'Best of TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Review (sort of)
Re: 'Horatio Hornblower' on A&E
Marty,
This is a plug for the "Horatio Hornblower" movies that A&E has been
running. These are based on some good old classic literature by CS
Forester. The time period is around the Napoleonic era and the War Of 1812.
The only other time these stories were done was for the 1951 movie starring
Gregory Peck. While Mr Peck is a great actor, this was not really his best
role.
The new version is very well researched, excellently scripted, shot
beautifully and has an extremly capable cast. This has been A&E's best
venture into movie making and I have enjoyed it. I would recommend the
series to anyone.
~ Michael H.
Thanks, Michael!
He's Been Busy!
The Worried Shrimp
Reader Suggestion
'The Greatest Week in Rock History'
By Eric Boehlert
Thirty-four years ago this week, the Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Temptations,
Santana, Crosby Stills and Nash, and Creedence Clearwater all shared top
billing on the Billboard album chart. There's never been another lineup
quite like it -- and there will never be again.
1969 had it all. From Woodstock and Nixon's inauguration
to the Manson murders, the Miracle Mets, Chappaquiddick, the man on the
moon, Butch and Sundance, the Chicago Eight conspiracy trial, the Beatles'
farewell performance, and "Vietnamization," the year was drenched in
milestones:
And in late December, 1969 also boasted the greatest week in rock history --
seven days when revolutionary rock 'n' roll, powerhouse R&B, and shimmering
pop creations all shared top billing as they never have before or since.
For the rest of a great read, 'The Greatest Week in Rock History'
Thanks, Jim K!
Reader Suggestion
The Best Photos Of 2003
These photos were voted by readers as the best images of year.
Thanks, Astro!
Reader Suggestion
Re: Name Generators
Name generators -- really cool for having different names on the 'net.
- Mick
Thanks, Mick!
Selected Saturday Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny & brisk.
The kid's Christmas/winter break began at 1:10pm today.
Was supposed to meet up with my Tater Tot pals in Pasadena, but shit happened.
Had been looking forward to it since last year's gathering. Not a happy camper tonight.
Tonight, , CBS rolls out 'Robbie The Reindeer In Hooves Of Fire', followed by 'Robbie The Reindeer In The Legend Of The Lost Tribe', then a FRESH
'Hack', followed by a FRESH 'The District'.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH made-for-tv-movie 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure', followed by a RERUN 'Fear Factor'.
'SNL' is a RERUN/compilation show featuring Will Ferrell.
ABC opens the night with 'Merry Mickey Celebration', followed by the movie 'The Santa Clause'.
The WB offers the movie 'Madhouse'.
Faux has the ususal 'Cops', 'Cops', and 'America's Most Wanted'.
MAD TV is FRESH.
UPN has the movie 'White Christmas'.
A&E has 'City Confidential', 'American Justice', 'Cold Case Files', and 'Who Killed Kathy Durst?'.
AMC offers the movie '48 HRS', followed by the movie 'The Shawshank Redemption', then the movie 'The Shawshank Redemption', again.
BBC -
[6pm] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 5;
[6:40pm] 'My Hero' - Nemesis;
[7:20pm] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 6;
[8pm] 'Red Cap' - Payback;
[9pm] 'Rebel Heart' - Part Two;
[10pm] 'Cambridge Spies' - Episode 4;
[11pm] 'Dead Ringers' - Episode 1;
[11:30pm] 'Dead Ringers' - Episode 6;
[1am] 'Rebel Heart' - Part Two;
[2am] 'Cambridge Spies' - Episode 4;
[3am] 'Dead Ringers' - Episode 1;
[3am] 'Dead Ringers' - Episode 6;
[4am] 'Red Cap' - Payback;
[5am] 'Rebel Heart' - Part Two; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Queer Eye', followed by the movie 'Good Will Hunting', then the movie 'Good Will Hunting', again.
History has 'Extreme History', 'Mail Call', 'Save Our History', 'Remember The Alamo', and 'History vs. Hollywood'.
SciFi has the movie 'The Prophecy II', followed by the movie 'The Prophecy 3: The Ascent', then the movie 'Revelation', followed by the movie 'Stigmata'.
TCM spends the evening celebrating the ever-debonair
David Niven, again.
[6am] 'Rendezvous' (1935);
[8am] 'High Wall' (1947);
[10am] 'Ride The High Country' (1962);
[12pm] 'Harvey' (1950);
[2pm] 'Treasure Island' (1934);
[4pm] 'Born Free' (1966);
[6pm] 'A Christmas Story' (1983);
[8pm] 'The Bishop's Wife' (1947);
[10pm] 'Please Don't Eat The Daisies' (1960);
[12am] 'Bachelor Mother' (1939);
[1:30am] 'The Impossible Years' (1968);
[3:30am] 'Happy Go Lovely' (1951);
[5:30am] 'Lady L' (1965). (ALL TIMES EST)
Canadian pop icon and photographer Bryan Adams admires a new Canadian postage stamp bearing a photograph that he took of Queen Elizabeth II during an unveiling of the stamp in a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa Friday, Dec. 19, 2003.
Photo by Jonathan Hayward
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Documentary Makes the Party Circuit
'Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War'
In the midst of a film industry crackdown on digital movie piracy, filmmaker Robert Greenwald is urging rampant, unauthorized copying of his documentary criticizing the Bush administration's reasons for invading Iraq.
The 56-minute film, "Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War," concludes that resident Bush and his team distorted intelligence data and misled the American public ahead of the March invasion that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein.
Greenwald has bypassed movie theaters and television, and instead has organized "parlor screenings" in thousands of homes across the United States with the help of Internet-based liberal advocacy group, MoveOn.org.
People attending can buy DVD or VHS copies that they in turn are urged to reproduce and pass along for free to others.
"You have my permission to give it away. This film is meant to be a tool, so you will take it and do with it as you will," Greenwald implored a recent audience in Los Angeles.
The film features former CIA officials, diplomats, weapons inspectors and military experts rebutting administration prewar assertions that Iraq posed a threat to the United States. They conclude the White House exaggerated, ignored or manipulated intelligence to fabricate reasons for deposing Hussein.
Their comments are juxtaposed with statements by resident Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other officials making a case that Iraq was aligned with terrorists and held weapons of mass destruction.
For more, 'Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War'
Plans 'World Idol' Appearance
Elton John
Elton John will perform on the Jan. 1 results episode of the "World Idol" show in which winners of 11 international "Idol" series will vie for global supremacy.
The competition will air Christmas Day (Dec. 25) and New Year's Day around the world. Fox, home to "American Idol," will air the specials in the U.S.
Elton John
Guest for NYC 2004 Countdown
Shoshana Johnson
This year's special guest for the Times Square countdown to 2004 will be Shoshana Johnson, who spent 22 days as a prisoner of war in Iraq after being shot during an ambush.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the 30-year-old former U.S. Army specialist from El Paso, Texas — who has relatives in New York City — "the perfect choice to be our New Year's guest." He said she'll push the globe triggering the drop of a 1,070-pound Waterford crystal ball and lead a 60-second countdown to 2004.
Johnson, who was discharged from the Army last week, told New Yorkers: "Thank you for your support of my Army, my armed forces, my fellow soldiers, who were willing to do what is necessary for our freedom, for us to sit back and enjoy such a wonderful New Year's Eve."
Shoshana Johnson
Luther Vandross, right, is shown with RCA Music Group Chairman Clive Davis, who holds a platinum plaque of 'Dance With My Father,' Vandross's most recent album which has sold over 1 million copies and received five Grammy nominations, in this image released by Dan Klores Communications, at Vandross' rehabilitation center earlier this week in New York. The photo is believed to be the first of Vandross released to the public since his stroke.
Photo by Dan Klores Communications
Gives Gifts to School
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick, an East Orange, N.J., native, dropped by her old school Thursday to give presents to every one of the 561 students and 77 staff members.
The singer said she stayed up most of the night before wrapping the gifts for those at the former Lincoln School, which since has been renamed Dionne Warwick Institute of Economics ad Entrepreneurship.
"You will never know how proud I am to be associated with you," said Warwick, 63, who now lives in Brazil. "You have done magnificently."
Dionne Warwick
Ringing In 2004 In Vegas
Paris Hilton & Nicole Richie
Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, stars of Fox network's "The Simple Life," will help count down the final moments of 2003 on "America's Party," airing live on New Year's Eve from Las Vegas.
Ashanti, Metallica, Puddle of Mudd, Hootie and the Blowfish and keith urban will be among the performers, Fox announced Thursday. The show will be broadcast from the Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino (11 p.m.-12:30 a.m. EST).
Paris Hilton & Nicole Richie
Halftime Featured Performer AtSuper Bowl
Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson will be the featured performer during the halftime show at the Super Bowl on Feb. 1 in Houston.
Other performers will be announced later.
Janet Jackson
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Isle of Wight Comeback
The Who
The legendary British rock group The Who will return to the Isle of Wight festival next June after being banned from performing there in 1970, a British radio station reported.
The band, whose hits include "My Generation" and "Substitute", was banned from the island off the southeast coast of England 34 years ago after a three-hour concert during which they smashed up their instruments on stage.
The Who will perform in the Isle of Wight on June 12, Virgin radio said. David Bowie and the Stereophonics are also due to perform at the festival from June 11-13.
The Who
South Korean Sumo wrestler Kasugao holds on as Japanese elementary school children tried to push him at the Japanese school in Seoul, Friday, Dec. 19, 2003. Kasugao is here for three days to promote next year's Sumo competition in South Korea.
Photo by Lee Jin-man
To Be Shot In New Zealand
'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the beloved fantasy novel by C.S. Lewis, will be made into a film in New Zealand, a newspaper reported Friday.
New Zealander Andrew Adamson, best known for the Oscar-winning animated feature Shrek, will direct the film and Walden Media will produce it. "We are extremely happy and excited to be starting work on the film in New Zealand," Wellington's Dominion Post newspaper quoted Adamson as saying.
The movie is expected to be the first of five films based on Lewis's seven Chronicles of Narnia books, to which Walden holds the film rights.
'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'
Best Celebrity Hair
Jennifer Aniston
Polished fashionistas like Jennifer Aniston — who plays a Ralph Lauren staffer on "Friends" — and the makeover crew on "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" were singled out for having top tresses in a recent celebrity hair survey.
To determine the year's best and worst in hair, Wella conducted unscientific surveys after the MTV Video Music Awards, the Emmys and the American Music Awards.
Aniston won best overall hair and best highlights, while other TV stars won some other categories: "Miss Match" star Alicia Silverstone's golden locks earned top honors, Jennifer Garner of "Alias" was named best brilliant brunette and "Will & Grace's" Debra Messing was called the most ravishing redhead.
Jennifer Aniston
Family Donates $10M To Mayo Clinic
Pauline Phillips
The family of Pauline Phillips, better known as advice columnist Abigail Van Buren, has teamed up with an anonymous donor to contribute $10 million to the Mayo Clinic for research into Alzheimer's disease.
Phillips, who began writing Dear Abby in 1956, formally retired last year after she was found to have Alzheimer's. She hadn't been actively writing the column for several years.
The gift, announced Wednesday, is the largest donation to combat the disease ever given to the Mayo Clinic, which said it will rename its research center the Mayo Clinic Abigail Van Buren Alzheimer's Disease Research Clinic.
Pauline Phillips
Magazine Can't Distribute Eminem Tape
'The Source'
A court ruling has stopped hip-hop magazine The Source from distributing a CD of a previously unreleased recording by rapper Eminem that includes phrases such as "black girls are dumb."
Manhattan federal Judge Gerald Lynch granted Eminem's lawyers an injunction preventing the magazine from enclosing the CD in its February issue, which goes on sale in mid-January. The magazine had planned extensive coverage of the recording.
Last month, The Source held a news conference to accuse Eminem, who is white, of racism, citing lyrics on the recording such as "black girls are dumb, and white girls are good chicks."
'The Source'
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
May Not Subpoena Providers
Recording Industry Association of America
The recording industry can't force Internet providers to identify music downloaders, a federal appeals court said Friday in a major setback to the industry's anti-piracy campaign.
The ruling does not legalize distributing copyrighted songs over the Internet, but it greatly increases the cost and effort for the Recording Industry Association of America to track such activity and sue those swapping music online.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned a trial judge's decision to enforce copyright subpoenas, one of the most effective tools used by the recording industry. The subpoena power was established by a law passed before the explosive growth of swapping music online.
The appeals court said the 1998 copyright law doesn't cover popular file-sharing networks used by tens of millions of Americans to download songs. The law "betrays no awareness whatsoever that Internet users might be able directly to exchange files containing copyrighted works," the court wrote.
The judges sympathized with the recording industry, which has cited declining profits, noting that "stakes are large." But they said it was not the role of courts to rewrite the 1998 law, "no matter how damaging" the practice of swapping has become to the music industry or threatens to become to the motion picture and software industries.
Recording Industry Association of America
With the New Year holidays approaching, a kimono-clad woman diver swims with a moray eel at the Sunshine International aquarium in Tokyo December 19, 2003. A special fish-feeding show will take place during the New Year holidays.
Photo by Issei Kato
To Attend NYU
Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen
Twin teen actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen can stop checking their mailbox for college acceptances. New York University has invited them to join the class of 2008, People magazine reports in its Dec. 29 issue.
The magazine says the twins will be enrolled next fall at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, a college within NYU that allows students to tailor their own curriculums.
Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen
Wins DirecTV Dream
Rupert Murdoch
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch on Friday cleared the final hurdles to fulfilling his long-sought dream of acquiring DirecTV satellite service, a coveted pipeline into millions of American television sets.
The Federal Communications Commission and antitrust enforcers approved the $6.78 billion plan by Murdoch's News Corp., home to movie studios and the Fox broadcast network, to gain control of the No. 1 U.S. satellite television provider, with its 12 million subscribers.
The FCC voted 3-2 to approve the deal with conditions aimed at ensuring the television titan does not bludgeon cable and satellite rivals who also want to offer their customers News Corp.'s popular network and cable programming.
Michael Powell was joined by Republican Commissioners Kathleen Abernathy and Kevin Martin voting for the deal. The two Democrats on the panel dissented, citing fears of higher prices for consumers and concerns about limits on DirecTV's plan to offer local channels in more markets, among other issues.
Rupert Murdoch
Seen On Security Cameras
Ghostly Visitor?
Closed-circuit security cameras at Hampton Court Palace, the huge Tudor castle outside London, seem to have snagged an ethereal visitor. Could it be a ghost?
"We're baffled too — it's not a joke, we haven't manufactured it," said Vikki Wood, a Hampton Court spokeswoman, when asked if the photo the palace released was a Christmas hoax. "We genuinely don't know who it is or what it is."
In the still photograph, the figure of a man in a robe-like garment is shown stepping from the shadowy doorway, one arm reaching out for the door handle.
The area around the man is somewhat blurred, and his face appears unnaturally white compared with his outstretched hand.
For a lot more, Ghostly Visitor?
Hampton Court Palace
URL updated 06/06/11
Five-month-old monkey Chap, dressed in a Santa Claus outfit, welcomes visitors at an amusement park in Tokyo December 19, 2003. According to the Chinese astrological calendar, the upcoming year is the year of monkey.
Photo by Yuriko Nakao
'The Osbournes'
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