Richard Roeper: Can't do worse than what we have now (suntimes.com)
Consider some of the most likely presidential election possibilities: McCain against Clinton. McCain against Obama. Romney against Clinton. Romney against Obama. Any ticket you can imagine is a big improvement on Bush.
'I think he'd rather not have been a clown' (guardian.co.uk)
Jeremy Beadle was Britain's favourite TV prankster. But his lifelong friend, Time Out founder Tony Elliott, remembers a very different man, a fount of knowledge who stumbled into the limelight by mistake.
Roger Ebert: The 400 Blows (4 stars)
Truffaut's "The 400 Blows" (1959) is one of the most intensely touching stories ever made about an adolescent. Inspired by Truffaut's own early life, it shows a resourceful boy growing up in Paris and apparently dashing headlong into a life of crime.
Leo, was first, and correct, wrote:
Mister Wizard!
mj was second (and whose mom shared my mother's sentiments):
And my mom always said "No!" when I wanted to try things at home, as demonstrated by Mr. Wizzard.
Bill K responded:
Mr. Wizard! I loved his show when I was a kid!
Sandra in Bangor replied:
i didn't have to look this up, i loved mr. wizard and his sister was a friend of mine.
Chipshot wrote:
Although I spent much of my youth overseas (I was an Army brat), and way back then we didn't have Armed Forces Television, I do remember watching Mr. Wizard either between 1952-55 when we were in Brooklyn, or after 1958 when we returned to the states. And I'm pretty sure (Aw, hell, I googled "Mr. Wizard" just to confirm my hunch) that's who Don Herbert was better known as.
S. Bennett answered:
Before Bill Nye The Science Guy...
Before Beakman...
Before kid's television turned into the Saturday morning crap fest it is today, every geek, every nerd, every kid that knew how to use a slide rule by 8th grade, every kid who had a chemistry set and made bubbling pink stuff that scared the hell out of their mom, every kid that knew AUH2O was a facist asshole, knows Don Herbert was and always will be..........(insert drum roll here)......MR. WIZARD.
Charlie said:
Haven't been trying the TV stuff, even when I think I know it, but the
late Don Herbert was
Mr. Wizard
who I watched as a kid.
Alan J was right, as usual, and succinct, as usual:
Mr. Wizard
Marian the Teacher replied:
Mr. Wizard
bebo nailed it with:
mr. wizard
Joe S ("Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
~Albert Einstein) was right, and wrote:
My first impression when I saw the name Don Herbert, was the guy who played a spy on the TV show, "I Was a Spy for the FBI," way back when. But then I remembered that was Herbert Philbrick. And the answer is ..... Mr. Wizard. I used to watch the TV show when I was a kid. Loved it!
And Sally responded:
Don Herbert, AKA "Mr. Wizard," captured the minds of the intelligentsia youth of North America in his day (along with his many other achievements). As a Freshman in HS, our class was deeply into his show, and we, as an entire class, joined the, "Mr. Wizard Science Club," complete with cards and a booklet! How proud, to even be members, were we 13 & 14 year old teens. I can still remember being thrilled when Mr Herbert won a Peabody Award for increasing interest in science. Well done Mr W - I retain your enthusiasm about the sciences to this day.
Up With People bonus answer from Kip
Did you know Glenn Close performed with Up With People?
Kip
********
"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." - Aldous Huxley
Steve Moore from the Canadian political metal band Inner Surge politely asked if I'd link to his band's website..
The site contains songs (and lyrics) for tracks exploring U.S policy such as "Halliburton Piggies", "The Monroe Doctrine" and "Limb from Limb". There are also music videos for "Wolves" (based on the Rwandan genocide) and "Retribution Song".
"Halliburton Piggies" is the main song they're promoting at the moment. Their new CD just came out Jan 26..
CBS starts the night with 'CBS Reports', followed by '60 Minutes', then a RERUN'Shark', followed by a RERUN'Cold Case'.
NBC opens the night with a 2-hour RERUN'Biggest Loser', followed by a FRESH 2-hour 'Biggest Loser'.
ABC begins the night with a RERUN'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition', followed by a RERUN'America's So-Called Funniest Home Videos', then the movie 'Meet The Fockers'.
The CW offers a RERUN'CW Now', followed by a RERUN'Aliens In America', then a FRESH'Life Is Wild', followed by a RERUN'Crowned'.
Faux has the LIVE big football game, followed by a FRESH'House', then pads the left coast with old episodes of 'Simpsons' and 'King Of The Hill'.
MY has 'That 70s Show', another 'That 70s Show', and the movie 'RoboCop'.
A&E has 'Cold Case Files', 'The First 48', another 'The First 48', and still another 'The First 48'.
AMC offers the movie 'Death Wish 4: The Crackdown', followed by the movie 'Death Wish V: The Face Of Death', then 'Breaking Bad'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] Doctor Who - Ep 2 The Shakespeare Code;
[1:00 PM] Torchwood - Episode 2;
[2:00 PM] Super Skinny Me - Super Skinny Me;
[3:00 PM] 476-lb. Teenager - 476-lb. Teenager;
[4:00 PM] My Small Breasts and I - My Small Breasts And I;
[5:00 PM] My Big Breasts and Me - My Big Breasts And Me;
[6:00 PM] Robin Hood - Ep 12 The Return Of The King;
[7:00 PM] Robin Hood - Ep 13 Clue: No;
[8:00 PM] Dancing with the Stars - Episode 5;
[10:00 PM] Hotel Babylon - Episode 1;
[11:00 PM] Dancing with the Stars - Episode 5;
[1:00 AM] Hotel Babylon - Episode 1;
[2:00 AM] Robin Hood - Ep 13 Clue: No;
[3:00 AM] Changing Rooms - Ep. 6 Camberwell;
[3:30 AM] Changing Rooms - Ep. 7 Woodford Green;
[4:00 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 25 Shepton Mallet;
[4:30 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 26 Kedleston 69;
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 35 Spencer;
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 34 Porter;
[6:00 AM] BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has all 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' all night.
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', followed by the movie 'Legally Blonde', 'South Park', and another 'South Park'.
Jon Stewart is FRESH, but writerless, and the corporate masters don't want you to know who the guests are.
Colbert Report is FRESH, but writerless, and the corporate masters don't want you to know who the guests are.
FX has the movie 'Ice Age', followed by the movie 'Robots', then 'Nip/Tuck'.
History has 'MonsterQuest', 'Time Machine', and 'The Good Book Of Love: Sex In The Bible'.
IFC -
[06:00 AM] A Slipping-Down Life;
[08:00 AM] Diabolique;
[10:00 AM] The Honeymoon Killers;
[12:00 PM] Before the Music Dies;
[01:30 PM] A Slipping-Down Life;
[03:20 PM] Eulogy;
[04:50 PM] The Prime Gig;
[06:30 PM] 11:14;
[08:00 PM] The Thin Red Line;
[11:00 PM] The Whitest Kids U'Know #109;
[11:30 PM] The Whitest Kids U'Know #110;
[12:00 AM] Confidence;
[01:45 AM] IFC News Special;
[02:00 AM] The Whitest Kids U'Know #109;
[02:30 AM] The Whitest Kids U'Know #110;
[03:00 AM] The Thin Red Line. (ALL TIMES EST)
John Griffiths, right, one of the handlers of weather predicting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, holds Phil as his other handler, Ben Hughes, pets him on the head Ground Hog's Day in Punxsutawney, Pa. on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008. The Groundhog Club said Phil saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter.
Photo by Keith Srakocic
A breakthrough in contract talks has been reached between Hollywood studios and striking writers and could lead to a tentative deal as early as next week, a person close to the ongoing negotiations said Saturday.
The two sides breached the gap Friday on the thorniest issues, those concerning compensation for projects distributed via the Internet, said the person, who requested anonymity because he were not authorized to speak publicly.
A second person familiar with the talks, also speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to comment publicly, said that significant progress had been made and a deal might be announced within a week.
The people did not provide specific details on the possible agreement. Major points of contention include how much and when writers are paid for projects delivered online after they've been broadcast on TV.
Musician Tom Petty and wife Dana York attend the Maxim Magazine party in conjunction with the grand opening of the Stone Rose Lounge at The Fairmont Princess Hotel, Friday, Feb.1, 2008 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Photo by Evan Agostini
Urged on by retired "The Price is Right" host Bob Barker and a throng of supporters, the Los Angeles City Council has taken steps to require spaying and neutering of most pet cats and dogs by 4 months of age.
Barker noted that for decades he closed his show by urging viewers to help control the pet population and that the audience was filled with people who had worked on the problem for years.
Barker said 4 months is important because animals can breed at very young ages, but he noted that under the law it would only take a letter from a veterinarian to delay surgery to 5 or 6 months of age.
Other advocates said the law would have plenty of exceptions, including for licensed breeders and show animals.
Men with the name 'Dave' are in for a pleasant surprise, for a poll has revealed that Brit women think that blokes with the title are the best endowed.
But sad news for the name 'Ray', as it conjures up the most disappointing visions in the trouser department.
John Sewell, boss of onepoll.com, which questioned 1,000 British women to list the monikers, which sounded most, and least, likely to belong to a well-packaged man.
Keep an eye on the salsa this Super Bowl Sunday: A researcher inspired by a famous "Seinfeld" episode has concluded that double dipping is just plain gross.
"That's like putting your whole mouth right in the dip!" George Costanza was admonished on the show after he dipped a chip twice at a wake. That's not too far off, said Clemson University professor Paul L. Dawson.
Last year the food microbiologist's undergraduate students examined the effects of double dipping using volunteers, wheat crackers and several sample dips. They found that three to six double dips transferred about 10,000 bacteria from an eater's mouth to the remaining dip sample.
"I was very surprised by the results," Dawson said in a telephone interview Thursday. "I thought there would be very minimal transfer. I didn't think we would be able to detect it."
Veteran Bollywood actress Hema Malini (C) performs a classical ballet during the inauguration ceremony of a four-day long film festival in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh February 1, 2008.
Photo by Ajay Verma
French horndog President Nicolas Sarkozy married former model Carla Bruni on Saturday at the Elysee Palace, the couple announced, tying the knot less than three months after they reportedly first met.
In a terse statement, the couple said only that they "were married this morning in the presence of their families in the strictest privacy." The official statement followed an announcement of the wedding several hours earlier from the official who had performed the ceremony at the presidential Elysee Palace.
"The bride wore white; she was ravishing, as usual," Francois Lebel, mayor of Paris' eighth arrondissement, or neighborhood, told Europe-1 radio. "The groom wasn't bad either."
Sarkozy, 53, and Bruni, 40, were married in the presence of about 20 close family and friends, Lebel said. He called the ceremony "a moment of family intimacy for the young newlyweds, of great simplicity and apparently a lot of affection between the spouses.
Tens of thousands of secular Turks rallied on Saturday against a plan by the government to allow women students to wear the Muslim headscarf at university, a move they say will usher in a stricter form of Islam in Turkey.
Parliament is expected to approve a constitutional amendment next week sponsored by the ruling AK Party, which has Islamist roots, and a nationalist opposition party that is aimed at easing a 1989 headscarf ban for students in higher education.
Secularists fear lifting the ban would, over time, lead to heavy pressure on uncovered women to wear the Muslim garment.
"Turkey is secular and will remain secular," shouted protesters as they waved national flags and banners of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, revered founder of the republic which separated religion and state, at his mausoleum in the capital Ankara.
A man dressed up as famous painter Vincent Van Gogh takes part in the Venice Carnival in St. Mark's square February 2, 2008.
Photo by Stefano Rellandini
Visitors to Liverpool, birthplace of the Beatles, can rest their heads in the Lennon or McCartney suites at the Fab Four-themed Hard Days Night Hotel that opened Friday.
More than 45 years after John, Paul, George and Ringo emerged from Liverpool's tiny, sweaty clubs to conquer the world, the Beatles industry is key to this battered-but-proud city's attempt to transform itself from fading commercial hub to thriving cultural hotbed.
"It's stunning, spectacular," said Julia Baird, John Lennon's half-sister, after being shown around the $1,300-a-night penthouse suite named for her brother. "It's like Liverpool. Outside it hasn't changed, but inside there's rocketing change."
A smart, four-star establishment housed within a 19th century mercantile building, the hotel aims to provide everything a Beatles fan could desire - from the Yellow Submarine jukebox in the lobby to the rare photographs on the walls - while also catering to corporate travelers and tourists on a weekend break.
A dancer dressed asa Japanese traditional 'Geisha' performs during the parade of Unidos de Vila Maria samba school in Sao Paulo, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008. Vila Maria samba school made a tribute to the centennial of the Japanese immigration to Brazil.
Photo by Andre Penner
A new type of shrew-like creature with a snout similar to an elephant's trunk has been found in the mountains of Tanzania, the first new species of the mammal found since the 19th century, scientists said.
The creature, a type of elephant shrew to be named the grey-faced sengi, was found in the Udzungwa mountains of south-central Tanzania by scientists from Italy's Trento Museum of Natural Sciences and the California Academy of Sciences.
The creature has a distinctive grey face and a black lower rump and weighs about 700 grams (25 ounces), or 25 percent more than any of the other known 15 species of sengi. Elephant shrews use the snout to help probe for insects, their main food.
The sengi, with a bizarre mixture of relatives including elephants, sea cows and aardvarks, was first spotted by Italian scientist Francesco Rovero who had set up automatic cameras in a remote forest in 2005.
In the gloomy shade deep in Africa's rain forest, the noontime silence was pierced by the whine of a far-off chain saw. It was the sound of destruction, echoed from wood to wood, continent to continent, in the tropical belt that circles the globe.
From Brazil to central Africa to once-lush islands in Asia's archipelagos, human encroachment is shrinking the world's rain forests.
The alarm was sounded decades ago by environmentalists - and was little heeded. The picture, meanwhile, has changed: Africa is now a leader in destructiveness. The numbers have changed: U.N. specialists estimate 60 acres of tropical forest are felled worldwide every minute, up from 50 a generation back. And the fears have changed.
Experts still warn of extinction of animal and plant life, of the loss of forest peoples' livelihoods, of soil erosion and other damage. But scientists today worry urgently about something else: the fateful feedback link of trees and climate.
A flamingo stands by her baby at the Metropolitan Zoo in Santiago, Friday, Feb. 1, 2008. The zoo presented six newborn flamingos to the public for the first time.
Photo by Santiago Llanquin
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