'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
from alex
'Stuff'
Hi Marty,
Now I know why it's rained here in NYC since Halloween - and up to last
week...God is pissed off at US, especially the Northeast, for pushing an
independent Palestine....Glad this was explained, I was starting to
wonder!
The Answer
Alex
Thanks, Alex!
From 'The Artist Formerly Known As The Diva'
An Open Letter to Gene Simmons
Selected Saturday Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
from Mark
Dr. Paul's French Analogy
I do try to understand the context of the sound bites used in Dr. Paul's Words of Wisdom. But I'm having serious trouble with this one.
The crux is that I can't conceive of any context in which this statement makes sense. If you're listening Dr. Paul, you've got to help me out here. Sacre merde, just what the hell were you talking about? The triumphant return of Charles de Gaulle? The rise of film noir? A common passion for goat cheese?
Κtes-vous un docteur des analogies d'imbeciles?
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Another getting-into-hot-weather day, but still cooling off at night.
Did the grocery and crickets for the lizard shopping. Looks like we'll be having a few guests for the 4th, so needed to lay in some extra supplies.
The kid has decided that 'Tremors: The Series' (on Sci-Fi) is pretty OK.
Tonight, Saturday, CBS opens the night with a RERUN 'The Price Is Right Million Dollar Spectacular', followed by a RERUN
'The District', then a RERUN 'The Agency'.
NBC fills the evening with the made-for-tv movie '1st To Die'.
Of course, 'Saturday Night Live' is a RERUN.
ABC starts the night with the movie 'The 6th Day', and follows with a RERUN 'Dragnet'.
The WB has the movie 'The Hand That Rocks The Cradle'.
Faux dumps 'Cops' for the 'special' - 'World's Wildest Police Chases', followed by 'America's Most Wanted' (one of their camera crews was finally released in Mexico yesterday - they were documenting the bountyhunter 'Dog' nail the Max Factor heir/serial rapist, Andrew Luster).
UPN has a RERUN 'The Parkers', followed by a RERUN 'One On One', then a RERUN 'Girlfriends', followed by a RERUN 'Half & Half'.
A&E has 'American Justice', followed by 'Cold Case Files', and then a RERUN 'Crossing Jordan'.
AMC has the movie 'Young Guns', followed by the movie 'The Out-Of-Towners' ("ohhh-my-gawd"), then the movie 'Smokey & The Bandit II'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'The Meaning of Life';
[8:30pm] 'The Meaning of Life';
[11pm] 'Tipping the Velvet' - Part 1;
[12am] 'Tipping the Velvet' - Part 2;
[1am] 'Tipping the Velvet' - Part 3;
[2am] 'Tipping the Velvet' - Part 1;
[3am] 'Tipping the Velvet' - Part 2; and
[4am] 'Tipping the Velvet' - Part 3. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has the movie 'The Professional', followed by the movie 'Damage'.
History offers 'Histories Mysteries', followed by 'Giants: Friend Or Foe?'.
SciFi has the movie 'Fangs', followed by the movie 'Webs', and then the movie 'Marabunta'.
TCM continues the weekend-long tribute to Ray Harryhausen later in the evening.
[6am] 'I Live My Life' (1935);
[8am] 'Underwater!' (1955);
[10am] 'The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers' (1946);
[12pm] 'Red River' (1948);
[2:30pm] 'Judgment At Nuremberg' (1961);
[6pm] 'Camille' (1937);
[8pm] 'The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad' (1958);
[9:30pm] 'The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad' (1973);
[11:30pm] 'Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger' (1977);
[1:30am] '20 Million Miles To Earth' (1957);
[3am] 'The Harryhausen Chronicles' (1997);
[4am] 'King Kong' (1933); and
[5:45am] 'The Ghost of Slumber Mountain' (1917). (ALL TIMES EDT)
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Michael Radner (L), the brother of late comedienne Gilda Radner, holds a replica plaque of her star as he poses with comedians Fred Travalena, and Tommy and Dick Smothers (L-R) during an unveiling ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, June 27, 2003 in Los Angeles. Radner was honored posthumously with the 1,230th on the famous walkway, one day before what would have been her 57th birthday.
Photo by Jim Ruymen
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Ends Friday Summer Breaks
David Letterman
David Letterman is going back on the air Fridays.
After a month of the veteran "Late Show" host turning Friday nights over to guest hosts, Jimmy Fallon's stint Friday was going to be the last, spokesman Tom Keaney said.
Although ratings in the summer aren't watched as closely as those during the regular TV season, "Tonight" host Jay Leno's lead over Letterman has increased in the past month.
David Letterman
On 'Law & Order' Through 2005
Sam Waterston
It'll be at least an even 10 years on the "Law & Order" beat for Sam Waterston, who plays a hard-charging assistant district attorney on the veteran NBC crime drama.
Waterston signed on as "Law & Order" in 1994, and the show's producers have picked up his option to stick with the Emmy-winning series at least the 2004-05 season.
He ranks as the third-longest-serving actor currently on the show -- which is famous for periodically overhauling its cast -- behind Jerry Orbach, who has played Detective Lennie Briscoe since 1992, and S. Epatha Merkerson, who has played Lt. Anita Van Buren since 1993.
Sam Waterston
Alex
Thanks, Alex!
'We the People,' the opening of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, cut into a 20-acre field of wheat at Cherry-Crest Farm in Ronks, Lancaster County, Pa., is shown in this Thursday, June 26, 2003, aerial photo . The crop art, measuring 262 feet tall by nearly 1,000 feet long, was planted in October 2002, and in April each letter was etched into the field by simply removing the plants. The art was created to celebrate the new National Constitution Center, which opens July 4 in Philadelphia.
Photo by Chris Gardner
Sweeps Jazz Awards
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter, whose "Footprints Live!" CD was his first all-acoustic album since 1967, swept the top honors at Jazz Awards 2003, winning in four categories.
Shorter, who rose to prominence as a composer and saxophonist in Miles Davis' 1960s quintet and later co-founded the electric jazz fusion band Weather Report, was voted tenor saxophonist and musician of the year.
Shorter's quartet with pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade was selected combo of the year. The album of the year honors went to "Footprints" (Verve), which was Shorter's first live recording as a leader and featured the quartet reinventing some of his best-known compositions spanning his career.
Also receiving multiple awards were Dave Holland for acoustic bass and big band, and Village Voice critic Gary Giddins, honored as jazz writer of the year and with the Jazz Journalism Lifetime Achievement Award.
The awards ceremony, which included performances by trumpeter Wallace Roney's quintet and a duet of vocalist Judi Silvano and pianist James Williams performing a tribute to the late pianist and Billie Holiday accompanist Mal Waldron, was also a benefit for the Jazz Foundation of America, which helps arrange free medical care and other emergency help for veteran jazz artists in need.
Wayne Shorter
www.jazzhouse.org
Saluted Pete Townshend In Detroit
Eddie Vedder
Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder offered a tribute to and some support for Who leader Pete Townshend on Wednesday (June 25) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan.
Prior to the Buzzcocks' opening set, Vedder strolled onstage alone with a guitar, told the crowd "This one's for Pete Townshend," and played a solo rendition of the Who's 1966 hit "The Kids Are Alright." During an encore later that night, Pearl Jam also played a version of the Who's "Baba O'Riley."
Vedder has made frequent guest appearances with the Who at assorted benefit concerts. He's featured on four songs from the Who's upcoming Live At The Royal Albert Hall album, which was recorded at the 2000 Teenage Cancer Trust Benefit in London. The album will be released July 21.
Eddie Vedder
Drumming Up Support
They Might Be Giants
The touring career of They Might Be Giants might be summed up as drum machine and post-drum machine.
When band members John Flansburgh and John Linnell first started, they sang and played guitar, keyboards and accordion but used a drum machine to back them up. As they progressed, they used live drums and a backing band.
"Some people miss the old way we worked when it was just me and John and the drum machine," Flansburgh said. "Because it was a very chatty show, you know, we would actually talk a lot between songs. And it felt more inclusive to the audience. I think the audiences really liked the fact that we were a band that addressed the crowd."
One drawback to the old drum machine sound was that fewer fans would return to see more than one show.
"A lot more people started coming back to shows when we started with the live band because when we were doing it with the drum machine band, I think people suspected they'd seen everything they needed to see the one time they'd seen the show."
"One weird side effect of having a live band is that people started dancing at our shows much, much more. Which we weren't really thinking about too much beforehand. But the celebratory aspect of what we do as a band really came out."
They Might Be Giants
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Primetime Computer-Animated Series
'Game Over'
UPN has ordered six episodes of "Game Over," a comedy poised to become the first computer-animated series in primetime.
The midseason entry, featuring the voices of Marisa Tomei and Patrick Warburton, centers on the Smashenburns, an ordinary suburban family who live in an alternate video game universe inhabited by action heroes, monsters and cartoon characters.
In addition to Tomei and Warburton, who will voice Mrs. and Mr. Smashenburn, the voice cast also includes E.G. Daily and Rachel Dratch, who portray their teen kids, and Artie Lange as the family's 300-pound pet creature.
'Game Over'
A festival goer wearing fancy dress attends the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset, June 27, 2003, one of the largest European open-air music festivals. Bands set to headline during the three day festival include R.E.M, Radiohead and Moby.
Photo by Toby Melville
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Judy Garland Museum
The new museum is attached to Garland's refurbished Grand Rapids home, a modest, white two-bedroom where the actress born as Frances Gumm lived with her two sisters and parents until she was 4 years old.
It has the world's largest collection of Garland memorabilia, complete with paintings, magazine and album covers, original copies of her movie contracts, dolls fashioned after Garland and pictures of her family.
Museum officials went to great lengths to recreate the home as it existed in 1925, even hiring a detective to interview visitors and research photographs and insurance documents. The museum's prize holding is the carriage that carried Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion through the Emerald City in "The Wizard of Oz."
The carriage was owned by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 the gift of a group of New York businessmen. Lincoln's name is inscribed on the side of the carriage.
Garland's career began at age 2 and continued until her death at 47. She started in small movie houses in outlying towns around Grand Rapids and in the vaudeville theater her parents owned. She eventually appeared in 32 feature films and several television shows and recorded countless albums before dying of an overdose of barbiturates in London in 1969.
For a lot more, Judy Garland Museum
Writes Guide to NYC
Henry 'Wiseguy' Hill
Henry Hill summons up much of his storied past in a new book, "A GoodFella's Guide to New York," a memoir-tourist guide-mob history. It's his second foray into publishing; last October, he released "The Wiseguy Cookbook."
It's been 24 years since Hill, an associate of the Luchese crime family, opted for the Witness Protection Program over life outside the law. He became a devastating witness, and the best-known informant since Joe Valachi first broke the mob's vow of omerta back in the '60s.
Hill's criminal exploits, detailed in the best-selling book "Wiseguy" by Nicholas Pileggi were later turned into Martin Scorsese's 1990 film "GoodFellas."
In his guide, Hill reveals that Scorsese never let him meet with Liotta, his on-screen alter ego. "He didn't want me to influence him whatsoever," writes Hill.
Robert De Niro, in contrast, endlessly quizzed Hill for insights into the character based on Jimmy "The Gent" Burke.
For more, Henry 'Wiseguy' Hill
www.goodfellahenry.com
Goes Tabloid
Editor Quits
Bonnie Fuller has resigned as editor of US Weekly, a once struggling celebrity magazine that she revived, to become editorial director of American Media Inc., a major publisher of supermarket tabloids including The National Enquirer.
Fuller resigned her post on Thursday, sixteen months after taking over US Weekly, magazine spokeswoman Samantha Rosenthal said Friday. US Weekly is jointly owned by Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner and Walt Disney Co.
During her tenure, Fuller boosted US Weekly's newsstand circulation, a key measure of a magazine's draw with readers, with splashy cover lines and aggressive graphics and stories. US Weekly faces fierce competition for celebrity news with Time Inc.'s dominant People magazine.
Fuller is a veteran of the magazine world, having previously edited Cosmopolitan, published by Hearst Corp., and Glamour, owned by another major magazine publisher, Conde Nast.
In her new role at the Boca Raton, Fla.-based American Media, Fuller will oversee 14 magazines, including the Enquirer, the Star, and Globe. American Media, which relies heavily on single-copy sales at supermarkets, has been concerned that it was losing share to celebrity weeklies.
Editor Quits
The Ghost Of Al Capp
Disney Hit With Lawsuit
The Disney Channel hit series "Lizzie McGuire" is at the center of a trademark-infringement lawsuit filed by the representatives of late cartoonist Alfred "Al" Capp.
Capp Enterprises, which handles content licensing for Capp, claims an unaired episode of "Lizzie" contains unauthorized references to Sadie Hawkins Day, which was derived from Capp's "Li'l Abner" comic strip.
Walt Disney Co. lawyers countered that Capp does not have exclusive control over Sadie Hawkins Day, which is featured in the episode as the theme to a school dance in which a girl must invite a boy on a date.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, charges Disney with trademark infringement, trademark dilution and unfair competition. Capp contends that Disney refused to pay the license fee that other programmers have paid, including the defunct CBS series "Evening Shade."
Disney Hit With Lawsuit
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
A Hit Second Time Around
'The Golden Girls'
Four wisecracking women who love to talk about sex star in one of television's hottest shows but it's not what you're thinking.
Forget "Sex and the City." The Lifetime network has a hit on its hands with "The Golden Girls."
The show airs seven times each weekday on the cable network, and this month's retrospective, "The Golden Girls: Their Greatest Memories," was the highest-rated special in Lifetime's 19-year history. The show with four gray-haired ladies is an unexpected hit among young women.
"The Golden Girls" is the most popular sitcom rerun on cable television after "Seinfeld" and "Friends." It's even watched more now than "The Cosby Show," considered the quintessential 1980s sitcom.
Lifetime was somewhat surprised to find its 11 p.m. ET airing is watched by as many women aged 18 to 34 as are watching MTV at that hour, Brooks said. More than a quarter of the mail Lifetime gets about the series is from college students, he said.
For more, 'The Golden Girls'
G.I Joes, sold out of the box so that buyers can put their own outfits on them, are seen at the G.I Joe Collectors' Convention, Friday, June 27, 2003, in San Francisco. People are coming from all around the world to see the newest figures, plus the collectibles at the convention that runs through Sunday.
Photo by Susan Ragan
Disney Signs To Record Deal
Hilary Duff
Walt Disney Co.'s music group on Friday said 'Why Not?' to "Lizzie McGuire" star Hilary Duff, signing the teen queen to make a solo album after the soundtrack to her recent "Lizzie McGuire Movie" went gold.
Last month, Disney failed to offer the star enough money to tempt her to reprise the title role in the hit Disney Channel television series, "Lizzie McGuire" and a movie sequel.
But Disney's Buena Vista Music Group signed the album deal after the success of "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" soundtrack, which includes Duff's single "Why Not."
The label expects the soundtrack to sell 1 million albums soon, reaching platinum status. Duff's new album is expected in September and she has two additional music projects over the next 18 months, Buena Vista said without giving details.
Hilary Duff
Snarky Gossip
Brandy
R&B singer Brandy and her husband/music producer Robert Smith are splitting up, according to New York's Daily News. A friend of the couple told peopleonline.com that the pair will remain friends and will raise their one-year old daughter, Sy'rai, jointly.
Brandy, eight months pregnant, is expecting her second child. The singer is also working on a new album.
Brandy and Smith were secretly married in 2001 and did not make their marriage public till February 2002. Brandy was introduced to Smith by producer Rodney Jerkins, who is Smith's cousin. Jerkins was working on Brandy's last release 2002's Full Moon.
Brandy
Doesn't Harm Brain Function
Smoking Pot
Smoking marijuana will certainly affect perception, but it does not cause permanent brain damage, researchers from the University of California at San Diego say.
"The findings were kind of a surprise. One might have expected to see more impairment of higher mental function," said Dr. Igor Grant, a UCSD professor of psychiatry and the study's lead author. Other illegal drugs, or even alcohol, can cause brain damage.
His team analysed data from 15 previously published, controlled studies into the impact of long-term, recreational cannabis use on the neurocognitive ability of adults.
The studies tested the mental functions of routine pot smokers, but not while they were actually high, Grant said.
The results, published in the July issue of the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, show that marijuana has only a marginally harmful long-term effect on learning and memory.
No effect at all was seen on other functions, including reaction time, attention, language, reasoning ability, and perceptual and motor skills.
Smoking Pot
Interview
Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer is still feisty and funny, but the king of sophisticated satire tells Tony Davis there's no place for his style of humour now: the world just wouldn't get it.
'I'm not tempted to write a song about George W.Bush. I couldn't figure out what sort of song I would write. That's the problem: I don't want to satirise George Bush and his puppeteers, I want to vaporise them."
The speaker is Tom Lehrer, arguably the most famous living satirical songwriter. And, in a roundabout way, the New York-born singer, composer and mathematician is explaining why he has been all but silent since 1965.
It's 50 years since Lehrer's first recordings, and 38 years since his last album of new material, yet word that we've secured an interview has people around the office launching into such unlikely yet infectious ditties as The Vatican Rag, Smut and Lehrer's ode to spring pursuits, Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.
It also has people asking with a surprised tone: "Is he still alive?" Yes, Lehrer is very much with us, despite being quiet for so long (he once told The New York Times he had encouraged rumours of his demise in the hope of cutting down junk mail). And the writer of the nuclear holocaust anthem We Will All Go Together When We Go, and the prescient Pollution, is as feisty and as funny as ever. He just isn't doing anything about it.
Lehrer is that rarest of beasts a performer who was never seduced by the roar of the crowd and who rejected show business well before it had a chance to do the same to him. His concert tours were brief and motivated either by a desire to visit a new place (such as Australia, in 1960) or to test and polish material for a recording. Even after his biggest hit, the 1965 album That Was the Year that Was, he quickly returned to academic life rather than cash in with concert tours.
For the rest, Tom Lehrer Interview
Gossip Reporter
Lizzie Grubman
Lizzie Grubman, the publicist who backed her SUV into a crowd of clubgoers in the Hamptons two years ago, says she has a new philosophy on the media: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Grubman plans to begin a new job as a gossip and entertainment reporter for the radio station WNEW-FM, "102.7 Blink."
Her first report will be on goings-on in the Hamptons over the Fourth of July weekend.
Grubman, whose company promoted singer Britney Spears, rapper Jay-Z and the Backstreet Boys, served 37 days in jail after pleading guilty to assault and leaving the scene of the July 7, 2001 crash outside the Conscience Point Inn injured at least 16 people.
Lizzie Grubman
A Condor opens the wings to protect her baby from people in Havana's zoo on Wednesday June 25, 2003 in Havana, Cuba. The zoo is home to four adult condors, and recently a new condor was born in captivity.
Photo by Cristobal Herrera
'Ark of Darkness'
"The Ark of Darkness", a Political/Science-Fiction work, in tidy, weekly installments (and updated every Friday).
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
