~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From 'TBH Politoons'
Great Site!
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Review
Tribute Albums
By Dave Romm
Okay, so you're Rondellus, a renouned Estonian band that plays medieval and renaissance music. Who would you like to pay tribute to in your 14th century stylings? Of course, Black Sabbath.
Quote from their web site: "Sabbatum is a tribute album like no other - 12 Black Sabbath classic songs played by early music band Rondellus and sung in Latin language." (Sorry no links; I tried to access a Black Sabbath site and it crashed my browser...). Frankly, I'm hampered by not being familiar with the Black Sabbath oeuvre. Everyone I've played this CD for those who IS familiar with the group shake their head and mutter, "different arrangement". Even without knowing whether they're good covers or not, I can tell you: The songs are very pretty; gorgeously sung and wonderfully played. Sure, they're in Latin and sure they're arranged for instruments like psaltry and bagpipe when they're not solo voices or intertwining vocal harmonies. Of course.
You can order the CD through them, and they'll ship in the US. While I was initially attracted to them for the novelty (try playing the CD for your friends and asking "what is this a cover of?" None of my radio listeners could guess), I like the songs. Not enough to get me to listen to Black Sabbath, but enough to seek out more medieval music from Rondellus.
Richard and Linda Thompson are considered by many to be the best rock group that never made it big. Richard has been floating around the British folk/rock scene since the Fairport Convention days, and went out on his own with his wife Linda, and then she retired from performing and he settled into a solo career. Beat The Retreat is a tribute album to the songs of Richard Thompson, and like most such compilations the quality varies and which ones are good is probably a matter of individual taste. In retrospect, it's easy to see why Richard Thompson didn't hit the big time but he's loved by his fans: Most songs play to the modalities of sight or sound, and Thompson writes for the modality of kinesthetics. Most of his songs are about movement; to him, life is one big balancing act. My favorite song on the CD is The Great Valerio by (surprise!) Maddy Prior and Martin Carthy. A long, slow, song that I can't listen to frequently but is just the thing when I'm in the mood. June Tabor does well with the title song and Graham Parker and David Byrne to well on The Madness of Love and Just the Motion respectively. Many people contribute, from R.E.M. to Bonnie Raitt, even zydeco from Beausoleil. How much you like each cut is affected by how much you like the style of the individual artist, as well as your feeling for the original song. Definitely recommended for the diehard Richard Thompson fan; probably not the best introduction to his music for the uninitiated. He's worth checking out, but start with Shoot Out the Lights or perhaps the Best of.You can get a video of Simply Mad About the Mouse, but I haven't gone that far. The CD is "A musical celebration of imagination", in other words covers of Disney songs. My favorite cover is Ric Ocasek doing Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, though other versions are worthwhile such as Billy Joel singing When You Wish Upon A Star, Bobby McFerrin singing both parts of The Siamese Cat Song andLL Cool J asking Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf. You may like how Harry Connick Jr or En Vogue do their songs; much is individual taste. Perhaps this is more Disney marketing to take over shelf space, but it works. Not really a children's album; more for adults who remember the magic of the songs.
There are many tribute albums, such as For the Love of Harry: Everybody Sings Nilsson and Roger Daltrey: A Celebration, the music of Peter Townshend and the Who that work if you like the originals and appreciate the artists doing the covers. Usually, I prefer originals to earnest covers but prefer creative covers over standard arrangements. Your mileage may vary.Dave Romm is a conceptual artist with a radio show and a web site and a very weird CD collection. He reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E here.
Thanks (again), Dave!
Actually, I think everyone should sing Nilsson. His
'Breaking My Heart' is a long-time personal favorite.
Reader Suggestion
35th International WorldFest Houston Film Festival
From
Sharon G
Any BartCop fans in the Houston-area should check out the Houston Film
Festival just for general culture.
I have been volunteering at the 35th International WorldFest Houston Film
Festival. It started this past Friday (5 April) with a new feature, 'The Rose
Technique,' starring JoBeth Williams, as a media hungry shrink full of
psychobabble. (We Bartcop readers of course have never heard of anybody
like that.)
There are 10 days of shorts and features and seminars and people from
all over the world. According to the official blurb from J. Hunter Todd,
founder, WorldFest gave the first awards to people like Lucas, Spielberg,
Ang Lee, John Avildson, John Badham, Ralph Bakshi, The Coen Brothers,
Michael Cimino, Jonathan Demme, Brian De Palma, John Frankenheimer, David
Lunch, Robert Rodriguez, Ridley Scott, Oliver Stone, Robert Townsend, Will
Vinton, Peter Weir & Hugh Wilson among many many others.
~~ Sharon G
Sharon also writes and performs music, and is having a great time at the 35th International WorldFest Houston Film
Festival.
Thanks, Sharon. Sounds like a great event!
Back At Work
The Worried Shrimp
Work, Worry, Stress what a bloody mess...
Better late than never.
Post Turtle redux...
~~ The Worried Shrimp
Dave's Guest Tonight
John Ashcroft
Singer, songwriter and Attorney General John Ashcroft plans to spend some time with David Letterman.
Ashcroft is scheduled to tape an appearance on the CBS "Late Show" on Tuesday, CBS said.
Letterman has been poking fun at the attorney general by repeatedly showing a clip of Ashcroft singing the self-penned song, "Let the Eagles
Soar," at a visit to a North Carolina theological seminary.
John Ashcroft
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Ended up with unexpected company for dinner, and a dose of Virgil-reality. Missed most of primetime, but don't think that much was lost. Besides,
Virgil will make a great bodyguard for Friday's field trip to Hollywood for Ozzy's star.
Did make a point to catch 'Shackleton' on A&E.
Tonight, Tuesday, it's a fresh night on CBS with 'JAG', 'The Guardian', and 'Judging Amy'.
- Scheduled on Dave are John Ashcroft & Dee Dee Davis.
- Don't know about Craiggers.
NBC starts the night with a rerun 'Will & Grace', then goes fresh for 'Watching Ellie', 'Frasier', 'Scrubs' and 'Dateline'.
- Scheduled on Jay are Samuel L. Jackson & Louis CK.
- Scheduled on Conan are Bob Costas, Eugene Levy & Bill Bragg.
- Later, Conan visits Carson Daly.
ABC starts the night with fresh episodes of 'Dharma & Greg' and 'Spin City'. 'NYPD Blue' is a rerun, but 'The Court' is fresh.
- Scheduled on Bill Maher are Donal Logue, Sheryl Underwood & Lani Guinier.
The WB has a fresh 'Gilmore Girls' and a rerun 'Smallville'.
Faux has a fresh night with 'That 70's Show', 'Andy Richter' and '24' (6pm - 7pm).
The UPN has a night of reruns with 'Buffy', 'Girlfriends' and 'The Parkers'.
AMC has the original 'Cape Fear' with Gregory Peck and a wonderfully menacing Robert Mitchum.
In the middle of the night,
it's 'The Violent Years', notable because it was written by Ed Woods himself. Watch for lots of tight sweaters
and party girls at least 10 years too old for their roles.
MTV continues to over-expose
'The Osbournes'
with 1 episode at 6pm (est), 2 episodes from 9pm - 10pm (est) & finally, a
fresh, episode at 10:30pm (est).
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Trying To Guarantee No Leaks
''24''
The producers of Fox television's critically hailed drama "24" are going to extraordinary lengths to make sure the secrets of the show's upcoming
season finale don't leak out.
Anyone involved in production of the series will have to sign a confidentiality agreement, promising that they won't "at any time, directly or
indirectly, without (the producers') prior written consent ... disseminate, permit access to, duplicate, display, publish, state or in any other
manner disclose any information of any kind dealing with or in any way relating to the script or season finale."
In addition, all copies of the finale script will be numbered and printed on red paper that's nearly impossible to copy. Once production begins
April 18, the set will be closed to all nonessential personnel, with extra security expected to be added.
It's not yet a lock that "24" will be back next season, though ratings for the series have been solid as of late. Indeed, last week's segment beat
everything else for the 9-10 p.m. hour but NBC's hit comedy "Frasier."
''24''
In The 2003 Guinness Book of World Records
'Lord of the Rings'
"The "Lord of the Rings" didn't win a Best Picture Oscar, but it did make the 2003 Guinness Book of World Records. The movie trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson
and based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien, set the first world record for "the most latex feet ever produced for a film" — 1,600 pairs of hairy, oversized Hobbit
tootsies to be exact.
'Lord of the Rings'
New Japanese Series
Clinton Trading Cards
The mayor of Hot Spring's Japanese sister city will be honored with the first copies of a special Japanese-language trading card featuring former President Bill Clinton.
Tsutomu Watanabe of Hanamaki, Japan, will receive the cards from Clinton's stepfather, Dick Kelley, at the Hot Springs Civic and Convention Center on Friday.
Hot Springs and Hanamaki became sister cities in January 1993, when Clinton was inaugurated for his first term as president. In September, a delegation
from Hot Springs will travel to Hanamaki to celebrate the approaching 10th anniversary of the relationship.
The Japanese cards, which feature of picture of Clinton taken during a presidential trip to Japan, are the fifth in a series of Clinton trading cards
produced by Hot Springs as a way to promote the city and its history as Clinton's boyhood home. More than 400,000 cards have been distributed worldwide.
The city also plans to release Spanish-language Clinton trading cards featuring a picture of Clinton during a trip to Mexico.
Other cards have featured pictures of Clinton with a basketball and playing golf.
Clinton Trading Cards
Send In The Clones
Ewan McGregor
"Star Wars" actor Ewan McGregor says he was disappointed by the last film in the epic science fiction series.
The actor, who plays the Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, said the 1999 film "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" was "kind of flat."
"One of the things about 'Episode I' (that) I was slightly disappointed by was, I thought it was ... kind of flat," McGregor said in an interview released
Monday by UK film company FilmFour.
"I think there is much more humor and there is much more color in 'Episode II,"' he said in an interview to publicize a season of British films on the pay-TV channel.
Ewan McGregor
Fun Link
Stars Without Makeup
Stars Without Makeup
Englebert Humperdinck & Jayne Mansfield &
Jimi Hendrix
A new book about Jimi Hendrix says that in his early days Hendrix performed gigs with Jayne Mansfield.
'Black Gold: The Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix' by Steven Roby says that Hendrix played bass and lead for Mansfield in 1965 -- one ballad and a
bump and grind number. The songs were never released.
The two got together because they had the same manager. Mansfield did show up at one of Hendrix's shows a few years later, but left with Englebert Humperdinck.
Jimi Hendrix
Friday, April 12, Hollywood Walk Of Fame
Ozzy
OZZY TO RECEIVE STAR ON HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME FRIDAY
INVITES FANS TO ATTEND
Next Friday, April 12, Ozzy will receive his star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in front of the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, 6780 Hollywood Boulevard at the corner of
Hollywood Blvd. and Highland Av. The ceremony will take place at 11:30am and Ozzy extends the invitation to all his fans to come down and share in the moment. Ozzy, the
family, and other luminaries will be there to drink in the occasion, so if you're in SoCal you can't dare miss this!
For more details, Ozzy.com
Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce 'Walk Of Fame' Site has a bit of info about it, too.
Woo-hoo! Road trip Friday!
Birthday Bonus
Taran Noah Smith
Former 'Home Improvement' star Taran Noah Smith's 18th birthday today is worth $1.5 million.
Smith claimed that his parents were squandering the money and fought to get early access to the interest it generated. His parents have denied the accusations.
Smith says that he and his 33-year-old wife plan to start a production company for music, television and Internet ventures in Lawrence, Kan., where they live.
Taran Noah Smith
Rio Irked, Seeks Legal Action
Simpsons
Rio de Janeiro's tourist board on Monday said it was mulling legal action against the producers of "The Simpsons" show for undermining a multimillion-dollar
campaign to attract visitors.
In the episode "Blame it on Lisa," Homer is robbed by street kids and kidnapped by an unlicensed taxi as the world-famous U.S. cartoon family goes to Rio to
find a missing orphan Lisa has been sponsoring.
Riotur president Jose Eduardo Guinle requested a copy of the episode, which he had yet to see, and asked the board's legal team to look into what action could be taken.
Cavalcanti said the board invested $18 million in the last three years promoting the city, whose tourist industry has this year suffered from an outbreak of dengue, an
affliction carried by mosquitoes. More than 220,000 U.S. citizens visited Rio in 2001, he said.
Simpsons
Fun Link
Slowhand Blues Guitar
Slowhand Blues Guitar - Eric Clapton Guitar Styles
To Appear On Each Others Show
Dave & Ted
Linked in a television drama about the future of their late-night programs last month, Ted Koppel and David Letterman each have promised to
appear on the other's show.
They made the pledge after Koppel called Letterman to thank the talk-show host for his comments about him, the ABC newsman said in a TV Guide interview.
When Letterman decided to spurn an ABC offer and remain with CBS last month, he praised Koppel's work on "Nightline" and said the newsman should
be allowed to stay on ABC as long as he wanted.
Dave & Ted
Going Commercial
Van Morrison
The new American Express commercials based on the theme "Make Life Rewarding" should be a feast of listening. Van Morrison, who's never done
an ad before, will be singing "Crazy Love," while other artists including Sheryl Crow (left), Glenn Lewis, Alana Davis and Ben Taylor (Sweet
Baby James' son) will trot out their best stuff.
Van Morrison
The 2002 Pulitzer Prizes
The Winners
The 2002 Pulitzer Prize winners, announced Monday:
JOURNALISM:
-Public service: The New York Times.
-Breaking news reporting: The Wall Street Journal.
-Investigative reporting: Three writers for The Washington Post.
-Explanatory reporting: Staff, The New York Times.
-Beat reporting: Gretchen Morgenson of The New York Times.
-National reporting: Staff, The Washington Post.
-International reporting: Barry Bearak of The New York Times.
-Feature writing: Barry Siegel of the Los Angeles Times.
-Commentary: Thomas Friedman of The New York Times.
-Criticism: Justin Davidson of Newsday.
-Editorial writing: Alex Raksin and Bob Sipchen of the Los Angeles Times.
-Editorial cartooning: Clay Bennett of The Christian Science Monitor.
-Breaking news photography: The New York Times.
-Feature photography: The New York Times.
ARTS:
-Fiction: Richard Russo for "Empire Falls."
-Drama: Suzan-Lori Parks for "Topdog/Underdog."
-History: Louis Menand for "The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America."
-Biography: David McCullough for "John Adams."
-Poetry: Carl Dennis for "Practical Gods."
-General Nonfiction: Diane McWhorter for "Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution."
-Music: Henry Brant, "Ice Field."
The 2002 Pulitzer Prizes
It's Back!
'W Girl' Series
The 'W Girl' Series
''Rather Walk Naked Through The Fires Of Hell''
Cher
The fabled Cher has given an interview to Judy Wieder in Out magazine for May, and it's quite astounding. It really does tell things we may not have
known about this youthful icon of age 56.
First, she starts shooting the musical "Mame" at the end of this year, the sort of venture Cher hasn't done before. "My voice?" asks Cher. "It's not
my favorite thing." But she remembers adoring Rosalind Russell as Auntie Mame, watching it with her mother. She seems amazed that songwriter Jerry
Herman says, "Cher's voice is the only one that will make it sound new and contemporary."
She says if she were starting over in life, she thinks she would be in politics, "but it's too late now." Of her late husband Sonny's conservative GOP slant, Cher pronounces him a one-time
forward thinker and dyed-in-the-wool Democrat who had to change to get where he wanted to go. Of his friendship with former vice president Dan Quayle,
she says, "I'd rather walk naked through the fires of hell!"
Cher
Cutting Workload In Half
Mike Wallace
As his 84th birthday approaches, "60 Minutes" newsman Mike Wallace says he plans to cut his workload in half.
"The time has come," Wallace said Monday. "Come on ... I'm an old man."
Wallace has no plans to retire. He said he recently agreed to a contract extension with CBS that will keep him signed until he's 86.
Mike Wallace
Going Buh-Bye
'Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central)'
Maybe ABC should have given its mid-season comedy "Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central)" another name: Two and out.
The network on Friday pulled the plug on "Wednesday," just two weeks after the show about the harsh world of network TV premiered to a disappointing
3.1 rating/8 share in the key viewer demographic of adults 18-49.
ABC is replacing Tolan's low-rated and critically hammered "Wednesday" with his low-rated but critically worshipped "The Job." The latter series, which
had gone on hiatus to make room for "Wednesday," returns this week for a three-week run.
'Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central)'
Fun Link
Another Name Generator
Prison Bitch Name Generator
Driving From Alaska To Russia
Attempt Abandoned
Two British adventurers have abandoned their attempt to drive a customized amphibious vehicle across the ice and open water of the Bering Strait to Russia, a spokeswoman says.
Russian border authorities had threatened to arrest them, so Steve Brooks and Graham Stratford halted their journey Sunday near the U.S.-Russian frontier in the middle
of the strait, said Celia Carey, who has been filming the endeavor.
Brooks and Stratford have Russian visas. And an intermediary had gotten a letter of permission from the governor of Chukotka, the Russian state
where they hoped to land, Rouse said.
Their amphibious craft was based on a tracked snowcat like those used at ski resorts. It did very well on the initial crossing to Little Diomede,
the farthest anyone had driven a motorized vehicle over the strait in the winter, Carey said.
Driving From Alaska To Russia
Ice Challenger
Strike Averted
WGA & CBS
The Writers Guild of America and CBS have reached a tentative three-year deal on a labor pact covering about 400 news employees.
The agreement, which must be ratified by the WGA, was reached early Sunday in New York City following an all-night bargaining session.
The settlement came two days after employees had voted overwhelmingly to authorize the union to call a strike. The unit, which last struck in 1987 for
six weeks, had been negotiating with the network for the past four weeks and had extended expiration of the current contract last week.
WGA & CBS
In The Hospital
Thor Heyerdahl
Hospitalized Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who sailed the Pacific and Atlantic oceans in flimsy Stone Age-style boats, is suffering a worsening and
incurable brain cancer, his son said Monday.
"The doctors say there is very little they can do. They can relieve pain but they can do nothing with the cancer," Thor Heyerdahl junior told Reuters.
The 87-year-old Heyerdahl, who won worldwide fame with a 101-day voyage halfway across the Pacific from Peru on a balsa raft called Kon-Tiki in 1947, was taken to
hospital during an Easter holiday at a family home in northern Italy.
His son said Heyerdahl had lived a rich and extraordinarily varied life. He wrote more than a dozen books and won an Oscar in 1951 for a documentary
about the Kon-Tiki.
Heyerdahl, married for a third time, has four children, eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Thor Heyerdahl
Still Seeking Volunteers
'The Osbournes'
Couple of nights ago, put up a page devoted to 'The Osbournes'
C'mon....send your thoughts, your impressions, your views, your favorite (or should that be 'favourite'?) quotes...
Scroll down for lots of addys to pick from (or 'from which to pick', for the truly anal retentive).
In Memory
John Agar
John Agar, the Air Force sergeant who married Shirley Temple and became an actor, mostly in Westerns and war movies, until alcoholism damaged both his marriage and his career, has died. He was 81.
Agar, who lived in the North Hollywood area, died Sunday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, hospital secretary Linda Willeford said Monday night.
Agar was serving as a physical training instructor at March Field at Riverside, Calif., in 1945 when a friend arranged for him to escort Temple to a Hollywood party given by her boss, David O. Selznick.
Agar was 24, the child star 16. A romance ensued and against her mother's wishes, the pair became engaged. They were married later that year at a Selznick-produced wedding attended by Hollywood celebrities and California Governor Earl Warren.
Temple wrote in her 1988 biography "Child Star" that Agar complained on their wedding night that she wasn't a virgin, as she had said. She explained that proof of her virginity had been removed surgically by her doctor three days before.
Then at a dinner in the newlyweds' honor, Agar danced with a tall model, ending with a long, passionate kiss. Temple wrote that on the way home Agar remarked, "Always wanted to marry a long-legged model, not someone like you."
At 6-feet-2 with strikingly good looks, Agar was often asked why he didn't turn to acting. "No, thank you," he replied. "One star in the family is enough." To Temple's surprise, Selznick signed him to a $150-a-week acting contract and sent Agar to drama school.
The pair appeared together in two films, "Fort Apache" and "Adventure in Baltimore," and she gave birth to a daughter, Susan, in 1948. Troubled by Agar's excessive drinking and many flirtations, Shirley filed for divorce in 1949.
Agar continued acting in Westerns such as "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and "Along the Great Divide," and war movies "Sands of Iwo Jima" and "Breakthrough."
His divorce from Temple and his alcoholism, which led to arrests for drunk driving, lowered his appeal. He later made quickie movies with titles such as "Revenge of the Creature," "Tarantula," "The Mole People," "Daughter of Dr. Jekyll" and "Journey to the Seventh Planet."
John Wayne had appeared with him in "Fort Apache" and "Sands of Iwo Jima," and tried to revive Agar's career by casting him in "The Undefeated," "Chisum" and "Big Jake." Agar's last major film was the 1976 remake of "King Kong." In later years he sold insurance and real estate.
Agar was born into an old-line Chicago meat packing family on Jan. 31, 1921. He was expected to follow in the family business until the marriage to Temple, and his entry into acting.
After the divorce, Agar appeared at the Las Vegas courthouse in 1951 for a license to marry fashion model Loretta Combs. The clerk believing Agar was intoxicated, suggested the couple think it over and return in a couple of hours. They did, and were married, only after the judge made Agar swear he was sober.
Agar eventually joined Alcoholics Anonymous. "Yes, I drank too much, and I drank at the wrong time," he admitted in 1987. "Heck, I drank no more than John Wayne or Ward Bond or Spencer Tracy or Alan Ladd or Robert Walker. But it got me into a lot more trouble."
John Agar
Aaron McGruder's
The Boondocks
Aaron McGruder's
The Boondocks
BartCop TV!
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
