'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Comment
Re: Reba
"Last weekend, on our jaunt to Kingman, AZ, the kid stumbled on the movie 'Tremors', and was sucked in. What struck me most was the re-arranging that has occurred since then to Reba McEntire's face. Was gonna let it slide & be kind. Feel like mentioning it tonight. (meow)"
OK, I noticed the face too, but I also noticed the upper body has been transformed "as if by magic!" Not complaining, mind you...
Lar
LOL, Lar! It was probably exercise - yeah, that's the ticket....'We must, we must, we must increase the bust' paid off! ; )
Selected Sunday Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
Reader Comment
Re: Move Channels
Hi Marty!
My suggestions for channels to add would include PBS channels, USA, TNT, Discovery, FOX cable channel, A & E, HGTV and Bravo to name a few.
I would stay away from premium channels, i.e., HBO, Showtime, unless its something special like the return of the Sopranos or the version of "Our Town" with Paul Newman as the stage manager. It was on last Saturday night. It was an excellent interpretation, much better than the film which I believe has Emily live. I think this version was on Broadway, but not absolutely sure. It will be shown on PBS in a few months according to the LA Times.
Those are my ideas, for what its worth. Just don't get too carried away or you will spend all your time with the TV Guide.
Marla G
Thanks, Marla! Will be tweaking the listing for a few day.
Reader Links
'Filmsite.org'
Do you know what film was in the theater when you were born? Click on a year below to find out.....
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Thanks, Sherry & Marian
from Mark
Trailers of Mass Destruction
And a new Dr. Paul's Words of Wisdom, plus some links. This is why
Dr. P's WoW is a project that never dies ...
"For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass
destruction, because it was the one reason everyone could agree on."
-Mark
Thanks, Mark!
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast til noon, then sunny & breezy.
Did the grocery shopping that was postponed by 'Fun Day' yesterday. Who knew, but my Von's has a guy that plays a baby grand. Have seen the piano before (it's over near the flowers & cards), but, never heard it in use before.
Was a vast improvement over the ususal Muzak ™.
Also did the weekly run by Reptiles Unlimited for fresh crickets to feed Jo, the (remaining) lizard.
Tonight, Sunday, CBS, as usual, starts the night with '60 Minutes', followed by the movie 'A Time To Kill'.
NBC opens the night with 'Dateline', followed by a FRESH 'Second Chance: America's Most Talented Senior', then a
RERUN 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', followed by Season Premiere of 'Crime & Punishment'.
ABC begins the night with the movie 'Ever After', followed by a RERUN 'Alias', and then a RERUN 'The Practice'.
The WB offers the weekly RERUN 'Gilmore Girls', followed by a RERUN 'Charmed', and then a
FRESH 'Black Sash'.
Faux has a RERUN 'Futurama', followed by a RERUN 'King Of The Hill', then a RERUN 'Simpsons', followed by another
RERUN 'King Of The Hill', then a RERUN 'Malcolm', followed by a RERUN 'Oliver Beene'.
UPN has the weekly RERUN 'Enterprise', followed by 'Stargate SG-1'.
A&E offers 'Columbo', followed by a 2-hour 'Biography' (Van Gogh & Gaugin), then 'The Point'.
AMC has the movies 'Charade' (1963), followed by 'How Stella Got Her Groove Back' (1998), then 'Inventing The Abbotts' (1997).
Bravo offers 'Michael Palin's Travels: Sahara' (Nigeria, Algeria, Libya & Tunis), followed by 'Inside The Actor's Studio' (Bruce Willis), then the movie 'Firefox' (1982).
Comedy Central has the movie 'Dogma' (1999), followed by 'Chapelle's Show', then 'Crank Yankers', and followed by way too much 'The Man Show'.
FX has a FRESH made-for-TV movie - '44 Minutes', about a shoot-out at 'my' bank - yep, even my branch office.
HBO has the Season Finale of '6 Feet Under'.
History offers lots of 'D-Day: The Total Story'.
SciFi has the movie 'Necronomicon: Book Of The Dead' (1993), and 'Dagon' (2001).
TCM offers the movie 'The Andromeda Strain' (1971), 'Mademoiselle Fifi' (1944), and the original 'Scaramouche' (1924) (no fandango).
TVLand's 'Bewitched' marathon continues.
USA fills the night with the movie 'Braveheart' (1995).
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Two nude female anti-G8 protesters, one with a slogan painted on her back, take to the streets in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Saturday, May 31, 2003. Slogan reads: 'Shame on G8! Not on me.' Some 25 naked protesters blocked roads and shouted anti-G8 slogans to protest against the G8 summit in the neighboring Evian, France.
Photo by Michael Sohn
Hissy Fit Is Rewarded (The Fix Is In - Part 1)
Michael Powell
With the FCC poised to ease media ownership rules, agency chairman Michael Powell canceled an ABC News interview this week opposite two deregulation foes, but the same network is granting him a solo appearance on Sunday to make his case for the sweeping changes.
Powell abruptly bowed out of a "Nightline" interview on Wednesday that would have put him on the same program as two leading critics of the rule changes he advocates -- media mogul Barry Diller and FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.
But network spokeswoman Su-Lin Nichols said the Federal Communications Commission chairman will get the floor to himself on Sunday when he appears as the sole guest for a discussion of media ownership limits on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."
Asked whether ABC, a unit of the Walt Disney Co., was in effect giving Powell his way, she said, "We have every intention of illustrating and reporting on the full range of opinions on this ruling."
Some critics of deregulation have charged that the major networks, themselves owned by large corporations, have failed to adequately cover the issue.
It was against this background of debate that Powell initially agreed to discuss the subject with Ted Koppel for a "Nightline" segment, only to back out two hours before the interview was to be taped.
In its introductory segment Wednesday night, "Nightline" instead aired a brief clip of Powell from a previous interview saying current media ownership rules are obsolete. Later telling viewers Powell had canceled his Wednesday night appearance "at the last minute," Koppel went on to introduce both Adelstein and Diller, the CEO of USA Interactive.
One source familiar with the situation said Powell had objected to a format that he saw as a televised debate, even though the FCC chairman was to appear in his own segment, separate from other guests.
Michael Powell
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Isaac Hayes In Concert Film
'Wattstax'
Isaac Hayes' performances of "Theme From 'Shaft'" and "Soulsville" were eliminated from the final version of "Wattstax" in 1973 due to a copyright dispute. But the finale footage has been replaced for a 30th-anniversary version, which is set for a limited theatrical run starting June 6.
The film was originally billed as the "black Woodstock," edited from a seven-hour concert for the benefit of the Watts Summer Festival held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in August 1972. More than 110,000 people were in attendance, according to the movie's producers.
Other artists who performed were the Staple Sisters, the Bar-Kays, Albert King and Rufus Thomas.
"Wattstax," which celebrated the music of Stax Records, features concert footage interspersed with commentary from comedian Richard Pryor.
'Wattstax'
President Bush and first lady Laura Bush lay a wreath at the Wall of Execution at Aushwitz, the former concentration camp, Saturday, May 31, 2003 in Auschwitz, Poland.
Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Library of Congress Catalogs Humor
Bob Hope
Looking for a little levity in troubled times? War, terrorism and stock market slumps have been unlikely fodder for decades' worth of reassuringly goofy jokes. The Library of Congress has a half-million of them, courtesy of Bob Hope.
They are the virtual contents of Hope's famous "joke file" — rows of filing cabinets lovingly maintained in a fireproof vault next to his North Hollywood home.
Hope donated the 500,000 or so jokes, and memorabilia dating back to his vaudeville days, for an exhibit that opened three years ago in the library's Jefferson Building.
The jokes are the work of more than 100 writers employed by Hope. He performed many on radio or TV or in live appearances; others didn't make the initial cut but were set aside for future reference.
For more, Bob Hope
Library of Congress exhibit
A Night At The Cavern
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney gave an impromptu concert at the Cavern Club in Liverpool where he launched his career with the Beatles.
"Paul was really dancing the night away, enjoying every minute of the evening," said Cavern Club owner Bill Heckle after Friday night's mini-concert.
McCartney, who turns 61 on June 18, has returned to his northern hometown for a concert on Sunday night which will mark the end of a world tour which also took him to Moscow for the first time.
The original Cavern club was bulldozed in the 1980s and an identical copy rebuilt several metres (yards) away.
Paul McCartney
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Boyhood Home Goes Unsold
Johnny Carson
A dozen bids made on an Internet auction site for Johnny Carson's boyhood home were rejected by owners because they were too low.
The home of the former host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" has been for sale on eBay for a month.
The highest of 12 bids was $154,400, only $4,400 above what owners Jim Pruett and Rick Runge paid for the house.
Pruett said the house will again be listed on the auction site in hopes of a higher bid. They also may try their luck with a real estate agent.
Japanese tourists take pictures at Siem Reap's Bayon Temple, part of the 9th-12th century Angkor Wat temple complex on May 30, 2003. Cambodian tourism officials expressed on Thursday optimism that the recent industry downturn caused by fear of the SARS virus could be lessened by the adoption of tax-reduction policies for private businesses and tourism sectors, including reducing airport landing fees and lowering ticket prices at the Angkor Wat temples. Picture taken May 30, 2003.
Photo by Chor Sokunthea
Co-Hosting New PBS Show
Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Gumbel, the longtime "Today" anchor who quit CBS' "The Early Show" a year ago, will be co-host of a new PBS show, "Flashpoints USA," that will air four times a year.
The series, which will originate from the Washington-area WETA, will begin on July 15 by examining how the country is balancing its homeland security with its freedoms of expression.
Gwen Ifill, a "NewsHour" correspondent and moderator of "Washington Week," will co-host the show with Gumbel.
Bryant Gumbel
Choosy Residents Choose
Jif
It's no secret that resident Bush loves peanut butter. For him, it's not a campaign gag as Big Macs were with former President Clinton or pork rinds for Bush's dad. He's such a fan, we learn, that the White House mess puts PB&J samples on tables in the executive cafeteria and delivers at least one to the Oval Office practically every day--and the prez even recommends them to his lunchtime partners.
But what's been impossible to find out, until now, is which brand Bush eats. That's because the White House hates to look like it's endorsing any product. Well, after 2 1/2 years of snooping, the Whispers I-Team has the answer: Jif, normally the creamy kind. Why Jif? It's America's favorite and tastes a little sweeter, we're told, than Skippy and Peter Pan.
For the jelly portion, Jif
(The Fix Is In - Part 2)
Shake-Ups Expected
Many media companies are eagerly awaiting the expected loosening of rules on how many newspapers and broadcast stations they can own, while critics fear the result will be fewer public voices.
The changes, expected to pass 3-2 in a Federal Communications Commission vote Monday, will end a 28-year-old ban on ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations — television or radio — in the same market. The prohibition was intended to preserve a variety of viewpoints.
The FCC also is expected to let companies build their portfolio of TV stations up to a new limit of 45 percent of the total U.S. market. The limit now is 35 percent.
Under the FCC's preliminary proposal, joint ownership of newspapers and TV stations could occur in 140 of the nation's 150 largest markets, according to the Consumer Federation of America, a staunch opponent.
For more, Shake-Up's Expected
www.fcc.gov
Summary of Consumer Federation of America report (pdf format)
The Center for Public Integrity's database of media ownership
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Puerto Rico Honors
Chick Corea
Puerto Rico is honoring Chick Corea at its annual jazz festival, which runs through Sunday.
The 13th edition of the Puerto Rico Jazzfest, which began Thursday, is a tribute to the 61-year-old pianist-composer for his contributions to jazz and his connections to Latin culture, organizers said.
The festival is being held at the Tito Puente Amphitheater in San Juan. Other performers include saxophonist-clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera, trombonist William Cepeda, vibraphonist Gary Burton and pianist Makoto Ozone.
Chick Corea
Actress Catherine Bell, star of CBS's televison show 'JAG,' laughs while signing L. Ron Hubbard Self-Improvement Packages at the Book Expo America in Los Angeles, Friday, May 30, 2003. The packages will be sent to members of the U.S. military in acknowledgement of their service.
Photo by E.J. Flynn)
Guarding Disney's Newest Film
Night Goggles
With the widely anticipated computer-animated movie "Finding Nemo" set to debut in theaters on Friday, the Walt Disney Co. has found a novel way to guard against people illegally taping the film in advance showings.
Disney has hired security firm Burns Pinkerton, a unit of Sweden's Securitas AB, to screen audiences using metal detectors and night-vision goggles. The aim is to catch people using video cameras to make bootleg copies of the movie for resale on the black market.
The practice is relatively new. Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of News Corp. Ltd.'s Fox Entertainment Group also used night-vision goggles in early screenings of May's "X2: X-Men United" and more recently with "Down With Love," starring Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor.
Night Goggles
Thanks, Steve D!
(The Fix Is In - Part 3)
Media Ownership
Once the U.S. Federal Communications Commissionvotes on Monday to ease restrictions on media ownership, the ultimate arbiter will be the courts and possibly Congress, industry experts agree.
The five FCC commissioners are expected to vote 3-2 to relax decades-old rules, allowing television networks to own more television stations, permit a broadcaster to own two stations in more markets, and allow one company to own a newspaper and a television or radio station in most markets.
The FCC allowed News Corp. and Viacom to creep above the 35 percent limit while the agency revised its rules. Spokesmen at the two companies would not say whether they would challenge the FCC's expected decision.
The FCC previously only allowed a company to own two stations in a market if eight different station owners remained. The FCC is expected to cut that to five.
For more, Media Ownership
In Memory
Janet Collins
Janet Collins, the first black prima ballerina to appear at the Metropolitan Opera and one of a few black women to become prominent in American classical ballet, has died at age 86.
Collins died Wednesday in Fort Worth.
In 1951, Collins performed lead roles in "Aida," "Carmen," and danced in "La Gioconda" and "Samson and Delilah" at the Met in New York City. That was four years before Marian Anderson made her historic debut as the first black to sing a principal role at the Met.
In a 2000 interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Collins recalled she was not allowed to tour with the company during the offseason because she could not perform onstage with white dancers in the South.
"What she did by dancing the way she did to be prima ballerina at the Metropolitan Opera House gave everybody hope," dancer and painter Geoffrey Holder told The New York Times for Saturday editions.
Collins left the Met in 1954. During the 1950s, she toured with her own dance group throughout the United States and Canada and taught. She also danced in films — the 1943 film musical "Stormy Weather" and the 1946 film "The Thrill of Brazil."
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1974 paid homage to Collins and Pearl Primus as pioneering black women in dance.
Collins was born in New Orleans and moved to California with her parents as a young girl. She moved to New York in 1949, winning the lead dance role in Cole Porter's Broadway musical "Out of This World" in 1950.
Janet Collins
In Memory
Mickie Most
Mickie Most, a music producer who helped craft the sound of the 1960s' "British invasion," has died. He was 64.
Most died of cancer on Friday at his home in north London, his family said.
Born Michael Peter Hayes in Aldershot, England in 1938, Most broke into Britain's fledgling rock 'n' roll scene in the 1950s as a member of the Most Brothers. The band failed to make it big, but the name stuck.
Moving to his wife's homeland of South Africa, he topped the charts by covering U.S. hits with his band The Playboys.
But his biggest influence was as a producer who helped British acts like The Animals, Lulu and Donovan break into the United States.
"Mickie's musical success in the U.S. stemmed from his monthly trips to New York and L.A. carrying a briefcase full of his latest tapes," said longtime friend Deke Arlon. "He knocked on the doors of top record executives and wouldn't leave until they'd heard his music."
Among the hits he produced were The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun" — an international smash in 1964 — "I'm Into Something Good" by Herman's Hermits and Donovan's "Sunshine Superman."
"He had an incredible skill in picking songs — he could pick a song on the moon," said songwriter Nicky Chinn, who worked with Most in the 1970s.
His commercial pop instincts fit less well with the hard-rocking Yardbirds — the "Little Games" album he recorded with them in 1967 was a flop.
Through the 1970s and 80s Most worked with commercially — if not always critically — successful bands including The Sweet, Suzi Quatro (news), Smokie and Hot Chocolate. He also was a panelist on the TV talent show "New Faces," renowned for his withering assessment of hopefuls' talent.
He is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. His funeral will be held on June 9 in London.
Mickie Most
Wie die glühenden Hörner eines gigantischen Stieres wirkt die Sonne beim Aufgang über München. Der Mond hatte am Samstagmorgen bis zu 85 Prozent der Sonne verfinstert.
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'Ark of Darkness'
"The Ark of Darkness", a Political/Science-Fiction work, in tidy, weekly installments (and updated every Friday).
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
