'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Suggestion
Re: Wanda Sykes
On the 10-8-03 episode of 'Inside the NFL', Wanda Sykes did a great little skit on Rush Limbaugh ending it with something about "white boy crackers". The show then went back to the boys in the studio who were all laughing hysterically. I work odd hours, so I don't know if I'll see it again to get a quote...so maybe you or someone you know could watch...
TB5...
Thanks, TB5...will try to find it - anybody else see it?
from Mark
Hail To The 'Chief'
Reader Question
Re: Steve Thomas
Why isn't Steve Thomas still hosting 'This Old House'?
Regards,
Wil B
Thanks, Wil - Good question, but I don't have the answer. I'll poke around, but maybe someone else already knows.
The new dictionary entry for 'hypocrisy'
Rush Musings
Thanks, Tridim!
Selected Saturday Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Not a lot of sun, but still pleasant - and mild enough for Jo the (remaining) lizard to get his fresh air.
The kid's teacher said he could take his tarantula, Shelob, in to class today. Took along the molted skin, too, so the kids could touch it. Went over quite well.
Looks like the 3 major grocery chains here will have strikes - the corporate masters want the clerks to pick up 50% more of their insurance & no raises for 2 years. Of course, it's not fair to mention the incredible
pay packages management has going, let alone the 'bonuses' (and let's not mention that there were 7 major grocery chains here only 2 years ago).
Local TV reporters seemed shocked that so many people they interviewed expressed solidarity with the clerks. Not that the reporters belong to a union...
'NOW With Bill Moyers' kicked ass! It's the best show on 'free' TV, and the only program to address media issues. Tonight they got into ownership issues, as well as the NBC/GE connections to Ahnold.
Buzz words that should make one think about an industrial-size can O'Crisco include "consolidation", "privatization", "deregulation", and "efficiency".
Tonight, Saturday, CBS begins the evening with '48 Hours', followed by a FRESH 'Hack', then a FRESH
'The District'.
NBC opens the night with the movie 'Witness', followed by a FRESH 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
'SNL' is FRESH, but Justin Timberlake is not only the host, but also the musical talent.
ABC starts the night with the movie 'Toy Story', followed by a FRESH 'Dragnet' (which technically has been renamed 'L.A. Dragnet' and that makes me wonder if it's gonna be a new Disney franchise).
The WB offers the movie 'Hackers'.
Faux has 'MLB Baseball', with 'Stargate SG-1' and 'X-Files' RERUNs filling up prime time on the left coast.
'Mad TV' has Tom Arnold as guest host.
UPN has the movie 'Fatal Attraction'.
A&E has 'American Justice', 'Cold Case Files', and 'The Kobe Case'.
AMC offers the movie 'City Slickers', followed by the movie 'The Money Pit', then the movie 'Smokey And The Bandit II'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'Parkinson' - George Clooney, Heather Mills, and Dawn French;
[7pm] 'Shadowlands';
[10pm] 'Tipping the Velvet' - Part 2;
[11pm] 'Shadowlands';
[2am] 'Tipping the Velvet' - Part 2; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Queer Eye', followed by the movie 'The Professional', then the movie 'Mary Reilly'.
Comedy Central has an hour of 'Reno 911'.
HBO offers 'Actual Autopsy With Dr. Michael Baden'.
History has 'Battlefield Detectives', 'Come Home Alive', and 'Dead Reckoning'.
SciFi has the movie 'Total Recall', followed by the movie 'Death Machine', then the movie 'Total Recall' again.
TCM features 4 with Rod Steiger tonight.
[6am] 'The Three Musketeers' (1935);
[8am] 'Conflict' (1945);
[9:30am] 'Festival of Shorts #25' (2000);
[10am] 'Devil's Canyon' (1953);
[12pm] 'Raintree County' (1957);
[3:30pm] 'Witness For The Prosecution' (1957);
[5:30pm] 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind' (1977);
[8pm] 'On The Waterfront' (1954);
[10pm] 'In The Heat Of The Night' (1967);
[12am] 'On The Waterfront' (1954);
[2am] 'F.I.S.T.' (1978); and
[4:30am] 'Killer's Kiss' (1955). (ALL TIMES EDT)
Participants in the Race for the Cure gather at the Washington Monument and next to a giant pink ribbon ahead of the race Washington, DC. A hormone therapy agent may offer older women additional protection from new or recurring breast cancer
Photo by Neshan Naltchayan
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Final Album Released
Joe Strummer
Friends and family toasted the late punk pioneer Joe Strummer at the launch of his last album.
Mick Jones, Strummer's former bandmate in The Clash, was among guests at the event at London's White Cube Gallery Thursday night to mark the release of "Streetcore." Other guests included actor Keith Allen, comic Paul Kaye, actress Sadie Frost and her former husband, ex-Spandau Ballet star Gary Kemp.
Strummer's widow, Lucy, helped launch the Strummerville charity, which aims to help youth groups, organizations and individuals buy instruments, studio and rehearsal time.
Members of reggae band UB40 also attended, as did photographer Pennie Smith, famed for her striking cover shot for The Clash's 1979 album "London Calling."
Joe Strummer
One-Time-Only In-Theater Event
Lord of The Rings
Leading up to the December 17 release of The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King, the final film Peter Jackson's epic trilogy, New Line Cinema will bring moviegoers an exclusive, One-time-only in-theater event:
The Lord of the Rings Special Extended Edition Screening Engagement.
The schedule for this special theatrical screening series is as follows:
December 5-11
Special Extended Edition The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
December 12-15
Special Extended Edition The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Tuesday, December 16
One-time-only marathon of both the Extended Edition prints followed by the first
screenings of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Special Extended Edition Screening Engagement
The Lord of the Rings: Theaters Offering The Screenings
Philadelphia's Liberty Bell is shown at twilight Friday, Oct. 10, 2003, at its new location in the Liberty Bell Center at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. The bell was moved 1,000 feet over a four-hour period Thursday, from its previous display at the Liberty Bell Pavilion.
Photo by George Widman
Massachusetts Named Smartest State
2003 Smartest
Massachusetts, home to many great universities, was recognized recently for its excellence in elementary and secondary education. The Bay State wins the 2003 Smartest State Award, an honor announced annually in Education State Rankings, a reference book from Morgan Quitno Press.
At the opposite end of the scale, New Mexico comes in as the lowest ranked state for the second straight year.
The Smartest State Award is based on 21 factors that compare the 50 states in more than 400 elementary and secondary education categories. Factors considered include per pupil expenditures, public high school graduation rates, average class size, student reading, writing and math proficiency, and pupil-teacher ratios and teacher salaries as a percent of average annual pay.
Rounding out the top five states with Massachusetts were Vermont, last year's winner Connecticut, Montana, and New Jersey. Others in the lower end of the rankings scale were New Mexico in last place, Nevada in 49th, Mississippi in 48th, Louisiana in 47th and Alabama in 46th places.
For the rest, and the list of states, 2003 Smartest
Thanks, Alex!
Want Screening Copies Back
Directors
Nearly 150 directors, including Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Robert Redford, are urging the Motion Picture Association to repeal its decision to stop sending out special DVDs and videos to Oscar voters.
The directors sent a letter to Jack Valenti, urging the MPAA to immediately repeal the anti-piracy plan it implemented last week.
The ban on sending screeners means the 5,600 Academy Awards voters will have to catch most movies in theaters.
The list of 142 people who signed the letter includes movie veterans (Sydney Pollack, Barry Levinson, Norman Jewison); international filmmakers (Pedro Almodovar, Bernardo Bertolucci, Atom Egoyan); and a bevy of young directors, including Spike Jonze, Sofia Coppola, Paul Thomas Anderson, Robert Rodriguez and Kimberly Peirce.
Directors
Dines With N.M. Governor
Val Kilmer
Gov. Bill Richardson, known for playing peacemaker in disputes around the world, had dinner with Val Kilmer in an effort to quash a brouhaha that erupted over a Rolling Stone interview with the actor.
Richardson also invited state Sen. Phil Griego of San Jose — who had criticized Kilmer's comments — to Thursday night's dinner at the governor's mansion, but Griego couldn't attend because of health problems.
Kilmer, 43, said he was misquoted, comments were taken out of context and he never said some of the things in the article. He said he actually bragged about New Mexico during the interview.
Rolling Stone spokeswoman Claudia Diromauldo has said the magazine stands by the article.
Val Kilmer
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Musical Tribute
Johnny Cash
A public musical tribute to the late Johnny Cash has been changed from November 12 to November 10 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Artists confirmed to perform include Roseanne Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Sheryl Crow, Hank Williams Jr., Jack Clement, Steve Earle and Larry Gatlin. Event organizers are still waiting on confirmation from Bob Dylan, U2 frontman Bono, and Bruce Springsteen.
Those attending the musical tribute must have a ticket. However, tickets will be free. More information on obtaining these tickets will be announced closer to the event.
Cash's manager, Lou Robin, says, "John Carter, Roseanne and the rest of the family just wanted to give the public closure to their feelings about John's death. They thought maybe this would be an opportunity for a lot of different entertainers to come and voice their feelings and perform and entertain."
Johnny Cash
Giovanni Betti poses with a giant pumpkin, cultivated in his garden in Rancate, Ticino, Switzerland, on Friday, Oct. 10, 2003. Betti will present his pumpkin weighing 402 kilograms, 886 pounds at the European pumpkin championships upcoming Sunday, Oct. 12, in Seegraeben near Zurich.
Photo by Karl Mathis
Takes 'Harry Potter' Role
Emma Thompson
Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson will be one of Harry Potter's teachers at Hogwarts School in the third movie of J.K. Rowling's magical books, Warner Bros. Pictures announced Friday.
In "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," Thompson takes the role of Sybill Trelawney, the eccentric and dubiously skilled professor of divination.
Maggie Smith is back as Professor McGonagall, Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid and Alan Rickman as Professor Snape.
Newcomers Gary Oldman and David Thewlis are Sirius Black and Professor Lupin, and Michael Gambon has taken on the role of Professor Dumbledore, who was portrayed by Richard Harris in the first two films.
Emma Thompson
To Perform in Malaysia
Yusuf Islam
Yusuf Islam — the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens — will make a rare onstage appearance at a fund-raising concert in Malaysia next week, organizers said Thursday.
Islam, who renounced his music career after becoming a Muslim in 1977, will recite "messages of peace" and might also perform songs at an Oct. 14 concert in Kuala Lumpur, said project coordinator Yahya Abdullah.
The Peace Train Charity Night concert — named after Islam's 1970s staple — will also feature Malaysian religious music bands in an effort to raise funds for the Islamic Information and Services Foundation, a local non-profit religious propagation group.
Yusuf Islam
www.yusufislam.org.uk
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Bar Reborn in Dallas
'Urban Cowboy'
Gilley's, the Texas honky tonk that gave birth to "Urban Cowboy," is back, complete with the mechanical bull John Travolta rode in the movie by the same name and high-speed Internet access for the convention crowd.
Gilley's will host the grand opening of its new home in Dallas on Wednesday. The new version of the rowdy Houston-area hot spot that shut down in 1989 will still have its roots in country music, but it will be a bit more urban than cowboy.
The new Gilley's is located near the Dallas Convention Center, and the honky tonk hopes to cash in on the convention trade. It also boasts a massive oak-wood dance floor with room for several hundred couples doing the Texas two-step and a retail store with licensed goods, not to mention valet parking.
'Urban Cowboy'
Contestants display their condom-blowing prowess as they vie for the title of 'Miss Condom Asia-Pacific' in Bangkok October 9, 2003. A bevy of Thai bar girls, health officials and a transvestite blew up condoms and paraded for the title of 'Miss Condom Asia-Pacific'. Featuring 20 contestants from four nations, the contest aims to promote safe sex in Thailand -- a country in the frontline on the war on HIV/AIDS in Asia.
Photo by Sukree Sukplang
Concertgoers Sue Over Chicago Show
Limp Bizkit
Attendees of a July concert by rock band Limp Bizkit in Cicero, Ill., have filed a class-action breach-of-contract suit against frontman Fred Durst and the band's corporate entity, Limp Bizness, claiming they were cheated out of concert-ticket value when the band ended its July 26 performance after only 17 minutes.
The suit, filed Wednesday in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, names 172 concertgoers as plaintiffs filing on behalf of approximately 40,000 attendees of the show -- part of the Summer Sanitarium Tour, which also featured Metallica, Deftones and Linkin Park.
The suit claims co-headliner Bizkit, which was contracted to play for 90 minutes, cut its set short after displaying "obscene and profane messages to the crowd via four giant monitors," which drew boos, in turn causing Durst to taunt the audience with "explicit sexual putdowns" and "disgusting homophobic and anti-gay statements."
According to the complaint, Durst continued ranting over a microphone after leaving the stage, stopping approximately 20 minutes after the performance commenced. The suit seeks a $25 refund -- one-third of the face-value ticket price -- for each attendee of the show.
Limp Bizkit
Celebrates Rothko, Pei
National Gallery
Two shows opening Sunday at the National Gallery of Art celebrate the Gallery's acclaimed East Building and its architect, I.M. Pei, and the centenary of painter Mark Rothko.
One exhibit shows how Pei, now 86, took an odd-shaped piece of land on Pennsylvania Avenue and developed it into a monument of stark, angular architecture. It drew 1 million visitors in less than two months after President Jimmy Carter opened it in 1978.
The second show commemorates the Russian-born Rothko, who was brought to the United States at age 10, He studied at Yale University and became a leader of the American school of abstract expressionists.
Both exhibits run through May.
National Gallery
National Gallery of Art
Celebrity Auction
Cat Food Bowls
Frederique Van Der Wal has gone from the catwalk to cat food. The supermodel is helping launch an auction of celebrity cat food bowls, which will be up for bids on eBay from Thursday through Oct. 26.
The hand-painted bowls, which are on display at www.catchow.com, reflect the famous cat owners' personalities and tastes. Bob Costas' dish, for example, features a baseball, a TV set and a sports page.
Patricia Heaton of "Everybody Loves Raymond," Frankie Muniz of "Malcolm in the Middle" author John Grisham are among the other celebrities who designed dishes.
Cat Food Bowls
Baiyok Makjaneng, 22, tears a sheet of pineapple paper off its screen after it has been dried at the Pineapple Paper farm in Southern Thailand's Prachuab Khirikhan Province, 260 km (160 miles) south of Bangkok on September 17, 2003. The paper, which is used for everything from menus to shoe boxes, is sold for two Thai-baht ($0.05) per 200 grams.
Photo by Adrees Latif
Pleads Guilty
Anthony Pellicano
A private detective to celebrities has pleaded guilty to illegal weapons possession following an FBI investigation of alleged Mafia extortion threats against actor Steven Seagal.
Anthony Pellicano, 59, pleaded guilty Thursday to two felony counts of possessing hand grenades and C-4 explosives. He faces up to 33 months in prison at his sentencing Jan. 20.
The Hollywood investigator had previously offered to plead guilty to a single charge if prosecutors dropped the remaining counts. Prosecutors said they were willing to go to trial.
Anthony Pellicano
Swedes Puzzled
Butter-Filled Shoes
Tourists have been left scratching their heads in disbelief after finding 70 pairs of shoes filled with butter on an isolated mountain top in northern Sweden, local news agency TT has reported.
The local newspaper in the town of Ostersund thinks the stunt could be the work of a copycat artist after it received an anonymous tip-off that directed reporters to a Web page showing butter-filled shoes in a desolate Tibetan landscape.
The picture depicts a work called "Shoes with butter" by Chinese photographic artist Yin Xiuzhen and dated 1996, the agency said.
Butter-Filled Shoes
In Memory
Florence Stanley
Actress Florence Stanley, who played the gravelly voiced Bernice Fish on the sitcom "Barney Miller" and in the show's spinoff series, "Fish," died Oct. 3 of a stroke. She was 79.
In "Barney Miller," which showcased the kooky the goings-on at a New York City police precinct, Stanley played the wife of Abe Vigoda's character, Detective Phil Fish. Vigoda's character was so popular, a spinoff series called "Fish" was created in 1977, in which the couple adopts five foster children.
Stanley was in the original Broadway cast of Neil Simon's "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" in 1971 and was in the Manhattan Theater Club's 1994 production "What's Wrong With This Picture?"
Stanley's other TV appearances include the character of Judge Margaret Wilbur on the late 80s sitcom "My Two Dads" and guest roles on numerous shows including "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Dharma & Greg."
On film, Stanley appeared in this year's "Down With Love" and was the voice of a character in the 2001 animated Disney film "Atlantis: The Lost Empire."
Florence Stanley
A six-legged Cambodian cow rests near the Cambodian city of Phnom Penh October 7, 2003. The two-month old animal, named Cham Leck which means 'strange,' was given to monks at a local pagoda by a farmer who feared the cow would bring him bad fortune.
Photo by Chor Sokunthea
'The Osbournes'
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