'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Michele Hanson: I'm sick of this raving mad meat industry (guardian.co.uk)
Here's the barmy option that Asda is backing: the development of single-sex semen so that dairy cattle only give birth to female calves.
Annalee Newitz: Why We Shouldn't Fear Cloned Meat
People are freaked out by the FDA's ruling that cloned meat is safe to eat, but we eat cloned plants all the time.
The chair workout (guardian.co.uk)
After losing a leg, Leanne Grose was determined to stay active despite being in a wheelchair - so she made her own fitness dvd. But she never expected that older and overweight people would love it too, reports Peta Bee.
ADAM WILLIAMS: "Neuvo Marketing: An Interview with Me Talk Pretty" (popmatters.com)
Me Talk Pretty takes a flexible approach to new forms of distribution while trying not to leave anyone bewildered.
Joe Klopus: Ahmad Jamal is a practicing, practicing, practicing piano player (McClatchy Newspapers; Posted on popmatters.com)
It's 9:30 a.m., not always a friendly hour to those who make music in the night. But Ahmad Jamal, the 77-year-old piano giant, sounds perfectly chipper.
B.J. Hammerstein: Rapping with hip-hop artist and producer Talib Kweli (Detroit Free Press; Posted on popmatters.com)
2007 was a big year for Brooklyn-bred MC Talib Kweli. On New Year's Eve, he released the critically acclaimed "Liberation," his collaboration with uber-producer Madlib, free on the Internet and followed that up with "Eardrum," a summer release that debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
Len Righi: Pop-rocker Marshall Crenshaw gets serious and walks the walk (The Morning Call [Allentown, Pa.]; Posted on popmatters.com)
When Marshall Crenshaw was approached in May 2005 to write the title song for "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," he took the assignment seriously, even though the satirical film about a singer who overcomes adversity to become a musical legend had not yet been cast, or even greenlighted.
John Anderson: Diane Lane's talent is not `Untraceable' (Newsday; Posted on popmatters.com)
Diane Lane is a little like Zelig, and your birthday. She doesn't come around all that often, but you're pretty happy when she does. And she's been popping in and out of moviegoers' field of vision, with startling, chimerical regularity, since the Nixon administration.
Mark Morford: Are you Tom Cruise crazy? (sfgate.com)
Yes, the tiny megastar proves he's all kinds of nuts in a bizarre video. But how about you?
Betty Bowers: Betty's Blog
Heath Ledger is dead. And for the most foreseeable cause possible for a young celebrity: drugs. Everyone in the entertainment industry knows about the heroin, the coke, the excess. But no one cares, just as long as an entertaining junkie doesn't get so strung out he loses the studio or network cash. Then, and only then, will the concept of intervention be bandied about. And rehab? Don't be quaint; that's something your agent tells you to do only after you get caught.
Betty Bowers' Music Video: "You're Going Straight to HEll"
Dareland
Free Cloverfield
My favorite scene in
Cloverfield is the one where the guy with the video camera wanders into
a Cineplex where Cloverfield is playing and makes an illegal copy of
the film which he posts to the internet so people can see a
shaky video version of a shaky video version of a monster movie that
deconstructs monster movies to such an extent it virtually contains not one
single cliché of the genre, a film made by elimination, that refuses to show you
what you want to see because the guy with the camera is much more interested in
the girl than the monster, so it's in fact a doomed love story with a monster in
the background. Critics are lambasting the film for using imagery right out of
9/11, buildings falling down in New York City, without actually making any sort
of comment on the event itself, but they don't seem to get the concept of
deconstruction. It's exactly like 9/11. The terrorist is a monster that is never
explained, the official story is certainly a sham, we'll never know what really
happened because all we've got are video remnants picked up by future
archeologists who have to piece together the event through the eyes of observers
with something else on their mind. And it will certainly be used as an excuse to
start a "war on monsters" in Cloverfield II. Like your standard
terrorist cell, you never see the whole monster, just bits and pieces, but
artists are posting their versions of what they think it looks like here. Hasbro's coming out with a
$100 toy of the monster but it's not bin Laden,
it's a hideous multi-limbed beast with a lot of teeth, more like al Qaeda,
perfect for placing under the Christmas tree so your kids can play with it,
pretending to be terrorists themselves, knocking down New York with sound
effects in their heads, every viewer a new al Qaeda cell, ready to inflict
meaningless damage on whatever's nearby in the name of amusement. Yeah, it's
food for thought because, not despite, what's left out of the film. See it but
don't pay for it. Use this
torrent. That's what a real terrorist would do.
Reader Suggestion
Fox & Mars
It's on Fox, so it GOTTA be true
Reader Contribution
Stray Cat
Hi Marty,
The picture of deer on the deck yesterday was interesting. I think these pictures are exciting. I'll send the pictures separately as I believe you mentioned you have a dial-up connection. Don't want to bog you down.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
A little thunder, a little lightning, and a whole lotta rain.
Seeks More Screens
Michael Moore
Michael Moore is mad as hell about documentaries and foreign films being crowded out of theaters, and he's not going to take it anymore.
"My new year's resolution is to sit down with the heads of exhibition chains and have them devote one screen in their multiplexes to nonfiction and foreign films," Moore said. He said he's spoken with fellow documentary directors to join him in the initiative, including board members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' documentary branch, though it is unclear if AMPAS would be officially involved.
The director of four of the top-grossing docus of all time ("Fahrenheit 9/11," "Roger & Me," the Oscar-winning "Bowling for Columbine" and the just-announced Oscar nominee "Sicko") wants to use his influence with exhibitors to make this happen. "If not me, then who?" he said. "I'm the one who got through the door."
Moore's motivation is the declining boxoffice performance of independent films last year, in which many were taken out of theaters before they had a chance to build word-of-mouth business. He said it's an extension of his work promoting fellow indie filmmakers at his annual Traverse City Film Festival.
Michael Moore
Takes Up Lobbying
Marcia Cross
The Hollywood writers strike shuttered production on ABC's "Desperate Housewives," but Marcia Cross hasn't been spending her downtime holed up inside.
The 45-year-old actress was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, lobbying Congress to pass the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2007 to end "drive-through" mastectomies for women forced to leave the hospital hours after surgery.
Cross is campaigning to give women the choice to recuperate for at least 48 hours following a mastectomy. She was joined by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Lifetime network executive Meredith Wagner.
"It's such a simple bill that it's hard for me to understand why it's been languishing in Congress for 10 years," Cross said Wednesday. "When they told me about it, I just said, `What's the problem?'"
Marcia Cross
Visits Pentagon
Bono
U2 lead singer and activist Bono visited the Pentagon to discuss Africa and the fight against global poverty with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, representatives of the two men said on Wednesday.
Among the topics at the 20-minute meeting on Tuesday afternoon were U.S. plans to set up a new U.S. military command for Africa, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
"I think this was a chance for two people who care about the problems facing the continent of Africa to talk about their shared interest in solving those problems," Morrell said of the meeting that was not publicized in advance.
Bono
Pay-Per-View Opera Postponed
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera dropped plans for pay-per-view telecasts on In Demand this season after objections from theater owners who felt it would take away revenue from their broadcasts.
The Met and In Demand announced their agreement in November, saying it would be similar to a movie rollout. Theaters would air the eight live telecasts, which began Dec. 15, and have replay rights of up to 30 days for each opera. In Demand would then broadcast the operas for 30 days and, after that, the programs would shift to PBS stations.
"The movie theaters objected strenuously," Met general manager Peter Gelb said Wednesday. "They are used to this model that has been established between the major movie chains and the major studios in Hollywood, which has a 120-day window."
In Demand's public-relations office could not immediately find an executive to respond to a request for comment.
Metropolitan Opera
Music Labels Launch Free Music On-Demand
Last.fm
Last.fm, the social music network owned by CBS Corp, said on Wednesday it is introducing a free service for fans to listen to their favorite songs on-demand.
The new service is being launched in partnership with the four major music companies, as well as over 150,000 labels and artists.
When fans in the United States, Britain and Germany search for an artist on the Last.fm Web site, they can now stream the artist's song for nothing or pay to download an MP3 version of the song via Amazon.com.
Last.fm said the streaming service is funded by advertising revenue, which is shared with the music companies.
Last.fm
Headed To Sci Fi Channel
"Jericho"
Sci Fi Channel has snapped up cable rerun rights to the post-apocalyptic drama "Jericho" from CBS Television Distribution.
The three-year agreement gives Sci Fi rights to the first and second seasons of the series, which includes an exclusive first run in basic cable for the first six months of the deal.
"Jericho" is set to make its Sci Fi debut with a four-episode marathon February 11, the day before the show's second-season premiere on CBS. "Jericho," which will be simulcast in high definition on Sci Fi HD, will begin airing in its regular Sci Fi time slot of 10 p.m. Mondays on February 18.
After CBS canceled the series, viewers launched a campaign to save it, including sending tens of thousands of pounds of nuts to top network executives, who decided to give the show a reprieve with a seven-episode second-season order.
"Jericho"
Pandering Compassion
White House
The death of Heath Ledger prompted the White House to postpone resident Bush's event Wednesday promoting an ad campaign aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse.
The resident was to make a statement in the Roosevelt Room on the Office of National Drug Control Policy's television advertisement about preventing prescription drug abuse. A federally financed study released in December at the White House showed illicit drug use by teens continued to gradually decline overall this year, but the use of prescription painkillers remained popular among young people.
"We thought it would be better to postpone the event rather than run the risk of anyone thinking that we were being opportunistic in highlighting the issue," Dana Perino said lied.
White House
Invited To Visit Budapest
Charlize Theron
Budapest has invited Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron for an all-expenses-paid visit, after she reportedly placed the Hungarian capital in Turkey.
Turkey's capital is Ankara. Theron had visited Turkey's largest city, Istanbul, for its International Film Festival.
But in comments reported by the British tabloid The Daily Mail, Theron erred and said she had enjoyed her stay in Turkey and its capital, Budapest.
Budapest's Deputy Mayor Imre Ikvai-Szabo invited Theron to spend a long weekend in the city and to see its attractions, including some of Turkish origin.
Charlize Theron
To Be Seen Globally
NY Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic's concert in North Korea next month is to be broadcast live worldwide, the orchestra announced Wednesday.
The Feb. 26 concert in the nation's capital is to be conducted by the orchestra's music director, Lorin Maazel, in the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre.
The program will include the national anthems of both North Korea and the United States; the Prelude to Act III of Wagner's "Lohengrin"; Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World," and Gershwin's "An American in Paris."
The telecast is to be produced by the New York Philharmonic, EuroArts Music International, ARTE France and South Korea's Munhwa Broadcasting Company. The European Broadcasting Union will also join the effort.
NY Philharmonic
Museum Piece Found To Be Live
Mark 1 Rocket
A rocket on display for two years at veterans' museum was discovered to be live Wednesday and was removed safely, authorities said.
The Allegany County's Combined County Criminal Investigations unit and the State Fire Marshal's Office said the ordnance was on display at the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 172 on North Liberty Street. The ordnance was a 48-inch by 2.75-inch Mark 1 Rocket similar to those used on helicopter gun ships during the Vietnam conflict, Deputy State Fire Marshal Joseph Zurolo Jr. said.
The rocket was donated to the museum at the chapter building by a local Vietnam veteran about two years ago, he said.
On Wednesday, Allegany County law enforcers were notified that the rocket might be live. Bomb squad officers from the fire marshal's office and the FBI went to the museum, examined the rocket and found it was live. Technicians removed the rocket and rendered it safe.
Mark 1 Rocket
Prime Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-Time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Jan. 14-20. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.
1. (X) NFC Championship: N.Y. Giants at Green Bay, Fox, 53.94 million viewers.
2. (X) "NFC Championship Post-Game Show" (10:16-10:22), Fox, 40.64 million viewers.
3. (1) "American Idol" (Tuesday), Fox, 33.42 million viewers.
4. (2) "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 30.44 million viewers.
5. (X) "NFC Championship Post-Game Show" (10:22-10:41)," Fox, 23.1 million viewers.
6. (8) "NCIS," CBS, 15.82 million viewers.
7. (21) "Deal Or No Deal" (Monday), NBC, 15.08 million viewers.
8. (11) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 14.8 million viewers.
9. (6) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 14.15 million viewers.
10. (14) "Without a Trace," CBS, 13.29 million viewers.
11. (X) "Comanche Moon 2," CBS, 12.56 million viewers.
12. (24) "Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit," NBC, 12.2 million viewers.
13. (X) "Comanche Moon 3," CBS, 12.13 million viewers.
14. (26) "Deal Or No Deal" (Wednesday), NBC, 11.81 million viewers.
15. (21) "Law & Order," NBC, 11.59 million viewers.
16. (54) "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?," Fox, 11.58 million viewers.
17. (17) "Two And a Half Men," CBS, 11.51 million viewers.
18. (31) "American Gladiators," NBC, 10.61 million viewers.
19. (19) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC, 10.5 million viewers.
20. (31) "Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrieann," ABC, 10.5 million viewers.
Ratings
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