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From 'TBH Politoons'
Great Site!
Thanks, again, Tim!
Fun Link
from Baron Dave Romm
The Great Stand-Up Comedy Questions Answered
Top Ten Signs
from Alex
Top Ten Signs resident Bush Needs A Vacation
10. Holding all press conferences outside to work on his tan
9. Asking Al Qaeda not to do anything until the end of August (It's funny cause it's probably true!)
8. Had workers remove Oval Office desk to make room for hammock
7. It's been, what, two weeks since he went fishing? (HAHA!)
6. Constantly studying satellite photos of Club Med
5. Page 386 of his budget simply states "need nap"
4. Visited Disney World's Hall of Presidents, asked, "Which one am I?"
3. Started nodding off during WWF Smackdown
2. Barely has the energy to help Cheney shred Halliburton documents
1. He's choking on pretzels just so he can pass out for a couple of minutes
~~ Alex
Another Fun Link
from Baron Dave Romm
The Ironic Times
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The weather cooled off a bit. Long Beach may have some funny smells, but, damn, the weather is nice.
So, I'm watching TV, and there was a Disney ad (remember Disney said there'd be 'no deals' this summer?), and it said that adults get into 'California Adventure' for
the kid's price & kid's get in free. Oh, and they've also resuscitated the 'Electrical Light Parade'. So far, in the last 2 decades, twice they've had major marketing blitzes, saying
that the 'Electrical Light Parade' was going away - forever.
Got my hometown paper today. Seems that they're renaming streets back there to make it easier for ''emergency personnel to locate homes in times of emergencies.'' First St. is now Hickory. Second St. is now Church St.
Third St. is now Ash St., Fourth St. is now Hill St. Huh?
Tonight, Thursday, CBS starts the night with a fresh 'Big Brother 3', then offers reruns of 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' and 'The Agency'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave are Mike Myers and Bruce Springsteen.
Scheduled on a fresh Craiggers are Asia Argento and Howie Day.
NBC has reruns of 'Friends', 'Scrubs', 'Will & Grace', and the series premiere (that means fresh)
'The Rerun Show', then a rerun of 'ER'.
Scheduled on a fresh Jay are Samuel L. Jackson, Emmylou Harris, and Alison Krauss.
On a rerun Conan, the scheduled guests are Charlie Sheen, Sarah Silverman, and Christy McWilson.
On a rerun Carson Daly (from 4/25/02), the scheduled guests are John Leguizamo and Unwritten Law.
ABC has the movie 'John Carpenter's Escape From L.A', then 'PrimeTime Thursday'.
The WB has reruns of 'Reba', 2 episodes of 'Jamie Kennedy', and one of 'Off Centre'.
Faux has 'Beyond Belief: Fact Or Fiction?', and then 'Pulse', with shepard 'parking pig' smith, bill 'mr. subtle' o'really, and skipper 'dead-eye' geraldo rivera. Maybe both shows should
share the title of the first program?
UPN has 'WWE Smackdown!'.
AMC has a movie that creeps me out - 'Marathon Man' (it's a dental thing).
Hey Mark -
Don't know when the new fall shows will debut. Here are links to the 3 you mentioned.
BattleBots, Junkyard Wars -- The Learning Channel (TLC), and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Another Reason To Visit Vegas
Oddsmakers Pick Martin Sheen
Martin Sheen is the favorite to win a best-actor Emmy — at least at some Las Vegas casinos.
Oddsmakers at Bally's and the Stardust both like Sheen, who's nominated for his third consecutive year as President Bartlet on NBC's "The West Wing."
Johnny Avello, race and sports book director at Bally's, has Sheen at 6-5 to win, followed by first-time nominee Kiefer Sutherland of Fox's "24" at 2-1. Joe Lupo, race and sports book manager
at the Stardust, has him favored at 2-1, followed by Peter Krause of HBO's "Six Feet Under" at 3-1.
Both agree that "The West Wing" also will win outstanding drama series at the Sept. 22 ceremony.
Nevada law prohibits wagering on events in which the outcome is already known, but Las Vegas oddsmakers handicap such contests as the Academy Awards or "Survivor" for entertainment purposes.
Oddsmakers Pick Martin Sheen
Useful Link
The Chickenhawk Database
The Chickenhawk Database
Returning To Tranquility
Stonehenge
Stonehenge, England's mysterious ancient monument that dates back to 2,300 BC, is to be returned to tranquility under a new plan unveiled on July 30, 2002 to close or bury nearby roads and move car
parks. A solar eclipse is shown over the monument August 1999.
Photo by Dan Chung/Reuters
Same Story - The BBC Spin
(See Story Below)
U2
U2 are being lined up to headline a massive concert in New York's Times Square days before the anniversary of 11 September, it has been reported.
Thousands of fans are expected at the event to celebrate the start of the American football season.
The concert on 5 September also aims to demonstrate the city's resurgence a year after the terror attacks, city officials told the New York Post.
Other stars being lined up for the concert include Jon Bon Jovi.
If it gets the go-ahead, the event would take place a day before the US Congress is due to meet in New York City for a symbolic one day session.
U2
Same Story - The American Spin
(See Story Above)
Bon Jovi
New York will help start the NFL season with a huge party in Times Square featuring Bon Jovi and other stars.
The celebration will take place on Sept. 5, about five hours before the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers play the first game of the 2002 NFL season 10 miles away in the New Jersey Meadowlands.
After performing in Times Square, Bon Jovi will take a helicopter to Giants Stadium to perform a halftime show, said Rob Shuter, a spokesman for the band. The band will give
its first live performance of "Everyday," a song from the album "Bounce," set for release in October.
The party will be free to the public and is to be nationally televised on several networks.
Bon Jovi
Donated to Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences
Harold Lloyd Archives
The photographs and papers of silent-film comedian Harold Lloyd, a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, have been donated to the organization by his granddaughter, Suzanne Lloyd.
The collection consists of nearly 3,000 original still-photo negatives and about 85 scrapbooks covering the silent film star's life and his career, which spanned 34 years and more than 200 films.
The original photo negatives in the collection represent almost all of Lloyd's feature films, including "Safety Last!," "Girl Shy" and "Speedy."
Photos and pictures from Lloyd's personal life are included, featuring shots of the comedian with luminaries such as Babe Ruth, Hal Roach and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in addition to photos capturing
Lloyd and his family at his Beverly Hills estate, Greenacres.
Harold Lloyd Archives
Escape to Anime
Snake Plissken
Everyone's favorite eye-patched mercenary--played by Kurt Russell in director John Carpenter's sci-fi classic Escape from New York and its 1996 Sequel Escape from L.A.--is going the way of anime.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Carpenter, producer Debra Hill and Russell are looking to resurrect their famed B-movie character, Snake Plissken, in a new animated feature film
in the style of such famed Japanese 'toons as Princess Monoke and Akira.
"We want to take Japanese sensibility and combine that with Western storytelling," Hill tells the Reporter.
And fans will be happy to learn that Russell has gladly signed on to provide the voice to Snake (whom he's often said is his favorite role) not only for the animated movie, but
for a planned video game. The game will also include some live footage of the actor, filmed through a process called motion capture.
"We introduced a lot of legends in the first two films, and with the comics, novels, video games and anime, we'll be able to explore some of these things," Hill added. "How
did Snake lose his eye? What happened in the Battle of Cleveland or at the Battle of Leningrad? What is New Las Vegas? We'll explore these stories as well as introduce new stories."
Snake Plissken
Escape from New York (1981)
John Carpenter
Kurt Russell
New World Map Is a Forgery
The 'Vinland Map'
Yale University's parchment map of the Vikings' travels to the New World, purportedly drawn by a 15th century scribe, is a clever 20th century forgery, according to a new study.
The study is the latest development in a debate that began in the 1960s when the map was given to the university by benefactor Paul Mellon.
Scholars who believe it is real have said it predates Christopher Columbus and proves he was not the first European to reach America.
But researchers at University College in London who analyzed the ink have concluded the map was produced after 1923.
"The results demonstrate the great importance of modern analytical techniques in the study of items in our cultural heritage," said Robin J.H. Clark, a University College professor who did the analysis.
Another map expert, however, said Clark's study does not prove the map is a fake.
For all the details, The 'Vinland Map'
Fun Link
IQ Test
The Fast, Free & Fun IQ Test!
ZZ Top Guitarist Becomes Minister
Billy Gibbons
Texas blues-rock group ZZ Top is successful enough to not play the wedding circuit, but that does not preclude one of the group's members from marrying people.
According to the band's publicist, guitar player Billy Gibbons has become an ordained minister, and can now perform weddings in 49 states.
Gibbons' fellow rockers have faith in his new position of authority. George Thorogood and the Destroyers guitarist Jim Suhler had Gibbons officiate at his wedding June 28.
The group's publicist would not confirm what church Gibbons was ordained in, or what state denied Gibbons the right to perform weddings
Billy Gibbons
Pitches Rutgers Football
James Gandolfini
James Gandolfini, who plays New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano on the HBO series, "The Sopranos," has made another commercial for Rutgers football, even though his
first effort last year failed to change the team's fortunes. The 30-second ad will begin airing Monday on cable stations in New Jersey.
The Scarlet Knights finished 2-9 (0-7 in the Big East) in their first year under coach Greg Schiano. They have won just one Big East game in three seasons.
Schiano also appears in the ad, which features Gandolfini, a 1983 Rutgers graduate, and three of his college friends.
Gandolfini also lent his image to a billboard near Miami International Airport last year in an effort to help Rutgers' recruiting of high school players.
James Gandolfini
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Featured In ''The Master of Disguise''
Jesse Ventura
Minnesotans can finally see what juicy film role lured Gov. Jesse Ventura away from the state the day after the Minnesota Twins were targeted for elimination last fall.
Ventura plays a thief who steals the Liberty Bell in the comedy "The Master of Disguise."
In a cameo role, he joins a plot to steal the world's precious symbols. As star-struck security guards toting their own Jesse Ventura action figures look on, Ventura hefts the historic bell.
Then he reminds the guards that those aren't dolls they're carrying, they're action figures.
After the heist, he pauses for a moment of contemplation with an evil companion: "My skills were meant for the betterment of mankind, not for greed and evil," Ventura says.
Jesse Ventura
'Teléfono Langosta'
Salvador Dali
El 'teléfono langosta' de Dalí
Científicos británicos desvelan porqué la langosta se pone roja al cocer. La llave de esta mutación reside en una proteína presente en el caparazón de
los crustáceos, la beta-crustacyanina, explica este lunes un equipo de científicos británicos en una revista científica americana.
Using Humor
Sir Ian Holm
Sir Ian Holm is using humor to deal with the side effects of his prostate cancer treatments. The 70-year-old British actor - who plays Bilbo Baggins in
the "Lord of the Rings" movies - reveals that a hormone treatment made his pubic hair fall out. "I'm told that's rather fashionable, like a Brazilian
wax," Holm told an interviewer. "I look a bit strange to put it mildly, but these are small prices to pay."
Sir Ian Holm
Charging Flood Victims
Time Warner
Flood victims whose cable converters were destroyed during this month's heavy rains are being charged $300 for the damaged boxes by the company, officials said today.
Karen Hartley, vice president for marketing and communications at Time Warner, said it is the company's policy to bill for damaged boxes, which are leased from the cable company.
"We are sympathetic to them," she told the San Antonio Express-News. "But we are going to charge them for their boxes."
Dannielle Guerra said his parents are being charged $600 for two ruined boxes. They lost their Canyon Lake home and now live in a trailer.
"I'm just appalled that a company such as Time Warner would expect this (payment)," Guerra said. "If we damaged it ourselves, I could completely understand, but it was damaged by a flood."
Time Warner to charge flood victims for cable boxes
Scary Link
Dragons on Earth
Dragons on Earth!
Kate's Gone, Hello Alison
'Drew Carey'
Cynthia Watros ("Titus") will join the cast of "The Drew Carey Show" when the ABC comedy enters its eighth season this fall.
Watros, whose credits include a Daytime Emmy Award-winning turn on CBS soap "The Guiding Light," will portray a new character named Alison, a recent divorcee who has harbored a crush
on Drew since they went to high school together.
The cast addition is part of an overhaul designed to bring the show back to its roots. Among the changes announced during ABC's press tour this month was the exit of longtime cast member
Christa Miller, who portrays the character Kate O'Brien. She will leave after the second episode of the coming season.
'Drew Carey'
Monday Night Football Gets 'Rowdy' - Again
Hank Williams Jr.
Hank Williams Jr. is ready for some football.
The country singer recorded his 16th season of "Monday Night Football" themes on Monday.
Each game this season gets its own lyrics, set to Williams' 1984 hit "All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight."
Hank Williams Jr.
Does this story remind anyone else of that wonderful Chris Farley bit?.
BartCop TV!
Fighting For 2nd & 3rd
Connie & Phil
The yakker battle for second place in primetime between MSNBC's "Donahue" and CNN's "Connie Chung Tonight" is a photo finish -- with Chung hanging on by a hair.
Since Phil Donahue launched his gabfest on MSNBC's rejiggered primetime schedule July 15, he's averaged 620,000 viewers, compared with Chung's 746,000 in the same 8 p.m.
hour, according to the final July Nielsen ratings. Fox News' "O'Reilly Factor," hosted by Bill O'Reilly, is well ahead of both, taking in an average total audience of just
about 2 million. (MSNBC and Fox News reach fewer households than CNN.)
In total household ratings during the same time slot, Chung grabbed a 0.7 compared with the godfather of gab's 0.6. O'Reilly pulled in a 1.8.
Connie & Phil
400th Anniversary Of Her Death
Queen Elizabeth I
An undated hand out photo showing a diamond and ruby-studded ring containing minatures of Britain's Queen Elizabeth I (lower picture) and her mother Anne Boleyn to be exhibited at the Greenwich National Maritime Museum in London July 26, 2002. The ring is one of 340 items to be displayed
at the National Maritime Museum marking the 400th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth I death.
Show Debuts Sunday
Anna Nicole Smith
When last seen by America, Anna Nicole Smith was locked in a seven-year legal battle over her late husband's Texas oil fortune.
The former Playboy Playmate, who has yet to collect a dime, has decided it's time to get back to work.
So instead of seeing Smith in courtroom footage on the evening news, viewers can peep at her bizarre world when E! Entertainment Television debuts "The Anna Nicole Show" on Sunday at 10 p.m. EDT.
Since May, cameras have been trailing the 34-year-old former stripper and Guess? model from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to bed. Among the scenes captured are
Smith telling her black toy poodle to stop passing gas, and the buxom blonde looking into her shirt, saying "Hello, down there."
"I haven't had sex in two years," Smith grumbles on camera.
Another embarrassing moment occurred when Smith forgot to turn off the microphones in the bathroom.
Smith admits E! is probably making fun of her, but she plays the good sport. "My life is funny," she said. "There's things that happen to me all the time, and it just is funny."
Anna Nicole Smith
For ABC In 2003
2 New Series
ABC is developing series projects with a pair of veteran scribes who created two of the network's more memorable series of the 1980s: Glenn Gordon Caron ("Moonlighting")
and John Sacret Young ("China Beach").
Both hourlong dramas are intended for the fall 2003 lineup.
Caron, who created the critically acclaimed but short-lived CBS hour "Now and Again," has just started work on the script for his tentatively titled "Meant to Be."
"It's a romantic comedy set in the afterlife," Caron said, noting he's always been "tickled by the idea" of what happens to people after they pass on. He said not all
the action will take place in Heaven.
Young is working on a drama dubbed "B.O.S.S.," which deals with a group of female vice cops whose beat encompasses everything from white-collar crime to prostitutes and drug addicts.
The title refers to a unit many police departments call the Bureau of Special Services.
"(It's) the one place in law enforcement where women run point," he said. "(The) highest percentage are there, and the best are there, often undercover."
"It's not all set on Hollywood Boulevard," ABC Entertainment president Susan Lyne said. "Their jobs take them from the highest levels of corporate America to really dark street crimes."
2 New Series
Ouch
'Jackass' Star Steve-O
Louisiana cops are hunting for MTV's "Jackass" star Steve-O on public indecency charges after a debauched stunt at a Bayou barroom. Police say Steve-O broke state obscenity
laws recently when he exposed himself during his act at the Abyss nightclub, stapling his scrotum to his upper thigh. He could face up to three years on a felony rap. Prosecutors
haven't said if they'll extradite the prankster back to Louisiana, but the bar's owners have already been arrested as accessories to the lewd act. They're out on $150,000 bonds, reports the Houma Courier.
'Jackass' Star Steve-O
New LA-Based Division
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment has created a Los Angeles-based division that will seek out film and TV opportunities for the WWE-branded characters.
The crossover success of WWE star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the modest hit "The Scorpion King" is one example of the type of opportunity WWE will continue to seek in feature films: placing
WWE characters in prominent roles.
WWE Films will aim to create and produce material that "will appeal not only to our loyal fans, but to a larger public as well," said WWE chief executive Linda McMahon.
Increasingly, TV viewer loyalty has become a nettlesome issue for WWE: While still delivering healthy ratings numbers of young male viewers, its grappler shows like "UPN Smackdown" and its
TNN cablecast have suffered double-digit declines in young male viewership over the last year.
The office will be run by Joel Simon, a co-producer of "X-Men" and executive producer of "Wild Wild West." He called WWE "a powerful brand" that is "an untapped creative resource for Hollywood."
World Wrestling Entertainment
faux broadcasting network
No Commercials
The Fox broadcasting network and Fox News Channel said Wednesday they won't accept advertising for their Sept. 11 coverage marking the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
Most of Sept. 11 on Fox News Channel will be filled with programming commemorating the events a year earlier. Fox's broadcast network plans a two-hour prime-time special that night.
Advertisers have expressed a general reluctance to include their messages in what is expected to be somber programming that day. The Wall Street Journal reported that Dell Computer Corp. won't advertise on
Sept. 11-related coverage, and Pepsi won't advertise on any program that day.
Fox's competitors say they are still seeking both advertisers or sponsors who will underwrite the cost of coverage that day, and suggest Fox is simply giving up early.
None of the networks have publicly announced advertisers or sponsors, although some are privately confident there will be some.
No Commercials
Museum in Partial Closure
Pierre Bonnard
To install a blockbuster show of French painter Pierre Bonnard, the Phillips Collection will close its main building Aug. 6 until the show opens Sept. 22.
An annex next door will remain open until Aug. 19. Then two of its three floors will close to prepare a selection from the museum's holdings for a two-year tour of
the United States. The second floor will reopen Sept. 17 and the third floor in early October.
"Pierre Bonnard: Early and Late" will include about 130 works of the post-impressionist artist — drawings, prints, photos and sculpture as well as paintings.
In 1930 the Phillips, which calls itself the first American museum of modern art, gave Bonnard his first one-man museum show in the United States. He died in 1947.
Pierre Bonnard
Man With An Opinion
Al Roker
The usually good-natured "Today" show weatherman Al Roker took some unexpected shots at rival "Good Morning America" yesterday.
Yesterday, while Roker was being interviewed by "Access Hollywood" in Asbury Park after Bruce Springsteen's "Today" show concert, correspondent Billy Bush said he
saw a sign reading: "Will wrestle Al Roker for four tickets."
"Yes," said Roker, "unfortunately that was ['GMA' co-host] Diane Sawyer. Those lousy rats' ... patooties over at 'GMA,' they tried to scoop us by putting on Alfred
E. Newman, I mean, Ted Koppel, interviewing The Boss.
"Ted was trying to look hip, he was wearing a t-shirt. It's like seeing your grandmother wearing a thong, it's just something you don't want to see."
"And ['GMA' co-host] Charlie Gibson is thinking, 'Play Freebird.' "
Al Roker
Winner Faces Charges
'Millionaire'
A British army officer who won $1.56 million on the TV quiz show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" was charged Wednesday with deception and conspiracy by police
investigating claims of cheating on the program.
Maj. Charles Ingram, 38, was charged by Scotland Yard detectives and released on bail until a court hearing on Aug. 7.
His wife, 38-year-old Diana Ingram, and Tecwen Whittock, a 52-year-old college teacher from Cardiff in Wales also were charged.
Charles Ingram, from Wiltshire county in western England, won the show's top prize in September, but the episode was never broadcast and Ingram's check was withheld because of suspicions that he had cheated.
News reports suggested investigators believe that someone in the audience relayed correct answers to questions by coughing.
Diana Ingram and the major's brother-in-law Adrian Pollock had both previously won $45,000 on the game show. She later wrote a book called "Win A Million," based on a theory both
she and her brother had used to succeed.
'Millionaire'
In Memory
Harry Gerstad
Academy Award-winning film editor Harry Gerstad, whose Hollywood career spanned more than four decades, has died. He was 93.
Gerstad died July 17 of natural causes in Palm Springs, where he had lived since 1973.
Gerstad shared his first Oscar with Elmo Williams for their work on the 1949 prizefighting classic "Champion" starring Kirk Douglas. Gerstad won another golden statuette for editing the 1952 Western epic "High Noon."
Among his other notable accomplishments were sharing an American Cinema Editors Career Achievements Awards in 1997 with film editor Fred Berger and a nomination for an ACE Eddie Award for the TV series "High Chaparral" in 1968.
Gerstad, who moved to Hollywood with his father, began his career in 1929, working for the Hal Roach Studios laboratory, the Warner Bros. lab and Republic Pictures.
He worked extensively with director Edward Dmytryk when he began editing feature films in the late 1940s. Among Gerstad's films with the director were RKO's 1947 examination of bigotry, "Crossfire," starring Robert Young and Robert Mitchum.
Gerstad worked with another influential editor, Stanley Kramer, at Columbia Pictures on such features as "Home of the Brave" in 1949; "Cyrano de Bergerac" in 1950 and "Death of a Salesman" in 1951.
Gerstad also worked extensively on the small screen, including the TV series "The Adventures of Superman," "Highway Patrol" and "Ben Casey."
From the mid-1960s until his retirement, Gerstad worked for Bing Crosby Productions, Fox and John Wayne's Batjac Productions.
He is survived by his wife, Jody.
Harry Gerstad
Harry Gerstad, at IMDb
He also edited The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953), Batman (1966), and Ben (1972)
Hawaii
Kilauea Volcano
Lava flows from the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, July 29, 2002. The Volcano has been erupting for the last 19 years.
'The Osbournes'
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'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1