David Podvin: ETERNAL NIGHTMARE (makethemaccountable.com)
When Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez commanded the American troops in Iraq he passionately insisted that the United States was winning. Now that Sanchez has retired he describes our nation's occupation of Iraq as being "a nightmare with no end in sight." This statement not only reverses Sanchez' pronouncements made while in uniform, it also contradicts the optimistic congressional testimony of current commander General David Petraeus who apparently really did betray us.
Ben McGrath: Chew On (from February 9, 2004; www.newyorker.com)
The truly great scientific discoveries-gravity laughing gas, Velcro-always seem to happen by accident. Take the case of Dr. Kenneth Allen, whose latest findings indicate that we should perhaps overturn one of the most sacred laws of primary education: the prohibition on chewing gum in the classroom. Allen, a professor at N.Y.U.'s College of Dentistry, is an unlikely champion of Bazooka and Double Bubble, and yet he has recently shown, if inadvertently, that a pack-a-day chewing habit may help account for the difference between the honor roll and summer school
ROGER EBERT: 66 films in 5 days; 1 meal in 5 hours (from May 17, 2000)
CANNES, France -- My editor was impressed that I had seen 16 movies in five days here. "I could easily double that," I told her, "if I could get anyone to bring me a check." What is it with the French reluctance to present l'addition after a meal? They have a horror of taking your money.
ROGER EBERT: The Answer Man
Q. Re your answer regarding the Official Rule of Critic's Conduct on the matter of bathroom breaks: I am astounded at your admission that you leave a movie theater to use the washroom during a screening.
Robert Wuhl, eminent actor, writer and now historian (who knew?), makes his
way to the HBO podium as a special guest professor to regale viewers with some
of the stories that made up America...and the stories that America simply made
up! Filmed in front of a classroom of enthusiastic college students, the Emmy®-
winning star of HBO's Arli$$ delivers an imaginative, irreverent comedic "lecture"
that playfully examines some of the facts, myths, and myths-that-became-facts
that have permeated American history. Mixing current pop culture with historical
events, Wuhl explores the legitimacy of some quintessential American icons and
exposes some little-known truths.
Today's Trivia Question
Q: Which one of the following has NOT been a politician: an actor, a basketball player, a jockey or a professional wrestler?
A: 116 years (1337 - 1453) between the French and English.
mj was first again with:
If I remember things correctly, the 100 years war had been plugging along
for quite some time before Jean D'arc turned to toast around 1500, and
continued up past the third quarter of the next century until about 1600
so I'm going to guess at 150-200 years (people lacked education and
counting to 21 was beyond most men so the concept of 100 covered a lot of
ground). Hey it's early, but I'm never out of snark.
Sally P wrote:
Jeeze Marty,
I don't know that there is a definitive "end" to the 100-Year War. This, because it was actually lots of smaller wars that resulted in the secular leaders busy fighting each other leaving the people of Western Europe WO "real" leadership for over 200 years.
The "War," started around the time that English fleece was being exchanged for Flemish cloth, that was then taken to southern France and exchanged for wine, which was then shipped back into England! (I kid you not.)
At that time, the English king controlled much of France, the southern part in particular. France wanted to regain control of this "rich" region, so war broke out in earnest around 1340. The French assembled a huge fleet of ships to support an army with which they intended to crush all resistance from Flanders. When the fleet (ships) had anchored in the Netherlands, the English attacked and destroyed it with fire ships and had an English victory
The English now had control of the Channel and North Sea.
Then, the English decided invaded northern France in 1345 (who knows why, but you know how men love their war) but the Black Death had arrived, and their army was weakened by the illness and death.
As the war dragged on, the English were slowly forced back. As the English troops tried to make their way safely to an English-protected Channel port, the French attempted to force them into a battle. The English were finally pinned against the coast by (at that time) a much superior French army. The English prevailed though, because their army used smarted tactics and better weapons.
Ten years later there was another battle, at the same place, and the French lost again. (Circa 1356) The French king and many nobles were captured, and many soldiers and civilians were killed.
The first phase of the war ended with a treaty in 1360, but France continued to suffer. The English had employed mercenaries (think Blackwater here) who, once they were no longer paid, lived off the country by theft and plunder.
The years went by, and the English were slowly forced back. By then, the English found they had less French land to support their war effort, and, as they fought on, the war became more expensive for them to fight.
As the wars slowed down, however, it caused conflicts at home, like a Peasants' Revolt (1381) and the beginning of the civil wars.
Nevertheless, the English took the offensive once again - and the French relapsed into their old tactics of feudal warfare (less effective) and were again disastrously defeated (1415). The English recovered much of the ground they had lost, and a new peace was based upon Henry the V's marriage to the French princess, Katherine. When Henry died in 1422, the war resumed.
By then, the French had developed a sense of national identity, and, more importantly, the French now had a greater unity, so the French king was able to put together massive armies. In addition, the French government began to appreciate the "modern" style of warfare, and new military commanders, and started to use guerilla, and "small war" tactics of fighting. (I don't think you need any more battles and dates to get my point here...)
Nevertheless, the war continued to drag on for many years thereafter. It was not until 1565 that the English were forced out of Calais, their last foothold in continental France (but they still hold the Channel Islands, the last remnant of England's medieval empire in France).
This last war marked the end of English attempts to control continental territory, so based on this, I surmise that the "War" lasted from 1340 to 1565 - that's 225 years by my calculations...
"Those who turn their backs on history, are bound to repeat it" (in Iraq perchance)?
(European History was my minor in college, 100 years ago, you see...)
Anyway, I thought I'd give it a try...
Paul of Seattle said:
Q: How long did the 100 Year War last?
As long as the chimp wants the Iraq occupation to last.
Alan J said:
116 years. 1337 to 1453.
And, CM wrote:
116 year war
A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman covers the period of the 100 years war in an easy to read package.
When you can't think of a good name for a war I guess giving it a number works just as well.
By the way the 30 years war wasn't 30 years long either. It wasn't even one war it was a few wars all bundled together. I think marketing came up with the idea.
The chairman of the Republican Party in Brown County (Wisconsin) faces criminal
charges for allegedly fondling a 16-year-old Ethan House runaway and
providing the boy with beer and marijuana late last year.
Donald Fleischman, 37, of Allouez, was charged last month with two counts
of child enticement, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a
child and a single charge of exposing himself to a child.
The boy told police that when he would go to bed, Fleischman would fondle
him and that on one occasion he awoke to find Fleischman at the foot of
his bed masturbating. Green Bay Press Gazette
CBS begins the night with a FRESH'NCIS', followed by a FRESH'The Unit', then a FRESH'Cane'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Richard Simmons, Casey Affleck, and Sondre Lerche.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Vicente Fox, Leslie Bibb, and Ron Pearson.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH'The Singing Bee', followed by a FRESH'The Biggest Loser', then a FRESH'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
Scheduled on a FRESHLeno are Reese Witherspoon, David Koechner, and PJ Harvey.
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Jake Gyllenhaal, Christina Hendricks, and Ghostland Observatory.
On a RERUNCarson Daly (from 9/11/07) are Mila Kunis and Kyle Kinane.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH'Cavemen', followed by a FRESH'Carpoolers', then a FRESH'Dancing With The Stars', followed by a FRESH'Boston Legal'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Kristin Chenoweth, Nick Cannon, the fourth eliminated celebrity from "Dancing with the Stars", and Angie Stone.
The CW offers a FRESH'Beauty & The Geek', followed by a FRESH'Reaper'.
Faux has LIVE'MLB Baseball - American League - Game 4', then pads the left coast with old 'Malcolm' and 'Simpsons'.
MY has a FRESH'The Academy', followed by a recycled 'Jail', and another recycled 'Jail'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', 'Dog The Bounty Hunter', another 'Dog The Bounty Hunter', still another 'Dog The Bounty Hunter', 'Criss Angel', and another 'Criss Angel'.
AMC offers the movie 'Catwoman', followed by the movie 'The Last Of The Mohicans', then the movie 'High Plains Drifter'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Ep 13 Elliot;
[1:00 PM] Everything Must Go - Episode 7;
[1:30 PM] Everything Must Go - Episode 8;
[2:00 PM] The Weakest Link - Episode 1;
[3:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 2;
[3:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 3;
[4:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 10;
[4:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 11;
[5:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 3 Momma Cherri's;
[6:00 PM] My Family - Ep. 13 Breakable;
[6:30 PM] My Family - Ep. 1 Absent Vixen;
[7:00 PM] BBC World News America;
[8:00 PM] Torchwood - Ep 6 Countrycide;
[9:00 PM] Ultimate Force - Ep 4 Breakout;
[10:00 PM] World News Today;
[11:00 PM] Torchwood - Ep 6 Countrycide;
[12:00 AM] Ultimate Force - Ep 4 Breakout;
[1:00 AM] Absolutely Fabulous - Ep. 1 Fashion;
[1:40 AM] The Catherine Tate Show - Episode 8;
[2:00 AM] The Weakest Link - Episode 2;
[3:00 AM] Hollyoaks - Episode 32;
[3:30 AM] Changing Rooms - Ep.1 Liverpool;
[4:00 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 36 Wetherby 3;
[4:30 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 38 Westpoint 13;
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Episode 6;
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Episode 7;
[6:00 AM] BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Kathy Griffin', another 'Kathy Griffin', 'Queer Eye', and another 'Queer Eye'.
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', last night's 'Jon Stewart', last night's 'Colbert Report', 'Mind Of Mencia', 'South Park', and 'Brian Regan: Standing Up'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is Meryl Streep.
Scheduled on a FRESHColbert Report is Bob Drogin.
FX the movie 'Maid In Manhattan', followed by the movie 'Crash', then a FRESH'Damages'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', another 'Modern Marvels', 'The Universe', and 'Mega Disasters'.
IFC -
[07:00 AM] Media Lab Results;
[07:15 AM] Kitchen Stories;
[09:00 AM] Spellbound;
[10:45 AM] The Tao of Steve;
[12:15 PM] Kitchen Stories;
[02:00 PM] Spellbound;
[03:45 PM] The Tao of Steve;
[05:15 PM] Kitchen Stories;
[07:00 PM] Let Him Have It;
[09:00 PM] Fresh;
[11:00 PM] Millions;
[12:45 AM] Action Indies: Extraordinary Location Scouts;
[01:15 AM] Lost and Delirious;
[03:00 AM] Fresh;
[05:00 AM] Millions. (ALL TIMES EDT)
SciFi has 'Dead Like Me', 'Eureka', another 'Eureka', and 'ECW'.
Sundance -
[04:15 AM] Venus Boyz;
[06:00 AM] TransGeneration Reunion;
[06:30 AM] A Man's Gotta Do;
[08:15 AM] Janice Beard: 45 Words Per Minute;
[09:45 AM] Hammer & Tickle;
[11:15 AM] No Looking Back;
[01:00 PM] Look Both Ways;
[02:45 PM] A Man's Gotta Do;
[04:30 PM] Janice Beard: 45 Words Per Minute;
[06:00 PM] Amos Lee, Randy Crawford & David Gilmour;
[07:00 PM] In the Sun: Michael Stipe and Special Guests;
[08:00 PM] Renee Zellweger on Christiane Amanpour;
[09:00 PM] Drive;
[09:35 PM] Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea;
[10:45 PM] Drive;
[11:15 PM] Private;
[12:45 AM] Twin Town;
[02:30 AM] Hung;
[03:00 AM] Episode 1;
[04:00 AM] La Haine;
[05:40 AM] Look Both Ways. (ALL TIMES EDT)
In this photo provided by Harper's Magazine, Walter Cronkite and Ken Burns, right, are seen at a party hosted by Harper's Magazine to celebrate Ken Burns' The War at Tribeca Cinemas in New York, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007. Comments from Cronkite, the legendary World War II reporter, introduced an excerpt from the documentary followed by a discussion with Ken Burns.
Photo by David Polenberg
U.S. broadcasters promised on Monday to air more than $327 million worth of television spots as part of a broad campaign to alert consumers about the approaching switch-over to digital television.
The major television networks, as well as 95 station-owning broadcast companies, pledged to run the ads as part of a $697 million campaign designed to keep viewers from being caught off guard when broadcasters switch to digital signals by February 17, 2009.
Broadcasters are required to switch to digital signals from analog by February 17, 2009. If owners of analog televisions do not get a converter box, subscribe to satellite or digital cable, or replace their TV with a digital television by that date, they will not be able to watch television.
Talk about bad omens. An overhead NBC television camera mounted on wires collapsed onto the turf during a timeout early in Sunday night's game between the New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks, almost hitting two Seattle players and causing a 10-minute delay.
The Saints had just called timeout with 11:24 remaining in the first quarter when the camera slumped and then fell a few yards from quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and the rest of the huddling Seahawks. After the camera was righted somewhat off the ground, it fell again - and nearly hit Bobby Engram as the receiver was walking to the sideline.
Game officials then cleared both teams from the middle of the field while the network got the camera back up to normal height. As the camera moved up and down the field for testing, Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren looked up at its every move with his mouth agape. When the camera moved to the sideline, Seattle's players all cleared out from beneath it.
After a 10-minute delay, the game resumed with the camera parked above the Seahawks bench area - with players and coaches making sure they did not stand under it.
Author J.K. Rowling signs copies of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' for 1,600 public school children Monday, Oct. 15, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Rowling was on a tour to promote the seventh and final Harry Potter book.
Photo by Ric Francis
India may be forced to withdraw its Oscar entry in the foreign film category because of alleged bias in the selection process.
"Maybe there will be no film from India," Vinod Pandey, chairman of the Film Federation of India, said Monday. "Anything is possible. We can reaffirm our choice, send another or maybe India would retire this year."
The Bombay High Court has asked the federation to respond to a lawsuit challenging the selection of well-known filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra's "Eklavya: The Royal Guard."
First-time director Bhavna Talwar filed a petition claiming one panelist on the 11-member jury had edited a promotional short film for "Eklavya," and that two other jury members were also close to Chopra.
A collection of manuscripts and musical scores stolen from Arthur Rubinstein's Paris apartment by the Nazis has been donated to the Juilliard School by the pianist's family.
The Nazis stole the material from Rubinstein's music library in 1940, and took it to Berlin. The Soviets took control of the collection in 1945, returning some of the material to Germany in the late 1950s. Experts began going through the items in recent years to figure out where it belonged, and returned it to Rubinstein's heirs last year.
The collection, featuring 71 items including original scores from other composers autographed for Rubinstein, will be kept at Juilliard as The Arthur Rubinstein Music Collection and available to scholars.
CNN will shift its early evening lineup, moving "Lou Dobbs Tonight" an hour later to 7 p.m. and stretching "The Situation Room" across three consecutive hours for the first time in its two-year history.
Dobbs, one of CNN's two highest-rated shows, will shore up the network's programming ahead of the February debut of latest hire Campbell Brown's 8 p.m. program. It also moves Dobbs, whose brand of opinion and analysis has made inroads against Fox News Channel's show with Brit Hume, head-to-head against "The Fox Report with Shepard Smith."
Bluegrass veteran Earl Scruggs stands with young country music star Taylor Swift, left, as they pose with their awards after being honored by the Nashville Songwriters Foundation Sunday, Oct. 14, 2007 in Nashville, Tenn. Scruggs was one inducted into the group's hall of fame and Swift was named songwriter/artist of the year.
Photo by Mark Humphrey
A Francis Bacon painting the artist donated to an art college in lieu of rent decades ago has sold for $16.4 million at an auction where solid but unspectacular results suggest global financial turmoil may be unsettling the art market.
"Study from the Human Body, Man Turning on the Light" was bought late Sunday by an anonymous bidder at Christie's auction house. The painting was given by Bacon to the Royal College of Art in 1969 as payment for renting a studio, and the college sold it Sunday to fund a new campus in south London.
The price paid for the Bacon painting, which includes a buyer's premium, was in the middle of Christie's pre-sale estimate of $14 million to $18 million.
French rocker Bertrand Cantat, who was serving an eight-year jail sentence for the 2003 murder of his actress girlfriend, was released on parole on Tuesday, a justice official said.
Cantat, 43, lead singer of the group Noir Desir, was convicted in March 2004 for beating his French girlfriend Marie Trintignant to death during a row in a hotel in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
Trintignant, the daughter of veteran French film star Jean-Louis Trintignant, had been in Vilnius to shoot a television movie about the French writer Colette, directed by her mother Nadine, when she was killed.
U.S. film director David Lynch looks on during a meeting with Israel's President Shimon Peres at the Presidential residence in Jerusalem, Monday, Oct. 15, 2007. Lynch, a longtime proponent of meditation, arrived in Israel to promote meditation as a way of achieving peace. He will also be holding several seminars on filmmaking.
Photo by Dan Balilty
Gossip is more powerful than truth, a study showed on Monday, suggesting people believe what they hear through the grapevine even if they have evidence to the contrary.
Researchers, testing students using a computer game, also found gossip played an important role when people make decisions, said Ralf Sommerfeld, an evolutionary biologist at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, who led the study.
In evolutionary terms, gossip can be an important tool for people to acquire information about others' reputations or navigate through social networks at work and in their everyday lives, the study said.
A letter from Alfred Hitchcock in which he mentions Paul Newman, Julie Andrews, Shirley MacLaine, and Walt Disney is on display at the 'Grace, Princess of Monaco: A Tribute to the Life and Legacy of Grace Kelly' exhibit Monday, Oct. 15, 2007 at Sotheby's in New York. The exhibit is open to the public Oct. 15 through Oct. 26.
Photo by Mary Altaffer
Brazilian and Argentine paleontologists have discovered the largely complete fossil of a new species of giant dinosaur that roamed what is now northern Patagonia about 80 million years ago.
The herbivorous Futalognkosaurus dukei measured an estimated 105 feet to 112 feet from head to tail and was as high as a four-storey building. It is one of the three biggest dinosaurs yet found in the world.
Futalognkosaurus dukei's name is derived from the indigenous Mapuche language meaning "giant chief of the lizards," and the name of U.S. power company Duke Energy Corp, which financed a large part of the excavation in Argentina.
John Barsamian, 91, of Oakland, Calif., looks over the top of a shipping crate he used to send home a globe at left, that was once Adolf Hitler's, at the Greg Martin auction house in San Francisco, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2007. It was May of 1945 when Barsamian, a young U.S. Army officer, his driver and a medic ambled up to Hitler's mountain home of Berghof, just days after the German surrender to Allied forces. Much of the home had already succumbed to the hands of souvenir seeking soldiers, but Chief Warrant Officer John Barsamian was able to return to his Oakland, Calif. home with one of the Fuhrer's prized leftovers, a globe of the world that Nazi Germany had so many designs on. Barsamian now plans to auction off the curious piece of war memorabilia.
Photo by Eric Risberg
Spain's Prado museum launched a more detailed version of its Internet site Monday ahead of the opening at the end of the month of a long-awaited new annex which will extend floor space by half.
Available in 12 languages, www.museodelprado.es provides online access to a greater number of works that comprise the Madrid museum's vast collection as well as a search engine that eases consultation of its database.
A just completed five-year expansion and renovation project, the biggest in the museum's 200-year history, added new areas totaling 22,000 square metres (237,000 square-feet) which will allow 1,500 paintings to be displayed.
Actress Carol Bruce, perhaps best known for her role as Mama Carlson on television's "WKRP in Cincinnati," has died. She was 87.
Bruce began her entertainment career as a Montreal nightclub singer and went on to captivate Broadway audiences with her sultry voice in the 1940 musical comedy "Louisiana Purchase."
She appeared in the films "This Woman Is Mine," "Keep 'em Flying" and "Behind the Eight Ball" between 1941 and 1942, then returned to the stage, where she was praised for her Broadway performances in the 1946 revival of "Showboat."
In 1979, she took over the role that Sylvia Sidney had originated on "WKRP in Cincinnati" a year earlier as Mama Carlson, the tough-talking owner of a radio station managed by her son Arthur, played by Gordon Jump. Bruce kept the recurring role until the series ended in 1982.
Wyndchymes Tess, a 17-month-old Japanese Bobtail cat, is held by one of her owners, Karen Bishop, of Freehold, N.J., after winning 'Best of the Best' at the fifth annual CFA-Iams Cat Championship at Madison Square Garden in New York, Sunday Oct. 14, 2007.
Photo by Tina Fineberg
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Make yourself home, take your shoes off...
Go ahead, scratch it if it itches.
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amused or entertained?
Do you have a great album no one's heard?
How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
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A box set the whole world should own?
Vile, filthy rumors about Republican musicians?
Just plain vile, filthy rumors?
This is your place.
