'TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Frank Rich: 'Just how gay is the right?' ( New York Times)
THE screen's first official gay bar," as it was labeled by the film historian Vito Russo, appeared in the 1962 political potboiler "Advise and Consent." Its most prominent visitor was a conservative United States senator.
Raph Koster: Geek Fun Isn't Frivolous (LA Times)
Alien swarms of thundering, flashing games hit town this week. They're here to make us smarter.
Joel Stein: Is Joel Stein Straight? (LA Times)
Los Angeles will gay anybody up.
BuzzFlash interview: Nan Aron
What are the Republicans up to with their 'nuclear option'?
Joel Stein: Celebrity Bloggers? That's Stephen King-Scary (LA Times)
You idiots can worry about outsourcing to India and China. I know where our jobs are really going. To celebrities.
The Daily Show
Nick Anderson: Cartoon
Independentjudiciary.org
Decries Tomlinson
Bill Moyers
In an historic speech on Sunday, legendary television journalist Bill Moyers blasted Kenneth Tomlinson of the Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB) for launching a partisan witch hunt at PBS and called for a series of town hall meetings across the country.
"I simply never imagined that any CPB chairman, Democrat or Republican, would cross the line from resisting White House pressure to carrying it out for the White House," Moyers told a packed room at the National Conference for Media Reform. "And that's what Kenneth Tomlinson has been doing."
You can now watch or listen to Moyers' entire speech on the Free Press Web site:
An audio recording can be downloaded
Or you can watch the video
Transcript online
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast morning, some drizzle in the afternoon.
ABC network news tonight said that the price of gas was going down - it now averages $2.16/gal. Around here it averages $2.57/gal.
Inventor Fame Hall
Les Paul
Electric guitar pioneer Les Paul was one of 14 people inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame this year.
Paul invented the solid body electric guitar in 1946, and his Gibson Guitar Corp. model is one of the best-selling instruments in the industry. The 89-year-old Wisconsin native is widely renowned for his recording techniques.
Other inventors inducted on Saturday included Dr. Alec Jeffreys, who invented genetic fingerprinting, and Robert Gundlach, who has earned more than 150 patents and invented the modern photocopier.
The hall was founded in 1973 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the National Council of Intellectual Property Law Associations.
Les Paul
Impersonator Stops After Lawsuit
Robin Williams
A celebrity impersonator sued by actor Robin Williams for being too convincing has agreed to stop posing as the Oscar-winning actor, Williams' attorney said on Monday.
Williams had accused his impersonator, Michael Clayton, and Clayton's manager, Michael Pool, of duping a Minnesota Star-Tribune reporter and fund-raisers for a Missouri fire department into believing he was Robin Williams.
Williams' attorney Gerald Margolis said on Monday that the case has been tentatively resolved.
Robin Williams
Directs 'CSI' Season Finale
Quentin Tarantino
Unlike criminal investigator Nick Stokes, who's buried alive in the "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" season finale, Quentin Tarantino didn't feel at all trapped by working within the confines of network television.
TV's top-rated program concludes its fifth season Thursday (8 p.m. Eastern) with Tarantino's two-hour "Grave Danger," subtitled Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 in homage to his most recent feature project, "Kill Bill," released in two parts.
Veteran character actor John Saxon, picked by Tarantino to guest-star as the criminal mastermind in the finale, also was taken with the director's spirit.
Tarantino says he chose Saxon because his favorite episodes of "CSI" have Grissom "matching wits with another mastermind ... I needed a big sequence in the middle with him and Grissom facing each other like (Robert) DeNiro and (Al) Pacino in the middle of `Heat.' I needed an actor who could really hold his own against Billy (Petersen) in that kind of situation and John Saxon is the only actor to ever steal a movie from Marlon Brando," a reference to the 1966 Western "The Appaloosa."
Quentin Tarantino
E! Contract Could Be Extended
Howard Stern
Howard Stern's contract with the E! cable channel to air a TV version of his radio show could be extended until December, but it's unlikely that the program will continue beyond that, sources said.
Stern's E! contract expires in the summer, and he will move his radio show to Sirius Satellite Radio early next year.
Given the racy content of Stern's show, sources say E! is under pressure to drop his program from parent company Comcast Corp., which is currently dealing with the federal government on several issues, including the Federal Communications Commission's indecency regulations and the new push on Capitol Hill to extend them to cable programing.
Howard Stern
Auctioned for Foundation
'Survivor' Props
Props and memorabilia from CBS' "Survivor: Palau" are being auctioned to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
The charity listings will run on eBay through May 28, the foundation announced Monday.
More than 300 items will be up for bid, with new items added daily. Items include the immunity necklace and immunity idol; the voting urn; Koror and Ulong tribal flags and banners; signed memorabilia from the contestants; and original props and puzzles from the "Survivor: Palau" challenges.
'Survivor' Props
Starring in Reality Show
Rev. Run
The Rev. Run is in the house. "Run's House," a reality show featuring the Rev. Run of Run DMC, his wife, Justine, and their five children, will premiere later this year on MTV, the network announced Monday.
The show will give viewers "an inside look at the lives of hip-hop royalty," Brian Graden, president of entertainment, MTV Music Group, said Monday. The air date for the first show wasn't announced.
In "Run's House," the Rev. Run, whose real name is Joey Simmons, must balance recording his first solo album with raising five children, ages 9 to 21.
Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and Russell Simmons, brother of the Rev. Run, are among the executive producers. Both Simmons brothers live in Saddle River, N.J.
Rev. Run
Grants Women Right To Vote
Kuwait
Kuwait's parliament passed a law on Monday granting women the right to vote and run in elections for the first time, after pressure from the pro-Western Gulf Arab state's reformist government.
Parliament speaker Jassim al-Khorafi said a majority of the all-male parliament passed the law after a marathon nine-hour session. Thirty-five voted in favor, 23 against and one abstained in a vote that had met fierce resistance from Islamists and conservative tribal MPs.
Women activists said it was too late for women to vote and run for local elections set for June 2, after parliament earlier this month delayed a vote on the issue.
On Monday, Islamist MPs added a clause stipulating women must abide by Islamic Sharia rules when voting or running for office. MPs and women activists said this could include issues such as separate polling stations for men and women.
Kuwait
Lineup Heavy on Comedies
ABC
ABC appears poised to make some major scheduling moves next season now that network brass have picked up a slew of new comedy and drama series.
The network also has renewed a handful of shows that were thought to be on the fence, including comedies "Jake in Progress," "Less Than Perfect" and "Rodney," and reality hours "Wife Swap" and "Supernanny," sources said.
The network is set to reveal its 2005-06 season lineup to advertisers Tuesday in New York. Gone from the schedule are Damon Wayans' "My Wife & Kids," "8 Simple Rules," "Complete Savages" and two short-lived midseason dramas: "Blind Justice" and "Eyes."
Sources said network brass have given the green light to at least six new dramas and five new comedies for the coming season.
ABC
6 New Series For Fall Season
NBC
NBC, looking to regain lost ground in its ratings, unveiled a fall prime-time schedule on Monday that will include new dramas about homeland security, infertility and sea monsters, plus an "Apprentice" spinoff starring Martha Stewart.
Following the breakout success enjoyed by rival network ABC with dramas this season, NBC is turning to a fall programing slate that introduces three new hours of drama, along with one new half-hour sitcom and two reality shows.
The biggest shake-up of NBC's schedule will comes on Wednesday night with the launch of "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" and "The E-Ring," a suspenseful drama starring Benjamin Bratt and Dennis Hopper as Pentagon-based guardians of homeland security.
NBC's longtime Wednesday night anchor, political drama "The West Wing," is being moved to Sundays.
The two other dramas coming to NBC in the fall are "Fathom," an action-adventure show about the search for a mysterious sea creature, and "Inconceivable," a serialized ensemble drama set inside a fertility clinic.
NBC
Outsources Medieval Props
Hollywood
Next time you see a Hollywood actor brandishing a sword or an axe in a period film, chances are that some of those weapons might have come from India.
The world's movie capital is the latest to join a growing list of U.S. producers to outsource products and services to India to rein in ballooning costs.
"Kingdom of Heaven," a Crusades epic from "Gladiator" director Ridley Scott, features combat gear made by a small firm in Dehra Dun, a town located in the Himalayan foothills about 250 km (155 miles) north of the capital New Delhi.
Windlass Steelcrafts, which set up shop in 1943 to supply daggers to the British army in India, also made weapons and costumes for "Troy," "Lord of the Rings" and "The Mummy Returns."
Hollywood
British Beach Riddle
'Piano Man'
A smartly dressed man found wandering in a soaking wet suit near an English beach has baffled police and care workers after he refused to say a word and then gave a virtuoso piano performance.
The man, wearing a formal black suit and tie, was spotted by police in Kent on April 8 and taken to a psychiatric unit where it proved impossible to identify him because he stayed silent.
It was only after he was given a pen and paper that carers were given an intriguing clue to his possible background when he drew an intricate picture of a grand piano.
He was taken to the hospital's chapel where he played classical music on the piano for hours.
'Piano Man'
New Fake Texan
Ted Nugent
With a slight breeze blowing the ponytail that drapes halfway down his back, Ted Nugent draws his bow and aims at one of a dozen lifelike deer figures he uses for practice until hunting season begins.
The arrow pierces the faux animal "right in the vitals" for a clean, quick kill, he says. Then he darts to the gun range on another part of his sprawling ranch, where he sets up bowling pins that soon will be blasted by a hail of bullets - another daily ritual.
At 56, Nugent is ever the "Motor City Madman" - the hyper rock star, avid hunter and outspoken National Rifle Association board member. But the newly relocated Texan can't help but be amused by his newfound acceptance among more and more Americans.
Even the Secret Service is on board with him, Nugent told The Associated Press during a recent interview at his 300-acre ranch outside resident Bush's adopted hometown.
Three dozen agents took target practice last month at Nugent's ranch, he said. They initiated the visit, bringing machine guns and other government-issued weapons and ammunition - and spent hours having fun at taxpayers' expense, Nugent said with a laugh.
Ted Nugent
Virus Spews Right-Wing Spam
'Sober.q'
A computer virus spewed neo-Nazi-tinged spam in English and German into inboxes over the weekend.
Most of these messages contain links to news stories with content that "smells of right-wing political rhetoric," said Vincent Gullotto, vice president of McAfee Inc.'s antivirus emergency response team. But a small percentage contain links to a Web site that tries to infect visiting machines with the virus, he said.
Among the many messages was one with the German subject line "60 Years of Freedom: Who's Celebrating?" referencing the end of World War II. Another read: "Honorable Action" and contained a link to the Web site of the NPD, Germany's right-wing nationalist political party. One in English carried the subject: "Dresden Bombing Is To Be Regretted Enormously," referring to the Allied attack on the German city during World War II.
The virus, called "Sober.q" by McAfee, is the 16th variant in the Germany-oriented Sober virus family that first appeared on the Internet in October 2003. Unlike earlier Sober viruses, this version isn't packaged inside an email attachment. Rather, it's being distributed by a Web site that automatically updates computers infected with the earlier, highly successful "Sober.p" variant, which began spreading on May 2.
'Sober.q'
