Issue #58
Disinfotainment Today
By Michael Dare
'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
He's Been Busy!
The Worried Shrimp
Long Gone John, Indie Rock's Anti-Mogul
A Label All His Own
The reclusive indie rock entrepreneur known as Long Gone John is rummaging
around his backyard warehouse, searching cardboard boxes on wood shelves
that reach to the ceiling. Every box is filled with CDs or seven-inch
singles, most of them by punk and retro-rock bands with names you've never
heard of: Savage Pencil, Loafin Hyenas, Crowbar Salvation. He stops
searching when he comes across a 45 by a band called Servotron.
"See this?" he asks, proudly handing over a copy. "I had this pressed on
special silver vinyl. It's really expensive. I lost a lot of money on it."
There aren't many businessmen who crow about failures, but there aren't many
businesses like Sympathy for the Record Industry, a label based in a
tree-shrouded house in this shoreline city south of Los Angeles. Since 1988,
Long Gone John has been Sympathy's CEO and sole employee, a self-described
"anti-mogul" releasing obscure rock at a rate that seems frenzied for a
one-man company. The tally so far: 280 CDs and 400 vinyl singles from 550
bands. At its peak of production, Sympathy issued a new album or single
every week.
For the rest, A Label All His Own
Kip
Thanks, Kip!
from Mark
Balloons Of Mass Destruction
Amid reports that the probable trailers of mass destruction may in fact be
hydrogen production facilities, a new leak has emerged from the Joint
Taskforce for Specious Assessment and Embellishment (JTSAE). This
PowerPoint of Death details the cruel probable plot in which these adorable
rodents are used as vectors of the deadly monkey pox virus.
-Mark
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still overcast, still not complaining (even thought I got my 2nd invite to join AARP today).
Today's page is large - about twice it's usual size - let me know if doesn't open all the way.
Tonight, Tuesday, CBS opens the evening with a RERUN 'JAG', followed by a RERUN 'The Guardian', then a RERUN 'Judging Amy'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are Bruce Willis and Damien Rice.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are John Corbett and Bobby Lee.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH 'Dog Eat Dog', followed by the Series Premiere of 'Last Comic Standing', then another FRESH 'Last Comic Still Stnading'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Josh Hartnett and Heart.
Scheduled on a FRESH Conan are Julianna Margulies, Michael Chiklis, and Jewel.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Geraldo Rivera and Brendan Benson.
ABC begins the night with a RERUN '8 Simple Rules', followed by another RERUN '8 Simple Rules', then a RERUN 'Jim', followed by a RERUN
'Less Than Perfect', and then a RERUN 'NYPD Blue'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Cheri Oteri and Bone Crusher, with this week's guest co-host Jay Mohr.
The WB offers a RERUN 'Smallville', followed by another RERUN 'Smallville'.
Faux has a FRESH 'American Juniors', followed by a FRESH 'Keen Eddie'.
UPN opens with a RERUN 'Buffy' and follows with a FRESH 'america's Next Top Model'.
A&E has 'Biography' (Kurt Russell), followed by a 2-hour 'Cold Case Files'.
AMC has the movie 'Hell Is For Heroes', followed by the movie 'Midnight Express', and then the movie 'Dillinger'.
BBC offers 'Ground Force' - Bournemouth (7pm), 'Changing Rooms' - France (7:30pm),
'When Changing Rooms Met the Navy' (8pm), 'Ground Force' - Nantwich (9pm),
'Ground Force' - Yorkshire (9:d0pm), 'What Not To Wear' - Sandie (10pm),
'What Not To Wear' - Tina (10:30pm), 'So Graham Norton' - Dirk Benedict (11pm),
'So Graham Norton' - Shannen Doherty, Vicky Entwistle (11:30pm),
'Ground Force' - Nantwich (12am), 'Ground Force' - Yorkshire (12:30am). (ALL TIMES ET)
Bravo has 'Cirque du Soleil: Dralion', then 'Cirque du Soleil: Saltimbanco'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jon Stewart is Newt Gingrich.
History offers 'Deep Sea Detectives', followed by 'UFOs: You didn't Know', then 'Modern Marvels' ('James Bond Gadgets').
MTV has 3 hours of 'The Osbournes', followed by 90 minutes of 'The Real World', and then a FRESH 'Osbournes'.
SciFi has 'Ghost Stories - I', 'Ghost Stories - VI', 'California's Most Haunted', then 'An Unknown Encounter'.
TCM offers the movie 'Kelly's Heroes', followed by the movie 'The Paper', and then the movie 'Ordinary People'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Twisted tongue shows Lin Ya-ting, a 23-year-old woman resident in Taiwan's central Taichung county, displaying a rare ability of twisting her tongue into a flower shape. Lin reasoned that she might have developed the rare physical technique while grimacing at her dog.
Photo by Lin Tai-Hua
Takes Open-Ended Break From TV
David Letterman
Among the many mysteries of David Letterman: how much time he's planning to take off this summer.
The CBS "Late Show" host turned over the reins to guest host Tom Arnold on Friday. Letterman's spokesman, Steven Rubenstein, said Monday that Letterman will make up his mind whether he's taking more time off as he goes along.
"I've worked since I was 11 years old," Letterman said on his show last week. "And I just feel like it's summer now, I'd like to take a day off."
He told band leader Paul Shaffer that he had "T.A.S.," or "tired ass syndrome."
The oddity is that Letterman rarely works Fridays anyway. He generally tapes his Thursday and Friday shows back to back on Thursday evening — so, by skipping Friday, he's basically leaving the office a few hours earlier.
David Letterman
www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Online Fans Speak
'Give 'Em Hell, Martha'
It's only been a few days since Martha Stewart was indicted, but almost 42,000 of her staunchest fans have been to her Web site to vent their outrage and profess, in syrupy prose, her starchy-white innocence.
Last Wednesday, Stewart, looking tired but impeccably turned out, was indicted on five counts of securities fraud and lying to federal investigators among other things. Within 12 hours,
www.marthatalks.com was up and running as she sought to win the battle of public opinion.
Stewart says she is "overwhelmed by the outpouring of support" -- an outpouring she says has yielded 6 million hits on her web site. A company that tracks Internet traffic, comScore Networks XPC, estimates the site had been visited by about 217,000 people by Saturday night.
A spokesman for Stewart's web site said it was "blown away by the way positive feedback has outweighed negative feedback by a ratio of 10 to one."
'Give 'Em Hell, Martha'
With the image of their leader Aung San Suu Kyi on hand, Myanmar activists shout slogans during the rally to demand of the release of Myanmar pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi outside Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, June 9 , 2003. A U.N. envoy held crucial talks Monday with a top Myanmar general in a last-ditch effort to win access to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, detained following a bloody clash that prompted a crackdown on her party.
Photo by Sakchai Lalit
Hundreds Show For Signing
Hillary Clinton
About 250 people stood in line Monday morning, some after waiting through the night, for the chance to get Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to autograph her new book.
Employees of a Barnes & Noble bookstore in midtown Manhattan began issuing wristbands, like those issued to ticket buyers at rock concerts, to buyers of her "Living History" at 8:30 a.m. for the 11 a.m. book signing.
Only 250 wristbands were being handed out, entitling the wearers to meet the senator during the signing.
In spite of the limit on wristbands, the crowd kept growing on a line behind police barricades near a side entrance to the Fifth Avenue store.
Richard Paice, a 36-year-old lawyer, decided on the spur of the moment to join the book signing line at 8:50 a.m.
"If you think about it, it's a historic moment. She's the smartest person in politics in modern history," said Paice.
For more, Hillary Clinton
They're Back
'V'
Twenty years after NBC's hit sci-fi miniseries "V" invaded the small screen, the network is bringing the aliens back with "V: The Second Generation," a three-hour TV movie from the original creator Kenneth Johnson.
The 1983 "V" (short for Visitors), which spawned a short-lived weekly series on NBC, was a sci-fi allegory of the Nazi takeover of Germany in the 1930s.
Several cast members of the miniseries and the weekly series, including Marc Singer, Faye Grant, Jane Badler and Robert Englund, could reprise their roles in the telefilm if it goes into production.
The conclusion of the original mini in May 1983 was the top program for the week, averaging a 27 household rating/40 share. Additionally, "V" enjoyed solid success overseas. Twenty years later, the miniseries continues to be a strong draw as its recent DVD release has quickly become a hot seller, with more than 250,000 units shipped.
'V'
CNN's Renames Show
Lou Dobbs
After more than 20 years, CNN's Lou Dobbs is retiring the name of "Moneyline."
His nightly news show isn't going anywhere, nor is it changing much, but beginning next Monday, it will be known as "Lou Dobbs Tonight." It airs weeknights at 6 p.m. ET for an hour.
The "Lou Dobbs Moneyline" title "connoted, for too many viewers, a market services show, which it has never been," Dobbs said Monday. The new name better conveys the show's broader focus, he said.
"Lou Dobbs Tonight" will have two new segments: a weekly segment on the military with retired Army Gen. David Grange and periodic "Face Off" debates on pressing issues.
Lou Dobbs
www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/moneyline/
Status of 'NYPD Blue'
Steven Bochco
Most television shows don't find out until mid-May if they won't be back in the fall. By then, it's way too late to wrap up loose storylines and say goodbye to faithful viewers in a final episode.
The executive producer of "NYPD Blue" tells TV Guide he's asked ABC to tell him two months ahead of time, in March, if "Blue" isn't coming back.
Steven Bochco says he wants "time to finish the series with a sense of finality."
Steven Bochco
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
British Censors Finally OK Nicholson Movie
'The Trip'
Britain's film censors Monday finally gave the go-ahead after three decades to "The Trip," a 1960s cult film about drugs written by Jack Nicholson.
Starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, the film was originally refused a ratings certificate because of its graphic depiction of drug use.
But the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) now feels that the film merits an 18-certificate because audiences would no longer be convinced by the characters as they embarked on an LSD trip.
'The Trip'
Briton John Bull protests in favour of keeping the pound, outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Monday June 9, 2003. Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, is scheduled to deliver the government's verdict on Britain joining the euro, in the House of Commons Monday. Current exchange rates are not ideal for Britain to join the European single currency, the Treasury said Monday in one of a series of studies released in advance of the government's announcement on whether it would embrace the euro.
Photo by Johnny Green-pa
Seeks 'Nutcracker' Alumni
School of American Ballet
The School of American Ballet is inviting all those who danced as children in George Balanchine's famous production of "The Nutcracker" over the last 50 years to a gala reunion this December.
The school estimates that more than 2,000 of its students have played Marie, the Prince and assorted candy canes, soldiers and angels since Balanchine's "Nutcracker" premiered on Feb. 2, 1954.
The school is planning a Golden Jubilee Homecoming celebration on Dec. 6 and hopes to have as many alumni as possible attend. Ballerina Maria Tallchief, who was the first Sugarplum Fairy, will be the guest of honor.
School of American Ballet
www.sab.org
Wedding News
Winslet & Mendes
"Titanic" star Kate Winslet and "American Beauty" director Sam Mendes have married in a secret ceremony in the Caribbean, said a statement released on behalf of the couple.
"This is to formally announce that Sam Mendes and Kate Winslet married in late May in a very small ceremony whilst on holiday in the West Indies," it said. "Present were Kate Winslet's daughter Mia and three close friends."
The pair have managed to keep a low profile, making their first British public appearance last year at the West End premiere of Mendes's second film, "The Road To Perdition."
Winslet & Mendes
Launching Celebrity Wake-Up Service
Pam Anderson
Blond bombshell Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, 35, has signed on to a celebrity wake-up service which allows customers to be gently roused by her dulcet tones for only 7.99 dollars per month.
"Hi, it's Pamela," purrs one of the musically-backed matinal greetings explaining that the star is "filling in for your alarm clock."
"I love animals, they're fuzzy, cute and fun to play with. Are you fun to play with? How about getting down on your hands and knees and barking like a dog. Now get your fuzzy ass out if bed and fetch my slippers.
"Have a great day, you animal," Anderson says.
Pam Anderson
The Next Paula Zahn?
Soledad O'Brien
CNN has offered NBC and MSNBC anchor Soledad O'Brien the co-anchor slot to replace Paula Zahn on its "American Morning" show alongside Bill Hemmer, sources familiar with the deal said. CNN declined comment.
O'Brien's contract at NBC expires at the end of the month. Zahn will anchor CNN's new "American Evening" program from 7-9 p.m. when the network introduces the show in the summer.
Newsday reported Friday that CNN was "wooing" O'Brien with a $1 million offer, and sources confirmed Friday that the deal had progressed to a firm offer, which she was considering.
Soledad O'Brien
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Ruminates About Childhood
Patti Davis
Patti Davis, daughter of former President Ronald Reagan, ruminates on her years as a petulant child — and how she's come to appreciate her father's guidance as she's grown older — in a Father's Day essay for Newsweek.
In a home movie showing her as an 11-year-old, Davis writes, "my petulance is obvious as I shrug myself away from my mother's outstretched arm — asserting my will, brandishing my independence."
What wasn't filmed during those years, she writes, was "my father's sad eyes when he tried to tell me how much my behavior hurt my mother."
"Now it is decades later," she says. "I walk with my mother through her garden ... Her pace is slower these days, and I adjust mine accordingly. My father is in the room that has become his corner of the world since Alzheimer's imprisoned him. It's the last room he will see when his eyes close for the final time."
Patti Davis
Mohammed Rashid, a 62-year-old Turk, displays his moustache to strollers at the Corniche in Beirut, Lebanon Monday, June 9, 2003. Rashid says his 1.6-meter-long moustache placed him in Guinness Book of Records as the man with the world's longest moustache and said he has not cut his moustache for about 10 years. He charges US$ 5 for anyone who wants to take a souvenir picture with him. Rashid, who is touring the world, said he uses the money to cover expenses of the trip.
Photo by Hussein Malla
Fan Electrocuted At Concert
Red Hot Chili Peppers/Snoop Dogg
North Carolina officials are looking into what caused a college student to be electrocuted at a Red Hot Chili Peppers/Snoop Dogg concert in Charlotte.
Twenty-six-year-old Ashley Faris was walking barefoot on a wet concrete stairway with metal edges at the Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre Friday night. He was shocked and died at a nearby hospital. A passer-by who tried to help Faris was treated for electric shock.
The incident happened after Snoop Dogg had performed but before the Chili Peppers took the stage. The show continued as planned and many concert-goers never knew anyone was hurt. Verizon officials say they are investigating.
Red Hot Chili Peppers/Snoop Dogg
Buys For 3rd Time
Hughes TV Network
Joseph Cohen bought the Hughes Television Network for the third time.
Cohen, the former president of the Madison Square Garden Network, will become chairman of Hughes Television, he said Monday.
Cohen first acquired Hughes for Madison Square Garden from Paramount Pictures in 1979, then led an investment group that bought Hughes from the Garden in 1986. Three years later, he sold Hughes to IDB Communications Inc., which sold Hughes to French Telecom's Globecast subsidiary in 1995.
Hughes TV Network
NBC Reality Show to Air
'For Love or Money'
On Monday NBC said it would continue to air the reality series "For Love or Money," despite discovering that its star hid the fact he left the U.S. Marine Corps after being disciplined for groping a female officer.
The details of Campos' background first appeared Monday on legal information Web site The Smoking Gun.
The site, citing an account of the incident provided by the female officer in an interview, said Campos rushed into the woman's room and grabbed her breasts. The woman said she struck Campos in the groin with her knee, causing him to enter the woman's bathroom and vomit.
NBC's media site described Campos as a "handsome and charming Dallas defense attorney." Campos' biography on the Web site of the Mathur Law Offices said that after his Marine Corps training, Campos served in the JAG Corps, the military legal branch. But according to the Smoking Gun, Campos was pulled out of Judge Advocate General training after the incident.
'For Love or Money'
The Smoking Gun: Archive
MSGOP's Latest Job Training Program
Jesse Ventura
Four months after former Gov. Jesse Ventura ended speculation of what he would do after leaving office by announcing a high-profile deal for his own primetime TV show on MSNBC he still has no permanent presence on the air.
The rumors of difficulty popped up first on the The Drudge Report Web site in early May. The site cited a source "with direct ties to the project" who said rehearsals "have been extremely trying" and that Ventura has been "having just a terrible time."
Days after that report, the St. Paul Pioneer Press media columnist Brian Lambert followed up on the Drudge story by saying that "various camps" were struggling in many ways, from formats to locations.
Lambert concluded in his column that, if Ventura's show was ready for primetime that the slumping MSNBC would have it on the air. He finished his column by saying that Drudge's report would seem far more accurate if MSNBC can't "commit to a premiere date by the end of (May.)"
Six weeks after Lambert's column, the New York Times said the show's executives said it's not "even close to making a debut."
Jesse Ventura
List of Winners
2003 Tony Awards
The 2003 Tony Awards handed out Sunday night:
Play: "Take Me Out."
Musical: "Hairspray."
Revival-play: "Long Day's Journey Into Night."
Revival-musical: "Nine."
Book of a musical: "Hairspray," Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan.
Original score: "Hairspray," music, Marc Shaiman, lyrics, Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman.
Actor-musical: Harvey Fierstein, "Hairspray."
Actress-musical: Marissa Jaret Winokur, "Hairspray."
Featured actor-musical: Dick Latessa, "Hairspray."
Featured actress-musical: Jane Krakowski, "Nine."
Actor-play: Brian Dennehy, "Long Day's Journey Into Night."
Actress-play: Vanessa Redgrave, "Long Day's Journey Into Night."
Featured actor-play: Denis O'Hare, "Take Me Out."
Featured actress-play: Michele Pawk, "Hollywood Arms."
Direction of a musical: Jack O'Brien, "Hairspray."
Direction of a play: Joe Mantello, "Take Me Out."
Scenic design: Catherine Martin, "La Boheme."
Costume design: William Ivey Long, "Hairspray."
Lighting design: Nigel Levings, "La Boheme."
Choreography: Twyla Tharp, "Movin' Out."
Orchestrations: Billy Joel and Stuart Malina, "Movin' Out."
Special theatrical event: "Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam on Broadway."
Previously announced winners: Special Awards: Cy Feuer, Paul Huntley, the principal ensemble of "La Boheme," Johnson-Liff Casting Associates, The Acting Company. Regional Theater: The Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis.
2003 Tony Awards
In Memory
Trevor Goddard
Australian actor Trevor Goddard, who played Lt. Cmdr. Mic Brumby on the long-running CBS series "JAG," was found dead at his North Hollywood home of a suspected drug overdose, authorities said on Monday.
Goddard's girlfriend discovered his body lying on a bed at about noon on Sunday, Los Angeles County coroner's office spokesman Craig Harvey said.
A preliminary investigation indicated his death was a possible suicide by an overdose of as-yet unknown "illicit, illegal" drugs, Harvey said.
Notes were discovered at Goddard's home, but investigators did not characterize them as suicide notes, he said. "There was nothing in the notes indicating that he meant to take his life," Harvey said. The notes were addressed to a friend.
Investigators think Goddard died sometime after 9 p.m. on Saturday after having a telephone conversation with a friend from his home, Harvey said. An autopsy is set for Tuesday.
A former professional boxer, Goddard was "discovered" while competing at a light-heavyweight bout and asked to appear in a series of beer commercials, according to his Web site.
He built a career on portraying villains in many of Hollywood's top action movies, including tough-guy Kano in New Line Cinema's "Mortal Kombat."
He was best known to U.S. audiences from his recurring small screen role as Mic Brumby on the military drama "Jag" from 1998 to 2001. Goddard had just completed work on "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" with Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom.
Trevor Goddard
Ein Loewin fletscht die Zaehne im Eberswalder Zoo am Montag, 9. Juni 2003. Das Tier fuehlte sich in seiner Mittagsruhe von den zahlreichen Besuchern gestoert, die den Pfingstfeiertag bei strahlendem Sonnenschein fuer einen Ausflug in den Tierpark der brandenburgischen Kleinstadt noerdlich von Berlin nutzten.
Photo by Sven Kaestner
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'Ark of Darkness'
"The Ark of Darkness", a Political/Science-Fiction work, in tidy, weekly installments (and updated every Friday).
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'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1