'Best of TBH Politoons'
Purple Gene Reviews
Meditation Mantra
Purple Genes' review of the declassification of his Transcendental Meditation Mantra:
Anyone remember the Maharishi? Remember the Beatles? The Tibetan Book of the Dead! "Life goes on within you - and without you"!....Turnoff your mind, relax and float downstream..........I was worrying about the war in Vietnam, the draft and all the very real shit in the sixties...I had developed an ulcer - an abcessed tooth - insomnia and I needed a way to chill out........so I went to a meeting in Berkeley in 1969 and met this long haired dude from India named Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.....He had this method called Transcendental Meditation that would bring peace into your life with a simple method........and your "MANTRA".........your secret word that you were given to repeat to yourself while you meditated........I forget how much I paid for my Mantra....It might have been 3 payments of $100 or something like that............
So I started meditating every day......repeating my secret mantra over and over again and moving my conscienceness into a deeper level......wow ....My jaw started relaxing and I stopped clenching my teeth and worrying about the war and money and everything.......this was working...even when I dropped Acid! I could just take a ride on my magic mantra and float into another space......I Transcended something saying this mantra over and over.....but it was a secret...........
Well .......I formed a Rock Band in 1970 and moved back to the land in Northern California and kind of became Buddhist along the way.......and at the same time.....the Maharishi was busy fucking Mia Farrow and teaching people to levitate......but I always remembered my Mantra...........That was a long time ago......Well I decided today to COME OUT!!!!!!!!!1
I can't keep the secret anymore!!!!!!!!!!! I have to go public with my Mantra to purge my inner child of some kind of seditious sense of secrecy...........
Here it is ...."Eye Ying...Eye Ying...Eye Ying...Eye Ying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope I don't go to Hell for telling....and by the way any of you that have gone through what I have.....go ahead! Tell the World what you've been hiding for so long........You'll feel a lot better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Purple Gene Gives Transcendental Meditation 10 final "Eye Yings" for old times sake!
Purple Gene
Links from Bruce
Fun Links
Purple Gene Reviews
NBA Fight Night
Purple Genes' Review of the friday night NBA basketball game between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers in Detroit as seen live on ESPN:
When I was younger I used to turn the Friday Night Fights on and watch professional boxers bash each others brains in! I remember a bout between Carmen Basilio and Gene Fullmer - blood flowing from the nose - cuts under the eyes - fifteen rounds of brutality - that's what you paid for and that's what you got.....But tonight in Detroit they brought back the Friday night fights...................
It was the chance click of the remote that put me on ESPN. I had just mentioned to my wife Sharon how the NBA was becoming boring with all the slam dunks, the power plays, the inside game, the Terrel Owens style taunting, the tattoos, the DOs, the big tennis shoe contracts, the accused rapists and all the juvenile bullshit that seems to have become a part of the game of basketball....... little did I know that I was going to witness the end of it all in Detroit........Here's what happened!
It was a tough game......The Pacers were leading the Home Team by 15 points with 45 seconds to go....you could see the frustration in the players and fans.........Then Ben - big afro - bad ass Wallace barrels in for a slam dunk and takes a flagrant foul from bad boy Ron Artess...... Wallace got up and made the fatal move.....he throws both fists into Artess and violently assaulted him.....Artess backs away and Rasheed (the other) Wallace tries to intervene and cool things....Artess retreats and lays down on the scoring table to relax.....suddenly a fan throws a beer bottle a hits Artess... Artess sees who threw and before you can count to 10 and you're out, Wallace, Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal rush into the stands and start swinging....I mean haymakers and jabs and roundhouse punches....25 fans involved.....Rasheed Wallace wades in and desperately attemps to intercede....50 fans involved .....more Pacer players are flailing away.....100 fans throwing soda, popcorn, beer bottles and chairs....we have the RIOT in the ARENA....The BATTLE IN AUBURN HILLS and the end of the NBA as we know it.......
The players got cleared out, no interviews, game called and then the endless replays, the isolations shots, the zoom ins..........incredibly violent and vicious...........and through all this live action...the network managed to bleep out every single swear word from the viewing public....thanks a lot.....Tomorrow the lawyers and the league officials will weigh in.....there will be fines, suspensions and more security....but the NBA will never be the same again....Thanks Detroit! for bringing back the Friday Night Fights!!!!!!!!!!
Purple Gene gives ESPN and this game in Detroit 10 counts and your OUT! This was Vile, Violent and deeply disturbing.
Purple Gene
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and breezy.
Got a postcard from Heidelberg today, courtesy of the intrepid Australian travellers.
I'm really behind in my correspondence. Ack.
Buys Guccione Estate
Uma Thurman
The former Hudson Valley estate of Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione is being sold to hotelier Andre Balazs and actress Uma Thurman, according to the property's auctioneer.
Guccione lost the property, which he called "The Willows," in February after defaulting on a $14.5 million loan. Last year he resigned as chief executive of Penthouse International, three months after the publishing arm of the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Uma Thurman
The 'CYA' Recordings Go Up for Auction
Elvis Presley
Some of Elvis Presley's first RCA recordings from nearly 50 years ago, including never-before-heard takes of "All Shook Up" and "Jailhouse Rock," will be put up for bid on Sunday at an auction of show business memorabilia.
The six unedited reel-to-reel tapes -- "pre-master" originals from the private collection of the studio engineer who recorded them, are valued at between $30,000 and $50,000, according to international auction house Bonhams & Butterfields.
The more than two hours of audio consist of 57 musical tracks, including multiple takes of songs Presley performed in the studio, as well as casual banter between Presley, members of his band and the engineer, Thorne Nogar.
Nogar, who died in 1994 at age 72, made a habit of rolling two tapes simultaneously as he recorded Presley so he would have a backup of the sessions in case RCA producers changed their minds about which version of a song they preferred after the master was cut. It was the backup that Nogar kept.
"He called them his ass-saver tapes," his son said, adding that the quality is noticeably crisper than even a new vinyl record, which is four "generations" removed from sound made in the studio.
Elvis Presley
N.Y. Crowds Line Up
Renovated MoMA
Thousands of people waited in a line that wrapped around a city block Saturday to file into the reopened doors of the renovated and expanded Museum of Modern Art.
The museum opened for a free viewing after a 2 1/2-year renovation. While much of the collection was on display at a former staple factory in Queens during that time, the $425 million reconstruction nearly doubled the museum's gallery space.
The museum's new design by Japanese architect Yushio Taniguchi retains architectural elements of the old building while transforming the galleries.
Renovated MoMA
Cuban Entertainers Detail Tough Decisions
'Havana Night Club'
For years, Nilder Santos and his family had been hoping to win the most prized lottery in Cuba.
But each time it was held, the 25-year-old dancer and his parents were heartbroken when their names didn't appear on the list of the lucky ones allowed to leave the poverty of their communist nation to chase the American dream.
Santos finally hit the jackpot, but only after joining the dance troupe Havana Night Club, whose singers, dancers and musicians had to fight for permission to leave their tightly controlled homeland and enter the United States to perform in Las Vegas.
He and the 42 other members of Havana Night Club filed for political asylum this past week - one of the largest groups of Cubans to defect to the United States - knowing there would be no return to their homeland, no reunion with family, no seeing friends left behind.
'Havana Night Club'
Wedding News
A Republican, A Dictator & A 4-Time Bride
They met during a trade mission, and despite controversy over their engagement, U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller of Illinois and the outspoken daughter of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt tied the knot Saturday in a civil ceremony.
About 300 people - including Rios Montt - attended the wedding of the Republican congressman from central Illinois and Zury Rios Sosa, a 36-year-old Guatemalan senator. Security was tight as the two exchanged wedding vows at a mansion belonging to the former dictator.
Francisco Paloma, Rios Montt's personal notary public and lawyer, officiated, but the former dictator also led part of the religious proceedings.
The sound of his sermon carried outside the mansion, where he could be heard saying "the husband is the brains of his woman ... who should be loved like the church loves Christ."
Rios Montt, who embraced evangelical Christianity after leaving the army, also said "the science of marriage is to become one, just like the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."
Rios Sosa, who has been married three times before, will move to the United States and live with her husband. But she says she will not give up her seat in the senate, preferring to fly back to Guatemala to fulfill her legislative responsibilities.
A Republican, A Dictator & A 4-Time Bride
Sells N.J. Weekly Newspaper
Geraldo Rivera
TV personality and 'journalist' Geraldo Rivera has ended his 14-year ownership of the Two River Times, selling the weekly newspaper to a couple from Rumson.
Michael J. Gooch and Diane Gooch wouldn't disclose how much they spent to buy the 20,000-circulation newspaper. Diane Gooch has taken over as publisher.
Geraldo Rivera
One-Third Got Appointments
Fund-Raisers
One-third of resident Bush's top 2000 fund-raisers or their spouses were appointed to positions in his first administration, from ambassadorships in Europe to seats on policy-setting boards, an Associated Press review found.
The perks for 246 "pioneers" who raised at least $100,000 also included overnight stays at the White House and Camp David, parties at the White House and Bush's Texas ranch, state dinners with world leaders and overseas travel with U.S. delegations to the Olympics and other events, the review found.
At least 57 contributors or their spouses were named to agency positions, advisory or decision-making committees and boards or to U.S. delegations.
Three top Bush fund-raisers became Cabinet secretaries: Bush 2000 finance chairman Don Evans at Commerce, Elaine Chao at Labor and Tom Ridge at Homeland Security. At least eight took other high-profile administration jobs, such as State Department chief financial officer Christopher Burnham and Jose Fourquet, U.S. executive director of the Inter-American Development Bank.
In addition to the appointments, at least three-dozen pioneers or others at their companies had front-row seats as Bush assembled his first administration and set policy priorities. Energy, Treasury and Commerce were the most popular transition teams among Bush pioneers.
Fund-Raisers
Top Bush campaign fund-raisers
White House appointments
'Deeply Concerned' About Iraq
International Red Cross
The International Red Cross is "deeply concerned" with the killing of civilians and non-combatants in Iraq and the apparent failures by all sides to respect humanitarian law.
The International Committee of the Red Cross operations director, Pierre Kraehenbuehl, stressed that international law prohibits killing anyone who is not actively taking part in fighting - or has ceased to do so.
Kraehenbuehl also stressed that all parties must provide adequate medical care for the wounded - no matter which side they have fought on - and that hostage taking is forbidden in all circumstances.
The neutral ICRC, whose main job is to help victims of war, has lost contact with people in the city of Fallujah, where much of the recent focus has been because of the fighting between U.S.-led forces and insurgents.
International Red Cross
Stolen In Germany
Naked Gnomes
Thieves have stolen scantily clad garden gnomes from a gnome peepshow in an eastern German amusement park, park manager Frank Ullrich said on Thursday.
"The gnomes display naked body parts -- the same ones you'd expect to see in a human peep show," Ullrich said of his missing stars.
The adults-only attraction at Dwarf-Park Trusetal, where visitors peep through keyholes to see the saucy German miniatures in compromising poses, was smashed open early on Thursday morning.
Naked Gnomes
In Memroy
Terry Melcher
Terry Melcher, a record producer and songwriter who aided the careers of Ry Cooder, the Byrds and the Beach Boys, has died, his publicist announced Saturday. He was 62.
Melcher, the son of actress Doris Day, died Friday night at his Beverly Hills home after a long battle with melanoma.
Melcher co-wrote the hit song "Kokomo" for the Beach Boys. The song was used in the movie "Cocktail" and was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1988 for best original song. He also performed on the Beach Boys album "Pet Sounds."
In the early 1960s, Melcher began singing as a solo act and later paired with future Beach Boy Bruce Johnston to form the group Bruce & Terry. The pair had several hits, then went on to form the Rip Chords, which recorded the 1964 hit "Hey, Little Cobra."
In the mid-1960s, Melcher joined Columbia Records as a producer. Working with the Byrds, he produced their top-selling version of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and other hits, including "Turn, Turn, Turn."
Melcher also produced hit songs for Paul Revere and the Raiders (featuring Mark Lindsay) and worked with Gram Parsons, the Mamas and the Papas, and Ry Cooder.
He served as the executive producer of his mother's CBS show, "The Doris Day Show," from 1968 to 1972 and co-produced her mid-1980s show, "Doris Day's Best Friends."
In 1969, his name became linked with the grisly Charles Manson murders.
Melcher once rented the home where actress Sharon Tate and a group of her friends were murdered by Manson followers. Rumors circulated that Melcher, who knew Manson, was the real target because he had turned Manson down for a record contract.
Los Angeles police discounted the rumors. Melcher had since moved to Malibu, and police established that Manson knew of his new address.
Terry Melcher
