"The Lacuna" by Barbara Kingsolver: A review by Celia McGee
... the shyly sweet heart of the novel is the completely made-up Harrison William Shepherd. He is also its not always dependable narrator, because much of the truth Kingsolver wants to reveal about human nature caught in the sweaty grasp of historical events is uncovered by unpeeling the layers of a personality -- Shepherd's -- belonging to someone who writes fiction himself.
Will Harris: A Chat with "Weird Al" Yankovic (bullz-eye.com)
"If Michael Jackson hadn't given his blessing (for 'Eat It'), it's hard to say the direction my life would've taken. If my second album hadn't done well, that might've been it for me. But with Michael Jackson signing off and giving me his support...I mean, I've been able to ride that for quite some time."
Josh Harris: The Warhol of the web (guardian.co.uk)
He was a millionaire who lived his wild life online. Then he disappeared. Andrew Smith tracks down Josh Harris, the subject of a new documentary 'We Live in Public.'
We all have had to make difficult decisions, from time to time, that involve compromises that can be distasteful. Such as...
A.) Would you take your dream job that has great pay and benefits, but you would have to relocate to an area that you'd loathe (such as Oklahoma)?
or...
B.) Would you live in an area that you've always wanted to but at a minimum wage, hand to mouth, subsistence level existence with no chance of improvement?
It's either A or B... No in between... Choose! Choose now! Ha Ha!
Marian the Teacher was first, and correct, with:
Robot
Alan J said:
Robot
mj noted:
Simon had friends
Namely Marcel, Jacques, and Georges. Robot was Marcel's pup.
Charlie responded:
That dog was named Robot. I suppose the horse's name will never be known.
Sally said:
In 1970, while living in Italy, I had the opportunity to visit southern France several times, and the area which is the scene of your Trivia Question Dejour in particular.
It is a most beautiful part of the world!
The Lascaux caves were discovered in 1940 by four teenagers, Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel, and Simon Coencas. I believe it was Marcel who had the dog, and his name was Robot.
Lascaux caves have been closed to the general public since 1963 in an attempt to prevent damage to the paintings found therein. When the Lascaux caves were again entered a few years ago, they found black spots on or around the paintings and engravings. At least fifty percent of the cave has been affected by mold.
Apparently, opening the caves in 1940 allowed bacteria in the previously sealed areas... Furthermore, in trying to rectify the situation, it has become worsened. World economy being that which it is, the fate of these caves hangs in the balance...
And, MAM wrote:
Robot, a terrier of some sort.
Simon Coencas and his dog, Robot
The term astronomical clock is one that is used fairly loosely. Effectively any clock that shows astronomical information - as well as the time - can be so classified. They can show the location of the sun in the sky, for example. In addition to that they can show the position of the moon - and further information such as its phase and its age. Others go further and show the current sign of the zodiac or even go as far as showing a rotating map of the stars.
CBS starts the night with '60 Minutes', followed by a FRESH'Survivor: Samoa', then a FRESH'Three Rivers', then a FRESH'Cold Case'.
NBC fills the night with LIVE'Sunday Night Football', then pads the left coast with local crap, and maybe an old 'Monk', and/or an old 'Dateline'.
ABC begins the night with a FRESH'America's So-Called Funniest Home Videos', followed by a FRESH'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition', then a FRESH"Desperate Housewives', followed by a FRESH'Brothers & Sisters'.
The CW fills the night with the movie 'The Man In The Iron Mask'.
Faux has a RERUN'Brothers', followed by a FRESH'American Dad', then a FRESH'Family Guy', followed by the FRESH'Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live', then a FRESH'Family Guy', followed by a FRESH'Cleveland Show'.
MY has an old 'That 70s Show', followed by an old 'House', then another old 'House'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', 'Criminal Minds', another 'Criminal Minds', and still another 'Criminal Minds'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Green Mile', followed by a FRESH'Mad Men'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] The Graham Norton Show - Episode 5
[1:00 PM] Top Gear - Episode 4
[2:00 PM] Top Gear - Episode 3
[3:00 PM] Grizzly: Nature's Entrepreneur
[4:00 PM] The Greatest Wildlife Show on Earth
[5:00 PM] Lion: Spy in the Den
[6:00 PM] Great Natural Wonders of the World
[7:00 PM] The Life of Mammals - A Winning Design
[5:00 AM] BBC World News
[6:00 AM] BBC World News (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has all 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent' all night.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Employee Of The Month', 'Gabriel Iglesias: I'm Not Fat...I'm Fluffly'.
FX has the movie 'Fantastic Four', followed by the movie 'Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer'.
History has 'Ancient Discoveries', 'Pawn Stars', another 'Pawn Stars', still another 'Pawn Stars', yet another 'Pawn Stars', still another 'Pawn Stars', and yes one more 'Pawn Stars'.
IFC -
[6:05 AM] IFC News Special
[6:35 AM] American Gun
[8:15 AM] Manic
[10:00 AM] Ghajini
[1:15 PM] A Decade Under the Influence
[2:15 PM] Manic
[4:05 PM] Food Party
[4:15 PM] Maria Full of Grace
[6:05 PM] Antwone Fisher
[8:15 PM] The Proposition
[10:00 PM] Arrested Development
[10:30 PM] Arrested Development
[11:00 PM] The Rules of Attraction
[1:00 AM] The Proposition
[2:45 AM] Antwone Fisher
[4:50 AM] IFC News Special: Monty Python
[5:00 AM] Arrested Development
[5:30 AM] Arrested Development (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'NYC: Tornado Terror', followed by the FRESH'2012: Startling New Secrets'.
Sundance -
[10:30 PM] Everlasting Moments
[04:15 AM] Starting Out in the Evening
[06:15 AM] Manda Bala
[07:45 AM] Wondrous Oblivion
[09:35 AM] Harvie Krumpet
[10:00 AM] Big Ideas for a Small Planet - Season 3: Games
[10:30 AM] The Lazy Environmentalist: Episode 7
[11:00 AM] Strange Culture
[12:15 PM] The Fortune Hunter
[01:00 PM] Iconoclasts - Season 2: Episode 5: Paul Simon + Lorne Michaels
[02:00 PM] Manda Bala
[03:30 PM] Engine 371
[03:45 PM] Robyn Hitchcock: Sex, Food, Death ...& Insects
[05:20 PM] Noise (2007)
[07:15 PM] Metroland
[09:00 PM] Spectacle: The Police
[10:00 PM] A Woman Under the Influence
[12:30 AM] Mad Detective
[02:05 AM] Fido
[03:45 AM] Savage Grace
[05:30 AM] A Woman Under the Influence (ALL TIMES EST)
In this image released by PictureGroup, Ringo Starr, left, Forrest Whitaker, right, and Keisha Whitaker appear at Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood to show his support for Hard Rock International
Photo by Frank Micelotta
Japan's Dai Miyata, 23, won the Ninth Rostropovich cello competition at the final on Saturday in Paris, among the 64 musicians who competed in this year's event, organisers said.
The winner of what is considered the world's top cello competition will receive a prize of 10,000 euros (14,845 dollars).
The jury, headed by Polish composer and conductor Krzysztop Penderecki, awarded Jakob Koranyi of Sweden, 26, second place in the competition with a 7,000-euro prize as well another prize of 2,500 euros for best interpretation of Shostakovich's first concerto for cello.
Third place in the competition went to 22-year-old German Norbert Anger, and Sietse-Jan Weijenberg, 26, of the Netherlands took fourth place.
British actor John Hurt holds the Gold Giraldillo Award as a tribute to his career during the Sevilla European film festival in the Andalusian capital of Seville November 7, 2009. The festival will run from November 6 to 14.
Photo by Marcelo del Pozo
Vladimir Nabokov wanted it burned on his death, but "The Original of Laura" survived and now, 32 years later, the unfinished novel is about to be published for the first time.
Despite Nabokov's dying wish, publication of the manuscript, which was compiled on index cards, is set for November 17 in New York and London, giving what many hope will be an unexpected glimpse of his genius.
The Russian-born writer's widow Vera had already saved his most famous work, "Lolita," from the flames, and their son Dmitry, 75, followed suit by preserving "Laura."
Yet the family hesitated for 30 years before finally going to literary agent Andrew Wylie who negotiated a deal with Knopf/Random House in the United States and Penguin in Britain.
The manuscript -- 138 index cards -- until now has been locked in a bank vault in Montreux, Switzerland, where Nabokov died in 1977.
A Chinese scholar persecuted during the Cultural Revolution for smuggling a rare collection of mushrooms out of China before World War II was honored Saturday when the collection was returned more than 70 years later.
At a ceremony at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Cornell University President David Skorton handed over the collection that had been meticulously gathered by scholar Shu Chun Teng.
Teng studied mycology at Cornell University in the 1920s, then spent the next decade traveling on horseback gathering molds, lichens, yeasts, rusts and morels in the forests, fields and marshes of his homeland.
During the Japanese invasion in 1937, Teng arranged for his best specimens to be removed from a national botany institute he directed to save them from destruction. During World War II, they were smuggled by ox cart to Indochina and then by sea to the United States, and 2,278 of the specimen packets ended up at Teng's alma mater.
Spanish actress Penelope Cruz (L) and director Pedro Almodovar promote their latest movie "Broken Embraces" in Rome November 7, 2009.
Photo by Alessia Pierdomenico
The Honolulu Symphony said Friday it's canceling concerts for the rest of the year and filing for bankruptcy, citing a big drop in donations.
The symphony, the oldest in the nation west of the Rocky Mountains, said it has $1 million in debt and doesn't have enough money to support operations into November and beyond.
The Honolulu Symphony Society's board of directors voted to file for Chapter 11 protection at a special meeting on Oct. 30. Papers will be submitted to court next week.
Ticket sales have generally been OK, though weak at some recent events. Even so, ticket revenue covers only 30 percent of costs, and donations, which cover the remaining 70 percent, have dropped sharply during the recession.
Investigators cracked a youthful burglary ring that preyed on Hollywood's rich and famous, often brazenly walking into their unlocked homes to make off with cash, jewels and family heirlooms, authorities said.
A suspect turned informant told police that a 19-year-old woman was the "driving force" in the thefts, motivated by a desire own the designer clothes and jewelry of such celebrities as Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton.
According to a Las Vegas police search warrant obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, Nicholas Prugo told Los Angeles police detectives that Rachel Jungeon Lee spearheaded the break-ins.
Prugo told police Lee, 19, would suggest a target, then Prugo would trawl the Internet for information about where they lived and when they would be away from home. Las Vegas police were involved because Lee lives there.
A Shaolin monk balances on a spearhead during the show "The Holy Mountain" at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta November 6, 2009. The performance by Shaolin monks from China and Kalari fighters from India showcases Chinese Kung Fu and Kalaripayattu - an ancient Indian form of training which combines the respiration technique of meditation and relaxation with physical training.
Photo by Darrin Zammit Lupi
Two-time Oscar-nominated actor James Woods has sued a Rhode Island hospital over the 2006 death of his younger brother.
Woods on Friday would not discuss the lawsuit in detail, but told The Associated Press he wants "justice" for his brother, Michael, who was 49 when he died at Kent Hospital in Warwick of what was believed to be a heart attack.
Woods, who is the executor of his brother's estate, claims his brother received negligent medical care. A spokesperson for the hospital did not return an e-mail seeking comment Friday. It was not immediately clear how much money or other damages Woods is seeking through the lawsuit.
Michael Woods was also an actor who twice ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Warwick. He was also a coin dealer and appraiser and small businessman.
Michael Jackson's father is seeking an allowance from his son's estate to help cover expenses that exceed $15,000 a month, according to court documents filed Friday.
The request seeking an unspecified amount for Joe Jackson was filed by lawyer Brian Oxman, who said there was no apparent reason for the administrators of the estate to not seek an allowance for the Jackson family patriarch.
Michael Jackson's 2002 will, however, omitted any mention of his father. The two had an often strained relationship, and Michael Jackson said at one point that he would get physically sick - as a child and as an adult - at the sight of his father.
The singer's private trust calls for money to be paid to his mother, Katherine, his three young children, and various charities.
Models present Islamic fashion creations by Malaysian designer Hajaba during Malaysia International Fashion Week in Kuala Lumpur November 7, 2009.
Photo by Zainal Abd Halim
Echo & The Bunnymen have cancelled their US tour over an "unreasonable" demand for tax payments.
The group was due to kick off its series of concerts on 15 November in Atlanta, Georgia but has pulled out with just ten days to go.
Overseas bands have to pay a fee to tour in America more than once within 30 days, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
A statement on the group's website reads, "It's with the deepest regret that Echo and the Bunnymen have had to cancel their USA November tour. This is due to unreasonable demands presented by the IRS for the band to enter the USA to tour."
A hundred years ago, West Africa's last giraffes numbered in the thousands and their habitat stretched from Senegal's Atlantic Ocean coast to Chad, in the heart of the continent. By the dawn of the 21st century, their world had shrunk to a tiny zone southeast of the capital, Niamey, stretching barely 150 miles (240 kilometers) long.
The numbers of the Western subspecies dwindled so low that in 1996, they numbered a mere 50.
Instead of disappearing as many feared, though, the giraffes have bounced miraculously back from the brink of extinction, swelling to more than 200 today.
It's an unlikely boon experts credit to a combination of concerned conservationists, a government keen for revenue, and a rare harmony with villagers who have accepted their presence - for now.
Jockey Mike Smith rides Zenyatta (L) from last place on the first time by the finish line to win the Breeders' Cup Classic thoroughbred horse race at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California November 7, 2009.
Photo by Danny Moloshok
You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
Make yourself home, take your shoes off...
Go ahead, scratch it if it itches.
The idea is to have fun.
Do you have something to say?
Anything that increased your blood pressure, or, even better,
amused or entertained?
Do you have a great album no one's heard?
How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
A popular artist that just plain pisses you off?
A box set the whole world should own?
Vile, filthy rumors about Republican musicians?
Just plain vile, filthy rumors?
This is your place.
wrote:
