Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Andrew Tobias: Do Blinking Web Ads Annoy You? (andrewtobias.com)
Instead of buying a Christmas tree this year, why not buy an avocado tree or a mango tree, if you live in a Southern clime, or an apple tree?
Paul Krugman: Reform or Else (nytimes.com)
Those concerned with fiscal responsibility should be worried about what will happen if proposed health care legislation doesn't pass.
Robert Reich: The Economic Reality That No One Wants to Talk About (huffingtonpost.com)
The basic assumption that jobs will eventually return when the economy recovers is probably wrong. Some jobs will come back, of course. But righting the ship will take far-reaching systemic change.
John Patterson: Richard Kelly's $1m question (guardian.co.uk)
He made one of the coolest debuts ever, 'Donnie Darko' - then it all went wrong. Now Richard Kelly's back, with a film about a shocking dilemma.
Grady Hendrix: Boxed In (slate.com)
Giving someone a TV series on DVD is like giving them a life sentence.
Tina Daunt: Colin Firth, Feeling 'Single' - The Envelope (LA Times)
Colin Firth first came to international attention as Mr. Darcy, the thinking woman's sex object in "Pride & Prejudice," and then as Bridget Jones' slightly dazed consort, conspicuously named Mark Darcy. But the role of his life may be as George Falconer, the main character in Tom Ford's adaptation of the 1964 novel "A Single Man" by Christopher Isherwood.
Luaine Lee: Ray Romano hopes everybody loves his new TNT series (McClatchy-Tribune News Service)
Everybody may love Raymond except for Ray Romano himself. The star of the long-running hit sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond" has managed to stay the same guy he was when he was repairing futon mattresses for his best friend and living in Queens.
Will Harris: A Chat with Stephen Lang, Co-star of "Avatar" (bullz-eye.com)
I remember looking at pieces of ('Avatar') over two years ago, just sort of animation templates, and even that stuff was exciting to me. You could just imagine what it was going to be like, and to watch the metamorphosis has been totally cool.
Hannah Pool: "Question time: Bill Bailey" (guardian.co.uk)
The comedian talks to Hannah Pool about his current tour - a double act with an orchestra, and why no comedy is off limit.
Interview by Laura Barnett: "Portrait of the artist: Rafael Bonachela, choreographer" (guardian.co.uk)
'My high point? Watching Kylie Minogue perform a dance I'd choreographed for her at Wembley Arena'.'
Marilynn Preston: High-Fructose Health Care Reform: Why So Soft on Obesity? (creators.com)
Every year, around the start of the November-December holidays, we're all forced to gobble up this depressing piece of news: Between Thanksgiving and New Year's, the average American gains between 7 to 15 pounds.
Joe Weider: It Takes Time to Build a Healthy Habit (creators.com)
Tip of the Week: How are you doing with your New Year's resolution? If you're like most people, it was related to your health - lose weight, become more active, tone your body, and get healthier. Yet most people also forgo their resolutions by the time February rolls around. But you're not most people, are you?
The Weekly Poll
New Question
The 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?' Edition
The two people without invitations that crashed President Obama's first White House state dinner, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, polo-playing socialites from northern Virginia, are now offering to talk to broadcast networks about it - providing they're well paid. The Virginia couple was looking for a payment in the mid-six figures range - about half a million dollars...
Are you interested enough in what they have to say about their exploit to watch an interview of them?
Meanwhile, two senators, Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) and Jon Kyl (R- Arizona), have called for criminal charges be brought against the couple...
Do you feel that the party crashing couple should be prosecuted?
Send your response to
answered:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Blue Footed Booby Bird
A bit of science and humor.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Lot colder in Sacramento than Long Beach!
I'm tired, it's late, so this is a bare-bones edition.
Records Set
Auction
A letter by George Washington has sold for $3,218,500 at auction in New York City, setting a world record for a letter by America's first president, according to Christie's.
The letter's rarity was the reason it commanded well over its pre-sale estimate of $1.5 million to $2.5 million at the auction Friday at Rockefeller Center, said an auction house spokeswoman.
The previous record for a Washington letter was $834,500. It was set at a Christie's auction in 2002.
A volume of poetry and a partial poem handwritten by Edgar Allan Poe also set world records during an earlier auction Friday, Christie's said.
A bidding war over the poem was won by an American collector who bid $830,500, a world record for a 19th-century literary manuscript, Christie's said. The eight verses of the 16-verse poem "For Annie" was estimated to sell for $50,000 to $70,000.
A rare first edition of Poe's first book, "Tamerlane and Other Poems," sold for $662,500 at the same auction, the highest price ever paid for a 19th-century book of poetry.
Auction
New Film Festival
Detroit
A former school that is been being used as a movie house will host a new film festival next year that organizers hope will build on growing enthusiasm for the movie industry in Michigan.
The Detroit Independent Film Festival is seeking short films to be screened March 3-7. The state has been drawing more moviemakers since last year, when tax incentives that are among the nation's most generous took effect.
As part of the event, organizers plan to recognize actors, directors and others at the Michigan Film Awards on March 6 - the day before the Academy Awards.
The festival will be at the Burton Theatre, which opened this fall in the Cass Corridor neighborhood north of downtown. It's in the old Burton International School building, which closed in 2003 when the school moved to a new location.
Detroit
UN Award
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage has won a U.N. award night for his humanitarian work and has been appointed a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presented the actor and filmmaker with the U.N. Correspondents Association's Global Citizen of the Year award for humanitarian endeavors.
The Amnesty International advocate has donated $2 million to establish a fund to help former child soldiers and led a campaign around his film, "Lord of War," to raise awareness about international arms control.
The secretary-general also presented a Global Citizen of the Year award to William Roedy, chairman of MTV Networks International, for his work to combat HIV and AIDS.
Nicolas Cage
Feud Spirals
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert has been called what his mock pundit character would deem a traitorous insult: Canadian.
The host of "The Colbert Report" is - gasp! - a Canuck, or at least has a Canadian heritage, says the genealogy Web site Ancestry.com. Colbert's great-great-grandfather and his great-great-grandmother immigrated from Ireland to Canada, according to the site.
Recently, the Colbert Nation became the official sponsor of the U.S. speedskating team. On the show, he has joined complaints that Vancouver Olympic officials have been limiting international athletes' access to facilities for the 2010 Winter Games.
He's called Canadians "syrup-suckers" and has a petition on his show's Web site urging the Vancouver Organizing Committee not to be "an ice-hole."
Stephen Colbert
NYC Annex To Close
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Just one year after opening, the New York City annex to Cleveland's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will close its doors on January 3, according to one of the corporate partners in the venture.
The offshoot to the main museum in Ohio opened to fanfare in November 2008 with Mayor Michael Bloomberg hailing it as another cultural destination for the roughly 46 million visitors to New York City every year.
The annex housed hundreds of artifacts, from Bruce Springsteen's 1957 Chevrolet to the wooden phone box from CBGB, the popular music venue that launched New York's punk scene in the 1970s and established the careers of bands such as The Ramones, Talking Heads and Blondie.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Mayoral Race
Birmingham, Ala
Moviegoers know Jody Trautwein as the smiling Alabama pastor who tries to talk Sacha Baron Cohen's character out of being gay in the hit movie "Bruno." Trautwein is now auditioning for another role: Mayor of Birmingham.
Trautwein is among 14 candidates in next week's election to replace Larry Langford, who was booted from office in October after being convicted on 60 felony counts in a bribery scheme.
While the minister's scene drew laughter in theaters, he's running a serious campaign. He has a Web site, fliers, volunteers and a platform that includes fighting crime, improving city schools, economic expansion and restoring integrity to City Hall.
"I haven't seen the movie," Trautwein, 39, said in an interview. "From what I understand it's about an hour and a half of darkness and perversion with about three minutes of light."
Birmingham, Ala
Ends UFO Hot Line
British Military
The truth - and the UFOs - may be out there, but nobody in the British military is listening anymore.
The Defense Ministry has quietly shut down its UFO hot line as a cost-cutting measure and will no longer investigate any sightings. Veterans of such investigations more worthy of "The X-Files" say it will end work on one of the biggest mysteries of all time.
No longer will Britons who think they've seen flying saucers be able to enlist the services of Her Majesty's armed forces.
This week's closing of the ministry's hot line and its e-mail account, as well as its statement that it "will no longer respond to reported UFO sightings or investigate them," has angered many Britons who believe such research is vital.
British Military
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