The Weekly Poll
Results
The 'Reality... What a Concept' Edition
Do you watch 'Reality' TV programs?
A.) Yes! I love(d) ______ and never miss(ed) an episode. If'n ya don't like that, Go Suck an Egg, ya snobby Nova luvin' elitist, you...
B.) No! They're the ultimate examples of the "vast intellectual wasteland" that TV programming has become (other than, My Mother the Car, that is) and those that do are First Class Rubes and should be shamed accordingly...
C.) I invoke my rights under the 5th Amendment (hand me the TV Guide, would ya?)
Okay, Okay... There're shades of gray to be considered here, I'll admit... Feel free to eelishly slither betwixt the choices, if'n ya must, to make a reply yer com-FORT-able with... Jeesh! You'd think I was asking about Supreme Court nominees, or sumpthin'...
Well then, Poll-fans, here it is. Some replies came with comments, some not...
Adam in NoHo said he did, kinda/sorta...
I like Kathy Griffin's show (is it coming back?). I like her and I like her show. Her show if different because she's already a celebrity, not famous for merely having her own show, and she doesn't spend the hour arguing with her family and friends about pointless shit.
If I am really bored, I will watch a 'Food Network Challenge' (not to be confused with Iron Chef or any of their other competition shows), but I'll usually walk out in the middle and come back for the results.
I will NOT watch any 'America's Next...' or 'Top...' anything. The shows are usually populated by design industry ringers where I want to see actual amateurs get their shot. And besides, the winners never go on to accomplish anything. But the hubby loves 'em all...
Billy E. (deep in the heart of Texas) replied only...
B.)
DC Madman (a stand-up guy) allowed...
I'll proudly admit I'm a Survivor fan. I think I'm fascinated by it because it shows a wide variety of real people types from bitches and a-holes to kind caring humans you can't help but love. On the opposite end of reality, I like 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here'. It's fun to hate the celebretards and jeer their huge egos. It's always a joy to find one of them is an actual caring and humble human. Not interested in who can get skinny, married, little people, races, sports, kids or the rest of that crap. Somebody must, because it's on. I loved My Mother the Car. I was a stupid kid. Don't hold it against me.
(Not at all, Dude! I thought Mr. Ed was cool when I was a kid and I think now, "A talkin' horse? Jeesh!")
SallyP(al) sent a script...
I reply, No cable TV. (What?) Would I watch if I had cable? I don't know.
My mindless TV watching time is probably filled by, "American Idol," "So You Think You Can Dance," and "Dancing With the Stars."
"Jon and Kate and their 8" doesn't really appeal to me. I've raised my kids, gone through my own divorce, and I am busy listening to the lives of my many friends and that of my own family - who could probably compete with any reality show on TV.
Okay, for instance: I just went to visit my cousin(s) who are my age, last week. Her husband and I are sitting on her patio, when she brings out two shoe-boxes of medications, which they each take daily. She uses each vial to emphasize each symptom she relates to me:
"I have awful high blood pressure" (reaching for a bottle) "See, I have to take XXX everyday for it."
No matter what condition comes up, either she or hubby have an Rx to take for it.
I felt bad, as I had nothing to compete - even though I too have aches and pains. I realized that they pale by comparison if you don't have that prescription bottle handy to back up your complaint.
A while later, my cousin comes back out to the patio with her cordless phone in hand, and lays it on the table.
Hubby: "Why did you bring the phone out?"
Cousin: "I am going to call (son), but I have to go back inside and look for the number."
A few minutes later the daughter comes out to the patio and says: "Oh, you have the phone."
"Why did you bring it out?"
Cousin: "I didn't bring it out."
Hubby: "Yes, you did."
Cousin: "I did not."
Hubby: "You said you were calling (son).
Cousin: "You don't know what you are talking about."
"I don't even know his number!"
"Your FATHER must have brought it out."
Hubby: "No, why would I have brought it out?"
Cousin: "How do I know why you do anything?"
Cousin: "Did you take your medicine?"
Daughter (rather annoyed): "So, Dad, did you bring the phone out?"
Hubby: "I guess so..."
I am astounded. I ask you, B2BB, could I write dialogue like that or what? That's reality for me, Hahaha.
Okay, I digressed a bit, but I couldn't resist sharing.
jimm also just voted...
no.
joe voted B and included...
I can't add anything to that. What a bunch of crap, what a waste of time.
That's it, more's the pity... As for myself, I have never seen a 'reality' program simply cuz I'm not interested in them no matter what the milieu is or whom the contestants are... So, there it is... Thanks to all responders!
Yer the Best!
BadToTheBoneBob
New Question
The 'Talking Heads' Edition (No, not the band, ya weirdo...)
Which TV network do you view the most for national/international news?
(Feel free to cite individual programs/personalities that you particularly like)
1.) CNN
2.) MS-NBC
3.) FNC
4.) ABC
5.) CBS
6.) PBS
Send your response to
Michael Dare
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Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Gordon the Unlucky (nytimes.com)
While Prime Minister Gordon Brown may deserve to be punished for the economic crisis, his opponents don't deserve to be rewarded.
Sanford Pinsker: A Fortunate Age (irascibleprofessor.com)
I'm not sorry that I missed this year's commencement day festivities at the college, Franklin & Marshal, where I worked for more years than I care to say.
JOSEPH MARR CRONIN and HOWARD E. HORTON: Will Higher Education Be the Next Bubble to Burst? (chronicle.com)
The public has become all too aware of the term "bubble" to describe an asset that is irrationally and artificially overvalued and cannot be sustained.
Daniel Gross: The Bond War (slate.com)
Why Paul Krugman and Niall Ferguson are hammering each other about T-Bill interest rates.
FROMA HARROP: Toad Hall Madness Fades, but Sadness Lingers (creators.com)
The most notable downsizing of the American home has been in its price. The luxury end usually escapes the worst of housing downturns, but not this time. For those seeking a reprieve from teardown mania, this is not a bad development.
Emily Brady: "See Dick Pay Jane: Chaste Dating for Cash" (villagevoice.com)
Recession desperation produces a quaint throwback.
How rave culture changed Britain (timesonline.co.uk)
Sex, drugs, loud music - and the chance to defy the authorities. What more could a teenager ask for, says Sheryl Garratt.
Rosanna Greenstree: Q&A (guardian.co.uk)
Marilyn Manson, 40, musician, on wanting a brain transplant.
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The out comedian talks about reviving her show Without You I'm Nothing, and how times have changed since it debuted on VHS.
Dorothy Snarker: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" coming to a theater near you - with a huge catch (afterellen.com)
What if I were to say there might be a new 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' movie? Oh my God, jumping up and down, squealing. What if I were to say Sarah Michelle Gellar wasn't going to be in it? Disappointment, worry, though maybe hope if the other Scoobies were involved. What if I were to say none of the TV cast was included? Wait, what? What if I were to say Joss Whedon wasn't even a part of it? Expletive deleted.
Kevin Nance: Goodbye, Grasshopper (obit-mag.com)
For actors, film is a cool medium, in more ways than one. The big screen - and not just because it's so big - rewards the small, subtle effect: the eyebrow raised a millimeter or less, the lightest emphasis on this syllable over that one. The camera loves actors who play it cool, and David Carradine, who died Wednesday in a Bangkok hotel room at the age of 72, took cool to a whole new level.
In the old comic strip Li'l Abner, what was Mammy Yokum's maiden name?
said:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Some sun, some clouds.
Holywood Walk O'Fame Star
Kyra Sedgwick
Actress Kyra Sedgwick, star of hit television series "The Closer", became the 2,384th celebrity to be honored on Hollywood's "Walk of Fame" here Monday.
The Golden Globe-winning 43-year-old attended a morning ceremony which saw her award unveiled next to the star of her husband, Kevin Bacon, on the stretch of Hollywood Boulevard which honors Tinseltown celebrities.
Sedgwick is best known for her portrayal of Los Angeles Police Department deputy police chief Brenda Johnson on "The Closer."
Kyra Sedgwick
Captures EU Seat
Pirate Party
Sweden's Pirate Party, striking a chord with voters who want more free content on the Internet, won a seat in the European Parliament, early results showed Sunday.
The Pirate Party captured 7.1 percent of votes in Sweden in the Europe-wide ballot, enough to give it a single seat. The party wants to deregulate copyright, abolish the patent system and reduce surveillance on the Internet.
Previously an obscure group of single-issue activists, the party enjoyed a jump in popularity after the conviction in April of four men behind The Pirate Bay, one of the world's biggest free file-sharing website.
Despite the similar names, the party and the website are not linked. The party was founded in 2006 and contested a Swedish general election that year, but received less than one percent of the vote.
Pirate Party
Centuries-Old Slate Discovered
Jamestown
Archaeologists have pulled a 400-year-old slate tablet from what they think was an original well at Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America, a historic preservation group announced Monday.
The slate is covered with faint inscriptions of local birds, flowers, a tree and caricatures of men, along with letters and numbers, according to Preservation Virginia, which jointly operates the dig site with the National Park Service. It was found May 11 at the center of James Fort, which was established in 1607 along the James River in eastern Virginia.
Research director William Kelso said the inscriptions were made with a slate pencil on the 4-inch-by-8-inch slate. The writings were wiped off, but they left grooves on the surface, he said.
Researchers at NASA Langley put the slate through three-dimensional digital analysis so they could decipher its pictures and text. The imaging system normally is used to inspect materials for aerospace use.
An eagle and a heron appeared on the slate, along with three types of plants, which haven't yet been identified. A depiction of lions - the British armorial sign in the early 1600s - indicates that the writer could have been a government official, Kelso said.
Jamestown
Honored By FBI
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Efrem Zimbalist Jr., the actor who portrayed cool and canny Inspector Lewis Erskine on the TV series "The F.B.I." was named an honorary special agent Monday - the FBI's highest civilian honor.
The 91-year-old actor was presented with the badge by FBI Director Robert Mueller. He praised Zimbalist as an icon who inspired a generation of FBI agents.
The show ran on ABC from 1965 to 1974.
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Tony's Casualty
Bret Michaels
According to Bret Michaels' spokeswoman, the rock singer had X-rays taken after getting clocked in the head by a descending set piece at Sunday's Radio City Music Hall ceremony.
Publicist Joann Mignano says Michaels, who performed with his 1980s hair-metal band Poison, fractured his nose and had to get three stitches in his lip. She says he was getting a CAT scan on Monday as a precaution, as he's had a past neck injury.
Although he's "pretty bruised up," Mignano says, Michaels was in good spirits. He wiped off blood with a towel and laughed backstage when host Neil Patrick Harris joked that the singer "gave head banging a whole new meaning."
Michaels had a "great time performing for the Broadway audience," says Mignano, who notes that the star of VH1's "Rock of Love" reality series took photos backstage with theater legends Liza Minnelli and Angela Lansbury.
Bret Michaels
Key Hearing Set
Anna Nicole Smith
A judge on Monday ordered Anna Nicole Smith's longtime boyfriend and two doctors to face a hearing in August to determine if they must stand trial for illegally supplying the Playboy model with prescription drugs for years before she died of an accidental overdose.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Wesley said the preliminary hearing would begin within 10 days of Aug 12 for Howard K. Stern, who was also Smith's lawyer, her psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor.
Stern, 40, and the two doctors are charged with conspiracy and prescribing painkillers, sleeping pills, anxiety medications and other drugs to Smith between 2004 and her death on Feb 8, 2007 from an overdose of prescription drugs.
Anna Nicole Smith
Fighting Ffinancial Washout
Rock Festivals
Glastonbury in Britain may be a sell-out, but in the north and east of Europe from Denmark's Roskilde to Romania's B'esfest and Hungary's Sziget, the uncertainties of recession are making 2009 as a rock festival 'summer of love' a hard sell.
As some sponsors pull out, the discounts on offer look geared to publicity. Bring 45 people to Sziget -- usually Europe's third-largest event after Roskilde and Glastonbury -- and all can go half price, organizers say.
Other festivals are postponing planned price hikes, particularly in eastern Europe where the crisis has fallen on countries with already much slimmer economic cushions than in the West. Many have had to scale back.
As a purely discretionary pastime, festivals have to strike the right balance between price and value, says Christof Huber, general secretary of Yourope, an organization of Europe's summer festivals. "That could be difficult this year."
Rock Festivals
Annual Wine Auction
Napa Valley
The Napa Valley wine auction, an annual assembly of the affluent, scaled down the glitz and raised a little more than half of last year's total for charity. But the $5.7 million take was just fine with organizers.
"Everyone is thrilled," Napa Valley Vintners spokesman Terry Hall said Monday. "In this economy, we are happy to be able to continue to support the nonprofits in Napa County."
About 800 people came to the four-day event. It aims to turn over more than 90 percent of revenue to charity. The auction has donated $85 million to regional health care, youth and housing nonprofit programs in its 28-year history.
Napa Valley
Sotheby's Holds Auction
Russian Art
Sotheby's raised 7.9 million pounds ($12.5 million) at its Russian art auction on Monday, a total the auctioneer called "solid" in uncertain economic times and within pre-sale expectations.
The sale is the main event during a week of Russian auctions in London which will provide the latest indicator as to the strength of the international art market.
At Monday's sale, the top lot was "The Village Fair" by Boris Kustodiev, which fetched 2.8 million pounds including buyer's premium, an auction record for the artist and above estimates of 1.0-1.5 million pounds not including the premium.
Another oil painting, "Nanny With Children" by Isaak Brodsky dated 1912, also set an auction record for the artist when it sold for 937,250 pounds, around twice its estimate.
Russian Art
Weekend Box Office Correction
`Hangover'
It turns out Hollywood's weekend hangover was bigger than expected.
The Warner Bros. comedy "The Hangover" drew larger audiences than earlier projected to raise its weekend ticket sales to $45 million, about $1.8 million more than the studio estimated Sunday.
That made it the No. 1 draw for the weekend instead of Disney and Pixar Animation's "Up," which came in second with $44.3 million. Sunday studio estimates had "Up" edging "The Hangover" by about $1 million.
It's rare that the first- and second-place movies on Sunday flip-flop when final numbers come out Monday. But strong attendance Sunday allowed "The Hangover" to pull ahead.
`Hangover'
In Memory
Fleur Cowles
Fleur Cowles, a painter, writer and founder of a short-lived but legendary magazine, died on Friday at a nursing home in Sussex, England. Her death was confirmed by her husband, Tom Montague Meyer.
The cause of death was not announced. The New York Times reported her age as 101, though Cowles had cited various birth dates as much as 10 years later.
She celebrated her wide circle of acquaintance in her 1996 memoir, "She Made Friends and Kept Them." Queen Mother Elizabeth was a friend, Cary Grant was best man at her third wedding, and British artist Lucian Freud enjoyed her patronage early in his career.
She wrote an authorized biography of Salvador Dali, and "Bloody Precedent," about Argentina under Juan and Evita Peron.
Cowles, however, thought a magazine called "Flair" was the best thing she ever did.
A 50-cent package of high-society, art, literature and fashion, "Flair" lasted just 12 issues - from February 1950 to January 1951. The magazine published works by W.H. Auden, Tennessee Williams, Gypsy Rose Lee, Simone de Beauvoir, Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau.
Her then-husband, Gardner Cowles, pulled the plug on "Flair" after losing an estimated $2.5 million.
Though a full set of "Flair" would have cost $6, a "Best of Flair" box set published by Rizzoli in 1996 was listed at $250 - and it rated a second edition.
Born in Montclair, New Jersey, she worked in advertising, then wrote a column in the New York World-Telegram in 1931-32, then went back to advertising with her first husband, Atherton Pettingell. During World War II, she took a $1-a-year job as speechwriter and campaign director for government agencies.
In 1946, she married Cowles, president of Cowles Magazines, Inc., which published "Look" magazine. She was already running Look's women's sections.
The marriage ended in 1955, and she then married British timber executive Tom Montague Meyer, who survives.
Fleur Cowles
In Memory
Kenny Rankin
Kenny Rankin, a brilliant pop vocalist and highly regarded musician-songwriter whose stylings ranged from jazz to pop to the world music influences he picked up as a child in New York, has died of complications related to lung cancer, his record company announced Monday. He was 69.
The musician, who first gained acclaim as one of the guitarists on Bob Dylan's landmark 1965 album, "Bringing it all Back Home," had been preparing to record an album of new material when he became ill a few weeks ago. Recording sessions scheduled with producer Phil Ramone were canceled as his health began to deteriorate.
Rankin wrote and recorded the pop standard "Peaceful" and also wrote "In The Name of Love," which was recorded by Peggy Lee, and "Haven't We Met," performed by Carmen McRae and Mel Torme.
After signing with Decca in the late 1950s he released a handful of singles before moving on to Columbia Records, also the home of Dylan. There, he took part in the recording of "Bringing it All Back Home," the album in which Dylan moved firmly from an all-acoustic folk music sound to an electric mixture of pop and rock 'n' roll.
Soon after, he made his first appearance on "The Tonight Show," where he impressed host Johnny Carson so much that Carson contributed liner notes to Rankin's first album, 1967's "Mind Dusters." Other albums included "Family," "Like a Seed," "Inside and "Silver Morning:"
Born in New York City on Feb. 10, 1940, Rankin was raised in the city's Washington Heights neighborhood, where he said he grew up listening to a broad spectrum of music, including Afro-Cuban, jazz, Top 40 and Brazilian.
He is survived by his son, Chris Rankin, daughters Chanda Rankin and Jena Rankin-Ray and a granddaughter.
Kenny Rankin
Kenny Rankin was George Carlin's opening act for decades.
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