
Just like the vampires in the Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine he edited for 25 years, Forrest J. Ackerman isn't planning on leaving this world until somebody drives a stake through his heart.
"Oh, I'm not going if I can't take it with me," Ackerman jokes as he gestures toward the thousands of pieces of science-fiction and horror movie memorabilia that fill his Los Angeles home.
After leading a tour of the "Acker Mini-Mansion," a bright yellow bungalow nestled at the edge of the Hollywood Hills, the genial grandfather of science fiction settles into an overstuffed easy chair.
Ackerman, who turned 89 on Thanksgiving Day, moves somewhat slowly these days and strains to hear. But the years have dimmed neither his memory nor his affection for monster movies and science fiction. Although he is widely credited with coining the term sci-fi, Ackerman's greatest contribution to the genre may have been discovering Ray Bradbury when the now 85-year-old Martian Chronicles author was just 17.
For the rest, Forrest J. Ackerman
Will Include DVR Use in Ratings
Nielsen
Starting next week, the company that measures what people watch on television will also follow what they record on DVRs to watch later.
The move by Nielsen Media Research is a reflection of how the traditional notion of watching TV is changing. And if Nielsen's numbers show that new technology is also changing what people are watching, it has the potential to profoundly disrupt a multibillion-dollar business.
Until now, Nielsen has bypassed these DVR homes when it signs up the estimated 9,000 families that make up its national sample of homes. These so-called Nielsen families provide the basis for its ratings, which make a show a hit or flop.
Nielsen
Truck and Crane Used in Theft Found
Henry Moore
British police said Sunday they found a flatbed truck and crane that were apparently used in the theft of a $5.2 million Henry Moore sculpture from the artist's estate north of London.
The truck and crane, discovered in the area on Saturday night, were filmed by a security camera as they took the two-ton "Reclining Figure" bronze sculpture from the Henry Moore Foundation estate in the county of Hertfordshire, police said.
Police fear the thieves may have stolen the 1969/1970 work Thursday night to melt it down and sell for scrap metal, even though it could earn far more money if sold as a work of art.
Henry Moore
Suspicious Reading Habit
Agents Visit
A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's tome on Communism called "The Little Red Book."
Two history professors at UMass Dartmouth, Brian Glyn Williams and Robert Pontbriand, said the student told them he requested the book through the UMass Dartmouth library's interlibrary loan program.
The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Professor Pontbriand's class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number. He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the professors said.
The professors said the student was told by the agents that the book is on a "watch list," and that his background, which included significant time abroad, triggered them to investigate the student further.
Agents Visit
Japanese Exercise
Fat Penguins
It's wintertime and the king penguins at a zoo in northern Japan are putting on weight. But the keepers there have a solution: exercise.
Authorities at Asahiyama Zoo are taking the penguins on 500-yard walks on the snowy grounds twice a day, said zoo spokesman Tetsuo Yamazaki.
The zoo's 15 king penguins aren't exactly obese. Penguin winter weight varies from 33 pounds to 40 pounds, said zoo official Kazunobu Maru. So far, only one of the flock is 40 pounds, he said.
The zoo, on the northern island of Hokkaido, takes the penguins on strolls from December until April. The first walk of the season was Thursday.
Fat Penguins
Run Amok in NZ
Drunken Santas
Forty drunken Santas rampaged through central Auckland, stealing from stores and assaulting security guards, the New Zealand Herald reported on Sunday, in a protest against the commercialisation of Christmas.
The event organiser, Alex Dyer, had warned the antics would only stop when someone was arrested, said the Herald, which linked the incident to "Santarchy".
Santarchy and online encyclopaedia wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) record protests going back around 10 years in the United States, with participants marking Christmas in anti-commercial manner involving street theatre, pranks and public drunkenness.
Drunken Santas
Search Continues
Ivory Bill Woodpecker
Each morning, Sara Barker wakes before dawn, covers herself with camouflage and makes sure she has her compass before heading into the eastern Arkansas swamps. Her quest: the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker.
Dozens of birders have flocked to the wildlife refuges of the Arkansas Delta to follow up on a kayaker's 2004 sighting of a bird so rare it was thought to have become extinct. They hope to obtain a clear video or picture of the bird and then study its behavior.
The searchers - equipped with Global Positioning System locators, binoculars, digital video cameras and cell phones - call the bird a flying needle in a haystack. This haystack covers 550,000 acres - about 75 percent of the size of Rhode Island.
Ivory Bill Woodpecker
In Memory
Walter Haut
Army Lt. Walter Haut, the man made famous for issuing a news release that said a flying saucer landed in Roswell, died there Thursday, his daughter, Julie Shuster, said. He was 83.
Haut, a former spokesman for the Roswell Army Air Field, listened closely on July 8, 1947, as base commander Col. William Blanchard dictated a news release about a recovered flying saucer and ordered Haut to issue it.
The Roswell Daily Record newspaper ran a bold headline on July 9, 1947: "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region."
The same day, a statement was released saying it was only a weather balloon.
Haut said he never was told exactly where the flying disc reported in his news release was found nor did he ever see a UFO. But he remained a believer.
Haut and two other men founded The International UFO Museum, where more than 2 1/2 million people have visited since its opening in 1992, Shuster said.
Walter Haut
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