Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Mark Morford: Hey kids! Love will destroy you! (sfgate.com)
I'm guessing 17. Maybe 16. Although I must admit I'm finding it very hard to tell anymore because the older I get the more I notice this odd, unstoppable inversion taking place in my wayward perceptions, rendering my ability to accurately assess the ages of members of Generation Facebook wickedly futile.
MEGAN SELING: Sugar Rush (thestranger.com)
I've never smoked cigarettes, I've never smoked pot, I've never had a drink. But I definitely have a substance-abuse problem.
Gretchen Rubin: A Year In The Pursuit Of Happiness: 7 Surprising Truths About What Makes Us Happy (huffingtonpost.com)
In my new book 'The Happiness Project' I describe the year I spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, the current scientific studies, and the lessons from popular culture about how to be happier -- from Aristotle to Thoreau to Seligman to Oprah.
Sanford Pinsker: "The Dissertation Blues, Then and Now" (irascibleprofessor.com)
I can only speak from my own experiences, more than 40 years ago, as a grad student in English literature setting out to write my dissertation. No doubt people in other disciplines had their troubles but English majors, I would argue, had the most colorful troubles.
"Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil" by Peter Maass: A review by Mark Sorkin
The first thing Peter Maass encountered when he arrived at Oru Sangama was the stench of raw sewage.
Nathan Heller: How Should Fiction Be Read? (slate.com)
Don't miss Zadie Smith's bracing answers.
MARY McNAMARA: "Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind 'Little Women'" (latimes.com)
The dramatically reenacted documentary gives breadth and life to the author of the 1860s classic, who was as much of a celebrity in her day as J.K. Rowling is now.
DAVE STEINFELD: Keeping the Faith (curvemag.com)
Marianne Faithfull talks punk rock, sexuality and her new album.
Richard Roeper: 'Cougar': Time for animosity to kill this cat? (suntimes.com)
Actress Claire Danes' co-star in the film "Me and Orson Welles" is Zac Efron, of "Disney's High School Musical" fame. In an interview with the Toronto Star about her career, Danes says, "It's a perfectly pleasant way to make a living. The only problem is that the men stay the same age, and I keep getting older."
MARION COTILLARD: Penelope CRUZ (interviewmagazine.com)
The last year and a half has been a transformative time for Penélope Cruz.
RACHEL SHATTO: God-Des and She Are Back Times "Three" (curvemag.com)
With their new album climbing the charts, lesbian hip-hop artists God-Des and She give up the goods on their new sound, being out in the hip-hop industry and breaking into the mainstream.
roger ebert's journal: The best foreign films of 2009
Look at it this way. We have the chance to see virtually every American film that's released, and many of the English language films in general.
noted:
Reader Suggestion
The Colors of Xcaret
Hope you can use it.
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Picked up my computer this afternoon. Got it all reconfigured, but haven't had much time to play with it.
While the old hard drive is intact, there's a bunch of things that need to be re-installed, and stuff. Ack.
Things don't look as gloomy as they did a week ago, but there's still a ways to go.
I appreciate the help you've sent, but as it currently stands, the last page will be Monday (01/04/10).
I'm not giving up hope that things may still work out. OTOH, I am familiar with reality.
Please help save the e-page! Pretty please. With whipped cream and a cherry.
New Zealand Knight
Peter Jackson
Film writer and director Peter Jackson, whose widely acclaimed "Lord of the Rings" trilogy scooped 17 Oscars, has been made a knight in New Zealand's New Year Honors' list.
He becomes Sir Peter Jackson for what the annual list honoring the country's worthy citizens simply calls "services to film."
New Zealand knights and dames, among the nation's highest honors, are sanctioned by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, New Zealand's head of state - stemming from the country's past as a British colony.
The "Lord of the Rings" trio showcased New Zealand's unique natural scenery as writer J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy land, filled with sword-swinging warriors, elves, wizards and hairy-footed hobbits. The project broke box office records around the world, won Jackson international accolades, and prompted a spike in tourism to New Zealand.
Peter Jackson
25 New Additions
US Film Registry
Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video, with that unforgettable graveyard dance, will rest among the nation's treasures in the world's largest archive of film, TV and sound recordings.
The 1983 music video directed by John Landis, though still the subject of lawsuits over profits, was one of 25 films to be inducted Wednesday for preservation in the 2009 National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
It's the first music video named to the registry. It had been considered in past years, but following Jackson's death, the time was right, said Steve Leggett, coordinator of the National Film Preservation Board.
Joining the King of Pop in the 2009 class will be the Muppets from 1979's "The Muppet Movie" - the first time on the big screen for Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy - and the 1957 sci-fi classic "The Incredible Shrinking Man," among other titles.
US Film Registry
The 25 New Titles Added
Upcoming Commemoratives
US Stamps
Nobel Prize winner Mother Teresa and Pulitzer Prize winner Bill Mauldin will be honored on U.S. postage stamps next year.
Joining them will be Oscar-winning actress Katharine Hepburn, singing cowboy Gene Autry, artist Winslow Homer and Adm. Arleigh Burke.
Other new stamps will honor the Negro baseball leagues, the Sunday funnies and the Hawaiian rain forest, the Postal Service announced Wednesday.
The post office releases a series of commemorative stamps every year, honoring people, places and institutions. These stamps remain on sale for a limited period and are widely collected.
US Stamps
Returns Next Week
Regis
Regis Philbin is set to return to his daytime talk show next week after successful hip replacement surgery.
Philbin has been on the disabled list since the Dec. 1 operation. He makes his return to "Live! With Regis and Kelly" on Jan. 4.
Kelly Ripa has been working with guest hosts while Philbin has been away.
Amy Adams, Tim Allen, Jenna Elfman and pilot Chesley Sullenberger will be among his first-week guests.
Regis
New Grandmother
Nena
German pop legend Nena, who rose to global fame with the hit "99 Red Balloons", is now a proud granny, she said on her website Wednesday.
"My daughter Larissa brought a beautiful girl into the world on December 25, 2009," said the German New Wave star, who is set to start a new tour in April.
"The baby is healthy and was born peacefully at home and is called Carla Maria. We are all thrilled about the greatest Christmas gift."
Nena topped charts around the world in the 1980s with the Cold War rock ballad "99 Luftballons", sung as "99 Red Balloons" in English, and went solo after her band of the same name broke up in 1987.
Nena
ABC Reporter & White House Budget Chief
Engagement News
ABC News reporter Bianna Golodryga is engaged to White House budget director Peter Orszag.
She made the announcement Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America." Golodryga described her fiance as "tall, dark and he could say Golodryga and spell it after the first date. That is a winner in my book."
According to a story posted on ABC's Web site, the couple met in May at the White House Correspondents Dinner. The 31-year-old Golodryga joined "Good Morning America" in 2007. She has worked the economy and business beat and reported on the housing and credit crisis.
Before becoming head of the White House's Office of Management and Budget, Orszag had recently served as director of the Congressional Budget Office.
Engagement News
Offers Rupert Arbitration
Time Warner
Bart Simpson and the Sugar Bowl game are among the possible casualties of a bitter dispute over fees that the Fox network's owner is demanding from Time Warner Cable systems in New York, Los Angeles and other markets.
As a midnight Thursday deadline approaches, though, Time Warner Cable offered an olive branch that could leave the Fox network and some of its cable TV channels on the lineup for millions of subscribers - for now.
Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt said Wednesday the cable operator will agree to binding arbitration and any interim steps necessary to keep Fox channels on while talks continue.
Britt disclosed such willingness in a letter to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who had pleaded for both sides to agree to uninterrupted television for football fans "through the college bowl season." A copy of Britt's letter was forwarded to News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey.
Time Warner
Former Police Chief Sentenced
Parker-Broderick
A former Ohio police chief was sentenced to prison Wednesday in connection with a break-in at the home of the surrogate who bore twins for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick.
Barry Carpenter was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. He was convicted last month on charges of receiving stolen property, theft in office and evidence tampering but acquitted of other counts, including burglary.
His attorney, Dennis McNamara, vowed to appeal.
Belmont County Common Pleas Judge John Solovan called prison time a "must" in the case, and Carpenter was immediately taken into custody after the hearing. A special prosecutor had said Carpenter could have received up to six years in prison.
Parker-Broderick
NY Restaurant Bites The Dust
Tavern on the Green
Tavern on the Green, once America's highest-grossing restaurant, is singing its culinary swan song.
The former sheepfold at the edge of Central Park, now ringed by twinkling lights and fake topiary animals, is preparing for New Year's Eve, when it will serve its last meal. Just three years ago, it was plating more than 700,000 meals annually, bringing in more than $38 million.
But that astronomical sum wasn't enough to keep the landmark restaurant out of bankruptcy court. Its $8 million debt is to be covered at an auction of Baccarat and Waterford chandeliers, Tiffany stained glass, a mural depicting Central Park and other over-the-top decor that has bewitched visitors for decades.
Even the restaurant's name is up for grabs. At stake is whether another restaurateur taking over the 27,000 square feet of space, owned by the city, can reopen as Tavern on the Green.
For 75 years, since it first opened amid the Great Depression, the Tavern has attracted clients from around the world.
Tavern on the Green
Burlington, Wisconsin
Champion Liar
A jab at the woes of the nation's banks has been named the top tall tale of 2009.
The Burlington Liars Club bestowed its highest award Wednesday for this line: "I just realized how bad the economy really is. I recently bought a new toaster oven and as a complimentary gift, I was given a bank."
The quip earned Larry Legro of Sun Prairie, Wis., the dubious - but serious - distinction of being the year's World Champion Liar.
"I was ecstatic," said Legro, 58, a state health inspector. "I told people all year I was planning to win this contest."
Legro told The Associated Press he had been submitting entries for four to five years, even if his wife didn't share his enthusiasm.
Champion Liar
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by the Nielsen Co. for Dec. 21-27. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: Dallas at Washington, NBC, 19.04 million.
2. "60 Minutes," CBS, 15.74 million.
3. "NCIS," CBS, 15.39 million.
4. "Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 14.39 million.
5. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 12.45 million.
6. Movie: "Jesse Stone: Thin Ice," CBS, 11.34 million.
7. "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 10.78 million.
8. "Criminal Minds," CBS, 10.29
9. "CSI: NY," CBS, 10.27 million.
10. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 10 million.
11. "Football Night in America," NBC, 9.76 million.
12. "The Good Wife," CBS, 9.13 million.
13. "CSI: Miami," CBS, 8.63 million.
14. "The Mentalist," CBS, 8.22 million.
15. "Sing Off," NBC, 7.28 million.
16. "Cold Case" CBS, 7.25 million.
17. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 7.15 million.
18. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," ABC, 6.77 million
19. Movie: "The Sound of Music," ABC, 6.43 million.
20. "Home For the Holidays," CBS 6.35 million.
Ratings
In Memory
Tim Hart
Tim Hart, a founding member of the British folk-rock group Steeleye Span, has died of lung cancer, his daughter said Wednesday.
Hart, 61, died Dec. 24 in La Gomera in Spain's Canary Islands, where the Briton had lived since retiring from the music scene, Sally Hart told The Associated Press.
Hart was a star of the 1960s folk scene in Britain, first gaining fame in a musical partnership with singer Maddy Prior in 1966. The duo recorded two albums of "Folk Songs of Olde England," with the versatile Hart backing their singing on guitar, mandolin, dulcimer, banjo and violin.
In 1971, Hart and Prior joined with Ashley Hutchings, who had left the Fairport Convention to form a new band. The new project, at Hart's suggestion, was named Steeleye Span after a character in a Lincolnshire folk song, "Horkstow Grange."
Hart left Steeleye Span in 1983, but appeared at a charity concert with the group in 1995. Last year, he appeared with Prior at a BBC concert in London.
Hart is survived by his wife Connie, and a daughter and son from a previous marriage. Funeral arrangements were not announced.
Tim Hart
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