Issue #83
Disinfotainment Today
By Michael Dare
'Best of TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Comment
Re: December 8
Just a reminder... Today, Dec. 8 is the anniversary of that ghastly day when John Lennon was shot. I still get choked up remembering how much he gave to us, and just when he seemed to be able to relax and enjoy being a New York father, he was cut down.
I still get choked up remembering the horror and the realization that after Dec. 8, 1980 there was no chance of a Beatles reunion. I put the picture of John from the White Album in my office window, and wear black to work, as I have nearly every Dec. 8 since then.
Tonight, around 10:30 I will probably play the tape of Nightline, Dec. 8, 1980, followed by blasting our yuppified neighborhood with the recording of "Imagine". Then I'll probably have to play the VHS of The Holy Quadrangle taking skiing lessons to "Ticket to Ride" from "Help" for a little comic relief. That, and a good stiff Coke & Jack Daniels should "get me through the night".
Give Peace a Chance,
Ray
John Winston Ono Lennon
Thanks, Ray!
Reader Suggestion
Season's Greetings!
Santa and musical flatulence. Danish Flash Animation
I laughed until I cried.
Turn up your speakers and give it a minute to load, full screen setting recommended.
Astro
Thanks, Astro!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
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In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly sunny with a pleasant breeze.
I noticed by the stats (that Yahoo provides) this site was inaccessible for several hours yesterday afternoon. Thank you, Yahoo.
The grocery strike goes on - 9th week. While it's making grocery shopping even more of a challenge (I HATE shopping), I'm willing to put up with the inconvenience for as long as it takes.
The kid will be going back to school tomorrow & I'll be making a mad dash out to the Valley to visit Uncle Jimmy.
Tonight, Tuesday, CBS rolls out a digitally remastered 'Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer', followed by a RERUN 'Guardian', then a RERUN 'Judging Amy'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are Danny DeVito and Tim Russert.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers is Peter Boyle.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH 'Tracy Morgan', followed by a FRESH 'Whoopi', then a FRESH
'Frasier', followed by a FRESH 'Happy Family', then a RERUN 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Jimmy Carter, Melana Scantlin, and John Mayer.
Scheduled on a FRESH Conan are Brian Williams, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Jim Gaffigan.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Harry Connick Jr. and Ben Lee.
ABC opens the night with the FRESH 'I Want A Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown', followed by a FRESH 'Jim', then a FRESH
'Less Than Perfect', followed by a FRESH 'Line Of Fire'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Michael Irvin and Three Days Grace, with this week's guest co-host Method Man.
The WB offers a RERUN 'Gilmore Girls', followed by a RERUN 'One Tree Hill'.
Faux has a RERUN 'That 70s Show', followed by a FRESH 'Simple Life', then a FRESH '24'.
UPN has a RERUN 'One On One', followed by a RERUN 'All Of Us', then a FRESH 'Rock Me Baby', followed by a RERUN
'Half & Half'.
A&E has 'American Justice', 'Biography' (Countdown), and a 2-hour 'Cold case Files'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Searchers', followed by the movie 'Hud', the the movie 'Hombre'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Brown;
[7pm] 'House Invaders' - Rugely;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Guiseley;
[8pm] 'Ground Force' - Cambridge;
[8:30pm] 'Ground Force' - Jersey;
[9pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Basildon;
[9:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Willenhall;
[10pm] 'When Changing Rooms Met the Navy';
[11pm] 'Ground Force' - Cambridge;
[11:30pm] 'Ground Force' - Jersey;
[12am] 'Changing Rooms' - Basildon;
[12:30am] 'Changing Rooms' - Willenhall;
[1am] 'When Changing Rooms Met the Navy';
[2am] 'Ground Force' - Cambridge;
[2:30am] 'Ground Force' - Jersey;
[3am] 'Changing Rooms' - Basildon;
[3:30am] 'Changing Rooms' - Willenhall;
[4am] 'When Changing Rooms Met the Navy';
[5am] 'Ground Force' - Cambridge;
[5:30am] 'Ground Force' - Jersey; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'West Wing', 'Queer Eye', 'Celebrity Poker', 'Queer Eye', and 'West Wing'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jon Stewart is Steve Buscemi.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Deep Sea Detectives', 'Wright Challenge', and 'Hardcore History'.
SciFi has 'Battlestar Galactica' (part 1 of 2), followed by 'Battlestar Galactica' (part 2 of 2).
TCM celebrates madcap heiresses all day & night.
[6am] 'Loose Ankles' (1930);
[7:15am] 'Vagabond Lady' (1935);
[8:30am] 'The Girl From Missouri' (1934);
[10am] 'Smartest Girl In Town' (1936);
[11am] 'Next Time I Marry' (1938);
[12:15pm] 'Lucky Night' (1939);
[2pm] 'The Bride Walks Out' (1936);
[3:30pm] 'Live, Love And Learn' (1937);
[5pm] 'Jewel Robbery' (1932);
[6:30pm] 'Trouble In Paradise' (1932);
[8pm] 'It Happened One Night' (1934);
[10pm] 'Overboard' (1987);
[12am] 'My Man Godfrey' (1936);
[2am] 'Bringing Up Baby' (1938);
[4am] 'The Richest Girl in the World' (1934). (ALL TIMES EST)
Former members of The Doors, Ray Manzarek, keyboardist, left, and guitarist Robby Krieger, light candles at the grave of Jim Morrison at the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris Monday Dec. 8, 2003. Morrison, the legendary singer of the rock badnd who died in Paris in July 1971 would turn 60 Monday.
Photo by Remy de la Mauviniere
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The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Blasts Bush's Energy Bill
Robert Redford
Actor and longtime conservationist Robert Redford criticized the Bush administration's energy legislation, calling it one of the worst bills he's seen in his lifetime.
At a news conference before attending a fund-raiser for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Redford said the bill was flawed from the start.
"It's one of the greatest disgraces in my time," Redford said Sunday. "It's a bad bill, it's a horrible bill.
"I think the American people are being really ill served right now and I think nowhere is it more disgraceful than in how the environment is being treated," the 66-year-old added.
Robert Redford
'Seven Year Itch' Outfit Auctioned
Marilyn Monroe
A sequined, strapless pant-outfit and shawl worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch sold for $58,750 US at a charity auction of Hollywood costumes.
Actress Debbie Reynolds auctioned off nearly 400 movie costumes and props to raise money for a permanent museum for the rest of her Hollywood collection. Saturday's auction was conducted at Le Meridien Hotel in Beverly Hills, with bids also taken online at EBay and by phone.
The event raised more than $500,000 for the planned Hollywood Motion Picture Museum, according to Darren Julien of Julien Entertainment.
Marilyn Monroe
The world's smallest transistor is seen through an electron microscope, released by the NEC Corp. in Tokyo Monday, Dec. 8, 2003. NEC, Japan's electronic company, has developed the transistor, only 1/18th the size of conventional transistors. Theoretically, a typical one-square centimeter semiconductor chip would be able to hold 40 billion transistors, more than 150 times the current amount. NEC hopes to commercialize the transistor in around 2020. The width of the glass-shaped electrode, shown at the center of a white line at bottom, measures 5 nanometers.
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Shakespeare Helped Him Play Gandalf
Sir Ian McKellen
Acclaimed British actor Ian McKellen said Monday Shakespeare acting helped him to play the wizard Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
"Having played Shakespeare where you're often required to be intensely naturalistic and the next minute rhetorical, speaking blank verse and rallying the troops maybe, that's quite a good preparation for playing Gandalf," McKellen told journalists.
Lauded for his performances in Shakespeare tragedies like Macbeth, Hamlet and King Lear and more recently as the villain Magneto in the "X-Men" films, McKellen said bad guys were often the best parts, but Gandalf was an exception.
Sir Ian McKellen
Hurt in ATV Accident
Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne was seriously injured Monday in an accident on the grounds of his estate in England and underwent emergency surgery, a spokeswoman said.
The 55-year-old rock star was riding a "quad bike," or all-terrain vehicle, on his Buckinghamshire property when the accident occurred, according to publicist Cindy Guagenti.
His injuries were not considered to be life-threatening, she said.
An examination showed Osbourne broke his collarbone, six ribs and a vertebra in his neck, according to Guagenti. He was in surgery Monday evening at an undisclosed English hospital.
Ozzy Osbourne
Republican Dirty Trick
Rhonda Miller
Rhonda Miller was among a number of women who stepped forward before the Oct. 7 recall election to accuse "The Terminator" star of groping them or making lewd comments.
At an Oct. 6 press conference, Miller accused Schwarzenegger of pulling up her shirt and taking a photo of her breasts during production of "Terminator 2," in which she worked as a stand-in.
Less than an hour later, Schwarzenegger's campaign staff directed reporters in a memorandum to the lengthy criminal record of a woman named Rhonda Miller on the Los Angeles Superior Court Web site, according to Miller's libel lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, accused the Republican governor and his staff of "a calculated act of character assassination" and contends they knew that Miller was not the woman identified in the court filings as having felony convictions for, among other crimes, prostitution and fraud.
In fact, Miller has never been charged with or convicted of any crime, and was caused "enormous financial and emotional damage" by the misrepresentations, the lawsuit said.
Rhonda Miller
The Smoking Gun: Rhonda Miller's libel suit
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Passes Television Cap Compromise
House of Representatives
The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday approved legislation that would tighten the national television ownership limit, preventing two networks from acquiring more local stations.
The new permanent cap would prevent television networks from owning local stations that collectively reach more than 39 percent of the national audience. Both News Corp.'s Fox network and Viacom Inc.'s CBS network are at that limit.
The Senate must also vote for the compromise, which is included in a $375 billion bill that funds a myriad of government agencies. But Democrats have balked at the compromise and it was unclear whether there were enough votes there to block it. Senators were not expected to consider the issue until January.
House of Representatives
A laserbeam projects the text 'Hello World' onto the 140 meter tall water fountain Jet d'Eau in Geneva, December 8, 2003. The 'Helloworld' project by Swiss artist Johannes Gees will send Short Message Service (SMS) messages via laserbeam onto the U.N. headquarters in New York, the most prominent building in downtown Mumbai, a mountain overlooking Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro and onto the Jet d'Eau in Geneva during the World Summit on Information Society December 10-12.
Photo by Denis Balibouse
PGA's Susskind Award
Lorne Michaels
The Producers Guild of America has tapped "Saturday Night Live" creator and exec producer Lorne Michaels to receive the David Susskind Achievement Award in Television.
Kudos will be presented at the 15th annual PGA Awards on Jan. 17 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
Lorne Michaels
Upset About Murder Charge
Ronnie Spector Greenfield
Ronnie Spector Greenfield, who returned to court Monday to get money she and two other women earned singing as the Ronettes, said she was "devastated" when ex-husband Phil Spector was charged with murder in California.
"I had never seen him violent like that, with a gun or anything," the singer said outside state Supreme Court in Manhattan, where she and the other Ronettes sued Spector over money they claim he owes them from their years of recording for him.
Greenfield acknowledged that the "boy genius" studio producer often threatened her while they were married from 1968 to 1974 and after they divorced. She said he warned her he would have her dispatched by a "hitman," but he was never violent.
Ronnie Spector Greenfield
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Wants to Bring 'Hobbit' to Screen
Peter Jackson
New Zealand film director Peter Jackson, tipped to win an Oscar for his "The Lord of the Rings" epic, said Monday he would like to make "The Hobbit" prequel to the trilogy and work with some of the same actors again.
While many of the lead "Rings" characters do not appear in "The Hobbit" story, the wizard Gandalf, played by Ian McKellen, and Gollum, the cave dweller corrupted by the powerful ring, do and should make a comeback. Arwen, the elf princess played by Liv Tyler, could also feature again, Jackson said.
Peter Jackson
A Chinese worker installs metal frames of a giant Christmas tree being erected outside a shopping mall in Shanghai, December 8, 2003. Though Christmas is not officially celebrated in China, the holiday is increasingly becoming popular as Chinese adopt more Western ideas and festivals in the communist country.
Photo by Claro Cortes IV
Arrested on Drug Charge
George Clinton
Funk music pioneer George Clinton was arrested and charged with drug possession after allegedly telling an officer he had cocaine in his pocket.
Clinton, of Tallahassee, was arrested Saturday and bonded out of jail over the weekend, according to jail officials, who wouldn't release any other information. Clinton's lawyer, Shoshana Zisk of San Francisco, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
Clinton was charged with one felony count of cocaine possession and a misdemeanor count of possession of the pipe, the Tallahassee Democrat first reported for Tuesday papers.
George Clinton
Thanks, Ed2E!
Fined $27,500 for Indecency
WKRK-FM
A Detroit radio station was fined on Monday $27,500 for airing a show during which the hosts and listeners described strange and explicit sex techniques, including physical assaults on women.
The Federal Communications Commission also warned Viacom Inc.'s Infinity radio unit, owner of the station that aired the program, 97.1 WKRK-FM in Detroit, that it could face the revocation of its broadcast license if further serious indecency violations occur.
The show in question, "Deminski & Doyle," aired Jan. 9, 2002 between 4:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., a prime listening hour for children. The show hosts did warn women and children not to listen to that segment.
Infinity told the FCC that the indecency standard violated the broadcaster's free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution. The Detroit show is still on the air.
WKRK-FM
In Memory
Avie Parton
Avie Parton, mother of country music singer, songwriter and actress Dolly Parton, has died after a long illness. She was 80.
Parton was responsible for stitching the patchwork rag coat for young Dolly that the singer later recounted in the song, "Coat of Many Colors." The song helped propel Dolly Parton to stardom and came to symbolize her climb from rags to riches.
She also was the witness at Dolly's secret marriage to Carl Dean in 1966 in Ringgold, Ga.
Mrs. Parton is survived by three brothers and a sister; 10 children, including Dolly; 14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Avie Parton
Two baby tiger cubs explore their habitat and get ready for a stroll, at the Amersfoort Zoo in the Netherlands, December 8, 2003. The two white tiger cubs, Trixi and Maxi, named after Dutch Queen Beatrix and Princess Maxima, took their first stroll into their habitat on Monday after their birth on October 11, 2003.
Photo by Michael Kooren
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'The Osbournes'
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