zEN mAN (for the last few days I've been rather uninspired...I hope my millions of readers missed me just a little.....and I am going down to the monastery and the hot springs and the lovely falling leaves to re-charge)
Bruce Bartlett: Post-election autopsy (washingtontimes.com)
The Republicans still seem shell-shocked by the results and have no clue why they lost or what to do about it. One reason for this, I believe, is that many were genuinely surprised by the depth of their defeat, though it had been forecast by the polls for months. This was because there is now a fully developed alternative media where conservatives can get all their news and never hear an unfriendly voice.
From lesbian vets to Donatella Versace (guardian.co.uk)
I remember when it was announced that John Major would be the new prime minister. "Mum," said my nine-year-old. "Is that right? I thought prime minister was a woman's job."
What's in a name? (guardian.co.uk)
When Jake Arnott published his latest novel, he had no idea he was accidentally libelling a real person. John Sutherland on the dangers of character naming.
For Your Consideration (rogerebert.suntimes.com)
Hey, I heard Catherine O'Hara is so splendid in Christopher Guest's latest ensemble comedy, "For Your Consideration," she's a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination.
I snuck into the Emery Bay 12 today to see the premier of the Dixie Chick's new movie "Shut Up & Sing". My wife and I had flown into Las Vegas back in 2002 to see them play at the MGM Grand (Michelle Branch opened). I loved Country Music and I loved the "Chicks" back then…..I still love the "Chicks" but I've grown to abhor Country Music…in particular the righteous, right wing, red neck nitwits that blindly get fed "Top Forty" banjo bullshit by the radio stations…..If you listen anymore, every other song has the word "Jesus", "angel", "Heaven", or something to do with "fightin' "…"War" or "Retribution"!
It's ironic that at the height of the "Chicks" popularity, they had a stunning and poignant monster hit with a song called "Travelin' Soldier" ( a song that still brings tears to my eyes)……but on March 10th, 2003, at a sold out performance in London…and on the eve of George Bush's illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq, Natalie Maines, the lead singer for the "Chicks", chose to make a joke on stage…"Just so you know, we're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas"……That week, in London, one of the largest anti-war demonstrations was held (1 million marched)…..
"How dare she have an opinion"……
"Who does she think she is questioning the decision of George W. Bush"….
"Shame on her…Shame on the Dixie Chicks"….
What Natalie and the band thought would blow over in a few weeks turned into a firestorm of pathetic patriotic vitriol. The Chicks were banned on almost every Country Music Station….there was CD Dumping parties organized by southern assholes…there were the demeaning and hateful comments and even death threats….
This movie is about 3 pretty normal but extremely talented women who spoke out at an amazing moment in our countries history…with red state and blue state mania splitting everyone up and Country Musicians like Toby Keith, Daryl Whorley and Ray Stevens whipping up the retarded redneck pro war sentiment….the Dixie Chick dropped off the screen and had a bunch of babies (7)…..
The funny thing is that Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck had started filming the "Chicks" before the incident in London in 2003. What was going to be just a behind the scene documentary turned into a very politically weighted statement about Country Music, the Iraq War and 3 women who spoke out against it…and suffered the consequences.
But last year, Natalie, Emily and Martie decided to record a new album with all the songs being written by themselves……"Taking the Long Way"…but they knew that the biggest selling female group in history wasn't going to get any airplay on the Country Music Stations…..their first single was released in the summer of 2006 and was titled "I'm not Ready to Make Nice" a perfect expression of how the Dixie Chicks have no regrets to speaking out and in fact, as the mid-term elections prove, they were right all along!
I had a problem with the editing in this movie. Instead of a chronological portrayal, the film kept jumping back and forth between 2003, 1996 and 2006…..it was rather disconcerting to me (I'm a simple man) and I don't think it gave the end of the movie the impact it deserved (although Natalie calls George Bush a "Dumb Fuck" at the end). What it did do well was show the solidarity of the three women and the brilliant loyalty of their manager Simon Renshaw.
Purple Gene gives "Shut Up & Sing" 7 semi-blonde mullets Natalie wore out of 10. I wish they could have spanked George Bush and Country Music a little harder.
CBS opens the night with a RERUN'Cold Case', followed by a RERUN'CSI: The 2nd One', and '48 Hours'.
NBC begins the night with a 2-hour 'Dateline', followed by a RERUN'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
'SNL' is FRESH with Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges hosting & performing.
The late, late 'SNL' is from 20 November, 1999, with Jennifer Aniston hosting, music by Sting.
ABC fills the night with LIVE'College Football', then pads the left coast with local crap and an old Oprah.
The CW here has 'NBA Basketball', with the 76ers visiting the Clips.
Faux has the traditional 'Cops', 'Cops', and 'America's Most Wanted'.
'MAD TV' is FRESH.
MY has a FRESH'Desire', followed by a FRESH'Fashion House'.
A&E has 'The First 48', 'Cold Case Files', another 'Cold Case Files', and 'The First 48'.
AMC offers the movie 'Scarface', followed by the movie 'Taxi Driver', then the movie 'Taxi Driver', again.
BBC -
[2:00 pm] Everything Must Go - Episode 8;
[2:30 pm] Everything Must Go - Episode 9;
[3:00 pm] Cash in the Attic - Episode 6;
[4:00 pm] Cash in the Attic - Episode 7;
[5:00 pm] Cash in the Attic - Episode 8;
[6:00 pm] Cash in the Attic - Episode 9;
[7:00 pm] Cash in the Attic - Episode 10;
[10:00 pm] Kylie Minogue Showgirl;
[1:00 am] Kylie Minogue Showgirl;
[2:00 am] Mile High - Episode 24;
[3:00 am] The Catherine Tate Show - Episode 1;
[3:40 am] The Catherine Tate Show - Episode 2;
[4:20 am] The Catherine Tate Show - Episode 3;
[5:00 am] Just For Laughs - Episode 1;
[5:30 am] Just For Laughs - Episode 2;
[6:00 am] BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Top Chef', followed by the movie 'Apocalypse Now Redux'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Zoolander', 'Jeff Dunham: Arguing', 'The Amazing Jonathan', and 'Jeff Dunham: Arguing', again.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Engineering An Empire', 'History Of Sex', another 'History Of Sex', and still another 'History Of Sex'.
IFC -
[06:00 AM] Dinner For Five #48;
[06:25 AM] Blind Swordsman #3: Zatoichi Enters Again;
[08:00 AM] Samurai 7 Episode #13: The Attack;
[08:30 AM] Samurai 7 Episode #14: The Offering;
[09:00 AM] A Bronx Tale;
[11:05 AM] Ed Wood;
[01:15 PM] The Prime Gig;
[03:00 PM] A Bronx Tale;
[05:05 PM] Ed Wood;
[07:15 PM] The Celebration;
[09:00 PM] Greg the Bunny: Sockville;
[09:15 PM] Dogville;
[12:15 AM] Greg the Bunny: Sockville;
[01:45 AM] Amores Perros;
[03:05 AM] Naked;
[05:20 AM] The Celebration. (ALL TIMES EST)
SciFi has the movie 'The Invaders', followed by the movie 'Alien Lockdown'.
Sundance -
[06:00 AM] Mickybo and Me;
[07:45 AM] IN SHORT: Israel 1;
[08:35 AM] Revenge Of The Pink Panther;
[10:15 AM] John Henrik Clarke: A Great and Mighty Walk;
[12:00 PM] The Prince of Pennsylvania;
[01:45 PM] Hotel Infinity;
[02:00 PM] Iconoclasts 2: Episode 4: Isabella Rossellini + Dean Kamen;
[03:00 PM] The Nominees: Episode 5;
[03:30 PM] Brazil;
[05:45 PM] Screwback;
[06:00 PM] Mickybo and Me;
[07:45 PM] Hotel Infinity;
[08:00 PM] The Making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid;
[08:45 PM] Iconoclasts: Robert Redford on Paul Newman;
[09:30 PM] Summer of the Serpent;
[10:00 PM] Head-On;
[12:00 AM] City of Men - Season 3: Episode 1: Opening Night;
[12:30 AM] Of Love & Shadows;
[02:15 AM] The Other Side of the Bed;
[04:05 AM] Face (1997). (ALL TIMES EST)
In this photo released by MarieClaire, Gloria Steinem, left, poses with actress Ashley Judd, at a special screening of the documentary film: 'Ashley Judd and YouthAids: Confronting the Pandemic,' at Hearst Tower in New York, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006. Judd is the global ambassador for YouthAids.
Photo by Dave Allocca
Peter Gabriel, founder of the rock group Genesis, received the annual "Man of Peace" award Friday from a foundation headed by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Gabriel, 56, was recognized for his work promoting human rights and world peace. He received the award in a ceremony on Capitoline Hill that marks the opening of a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize laureates organized every year in Rome by the Gorbachev Foundation and city hall.
Nobel Peace Prize winners Lech Walesa and Mairead Corrigan Maguire attended the ceremony, along with Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni. Gorbachev was absent for health reasons.
Singers Bono (L), from the band U2, and Eddie Vedder, from the band Pearl Jam, stand together as they perform during a charity concert entitled 'Make Poverty History' in Melbourne November 17, 2006.
Photo by David Callow
In perhaps the most unlikely praise yet for the misogynistic, anti-Semitic and fictional Kazakh TV reporter Borat's new movie, a leading newspaper in the real Kazakhstan dubbed it "film of the year" on Friday.
On Friday, Karavan, a leading weekly tabloid, stepped into the fray after sending a correspondent in Vienna to watch "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."
"Cultural Learnings is certainly not an anti-Kazakh, anti-Romanian or anti-Semitic ... It is a cruelly anti-American movie," the newspaper said. "It is amazingly funny and sad at the same time."
"I think this is the best film of the year," the correspondent, Andrei Shukhov, wrote.
Fox Broadcasting Co. spread some good cheer to two of modestly rated rookie series Thursday, handing pickups to the hostage drama "Standoff" and the Brad Garrett comedy "'Til Death."
In cable news, Showtime has picked up a third season of its comedy "Weeds" with an expanded 15-episode order, while gay channel Logo has given the go-ahead to the lesbian comedy "Exes and Ohs."
Separately, Fox confirmed that the final four episodes of "Vanished," the rookie drama that was yanked from the schedule last month, will be offered as streaming video on corporate sibling MySpace on four consecutive Fridays starting Friday.
Actors Jack Larson (L) and Noel Neill, who played Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane respectively in the 1952 Superman television series, pose for photograph during the Superman Returns DVD and video game launch party in Hollywood November 16, 2006.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
The NBC affiliate WSLS-TV fired meteorologist Jamey Singleton on Thursday after a frontal nude shot of him getting out of the shower was posted on someone else's MySpace.com site.
The photo broke the morals code in Singleton's contract, the station's interim general manager, Shane Moreland, said in a statement.
Singleton, 28, who was retained earlier this year after admitting he was a recovering heroin addict, said he didn't blame the station.
Singleton said the photo was taken a few months ago by a former friend who posted it Tuesday. He said he notified MySpace when he heard it was posted and the picture was removed within an hour, but it had already been e-mailed to several of his co-workers, including Moreland.
Two decades after being chosen as People magazine's first sexiest man alive, Mel "Sugar Tits" Gibson now tops a very different kind of list: Film Threat's annual "Frigid 50: The Coldest People in Hollywood."
The independent film Web site on Friday named Gibson No. 1 among the "least-powerful, least-inspiring, least-intriguing people in all of Tinseltown," following the anti-Semitic remarks he made during his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving.
"He apologized, he got sick of apologizing, he refused to apologize anymore, he didn't want to address the issue, he spoke on nationally broadcast news shows, he spoke at synagogues, he met with Jewish Officials," Film Threat's editors wrote. "But in the end, in all his `I'm really not anti-Semitic' posturing, he never bothered to address how irresponsible he was for driving under the influence in the first place. And now he's got a new movie opening, `Apocalypto,' and the question becomes: who cares?"
Tim Reid and his wife Daphne at a party celebrating Tavis Smiley's 15 years in journalism at the Museum of Television and Radio in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Thursday, November 16, 2006.
Photo by Earl Gibson III
Geneticist Adil Pacheco took blood samples on Friday from three puppies in a poor neighbourhood in Passo Fundo in southern Brazil to settle a dispute over a claim they were born from a cat.
"It's rather simple really. If the puppies prove to have 78 chromosomes, they are dogs. If they have 38, they are cats," said Pacheco, director of the Institute of Biological Sciences of the University of Passo Fundo.
Cassia Aparecida de Souza, 18, said her cat Mimi had given birth to the three puppies as well as three kittens, which did not survive. And she, her husband Rogerio Jorge da Silva, 26, and several others in the town believe a neighbourhood mut named Dog is the father of Mimi's pups.
When news of the spectacular claim spread in the Brazilian media, some local newspapers accused the poor couple, who are expecting their first child in a few months, of fraud and said they were simply trying to make money off a hoax.
Scientists hope to piece together the recipe for an ancient Roman fish sauce from storage jars found in a 2,000-year-old shipwreck off the eastern coast of Spain, the co-director of the project said on Thursday.
The well-preserved wreck of the first-century merchant vessel was discovered in 2000 when a ship's anchor got tangled in its cargo.
Scientists now hope the discovery of more than 1,200 storage jars, each a metre high, will yield samples with unbroken seals, allowing them to recreate the recipe for the sauce, a delicacy in ancient Roman households.
The wreck is unusual in that it lies in shallow water near the coast and also holds important lessons about ancient trade routes.
A road that crosses the runway constructed on top of a sheet of ice more than six feet thick on McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, is shown Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006. The strength of the ice allows massive cargo planes such as the U.S. Air Force C-17 to land on the ice from approximately August through December and deliver supplies and passengers to the station, which is crucial to the study of climate change and other global environmental issues, and is located in one of the most remote and harshest climates in the world.
Photo by Ted S. Warren
India's most celebrated artist M.F. Husain says he is very homesick in London where he lives in voluntary exile to escape prosecution over his paintings of nude Hindu gods and goddesses.
"I am extremely homesick," the 91-year-old told The Hindustan Times, adding that he is yearning for Mumbai.
"As far as I know there are at least 900 cases registered against me (in India). Matters are so legally complicated that I have been advised not return home.
"I have become an international gypsy. It is no secret that I am wandering around the world with only my art for company." His paintings fetch tens of thousands of dollars.
This photo of a window card advertising the controversial voodoo version of Shakespeare's Macbeth as adapted and directed by Orson Welles in 1936, was released in New York by The Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Friday, Nov. 17, 2006. The window card is part of an exhibit entitled? 'Stars and Treasures: 75 Years of Collecting Theatre,' an exhibit of theatrical artifacts collected over the division's 75 year history. The exhibit runs from Nov. 21, 2006 to May 5, 2007.
From space, extraterrestrials and astronauts can look back to earth and see The Great Wall of China -- and KFC's Colonel Sanders.
The KFC Corp. on Tuesday launched a rebranding campaign with an 87,500 square-foot image of Colonel Sanders in the Nevada desert which the company says makes Kentucky Fried Chicken the world's first brand visible from space.
The logo consists of 65,000 one-foot by one-foot painted tile pieces that were assembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
The logo was built at the remote Area 51 desert near Rachel, Nevada, which KFC said was known as the UFO capital of the world and famous for its association with UFO conspiracy theories.
In the photo relaesed by the New Zealand Defense Department, an iceberg drifts off the coast of New Zealand in this Nov 3, 2006. The icebergs - two large ones and several smaller chunks - have sparked overseas interest as people clamour to view a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence that are now only a 30 minute helicopter flight from the southern city of Dunedin.
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