Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Mark Morford: When scary Jesus make the news (sfgate.com)
Will it be drugs? Will it be gays? Will it be an unwieldy sex scandal featuring seedy hotels, bad cologne and grossly detailed text messages you never want to read? How about another "family values"' congressman busted...
Paul Krugman: Bubbles and the Banks (nytimes.com)
Government aid to the financial industry came with few strings. Unless there is reform, what will keep bankers from engaging in a repeat performance?
Tom Barlow : "Then vs. now: How prices have changed since 1999" (walletpop.com)
Thanks to inflation, it takes around $1.30 to buy what $1 bought in 1999.
Luke Harding: "Leo Tolstoy: the forgotten genius?" (guardian.co.uk)
Leo Tolstoy is widely considered in the west to be the greatest writer of all time and this year sees the release of a film, The Last Station, to mark the centenary of his death. So why is his native Russia lukewarm about the literary genius?
Michael Agger: The Geek Freaks (slate.com)
Why Jaron Lanier rants against what the Web has become.
Joanna Pitman: Meet Andy Warhol's photographer (timesonline.co.uk)
In the Sixties the beautiful and the damned flocked to hang out at the Factory - and be photographed by Nat Finkelstein.
David Patrick Stearns: "No dearth of divas: Opera singers are flourishing, with unusual repertoire and vigorous rivalry" (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Veteran operagoers love to say the best singing happened decades ago, as if the only great divas are deceased ones. Oh, sure.
Kevin Kelly: "The Reich stuff: Pulitzer-winning composer creates offbeat work" (The Palo Alto Daily News)
For a composer whose work is heavily steeped in repetition, Steve Reich doesn't stay in the same place for very long, and he rarely thinks inside the box.
MICHAELANGELO MATOS: A Regrettable Decade in Music (thestranger.com)
Ten Unfortunate Developments of the '00s.
RICHARD ROEPER: 'Avatar' is no 'Star Wars' -- or leftist allegory (suntimes.com)
Before the lights were dimmed for a preview screening at AMC River East the other night, a moviegoer a couple of rows behind me was gushing about "Avatar."
Roger Ebert: ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (R; 2004; A Great Movie)
Visiting an old people's home, I walked down a corridor on the floor given over to advanced Alzheimer's parents.
Roger Ebert: The man who is scaling Mt. Criterion film by film
I asked myself, who is this guy named Matthew Dessem? I'd be doing reading for one of my Great Movies pieces, and I'd encounter an essay by him on a site called the Criterion Contraption. The Criterion Collection is the standard bearer among high-quality DVDs, but he wasn't associated with them, except in an indirect way: He has set himself the goal of seeing and writing about every single film in the Collection!
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The "That's Mr. Flipper to you, bub" Edition...
Dolphins have been declared the world's second most intelligent creatures after humans, with scientists suggesting they are so bright that they should be treated as "non-human persons"... The researchers argue that their work shows it is morally unacceptable to keep such intelligent animals in amusement parks or to kill them for food or by accident when fishing...
Scientists say dolphins should be treated as 'non-human persons' - Times Online
Do you agree with the scientists's assertions?
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From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Freshly Updated!
2 Dudes
Watch the Documentary Film for Free
Biggie and Tupac
BIGGIE & TUPAC documents the rap superstars, Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace (aka Biggie Smalls, The Notorious B.I.G.), and how they were gunned down in separate incidents, the apparent victims of hip hop's infamous east-west rivalry. Nick Broomfield's film introduces Russell Poole, an ex-cop with damning evidence that suggests the LAPD deliberately fumbled the case to conceal connections between the police, LA gangs and Death Row Records, the label run by feared rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight.
Contributor Photo
Downy Woodpecker
Mr. Downy Woodpecker stopped by for lunch this cold winter's day...
Link from RJ
The Mystery of Resin
Hi there
Another possible link for you - this time about resin. A slightly obscure subject perhaps, but the images are wonderful!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
Drumming For Peace
Sudan
Drummers from Pink Floyd, Radiohead and The Police are joining other musicians to drum for peace in Sudan as part of an international campaign to press world leaders to prevent more bloodshed in Africa's largest nation.
The Sudan 365 campaign, launched on Saturday, calls "on global leaders to take urgent diplomatic action over the next 365 days to prevent all-out conflict returning to Sudan," a statement by the organisers said.
Celebrity drummers are taking part in a "beat for peace" film that features a drumroll starting in the war-wracked nation "and being picked up and passed like a baton between drummers in over 15 countries" -- including Brazil, Egypt, France, Japan, South Africa and the United States.
Drummers will include Radiohead's Phil Selway, Stewart Copeland of The Police, Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, as well as Egyptian musicians Yehia Khalil and Mohammed Munir and Ghana's Mustapha Tettey Addy.
Nine organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the US group Save Darfur have joined efforts to organise the campaign along with the drummers.
Sudan
Judges Question Authority
FCC
U.S. judges put the Federal Communications Commission in the hot seat on Friday, questioning whether the communications regulator acted properly when it sanctioned Comcast Corp for blocking file-sharing services on its broadband network.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit appeared unsatisfied with FCC arguments and was probing to determine whether the FCC acted based on established rules or direct authority from Congress involving broadband network management issues .
It appears the FCC acted based on policy statements that are "aspirational, not operational," Judge A. Raymond Randolph told FCC General Counsel Austin Schlick in a packed courtroom.
The case, which may not be decided by the court for several months, could severely hamper the FCC's push to maintain an open and free Internet through a "net neutrality" rule-making proposal if the judges decide the agency lacks regulatory authority.
FCC
Hospital News
Artie Lange
Police say self-inflicted stab wounds put Howard Stern sidekick Artie Lange in a New Jersey hospital.
Hoboken Police Detective Mark Competello says Lange's mother found him on the floor of his waterfront home on Saturday.
Competello says the 42-year-old comedian was unconscious but breathing after stabbing himself with a 13-inch Wolfgang Puck kitchen knife.
Lange was taken to Jersey City Medical Center. Competello says doctors cleaned nine abdominal knife wounds and operated. He says Lange has been released.
Artie Lange
US Citizen
Rich Little
A Canadian impressionist famous for his takes on American presidents and celebrities is becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials say Rich Little becomes an American on Friday at a ceremony in Las Vegas.
The Canadian toured the United States in 2003 with his show "The Presidents," offering impressions of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton and both Bushes.
Rich Little
Sues To Keep Copyrights
Marvel
Marvel is suing to keep the rights to superheroes including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and X-Men.
The federal lawsuit filed Friday in Manhattan asks a judge to invalidate notices sent by the heirs of artist Jack Kirby to try to terminate Marvel's copyrights.
The heirs sent notified several companies last year that the rights to the characters would revert from Marvel to Kirby's estate.
The lawsuit says Kirby's work on the comics were "for hire" and render the heirs' claims invalid.
Marvel
Copyright Infringement?
Rupert News
A former adviser to Michael Jackson sued Fox News on Thursday for copyright infringement, claiming the cable channel aired portions of an interview with the singer's ex-wife without proper payment or permission.
The lawsuit in federal court by producer F. Marc Schaffel seeks damages from Fox News for airing portions of the 2003 interview with Debbie Rowe after Jackson's death in June. The filing states the interview made up a significant amount of Geraldo Rivera's July 5 show.
A spokesman for Fox News, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., said the channel does not comment on pending litigation. The lawsuit states Fox News has claimed a "fair use" right to air the footage as part of news programming.
The filing chides Murdoch, who has threatened to sue the British Broadcasting Corp. and others for copyright infringement because he claims they are stealing content from his company's newspapers.
"Fox sanctimoniously operates unencumbered by the very copyright restrictions it seeks to impose on its competitors," the lawsuit states.
Rupert News
Fox Quiz Show Yanked By Producer
'Little Genius'
Fox won't be starting its kiddie quiz show, "Our Little Genius," next week as planned.
The first two episodes have been yanked by producer Mark Burnett. He says he discovered what he termed "an issue" with how some information was relayed to the show's young contestants. Burnett said in a statement Thursday that this led to his request that Fox not air those episodes.
"Our Little Genius" was set to premiere after Wednesday's edition of "American Idol." Fox instead will repeat the milestone 450th episode of "The Simpsons."
It was not immediately clear when, or if, Burnett will tape new episodes and proceed with the series. The prolific producer is known for such shows as "Survivor" and "The Celebrity Apprentice."
'Little Genius'
End Up In Court
North Face, South Butt
South Butt LLC says there's nothing behind a lawsuit demanding that its use of that name come to an end.
The company, formed in 2007 by St. Louis high school student James Winkelmann, this week called for the dismissal of a federal trademark lawsuit by The North Face Apparel Corp, a unit of VF Corp.
Calling Winkelmann and South Butt "opportunists seeking to pirate its famous trademarks for their inferior knockoffs," North Face said the competing mark confuses customers and constitutes unfair competition.
The North Face logo includes its name, and three arcs that resemble a mountainside. South Butt's logo has a similar typeface and two upside-down arcs that according to court papers are a "starkly stylized silhouette of a rump."
North Face, South Butt
£2.3 Million In Auction
Liberty Head Nickel
A rare 1913 U.S. coin once owned by an Egyptian king and later featured in a famous U.S. TV detective series was sold for more than $3.7 million (2.3 million pounds) in a public auction in Florida, the auctioneers said on Friday.
The so-called Liberty Head nickel, one of only five known of that specific date and design, was sold "in spirited bidding" to a private East Coast coin collector in Orlando late on Thursday, said Greg Rohan, president of Dallas, Texas-based Heritage Auctions. The buyer wished to remain anonymous.
The $3,737,500 price for the five-cent coin included a 15 percent buyer's premium.
Once part of the coin collection owned by Egypt's King Farouk, who was deposed in 1952, the Liberty nickel changed hands several times and featured as part of the plot in a 1973 episode of the well-known CBS TV series "Hawaii Five-O."
Liberty Head Nickel
SF Bay's Try Oregon Coast
Sea Lions
Hundreds of sea lions that abruptly blew out of San Francisco Bay's Pier 39 last Thanksgiving have apparently found a new home at another tourist attraction - 500 miles north on the Oregon coast.
Thousands of California sea lions started showing up in December at Sea Lion Caves, a popular tourist draw because of the Stellar sea lions living in the caves.
The California sea lions appear to have made the trip because of an abundance of anchovies at the Oregon site, 11 miles north of the town of Florence.
Sea Lions
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of Dec. 28-Jan. 3. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses:
1. NFL Football: Minnesota vs. Chicago (Monday, 8:30 p.m.), ESPN, 11.90 million homes, 17.01 million viewers.
2. College Football: Michigan State vs. Texas Tech (Saturday, 9:08 p.m.), ESPN, 5.55 million homes, 7.83 million viewers.
3. College Football: Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee (Thursday, 7:30 p.m.), ESPN, 4.85 million homes, 7.51 million viewers.
4. College Football: Miami (Fla.) vs. Wisconsin (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), ESPN, 4.49 million homes, 6.22 million viewers.
5. College Football: Arkansas vs. East Carolina (Saturday, 5:30 p.m.), ESPN, 4.33 million homes, 6.45 million viewers.
6. College Football: Arizona vs. Nebraska (Wednesday, 8:13 p.m.), ESPN, 4.27 million homes, 6.14 million viewers.
7. College Football: Northwestern vs. Auburn (Friday, 11:01 a.m.), ESPN, 4.02 million homes, 5.69 million viewers.
8. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.70 million homes, 5.61 million viewers.
9. "NCIS" (Saturday, 3 p.m.), USA, 3.64 million homes, 4.89 million viewers.
10. "NCIS" (Saturday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.62 million homes, 4.99 million viewers.
11. "NCIS" (Saturday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.60 million homes, 4.96 million viewers.
12. "NCIS" (Saturday, 5 p.m.), USA, 3.52 million homes, 4.78 million viewers.
13. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Wednesday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.52 million homes, 5.08 million viewers.
14. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Thursday, 12 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.48 million homes, 4.95 million viewers.
15. "NCIS" (Saturday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.47 million homes, 4.70 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Jean Biden
Jean Biden, who raised her son Vice President Joe Biden to believe in what he called "America's creed ... everyone is your equal," died Friday after falling ill in recent days. She was 92.
In a statement, the vice president said she died in Wilmington surrounded by her family and loved ones. She had suffered a broken hip in a fall in March 2009.
The former Catherine Eugenia Finnegan was born July 7, 1917, in Scranton, Pa. In 1941, she married businessman Joseph Biden Sr., with whom she had four children. The couple moved from Scranton to Claymont, Del., in 1953, when their eldest son, Joe, was 10 years old.
Raised in a family with a strong Irish Catholic tradition, Jean Biden leaned on her faith in comforting her eldest son after his wife and daughter were killed in a car crash in December 1972, the month after he was elected to the Senate. His two sons were seriously injured.
In his autobiography, Joe Biden recalled being mocked by a seventh-grade nun for his stuttering, an incident that sent his mother to his school in a fury, her children in tow.
"If you ever speak to my son like that again, I'll come back and rip that bonnet off your head. Do you understand me?" she told the nun.
Jean Biden is survived by the vice president, daughter Valerie Biden Owens of Kennett Square, Pa., and sons James Brian Biden of Merion Station, Pa., and Francis W. Biden of Florida. She had 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Jean Biden
In Memory
Stephen Huneck
Folk artist Stephen Huneck, whose whimsical paintings, sculptures and woodcut prints of dogs celebrated his love of animals and won him a worldwide fan base, has died. He was 60.
Huneck, of St. Johnsbury, committed suicide Thursday in Littleton, N.H. His wife said he was despondent after being forced to lay off employees at his Dog Mountain studio and dog chapel.
"Stephen feared losing Dog Mountain and our home. Then on Tuesday we had to lay off most of our employees. This hurt Stephen deeply. He cared about them and felt responsible for their welfare," she wrote.
Two days later, he shot himself in the head while sitting in a parked car outside the office of his psychiatrist, she said.
A native of Sudbury, Mass., he started out whittling wooden sculptures and later dog-themed furniture, like the wooden pews eventually installed in the chapel, which he built in 2000, a miniature version of the 19th-century churches that dot Vermont's landscape.
Built of wood harvested from his 175-acre Dog Mountain property, it had vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows with images of dogs pieced into them.
"Welcome all creeds, all breeds. No dogmas allowed," says the sign outside.
Dog lovers would make the trip to Vermont just to see the chapel, many writing handwritten notes to their long-gone pets and affixing them to the interior walls, where they remained.
Stephen Huneck
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