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From 'TBH Politoons'
Great Site!
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Contribution
A New Log
From Sharon
The Asshole Log
He's Been Busy Again!
the worried shrimp
Big Brother...
Reader Contribution #2
How To Spruce Up
Also from Sharon
How to Spruce Up Your Shitbox
Thanks, again, Sharon
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Did the weekly trip to CostCo, for another coffee-table-of-toilet-paper, among other things.
Local news had coverage of several older people who have died in the Palm Springs area from the heat. They all lived in places with air conditioning, it's just that being responsible adults they
knew they couldn't afford the electricity. Mary Bono's office has said for seniors to call & get assistance. Some freaking assistance - an offer to spread out the payments for 12 months. It was only
118 there today.
Nah, there was no gouging in this state, and we're still not being gouged...it's only 19.9 cents/kilowatt hour.
Updated the links page again tonight.
Tonight, Thursday, CBS has a fresh 'Big Brother 3', then reruns of 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' and 'The Agency'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave are Geena Davis and Robert Plant.
Scheduled on a fresh Craiggers are Lea Thompson and Oleta Adams.
NBC has reruns of 'Friends', 'Scrubs', 'Will & Grace', 'Just Shoot Me', and 'ER'.
Scheduled on a fresh Jay is Dana Carvey.
Scheduled on a fresh Conan are Jay Mohr and Tony Robbins.
Scheduled on a fresh Carson Daly are Christian Bale and Counting Crows.
ABC has the movie The Phantom'.
The WB has a rerun of 'Reba', then 2 reruns of 'Jamie Kennedy Experiment', and then a rerun of 'Off Centre'.
Faux offers up a fresh 'Beyond Belief: Fact Or Fiction', and then a fresh 'Pulse', featuring Shepard 'Parking Pig' Smith, with 'wisdom' provided by
Bill O'Really & geraldo rivera.
UPN has 'WWE Smackdown'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Bare Coverup?
DOJ & Curtains
The Justice Department apparently didn't tell the whole truth when it denied that new curtains were meant to hide a bare-breasted statue that loomed over Attorney General
John Ashcroft's news conferences.
The department said the blue curtains provide a better background for cameras - but internal memos obtained by the Daily News make it clear the $8,650 worth of drapery was
part of a Department of Justice coverup.
In a Nov. 29, 2001, E-mail, an aide was instructed to "obtain three bids for the permanent drape hiding the statues," "Spirit of Justice" and her male companion, "Majesty of Law."
A later E-mail said, "The pipe and drape to hide the statues will be installed in the Great Hall tomorrow."
And a Jan. 23 E-mail announced that, "The new drape in the Great Hall to cover the statues has been installed."
Initial reports said the curtain went up because Ashcroft, an Assembly of God minister, was offended by the one bared breast of the female statue that has graced the
Great Hall since 1936. The breast was often visible over Ashcroft's head or shoulder in news conferences and photos.
The attorney general was lampooned for his apparent prudery, but he said little about it except to joke on "Late Show With David Letterman" that, "It really wasn't
a covering for the statue so much as ... a construction curtain. [The statues] are being remodeled."
But Justice Department spokeswoman Barbara Comstock took the questions seriously at the time and said, "This wasn't an issue with the statue. See, that's not the
issue. The issue is having a blue background."
She insisted that Ashcroft had not ordered the drapes and never said a word to his aides about the statue.
DOJ & Curtains
A blue background is not a good thing for tv-cameras, unless one is hoping/expecting to superimpose an image or message. Most 'chroma-keys' are set to blue.
Now She Wears A Burqa
'The Spirit Of Justice'
Donate $1 Million to Museum
The Nimoys
Leonard Nimoy and his wife have donated $1 million to the Museum of Contemporary Art.
The Nimoy Fund for Emerging Artists will showcase new artistic talent, officials said Tuesday.
"We are appreciative of the generosity of the Nimoys," said Bob Tuttle, museum chairman. "Their support continues MOCA's invaluable role in advancing contemporary art and ensures stable
resources to fund exhibitions and projects by emerging artists."
The large gift is the second in recent months by the Nimoys, who donated $1 million to the Griffith Observatory renovation effort. When the Los Angeles landmark reopens in 2005, the 71-year-old
actor who's best known as Mr. Spock on "Star Trek" will have a 200-seat theater named in his honor.
Nimoy's wife, Susan, has served on the museum's Board of Trustees since 1999 and has chaired the board's development committee.
The Nimoys
Highway To Be Named In Honor
Andy Griffith
Actor Andy Griffith will have a portion of U.S. 52 named in his honor.
Griffith, 76, starred in the popular '60s TV sitcom "The Andy Griffith Show." The series was set in the fictional town of Mayberry, widely believed to be based on Mount Airy.
"We now have a `go' from the governor and the secretary of transportation," Transportation Board member Sam Erby said Monday. "And, barring some kind of illness, Andy Griffith and his wife, Cindy,
are planning to attend the ceremony."
The ceremony is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 16.
Griffith and his wife live in Manteo, along the North Carolina coast.
Andy Griffith
Jenna's Roommate?
''Elizabeth''
A woman who says she's Jenna Bush's roommate at the University of Texas claims the fun-loving first daughters aren't big boozers. "Especially in comparison to other college students, they
don't drink a lot," Elizabeth, who gave no last name, told KABC radio in Los Angeles. As for the twins' recent appearance in a D.C. bar, she said: "I don't think it implies [Jenna]'s an alcoholic
or has a problem because a 20-year-old girl wants to go out with her friends." The woman noted the president and first lady were "disappointed" when Jenna was busted for underage boozing: "There
were discussions . . . I'd say she got in trouble."
Jenna's Roommate?
New CBS Show For Fall
'CSI: Miami'
From left to right are: Actor David Caruso, Jerry Bruckheimer, executive producer and actress Kim Delaney, all of CBS' "CSI: Miami," pose for a photograph with Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS, while attending the CBS Press Tour Party in
Pasadena, Calif., Tuesday, July 16, 2002.
Photo by John P. Filo
Says Her Marriage on the Rocks
Angelina Jolie
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie and her husband Billy Bob Thornton, one of Hollywood's most eccentric couples, have been living apart for four months, Jolie said in an interview released on Wednesday.
Jolie, in an interview with Us Weekly, said she and Thornton had not seen each other since June 3 and were living in separate hotels.
Jolie described herself as both angry and sad at the apparent parting of ways after a two-year marriage whose future has been the subject of frenzied Hollywood gossip for weeks.
The couple's May 2000 wedding was the second marriage for Jolie, 27, and the fifth for Thornton, 46. The intensity of their romance -- each wore pendants filled with each other's blood around
their necks and tattoos of each other's names -- made them instant media stars.
Angelina Jolie
Interesting Link
The Time Travel Fund
The Time Travel Fund[tm]
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
New Graham Chapman Material
Monty Python fans will be treated to something completely different this summer when three sketches by the irreverent British comedy troupe are performed in public for the first time.
The sketches, each lasting about four minutes and featuring characters including an overworked Messiah and a gay budgie, will be performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in
August, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The sketches were written by the late Python star Graham Chapman and found in Los Angeles by his literary executor, the paper said.
Chapman died of cancer in 1989, aged 49.
Comedy group Sketch Club will face the task of capturing Monty Python's outrageous style when they perform the unmistakably Pythonesque skits in Scotland.
New Graham Chapman Material
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Cigarette Causes Stir
Russell Crowe
A cigarette smoked by actor Russell Crowe on Australian television has sparked a legal battle.
The Nine Network on Wednesday launched a challenge in Sydney's Federal Court against a ruling by Australia's broadcasting watchdog that it had breached a law banning the advertising of cigarettes.
The Australian Broadcasting Authority said an interview with Crowe aired on the station's 60 Minutes program in October 2000, that showed the Oscar-winning actor brandishing a packet of
Marlboros as he lit up, breached the Tobacco Advertisement Prohibition Act.
Part of the interview was replayed the following week after viewers criticized Crowe — who was nominated for an Oscar when he portrayed a tobacco industry whistleblower in the film
"The Insider" — for his smoking habit.
The authority said that while the the original footage was an "incidental accompaniment" allowed under the act, the repeat broadcast "recklessly" constituted a tobacco advertisement.
It decided, however, not to fine the media organization.
Russell Crowe
From Colha, In Belize
'The Cradle Of Chocolate'
An earthenware teapot excavated at a Mayan archaeological site at Colha in Belize is shown at the University of Texas at Austin, in Austin, Texas, January
2001. An analysis of the 2,600-year-old pottery confirms that ancient Mayans made cocoa drinks as early as 600 B.C. in an area of Central America that some
have nicknamed "the cradle of chocolate."
Photo by Terry G. Powis
Marks 25 Years
Home Shopping Network
HSN started 25 years ago this month when a broke advertiser gave a local radio show 112 electric can openers to sell on the air. The appliances sold so well that the concept
of home shopping was born, and in the 25 years since, HSN has become a high-powered blend of show business and commerce with nearly $2 billion in sales last year.
The company, now owned by Barry Diller's USA Interactive, also spawned an industry. Rival QVC, founded in 1986, has actually grown bigger than HSN, with $3.9 billion in
sales last year. No. 3 is 12-year-old ShopNBC, with $463 million in 2001 sales.
HSN became a success by appealing to the women who do most of their family's buying, and offering them a way to shop and be entertained at home.
To people who aren't fans of HSN or its competitors, home shopping can conjure up stereotypes. For example, that companies like HSN sell little more than cubic zirconium
jewelry. But HSN's trademark fake jewel, Absolute CZ, accounts for only 2 percent of its sales — the company offers everything from cookware and home paint to diet foods and sports memorabilia.
Another image many people seem to have is that it's small-town America that sustains HSN. Not so; it's the nation's shopping hotbeds — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago,
Philadelphia and San Francisco — that are its top five markets.
The demographics of HSN break down this way: 75 percent female, age 40 and older with an average income of $63,000. Its competitors claim audiences with similar demographics.
Home Shopping Network
Interesting Link
Create Your Own Warning
Create Your Own Warning
Joining 'Guiding Light'
Joan Collins
Former "Dynasty" diva Joan Collins is joining the cast of the CBS sudser "Guiding Light," signing on for a six-month stint on the show. The primetime prima donna will play Alexandra Spaulding, a
character one daytime industry insider dubbed "your typical rich bitch."
Collins is expected to make her first "Guiding Light" appearance as early as September, though the exact timetable for her daytime bow is still being worked out. "Guiding Light," which just marked
its 50th anniversary on television, is shot in New York.
Collins' Spaulding character actually has a rich history on "Guiding Light," having first appeared in the mid-1980s. Daytime veteran Beverlee McKinsey played Spaulding until she left "Guiding Light"
in 1992; she was replaced by Marj Dusay, who now appears on ABC's "All My Children."
Joan Collins
BartCop TV!
'Widespread Panic'
Michael "Mikey" Houser
Widespread Panic guitarist and singer Michael "Mikey" Houser has announced that he has terminal cancer in a message to fans posted on the band's Web site.
"I want to assure all of you that all that can be done has been done, and I want to thank all of you who have contributed information, medicine, and so on," the 40-year-old wrote.
Speculation about Houser's health had been circulating since spring, when he missed some scheduled appearances with the Athens-based jam band. He also has missed much of the
group's summer tour, which began June 21 in Tennessee.
Houser was one of the founders of the group, which formed in 1985 and has been nominated for studio album of the year at the Jammys, which honor jam bands and musicians.
Michael "Mikey" Houser
Widespread Panic Web site
'Beverly Hills 90210'
Hilary Swank
Getting kicked off a show as shallow as "Beverly Hills 90210" can do wonders for a girl's career. Oscar-winning Hilary Swank writes in next month's Esquire that she thought
her life in showbiz was finished when she was drummed out of the show about 30-year-old high-schoolers. "I remember crying on the set . . . I felt complete and total devastation.
I'm not a good enough actress to even stay as a series regular on '90210,' " Hilary recalls.
Hilary Swank
Non-Stop Solo Voyage Across The Pacific Ocean
Ken-ichi Horie
Ken-ichi Horie sails under the Golden Gate Bridge as he completes his non-stop solo voyage across the Pacific Ocean, Wednesday July 17, 2002, in San Francisco. Horie completed his first
solo voyage across the Pacific 40 years ago.
Photo by George Nikitin
Mob Shakedown of Actor
Steven Seagal
Court papers filed this week by federal prosecutors detail alleged attempts by Gambino crime family associates to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from action star Steven Seagal.
The papers were filed in connection with a bail hearing for reputed Gambino captain Anthony Ciccone, who was among 17 alleged mob figures charged in a 68-count federal racketeering
indictment in June. On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered Ciccone to remain in custody.
Although the papers did not identify the actor, law enforcement sources have said it is Seagal, whose films include "Marked for Death," "Under Siege" and "Exit Wounds."
The court papers say the 50-year-old Seagal was in Canada when four alleged mobsters visited him to make demands. Wiretapped conversations show Julius Nasso, Seagal's longtime
producer, participated in demanding that Seagal pay $150,000 to the mob for each movie he made, the papers said.
Ciccone told Nasso he should be tougher with the actor, saying "you really gotta get down on him ... 'cause I know this animal, I know this beast."
Investigators have said Seagal was so shaken that he paid $700,000 to the mob, though that information was not included in the new filing.
Seagal and Nasso began doing business together in 1987, when Nasso handled the international marketing of Seagal's first hit film, "Above the Law," the lawsuit says. They
established Seagal-Nasso Productions Inc. in 1990 to handle distribution and foreign rights sales of Seagal's films.
Steven Seagal
Interesting Link
Where They Live
Where They Live
4th Suspect Arrested
Pakistani Gang Rape
Police arrested a fourth suspect in the gang rape last month of an 18-year-old girl as a tribal punishment in a remote Pakistani village, an official said Saturday.
The arrest completes a two-week hunt for the alleged rapists, said police Col. Farman Ali. Several other people — including a police officer — are also in custody for allegedly failing to prevent
the attack or hiding the suspects.
The rape occurred June 22 after a tribal council in Meerwala village in Punjab province ordered the girl's family be punished after her 11-year-old brother was seen walking unchaperoned with a girl
belonging to a different tribe.
The victim's family was from the Gujar tribe, considered lower-class than the Mastoi tribe to which the girl who walked with the boy belonged. The council was Mastoi, as were the men who carried out the rape.
President Pervez Musharraf's government gave the victim's family a check for 500,000 rupees (dlrs 8,000) as compensation and said a new school would be built in her name. The family is under
police protection in Meerwala after complaining of harassment by Mastoi tribe members in the village.
The suspects are to be brought before a court in nearby Deraghazi Khan on July 18 to be formally charged.
Pakistani Gang Rape
Subic Bay
The Philippines
'The Osbournes'
Fairly freshly updated - 'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2 !
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
