'Best of TBH Politoons'
Reader Comment
Re: Poseidon
Marty;
Please tell Megan how much I enjoyed reading her recap of Poseidon. What a hoot!
Now, I actually enjoyed Poseidon (and hated Titanic) so I guess I'm dead to Megan, but I think she did a masterful recap of Poseidon and have recommended it highly to several friends who have also seen the movie.
Linda >^..^<
Thanks, Linda!
Megan said it was her first attempt - I'm looking forward to the second!
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
James Reston Jr.: The 'American Inquisition' (usatoday.com)
It is time to ask whether the United States, with some of these same touchstones, is entering a period of its own peculiar Inquisition. Of course, there are no burning places for heretics in America now. No Tomás de Torquemada presides over this period of internal anxiety and investigation.
Greg Palast: 'Big Brother Inc. tries to fool Randi Rhodes - and that's not nice' (Greg Palast.com; Posted on smirkingchimp.com)
I smell mendacity! The sticky-sweet Atlanta drawl of the PR flack for America's private KGB was dancing in rhetorical circles with Randi Rhodes, Air American, broadcast yesterday.. Unfortunately for the Bush-friendly Spies-R-Us contractor, Randi also has a keen nose for the telltale scent of pure bullshit.
Catherine Bennett: Why dispatch boy-soldiers to be blown up in Iraq when we could send older men in the grip of midlife crisis? (guardian.co.uk)
The death of Private Adam Morris, who was 19 years old and, according to the army, one of its most promising young soldiers, brings to eight the number of British teenagers who have died in Iraq.
Matthew Price: A Review of "Doing Nothing A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America"
For the most part, slacking is a paradoxical, utopian state of mind, wished for but never achieved. In the first place, if you don't have a private income (or parental dole), "doing nothing" isn't really an option. Just who is going to pay for the "good life"? ... For the vast majority, work is a necessity - sometimes a grim one but not always. There are plenty of folks who take pride in what they do - yes, even the manager of the local McDonald's. Work gives life meaning and structure (which isn't to justify the nickel-and-diming of low-wage America, either). In the final analysis, doing nothing is pretty boring. The lure of the seaside hammock calls, but frankly the rest of us have to get back to work.
ROGER EBERT: Cannes #2: Meat the press
CANNES, France - In one of the bravest acts of courage I have performed in the exercise of my duties at the Cannes festival, I went out to dinner Thursday night. The company was exhilarating and the food was superb, but let me tell you about two movies I saw before dinner. Both were official selections. "Fast Food Nation" is about how meat arrives in franchise burgers, and what might be in it besides meat. "Taxidermia" is about a man who invents a machine that eviscerates and stuffs its occupant, stitches up the incisions, and chops off his head and one arm.
Reihan Salam: Masturbation and Solitude (slate.com)
Can an Adam Sandler production save men from this awful fate?
Geoffrey Macnab: Carry on flogging a dead horse (guardian.co.uk)
"What are you working on now?" Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas (the team behind the series) used to be asked by their colleagues at Pinewood Studios. "Same film, different title," was their invariable response.
Meg Cabot: A Sneak Peak at "Sweet Sixteen Princess"
What DO I really want? World peace, of course. An end to emissions of the greenhouse gases that are causing global warming. For the Drs. Moscovitz to get back together, so I can see my boyfriend on Friday nights again. To not to be a princess anymore. To have things go back to the way they used to be, when things were simplerŠlike that time we all went ice-skating at Rockefeller Center, and I bit my tongue-only without the tongue-biting part.
Meg Cabot: A Sneak Peak at "Party Princess"
And my mom went, "I've always thought Sixteen Magazine was demeaning to young women, as it's filled with images of impossibly thin and pretty models that can only serve to legitimize young girls' insecurities about their own bodies. And besides, their articles are hardly what I'd call informative. I mean, who CARES about which kind of jeans better fit your body type, low rise or ultra rise? How about teaching girls something useful, like that even if you Do It standing up, you can still get pregnant."
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sun broke through around noon, for a change.
Jerome Horton, a democrat running for the Board of Equalization here in CA, sent out hot pads.
Years ago, when I lived out in the Valley, there was a tradition of receiving hot pads ('Don't Get Burned') from Tom Bane.
While I like getting free hot pads, I was somewhat annoyed to see that the hot pad's cover letter didn't come from Jerome, but his wife.
No new flags.
Clashes With Disc Jockey
Halle Berry
What was meant to be a friendly chat to promote the new "X-Men" movie turned into a frosty discussion about race on a popular morning radio program, but the British Broadcasting Corp. defended its disc jockey.
Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry appeared on Chris Moyles' Radio One breakfast show Thursday and clashed with her host after he impersonated what he described as a "big, fat, black guy."
"Are we having a racist moment here?" Berry, the first black actress to win an Academy Award for a lead role, asked Moyles after she took exception to his impersonation. Moyles, who is white, said he just couldn't do American accents.
The interview continued, though the DJ later said Berry was "ratty" - British slang for grouchy.
Halle Berry
Hosting Emmy Awards
Conan O'Brien
The assignment for hosting the awards show honoring television's best work is going to NBC's Conan O'Brien.
The 43-year-old comedian will host the "58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards" on Aug. 27. The show will air live from the Shrine Auditorium on NBC.
O'Brien hosted the Emmys in 2002 and did "a tremendous job," Dick Askin, chairman of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, said Friday. "We're thrilled that he's returning."
Conan O'Brien
HBO Documentary
'Baghdad ER'
The U.S. public can see images of the Iraq war on television on Sunday that are so potentially disturbing the Pentagon has warned soldiers it may cause them to relive the trauma of war.
"Baghdad ER," a documentary airing on the cable TV network HBO, features graphic scenes from a combat hospital emergency room, including an amputation and footage of Marine Lance Cpl. Robert Mininger dying despite the exhaustive efforts of the medical staff.
"I hope that when the American people see this film they have a clearer idea of what the soldiers are flashing back to when they suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome and get a clearer idea of why we need to support these soldiers," co-director Matthew O'Neill told Reuters.
'Baghdad ER'
Estate Licenses Catalog
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker could not read or write, according to his daughter, but the legendary Delta bluesman's estate is hoping to educate a new legion of fans about his 50-year musical legacy.
The Hooker estate, which is controlled by daughter Zakiya Hooker, has licensed five of his best-selling albums from the '80s and '90s to reissue specialist Shout Factory for release in North America and two discs for release in Europe. The six-figure deal is for seven years.
Out by year's end will be an 84-track, four-disc boxed set, the first ever for Hooker. Shout Factory chief operating officer Bob Emmer expects half the material on the $59.98 set to come from its newly acquired albums, while the other half will be licensed from current rights holders, including EMI, Fantasy and Vee-Jay.
John Lee Hooker
Prince Charles Is A Fan
Leonard Cohen
Britain's Prince Charles, mocked by critics for being prone to gloomy introspection, has revealed that one of his favorite singers is Leonard Cohen.
Charles, 57, gave a glimpse into his musical tastes in a television interview with his sons, Prince Harry and Prince William, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his Prince's Trust, a charity he set up to help disadvantaged youngsters.
When Charles confessed that Cohen was one of his favorite singers, William asked "Is he a jazz player?"
Leonard Cohen
Hospital News
Johnny Van Zant
Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Johnny Van Zant had his appendix removed in emergency surgery Thursday night, the band's manager said.
Van Zant, 46, came out of surgery at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif., around 10 p.m., said manager Ross Schilling. His condition was not immediately available.
"He had been feeling bad the past couple of days," Schilling told The Associated Press. "He had performances Tuesday and Wednesday and sucked it up last night as far as performing with some pain."
Johnny Van Zant
Early Masters Selling On eBay
Sara Evans
Care to own a dozen masters and the copyrights to early recordings from country singer Sara Evans before she signed to RCA?
If so, log on to eBay, where a former handler is auctioning them. A few years back, Gary Daily attempted something similar. After a lawsuit over the music was reportedly settled, the tracks are, once again, up for bid with the sale subject to the terms of the copyright assignments between Evans and Daily.
Sara Evans
Wingnuts Tout Benefits Of Greenhouse Gases
Carbon Dioxide
A little girl blows away dandelion fluff as an announcer says, "Carbon dioxide: they call it pollution; we call it life," in an advertisement targeting global warming "alarmists," especially Al Gore.
The television ads, screened for the press on Wednesday and set to air in 14 U.S. cities starting on Thursday, are part of a campaign by the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute to counter a media spotlight on threats posed by worldwide climate change.
The spots are timed to precede next week's theatrical release of "An Inconvenient Truth," a documentary film on global warming that features Gore, the former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate.
Against backdrops of a park, a beach and a forest, one celebrates the benefits of greenhouse gas-producing fuels.
Carbon Dioxide
French 'Masseur To The Stars" Jailed
Thierry Chichportich
A French court sentenced a self-proclaimed "masseur to the stars" to 18 years in prison on Friday for luring over a dozen young women to his apartment then drugging and raping them while they were unconscious.
Thierry Chichportich, 47, boasted of providing massages to some of the most famous names in world cinema during the annual Cannes film festival, filling a large press book with photographs and clippings which he used to attract clients.
The prosecution described Chichportich as "a voyeur, a groper and a rapist." He was accused of sexually abusing at least 14 young women after drugging them and filming the attacks.
Thierry Chichportich
Developing Elvis Themed Shows
Cirque du Soleil
Elvis may have left the building, but in a couple of years fans of Cirque du Soleil may find the King of Rock 'n' Roll swiveling his hips and singing "Jailhouse Rock" from a trapeze.
CKX Inc., which owns rights to Elvis Presley's name, likeness and music publishing, has teamed up with the famed troupe of acrobats and contortionists to produce Presley-themed shows around the world, the company said on Thursday.
Dubbed the "Elvis Presley Projects," the joint venture will incorporate Cirque du Soleil touring shows and permanent Cirque productions at fixed venues, all incorporating the name, image, likeness and music of Presley.
Cirque du Soleil
Goodbye Laurel Highlands
Rolling Rock
Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., citing consumers' need for variety in beer, said Friday it will pay $82 million to purchase the Rolling Rock beer brand from InBev USA, the U.S. subsidiary of Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev SA.
InBev USA, based in Norwalk, Conn., said it will sell the Latrobe brewery and focus its U.S. business on its imported beers, which include Stella Artois and Beck's. The company is in talks with potential buyers.
The sale has imperiled the jobs of the workers at the Latrobe brewery, which has operated for more than a century and has become a local and regional fixture.
Rolling Rock
French Scientists Find
'Living Fossil'
French scientists who explored the Coral Sea said Friday they discovered a new species of crustacean that was thought to have become extinct 60 million years ago.
The "living fossil," a female baptized Neoglyphea Neocaledonica, was discovered 1,312 feet under water during an expedition in the Chesterfield Islands, northwest of New Caledonia, the National Museum of Natural History and the Research Institute for Development said in a statement.
Another so-called living fossil from the Neoglyphea group was discovered in 1908 in the Philippines by the U.S. Albatross, a research vessel. It remained unidentified until 1975 when two French scientists from the natural history museum identified and named it: Neoglyphea Inopinata. More of the creatures were then found in expeditions to the Philippines between 1976 and 1984.
'Living Fossil'
In Memory
Dan Q. Kennis
Dan Q. Kennis, a film producer and distributor who made movies like "I Spit on Your Corpse!" and "Naughty Stewardesses," died Wednesday. He was 86.
Kennis died of cancer in Palo Alto at the home of his daughter, Judy Lewit, said his longtime friend and business partner Sam Sherman.
Kennis' credits include "Dracula vs. Frankenstein," "Raiders of the Living Dead" and "Alienator." He also appeared in the 1975 movie "Blazing Stewardesses" as Kenny the Tennis Pro, Sherman said.
Dan Q. Kennis
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