Ted Rall: IT COULDN'T HAPPEN HERE. Could It?
The French are reacting to a situation almost identical to ours--economic collapse, government impotence, corporate corruption--by turning hard left. National strikes and massive demonstrations are occurring every few weeks. How far left? This far: the late president François Mitterand's Socialist Party, the rough equivalent of America's Greens, is considered too conservative to solve the economic crisis.
Marina Hyde: Allow the Osbournes to escort you to Hell's innermost circle (guardian.co.uk)
Occasionally in interviews, Sir David Attenborough is moved to address the vicious hate mail he receives from creationists for not crediting the organisms in his documentaries to an infinitely merciful God. "I always reply by saying I think of a little child in East Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball," the legendary broadcaster muses. "The worm cannot live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent creator."
"Try to Tell the Story: A Memoir," by David Thomson: A review by Jonathan Yardley
David Thomson, the historian and critic whose New Biographical Dictionary of Film is to my way of thinking the one essential reference book about the movies, was born in London in February 1941. I was born in Pittsburgh in October 1939, which, depending on how one chooses to interpret it, gives him a leg up of almost two and a half years on the Grim Reaper or gives me more experience of life's vicissitudes.
Michael Moran: "Bad Movie Club: The 10 Worst Films Ever" (timesonline)
The major studios spend astronomical sums on even 'low budget' movies. A film like 2007's 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry' cost a reported $85,000,000. Blockbuster projects like James Cameron's forthcoming space epic Avatar are budgeted at sums in excess of $250,000,000. You might think, then, that producers would take great care to ensure that they only released films that were at least halfway good.
Hal Boedeker: Jay Leno's next go-round will mix familiar, 'fresh' (The Orlando Sentinel)
Leno seemed unfazed by the scrutiny that he'll receive in moving to prime time. "I don't worry about it," he said. "This is what I do. I have the same friends I had when I was in high school. I'm leaving the talk show with the same wife I came in with. That's fairly rare. If it works, great. If it doesn't work, well, boy, it was a lot of fun. I don't beat myself over it."
Roger Ebert: Taken (3 1/2 stars)
If CIA agents in general were as skilled as Bryan Mills in particular, Osama bin Laden would have been an American prisoner since late September 2001. "Taken" shows Mills as a one-man rescue squad, a master of every skill, a laser-eyed, sharpshooting, pursuit-driving, pocket-picking, impersonating, knife-fighting, torturing, karate-fighting killing machine who can cleverly turn over a petrol tank with one pass in his car and strategically ignite it with another.
Roger Ebert: Answer Man
Q. Am I alone in thinking that in recent years the Internet Movie Database voting system has been skewing its Top 250 list to the relative detriment of the world's great classic films?
Who d'ya want to win as opposed to who d'ya think is gonna win
.
Best Picture
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Director
Feel free to include any other category that interests you (nod to Adam here for sound). Results will be posted prior to the ceremony... I wish I could make this a contest with prizes and all. But, hey, there's a recession going on, or haven't ya heard? So, just have some fun, eh?
Carmen Miranda's final performance was on which TV program?
A The Jack Benny Show
B The Jimmy Durante Show
C The Tonight Show with Jack Paar
D The Tonight Show with Steve Allen
E Toast of the Town (Ed Sullivan)
Source
On August 4, 1955, The Jimmy Durante Show was the venue of the last performance by the famous Brazilian singer Carmen Miranda. Miranda fell to her knees while dancing with Durante, who instinctively told the band to "stop da music!". He helped Miranda up to her feet as she laughed "I'm all out of breath!". "Dat's OK, honey, I'll take yer lines" Durante replied. Miranda laughed again and quickly pulled herself together, finishing the show. However, the next morning, August 5, Carmen died at home from heart failure.
Source
Charlie was first, and correct, with:
I loved the show, but I'm not quite old enough to recall that particular episode.
B The Jimmy Durante Show
Jim from CA responded:
Jimmy Durante
Alan J answered:
B The Jimmy Durante Show
Marian the Teacher responded:
The Jimmy Durante Show
Adam in NoHo responded:
Miranda suffered a heart attack during a segment of the live The Jimmy Durante
Show, although she did not realize it at the time.
Sally said:
"For it's a long, long time, from May to December..." sang (B) Jimmy Durante, and it was on his show that Carmen Miranda last appeared. Actually, it was a big deal back then. As I recall, she appeared "live" (yeah, lot's of variety shows were actually live back then) and she collapsed to the floor while dancing. Durante covered for her by joking about it. The very next day, she died from heart failure. Carmen, a Brazilian dancer (known for wearing enormous, fruit-laden hats)
was only 46 years old when she died. It was very sad.
PS: I had a fabulous time at the Garden Show yesterday. To see actual daffodils in bloom, filling the gigantic auditorium, really makes one long for the first vestiges of Spring to appear! I believe it's time to start my seedlings...
MAM wrote:
B The Jimmy Durante Show
On August 4, 1955, Miranda suffered a heart attack during a segment of the live The Jimmy Durante Show, although she did not realize it at the time. After completing a dance number, she unknowingly suffered a mild heart attack, and nearly collapsed. She quickly pulled herself together and finished the show. At the end of the broadcast, she smiled and waved and exited the stage. She died later that night after suffering a second heart attack at her home.
CBS starts the night with '60 Minutes', followed by a FRESH'Amazing Race 14', followed by a FRESH'Cold Case', then a FRESH'The Unit'.
NBC opens the night with 'Dateline', followed by the FRESH'XII' (part 2 of 2).
ABC begins the night with a RERUN'America's So-Called Funniest Home Videos', followed by a RERUN'Extreme Makeover: Home Editiion', then a FRESH'Desperate Housewives', followed by a FRESH'Brothers & Sisters'.
The CW recycles an old 'Jericho', followed by the movie 'GoldenEye'.
Faux has a RERUN'King Of The Hill', followed by a RERUN'American Dad', then a FRESH'Simpsons', followed by a FRESH'King Of The Hill', then a FRESH'Family Guy', followed by a FRESH'American Dad'.
MY has an old 'Bernie Mac', followed by an old 'Raymond', then an old 'House', followed by another old 'House'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', another 'CSI: The 2nd One', still another 'CSI: The 2nd One', and 'The Sopranos'.
AMC offers the movie 'Caddyshack', followed by the movie 'Blazing Saddles', then the movie 'Blazing Saddles', again.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] Last Restaurant Standing - Episode 4
[1:00 PM] Top Gear - Episode 1
[2:00 PM] Top Gear Winter Olympics Special
[3:00 PM] Top Gear: Best Of 06-07 - Episode 1
[4:00 PM] Last Restaurant Standing - Eps 1 & 2
[6:00 PM] Last Restaurant Standing - Episode 3
[7:00 PM] Last Restaurant Standing - Episode 4
[8:00 PM] Kinky Boots
[10:00 PM] My Secret Female Body
[11:00 PM] Kinky Boots
[1:00 AM] My Secret Female Body
[2:00 AM] Kinky Boots - Kinky Boots
[4:00 AM] My Secret Female Body
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 20 Burrows
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 21 Hayes: Barbour
[6:00 AM] BBC World News (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has all 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' all night.
Comedy Central has 'Not Another Teen Movie', followed by the movie 'Accepted', then the movie 'Idiocracy'.
FX has the movie 'The Marine', followed by the movie 'Deja Vu'.
History has 'Gangland', 'Andrew Jackson', and 'How The Earth Was Made'.
IFC -
[6:10 AM] Garden State
[8:00 AM] Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
[10:00 AM] The Ballad of the Sad Cafe
[11:45 AM] 2009 Spirit Awards Nomination Special
[12:15 PM] Garden State
[2:05 PM] Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
[4:05 PM] Manderlay
[6:30 PM] Born Into Brothels
[8:00 PM] Monster's Ball
[10:00 PM] Bad Lieutenant
[11:45 PM] Amores Perros
[2:20 AM] IFC in Theaters
[2:30 AM] Monster's Ball
[4:30 AM] Born Into Brothels (ALL TIMES EST)
SciFi has the movie 'Splinter', followed by the movie 'Living Hell'.
Sundance -
[05:35 AM] Bittersweet Place
[07:00 AM] Big Ideas for a Small Planet - Season 2: Gadgets
[07:30 AM] Big Ideas for a Small Planet - Season 1: Build
[08:00 AM] Everything's Cool
[09:30 AM] Street of Crocodiles
[10:00 AM] On the Road in America: Episode 5 - Montana
[10:30 AM] On the Road in America: Episode 12 - Indiana/Wisconsin
[11:00 AM] Spectacle: She & Him, Jenny Lewis, Jakob Dylan
[12:00 PM] The Danish Poet
[12:30 PM] Bittersweet Place
[02:00 PM] Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
[04:00 PM] Sophie Scholl - The Final Days
[06:00 PM] Yves St. Laurent: 5 Avenue Marceau 75116 Paris
[07:30 PM] John Safran vs. God: Episode 4
[08:00 PM] Shameless Season 4: Episode 3
[09:00 PM] Water Lilies
[10:30 PM] Engine 371
[11:00 PM] I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK
[01:00 AM] Yves St. Laurent: 5 Avenue Marceau 75116 Paris
[02:30 AM] Water Lilies
[04:00 AM] Eco Documentaries - Season 2: Weather Report
[05:00 AM] On the Road in America: Episode 5 - Montana
[05:30 AM] On the Road in America: Episode 12 - Indiana/Wisconsin (ALL TIMES EST)
Actor James Franco, right, jokingly milks a cow played by student Chris Schleicher while Franco was honored with Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals' Man of the Year in Cambridge, Mass., Friday Feb. 13, 2009. Franco stars in the film 'Milk', which is currently in theaters.
Photo by Charles Krupa
The White House is planning a concert this month to honor Stevie Wonder, whose music provided part of President Barack Obama's campaign soundtrack.
The White House says the president and first lady Michelle Obama will present Wonder a Library of Congress award on Feb. 25. The concert will be broadcast the next day on PBS as part of its "Performance at the White House" series.
The award-winning and chart-topping Wonder performed at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on the night Obama accepted his party's nomination. He also performed at a concert during the week of Obama's inauguration.
His song "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" became a theme song during the campaign. Obama also used "Higher Ground" during campaign stops.
U.S. Jazz musician Herbie Hancock gestures after a workshop of jazz musicians, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009. Hancock with other Indian musicians will be performing in Delhi on Feb. 16 in front of visiting Martin Luther King III and U.S. congressional delegation led by John Lewis, who are in India from Feb. 13-17, 2009.
Photo by Manish Swarup
A California appeals court on Friday denied an attempt by the president of the largest U.S. actors union to block upcoming contract negotiations with Hollywood's major studios.
Alan Rosenberg, president of the Screen Actors Guild, earlier this month sought a court-ordered injunction to block a new SAG negotiating task force -- put in place by the union's national governing board -- from resuming long-stalled labor talks with Hollywood's major studios.
Rosenberg and his allies at SAG are at odds with more moderate board members over the union's negotiating stance.
The two sides are at odds on several issues, including how much actors should be paid for original work on the Internet, as well as TV shows re-distributed via the Web.
Peter Max, known for his colorful canvases and psychedelic portrayal of cultural icons, became friends with Bill and Hillary Clinton after the 1993 inauguration - they told him they had posters of his on their dorm room walls in college.
Now, the pop artist's work is on three floors of the museum of the Clinton Presidential Center for a show that begins Monday and runs through May 25.
The show includes Max's depiction of presidents, American symbols such as the White House and the Statue of Liberty, and other images of his adopted country and beyond.
Max, 71, recalled in a phone interview being at Clinton's first inauguration, with a seat just a few feet from where Clinton took the oath of office. Beforehand, Max had painted 100 portraits of Clinton. Three panels featuring 64 of those portraits are now hanging on the library's second floor.
Dario Fo, Italy's Nobel laureate playwright, smiles as he poses with a mask in front of St Mark basilic during the Venetian Carnival in Venice February 13, 2009. Fo will read from his work "Mistero Buffo" on Feb. 14 to a drag queen beauty contest. Picture taken February 13, 2009.
Photo by Alessandro Bianchi
Kevin Costner and his wife are proud parents of a baby boy.
Costner's wife Christine Baumgartner, 34, gave birth to Hayes Logan Costner on Thursday night in Los Angeles, said his publicist Arnold Robinson. He weighs 8 pounds, 15 ounces.
Costner went back to the old West to find a name for his new son. The 54-year-old actor told AP Radio before the baby was born that he would call him Hayes after "a cowboy character" in a Western he plans to film. Costner calls Hayes "a great Western name."
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's favorite consignment shop has been forced to change its name after she brought the trendy, upscale Anchorage boutique unintended legal problems during last year's presidential campaign.
Out of the Closet owner Ellen Arvold said she was served a cease-and-desist letter by a Los Angeles-based chain of thrift stores with the same name - same trademarked name, it turned out - after Palin mentioned her store in an interview.
Rather than fight, Arvold agreed to change the name to Second Run. The change is effective Saturday, the store's fifth anniversary.
Ged Kenslea, spokesman for AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the owner and operator of the Out of the Closet thrift store chain, said if it weren't for Palin, the duplicative name "wouldn't have landed on the radar."
In this photo provided by StarPix, musician Paul Simon performs at the Beacon Theatre in New York after a seven month, $16 million dollar restoration, Friday, Feb. 13, 2009.
Photo by Dave Allocca
The Saudi king on Saturday dismissed the chief of the religious police and a cleric who condoned killing the owners of TV networks that broadcast "immoral" content, signaling an effort to weaken the country's hard-line Sunni establishment.
The shake-up - King Abdullah's first since coming to power in August 2005 - included the appointment of a female deputy minister, the highest government position a Saudi woman has attained.
The king also changed the makeup of an influential body of religious scholars, for the first time giving more moderate Sunnis representation to the group whose duties include issuing the religious edicts known as fatwas.
Saudi Arabia's king does not have unlimited power. He has to take into account the sentiments of the sprawling ruling family as well as that of the powerful religious establishment, which helped found the state nearly a century ago.
Abdullah's changes indicate that he has built the necessary support and consensus in the religious elite and in the ruling family.
China Thursday demanded the immediate return of two bronze sculptures taken during the Opium Wars in the 19th century and now up for auction by the estate of late French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.
The sculptures, of a rabbit and a rat head, are due to be auctioned in Paris later this month, but China wants them back.
The official Xinhua news agency said the two head sculptures were taken from Beijing's Imperial Summer Palace, burnt down by invading French and British forces in 1860. "China has incontrovertible ownership of those objects and they should be immediately returned," Jiang added.
Auctioning them would "hurt the feelings of the Chinese people" and be contrary to international treaties, she said.
A model presents a creation by designer Norma Kamali during a fashion show celebrating Barbie's 50th anniversary during New York Fashion Week in New York, February 14, 2009.
Photo by Lucas Jackson
Setting the stage for a hearing next week on Roman Polanski's bid to dismiss a 31-year-old sex prosecution, his lawyer has asked a judge to subpoena three officials.
Two of them were involved in the original case. Chad Hummel asked for appearances by former Deputy District Attorneys Roger Gunson and David Wells to testify.
He also sought to subpoena Richard Doyle, a current district attorney's official who was involved in more recent negotiations in the case.
Hummel also asked Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza on Friday to order the release of communications between prosecutors and the court regarding the Polanski case.
It seems the dire warnings about future devastation sparked by global warming have not been dire enough, top climate scientists warned Saturday.
It has been just over a year since the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a landmark report warning of rising sea levels, expanding deserts, more intense storms and the extinction of up to 30 percent of plant and animal species.
But recent climate studies suggest that report significantly underestimates the potential severity of global warming over the next 100 years, a senior member of the panel warned.
"We are basically looking now at a future climate that is beyond anything that we've considered seriously in climate policy," said Chris Field, who was a coordinating lead author of the report.
A male stork pays court to a mate after the two began to build a common nest in their enclosure in the Budapest Zoo on Valentine's Day in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009. The couple are rescued storks cured by veterinarians, and would not be able to live on their own in the wild again.
Photo by Attila Kovacs
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