'TBH Politoons'
Jazz From Hills
Trimmed Bush and Hedges
Reading Suggestions
from Bruce
Josh Marshall: Post on Dec. 15, 2004
Focused as I've been on the Kerik meltdown, I've given little attention to what will certainly be the defining issue of the next two years, for Democrats as much as the president: Social Security. Š The Social Security "crisis" is manufactured; there is no crisis. To the extent there are long-term financing problems, the president's plan will gravely worsen them. The problem we face isn't over Social Security, which continues to run up huge surpluses (just as it was intended to under the early-80s reform), but that our non-Social Security budget continues to run massive structural deficits. Or rather, it has returned to running massive structural deficits after getting into the black in the late 1990s through the combined exertions of a Democratic president and a Republican congress. Social Security isn't the problem, but rather George W. Bush's reckless fiscal policy.
Purple Gene Reviews
'Collateral'
Purple Genes' review of the movie "Collateral" (2004)
Sorry Roger Ebert! Sorry Richard Roper! You guys blew the review on the new movie "Collateral" (directed semi-stylishly by Michael Mann) starring Tom Cruise!
This fabricated and phony flick should have been called "Robo-Cop Killer"....... Give me a frickin' break - two thumbs way down for Vincents' (Cruise) grotesque gray hair...bad bad bad! And detective Fanning played by Mark Ruffalo?????? It's the same fucking mustache he had glued on his upper lip when he was boning Meg Ryan in "In the Cut"! Jada Pinkett Smith was ok. Now the real DUDE in this movie is Jamie Foxx ("Bait" - "Booty Call" - "Ray") but the goddam glasses he's wearing and that incipid picture of his "Dream Island" Stoooopid! You can tell that I wasn't bowled over by this one........
Max (Jamie Foxx) is an extremely tidy LA taxi driver with a dream of someday having his own "LIMO" company. picks up a fare named Annie (Pinkett Smith) who is a prosecuter on the eve of high profile drug trial....Max and Annie have a flirty little flit.....She gives him her phone number.....just in case! Well who might be Maxs' next fare????? Wow ...it's a brief case carrying, grecian formula gray grimmacing Vincent (Cruise) who convinces Max that for $600 he will take Vincent to 5 stops and then the airport! HHHMMMMMMM?????
This preposterous plot plods through murder # 1 Max says, "Vincent! What the fuck are you doing"? Murder # 2 & # 3 Max says, "Jesus Vincent why'd you have to......" Murder # 4 cool night club owner - Miles Davis loving musician Daniel (Barry Shabaka Henley) bullet in the head - Max says, "Vincent - I quit this shit" but no....after shooting up a trance-disco-ecstacy night club......Vincent says to Max...."Remember # 5......Could it possibly be Annie the attorney...who just so happened to be Maxs' first fare.......
It's the predictable midnight in the Hall of Justice and Annie is cramming for the case against the drug lord that apparently hired Vincent to kill all the witnesses ....and the prosecuter!!!! But Super Max is going to save the day !!!! This almost resembled one of the Terminator movies where Ahnold cannot be stopped ....no arms ..no legs..he keeps coming....Well Vincent is full of bullit holes and bruises and is marching up to the fifth floor to kill Annie.......Max grabs his cell phone and calls Annie (remember she gave him her number - how convenient for the plot!!). He yells, "Annie - he's coming to kill you - get out of there!" Annie says, "Say what !" Of course the cell phone batteries (Motorola) go dead...now the chase is on....all the way to the Metro....Vincent finally gets kilt - James Bond (I mean Max) saves the GIRL........Bullshit!!!!
This one doesn't work kids! Crappola! Michael Mann gets demoted back to "Miami Vice"! Cruise, Smith, Fox and Ruffalo get no Oscar BUZZ for this movie (At least not from me!)
Purple Gene gives "Collateral" 65 wasted bullit casings out off the 100 or so shot in this let down of a "Thriller"!!!
Purple Gene
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny & clear day, windy tonight.
Honorary Oscar
Sidney Lumet
US filmmaker Sidney Lumet, who directed the 1970s classics "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Network," is to receive an honorary Oscar at next year's Academy Awards, organisers said.
The special Oscar will be the first that the legendary director, who is now 80, has been awarded in a remarkable career that has spanned more than 50 years and almost as many movies.
The honorary golden statuette will be presented to Lumet at the 77th annual Academy Awards on February 27 in recognition of his "brilliant services to screenwriters, performers and the art of the motion picture."
Nominations for the 2005 Oscars will be announced on January 25 and the coveted statuettes will be handed out in Hollywood just over a month later.
Sidney Lumet
Unveils Star for Late Father
Freddie Prinze Jr
Freddie Prinze Jr. shed tears Tuesday as he unveiled a Hollywood Walk of Fame star for his late father, who committed suicide in 1977.
"I always get overwhelmed when it comes to speaking about my father," the 28-year-old told the crowd during the Hollywood Boulevard ceremony. "To see the respect from the people in L.A. and New York where my father was from brings tears to my eyes. To walk by and see his name on this star wow. I love you all for coming out here."
Comedian George Lopez, who nominated the late comedian and sponsored the star, also attended the event.
Freddie Prinze Jr
Safe from Indecency Limits - For Now
Satellite Radio
Radio shock jock Howard Stern can rest easy that he won't face federal decency standards when he moves to satellite radio, at least for now.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission rejected a request from a radio broadcaster to consider applying federal indecency limits to pay satellite radio services like Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. where Stern is headed in 2006, according to a letter released on Wednesday.
FCC Media Bureau Chief Kenneth Ferree told Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasters Inc. that precedent dictated that indecency standards did not apply to the subscription-based service.
Satellite Radio
Two More Installments Picked Up
'Survivor'
CBS on Wednesday said that it will bring back television's top-rated reality series, "Survivor," for at least two more installments.
The Viacom Inc.-owned broadcaster said it has ordered production of the show's 11th and 12th editions, which will be aired during the 2005-06 TV season.
CBS did not say where the new installments of the program would be shot or when they would premiere.
'Survivor'
Salinas Closing Libraries
Steinbeck's Birthplace
The central California town of Salinas, birthplace of Nobel prize-winning author John Steinbeck who wrote "The Grapes of Wrath," will close its three libraries next year as a cost-cutting move.
The Salinas city council voted 6-1 late on Tuesday to end funding of the libraries due to an $8 million (4.1 million pound) city budget shortfall. The library doors, including the main John Steinbeck branch, will close during the first half of 2005.
The library closures mark the latest chapter in the city's sometimes rocky relationship with literature.
Steinbeck's Birthplace
Replaces Freddie Mercury in Queen
Paul Rodgers
The '70s rock band Queen is planning a tour next year with guitarist-vocalist Paul Rodgers replacing frontman Freddie Mercury, who died of AIDS in 1991.
Details about what would be the first Queen tour since Mercury's death were being worked out, but it could include shows across Europe beginning this spring, the band's spokesman said Wednesday.
The official Queen Fan Club welcomed the promised tour, even though it wasn't known whether bass player John Deacon, the other member of the band, will join it.
Paul Rodgers
Baby News
Liv Tyler
Liv Tyler, daughter of Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler and model Bebe Buell, gave birth to a son in Manhattan Tuesday, Us Weekly magazine reported.
"They are both doing great," Tyler's publicist, Stephen Huvane, told The Associated Press Wednesday. He said the baby hadn't yet been named.
Liv Tyler
To Teach At Washington Charter School
Jenna Bush
Jenna Bush, one of US resident George W. Bush's twin daughters, will live in Washington and teach at a public school here, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
McClellan declined to confirm where Jenna -- whose hard-partying ways have raised eyebrows and attracted the attention of gossip columnists -- would teach, citing "the privacy of the schoolchildren."
Jenna Bush
Behind Hawk Arrest?
Paula Zahn
An advocate for two red-tailed hawks evicted last week from their nest at a luxury Manhattan apartment building was arrested Tuesday and charged with harassing CNN anchor Paula Zahn, who lives in the building, and her family, law enforcement sources said.
Lincoln Karim, a video engineer for Associated Press Television News who was on vacation Tuesday, was charged with multiple counts of aggravated harassment and one count of endangering the welfare of a child, said Paul Browne, spokesman for the police department.
Karim, who was expected to be arraigned by Wednesday morning, was charged with harassing Zahn, her husband, Richard Cohen, or their two sons, ages 7 and 11, in four incidents outside the building, the sources said. Cohen is president of the co-op building's board.
Karim was being represented by a lawyer arranged for him by actress Mary Tyler Moore, another resident of the building and a fellow advocate for the hawks.
Paula Zahn
Joining Faux News
Zell Miller
Retiring U.S. Sen. Zell Miller, the conservative Georgia Democrat who backed resident Bush's re-election, is joining Fox News Channel as a contributor.
Miller, who made a memorable TV appearance when he challenged MSNBC host Chris Matthews to a duel, will be seen on a variety of Fox News programs starting Jan. 6, a Fox spokesman said Tuesday.
Zell Miller
Spike TV
Video Game Awards
The stars of the video game industry came out in force on Tuesday night to honor their peers for creative excellence -- taking a page from the Hollywood playbook with red carpets, glittering gems and a live nationwide broadcast.
The blockbuster criminal adventure game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" took Game of the Year honors at the Spike TV Video Game Awards, the cable network's second annual show honoring the $10 billion games industry.
"San Andreas" led the pack with four wins, including nods for its soundtrack and for voice work from actor Samuel L. Jackson.
Electronic Arts Inc., the world's largest game publisher, garnered five awards, including two each for the racing game "Burnout 3" and the football title "Madden NFL."
Victoria's Secret models in angel outfits descended from the rafters to help present the "Vector Monkey" statuettes (a monkey holding a video game controller and wearing a crown).
Video Game Awards
Sold At Auction
Chaplin's Cane
A bamboo cane that Charlie Chaplin used in the classic 1930s spoof Modern Times sold for $91,800 US at a sale of movie memorabilia.
Christie's didn't release the buyer's identity. Two prop mustaches Chaplin wore in The Great Dictator fetched $23,000 and $34,300 at Tuesday's auction. The Planet Hollywood restaurant chain bought a moon buggy used in the 1971 James Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever, for $45,900. "We're very excited to get this important piece and will be driving it straight back, where it's going to our new Las Vegas casino," said Planet Hollywood chairman Robert Earl.
Chaplin's Cane
Turns 35
'All My Children'
It's difficult to tell what's real and what's not in Pine Valley, the sleepy fictional town that on Jan. 5 will have been the backdrop for ABC's "All My Children" for 35 years.
On a seemingly typical day, there's a banner announcing "Happy 35th Anniversary" hanging in Pine Valley Hospital. Much of the cast is gathered. Agnes Nixon, the show's creator, addresses the group from a podium, flanked by Susan Lucci, the show's grand dame Erica Kane; and Ray MacDonnell, the show's pillar Joe Martin.
Then, a director yells: Cut!
They're not celebrating the show's anniversary. It's a scene in which they're toasting the anniversary of Martin's 35 years of working for the hospital. This marks Nixon's first speaking part on the show she created in 1970. Time, it seems, has blurred the lines between soap and reality.
'All My Children'
Producers Sue Fox Over Show
'Wife Swap'
The British producers of the ABC television show "Wife Swap" have filed suit over the Fox show "Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy," lambasting it as an illegal rip-off.
RDF Media asked a federal court Wednesday for more than $18 million in damages plus all "gains, profits and advantages" derived from the Fox show. The suit targets Fox Broadcasting and the show's producers.
The lawsuit claims the show, produced by Rocket Science Laboratories, "more aptly might be entitled 'Trading Copyrights' or perhaps 'Copyright Swap,'" and calls the Fox series "a blatant and wholesale copycat" of "Wife Swap."
'Wife Swap'
To Pay $510 Million
Time Warner
Time Warner Inc. said on Wednesday it agreed to pay the U.S. government $510 million to resolve criminal and civil charges that its America Online unit fraudulently inflated its revenue figures.
The agreements close a two-year investigation by the U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission and gives the world's largest media company financial flexibility to pursue a range of deals, including the acquisition of cable operator Adelphia Communications Corp.
Under the agreement filed in federal court in Virginia, Time Warner accepted responsibility for criminal violations made by AOL employees and pledged to cooperate fully with the Justice Department in its investigation into individuals involved in the fraud, among other conditions.
In exchange, the government agreed to defer prosecution of the company for two years, after which it will dismiss charges if Time Warner complies with the deal.
Time Warner
Cigarette Wreath for 105-Year Old Smoker
Marie Ellis
Nursing home staff paid tribute to a 105-year old British woman who had smoked since the age of 15 by cremating her with a packet of cigarettes and laying a large floral cigarette on her coffin.
Marie Ellis died -- of natural causes -- at the Eaton Lodge Nursing Home in Kent, southeast England, in early December and was cremated on Tuesday, clutching a packet of her favorite Benson and Hedges cigarettes.
"We will always remember her for her smoking because the first thing she asked when she got up was 'Can I have a cigarette,'" said matron Maria Kallis, who commissioned a large wreath in the shape of a cigarette, made with white and yellow chrysanthemums, for the spinster's coffin.
Apart from her 15-a-day habit, she was also notorious among staff for her unhealthy eating habits, often asking for sugar in her soup and always demanding three sugars in her coffee.
Staff played the song Smoke Gets in Your Eyes at Ellis' funeral and are planning a memorial concrete ashtray for her in the nursing home garden, where her ashes will also be buried.
Marie Ellis
In Memory
Sidonie Goossens
Sidonie Goossens, Britain's most acclaimed harpist and the last surviving member of the famous musical family, died Wednesday at the age of 105, her relatives said.
She died peacefully in her sleep at her Surrey home, outside London.
Goossens and her siblings dominated musical life in Britain throughout the last century.
A founder member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, in 1991 she became the oldest person to appear at the Last Night of the Proms when she performed a month before her 92nd birthday.
Her grandfather, conductor Eugene Goossens, moved to Britain from Belgium in the late 19th century and settled in Liverpool. His son, also called Eugene, also became a conductor.
The grandchildren inherited their musical talents. Sidonie Goossens' siblings were conductor-composer Sir Eugene (1893-1962), oboist Leon (1897-1988), horn-player Adolphe (1896-1916) and harpist Marie (1894-1991).
Sidonie Goossens
In Memory
Pauline Gore
Pauline Gore, mother of former Vice President Al Gore and widow of the late U.S. Sen. Albert Gore Sr., died at her home in Tennessee on Wednesday, her family said. She was 92.
She had suffered a heart attack and stroke in 1995 but the cause of her death was not announced. She died peacefully in her sleep, a statement issued by the family said.
Gore was one of the first women to graduate from the Vanderbilt University Law School. She was an active in the political career of her husband, who was prominent in Tennessee and national politics for nearly three decades. Their son served in Congress, was Bill Clinton's vice president and ran unsuccessfully for president.
In the 1930s she left her home in the small town of Dresden, Tennessee, moved to Nashville and worked as a waitress at the old Andrew Jackson Hotel to put herself through law school. She practiced law in Arkansas and Tennessee before marrying in 1937.
Her husband served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1939 to 1953 and in the Senate from 1953 to 1970. She ran his office when he served as an Army private in the Second World War.
Pauline Gore
