Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Financial Reform Endgame (nytimes.com)
No financial reform is better than a weak reform that would only create a false sense of security then fail in the clinch.
Scott Burns: It's "Garden Party" Time (assetbuilder.com)
Whether the leader is George W. Bush or Barack Obama, the cure for ills remains the same. Don't just stand there, go out and buy something. In fact, we can't and shouldn't. If we're going to live in an uncertain and insecure world--- and we are--- the only sane thing to do is change our behavior. We need to save more and borrow less. We need to obligate less of our income for debt repayment, not more. We need to own homes less often and rent more often. And when we buy homes, we need to buy smaller homes, not bigger homes.
BOB HERBERT: Where the Bar Ought to Be (nytimes.com)
In Harlem, an educator is expecting the best, not the worst, from students at her charter schools.
Reed Johnson: Kim Stanley Robinson maps the future's gray areas (Los Angeles Times)
In science fiction, there's dystopia and there's utopia.
Ed Caesar: "Don DeLillo: A writer like no other" (timesonline.co.uk)
The American novelist is unfussed by critics and will continue to capture the modern world one paragraph at a time.
Jenna Russell: It's money that matters (boston.com)
A new book says economic inequality is the social division we should be worrying about
David Hiltbrand: Mix-up with Swift gives Taylor Bright a boost (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
This isn't a bad time to be a teenage singer from Pennsylvania with the name Taylor.
Alejandro Lazo: Successful second act for rock 'n' roll muse (Los Angeles Times)
It was a No. 1 hit for the Knack - and a career-maker for Sharona Alperin.
The unstoppable rise of Florence Welch (guardian.co.uk)
At first she was written off as 'posh and mad' - but that was before she made one of the best albums of the year. John Harris catches up with her now.
David Medsker: A Chat with Roland Emmerich (bullz-eye.com)
"I'm finished with destroying for a while. It's not like I'm running around saying, 'What else can I destroy?'"
David Medsker: A Chat with Christopher McDonald, Co-star of "Splinterheads" and "Happy Gilmore" (bullz-eye.com)
I'm a big fan of independent film. It shows what you can do even with a lot of challenges. I mean, they must've pulled in every favor in the world (to make 'Splinterheads.') People were even donating meals!
Cherry Trifle: Is Hardcore Porn Played Out? A New Site Showing Real People Orgasm Gives a Sexy Alternative (edenfantasys.com)
The hard stuff has gotten boring for many people. A new site where real people submit videos of their faces as they come shows a different direction for porn.
David Bruce: "Forrest Carter's 'The Education of Little Tree': A Discussion Guide" (lulu.com)
Free Download.
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The '1st Ever BadtotheboneBob Oscar Award Contest' Edition...
With a Prize! That's right, Poll-fans! A Prize! You like prizes, dontcha? I know I do!
I emptied my little change jar and I came up with $27.54 that I will gladly, gladly I say, donate to yer favorite charity. If that's you, OK, that's cool. If it's Marty and the page, so much the better, eh? All ya gotta do is correctly pick the winners of these Oscar categories... The closest one wins The Prize!... Ready? Set... Go !!!
Best Picture
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Directing
List of nominees
Oscar night is Sunday, March 7th. Cut off for entries will be 8PM EST Saturday March 6th and will be posted Sunday morning. The winner will be officially announced Tuesday, March 9th, along with a new question.
Oh, ties will be resolved in a scientific manner involving my toddler grand-daughter, 'Maddie Muffin' and will be explained with the posted predictions... Good Luck!
Send your response to
Here's BadtotheboneBob's list of nominees
replied:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly sunny and a bit warmer.
Wins Battle Against Music Label
Stephanie Lenz
Stephanie Lenz got into trouble with Universal Music Group in 2007 after she posted a YouTube video of her toddler dancing to the Prince song "Let's Go Crazy." The label fired off a letter demanding removal of the clip and YouTube complied.
Lenz then teamed with online free-speech advocates at the Electronic Frontier Foundation to get a judge to declare that her video was a "fair use" of the song. She then sought damages against Universal, the world's biggest record company, for sending a meritless takedown request.
Universal fought back by raising affirmative defenses that Lenz had bad faith and unclean hands in pursuing damages. Now a California district court judge has rejected those arguments, granting partial summary judgment to Lenz and paving the way for Lenz to collect attorneys fees.
The case is important because it raises the question of whether a media company can be held liable for pursuing a takedown without a full consideration of fair use. The decision by the court last Thursday is very technical and examines damage claims under a statutory code that deals with liability when misrepresentations are made about infringing works online.
Stephanie Lenz
Hyundai Ads Replaced For Oscars
Jeff Bridges
Hyundai has pulled Jeff Bridges' voiceover from its ads airing during Sunday night's broadcast because of a rule limiting the use of nominees in Oscars ads.
Bridges, nominated for the best actor award for his role in "Crazy Heart," has voiced ads for the Korean automaker since 2007.
Hyundai, the only auto company advertising during the Oscars for a second straight year, will air seven ads during the show and one beforehand. Most will feature the company's Sonata and Genesis sedans.
The stars replacing Bridges Sunday on the ABC broadcast will be Catherine Keener, Kim Basinger, David Duchovny, Richard Dreyfuss, Michael Madsen, Mandy Patinkin and Martin Sheen.
Jeff Bridges
Dominates Indecency Complaints
Members of the "tea party" don't like MSNBC's Rachel Maddow's use of the word "teabagging."
Fox Rupert
According to FCC records obtained and analyzed by SNL Kagan, viewers have filed 1,239 indecency complaints connected to the ambiguous phrase. The only thing more controversial was a rant delivered by CNN's Jack Cafferty against China on an April 2008 edition of "The Situation Room."
Of course, NBC and CNN don't even come close to the amount of ire directed at a March 2009 episode of Fox's "Family Guy" in which a baby drank horse semen with his breakfast cereal. That episode generated 188,368 complaints.
Thanks in large part to "Family Guy" and some of its live sports programing, Fox leads all broadcast networks in getting under the skins of Americans. Almost 50% of the top 50 broadcast TV indecency complaints filed at the FCC were directed at Fox.
Fox Rupert
5,200 Australians Bare All
Spencer Tunick
About 5,200 naked people have embraced each other on the steps of Sydney's iconic Opera House for a photo shoot by Spencer Tunick.
Tunick, who is known for his nude group photos in public spaces, posed participants for more than an hour in a variety of positions Monday.
"It was difficult to get the straight participants to embrace the gay participants and vice versa," Tunick said. "So I was very happy that that last set up finally got done and everyone came together (in a) united, friendly kiss, a loving kiss in front of this great structure."
Spencer Tunick
TLC Declines To Renew
Miss America
TLC has chosen to not renew its television contract with the Miss America pageant, ending the event's run on the cable network after three years.
TLC declined to say Monday why it was cutting ties with the show, which attracted 4.5 million viewers in January, the best showing for the pageant ever on cable.
Sam Haskell, chairman of the Miss America Organization, told The Associated Press that TLC chose not to pick up a three-year option to renew the contract and wanted to renegotiate a new deal for less money and fewer years.
Haskell says four networks, ranging from broadcast to cable channels, have expressed strong interest in airing the pageant.
Miss America
Finally Reaches Canada
Sundance Channel
Sundance Channel finally got around protectionist barriers to launch in Canada on Monday, almost a decade after it first applied for entry.
Sundance Channel Canada broke out of the gates here with a screening of Quebec director Robert Lepage's 2000 indie feature "Possible Worlds," starring Tilda Swinton and Sean McCann.
To circumvent barriers to entry for the U.S. service, Canadian broadcaster Corus Entertainment rebranded its former Drive-In Classics cable channel as a Canadianized Sundance Channel with a schedule built around six programing blocks of genre-focused movies and TV series.
The Sundance Channel, which launched in the United States in 1996, was five years later denied entry into the Canadian market by regulators on grounds it would compete with existing Canadian movie channels.
Sundance Channel
No FBI File
J.D. Salinger
The life of J.D. Salinger was an obsession for many, but not, apparently, for the FBI.
In a letter dated Feb. 25, the bureau said it did not open an investigate file on the author of "The Catcher of the Rye," who died in January at age 91. The search was in response to a request made by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act. The letter was received Monday.
Although "Catcher" was famously scornful of "phonies" in the adult world, Salinger himself was not known for being politically active. A resident of rural New Hampshire, he made few public comments over the past 60 years and published no work after 1965.
J.D. Salinger
Workers Cleared
ACORN
A New York prosecutor's office says it has found no criminal wrongdoing on the part of three ACORN employees caught on video advising a couple posing as a prostitute and her boyfriend.
The Brooklyn district attorney's office said Monday that its five-month inquiry is over and that no criminal activity was found.
The videos were made by conservative activists Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe, who used a hidden camera on visits to offices of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
Since then, O'Keefe has been arrested after visiting Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in New Orleans. He denies trying to tamper with the Democrat's phones.
ACORN
Death By Dog
'Ax Men'
Oregon authorities say the 4-year-old daughter of a reality TV show star was mauled to death by the family's Rottweiler.
Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin says Ashlynn Anderson's mother found her badly injured on their lawn in Astoria on Sunday. Ashlynn is the daughter of Jesse Browning, who stars with his father on The History Channel's show about the logging industry called "Ax Men."
She was flown to a Portland hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.
The attack happened four months after officers had taken a Rottweiler from the same home after it bit an adult family member. The two Rottweilers at the Browning home have been quarantined.
'Ax Men'
Sony Warns
PlayStation 3
Sony Corp. said a glitch has knocked PlayStation 3 users off the game console's online network, and the company warned that data loss could occur if gamers continued using the machines.
Sony said in a blog post Monday that the problem was likely caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system, reminiscent of the Y2K bug a decade ago. The problem is affecting older PlayStation 3 models, but not the newest slim version that went on sale in September.
The company urged customers not to use the older PlayStation 3 systems until the problem is resolved, warning that doing so could cause errors and make it impossible to record gaming achievements and restore some data.
Sony would not say how many users were affected by the problem, which comes just as PlayStation 3 sales are picking up. According to the NPD Group, 276,900 units of the system sold in January in the United States, up from 203,200 a year earlier. In December 2009, meanwhile, nearly 1.4 million PlayStation 3 consoles were sold in the U.S.
PlayStation 3
8-Story Ad To Be Removed
Kayvan Setareh
A Los Angeles businessman who was arrested for investigation of draping a huge movie billboard near the site of the upcoming Oscars has agreed to remove the sign.
In exchange, Kayvan Setareh had his $1 million bail reduced to $100,000 during a hearing Monday.
Authorities say Setareh arranged for the eight-story ad for the upcoming movie "How to Train Your Dragon" to be hung on a Hollywood Boulevard building near the Kodak Theatre, site of Sunday's Academy Awards.
City attorney's officials say Setareh posted the unpermitted "supergraphic" despite warnings. He was arrested Friday and is charged with three misdemeanor city code violations.
Kayvan Setareh
New Host Announced
"Last Comic Standing"
"The Office" co-star Craig Robinson will host the return of NBC's totally unrigged (cough, cough) "Last Comic Standing" this summer.
Robinson, who plays warehouse boss Darryl on "The Office," will be the latest personality to host the show, which has been previously emceed by Jay Mohr, Anthony Clark and Bill Bellamy.
"Last Comic Standing" returns for a seventh season after skipping last year.
"Last Comic Standing"
Ad Rates Rebound
Oscars
With less than a week to go before Hollywood fetes itself with the red carpet and gold statuettes, ABC has cause to throw a celebration of its own.
The network's broadcast of Sunday's 82nd annual Academy Awards is all but sold out. According to media buyer estimates, ABC heads into its 35th consecutive Oscarcast with two or three spots left, as a sturdy roster of returning sponsors and an improving economy have taken some of the grunt work out of the sales process.
The three top spenders of a year ago -- Hyundai, Coca-Cola and JCPenney -- are back in the limelight, reversing a microtrend that saw perennial high rollers General Motors and L'Oreal drop out last year.
Pricing is trending higher than last year's event, when the recession put the bite on ABC's ad rates. According to Kantar Media estimates, the broadcaster commanded an average price of $1.31 million per 30-second spot in 2009, a drop of 23% compared with the prior-year figure ($1.69 million). This time, ABC has written deals at $1.4 million-$1.5 million per spot, according to media buyers.
Oscars
New Museum In Warsaw
Frederic Chopin
The last piano that Frederic Chopin composed on. A death mask made after he succumbed to what was probably tuberculosis. A lock of his brown hair.
Those are among objects on display at a new museum dedicated to the life of the Romantic-era composer that opened on his 200th birthday Monday in his native Poland.
The interactive multimedia museum is located in the center of Warsaw, where Chopin moved in infancy from a nearby country estate, and where he spent the first 20 years of his life before moving to Paris.
A central challenge that curators faced is the loss of many objects related to Chopin's life. Some, like letters, were destroyed by women he was romantically involved with; others were consumed in the devastation of World War II.
Frederic Chopin
In Memory
Tom "T-Bone" Wolk
Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, the mainstay bassist of Hall & Oates' band for nearly 30 years, has died of an apparent heart attack. He was 58.
The band's manager, Jonathan Wolfson, says Wolk died Sunday in Pawling, N.Y., where he had been recording a solo album with Daryl Hall.
Wolk joined Hall & Oates in 1981. He was also a member of the "Saturday Night Live" house band in 1986-92 and performed with numerous other musicians, including Carly Simon, Billy Joel and Avril Lavigne.
Wolfson says Wolk was preparing to appear Monday with Hall & Oates on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon."
Tom "T-Bone" Wolk
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
