Recommended Reading
from Bruce
SOL STERN: E. D. Hirsch's Curriculum for Democracy (city-journal.org)
"The Massachusetts miracle" - record-breaking rises in student test scores in the state - has resulted largely from the adoption of the Cultural Literacy program of E.D. Hirsch...
Andrew Delbanco: Dreams of Better Schools (nybooks.com)
With the possible exceptions of the postal service and the motor vehicle bureau, few public institutions rival our schools in public dissatisfaction. But measured against the actual schools of the past, how, in fact, are we doing?
Walter Tunis: Acoustic guitar virtuoso Leo Kottke can't believe he's still on stage (McClatchy Newspapers)
In a recording and performance career that spans four full decades, Leo Kottke remains an original.
Marian Liu: "Wine, women and song: What it's like to be piano superstar Lang Lang" (The Seattle Times)
Lang Lang may play classical music, but he's definitely a rock star.
Armond White: Gentlemen Broncos (nypress.com)
Jared Hess creates a personal, daring film about innocence that captures eccentric Americana.
John Anderson: For its director and young star, 'Precious' is ready to pop (Newsday)
"Precious" is hardly the feel-good movie of 2009, but the people around it should be feeling pretty good. It had a double win at Sundance, ringing endorsements from Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, Oscar buzz swarming around Mo'Nique and, now, Friday's release. If it all feels like the other shoe's about to drop, you won't get an argument from Lee Daniels.
'Jennifer's Body': a feminist slasher film? Really? (guardian.co.uk)
It's written and directed by women, and stars a man-eating schoolgirl - but is 'Jennifer's Body' as feminist as it thinks it is, asks Kira Cochrane.
Jane Lynch talks about being butch and hating bras (afterellen.com)
The 'Glee' star gets candid with Village Voice's Michael Musto about coming out to her family and her attraction to feminine women.
How the Oscar voting will change (usatoday.com)
In 2010, the number of Academy Award best-picture nominees will double, from five to 10. Normally, academy members select one film as their top choice. This year the 6,000 members will rank all 10 nominees according to their preference. An example of how a vote could unfold:...
Marilynn Preston: If Baby Einstein Is Dribble, What Else Is Untrue? (creators.com)
Have you heard? Those best-selling "Baby Einstein" videos will not make your baby choose calculus over patty cake. Darn. In fact, all those "Baby Mozart" and "Baby Shakespeare" pseudo-educational videos are messing with your baby's vulnerable and developing brain in a way that is absolutely alarming ...
Joe Weider: Sweet on Agave (creators.com)
Tip of the Week: Anytime is a good time to flex your muscles.
Troy Patterson: Thrust, Lunge, Vomit, Smile! (slate.com)
A TV critic journeys through the cheerful hell of exercise shows.
The Weekly Poll
New Question
'The Devil is in the Details' Edition...
We all have had to make difficult decisions, from time to time, that involve compromises that can be distasteful. Such as...
A.) Would you take your dream job that has great pay and benefits, but you would have to relocate to an area that you'd loathe (such as Oklahoma)?
or...
B.) Would you live in an area that you've always wanted to but at a minimum wage, hand to mouth, subsistence level existence with no chance of improvement?
It's either A or B... No in between... Choose! Choose now! Ha Ha!
Send your response to
Results Tuesday
replied:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Thought I heard a seal barking, but realized it was just me coughing.
Tokyo International Manga Library
Meiji University
In a move to promote serious study of Japanese manga, a university in Tokyo plans to open a library with two million comic books, animation drawings, video games and other cartoon industry artifacts.
Tentatively named the Tokyo International Manga Library, it would open by early 2015 on the campus of the private Meiji University, and be available to researchers and fans from Japan and abroad.
To give an early taste of its collection, the university will open the Yoshihiro Yonezawa Memorial Library of Manga and Subculture this October 31, featuring the late manga critic's collection of 140,000 comic books.
Some of the books date back to before World War II.
Meiji University
Drives Wedge Through LA Art Community
Berlin Wall
The concrete wall that divided the city of Berlin for 28 years is suddenly splitting a segment of Los Angeles' art community just as the 20th anniversary of the wall's falling nears.
The trouble began earlier this month when the Wende Museum installed several segments of the original Berlin Wall on Wilshire Boulevard.
Kent Twitchell, whose larger-than-life paintings cover entire walls and sides of freeways, said he planned to "bookend" two sections of the wall with portraits of President John F. Kennedy, who denounced the barrier in a Berlin speech in 1961, and President Ronald Reagan, who famously demanded, "Tear down this wall!" shortly before it came down in 1989.
But as he rushed to finish the portraits, Twitchell said he was told by organizers that he could leave one of the paintings in his studio: There was no room for both.
Justinian Jampol, whose Wende Museum and Archive of the Cold War is mounting the public exhibition along a busy, museum-lined street in the city's Miracle Mile district, said Twitchell's vision got sliced in half when some of the sections of the wall acquired from Germany came covered in historic graffiti.
Berlin Wall
New Bert Parks
Mario Lopez
Here comes Mario Lopez as the Miss America pageant host.
TLC and the Miss America Organization said Wednesday that the 36-year-old "Extra" host and former "Dancing with the Stars" contestant will again serve as master of ceremonies for the live Jan. 30 ceremony at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Lopez previously hosted the Miss America pageant in 2007 and 2009.
Next year's pageant will feature 53 contestants, including Miss District of Columbia, Miss Virgin Islands and Miss Puerto Rico, who returns after a 50-year absence from the event. As always, the women will compete in interview, swimsuit, evening gown and talent competitions for the title of Miss America.
Mario Lopez
Another Pick Up
CBS
CBS picked up five more episodes of its rookie Jenna Elfman comedy "Accidentally on Purpose" on Tuesday.
Although "Accidentally" has been the lowest-rated performer of the Monday night lineup, it has gradually retained more viewers from its "How I Met Your Mother" lead-in.
The order brings the complement to 18, short of the 22 episodes for a full season. This is mainly due to CBS still having episodes of "Rules of Engagement" for later this season.
CBS
Dancers Honor
Patrick Swayze
Before Patrick Swayze was a film actor, a TV actor and People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive," he was a dancer.
And so it was fitting that a huge, eclectic group of dancers gathered to honor him this week at the annual fundraiser for Career Transition for Dancers, a group that helps dancers develop new careers after age or injury forces them to halt dancing.
Swayze had been chosen as this year's honoree well before his death in September of pancreatic cancer at age 57. His wife of 34 years, Lisa Niemi, seemed to tear up as she accepted the Rolex Dance Award on his behalf, telling the crowd her husband was now "dancing with the angels."
Monday's event at New York's City Center featured a huge variety of dancers of all types: ballet, modern, tap, jazz, salsa. Among the highlights: the "Stars and Stripes" pas de deux by Ashley Bouder and Andrew Veyette of New York City Ballet; the synchronized tap-dancing of the Lombard Twins; excerpts from Bob Fosse's "Dancin'"; and a salsa performance by unheralded youngsters Alexandra Gutkovitch, 10, and John Gaylan, 14, that brought down the house.
Patrick Swayze
Convicts 23 In CIA Rendition
Italy
An Italian judge found 23 Americans and two Italians guilty Wednesday in the kidnapping of an Egyptian terror suspect, delivering the first legal convictions anywhere in the world against people involved in the CIA's extraordinary renditions program.
Human rights groups hailed the decision and pressed President Barack Obama to repudiate the Bush administration's practice of abducting terror suspects and transferring them to third countries where torture was permitted. The American Civil Liberties Union said the verdicts were the first convictions stemming from the rendition program.
The Obama administration ended the CIA's interrogation program and shuttered its secret overseas jails in January but has opted to continue the practice of extraordinary renditions.
Despite the convictions capping the nearly three-year Italian trial, several Italian and American defendants - including the two alleged masterminds of the abduction - were acquitted due to either diplomatic immunity or because classified information was stricken by Italy's highest court.
Italy
Group Shocked
'Gossip Girl'
On-air promos for a sexual threesome on an upcoming episode of "Gossip Girl" have spurred the Parents Television Council to ask affiliates of the CW network to pre-empt the show.
Airing the teen tryst, which is being teased in an ad as a "3SOME," is "reckless and irresponsible," said PTC president Tim Winter in a statement Wednesday. The threesome involves three main characters in the show but they are not identified in the promos.
This is not the first time the PTC has complained about the sexy prep-school soap, which Winter said is "expressly targeted to impressionable teenagers."
CW spokesman Paul McGuire said the target audience for "Gossip Girl" is 18- to 34-year-old women, with a median viewer age of 27 years old. The network had no comment on PTC's complaint, he said.
'Gossip Girl'
Arrest Made
Celeb Burglaries
Los Angeles police say they have arrested a man sought in a case involving burglaries at the homes of celebrities.
Police say Jonathan Ajar surrendered to police in Hollywood on Wednesday. Prosecutors charged him with 10 felony drug and gun counts after searching his home last month.
Ajar has not been charged with any of the break-ins. Jail records do not indicate whether he has an attorney.
Five other people are accused of stealing items from the homes of Orlando Bloom, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and other young stars.
Celeb Burglaries
CBS Cuts Order
"Numb3rs"
Are "Numbers'" days numbered?
CBS has cut the order for the veteran crime drama to 16 episodes from 22. Friday nights, traditionally a ratings graveyard, have taken a big hit this fall, and "Numbers," now in its sixth season, did not escape.
Last week, the drama starring Rob Morrow and David Krumholtz averaged 7.9 million viewers overall. For the season, it ranks at No. 42 with 8.8 million viewers.
As for "Numbers'" future, a CBS rep said no decision has been made. But with the series already airing in syndication on TNT, the continued production of original episodes at high cost seems unlikely.
"Numb3rs"
Income Up
Rupert Corp
Media conglomerate News Corp. said Wednesday its net income for the latest quarter grew despite analysts' expectations of a decline, thanks to strength at its cable networks and the box-office success of "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs."
The company is facing multiple challenges, including an advertising downturn and the shift of readers to the Internet. Newspaper and TV station earnings fell but they were more than offset by cost-cutting and gains elsewhere.
Net income for the company's fiscal first quarter, which ended Sept. 30, increased 11 percent to $571 million, or 22 cents per share, compared with $515 million, or 20 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting a drop to 18 cents per share.
Cable networks, including Fox News Channel, saw operating income grow 41 percent to $495 million, but newspaper earnings shrank more than 80 percent as lower ad revenue hurt The Wall Street Journal despite increases in circulation revenue from higher prices.
Rupert Corp
On Schedule To Open In 2012
Galactic Suite Space Resort
A company behind plans to open the first hotel in space says it is on target to accept its first paying guests in 2012 despite critics questioning the investment and time frame for the multi-billion dollar project.
The Barcelona-based architects of The Galactic Suite Space Resort say it will cost 3 million euro ($4.4 million) for a three-night stay at the hotel, with this price including an eight-week training course on a tropical island.
During their stay, guests would see the sun rise 15 times a day and travel around the world every 80 minutes. They would wear velcro suits so they can crawl around their pod rooms by sticking themselves to the walls like Spiderman.
Galactic Suite Ltd, set up in 2007, hopes to start its project with a single pod in orbit 450 km (280 miles) above the earth, traveling at 30,000 km per hour, with the capacity to hold four guests and two astronaut-pilots.
Galactic Suite Space Resort
Family Christian Book Store
Bathroom Camera
A 28-year-old clerk at a Christian bookstore in Simi Valley has been arrested on charges of peeping at customers in the restroom with a video camera. Police said the man was cited and released on suspicion of peeping by means of an electronic device Sunday after a customer spotted the device hidden among boxes in the corner of the bathroom of the Family Christian Book Store.
The 40-year-old woman and her husband called police to report the suspiciously placed camera.
Sgt. Dwight Thompson said the recording shows the suspect hiding the video camera in the bathroom because it was taping as he positioned it.
Bathroom Camera
In Memory
Sheldon Dorf
Sheldon Dorf, who founded the world famous Comic-Con International comic book convention, has died. He was 76.
A longtime friend, Greg Koudoulian, says the Ocean Beach resident died at a San Diego hospital on Tuesday from kidney failure. He had diabetes and had been hospitalized for about a year.
Dorf, a freelance artist and comic strip letterer, founded Comic-Con in San Diego in 1970 after moving from Detroit.
Today, the convention draws 125,000 fans a year and is a major gathering for comic book fans, artists, writers and movie stars.
Sheldon Dorf
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