Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Mark Morford: San Francisco values save the world (sfgate.com)
So I'm skimming like a mud puddle Jesus through another hunk of grammatically wretched hate mail, kindly informing me that both I and the city in which I live are godless, stinky insults to all humanity (yawn),
Myths and falsehoods about Elena Kagan's Supreme Court nomination (mediamatters.org)
Media Matters for America has compiled and debunked myths and falsehoods about Solicitor General Elena Kagan's Supreme Court nomination.
Froma Harrop: Who Are You Calling Racist? (creators.com)
Many Tea Party critics accuse the movement of racist tendencies. Their evidence includes its obsession over illegal immigration and nasty epithets hurled during Tea Party rallies.
Ann Hulber: Give It a Rest, Genius (slate.com)
What the new success books don't tell you about superachievement.
Lucy Mangan: How do you choose books for children? (guardian.co.uk)
Does The Railway Children's happy ending inspire false hope or a welcome dose of escapism for children with absent parents?
"The Number: What Do You Need for the Rest of Your Life, and What Will It Cost?" by Lee Eisenberg: A review by Beth Lyons
In a nutshell, The Number is about, well, the number, about how much money you need before you feel like you can retire. It's more a cultural history of money, debt, retirement, and old age than it is a straightforward guide to balancing your mutual funds. But, if you're starting to think about retirement, this is highly recommended reading.
Reed Johnson: "An appreciation: Lena Horne" (latimes.com)
The multitalented entertainer's fierce individualism stood her in good stead during the trying times of the mid-20th century.
Geoff Boucher: Country singer Chely Wright finds strength to face the music (Los Angeles Times)
Nashville star Chely Wright says that country music fans will forgive a lot - forlorn tales of failure and redemption are as essential to the music as steel pedal guitar - but there is one thing that the boots and pickup truck constituency cannot abide when it looks up at its stars in the spotlight. A country music star cannot be gay.
Paul Sexton: Lady Antebellum gets drunk on success (timesonline.co.uk)
The Nashville trio have hit the big time in America with a song about drinking and dialling, but will Britain succumb?
Geoff Boucher: Frank Frazetta dies at 82; renowned fantasy illustrator (latimes.com)
His covers for "Conan" paperbacks and others in the 1960s set the standard for sword-and-sorcery-genre artwork.
Julie Hinds: Comedian Kathleen Madigan takes her life in full stride (Detroit Free Press)
Kathleen Madigan's joke about illegal immigration is that there should be a reality show where people vote on who stays or goes.
Roger Ebert: Review of "PLEASE GIVE" (R; 3 1/2 stars)
Nicole Holofcener, who made the great "Lovely and Amazing," pays close attention to women. She doesn't define them by their relationships with men. In a Holofcener movie, women actually have their own reasons for doing things - and these are even allowed to be bad reasons, and funny ones.
David Bruce: "Composition Project: Writing an Argument Paper" (Lulu.com)
Free download at http://stores.lulu.com/bruceb. This short pdf file describes a composition project that teachers can adapt, if they wish, for their own courses.
The Sounds - Queen of Apology (youtube.com)
The Weekly Poll
New Question
The 'Sympathy for the Devil' Edition...
Glen Beck(-elzebub) - or perhaps some unearthly entity clothed in Glenn Beck's skin - on Faux and Fiends, discussing the Miranda Rights of alleged Times Square car bomber Faisal Shahzad said… "He is a citizen of the United States, so I say we uphold the laws and the Constitution on citizens… If you are a citizen, you obey the law and follow the Constitution. He has all the rights under the Constitution… We don't shred the Constitution when it is popular. We do the right thing"...
You weren't expecting that, were you? I don't think anybody was...
Quote Unquote: Glenn Beck on Faisal Shahzad's Rights | Indecision Forever | Comedy Central
and Huff Post
Sooooooo....
Who among you has the courage to stand with Beck(-elzebub) and for the record
state that you agree with him on this issue?
(haha! This too delicious!)
I am SO Bad... totheboneBob
Send your response to
wrote:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Claudia Suggests
World's Ugliest Statues
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and a bit warmer.
Aiding Nashville
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld didn't find the floods in Nashville funny.
The comedian says he is donating all the proceeds from Friday's show at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, just a few blocks from the scene of widespread flood damage.
The proceeds will be split between the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
Taylor Swift has donated $500,000 to relief organizations and will continue to help raise funds by appearing in "Nashville Rising," a June 22 benefit concert hosted by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. The lineup includes Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus, Brooks & Dunn, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride and many others.
Jerry Seinfeld
Celebrates 50 Years In Show Business
Bob Newhart
"Fifty years!" Bob Newhart marveled. "It's like where the hell did the time go?"
The comedian was ruminating recently as he relaxed between concert dates on a 14-city tour celebrating his golden anniversary in show business.
"I'll tell you how the world has changed," he said in the living room of his secluded Bel-Air home. "We were all called the sick comics. Time magazine did an article on all of us: Lenny Bruce, myself, Shelley Berman and Mike Nichols and Elaine May. Lenny was knocking over all kinds of sacred topics, and we all were called 'sick.' I was making people sick because I made fun of a president - Abe Lincoln. Compared to today, it's hard to believe."
Two weeks after his debut in Houston, he recorded "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart." "It then went crazy and went beyond anyone's expectations, especially mine."
Bob Newhart
The Funniest Relationship On TV?
Colbert and House
The funniest relationship on TV might be the clandestine, cross-network affair between "The Colbert Report" and "House."
If you look carefully, you can spot a small, framed photograph of Hugh Laurie, the star of Fox's "House," on the set of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report." "House" has reciprocated the gesture with a photo of Colbert that sits on Dr. Gregory House's desk.
The shelf behind Colbert's C-shaped desk contains a collection of odd objects that he has found reason to keep by some twist of the show's bizarre comedic meanderings. The House photo currently rests, Colbert noted, "in a place of honor next to my coin purse made from a bull scrotum."
Colbert first placed the photo on his set in June 2006 after Colbert (the real one) received an honorary degree from Knox College. This made him a doctor, Colbert claimed, and next to his degree, he placed photos of three other TV doctors: House, Noah Drake from "General Hospital," and Dr. Cliff Huxtable from "The Cosby Show."
Colbert and House
Honored On Postage Stamp
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn, star of such classic movies as "African Queen" and "Little Women," took her place on a U.S. postage stamp Wednesday.
The 44-cent stamp was dedicated in ceremonies in Old Saybrook, Conn., and is on sale nationwide.
The red-haired actress becomes the 16th star to be honored on the U.S. Postal Service's Legends of Hollywood stamp series.
Katharine Hepburn
Comeback Gig
Adam Ant
New wave rocker Adam Ant angered fans after he embarked on an expletive-filled rant during a comeback gig at a church hall.
The Adam and the Ants star - real name Stuart Goddard - is eager to make a return to the charts, and performed an intimate show at a church hall in Portsmouthon Monday in front of 200 fans to promote his latest album Adam Ant Is The Blueback Hussar In Marrying The Gunner's Daughter.
But things turned sour when the Prince Charming hitmaker upset Christian revellers by singing Rolling Stones track Sympathy For The Devil and he was jeered by the audience.
He reportedly told the crowd, "I'm a punk rocker. I don't do Christian. You can f**k off to the church", before storming off the stage when organisers ended the event early.
And Goddard admits the show was a disaster, telling the publication, "The show was s**t. I wasn't told it was in a church hall."
Adam Ant
Comedy Central Cancels
'Sarah Silverman Program'
The first season of 'The Sarah Silverman Program' was hilarious. Ditto, for the most part, its over-the-top second season. But the third? Comedy Central had shifted the show from 10:30PM to midnight. And now, the series has been cancelled.
Deadline reports that the third season, which ended on April 15, will be the show's last, as the network has decided not to renew Silverman's comedy for a fourth season.
The decision shouldn't come as a major surprise to anyone, as season 3 almost didn't happen. Comedy Central had asked Silverman and company to cut the show's budget by more than 20 percent, and only after Comedy Central sister network Logo agreed to co-finance the series did 'Program' move forward.
And 'Sarah Silverman Program' co-star Brian Posehn told TV Squad last month that he thought the series would end after season 3. "... we felt that kind of going in. Just because it was so tough to get them to give us the money to do the third season, we had to jump through so many hoops," Posehn said. "I feel like we're lucky to have done what we've done, and I would be very happy to come back and do a season four. But I'd also be completely surprised if it happened."
'Sarah Silverman Program'
Meets Grim Fate
"Happy Town"
ABC is pulling its new drama "Happy Town" after the first two episodes averaged just 4.5 million viewers. The network will air another episode Wednesday night, and then burn off the remaining five episodes starting June 2. Sam Neill starred in the tale of a small town beset by mysterious happenings.
"Happy Town"
GLAAD Demands Apology
Newsweek
A gay rights group is demanding an apology from Newsweek magazine for a recent story that it says suggested gay actors shouldn't play straight characters.
Spokesman Rich Ferraro says the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation hasn't gotten the apology it seeks, but that GLAAD's president and the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Milk" participated in a Q&A with the magazine on Wednesday.
Some Hollywood stars blasted Newsweek and writer Ramin Setoodeh for an April 26 story that said it's OK for straight actors to play gay roles, but "it's rare for someone to pull off the trick in reverse."
Ryan Murphy, creator of the Fox series "Glee," called for a boycott of the magazine, and actress Kristen Chenoweth wrote a letter to the editor calling its story bigoted and factually inaccurate.
Newsweek
Pleads No Contest
Sean Penn
Sean Penn pleaded no contest to vandalism on Wednesday, effectively ending a case in which the Oscar-winning actor was videotaped kicking a celebrity photographer.
Penn was not present in court and entered the plea through his attorney. He was sentenced to three years of informal probation and ordered to perform 300 hours of community service, said city attorney's spokesman Frank Mateljan.
Mateljan says those hours can be completed through Penn's earthquake-relief efforts in Haiti.
He was also ordered to undergo 36 hours of anger management counseling and stay 100 yards away from the photographer.
Sean Penn
France Demands Release
Jafar Panahi
Two senior French ministers have called on Iran to free jailed director Jafar Panahi so he can take up an invitation to sit on the jury of the Cannes film festival, which opens later Wednesday.
"We call for his immediate release and we ask the Tehran authorities to respect the fundamental right of freedom of expression and creativity for the Iranians," Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said in a joint statement.
Panahi, a maker of gritty films that examine social issues in the Islamic Republic, was a supporter of Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in last year's disputed election that saw President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad retain power.
On March 1, Panahi, his wife, daughter and 15 guests were held by Iranian security guards at his home, according to opposition leaders. His family says he was subsequently taken to prison and have expressed concern about his health.
Jafar Panahi
Facebook Not Enough For Oscars
Betty White
Facebook fans brought Betty White to "Saturday Night Live," and now they've got their eyes on the Oscars.
A page on the social networking website, called Official Page for Getting Betty White to Host the Academy Awards, has collected more than 56,000 fans.
But the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says it isn't ready to let Facebook make casting decisions for film's biggest night.
Spokeswoman Leslie Unger says the academy plans to continue with its protocol of allowing the producers to select the host that will best serve the show they're trying to put together.
Betty White
Irish Sellers Face Life In Jail
"Legal Highs"
Ireland's government approved tough new legislation Tuesday to crack down on "legal highs" available at so-called 'head shops' by threatening operators of the popular stores with life imprisonment. Under the new legislation, the sale or supply of substances that do not specifically fall under existing drugs legislation, but which have "psychoactive effects" will land users with up to 7 years in prison and suppliers with a maximum life sentence.
Head shops, which sell a variety of drugs paraphernalia, have thrived in recession-hit Ireland by selling substances often dubbed "legal" or "herbal" highs.
With some other countries are mulling legalizing certain drugs, critics of the new Irish legislation said it could drive users to try and get "legal high" drugs via the Internet or on the black market.
"The righteous fuming over these products is never applied in the same way to the products sold in the local pub which are just as lethal and dangerous when misused and abused," Irish Times journalist Jim Carroll said on the newspaper's blog, referring to the consumption of alcohol in bars.
"Legal Highs"
'Flag' Sets Record
Jasper Johns
"Flag," a depiction of the Stars and Stripes by Jasper Johns, has sold for 28.6 million dollars at Christie's auctioneers in New York, smashing the record for the American artist.
The work, an encaustic and printed paper collage on paper over canvas, led the charge at a big-spending sale of modern and contemporary art that also saw an Andy Warhol go for 18.3 million dollars.
"Flag," part of an extraordinary collection from the estate of the late thriller writer Michael Crichton, had been estimated to sell for 10 to 15 million dollars.
Most of the 31 lots from the Crichton estate beat their pre-auction estimate and often went for well over twice the predicted price. The entire collection had been estimated to sell at between 48 and 69 million dollars but raked in 93.3 million dollars.
Jasper Johns
Buys Back Power Rangers From Disney
Haim Saban
Media mogul Haim Saban is buying back from Disney the fist-pumping, multi-coloured superheroes known as the Power Rangers. He's hoping to launch the enduring franchise into a higher orbit.
New episodes kicking off the 18th season of the show will play on Viacom-owned cable channels Nickelodeon and Nicktoons next spring.
The Walt Disney Co. bought Fox Family Channel, which included the Power Rangers, from News Corp. and Saban in 2001. The deal, worth US$5.2 billion, brought Saban $1.5 billion for his stake.
Haim Saban
Banned In AZ
Ethnic Studies
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has signed a bill targeting a school district's ethnic studies program, hours after a report by United Nations human rights experts condemned the measure.
State schools chief Tom Horne (R-Self-Aggrandizing), who has pushed the bill for years, said he believes the Tucson school district's Mexican-American studies program teaches Latino students that they are oppressed by white people.
Brewer's signature on the bill Tuesday comes less than a month after she signed the nation's toughest crackdown on illegal immigration - a move that ignited international backlash amid charges the measure would encourage racial profiling of Hispanics. The governor has said profiling will not be tolerated.
Horne, a Republican running for attorney general, said the program promotes "ethnic chauvinism" and racial resentment toward whites while segregating students by race. He's been trying to restrict it ever since he learned that Hispanic civil rights activist Dolores Huerta told students in 2006 that "Republicans hate Latinos."
Ethnic Studies
Found Off Swedish Coast
'King of Herrings'
A maritime expert says a 12-foot (3.65-meter) Giant Oarfish - the world's largest bony fish - has been found in Swedish waters for the first time in 130 years.
Also known as the "King of Herrings," the dead fish was picked up by a west coast resident who found it floating near the shore over the weekend. It was handed over to The House of the Sea aquarium in the town of Lysekil, where expert Roger Jansson says it's being kept pending a decision on what to do with it.
Johansson said Wednesday the Giant Oarfish can grow up to 36 feet (11 meters), and is believed to live in deep waters. He says the last recorded discovery in Sweden was in 1879.
'King of Herrings'
The 5 Most Inexplicably Popular
Reality Shows
There are lame reality shows that are modestly popular. There are vapid reality shows that are hugely popular (E!'s "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" is their queen).
But then there are super popular reality shows that, on paper, shouldn't work at all (or, at least, shouldn't be nearly as popular as they've managed to become). This is their story.
4. CBS' "UNDERCOVER BOSS"
This show has been like some kind of media relations magic trick -- corporate PR porn during a recession. Yes, the premiere had a mammoth "Super Bowl" lead-in, but that's never been a guarantee of continued success. In a way, "Boss" has managed to celebrit-ize the CEO, who's always just an aw-shucks decent family man who's shocked to discover some light bulbs don't work inside Store #541.
Why it works: The undercover format adds some tension (Will the CEO be discovered? Will he discover an embarrassing problem?) followed by cathartic feel-good resolution when the CEO of a billion-dollar company gives a teary-eyed wage slave a $5,000 scholarship.
For the rest - Reality Shows
In Memory
Bob Mercer
Music industry executive Bob Mercer, who signed the Sex Pistols while at EMI Music in the 1970s and most recently successfully marketed hit-single compilation albums, has died. He was 65.
Mercer died of lung cancer May 5 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his wife of 31 years Margie said.
While at EMI, Mercer signed Queen, the Sex Pistols, Olivia Newton-John, Kate Bush and Marc Bolan. In 1980, he moved to EMI Films before becoming manager for artists such as Roger Waters.
He moved to Nashville in the early 1990s to help launch and run Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Records.
He later became chief executive of the Now That's What I Call Music! album compilation venture that sold 77 million albums in the United States since its 1998 debut. The compilation series originated in Britain 15 years earlier.
Besides his wife, Mercer is survived by son Jackson and a brother, Mick.
Bob Mercer
In Memory
Tyler Lambert
Tyler Lambert, son of 'Diff'rent Strokes' star Dana Plato, committed suicide on May 6, almost exactly 11 years after his mother ended her life. Lambert was 25.
The Tulsa, Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner told PopEater that Lambert died from a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. Toxicology tests are pending. Though the office had no more information at this time, the National Enquirer alleges Lambert suffered depression surrounding the anniversary of his mother's death and descended into a drug binge prior to his suicide.
In reports from a not-yet-online National Enquirer piece, Lambert's grandmother Joni Richardson said, "Tyler wanted to be with his mother. His father Lanny (Lambert, Plato's ex-husband) is devastated."
Dana Plato committed suicide with prescription pills on May 8, 1999. She was 36 years old. In 2006, a 21-year-old Lambert filed a $20,000 wrongful death lawsuit against Plato's former fiance, claiming he contributed to Plato's death by "not giving immediate medical assistance or contacting medical personnel," according to court documents.
Tyler Lambert
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