zEN mAN (observing purchasing managers of "Frito-Lay" admitting to cheating company of almost $1 million in California tomato prchases.....oh the humanity!)
KACIE GLENN; "Irrational Intelligence; Get Smarter" (chronicle.com)
Ever bought a 12-foot Christmas tree for a 10-foot-high apartment? Picked up a hitchhiker in a nasty part of town? Or, perhaps, taken out a mortgage you couldn't afford? The good news is that poor decision-making skills may have little effect on your IQ score, according to Keith E. Stanovich, author of "What Intelligence Tests Miss: The Psychology of Rational Thought" (Yale University Press). The bad news? He thinks you'd lose a few points on a more-accurate gauge of intelligence.
John Updike, Author, Dies at 76 (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
John Updike, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, prolific man of letters and erudite chronicler of sex, divorce and other adventures in the postwar prime of the American empire, died Tuesday at age 76.
Greg Kot: Metallica too loud? Too bad, says drummer Lars Ulrich (Chicago Tribune)
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has seen "This Is Spinal Tap" and its comical tale of a has-been metal band overstaying its welcome. He has laughed, and he has learned from it. Though irrelevance or self-parody has threatened the mighty, three-decade-old Metallica on its way to selling 100 million records, the joke is not on him or his band - yet. When it is, Ulrich says, "Hopefully we can do what Soundgarden did and kick it in the head and walk away."
Actor/Producer Tom Hanks said at the LA premier of the Mormon polygamy themed HBO series 'Big Love', "The truth is a lot of Mormons gave a lot of money to the church to make Prop-8 happen. There are a lot of people who feel that is un-American, and I am one of them." A few days later he gave a qualified recantation by saying, "Last week, I labeled members of the Mormon church who supported California's Proposition 8 as 'un-American,'" I believe Proposition 8 is counter to the promise of our Constitution; it is codified discrimination. But everyone has a right to vote their conscience; nothing could be more American. To say members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who contributed to Proposition 8 are 'un-American' creates more division when the time calls for respectful disagreement. No one should use 'un- American' lightly or in haste. I did. I should not have."....
This week's poll has two questions...
Should Mr. Hanks have made that recantation?
and...
If banning gay marriage is discrimination isn't it the same to ban polygamy (or polyandry) between consenting adults?
The Martin-Sinatra-Davis-Lawford-Bishop group referred to themselves as "The Summit" or "The Clan" and never as "The Rat Pack," although this has remained their identity in the popular culture.
Source #1
mj was first, but wrong, with:
D, the Rat Pack. Shirley McClain was the token female.
Rich Mc D answered:
The rat pack,
BadtotheboneBob replied:
D: Rat Pack... and they were coolness personified to me as an early 60's kid, I'm tellin' ya...
Colby in Frostproof responded:
The answer is D. The late great Rat Pack.
Leo nailed it with:
They called themselves "The Summit." Lauren Bacall dubbed them "the Rat Pack" when they visited husband Bogie for late-night sessions of card playing, drinking, and whatever.
Adam in NoHo answered:
It's not a trick question, right? D-Rat Pack.
Joe S ("Being a star has made it possible for me to get insulted in places where the average Negro could never hope to go and get insulted."
~ Sammy Davis, Jr.) wrote:
D Rat Pack
PS. When I was younger (you know, 18, 19, 20) I idolized the Rat Pack, I saw them as the epitome of urban manhood. That's when I developed my impeccable fashion sense as illustrated here.
-pgw replied:
Easy question for me today.
The Rat Pack.
~ Tony In Philly responded:
D: The Rat Pack
The Vidiot wrote:
The Rat Pack
Right? And wasn't Shirley McClaine the only chick allowed to hang with them? And weren't the cast members of "The Breakfast Club" christened the "brat pack" in a sort of sad and soulless homage?
Sally said:
Anyone who experienced the mid-1950s through the 1960s, well-remembers the Dean Martin-Frank Sinatra-Sammy Davis Jr-Peter Lawford-Joey Bishop group who, referred to themselves as 'The Rat Pack!' (D)
They were a casual group (non-scripted) of entertainers, who played to sold-out audiences in the Las Vegas of that era. Usually, one or two of the "Pack" would be billed in front of the particular casino for a show, but the other's in the group would just "show up" and hop up on stage, much to the delight of all! (Of course this was prior to the ostentatious mass-glitz, non-personal, casino-stage's in Vegas today...) Everyone in the "Rat Pack" audience, felt a, "part of" their crowd, and very much the "insider." It was an intimate experience, with the spontaneous, alcohol-fueled humor of that era. Their's was the original, "reality-style" entertainment - well before its time. Guess you just had to be there to understand their act. I was, and they were, the very best...
PS: "Snow Day" today, no school for the gks! I can remember a time when life didn't get much better than that - who else remembers those days of old?? Snowman anyone?? :)
joe b answered:
They were called The Rat Pack and they made some good movies together
What got me was when I found out that Bogie started it and made Frank President
of The Rat Pack it's to bad that Bogie passed away before they could do a movie together.
MAM also nailed it with:
Answer E
Although the media and just about every body else called them 'The Rat Pack', the group was never called that name by any of its members. They called themselves the 'Summit' or the 'Clan'.
Marian the Teacher responded:
Rat Pack
And, Carla replied:
I'm old enough to remember The Rat Pack of Martin, Sinatra, Davis, Lawford and Bishop!
The local Faux O&O's morning show is heavily advertising a contest of 'post your sexiest videos' on their site (and they'll show 'the best' on the show), with prizes of lingerie from that noted bastion of family values, the Hustler store in Hollywood.
Tonight, Thursday:
CBS opens the night with a RERUN'Criminal Minds', followed by a FRESH'CSI: The Original One', then a FRESH'Eleventh Hour'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Renee Zellweger, Tony Dungy, and Graham Nash sits in with the band.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Dominic Monaghan, and Rosemarie DeWitt.
NBC begins the night with a RERUN'My Name Is Earl', followed by a RERUN'Kath & Kim', then a RERUN'The Office', followed by a RERUN'30 Rock', then a RERUN'ER'.
Scheduled on a FRESHLeno are Jenna Fischer, Justin Long, and Franz Ferdinand.
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Jon Stewart, Mary Lynn Rajskub, and Mike Birbiglia.
On a RERUNCarson 'The Scab' Daly (from 1/8/09) are Angela Kinsey and Asher Roth.
ABC starts the night with a RERUN'Ugly Betty', followed by a RERUN'Grey's Anatomy', then a FRESH'Private Practice'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Andy Garcia, macaroni and cheese box collector Ian Golder, and Kraak and Smaak.
The CW offers a FRESH'Smallville', followed by a FRESH'Supernatural'.
Faux has a FRESH'American Idol', followed by a FRESH'Hell's Kitchen'.
MY fills the night with the movie 'Dangerous Minds'.
A&E has 'The First 48', another 'The First 48', followed by a FRESH'The First 48', then a FRESH'The Beast'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Untouchables', followed by the movie 'Rudy', then the movie 'Stand By Me'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 4
[12:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 5
[1:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? US - Episode 18
[1:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 2
[2:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 1 Ruby Tates
[3:00 PM] Gordon Ramsay's F Word - Episode 2
[4:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? US - Episode 19
[4:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 3
[5:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep. 2 Glass House
[6:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 7 Campania
[7:00 PM] BBC World News America
[8:00 PM] Dragons' Den - Episode 4
[9:00 PM] Plastic Surgery Junkies with Louis Theroux
[10:00 PM] BBC World News America
[11:00 PM] Dragons' Den - Episode 4
[12:00 AM] Plastic Surgery Junkies with Louis Theroux
[1:00 AM] Dragons' Den - Episode 4
[2:00 AM] Plastic Surgery Junkies with Louis Theroux
[3:00 AM] The Graham Norton Show - Ep 10 Barry Manilow
[4:00 AM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 4
[4:30 AM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 5
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 40 Boyle
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 41 Mayhew
[6:00 AM] BBC World News (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Top Chef', another 'Top Chef', 'Real Housewives Of OC', and another 'Real Housewives Of OC'.
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', last night's 'Jon Stewart', last night's 'Colbert Report', 'Futurama', 'South Park', 'Sarah Silverman', and another 'Sarah Silverman'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is P.W. Singer.
Scheduled on a FRESHColbert Report is John Podesta.
FX has the movie 'The Italian Job', followed by the movie 'Transporter 2', then the movie 'Transporter 2', again.
History has 'Modern Marvels', another 'Modern Marvels', 'Gangland', and 'Cities Of The Underworld'.
IFC -
[7:10 AM] IFC Short Film Showcase
[8:10 AM] The Florentine
[10:00 AM] The Virgin Spring
[11:35 AM] Afraid of the Dark
[11:35 AM] Afraid of the Dark
[1:10 PM] The Florentine
[3:00 PM] The Virgin Spring
[4:30 PM] Afraid of the Dark
[4:30 PM] Afraid of the Dark
[6:05 PM] 2009 Spirit Awards Nomination Special
[6:30 PM] The Cars That Ate Paris
[8:00 PM] American Psycho
[9:45 PM] Dahmer
[11:30 PM] Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
[1:00 AM] The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
[2:30 AM] Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures
[4:00 AM] American Psycho
[5:45 AM] The Cars That Ate Paris (ALL TIMES EST)
SciFi has the movie 'Timberfalls', followed by the movie 'Rise: Blood Hunter'.
Sundance -
[05:45 AM] This is England
[07:30 AM] Robyn Hitchcock: Sex, Food, Death ...& Insects
[08:30 AM] Drop Back Ten
[10:00 AM] East of Havana
[11:30 AM] Day Night Day Night
[01:15 PM] Bombon: El Perro
[03:00 PM] The Hawk is Dying
[05:00 PM] The King of Ping Pong
[07:00 PM] The Tiger and the Snow
[09:00 PM] Iconoclasts - Season 4: Venus Williams + Wyclef Jean
[10:00 PM] Noise (2007)
[12:05 AM] Spectacle: Renee Fleming
[01:05 AM] The Last Jews of Libya
[02:00 AM] Iconoclasts - Season 4: Venus Williams + Wyclef Jean
[03:00 AM] Waterborne
[04:30 AM] Kill Gil (Volume 1) (ALL TIMES EST)
Senior Sculptor Colin Jackson (not pictured) works on a clay head mold of U.S. first lady Michelle Obama at Merlin Studios in London in this photograph released to Reuters on January 28, 2009. The clay molds are a crucial step in the up to six month-long figure creation process. The full wax figure will be unveiled at Madame Tussauds Washington D.C. in March.
The US House of Representatives handed President Barack Obama his first legislative setback on Wednesday, rejecting his call to delay next month's planned nationwide shift to digital television.
The Senate unanimously agreed on Monday to delay the switch from an analog to a digital signal, which had been scheduled for February 17, until June 12 but the House rejected the move in a 258 to 168 vote on Wednesday.
Democrats enjoy a majority in the House but the vote fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage of the bill without amendments.
Waxman left open the possibility that the bill may return to the House floor under rules which would allow for its passage by a simple majority.
The ballots are in the mail for the 5,810 members of Hollywood's elite who get to vote on the Academy Awards.
Wednesday's final ballots include nominees in 19 categories, among them best picture, director and the four acting prizes.
Ballots in five other categories - feature-length and short documentaries, foreign-language film, animated shorts and live-action shorts - are available only after academy members verify that they attended screenings of the nominees.
The deadline is Feb. 17 for Oscar voters to return ballots to the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. The big show itself comes five days later.
A visitor views an installation "Ghost" by Kader Attia at The Saatchi Gallery in west London January 28, 2009. This representation of a group of Muslim women in prayer forms part of a forthcoming exhibition entitled New Art From The Middle East.
Photo by Toby Melville
The chief U.N. nuclear inspector has canceled a BBC interview to protest the network's refusal to air an appeal for Gaza.
Mohamed ElBaradei's office said Wednesday that not broadcasting it "violates the rules of basic human decency which are there to help vulnerable people irrespective of who is right or wrong."
The British Broadcasting Corp. and Sky News decided not to air the appeal from the Disasters Emergency Committee, an umbrella group of non-governmental humanitarian agencies.
BBC officials have said carrying the appeal would have damaged the network's impartiality in coverage of the conflict.
Gail Zappa, widow of U.S. rock legend Frank Zappa, has failed in her bid to stop a German music festival from using her husband's name and image.
Zappa and her family trust had launched a lawsuit against the German Frank Zappa fan club over its annual Zappanale festival, demanding the removal of a bronze sculpture of Zappa at the festival site in Bad Doberan and damages of $325,000 if the festival continues to use the Zappanale name.
But the higher court in Dusseldorf ruled January 21 that festival organizers may continue to use Zappa's name and his image on the festival logo and related merchandise such as T-shirts and baseball caps. It ruled that Gail Zappa's rights were not violated and that she could not prove she uses the Zappa brand in Germany herself. The court found that she has had knowledge of the festival since it began in 1990. Frank Zappa died in 1993.
The Zappanale festival, which features various bands performing composer/guitarist Zappa's music, had 6,800 visitors in 2008. The 2009 edition is scheduled for August 12-16.
The Secretary of the Army has authorized emergency funds to supplement a reduction in retirement pay for veterans of a largely Native militia formed to guard the territory of Alaska during World War II, Alaska's congressional delegation said Wednesday.
The reduction was a result of misinterpretation of a federal law that recognized the Alaska Territorial Guard's service as federal active duty, Army officials said last week. A new interpretation of the law says service in the five-year guard no longer counts toward the military's 20-year minimum for retirement pay.
According to the congressional delegation, Army Secretary Pete Geren will use an emergency fund to cover the retirement benefits for 26 former members of the largely Native guard. The monthly pay amounts to as much as $557.
The territorial guards - nicknamed Uncle Sam's Men and Eskimo Scouts - received no pay or benefits for the job. Many took jobs as scouting patrols or did construction work on military airstrips.
An acrobat hangs from a pole with blades during a performance to celebrate Chinese new year at an amusement park in Beijing January 28, 2009. Hundreds of millions of Chinese welcomed the Year of the Ox last Sunday, and have packed temple fairs and set off fireworks and firecrackers for the week-long traditional holiday.
Photo by Reinhard Krause
"Cello scrotum," a nasty ailment allegedly suffered by musicians, does not exist and the condition was just a hoax, a senior doctor has admitted.
Back in 1974, in a letter to the British Medical Journal, Elaine Murphy reported that cellists suffered from the painful complaint caused by their instrument repeatedly rubbing against their body.
The claim had been inspired by reports in the BMJ about the alleged condition guitar nipple, caused by irritation when the guitar was pressed against the chest.
But Murphy, now a Baroness and a former Professor of Psychiatry of Old Age at Guy's Hospital in London, has admitted her supposed medical complaint was a spoof.
A California appeals court has ruled that a Christian high school can expel students because of an alleged lesbian relationship.
The 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside on Monday upheld California Lutheran High School's right as a private, religious organization to exclude students based on sexual orientation.
Two girls sued claiming they were discriminated against after they were expelled from the Wildomar school in 2005. A lower court said the school isn't bound by the same anti-discrimination laws as a business establishment.
John McKay, attorney for California Lutheran, says the school's goal is to educate based on Christian principles.
The director of the influential music video "Thriller" has sued pop star Michael Jackson over his share of profits from the 14-minute work.
Filmmaker John Landis, who co-wrote and directed the 1983 "Thriller" video, filed a breach of contract lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court just days before Broadway producers announced this week they had bought the rights to adapt the video for the stage.
The 14-minute "Thriller" video, featuring dancing zombies and Jackson himself, was first aired in 1983 and remains one of the most influential music videos worldwide. Landis also made a documentary about the making of the "Thriller" video.
Landis, director of movies including "An American Werewolf in London" and "The Blues Brothers," said in his lawsuit that he had not received his 50 percent share of the profits from "Thriller" -- including licensing rights -- for at least the past four years from Jackson's now-defunct company Optimum Productions.
Israel's chief rabbinate severed ties with the Vatican on Wednesday to protest a papal decision to reinstate a bishop who publicly denied 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. The Jewish state's highest religious authority sent a letter to the Holy See expressing "sorrow and pain" at the papal decision.
"It will be very difficult for the chief rabbinate of Israel to continue its dialogue with the Vatican as before," the letter said. Chief rabbis of both the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews were parties to the letter.
The rabbinate, which faxed a copy of the letter to The Associated Press, also canceled a meeting with the Vatican set for March. The rabbinate and the state of Israel have separate ties with the Vatican, and Wednesday's move does not affect state relations.
Pope Benedict XVI, faced with an uproar over the bishop, said Wednesday he feels "full and indisputable solidarity" with Jews and warned against any denial of the full horror of the Nazi genocide.
The Reader's Digest Association Inc is cutting about 8 percent of its staff as it tries to strengthen itself against the world financial crisis.
Reader's Digest, which publishes 50 editions of its namesake magazine around the world as well as other magazines, books and videos, also will force some employees to take time off without pay, it said in a statement released Wednesday.
It also will stop matching contributions to U.S. employees' 401(k) retirement plans.
In this image released by Disney, an 80-foot-tall hot air balloon, shaped like Epcot's Spaceship Earth icon, floats above Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009, carrying the Birkett family, of Scottsdale, Ariz., who were winners in the 2008 Disney Dream Giveaway.
Photo by David Roark
Time Warner Inc's AOL will cut about 700 jobs, or 10 percent of its workforce, as it copes with an advertising slump, in a move that could make the slimmed-down company more attractive to possible merger partners like Yahoo Inc.
The Internet unit will also eliminate merit-pay increases this year to help minimize layoffs, AOL Chief Executive Randy Falco said in a memo circulated to employees on Wednesday. A copy of the memo was obtained by Reuters.
Most of the job cuts will be made in the United States and will be finalized by the end of March, he said. The rest will be made abroad over the next several quarters.
I'd like to talk to you about a man whom I've dubbed "Headset Vince". He's the guy from the ShamWow commercials. He wears a headset for reasons no one other than Vince can understand… maybe he's expecting a phone call? From his agent offering him a better gig? Maybe his mom is calling to tell him that Stella from Bingo saw him on the teevee? I don't know. What I do know is that this guy is someone who I, until now, felt the need to mock at any and every conceivable opportunity.
Turns out, Headset Vince is actually one of the good guys, a hero. We need to stop mocking him and start celebrating him. And we need to buy his towels and nut choppers and his DVDs.
Headset Vince is actually a guy named Vince Offer. It sounds like he should be a cartoon bear-dog hybrid drawn onto the corners of coupons you get in the mail, but he is not a cartoon. In real life, Vince was an aspiring filmmaker - not a very good one, but his lack of filmwriting, directing, and acting skills were not about to hold him back from a career making talkies for the big screen. And yet, you notice I'm using the past tense. He was an aspiring filmmaker… but now he wears a headset in TV commercials and makes you feel like a dick for not already owning German-made spongetowels. So what happened?
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Jan. 19-25. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses:
1. "President Obama's Inaugural Oath and Speech" (Tuesday, 12:05 p.m.), CNN, 5.7 million homes, 8.6 million viewers.
2. "Inauguration of Obama" (Tuesday, 12 p.m.), CNN, 5.15 million homes, 7.79 million viewers.
3. "Inauguration of Obama" (Tuesday, 11 a.m.), CNN, 4.69 million homes, 6.73 million viewers.
4. "Obama Inaugural Address" (Tuesday, 12:07 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 4.2 million homes, 5.57 million viewers.
5. "Inauguration 2009" (Tuesday, 12 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 4.09 million homes, 5.29 million viewers.
6. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 4.014 million homes, 6.16 million viewers.
7. "Inauguration of Obama" (Tuesday, 1 p.m.), CNN, 4.01 million homes, 6 million viewers.
8. "Situation Room" (Tuesday, 6 p.m.), CNN, 3.98 million homes, 5.67 million viewers.
9. "Situation Room" (Tuesday, 5 p.m.), CNN, 3.97 million homes, 5.72 million viewers.
10. "Burn Notice" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.828 million homes, 5.12 million viewers.
10. "Inauguration 2009" (Tuesday, 12:28 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 3.82 million homes, 4.95 million viewers.
12. "Anderson Cooper 360" (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), CNN, 3.71 million homes, 5.09 million viewers.
13. "Inauguration of Obama" (Tuesday, 3 p.m.), CNN, 3.589 million homes, 5.27 million viewers.
14. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.587 million homes, 5.17 million viewers.
15. "Monk" (Friday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.584 million homes, 4.96 million viewers.
A keyboardist for the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd has died at his northeast Florida home.
Keyboard player Billy Powell called 911 about 12:55 a.m. Wednesday saying he was having trouble breathing. Rescue crews performed CPR, but he was pronounced dead at 1:52 a.m., said Orange Park Police Lt. Mark Cornett.
Powell, 56, who has a history of heart problems, missed a Tuesday appointment with his doctor for a cardiac evaluation. A heart attack is suspected. No autopsy will be performed because Powell's cardiologist will sign the death certificate, Cornett said.
The Jacksonville-based band was formed in 1966 by a group of high school students - famously, it took its name from a P.E. teacher they disliked, Leonard Skinner. Powell joined the group around 1972, the year before they released their first album, "Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd."
The band was decimated on Oct. 20, 1977, when their chartered plane crashed in a swamp near McComb, Miss.
Six people were killed - lead singer Ronnie Van Zant; guitarist Steve Gaines; and his sister, vocalist Cassie Gaines; as well as an assistant road manager, the pilot and co-pilot.
Powell was one of the survivors.
Two years after the accident, Powell and fellow members Allen Collins, Gary Rossington and Leon Wilkeson formed the Rossington-Collins Band. It broke up in 1982.
Powell was on hand again in 1991 when a revived version of the band put out a new album, "Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991" and launched a tour in Baton Rouge, La., where the band was headed in 1977 when the plane crashed. Fans who kept their tickets from the canceled 1977 concert were admitted free.
A red Robin lands on a tree branch along Wentworth Avenue in Clifton, Ohio on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009. A winter storm spread a glaze of ice and snow from the southern Plains to the East Coast, leaving blackouts, hundreds of school closings and treacherous travel conditions in its wake. At least 19 deaths are blamed on the storm.
Photo by Gary Landers
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.
Charlie responded:
Sally said:
also nailed it with:
