Letter of The Week
Don't you love it when some redneck letter writer [Letters January 18-24] like Chris Rasmussen from Bumfuck, Colorado, lectures New Yorkers on the politics of 9-11? (villagevoice.com)
Roger Ebert: Inherit the Wind (1960; A Great Movie)
The so-called Monkey Trial of 1925 put a young high school teacher named John T. Scopes on trial for violating a state law, passed the same year, prohibiting the teaching of any theory that denied the biblical account of divine creation. Darwin's theory of evolution was also therefore on trial. Two of the most famous lawyers and orators in the land contested the case. Scopes was defended by the legendary Clarence Darrow, and the prosecution was led by three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan.
Purple Gene's review of Jorma Kaukonen live at the Great American Music Hall Thursday February 2, 2006 with Barry Mitterhoff:
What do you call music that morphs from "Acid Rock to Blue Grass" ????? "Acid/Grass"?….but it would be too simplistic to describe Jorma Kaukonen and his eclectic guitar playing style with just 2 words…. How about "Airplane Acid/ Mississippi Delta/ Blue Grass/Country Kletzmer/ Ragtime/finger pickin' phantom/peace loving guitar school teaching God and Guru" !!!!!!!!! Whew!!!
Back in the 60's when Marty Balin left the folk group "Town Criers" to start a "Byrds" like band, he found this guitar teaching dude named Jorma who had a friend named Jack who knew Paul and pretty soon they got a drummer and a female lead singer and "The Jefferson Airplane Takes Off"……Through the rest of the 60's this band became known as the "American Beatles" and toured world wide……then Jorma and Jack quit to start a little electric blue grass band called "Hot Tuna" (originally called "Hot Shit") and started touring the world. Somewhere in the late 80's Jorma and his wife Vanessa created a music camp in the rolling hills of Ohio called "Fur Peace Music"…..where you can live and learn styles from B.B. King to Chet Atkins…….from Johnny Winter to Tommy Emmanuel and renowned instructors of all kinds of instruments show up seasonally to pass on their expertise.
But tonight, David, my song-writing partner and myself are scrunching around a table in the Great American Music Hall to see Jorma play an acoustic gig with mandolinist extraordinaire Barry Miterhoff…..there are blue jeaned lawyers and bearded hippies and long hairs and "Dead Heads" and Beer drinkers and pot smokers an EMT and an OBGYN and just when I thought every possible slice of life was there….a buxom stripper from the Mitchell Brothers Club next door tapped me on the shoulder and said "Can I squeeze in ?" Why not…we're all here to see Jorma jam…aren't we?
Jorma casually entered the stage to a thunderous applause and introduced Barry and they launched into "Blue Railroad Train" …a sort of warm up tune. After a couple more songs Jorma played Mose Allison's "Parchment Farm" and by this point they were fully synched up and beginning to burn the strings on their instruments. After "Prohibition Blues" and "That'll Never Happen" the boys took a break…. I was thinking of going next door to the Mitchell Brothers Sex Club" for a quick "Lap Dance" with David but instead I had a "Chicken" sandwich !!!!!!
When Jorma and Barry returned to the stage they opened with "Big River Blues" and then went right into an incredible version of "I Know You Rider" …."gonna miss me when I'm gone!!" Then Jorma played a couple of bars of "Oakie from Muskogee" and talked about Merle Haggard……as a lead in to beautiful Merle penned song called "(I love you)…More than my Old Guitar"….this was my favorite song of the night! After Jorma did a solo picking job on "Embryonic Journey" (he played this at his induction into the "Rock & Roll Hall of Fame") they played "Genesis". Jorma told a story about his parents who have both passed on (He still talks to them both-go on Jorma's website .. read his online diary) and sang a sweet original song called "A Life Well Lived". Stomping and clapping led to 3 encores and Jorma and Barry ended the night with "9 Pound Hammer".
As David and I left the GAMH and we walked by the Mitchell Brothers Club, I remembered the movie "Rated X"….it reminded me of all the craziness and cocaine that I know Jorma and all of us went through way back then….and I said "What a wonderful path we've managed to walk on to be here now……spent from a night of wonderful music rather than sex and drugs!!!!
Purple Gene gives Jorma Kaukonan 10 overwhelmingly enthusiastic "votes" out of 10 for surviving gloriously and he's running for president again in 2008! (Maybe he can get "Kinky" as his running mate?)
CBS starts the night with '60 Minutes', followed by a RERUN'Criminal Minds', then a RERUN'Cold Case', followed by a RERUN'CSI: The 2nd One'.
NBC opens the night with 'Dateline', followed by a RERUN'Crossing Jordan', then another RERUN'Crossing Jordan', followed by a RERUN'Law & Order: Criminal Intent'.
ABC has scheduled, at some point after the football game, a FRESH'Grey's Anatomy', and a FRESH'Jimmy Kimmel'. On the left coast, expect a RERUN'Desperate Housewives', too.
The WB offers a RERUN'Beauty & The Geek', followed by another RERUN'Beauty & The Geek', then still another RERUN'Beauty & The Geek'.
Faux has a RERUN'Simpsons', followed by another RERUN'Simpsons', then yet another RERUN'Simpsons', followed by a RERUN'Family Guy', then another RERUN'Family Guy', and still one more RERUN'Family Guy'.
UPN has an old 'Alias', followed by an old 'Fear Factor'.
A&E has the movie 'Jaws', 'CSI: Miami', and the movie 'Jaws', again.
AMC offers the movie 'Meet Joe Black', followed by the movie 'The Breakfast Club', then the movie 'Sixteen Candles'.
BBC -
[2pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Episode 1;
[3pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Episode 2;
[4pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Episode 3;
[5pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Episode 4;
[6pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Episode 5;
[7pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Episode 6;
[8pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Episode 3;
[9pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Episode 14;
[9:30pm] 'What Not To Wear' - Mikael;
[10pm] 'Mile High' - Episode 3;
[11pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Episode 3;
[12am] 'Changing Rooms' - Episode 14;
[12:30am] 'What Not To Wear' - Mikael;
[1am] 'Mile High' - Episode 3;
[2am] 'Cash in the Attic' - Episode 3;
[3am] 'My Hero' - All in the Mind;
[3:40am] 'My Hero' - Virus;
[4:20am] 'My Hero' - Mayor of Northholt;
[5am] 'So Graham Norton' - Kiefer Sutherland;
[5:30am] 'So Graham Norton' - Michael Richards;
[6am] 'BBC World News'.. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has a FRESH'Inside The Actors Studio' (Liza Minnelli', and 3 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Clueless', followed by the movie 'She's All That'.
History has 'Who Wrote The Bible?', followed by 'Good Book Of Love: Sex In The Bible', and 'Who Wrote The Bible?', again.
IFC -
[6AM] Bravo Two Zero (1999);
[8AM] The Journey (1997);
[9:45AM] Short: Blue City (1996);
[10AM] Happy Accidents (2000);
[12PM] The Last Waltz (1978);
[2PM] Frazetta: Painting With Fire (2003);
[3:45PM] IFC in Theaters (2005);
[4PM] The Last Waltz (1978);
[6PM] In the Mood for Love (2000);
[7:45PM] IFC in Theaters (2005);
[8PM] Le Divorce (2003);
[10:15PM] The Shipping News (2001);
[12AM] Frazetta: Painting With Fire (2003);
[12:15AM] Glengarry Glen Ross (1992);
[2AM] Le Divorce (2003);
[4AM] The Shipping News (2001). (ALL TIMES EST)
SciFi has the movie 'The Frighteners', followed by the movie 'Species'< then the movie 'Star Trek: First Contact'.
Sundance -
[6:30AM] Inheritance: A Fisherman's Story;
[7:45AM] FACE;
[9:15AM] Koyaanisqatsi;
[10:45AM] Weed;
[12PM] Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia;
[2PM] Ladette to Lady: Episode 1;
[3PM] Kath & Kim: Kath & Kim: 99 Percent Fat Free;
[3:30PM] Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out;
[4PM] The Heart of Me;
[5:45PM] Ryan;
[6PM] Iconoclasts: Redford on Newman;
[6:45PM] Tube Mice;
[7PM] Ladette to Lady: Episode 1;
[8PM] Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out;
[8:30PM] Kath & Kim: Kath & Kim: 99 Percent Fat Free;
[9PM] The Heart of Me;
[10:45PM] Ryan;
[11PM] Mon Ange;
[12:35AM] Dirty Filthy Love;
[2:15AM] The Funeral;
[4AM] Black Picket Fence;
[5:45AM] FACE. (ALL TIMES EST)
Model Niki Taylor takes to the runway at the HollyRod Foundation's 2006 Gridiron Glamour Fashion show in Dearborn, Michigan February 4, 2006. The yearly Super Bowl Week event raised money to provide medical, physical and emotional support to those suffering with Parkinson's disease.
Photo by Rebecca Cook
Wrapping a week that included receiving three Oscar nominations, George Clooney traveled up the coast to collect the Modern Master Award from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Clooney, 44, said he didn't think twice about accepting the fest's Modern Master honor. "This was the place that we brought Confessions ("Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," his 2002 directorial debut), so I have a soft spot in my heart for (this) festival. They really do embrace very different films here."
Upon accepting his award, Clooney said he was humbled by praise for his "bravery" for making such commercially risky, socially conscious fare as "Syriana" and "Good Night, and Good Luck."
"And when they talk about being brave, I don't think it's brave to make films like these," he noted. "I'm terrified of not making films like these, and that's the truth. I'm afraid of waking up at 70 years old and saying, I'm Batman again," referring to his much-maligned 1997 film "Batman & Robin."
Actor George Clooney holds his award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Friday, Feb. 3, 2006, in Santa Barbara, Calif., where he received the festival's Modern Master Award.
Photo by Michael A. Mariant
Thousands of Syrians enraged by caricatures of Islam's revered prophet torched the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus on Saturday - the most violent in days of furious protests by Muslims in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
In Gaza, Palestinians marched through the streets, storming European buildings and burning German and Danish flags. Protesters smashed the windows of the German cultural center and threw stones at the European Commission building, police said.
Pakistan summoned the envoys of nine Western countries in protest, and even Europeans took to the streets in Denmark and Britain to voice their anger.
At the heart of the protest: 12 caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad first published in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten in September and reprinted in European media in the past week. The paper said it had asked cartoonists to draw the pictures because the media was practicing self-censorship when it came to Muslim issues.
Financial difficulties have pushed Leonard Cohen back into the spotlight, propelling the semi-retired poet and musician into "incessant work" and even into attending a glitzy celebrity-studded gala honouring his songwriting skills.
"I'm not really drawn to these kind of events," Cohen, clad in a sharp but worn suit, said in an interview Saturday on the eve of his induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Usually a private man who rarely gives interviews and shies away from Hollywood-style red carpet events, Cohen was persuaded to attend the gala, where the likes of Willie Nelson and k.d. lang will pay tribute to him, by his new Vancouver-based manager.
U.S. actress Sharon Stone poses for photographers at the 21st Santa Barbara International Film Festival at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara, California February 3, 2006. Picture taken February 3, 2006.
Photo by Phil Klein
New DNA analysis indicates that a 5,000-year-old mummy found frozen in the Italian Alps may have been sterile - a hypothesis that would support the theory that he may have been a social outcast, officials said Friday.
Franco Rollo, an anthropologist and ancient DNA specialist, also determined that the man's genetic makeup belonged to one of the eight basic groups of DNA occurring in Europe, although his particular DNA belonged to a subgroup that has been identified for the first time, officials said.
The South Tyrol Archaeological Museum in Italy's northern Alto Adige region, where the remains are housed, announced the findings of Rollo's research Friday. Rollo's findings also appear in the February issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, the statement said.
"Memoirs of a Geisha" has became the latest movie censored in China despite increased openness, and analysts say communist leaders will likely ramp up ideological controls as outside influences flood the nation.
China has not explained the decision made public Wednesday to reject "Memoirs of a Geisha," which stars two of China's leading actresses as rival Japanese entertainers. There's speculation the government feared the film would whip up anti-Japanese sentiment because many Chinese remain pained by Japanese atrocities in China during World War II
Domestic films face even closer scrutiny. While foreign movies must be screened by censors, domestic productions must submit their plots and final product for approval. Many of China's prominent filmmakers have run afoul of the censors.
A samba dancer of Beija Flor samba school performs at the Samba's city in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006. Rio de Janeiro inaugurated a new carnival headquarters called 'Samba City' on Saturday, giving parade groups for the first time a single location to build their extravagant floats. Thousands of dancers and hundreds of drummers from the city's premiere samba groups _ known as 'schools' _ will parade well into the early morning hours in the city's 'Sambadromo' stadium.
Photo by Renzo Gostoli
Robert Blake has filed for bankruptcy, 2 1/2 months after a civil court jury found he "intentionally caused" his wife's death and awarded her children $30 million in damages.
Blake was acquitted in March in criminal court of murdering Bonny Lee Bakley. In Friday's filing, he listed his biggest liabilities as the $30 million judgment, a $1,274,783 million federal tax bill and a $334,337 state tax assessment. The filing says he has assets of $100,001 and $500,000.
Blake's civil attorney, Peter Ezzell, said he believes the former tough-guy actor is broke. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have written off $200,000 in fees," he said.
A protester who refused to give his name holds a sign critical of Hollywood outside the gates to the 2006 Writers Guild Awards in Hollywood, California February 4, 2006.
Photo by Fred Prouser
The U.S. Secret Service on Thursday said it was investigating a Rhode Island student who wrote a rambling essay advocating violence against U.S. resident George W. Bush and major U.S. corporations.
A homework assignment asked 7th-grade students at John F. Deering Middle School in West Warwick, Rhode Island, to describe their perfect day. The boy under investigation wrote it would involve unspecified violence against Bush, Coca-Cola Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executives, and TV talkshow host Oprah Winfrey, school officials said.
The boy turned in the single-page assignment on Tuesday, and his teacher alerted school officials.
Threatening the president is a felony, said Thomas M. Powers, Secret Service resident agent in charge in Providence, the state capital. He said the agency's investigation is ongoing but declined further comment.
Anti-war protester Michael Glazer from Chicago, Ill., carries a flag over his shoulder as he takes part in a protest on the National Mall demanding the impeachment of President Bush Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006, in Washinigton. The protesters later planned to march to the White House.
Photo by Charles Dharapak
A sailor who sent a message out to sea in a bottle says he received a reply from England - accusing him of littering. "I kind of felt like no good deed goes unpunished," Harvey Bennett, 55, told the East Hampton Star.
Last week, he excitedly opened a letter from England, and was stunned by the reply:
"I recently found your bottle while taking a scenic walk on the beach by Poole Harbour. While you may consider this some profound experiment on the path and speed" of "oceanic currents, I have another name for it, litter."
"You Americans don't seem to be happy unless you are mucking about somewhere," says the letter, signed by Henry Biggelsworth of Bournemouth, in Dorset County.
Al Lewis, the cigar-chomping patriarch of "The Munsters" whose work as a basketball scout, restaurateur and political candidate never eclipsed his role as Grandpa from the television sitcom, died after years of failing health. He was 95.
Lewis, sporting a somewhat cheesy Dracula outfit, became a pop culture icon playing the irascible father-in-law to Fred Gwynne's ever-bumbling Herman Munster on the 1964-66 television show. He was also one of the stars of another classic TV comedy, playing Officer Leo Schnauzer on "Car 54, Where Are You?"
Just two years short of his 90th birthday, a ponytailed Lewis ran as the Green Party candidate against incumbent Gov. George Pataki. Lewis campaigned against draconian drug laws and the death penalty, while going to court in a losing battle to have his name appear on the ballot as "Grandpa Al Lewis."
Lewis was born Alexander Meister in upstate New York before his family moved to Brooklyn, where the 6-foot-1 teen began a lifelong love affair with basketball. He later became a vaudeville and circus performer, but his career didn't take off until television did the same.
Unlike some television stars, Lewis never complained about getting typecast and made appearances in character for decades.
"Why would I mind?" he asked in a 1997 interview. "It pays my mortgage."
Lewis rarely slowed down, opening his restaurant and hosting his WBAI radio program. At one point during the '90s, he was a frequent guest on the Howard Stern radio show, once sending the shock jock diving for the delay button by leading an undeniably obscene chant against the Federal Communications Commission.
He is survived by his wife, Karen Ingenthron-Lewis, three sons and four grandchildren.
Betty Friedan, whose 1963 book "The Feminine Mystique" helped inspire the modern feminist movement and who co-founded the National Organization for Women, died on Saturday on her 85th birthday, a relative said.
Friedan was born Bettye Naomi Goldstein in Peoria, Illinois, and attended Smith College, a leading women's college in Massachusetts, where she edited a campus paper and graduated with honors in 1942. She attended the University of California, Berkeley for a year before working as a journalist. In 1947, she married Carl Friedan, a marriage that lasted 20 years and produced three children.
Friedan co-founded the National Organization for Women, with Pauli Murray, the first African-American female Episcopal priest and served as its first president from 1966 to 1970.
She also helped found NARAL, originally the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws.
She is survived by two sons and a daughter, nine grandchildren, a brother and a sister. Her funeral is planned for 11 a.m. on Monday at Riverside Funeral Chapel in New York.
A sheep looks on after being marked with chalk for a shearing demonstration at the eighth National Sheep Shearing Contest in the southern city of Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina February 4, 2006. Contestants who qualified for this competition had been champions and runners-up in the country's provincial sheep shearing contests. They are judged on time, condition of fleece, the manner in which they handle the sheep, the absence of cuts on the animals, and the appearance of the shorn sheep.
Photo by Marcos Brindicci
You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
Make yourself home, take your shoes off...
Go ahead, scratch it if it itches.
The idea is to have fun.
Do you have something to say?
Anything that increased your blood pressure, or, even better,
amused or entertained?
Do you have a great album no one's heard?
How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
A popular artist that just plain pisses you off?
A box set the whole world should own?
Vile, filthy rumors about Republican musicians?
Just plain vile, filthy rumors?
This is your place.
(In other words, submissions are welcome.)
Send mail to Marty
( SuprmChaos at yahoo dot com )
