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'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Opinion
Re: Elvis
Are you as sick as I am at the ad nauseum coverage of 25th anniversary of Elvis' death?
The guy had a singing voice, used to good effect, to rip the best BLACK artists of his time from their rightful intellectual properties and cash into post-WWII enuii of progeny of those who actually went to war and came home with real mental/physical anguish their kids had no hope of understanding.
Stuff some old Southern-Black Blues into a hip-swiveling White package, and VOILA!!
Elvis was good at two things: stealing proprietary music from original artists, and selling sexual exuberance that war had robbed from the lives of his listeners' parents. The kids had had enough of the war-stories, wanted something "new", and the sharpie that he was, Elvis enthusiastically tapped. The guy was a used car salesman, and knew from the sales tactics of the circuit-preachers of his youth how to whip up a crowd.
He was an effete little wussie who originated nothing. A sick glutton enamorated of self. He died as he lived; --- an aberration, a glitch. Anyone who glamorizes his existence needs a shrink. How sick does one need to be to worship such a dead entity 25 years after it drowned in a pool of vomit his worshippers created and enabled over and over?
That there are still thousands of wannabe sycophants who choose to waste their life-essense in chase of this loser 25 years after the fact is beyond me...
~~ michelle v
Because I know Michelle, I feel obligated to mention her family is firmly grounded in the realm of jazz, and be-bop, specifically. She knows music!
Here's The Smoking Gun: Archive, where Elvis' letter to Richard Nixon, offering his
services as an agent for the DEA is memorialized.
Check This Out!
The Joey Joe Joe Show
Bolt the doors, lock the windows, and keep an eye out for Ashcroft's TIPS hit squads! It's The Joey Joe Joe Show!
Join co-hosts Joey Davis and Joe Vecchio as they send out the aggressive progressive message from their hidden First Amendment Bunker in the heart of freeperville! Oh, The Humanity!
Tune in at www.liberalresurgent.com!
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Had another cat emergency today. Seems that poor old momma cat still had a dead kitten in her. She's at the vet's now, and all should be
well by tomorrow. But, to be blunt, ewwwwww, gross mess to clean up.
The kid & a pal are camping out in the backyard, again. We just finished the 'sloppy joes'.
Tonight, Saturday, it's CBS' turn to 'host' 'NFL Preseason' where the Eagles visit the Patriots. On the west coast, the movie 'U-Turn' is scheduled.
NBC takes the Elvis route with a half-hour 'Elvis! Long Live The King!' followed by the movie 'Loving You'. John Goodman is scheduled to host the rerun of 'SNL'.
ABC has the god-awful excuse for a movie 'Speed 2: Cruise Control'.
The WB has the movie 'RoboCop'.
Faux has the usual 2 reruns of 'Cops' then 'America's Most Wanted'.
UPN has Ruppert's Doggers visiting the Mets, followed by the movie 'Men At Work'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Season Debuts 15 September
'The Sopranos'
Is Paulie Walnuts gonna get whacked on the new season of "The Sopranos"?
Is the marriage of Tony and Carmela doomed?
Fans of the popular mob opera are in such a frenzy waiting for the new season to begin on Sept. 15 that they're picking apart the ads for clues to the storyline.
The picture features the 12 main characters of the show - including family boss Tony (played by James Gandolfini) and wife Carmela (Edie Falco) - in various poses around a small nightclub table covered with nine glasses holding champagne, beer, wine and water.
No one in the picture is making eye contact - and Carmela and Tony are looking in opposite directions, an ominous sign for their troubled marriage.
But one of the most striking aspects of the photo is how Paulie "Walnuts" Gaultieri (played by Tony Sirico) is the only character with his back to the camera. He's also wearing white - a heavenly color.
For the rest, 'The Sopranos'
Beijing, China
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, center, the world-renowned physicist, arrives in Beijing on Friday, Aug. 16, 2002. Hawking is in China for the upcoming 2002 International Congress of
Mathematicians that will be held in Beijing from Aug. 20 to 28.
Photo by Chen Jianli
24 Hours
'24' Marathon
Kiefer Sutherland's "24" sleuth will put in a full day's work over the Labor Day weekend.
All 24 hour-long episodes of the show will air on cable's FX channel beginning at midnight Saturday, Aug. 31, and continuing through Sept. 1, the Fox Television Entertainment Group reported Wednesday.
"24," which airs on FX's sister network Fox, is a "real-time" show in which the events contained in each episode take place over a one-hour period. The marathon will allow viewers to
experience what Sutherland's CIA agent Jack Bauer has called "the longest day of my life."
The second season begins with a commercial-free episode Oct. 29 on Fox.
'24' Marathon
Fans Attend 'Secret' Toronto Show
Rolling Stones
Hundreds of fans began lining up overnight for an unannounced performance by the Rolling Stones, with some coming from as far away as Maryland and Ohio to see the legendary rockers
after hearing rumors about the show.
The fans were afforded quick glimpses of their idols as they slipped into the Palais Royale ballroom for the show on Friday. Some clamored for autographs from Mick Jagger, who chatted
on a cell phone outside the venue.
The band has been rehearsing, under tight security, at a Toronto school for their upcoming world tour. They were previously in Toronto to rehearse for their Voodoo Lounge tour in 1994
and the Bridges to Babylon tour in 1997.
The Rolling Stones traditionally play at a small club at the end of their Toronto rehearsals and the first lucky 1,000 fans will gain entry for only C$10 on Friday night.
Rolling Stones
Sunday At The Hard Rock Hotel
Bruce Springsteen
Hollywood heavies are heading to Las Vegas this weekend to catch an "intimate" performance by Bruce Springsteen Sunday at the Hard Rock Hotel. "It is not a scheduled
tour performance, it was just put together," the source said. Ben Affleck, Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro, Lara Flynn Boyle, Rose McGowan and Tobey Maguire have
all booked rooms at the hotel. Several other bold-faced names who didn't act fast enough are complaining they couldn't get rooms.
Bruce Springsteen
Says No to Kennedy Center
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney, one of the five performers named for this year's Kennedy Center honors, has canceled his appearance and will be named on the list for 2003.
He sent the Kennedy Center a message of regret and apology.
James A. Johnson, chairman of the center, issued a statement on Friday saying that he understood and respected McCartney's sense of priority. He did not say what the personal
obligation was that prevented McCartney's coming to Washington for the weekend of Dec. 7, when the awards will presented.
Johnson will consult next week on a replacement for McCartney, the Kennedy Center said. The others to be honored are Elizabeth Taylor, James Earl Jones, Chita Rivera and James Levine.
Paul McCartney
Walks Out on Concert
Vince Neil
Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil yelled obscenities and walked off a nightclub stage when fans couldn't sing the lyrics to one of his songs, the club manager said.
Jim Turczynski, manager of Levelz nightclub, said Neil became angry shortly after midnight Thursday while performing here with a backup band during his solo tour.
Neil played a few Motley Crue songs and then started playing one of his own compositions. When the crowd of about 250 didn't know the lyrics, "He said the crowd was a bunch of losers, among
other things," Turczynski said. "Then he got on his bus and just left."
Turczynski said Neil was on stage for less than 10 minutes. He said the crowd was upset but did not become violent.
The club was refunding the $25 ticket price. Turczynski said it cost about $12,000 to hire Neil and was unsure whether the club would get the full amount back.
Vince Neil
Hollywood, CA
Elvis & Johnny Grant
Johnny Grant, the honorary mayor of Hollywood, holds up an old picture of himself with Elvis Presley after he placed flowers on Presley's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Friday, Aug. 16, 2002, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Friday marked the 25th anniversary of Presley's death.
Photo by Nick Ut
Barb Enrages British Romeos
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow's mocking complaint that British men never asked her out on dates struck a raw nerve on Friday with Britain's stiff-upper-lipped Romeos.
The American Oscar winner whose hunky Hollywood dates have ranged from Brad Pitt to Ben Affleck lamented: "British people don't seem to ask each other out."
The winsome 29-year-old had just two dates when she was in London to appear in the critically acclaimed play "Proof." One was with gallant "A Knight's Tale" star James Purefoy. The name of the other
date was not revealed.
For British tabloids mired in the summer "silly season" when any news will do, Paltrow's "Casanova moan" was a gift.
Even The Times, once the venerable mouthpiece of the British Establishment, got into the act, offering a list of eligible bachelors who might tickle Paltrow's fancy.
Gwyneth Paltrow
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Dedicated in Durness, Scotland
John Lennon Memorial
A memorial to former Beatle John Lennon has been unveiled in the remote Scottish village where he spent his childhood summers.
From ages 7 to 15, Lennon spent his annual vacation in the tiny village of Durness in the Scottish Highlands.
He returned to the village in 1969 with Yoko Ono, his son, Julian, and her daughter, Kyoko, to show them around.
Locals have marked his association with the area with a set of three standing stones inscribed with lyrics from the Beatles' track "In My Life," including the words "there are places I remember."
John Lennon Memorial
Could Set Guinness Record
Cat With 28 Toes
A manx cat that narrowly escaped death by euthanasia now has a chance at getting in the Guinness Book of Records. Bobbi has 28 toes, said owner Kathy Williams.
"The record to date is a cat with 27 toes," said Williams, who lives at Stone Creek just south of Prince George.
She met Bobbi three years ago when she was volunteering for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter in Prince George and learned the cat was to be
put down because of a heart condition.
"I pled his case and ended up adopting him," said Williams, who has since learned the condition minor.
She said the Guinness people are showing a lot of interest, as are the people who know him.
Cat With 28 Toes
Dresden, Germany
Zwinger Palace
Masterworks in gilded frames lay stacked against the wall on the top floor of Dresden's famed Zwinger Palace as floodwater lapped at the walls outside — but they were safe, thanks to volunteers
who carried thousands of paintings and sculptures out of basement storage rooms to rescue the Baroque city's cultural heritage.
The rescue was particularly poignant for a city that was nearly wiped out by Allied bombers in World War II and has spent the last 12 years since the demise of communism restoring the splendor of
landmarks like the Zwinger, the 19th-century Semper Opera and the Church of Our Lady.
At the Zwinger, rescued paintings now line the upstairs gallery, stacked 10-deep leaning against Raphaels, Rubens, Van Dycks and Rembrandts hanging on the walls.
Miraculously, in the chaos of evacuation, not a statue was dropped nor a painting torn.
Zwinger Palace
Votes Could Be Skewed
`American Idol'
Producers of the hit Fox show "American Idol" say the talent contest is being slammed by "power dialers" trying to influence the results by making as many as 10,000 votes a night from a single phone line.
With fast Internet connections and powerful computer autodialing software, about 100 "phone phreaks" are casting thousands of votes with the touch of a button, producers acknowledged this week
in response to questions from The Associated Press.
"They're all over the country and they tend to be slamming the system at all ends," said Michael Eaton, vice president of home entertainment for FreemantleMedia, the show's London-based producer.
So far, these calls have had a "statistically insignificant" impact on the outcome, Eaton said, but he wouldn't release any data on individual contestants and their vote totals.
`American Idol'
BartCop TV!
Appears in Louisiana Court
Steve-O
MTV entertainer Steve-O turned himself into police after returning to Louisiana to face charges of obscenity and of staging a stunt that injured a teenager at a nightclub.
Steve-O, whose given name is Stephen Glover, was booked at the Terrebonne Parish jail Wednesday on counts of obscenity and accessory to second-degree battery. He was released a short time later after posting bail.
Glover, 28, one of several regulars on MTV's "Jackass," allegedly exposed himself while on stage last month at a nightclub in Houma, southwest of New Orleans. Glover also allegedly
took part in a stunt in which a bouncer slammed a 19-year-old on his head, knocking the teen unconscious.
District Judge Timothy Ellender reduced Glover's bond from $1.12 million to $35,000. Glover, a Los Angeles resident, came to Houma to attend the bond-reduction hearing.
Steve-O
Celebrity Visitors
Robert Blake
It's not the Polo Lounge in the Beverly Hills Hotel, but there's a tightly managed little gathering spot in downtown Los Angeles where you can spot a celebrity or two.
In recent months, jailed actor Robert Blake, accused of murdering his wife last year, has been receiving a steady stream of high profile visitors and well-wishers in the visiting room of the Men's Central Jail, friends say.
Blake and the likes of Anthony Hopkins, Quincy Jones, Mort Sahl, Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters have been holding private tete-a-tetes in surroundings that are a somewhat bleaker than most of them are used to.
"Robert gets no treatment that's any different from anybody else in jail," said Dale Olson, a Blake friend and retired publicist who has been serving as go-between. "The visitors wait where
all the visitors wait. They go in to see Robert in the same line-up -- a row of cages with glass front and telephones, just like the movies."
Most of Blake's celebrity visitors are old friends. Jones knows Blake from the making of the 1967 film "In Cold Blood," for which Jones wrote the musical score, Olson said. Scott Wilson, who
co-starred with Blake in that movie, which is about a pair of thrill killers, has also stopped by.
Sahl has known Blake because both frequently attended "movie nights" at the Playboy Mansion. "Robert has always been a regular at movie nights at (Hugh) Hefner's," Olson said
Robert Blake
Neptun, Romania
Black Sea Resort
Romanians enjoy themselves on the beach at the Black Sea resort of Neptun Friday, Aug. 9 , 2002. Tourists and bar owners at this Black Sea resort are indignant that in the heart
of the summer season, concerts have been canceled, outdoor discos told to decimate the decibels, and bars are now playing music so softly that people can actually hear what their
companions are saying.
Photo by Andrei Ciocirlan
Memphis, TN
Elvis Vigil
A Graceland representative, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Lisa Marie Presley, husband Nicolas Cage and mother Priscilla Presley arrived after midnight to witness the
largest gathering of fans since Presley died at the mansion on Aug. 16, 1977 — an estimated 35,000. They were unseen by the crowd as they entered and left.
They then made a brief stop at Elvis Presley's Memphis, a restaurant and night club on Beale Street, where they watched revelers from the privacy of a VIP area.
The family also prepared for an appearance at the 25th Anniversary Concert at the Pyramid Arena Friday night. About 14,000 tickets were sold months ago. An additional 500 tickets
that were made available Thursday were snapped up within five minutes, the Graceland representative said.
Elvis Vigil
Walt Disney Company
Shareholders Sue
A group of Walt Disney Co. shareholders has sued the company alleging it failed to disclose hundreds of millions of dollars in potential royalty payments in a dispute over "Winnie
the Pooh," their attorneys said on Friday.
The suit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, is seeking class-action status for shareholders who bought Disney stock between Aug. 15, 1997 and May 15 of this year.
The suit claims Disney concealed from shareholders the potential for a huge royalty payout to family-owned Stephen Slesinger Inc., which licensed "Pooh" merchandise rights to Disney
in 1961, then sued Disney in 1991, claiming royalties had been under-reported or not paid at all.
According to Friday's new suit, Disney should have reported the potential impact to shareholders sooner, but did not. The suit alleges Disney's failure to disclose was a deliberate
misrepresentation to inflate Disney's stock price.
Since Disney mentioned the possible liability in the May 15 SEC filing, its stock has fallen about 36 percent, a fact the suit cites as the impact of the disclosure on Disney shares.
Disney, however, has been clobbered by several issues including low attendance at its theme parks and weak advertising sales at its ABC television network. Indeed, all media
stocks have been hammered in recent months by their own issues and the wider downturn in financial markets.
Shareholders Sue
Pulled from Calif. Assembly
Artist Rights Bill
A brewing legislative battle between music companies and their pop stars came to a screeching halt on Thursday when a state senator withdrew a controversial bill he had authored on behalf of the artists.
Saying he will come back next year with a new bill, Democratic State Sen. Kevin Murray withdrew his proposed legislation, seeking to change a part of the state labor code that ties recording artists to
contracts for over seven years, longer than talent in other entertainment industries.
The bill was the result of lobbying by the high-profile Recording Artists Coalition (RAC), led by stars like Eagles frontman Don Henley, Sheryl Crow and the Dixie Chicks.
The bill, in modified form, was moved recently from the State Senate to the Assembly, where the Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media encouraged both sides to negotiate a settlement.
The talks had stalled recently and the whole dispute boiled over last week after the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) said it had made several key
concessions but that the artists were holding out for terms that could not be met.
Some industry insiders said Murray and his group decided to withdraw because they felt that the committee on arts and entertainment, chaired by Democratic Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn, was pro-recording industry.
Artist Rights Bill
World's Biggest Crack House?
Sunset Vine Tower
Time stands still inside the landmark Hollywood high-rise at the corner of Sunset and Vine.
Unfinished work is spread out on desks lined with computers, fax machines and family photos. Bookcases and file cabinets line office walls, beneath calendars
turned to December and clocks with hands frozen at 1:35.
It's been that way at 6290 Sunset Blvd. since Dec. 6, when an electrical fire plunged the 20-story building into darkness and sent employees of 40 companies
with offices there running for safety.
The office tower has remained padlocked ever since as disputes continue over who is to blame for the electrical problem and whether the building is safe to enter.
Caught in the middle are tenants who have been unable to remove their office equipment, files and personal belongings from the high-rise, which also housed two radio stations.
City building and fire officials have allowed workers to return briefly to their offices for important papers. But the elevators don't work, which means that equipment
has to be carried down stairs.
Tenants say their problems began when an underground electrical transformer next to the building's subterranean parking garage blew up and caught fire shortly after lunch
on Dec. 6. The explosion knocked out power to elevators, and workers fled down stairwells.
The next day, city officials posted notices that the building was unsafe to enter.
Neighboring business owners say they will be relieved when the building reopens.
"It's a ghost tower. The squatters have moved in and turned it into the world's biggest crack house," said Miki Jackson, who can see graffiti on the high-rise's windows
from the nonprofit AIDS organization she runs on Vine Street.
Sunset Vine Tower
Allow me to wax nostalgic over the Sunset Vine Tower. Here are a couple of links that'll let you know a bit about the building -
Earthquake - LA Location Tour and
Places of Interest. It was also used in an episode of 'The Outer Limits'.
Way back when I worked at the Disney Channel, it was located on the 15th floor of the Sunset Vine Tower. The Disney Channel spent a little bit better than its first 10 years there.
The penthouse restaurant at the time was 'Simply Blue's'. For more than 6 years I spent most of my waking hours in the Sunset Vine Tower. Feeling old & sad tonight.
Tori Island, Japan
Mt. Iwo
A column of white smoke rises from a crater of Mt. Iwo on Japan's uninhabited Tori Island, Aug. 12, 2002. The eruption was the first in 63 years, officials said.
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
