'Best of TBH Politoons'
Reader Comment
Griffith Park
This is from the Yahoo story this morning about the fire ---
The fire destroyed Dante's View, a trailside terraced garden on Mount Hollywood, said City Councilman Tom LaBonge. "This is a very sad night for Los Angeles," he said.
This is a site about Griffith Park from a hiking perspective
for those who aren't sure where the fire is. I grew up in LA and know the park intimately. Dante's View has been burned in the past so I hope it will rise from the ashes again.
The hike from Ferndell to the Observatory (or Dante's View) is one of the nicest in LA (or it used to be...it's been a while since I was there). It's been a labor of love for many to keep it nice.
It's sad to lose Dante's View, but I sure hope the firefighters save the Observatory and the Zoo. Those would be much harder to rebuild.
If I had a dime for every time I drove through GP during high school and college, I would STILL be rich today. ;-)
I miss the Park but I don't miss those Santa Ana winds.
ducks
Thanks, ducks!
Last year's fire season never ended, it's just been extended.
And, this is the wrong time of year for Santa Anas.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Jim Hightower: SLAMMING THE DOOR ON IRAQI REFUGEES (jimhightower.com)
George W keeps talking about America's moral responsibility to help the people of Iraq. So... why is he slamming America's door in their faces?
Mark Morford: Apocalypse Of The Honeybees (sfgate.com)
How poetically appropriate that the End of Humanity should come from such a tiny, sweet source
Mark Morford: Al Qaeda Hates Your Commute! (sfgate.com)
Could terrorists have caused Bay Area freeway meltdown? How about your lousy haircut? Spilled coffee? Sure!
Andrew Tobias: The Price of Gasoline (from September 2006)
So gasoline prices have come down and people are happy again - just in time for the mid-term election. What a stroke of luck for the oil companies! What a further stroke of luck it would be if prices then went back up after the election. Of course, there's that old expression about "making your own luck." But only a cynic would suggest that oil companies have any influence over the price of gasoline.
Arianna Huffington: Paris Hilton: More Accountable than the President? (HuffingtonPost.com. Posted on Alternet.org)
The two have a lot in common, including privileged backgrounds, reputations for dimwitted pronouncements and serial reckless behavior. But Paris might be taking the lead in accountability.
Seth Sutel: Newmark: Newspapers should emulate Colbert, Stewart (usatoday.com)
Craigslist's Craig Newmark might not be the most obvious choice for a speaker at a conference of newspaper publishers. What, then, to make of his suggestion to the publishers that they follow the lead of late night cable TV hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert?
'I get a kick from risk' (guardian.co.uk)
She's the endearingly bossy star of Property Ladder whose sound advice on developing houses is roundly ignored. Sarah Beeny tells Gareth McLean why the property boom is bad news for all of us - and why she has gone from fixing up homes to fixing up single people.
Head and shoulders above (guardian.co.uk)
Muse, fashion director and eccentric Isabella Blow, who died on Monday, was celebrated for sporting Philip Treacy's fanciful hats. And, writes former boss Jeremy Langmead, she was as exotic as she looked.
RICHARD ROEPER: Some parties will celebrate anything (suntimes.com)
Pimp and Ho Ball isn't the typical Memorial Day tribute
Annalee Newitz: Myth of the Universal Digital Library
Sorry, but we can't digitize everything. Here's why ...
Emily Yoffe: I've Got The Secret (slate.com)
What happened when I followed the best-selling book's advice for two months.
Dana Stevens: The Bittersweet Hereafter: Adrienne Shelly's "Waitress" (slate.com)
A week after seeing Waitress, I still tear up when I think of its closing theme, a catchy little lullaby about pies that was co-written by the movie's writer, director, and co-star, actress Adrienne Shelly (Trust, The Unbelievable Truth).
Reader Comment
Your Bear Story
The couple put their dog inside, grabbed their cameras and started filming the attack as the grizzly battled the moose down the driveway, finally killing it. They posted the video on YouTube.
Why didn't they kill the bear? No, they'd rather tape the mauling. Shows you the intellect of the lowlifes, who live there.
Skyfrequency
Interesting.
Bet you haven't done a lot of hunting.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
A return to more seasonal temperatures.
First Annual Molly Ivins Award
Keith Olbermann
The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN) announced today that MSNBC news anchor Keith Olbermann is the winner of its first annual Molly Ivins Award. Olbermann's achievement will be recognized in a ceremony to be held this afternoon in New York City.
The award was recently named in honor of Ms. Ivins, who served as co-editor of AAN member Texas Observer early in her muckraking career, and who died of breast cancer on January 31, at the age of 62. It is intended to recognize a journalist or media figure who's reporting or commentary has had a profound impact on the public's understanding of vital national issues, and who's work embodies the spirit of Ivins' courageous legacy.
"Describing her own style of writing, Molly Ivins once wrote, 'Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful.' That's the sort of journalism we recognize today, that which holds those in power accountable in the court of public opinion, said AAN President and Memphis Flyer publisher Kenneth Neill. "Keith Olbermann speaks truth to power with wit and style, just as Molly did."
Keith Olbermann
Receives College Degree
Ashley Judd
Ashley Judd is now a graduate of the University of Kentucky.
The 39-year-old actress received a bachelor's degree in French, but it wasn't clear whether she attended any of Sunday's graduation ceremonies, UK spokesman Jay Blanton told the Lexington Herald-Leader for a story on its Web site.
Judd attended the university from 1986 to 1990, but left one course shy of graduation.
Ashley Judd
Venue Changed To Spare Horses
Rolling Stones
A long-awaited Rolling Stones concert in Belgrade will be moved from the planned location at the racetrack in the Serbian capital in a bid to spare hundreds of horses from noise and crowds, organisers said Wednesday.
Instead, the concert scheduled for July 14 would be held at a big park in central Belgrade, Ivan Ivackovic of the Music Star Production, told AFP.
The decision was made after race horse owners and animal rights activists warned the animals would suffer from noise and crowds during the concert, expected to be attended by tens of thousands.
Rolling Stones
Revamped For Renewal
'Veronica Mars'
The CW drama "Veronica Mars" is inching closer to a renewal for a fourth season after a trailer for the proposed revamped version of the series got a warm reception at the network, sources said.
The new season would fast-forward a couple of years, and find the title character (Kristen Bell) studying at the FBI Academy.
The cult favorite had been on the verge of cancellation, but its fortunes have improved significantly in the past week with the announcement that "Gilmore Girls" won't be coming back and because of "Mars" creator Rob Thomas' well-received fourth-season idea.
'Veronica Mars'
Treatment Stopped
Tammy Faye Bakker
Tammy Faye Bakker, the disgraced televangelist whose reputations was rehabilitated through a documentary and reality show, has penned a goodbye letter to her fans in which she says doctors have stopped treating her cancer.
"The doctors have stopped trying to treat the cancer and so now it's up to God and my faith. And that's enough! But please continue to pray for the pain and sick stomach," Tammy Faye wrote in a letter to her "faithful friends" on her Web site.
"My precious daughter, Tammy Sue, and her wonderful friends are staying with me," Tammy Faye wrote. "They don't want me falling down the stairs. I am down weight wise to 65 pounds, and look like a scarecrow. I need God's miracle to swallow."
Tammy Faye Bakker
Cancer Story Line
Funky Winkerbean
Faced with his own diagnosis of cancer, syndicated comic strip creator Tom Batiuk returned Wednesday to a story line in which one of his "Funky Winkerbean" characters copes with the disease.
"I realized there is a huge gulf between empathy and personal experience," said the 60-year-old Batiuk, who underwent surgery for prostate cancer in January. "It showed me that I had only skimmed over the surface of the subject."
In Wednesday's strip, main character Lisa Moore learns that her breast cancer has returned after seven years and gotten worse. A radiology lab had mixed up her scans and she thought her cancer was in remission. The character has had a mastectomy and chemotherapy.
Funky Winkerbean
Wedding News
Davidson - Shah
One of Malaysia's most eligible bachelors, the crown prince of northern Perak state, is to marry a woman related to the country's first prime minister next week, reports said.
Perak Raja Muda (Crown Prince) Nazrin Shah, 50, will tie the knot on May 17 with Zara Salim Davidson, 34, Perak's royal household said in details released late Tuesday through the official Bernama news agency.
Davidson is a chemical engineer and a former state swimmer, and the grand-niece of Malaysia's first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman. The couple have known each other for eight years, the Star newspaper reported Wednesday.
Nazrin is the oldest son of the Sultan of Perak, Azlan Shah, and is the next in line for the throne when his father dies.
Davidson - Shah
Free Poetry Downloads
Penn
Professors at the University of Pennsylvania are offering recordings of contemporary poets' work to the public through an online audio archive of digital downloads, without charges or fees.
Started more than two years ago, PennSound features about 200 writers and more than 10,000 digital recordings contributed by poets, fans and scholars worldwide. Some, such as Gertrude Stein recordings from 1934, date back decades.
The site mainly focuses on historical avant-garde and innovative contemporary poetry, such as works by Allen Ginsberg or current U.S. poet laureate Donald Hall.
Penn
Time Warner Shows The Door
Chris Albrecht
HBO Chairman and Chief Executive Chris Albrecht said on Wednesday he was stepping down at the request of Time Warner Inc., days after he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend.
Also on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported that HBO paid a female staffer at least $400,000 in 1991 to settle allegations of battery involving Albrecht.
On Tuesday, HBO announced Albrecht had been granted a paid leave of absence pending resolution of the arrest. Albrecht issued a statement apologizing for the incident and saying he had a drinking problem that he would address by returning to Alcoholics Anonymous.
Chris Albrecht
Leaving Court TV
Nancy Grace
Nancy Grace is ending her justice-themed interview and debate show, "Nancy Grace: Closing Arguments," on Court TV after 10 years with the network.
"Court TV will always hold a special place in my heart, and I will always look back at my time there with great gratitude and affection," she said Wednesday in a statement.
Grace said she is leaving Court TV to focus on her legal analysis program, "Nancy Grace," on CNN Headline News and on her charitable endeavors.
Nancy Grace
Joining `Las Vegas'
Tom Selleck
Tom Selleck, who reigned in Hawaii as "Magnum, P.I.," is getting ready to take over "Las Vegas."
Selleck will join the cast of the NBC drama next season, playing a billionaire with a mysterious past who becomes the new owner of the show's centerpiece hotel, the Montecito Resort & Casino, the network said Wednesday.
Selleck is coming to the series as the same time that James Caan, who starred as the casino's surveillance chief and chief exec, departs. Caan, who had previously announced he would leave after the season finale in March, will be back for the premiere next season, NBC said.
Tom Selleck
Watercolor Goes For Record
Paul Cezanne
A still-life watercolor by French post-impressionist Paul Cezanne has sold at auction in New York for 25.5 million dollars -- a record for the artist's works on paper.
"Nature morte au melon vert," or "Still life with a green melon" far exceeded its estimate of 14 to 18 million dollars in the sale late Tuesday, Sotheby's auction house said in a statement, without identifying the buyer.
Among other notable sales was Pablo Picasso's "Tete d'arlequin," or "Head of a harlequin," a portrait of an adolescent boy, which fetched 15.1 million dollars.
Paul Cezanne
Computer To Smithsonian
Dell
Michael Dell never imagined his work would end up in a museum when he was sitting in his college dorm room in 1984, dreaming of building and selling his own personal computers. Now, one of his original computers is going to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
The 42-year-old chairman and chief executive of Texas-based Dell Inc. donated a collection of materials Wednesday to the Smithsonian, including his employee badge, one of the company's newest computers and a PC Limited computer from 1985.
The objects will join an Altair computer, a first-generation IBM PC and an original Apple Macintosh in the museum's collection.
Dell
Cancel Canada Previews
Warner Bros.
Canadian film lovers hoping to catch an early peek at "Ocean's Thirteen" and the upcoming Harry Potter sequel will be out of luck after Warner Bros. canceled all of its advance screenings and accused Canada of being at the forefront of the piracy market.
Darcy Antonellis, Warner Bros.' senior vice president of worldwide anti-piracy operations, defended the move Tuesday, saying weak Canadian copyright rules have made the country a haven for organized crime syndicates to make and sell illegal DVDs.
It is currently not a criminal offense in Canada to make recordings of movies in theaters for personal use. In order to prosecute a pirate, there must be proof that the copy of the film is being made for commercial purposes.
Warner Bros.
Challenge GOP
Retired Generals
Three retired generals challenged a dozen members of Congress in a new ad campaign Wednesday, saying the politicians can't expect to win re-election if they support resident Bush's policies in Iraq.
"I am outraged, as are the majority of Americans. I'm a lifelong Republican, but it's past time for change," retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste told reporters.
Batiste and Paul Eaton, also a retired major general, are featured in the ads by VoteVets.org. They challenge the president's argument that he listens to his commanders on the ground in Iraq and say the president's Iraq policies endanger U.S. security.
The House members targeted by the new ads are Mary Bono of California, Phil English of Pennsylvania, Randy Kuhl and James Walsh of New York, Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri, Timothy Johnson of Illinois, Mike Rogers and Fred Upton of Michigan and Michael Castle of Delaware.
Retired Generals
Section Discovered
Great Wall
Chinese archaeologists have discovered a section of the Great Wall straddling the Mongolian border that is the northernmost remnant of the landmark yet found, state media reported Wednesday.
The remnants of the wall, found in the Bayannur district of China's Inner Mongolia region, measures 2.3 metres (7.5 feet) wide and about 1.15 metres high, the Beijing News reported.
Built 2,100 years ago during the Han dynasty, the section also would likely be one of the oldest sections of the wall, which was begun in the reign of the emperor Qin Shi Huang, which began in 221 B.C.
Great Wall
Slam Science Meddling
Dems
Democrats said Wednesday an Interior Department official who pressured government scientists to alter their research was just one example of a larger problem.
Julie MacDonald resigned last week as deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks after the department's inspector general said she bullied federal scientists and improperly leaked information about endangered species to private groups.
Democrats welcomed MacDonald's departure, but accused the administration of abdicating its responsibility to protect endangered species.
"This is an agency that seems focused on one goal: weakening the law by administrative fiat, and it is doing much of the work shrouded from public view," said Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.
Dems
Top Cable
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of April 30-May 6. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses.
1. "The Sopranos" (Sunday, 9:02 p.m.), HBO, 4.73 million homes, 7.16 million viewers.
2. NBA Playoffs: Dallas vs. Golden State (Thursday, 10:40 p.m.), TNT, 3.76 million homes, 4.82 million viewers.
3. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.47 million homes, 5.04 million viewers.
4. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.19 million homes, 4.59 million viewers.
5. NBA Playoffs: Golden State vs. Dallas (Tuesday, 9:55 p.m.), TNT, 3.12 million homes, 4.15 million viewers.
6. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.869 million homes, 3.65 million viewers.
7. NBA Playoffs: L.A. Lakers vs. Phoenix (Wednesday, 10:32 p.m.), TNT, 2.861 million homes, 3.92 million viewers.
8. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.71 million homes, 3.27 million viewers.
9. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Sunday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.61 million homes, 3.4 million viewers.
10. "Hannah Montana" (Friday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 2.59 million homes, 3.54 million viewers.
11. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.55 million homes, 2.87 million viewers.
12. "Ned Declassified" (Tuesday, 6 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.47 million homes, 2.98 million viewers.
13. NBA Playoffs: San Antonio vs. Denver (Monday, 10:33 p.m.), TNT, 2.47 million homes, 2.96 million viewers.
14. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.46 million homes, 2.94 million viewers.
15. "Entourage" (Sunday, 10:02 p.m.), HBO, 2.44 million homes, 3.45 million viewers.
Ratings
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