The Weekly Poll
Results
The 'Send in the Clowns... Don't bother, they're here' Edition...
The House's No. 2 Democratic leader said today that comedian Stephen Colbert's testimony last week on immigration was "inappropriate" and "an embarrassment." Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California invited Colbert to appear before the House Judiciary Committee. But other Democrats weren't happy about her decision... House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland told "Faux News Sunday" he thought the episode was more of an embarrassment to Colbert than to the House. But, he added, "I think it was inappropriate" that he testified...
House leader: Colbert was an 'embarrassment' - Politics - msnbc.com
Do you agree with Majority Leader Hoyer's assessment of Colbert's appearance?
1.) Yes... He made a mockery of the legislative process. What was Rep. Lofgren thinking?
2.) No... Congress, themselves, make a mockery of the legislative process, dagnabbit!
3.) More! More! Bring on Jon Stewart!
Well then, Poll-fans... We gots 2's and 3's and DanD on tap this week... Hope ya enjoy it!
Richard McD. wrote...
I'll go with a little of 2 and 3. I think mocking congress is long overdue. These guys are forgetting what the last election was all about. Fuck them and the horse they rode in on.
(Yeah! What YOU said! Haha...)
DRD pointedly says...
Hi Bob, top of the day to you, and the precious granddaughter too! (Back at ya, Don...) Definitely #3.
It never ceases to amaze me how easily defeat is snatched out of the jaws of victory by the Liberals. (I think Ol' Bart correctly hammers on that sentiment) For whatever reasons unknown by me, the Dems continue to demonstrate the correctness of the Bible's observation that a man's worst enemies are those in his own household! Be reminded that Clinton's sharpest critics were members of his own party, Liebermann (I - Dorkmeister) comes to mind first. And his attitude toward Obama shows little change. (Ya think? Haha... Right on, Bro...) The recent fiasco performance in the Senate over the health reform bill was a 101~How to throw a tantrum and succeed, by the most powerful of his own party. Also, be reminded that Hoyer ran hard to become Speaker of the House against Pelosi, so some of this may be spoiled dung! The Dems are in my eyes, the most public relations disaster prone wannabe salesmen, completely unable to frame any point in the overall debate going on today! How sad that is of the party claiming to be the voice of the common man in America! In the rough and tumble of modern politics, perception is reality, and the Dems are running on exhaust fumes in that category! So, bring in any and all progressive spokespersons with name recognition and turn them loose. We have watched the back-stabbers long enough! To connect to others you have to resemble others! Go Jon Stewart, and Rachel too! The inquiries are closer to the bone all the time Bob! Bravo!!! (Well, some are better than others... But, hey, whadda expect fer free, eh?... Thanks!)
Marsha in TN adamantly wrote...
#3 Colbert AND Jon Stewart are both smarter and know all the issues better than the whole fricking congress put together. Hoyer needs to STFU. Jon and Stephen show them for the idiots they are every night.
(I would call it scoring direct hits, shootin' 'Expert', and that's a fact...)
Adam in NoHo noted...
#2- What he had to say was important and Lofgren surely knew what she was getting when she appeared on his show and invited him to testify. The guy on the panel that complained for 10 min made more of this than the 5 min Colbert was up there.
At least Colbert had something first hand to add to the discussion. I remember in the 80s when movie stars would testify about farms going under because they were once in a movie about a farm [weren't the Reagan
Years magical? [ / sarcasm].
(Sure, Adam... Just ask the repuglies... they'll tell ya so!)
DanD profoundly cynical sent...
Colbert and Stewart are just the latest version of Pat Paulson, whose own gig was earlier inspired by some other comically professional buffoon. This, after all, is the ultimate inspiration of all America's (and indeed the entire globe's) comedian-class, that being the leadership cabal of our own species. (Um... Ya sure?)
Ultimately, Colbert is not "mocking" the legislative process, instead, he's actually just celebrating its perversion.
Even so, by the way that both Colbert and Stewart are incisively "mocking" the 9-11 Truth Movement, they may as well shout from the rooftops that even they are also just the bought and paid for whores of the institutionally incorporated "alternative" entertainment (which ostensibly also includes the "News") media.
(Now, Dan... I find that just a tad harsh. But, hey, opinions are like... yada yada... and we all got 'em, dontcha know)
Within any corporate community, there is no innocence.
(Perhaps, Dan... Perhaps... But I do believe that there are some individuals with at least a semblance of integrity, fer all that... Maybe I'll do a 'Media Integrity' poll and see what the 'Masses' think. Yeah! That's the ticket! Thanks fer the idea!... I had one all ready awaitin' in the wings, but I'll save that fer another week... and go with...)
New Question
The 'DanD cynically inspired Media Integrity' Edition...
Are there any Media-Types (TV, Radio, Print) that you believe have 'Integrity' enough that you respect them and their works? (Even in the morning, haha)... Name names, if'n ya please...
1.) Heck, yeah!...
2.) No way! They're all corporate dupes...
Send your response to
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman and Robin Wells: The Way Out of the Slump (nybooks.com)
We've already argued-in the first part of this review-that a rise in government deficits played a key role in preventing the crisis of 2008 from turning into a full replay of the Great Depression. Why not use more deficit spending to push for a full recovery? That's a question that deserves more serious consideration than it has received so far.
Connie Schultz: This is Not Karl Rove's Texas (creators.com)
It's easy to spot progressive activists these days. Just look at their hands. Redder than radishes from all that hand-wringing over whether Democrats will bother to vote in next month's midterm elections.
Paul Krugman: Fear and Favor (nytimes.com)
Media moguls have often promoted politicians who would serve their interests. But at Fox News, it isn't stopping there.
Terry Savage: The Sandwich Generation (creators.com)
Life is taking a big bite out of the "Sandwich Generation." If you're a boomer, it's more likely than ever that you're helping with the care of both your aging parents and your adult children. You're the "meat" in the middle of the sandwich - and the center is getting thin.
Marilynn Preston: Want to Celebrate Your 95th? Do What the Ikarians Do (creators.com)
Why did the chicken cross the road? Who cares? Ponder this, instead: Why do some people live considerably longer than others? Genetics play only a small part in longevity, 20 percent or less. Much more important are your personal lifestyle choices: what you eat and drink; the amount of physical activity you get; how you handle tension, trauma, time.
Evert Cilliers aka Adam Ash: ARE OUR WRITERS AS LOUSY AS OUR BANKERS? (3quarksdaily.com)
There is a certain kind of art made here in America for a lofty but banal purpose: to enliven the contemporary educated mind.
PAUL CONSTANT: Where All the Money Went (thestranger.com)
Clinton's First Secretary of Labor Has a Bold Plan to Save Us
Lucy Mangan: "Agatha Christie: getting away with murder" (guardian.co.uk)
More than 4m copies of Agatha Christie's 80 whodunnits are bought around the world every year. But is she really as good as her fans say, or have they just lost the plot?
Susanna Rustin: Salman's children ?(guardian.co.uk)
The fatwa, the four marriages, the party image - Salman Rushdie has become known for more than his prizewinning novels. But his sons are what matter most, so he has written a book for teenagers.
Susan King: "Classic Hollywood: Piper Laurie" (Los Angeles Times)
The actress split from a movie studio and was embraced by TV before earning multiple Oscar nominations.
wrote:
responded:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestions
Michelle in AZ
BadtotheboneBob
MI Stem Cells
Michigan's developing stem cell industry is primed to grow and is expected to attract startup companies along with high-paying jobs in the research and medical fields over the next few years... Much of the industry is centered at the state's premier universities, but a handful of private entities also have emerged. Economic officials are hopeful the three-day World Stem Cell Summit, which starts today in Detroit,
(Not NYC, LA or Chicago... Dee-troit!)
will spark more interest in Michigan. Some 1,200 scientists, industry leaders and advocates from around the world are attending...
State aims for stem cell boon | detnews.com | The Detroit News
Hoo Ha! More proof that the rumors of Michigan's demise have been greatly exaggerated!
BadtotheboneBob
Thanks, B2tbBob!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Nearly 50° cooler than last Monday.
Wins Thurber Prize
Steve Hely
Steve Hely isn't funny only when he's writing for "The Office."
Hely's modestly titled novel, "How I Became a Famous Novelist," was awarded the 2010 Thurber Prize for American Humor on Monday night.
Hely, who has previously written for "30 Rock" and "The Late Show With David Letterman," received $5,000.
Previous winners of the Thurber award include Jon Stewart and David Sedaris. The prize, which was founded in 1997, is named for the humorist-cartoonist James Thurber.
Steve Hely
Maine Fundraiser Nets $1.1M
Patrick Dempsey
A two-day run, walk and bike fundraiser in Maine that was the brainchild of "Grey's Anatomy" star Patrick Dempsey has raised more than $1.1 million.
Proceeds from the "Dempsey Challenge" will benefit the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.
On Sunday, Dempsey led a pack of riders through Lewiston. In all, more than 4,000 people registered for the bicycling, walking and running events held Saturday and Sunday.
Dempsey, who started the event last year, was spurred to action by his mother's experience battling cancer. He was born in Lewiston and grew up in nearby Turner and Buckfield.
Patrick Dempsey
Theater Group Wins Grant
The Civilians
A New York-based theater troupe known for projects investigating real-life topics has been awarded a $700,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.
The Obie-winning group The Civilians received the rare three-year award for their production of a musical about climate change called "The Great Immensity."
The work tells the story of a photojournalist who disappears while working in the rain forests of Panama. It's based on interviews with scientists, trappers, shippers, indigenous community leaders, tour guides and politicians.
The musical has a story by Steven Cosson, who also wrote "This Beautiful City." Music and lyrics are by Michael Friedman, whose "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" is about to debut on Broadway.
The Civilians
Visits Cuba
Wynton Marsalis
A country known for groundbreaking jazz is getting a visit from one of America's leading trumpeters, who spent the weekend jamming with Cuban legends ahead of a concert series that will put musicians from the two Cold War enemies on stage together.
The visit by Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra kicks off a season of unprecedented cultural exchanges - with the American Ballet Theater scheduled to perform in Havana next month in honor of Cuban ballet legend Alicia Alonso.
Several Cuban musicians have also traveled to the United States in recent months, taking advantage of a more relaxed visa policy under President Barack Obama.
Marsalis, seated next to Cuban jazz great Chucho Valdes and Buena Vista Social Club diva Omara Portuondo at a news conference on Monday, said it was a thrill to be in Havana for the concerts. While Marsalis has been in Cuba before, it was the first trip by New York's Lincoln Center jazz group.
Wynton Marsalis
Gibson Guitars Honor
John Lennon
The Gibson Guitar factory in Montana is finishing a project to honor what would have been the 70th birthday of Beatles singer and guitarist John Lennon.
Gibson Acoustic's director of sales and marketing, Robi Johns, tells the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that Yoko Ono asked the company to release a limited number of J-160Es - the model of guitar her husband played.
Johns says the company is releasing three models with suggested retail prices of between $4,700 and $15,000.
The company made 70 of the all-white "Imagine" model, and 70 replicas of Lennon's J-160E as it was when he was murdered 20 years ago. On the guitar, Lennon had drawn sketches of himself and Ono.
John Lennon
Boosts 'Idiot' Ticket Sales
Billie Joe Armstrong
Having Billie Joe Armstrong on Broadway was - not surprisingly - a pretty smart move for "American Idiot."
Producers of the rock musical say ticket sales soared to more than $1 million last week when the Green Day front man joined the show for eight performances ending Sunday.
The show's weekly average gross has been $740,000 since it opened on April 20 at the St. James Theatre. Last week it was $1,092,334.
Armstrong, who composed and co-wrote the musical, made his Broadway debut as "St. Jimmy." Actor Tony Vincent will resume performances in the role on Oct. 12, with understudies playing the part until then.
Billie Joe Armstrong
Director Sentenced
John McTiernan
"Die Hard" director John McTiernan was sentenced to one year in prison Monday for lying about his association with a private investigator to illegally wiretap a movie producer.
In a stinging rebuke of the 59-year-old McTiernan, U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer said he should receive a harsher sentence than the year recommended by prosecutors because he didn't accept responsibility for his actions.
McTiernan pleaded guilty in July to two counts of making false statements to the FBI. He also pleaded guilty to one count of perjury for lying to a federal judge while trying to withdraw a guilty plea.
Fischer also ordered McTiernan to pay a $100,000 fine and serve three years probation. He will remain free on bond pending an appeal. His attorneys said the conditional plea agreement allows their client to challenge certain pretrial rulings made by Fischer.
John McTiernan
'Big Brother' Champ Admits Guilt
Adam Jasinski
The winner of the CBS reality show "Big Brother 9" has pleaded guilty to a drug charge and to failing to file a tax return for the year he won the $500,000 prize.
Adam Jasinski, of Delray Beach, Fla., pleaded guilty Monday to both charges in U.S. District Court in Boston. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 11, but Jasinski was immediately handcuffed and taken into custody to begin serving his time.
The 32-year-old Jasinski was arrested outside Boston last October and charged with possession with intent to distribute oxycodone, the main active ingredient in OxyContin and other painkillers.
Jasinski won $500,000 on "Big Brother 9" in 2008. The series features contestants who live under constant surveillance and vote once a week to evict each other.
Adam Jasinski
Court Decides Who Owes What
Don Johnson
Among those who must pay Don Johnson his $51.7 million in "Nash Bridges" money are billionaires Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner and their 2929 Entertainment, the actor's representatives said.
A judge ruled late Thursday that it was Cuban and Wagner's 2929, along with Rysher Entertainment and investment firm Qualia Capital -- operated by Amir Malin and Ken Shapiro -- that should foot the bill for money owed the actor stemming from his partial ownership of "Nash," a TV series he co-created in 1995. Johnson starred with Cheech Marin in the cop show, which aired from 1996 to 2001.
Johnson was awarded $23.2 million in July, a sum that was bumped by an additional $28.5 million in September, but it wasn't clear who was responsible for paying out all that cash.
Johnson's legal squabble essentially was with Rysher, but the entity once owned by Cox Enterprises has changed hands a few times, and it was unclear who has been benefiting from lucrative international reruns of "Nash."
Qualia owns Rysher now, and 2929 owned it from 2001-06, so they are on the hook with Rysher for the money owed Johnson, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Stern said.
Don Johnson
Musicians Go On Strike
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Musicians who are refusing to accept steep pay cuts demanded by the financially struggling Detroit Symphony Orchestra have hit the picket lines.
Dozens of tuxedo-clad musicians began picketing Monday morning at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in downtown Detroit, as a French horn quartet played in the background.
Symphony management declared an impasse Sept. 1 and began implementing a 33 percent base pay cut for orchestra veterans, from $104,650 to $70,200 in the first year.
Musicians had offered a 22 percent reduction in the first year to $82,000.
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
New Zealand Offers To Mediate
"The Hobbit"
Where exactly is Middle Earth? Firmly planted in New Zealand, if the country's prime minister has anything to say about it.
In the latest development in the fight over unionization of actors on "The Hobbit," Prime Minster John Key has offered to have government officials mediate the dispute between director-producer Peter Jackson and the union seeking to organize the production.
Government mediation of a unionization dispute is unusual in New Zealand, but in this case, the stakes for the country are high.
It remains unclear where the movie will be shot. Jackson said late last week that Warner Bros., which is financing the two-part film "to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars," is considering moving the project from New Zealand to Eastern Europe.
"The Hobbit"
Lady Gaga & Justin Bieber Nearing
1 Billion YouTube Views
Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber are both approaching a major milestone of the new music industry: one billion all-time YouTube views.
Lady Gaga should pass one billion views around October 20 if she continues on her current pace, according to David Birch, communications director at TubeMogul. During September, she averaged almost 1.8 million views per day.
Birch says Bieber will surpass the 1 billion views milestone around November 1 if he keeps up his current pace. During September, Bieber's videos were viewed about 3.7 million times per day.
After Lady Gaga and Bieber, the next closest artist is Michael Jackson at around 600 million views, says Birch.
1 Billion YouTube Views
Hollywood Festival To Honor
Stallone
Sylvester Stallone will receive a career achievement award this month at the Hollywood Film Festival.
Stallone will be feted October 20 at the 14th annual fest's awards gala in Beverly Hills.
The event will also pay tribute to Morgan Freeman and business partner Lori McCreary of digital entertainment company Revelations Entertainment for their technological innovations. Director Tom Hooper will be honored with a helming award.
Stallone
Photograph Auction
Richard Avedon
More than 60 photographs by Richard Avedon, some rare and unpublished, will be auctioned next month by Christie's in Paris to create the Richard Avedon Foundation endowment fund.
The November 20 sale, the largest auction ever of Avedon's work, is expected to fetch up to $6 million or more for the fund designed to help teach a generation flooded with technology to harness the power of photography.
"We want to help organizations that use photography to tell the truth about things," said Paul Roth, executive director of the Richard Avedon Foundation in New York.
The sale is also expected to confirm the resurrection of the photography market, which swooned with the economy before finding its footing. Avedon's early images, made over a half century ago, aimed for similar results in his beloved Paris.
Richard Avedon
Twilight For Fading Facade
Forks High School
The end is near for the brick facade of the oldest Forks high school in Washington state, described in the "Twilight" novels as the place where heroine Bella Swan meets vampire love Edward Cullen.
Often photographed by "Twilight" fans, the main doorway from the 1920's-era building carries the words "Quillayute Valley High School." It was left standing last summer when the rest of the structure was demolished.
The Peninsula Daily News reports the school district had hoped to leave the facade as a stand-alone entrance to the new school campus.
But saving the facade would cost $271,000 and the school board can't afford it.
Forks High School
100 Best, First Films
Online Film Critics
Orson Welles's "Citizen Kane," David Lynch's "Eraserhead" and George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" are the top three in the Online Film Critics Society's selection of the 100 best, first feature films.
The OFCS said in a statement Monday that its writers have voted on their choices for "the most provocative, innovative and memorable directing debuts" in cinema history.
The top 10 also include "The Maltese Falcon" by John Huston, "Breathless" by Jean-Luc Godard, Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs," "The Night of the Hunter" from Charles Laughton," the Coen brothers' "Blood Simple," as well as "The 400 Blows" by Francois Truffaut and Sidney Lumet's "12 Angry Men." A full list can be found at the group's website, www.ofcs.org/
Online Film Critics
In Memory
Norman Wisdom
British comedian and actor Norman Wisdom has died at the age of 95.
His family says he died peacefully late Monday at a nursing home on the Isle of Man. Wisdom had suffered from a series of strokes in the months before his death.
Wisdom specialized in family friendly slapstick comedy in the 1950s and 1960s. He was known for his roles as a clumsy underdog battling against adversity. He also acted in Broadway in the 1960s, when he was nominated for a Tony Award for his work in the comedy "Walking Happy."
His filmed included "Trouble In Store" in 1953 and "The Night They Raided Minsky's" in 1968, which he made in Hollywood. His subsequent career was largely based in television.
Norman Wisdom
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