Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Ted Rall: THE FIRST RULE OF REELECTION IS DON'T THINK ABOUT REELECTION
Why Obama Should Consider Himself a One-Term President.
RICHARD ROEPER: Who's the big winner in this election? We are (suntimes.com)
One week before the first Tuesday in November, I walked over to my local polling place to cast an early ballot.
Roger Ebert: "Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story" ( 3 1/2 stars)
When he was a boy, Lee Atwater pulled an electric cord, and a fryer full of hot grease fell on his little brother Joe, killing him. "He said he heard those screams every single day for the rest of his life," a friend remembers. "He grew up in a world without mercy."
Roger Ebert: M&Ms prove Darwin was right
I received this message on the blog, but it obviously fits no known topic. The author is something of a mystery: "R. Crutch," no city, no e-mail. But I felt it necessary to share with you. RE
The quiet revolutionary (guardian.co.uk)
Singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman is a champion for the downtrodden. She tells Amy Fleming about her fears for young people, her fight against sexism - and her respect for Madonna.
Len Righi: Magnetic Fields tugging in a different direction (The Morning Call)
As the lodestar of Magnetic Fields, Stephin Merritt has exerted an insistent tug on indie-pop since 1990 by crafting simple, clean, melodic songs that lean heavily on keyboards.
Rachel Leibrock: "Oh, Lordz: Brooklyn brothers keep fighting the good rap-rock fight" (McClatchy Newspapers)
The Lordz paid a visit to "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" last summer to play a track off their latest CD, "The Brooklyn Way." As the band prepped backstage, a makeup artist asked frontman Kaves how long the trip was from his Brooklyn home to the downtown Manhattan television studio.
My life in shopping: Cerys Matthews, singer
'I'm a terrible shopper. I'd rather we all went naked.'
David Hiltbrand: One guy, two robots, and lots of laughs (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
"Mystery Science Theater" 3000 came from modest roots: a goofy TV series on a small UHF station in Minneapolis in 1988. But over time, the show would soar to - well, fairly modest stature.
Patrick S. Pemberton: Zac Efron is back, starring in 'High School Musical 3: Senior Year' (McClatchy Newspapers)
It didn't take long for Zac Efron to encounter one of the downsides of superstardom. As the hottest young actor in Hollywood, the Arroyo Grande, Calif., native has become a paparazzi favorite. Whether he visits an airport, Starbucks or a gas station, several photographers will follow, repeatedly snapping his image.
Ikuko Kitagawa: Director John Woo takes on China's greatest literary work and a Western audience (The Yomiuri Shimbun)
For director John Woo to realize his 18-year dream of filming the 13th-century masterpiece "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," he would have to return to Asia. The veteran Chinese director, who was responsible for blockbusters such as "M:I-2" and "Face/Off," needed the knowledge and insight that only Asian writers and actors could provide. But most importantly, it was necessary for the director to get back into an Asian mindset.
John Anderson: Q&A with Catherine Keener of 'Synecdoche' (Newsday)
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Once considered the indie queen, actress Catherine Keener has become a ubiquitous presence in movies ranging from "Capote" to "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" to "Into the Wild," to "Synecdoche, NY," the directorial debut of Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind").
DAVE HOEKSTRA: Sexpot star of 'Faster, Pussycat!' returns for art show (suntimes.com)
Tura Satana was a little girl growing up on the West Side of Chicago. Strike that. She wasn't so little. "I wore a 36 D bra when I was 13," Satana said from her home in Reno, Nev. "I am now a 40 HH."
Roger Ebert: The fastest of the Pussycats
Tura Satana. From Tura Luna Pascual Yamaguchi, to a Japanese-American internment camp, to a Chicago housing project, to street corner newsgirl, to Tura Satana, to Bourbon Street stripper, to discovery by silent star Harold Lloyd, to superstar of cult movies, to lover of Elvis, to dental receptionist, to icon of pop art, to grandmother of eight. The American Dream.
The Weekly Poll
Results Delayed
Has there been a particular book or movie that you can say truly changed your life?
Send your response to BadtotheBoneBob (BCEpoll (at) aol.com)
Results delayed - Bob's consultation with the pros from Dover has been extended.
Reader Comment
Re: Pictures
Not sure what has changed, but lately about half the pictures on your page don't "show up" for me. I've tried reloading the page several times, but I keep having the same problem. It's really interfering with my enjoyment of all you offer. Any ideas??
For example, on the Saturday page, I can't "see" the following:
graphic or picture under "Welcome"
pictures or graphics under the name Michael Dare
and 12 more.
Linda >^..^<
Thanks, Linda!
All those pictures should be showing up.
A week ago yesterday & again this past Tuesday, there were pictures that didn't get uploaded until the next day.
It was a time-thing.
But, I'm all caught up.
Besides hitting 'refresh', try right clicking on the empty box and the pop-up box should offer 'show picture' and click on it.
Another, more radical option would be right click again, & at the bottom of the box is 'Properties' - click on it & the next box will give you the url of the picture (if it's been uploaded).
Copy it & paste it in your browser.
OTOH, the ways of the innertubes are a mystery to me.
Anybody?
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
A mostly rainy day. Woo hoo!
Punk'd
Palin
Sarah Palin unwittingly took a prank call Saturday from a Canadian comedian posing as French President Nicolas Sarkozy and telling her she would make a good president someday.
"Maybe in eight years," replies a laughing Palin.
The Republican vice presidential nominee discusses politics, the perils of hunting with Vice President Dick Cheney, and Sarkozy's "beautiful wife," in a recording of the call released Saturday and set to air Monday on a Quebec radio station.
Palin campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt confirmed she had received the prank call.
Palin
Transcript of 'The Masked Avengers' Vs. Sarah Palin
Boosts "Daily Show" To New Record
Obama
Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" pulled in its biggest audience ever Wednesday night.
The 11 p.m. episode, which featured an appearance by presidential candidate Barack Obama, averaged 3.6 million total viewers, beating by 600,000 viewers the previous record set October 8 when his wife Michelle Obama appeared on the show.
At 11:30 p.m., "Colbert Report" also had its most-watched episode ever, drawing 2.4 million viewers.
Obama
Toy Re-Enactment
Germany
Two German entertainers will use hundreds of Playmobil men to re-enact the history of Germany from 1949 until 1990 on live television, a spokeswoman for the production company said on Thursday.
The re-enactment is based on a 500-page book by German historian, Hans-Ulrich Wehler and will be aired on Thursday night on public channel ARD, said the spokeswoman for Bonito TV.
Harald Schmidt is known for having reanacted other episodes of history, including the first moon landing, in the past using Playmobil figures which are less than 10 centimetres tall.
But this show will be more of a challenge than any of the previous ones, mainly because of the complicated plot and the number of toy figures involved, he told the paper.
Germany
Plain Dealer Critical Of Critic
Donald Rosenberg
The reassignment of a newspaper reviewer critical of Cleveland Orchestra conductor Franz Welser-Moest left a dissonant trail of questions about censorship and the risk of panning a hometown arts icon.
The move of Donald Rosenberg off The Plain Dealer's orchestra beat doesn't trump talk about the Browns football team or basketball superstar LeBron James at the watercooler in Cleveland, but reviewers across the country noticed and yelled, "Foul!"
Rosenberg was summoned into a conference room at Ohio's biggest newspaper in September and was told by Editor Susan Goldberg that he was off the beat that he had for 16 years.
Britain's Guardian newspaper said the move amounted to censorship, and The New York Times said the reassignment "is sure to send shivers down the opinionated spines of critics everywhere."
Donald Rosenberg
Toilet House Art Show
Munich
A public toilet in Munich which has been transformed into an art museum has attracted hundreds of people in the first days after opening, a spokesman for the city's tourism agency said on Thursday.
Built in 1894, the toilet house was originally constructed to serve nearby households which lacked necessary facilities.
After being in use for over a hundred years, the toilets were locked up in 1992 because they were very rarely used.
The art exhibited is mainly graffiti often with a political theme. Examples include images of Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel flanking a urinal in the corner of the room. Four artists contributed their work to the exhibition.
Munich
Grosse Pointe's Grossest Pointy-Head
Shirley Nagel
A suburban Detroit woman has decided to scare up the vote among neighborhood children by just offering treats to John McCain supporters.
Shirley Nagel of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., handed out candy Friday only to those who shared her support for the Republican presidential candidate and his running mate Sarah Palin. Others were turned away empty-handed.
TV station WJBK says a sign outside Nagel's house warned: "No handouts for Obama supporters, liars, tricksters or kids of supporters."
Nagel calls Democrat Barack Obama "scary." When asked about children who were turned away empty-handed and crying, she said: "Oh well. Everybody has a choice."
Shirley Nagel
Suspends US Anti-Drug Efforts
Evo Morales
Bolivian President Evo Morales suspended U.S. anti-drug operations on Saturday as Washington's relations with his leftist government spiraled downward.
Morales accused the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of espionage and funding "criminal groups" trying to undermine his government.
He announced the indefinite suspension while declaring that his government has eradicated more than 5,000 hectares (12,300 acres) of illegally planted coca so far this year - the minimum required under a 1988 Bolivian law passed under U.S. pressure.
Bolivia-U.S. relations have deteriorated in recent months as Morales's government limited DEA activities and later expelled the U.S. ambassador over charges of spying and involvement in anti-government protests in the eastern lowlands.
Evo Morales
When Sisters Feud
Tatiana & Natasha Boncompagni
The wife of an heir to Hoover appliances sued her sister, accusing her of stealing credit for her new novel, "Hedge Fund Wives," and releasing stolen chapters of the book onto the Internet.
The novel by socialite and freelance writer Tatiana Boncompagni Hoover, wife of Max Hoover, is due to be published by HarperCollins Publishers, a unit of News Corp, in May 2009.
Hoover alleges that her older sister, Natasha Boncompagni, misrepresented herself as the novel's co-author after stealing a copy of the manuscript from Hoover's personal computer while visiting her New York apartment.
The novel has two active copyrights, according to the U.S. Copyright Office website. Boncompagni obtained joint copyright protection in September for herself and her sister, and, in October, Hoover obtained an exclusive copyright for the novel.
Tatiana & Natasha Boncompagni
State Sanctioned Religious Insanity
Somalia
A 13-year-old girl who said she had been raped was stoned to death in Somalia after being accused of adultery by Islamic militants, a human rights group said.
Dozens of men stoned Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow to death Oct. 27 in a stadium packed with 1,000 spectators in the southern port city of Kismayo, Amnesty International and Somali media reported, citing witnesses. The Islamic militia in charge of Kismayo had accused her of adultery after she reported that three men had raped her, the rights group said.
Initial local media reports said Duhulow was 23, but her father told Amnesty International she was 13. Some of the Somali journalists who first reported the killing later told Amnesty International that they had reported she was 23 based upon her physical appearance.
A quarter of Somali children die before age 5; nearly every public institution has collapsed. Fighting is a daily occurrence, with violent deaths reported nearly every day.
Somalia
Museum Returns Painting
Fernand Leger
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has sent a painting by cubist Fernand Leger back to the heirs of a Jewish art collector in France, after concluding it had been stolen by the Nazis during World War II.
The museum had owned the 1911 Leger painting "Smoke Over Rooftops" since 1961. But after a decade of detective work, the institute decided to return it to the heirs of noted Parisian collector Alphonse Kann, who died in 1948.
"Having researched this to the end of the road, we decided we had to return the painting; it was the right thing to do," Kaywin Feldman, director of the institute, told the Star Tribune for a story published Thursday.
Fernand Leger
In Memory
Jacques Piccard
Swiss deep sea explorer and inventor Jacques Piccard, who holds the record for travelling to the deepest point underwater, died Saturday at the age of 86.
Piccard, who was born in Brussels, together with Don Walsh reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench, 10,916 metres (35,813 feet) below sea level on January 23, 1960 -- the farthest point underwater.
He also witnessed living organisms at a depth of over 11,000 metres below sea level, a discovery that led to a ban in nuclear waste dumping into the ocean.
Piccard had also built four mid-depth submarines, including the first tourist submarine that carried 33,000 passengers deep into Lake Geneva in 1964 and carried on deep sea exploration up to the age of 82.
Piccard's father Auguste Piccard twice beat the record for reaching the highest altitude in a balloon, in 1931-32.
Jacques Piccard
In Memory
John Daly
John Daly, the British-born producer of 13 Oscar-winning movies including "Platoon" and "The Last Emperor" who helped launch the careers of many A-list directors and actors, has died. He was 71.
Born in London, Daly joined with British actor David Hemmings in 1967 to form Hemdale, a company that managed rock bands such as Yes and Black Sabbath.
Hemdale later became a leading independent film producer and distributor in Great Britain.
Under Daly's stewardship, Hemdale produced more than 100 films that grossed more than $1.5 billion.
He is survived by three sons, Michael, Julian and Timothy, and one daughter, Jenny.
John Daly
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