'TBH Politoons'
(28 August, 2002)
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Recommendation
Re: Al Franken On 'Donahue'
I don't know if you saw this, but the Al Franklin/Donahue story is wonderful:
''How do you get a right-winger to shut up? Hit him/her with the facts!
There was a glorious moment on MSNBC's Donahue program the other night. The topic up for discussion was: Is there a conservative bias in the media? A great topic, and an interesting twist from the usual "do liberals control the media" discussions.
''The panelists were Bernard Goldberg, ex-CBS News reporter and best-selling author of "Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News," Mario Cuomo, former Democratic Governor of New York, Al Franken, comedian and author of the best-selling "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot," and
Jeffrey Whitaker, a conservative radio talk show host.''
Excerpt from www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=14326
Or: The Full Transcript
=Jeff
Thanks, Jeff! Al Franken kicked monkey ass, and his endeavors should be acknowledged far & wide!
Dear old dad, being rational (and WWII vet), is a dem. Gave him Al Franken's ''Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot'' for Christmas. His best comment was he wished more of his pals read instead of listening (to the radio)...
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Gray, overcast day.
Forgot the link to Moose & Squirrel Information One-Stop, on the Thursday page, but fixed on the archived page. Hate when my memory goes to sieve-mode.
Jo, the (remaining) lizard, since molting last week, has had a big appetite. On the weekly grocery-run, had to stop for fresh crickets. Sounds wonderfully rural at the moment.
The Christmas tree will finally be picked up by the city in the morning. The city runs late so all the flavors of celebrators may have their occasion.
Tonight, Saturday, CBS opens the evening with a fresh 'Touched By An Angle', then a RERUN 'The District', and a RERUN 'The Agency'.
NBC insults their viewers with a RERUN 'Law & Order', then a RERUN 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', and then a RERUN 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
Oddly, 'SNL' is fresh with Jeff Gordon hosting & Avril Lavigne as the musical guest.
ABC has the movie 'Enemy Of The State'.
The WB offers up the movie 'Mississippi Burning'.
Faxu has NFL intruding on primetime, followed by a fresh 'Cops'.
UPN has the movie 'Crocodile Dundee'.
Sci-Fi Channel is running 'Battlefield Earth'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise, center, is photographed with members of the Te Hautahi concert party following a Powhiri, or a traditional Maori welcoming ceremony, prior to a press conference for his film 'The Last Samurai' in New Plymouth,
New Zealand Saturday, Jan. 11, 2003. Cruise flew into New Zealand last Monday and will begin filming on location in various parts of the Taranaki province in the North Island of New Zealand.
Photo by Ross Land
Mary, Dick, PBS & Censorship
`The Gin Game'
On his classic sitcom 40 years ago, Dick Van Dyke kept things squeaky-clean with Mary Tyler Moore.
Now any PBS station who prefers them that way can air a "clean" version of "The Gin Game," D.L. Coburn's 1978 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, in which Van Dyke is reunited with his long-ago co-star for the first time since "The Dick Van Dyke Show" ended in 1966.
In a bow to any skittish affiliates, PBS plans to provide alternate editions of the production: original as well as one that deletes some of the swear words uttered by Van Dyke, now 77, and Moore, 66.
Van Dyke, for one, objects to the sanitizing.
"The stuff you see in the movies today — this is harmless by comparison," he said this week.
But, according to PBS, giving stations a choice makes sense because some would have censored the program anyway.
`The Gin Game'
Recovered In Raids
Original Beatles Tapes
Police appear to have recovered about 500 original Beatles tapes that were stolen in the 1970s, including some never-released tracks, during raids Friday on members of a piracy racket in England and the Netherlands.
British police said the tapes were "priceless." Dutch police, who found the tapes in the Netherlands, agreed, but said analysis of the material was ongoing.
The tapes contain songs, including "Get Back," for an album the Beatles planned in 1969. The project was shelved, and some of the songs instead became part of the "Let It Be" album. The rest of the tapes disappeared.
The material disappeared shortly after the 1969 Beatles sessions which attempted a more back-to-basics approach to recording after the tensions of the 1968 "White Album."
They met in the Twickenham area of London to rehearse, rather than Abbey Road, where they usually recorded. Continued problems within the band saw Harrison briefly quit during that period.
The recovered reels are believed to contain dozens of entire songs, as well as snippets of tracks the band attempted, then abandoned. Along with new songs, the Beatles ran through earlier tracks for old time's sake.
"Get Back" originally was written to satirize negative attitudes toward immigration in Britain in the late 1960s. In early versions, it was referred to as the "Commonwealth Song" and "No Pakistanis."
Original Beatles Tapes
Thanks, Tim H!
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
The Agent & The Necklace
Sharon Osbourne
The uninvited guest who walked off with the $40,000 diamond necklace raffled off at the Osbournes' New Year's Eve event is being pressured to return it. Sharon Osbourne caused a stink when
Renee Tab, an ICM agent, won the raffle at the star-studded renewal of Sharon and Ozzy's wedding vows at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Sharon filed a police report claiming Tab was a crasher who
had rigged the raffle by "stealing" a load of tickets. She also issued a press release to shame Tab into returning the jewelry. Sharon, who is battling colon cancer, was so upset she had to
be hospitalized for three days. Tab, who went to the party as the date of an invited guest, claimed she won the necklace fair and square. But after several days of intense negotiations that
included her boss, ICM head Jeff Berg, Tab is said to be close to returning the prize, which will be auctioned off for a cancer charity. As part of the deal, Sharon will issue an apology to Tab for calling her a thief.
Sharon Osbourne
2,210th Star On Hollywood Walk Of Fame
Steven Spielberg
Grinning like "Jaws," Steven Spielberg accepted the first star of 2003 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The director of the shark thriller and the hit films "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" unveiled the honor Friday before a crowd of nearly 2,000 outside the Kodak Theatre, home of the Academy Awards telecast.
"This is so surreal," the 56-year-old filmmaker told onlookers. "Getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame really makes you feel like you are part of this community."
He said he was honored to receive the 2,210th star on the Hollywood Boulevard sidewalk near those for the likes of inventor Thomas Edison, dog actor Lassie and "Austin Powers" star Mike Myers.
Myers helped introduce Spielberg, saying: "The name Spielberg is to entertainment what Einstein is to science."
Other notable guests included Spielberg's wife Kate Capshaw, who appeared in his film "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," and longtime collaborators such as composer John Williams and special effects designer Stan Winston.
The director's ceremony took place next to the as yet unfinished star for actress Nicole Kidman. That star is scheduled to be dedicated Monday.
Steven Spielberg
Hosting 'Psychic Detectives' on Court TV
Andrea Thompson
She's played a police officer on "NYPD Blue," switched to journalism and anchored CNN's "Headline News," and now will be host of a show called "Psychic Detectives."
The show, with host Andrea Thompson, will revisit crimes that a psychic helped to solve from a detective's viewpoint. Officers and psychics will discuss clues and tips that helped solve investigations.
Viewers can watch investigations as they progress and see how techniques that psychics use help police solve crime.
According to Court, TV, the one-hour documentary will open Feb. 27.
Thompson will interview mediums hired by police for Court TV. She told the Web site zap2it.com that she hopes to return to journalism once the no-compete clause she signed for CNN runs out.
Andrea Thompson
First Album Due 8 April
Lisa Marie Presley
Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie Presley is following in her father's footsteps: Her debut solo album is due out April 8 via Capitol Records, according to her official website (lisapresley.com). The 34-year-old singer penned all of the songs on the collection.
The project has been in the works for several years. Producer and label head Glen Ballard told us nearly three years ago that Presley's debut would be a diverse offering: "I think that it's a pop record, but it also has elements of blues, funk, country,
R&B, hip-hop--it's sort of the confluence of whatever modern-day Memphis is right now." He added, "It has a lot of influences, and it continues to grow and evolve. It sort of grew up in the soil from which she sprang."
Lisa Marie Presley
More Super Bowl Festivities
Celine Dion
Celine Dion will be part of the pre-game festivities at the Super Bowl. She'll sing "God Bless America" before the game on Jan. 26. The Dixie Chicks will sing the National Anthem.
The Grammy- and Oscar-winning Dion is to appear at Caesars Palace's new $100 million, 4,000-seat Colosseum theater in Las Vegas. The show, dubbed "A New Day," is built around the pop diva and premieres March 25 and will run for three years.
Super Bowl organizers also announced this week that country singer Shania Twain will perform during the halftime show at Qualcomm Stadium. Other halftime performers will be announced later.
Celine Dion
Super Bowl Web site
Wedding News
Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Connelly and British actor Paul Bettany, who portrayed the imaginary college roommate of Russell Crowe's character in the psychological drama, were married in a small private ceremony in Scotland over
the Christmas holidays, her spokeswoman said on Friday.
The couple had been dating since April of last year, she said.
Connelly, 32, won an Academy Award as best supporting actress for her role opposite Crowe as the spouse of the brilliant but schizophrenic mathematician John Nash in "A Beautiful Mind," which won the Oscar for best picture.
Bettany is slated to co-star with Crowe again in the upcoming period drama "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World."
Jennifer Connelly
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Questionable Taste - Children's Book to Be Re-Issued
R. Kelly
Despite controversy, a children's book based on R. Kelly's life is being re-issued.
Publisher Unique Expressions plans to re-release the children's story, "I Can Fly! (The R. Kelly Story)," based on Kelly's rags-to-riches life. Company president Kim L. Dulaney, who also wrote the book,
said they've decided to re-issue the book because of public demand. She says they were concerned about the controversy surrounding Kelly, but she said, "Our commitment is to uplift readers, especially women and children."
Kelly, whose first name is Robert, was indicted in June by a Cook County grand jury on 21 counts of child pornography stemming from a videotape authorities say shows him having sex with a 13-year-old girl.
R. Kelly
Activist Lorelei Laird holds a sign aloft referring to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh during a protest outside the Immigration and Naturalization Service offices in Los Angeles Friday, Jan. 10, 2003.
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Touring In 'Aida'
Mickey Dolenz
Former Monkees drummer Mickey Dolenz just snagged the lead in the touring show of Elton John's "Aida," and has been celebrating at one of the Theater District's greatest bar/restaurants. Dolenz was seen bending an elbow
two nights in a row at Langan's on West 47th Street this week. On Wednesday, he was enjoying the chicken pot pie at the bar and chatting with PAGE SIX. "This place brings me good luck," he said. "I was here last month to
audition, staying at the Doubletree, and wandered in . . . and I got the part, so I consider the place lucky."
Mickey Dolenz
Pleads Innocent To Drunk Driving
Diana Ross
Singer-actress Diana Ross has pleaded innocent to charges that she was driving drunk when she was stopped outside a video store last month in southern Arizona, court officials said on Friday.
Ross entered the plea to the three misdemeanor charges last week through her attorney in a "notice of appearance" letter to Tucson City Court, where she had been scheduled to be arraigned Monday, officials said. The court date has been canceled.
She is next scheduled to appear in court for a hearing Jan. 31. Her attorney in Phoenix declined to comment on the case.
Diana Ross
Getting Up Close With High-De
Oscars
Viewers will see Oscar winners' tears of joy and losers' tight smiles in ever more excruciating detail this year, as the Academy Awards ceremony will be broadcast in high-definition TV for the first time.
Though ABC has experimented with using HD cameras for the red carpet arrivals, this year only the awards themselves will be in HD, though a brief roundup of highlights from the red carpet that is part of the actual awards show will also be broadcast in high-def.
The Academy Awards will be handed out on March 23.
Oscars
Hospital News
Maurice Gibb
Singer Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees underwent emergency intestinal surgery in Florida and was initially listed in critical condition, the group's Los Angeles-based manager said on Friday.
The 53-year-old performer was stricken at his home in Miami with intense stomach pains on Thursday and was rushed to the hospital. Doctors determined he was suffering from an intestinal blockage, according to manager Carol Peters.
"It was completely out of the blue," she said. "No pains or anything beforehand, just all of a sudden, boom."
She said he initially emerged from surgery in critical condition, but has "opened his eyes, wiggled his toes and feet, so it's good." She said an update on the singer's condition was expected later
in the day from doctors at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami.
Maurice Gibb, whose voice is perhaps least familiar to the public, usually focused on back-up and harmony vocals.
Peters said Barry and Robin Gibb were with their brother at the hospital. All three of the British-born brothers reside in the Miami area.
A younger sibling, Andy, who did not sing with the Bee Gees but had a brief burst of fame in the late 1970s with hits such as "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" and "Shadow Dancing," died of a
heart infection in 1988 five days shy of his 30th birthday.
Maurice Gibb
Thanks, Marian!
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Starring In 'Kojak' Remake
Ving Rhames
Who loves ya, baby? Telly Savalas did and now Ving Rhames does.
The smooth-pated African-American actor will put a contemporary spin on the bald Greek-American gumshoe Kojak in a made-for-TV movie for USA Network, Rhames told Reuters on Friday.
The Golden Globe winner has agreed to recraft the role played by the late Savalas in the popular police drama, which debuted in 1973 on CBS and lasted there until 1978.
Rhames said he was excited about infusing the beloved character with a new hipness but planned to make some sort of homage to Savalas, whose trademarks were his ever-present lollipop and a quick affirmation of affection ("Who loves ya, baby?") to all and sundry.
As to whether he would adopt Savalas' Vegas-inspired wide lapels and gold chains, Rhames quickly added: "Uh, no."
The fact that Lt. Theo Kojak -- and Savalas -- were Greek, and proud of it, and Rhames is African American will give the remake new flavor, the actor said.
"There will be a ... storyline about something that is going on in his life dealing with (African-American culture)," Rhames said. "I want to deal with those issues. There are so many areas we can go into. I think we can bring cultures together."
Ving Rhames
The SoloTrek XFV strap on flying machine which is currently for sale on eBay for $1million. Designers of the personal aircraft, that they hope might one day transport soldiers over land mines or zip commuters above rush hour traffic, are putting the one-of-a-kind device up for auction on Friday to help raise cash for further research.
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Commercials Blend With Show
'Live from Tomorrow'
Striking a blow against viewers who skip through TV commercials, a new variety series will blend advertising messages into its program fare, offering a seamless hour of entertainment mixed with salesmanship.
The series will air for six weeks this summer on the WB, with Michael Davies, best-known for ABC's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," as its producer, according to a story in Friday's New York Times. Its working title is "Live from Tomorrow."
The show, which Davies described as "a contemporary, hip 'Ed Sullivan Show'," is a response to worries among advertisers and network executives about the rising popularity of Tivo-like personal video recorders, which invite viewers to zap commercial breaks.
The new plan — actually a throwback to long-ago days when sponsors owned network TV and radio shows, and packed them with product plugs — will marry the show with two main sponsors, Pepsi and Nokia, and four secondary sponsors, Davies said.
The show might send an entertainer to the Nokia headquarters to take part in its internship program for a feature, Davies said, or charge a movie studio for an appearance by a star of a film the studio wants to promote.
Though the new show would be the most comprehensive response to ad-zappers, it isn't the first. Since premiering three years ago, CBS' "Survivor" has successfully sold product placements of beer, cars and snack foods within its program content. But these rather blatant endorsements only
supplemented conventional ad breaks, rather than replacing them altogether.
Meanwhile, more stealth-like product placements crop up increasingly in dramatic programs, where branded items are displayed in a scene by financial arrangement.
Even so, the scheme doesn't always work. In 1996, ABC's short-lived comedy-variety show starring Dana Carvey even sold product placements in its title. But "The Taco Bell Dana Carvey Show" lost Taco Bell after the debut episode, which included skits that offended the advertiser.
'Live from Tomorrow'
Arrested in Domestic Disturbance
Dennis Rodman
Former National Basketball Association star Dennis Rodman was arrested on Friday for allegedly beating up a girlfriend at his Newport Beach, California home, police said.
Rodman was picked up at his home at about 2 a.m. PST after police got a call from a woman at a pay phone who accused the former Los Angeles Laker of roughing her up, said Newport Beach police Sgt. Steve Shulman.
The woman, whose name was not made public because of the nature of the charges, sustained minor injuries and was not hospitalized, Shulman said. He said the alleged victim was in her 30s and did not live
with Rodman but had "a relationship that was more than casual."
The 41-year-old NBA journeyman had been drinking but was "physically cooperative" with officers, he said.
Rodman was taken to an Orange County jail and released at about 10:20 a.m. after posting $25,000 bail.
Investigators were still considering whether to request that prosecutors charge Rodman with domestic violence and battery, Shulman said.
Dennis Rodman
Still No Corporate Sponsor
'Masterpiece Theatre'
PBS officials expressed confidence Friday that a new corporate sponsor will step forward to finance "Masterpiece Theatre."
ExxonMobil Corp. had provided sole funding for the program since its 1971 debut until deciding to drop its support last month.
"No other American company has ever had the opportunity to step up and say, `Yes, we'd like to support great quality British drama,'" PBS President Pat Mitchell told the Television Critics Association.
ExxonMobil, which has provided more than $250 million over three decades, will continue paying for the show through 2004.
When asked if the lack of an underwriter could kill "Masterpiece Theatre," PBS senior vice president Jacoba Atlas said the question would be more valid "maybe 12 months from now."
'Masterpiece Theatre'
Still In Burqas, Still 3rd Class Citizens, But It's Better....
Afghan Females
The governor of the western Afghan city of Herat, Ismail Khan, has placed further restrictions on women's education by banning women being taught by men in privately run courses, officials say.
Classes are already segregated in Herat, but the new rules, which officials said were based on traditional Islamic values, will also prevent women attending classes in a building at the same time men are being taught.
The new rules are the latest in a series of restrictions on women introduced by the powerful and conservative governor Khan, that have come under fire from international human rights groups, a scenario reminiscent of the era of Taliban rule.
Critics said they make it more difficult for women to learn English or computing skills, in a city where female teachers in these subjects are in desperately short supply.
Last year, Khan banned wedding parties in the city's restaurants after Herat's Religious Council called the practice un-Islamic, since men and women mingled and sometimes danced together at the parties.
Khan lifted the ban briefly after a bride burnt herself to death in protest, but later re-imposed the rule. He has also banned women from going to parks at night, or driving in the same car as a man who is not a close relative.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has criticised Khan for policing almost every aspect of women's lives in the city and marginalising them politically, economically and socially.
Afghan Females
La forêt de Versailles sous la neige. La persistance du froid sur la France dope la consommation d'électricité. Un nouveau record a été battu mercredi soir, avec un pic de 80.190 mégawatts à 19h03.
Photo by Jack Dabaghian
'The Osbournes'
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