'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
DR. RALLIE MCALLISTER: On-the-Job Humor Helps Offset Work-Related Stress (creators.com)
If your job is stressing you out, your health could be in danger. Stress at work is an important risk factor for a slew of ailments and afflictions, ranging from insomnia to sudden cardiac death.
Emily Wilson: "Self Help: $10 billion for What?" (AlterNet.org)
Self-help is everywhere, but does it work? One writer [Beth Lisick] immersed herself in the industry for a year to find out.
Walter Tunis: After weathering a tussle with their studio, Linkin Park is ready to play (McClatchy Newspapers; Posted on popmatters.com)
Linkin Park has a ton to chat about (or not) of late, from a well-publicized squabble and potential lawsuit with its record label, Warner Bros., to a collaboration with Rick Rubin, the star producer who has overseen records for Johnny Cash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty, Dixie Chicks, Neil Diamond and a dozen or so other stylistically diverse notables.
Brian McCollum: Chris Daughtry covered a Bon Jovi song, now he's touring with him (Detroit Free Press; Posted on popmatters.com)
It was the world's first big glimpse of Chris Daughtry: the barely known, gritty-voiced singer performing a Bon Jovi cover song on "American Idol."
'We don't have sibling rivalry' (music.guardian.co.uk)
"... we [Canadians] have intense funding for the arts. You just feel like your government is on your side - I can be mad at them, but I don't fear my government. Whereas in America it feels like people really are afraid of their government."
MICHAEL FRANCO: "I Felt Like Another Country Myself: An Interview with Tift Merritt" (Popmatters.com)
You know, music is like a really sacred, awesome thing. That first 45 minutes to two hours that you're on stage spending time with music every night is always really great. But that's like two hours a day. Most of what you're doing is like waiting at a bus stop.
Len Righi: A refocused k.d. lang is playing it straight (The Morning Call; Posted on popmatters.com)
It may come as a surprise to her fans, but k.d. lang is playing it straight, both on her new album, "Watershed," which she produced, and her latest tour.
Miles Raymer: The Strangeness of Singer (chicagoreader.com)
Members of U.S. Maple, the 90 Day Men, and Town and Country form an antisupergroup.
Rick Bentley: How rapper Sean Combs evolved into a respectable actor (McClatchy Newspapers; Posted on popmatters.com)
Record producer/rapper/clothes designer Sean Combs, back when he was P Diddy or Puff Daddy or one of the other configurations of his name, knew after his role in the 2001 film "Monster's Ball" that he wanted to do more acting. He just needed to figure out the right avenue to take.
Roger Moore: Will Ferrell makes sport of professional basketball in 'Semi-Pro' (The Orlando Sentinel; Posted on popmatters.com)
Before "the Frat Pack" and $20 million paydays, before "Old School," way before "Saturday Night Live" even, Will Ferrell wanted to be a sportscaster. Then he heard comedy's siren call.
Marty's New Computer Fund Update
Donations
There have been 12 donations for a total of $500.
Thanks!
(If you're more comfortable with snail mail, please drop me a note)
Reader Comment
Embedded Music
Hi Marty,
Yesterday (2/27) when I opened your page, I got some kind of nonstop music that was not to my taste but I couldn't stop it until I closed your page. Even when I clicked on the link to "Once" on YouTube, the other music still played in the background.
Is it just me? Is this a test? Looking for feedback? Because I was at work and didn't realize my sound was up and I thought I would go through the roof (not to mention bringing attention to me at work….not a good thing) when I opened your page.
Once I figured it out, I read the rest of the page with the sound off and then just went to the YouTube link later.
It's your page, so for sure you can do what you want, but if there was any kind of warning for the sounds, I missed it.
Not complaining (ok maybe just a teeny bit), just commenting.
Love your page everyday.
ducks
Thanks, ducks!
I saw an 'embed' in DJ Useo's piece, but figured it was for a video.
Even in editor mode the coding didn't show up - not even as an empty space.
With my antiquated system I had no way of checking it without uploading the page.
So, uploaded the page, and when it finally opened, saw what I thought was a jukebox.
Besides lacking UBS ports, this computer's audio abilities took a powder a couple of years back, and I heard nothing.
After some mail that wasn't quite as nice as your missive, I took out the embed coding & re-uploaded the page around lunchtime.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and summer-like.
Every now & then I hear from book publishers offering free copies in exchange for a review.
Sometimes the topics don't interest me, but mostly, I don't have the time.
If anyone would be interested in reviewing books, please drop me a line.
Stephen King & John Mellencamp's Musical
'Ghost Brothers of Darkland County'
Creating a Broadway musical can be scary enough. Even more so when it's script is penned by horror master Stephen King.
King, who has written numerous best-selling novels, has written the script for "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County," with music by John Mellencamp.
The play will open at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre in April 2009, with the object of getting it ready for a Broadway run.
Peter Askin, whose New York credits include "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," will direct.
'Ghost Brothers of Darkland County'
March 20th Is "Sweater Day"
Fred Rogers
A tribute to children's public television pioneer Fred Rogers will include an effort to get people everywhere to wear a sweater on what would have been his 80th birthday.
March 20th is being promoted as "Sweater Day" to honor Rogers, who died of cancer five years ago. A sweater was his trademark garb on "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood."
David Newell, who played speedy deliveryman Mr. McFeely on the show, appears in a YouTube video that touts the event.
Fred Rogers
The YouTubes - Mister Rogers: "Won't You Wear a Sweater?" Day
Premieres In Canada
'Stuff Happens'
The play "Stuff Happens," about the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, has its Canadian premiere on Friday and cast member Barry Flatman is excited to see how audiences will react to his character - resident George W. Bush.
"Initially he's laughed at, you know, he opens his mouth and people laugh and some of that is because we're used to kind of laughing at him and other aspects, I think, are just a kind of a nervous laughter," Flatman, who was born in Victoria, said in an interview Wednesday at the Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs, where the play will run through March 29.
The script, from acclaimed British playwright David Hare, blends documented public-record information with theatrical invention of what may have gone on behind the scenes of the Bush administration through its early days to its march into Iraq in 2003.
'Stuff Happens'
Kyrgyzstan
Song Contest
Kyrgyz rights activists will offer a prize of up to $1,000 (500 pounds) in a contest for the "best song" to protest against the presence of U.S. troops in the Central Asian republic, the event's organiser said.
Igor Trofimov, a rights campaigner spearheading the anti-airbase movement which groups a few dozen activists, said the author of the best song would perform at a rally outside the U.S. embassy in April.
Protests such as Trofimov's, though small, have struck a chord with many Kyrgyz people who have mixed feelings about the presence of U.S. troops since 2006 when a U.S. airman shot dead a Kyrgyz man at the airbase.
Song Contest
Accepts Oscar Apology
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg has accepted an apology from producer Gil Cates for not including her in a montage featuring Oscar hosts during Sunday's Academy Awards telecast.
Cates called her Tuesday and "talked about the fact that he had made an oversight, pure and simple. He said, `You know I love you,'" Goldberg said Wednesday on ABC daytime talk show "The View."
The 52-year-old actress-comedian hosted the Oscars in 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2002.
Whoopi Goldberg
Donates 125-Million-Pound Art Collection
Anthony d'Offay
An English art dealer has donated his entire modern art collection, worth an estimated 125 million pounds (165 million euros, 250 million dollars), to Britain, London's Tate museum said Wednesday.
Anthony d'Offay had built up his 725-work collection, described by the museum as "one of the most important holdings of post-war and contemporary art in private hands", over 28 years, and will receive 26.5 million pounds -- the amount he spent to build up the collection -- for it.
The collection includes paintings, photographs, cartoons and sculptures produced by artists including Andy Warhol, Gilbert and George, Damien Hirst, Ron Mueck, Jeff Koons and Diane Arbus.
Anthony d'Offay
From Street Artist To Phenomenon
Banksy
At a white-walled gallery in one of London's priciest quarters, a small army of stenciled rats and smiley faced storm troopers is awaiting an invasion.
The chic Andipa Gallery is expecting a stampede of art buyers to its latest exhibition of works by Banksy, the pseudonymous "guerrilla artist" whose satirical images have gone from street-corner graffiti to coveted artworks that sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Gallery owner Acoris Andipa says Banksy's rise from hip outsider to art-world star has been rapid, as he discovered when he held a preview in the exclusive Swiss resort of Gstaad.
"Last year, we were having to explain who Banksy was and why his canvases were 30 or 40,000 pounds ($60,000 to $80,000)," Andipa said Wednesday. "This year, every single person - including clients who'd come in their Lear jets - walked in and said, 'Wow, Banksy - and it's only 150,000 pounds ($300,000).'"
Banksy
Maxim Backtracks
Black Crowes
Facing more criticism over rating albums without listening to them, Maxim magazine now says it was previewing CDs in its March issue - not reviewing them.
Maxim editorial director James Kaminsky told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the magazine had erred in treating unreleased albums by the Black Crowes and Nas as reviews and judging them with star ratings.
"I will be the last person to mince words here: This is a mistake," Kaminsky said. "It's a mistake that won't happen again, but it's not a mistake that appears in other parts of (the magazine's entertainment section). ... There should be no blurry line between what's a preview and what's a review."
Kaminsky issued a statement apologizing to readers for the review and wavering from the magazine's policy of only rating albums that have been heard in their entirety.
Black Crowes
Norway Court Postpones Hearing
Amy Winehouse
A Norwegian court has postponed a hearing for Amy Winehouse, who is accused of drug possession.
The British singer-songwriter and her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, were arrested in the western city of Bergen last October. They were held overnight on charges of possessing 1/4 ounce of marijuana and released the next morning after paying fines of $715 each.
The tattooed songstress was due in court Friday to contest the fine, but the Bergen district court approved a request by her lawyer to reschedule the hearing, Norwegian news agency NTB reported Wednesday.
The Bergen court postponed the hearing because Fielder-Civil is scheduled to appear in a separate court hearing Friday in Britain, the news agency reported.
Amy Winehouse
Seeks Annulment
Pamela Anderson
Court documents show that Pamela Anderson is seeking an annulment, rather than a divorce, from husband Rick Salomon. The actress is seeking to annul the two-month marriage based on fraud. No other details were available, and Anderson's publicist did not immediately return an e-mail request for comment Tuesday.
In court papers filed in Los Angeles on Friday, Anderson asked the court not to award spousal support and to keep her and Salomon's income and property separate. On Monday, Anderson filed a request to have a retired judge handle the annulment proceedings - a common practice in celebrity split-ups as it keeps matters private and out of the court.
Anderson and Salomon, both 40, were married Oct. 6 in Las Vegas and separated Dec. 13. He's best known for making a sex videotape with then-girlfriend Paris Hilton and was previously married to actress Shannen Doherty.
Pamela Anderson
Joining Rupert's B-Network
"WWE SmackDown"
News Corp.'s MyNetworkTV will be the new home of World Wrestling Entertainment's "WWE SmackDown" starting in the fall after the sports entertainment powerhouse's show ends its run on the CW Network.
Industry observers had expected a deal with MyNet, but WWE management said as recently as two weeks ago that various networks were in the running. The two parties made things official Tuesday.
MyNet president Greg Meidel said "SmackDown" will remain a two-hour program, airing on Thursday or Friday night. That means the series will displace one of the network's two movie nights, which could move to Saturday.
"WWE SmackDown"
Not So Quiet Courting
Jay Leno
Jay Leno has nearly two years left on the clock at "The Tonight Show" on NBC, but rival networks and at least one TV studio are said to be quietly, unofficially, courting the comedian with offers to keep him on the late-night circuit.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that ABC and Fox both have discreetly let Leno know they are eager to formally engage him in talks about moving to their networks once the negotiating window in his NBC contract opens in late 2009.
And Sony Pictures Television has indirectly approached Leno through intermediaries about possibly giving him his own nationally syndicated show, and ownership of a second show, in a deal that would make him the highest-paid U.S. host on late-night TV, the Times said.
Leno would even get a new theater on the Sony lot with his name on it and a financial stake in Sony music artists who appear on his show, the Times reported.
Jay Leno
Protector of Squirrels
Mark Garvin
What may be the cheapest rooms in Manhattan are made especially for squirrels. A self-appointed protector of squirrels has paid to have soft-pine boxes made for the critters and had them placed in trees at City Hall Park.
Mark Garvin said he paid a "couple hundred dollars" to have each of the boxes made. The Parks Department installed three at the park.
Garvin, a biologist, said he and his wife appointed themselves caretakers of about 60 or so squirrels at the park after 9/11.
"That whole park was coated in white dust," he said. "The animals were dying over there, so that's when we really got determined."
Mark Garvin
Snappy Dressers
Vikings
Vikings were much snappier dressers than thought, according to new evidence unearthed by a Swedish researcher.
The men were especially vain while the women dressed provocatively, adorning themselves in vivid colours, silk ribbons and glittering bits of mirrors, said Annika Larsson, a textile researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden.
"They combined oriental features with Nordic styles," she said in a statement. "Their clothing was designed to be shown off indoors around the fire."
These kind of ornate features in clothing, however, disappeared with the onset of medieval Christian fashion during a time the Swedish Vikings pushed into Western Europe, she said.
Vikings
In Memory
Myron Cope
Myron Cope spoke in a language and with a voice never before heard in a broadcast booth, yet a loving Pittsburgh understood him perfectly during an unprecedented 35 years as a Steelers announcer.
The screechy-voiced Cope, a writer by trade and an announcer by accident whose colorful catch phrases and twirling Terrible Towel became nationally known symbols of the Steelers, died Wednesday at age 79.
Cope's tenure from 1970-2004 as the color analyst on the Steelers' radio network is the longest in NFL history for a broadcaster with a single team and led to his induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2005.
One of Pittsburgh's most colorful and recognizable personalities, Cope was best known beyond the city's three rivers for the yellow cloth twirled by fans as a good luck charm at Steelers games since the mid-1970s.
The Terrible Towel is arguably the best-known fan symbol of any major pro sports team, has raised millions of dollars for charity and is displayed at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Cope didn't become a football announcer until age 40, spending the first half of his professional career as a sports writer. He was hired by the Steelers in 1970, several years after he began doing TV sports commentary on the whim of WTAE-TV program director Don Shafer, mostly to help increase attention and attendance as the Steelers moved into Three Rivers Stadium.
Just as Pirates fans once did with longtime broadcaster Bob Prince, Steelers fans began tuning in to hear what wacky stunt or colorful phrase Cope would come up with next. With a voice beyond imitation - a falsetto so shrill it could pierce even the din of a touchdown celebration - Cope was a man of many words, some not in any dictionary.
Cope, who was born Myron Kopelman, was preceded in death by his wife, Mildred, in 1994. He is survived by a daughter, Elizabeth, and a son, Daniel, who is autistic and lives at Allegheny Valley School, which received all rights to the Terrible Towel in 1996. Another daughter, Martha Ann, died shortly after birth.
Myron Cope
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