'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Review
'Bowling For Columbine'
by Marion Delgado
"Stupid White Men" was a hit. By any standards, and
especially for a left-wing book in a right-wing
publishing world. The irony there, of course, was that
it's only marginally better than the conservative
groan-fodder that some pundette-in-training -- call
her Julia -- produces at a Regnery/MiniTrue factory
then hands over to Lynne Cheney's Junior anti-Sex
League to shop out to the proles via Harper-Collins
and ramp up with spurious reviews either by those who
are rabbit-scared of having the L word applied to
them, or, in these simple times, simply on the take or
on the make.
"Stupid White Men" wasn't, after all, a very mean
spirited book like those the dittoheads "read", just
endlessly PC. But sloppy -- Moore's stock in trade
anyway -- didn't work well for me in the print medium.
I stopped counting and almost reading when I had found
seven completely untrue statements in the first 20
pages. Still I was nonetheless glad I had bought the
book and happy to see it climb the best-seller charts,
as a form of revenge.
I suspect even though books make less than movies,
normally, that Moore will ultimately make far more off
of "Stupid White Men" than he will off of "Bowling for
Columbine." And perhaps for that, "Roger and Me" and
"The Big One" combined. And that's ironic in quite a
different sense.
"Roger and Me" was a unique documentary. The only
thing I could compare it to are some of Ross McElWee's
films like "Sherman's March," but R&M clearly had a
level of guts to it that even something painfully
honest and touching like "Sherman's March" didn't.
"TV Nation", the film "The Big One", and "The Awful
Truth" all blend for me like a 30 hour Nader rally.
Thinking about them, individually quite high quality
work for the most part, I nonetheless get the tired,
burnt out feeling I had after covering the Seattle WTO
protests from before dawn till late at night.
Which finally brings me to "Bowling For Columbine."
Once I got past the title, which is quite a stretch, I
saw a movie which raised the bar for Michael Moore for
me very high. It'll be truly hard to top.
There were some other stretches, like the way Moore
relates everything on Earth to Flint, Michigan. But he
did a good job even with that -- he found the Michigan
Militia, the first high school of one of the two
Columbine shooters, the brother of Terry Nichols, and
the principal where the youngest school shooter ever
(who happened to be a child in Flint) committed his
crime, all right nearby.
Coming in as I did with mixed expectations, I was
surprised to see a movie that worked on every level.
Quite frankly, I think Michael Moore got a great deal
said that is both true and necessary -- about culture
and violence, but more about passing the buck. It's
taken for granted that it's "mean" to "bug" rich
amoralists like Charlton Heston or Dick Clark about
how their money is made or how they aggrandize
themselves. It's not -- and if your working-class
ancestors could see those of you who believe it is,
they'd consider you the worst sort of sucker. That's
the clearest cultural thread in the film -- no one
will accept any responsibility or need to change
anything.
Its most persistent theme is not Michael Moore, seeker
of truth, grilling the powerful -- it's simply asking
tough questions -- thinking out loud -- and providing
tough answers for them. And admitting they're
uncertain answers at best.
Those who hate the South Park crew may have to rein
themselves in a bit on this one. Not only was Moore's
interview with Trey Parker, Columbine alumnus not that
many years ago, almost perfect "They tell you all the
time in school ... if you're a failure here, you'll
always be a loser -- it's the dead opposite. The ones
who do great now will be working the rest of their
lives selling insurance in that same little town ..."
but the (positive) highlight of the movie is a South
Parkian jab at everything right-wing, and guns above
all, that must surely have been produced by Matt and
Trey. The only person in the film who bashed Clinton
was in fact Marilyn Manson.
The true highlight is unfortunately the live footage
of the Columbine shooting -- and I almost regret
trivializing the term "rabbit-scared" having seen the
real thing happening.
It's engaging enough I was surprised how much time had
vanished when it ended. It is hilarious, it's
frightening, it's thought provoking, and it's very
touching.
I also want to state I found it an eminently fair
movie. Charlton Heston *shouldn't* have rubbed
people's noses in their tragedies in Flint and
Columbine by deliberately holding rallies there
immediately. Dick Clark *should* at least listen to
someone tell him how his Dick Clark's Bandstand
restaurant money is obtained by destructive
welfare-to-work peonage. He owes us all that much,
basically.
Anything heavy-handed in the movie is always preceded
by some claim made that his heavy-handed point is
refuting, and Moore provides the real thing here --
solid thinking, incontrovertible facts. Starting with
"Isn't it kind of dangerous to be giving out rifles in
a bank??"
If only "Stupid White Men" had had half the attention
and care that went into Bowling for Columbine ... it
wouldn't have sold a single copy.
~~ Marion Delgado
Thanks, Marion!
Reader Comment
re: Tits On Men
Barbara N. wrote to you: "When men had on t-shirts you could see the nipple but not a bulge. Now a days you see a bulge and the nipple."
If the men Barbara is looking at don't have fat middles, then she may well be seeing pectoral muscles, not tits. More men lift weights or engage in other forms of exercise that result in noticable pectoral muscles than used to be the case.
~ David Dvorkin
Thanks, David. So, that's what 'pecs' are...LOL...but, then I come from a family where the men are stout, with furry backs & the women are pear-shaped, flat-chested & grow the better moustache ; )
(Check out David's next novel - PIT PLANET)
Renewed for 2 Seasons
'The Simpsons'
Perpetual 10-year-old Bart, his clueless dad Homer and the rest of the Simpsons clan are about to go into TV history as stars of the longest-running sitcom ever.
Fox announced a deal Friday to renew the cartoon for two more seasons, taking it at least through May 2005 — its 16th year. That will push "The Simpsons" past "The
Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet," which aired on ABC from 1952 to 1966, as the all-time longest-running situation comedy.
"The Simpsons" premiered as a series on Dec. 17, 1989, after the animated characters were first introduced in a series of vignettes on Fox's "The Tracey Ullman Show" in 1988.
This Sunday, Homer and the gang poke fun at a different Ozzy in an episode that has the Simpsons family participating in a reality TV show.
"The Simpsons" has to beat "Gunsmoke," on CBS from 1955 to 1975, to become the longest-running scripted show ever in prime time.
The record for the longest-running prime-time show of any kind seems safe. It's "60 Minutes," which went on the air in 1968 and is still ticking.
'The Simpsons'
Thanks, Alex!
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Another too warm-for-the-season kind of day, with hot winds & little humidity.
Did the grocery run & also picked up fresh crickets for Jo (the remaining) lizard. Love the sub-text sounds that the crickets provide.
Still having a 'conversation' with the good folks at Yahoo. Only time will tell how 'good'.
Tonight, Saturday, CBS opens the evening with a RERUN 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', followed by a fresh 'The District', and a fresh 'The Agency'.
NBC has nothing fresh in prime time - RERUN 'Law & Order', RERUN 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', and a RERUN 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
'SNL' is fresh, with Ray Liotta hosting, and The Donnas as musical guest.
ABC offers tape-delayed ice figure skating.
The WB is pre-empted here for basketball - the (Sacto) Kings meet up with the Clips.
Faux opens the night with a fresh 'Cops', then a RERUN 'Cops', followed by 'America's Most Wanted'.
UPN has the movie 'Ski School'.
MTV offers 2 hours of 'The Osbournes' at 8pm (est).
The Travel Channel has an all nighter of inside Las Vegas stuff.
TCM celebrates Alfred Hitchcock with 'Spellbound', 'Notorious', 'Marnie', and 'Dial M For Murder'. For more details, go to the Internet Movie Data Base, and on the left side, type in the movie's name, click the drop-down box on 'titles', and hit 'go'.
HBO has the Rolling Stones live at 9pm, est
RERUN
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
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Live Concert On HBO TONIGHT
Rolling Stones
Rock's elder statesmen, The Rolling Stones, will perform live on cable television for the first time on Saturday.
Their sold-out show from New York's Madison Square Garden airs on HBO at 9 p.m. EST.
The group that likes to call itself "the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world" has taped performances on previous tours that eventually made it to television, and several shows through the years
were filmed for theatrical release. But the HBO show is being billed as the Stones' first "live" concert to air on cable or broadcast TV.
At last night's Garden show, Jagger said HBO cameramen and technicians were doing a dry run for Saturday and that the equipment was "not for a home video."
Following Saturday's show, the Stones will play another nine U.S. dates before beginning a two-month swing through Australia and Asia on February 18 in Sydney. A summer tour through Europe is scheduled to start on June 4 in Munich.
Rolling Stones
Called Off
Mandela AIDS Concert
Organizers called off an HIV/AIDS benefit concert that Nelson Mandela was due to host on Robben Island next month, saying on Friday they had not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement with its proposed producers.
The former South African president, who spent 18 years in prison on Robben Island under apartheid, had been due to host the concert on February 2.
Artists like U2's Bono, Macy Gray and Shaggy had been expected to take part in the concert within the walls of the island jail, which is now a World Heritage Site.
John Samuel, chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said the decision not to proceed with the concert was taken to avoid any embarrassment that could have been caused if promises were not met in the time available.
The concert was to have been televised globally with all funds raised going to the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the U.N. agency UNAIDS and Robben Island Museum.
Mandela AIDS Concert
Awarded Canada's Top Honor
Leonard Cohen & David Cronenberg
Leonard Cohen, the smoky-voiced singer, songwriter, poet, novelist and Zen monk whose songs have been recorded by the music industry's elite, was awarded Canada's highest civilian honor on Friday for achievement in the arts and pop culture.
Cohen, 68, joins such other companions of the order as film director Norman Jewison, jazz piano great Oscar Peterson, actor Christopher Plummer and former Prime Ministers Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney. He been an officer of the order,
the second-highest of three tiers of membership, since 1991.
Known for such songs as "Suzanne," "Tower of Song" and "First We Take Manhattan," his musical and written work has explored longing, loss, sexual desire and what he once called the search for "a kind of balance in the chaos of existence."
Among others honored on Friday, Donald Carty, chief executive of American Airlines, and David Cronenberg, director of such horror films as "The Fly" and "Dead Ringers," were named Officers of the Order of Canada.
In December, the national honor was hit by controversy when native elder and Order of Canada member David Ahenakew publicly praised Adolf Hitler for the Holocaust. He later apologized for the comments, but groups
including the Canadian Jewish Congress have demanded he be stripped of the award.
Leonard Cohen & David Cronenberg
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Not a Fan of Reality TV
Spike Lee
Spike Lee says he isn't a fan of reality TV shows that create the illusion that success is the result of luck rather than hard work.
"They trick people into thinking (they don't need) to do their homework or woodshedding," the filmmaker said Wednesday at the opening of Penn State-Behrend's monthlong Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.
"If people believe that, they're crazy."
Spike Lee
Penn State-Behrend Web site
NBC Signs Two-Year Deal
'West Wing'
"The West Wing" will serve two more seasons but it's definitely curtains for "Friends" after next season, NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker said Friday.
"Yes, 'Friends' will be back next year. And yes, that will be the final season. ... The door is not open after that," Zucker told the Television Critics Association.
"The West Wing" was picked up for two more years with the possibility of a third season, Zucker said. He declined to discuss how much NBC is paying Warner Bros. Television for it, but reports have pegged the price at
$5 million to $7 million per episode.
While Zucker called "The West Wing" the "best show on television," the show's creators contended last fall that NBC was giving the drama some rough treatment — including fewer on-air promotional spots — in anticipation of contract talks.
A total of 18 episodes of "Friends," including an hourlong finale, will air during the 2003-04 season. That's six fewer than this year's 24 episodes.
'West Wing'
A member of the Chinese Circus balances candles as she performs during her 'Zensantion' number in Palma de Mallorca, late January 16, 2003. The 2,000-year-old Chinese Circus will perform in the
Spanish Balearic island until May in its first ever tour around Spain.
Photo by Dani Cardona
The Many Benefits of Radio Consolidation
Suit Settled
A woman who sued after a radio station disc jockey
posing as a doctor told her on the air that she might have a potentially
life-threatening sexually transmitted disease has settled the lawsuit she
filed against him and the station's parent company.
Adrienne Breidigan's father, James, confirmed his daughter had finalized the
$100,000 settlement with disc jockey Bruce "Bruce Da Moose" Perry and Clear
Channel Broadcasting, owners of Fort Myers' WBTT, on Jan. 10. Specifics of
the agreement were confidential.
Attorneys for Clear Channel declined to comment Thursday on the settlement
or to say whether the station admitted wrongdoing.
A friend of Breidigan had set up the prank by providing Perry with some
personal information and Breidigan's cellular telephone number.
For more details, Suit Settled
Thanks, Mr. 2E!
Too Patriotic?
Mark Harris
Mark Harris, the flamboyantly gay widower of the late Martha Raye, has transformed Raye's Bel Air mansion into a red, white and blue eyesore. Among the over-the-top accoutrements: 111 American flags, murals of
resident Bush, Lady Liberty and Bald Eagles, accompanied by piped-in patriotic music. While neighbors like Alan Alda are likely less than pleased, some visitors give the spectacle a thumbs-up. Kitsch-crazy New
York playwright Larry Myers declares it an "eye-popping, jaw-dropping star-spangled shrine to our beloved 'Big Mouth' that almost equates the enormity of our humanity."
Mark Harris
Sophistry In Action
FCC
Four of the five FCC commissioners said Thursday they're stumped, frustrated and downright scared courts will toss out key restrictions on media ownership -- unless they're handed hard data showing the regulations protect the public interest.
It's a complex case to make, which is why the Federal Communications Commission recently published 12 studies to get the ball rolling. But facts on just how consolidation has impacted the media business can be
controversial and contradictory. The commissioners seemed hungry for something definitive to help them take a stand, before the courts and before consumers.
"The rule falls unless otherwise justified. The court said we want empirical justification for the rules or we'll eliminate it," FCC chairman Michael Powell said ominously during a forum on FCC Media Ownership Rules
hosted by Columbia University Law School. He and fellow commissioners Michael Copps, Jonathan Adelstein and Kevin Martin asked the participants for guidance.
Powell himself had said he didn't believe in public hearings, but he was apparently pressured into attending this one. The slowly germinating public interest in the issues may not change the outcome. But it is
likely to slow the review process and quiet accusations of back room dealings between the FCC and the powerful interests it regulates.
FCC
$o, we, the citizen$, mu$t prove a negative, bereft of a lobbying group, deep pocket$, or even a collective voice, ver$u$ all the 'advantage$' of Clear Channel, Di$ney, Viacom, Faux, AOL/Time/Warner & GE, acting a$ a collective unit? We are $o $crewed.
Signs News Deal
BBC
Al-Jazeera, the Arab satellite television channel that has broadcast statements from Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network, has extended its reach into the West after signing an agreement with Britain's BBC.
A spokesman for the state-owned British broadcaster, said the deal granted both stations reciprocal access to news material.
Independent al-Jazeera -- based in the tiny Gulf Arab state of Qatar -- began broadcasting in 1996, bringing scrutiny to governments in the Middle East where many of the region's news outlets are under some form of official control.
Last month, the Arab channel announced it would launch an English-language Web Site in February.
BBC
Returns To Grand Ole Opry
Andy Griffith
The way Andy Griffith sees it, his career has come full circle.
After a failed attempt as a professional singer, he went on to create two of television's most memorable characters in Sheriff Andy Taylor and lawyer Ben Matlock.
Now, at 76, Griffith is receiving recognition for his singing. He recorded two gospel albums in the 1990s - one of which, "I Love to Tell the Story," won a Grammy in 1997 — and he is recording a Christmas album for release later this year.
He will perform Saturday at the Grand Ole Opry, sharing the stage with songwriter Marty Stuart for a mix of story and song.
The show, televised at 8 p.m. EST on cable's Country Music Television, isn't Griffith's first at the Opry. He performed there in the 1950s and as recently as 1999 with bluegrass great Earl Scruggs, but mainly as a comedian rather than a singer.
For the rest - Andy Griffith
www.opry.com
Not Really A Sarcasm Queen
Janeane Garofalo
Her characters on screen might be edgy and her stand-up comedy might be a little abrasive, but Janeane Garofalo says her personality differs from that of the s she usually portrays.
"I think people confuse me with Daria sometimes. I'm not Daria," the 38-year-old actress and comedian said in a phone interview Thursday before her show at Northwestern.
"I'm actually not a chain-smoking, cynical, bitter person," she said. "I definitely am a person who is a pragmatist, and I definitely am a person who questions the status quo. I think people mistake or confuse cynicism with questioning the status quo."
For the rest - Janeane Garofalo
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Time For A National Spelling Bee
'Unreasonable Women Baring Witness'
Donna Sheehan wants to stop what she believes is the U.S. military's naked aggression in Iraq by taking off her clothes and getting women across the world to do the same.
The 72-year-old California artist has recruited her friends and neighbors to use their nude bodies to spell out the words "No War" and "Peace" in protests that are drawing attention and spurring women worldwide to bare all in the name of peace.
"We are doing this from the heart and from a feeling of desperation," Sheehan said. "It is a wonderful, physical way of creating a powerful statement."
Sheehan said she receives about 25 e-mails a day from people who are interested in shedding their clothes like the Northern California women who plan a "major" protest action at an anti-war rally in San Francisco on Saturday.
"We are calling it a national spelling bee and there are actions popping up just like crop circles, mysterious here and there," Sheehan said.
'Unreasonable Women Baring Witness'
Model Carmen Electra performs with The Pussycat Dolls during a party hosted by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati, celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Golden Globes, in Los Angeles January 16, 2003. The Golden Globe Awards will be presented in Los Angeles on January 19.
Photo by Adrees Latif
Starring in Dr Pepper Ad
Jam Master Jay
The murdered hip-hop DJ Jam Master Jay was known for his trademark shell-toe Adidas sneakers, but in death he will serve as a pitchman for Dr Pepper soda, with a new commercial scheduled to debut this weekend.
Dr Pepper/Seven Up Inc., part of London-based food and drinks company Cadbury Schweppes Plc, created the spot -- in which LL Cool J pays tribute to the Jam Master Jay and the other members of the pioneering hip-hop group Run-DMC -- before the DJ's October 2002 shooting death.
The surviving Run-DMC members, Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, appear in the ad with Jam Master Jay, whose real name was Jason Mizell. The ad closes with a message in memory of Mizell that was added later.
Run-DMC was perhaps the first rap group to sign a marketing deal. After the group wrote the song "My Adidas" in honor of their preferred footwear, Joseph Simmons' brother Russell, founder of Def Jam Records, approached the shoe company and convinced its
executives to sponsor the group's 1987 tour, at a time when rap was seen as a passing fad at best.
Jam Master Jay
Doing Triple Duty
'Kingpin'
NBC's new drug cartel drama "Kingpin" will be pulling triple duty, airing in Spanish on Telemundo and in a racier version on the Bravo cable channel.
NBC, which owns Telemundo and Bravo, is labeling the Bravo incarnation a "director's cut," which usually refers to a film version that is more faithful to a director's vision.
"Kingpin" on cable will include new footage and more profanity and sexuality than the network series, NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker told the Television Critics Association on Friday.
The drama debuts with six episodes on NBC airing at 10 p.m. EST on Sundays and Tuesdays starting Feb. 2. It will include a Spanish-language track available through Secondary Audio Function, or SAP.
The Spanish-language version on Telemundo and the Bravo edition will show in March. Specific dates were not announced.
NBC has been seen as searching for a "Sopranos"-type series since a 2001 memo from NBC Chairman Bob Wright to NBC executives in which Wright wondered why "The Sopranos" was such a hit.
'Kingpin'
To Focus on Michael Jackson's Face
'Dateline'
NBC News is ready to give singer Michael Jackson his prime-time close-up, novel nose and all, but the self-proclaimed King of Pop is not happy about it.
A special edition of NBC's news magazine "Dateline" next month will focus on Jackson's face and how the reclusive singer's appearance has dramatically changed over the years along with the highs and lows of his career, network executives said on Friday.
Promotional material released on Friday for NBC's winter showcase of upcoming programs described the "Dateline" special, titled "Michael Jackson Unmasked," as the "inside story" of the performer "as told by some of the people who knew him best."
But comments from network executives made it clear the "Dateline" segment, slated to air during ratings "sweeps" on Feb. 17, would spotlight the Gloved One's looks.
An NBC News publicist later told Reuters the "Dateline" special would trace "the rise and fall of Michael Jackson using the transformation of his looks as a metaphor for his career." She said the segment would include an interview with
a plastic surgeon who treated Jackson.
'Dateline'
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Chairwoman of New Mexico Film Board
Shirley MacLaine
Actress Shirley MacLaine has been named chairwoman of the newly created New Mexico Film Advisory Board.
The 68-year-old actress, who has lived in the southwestern state for about a dozen years, has a home near Abiquiu, north of Santa Fe.
Gov. Bill Richardson, who announced the appointment Thursday, called MacLaine "truly one of New Mexico's most valuable assets."
MacLaine would head a board that would advise him and the state's film office on efforts to attract more productions to the state.
Shirley MacLaine
An X-ray shows a front view of a clamp left inside the belly of a 59-year old male patient after surgery in this undated handout photo. The clamp was removed without incident. Surgical teams accidentally leave clamps, sponges and other tools inside about 1,500 patients nationwide each year, according to a study done by researchers at Brigham and Womens Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health, both in Boston, Mass. The study is published in the Thursday, Jan. 16, 2003 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Released From Jail
Lou Rawls
Entertainer Lou Rawls posted bail and was released from jail after he was arrested and booked on one count of battery on a household member, police said.
Police from Albuquerque's international airport were called to a hotel near the airport around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, said Marshall Katz, aviation police chief.
Rawls' companion, Nina Inman, told officers she and Rawls had been talking about their relationship when the conversation escalated into a shoving match, police said.
Officers arrested Rawls and booked him into the Bernalillo County Detention Center on one count of battery on a household member.
The 67-year-old singer was in Albuquerque to perform two concerts at Isleta Pueblo's casino south of the city. Representatives in the casino's marketing department said the concerts
Thursday night and Friday night were to go on as scheduled.
Lou Rawls
Nominated for Canadian Hall of Fame
Pete Rose
Pete Rose, barred from entry into National Baseball Hall of Fame for gambling, was among the 46 names nominated for enshrinement into the Canadian Hall, officials confirmed on Friday.
Baseball's all-time hit leader is joined on the list of nominees by less controversial figures, including Toronto Blue Bays' World Series homerun hero Joe Carter, California Angels Kirk McCaskill
and managers Tommy Lasorda of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers Sparky Anderson.
The Canadian Hall's 16-member selection committee will meet on February 15 to decide on the Class of 2003. Inductees into the Hall, located in St Marys, Ontario, will be announced on February 24.
"I'm thrilled," said Rose, in a statement issued by the Canadian Hall of Fame. "Any sincere acknowledgement of my accomplishments, I'm all for it.
Rose is eligible for entry into the Canadian Hall because 72 of his record 4,256 hits, including number 4,000, came while wearing a Montreal Expos uniform.
He spent a half season with the Canadian club in 1984, appearing in 95 games before moving to the Cincinnati Reds as a manager/player.
Pete Rose
Annual Circus Festival
Monaco
Clowns, jugglers, acrobats and lion tamers invaded Monaco this week to compete in its annual circus festival, which gathers the world's best big-top performers.
Members of the Mediterranean principality's royal family attended Thursday's opening night, including Princess Stephanie, who two years ago caused a scandal when she left her royal dwellings with her children to move
into a caravan with an elephant tamer.
Some 28 acts from countries such as Russia, the United States, Italy and Britain will compete for the coveted golden clown award at the 27th International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo, a high point of Monaco's glamorous social calendar.
The ruling Grimaldi family are avid circus fans, even though Princess Stephanie is no longer with the elephant tamer.
Monaco
Gets 8 Days
Bobby Brown
Singer Bobby Brown was sentenced to eight days in jail and ordered not to drive for a year after pleading guilty Friday to a 1996 drunken driving charge in DeKalb County.
State Court Judge Wayne M. Purdom also ordered Brown to perform 240 hours of community service, pay $2,000 in fines and $800 in court costs and get counseling. He will be on probation for two years.
The judge had issued a warrant for Brown's arrest this week because the singer left Georgia in violation of his bond to perform at the American Music Awards Monday in Los Angeles.
"Mr. Brown, you can't know from your position how tempting it is in this case to just throw the book at you," Purdom said Friday.
Brown was taken into custody immediately. As he was escorted from the courtroom, he said, "It's over."
Bobby Brown
100 Years Ago Today
Guglielmo Marconi
One hundred years ago on Saturday, a young Italian inventor named Guglielmo Marconi stood on a sandy bluff on Cape Cod and sent a 54-word greeting from President Theodore Roosevelt across the ocean to England's King Edward VII.
A few hours later, the king responded, completing a dialogue that at the time seemed like pure magic.
Marconi had launched the era of global wireless communications.
To mark the centennial, members of the club have been staging a weeklong radio marathon, communicating with other amateur radio enthusiasts around the world from an old Coast Guard
post not far from the site of Marconi's original radio station. Working around the clock, the radio hams expect to log more than 10,000 transmissions by week's end.
The event culminates Saturday night with the worldwide transmission of a message from resident Bush. Marconi's daughter, Princess Elettra Marconi, will be on the Cape, while her son,
also named Guglielmo Marconi, will be at the family's ancestral home in Bologna, Italy, to receive the message from his mother.
Marconi, who was 28 at the time of the breakthrough, "had everybody against him," says the princess, who is in her early 70s and gained her title by marrying an Italian nobleman. "He
was so young and all the big scientists, like Edison, were saying it wasn't possible. He had the intuition. He knew he could succeed. And he succeeded."
For more, Guglielmo Marconi
Write Your Own Caption
'The Osbournes'
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