'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Response
Re: Ted Nugent & Racial Slurs
Marty,
This is not the first instance of Nugent's using the "N" word on the air. Last summer during an appearance on the 'Bob and Tom' syndicated morning 'comedy' show, (they're leaning farther and farther to the right and it's only a matter of time before I give 'em the boot) he related the same story.
One of the hosts, Tom, urged him on and didn't miss a beat when the Nuge vomited up his little story of his early days in the biz. They treated it like it was a version of the old Mean Joe Greene Coke ad where he tosses the kid his jersey after the kid gives him his soda. Except in this story the Joe calls the kid a n****r.
I couldn't believe it, but there it is for all to see. Not only is the GOP's favorite rocker a uninformed lout, he's also a closet racist who thinks it's OK to use racial slurs on live radio.
Some one should do Ted a favor and tell him to shut up and stick to playing his guitar.
Keep up the good work,
Mike S
Freedom of speech! Don't like it? Then leave!
Thanks, Mike!
He's B-a-a-a-a-a-a-c-k!
The Worried Shrimp
Thanks, Tim!
Selected Sunday Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, breezy & cooler than usual, but still a damn nice day!
Moved the kid's 'Terrarium O'Death' to a slighly sunnier location. The cobra lilies should be a bit perkier.
Tried to check in at Erin Hart's chatroom on KIRO (in Seattle), but couldn't get in again this week. Boo. Hiss.
Tonight, Sunday, as usual, CBS opens with '60 Minutes', followed by the 2-hour Season Finale of 'Survivor: Amazon', and then an hour-long 'Survivor: Amazon Reunion'.
NBC starts the night with 'Dateline', followed by a FRESH 'American Dreams', then a FRESH 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', followed by a
RERUN 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent'.
ABC has the movie 'E.T', followed by the Season Finale of 'Dragnet'.
The WB has the traditional weekly RERUN 'Gilmore Girls', followed by the 2-hour Season Finale of 'Charmed'.
Faux offers a RERUN 'Simpsons', followed by a FRESH 'King Of The Hill' (with Janeane Garofalo), then a FRESH 'Simpsons', followed by
a FRESH 'Malcolm', and then the FRESH 'Beverly Hills, 90210: 10-Year High School Reunion'.
UPN has the weekly RERUN of 'Enterprise', followed by 'Stargate SG-1'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Re-Records Anti-War Track
Pete Seeger
Legendary folk singer Pete Seeger has recorded a new version of his Vietnam War-era protest song, "Bring Them Home."
With new verses written by Seeger and Appleseed Recordings founder Jim Musselman, the track was recorded with additional vocals by modern day compatriots Steve Earle, Ani DiFranco, and Billy Bragg, and now includes the line, "The great part of America is that you have to right to speak your mind."
"I felt that the song and what Pete says in it have an important message during this time of backlash against entertainers like Tim Robbins and the Dixie Chicks who have simply expressed their views, which is what is needed in a democracy," Musselman said in a statement. "Pete is someone who has always stood up for the First Amendment, going back to the McCarthy era, when he faced a jail term rather than give up his constitutional rights."
The updated version of "Bring Them Home" will appear on the two-disc "Seeds: The Songs of Pete Seeger, Volume 3," due in August via Appleseed. The first disc will feature 12 more songs recorded by the artist over the past three years, including "The Dove," the post 9/11 song "Tell It to Doctor King," and "Flowers of Peace," the latter sung by Anne Hills with Seeger.
The second "Seeds" disc will be made up of 15 new recordings of songs written or associated with Seeger. Among those contributing that disc are Janis Ian, Tom Paxton, and Holly Near.
Pete Seeger
Gets Honorary Degree
Steven Tyler
Years ago, Steven Tyler and his bandmates would drive by the Berklee College of Music after playing a midnight set at a local bar for beer.
On Saturday, the music school awarded the longtime Boston-area resident and Aerosmith frontman with an honorary doctorate degree in music
"A career in music is a road that's constantly under construction," he told the 695 graduates. "Mine was paved with passion, ambition and a series of extremely lucky mistakes."
He described music as "a refuge for everyone who thinks in rhyme, walks in rhyme and dreams of melody."
Steven Tyler
Heather Clark, of South Africa, shoots the tube during action in the Billabong Pro at Teahupoo in Tahiti, May 8, 2003. Clark advanced to the quarter finals where she takes on Australian Kate Skarrat.
Photo by Pierre Tostee
Set Up Surprise Wedding
Jolene Blalock
As Vulcan science officer T'Pol on UPN's "Enterprise," actress Jolene Blalock battles weekly with violent alien races, death rays and exotic outer-space dangers.
Blalock flew with longtime boyfriend Mike Rapino to Negril, Jamaica, for a romantic getaway. Unbeknownst to Rapino, Blalock also secretly invited both of their families for what she hoped would be a surprise wedding.
"We spent five beautiful days down there," Blalock told Craig Kilborn on Friday on CBS's "The Late Late Show." "On the Monday night, we were sitting down to dinner and I got down on, actually, not one knee, but both knees, and asked my boyfriend to marry me."
Blalock added: "At 6:15 p.m. tomorrow evening?"
Fortunately for Blalock and the couple's families, Rapino's answer was still yes. The couple was married in Negril last week.
Jolene Blalock
Seeks Klingon Interpreter
Multnomah County
The language created for the "Star Trek" TV series and movies is one of about 55 needed by the office that treats mental health patients in metropolitan Multnomah (Oregon) County.
"We have to provide information in all the languages our clients speak," said Jerry Jelusich, a procurement specialist for the county Department of Human Services, which serves about 60,000 mental health clients.
And now Multnomah County research has found that many people — and not just fans — consider it a complete language.
"There are some cases where we've had mental health patients where this was all they would speak," said the county's purchasing administrator, Franna Hathaway.
County officials said that obligates them to respond with a Klingon-English interpreter, putting the language of starship Enterprise officer Worf and other Klingon characters on a par with common languages such as Russian and Vietnamese, and less common tongues including Dari and Tongan.
Multnomah County
Klingon Language Institute
Multnomah County Human Services
Dad Happy
Diana Krall
Diana Krall's dad was so happy about her engagement to Elvis Costello that he couldn't keep it a secret, the jazz siren says.
"Oh, my dad," she said Friday. "A paper calls my dad, and my dad's such a kind, sweet man and cannot tell a lie and was asked the question and next thing it's on the CNN ticker and I'm going, `Dad, what are you doing!'
"He's extremely happy. That's what Elvis and I both said, the excitement my dad has is pretty great. Parents want their kids to be happy."
A teary Krall, whose mother died of cancer last year, spoke after receiving the Order of British Columbia from Premier Gordon Campbell in a small ceremony attended by about 30 of her friends and family.
For a lot more, Diana Krall
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Critical Condition
June Carter Cash
Singer June Carter Cash, the wife and Grammy-winning duet partner of Johnny Cash, was hospitalized in critical condition Saturday as a result of complications from heart surgery, according to their longtime manager.
Cash, 73, had the surgery on Wednesday at Baptist Hospital to replace a valve, said Lou Robin.
He said Johnny Cash is asking everyone able to pray for his wife's recovery to do so at 10 a.m. CDT Sunday.
"June did this for him one time when he was critically ill," Robin said. "The recovery the next morning was something the doctors couldn't describe or imagine."
June Carter Cash
Thanks, Marian!
Actress Cindy Williams, left, and director Penny Marshall arrive at the tenth annual 'Race to Erase MS,' Friday, May 9, 2003, in the Century City area of Los Angeles.
Photo by Chris Weeks
Courtside Action
Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson played the role of the villain on the basketball court, getting into a heated exchange with the officials during the Los Angeles Lakers playoff game.
The drama began in the second quarter of the Lakers 110-95 win over San Antonio when the officials called a foul on Laker star Shaquille O'Neal.
Nicholson started arguing the call, screaming at referees Ron Garretson and Mark Wunderlich, from his 500 dollar courtside seat.
Lawrence Tantor, the Lakers public address announcer, said he feared that the Laker fans might riot if the officials tried to remove Nicholson from the arena.
Nicholson is an avid Lakers fan and rarely misses a home game. Producers on his films must work their shooting around the Los Angeles team's schedule.
Jack Nicholson
A Stamp & A Coin
Prince William
Prince William, the elder son of the late Princess Diana and second in line to the British throne, is to have his 21st birthday marked with an issue of stamps and coins, a weekly newspaper said.
The Sunday Telegraph reported that Queen Elizabeth II has authorised William's birthday on June 21 to be marked by new stamps bearing his photograph and the first coins struck in his image.
The Royal Mail is printing more than 20 million of the special edition stamps which will go on sale on June 17.
The Royal Mint is also issuing its first special coin of William -- an Alderney five pound (eight dollar, seven euro) crown -- to go on sale on the prince's birthday.
The coin will be available for less than four months with the last day of sale on September 30.
Prince William
Mold Settlement
Ed McMahon
Former "Tonight Show" sidekick Ed McMahon has agreed to a $7.2 million settlement of his lawsuit over toxic mold in his Beverly Hills mansion that allegedly sickened him and killed his dog.
In the past few months, McMahon has agreed to accept payments from American Equity Insurance Co. and other insurers and from various adjusters, consultants and cleanup contractors, according to court records cited Friday by the Los Angeles Times.
McMahon, 80, claimed that his 8,000-square-foot home was left unlivable after contractors improperly cleaned up water damage from a broken plumbing pipe in 2001.
McMahon claimed that he and his wife became sickened, and that their dog, Muffin, developed respiratory illness and had to be killed.
Ed McMahon
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Pop Culture Showcase Closes
Guggenheim Las Vegas
The doors to the Guggenheim Las Vegas museum, a pop culture showcase that opened in 2001 with a look at the motorcycle as art, has closed and the building will be turned into a theater, the Venetian casino and hotel which houses the complex said on Saturday.
The Venetian, one of the swankiest resorts in the desert gambling mecca, is modeled after a collage of architectural masterpieces in Venice, Italy. It's smaller, more classically focused museum, the Guggenheim Hermitage, will remain open, a spokesman for the Venetian told Reuters.
The $25 million Guggenheim Las Vegas space designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, well known for his design of Prada fashion stores, will get a make-over costing upward of $25 million and reopen as a performance space next year, the Los Angeles Times quoted Venetian President, Rob Goldstein, as saying.
The Venetian, owned by Las Vegas Sands, had partnered with the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum for the Las Vegas space. The Guggenheim Hermitage, is a joint venture between the Guggenheim museum and Russia's State Hermitage Museum.
It is located just off the marble hall that leads from a fountain near the Venetian's front desk to the casino floor, a spokesman for the Venetian said.
Guggenheim Las Vegas
Neighbor volunteers Lara Bauman and her husband Dennis, left, round up some of the 700 pregnant ewes on the Burns ranch, April 17, 2003, in Edgar, Mont. Pachy Burns' 'Jam to Lamb' program is a month-long getaway that has brought about 30 women from around the country to Burns' ranch to share her rural lifestyle and the work that comes with lambing 700 sheep.
Photo by Becky Bohrer
Sues Universal Over Motown Royalties
Michael Jackson
Pop superstar Michael Jackson, who went to war last year with Sony Music, is now suing his old record label seeking unpaid royalties and rights to his Motown catalog.
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, accuses Motown Records and its Universal Music parent company of reneging on the terms of a 1980 agreement that settled an acrimonious split from Motown by Jackson and his brothers in 1976.
According to the suit, Jackson had agreed to forfeit any royalties due for solo performances or Jackson 5 recordings that were released before their settlement and for the future re-release of recordings they made while at Motown.
In return, the suit alleges, Motown agreed to pay Jackson royalties for any "best-of" compilations of his Motown recordings with the Jackson 5 or as a solo artist, as well as for newly issued albums of previously unreleased material.
The lawsuit seeks an accounting and full payment of all royalties due Jackson as well as termination of the 1980 settlement. It also seeks a judgment giving him title to "all master recordings and musical compositions made and/or composed by Jackson" during his record contract with Motown.
Michael Jackson
FBI Probed Composer
Aaron Copland
FBI file 100-HQ-370562 begins simply enough.
On July 21, 1950, the subject, thought "to be self-employed as a composer of music," is reported linked to communist front groups. Within six months, he is classified outright as a communist.
So begins the government's surveillance of Aaron Copland, one of the country's most important composers, creator of such stirring music as "Appalachian Spring," "Fanfare for the Common Man," "Billy the Kid" and the patriotic "Lincoln Portrait."
The government, using informants, spends the next two decades and more monitoring Copland's whereabouts, analyzing his comments and taking note of his friends and associates.
The result is an inch-thick FBI file, replete with blacked-out passages, released to The Associated Press in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from late 1997.
The papers make clear that the government's interest in Copland did not end with his 1953 testimony at Sen. Joseph McCarthy's anticommunist hearings — transcripts of which were released this month.
In dry bureaucratic language, the file discloses that the FBI wanted to prosecute Copland for perjury and fraud for denying he was a communist, and that Director J. Edgar Hoover got involved by enlisting the CIA's help in tracking the composer's travels.
For the rest, Aaron Copland
Library of Congress Copland collection
Copies of select pages from the FBI file on Copland
Three Producers Plead Guilty
'Bumfights'
Three young men who produced the brief Internet sensation "Bumfights" pleaded guilty on Friday to paying homeless men to trade blows, charges that could send them to jail for a year.
Ryan McPherson, 19, Daniel Tanner, 21, and 24-year-old Zachary Bubeck -- who were accused of persuading homeless people to fight in front of a camera in exchange for cash, food, liquor, and hotel rooms -- each pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to promote illegal fighting.
After a preliminary hearing in January, a San Diego Superior Court judge dismissed more serious charges against the four defendants, who have also been sued for $100,000 by two of the homeless men who starred in the "Bumfights" videos.
'Bumfights'
New Book
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Bardot, French former film goddess turned animal rights activist, has been quoted as criticising the "Islamisation of France" in her latest book.
Saturday's France Soir newspaper said Bardot, who has been fined twice for inciting racial hatred, made the comments in her book "A Scream in the Silence".
"I am against the Islamisation of France...For centuries our forefathers, the ancients, our grandfathers, our fathers gave their lives to chase all successive invaders from France," the paper quoted her book as saying.
Defending her comments in an interview with France Soir, Bardot, 68, denied she was a scandalmonger: "I am a brave woman who says what she thinks...They're not going to put me in prison, I hope."
No stranger to controversy, in January 1998 she was fined $3,250 (2,000 pounds) for inciting racial hatred in comments about civilian massacres in Algeria. Four months earlier, a court fined her for saying France was being overrun by sheep-slaughtering Muslims.
Brigitte Bardot
A Painted Lady butterfly eats nectar from a daisy inside the Roger Williams Park Botanical Gardens education greenhouse butterfly pavillion in Providence, R.I., Friday, May 9, 2003. The botanical garden is hosting a butterfly pavillion named 'Flowers in flight' May 10 through June 29, featuring thousands of free-flying butterflies.
Photo by Victoria Arocho
'Ark of Darkness'
"The Ark of Darkness", a Political/Science-Fiction work, in tidy, weekly installments (and updated every Friday).
'The Osbournes'
Freshly updated 'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
