Issue #7
Disinfotainment Today
By Michael Dare
From 'TBH Politoons'
Great Site!
Thanks, again, Tim!
Alex's Entertainment Report
Alex
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The World Cup was alive in my neighborhood as the US met Mexico. It was on KMEX, channel 34, and it wasn't necessary to have the TV on to hear....well, as the game
wore on, the 'hood got quieter. Finally had to turn it on to see why. Between 2 years of backwoods-PA high school Spanish & what little I've picked up in 30 years in LA,
wasn't that hard to tell the announcers were somewhat stunned.
Years ago, my parents bought us a freezer, and it's out in the garage with the washer & dryer. Growing up with canners & hunters, freezers were pretty normal. Used this one to
take advantage of the bulk shopping of CostCo and sales. Best laid plans & all that crap.....Seems the door was left ajar for a few days, and defrosting started. Garbage day is
Wednesday, and I'm really looking forward to it. Going to have to toss most of what was in there. Pretty bummed about it, but, trying to look at is as an opportunity to clean it out. That once a decade (whether it needs it or not) kind of thing...LOL
Got Mo the lizard, moved into her new 10 gallon terrarium with the cat-proof lid. She seems to have had quite a remarkable recovery.
Expanded the universe of the kittens today with a pen around their kennel-home. They are past walking, and now are certifiable explorers.
Letterman was great! First, MIMS looking befuddled & flummoxed on tape, asscroft & the 'eagle soars' singing, followed by the night bunnypants cleaned his glasses on the producer's shirt!
Tonight, Tuesday, CBS has a 'Trifecta' of reruns - 'JAG', 'The Guardian' and 'Judging Amy'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave are Ellen DeGeneres and Al Franken.
Scheduled on a fresh Craiggers are Catherine Bell and Moth.
NBC has 2 fresh episodes of 'Spy TV' followed by reruns of 'Frasier' and 'Scrubs', and then 'Dateline'.
Scheduled on a fresh Jay are Dennis Miller, Ali Landry and Paulina Rubio.
Scheduled on a fresh Conan are David Bowie and Colin Farrell.
Scheduled on a fresh Carson Daly are John Stamos and Meshell Ndegeocello.
ABC starts the night with 2 reruns of 'Spin City', then a fresh 'Mole II: The Next Betrayal' and a fresh 'Houston Medical'.
Scheduled on a fresh Bill Maher are David Brenner (comedian), Michele Mitchell (CNN Headline News Anchor), Michael Graham (Radio Host), and 1 TBA.
The WB has reruns of 'Gilmore Girls' and 'Smallville'.
Faux has 2 reruns of 'That 70's Show', then a fresh 'American Idol: The Search For A Superstar'.
UPN has reruns of 'Buffy', 'The Parkers' and 'The Hughleys'.
TCM pays tribute to residents of the White House. First up, The Best Man (1964), written by
Gore Vidal, and the Tagline was: Does The Best Man Always Get To The White House? (Picture Horshak, from 'Welcome Back, Kotter' going ''Ohhhhh-Ohhhhh'' here)
Next is State of the Union (1948) where an industrialist is urged to run for President, but this requires uncomfortable compromises on both political and marital levels. (Compromise? That alone dates it!)
Then, the rarely seen Gabriel Over the White House (1933), a fantasy about a political hack elected president during the Depression, transformed by an angel
after an auto accident into a national savior--the perfect president, from a 1933 point of view. The result is just a bit scary. (Well, not by today's standards)
Also on TCM, in the middle of the night, is one of my all time favorites - The Loved One (1965).
Check out these credits! The tagline was: The motion picture with something to offend everyone!
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
To Host Sci Fi Pix On Sci Fi Channel
William Shatner
"Star Trek" alumnus William Shatner will host a weekly late-night frightfest on Sci Fi Channel, beginning Saturday, July 20.
The Saturday night series will include 13 pictures from the archives of B-movie filmmaker Charles Band and his shingle Full Moon Pictures. Among them are "Killjoy," "Ragdoll" and "Oblivion." "Fright Night" will air Saturdays at 11.
Besides introducing each picture, Shatner will also host guests associated with the genre, including B-movie producer Roger Corman and comic book maven Stan Lee. The host also will personally reinterpret a gory moment from that week's picture.
William Shatner
Fun Link
Demented Lyrics
Demented Lyrics
'Cooter' Seeks Virginia Seat
Ben Jones
Ben Jones, a former congressman who played grease monkey Cooter on TV's "The Dukes of Hazzard," is working in Virginia to jump start a political career that ran off the road 10 years ago in Georgia.
Jones, 60, is unopposed for the Democratic nomination to challenge freshman Republican Rep. Eric Cantor this fall. Analysts say he has a tough task ahead of him in the GOP-leaning district.
Jones describes himself as "a Harry Truman, Harry Byrd Democrat," uneasy with the more liberal bent of his party nationally. He said he supports a lower capital gains tax, the death penalty and rights of gun ownership.
In 1988, Jones unseated Rep. Pat Swindall, R-Ga., and was re-elected in 1990. He lost the Democratic primary in 1992.
Jones, who grew up in Portsmouth, settled in Rappahannock County in 1998. He has opened Cooter's Place, a restaurant, bluegrass hangout and "Dukes of Hazzard" memorabilia emporium
in Virginia's conservative Blue Ridge Mountains. He recently opened another Cooter's in Gatlinburg, Tenn.
Cantor, 38, is a Richmond lawyer and pro-business conservative. He won his seat in Congress in 2000 in a rout over a little-known Democrat, but only after a narrow primary victory.
Ben Jones
Fails to Stop Demolition of Famed Studio
U2
The Irish rock group U2 has lost a bid to prevent demolition of the studio where it recorded its latest award-winning album.
Ireland's Planning Board has been given the go-ahead for a redevelopment project that requires the razing of the studio, feted by the group as part of Ireland's musical heritage.
The studio, on Hanover Quay in Dublin, was used by U2 to record the Grammy-winning album "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and has been compared in significance to The Cavern Club
in Liverpool, where the Beatles spent their early days.
Dublin's Docklands Authority placed a compulsory purchase order on the property in August 2001 as a step toward demolishing the studio to create a public amenity on the quayside.
U2
Australians Replicate CIT Experiment
'Teleported' Data
Australian scientists said Monday they had successfully "teleported" a laser beam encoded with data, breaking it up and reconstructing an exact replica a yard away.
Their work replicates an experiment at the California Institute of Technology in 1998, but the Australian team believes their technique is more reliable and consistent.
Although the research brings to mind the way "Star Trek" characters were beamed around on TV and in film, scientists at the Australian National University said their technique's main use will be as a way to
encrypt information and for a new generation of super-fast computers.
At this stage, the process perfected by Australian physicist Ping Koy Lam and his 12-member team can only teleport light by destroying the light beam and creating an exact copy at the receiving end from light particles known as photons.
Teleporting a laser beam involves destroying and replicating billions of photons.
Lam said he believes the process, called "quantum teleportation" and which takes a nanosecond — one billionth of one second — will soon be used for teleporting matter.
"My prediction is if we are not doing it, it will probably be done by someone in the next three to five years, that is the teleportation of a single atom or a small group of atoms," he said.
Quantum teleportation makes use of a strange aspect of quantum physics called the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, which says it is impossible to measure both the speed and position of an object at the same time.
'Teleported' Data
Band Warned of Security Risks
Fred Durst Testifies
Limp Bizkit warned concert organizers of security problems during its tour of Australia and New Zealand before a teen-age fan died in a crowd crush, lead singer Fred Durst said Monday.
Durst was testifying by live video link from Los Angeles at the inquest into the death of 15-year-old Jessica Michalik, who suffered a heart attack during a Limp Bizkit performance in Sydney on Jan. 26, 2001.
Michalik died five days later.
He told the court he had raised concerns with tour promoter Vivian Lee before the Sydney concert, which was part of a touring multi-band festival called the Big Day Out.
Durst said the band approached organizers after a crowd collapse in Auckland, New Zealand.
Durst said he told Lee, "I just hope the security's better at the next show because that (Auckland) was a little out of hand."
Fred Durst Testifies
Useful Link
15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense
Scientific American: 15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense
Not A Stallone Fan
Lennox Lewis
He fancies himself a pugilist, but Sly Stallone shouldn't try and churn up with Lennox Lewis. The heavyweight champ says he despises Stallone, the "Rocky" films and everything they stand
for. "Stallone projected the image that all boxers are like 'duh and dose,' like we are all stupid," Lewis complains to Webster Hall art curator Baird Jones. "Boxers aren't stupid. Most of
us are very intelligent." He also objects to the gruesome scene in which Rocky has his eyelid sliced open so he can see his opponent. "All my career, all the crazy things I ever heard,
there never was a fighter who cut open an injured eyelid," he says.
Lennox Lewis
Unhappy Man, Beaten Wife
Steve Austin
The wife of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin has accused the wrestling star of beating her after a weekend argument at their home in an upscale neighborhood of San Antonio, police said on Monday.
Debra Williams, also a professional wrestler, called police to the couple's home on Saturday night and told officers that Austin had beaten her on the head, back and legs
then stormed out of the house before police arrived.
Austin called the house while officers were there and was told he was in trouble, according to a police report. Austin told them he understood, but declined a request to
return to the house or report to the police station, the report said.
Austin, a native Texan and former North Texas State University football player began wrestling professionally in 1992 and is one of the leading stars of World Wrestling
Entertainment Inc., formerly known as the World Wrestling Federation.
World Wrestling Entertainment spokesman Gary Davis said Austin recently failed to appear at two scheduled performances, one in Montreal and one in Austin, Texas, describing
the no-shows as an "unacceptable violation of his contract."
Davis said Austin was apparently dissatisfied with the way his character was being developed for WWE shows.
Steve Austin
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Going Ga-Ga Over Go-Go's
ABC
ABC is developing a biopic that chronicles the rise of the Go-Go's as the first superstar, all-girl rock band in the MTV era. The project could be ready in time for a possible February sweeps run.
Mark Sennet and Alan Jacobs, along with Jaffe-Braunstein ("Gilda Radner: It's Always Something"), purchased the life rights from the five members of the L.A. rock band and sold the pitch to ABC; Sennet and Jacobs made
the pitch with the band members -- Belinda Carlisle, Jane Weidlin, Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine and Gina Schock -- in tow.
Rights to the Go-Go's story have been long sought after; the act had a notorious appetite for sex and drugs, and the group imploded after just four years of making albums and scoring hit singles such as "We Got the
Beat," "Vacation" and "Our Lips Are Sealed". The group reunited in 1994 and '95 for an album and tour, and again last year.
No offers have been made to directors or actors, but the Go-Go's themselves are expected to participate in the picture. Sennet hopes a filmed Go-Go's concert can also make it into ABC's schedule. Quinn Taylor, ABC's senior
VP of miniseries and movies, said nothing's been discussed yet, but multiple tie-ins to the picture would be likely.
Going Ga-Ga Over Go-Go's
2 Camerons
'Minority Report' Cameos
Cameron Crowe's cameo appearance in "Minority Report" is "a payback," according to the sci-fi thriller's director, Steven Spielberg. Crowe roped Spielberg in for a cameo in
last year's "Vanilla Sky" for what started off as a joke on its star, Tom Cruise. "We shot it four times and I wound up working two hours on the scene," Spielberg said. "So I said, 'You
owe me one' and when we were doing 'Minority Report,' I called him up and said, 'We're shooting all night in a subway station in downtown L.A. so I want you on the set by midnight.' I kept
him there till 3:30 in the morning." If you look carefully, you'll also see "Vanilla Sky" star Cameron Diaz sitting in profile behind Crowe on the train.
'Minority Report' Cameos
World Cup Fever
Painted Faces
U.S. soccer fans show their support inside the stadium before the second round World Cup Finals match between Mexico and the USA in Chonju, June 17, 2002. USA won 2-0.
Photo by Oleg Popov
Honors Victims
Elton John
Elton John paid tribute to the victims of a deadly April school shooting in this city by holding a concert whose proceeds will help care for those affected by the tragedy.
"We cannot play the music without thinking of why we are here tonight," John told a sold-out crowd of more than 7,500 packed into a concert hall in Erfurt for the latest stop on the
German leg of the British star's "Songs from the West Coast" tour.
Robert Steinhaeuser, a 19-year-old loner who had been forced out of the school the previous fall, fatally shot two students, 13 teachers and a police officer in a 20-minute rampage
April 26 at Johann Gutenberg Gymnasium before turning the gun on himself.
Elton John
BartCop TV!
Snarky Gossip
Courtney Love
In preparation for her myriad court cases coming up this summer, rowdy rocker Courtney Love got another nose job. Love, who has extolled the virtues of plastic surgery in the
past - going so far as to get various operations on her face and breasts - went into the Atlanta radio station 99X-FM for some in-studio promotions last week and showed up
with two black eyes and a new schnozz.
Courtney Love
Opens In October
'Hollywood Arms'
"Hollywood Arms," the play by late actress Carrie Hamilton and her comic mother Carol Burnett based on the latter's life story, has firmed up its Broadway plans.
The production, directed by Harold Prince, will open at the Cort Theater on Oct. 31, with previews beginning Oct. 8.
The play, based on Burnett's memoirs, was seen at Chicago's Goodman Theater earlier this year. That production, also helmed by Prince, starred Linda Lavin, Frank Wood, Michelle Pawk
and Donna Lynne Champlin. The cast for the Broadway production has not yet been announced, although some members of the Goodman cast are likely to reprise their roles.
Hamilton died in January of cancer-related pneumonia; she was 38.
'Hollywood Arms'
Summer Plans
John & Al
The same June 28 weekend that Al Gore is staging his Memphis retreat to boost his 2004 presidential claims, one of his potential rivals is hosting a similar get-together
on Georgia's St. Simon's Island. John Edwards, the young and personable Democratic senator from North Carolina, now has some of Gore's former big contributors backing him
and his weekend getaway may bring in some more. At this stage you have to think Gore is still the front runner for his party's nomination, but if he falters, Edwards
would have a good shot at it.
John & Al
$80 Each!
Watermelons
Farmers decorate square-shaped watermelons with ribbons before shipping them to an agricultural cooperative in Zentsuji, western Japan, on Monday June 17, 2002. The watermelons, developped to save spapce in refrigerators, are priced
at a whopping 10,000 yen (US$80) each. Some 450 to 500 watermelons will be sent to department stores and other places in Tokyo and Osaka - for display rather than eating.
He Flies 1st Class, Wife Flies Coach
Jean Clod
Jean Claude Van Damme flies first-class. But his wife, Gladys Portugues, flies coach. So the Muscles from Brussels wasn't even aware of the hubbub on the
couple's flight home to L.A. from a holiday in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Portugues was unlucky enough to be seated next to a tall man in a short bathing suit
which didn't provide full coverage. She complained to a flight attendant, who delayed takeoff so she could switch seats. We're told that Van Damme never
even turned around to see what was up.
Jean Clod
Santa Monica, CA
New Aerial Campaign
An anti-abortion group had an airplane fly over Southern California beaches towing a giant banner depicting what the group said were two photos of a 10-week-old aborted fetus.
The 30-by-100-foot banner passed back and forth over Santa Monica's beaches for almost 30 minutes on Saturday.
Gregg Cunningham, executive director of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, which financed the flyover, said both photos were of the same aborted fetus. The banner carried a message reading "10-Week Abortion."
Nancy Sasaki, president of Planned Parenthood in Los Angeles, said the campaign made "what should be a private matter into a media circus." She also doubted the authenticity of the photos used.
The message was lost on some beachgoers who said they didn't understand it.
"I noticed it, I looked at it, but I didn't understand what it meant," said Elaine Fleming. "I thought it was odd to be sitting at the beach and to see this big banner about abortion going by."
New Aerial Campaign
A Ho On One?
Hidden Valley Golf Club
A private golf tournament in Norco, California, added a new hazard to the game -- getting arrested for prostitution.
Police said they arrested six people at the Hidden Valley Golf Club on Friday after receiving a tip-off.
"As part of the golf tournament, sex acts were offered to participants for a fee," said Lisa McConnell at the Sheriff's Department in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles.
"There were tents set up around the course, where people could pay for sex."
Hidden Valley Golf Club
To Combine Rewrite of TV & Radio Ownership Curbs
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission, stung by several court decisions undercutting media ownership limits and under pressure from Congress, said on Monday it would
embark on a lengthier, over-arching effort to rewrite rules for television and radio ownership.
In a blow to some media giants, like Tribune Co. that is anxious to go on a buying spree of television stations and newspapers, the FCC will combine several efforts
into one with the goal of adopting new rules by spring of 2003.
The endeavor also follows pressure from Congress where some lawmakers are warning that the FCC will relax ownership limits, which could hobble diversity and competition
in the media industry, while others are pushing for faster easing.
New rules, which analysts expect to be less stringent than the old ones, could touch off a wave of consolidation and the creation of new, massive conglomerates, which consumer
groups fear would crowd out local mom-and-pop operations that provide diverse voices.
Federal Communications Commission
Still Seeking Volunteers
'The Osbournes'
Fairly freshly updated - 'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2 !
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
C'mon....send your thoughts, your impressions, your views, your favorite quotes...
Scroll down for lots of addys to pick from (or 'from which to pick', for the truly anal retentive).
