'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Finally Taking A Vacation!
from Alex
Why it isn't it my hand there, I don't know!
I am off Sunday for my cruise.
~~ Alex
Thanks, Alex. Bon Voyage!
Reader Link
from Alice
Today's Quips
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
It's the last camp-out in the backyard tonight.
Finally got the kids' school pants taken care of - had to take the waistbands in nearly 2". Past experience has shown a bunch of little tucks is better than 2 big ones (even if it is more of a pain in the ass).
Bought fresh crickets for the lizards today. Sounds more rustic inside the house than out in the tent...LOL
Glad I came in to watch the last 'Dennis Miller' on HBO. Was nearly feeling badly for the little fellow, when he began his final opening monologue. Sheee-it - the more appropriate term rapidly became schadenfreude, German for 'delight, or even glee, in the misery of others.'
Yep, that pretty much covers it. While trying to define 'confidence' he came off as a tiny, demented Tony Robbins.
Seems Dennis' younger brother, Jimmy, is Vince Vaughn (the final guest)'s manager.
The final stab at humor was in the end credits, when the 'next guest card' stated 'Godot'. Yeah, I got your 'Waiting For Godot.'
It also could have been 'Waiting for Lefty,' or even 'Wait Until Dark'. Oh, yeah, and there is always 'Wait Til The Sun Shines, Nellie', too...
Tonight, Saturday, CBS starts the night with 'Big Brother 3', then reruns of 'The District' and 'The Agency'.
NBC has reruns of their 'new' shows - 'Meet My Folks', 'Dog Eat Dog', and 'Crime & Punishment'.
On ABC College Football will intrude on prime time, so the left coast will have the movie 'Max Q: Emergency Landing' as a special bonus filler.
The WB has the movie 'Three Men & A Little Lady'.
Faux has the usual 2 reruns of 'Cops' followed by 'America's Most Wanted'.
UPN has the movie 'RoboCop 2'.
Today's lineup on AMC includes
Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll (1987),
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1973),
Gimme Shelter (1970),
The Last Waltz (1978),
U2: Rattle and Hum (1988),
This Is Spinal Tap (1984),
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975),
Phantom of the Paradise (1974),
Thank God It's Friday (1978),
Rock Around the Clock (1956),
and The Song Remains the Same (1976).
Whew!
TCM has a film I remember seeing in a theater as a kid - Jason and the Argonauts (1963).
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Vegas In Your Future?
Area 51 Links
Anticipating a trip to Las Vegas? Here are some Area 51 links:
Aliens on Earth - Mothership
Area 51 - Dreamland Resort
Blue Fire
Las Vegas SUN: Forbidden Journey
Area 51 - Top Secret
Las Vegas Review Journal: AREA 51 SERIES
Black Vault
If you're looking for a video, I highly recommend
AREA 51: EYES ONLY VIDEOGUIDE.
New York State Fair
The Clintons
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., signs autographs while her husband, former President Bill Clinton, enjoys a sausage sandwich during a visit to the New York State Fair, Friday, Aug. 30, 2002, in Syracuse, N.Y.
Photo by Kevin Rivoli
Teams With Make-A-Wish Foundation
Marilyn Manson
In contrast to his shock-rock image, Marilyn Manson invited a boy with a life-threatening illness into his studio on Tuesday (August 27) to sing on tracks slated for his upcoming The Golden Age Of Grotesque album.
The invitation came through a partnership between Manson and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the charity that grants the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses. Andrew Baines, 16 and from
Tennessee, flew to Manson's Los Angeles studio, was played six songs from the new album and screened a preview of the DVD release, then was offered a chance to record some backing vocals.
Writing in his online journal at his official website ( marilynmanson.com), Manson said, "Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with Andrew, who reminded that the things that I create are only made complete
by those who enjoy them. I just want to simply say, 'thank you,' to Andrew for sharing such an important wish with me."
In a rare show of sentiment, Manson added, "I wanted to make Andrew a permanent part of history, sealed up in distortion and megabytes of plastic. Skold and I recorded him doing some back-up vocals,
so when you hear The Golden Age Of Grotesque, you will get a piece of our meeting. That piece is for every fan who couldn't be there. Good luck Andrew."
Manson has also posted a video clip of the meeting on his website.
Marilyn Manson
4th Season Starts 25 September
Martin Sheen
Now in reruns, "The West Wing" inaugurates its fourth season with a two-hour episode on Sept. 25 (9 p.m. EDT).
Martin Sheen, who plays chief executive Josiah "Jeb" Bartlet in the highly-rated NBC series, received his third Emmy nomination for the role in July. It was one of 21 Emmy nods the drama is up for this year; awards are to be presented Sept. 22. "The West Wing" has won
17 Emmys since its 1999 debut, including two for best dramatic series.
Hard on the campaign trail when the new season starts, President Bartlet presumably wins another term in office because Sheen has signed a new three-year contract that reportedly awards him around $300,000 per episode.
On the first season of "The West Wing," Bartlet was to appear only about once a month. "The only thing the contract said I could not do was play another president elsewhere. I was fine with that," says Sheen, who in 1983 starred in the title role of the TV miniseries "Kennedy."
Overall, the actor — who describes himself as "a radical, a liberal Democratic, a practicing Catholic" — feels compatible with this fantasy president, who he believes incorporates the "very best of John Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton."
For a bit more, Martin Sheen
'The Adventures Of Superman'
Noel Neill & Jack Larson
The stars of the original television series "The Adventures of Superman",
Noel Neill (L) who portrayed character Lois Lane and
Jack Larson, who played Jimmy Olsen, pose together August 30, 2002 in Burbank, California.
The pair were promoting the "Stater Brothers Route 66 Rendezvous" which is a four-day classic car event in San Bernardino, California, set for September 19-22.
Photo by Fred Prouser
Rocky Mountain Low?
Directors Sued
A Colorado company on Thursday sued 16 Hollywood directors, including Steven Spielberg and Sydney Pollack, seeking the right to edit "objectionable" material such as sex and violence from movies.
Clean Flicks of Colorado and Robert Huntsman, who has a patent pending for a new way to edit movies, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Denver seeking a judgement that would declare it
constitutional to provide edited movies to the public for private home viewing.
The company said it filed the lawsuit because it understood that movie directors who do not want their works edited had planned to seek an injunction against it. The company said it had a First
Amendment right of free speech to edit the movies.
Also named as defendants were Steven Soderbergh, Robert Altman, Curtis Hanson, Norman Jewison, John Landis, Martin Scorsese and Robert Redford.
Directors Sued
Marin County
James Hetfield
Metallica lead singer James Hetfield is officially a benefactor of Marin County's park system.
Marin County supervisors agreed to accept a 438.5-acre easement from Hetfield.
By giving property rights to the county's Department of Parks, Open Space & Cultural Development, Hetfield is guaranteed the land will be preserved and its care will be the responsibility of the county.
Hetfield and his wife, Francesca, plan to build a 14,000-square-foot house, swimming pool and another 6,000-square-foot building that would house a music studio, garage and caretaker's
residence on part of the land they kept for development.
James Hetfield
'The Waltons' Creator
Earl Hamner Jr.
After years of bickering, "The Waltons" creator Earl Hamner Jr. has severed ties with the Walton's Mountain Museum.
Hamner and the Schuyler Community Center board, which runs the museum, have been arguing since the mid-1990s, according to those on both sides.
The feud came to a head when the board removed Hamner's brother, Jim Hamner, as treasurer.
Earlier this week, an agent for Hamner removed TV scripts, a copy of an Emmy Award and other personal items from the museum, which sits across from Hamner's boyhood home.
Earl Hamner Jr.
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Defends British Men
Sophia Loren
British men need smart no more from Gwyneth Paltrow's barb that they were wimps for not asking her out. Sophia Loren has come to their rescue.
"Ah! That accent!" the Italian sex symbol enthused on Friday.
"I just hear the accent and -- well, I don't fall in love, but it is just so attractive," she told reporters at the Venice Film Festival.
Earlier this month, Paltrow, the American actress who starred in the film "Shakespeare in Love," complained that only two British men had asked her on a
date while she was in London, provoking a furious defense from the London press.
Sophia Loren
India
Pashmina Goats
Indian nomad Sonan Stobgeus sits besides his Pashmina goats at Taglang La in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.
Denies Makeout Rumors
Justin Timberlake
Since his breakup with Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake says he hasn't been making out with women in bars as the tabloids report.
"That's the thing I laugh at — and sometimes I cry about it too," the 'N Sync singer told Us Weekly for its Sept. 9 issue. "It's happened for at least six months
now, this whole image of everybody portraying me as a playboy. That's not me. When I go out, I go out with my group of friends.
Timberlake, 21, and Spears, 20, parted ways in March after four years as pop music's most high-profile couple. Since then, he's been linked with Janet Jackson and
dancer Jenna Dewan, but he insists, "I'm single."
Justin Timberlake
The Stand Up Comedian's Response To Hecklers
Fined For Noise
David Lee Roth
Rocker David Lee Roth really cranked up the volume at last weekend's Champlain Valley Exposition.
Too much, say village officials, who fined the fair $5,000 for violation of Essex Junction's noise ordinance.
Essex Police Chief David Demag said there were 32 calls complaining about the noise at Sunday night's show.
Tom Oddy, director of special events, said Roth's crew had been told repeatedly to turn down the volume.
Fair officials and police said they feared halting the noisy performance by the 46-year-old former Van Halen singer would upset the audience.
David Lee Roth
BartCop TV!
Over At Faux
'Green Acres' Revival
Days after news broke that CBS was planning a reality-series revival of "The Beverly Hillbillies," Fox Broadcasting said it is developing a nonfiction comedy that mirrors
another hickfest: "Green Acres."
While details are still being hammered out, the show will take a rich, upper-class family or individual -- possibly a celebrity -- and move them from a big city to a much
more spartan existence, most likely in the South. Cameras will observe as the former socialites, deprived of access to their bank accounts and Beemers, attempt to get a job,
buy groceries and fit in with average Americans.
The series has been in the works for several weeks and precedes the revelation of CBS' tentatively titled "The real Beverly Hillbillies," which will drop a lower-middle-class
family into a Beverly Hills mansion in hopes of much mirth.
"I see a limo with a U-Haul attached," said "Green Acres" executive producer Jon Murray. "There's going to be wonderful humor in this show, as there is with anyone who's a fish
out of water. It's like when the first George Bush went to the supermarket and (apparently) didn't understand what a scanner was. It's a fun thing to watch."
'Green Acres'
Does this mean a revival of 'Petticoat Junction' is soon to follow?
Duped at MTV Awards?
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson has received so many awards during his career, he apparently mistook a birthday gift from MTV as another accolade.
Britney Spears presented Jackson with a birthday cake at Thursday night's Video Music Awards. Before introducing him, the 20-year-old Spears gushed that she considered Jackson to
be the "artist of the millennium."
When Jackson came out, he was presented with a cake and a statuette in the shape of a treble clef. He then said he never dreamed he'd be getting an "Artist of the Millennium" award,
and went on to thank several people, including his mother.
Well, turns out, he didn't get one.
The statuette was just a token of appreciation for Jackson's 44th birthday, which coincided with the awards show, MTV spokesman Graham James said Friday.
Michael Jackson
Yeah, and Britney was speaking extemporaneously, too.
Ibero-American Film Festival
Raquel Welch
Screen siren Raquel Welch regrets not having delved deeper into her Bolivian roots, and says she has long felt empty inside because of it.
On her first trip to her father's impoverished Andean homeland to attend a film festival, Welch -- born Jo-Raquel Tejada -- said however she could understand why her engineer father
banned her from learning Spanish and shunned their Hispanic heritage.
Welch's father -- who moved to the United States in the 1930s -- feared that being born in one of the poorest nation's in the Western hemisphere would hinder his own career because of prejudice.
Thanking Bolivians for their warm welcome, she shared with them a tip she says has helped her keep her figure -- the ingredients of a homemade soup she eats every day.
Ironically, it could be a local recipe -- the ingredients including green beans, pumpkin, parsley and garlic are available at many Bolivian street corner stalls.
Raquel Welch
Behind The Orange Curtain
Pashto Prohibited?
Two Afghan-Americans sued the AMC movie theater chain for civil rights violations, claiming they were kicked out of an Orange County show for speaking the native
language of Afghanistan.
The federal lawsuit filed Thursday contends that Mohammad Sayed and Omar Zazia were victims of discrimination. It seeks unspecified damages and a court order that
AMC take steps to prevent future occurrences.
Sayed and Zazia, both 21, were in an AMC theater in suburban Orange on May 4, talking in English and Pashto while waiting for the movie to start.
They claim a security guard began to stare at them, then returned with an usher and asked them to leave.
The California State University, Fullerton, students were told only that they had been speaking in a foreign tongue and looked suspicious, according to an ACLU statement.
Police were waiting outside to ensure Sayed and Zazia did not try to return to the theater, the statement alleged.
Pashto Prohibited?
Another Appointed Son
Michael Powell
Telecommunications was the driving force behind the great economic boom of the late '90s. Between 1996 and 2000 the telecom industry grew at twice the rate of the national economy. By March of last year telecom companies had reached a market value of $3 trillion, and their
share of the national GDP had risen to almost 6 percent. The Internet, and wireless and other telecom services, spurred investment in information technology, which by 1999 accounted for 43 percent of private, nonresidential investment. To a great extent, the boom of the
late '90s was a telecommunications boom.
By the same token, the bust of the early 2000s is being driven largely by a collapse in telecom. The industry has lost an estimated $2 trillion in paper value on the stock market--more than eight times what it cost to bail out the savings and loan industry a decade ago.
New investment capital, vital for innovation, has dried up. In the first six months of this year (i.e., before WorldCom's bankruptcy) telecom lost 225,000 jobs, one-fifth of the total jobs lost in the country. And with thousands of miles of excess capacity in fiber-optic
cable, and as much as $500 billion in questionable debt, the industry may continue to hemorrhage value and jobs for the foreseeable future--potentially imperiling the country's overall recovery. Says former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Reed Hundt, "If
the communications sector doesn't start attracting investment again, it's going to be hard for business investment in general to increase. And if that doesn't happen soon, the whole economy will begin to shrink again."
The government official most responsible for turning telecom around is the current FCC chair, Michael Powell, son of Colin. Articulate and well-liked on Capitol Hill, Powell was the first choice for the FCC job of former Senator Commerce Committee chair John McCain and
House Commerce Committee chair Billy Tauzin. But Powell has proven a disaster. He has equivocated, frustrating even ardent supporters like Tauzin; and when he has finally acted, it has been to prolong rather than shorten the telecom slump. Like Harvey Pitt, the chairman
of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Powell would be ripe for replacement--if his feckless, ideological approach didn't so perfectly reflect the president he serves.
This is a really important piece to read, and maybe even copy & save. Michael Powell
'Xena' Ghostwriter Seeks Copyright
Dan Kolton
A Michigan composer has filed a copyright claim for music used for episodes of the TV programs "Xena: Warrior Princess," "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Young Hercules."
Dan Kolton, 43, of Ferndale, was a ghostwriter for Oakland County resident Joe LoDuca. The music lists LoDuca as the only composer.
Now Kolton wants credit, legal copyright and the right to collect royalties on the music he wrote.
Kolton said Wednesday that when he began working on the TV shows, it wasn't clear that he would be a ghostwriter and would not be credited.
He was paid for his work, he said, but there was no written agreement about compensation.
Kolton wrote music for the TV shows between 1995 and 1999 at LoDuca's request, but there was no written contractual agreement regarding copyrights, said Kolton's lawyer, Brian Lee Corber.
For more details, Dan Kolton
Dropped By Pepsi Thanks To O'Really
Ludacris
Pepsi-Cola has pulled a national, 30-second commercial featuring multiplatinum rapper Ludacris from the air after Fox News Channel's host Bill O'Reilly called for a boycott of the company. O'Reilly characterized Pepsi as "immoral" for using the rapper,
whom he described as rap thug on Tuesday (August 27). O'Reilly read several of the rapper's lyrics, which he said emphasized a lifestyle that included getting intoxicated, selling drugs, fighting people, and degrading women.
On Wednesday (August 28), Pepsi-Cola released a statement explaining its decision to pull the ad, "We have a responsibility to listen to our consumers and customers, and we've heard from a number of people that were uncomfortable with our association
with this artist. We've decided to discontinue our ad campaign with this artist and we're sorry that we've offended anyone."
While on the air, O'Reilly commended Pepsi for acting quickly, but pointed out that this was only part of larger problem, "Well, we applaud Pepsi's decision but there's a bigger story here, and that is a growing trend in America to reward disgraceful
behavior." O'Reilly specifically mentioned former playmate Anna Nicole Smith and her new television show as an example of the problem.
Ludacris
Captains Paintball Team
William Shatner
Around the globe and presumably on most highly evolved planets of the solar system, he will always be James T. Kirk, phaser-wielding, supremely self-assured
commander of the U.S.S. Enterprise. It is a role in which actor William Shatner was cast decades ago, and one that has since made him an icon.
On Saturday, at Challenge Park Xtreme, visionary Forest Brown's two-year-old 150-acre extreme sports complex in Joliet, the aging-yet-ageless Shatner will resurrect
his fictional alter ego for the last time as he leads Federation forces against swarms of heavily armed Klingons and Borgs in what is being billed as SPPLAT Attack!--the largest ever paintball game.
The brainchild of SPPLAT (Society of Paintball Players and Teams) founder and paintball industry veteran J.J. Brookshire, the event is expected to draw in excess
of 2,000 participants who will spar against each other for eight hours beginning at 8 a.m. Also in attendance will be the Big Giant Head, inspired by Shatner's
hilarious recurring character on the canceled NBC sitcom "Third Rock from the Sun."
For the rest (and some pithy Mancow quotes, too), William Shatner
The Top 15
Basic Cable
Rankings for the top 15 programs on basic cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Aug. 19-26. Each ratings point represents 1,055,000 households. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses.
1. Auto Racing: Sharpie 600 Winston Cup (Saturday, 7:48 p.m.), TNT, 3.9, 4.13 million homes.
2. "WWE Raw Zone" (Monday, 10 p.m.), TNN, 3.3, 3.46 million homes.
3. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNN, 3.1, 3.29 million homes.
4. Movie: "The Secret Life of Zoey" (Monday, 9 p.m.), Lifetime, 3.1, 3.28 million homes.
5. Movie: "Sweet Dreams" (Sunday, 4 p.m.), Lifetime, 2.7, 2.87 million homes.
6. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.7, 2.86 million homes.
7. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Thursday, 5 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.6, 2.69 million homes.
8. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.5, 2.66 million homes.
9. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.5, 2.66 million homes.
10. Movie: "Cruel Justice" (Sunday, 6 p.m.), Lifetime, 2.4, 2.58 million homes.
11. Little League World Series: Worcester, Ma. vs. Harlem, N.Y. (Thursday, 7 p.m.), ESPN, 2.4, 2.55 million homes.
12. "Monk" (Friday, 10 p.m.), USA, 2.4, 2.54 million homes.
13. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Monday, 5 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.4, 2.52 million homes.
14. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Monday, 4:30 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.4, 2.48 million homes.
15. "Strong Medicine" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), Lifetime, 2.3, 2.46 million homes.
Basic Cable
Baby Ant-Eater
Irma
Baby ant-eater "Irma" takes a stroll at the Frankfurt Zoo in Germany, Aug. 30, 2002. Irma was born on Aug. 4th and is the first ant-eater born at the zoo since 1993.
Photo by Bernd Kammerer
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
