Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Farhad Manjoo: How To Beat the Kindle (slate.com)
Study everything the iPod's rivals did. Then do the exact opposite.
Interview by Marged Richards: "My Family Values: Tony Parsons, writer" (guardian.co.uk)
My parents married as teenagers, but couldn't conceive. They tried for 10 years. So when I came along, my mum was so happy to have a baby. She sat me on her knee and read Rupert the Bear stories for years and years until I managed to escape
Molly Eichel: The Secret Lives of Artists (citypaper.net)
Eight Philadelphia artists tell us how they pay the bills.
Tirdad Derakhshani: "Valiant last stand: A dismal end is foretold for the knight of the Singing Sword" (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Prince Valiant may be a mere newspaper comic-strip character, but in his heyday, he commanded such popularity that the (fictional) birth of his first son, Arn, on Aug. 30, 1947, made the (real) birth-announcement columns in hundreds of papers across the country.
"Confessions of a Teen Sleuth: A Parody" by Chelsea Cain: A review by Meg Daly
The truth is out: Nancy Drew was an actual person whose story was stolen from her by a vindictive college roommate, Carolyn Keene. Nancy has chosen Portland writer Chelsea Cain to tell her story, "based on the merits of Cain's four-volume Trixie Belden biography."
Greg Kot: Once-reclusive Steely Dan pair have become road warriors (Chicago Tribune)
Steely Dan famously quit touring to concentrate on recording meticulously crafted studio albums in the '70s. But in the last decade, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker have spent more time on the road than behind a mixing board. And now, with a dozen musicians, they're performing some of those hallowed '70s albums song-for-song on stage.
Catherine Rapley: "This much I know: Paolo Nutini, singer, 22, London" (guardian.co.uk)
It's surprising what you find out about yourself when you become famous. I was walking into a bar a few weeks ago when I heard this girl shouting my name. I thought, "I'm not turning round," and she shouted it again, and I thought, "Nope, I'm going to keep walking." Then I heard her say to her friend, "It's not him anyway, he's not got that big an arse."
20 QUESTIONS: Wayne Hancock (popmatters.com)
The master of juke joint swing performs like a visiting country doctor, or maybe a preacher, ministering to the rural folks in three-hour, boogie healing woogie doses. Here a little shot is given to us...
MICHAEL MANNHEIMER: "The Idea Man: Or, how Brent Knopf learned to stop worrying and love the song" (wweek.com)
On a balmy summer morning, Brent Knopf-multi-instrumentalist in Portland's best known experimental-pop band, Menomena-is geeking out about the artwork for his new record.
Kelli Skye Fadroski: My scary late-night chat with Marilyn Manson (The Orange County Register)
It's 11 p.m. on a Wednesday night. Is Marilyn Manson ever going to call?
The Weekly Poll
New Question
The 'Manifest Destiny on film' Edition
According to AMC, Western Films or TV programs are the major defining genre of the American film industry... This indigenous American art form focuses on the frontier West that existed in North America (and) often portrays the conquest of the wilderness and the subordination of nature, in the name of civilization, or the confiscation of the territorial rights of the original inhabitants of the frontier. They truly show 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'
events of that part of our history. Love'em or loathe'em, their impact on our culture can not be denied...
If you are a fan what are your top 3 Western Films or TV programs and who are your favorite actors?
If you are not, feel free to rail away. I understand. I have Ojibwe ancestors (Sault Tribe of the Chippewa) and they suffered at the hand of the White man via broken treaties and confiscated land here in Michigan...
Send your response to
Rumor has it today is Badtothebone Bob's birthday!
Happy Birthday, B2tbBob!
wrote:
Reader Comment
That Picasso Found in Iraq
Friday's page had a pic of the Picasso they said they found in Hilla,
Iraq. Thursday night's Rachel Maddow show had a bit on the subject:
Basically there's a tag on the back of the painting that makes about as
much sense as Obama's Kenyan birth certificate. Whoops.
-craig
Thanks, Craig!
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Battle Creek, MI
'Balloon-illume'
Link from RJ
Salar De Uyuni
You may like this one. The biggest and highest salt flats in the world, Salar De Uyuni in Bolivia has to be seen to be believed. A quite unearthly experience, your attention is first drawn to the mysterious mounds of sand that dot the landscape. It even has rock trees and a locomotive graveyard to boot. Enjoy!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Just like yesterday, but hotter & smokier.
My pal, Barbara, the Fish Lady, has had helicopters making water drops around her house all day.
She evacuated her kid, the dogs, the cat, the parrot, the snake, and some fish, but she went back, where she remains, watering, pacing and yelling at no one in particular working on a new, more colorful vocabulary..
Also been wondering how the olde antenna guy at Mt. Wilson is doing.
All Gone
'Reading Rainbow'
The "Reading Rainbow" is at an end on PBS.
The program aired its final episode Friday, wrapping a more than two-decade run that began in 1983. "Reading Rainbow," hosted by LeVar Burton, was designed to spark a love for books in its young audience.
The once-popular show's ratings had slipped and production on new episodes stopped several years ago, PBS said. Along with the end of the broadcasts, the "Reading Rainbow" site will be discontinued in December.
But the program will remain available for classrooms with off-air educational rights in effect for a year, according to a PBS Web site.
'Reading Rainbow'
Viewership Up
TV Households
The Nielsen Media Research company estimates the number of television households in the United States is up to 114.9 million as the new TV season begins.
Nielsen compiles TV ratings. It says the TV household estimate is up by 400,000 homes from last year's number. That's the smallest increase in the past decade.
Nielsen also says the nation's total viewers over age 2 has increased slightly to 292 million.
Nielsen didn't provide background on the overall number of U.S. households and potential TV viewers over age 2.
TV Households
Birthday Party For Dead Guy
Spike Lee
Thousands of Michael Jackson fans are dancing the rain away in a Brooklyn park at a celebration hosted by filmmaker Spike Lee.
The party marks what would have been the 51st birthday of the late pop star.
After a slow start amid heavy rain, a sizable crowd turned out at Brooklyn's Prospect Park to listen to a DJ spin Jackson's hits.
Lee directed two music videos for Jackson in 1996.
Spike Lee
Seat 22
"Beer Bike"
The beer bike will ride on in Amsterdam. The outsized bikes, seating groups of people around a central bar, are something of a fixture in the city's center. But two accidents within two months prompted the city councillor responsible for transport to launch an investigation in June.
Following that review the city has decided to allow the bikes to carry on riding, a city spokesman said Saturday.
They will, however, need permits from the various city boroughs, and those permits are likely to come with restrictions on hours of operation and requirements for a sober driver.
While non-drinkers already typically steer the bikes, their size has also been an issue in some cases on the city centre's narrow streets. One of the better-known operators, PartyFiets.nl, offers two-hour tours on bikes that seat up to 22 people and carry 30 litres (7.9 gallons) of beer.
"Beer Bike"
Early Release
Muntadhar al-Zeidi
An Iraqi journalist imprisoned for hurling his shoes at former resident George W. Bush will be released next month after his sentence was reduced for good behavior, his lawyer said Saturday.
Muntadhar al-Zeidi's act of protest during Bush's last visit to Iraq as president turned the 30-year-old reporter into a folk hero across the Arab world, as his case became a rallying point for critics who resented the 2003 U.S. invasion and occupation.
The journalist has been in custody since the Dec. 14 outburst, which occurred as Bush was holding a news conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Al-Maliki, who was standing next to Bush at the time, was said to have been deeply offended by the act.
Defense attorney Karim al-Shujairi said al-Zeidi will now be released on Sept. 14, three months early.
Muntadhar al-Zeidi
Prince George to Prince Rupert, BC
"Highway of Tears"
Police searched a property on Friday, reviving hopes of a break in the investigation of women who have disappeared or been killed on northern British Columbia's "Highway of Tears."
Searchers are looking for evidence related to Nicole Hoar, who was last seen in June 2002 while she was hitchhiking on Highway 16 west of Prince George, British Columbia, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Hoar is among 18 women who have disappeared or been found dead since 1969 on a 772-km (500-mile) stretch of rural highway from Prince George to Prince Rupert that even public officials have called the "Highway of Tears" because of the mystery.
The search of the rural five-acre near the hamlet of Isle Pierre is linked to a former owner of the property who was currently serving life in prison for the 2002 killing of his brother, local media reported.
"Highway of Tears"
Pop Art
Austria
Thirty young Austrian artists are displaying works exploring facets of Michael Jackson at a special exhibition in Vienna.
The show opened Saturday at Vienna's Jennyfair gallery and runs through Sept. 19. It features provocative paintings, film clips and mixed-media works highlighting Jackson's music as well as some of the scandals that dogged him.
Organizers say it is part of the buildup to a major Sept. 26 tribute concert being staged in front of an ornate 17th century palace in the Austrian capital.
Austria
Don't Scare The Tourists
Brittany
It should have been a perfect day for Vincent Petit, finishing up an afternoon gallop on a wide expanse of beach along a pastel-colored bay. Instead, he and his mount were sucked into a hole of noxious black sludge.
The horse died within seconds, the rider lost consciousness and a dirty secret on the Brittany coast reverberated across France - decaying green algae was fouling some of its best beaches.
A report ordered by the government after the accident found concentrations of hydrogen sulfide gas emitted by the rotting algae were as high as 1,000 parts per million on the beach where the horse died - an amount that "can be fatal in several minutes."
There had been signs of a crisis for years in this idyllic corner of Brittany. But scaring away tourists was in no one's interest, including the farming industry - the region's economic backbone - whose nitrate-packed fertilizers power algae blooms.
So, while tongues wagged, folks whispered and acrimony grew, an official hush prevailed. It took the death of the horse to bring the problem into the open.
Brittany
In Memory
Adam Goldstein (DJ AM)
DJ AM, the celebrity disc jockey who publicly acknowledged his history of drug addiction and had filmed a reality show in which he offered to help other addicts, was found dead in his apartment. He was 36.
Police found a crack pipe and prescription pills in the Manhattan apartment, said a law enforcement official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. Paramedics had to break down the door before they found him, shirtless and wearing sweatpants, in his bed around 5:20 p.m. on Friday, the official said.
Last year, he was badly hurt in a South Carolina plane crash that killed four people and seriously injured rock musician Travis Barker.
DJ AM, whose real name was Adam Goldstein, had openly discussed past addictions to crack cocaine, Ecstasy and other drugs, addictions so bad he once tried to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head - but the gun jammed. However, he claimed he had been drug-free for years, even swearing off cigarettes.
In October, MTV was to debut his reality show, "Gone Too Far," in which he and concerned families staged interventions for drug abusers. In a recent AP interview, he talked about holding a crack pipe for the first time in years for the show and said he felt as though he had an angel on his shoulder for surviving so much turmoil.
Goldstein rose to fame several years ago as highly sought-after DJ whose beats kept the dance floor packed and clubgoers hypnotized. He was known for his deft mashups, a blend of at least two songs, and performed not only in clubs but on grand stages, appearing earlier this year at the Coachella music festival in Indio, Calif.
He was to be one of the playable characters in Activision's "DJ Hero," a rhythm video game from the makers of "Guitar Hero" that uses a turntable-shaped controller. The game is set for release Oct. 27.
DJ AM
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