'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
TOM DANEHY: Read along as Tom reveals his wants and needs (tucsonweekly.com)
During my first-ever gig as a writer, I was covering sports for a daily paper in a small Arizona town. I wrote this sentence: "I'd like to see a high school football season go by without a cheerleader getting pregnant." It was something of an unwelcome tradition in that town, and I'm sure that a lot of people (including the parents of all of that year's cheerleaders) agreed with my sentiment.
SUSAN ESTRICH: Looking at What's Not Working (creators.com)
The most interesting thing about the Republican race for president, at least so far, is not what's working, but what isn't.
FROMA HARROP: The Wisdom of Crowds (creators.com)
In 2006, the former CEO at UnitedHealth Group (the parent company in Minneapolis), William McGuire, made $124 million. That was one-and-a-half times the entire payroll of St. Joseph's 2,000 employees. That's right, one poo-bah at one insurance company pulled in 150 percent of what everyone at St. Joe's three health-care facilities made put together - not only the nurses, orderlies, administrators and floor-swabbers, but also the executives and surgeons. Everyone!
Dr. David Lipschitz: Loss of Weight Is Useless Without Increasing Fitness (creators.com)
Be serious about your fitness, and the extra pounds will be inconsequential. With regular exercise - at any weight - the risk of developing the physical difficulties typically associated with being overweight is totally eradicated. As far as Mother Nature is concerned, being fit and fat is no different from being fit and skinny. The message is always the same: It's about health, not image. Exercise, the more the better, and you'll live a healthier, happier and longer life.
Robert Kahn: Nikki Blonsky gives a 'Queen Sized' performance (Newsday; Posted on popmatters.com)
In her latest movie, Nikki Blonsky plays an overweight high school student spurned for being different from her peers. Ultimately, she finds acceptance, glory and the hint of romance with a dimple-cheeked guy, all without surrendering pride to the body-image police.
Len Righi: Rufus Wainwright sings as the spirit moves him (The Morning Call [Allentown, Pa.]; Posted on popmatters.com)
Given his hectic recording and performing schedule, does Wainwright ever think about kicking back? "I strongly believe there will be plenty of time for that when I'm a little more wrinkled," he replies. "I'm 34 now, and this is the time to really make your mark and get down to business with what you want to accomplish. At 34, I'm at the apex of everything. I still look young and yet have a certain amount of experience."
Doug Nye: Christopher Lee remains busy after 60 years of acting (McClatchy-Tribune News Service; Posted on popmatters.com)
It's difficult to believe that it's been 50 years since Christopher Lee thrilled horror fans with his portrayals of the Frankenstein monster, Dracula and the Mummy in a memorable series of Hammer Films.
If looks could kill (guardian.co.uk)
Film: Theda Bara had a bulbous nose, an overbite and a squint - yet she was a star of silent movies. Kira Cochrane on the ultimate screen vamp.
Roger Ebert: MILLIONS (A LOTTERY STORY) (NO RATING; 3 1/2 stars)
'Millions (A Lottery Story)" is not so much about six lottery winners as about six people who I watched with growing fascination and affection. What did I expect when the movie began? Former millionaires now on Skid Row, I suppose, contrasted with misers counting their compound interest and intercut with bizarre misadventures. What I found were people who, if I may say so, are utterly unfazed by their sudden wealth, and who have developed strategies for coping not with wealth or poverty, but with life. They all seem happy, and it has nothing to do with the lottery.
Roger Ebert: Answer Man
... I would argue that the dialogue in "Juno" mostly works because Ellen Page sells the tone so convincingly. She wins us over. Think of Diablo Cody's words in the mouths of Page's contemporaries, and you cringe. Yes, her parents talk that way: Where do you think she learned it? As for the drugstore clerk and Juno's best girlfriend, it's as if she affects the linguistic weather when she enters a room.
What Have You Changed Your Mind About, and Why? (edge.org)
Well, I Thought It Was Funny
Joke
NEWS ITEM. WELLINGTON (AFP) - Edmund Hillary, the modest New Zealand beekeeper who shot to global fame as the first person to climb Mount Everest in 1953, along with his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay, died Friday at age 88.
QUESTION. Why do most people believe that Tenzing Norgay was actually the better mountain climber?
ANSWER. He did everything that Edmund Hillary did, but backwards and in high heels.
Thanks, Larry!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Back to sunny and warm.
Charity Single
Randy Owen
Former Alabama lead singer Randy Owen is set to release his solo debut single, "Braid My Hair," to country radio this month.
It was co-written by Chris Gray, a former teacher in a children's hospital. He often witnessed the side effects of chemotherapy, and the desire of girls to braid their hair again. He and collaborator Brent Wilson brought it to Owen's attention by sending it to his mother, who pressured him to listen to it.
One hundred percent of the publishing royalties from the song will go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, for which Owen is a longtime spokesman.
Randy Owen
Stars Pay Tribute
Oscar Peterson
Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and Nancy Wilson were among a star-studded group of performers who gathered on Saturday for a musical farewell to jazz piano great Oscar Peterson.
"He's on his second journey. The first is birth and the second is death," Hancock said as he swiveled in his piano chair to face a giant portrait of Peterson hanging over the stage at a Toronto concert hall. "So enjoy your journey, Oscar. I wish you well."
Wilson was brought to tears as she sang a goodbye song to Peterson.
"Nobody who I have ever loved has left," the Grammy-winning jazz singer said. "They are always here."
Oscar Peterson
Finds Japan's Whalers
Greenpeace
A Greenpeace ship on Saturday confronted a Japanese whaling fleet that had initially planned to hunt protected humpbacks, the environmentalists said - setting off the latest round of cat-and-mouse in a sometimes dangerous feature of the hunting debate.
Greenpeace's Esperanza found the Japanese whalers in the Antarctic Ocean after a 10-day search, and the hunting ships immediately steamed off with the activists in pursuit, the environmentalists said in a statement.
They warned they would take non-violent action to try to stop the ships from killing whales - a promise that in the past has led to activists in speed boats trying to put themselves between whales and Japanese harpoons, and once to a collision of ships.
Greenpeace and the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd sent ships after the whalers to try to prevent the hunt by harassing the Japanese vessels. Their first task was to find the Japanese ships, the next to keep up with them.
Greenpeace
Monty Python Wouldn't Fly Today
Terry Jones
Terry Jones says being funny as a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus was just a byproduct of the real aim: subversion.
The 64-year-old writer, director and actor told Reuters in Lisbon ahead of the world premiere of his new musical "Evil Machines" that he is still surprised by the popularity of the Monty Python series of television shows and films.
"I think one reason was that with Python we purely wrote for the six of us," he said. "Our message was: don't believe anything people say."
Jones, who co-wrote and performed in the British television series during the late 1960s and early 1970s alongside Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle said their absurd brand of humor would never make it past today's television programmers.
Terry Jones
Scorsese Chronicles
Val Lewton
"Very often," says Martin Scorsese, "anybody who will listen to me, I'll start talking about a picture."
The latest conversation piece for Scorsese is the low-budget, WWII-era horror film producer Val Lewton. Scorsese has produced the new documentary "Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows," which he also narrates.
Written and directed by film critic, archivist and festival programmer Kent Jones, the film premieres Monday on Turner Classic Movies (8 p.m. EDT) and is followed by a marathon of Lewton's films.
Val Lewton
Baby News
Harlow Winter Kate Madden
Socialite Nicole Richie and her rock-star boyfriend became the parents of a daughter in Los Angeles on Friday, People magazine reported.
Harlow Winter Kate Madden was born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, People said, quoting a spokesman for Richie's manager. It is the first child for Richie, 26, and Joel Madden, 28, the lead singer of pop-punk band Good Charlotte.
Harlow Winter Kate Madden
Axes Producers
ABC
ABC Studios on Friday became the first TV studio to terminate production deals as a result of the Hollywood writers strike.
"Force majeure" -- or act of God -- provisions in the contracts allow studios to cancel deals with writers and producers idled by the strike, which is now in its third month. These deals usually involve the supply of offices and staffers on the studio lot, and can be both costly and unproductive.
Close to 30 writing and nonwriting producers who don't have active projects have been axed, including the "That '70s Show" writing duo of Joshua Sternin and Jeffrey Ventimilia, "Seinfeld" veteran Larry Charles, "Project Greenlight" producer Sean Bailey, and actor Taye Diggs, who landed a producing deal a year ago when he signed on to star in ABC's "Private Practice," a spinoff from "Grey's Anatomy."
While force majeure action by TV studios had been seen as inevitable, the extent of the ABC axings raised some eyebrows. Rumors abound that Warner Bros. TV will terminate about 5-6 pacts next week, with other TV studios expected to follow.
ABC
In Peru For UN Program
Jenna Bush
Jenna Bush, one of resident George W. Bush's generally useless twin daughters, arrived in Peru Saturday to work with UN children's assistance programs, United Nations officials said.
Bush, 26, was greeted by UN, UNICEF and US embassy officials after landing on a commercial flight amid tight security measures.
During her trip, she plans to visit the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu and various Peruvian cities, said a UN source who welcomed the US president's daughter.
Jenna Bush
Widow Fighting Sale Of Book
Maria Elena Holly
Buddy Holly's widow is trying to keep the woman whose name was made famous by the 1950s hit song "Peggy Sue" from selling a book about her friendship with the rocker.
Maria Elena Holly says Peggy Sue Gerron's "Whatever Happened to Peggy Sue?" is unauthorized and will harm her late husband's name, her own reputation and that of her company, Holly Properties.
Gerron, who lives in Lubbock, said she and another woman wrote the 283-page book because 2008 is the 50th anniversary of the release of "Peggy Sue." Buddy Holly also recorded "Peggy Sue Got Married."
Gerron said material for the book came from about 150 diary entries she wrote during the time she knew the singer, she said.
Maria Elena Holly
Famed Vienna Stables Nearly Bankrupt
Spanish Riding School
Vienna's renowned Spanish Riding School - famed for its white Lipizzaner stallions and their elegant strutting and sprightly dancing - is on the verge of bankruptcy, officials warned Friday.
The 430-year-old school, whose shows at the former imperial stables at the Hofburg Palace in downtown Vienna are among the Austrian capital's top tourist attractions, lost nearly $2.9 million last year, said business adviser Elisabeth Guertler.
Guertler said a planned U.S. tour has been canceled to save on travel expenses as officials scramble to put together a bailout plan.
Guertler, the former chief executive of Vienna's prestigious Opera Ball, said high personnel costs were to blame for the school's mounting losses. Its 17 riders are paid bonuses while on the road that can boost their monthly salaries to $14,700, she said.
Spanish Riding School
Northeast Warming Fast
Winter
Signs that winters in the Northeast are losing their bite have been abundant in recent years and now researchers have nailed down numbers to show just how big the changes have been.
A study of weather station data from across the Northeast from 1965 through 2005 found December-March temperatures increased by 2.5 degrees. Snowfall totals dropped by an average of 8.8 inches across the region over the same period, and the number of days with at least 1 inch of snow on the ground decreased by nine days on average.
"Winter is warming greater than any other season," said Elizabeth Burakowski, who analyzed data from dozens of stations for her master's thesis in collaboration with Cameron Wake, a professor at the University of New Hampshire's Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space.
Burakowski, who graduated from UNH in December, found that the biggest snowfall decreases were in December and February. Stations in New England showed the strongest decreases in winter snowfall, about 3 inches a decade.
Winter
28 Marine Ones
Lockheed Helicopter
A large Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) contract to build a fleet of helicopters for the president could be in trouble, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday, citing people familiar with the situation.
The newspaper said John Young, the Pentagon's top weapons buyer, has called for a meeting with the company on Saturday to talk about Lockheed's plans to build 28 Marine One helicopters for the White House.
According to the report, the program has run into engineering challenges and delays, which could push the $6.1 billion contract over budget by billions of dollars.
Lockheed Helicopter
Paging Barnes & Barnes
Bald Eagles
At least 19 bald eagles died Friday after gorging themselves on a truck full of fish waste outside a processing plant.
Fifty or more eagles swarmed into the truck, whose retractable fabric cover was open, after the truck was moved outside the plant, said Brandon Saito, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who coordinated the recovery operation.
The birds became too soiled to fly or clean themselves, and with temperatures in the mid-teens, began to succumb to the cold. Some birds became so weak they sank into the fish slime and were crushed.
The truck's contents had to be dumped onto the floor of the Ocean Beauty Seafoods plant so the birds could be retrieved. Some tried to scatter, but since they couldn't fly, wildlife officers soon retrieved them. The eagles were then cleaned with dish soap in tubs of warm water to remove the oily slime and warm them.
Bald Eagles
Vic, who's back in Alaska, sent these links:
Alaska Daily News and
Photo.
In Memory
Maila 'Vampira' Nurmi
A veteran horror star famous for playing the undead has passed on herself: Vampira (real name Maila Nurmi) died of natural causes yesterday. She was 86.
It was director Howard Hawks, of all people, who discovered Maila while she was performing in Michael Todd's Grand Guignol midnight show "Spook Scandals." Hawks escorted the lovely blonde beauty to Hollywood with the hopes of grooming her into the next Lauren Bacall. Cast in the film version of the Russian novel "Dreadful Hollow," the project was put on hold so many times that Maila walked out of her contract in frustration. She became a cheesecake model and an Earl Carroll dancer for several years in his revues, sharing a chorus line at one time with future burlesque stripper Lili St. Cyr.
Married at the time to child actor-turned-screenwriter Dean Riesner, she came up with the idea of "Vampira" at a masquerade contest where she based her costume on Charles Addams' New Yorker cartoons. Heavily painted up with long fingernails, a mane of raven-colored hair, and slim-waisted black attire, the Morticia gimmick won the best costume award that night...and more. She caught the attention of local TV and was placed under contract to Channel 7 in Hollywood to see if she could encourage late night viewers to stay up and watch its regular programming of cheapjack horror schlock. The macabre madam was a genuine hit (for one season, at least, in 1954-1955), adding a sexy nuance and silly double entendres to her campy horror set. She earned an Emmy nomination in 1954 for "Most Outstanding Female Personality."
She even appeared with arms outstretched and ghoulishly attired in the worst cinematic turkey of all time, Edward D. Wood Jr.'s Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), as Bela Lugosi's zombie-like mate, for which she is infamously associated. Lugosi actually was a fan of hers and had always wanted to work with her. Wood shot some footage of her years later as a tribute to Lugosi (he died in 1956 during filming) and added it before the film's release.
In 2006, Nurmi was the subject of a documentary called "Vampira: The Movie." The documentary, directed by Kevin Sean Michaels, which noted that her stylized character set the standard for many horror hostesses, including Cassandra Peterson's "Elvira." Nurmi actually sued Cassandra Peterson, the actress and the case was dismissed when Nurmi was allegedly unable to pay for legal expenses.
Maila 'Vampira' Nurmi
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