'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Review
Mariachi USA Festival On PBS
PBS, in the AZ sphere Thurs. night, presented a really cool glimpse at Mariachi music; -- much of which was interesting at least, and scintillating at finest.
Mariachi Cobre was the highlight of the 1 1/2 hour show; --- appearing about 3/4 thru the show for 3 songs of such crispness and clarity to steal it all 'til near the end when all the "grupos" congregated on stage w/ traditional dancers. ( I had the extreme pleasure of watching a live appearance of Mariachi Cobre at Disney World-Epcot with my then six-yr-old granddaughter in '98; --- since grasping all opportunities to snag a re-listen.)
The Finale was a fantastic treat; --- complete w/ Folkorico touches of swirling women in gorgeous, colorful, flowing skirts of many-yards-cloth meshing into a garland of music the combined bands wove.
... more than worth the watch...
Michelle V
Thanks, Michelle. It's scheduled Saturday (tonight) on KOCE (PBS for behind the Orange Curtain). Will catch it then.
Reader Suggestion
Save/Free Martha?
Save Martha?
Free Martha?
Tired of these trite websites that are only more pr
hype, check out
www.surrendermartha.com.
T-shirts and "martha
masks" for halloween!
~~Gary
Reader Observation
Re: Executive Privilege
Clinton should have used Bush's technique and stored the infamous "blue dress"
in his office, listed Monica as part of the president's staff, and claimed
executive privilege as the reason for not releasing evidence or giving testimony.
It's working for Bush and Cheney so that must prove Clinton is not nearly
so devious as Bush. What more could one expect from a child of the 60s when
the slogan "make love, not war" was on the lips of many combat soldiers in
Viet Nam.
~~jody
Thanks, Jody - good point, too!
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Had a busy day with plumbers & roof estimates. Roof will be replaced in 2 weeks, and the hot water tank didn't need to be replaced!
Went to use the phone this afternoon, but after 20 minutes I realized the touch-pad no longer worked. Couldn't make it dial, and while there was a dial-tone,
every 45 seconds I heard a recording saying I'd pissed away too much time, so hang up & try again. Bought this phone when the previous one no longer rang.
So, had to buy another new phone. In 11 months I've bought new 3 phones (no off-brand knock-offs) - yet, the phone before all this lasted 25 years. Guess planned
obsolescence isn't what it used to be...
Tonight, Saturday CBS has a fresh 'Big Brother 3' followed by reruns of 'The District' and 'The Agency'.
NBC has a rerun of 'Meet My Folks' and then a rerun of the tv-movie 'LA Law: The Movie'. The SNL rerun has Derek Jeter as host.
ABC has the atavistic 'Miss America 2002', hosted by Wayne Brady.
The WB has the movie 'Universal Soldier'.
Faux has the usual 2 episodes of 'Cops' and 'America's Most Wanted'.
UPN has more baseball - here, Rupert's Doggers are still visiting the Padres.
FX is running a marathon of 'M*A*S*H'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Big Dog Watch Continues
Bill Clinton & H. Carl McCall
Former President Bill Clinton, left, and New York State Democratic gubernatorial candidate H. Carl McCall speak to reporters after a lunch meeting in the Harlem neighborhood of New York, Friday, Sept. 20, 2002.
Photo by Diane Bondareff
Restrooms Get Makeovers
Emmy Glamour?
Even the restrooms will be glamorous at the Emmy Awards.
Shrine Auditorium facilities have been given a makeover for Sunday night's ceremony with new carpet, paint, lighting and vanities, courtesy of cosmetics company Lancome.
Emmy guests will be able to get quick face fixes from a makeup artist at a "powder bar" and "lip bar," said Lancome spokeswoman Sandra Gabriele. There will be gift
bags and an exhibit of antique Lancome perfume bottles.
Lancome also is offering pre-Emmy makeovers including diamond-studded manicures for presenters and nominees.
Emmy Glamour?
Emmy Awards Web site
NBC Web site
A Perfectly Appalling Program From Rupert
'American Candidate'
Entertainment and politics are about to collide as never before via a sure-to-be provocative new reality series from FX.
The News Corp.-owned cable channel has pacted with documentary veteran R.J. Cutler ("The War Room"), director Jay Roach ("Austin Powers") and producer
Tom Lassally ("Totally Hidden Video") to mount an ambitious two-year endeavor that will culminate in the American public choosing a "people's candidate"
to run for president of the United States in 2004.
The series will be seeking "the Jesse Venturas of the world, finding messages people want to hear," added Kevin Reilly, FX's president of entertainment. "Hopefully,
we'll find some very qualified civil servant who lacks a power base and maybe also a plumber from Detroit who (tells) it like it is."
To land a slot on the show, applicants will have to fill out questionnaires, provide videotapes in which they explain why they would make a great president and put
together a group of 50 supporters from their community who will serve as sponsors.
The process likely will get under way in January 2003, with the first of a minimum 13 episodes likely to air starting in January 2004.
A panel of yet-to-be-determined experts will assess the applicant pool and choose about 100 candidates for the start of the series. During subsequent episodes, candidates
will square off in numerous competitions, from debates to deciding whether to use opposition research to slam other contestants.
The number of semifinalists will be whittled down each week, based on a point system that will factor in competition results, live audience response and telephone/Internet
voting. Each episode will originate from all-American locales such as Mount Rushmore or the Statue of Liberty.
For a lot more, 'American Candidate'
To Make Africa-AIDS Visit
Bill Clinton
Former President Clinton will visit Africa next week to promote efforts to curtail the AIDS epidemic and encourage economic development.
Clinton leaves Sunday and will visit Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Mozambique and South Africa, his office said Friday. He returns Sept. 29 to the United States.
During his trip, Clinton will meet with Presidents John Kufuor of Ghana, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique.
He also will endorse establishment of a legal property system that can create capital for the poor, tour AIDS prevention programs for youth and deliver a speech on the future of Africa.
Clinton also will pay a private visit to former South African President Nelson Mandela at Mandela's provincial home. The two former presidents serve as co-chairmen of the International AIDS Trust.
In 1998, Clinton became the first U.S. president to tour Africa while in office. He visited the continent again in August 2000 and returned a third time in April 2001, after he left the White House.
Bill Clinton
37-cent Neuter Spay Commemorative Postage Stamps
Bob Barker
Bob Barker, shown Friday, Sept. 20, 2002, at the historic Hollywood Post Office in Los Angeles, who ends each of his "The Price of Right" shows on the CBS Television Network with an appeal to viewers to spay or neuter their pets,
stands with mockups of the new stamp 37-cent Neuter Spay commemorative postage stamps and sheets of the new offering that went on sale Friday.
Photo by Tony Esparza
V-Day In Rome
Ensler & Fonda
A movement to stop violence against women, sparked by the off-Broadway hit "The Vagina Monologues," held its first summit Friday, bringing together Jane Fonda, Afghan women
and a Kenyan campaigning to save girls from genital mutilation.
"Monologues" playwright Eve Ensler, who founded the movement called V-Day, was also among the few dozen women who met at a Rome hotel for a brainstorming session on how to realize their vision.
That vision, says Ensler, is of a world where women "will be walking the streets and parks of New York City" without fear of rape. "They will be saving their clitoris in
Africa and other parts of the world," she added in a reference to ritual genital mutilation.
Journeying to Rome was a Maasai woman from Kenya, Agnes Pareyio, who used to go by foot from village to village to persuade young girls to resist having their genitals mutilated as
part of local tradition. When Ensler met her in Kenya, she gave her money to buy a Jeep to speed up her rounds and to set up a safehouse for girls who want to avoid the ritual.
The funds come from performances of Ensler's play. So far this year, said the playwright, the play has been put on in some 800 cities worldwide, raising $7 million.
Also coming to Rome was an Afghan woman who identified herself as Zoya and who now lives in Pakistan. Before cameras, she wore dark sunglasses indoors and a cloth covering most of
her face to reduce the possibility of retaliation for denouncing violence against her countrywomen.
For more, Ensler & Fonda
Available for Auction
Emmy Clothes
Fledgling fashionistas should pay close attention to the fashions being worn at Sunday's Emmy Awards. Some of the garb coming down the red carpet will be available by auction after the event.
Jane Kaczmarek, the mom from "Malcolm in the Middle," and her real-life husband, Bradley Whitford of "The West Wing," are spearheading the program called "Clothes Off Their Backs."
Kaczmarek's gown is one of the items, as is Patricia Heaton's, Patricia Clarkson's and Wendie Malick's. Men who are participating include Whitford, Martin Sheen and Ray Romano.
There will also be some fancy duds from previous awards ceremonies included in the auction: Eric McCormack's tux, Megan Mullaly's dress from last year's Emmys and Jennifer Garner's Ralph
Lauren gown from the last Oscars.
Bids are being taken at www.ubid.com.
Emmy Clothes
Backlash Fear KO's Ad for Fox Sports
Mike Tyson
Fox Sports Net's commercial that made a baby-sitter out of boxer Mike Tyson -- who once famously threatened to eat the children of an opponent -- is down for the count, pulled by the network for fear of a backlash from an outraged public.
The ad, promoting the sports talk show "Best Damn Sports Show Period," had Tyson baby-sitting an infant for co-host John Kruk in an attempt to get on the program.
Tyson, a convicted rapist, told a group of reporters earlier this year he wished "you guys had children so I could kick them in the (expletive) head or stomp on their testicles so you could feel my pain because that's the pain I have waking up every day."
He was not paid for doing the Fox Sports Net commercial, which was created by independent ad agency Cliff Freeman and Partners and began running on Monday.
Mike Tyson
Turns Artist for Charity
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela has turned his hand to painting to raise money for charity by selling sketches of Robben Island, where he spent 18 of his nearly 27 years in South Africa's apartheid prisons.
Numbered copies of the first five in a series of charcoal and watercolor sketches went on show in London on Friday. The grandee of global statesmanship sketched the views after returning to visit the island prison off Cape Town earlier this year.
Among the most striking of the five at the Belgravia Gallery in central London is a somewhat romanticised view of Table Mountain seen through the bars of a prison cell. It is not Mandela's cell which faced into an enclosed courtyard.
Other sketches at the gallery are of the lighthouse, the church that was built by the inhabitants when the island was a leper colony, a view into a cell showing the slop bucket and blankets the prisoners were allowed, and a view of the harbor.
A numbered series of 500 prints has been made of each of the five which will be offered for sale at between $1,550 and $3,100 each.
Nelson Mandela
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
'The Golden Age of Grotesque'
Marilyn Manson
Shock-rocker Marilyn Manson, infamous for ripping up Bibles and invoking Satan on stage, is showcasing another side of his twisted mind with a Hollywood art exhibit dubbed "The Golden Age of Grotesque."
Colorful watercolors of emaciated souls and grisly corpses greeted celebrities such as actor Nicolas Cage and his new wife, Lisa Marie Presley, at a launch party on Thursday.
Manson, 33, told Reuters he was proudest of a suite of four works called "Elizabeth Short as Snow White."
Short, known as the Black Dahlia, was chopped in half and left naked in a Los Angeles field 55 years ago in one of Los Angeles' great unsolved crimes.
Red Hot Chili Peppers bass player Flea was impressed enough to spend $30,000 on a portrait of Short.
"I'm trying to bring back ... the excitement, the glamour, the decadence and take it as far as it can go." Another celebrity endorsement came from rock 'n' roll scion Jack Osbourne,
who was trailed by a film crew for his family's hit TV show "The Osbournes," as he spent $15,000 on a Mad Hatter painting titled "Harlequin Jack as the Absinthe Bunny."
Marilyn Manson
About $24,000 Worth Of Goodies
Emmy Gift Bags
The red carpet is rolled out for Sunday's show (NBC at 8 p.m. ET/PT). The stars are ready. And the gift bags are assembled.
For the first time in award show history, Architectural Digest will design two celebrity green rooms. One is the regular green room at the Shrine Auditorium;
the other is a specially built room just off stage right. Special wallpaper, carpets, subzero refrigerators, televisions, artworks and antiques cost about $400,000.
For vendors who didn't get the official Emmy nod, many are sending Emmy presenters treats before the show. Sama Eyewear has invited stars to a private
fitting to help create a ''winning look for the red carpet.'' And they have all been sent Body Mint, a new ''total-body deodorant'' pill.
Among the items (total value of about $24,000) in an oversized Dooney & Burke vegetable-dyed Vachetta leather bag:
* John Hardy jewelry made in Bali. For women, a bracelet in black and white sapphires. For men, garnet oval cuff links.
* Gift certificate for a pair of men's handmade leather shoes from John Lobb.
* Five nights' accommodations at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows in Hawaii.
* Maurice Lacroix watches.
* Nokia telephones that feature a full-color screen and stereo FM radio and which can send images just like a camera.
* A vacuum cleaner, courtesy of Dyson.
* One year's worth of Rembrandt oral care products and a gift certificate for a one-hour whitening procedure with Dr. John Ivey.
* One-year bicoastal health membership to the Sportsclub/LA Clubs nationwide.
* Steuben crystal flower vase.
* United Airlines upgrade certificates and gift certificates for dining for two at the Signature Room atop the John Hancock building in Chicago.
Emmy Gift Bags
Urges Disability Rights at UN
Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve helped present Ecuador with the Franklin Delano Roosevelt international disability award Thursday at the United Nations where he called on countries to adopt a convention on disability rights.
The former actor, who has regained some movement and sensation in his hands and feet seven years after a horse-riding accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, was joined by Anna Eleanor Roosevelt,
granddaughter of the former U.S. president.
Roosevelt presented the award and a $50,000 check to Ecuadorean President Gustavo Noboa for making equal opportunity for people with disabilities a top priority over the past 30 years.
Reeve said he was "in awe" of Ecuador's accomplishments and wished the cash prize could have been larger.
Reeve then called on members of the United Nations to adopt a U.N. convention on the rights of the disabled.
His comments drew a storm of applause from international diplomats who gave him a standing ovation.
Christopher Reeve
World Committee on Disability
Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation
Casting Agents On The Prowl
'The Real Beverly Hillbillies'
Casting agents from the CBS reality series "The Real Beverly Hillbillies" plan to hold open auditions in eastern Kentucky next month as part of an effort across the rural South to find real-life counterparts of the fictional Clampett clan.
"They're just going to be relying on a tired, old, worn-out stereotype about life in the rural South," said Ewell Balltrip, head of the Kentucky Appalachian Commission. "The result will be to perpetuate this myth of the 'Beverly Hillbillies' image, which is not representative at all today."
The original "Beverly Hillbillies," about a poor mountaineer who became rich when he struck oil on his mountain property, ran from 1962 until 1971. At one time, it was television's No. 1 program, attracting up to 60 million viewers weekly.
Balltrip said sitcoms like "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Green Acres" — also the premise for a new reality show from Fox — did nothing but make a mockery of life in the rural South and Appalachia.
For the "Green Acres" reality show, producers are looking for a rich family willing to move from the big city to the boondocks.
"I don't think anybody from Appalachia would have any trouble living in California," said Pikeville city manager Kenny Blackburn. "I'm sure there are plenty of people from eastern Kentucky living out there now."
'The Real Beverly Hillbillies'
BartCop TV!
Won't Hang Up Guitar
Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson plans to sing, and fight for Farm Aid, regardless of how many birthdays he racks up.
The country music legend told PittsburghLIVE.com that, although he'll turn 70 next April, he doesn't plan on retiring.
"Troubadours don't retire," Nelson told the Web site. "They do what they do."
Nelson will headline the sold-out Farm Aid concert Saturday in Burgettstown, Pa., outside Pittsburgh.
Willie Nelson
'How New York City Transformed Sex in America'
Museum of Sex
Bawdy bold-facers heated up the new Museum of Sex's sneak preview party the other night. Kitsch king John Waters, performance artist Annie Sprinkle, porn legends Vanessa Del Rio and
Candida Royalle, Tina Louise of "Gilligan's Island" and Veronica Vera, who runs a transvestite training academy in Chelsea, all ogled the museum's surprisingly scholarly inaugural
sexhibit, "How New York City Transformed Sex in America." Guests gaped at "blue movies" from the 1930s, early S&M artwork featuring Bettie Page and the gleefully campy gay tabloids
that heralded the swinging sex parties happening here before World War II. At the after-party at Lotus, the plus-size Glamazons go-go dancers wriggled topless as some prurient partygoers
lapped whipped cream and pastries off a naked model serving as a table. The museum, at Fifth Avenue and 27th Street, opens to the public Sept. 28.
Museum of Sex
Vienna, Austria
Chantarelles
Karina Boehm holds a pile of delicate chantarelles at Vienna's market agency on Monday, Sept. 16, 2002 where mushrooms can be checked by experts whether they are poisonous.
Due to heavy rains the number of mushrooms has increased as well as the number of people heading to emergency rooms with symptoms of mushroom poisoning. At least two people
have died this year, several required intensive care and some needed liver transplants.
Photo by Martin Gnedt
Returning to London Venue
David Bowie
David Bowie is returning to the venue where he killed off his most famous creation, Ziggy Stardust, nearly 30 years ago.
The 55-year-old star said Friday he'll perform Oct. 2 at London's Carling Apollo, which was known in the 1970s as the Hammersmith Odeon.
The performer stunned his fans in 1973 when he rounded off a Ziggy tour at the Odeon by telling them: "This show will stay the longest in our memories, not just because
it is the end of the tour but because it is the last show we'll ever do."
The announcement was his way of burying Ziggy Stardust, the outrageous stage persona his fans had come to love.
At the Oct. 2 concert, he'll play many of his classic tracks as well as songs from his recent "Heathen" album. But he gave no indication that he has any plans to resurrect Ziggy.
David Bowie
David Bowie Web site
www.carlinglive.com
Victim Of Identity Theft
Will Smith
A man who racked up nearly $33,000 in credit card bills in the name of actor-rapper Will Smith has pleaded guilty to one count of the use of an unauthorized access device.
Carlos Lomax, 41, entered the plea Wednesday before Senior U.S. District Judge Alan N. Bloch. Lomax faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Federal prosecutors say Lomax used Smith's Social Security number and other information to obtain 14 credit accounts at various department and specialty stores in
the Pittsburgh region. They say Lomax placed fraudulent charges on 12 of those accounts.
The total amount placed in the name of Willard C. Smith — the film star's given name — was $32,897.34.
Will Smith
Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enters Here...
Makes Chicago Court Appearance
R. Kelly
Grammy-winning singer R. Kelly appeared in court on Friday as prosecutors pressed ahead with child pornography charges against him.
Lawyers in the case said more evidence needed to be exchanged by the two sides before trial, and Cook County Circuit Court Judge Vincent Gaughan scheduled another hearing for Nov. 1.
The attorneys said a trial may not take place until next year for Kelly, who faces 21 counts of videotaping, producing or soliciting for child pornography. The charges stemmed from a 26-minute videotape
that allegedly depicted the rhythm and blues star engaging in numerous sex acts with a girl that police say was 14-years-old at the time.
Kelly, whose given name is Robert, has pleaded innocent and denied the man on the tape is him. His lawyers have said the girl in any case was of age.
R. Kelly
Breaks Mold With Film In 2 Dead Languages
Mel Gibson
A film in two ancient tongues with no subtitles?
The off-beat formula hardly sounds like the recipe for a hit movie but Mel Gibson thinks language should be no barrier. "Passion" -- a Gibson-directed flick about Christ's
last 12 hours -- will be in Latin and Aramaic.
But Gibson, a perennial Hollywood favorite with lead roles in the hit "Lethal Weapon" series, "Braveheart" and more recently "Signs," acknowledged his choice of languages
for the new film was causing headaches as far as U.S. distributors were concerned.
"No one wants to touch something in two dead languages. They think I'm insane, maybe I am," joked Gibson, who was born in New York but grew up in Australia.
The abolition of the Latin mass was one of the key reforms adopted in the 1960s by the Second Vatican Council, which sought to bring the liturgy closer to ordinary people.
But Gibson is very much of the old school, and a Latin service is still held at the private chapel of his California home.
Mel Gibson
**ADULT CONTENT**
a little something for the guys
Oh Puh-leeeeeeze!
Scissors Banned
When it was time to cut the ribbon on a new exhibit at Pittsburgh International Airport, there were no scissors to be found. The reason? Security.
A replica of a Tyrannosaurus rex was dedicated at the terminal Thursday, but security measures prevented Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey and others from using scissors to cut the ribbon.
They had to tear the ribbon instead.
Scissors and other objects that could be used as weapons were banned from the airport after last year's terrorist attacks.
Scissors Banned
Shoes Spare Nudity Charges
TNT!MEN
Seven men who bared all in Toronto's Gay Pride Parade have been cleared of public nudity charges because they were wearing shoes, their lawyer says.
The men, from a social group calling itself Totally Naked Toronto Men Enjoying Nudity (TNT!MEN), were arrested and charged under Canada's Criminal Code after they
marched in the annual festival wearing only footwear -- and sunscreen.
But prosecutors dropped the charges this week after conceding there was no reasonable prospect of a conviction, said lawyer Peter Simm, a TNT!MEN member himself.
Simm said Thursday his clients were technically not naked even though one had a "sort of a codpiece on."
"Because everyone wore at least footwear the Crown had to prove indecency and it couldn't."
TNT!MEN
Bombay, India
Ganesh Chaturthi
Indian devotees gather at Bombay beach for the immersion ceremony of the idol of Hindu god "Ganesh" on the last day of a ten-day festival September 20, 2002. The ten-day 'Ganesh Chaturthi,' or Ganesh
festival, started on September 10 and is one of the biggest festivals in the Hindu calendar.
Photo by Roy Madhur
'The Osbournes'
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'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
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