'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Momma Cat is still at the vet, and the kittens are a lot calmer tonight.
The temperature has gone down while the humidity has gone up. Woo hoo, 'they' say it might even rain!
First day of school went off fairly well. The kid was stoked because he didn't have any homework tonight, but I spent a couple of hours filling out 'stuff'.
The new TV season is starting next week. First up (I think) is Drew Carey (seemingly the supposed savior of ABC), this coming Monday night, either before or after the football game (depending on your time zone).
There's no way I can watch all the new stuff, so how about some contributions of reviews?
You don't need to do anything fancy, or create any files. Write up your comments in an e-mail, then send it to me (4 addy's listed below). There are a lot of shows to cover, so
here's an opportunity to express your opinion. You may use pseudonyms or your real name. Please don't write 'I liked this show because it's the best show ever!' Is the writing is believable, or does the acting stink, are the sets
incredible? But, if you say something is bitchin', I wanna know why (by the same token, if something sucks, same thing - why?).
Tonight, Thursday, CBS starts the night with a fresh 'Big Brother 3', then 2 reruns of 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave are Drea de Matteo, Sarah Vowell, and the Doves.
On a rerun Craiggers the scheduled guests are William Shatner, Mary McCormack, and comic Kevin Seccia.
NBC opens with the usual rerun of 'Friends', then a rerun of 'Scrubs', followed by 2 reruns of 'Will & Grace', and wraps with a rerun of 'ER'.
Scheduled on a fresh Jay are Jimmy Fallon, the winner of "American Idol" (Kelly Clarkson), and Dixie Chicks.
Scheduled on a fresh Conan are Topher Grace and And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead.
Scheduled on a fresh Carson Daly are Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Jimmy Eat World.
ABC has the movie 'The Edge' followed by part 3 (of 6) of 'In Search Of America'.
The WB has a rerun of 'Reba', then 2 reruns of 'Jamie Kennedy', and a rerun of 'Off Centre'.
Faux has the series finale of 'Beyond Belief: Fact Or Fiction' and the series finale of 'Pulse'.
UPN has 'WWE Smackdown!'.
The NFL officially opens the season, for the first time on a Thursday when the 49-er's visit the Giants in New Jersey, on ESPN.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Unsung Hero
Philo T. Farnsworth
It seems to have escaped the networks' notice, but Saturday is the 75th anniversary of the first successful demonstration of television. Making it happen was Philo T. Farnsworth, who, hardly a
household name, remains television's invisible inventor.
Since the networks won't likely re-enact Farnsworth's big moment, you'll have to visualize it for yourself. The setting: his modest San Francisco lab where, on Sept. 7, 1927, the 21-year-old self-taught
genius transmitted the image of a horizontal line to a receiver in the next room.
Later that day, he triumphantly wired one of his backers in Los Angeles: "THE DAMNED THING WORKS!"
It worked — just like Farnsworth had imagined when, as a 14-year-old Idaho farmboy already obsessed with inventing television, he had been plowing a field and realized an image could be scanned
onto a picture tube the same way: row by row.
It worked — yet Farnsworth would be denied credit, fame and wealth befitting the father of the world's most powerful communications tool.
His sole appearance on national television was as a mystery guest on the CBS game show "I've Got a Secret" in 1957. He fielded questions from the celebrity panelists as they tried in vain to
guess his secret ("I invented electronic television"). For stumping them, Farnsworth took home $80 and a carton of Winston cigarets.
Forty-five years later (and three decades after his death in 1971), "I've Got a Secret" could still be the slogan for Farnsworth and his 94-year-old widow, Pem, who worked at his side through much of his career.
For a good read about a great man, Philo T. Farnsworth
Philo 75.com
Philo T Farnsworth.com
Not Inclined to Do Talk Show
Bill Clinton
While admitting he finds the idea intriguing, former President Clinton has thrown cold water on the idea of becoming a television talk show host.
"I think I'll leave that to you," Clinton told CNN's Larry King during an appearance on the news network Tuesday night.
Earlier this year, Clinton met with NBC executives in Los Angeles about a potential chat show. After those talks cooled, Clinton also listened to an offer from CBS in recent weeks.
But Clinton said he wasn't inclined to go where Phil Donahue, Oprah Winfrey and Geraldo Rivera have gone before.
Clinton said he wasn't ready for the day-to-day work required for a talk show.
He said he liked "Larry King Live" because it had a variety of guests who were allowed to have their say.
"So much of the debate today in America is so harsh, and people are trying to get market share by confirming the preexisting convictions of people. I think we all
ought to be questioning all the time and learning and growing.
Bill Clinton
Women's Final at U.S. Open
Aretha Franklin
Soul singer Aretha Franklin will sing "America" prior to Saturday's U.S. Open women's singles final, the United States Tennis Association said on Tuesday.
Franklin will be accompanied by 40 members of New York's Boys' Choir of Harlem for her performance being shown live on prime time television.
This year marks the second consecutive year that the women's singles final will be played in the evening.
The Saturday day session, featuring the men's semi-finals, begins at 11:00 a.m. EDT.
Aretha Franklin
Big Dog Watch Continues
Bill Clinton
Former President Bill Clinton (R) speaks with Larry King on CNN in New York on September 3, 2002, about the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund. Clinton and former
Senator Bob Dole have raised over $100 million to fund college scholarships for dependent children who lost a parent in the attacks on September 11.
Photo by Chip East
Bringing Classics to the Masses
Sir George Martin
The producer who turned the Beatles onto classical music now hopes to bring the joys of Beethoven and Mozart to the masses.
Sir George Martin, 76, whose studio prowess helped propel the Fab Four to fame and fortune, has compiled a series of six enhanced CDs, largely aimed at young people for whom
classical music might mean a 1970s rock album in their parents' record collection.
The six titles in Compendia Music Group's "Sir George Martin Presents" series cover Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Ravel, Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Holst and Vaughan-Williams. In addition
to compositions performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the CDs feature a video segment with commentary from Martin.
"The idea was to offer what I call 'lollipops' -- the pop end of classical music," Martin told Reuters on Wednesday. Hopefully people will listen to Beethoven's Symphony
No. 5 on the CD and then research his other works, he said.
To make things even easier, Martin offers Beatles-related tidbits, like describing Tchaikovsky as the Paul McCartney of his day since both were considered great tunesmiths.
Sir George Martin
Job Opening
Adult Video News
Sex-obsessed scribes everywhere are rushing their resumes to Adult Video News, the trade bible of the porn industry that is looking for freelance flesh-flick reviewers.
Randy writers from such stuffy outlets as ABC News, Time magazine, the Baltimore Sun, Frontline, USA Today, the Chicago Daily News and the Discovery Channel applied for
the job after it was advertised on JournalismJobs.com. The prurient perks include free porn and the chance to vote in and attend the annual AVN Awards bacchanal - the "Oscars of porn."
Adult Video News
Set for Auction
Stradivarius Violin
A rare instrument by the world's most famous violin-maker, Antonio Stradivari, will be the star lot at an auction later this year.
The violin, one of only 500 remaining in the world, is expected to fetch up to $1.33 million at the sale in London on Nov. 13, musical instrument specialist Jennifer Laredo of auction house Christie's said Wednesday.
Stradivari, who made cellos and violas as well as violins, was born in 1644.
He set up his workshop in the northern Italian town of Cremona near Milan during the 1660s and worked there until his death in 1737.
Dating from 1726, the violin on sale is just one year older than the Kreutzer Stradivarius which at 947,500 pounds still holds the world record as the most expensive musical instrument ever sold at auction.
Stradivarius Violin
Cancelled Despite Strong Ratings
'Witchblade'
"Witchblade" has been cut.
The signature TNT drama series -- which went on temporary hiatus this year while series star Yancy Butler underwent alcohol rehab -- did not snag a renewal, the cable network confirmed Tuesday.
"Witchblade" has been considered a success on many levels, including in the ratings, so the cancellation is likely to raise a few eyebrows in TV land.
The series consistently drew at least a 2.0 cable rating in TNT's universe during both its first and second seasons. The performance certainly is considered a healthy one, although some summer
cable series, such as USA's "Monk," have been turning in even higher cable ratings.
What's more, "Witchblade" fits with TNT's branding "We know drama." It got the full promotional push from TNT, and the network often touted the fact that there's nothing like the series on broadcast television.
However, insiders said the production stumbles related to Butler's health during the most recent season may have played a part. Warner Bros. Television, which produces the show with
Top Cow Prods. and Halsted Pictures, declined to comment. Butler's manager also was mum.
'Witchblade'
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Comedy Central Deal
Jim Breuer
Jim Breuer, a former regular on "Saturday Night Live," must keep Comedy Central in stitches because the network has practically adopted him.
The network's devotion starts with sponsorship of his national standup-comedy tour, called "Jim Breuer: The Lighten-Up Tour," which kicks off Sept. 22 and travels from Los Angeles and San Francisco to
Philadelphia, Chicago and Boston. Breuer performs music parodies, and the tour features a live hard-rock band.
Comedy Central's new record label will release Breuer's CD "Smoke 'n' Breu" and his DVD "Jim Breuer: Hardcore" on Sept. 24. The "Hardcore" DVD is a transcription of his standup special on Comedy Central earlier this year.
Finally, the network has agreed to shoot a half-hour pilot of a proposed sketch/variety series starring Breuer by the end of the year.
Jim Breuer
Japan
'Triumph Cinderella Bra'
A Japanese model wears a brassiere made of glass at an unveiling by Triumph International in Tokyo on August 29, 2002. The lingerie manufacturer said the hand-made "Triumph Cinderella
Bra" used soda glass for the cups and braided glass beads for the straps, side panel and the centre piece. It has no plans to hit the market, the company added.
Photo by Yuriko Nakao
Hearing Postponed
Winona Ryder
A hearing to set a trial date for Winona Ryder on shoplifting charges was postponed Wednesday because her attorney had another court commitment.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Elden S. Fox said the trial would likely begin Oct. 4, but that date would be discussed further when defense attorney Mark Geragos returned to court Thursday for the rescheduled hearing.
Geragos has another trial underway.
Winona Ryder
Tunring 80 On Sunday
Sid Caesar
Sid Caesar, who turns 80 on Sunday (Sept. 8), hasn't lost the touch that side-split a nation during his reign as early television's king of comedy.
During his heyday, Caesar — along with co-stars Imogene Coca and Nanette Fabray, and second bananas Carl Reiner and Howard Morris — brought a new, more sophisticated kind of comedy to the American public.
Behind the scenes, however, there was a different Caesar — the madman portrayed in the play "Laughter on the 23rd Floor" by his one-time writer Neil Simon. Caesar acknowledges that some of his actions might have seemed over-the-top.
On a hot day in the writers room, he would strip down to his shorts. He recalled: "People would come in and say, `Where's your pants?' I'd say, `It's a hot day; I don't want to get them creased.'"
Then there's the famous episode involving another of his writers, Mel Brooks.
For the rest of the interview, Sid Caesar
Ownership Shift Is Really The Shaft
Michael Powell
Under pressure to show his hand, Federal Communication Commission chairman Michael Powell is scheduled to call for an official vote next week and begin the much-anticipated overhaul of ownership rules
constraining the TV business.
Powell, now nearly two years into his term, has been increasingly criticized for not acting more quickly when it comes to the various rules up for grabs. The big question now is whether Powell will
live up to his deregulatory posture or adopt a more middle-of-the road approach.
According to insiders, the proposed rulemaking to be voted on Sept. 12 will be divided into two categories: broadcast and cable. The slate of broadcast rules under review is likely to include:
= A national cap barring a broadcaster from reaching more than 35% of the national audience. A federal appeals court has ruled there are serious problems with the cap and instructed the FCC to firm it
up or declare it defunct. Most observers expect the FCC to set the cap at a higher number, say 50%.
= A prohibition on owning a broadcast station and a newspaper in the same market. The delay in deciding the issue has been especially frustrating, with several Capitol Hill politicos urging Powell to
act post-haste. The rule has been under separate review for more than a year, but Powell instructed staff to add it to the larger list.
= A rule blocking a major network from buying another network.
= A duopoly rule barring a broadcaster from owning two major stations in a market.
On the cable side, the key rule being put up for review is a national cap blocking a cable provider from reaching more than 30% of the national audience. The same appeals court that found problems
with the broadcast cap found more serious problems with this cap, meaning the FCC will have a difficult time keeping it as is.
Also at the Sept. 12 session, the FCC is expected to consider whether cabler providers should be forced to carry all digital broadcast signals. The cable industry has long objected to such a requirement,
since each broadcast station could have up to six digital channels.
For even more details, Michael Powell
BartCop TV!
Looking To Branch Out
Vincent Pastore
Vincent Pastore, who is most famous for his role as Big Pussy in HBO's "The Sopranos," is hoping to branch out into other parts.
He says he has friends who only work when Martin Scorsese or Francis Ford Coppola make a mob picture and he says "that's no way to live."
But even though Pastore wants to play other ethnicities, he says he can always go back to playing a Wise Guy.
"The Wise Guy is like putting on a pair of sneakers for me. It's easy," Pastore said.
Vincent Pastore
Cell Phone Ad
Chinese Opera
A Chinese opera artist poses with a cell phone in a promotion for a Shanghai-Taiwan joint venture company at the CeBIT Asia 2002 exhibition in Shanghai, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2002.
China overtook the U.S. last year and is now the world's biggest market for mobile phones with over 180 million users. The four-day exhibition showcases the latest in computers
and telecommunications.
Kahlo, Picasso Paintings Stolen
Texas Art Thieves
About $700,000 worth of artwork, including paintings by Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, were stolen from the home of a San Antonio doctor, police said on Tuesday.
Police said the 15 works were taken while Richard Garcia slept in an upstairs bedroom on Monday.
Garcia, who said the paintings were not insured, is known in San Antonio as an arts patron who frequently gives parties at his home for artists and musical stars.
He speculated that a guest at one of the events saw the artwork and hired professional thieves to steal it.
Texas Art Thieves
Baby News
Kelly Ripa
Kelly Ripa won't be leaving the world of diapers anytime soon.
The talk show co-host announced Wednesday on "Live with Regis and Kelly" that she and her actor husband, Mark Consuelos, are expecting their third child.
The baby is due in February. Ripa and Consuelos, who both have recurring roles on the ABC soap opera "All My Children," don't know yet whether they're expecting a boy or a girl.
Kelly Ripa
Man With An Opinion
Ted Nugent
Why would Lance Bass want to go into space, when he could be home on the range with Ted Nugent?
For just $1 million, Nugent has offered to have the boy band member over to his Michigan ranch to teach him bow-hunting skills. The guitarist and outdoorsman said Bass could then join him on a weeklong
hunt, "where he'll be taught a greater appreciation for nature and gravity as he hunts, kills, cleans and cooks for himself."
"Bass needs to quit worrying about going into outer space and embrace and celebrate life by learning how to kill his own food," Nugent said Tuesday. "A slab of flesh on the back of a deer is the finest source of protein on the planet."
The 53-year-old rocker said he'd sweeten the deal by "throwing in a few guitar lessons."
Ted Nugent
Talked to Judge
David Chase
The creator of the HBO series "The Sopranos," accused in a lawsuit of stiffing a judge who offered advice on creating the show, acknowledged that the pair spoke
often but said the information didn't help much.
Creator David Chase also said he discussed paying Robert Baer for setting up meetings with organized-crime experts, but claimed the Prospect Park municipal judge
explicitly said he was helping out for free.
Baer claimed in the suit, filed in May, that he and Chase agreed orally that Baer would be "appropriately compensated" if the show took off. Among his contributions,
he said, was suggesting a show about organized crime in New Jersey and critiquing an early draft of the show's pilot episode.
In the response filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, Chase's lawyer called the claims "egocentric fantasies."
David Chase
Covered Bridge Burns
'Bridges of Madison County'
One of the historic covered bridges in central Iowa, the setting for Robert Waller's best-selling novel "The Bridges of Madison County," was destroyed by fire, officials said Wednesday.
The Cedar Bridge, which burned Tuesday night, was the only one of the county's remaining six covered spans still open to vehicular traffic.
The bridge was featured on the cover of the 1992 novel, a love saga featuring a farm wife and an itinerant photographer that sold more than 12 million copies in more than two dozen languages.
In 1995 it was turned into a movie starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep.
The Cedar Bridge was built in 1883 and restored in 1998 at a cost of $128,000. It and the county's five remaining spans are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The area holds
an annual "Covered Bridge Festival" each autumn.
'Bridges of Madison County'
Shrooming By Moonlight
Modern Poachers?
Around midnight, looking out his window after a recent storm, Jim Adams saw the tiny beams of light in his cow pasture.
"It wasn't much of a moon, but I could faintly see shadows moving in my field," Adams recounted.
He grabbed his rifle, went outside and confronted intruders who had come on to his pasture not to rustle his cows but to make off with mushrooms.
Crouched with their flashlights over piles of manure, they were seeking "magic mushrooms" -- psychedelic fungi that sprout in cow dung after the rain.
Angry cattle ranchers throughout Central Florida -- a region awash in nearly daily deluges -- say they're chasing off the mushroom hunters several times a week.
For more details, Modern Poachers?
Exhibit at Williams College Museum of Art
'Prelude to a Nightmare'
The images of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich forever will be linked with evil. The menace of the swastika, the perfect but intimidating columns of marching Nazi soldiers.
An exhibit at Williams College Museum of Art argues that it wasn't a study of warfare, politics and military strategy that influenced the background and symbols for Hitler's visions. It was
art: Wagner's operas; the dark and simple work of German painters; Viennese architecture.
"Prelude to a Nightmare: Art, Politics, and Hitler's Early Years in Vienna 1906-1913" traces the dictator's artistic aspirations, disappointments and influences during his seven years in the Austrian city.
The exhibit uses about 275 paintings, posters and clips of film from Nazi rallies to illustrate art's influence on Hitler. Displays of anti-Semitic pamphlets that circulated around Vienna
in the early 1900s show that Hitler mimicked the pamphlets for his own propaganda decades later.
For a lot more, 'Prelude to a Nightmare'
Williams College Museum of Art
Like, Duh
Linguist Defends 'Like'
A Temple University linguist says there's a lot to like about "like," the crutch word of teenagers and the bane of language purists. Muffy E.A. Siegel, who has published a scholarly study of
the word, says "like" is not mindless filler but can actually impart meaning.
It turns out "like" in its slang form evolved over centuries, becoming a Beatnik buzzword and catching the attention of linguists in the mid-1980s after it was popularized by Southern
California "Valley Girls" ("Like, gag me with a spoon.").
The Valley Girl version of "like" is classified by linguists as a "discourse particle," along with "um," "well," "oh" and the like.
Unlike mere fillers, however, "like" has the ability to change the meaning of a sentence, according to Siegel's research, which builds on the findings of at least two other studies of the word.
For example, "like" can be a hedge, when the speaker is not quite sure what he or she is about to say is accurate. (Example: "He has, like, six sisters.")
Like, for a bit of good reading, Linguist Defends 'Like'
Great Fish Story
Killer Whale
A whale suddenly breached and crashed into the bow of a fishing boat, killing a restaurant owner on board.
Jerry Tibbs, 51, owner of Mr. Tibb's Ribs in Bakersfield, was aboard his boat The BBQ on Sunday when the whale hit and tossed him into the
sea five miles off Port San Luis. Three other fishermen stayed aboard the damaged boat, which was towed to shore by the Coast Guard.
Tibbs and his three friends were just ending a day fishing for albacore when the accident occurred.
Coast Guard officials said it was the first time they could recall an accident caused by a whale hitting a boat.
Killer Whale
Australia
'Devil's Marbles'
A tourist plays amongst the famous rocky landmarks known as the 'Devil's Marbles' in the Australian outback.
Photo by David Gray
'The Osbournes'
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