A recent obituary in the Los Angeles
Times began: "Bernie Boston, the photojournalist who captured the iconic
image of a young Vietnam War protester placing a flower in the barrel of a rifle
held by a National Guardsman died...The photo known as 'Flower Power' became
Boston's signature image and earned him acclaim in the world of photojournalism.
Taken during an antiwar march on the Pentagon on Oct. 22, 1967, the photo was a
finalist for the Pulitzer Prize." The protester, not
identified, was Joel Tornabene. In my autobiography - Confessions of a
Raving, Unconfined Nut: Misadventures in the Counterculture, published by
Simon & Schuster in 1993 - I described him as "an unheralded Yippie
organizer known as Super-Joel. His grandfather was Mafia boss Sam Giancana, but
Super-Joel had dropped out of the family business. Instead, he let his hair grow
long and distributed LSD. The intelligence division of the Chicago Police
Department warned Giancana that Super-Joel shouldn't hang around with me. The
cops were telling the Mafia that I was a bad influence. It
could've been worse. The FBI planned to 'neutralize' Dick Gregory by alerting
the Mafia to his verbal attacks on the crime syndicate."
Super-Joel once told me, "If it wasn't for acid, I with my Sicilian ancestry and
you with your Jewish ancestry, we would never have become such close friends."
And he kissed me on the forehead. But that was okay. It meant love now, not
murder. Super-Joel was arrested during the 1968 Democratic convention. He
yelled and gave the cops the finger through the caged door at the back of the
paddy wagon. He got arrested three times that week. He was just another
anonymous Yippie. FBI files indicated that the government wanted to indict
twenty individuals for conspiracy to cross state lines for the purpose of
inciting a riot at the convention, but the grand jury woudn't go along with such
a wholesale indictment. I wrote in my memoir that
"Super-Joel's indictment was dropped when an attorney for...Sam Giancana,
managed to persuade them that not only did Super-Joel come from 'a socially
prominent family' in Chicago, but also that he was mentally incompetent to stand
trial." However, in 2006, I learned that his sister, Fran, had said, "Our
grandfathers were a Sicilian doctor and a Norwegian Irish carpenter. I can't
imagine how anyone would actually believe that Giancana relationship." I
contacted her immediately, apologizing "for passing on false information,"
adding that "Although I included that story in my autobiography, recently I've
had the rights reverted back to me, and I plan to have it re-published in an
updated edition, so I will certainly include a postscript revealing that
hoax." She replied, "I think that Joel must have had quite
a good time with the 'Giancana connection hoax.' I was first made aware of
this story after his death in Mexico in 1993. His attorney, Dennis
Roberts, came to Chicago to meet with my mother and our family. He seemed to be
quite surprised to see a simple middle-class family home in Franklin Park,
rather than a River Forest Mafia compound. I wasn't aware of the extent of
this story until Prairie Prince, who I know Joel was close to for years, asked
me a few years ago which side of the family was Giancana. Since then,
I've seen your tale regarding his being moved to the unindicted co-conspirator
list due to the 'grandfather connection.'" "I'm
embarrassed to admit that I believed it," I confessed, "simply because Joel was
extremely convincing when he told me - so I'm a professional prankster who got
pranked himself - but I really had no way of double-checking his personalized
put-on." And I'm not the only one who's been fooled like
that. Another sister, Felicia, has located an interview in which Tom Waits is
asked who Joel is. Q. "Who's Joel
Tornabene?" A. "He's in the concrete biz. Mob guy. He was
the grandson of Sam Giancana from Chicago. He did some yard work for me, and I
hung out with him most of the time. He died in Mexico about five years ago. He
was a good friend of [producer/composer] Hal Wilner, and he was a good guy. He
had an errant--I don't know how to put this--he used to go around, and when he
saw something he liked in somebody's yard, he would go back that night with a
shovel, dig it up and plant it in your yard. We used to get a kick out of that.
So I stopped saying, 'I really like that rosebush, I really like that banana
tree, I really like that palm.' Because I knew what it meant. He came over once
with twelve chickens as a gift. My wife said, 'Joel, don't even turn the car
off. Turn that car around and take those chickens back where you found them.' He
was a good friend, one of the wildest guys I've ever
known." Waits has written a song that includes this lyric:
"Joel Tornabene lies broken on the wheel...." And the
ten-year-old son of Joel's cousin recently used Joel as a topic for a history
project - he centered it on the '68 convention - titled "Someone Who Took a
Stand."
The Irascible Professor Recommends a "No" Vote on Proposition 92 (irascibleprofessor.com)
The Irascible Professor only rarely weighs in on California ballot propositions that would affect education. Partly this is because we don't want to risk boring the majority of our readers who live outside the Golden State with the dirty little details of how California laws come into existence, and partly to avoid offending readers who don't agree with our recommendations.
RICHARD ROEPER: Salerno's death is like losing good neighbor (suntimes.com)
Working under the most trying conditions, the CBS2 on-air and production teams put together a classy and touching tribute to Randy Salerno, who was a solid journalist, a terrific dry wit and by all accounts a dedicated family man.
A life of their own (guardian.co.uk)
From Jane Eyre to Jean Brodie, David Copperfield to David Brent, whether solidly realised or lightly sketched, fictional figures can be as vivid to us as real people. But just what, exactly, is a character, asks James Wood.
Cole Smithey: How to Avoid Bad Movies (Maui Time Weekly)
There are some clues you can look for to help limit your exposure to crappy films. While this condensed list won't insure that you never spend another two hours in a darkened cinema bored to tears, it does represent some shortcuts that I use as a critic in deciding which movies to avoid.
National Gorilla Suit Day, which falls on January 31st every year. The holiday was
concocted by MAD cartoonist Don Martin in a 1964 paperback Don Martin Bounces Back!.
Who was the first TV family to own a home computer?
The Addamses were the first TV family to own a home computer - a UNIVAC.
A: The Addams Family
B: The Brady Bunch
C: The Jeffersons
D: The Partridge Family
E: Sanford & Son
Source
Marian the Teacher was first, and correct, with:
up too late tonight but guessing that it is the Addams Family.
S. Bennett was second, and right, too:
The Addams Family. It was an UNIVAC.
However the question lends itself to multiple interpretation. While an UNIVAC is not a "home computer" if one has one at home would that clasify it as a "home computer" or simply a "computer at home?"
Joe S ("We owe a lot to Thomas Edison - if it wasn't for him, we'd be watching television by candlelight."
~Milton Berle) wrote:
I never watched The Brady Bunch or The Partridge Family, but I think they were too early for a home computer. The Addams Family was way too early, but why would they need a computer when they had magic? Sanford & Son were to poor so that leaves The Jeffersons. The Jeffersons were upscale and had plenty of money so it would stand to reason that they were the first. However I don't remember seeing a computer in any of the three programs I watched. So by elimination the answer is C: The Jeffersons.
Alan J was right, as usual, and succinct, as usual:
Addam's Family. It was a Univac.
And, Sally got it, too:
The Adddam's Family (A) were the first TV family to own a home computer and it was a UNIVAC!
Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC)
(By then, Vacuum tubes were replaced by transistors as main logic element.) Whoa!
UNIVAC publicity photo - Office model
"Tower" is straight back, in front of the wall.
"Data" comes out of equipment on the right.
I worked on Wall Street in the mid 1960s. EVERY "big" firm had a Telex (teletype), a machine that could pull up stock quotes, and a UNIVAC. The latter required a full room (kept frigid) and used punch cards on which the "programs" were punched and for storage.
(Around then, magnetic tape and disks began to replace punched cards as external storage devices.) Our computer was used for the 1960 NYC census count (among other things).
Whenever I passed the room, and the door had been left slightly ajar, I almost bowed my head in reverence - as did everyone working on the floor. It was only awesome...
No one even "considered" having a "laptop," that's how old am I, sigh.
CBS opens the night with a RERUN'CSI: The 3rd One', followed by a RERUN'CSI: The Original One', then a RERUN'Without A Trace'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Eva Longoria Parker and Colbie Caillat.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lindsay Sloane, and Sebastian Maniscalco.
NBC begins the night with a RERUN'My Name Is Earl', followed by a RERUN'The Office', then a FRESH'Celebrity Apprentice'.
Leno is FRESH, but writerless, and the corporate masters don't want you to know who the guests are.
Conan is FRESH, but writerless, and the corporate masters don't want you to know who the guests are.
Carson 'The Scab' Daly is a RERUN.
ABC starts the night with a FRESH 2-hour 'Lost', followed by the SERIES PREMIERE'Eli Stone' (starts 2 minutes past the top of the hour).
Jimmy Kimmel is FRESH, but writerless, and the corporate masters don't want you to know who the guests are.
The CW offers a FRESH'Smallville', followed by a FRESH'Supernatural'.
Faux has a FRESH'Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?', followed by a FRESH'Don't Forget The Lyrics'.
MY fills the night with the movie 'Gone In 60 Seconds'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', 'The First 48', another 'The First 48', and still another 'The First 48'.
AMC offers the movie 'Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle Of Life', followed by the movie 'Top Gun', then 'Breaking Bad', followed by the movie 'Top Gun', again.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 4 Morgan's;
[1:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Episode 8;
[2:00 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 17 Ardingly 68;
[2:30 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 18 Newark 62;
[3:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 9;
[3:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 11;
[4:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 1;
[4:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 2;
[5:00 PM] My Family - Ep 2 The Spokes Person;
[5:30 PM] Coupling - Episode 5;
[6:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 1 La Riviera;
[7:00 PM] BBC World News America;
[8:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 2 D-Place;
[9:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep. 3 Walnut Tree;
[10:00 PM] BBC World News America;
[11:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 2 D-Place;
[12:00 AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep. 3 Walnut Tree;
[1:00 AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 2 Piccolo Teatro;
[1:40 AM] The World Stands Up - Episode 9;
[2:00 AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 1 Ruby Tates;
[3:00 AM] Changing Rooms - Ep. 14 Bournemouth;
[3:30 AM] Changing Rooms - Ep. 15 Basingstoke;
[4:00 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 17 Ardingly 68;
[4:30 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 18 Newark 62;
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 27 Mitchell;
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 28 Pigott;
[6:00 AM] BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', last night's 'Jon Stewart', last night's 'Colbert Report', 'Futurama', 'South Park', another 'South Park', and 'Drawn Together'.
Jon Stewart is FRESH, but writerless, and the corporate masters don't want you to know who the guests are.
Colbert Report is FRESH, but writerless, and the corporate masters don't want you to know who the guests are.
FX has the movie 'Romeo Must Die', followed by the movie 'American History X', then the movie 'American History X', again.
History has 'Modern Marvels', another 'Modern Marvels', 'Gangland', and 'Cities Of The Underworld'.
IFC -
[06:05 AM] IFC Short Film Showcase;
[07:05 AM] Once Upon a Crime;
[08:45 AM] Millions;
[10:30 AM] Strange Invaders;
[12:05 PM] Once Upon a Crime;
[01:45 PM] Millions;
[03:30 PM] Strange Invaders;
[05:05 PM] Once Upon a Crime;
[06:45 PM] American Splendor;
[08:30 PM] Basilisk #4;
[09:00 PM] Quiet Cool;
[10:45 PM] Monster;
[12:30 AM] The Funeral;
[02:15 AM] Quiet Cool;
[03:45 AM] Monster;
[05:40 AM] Stolen Summer. (ALL TIMES EST)
SciFi has the movie 'Pumpkinhead: Ashes To Ashes', followed by the movie 'Ghost Voyage'.
Sundance -
[05:00 AM] The Forest for the Trees;
[06:00 AM] Gilaneh;
[07:30 AM] Man Push Cart;
[09:00 AM] (Episode 3);
[09:30 AM] (Episode 4);
[10:00 AM] We Have Arrived Bonnaroo 2004;
[11:45 AM] The Legacy;
[01:15 PM] Greendale;
[02:40 PM] Gilaneh;
[04:15 PM] Man Push Cart;
[05:45 PM] Drop Back Ten;
[07:30 PM] The Legacy;
[09:00 PM] Red Road;
[10:55 PM] Wasp;
[11:20 PM] Little Death;
[12:00 AM] Episode 8;
[12:35 AM] In the Pit;
[02:05 AM] Episode 8;
[02:40 AM] News for the Church;
[03:00 AM] Mike Myers + Deepak Chopra;
[04:00 AM] Red Road;
[05:55 AM] Wasp. (ALL TIMES EST)
Harvey Keitel as Jerry Springer, second from right, talks to his guests, Luke Grooms as Dwight, left, Patricia Phillips as Peaches, second from left, and Linda Balgord as Zandra during a performance of 'Jerry Springer - The Opera' in New York, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008.
Photo by Seth Wenig
Britain's Doris Lessing, too ill to attend an award ceremony last year, received the Nobel prize for literature on Wednesday saying there was no higher accolade for a writer except, perhaps, "a pat on the head from the Pope."
The frail-looking 88-year-old, wearing a long red velvet dress and her silver hair pulled back from her face, was typically irreverent at a champagne reception in the main gallery of the Wallace Collection in central London.
Lessing was born to British parents in what is now Iran on October 22, 1919, and in 1925 her family moved to what is now Zimbabwe. She spent time in a Catholic convent before attending a girls school from which she dropped out.
She left home, married and divorced twice and had three children, and in 1950, the year after she moved to London, published her first novel "The Grass Is Singing."
The 12-week-old Hollywood writers strike is taking a heavy toll on prime-time viewership with television production largely stopped and the major networks airing more repeats, game shows and reality shows.
The five top broadcast networks were down a collective 17 percent for the week ended January 27 in ratings among viewers aged 18 to 49, the audience most prized by advertisers compared with the same week last year, according to Nielsen Media Research.
News Corp's Fox led network rivals again in the latest weekly ratings race due to the smash hit talent contest "American Idol" and a strong debut of its lie-detector reality show, "The Moment of Truth." But Fox still saw a drop of 13 percent among viewers 18 to 49 years of age from the same week last year.
The 18-49 ratings for the fledgling network CW, a joint venture between CBS Corp and Time Warner Inc, fell about 46 percent year to year, according to Nielsen.
Colombian artist Fernando Botero stands in front of a painting from his Abu Ghraib collection during a news conference at the Arts Center, in the northern city of Monterrey January 30, 2008. Botero is in Monterrey to attend the opening of his Abu Ghraib exhibition and a monumental bronze sculpture of a horse, purchased for the city.
Photo by Tomas Bravo
Madonna leads Forbes.com's list of the top 20 "Cash Queens of Music," earning $72 million between June 2006 and June 2007.
Barbra Streisand is No. 2 with $60 million, thanks to her comeback tour of North America and Europe.
Celine Dion ranks third with $45 million, largely from her successful "A New Day" show in Las Vegas, which she wrapped up in December after a five-year engagement at Caesars Palace.
Shakira is fourth with $38 million, followed by Beyonce ($27 million), Gwen Stefani ($26 million), Christina Aguilera ($20 million), Faith Hill ($19 million), the Dixie Chicks ($18 million) and Mariah Carey ($13 million).
Americans are becoming more aware of next year's switch-over to digital TV, but many are still confused about how they will be affected, according to a pair of surveys released on Wednesday.
Dueling surveys conducted by U.S. broadcasters and a consumer advocacy group both concluded that most consumers are now aware that broadcasters will have to switch to digital signals from traditional analog ones on February 17, 2009.
Congress ordered the switch to digital television to free up public airwaves for other uses, such as for police and fire departments. The switch will lead to improved picture and sound for TV viewers.
The transition is being closely watched because owners of analog televisions will not be able to watch television unless they subscribe to satellite or digital cable, replace their TV with a digital television by that date or get a converter box.
Sen. Daniel Inouye, the 83-year-old who ranks No. 3 in seniority in the chamber, is getting married.
The Hawaii Democrat said Tuesday that he is engaged to Irene Hirano, the president and chief executive officer of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. They plan to marry May 24 in Los Angeles, Inouye said in a news release.
Hirano is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees in public administration. She serves on the board of trustees of the Ford Foundation.
The featured cocktail, the "Patron Red Carpet", is displayed during a preview of food and decor for the 80th Academy Awards Governors Ball in Hollywood January 30, 2008.
Photo by Phil McCarten
One of the UK's most unconventional stars, Julie Christie, has shunned the limelight - and marriage - since the Seventies. But it seems, despite her reluctance to conform, the actress has finally formalised her 28-year relationship with journalist Duncan Campbell. According to the actress' brother, Clive Christie, a retired University lecturer, the pair were wed at a ceremony in India two months ago.
Julie, who recently won the Screen Actors Guild award for best actress and is considered the favourite to take home the Oscar for her role in Away From Her, has always insisted she saw no reason to marry. Friends say she did not tell family about the secret ceremony until after the event, and Clive confirmed he did not attend.
India was the natural location of choice for the wedding. The 66-year-old actress was born there and brought up on her father's tea plantation in Assam before being sent to Britain at the age of seven to attend school. A bohemian at heart who shuns the limelight the Dr Zhivago star has lived in a rambling Welsh farmhouse for the last three decades, although she also has a flat in Spitafields, East London.
The live-in girlfriend of former "Beverly Hillbillies" star Max Baer Jr. apparently shot herself and died several days later, authorities said Wednesday.
Police were still investigating the death of 30-year-old Chere Rhodes, but no foul play is suspected, Douglas County Sheriff's Sgt. Jim Halsey said.
Baer, 70, an entrepreneur who played "Jethro" in the 1960s "Hillbillies" series, summoned authorities to his Lake Tahoe home last Thursday after he found Rhodes with a single gunshot wound to the chest, Halsey said.
"She was conscious on the scene and told (officers) that it was a self-attempted suicide," Halsey said. "There was a suicide note as well which substantiated her statement."
Participants dressed as Vikings throw their burning torches into the symbolic longship as they take part in the Up Helly Aa festival in Lerwick on the Shetland Isles, Scotland, on Tuesday Jan. 29, 2008, with the 'Jarl Squad' dressed in Viking costume in a procession with The Galley, a 30-foot wooden longship. The Galley is burnt as the climax of the Up Helly Aa festival, which originated as a Norse pagan festival but has been adopted by Christians as a traditional celebration in Shetland Isles.
Photo by Danny Lawson
Duane "Dog" Chapman cannot be extradited to Mexico to face criminal charges in his capture of serial rapist and fugitive Andrew Luster in 2003, a three-judge panel in Mexico has ruled.
The unanimous ruling was handed down Tuesday. The TV bounty hunter, his son Leland Chapman and associate Tim Chapman faced being sent to the resort town of Puerto Vallarta, where they captured Luster, who had jumped a $1 million bond on charges that he drugged and raped three women.
"He's a free man," Chapman's San Francisco-based attorney, James A. Quadra, said in a telephone interview late Tuesday. "They can't reinstate any criminal charges and as a result of that, there's no basis for them to then seek extradition."
Television's unlicensed psychologist and ratings whore "Dr. Phil" McGraw says he regrets talking about Britney Spears' mental health after visiting her in the hospital, but didn't violate the family's trust.
"I regret making the statement. It didn't help. It didn't work," the syndicated TV psychologist said Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America."
The Spears family has accused McGraw of betraying their trust by making an "inappropriate" public statement about the singer's hospitalization.
The tusks of a prehistoric mammoth are on display inside the museum of Grevena town, northern Greece January 27, 2008. Greek and international scientists in the summer of 2007 have uncovered what they say are the largest tusks of a prehistoric Mastodon ever found in the world, dating back about 3 million years and measuring five metres long. They have also recreated a small scale model of the beast (L) which was believed to be a 25-30 year old male weighing six tonnes, and was three-and-a-half metres tall. Picture taken January 27, 2008.
Photo by Grigoris Siamidis
Syndicated talk show host Montel Williams is being replaced by a younger version of himself. CBS Television Distribution announced Wednesday that "The Montel Williams Show" will cease production after this television season, his 17th on the air.
Instead, stations that carried his show will be offered a series of Williams reruns. "Best of Montel" will be 52 weeks worth of "some of the most exciting episodes" from the show's history, the producers said.
Dr. Julius Pham's stomach churned when he saw a critically ill heart patient getting an antibiotic instead of a drug to support his blood pressure -- the kind of mix-up that is increasingly common in the United States, according to a new report.
A nurse had confused Levophed, which can boost blood pressure, with the antibiotic Levaquin.
The rate of drug name mix-ups has more than doubled since 2004, the U.S. Pharmacopeia said in a report on Tuesday.
The USP researchers said 519 facilities reported on 176,409 errors in 2006. "The percentage of harmful errors has remained above 1 percent for more than seven years," they said.
A model wears a creation by Italian fashion designer Raffaella Curiel as part of his Spring-Summer 2008 high-fashion collection during the AltaRoma fashion week at Rome's Auditorium, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008.
Photo by Gregorio Borgia
With food prices rising, Haiti's poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice, and some take desperate measures to fill their bellies.
Charlene Dumas, 16 with a 1-month-old son, has come to rely on a traditional Haitian remedy for hunger pangs: cookies made of dried yellow dirt from the country's central plateau.
The mud has long been prized by pregnant women and children here as an antacid and source of calcium. But in places like Cite Soleil, the oceanside slum where Charlene shares a two-room house with her baby, five siblings and two unemployed parents, cookies made of dirt, salt and vegetable shortening have become a regular meal.
Still, at about 5 cents apiece, the cookies are a bargain compared to food staples. About 80 percent of people in Haiti live on less than $2 a day and a tiny elite controls the economy.
Bats are dying off by the thousands as they hibernate in caves and mines around New York and Vermont, sending researchers scrambling to find the cause of mysterious condition dubbed "white nose syndrome."
The ailment - named for the white circle of fungus found around the noses of affected bats - was first noticed last January in four caves west of Albany. It has now spread to eight hibernation sites in the state and another in Vermont.
Alan Hicks, a bat specialist with New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, called the quick-spreading disorder the "gravest threat" to bats he had ever seen. Up to 11,000 bats were found dead last winter and many more are showing signs illness this winter. One hard-hit cave went from more than 15,000 bats two years ago to 1,500 now, he said.
The white fungus ring around bats' noses is a symptom, but not necessarily the cause. For some unknown reason, the bats deplete their fat reserves and die months before they would normally emerge from hibernation.
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