As we awaken to the grand new global infrastructure we have built as a by-product of both the industrial age and the information age, we now find ourselves a functioning global civilization, without realizing how it quite happened. We are moments away from having the COLLECTIVE GLOBAL PUBLIC VOICE that will redistribute our more centralized and mostly obsolete institutions and birth the decentralized VISIONARY MINDSET that will move humanity to a direct and comforting NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH NATURE.
Our next steps will combine PROFOUNDLY SIMPLE LIVING with WIDEBAND RENEWABLE ENERGY and give us the footing to begin to focus on NATURAL SECURITY AND GLOBAL RECONSTRUCTION. This will be to move the oceans and fresh waters to where they are most needed. We will restore the forest cover and coastal waterways and coral reefs and find grand new ways to rebuild our cetacean community. By expanding our options locally we will usher in the ETHICAL MARKETPLACE which will be another wideband array of new and very old means of exchange that will allow all to play in the arena of their choosing. Our education will have a new centerpiece and that will be THE SCIENCE OF CONSCIOUS EVOLUTION that will focus us on the emerging intelligence we need to stay awake during more complex and subtle times. Among our most important new skills will be the capacity to accept and then merge with other dimensions.
INTERDIMENSIONAL AWARENESS will allow for that series of new relationships with more conscious ways to live, more significant direct relationships with our animal and plant life, and the potential to accept that the local universe may have a variety of other conscious players who have just been waiting for us to reach a state of public awakening as a planet so that mature conversations can take place. During this both stabilizing and more conscious period of existence we will all come to SEE THAT OUR PLANET IS AS GOOD A CANDIDATE FOR PARADISE as might be imagined. And that is what we shall build until our entry into the twenty-second century changes beyond anyone's current imagination.
Earthrise Goals:
COLLECTIVE GLOBAL PUBLIC VOICE
VISIONARY MINDSET
NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH NATURE
PROFOUNDLY SIMPLE LIVING
WIDEBAND RENEWABLE ENERGY
NATURAL SECURITY AND GLOBAL RECONSTRUCTION
ETHICAL MARKETPLACE
THE SCIENCE OF CONSCIOUS EVOLUTION
INTERDIMENSIONAL AWARENESS
SEE THAT OUR PLANET IS A GOOD CANDIDATE FOR PARADISE
Last week, I described a hotel in Abu Dhabi as the most extravagant expenditure I'd ever seen. I've change my mind. THIS is the most extravagant expenditure I've ever seen. What is it? See if you can figure out what this construction is by the time you reach the bottom of the page.
I Feel So Much Safer Now
"In this day and age where young students are frequently charged for serious school offenses such as possessing weapons, dealing drugs, or assaulting other students on school property, one Brooklyn teen's arrest may come as a surprise. A 13-year-old girl was handcuffed and placed under arrest in front of her classmates in Dyker Heights after she wrote 'Okay' on her desk.
"The 'suspect,' Chelsea Fraser, says she's sorry for scribbling the word on her desk, but both she and her mother are shocked at the punishment.
"'I'm appalled, because here we have rapists, murderers, and you're taking a 13-year-old kid? Wasting valuable manpower to arrest a child who wrote on a desk?' Fraser's mother Diana Silva told CBS 2.
"Police confirm that that's exactly what's written on her arrest record and for the crime, she's been charged with criminal mischief and the making of graffiti."
"'My daughter just wrote something on a desk. I would have her scrub it with Soft Scrub on a Saturday morning when she should be out playing, and maybe a day of in-house and a formal apology to the principal,' Silva said."
"Last Friday, an Ontario, New York, man won the dubious distinction of being the first person arrested under the 2005 Combat Meth Epidemic Act. According to a DEA press release, William Fousse was arrested for purchasing cold tablets containing more than nine grams of pseudoephedrine within a one month period...
"DEA agents visited Fousse at his home on February 13. According to a police affidavit, Fousse said he was unaware of the law, was not selling the pills to meth cooks, and was using the stuff himself. That was not good enough for the DEA and federal prosecutors. He faces a May 1 court date."
How come I never got around to writing about Hamell on Trial's "Songs for Parents Who Enjoy Drugs" even though you sent me the CD a year ago? Beats me, even though I conned your record company, Righteous Babe Records, into sending me a free copy by promising I would write about it but I never did, so Ani, sorry babe, I'll do anything to make it up to you, including this rave review of one of the best of the new breed of white rappers who, like Elvis, have managed to absorb a new black musical style and make it their own.
I admit it, I didn't like rap till Eminem took it to a brand new level of sophistication. For a while, I couldn't even pretend to tell the difference between good or bad rap. It all had a silent C.
It took Eminem to combine embarrassing personal confessions with simple-minded rap rhythms and incredibly sophisticated Sondheim-like inner rhymes and rhythms, all wrapped up in a massive sense of profundity and humor. Not that Eminem would get the reference. I can't picture Eminem as a child, sneaking into his mom's living room in the middle of the night to listen to "A Little Night Music" or "Sweeny Todd." The similarity is simply that Sondheim and Eminem are both plugged into same the vast universe of infinite creative thought, the one all artists are plugged into, where anything can happen, including this.
But Ani, that doesn't really pay you back for the freebie, does it? You need a quote, for me to dig into my Billboard past and give you something special. Just think. If Billboard hadn't fired me, you could use the upcoming quote and say it came from Billboard, which would look really impressive, instead of from Dareland, which is just pathetic.
I still haven't said anything about Hamell on Trial's "Songs for Parents Who Enjoy Drugs." Gimme time. I'm thinking. I'm a parent. Do I enjoy drugs? Only when offered. You're talking to someone who's actually had their kids taken away because of a random artistic exercise, so excuse me for treading carefully. I've still got a son under 18 and am thoroughly paranoid about the ability of the authorities to swoop in and take your kids away with the flimsiest of excuses, which is one reason I live up a dirt road where I can see 'em coming from a mile away. I'm sufficiently paranoid about the government in this country that I am forced to imagine a situation in which I say something pithy but accurate about the state of the drug war in America, you use it in a quote about Hamell on Trial's "Songs for Parents Who Enjoy Drugs," it's seen by any one of a gaggle of power freaks from my legal past, and bye-bye Max.
That's not going to happen, so I'm not only avoiding the whole topic but demanding a public statement from Hamell on Trial that they didn't write "Songs for Parents Who Enjoy Drugs" about me or anyone I know.
What the hell, calling Hamell on Trial a punk/rock/folk/rap hybrid leaves us with an inconvenient K, so let's just call them rap/punk/folk/rock with a hint of irony.
Ani, you gotta help me here. Since Hamell on Trial is basically a one man band, and since that man is none other than Ed Hamell, whom you yourself describe as a "string-punishing, acoustic punk minstrel," do I refer to Hamell on Trial as "him" or "them?" Such linguistic confusion in the journalistic community is bound to be the reason they/he haven't/hasn't had a hit yet.
Other than that, in full Billboard mode...
Hamell on Trial take the rap hybrid a little bit further into the realm of 50s rockabilly and snarky country/folk, with a hint of Devo and Tom Waits. They're (He's?) hilarious white suburban angst filtered through the musical styles of the ghetto, and should appeal equally to followers of Eminem and Martin Mull. Hamell on Trial take irony where no band has gone before in such wonders as "Civil Disobedience" and "Mommy's Not Talking Today."
"Hey Boss" is as simple and direct as the Ramones doing Cecil B. DeMille. I'll let it speak for itself...
Well I got on the computer, the walls began to drip The keyboard melted in my hands, I wrote a movie script 10 days straight it was tastier than Jaws It was wetter than Angelina Jolie, commercial as Santa Claus
Titled Tits and Money, was a potential smash I flew to Hollywood, identity theft for cash I'd tell my story, to anyone that would listen And I crashed First Class next to Melanie Griffith
Who knew a producer, and we made a date And we partied til morning, I was weaving at the gate I entered the foyer, a party was ensuing It was a Caligula orgy that was sucking and screwing And I gave my pitch; I read it from the gut To some producer buried in a starlet's butt
After hearing "Coulter's Snatch," one cannot help but picture the vampirish trans-gender, Adam's-appled Ann Coulter trying to get laid after an appearance at a gabfest by approaching a worthy syncofan with the line "Hey baby, wanna see what I got in here? Someone wrote a song about it."
There, Ani, go ahead and use any part that makes sense and ignore the rest. And anyone else too. Rewrite the whole thing, what the heck, I'm feeling magnanimous, I give you free reign to say absolutely anything about anything and attribute it to me, I trust you that much. Thanks for the free CD which has given hours of amusement, send more, The Terrorism of Everyday Life looks cool, and you're pretty good too.
It's Obvious, Isn't It?
Porn Settles the Hi-Def DVD Wars
Back during the VHS/Betamax wars of the '80s, the whole matter was settled one day when Sony refused to license the Betamax format to pornographic films, thus every single porno tape was released in VHS, and within a year Beta was dead since porno was more than 50% of the market.
The same thing is happening now with hi-def DVDs in the battle between the HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats. Toshiba is HD-DVD. Sony is Blu-ray. In a stunningly stupid move, Sony has once again refused to license its format to porno. Adult film megacorp Vivid has made a deal with Toshiba.
Bye-bye Blue-ray.
Signs of Progress
"The latest massacre of Iraqi children came as 21 Shia market workers were ambushed, bound and shot dead north of the capital. The victims came from the Baghdad market visited the previous day by John McCain, the US presidential candidate, who said that an American security plan in the capital was starting to show signs of progress."
At the 1971 premiere of The Holy Mountain at Filmex in Hollywood
Alejandro Jodorowski's The Holy Mountain is one of the most surreal, outrageous, and mind-boggling movies ever made, a vivid hallucinatory trip through the magic mushroom soaked synapses of a spiritual madman with total creative control. It turns out his previous film, El Topo, which featured an actor with no legs strapped to an actor with no arms playing a single character, was just practice for this one. I guarantee you've never seen anything like it, and nobody's seen it at all in 30 years. In an interview after the screening, Jodorowsky personally confessed to me that the whole crew lived together and he had sex with everyone in the film. It's coming out on DVD this month. Check it out, and if you can explain it, I'll print it.
Architectural Digress
"For the past three years, ADPSR has been working proactively on an effort to get architects, designers, and planners to wash their hands of working on prison projects. The Prison Design Boycott Campaign seeks to get architectural professionals to sign a pledge to 'not participate in the design, construction, or renovation of prisons.'
'We are working on parallel lines here. We've recently launched 'No New Prisons,' a web site about how to stop prisons in your own communities, including examples for activists of how it's been done, like we successfully stopped the new prison here in Stevens County, Washington."
The John Lennon Songwriting Contest invites you to vote in the final round, but I already know the best song that could have been written by John Lennon - Running the World by Jarvis Cocker. (See the sing-along video here or download the MP3 here) It's a magnificent political protest song about who runs the world. Warning: it's not a nice word. If you find yourself singing the fantastic hook to this song while shopping, you will get very strange stares, especially from Richard Nixon.
"Art completes what nature cannot bring to finish. The artist gives us knowledge of nature's unrealized ends."
- Aristotle -
"And though tyranny, because it needs no consent, may successfully rule over foreign peoples, it can stay in power only if it destroys first of all the national institutions of its own people."
- Hannah Arendt: The Origins Of Totalitarianism -
"God I hate the Iranis. Those bastards gave Britain back their sailors. Now we don't have to invade to save them. Shit. Oh well. I'm sure we can come up with something else."
- Karl Rove: rap artist -
"This man is boring. He only wants to talk about himself. I want to talk about myself." - Oscar Wilde -
"Generally, I tend to despise human behavior rather than human creatures."
- Sidney Poitier -
"Big Brother in the form of an increasingly powerful government and in an increasingly powerful private sector will pile the records high with reasons why privacy should give way to national security, to law and order, to efficiency of operation, to scientific advancement and the like."
- Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas -
"I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun."
- Raymond Chandler: Farewell, My Lovely -
"On Friday, an Australian citizen held in Guantanamo for 5 years pled guilty to the charges against him. He was sentenced to 7 years in prison, with all but 9 months suspended (meaning he could be free by the new year). But there is an odious element to the plea. As part of his plea bargain, David Hicks said that he has 'never been illegally treated while in U.S. custody,' and he is barred from speaking to the media for one year. I find this extremely telling. There is no reason for such provisions to be included in the plea unless the US government feels it has something to hide, particularly given that he is also barred from profiting from his experience. There simply is no excuse for those two provisions."
"Have you got a coworker who stinks like ass? A friend who really needs to take a bath? An acquaintance you wish would learn about standard hygiene practices? ...but you don't know how to bring it up? YouHaveBO.com is for you. We will send that stinky person in your life an anonymous and fun notification that he or she needs to change socks, put on some deodorant or take a shower."
"Two new developments in climate science are rocking the media driven 'consensus' on global warming. National Geographic has an article from February 28, 2007 entitled, 'Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming, Scientist Says,' and a February 26, 2007 release from the Danish National Space Center announced 'A new theory of climate change', detailing the 'remarkable results of research on cosmic rays and climate.' (See also: Climate Skeptics Vindicated as Growing Number of Scientists & Politicians Oppose Alarmism) "According to National Geographic: 'Habibullo Abdussamatov, head of the St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in Russia, says the Mars data is evidence that the current global warming on Earth is being caused by changes in the sun. "'The long-term increase in solar irradiance is heating both Earth and Mars,' Abdussamatov said."
"Oddly enough, perhaps as part of secret negotiations over the British sailors, who were dramatically freed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday, an Iranian diplomat in Iraq was also mysteriously freed. Eight weeks ago, he had been kidnapped off the streets of Baghdad by uniformed men of unknown provenance. Reporting on his sudden release, Alissa J. Rubin of the New York Times offered this little explanation of the kidnapping: 'Although [Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar] Zebari was uncertain who kidnapped the man, others familiar with the case said they believe those responsible work for the Iraqi Intelligence Service, which is affiliated with the Central Intelligence Agency.' The CIA, of course, has a sordid history in Baghdad as well, including running car-bombing operations in the Iraqi capital back in Saddam Hussein's day."
"The results of an attack on Iran could be horrendous. After all, according to a recent study of 'the Iraq effect' by terrorism specialists Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank, using government and Rand Corporation data, the Iraq invasion has already led to a seven-fold increase in terror. The 'Iran effect' would probably be far more severe and long-lasting. British military historian Corelli Barnett speaks for many when he warns that 'an attack on Iran would effectively launch World War III.'...
"Doubtless Iran's government merits harsh condemnation, including for its recent actions that have inflamed the crisis. It is, however, useful to ask how we would act if Iran had invaded and occupied Canada and Mexico and was arresting U.S. government representatives there on the grounds that they were resisting the Iranian occupation (called 'liberation,' of course). Imagine as well that Iran was deploying massive naval forces in the Caribbean and issuing credible threats to launch a wave of attacks against a vast range of sites - nuclear and otherwise - in the United States, if the U.S. government did not immediately terminate all its nuclear energy programs (and, naturally, dismantle all its nuclear weapons). Suppose that all of this happened after Iran had overthrown the government of the U.S. and installed a vicious tyrant (as the US did to Iran in 1953), then later supported a Russian invasion of the U.S. that killed millions of people (just as the U.S. supported Saddam Hussein's invasion of Iran in 1980, killing hundreds of thousands of Iranians, a figure comparable to millions of Americans). Would we watch quietly?"
"Repetition is the mother of all skill." - Anthony Robbins -
"It's become a TV ritual: Every year on April 4, as Americans commemorate Martin Luther King's death, we get perfunctory network news reports about 'the slain civil rights leader.'
"The remarkable thing about these reviews of King's life is that several years - his last years - are totally missing, as if flushed down a memory hole...
"An alert viewer might notice that the chronology jumps from 1965 to 1968. Yet King didn't take a sabbatical near the end of his life. In fact, he was speaking and organizing as diligently as ever...
"In his last months, King was organizing the most militant project of his life: the Poor People's Campaign. He crisscrossed the country to assemble 'a multiracial army of the poor' that would descend on Washington - engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol, if need be - until Congress enacted a poor people's bill of rights. Reader's Digest warned of an 'insurrection.'
"King's economic bill of rights called for massive government jobs programs to rebuild America's cities. He saw a crying need to confront a Congress that had demonstrated its 'hostility to the poor' - appropriating 'military funds with alacrity and generosity,' but providing 'poverty funds with miserliness.'
"How familiar that sounds today, nearly 40 years after King's efforts on behalf of the poor people's mobilization were cut short by an assassin's bullet."
Disacknowledgment is Better than that Other Acknowledgment
Wow, Disinfotainment Today came out today. Sometimes it doesn't and no one knows why. Could it be that devil random element that wreaks havoc haphazardly in the most inconvenient times and unlikely places? Sure, why not. It's always easier when someone else does your work for you. Who cares about fair use? I don't.
Thanks,
Raleigh Round D. Flagboys
===-----------------------------!!*. .--*--. ==IIII---USS DARELAND-1701 -->- !!** I'''''''''''''''''''''''''''! =----------------------------I!!*' !...........................! !=! / / ''=.='' boldly going !=! / ../ where no website !=! / ../ has gone before *'!.!''''''''''''L ! ('' .. ... --->=I(!- '''=..... / ! `''''''
Harry Shearer: The "War on Terror"--Is the War Model All Wrong? (huffingtonpost.com)
One of the few cogent moments in the 2004 Kerry campaign was when the candidate, briefly, questioned the whole "war" model of the GWOT. He was heckled into silence on the matter, and, aside from those who noticed how the Brits, Italians and Germans solved their terrorism problems in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, few Americans considered the subject still debatable.
'I'm in tune with my feelings' (guardian.co.uk)
Ray Liotta made his name playing a mafioso in Goodfellas. Now the road movie Wild Hogs has catapulted him back onto the A-list. But why is this animal-loving softie so good at playing the hard man? And doesn't he ever get sick of it? He tells all to Chrissy Iley.
CBS begins the night with a FRESH'NCIS', followed by a FRESH'The Unit', then a RERUN'Criminal Minds'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are David Duchovny, Ryan Howard, and Andrew Bird.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Quentin Tarantino, Laura Prepon, and Billy D. Washington.
NBC starts the night with 'Dateline', followed by a RERUN'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', then a RERUN'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
Scheduled on a FRESHLeno are Jamie Lee Curtis, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, nd Patty Griffin.
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Martin Short, Cheryl Hines, and Cold War Kids.
Scheduled on a FRESHCarson Daly are Ice Cube and Scanners.
ABC opens the night with a RERUN'George Lopez', followed by a RERUN'Jim', then a FRESH'Dancing With The Stars', followed by a FRESH'Boston Legal'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Jim Belushi, the latest "Dancing with the Stars" castoff, and Pink.
The CW offers a RERUN'Gilmore Girls', followed by a FRESH'Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search For The Next Pussy'.
Faux has a FRESH'American Idol', followeed by a FRESH'House'.
MY has a FRESH'American Heiress'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', another 'CSI: The 2nd One', followed by the SEASON PREMIERE'Dog The Bounty Hunter', then 'Driving Force', and another 'Driving Force'.
AMC offers the movie 'Cool Hand Luke', followed by the movie 'Rebel Without A Cause', then the movie 'Rebel Without A Cause', again.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] The Weakest Link - Episode 82;
[1:00 PM] As Time Goes By - Episode 3;
[1:40 PM] My Hero - Ep. 9 The Family Way;
[2:20 PM] Keeping Up Appearances - Episode 4;
[3:00 PM] The Benny Hill Show - Episode 22;
[4:00 PM] The Saint - Ep. 5 The Angel's Eye;
[5:00 PM] The Avengers - Ep. 16 Killer;
[6:00 PM] The Weakest Link - Episode 83;
[7:00 PM] BBC World News - BBC World News;
[7:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 18;
[8:00 PM] Whose Line Is It Anyway? - Episode 4;
[8:30 PM] Whose Line Is It Anyway? - Episode 8;
[10:00 PM] Robin Hood - Ep 6 The Taxman Cometh;
[11:00 PM] Whose Line Is It Anyway? - Episode 1;
[11:30 PM] Whose Line Is It Anyway? - Episode 5;
[12:00 AM] The Benny Hill Show - Episode 23;
[1:00 AM] Robin Hood - Ep 6 The Taxman Cometh;
[2:00 AM] The Avengers - Ep. 7 The Living Dead;
[3:00 AM] Murphy's Law - Episode 1;
[4:00 AM] Murphy's Law - Episode 2;
[5:00 AM] Murphy's Law - Episode 3;
[6:00 AM] BBC World News - BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', last night's 'Jon Stewart', last night's 'Colbert Report', 'Chappelle's Show', 'South Park', 'Mind Of Mencia', and another 'Mind Of Mencia'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is Walter Isaacson.
Scheduled on a FRESHColbert Report is Jeannette Walls.
FX has the movie 'The Green Mile', followed by the movie 'The Day After Tomorrow', followed by a FRESH'The Shield'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Meteors: Fire In The Sky', and another 'Modern Marvels'.
IFC -
[06:45 AM] Jet Lag;
[08:15 AM] The Decline of Western Civilization Part 2: The Metal Years;
[09:55 AM] The Flower of Evil;
[11:45 AM] Jet Lag;
[01:15 PM] The Decline of Western Civilization Part 2: The Metal Years;
[02:55 PM] The Flower of Evil;
[04:45 PM] Jet Lag;
[06:15 PM] The Legend of 1900;
[08:30 PM] Red Bull Ride to the Hills;
[09:00 PM] The Story of the Weeping Camel;
[10:30 PM] All About My Mother;
[12:15 AM] Frida;
[02:20 AM] Media Lab Results;
[02:30 AM] The Story of the Weeping Camel;
[04:00 AM] Red Bull Ride to the Hills;
[04:45 AM] All About My Mother. (ALL TIMES EDT)
SciFi has 'Stargate SG-1', another 'Stargate SG-1', still another 'Stargate SG-1', and 'ECW'.
Sundance -
[06:00 AM] Monster Road;
[07:00 AM] James' Journey to Jerusalem;
[09:00 AM] Octave;
[09:00 AM] Another Road Home (Director's Cut);
[10:00 AM] Black Cat, White Cat;
[01:00 PM] Plunkett & Macleane;
[02:00 PM] Tony Takitani;
[04:00 PM] A Dangerous Woman;
[06:00 PM] Episode 5;
[06:00 PM] Episode 6;
[07:00 PM] The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess;
[08:00 PM] Cold Comfort Farm;
[10:00 PM] Emile;
[11:00 PM] Private;
[01:00 AM] Music Rising;
[02:00 AM] Episode 6;
[02:00 AM] Episode 1: Saturday;
[03:00 AM] September 30, 1955;
[04:00 AM] Plunkett & Macleane. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Pictured from left to right, actors Martin Short, Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, director Nancy Meyers, actors Sarah Jessica Parker, Lisa Kudrow, and Candice Bergen, pose together backstage at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 34th Gala Tribute in New York, Monday, April 9, 2007. Keaton is this year's honoree.
Photo by Stuart Ramson
Singer Sheryl Crow began a bus tour of U.S. colleges to raise awareness about global warming on Monday, one of several high-profile celebrities to take up the cause of climate change.
Accompanied by global warming activist Laurie David, Crow is traveling in a biodiesel-powered bus to university campuses with a final stop in Washington for Earth Day on April 22.
Texas was chosen as the starting point because it leads all U.S. states in fossil fuel emissions, with its heavy industry and love affair with big pick-up trucks.
Bryan Ritter meets an Easter bunny on his way to compete in a Hunky Jesus competition on Sunday, April 8, 2007, in San Francisco. Ritter, a high school English teacher, grew his hair for the past year in preparation for the contest. His efforts paid-off as a crowd of several thousand revelers voted him winner the grand prize, $100, from a field of more than twenty would-be Hunky Jesuses. Ritter said he is looking forward to shaving his hair later today.
Photo by Noah Berger
Jon Bon Jovi's female fans will soon be able to take the cuddly rocker to bed with them.
The frontman for New Jersey band Bon Jovi and guitarist Richie Sambora are the latest musicians to join McFarlane Toys' line of action figures, which will hit stores in August and sell for $10-$12.
The Tempe, Ariz.-based firm worked closely with the Bon Jovi principals to select the proper pose, accessories and facial expressions. However, Bon Jovi second bananas drummer Tico Torres and keyboardist David Bryan did not get downsized.
Oscar-winning US film director Woody Allen has offered a cameo role in his next film to the Spanish actor who has dubbed his voice into Spanish in all of his movies shown in Spain over the past 20 years.
Joan Pera told private television channel Antena 3 on Monday that the part in the movie, which will be filmed in Barcelona in July and August, will be unspoken since he does not speak English very well.
"It is something I have dreamed of, that I thought could happen but which I didn't really expect," said Pera who has dubbed Allen's voice in some 20 films.
Sonny Bono's sidewalk star, dug up years ago for a construction project, was relocated on Palm Canyon Drive and dedicated Saturday in front of the '60s pop star-turned-politician's bronze statue.
"It's unbelievably beautiful," said professional widow U.S. Rep. Mary Bono, who took part in the downtown ceremony with her children, Chianna and Chesare Bono.
During Saturday's ceremonies, he was remembered as half of the Sonny & Cher singing duo, as mayor of Palm Springs 1988 to 1992, and as a U.S. congressman until his death.
Cher, who was married to Sonny Bono for nearly 10 years, sent an audio message.
A Noh actor performs during a UNESCO charity event in Tokyo April 9, 2007. Noh is a classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century.
Photo by Yuriko Nakao
"Scrubs" star John C. McGinley, 47, married yoga instructor Nichole Kessler, 34, Saturday in Malibu, Calif., publicist Nancy Iannios told The Associated Press.
He proposed last August, Iannios said. He has an 9-year-old son, Max, from a previous marriage.
McGinley plays the acid-tongued Dr. Perry Cox on the loopy sitcom "Scrubs," which airs on General Electric Co.'s NBC network.
CBS Radio and MSGOP both said Monday they were suspending Don Imus' morning talk show for two weeks as a protest grew about his reference last week to members of the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos."
MSGOP, which telecasts the radio show, said Imus' expressions of regret and embarrassment, coupled with his stated dedication to changing the show's discourse, made it believe suspension was the appropriate response.
Imus isn't the most popular radio talk-show host - the trade publication Talkers ranks him the 14th most influential - but his audience is heavy on the political and media elite that advertisers pay a premium to reach. Authors, journalists and politicians are frequent guests - and targets for insults.
Workers carry a lantern near a river during Hung Shing festival, the birthday of the god of the seas at Hong Kong's Wui Wo village April 9, 2007.
Photo by Bobby Yip
Television actor Jason Wahler hurled racial and homophobic invectives at a police officer when he was arrested over the weekend after punching a hotel security guard and passing out drunk in a hallway, a Seattle Police Department report said.
Wahler, 20, a star of MTV's "The Hills" and "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County," was arrested early Sunday for investigation of assault and criminal trespass. He posted bail and was released from the King County Jail nine hours later.
It was Wahler's third arrest since September, when he punched a city worker and tow-truck driver in Los Angeles. Last month, the judge in that case sentenced him to 60 days in jail - a sentence he was scheduled to serve beginning in May - and ordered him to attend Alcoholics Anonymous classes and a one-day program at the Museum of Tolerance for using racial slurs.
Wahler "repeatedly" called Officer C. DePina, who is not black, a "n-----" and a "f-----," DePina wrote in the report. "Wahler stated he was rich and would have my ass. Wahler made vague threats to assault officers."
Children hold human skulls in their mouths as they beg on a street during the celebrations of 'Chitra Shankranti' festival in the northeastern Indian city of Siliguri April 9, 2007. Many children take to the streets to collect alms to celebrate the festival, which is the last day of the Bengali year.
Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri
Katie Couric has been CBS Evening News anchor for seven months. But "I'm still getting my sea legs," she says in the next issue of More magazine, which arrives on stands April 17.
"It takes patience," Couric, 50, says. She hopes to "establish the broadcast as smart and trustworthy, and me as a relatively intelligent person who deserves to be at the helm."
The former host of NBC's Today has thought about her audience. "The people who used to watch me on the Today show are saying: 'What happened to her? She's not laughing and carrying on the way she used to.' " Couric adds, "At Today, I seemed to be enjoying myself. I seemed to be fun-loving."
But she has tried to bring some of that "high-spiritedness" to her new workplace. "I hope the people at CBS are enjoying it, but, of course, the nightly news bunch is a fairly hard nut to crack."
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