'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
DAVID LEONHARD: What Statistics on Home Sales Aren't Saying (nytimes.com)
The truth is that the official numbers on house prices - the last refuge of soothing information about the real estate market on the coasts - are deeply misleading. Depending on which set you look at, you'll see that prices have either continued to rise, albeit modestly, or have fallen slightly over the last year. But the statistics have a number of flaws, perhaps the biggest being that they are based only on homes that have actually sold. The numbers overlook all those homes that have been languishing on the market for months, getting only offers that their owners have not been willing to accept.
Love me do (guardian.co.uk)
She's been a stripper, an actor, an addict, a rock star and, since 1994, the seriously troubled widow of Kurt Cobain. Here, she talks to Laura Barton about her 'transgressions', the day Johnny Depp saved her life, and why she's been blacklisted by Hollywood.
Christopher Hitchens: Why Women Aren't Funny (vanityfair.com)
What makes the female so much deadlier than the male? With assists from Fran Lebowitz, Nora Ephron, and a recent Stanford-medical-school study, the author investigates the reasons for the humor gap.
EDWARD ROTHSTEIN: Out of Epic Wars, Another Epic Is Born, the One Called Civilization (nytimes.com)
Aeneas, as far as we can see, is spared the trauma of a hero's death, the kind of prophesied calamity that brought Achilles down at the height of his powers. Instead, Aeneas is last seen, at the close of Virgil's Aeneid, triumphantly planting his iron sword "hilt-deep in his enemy's heart." But has there been a time in recent memory when Aeneas's literary corpse has not been wrestled over, when this Trojan warrior, brought to such vivid life by Virgil, has really been able to rest in peace?
Mark Ravenhill: 'In 1998, I was suddenly very, very cool. Then some fool put me on the university syllabus' (guardian.co.uk)
I always wanted to be cool. I spent the first 30 years of my life painfully aware of my uncoolness, my lack of hipness, my general all-round naffness. So imagine my delight when the success of my first play endowed me with an aura of hip.
Ew, Gross! (slate.com)
Our teenage daughter caught us having sex. Is she traumatized for life?
David Bruce: Wise Up! Children (athensnews.com)
Madeleine L'Engle, author of "A Wrinkle in Time," and her husband, Hugh Franklin, a professional actor who played Dr. Charles Tyler on the TV soap opera "All My Children," decided to move back to New York City after years of living in the country. They explained to their three children that cities were much different from the country, and that they could take only one of their seven cats and only one of their three dogs with them. Their youngest child opened his eyes wide and asked, "And only one child?"
Twinkies and Root Beer
Warning: Not for Atheists!
Freshly Updated!
Dick Eats Bush
Reader Suggestion
Xmas Symbolism
Most of the symbolism at Xmas time has nothing whatsoever to do with
Christianity. For many people, the nativity (most details of which are
inventions that have no foundation in the Bible) is lost amongst the
trees, lights, etc. Those who would like to know the true derivationof those symbols should take a look.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly sunny and cool.
`Mentor of the Year'
Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones' stockpile of awards is about to grow higher - he's been named "Mentor of the Year," by Harvard University's School of Public Health.
The music mogul, 73, is the inaugural recipient of the honor, which will be presented during National Mentoring Month in January 2007.
National Mentoring Month, now in its sixth year, aims to recruit volunteer mentors to work with young people. The theme of the month is "Pass it on. Mentor a child." The monthlong effort also includes "Thank Your Mentor Day" on Jan. 25.
Quincy Jones
Man With An Opinion
Gore Vidal
Celebrated American writer Gore Vidal slammed the four-decade-long U.S. trade embargo against Cuba on Sunday, saying during a visit to the island that he hopes recent changes in U.S. politics will help end the sanctions.
Vidal said the United States is "undergoing tremendous political change," referring to growing opposition to the war in Iraq and the Democratic Party's return to control of both houses of Congress in November midterm elections.
"After more than 40 years, the embargo is ridiculous," said Vidal, who himself ran for Congress and who regularly raises funds for Democratic candidates.
Gore Vidal
Trying Again
Warren Hill
A disappointed Warren Hill says he's going to try again to sell his fabled acetate of the Velvet Underground's famous first recording, despite being thwarted by a prankster EBay bidder.
Hill, a soft-spoken 30-year-old who started his own tiny vintage record store six months ago, sounded downcast about the results of the Internet auction that concluded Friday with the highest of 253 bids clicking in at C$178,431.51.
The bid was too good to be true.
He's not sure if he's going the Internet auction route again and was cautious about speculating on his plans.
Warren Hill
Judge Rejects Frat Boys Request
'Borat'
A judge rejected a request by two racist fraternity brothers to halt the DVD release of the hit spoof movie "Borat." West Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph S. Biderman also refused to order the removal of a scene that includes the two men, who claim they had been duped into misbehaving on camera.
The South Carolina fraternity brothers filed a lawsuit Nov. 9 claiming they were tricked into making racist and sexist remarks to British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."
The fraternity brothers claim the filmmakers got them drunk before getting them to sign release forms agreeing to appear in the film. Their names do not appear in the lawsuit.
'Borat'
Judge Dismisses Cases
Courtney Love
Sobbing with joy, Courtney Love thanked a judge Monday after he terminated her probation and dismissed three misdemeanor cases, including two drug-related charges.
"Thank you for not taking me into custody," Love told Superior Court Judge Rand Rubin. "Thank you for giving me an opportunity. You've been a good, fair judge. Sorry for crying."
Love, 42, the former frontwoman of rock band Hole and widow of Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain, appeared in court dressed in a black striped suit and white blouse. She was accompanied by her manager, Peter Asher, and her lawyer, Howard Weitzman.
Courtney Love
Hospital News
Ahmet Ertegun
Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, the son of a Turkish diplomat who helped make Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin stars, is in a coma after injuring his brain in a fall, his doctor said on Monday.
Dr. Howard Riina, his neurosurgeon, told Reuters in a telephone interview that the music industry legend "sustained a severe brain injury after a fall. He's in a deep coma and in critical condition. His chance of a meaningful recovery is small."
Atlantic Records said Ertegun fell on October 29 while attending a Rolling Stones concert and was hospitalized with a head injury.
Ahmet Ertegun
Letter Up For Auction
Charles Dickens
A Christmas Day letter written by Charles Dickens is up for sale at a New Hampshire auction house.
But the Dec. 25, 1849, letter penned by the author of "A Christmas Carol" and other classics contains a good deal more "bah humbug" than Christmas cheer.
In the letter to William Jerdan, Dickens blasts the British journalist for reprinting a bogus biography of him in the Literary Journal. The biography, which originally appeared in the New York Herald, was written by Thomas Powell, a known forger and embezzler who once worked for one of Dickens' friends.
Charles Dickens
DUI In L.A.
Nicole Richie
Nicole Richie was arrested early Monday for investigation of driving under the influence of vicodin, authorities said. California Highway Patrol officers took Richie, 25, into custody without incident after she failed a field sobriety test, CHP Officer Todd Workman said.
Her black Mercedes sport utility vehicle was stopped in the car pool lane of State Highway 134 when officers arrived.
Authorities said they received 911 calls about a car going the wrong way on the freeway and the car matched the description of Richie's.
Nicole Richie
Painting Sold For Record Price
Sir Winston Churchill
An oil painting by Sir Winston Churchill, Britain's prime minister during World War II, sold at auction for nearly three times its estimate, Sotheby's said.
"View of Tinherir", painted in 1951 during one of his frequent trips to Morocco after the conflict, made 612,000 pounds (1.2 million dollars) including premium, from an estimate of just 250,000 pounds.
He gave it to United States General George Marshall, the wartime chief of staff, as a symbol of Anglo-US solidarity in 1953.
The painting remained in the family for three generations and was sold by Marshall's granddaughter, the US actress Kitty Winn.
Sir Winston Churchill
Returns More Antiquities To Greece
Getty Museum
Greece on Monday declared an end to an 11-year dispute with the J.P. Getty Museum on Monday after the U.S. institution agreed to return two ancient artifacts.
In a joint statement released simultaneously in Athens and Los Angeles, the Getty, among the world's richest museums, will return a spectacular 4th century BC Macedonian gold funerary wreath and a 6th century BC marble "kori" statue of a woman.
The objects are the final two in a list of four objects owned by the Getty that Greece has long said were the result of illegal excavation and smuggling.
Getty Museum
Entire Musical Score
Mozart
Mozart's year-long 250th birthday party is ending on a high note with the musical scores of his complete works available from Monday for the first time free on the Internet.
The International Mozart Foundation in Salzburg, Austria has put a scholarly edition of the bound volumes of Mozart's more than 600 works on a Web site.
The site allows visitors to find specific symphonies, arias or even single lines of text from some 24,000 pages of music.
Mozart
Letter Auctioned
Michelangelo
A document detailing payments by Michelangelo to his assistants and a letter from Catherine of Aragon trying to block her divorce from King Henry VIII were among a batch of rare manuscripts sold at auction in New York.
Michelangelo's signed letter dates from 1521 and records payments in gold ducats made to two sculptors who worked on his statue of the Risen Christ in the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome.
The manuscript went for 576,000 dollars, well above the pre-sale estimates.
Michelangelo
Pull Plug On Analog Television
Dutch
The Netherlands ended transmission of "free to air" analog television Monday, becoming the first nation to switch completely to digital signals.
Few Dutch consumers noticed, because the overwhelming majority get TV via cable. Only around 74,000 households relied primarily on the old-fashioned TV antennas in this country of 16 million, although 220,000 people had an "occasional use" set somewhere such as in a vacation house, camper or boat, according to government figures.
The bandwidth formerly used by analog has been licensed through 2017 by Dutch former telecommunications monopoly Royal KPN NV, which will use it to broadcast digital television.
Dutch
Group Seeks Probe Of Religiously Insane
Military Religious Freedom Foundation
A watchdog group that promotes religious freedom in the U.S. military accused senior officers on Monday using their rank and influence to coerce soldiers and airmen into adopting evangelical Christianity.
Such proselytizing, according to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, has created a core of "radical" Christians within the U.S. armed forces and Pentagon who punish those who do not accept evangelical beliefs by stalling their careers.
"It's egregious beyond the pale," said Mikey Weinstein, president and founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. "We apparently have a radicalized, evangelical Christian Pentagon within the rest of the Pentagon."
Military Religious Freedom Foundation
Probation Problems
Foxy Brown
Rapper Foxy Brown was summoned to court unexpectedly Monday after being accused of violating probation stemming from a fight in a nail salon more than two years ago.
Brown, appearing in Manhattan Criminal Court, where she was sentenced in October to three years probation, was accused of failing to keep appointments with probation officers, appear for anger management classes and submit to drug tests.
Outside court, Brown said, "I have never violated probation. This is happening to me because I'm Foxy Brown."
Foxy Brown
19th Century Ship Found in Lake Ontario
The Milan
A 19th-century commercial sailing ship, its twin masts still intact, sits upright in deep, frigid waters off the southern shore of Lake Ontario. Shipwreck explorers Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville said they located the schooner Milan in summer 2005 about five miles off Point Breeze, 30 miles west of Rochester. They videotaped the 93-foot-long, square-stern vessel this year using an unmanned submersible built with the help of college students.
The Milan was hauling 1,000 barrels of salt when it sprung a leak and sank in October 1849. Its crew of nine clambered aboard a yawl and was rescued by a passing ship along with a Newfoundland dog. The animal was carried down with the sinking ship but then popped to the surface and swam to the yawl.
The ship sits evenly on the lake bed, its masts extending 70 feet upward in a dark, almost oxygen-free setting. And while its rigging and sails have long since disintegrated, much else appears largely undamaged.
The Milan
Making A Comeback In Britain
Vinyl Singles
Physical singles may be losing the war against digital formats, but the U.K. market has found an unlikely hero to lead the fight: good, old-fashioned, 7-inch vinyl.
Fueled predominantly by independent labels and alternative groups like Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs, the format -- also known as a 45 in its pre-'90s heyday -- is experiencing a mini-revival in the United Kingdom. In recent years, labels have increasingly added limited edition versions of 7-inch singles to their armory, which are targeted at "indie" rock consumers as trendy collectibles.
U.K. over-the-counter sales statistics show a clear spike in demand for 7-inch vinyl. According to the Official U.K. Charts Co. (OCC), consumers bought 1.1 million 7-inch singles in the 12 months to September 2006, with growth running at 6%.
Vinyl Singles
Bones Found in Antarctic
Baby Plesiosaur
The bones of a baby plesiosaur have been recovered from an Antarctic island, scientists reported Monday. In life, 70 million years ago, the five-foot-long animal would have resembled Nessie, the long-necked creature reported to inhabit Scotland's Loch Ness.
The new fossil skeleton is one of the most complete of its type ever found, researchers said. It will go on display Wednesday at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology's Museum of Geology.
The National Science Foundation said researchers battled freezing conditions and 70 mile-per-hour winds in recovering the fossil, which was too heavy to be carried out and had to be moved by helicopter.
Baby Plesiosaur
Latest Victim Of Global Warming
Gingerbread Houses
Sweet-toothed Swedes who have spent hours constructing edible Christmas gingerbread houses are seeing their creations collapse in the Scandinavian country's unusually damp winter, suppliers said.
Gingerbread houses are a popular Christmas tradition in Sweden and across the Nordic countries, with many people buying slabs of pre-baked gingerbread from stores which they decorate and stick together using icing sugar and brightly coloured confectionery.
While much of Sweden is usually gripped by freezing temperatures and heavy snow in December, southern parts of the country have recorded their mildest start to the month for decades.
Gingerbread Houses
In Memory
Georgia Gibbs
Georgia Gibbs, a versatile singer who starred on the popular show "Your Hit Parade" and reached the top of the charts in the 1950s with covers of songs by black artists, has died. She was 87.
Among her 15 Top 40 hits, mostly for Mercury Records, was the tango-based "Kiss of Fire," which went to No. 1 in 1952.
But she is known historically - and controversially - as one of the whites who gained success in the 1950s covering rhythm and blues hits by black artists, sometimes upstaging the original versions with sanitized lyrics.
Besides a stint on "Your Hit Parade," the radio and TV show that showcased the most popular songs each week, Gibbs was a regular on programs hosted by Garry Moore, Jimmy Durante and Danny Kaye and was a frequent guest on other radio and early television variety shows
Other memorable Gibbs recordings included the novelty "If I Knew You Were Coming, I'd've Baked a Cake" in the early 1950s, and her last Top 40 record, "The Hula Hoop Song," in 1958.
Gibbs, born Freda Lipschitz in Worcester, Mass., in 1919, began singing in Boston ballrooms as a teenager, using the name Gibbons, later becoming Georgia Gibbs. As her star rose, Moore began introducing her on the air as "Her Nibs, Miss Georgia Gibbs," which became a popular phrase.
Georgia Gibbs
In Memory
Sid Raymond
Sid Raymond, an actor who landed roles alongside A-list stars and was the voice of beloved cartoon characters but went largely nameless himself, has died. He was 97.
The voice of the obese cartoon duck Baby Huey, the comical bartender of 1960s beer commercials for Schlitz and a familiar face on television from "The Ed Sullivan Show" to "The O.C.," Raymond was a show business fixture for six decades. But decades of brief, sometimes-uncredited appearances on Broadway, in movies such as "The Hustler" and "Big Trouble" and on the small screen made him a familiar face.
Born Raymond Silverstein in Manhattan on Jan. 21, 1909, Sid Raymond began his career as recreation director at a Catskills resort after dropping out of New York University. He went on to lead the traveling version of the radio show "Major Bowess Original Amateur Hour," which scoured America for talent.
During World War II, Raymond led a small troupe that performed at the front lines, sometimes under fire. He took over the role of Finnegan, the bartender on the radio show "Duffy's Tavern," in 1950.
Throughout the 1950s, Raymond appeared in televised dramas such as "Kraft Theater" and episodes of "The Honeymooners."
Raymond also lent his voice to Katnip, the cartoon cat that appeared in the "Herman and Katnip" series of animated film shorts in the 1940s and 1950s, and to mischievous cartoon magpies Heckle and Jeckle.
Documentary filmmaker Howard Weinberg profiled Raymond in a 27-minute film short in 2002 titled "Sid at 90."
Raymond is survived by his wife of 69 years, Dorothy, daughters Cynthia Raymond and Margo Cohen, two sisters and a granddaughter.
Sid Raymond
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