Recommended Reading
from Bruce
VIDEO: The Republican Mess
Register to vote; find out about early-voting laws
Hector Tobar: Homer's classic 'The Odyssey' shows how far a family has advanced along the learning curve (latimes.com)
Striving to be a dad, I read "The Odyssey" this summer.
Aditya Chakrabortty: The great university con: why giving degrees out willy-nilly doesn't actually help the economy (guardian.com)
Blair's dream of a working-class kid getting a degree that would catapult him or her up the social ladder has not come off.
Nora Caplan-Bricker: When I'm 65 …(slate.com)
Why do people retire when they do?
Diablo Cody: Her Top 10 Criterion List
9. "Dazed and Confused." A film that seems to get more important every year, and I don't mean that facetiously. I don't think it's actually possible to make a flick about high school in the 1970s that surpasses Linklater's. He did it. It's done. We all got served. The characters have perfect names too: Pink, Mitch, O'Banion, etc.
Interview by Jess Denham: Another view on Teen Undertaker (guardian.co.uk)
Funeral director Richard Putt relates to the non-weirdness of young undertakers Laura and Paul, and shares a few choice burial stories of his own.
Carrie Rickey: It's cool being multi-talented Ice Cube these days (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Ice Cube, pioneer rapper, movie mogul and television powerhouse, is the winner of the entertainment trifecta. He doesn't play the numbers, he grosses them. The 22 films he's starred in and/or produced - films like "Friday," "Barbershop," "Are We There Yet?" - have scored more than a billion dollars worldwide.
Froma Harrop: Democrats Made Their Own Lumpy Bed (creators.com)
"Worried Democrats courting elderly voters as midterm elections near," reads a headline in The Washington Post. It's long been clear that if Democrats had been less afraid, they'd have less to be afraid of now.
Mark Morford: America out of Iraq now! Oh wait (sfgate.com)
Calmly, quietly, with little fanfare or outsized media attention, after more than seven years and thousands of soldiers dead, hundreds of billions of dollars wasted in one of the ugliest and most unnecessary military operations in all of American history, the U.S. has officially ended its combat presence in Iraq.
Jim Hightower: REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS GONE WILD
these were Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Boehner is their congressional leader. It seems the leader has been struggling for a year and a half now to get a group of frisky GOP solons to please stop getting drunk with pretty female lobbyists. Bad image, Boehner scolds. Especially in an election year.
Christina Romer: Extending High-Income Tax Cuts is the Wrong Answer for the Recovery (whitehouse.gov)
President Obama has made it clear that he favors extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for middle-income families, but letting those for high-income earners expire as called for in current law.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Children (athensnews.com)
In 1985, author T.C. Boyle discovered that the local branch of Crown Books carried only mass-market books, not trade paperbacks of the type that he wrote. Therefore, his wife and 5-year-old daughter paid a visit to the bookstore. His wife, who remained anonymous, complained that she was disappointed that books by her favorite author T.C. Boyle, of course were not carried by the bookstore. All seemed to be going well until his young daughter added, "Yes, and he's my daddy!"
The Weekly Poll
EMMY CONTEST
The First Ever BadtotheboneBob's Emmy Contest!™
Well then, Poll-fans, here are the 21 categories and nominations. I would suggest a cut and paste action and then adding yer predictions... Best of luck be upon ya!
Total correct predictions takes The Prize. Again, that would be a $50 VISA gift card mailed directly to you from 'yours truly'.
The 21 nominations/categories will run daily until August 28th.
Response cut-off time is 3pm EDT, Saturday, August 28th, and will be posted for all to see August 29th (Emmy Day).
The winner will be the one with the most correct predictions and will be announced Tuesday August 31st.
Oh, and please make it easy on me and don't wait until, like, the last minute and flood me with your predictions, eh? Good luck be on ya, Poll-fans!
Drama
Drama Series
Breaking Bad • AMC
Dexter • Showtime
The Good Wife • CBS
Lost • ABC
Mad Men • AMC
True Blood • HBO
Lead Actor, Drama
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad • AMC
Michael C. Hall, Dexter • Showtime
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights • NBC
Hugh Laurie, House • FOX
Matthew Fox, Lost • ABC
Jon Hamm, Mad Men • AMC
Lead Actress, Drama
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer • TNT
Glenn Close, Damages • FX Networks
Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights • NBC
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife • CBS
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit • NBC
January Jones, Mad Men • AMC
Supporting Actor, Drama
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad • AMC
Martin Short, Damages • FX Networks
Terry O'Quinn, Lost • ABC
Michael Emerson, Lost • ABC
John Slattery, Mad Men • AMC
Andre Braugher, Men Of A Certain Age • TNT
Supporting Actress, Drama
Sharon Gless, Burn Notice • USA
Rose Byrne, Damages • FX Networks
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife • CBS
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife • CBS
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men • AMC
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men • AMC
Comedy
Comedy Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm • HBO
Glee • FOX
Modern Family • ABC
Nurse Jackie • Showtime
The Office • NBC
30 Rock • NBC
Lead Actor, Comedy
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory • CBS
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm • HBO
Matthew Morrison, Glee • FOX
Tony Shalhoub, Monk • USA
Steve Carell, The Office • NBC
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock • NBC
Lead Actress, Comedy
Lea Michele, Glee • FOX
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures Of Old Christine • CBS
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie • Showtime
Amy Poehler, Parks And Recreation • NBC
Tina Fey, 30 Rock • NBC
Toni Collette, United States Of Tara • Showtime
Supporting Actor, Comedy
Chris Colfer, Glee • FOX
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother • CBS
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family • ABC
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family • ABC
Ty Burrell, Modern Family • ABC
Jon Cryer, Two And A Half Men • CBS
Supporting Actress, Comedy
Jane Lynch, Glee • FOX
Julie Bowen, Modern Family • ABC
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family • ABC
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live • NBC
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock • NBC
Holland Taylor, Two And A Half Men • CBS
Miniseries or Movie
Miniseries
The Pacific • HBO
Return To Cranford (Masterpiece) • PBS
Made-for-TV Movie
Endgame (Masterpiece) • PBS
Georgia O'Keeffe • Lifetime
Moonshot • HISTORY
The Special Relationship • HBO
Temple Grandin • HBO
You Don't Know Jack • HBO
Actor, Miniseries or Movie
Jeff Bridges, A Dog Year • HBO
Ian McKellen, The Prisoner • AMC
Michael Sheen, The Special Relationship • HBO
Dennis Quaid, The Special Relationship • HBO
Al Pacino, You Don't Know Jack • HBO
Actress, Miniseries or Movie
Maggie Smith, Capturing Mary • HBO
Joan Allen, Georgia O'Keeffe • Lifetime
Dame Judi Dench, Return To Cranford (Masterpiece) • PBS
Hope Davis, The Special Relationship • HBO
Claire Danes, Temple Grandin • HBO
Supporting Actor, Miniseries or Movie
Michael Gambon, Emma (Masterpiece) • PBS
Patrick Stewart, Hamlet (Great Performances) • PBS
Jonathan Pryce, Return To Cranford (Masterpiece) • PBS
David Strathairn, Temple Grandin • HBO
John Goodman, You Don't Know Jack • HBO
Supporting Actress, Miniseries or Movie
Kathy Bates, Alice • Syfy
Julia Ormond, Temple Grandin • HBO
Catherine O'Hara, Temple Grandin • HBO
Brenda Vaccaro, You Don't Know Jack • HBO
Susan Sarandon, You Don't Know Jack • HBO
Reality and Variety, Music or Comedy
Reality Program
Antiques Roadshow • PBS
Dirty Jobs • Discovery Channel
Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution • ABC
Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List • Bravo
MythBusters • Discovery Channel
Undercover Boss • CBS
Reality-Competition Program
The Amazing Race • CBS
American Idol • FOX
Dancing With The Stars • ABC
Project Runway • Lifetime
Top Chef • Bravo
Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program
Phil Keoghan, The Amazing Race • CBS
Ryan Seacrest, American Idol • FOX
Tom Bergeron, Dancing With The Stars • ABC
Heidi Klum, Project Runway • Lifetime
Jeff Probst, Survivor • CBS
Variety, Music or Comedy Series
The Colbert Report • Comedy Central
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart • Comedy Central
Real Time With Bill Maher • HBO
Saturday Night Live • NBC
The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien • NBC
Variety, Music or Comedy Special
Bill Maher "...But I'm Not Wrong" • HBO
Hope For Haiti Now • Tenth Planet Productions and MTV
The Kennedy Center Honors • CBS
Robin Williams: Weapons Of Self Destruction • HBO
The 25th Anniversary Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Concert • HBO
Wanda Sykes: I'ma Be Me • HBO
Also, again, ties will be resolved in a scientific manner involving the ever fabulous, Maddie Muffin (Future Nobel AND Pulitzer Prize winner, President of the United States AND General Secretary of the UN amongst other notable achievements to numerous to mention)...
"My Grampa is The Best!"
Send your predictions to:
BadToTheBoneBob
Here's a complete list of all Emmy Nominations - 2010.
wrote:
responded:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny and hot.
Donates Original Kermit To Smithsonian
Jane Henson
The original Kermit the Frog, his body created with an old dull-green coat and his eyes made of pingpong balls, has returned home to the nation's capital, where the puppet got his start.
The first Kermit creation from Jim Henson's Muppet's collection appeared in 1955 on the early TV show "Sam and Friends," produced at Washington's WRC-TV. Henson's widow Jane Henson on Wednesday donated 10 characters from the show to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
She said the original characters provided five minutes of fun each night after the local news.
The Hensons attended the University of Maryland and got into the TV business with Willard Scott and other pioneers while in college. Their connection to the area makes the Smithsonian a perfect home for Henson's original puppets, friends said.
Jane Henson
Rolling Stone's List
The Beatles
Rolling Stone magazine has for the first time rated the greatest 100 Beatles' songs, with the 1967 track "A Day in the Life" written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney topping the list that was released on Wednesday.
Coming in second was top-selling 1963 single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" followed by "Strawberry Fields Forever," which recalled Lennon's nostalgia for his childhood growing up in Liverpool in Britain.
The list was released as part of a special collector's edition issue titled "The Beatles: 100 Greatest Songs" to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Fab Four's 12th and final studio album, "Let It Be," released in 1970.
"Yesterday," McCartney's 1965 track that once had a work title of "Scrambled Eggs" while the lyrics were written, came in fourth and "In My Life," released on the album "Rubber Soul," placed fifth.
For the whole list: The Beatles
Coppola, Godard Named
Honorary Oscars
Directors Francis Ford Coppola and Jean-Luc Godard, actor Eli Wallach and historian Kevin Brownlow are this year's recipients of the Governor's Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Coppola will receive the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, the academy said Wednesday, with Godard, Wallach and Brownlow receiving honorary Oscars. The prizes will be given at a dinner Nov. 13.
The Thalberg award, which is a bust of the film executive, goes to "a creative producer whose body of work reflects a consistently high quality of motion picture production," according to the academy.
Honorary Oscars
Where In The World...
Jean-Luc Godard
Where is Jean-Luc Godard when you need him?
Oscar organizers have spent almost 24 frantic hours trying to reach the iconoclastic filmmaker ("Breathless") to inform him he's getting an honorary statuette -- and by late Wednesday they still hadn't been able to find him.
Godard, a Swiss citizen born in Paris, is notoriously anti-Hollywood. He's also anti-flying and has avoided long plane flights, one insider said, because he's not allowed to smoke. This means Godard, 79, could be one of the rare no-shows for an honorary award. Audrey Hepburn died in 1993 before her prize could be presented.
"We've been attempting to reach him since 7 o'clock Tuesday evening and we have as yet had no confirmation," Bruce Davis, the executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences said late Wednesday afternoon. "We have tried by telephone, by fax, by emails to various friends and associates. We have sent a formal letter by FedEx. But we have certainly not been told he will show up at this point."
Jean-Luc Godard
Barcelona Fines
U2
Barcelona city hall says rock band U2 has paid a fine of (EURO)18,000 ($22,000) for playing too long and too loudly during rehearsals in the Spanish city last year.
A spokeswoman said the Irish group was penalized for rehearsing until midnight_ two hours over the scheduled time_ and at sound levels above those set by authorities prior to a concert in Barcelona in June 2009.
The fine followed a complaint by residents near Barcelona soccer club's Camp Nou stadium, where the concert was staged.
U2
Flopped
"Flipped"
Moviegoers haven't exactly flipped for Rob Reiner's "Flipped."
Two weeks of limited runs haven't gone well. So instead of hitting wide release Friday as planned, the period drama will play in fewer locations than last week.
Warner Bros. opened "Flipped" on August 6 in 45 theaters in three markets: Los Angeles, Sacramento, Calif., and Austin. The PG-rated pic's limited bow was supported by a barrage of media articles and other media items promoting "Flipped" and its helmer, whose political activism (education, gay marriage) has secured more attention than his pictures of late.
Despite mostly positive reviews, the inaugural playdates performed weakly. So the studio reduced the pic to 29 runs last weekend but got similarly soft results. It has sold about $580,000 worth of tickets to date.
"Flipped"
Leaving
Fox News RupertMajor Garrett
Fox News Rupert's Republican Propaganda Channel chief White House correspondent Major Garrett said Wednesday he's leaving the network after eight years to join the National Journal as a congressional correspondent.
Garrett, who worked at the Washington Moonie Times, U.S. News & World Report and CNN before joining Fox in 2002, said it was a return to his roots in print journalism.
Fox named no replacement, saying his duties will be taken up its other White House reporters, Wendell Goler and Mike Emanuel. Garrett will leave Fox at the end of next week.
He's leaving only a month after getting new real estate. Fox was granted a coveted front-row seat in the White House briefing room after the resignation of Helen Thomas from Hearst News Service.
Major Garrett
Taxman Detains Crocodile Dundee
Paul Hogan
Actor Paul Hogan, best known for playing an outback hunter in the "Crocodile Dundee" movies, has been stopped from leaving Australia until he pays a multi-million dollar tax bill, according to his lawyer.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) served U.S.-based Hogan with a departure prohibition order when he returned to Sydney last Friday for the funeral of his 101-year-old mother Florence, his lawyer Andrew Robinson said in a statement.
This prevents the 70-year-old actor from leaving Australia until any alleged tax debts are paid or arrangements made for the tax liability to be discharged.
The tax office was reported to have served Hogan with an amended tax bill last month for tax on $37.6 million of undeclared income after a five-year long fight.
Paul Hogan
$9 Million Ponzi Scam Alleged
Mike Karkeh
A Laguna Niguel movie producer who prosecutors say ran a $9 million ponzi scheme in a B-movie company has been arraigned on 89 felony counts, including securities fraud and grand theft.
Prosecutors say 53-year-old Mahmoud Karkehabadi, also known as Mike Karkeh, owned Alliance Group Entertainment and promised investors up to 35 percent returns on their money. His bail was set at $11 million. If convicted of all charges, he faces more than 25 years in prison.
The attorney general's office says there were more than 150 victims in the scam.
Officials say two agents who sold the securities were also charged in the scheme. One remains at large while 53-year-old Deanna Salazar of Yucca Valley has agreed to surrender.
Mike Karkeh
No Jail Time
Nadja Benaissa
German prosecutors and defense attorneys on Wednesday recommended no prison time for a girl-band singer accused of causing bodily harm to her ex-boyfriend by allegedly infecting him with HIV.
Both sides in closing arguments suggested a two-year suspended sentence for 28-year-old Nadja Benaissa, a member of German girl-band No Angels.
Benaissa acknowledged that she had unprotected sex despite knowing she was HIV-positive and called it a big mistake.
The man who claimed Benaissa infected him said they had a three-month relationship at the beginning of 2004 and that he got tested after Benaissa's aunt asked him in 2007 whether he was aware that the singer was HIV-positive, German news agency DAPD reported.
Nadja Benaissa
Problem Watch
Timbaland
Authorities are investigating a claim by rapper Timbaland that someone stole a $2 million watch from his Malibu home.
The Los Angeles County sheriff's office says the rapper-producer reported the theft over the weekend but there was no indication of a break-in at his home. Detective Vic Paladino says Timbaland is concerned the thief is someone he knows.
Timbaland, whose real name is Timothy Mosley, told Ryan Seacrest in an interview Wednesday on KIIS-FM that something was stolen but it wasn't a watch. He did not elaborate or explain why the report he filed notes a $2 million stolen watch.
The rapper's family filed a missing persons report when he left the house Tuesday in his Cadillac Escalade. Deputies say a sheriff's helicopter located him on Pacific Coast Highway.
Timbaland
Judge Orders Strict Outpatient Care
Lindsay Lohan
A judge on Wednesday ordered Lindsay Lohan to undergo a rigorous outpatient rehab program that will require frequent counseling but will permit the actress to continue working.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elden S. Fox ordered the "Mean Girls" star to undergo psychotherapy and addiction counseling sessions several times a week until November. He also ordered the 24-year-old to submit to random drug and alcohol testing at least twice a week and to continue living in the Los Angeles area.
He said Lohan could be sent back to jail for up to 30 days if she doesn't comply or if she fails the drug and alcohol screenings.
Fox laid out the terms of the actress' early release from an inpatient rehab center during a 10 minute hearing, which Lohan did not attend. The judge said he ordered the actress' release at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Lindsay Lohan
Reggae Festival Leaves Italy For Spain
Rototom Sunsplash
Abandoning Italy because of what they say are racist government immigration policies, the Italian organisers of a major reggae festival have sought refuge in Spain for this year's edition.
Rototom Sunsplash, one of Europe's biggest music gatherings featuring hundreds of concerts and drawing tens of thousands of people, has been held in Italy for the past 16 years -- until now.
"Like in the Bob Marley song 'Exodus' we have left Babylon behind and we have arrived in our land of promise," said Filippo Giunta, president of the Exodus association that was specially set up to organise this year's festival, which ends on Saturday in the coastal Spanish city of Bencassim.
Giunta hit out at the government of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose coalition partner is the anti-immigration Northern League.
Rototom Sunsplash
Says Lawsuit Is Political
Roni Deutch
"Tax Lady" Roni Deutch says California Attorney General Jerry Brown is engaging in election-year politics by filing a civil lawsuit accusing her law firm of false advertising and misleading consumers.
Deutch said in a statement Tuesday she will fight the $34 million lawsuit filed a day earlier in Sacramento County Superior Court.
She says her firm has saved thousands of people tens of millions of dollars through negotiations with the Internal Revenue Service over nearly 20 years.
The suit accuses her of vastly overstating the number of delinquent taxpayers she has helped. It also alleges she ran up clients' fees through false billings.
Roni Deutch
Providers Feel Heat
Pay-TV
With more than 100 million subscribers dutifully paying their bills each month, the big cable, satellite and telco TV carriers still have plenty of viewers to call their own. Last quarter, however, the total number of pay-TV subscribers saw an overall drop - the first time that's ever happened, according to a recent report. Talk about an "uh-oh" moment for Big Cable and Satellite.
The numbers come from the research firm of SNL Kagan via Dow Jones Newswires, and they pretty much tell the story: About 216,000 pay-TV subscribers bailed during the second quarter of 2010, compared with 378,000 couch potatoes gained over the same period last year.
While satellite providers (like Dish and DirecTV) and telecommunications-based TV carriers (think AT&T's U-verse and Verizon FiOS) garnered 81,000 and 414,000 new subscribers, respectively, cable TV operators lost about 711,000 customers, for a net loss of 216,000 subscribers for the pay-TV market as a whole, according to the Dow Jones story.
It doesn't look like fleeing pay-TV subscribers are all cutting the cord in favor of "over the top" Internet-based TV alternatives like Netflix and Hulu. The SNL Kagan researchers say most of the loss is attributable to the lousy economy, as well as the fact that the second quarter of the year is "seasonally slow" due to factors like college students switching off their accounts for the summer.
Pay-TV
Once-Missing Moon Rock
Colorado
Colorado's once missing moon rock is about to go on public display.
Gov. Bill Ritter and Colorado School of Mines president Bill Scoggins will unveil the rock Wednesday at the school in Golden, its new home.
The Nixon administration gave former Colorado Gov. John Vanderhoof the rock in 1974. It was a piece of moon rubble from the Apollo 17 mission and all 50 states and more than 130 foreign countries received samples.
Many have turned up missing and some student researchers have been trying to track them down. In June, Vanderhoof was questioned by a reporter and said he had the missing rock.
Colorado
Monmouth Park
Dueling Ponies
A pair of dueling horses left an announcer at a New Jersey racetrack sounding more like a confused husband. Larry Collmus had noticed "Mywifenosevrything" and "Thewifedoesntknow" on the card for Sunday's seventh race at Monmouth Park in Oceanport but he says he didn't envision the outcome.
But when the horses were both in the hunt near the end, Collmus says he had a sense of what was coming.
Collmus kept up the call as the two dueled down the stretch, deftly flicking between the tongue-twisting names. His only thought: "Don't mess it up."
At the finish he exclaimed: "Mywifenosevrything more than Thewifedoesntknow. Whew!"
Dueling Ponies
In Memory
George David Weiss
George David Weiss, who helped write chart-topping pop hits including "Can't Help Falling in Love" and "What a Wonderful World," has died. He was 89.
Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and many other big-name artists recorded compositions written or co-written by Weiss, whose career choice greatly disappointed his mother. She wanted him to become a lawyer.
A Juilliard School of Music graduate who played the violin, piano, saxophone and clarinet, Weiss was a military bandleader in World War II. He soon gained wide recognition as a songsmith with success over the next few decades.
Among the notable compositions he wrote or co-wrote were "Can't Help Falling in Love," recorded by Elvis Presley; "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," recorded by the Tokens; "What a Wonderful World," recorded by Louis Armstrong; "Surrender," recorded by Perry Como, and "Oh! What It Seemed to Be" by Frank Sinatra.
He also collaborated on several Broadway musicals, including "Mr. Wonderful," which starred Sammy Davis Jr., and "Maggie Flynn," featuring Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy.
He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984. He also was president of the Songwriters Guild of America from 1982 to 2000 and often testified before government agencies, mostly on copyright issues.
George David Weiss
In Memory
Satoshi Kon
Japanese animation director Satoshi Kon, whose films using cutting-edge animation techniques captured audiences worldwide, has died of pancreatic cancer, aged 46.
His movie "Paprika" was screened at the 2006 Venice Film Festival and won the audience award at the annual Brussels anime festival in 2007. His third work, "Tokyo Godfathers" (2003), was nominated for a US Academy Award.
Kon was born in Hokkaido and debuted as a manga comic artist in 1985 while he was a student at Musashino Art University in Tokyo.
He made his debut as an anime director in 1997 with "Perfect Blue", and won acclaim for his refined and realistic expressions.
His second anime, "Millennium Actress", was released in 2001 and distributed worldwide, winning awards at film festivals.
Kon was working on "Yumemiru Kikai (Dream Machine)" before his death.
Featuring a futuristic adventure starring a robot, it would have been his first work aimed at children after he produced a series of what he called "animations which adults can enjoy".
Satoshi Kon
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
