'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Another Marathon
Re: Monk
You might want to share with the tv fanatics that there is a Monk Marathon on the USA Network. It's 17 hours of Monk starting at 6AM (Eastern time) on New Year's Day.
The new season for Monk starts on Friday, January 16th, at 10 PM (Eastern time)
People can find out more, even check what episodes are being shown during the marathon, at
www.usanetwork.com/monk.
Linda >^..^<
Thanks, Linda!
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Another overcast, but pleasant day.
The kid & I ran out to get fresh crickets for Jo, the (remaining) lizard, at Reptiles Unlimited.
Need to have dinner on the table by 11:30am and the roast requires at least 4 hours in the oven. Looks like another early day.
Wonder how many will show up to eat?
Tonight, Thursday, CBS begins the evening with a RERUN 'Cold Case', followed by a RERUN 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', then
a RERUN 'Without A Trace'.
On a RERUN Dave are Amanda Peet and Barry Sonnenfeld.
On a RERUN Craiggers are Billy Bob Thornton, Dakota Fanning, and Cyndi Lauper.
NBC starts the night with a 'super-size' RERUN 'Friends', followed by a 'super-size' RERUN 'Will & Grace', then a 'super-size' RERUN
'Scrubs', followed by a RERUN 'ER' (which starts a minute early).
On a RERUN Jay are Jennifer Tilly, Elijah Wood, and Counting Crows.
On a RERUN Conan are Jack Black, Christopher Walken, and Staind.
On a RERUN Carson Daly are Kid Rock, Jenna Elfman, and Robert Bradley.
ABC has the Orange Bowl, and the left coast gets the movie 'The Fisher King'.
On a RERUN Jimmy Kimmel (from 11/20/03), are Jim Belushi, Fred Willard, and the Marijuanalogues, with guest co-host Jon Favreau.
The WB here offers another RERUN of 'The 115th Annual Tournament Of Roses Parade'.
Faux has 'American Idol: Life On The Road', followed by 'World Idol' (part 2 of 2).
UPN fills the night with 'WWE Smackdown!'.
A&E has a marathon of 'Third Watch' all day, followed by 'Biography' (Dr. Phil), then the movie 'Mississippi Burning'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Longest Day', followed by the movie 'Zulu', then the movie 'Stalag 17'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Hirst;
[7pm] 'House Invaders' - Telford;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Liverpool;
[8pm] 'House Invaders' - Shirley, Solihull;
[8:30pm] 'House Invaders' - Kings Norton;
[9pm] 'Faking It' - Cruise-ship Worker to Yachtswoman;
[10pm] 'Coupling' - Dressed;
[10:40pm] 'Parkinson' - Nicole Kidman/ Cold Mountain;
[11pm] 'House Invaders' - Shirley, Solihull;
[11:30pm] 'House Invaders' - Kings Norton;
[12am] 'Faking It' - Cruise-ship Worker to Yachtswoman;
[1am] 'Coupling' - Dressed;
[1:40am] 'Parkinson' - Nicole Kidman/ Cold Mountain;
[2am] 'House Invaders' - Shirley, Solihull;
[2:30am] 'House Invaders' - Kings Norton;
[3am] 'Faking It' - Cruise-ship Worker to Yachtswoman;
[4am] 'Coupling' - Dressed;
[4:40am] 'Parkinson' - Nicole Kidman/ Cold Mountain;
[5am] 'House Invaders' - Shirley, Solihull;
[5:30am] 'House Invaders' - Kings Norton; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has a marathon of 'Queer Eye' all day & night.
Comedy Central has a marathon of 'MAD TV' all day, followed by 'Insomniac With Dave Attell', 'South Park', 'Man Show',
and another 'Man Show'.
On a RERUN Jon Stewart it's TBA.
History has 5 'Wrath Of God''s, followed by 'Modern Marvels', 'Bible's Greatest Secrets', 'Apocalypse', and 'Love & Sex In The Hebrew Bible'.
SciFi - Twilight Zone Marathon:
6am 'The Parallel';
7am 'The Thirty Fathom Grave';
8am: 'No Time Like The Past';
9am 'The Incredible World Of Horace Ford';
10am 'New Exhibit';
11am 'Minature';
12pm 'Night Of The Meek';
12:30pm 'Walking Distance';
1pm 'Dust';
1:30pm 'Mr. Dingle, The Strong';
2pm 'Nick Of Time';
2:30pm 'The Invaders';
3pm 'The Chaser';
3:30pm 'A Stop At Willoughby';
4pm 'Mr. Bevis';
4:30pm 'To Serve Man';
5pm 'Living Doll';
5:30pm 'The Shelter';
6pm 'The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street';
6:30pm 'Eye Of The Beholder';
7pm 'Four O'Clock';
7:30pm 'Twenty-Two';
8pm 'Number 12 Looks Just Like You';
8:32pm 'Still Valley';
9:05pm 'It's A Good Life';
9:38pm 'The Self-Improvement Of Salvatore Ross';
10:11pm 'What You Need';
10:44pm 'Elegy';
11:14pm 'People Are Alike All Over';
11:44pm 'Perchance To Dream';
12:14am 'The Howling Man';
12:44am 'The Jungle';
1:14am 'Where Is Everybody';
1:44am 'Static';
2:14am 'Shadow Play';
2:44am 'The Arrival';
3:14am 'The Passerby';
3:44am 'Dead Man's Shoes';
4:14am 'Nothing In The Dark';
4:44am 'Queen Of The Nile';
5:14am 'Execution'.
TCM:
[6am] 'Topkapi' (1964);
[8am] 'The Asphalt Jungle' (1950);
[10am] 'Kansas City Confidential' (1952);
[12pm] 'The Thomas Crown Affair' (1968);
[2pm] 'The Great Train Robbery' (1979);
[4pm] 'The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad' (1973);
[6pm] 'Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger' (1977);
[8pm] 'The Time Machine' (1960);
[10pm] 'Soylent Green' (1973);
[12am] 'Sleeper' (1973);
[1:30am] 'Metropolis' (1927);
[4am] 'While The City Sleeps' (1956). (ALL TIMES EST)
Fireworks are seen behind the St. Basil Cathedral during the New Year's celebration at the Red Square in Moscow Thursday, Jan.1, 2004.
Photo by Ivan Sekretarev
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Completes Final Vampire Novel
Anne Rice
Anne Rice, the author who gave new life to the undead, lives in a house full of saints. Her library holds half a dozen 15-inch to 2 1/2-foot-high statues, including a porcelain Virgin Mary and Child dressed in embroidered velvet and stiff, gold lace.
Almost life-sized wooden figures of Mary and of St. Lucy, holding two eyeballs on a plate, stand serenely in a dining room decorated with antebellum murals of rural Italy. A smaller, arrow-pierced St. Sebastian writhes on a sideboard, contorted in holy agony.
Rice's fascination with sanctity started long before she began "Interview With the Vampire," her first novel to ask whether the undead might be part of God's plan. "Blood Canticle" is the latest and last of her books about vampires and witches.
"I wanted to be a saint. I wanted to be like St. Rose of Lima," Rice says. "She could toss roses in the air and they'd stay as a wreath — she was so powerful as a saint. I used that image in 'The Witching Hour.' I had Lasher, the evil spirit, help the little girl Deirdre ... toss flowers in the air and they'd stay.
For the rest of a good read, Anne Rice
www.annerice.com
New Song Condemns War in Iraq
Willie Nelson
Country music icon Willie Nelson has written a Christmas song with an edge -- a protest against the war in Iraq that he hopes will stir passions in those who hear it.
Nelson, 70, told Reuters on Wednesday he wrote "Whatever Happened to Peace on Earth" after watching the news on Christmas Day and will play it in Austin, Texas on Saturday at a concert to benefit Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich.
Nelson said his new song criticized the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq and those who thought it unpatriotic to speak out against the war.
The song opens with the line "How much oil is one human life worth?" and swings into the chorus: "Hell they won't lie to me/ Not on my own damn TV/ But how much is a liar's word worth/ And whatever happened to peace on earth?"
Willie Nelson
Fireworks explode over the ancient temple of the Parthenon in Athens during New Year's day celebrations January 1, 2004. A spectacular light show, directed by Spanish pyrotechnic artist Alberto Navarro, took place over the city that will host the Athens 2004 Olympic Games next summer.
Photo by Yiorgos Karahalis
CBS Denies Paying For '60 Minutes'
Michael Jackson
CBS said Wednesday that the network did not pay Michael Jackson to give an interview that was seen by nearly 19 million people on "60 Minutes" on Sunday.
The New York Times, quoting a Jackson associate who was not named, said Wednesday that Jackson was paid $1 million to reschedule an entertainment special that had been postponed in November. That payment came on top of a previously negotiated licensing fee for the special, the Times said. The entertainment program, "Michael Jackson Number Ones," will air Friday.
CBS has said that it would not have aired the entertainment special if Jackson hadn't addressed the molestation charges against him with its news division.
The Times source said that, "in essence," CBS paid him for the interview, even though the money came out of the network's entertainment budget.
CBS executives insisted the network never pays for news interviews and did not in this case, even though Jackson's special would not have aired — and the pop star wouldn't have been paid — if the interview hadn't taken place.
Michael Jackson
Greatest Rock Rogue
Keith Moon
The late Who drummer Keith Moon, famed for trashing drum kits, cars and hotel rooms, topped a list of the "100 most insane moments in rock" released this week by British music magazine Q.
Moon, who died from an overdose of prescription drugs in 1978, was singled out for a life of excess that included countless drug-fueled brawls, a food fight with police in Flint, Michigan and an impromptu fireworks display on a U.S. television show.
The quirky list, chosen by magazine staff, ranges from famously volatile stars such as Marilyn Manson, Courtney Love and Eminem to Bob Dylan, who was included due to an alleged fondness for British motorway service stations; country legend George Jones, who once drove a lawnmower down a freeway; and Elton John, who spent almost 300,000 pounds (US$500,000) on flowers in less than two years.
The Top 10:
1. Keith Moon
2. Prince — proselytizes door-to-door for Jehovah's Witnesses
3. Marilyn Manson — covers fan in meat
4. Michael Jackson — puts curse on Steven Spielberg
5. Elvis Presley — flies 879 miles (1415 kilometers) for peanut butter and bacon sandwiches
6. Mayhem — Norwegian band's bassist kills guitarist
7. Courtney Love — lies down semi-naked in London street
8. Marion "Suge" Knight — career of oft-jailed rap impresario
9. Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown — troubled marriage
10. Freddie Mercury — Queen frontman's backstage antics
Keith Moon
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
French Author Claims Disney Copied
'Nemo'
A French children's book author has filed a lawsuit against Disney claiming that superstar fish Nemo closely resembles his own creation, a smiling, wide-eyed clown fish named Pierrot, reports said.
Franck Le Calvez's book "Pierrot the Clown Fish" tells the story of a striped orange fish who is separated from his family — a debut similar to "Finding Nemo."
In February, a court will hear his case against Disney and Pixar Animation, Le Monde newspaper said. The case is for breach of copyright and trademark, and Le Calvez also wants Nemo merchandise taken off the shelves of French shops.
Le Calvez registered his story with French trademark officials in 1995, according to a Dec. 20 report in Le Monde. Then he pitched his idea to film animation studios, without success.
'Nemo'
Filipinos look at a fireworks as they welcome the New Year in front of lantern-made palace, downtown Manila on Thursday Jan. 1, 2004.
Photo by Aaron Favila
Post Office Unveils
Disney Stamps
The Postal Service unveiled a set of stamp designs Tuesday featuring Disney characters. Also included are Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket, Simba and Pinocchio.
The 37-cent self-adhesive stamps will be issued next summer.
The characters are on a four-stamp set, the first of three annual sets planned featuring Disney characters.
Disney Stamps
U.S. Postal Service
Wedding News
Imbruglia & Johns
Popstar Natalie Imbruglia married Daniel Johns, frontman for Australian rock band Silverchair in a secret ceremony at a tropical resort Wednesday, a report said.
The couple exchanged vows at an exclusive resort on Australia's northeastern coast, with a large white marquee seen on the lawns of the Thala Beach Lodge, near Port Douglas, Australian Associated Press reported.
Johns 24, and Imbruglia 28, who announced their engagement earlier this year, flew into nearby Cairns airport Tuesday night and were driven off the tarmac in a gold limousine.
Imbruglia & Johns
NYC Theater Chains
Ticket Prices
Two major movie theater chains are adding 25 cents to the price of a ticket in the city, pushing the cost of adult admission above the $10 mark for the first time.
Loews Cineplex and United Artists began charging $10.25 for an adult's ticket and $6.75 for a child's ticket in the past week as moviegoers crowded theaters for holiday blockbusters such as "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."
Loews defended the price increase, saying it was fair considering the rising costs of other entertainment and the rate of inflation.
Ticket Prices
Musical In The Works
Sammy Davis Jr.
Auditions will be held in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles next month by producers casting a new musical about the life of entertainer Sammy Davis Jr.
The show will be called "Mr. Bojangles: The Ultimate Entertainer," said JTR Entertainment. Producers are looking for two performers — "who can sing, dance, act and do impersonations, all at the same time" — to portray Davis.
Auditions are set for Jan. 10 in Chicago, Jan. 17 in New York and Jan. 24 in Los Angeles. The show will open in early 2004 and will tour major casinos across the country.
Sammy Davis Jr.
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Princess Anne's Terrier Strikes Again
Florence
Florence, a bull terrier belonging to Britain's Princess Anne, has attacked a royal servant only days after savaging one of Queen Elizabeth's dogs which had to be put down, Buckingham Palace said on Wednesday.
The latest episode of doggie bad behavior occurred at the queen's Sandringham estate in rural Norfolk, eastern England on Saturday when Florence bit a maid on the leg. The servant was treated by a doctor. English bull terriers are a stocky breed of dog with powerful jaws.
The news is likely to prompt calls for the terrier to be destroyed since it now has a history of attacks -- the queen's corgi Pharos and now the maid. Buckingham Palace refused to comment on whether the dog would be put down.
Florence
Spectators watch fireworks in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, during the New Year celebrations on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2004. Thousands of Berliners took to the streets in the federal capital to usher in the New Year.
Photo by Jan Bauer
Arrested for Assault
Cris Kirkwood
Cris Kirkwood, bass player for the rock band Meat Puppets, was arrested Tuesday, accused of assaulting a guard at a local post office.
Kirkwood, 43, has been charged with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon at a federal facility. He was arrested as he left Good Samaritan Hospital, where he had been taken after he was shot by a post office security guard on Friday.
Kirkwood allegedly shoved the guard and then punched him, taking away his collapsible baton, said FBI spokeswoman Susan Herskovits. He then allegedly hit the guard on the head with the baton.
Herskovits said the guard had been trying to mediate an argument between Kirkwood and a woman who apparently had been fighting over a parking space in front of the downtown post office.
Cris Kirkwood
Coroner Can't Determine Suicide
Elliott Smith
Los Angeles coroner's officials said on Monday they could not determine whether the stab wounds that killed Oscar-nominated singer-songwriter Elliott Smith in October were self-inflicted.
An autopsy report appears to leave the nature of Smith's death, which was initially called a suicide by Los Angeles police, an open question.
The body of Smith -- who earned an Oscar nomination and widespread notice for his 1997 single "Miss Misery" from the film "Good Will Hunting" -- was found in October at his Los Angeles home by the musician's live-in girlfriend.
Coroner's spokesman David Campbell said Smith, 34, died from two "penetrating stab wounds" to the chest.
Campbell said toxicology tests found no illegal or controlled substances in Smith's system. The singer was apparently taking anti-depressants and medication for attention deficit disorder at the time of his death but was not abusing them, Campbell said.
Elliott Smith
Right On Time
Earth
Apparently, the Earth isn't slowing down as it used to, and no one knows why.
Flip your calendar back to 1972. That's the year the world began its current system of atomic time-keeping. NIST operates one of the clocks used to set "Coordinated Universal Time."
Scientists soon discovered they had a small problem: The rate at which the Earth travels through space had slowed ever so slightly, and as a result was completing its 365-day journey around the sun one second behind schedule.
To make the world's official time agree with where the Earth actually sat in space, scientists started having the atomic clocks count an extra "leap second" on the last day of the year.
For 28 years, scientists repeated the procedure. Then, in 1999, they discovered that the Earth was no longer lagging behind. It didn't need a leap second.
This is the fifth consecutive year that the Earth hasn't lagged behind schedule.
Earth
In Memory
John Gregory Dunne
John Gregory Dunne, the best-selling author of "True Confessions" known for his biting critiques of Hollywood and frequent collaborations with his wife, Joan Didion, has died. He was 71.
Dunne died Tuesday night at his Manhattan apartment after sitting down to dinner with Didion, said his older brother, acclaimed writer Dominick Dunne. The couple had just returned from visiting their seriously ill daughter at a hospital, he said.
In the 1970s, he and Didion worked together on screenplays including "A Star is Born" (1976), the rock 'n' roll remake of the Hollywood classic starring Barbara Streisand.
Dunne's breakout novel came the next year with "True Confessions," a tough, bleak account of a woman's brutal murder and its connection to two brothers, a policeman and a priest.
In the 1990s, Dunne published another Hollywood-themed novel, "Playland" (1996), and worked with Didion on a screenplay dramatizing the life of troubled television reporter Jessica Savitch.
Dunne is survived by his wife and daughter, Quintana Roo.
John Gregory Dunne
A huge reticulated python, which keepers say is a whopping 14.85 metres (48.7 feet), sits in its cage at a recreational park in the small Central Java town of Kendal.
Photo by Dwi Oblo
'The Osbournes'
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