'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Selected Sunday Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Was definitely a summer day.
Saw the Jerry Springer infomercial - once last night on KCBS in place of their late re-run of the late news, and again at lunch time when KCBS pre-empted a scheduled 'All In The Family' rerun. So far as informercials are concerned, it's more
entertaining than the Flo-Bee ™, and quotes that noted pundit, Jonah Goldberg (spawn of Luci the Bat), too.
Long, long time ago, worked for a guy named Tony Hoffman who has turned out to be a founding-father of the informercial format.
Infomercials used to be illegal, and now they're close to half of what is on cable or broadcast tv at any given time. More choices, my ass.
Shelob, the tarantula, has been exra active the last couple of days.
Tonight, Sunday, CBS starts the night with the usual '60 Minutes', followed by a RERUN 'Becker', then the movie 'The Mask Of Zorro'.
NBC begins the evening with 2 hours of 'Dateline', followed by a RERUN 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', then a FRESH 'Crime & Punishment'.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH made-for-tv movie 'New Swiss Family Robinson', followed by a FRESH 'Alias', then a FRESH 'The Practice'.
The WB offers the weekly FRESH 'Gilmore Girls', followed by a FRESH 'Charmed', then a FRESH 'Boarding House: North Shore'.
Faux has a FRESH 'Futurama', followed by a RERUN 'King Of The Hill', then a RERUN 'Simpsons', followed by the Series Premiere of
'Banzai', then a RERUN 'Malcolm', followed by another RERUN 'Simpsons'.
UPN has the weekly RERUN 'Enterprise', followed by 'Stargate SG-1'.
A&E has 'Poirot', followed by another 'Poirot'.
AMC offers the movie 'Saturday Night Fever', followed by 'Waiting To Exhale', then 'Waiting To Exhale', again.
BBC -
[7pm] 'Ground Force' - Thuro;
[7:30pm] 'Ground Force' - Garforth;
[8pm] 'Faking It' - Lady Lisa;
[9pm] 'Manchild' - Episode 5;
[9:40 pm] 'The Office' - Episode 6;
[10:20 pm] 'Coupling' - Gotcha;
[11pm] 'Faking It' - Lady Lisa;
[12am] 'Manchild' - Episode 5;
[12:40am] 'The Office' - Episode 6;
[1:20am] 'Coupling' - Gotcha;
[2am] 'Ground Force' - Thuro;
[2:30am] 'Ground Force' - Garforth; and
[3am] 'Faking It' - Lady Lisa. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Inside The Actor's Studio' (John Travolta), followed by 'Cirque du Soleil: Verekai'.
E! has part 1 (of 7) - '101 Most Shocking Moments In Entertainment'.
History has 'Mountain Men', 'Wake Island: The Alamo Of The Pacific', and 'Mail Call'.
SciFi has the movie 'Groom Lake', followed by the movie 'Pitch Black'.
TCM offers
[6am] 'Lady From Shanghai' (1948);
[7:30am] 'Only Angels Have Wings' (1939);
[10am] 'You'll Never Get Rich' (1941);
[11:30am] 'They Died With Their Boots On' (1941);
[2pm] 'The Charge Of The Light Brigade' (1936);
[4pm] 'Command Decision' (1948);
[6pm] 'A Star Is Born' (1954);
[9pm] 'Funny Girl' (1968);
[12am] 'The Eagle' (1925) (Silent Movie);
[1:30am] 'The Raven' (1935);
[3am] 'The Sea Hawk' (1940); and
[5:30am] 'Festival of Shorts #19' (1999). (ALL TIMES EDT)
TNT debuts 'Prince Charming'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Lilly Tomlin talks to Television Critics Association members during PBS' part of the summer press tour Saturday, July 12, 2003, in Los Angeles. Tomlin will receive the prestigious award, The Mark Twain Prize, during a 90-minute special televised on PBS on Nov. 26th featuring classic films and television clips, tributes, and comic performances from an all-star cast of Tomlin's friends.
Photo by Kevork Djansezian
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Still Seeks Sponsor
'Masterpiece Theatre'
PBS is struggling to find funding for its venerable "Masterpiece Theatre" but will keep the curtain up as it woos corporate sponsors, PBS executives said Saturday.
ExxonMobil Corp. had provided sole funding for the program since its 1971 debut until deciding to drop its support. The series is funded by ExxonMobil through 2004.
The task of gaining a new corporate sponsor is being conducted by PBS and WGBH Boston, which presents the series.
Most public TV stations get only 17 percent to 19 percent of their total guaranteed income from government, and all means of fund-raising are under stress, said PBS president and chief executive officer Pat Mitchell.
'Masterpiece Theatre'
Slated for Auction
Kennedy Items
Hundreds of items owned by President Kennedy and his wife, including a personal journal he kept during the 1960 presidential campaign, will be auctioned this month.
The memorabilia — which includes clothes, photos, souvenirs, prayer cards from his funeral and other keepsakes — are owned by two women who worked for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis while she was first lady. Mary B. Gallagher was Mrs. Kennedy's personal secretary for 11 years until 1964, and Providencia Paredes was her personal assistant for six years until 1965.
The memorabilia will be on display at the auction house as of Sunday. The items also can be viewed on the Web site operated by Hantman's Auctioneers & Appraisers, the Potomac, Md.-based company overseeing the sale, and bids will be accepted on the eBay auction site.
Kennedy Items
www.hantmans.com
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton addresses the Progressive Governance Conference in central London, July 12, 2003. The second day of the three day gathering also included round table speeches from Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Chilean President Ricardo Lagos.
Photo by Toby Melville
Grant's Tomb Dancing Criticized
Beyonce
The head of a private historical group says the government and NBC should have stopped a scantily clad Beyonce Knowles from dancing in a "patently inappropriate" way on the steps of the tomb of President Ulysses S. Grant.
Frank Scaturro, president of the Grant Monument Association, wrote letters Saturday to NBC, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and National Park Service director Fran Mainella over Beyonce's nationally televised July 4 performance.
Saying the former Destiny's Child singer used "lascivious choreography" and barely dressed backup dancers, Scaturro's letter to NBC complained: "At that location, a certain decorum should have been observed from which popular entertainers are not exempt."
Ulysses Grant Dietz, the great-great-grandson of the Civil War hero and 18th president, said Saturday he didn't object as a rule to most live performances, as long as the tomb is carefully maintained. But he suggested organizers be more thoughtful.
Beyonce
Thursday Night
Humanitas Prizes
Screenwriter Antwone Fisher, TV producer David E. Kelley and "Whale Rider" director Niki Caro picked up Humanitas prizes Thursday for their contribution to the film and TV industry.
The award, established in 1974, recognizes television and motion picture writers whose work honestly explores the complexities of the human experience and sheds light on the positive values of life.
Gordon Rayfield received the TV award in the 90-minute or longer category for Showtime's "Our America," about two young teens who chronicle their life in a housing tenement for National Public Radio. The two categories each carried a prize of $25,000.
Larry Wilmore, Teri Schaffer and Steve Tompkins took home the 30-minute television category prize of $10,000 for the episode of Fox's "The Bernie Mac Show" titled "Sweet Home Chicago, Part 2."
In the world of children's programming, Marita Giovanni and Bruce Graham were awarded the prize in the live-action category for writing Disney Channel's "A Ring of Endless Night," while Dwayne McDuffie and Alan Burnett snagged the animation category prize for the "Jimmy" episode of the WB Network's "Static Shock." Both prizes included a $10,000 award.
Humanitas Prizes
Reader Tip
Passing Gas
Gary Gladstone started a whimsical tour of the United States by road, traveling to small towns with ridiculous names. He wanted to see who lives in them, and made portraits of the residents who might say something like "I live in Stinking Point."
"For years, while on the road doing jobs, I have collected names of funny towns. These are little places I zoom past in rental cars while dashing to and from remote shooting locations. I think, can you keep a straight face if you live in Nuttsville? Would you buy a house in Stinking Point or park your family in Suck Egg Hollow? The idea this time is to visit tiny, obscure places with strange names and make a single, telling portrait in each town.The people I met were welcoming, proud, and generally seemed delighted to share the joke with others," Gladstone recalls.
Gary has assembled these portraits in a wonderful new book, called "Passing Gas, and Other Towns On The American Highway"
Enter Passing Gas photo gallery
Thumbnail images page
Gary's Passing Gas website
The Digital Journalist
Thanks, Astro!
Singer Rejoins Judas Priest
Rob Halford
Rob Halford and the original members of the pioneering heavy-metal band Judas Priest will reunite for a world tour and a new album next year.
After a 12-year solo career, Halford disbanded his self-titled band and rejoined the group that cranked out metal classics such as "You've Got Another Thing Coming," "Living After Midnight" and "Hell Bent for Leather."
"All the grace, majesty and power you experienced with Judas Priest is about to happen again," Halford told The Associated Press Friday. "We want to go out there and slay people, and have them walking out of the building going, `Oh my God!'"
Ripper Owens, the vocalist plucked from a Judas Priest tribute band to replace Halford, approved of Halford's return. "He's been very understanding and very cool with the whole thing," Halford said.
Rob Halford
www.judaspriest.com
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Must Cut Stations
Clear Channel
Radio giant Clear Channel Communications Inc. will have to bid adios to much of its clout along California's southern border.
Under provisions in the fine print of last week's federal order establishing new media ownership rules, the San Antonio-based company must reduce the number of stations it owns or controls in the San Diego listening area over the next two years, either by cutting ties to some of its five affiliated Mexican stations or selling some of its seven U.S.-licensed stations.
The Federal Communications Commission's recent regulatory overhaul lets broadcasters keep clusters of radio stations whose reach exceeds the limits of new marketplace boundaries. But regulators didn't extend that protection to Clear Channel's exotic affiliate agreements — in which the company bulked up its San Diego presence by making side deals with Mexican stations that broadcast north of the border.
The arrangements created one of the biggest radio powerhouses ever built in a U.S. market. Clear Channel captures an estimated 44% share of San Diego's $165-million radio market. That is the company's biggest slice of any of the nation's 20 biggest cities and roughly triple the share its nearest rival holds in San Diego, according to research firm BIA.
Clear Channel probably will have to shed at least four stations to comply with the changes.
For a lot more, Clear Channel
Techno fans groove their way through the German capital's central Tiergarten park and the Brandenburg Gate, to celebrate the world's biggest open-air street party, the 15th Love Parade with the motto 'Love Rules', in Berlin July 12, 2003. Several hundread thousand revelers danced to the latest electronic music blasted out by over 250 DJs, spinning discs atop 50 floats.
Photo by Fabrizio Bensch
Details Early Tragedies
Traci Lords
In her new memoir, Traci Lords recalls that her centerfold in Penthouse at age 15 was overshadowed and how an FBI raid that ended her career in adult films "saved my life."
In her autobiography "Underneath It All," Lords, 34, says she used a fake ID to pose for the magazine — in the same 1984 issue with nude photos of Vanessa L. Williams, who was forced to resign her title as Miss America.
"The ID said I was 22 or 23 and of course I had a made-up name and a fake ID and the whole thing, but I look like a kid," Lords told AP Radio in an interview Thursday.
Lords, who made dozens of adult films while a teenager, remembers subsequently being happy about an FBI raid on her apartment.
For the rest, Traci Lords
Claim 'American Idol's' Results Fixed
Clay Aiken Fans
It seems that not everyone was happy with the outcome of this season's American Idol. A large group of AI fans have banded together online and have started an email campaign to Fox and the Federal Communications Commission (or FCC), alleging that the talent contest was fixed in favor of winner Ruben Studdard.
A group of emailed complaints collected by TheSmokingGun.com--who requested them from the FCC under the Freedom Of Information Act--profile various complaints, including the accusation that Fox provided fewer lines for runner-up Clay Aiken's voters, that judge Simon Cowell deliberately refrained from picking on Studdard's weight, and that the Fox producers lied about the number of votes received.
The FCC is said to be looking into the matter.
Clay Aiken Fans
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Missing Nose Tracked Down
Gogol
A giant statue of a nose, inspired by Nikolai Gogol's story of a man's pursuit for his runaway nose, has been tracked down by Russian police, 10 months after it vanished.
Life imitated art when the marble sculpture, erected in Russia's second city eight years ago to honour the tale, went walk-about last September from the house where the story's hero is supposed to have lived.
The head of St Petersburg's sculpture museum said the 100 kg (220 pound) proboscis was found in a city apartment block.
Gogol's odd story, called "The Nose", tells how a Major Kovalyov goes on a frantic search through the Tsarist capital in search of his nose, which takes on a life of its own and gets up to all kinds of trouble while running round the city.
Kovalyov finally tracks down his mischievous missing nose, in the nick of time as it is planning a move to Latvia.
Gogol
Divers participating in the Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival in the Florida Keys pretend to play mock musical instruments Saturday, July 12, 2003. From left are Mary Thomas, Nancy and Mel Herlehy, all of Big Pine Key, Fla. Almost 400 divers and snorkelers got wet to listen to a Keys radio station's six-hour music broadcast piped below via underwater speakers at the Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary near Big Pine Key.
Photo by Bill Keogh
Two Shows In Hometown
Eminem
Eminem fans are celebrating the return of their hometown hero.
The rapper, born Marshall Mathers III, was to play two shows, joined by 50 Cent and Missy Elliott, at Detroit's Ford Field Saturday and Sunday. They're billed as his only North American concert dates this year.
Eminem's representatives met Thursday with Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's staff to discuss planning and security, and the rapper filmed a video to accompany his onstage introduction, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Eminem
www.eminem.com/
They're B-a-a-a-a-c-c-k
Garbage Pail Kids
Long before "South Park" or "Beavis and Butt-Head" entertained kids with lowbrow toilet humor, there were the Garbage Pail Kids. Now, the grandfather of gross-out is making a comeback.
After being off the market for 15 years, a new series of the hugely successful stickers that entertained children in the mid-1980s with depictions of bodily functions will be released in August by The Topps Co.
The new series finds plenty of new things to make fun of, like "Fartin' Martin," who gaseously propels himself on a Razor scooter, or the heavily pierced "Metallic Alec," who is pulled out of his shoes by a magnet.
Not all the ideas are new. About two-thirds of the series is made up of art drawn for stickers 15 years ago that were never released.
for more, Garbage Pail Kids
Topps Company
Bad Fads Museum
Return Of 'The Credibility Gap'
Finns Scratch Heads
Finnish officials were at a loss to explain an allegation made on Thursday by a U.S. official that North Korea has been caught trying to sell pornography in the small Nordic country.
U.S. Ambassador to Australia Tom Schieffer made the comments earlier on Thursday to the National Press Club in Canberra, saying North Korea was using a "mafia-like" business model to make up a revenue shortfall when the Soviet Union collapsed in the early 1990s.
"(North Korea has) been caught trying to sell pornography in Finland and prohibited animal products, like rhinoceros horn, in Africa, counterfeiting in Kuwait and trafficking heroin in Australia," Schieffer said.
National news agency STT quoted the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation and Security Police as saying the allegation sounded strange.
It quoted police as saying there were no big pornography cases being investigated linked to North Korea, but they could not rule out the possibility of an isolated case in the country involving a North Korean citizen.
The foreign ministry official did note an incident in the mid 1970s, when the country expelled five diplomats as part of a Nordic-wide case involving the illegal sale of alcohol, cigarettes and drugs.
Finns Scratch Heads
A male government soldier, wearing female clothes and a wig 'to protect him in battle', stands guard at the Irongate checkpoint in the Liberian capital Monrovia Tuesday, July 8, 2003. Since Taylor pledged last month to resign on condition peacekeepers are deployed, the feared and loathed militias that have been key to his survival have begun to unravel, combatants and residents say. This raises the prospect of a gaping power vacuum, and the possibility of renewed bloodshed.
Photo by Ben Curtis
'Ark of Darkness'
"The Ark of Darkness", a Political/Science-Fiction work, in tidy, weekly installments (and updated every Friday).
'The Osbournes'
A new page! 'The Osbournes' ~ Page 5
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
