Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Afflicting the Afflicted (nytimes.com)
Since Republicans didn't bother making much of a case at Thursday's White House meeting, Democrats may have the last laugh by finishing the job and enacting health reform.
roger ebert's journal: The gathering storm
Sometimes in the noise of the news there will be a single item that pops out with clarity. That happened when I heard about Tracy, California, which is charging $300 every time the fire department answers an emergency call that doesn't involve a fire.
Garrison Keillor: It's Just a Matter of (Free) Time (Tribune Media Services)
If you wake up in the morning with the blues because people treat you mean, you could sing a song about it, or you could shop around for an enormous conspiracy that has denied you your constitutional right to liberty and happiness -- and how about Central Standard Time? What gives the feds the right to set your clock for you? It's tyranny.
Garrison Keillor: Unreality Is the Current Reality (Tribune Media Services)
Ever since that night in June when we filed onto the football field in our mortarboards and gowns and the distinguished speaker (what was his name?) informed us that we were entering a time of rapid and unparalleled change, we've been waiting and hoping, but ...
Mark Morford: Oh we are cynical, oh we are hopeful (sfgate.com)
What sort of species is this? What are we made of, really?
Here is what you already know: We are preternaturally jaded and fearful, burned-out to the core. We are ever at the mercy of our myriad dreams of destruction and death, ravaging us like salivating demonhounds in the night. And not in the good way.
Richard Roeper: Surely, she jests: Palin stretches satire (suntimes.com)
In Ben Stiller's brutally funny Hollywood spoof "Tropic Thunder," Robert Downey Jr. plays the talented and insanely pompous method actor Kirk Lazarus, who explains to Stiller's Tugg Speedman why Tugg didn't win the Oscar for playing a mentally challenged man in a movie called "Simple Jack."
Ted Rall: SAY IT'S SO, TIGER
In Defense of Tiger Woods and Good Fun Sex.
BOB HERBERT: Falling Further Behind (nytimes.com)
Ignoring the sad state of our nation's schools and infrastructure will hurt us.
Interview by Laura Barnett: "Portrait of the artist: Martin Creed, artist" (guardian.co.uk)
'When I was up for the Turner, people talked about me in terms of the emperor's new clothes. I could see their point.'
Henry Moore: Smooth operator (guardian.co.uk)
Curvy, feminine, ubiquitous - Henry Moore's work has become part of the British landscape. Adrian Searle discovers the artist's darker side in a new show.
Ben Hoyle: Qi Baishi is only just behind Picasso in art sales ranking (timesonline.co.uk)
In 2007, Qi Baishi's 'Peaches and Fire Crackers' (1952) sold at Sotheby's in Hong Kong for £850,000
Judith Mackrell on musicality in dancing (guardian.co.uk)
Lessons from a hip-hop dance maestro.
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The '1st Ever BadtotheboneBob Oscar Award Contest' Edition...
With a Prize! That's right, Poll-fans! A Prize! You like prizes, dontcha? I know I do!
I emptied my little change jar and I came up with $27.54 that I will gladly, gladly I say, donate to yer favorite charity. If that's you, OK, that's cool. If it's Marty and the page, so much the better, eh? All ya gotta do is correctly pick the winners of these Oscar categories... The closest one wins The Prize!... Ready? Set... Go !!!
Best Picture
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Directing
...
Oscar night is Sunday, March 7th. Cut off for entries will be 8PM EST Saturday March 6th and will be posted Sunday morning. The winner will posted Tuesday, March 9th with a new question.
Oh, ties will be resolved in a scientific manner involving my toddler grand-daughter, 'Maddie Muffin' and will be explained with the posted predictions... Good Luck!
BadtotheboneBob
Send your response to
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From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Comment
Snow
Hi Marty
I've been bellyaching all day on Facebook about my snow, and finally, MAM sent this to me. I about wet my pants after reading it - so on the money!
SP :)
Thanks, Sally!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly cloudy - more rain by morning.
Chad Polio Campaign
Mia Farrow
US actress and UNICEF envoy Mia Farrow was due to arrive in Chad this weekend to highlight the importance of vaccinating children against polio ahead of a national immunisation campaign, the UN Children's Fund said.
The 64-year-old actress, who suffered polio in her youth, will spend a week meeting Chadian officials and travelling with polio teams involved in the campaign in her capacity as UNICEF's goodwill ambassador, the organisation said in a statement Friday.
Chad's national campaign is part of a larger vaccination effort encompassing 19 west and central African nations.
Chad was struck by a polio epidemic between 2004-2006, and continues to register cases regularly despite a 2008 vaccination campaign targeting more than 1.3 million children.
Mia Farrow
PSA For The Trevor Project
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe is explaining why he has just filmed a public service announcement for The Trevor Project, the leading organization focusing on suicide prevention efforts among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth.
Because his parents were both actors, "I grew up knowing a lot of gay men and it was never something that I even thought twice about - that some men were gay and some weren't," the "Harry Potter" megastar said Friday. "And then I went to school and (for) the first time ... I came across homophobia. ... I had never encountered it before. It shocked me.
"I have always hated anybody who is not tolerant of gay men or lesbians or bisexuals," he added. "Now I am in the very fortunate position where I can actually help or do something about it."
Radcliffe first became aware of The Trevor Project, founded in 1998 by three filmmakers, while he was appearing on Broadway in the 2008 revival of "Equus." Their movie, "Trevor," which won an Academy Award for best short film, concerned a gay teen who attempts suicide. The Trevor Project allows young people to call in for counseling or just to talk.
Daniel Radcliffe
Asked About Olympic Site Pay-TV Link
NBC
The top senator on antitrust matters has written to NBC to express concern that some of its Internet coverage of the Winter Olympics is limited to pay television subscribers.
Senator Herb Kohl's letter said sports fans who want to see some of the Olympic coverage on the site NBCOlympics.com must first register with the site after validating a subscription with "your cable, satellite or IPTV provider."
"I fear that this practice of locking up certain content only for pay-TV subscribers may be a preview of what is to come with respect to TV programing shown on the Internet, particularly in the context of the proposed Comcast/NBC Universal merger," Kohl wrote in a letter to NBC President Jeff Zucker.
Kohl, a Democrat from Wisconsin, chairs the antitrust subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
NBC
"You're So Vain" NOT About David Geffen
Carly Simon
For the past 24 hours or so, the Internet has been (somewhat) abuzz that Carly Simon was finally going to reveal who her 1972 hit single "You're So Vain" was written about. Britain's Sun newspaper -- hardly the most reliable source on the best of days -- claimed on Friday that the song's about David Geffen, and a gullible Internet dutifully reported that as fact.
Unfortunately, it's not true.
The "big reveal" -- that on a re-recorded version of the song by Simon out next week, on which she whispers "David" -- hardly slams the door on the case closed to begin with. But, acting in part on a rumor that bounced around the Net last November, the papers decided the only possible David would be Geffen, today part of the DreamWorks conglomerate and then head of Simon's label, Elektra.
The problem with this reasoning is that Geffen had nothing to do with Simon's label at that time, and became Elektra's head only after it merged with his Asylum label several months after the song came out.
In addition....Carly Simon
Street on Cape Cod Renamed
Patti Page
Patti Page sang about the "sand dunes and salty air" of Cape Cod in a song recorded more than 50 years ago. Now she's being honored with her own road on the Massachusetts vacation haven.
The town of Barnstable and the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce unveiled Patti Page Way on Friday.
The 82-year-old Page, who attended the dedication ceremony, said that many years ago, a Cape Cod street was named after her for a day. She said it was "mind-boggling" that her name is now on a permanent street sign.
Page had never been to the Cape when she recorded "Old Cape Cod," released in 1957, but she's visited many times since to perform and for vacations. She's staying for a few days on this trip, for book signings and the "lobster stew" and "church bells chimin' on a Sunday morn" mentioned in the song.
Patti Page
Souring Some?
Gift Suites
Gifting goes into high gear during award season in Hollywood, where "gift" is a verb and swag suites are as common as open bars and black-tie parties.
The way it works is rich-and-famous folks load up on free stuff they could easily afford. In return, they pose for photos with the products they receive and companies use those pictures to promote their brands.
However, the notion of gift suites could be souring. As gifting has become more popular and more public, top stars rarely show up anymore. It would be tacky, especially in this economy, for a Tom Cruise-caliber celeb to be photographed carrying a big bag of free loot.
Now, gifting firms send swanky gift bags directly to the stars' homes so they can enjoy their swag in private. "For the A-list stars, the gifts come to them," says marketing expert Jordan McAuley, author of "Celebrity Leverage."
Gift Suites
2 Huge Icebergs Let Loose
Antarctica
A massive iceberg struck Antarctica, dislodging another giant block of ice from a glacier, Australian and French scientists said Friday.
The two icebergs are drifting together about 62 to 93 miles (100 to 150 kilometers) off eastern Antarctica following the collision on Feb. 12 or 13, said Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist Neal Young.
The new iceberg is 48 miles (78 kilometers) long and about 24 miles (39 kilometers) wide and holds roughly the equivalent of a fifth of the world's annual total water usage, Young told The Associated Press.
The iceberg that hit the Mertz Glacier is called B9B and had broken free from another part of Antarctica in 1987. It has been nuzzling and shifting alongside the Mertz for about 18 years before this month's dislodging, said Benoit Legresy, a researcher with the LEGOS laboratory for geophysical studies in Toulouse, France.
Antarctica
Avoids Jail In Royalty Dispute
Anita Baker
Anita Baker and her attorneys have worked out an agreement that will help determine how much the Grammy-winning singer's ex-husband is owed in music royalties as part of a divorce settlement.
Baker was ordered to a Detroit court Friday after the 52-year-old R&B singer missed a deadline Wednesday to sign related documents and declined again to sign them Thursday. The judge threatened to jail Baker if she didn't sign the papers.
The documents empower a court-appointed expert to seek information from the record companies on how much Walter Bridgforth is owed.
After going behind closed doors, Baker and lawyers from both sides emerged Friday afternoon to inform Wayne County Chief Family Court Judge Lita Masini Popke that they had reached a deal.
Anita Baker
Settles Lawsuit
Prince
Lawyers for U.S. pop singer Prince agreed Friday to pay substantial damages for his unexplained cancellation of a 2008 concert in Ireland's largest stadium.
Prince, 51, did not appear during the four-day hearing in Dublin High Court.
But evidence presented by Dublin concert promoters MCD Productions Ltd. - which sued Prince for (EURO)1.7 million ($2.3 million) alleging breach of contract - demonstrated he had committed to perform in the 82,300-seat Croke Park in June 2008, only to withdraw without explanation 10 days beforehand after 55,000 tickets were sold.
Lawyers for both sides announced an out-of-court settlement Friday. Neither side disclosed the figures involved.
Prince
Files Restraining Order
Sara Evans
Country music singer Sara Evans has filed a temporary restraining order against her ex-husband, Craig Schelske.
She obtained the restraining order Wednesday in Williamson County, Tenn.
Documents say Schelske is not allowed to make any derogatory statements about Evans to the media or make allegations about what led to their divorce in the fall of 2007.
A court hearing has been set for March 15.
Sara Evans
Leads Money Makers List
U2
If money makes the world go round, then U2's latest tour, which is dubbed "360 Degrees," proves this saying true.
The veteran act leads Billboard's 2010 Money Makers list, earning more than $108 million in 2009.
Bruce Springsteen is second with $57 million and Madonna follows with $47 million. AC/DC and Britney Spears round out the top 5 with $43 and $38 million, respectively.
Billboard compiles the list from monies earned through tours, CD and digital sales, publishing royalties and more.
U2
Pieces Reunited
Biblical Manuscript
Two parts of an ancient biblical manuscript separated across centuries and continents were reunited for the first time in a joint display Friday, thanks to an accidental discovery that is helping illuminate a dark period in the history of the Hebrew Bible.
The 1,300-year-old fragments, which are among only a handful of Hebrew biblical manuscripts known to have survived the era in which they were written, existed separately and with their relationship unknown, until a news photograph of one's public unveiling in 2007 caught the attention of the scholars who would eventually link them.
Together, they make up the text of the Song of the Sea, sung by jubilant Israelites after fleeing slavery in Egypt and witnessing the destruction of the pharaoh's armies in the Red Sea.
"The enemy said: 'I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My lust shall be satisfied upon them, I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them,'" reads the song, which appears in the Book of Exodus. "Thou didst blow thy wind, the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters."
Biblical Manuscript
Sets Record
Petra Diamonds
Petra Diamonds sold a 507-carat diamond for $35.3 million on Friday, breaking a record as the highest price ever paid for a rough diamond.
Analysts had estimated the value of the stone, one of the 20 biggest high-quality rough diamonds, at around $25 million.
AIM-listed Petra found the gem last September at its 74 percent owned Cullinan mine in South Africa, which it bought from sector giant De Beers in 2007.
The Cullinan mine has been the source of many large diamonds, including the world's largest rough diamond -- the Cullinan -- at 3,106 carats. That gem was cut into the Star of Africa stones that are now set in Britain's Crown Jewels.
Petra Diamonds
In Memory
Séverin Blanchet
Séverin Blanchet, a French documentary filmmaker who was training young Afghans, died Friday during an attack by insurgents in a hotel for foreigners in Kabul where he was staying. He was 66.
The French Foreign Ministry and the Ateliers Varan, a French film school with which Blanchet was affiliated, both offered condolences.
Blanchet had been in Afghanistan since 2006 organizing classes in documentary film-making for young, aspiring Afghan filmmakers.
Blanchet had made about a dozen of his own documentary films and created film-making courses in many countries. He had a special interest for Papua New Guinea, the Ateliers Varan said in a statement posted on its Web site.
He also appeared in films on occasion and had a role in the 2006 movie "Jardins en automne " (Gardens in Autumn) by the well-known Georgian director Otar Iosselani, who lives in France.
Funeral plans were not known, and there was no immediate information available about survivors.
Séverin Blanchet
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