Issue #91
Disinfotainment Today
By Michael Dare
'Best of TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
from Mark
Another Phototoon
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In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny morning, cloudy afternoon, rainy night.
So, Mikey Powell & the FCC can convene an investigation into Janet Jackson's right tit, making a mountain out of a C cup. Jeez. It's a mammary gland - all women have them. Having been breastfed, the kid sees nothing wrong
with them - might say the sight is comforting to him.
A branch of the current administration wants to investigate something? Cripes, there's 911, WMDs, Cheney's nefarious dealings & secret meetings, and now Halliburton triple charging for meals not served in Iraq?
Janet's implanted milk gland is more immoral than over 500 American kids getting killed in Iraq, in a war based on a lie? A 'war' where the United States was the aggressor?
Not that long ago America had a sense of humor, and when a woman's breast would flop out on TV (like Lucy Lawless singing the National Anthem), it became part of a blooper reel.
Why is Janet's right tit more offensive than Kid Rock desecrating the flag by cutting a hole in it & wearing it as a poncho?
Or, that in spite of all the security, a streaker wearing a jock strap was able to get on the field, while both teams were present, to wave his shortcomings?
And republicans wonder why they can't get laid.
Tonight, Tuesday, CBS opens the night with a FRESH 'Navy NCIS', followed by a
RERUN 'The Guardian', then a FRESH Judging Amy'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave is Harry Connick Jr.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are Dennis Kucinich, Jane Seymour, Petra Nemcova, and Gerry Dee.
NBC begins the evening with a FRESH 'Whoopi', followed by a FRESH 'Happy Family',
then a FRESH 'Frasier', followed by a FRESH 'Scrubs', then a FRESH 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' (starts 1 minute before the top of the hour).
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Kurt Russell and Five for Fighting.
Scheduled on a FRESH Conan are Al Roker, Mischa Barton, and Mindy Smith.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Bill O'Reilly, Big Tymers, and Stephen Lynch.
ABC starts the night with a RERUN 'Jim', followed by a RERUN 'I'm With Her', then another RERUN 'Jim', followed by a
RERUN 'Less Than Perfect', then a FRESH 'Line Of Fire'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Susie Essman, with this week's guest co-host Kathie Lee Gifford.
The WB offers a FRESH 'Gilmore Girls', followed by a FRESH 'One Tree Hill'.
Faux has a FRESH 'American Idol', followed by a FRESH '24'.
UPN has a RERUN 'One On One', followed by a RERUN 'All Of Us', then a
FRESH 'America's Next Top Model'.
A&E has 'American Justice', 'Biography' (Sal Mineo), and a 2-hour 'Cold Case Files'.
AMC offers the movie 'Cop Land', followed by the movie 'Zulu', then the movie 'The Enemy Below'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Springthorpe;
[7pm] 'House Invaders' - Roath;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Chiswick;
[8pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Spurrey;
[9pm] 'Ground Force' - Croydon;
[9:30pm] 'Ground Force' - Castle Donnington;
[10pm] 'Ground Force America' - Philadelphia;
[11pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Spurrey;
[12am] 'Ground Force' - Croydon;
[12:30am] 'Ground Force' - Castle Donnington;
[1am] 'Ground Force America' - Philadelphia;
[2am] 'House Invaders' - Roath;
[2:30am] 'Changing Rooms' - Chiswick;
[3am] 'Ground Force' - Croydon;
[3:30am] 'Ground Force' - Castle Donnington;
[4am] 'Ground Force America' - Philadelphia;
[5am] 'Cash in the Attic' - Spurrey; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'West Wing', 'Queer Eye', 'Keen Eddie', 'Queer Eye', and 'West Wing'.
Comedy Central has 'MAD TV', 'Crank Yankers', 'Insomniac', 'Chappelle's Show', and 'Crank Yankers'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jon Stewart is Donald Trump.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Sea Detectives', 'Tactical To Practical', and 'Modern Marvels'.
SciFi has 'Beyond Belief', another 'Beyond Belief', then the movie 'Dune'.
TCM - Day 3 of '31 Days of Oscar™', where every movie is either an Oscar™ winner or nominee.
[6am] 'Conquest' (1937);
[8am] 'Anchors Aweigh' (1945);
[10:30am] 'Penny Serenade' (1941);
[12:30pm] 'The Front Page' (1931);
[2:15pm] 'Babes in Arms' (1939);
[4pm] 'Julius Caesar' (1953);
[6:15pm] 'The Defiant Ones' (1958);
[8pm] 'Cool Hand Luke' (1967);
[10:15pm] 'Absence of Malice' (1981);
[12:15am] 'Good Morning, Vietnam' (1987);
[2:30am] 'Chinatown' (1974);
[4:45am] 'The Green Goddess' (1930). (ALL TIMES EST)
Bill Cosby speaks to students during at a tribute marking the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education at Riverside Church in Manhattan, N.Y., Monday, Feb. 2, 2004. Cosby got serious with 500 ninth-graders at a talk commemorating the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling. The event was hosted by Columbia University's Teachers College, where Cosby's son Ennis was a doctoral student when he was fatally shot in 1997.
Photo by Bebeto Matthews
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
History Channel Documentary Disputed
'The Guilty Men'
Two former presidents and the widow of Lyndon B. Johnson are calling on the History Channel to investigate a documentary it aired alleging President Johnson was involved in the Kennedy assassination.
Lady Bird Johnson said the film "falsely and irresponsibly" accuses her husband of conspiring to kill President Kennedy.
No accusation made against Johnson "has hurt as painfully," the 91-year-old former first lady said in a Jan. 29 letter. Her husband died in 1973.
Copies of her letter were sent to the chief executives of three companies that own A&E Networks, which includes the History Channel. The letters went to Bob Wright of NBC, Victor Ganzi of Hearst Corp. and Michael Eisner of The Walt Disney Co.
Former Presidents Ford and Carter also sent letters citing the documentary, "The Guilty Men," which aired last November as part of a series of History Channel specials on the Nov. 22, 1963 assassination.
'The Guilty Men'
Thanks for the Hit, Adolf
Mel Brooks
Hollywood legend Mel Brooks thanked Adolf Hitler Monday for inspiring his greatest hit and told Jews not to worry -- "The Producers" is a joke.
At the ripe old age of 77, Brooks is enjoying a renaissance with his first film transformed into a theater hit and now being made into a movie all over again.
In the original 1968 movie, Brooks immortalized bad taste with the tale of two producers putting on the outrageous musical "Springtime for Hitler," conceived as a deliberate flop to allow them to take the backers' cash and flee.
Success second time around is that much sweeter for Brooks who said: "it's like Groundhog Day."
Mel Brooks
Iraqi children enjoy a carnival ride at a Baghdad amusement park as they celebrate a day off for Eid al-Adha, or Feast of Sacrifice Monday Feb. 2, 2004. The feast commemorates the Quranic account of God allowing the patriarch Abraham to sacrifice a sheep instead of his son Ismail.
Photo by Itsuo Inouye
Released From Hospital
Barry Manilow
Singer Barry Manilow has returned to his Palm Springs, California, home after a 24-hour hospital stay promoted by stress-related chest pains and an irregular heartbeat, his spokesman said on Monday.
The 57-year-old performer underwent a series of tests and procedures and was discharged from the hospital late Sunday once doctors had determined that his heart rate had returned to normal, according to publicist Jerry Sharell.
He was admitted to the hospital late Saturday complaining of chest pains, which Sharell said were brought on by stress from spending two days last week in arbitration of a lawsuit involving ownership of the stage musical "Harmony."
A final decision from the arbitrators on the future of "Harmony" is expected later this week, Sharell said.
Barry Manilow
Billy Jack Challenging Bush in Primary
Tom Laughlin
Tom Laughlin, best known for helping bring martial arts into American pop culture with his 1970s "Billy Jack" films, is now throwing his punches in the political arena.
The 72-year-old actor, who lives in Camarillo (CA), is one of 13 candidates running against resident Bush in the Republican primary.
Laughlin, who first ran for president as a Democrat in 1992, said he's campaigning to draw attention to a two-party system he deemed "so corrupt it can't function anymore."
The issues he's most concerned about: Bush's claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and Congress' recent approval of a Medicare bill that prohibits the purchase of cheaper health care drugs from Canada.
Tom Laughlin
Planning Beatles Tribute
Grammys
Sting, Dave Matthews, Vince Gill and the Neptunes' Pharrell Williams have signed on for a Grammy tribute to the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' first U.S. television appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
They join Prince, Beyonce Knowles and Black Eyed Peas with Justin Timberlake as newly confirmed performers for the Grammys, to be held Feb. 8 in Los Angeles.
In addition, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, Jorge Calderon and the Eagles' Timothy B. Schmit will offer a musical tribute to the late Warren Zevon, who is up for five Grammys.
Grammys
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
January Doldrums Worst in 4 Years
Box Office
The year got off to a frigid start as the national box office in January registered an anemic $628.8 million -- the lowest gross in the past four years. And worse yet, admissions for the month could only muster a bleak seventh-best showing.
The national box office in January was down 2% from last year's $643.8 million tally and was off 5% from the $662.9 million in 2002 -- the all-time mark for the month. In January 2002 "The Fellowship of the Ring" was the top film, followed by Universal's "A Beautiful Mind."
But the main reason the box office in January stayed within a single-digit percentage drop from prior years -- and even the record for the month -- was due to slightly higher ticket prices. The weakness of this January's business is much more readily seen in the number of admissions racked up in the past four weeks.
Box Office
A platinum Hello Kitty doll is displayed at Japan's top bullion house in Tokyo's Ginza district. Thirty limited edition dolls encrusted with 131 diamonds were created to mark Hello Kitty's upcoming 30th birthday.
Photo by Yuriko Nakao
Baby News
Natalie Maines
Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines and her husband, actor Adrian Pasdar, are expecting their second child. Maines posted the happy news on the Dixie Chicks' official web site, though she didn't announce a due date. The couple has a three-year old son named Slade. And Natalie isn't the only pregnant Chick--Martie Maguire is expecting twin girls later this year. Maguire and her husband, Gareth, have plans to name one of the twins Kathleen, after Gareth's younger sister who was killed in a car accident seven years ago.
The Dixie Chicks will be honored with the Patrick Lippert award at the Rock The Vote Awards, coming up on February 7 in Los Angeles. The Rock The Vote Awards in memory of Patrick Lippert commemorate Rock The Vote's first executive director who died of complications from AIDS in July of 1993.
Natalie Maines
Wedding News
Blair - Zappa
Legally Blonde actress Selma Blair and rock-scion beau Ahmet Zappa have capped their six-month whirlwind romance with a walk down the aisle.
The couple swapped vows at Carrie Fisher's Beverly Hills home on January 24. The nuptials were originally meant to take place at the Ritz-Carlton in nearby Marina Del Rey, but the actress and her rocker fianc changed locations at the last minute.
On hand to witness the traditional Jewish ceremony were a small circle of family and friends, including Zappa's sister, Moon Unit, and brother, Dweezil, who was accompanied by gal-pal and cohost of the Food Network TV show Dweezil and Lisa, Lisa Loeb.
Blair - Zappa
Chilly Season Claims Two Shows
Broadway
New York's chilly winter season has claimed two big Broadway musicals and hurt several long-running shows.
"Gypsy," starring Bernadette Peters, and "Never Gonna Dance," a homage to the 1936 Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers film "Swing Time," will both close before the end of the month, done in by declining box-office receipts and frigid weather.
The weather particularly staggered several veteran musicals, with "42nd Street," "Rent," "Beauty and Beast" and "Aida," all playing to less than 50 percent capacity for the week ending Feb. 1.
There were a few bright spots. "The Producers," with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick headlining, sold out, doing its customary $1 million-plus business. "The Lion King" "Mamma Mia!" and "Hairspray" slipped a bit, but all three managed to reach more than 80 percent capacity.
Broadway
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Praises Venezuela
Don King
Boxing promoter Don King praised President Hugo Chavez and his "revolution" during the Venezuelan leader's weekly radio and television program.
"To see what is happening here makes me feel good all over," said King, of Chavez's government and his efforts to bring social justice to Venezuela's poor majority.
King was in Venezuela for an anti-drug boxing tournament in Caracas.
Don King
Iraqi men dance on the way to a mosque for the second day of prayer during the Eid Al Adha holiday in Samawa, southern Iraq February 2, 2004.
Photo by Kimimasa Mayama
Missed Controversial Show
Halftime
The Super Bowl's risque halftime show didn't cause a stir at the White House, because resident Bush fell asleep and missed it.
"I don't want to admit it, but because this White House starts early, I missed it — again," he told reporters Monday after a Cabinet meeting. "Saw the first half, did not see the half time — I was preparing for the day and fell asleep.
"But you all can tell me about it," he joked to reporters.
Halftime
Global Coalition Launched
Women and AIDS
Actress Emma Thompson joined health experts and equal rights campaigners Monday to launch a coalition to improve prevention and treatment for young women and girls with HIV/AIDS.
Half of the estimated 40 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS are women. In Africa, twice as many young females are infected with HIV than men.
The Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, a grouping of organizations and individuals, also aims to address violence against females and legal and social inequalities that make women more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.
Women and AIDS
Replaces Shapiro With Abramson
Phil Spector
Music producer Phil Spector has hired Leslie Abramson, of the nation's best known and most colorful criminal defense lawyers, to handle his murder case, ending his relationship with Robert Shapiro, Abramson told The Associated Press on Monday.
Abramson, who became famous for her role in the murder trial of brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, said she had been phasing out her defense practice with an eye toward retirement when she was contacted by Spector.
"I was about to hang it up when I got the call," she said. "No other defendant would get me to give up my freedom. No other defendant was someone I considered an idol, an icon and the definition of cool."
Phil Spector
Ancient Bells
Russian Monks
Father Alexei looks out of the window at the bell tower of the Moscow headquarters of the Russian Patriarch and wonders whether his prayers will be answered.
Seven decades ago the American diplomat and plumbing magnate Charles Crane bought the Danilov monastery's 18 bronze bells and donated them to Harvard University to stop Soviet ruler Josef Stalin from carrying out a threat to melt them down.
When the 700-year-old monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1983, the monks gathered bells from around Russia to hang in the empty pink and white bell tower. But Father Alexei says it is not the same as having the originals.
The monks do not dispute the bells legally belong to Harvard but they are asking for them to be returned to Moscow out of good will. The university is not against the idea, but says Russia will have to foot the bill itself.
Russian Monks
Official Groundhog Handler Bill Deeley holds Punxsutawney Phil up for the crowd on Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, February 2, 2004 after the groundhog made his annual weather prediction. The groundhog reportedly saw his shadow during the 118th Groundhog Day celebration, which means there will be six more weeks of winter.
Photo by Jason Cohn
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'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 5
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