'Best of TBH Politoons'
M Is FOR MASHUP - March 19th, 2008
Mashup Radio Show From Cleveland
By DJ Useo
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Claudia Ayers: Fear-Based Education as the Testing Season Starts (the Santa Cruz Sentinel (California); Posted on commondreams.org)
Next September, teachers like me will face hours of meetings considering mountains of data, derived from rounds of testing that our students - and we - must now endure. In the fall, we will no longer have the students whose scores we will analyze, but what else are you going to do with the data, besides publish it in the local papers and wonder why the mathematically challenged gloat with the up-ticks, and feel shamed by the downturns?
Paul Krugman: The B Word (nytimes.com)
When the feds do bail out the financial system, what will they do to ensure that they aren't also bailing out the people who got us into this mess?
TOM DANEHY: "Independents: What gives you the right to have a say in the decisions of parties you've rejected?" (tucsonweekly.com)
I sometimes mention a classic Buck Henry skit done in the early days of Saturday Night Live. He's a radio talk-show host who starts his show by saying something to the effect of, "Today, we're going to discuss municipal bonds. Give me a call, and let me know where you stand."
Kim Ridley: The Best Home Remedies May Be Sitting in Your Spice Cabinet (Ode; Posted on alternet.org)
Scientists are finding that spices can ease inflammation, kill bacteria and viruses, and even cause cancer cells to self-destruct.
Susannah Herbert: Julian Barnes: not dead yet, just dying (entertainment.timesonline.co.uk)
On the eve of his appearance at the Oxford Literary Festival, the author talks about God, his parents and his fear of extinction.
Terse verse (books.guardian.co.uk)
A central figure in the world of contemporary poetry, the multi-award winning poet Sean O'Brien is renowned for bringing contemporary flair to traditional values. Here, he offers some tips on poetic dramatisation.
ALEXANDER WAUGH: Take a Dipso like You (bookforum.com)
Kingsley Amis drank like a proverbial fish from boyhood through adulthood. In his early days, when he was poor and unrecognized, he went for whatever gave the most alcohol for the smallest amount of money. This method is known in England as "drinking the park-bench bottle," because it is by looking under park benches, where the tramps have left their empties, that one may discover, without having to work it out for oneself, which drink gets one drunkest for the fewest pennies.
20 QUESTIONS: Jeanette Winterson (popmatters.com)
The brain needs to be learning new things all the time. The great thing about art, whether it's paintings or music or theatre or opera or a book, is that the brain has to engage at a level of challenge and unfamiliarity. When the brain encounters anything really new - and art is new ways, slant ways, of looking at the familiar-then the brain has to re-fire its neurons, make synaptic connections. Brain death is to reduce everything to the level of the known. You have to keep taking yourself by surprise.
Colin Covert: Judd Apatow's aptitude is for funny and familiar (Star Tribune; Posted on popmatters.com)
After a difficult decade in network TV comedy, writer/director/producer Judd Apatow has developed a Midas touch in films, with the uninterrupted successes of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Knocked Up" and "Superbad."
Marc D. Allan: Tommy, Can You Hear Him? (NUVO)
Tommy Tiernan spent his boyhood in Ireland consumed with American popular culture, particularly Lenny Bruce's "The Carnegie Hall Concert" album.
"And even though I didn't understand all the references, I listened to that every night," he said. "I thought it was incredible. It didn't strike me as being very funny, but I thought it was really, really interesting what he was doing."
Aaron Jentzen: Black 47 Brings an Edge to St. Patrick's Day Festivities (pittsburghcitypaper.ws)
Since 1989, the New York City-based group has combed the emotional weight of traditional Irish melodies and instruments with gutsy working-class rock 'n' roll and Kirwan's rapid-fire, Joe Strummer-esque sneer.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Baseball/Softball (athensnews.com)
In 1931, Casey Stengel managed the Toledo Mudhens, a minor-league team that was stuck in last place. Because of their losing season, the players had little interest in baseball, so they dozed in the dugout during games. During one game, Casey asked an umpire if he had an alarm clock. Surprised, the umpire asked why he needed one. Casey pointed to his dozing players in the dugout and said, "The boys left a 5 o'clock wake-up call. I want to be sure they get woke up."
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and seasonal - leaves are sprouting on the fig tree.
Ella Award
Andy Williams
The Society of Singers has picked "Moon River" singer Andy Williams to receive its 17th Ella Award for singers whose musical accomplishments are equaled by their humanitarian efforts.
The Ella Award, named after its first recipient Ella Fitzgerald, has gone previously to Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, Placido Domingo, Elton John and others.
The 80-year-old Williams, who earned 18 gold and three platinum albums in his career and hosted a popular TV variety series in the 1960s, will be given the award during a May 19 gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Andy Williams
First Edition
'The Hobbit'
A rare first edition of author J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novel "The Hobbit" was sold at auction Tuesday for 60,000 pounds (122,000 dollars, 77,000 euros) -- more than twice its forecast value.
The book, inscribed by the South African-born British author himself, went under the hammer at Bonham's auction house in London, which had estimated it would sell for 20,000-30,000 pounds.
The auction also included the first foreign-language edition of the book, a Swedish translation from 1947 priced at 400-800 pounds, and the last known photo of Tolkien, taken in Oxford in 1973, valued at up to 600 pounds.
'The Hobbit'
Dropping AP
Dow Jones
Dow Jones & Co said on Tuesday its financial news wire would distribute news from Agence France-Presse and drop the Associated Press.
Terms of the AFP agreement were not disclosed. Dow Jones, recently bought by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, said its Dow Jones Newswires would distribute general and political news from Paris-based Agence France-Presse.
Dow Jones Newswires competes with Reuters Group PLC in delivering financial news. London-based Reuters, which is being acquired by Canadian electronic publisher Thomson Corp in a deal scheduled to be completed on April 17, provides financial, general and political news from around the world.
Dow Jones
Casting For New 'Honorary' Mayor
Hollywood
Hollywood has an opening for a new "mayor," and the leading nominees include a co-star of the 1960s TV comedy "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" and a buxom, middle-aged model who promotes herself on billboards.
The high-profile but entirely ceremonial post of Tinseltown mayor was left vacant January 9 by the death of Johnny Grant, the show business figure who reigned tirelessly as booster-in-chief over Los Angeles' landmark Hollywood district for 28 years.
The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the Walk of Fame and appoints its honorary mayor, said this week it had yet to formally undertake a search for Grant's successor.
Several contenders are already vying for the role, with longtime radio and TV personality Gary Owens, 71, seeming to have an inside track. As a longtime Chamber of Commerce member, he occasionally filled in for Grant as a Walk of Fame emcee.
But Owens faces some early competition from platinum-blonde billboard queen Angelyne, a middle-aged (sic) model and celebrity wannabe who became a local icon in the 1980s by plastering her pouty, busty image on huge signs all over town.
Hollywood
Returning Stateside
Vintage Disney Art
A Japanese university said Tuesday it would return some 250 vintage animation works from classic Walt Disney films to the US entertainment company.
The rare collection had travelled to Japan in the early 1960s for exhibits at department stores and museums but then faded from view.
The current owner, state-run Chiba University in suburban Tokyo, said it decided to return the collection to The Walt Disney Co. to ensure it was well preserved for future generations.
In return, Disney would give the university digital copies of the work as well as one million dollars, which the school would use to start a fund to promote education on art and animation, the statement said.
Vintage Disney Art
Sells For $14 Million
Buddha Statue
A newly discovered wood sculpture of a Buddha has sold for $14.3 million, a price the auctioneer calls a world record for any Japanese work of art.
Christie's said the seated figure of Dainichi Nyorai, or the supreme Buddha, is attributed to 13th-century sculptor Unkei, considered one of the greatest carvers of the early Kamakura period (1190s).
The work was sold in New York on Tuesday to Mitsukoshi Ltd., one of Japan's major department stores. Its presale estimate was $1.5 million to $2 million.
Buddha Statue
Baby News
Nahla Ariela Aubry
Halle Berry's newborn daughter is named Nahla Ariela Aubry, her publicist Meredith O'Sullivan told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Nahla was born Sunday to Berry, 41, and her beau, model Gabriel Aubry, 32. It's Berry's first child.
Nahla Ariela Aubry
Cops Charged
Steve Holy
Two fired police officers accused of holding country singer Steve Holy at gunpoint during an argument at his home were indicted on charges that could bring them up to 20 years in prison.
Randy Anderson and Paul Loughridge were indicted Monday on one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Anderson was also indicted on one count of kidnapping.
Holy, a friend and the two officers were allegedly drinking and playing foosball during an impromptu gathering at Holy's home early on Dec. 27 when an argument broke out, officials said.
Holy told police the officers pointed their guns at him and the friend and ordered them on the ground. Before the officers left, the police report said, Anderson told Holy that he'd kill him if he said anything.
Steve Holy
Speeding Maserati
Thomas Jane
Thomas Jane is facing drunken driving charges after being pulled over by the California Highway Patrol near Buttonwillow.
The CHP says the 39-year-old actor was driving his black 2008 Maserati at 124 mph when he was stopped on Interstate 5 in Kern County early Monday morning. He was arrested on suspicion of DUI.
Jane was described as cooperative. He underwent field sobriety tests and a blood test at Kern Medical Center. He was booked into the downtown jail and later released.
Thomas Jane
Apologizes For Red Carpet Blunder
Gary Busey
Gary Busey has apologized for embracing Jennifer Garner on the red carpet at the Oscars last month.
"I meant no disrespect to Ms. Jennifer Garner when I met her at the Oscars and apologize if I made her uncomfortable," the 63-year-old actor said in a statement e-mailed Monday by a publicist for his attorney, Vicki Roberts.
"I simply greeted both actresses with joy and open arms, which is the way I would greet anyone I'm happy to meet," Busey said. "Everyone has experienced a handshake or hug which has turned awkward, and this was no different."
Gary Busey
Mummified Dinosaur
Dakota the Edmontosaurus
Using tiny brushes and chisels, workers picking at a big greenish-black rock in the basement of North Dakota's state museum are meticulously uncovering something amazing: a nearly complete dinosaur, skin and all.
Unlike almost every other dinosaur fossil ever found, the Edmontosaurus named Dakota, a duckbilled dinosaur unearthed in southwestern North Dakota in 2004, is covered by fossilized skin that is hard as iron. It's among just a few mummified dinosaurs in the world, say the researchers who are slowly freeing it from a 65-million-year-old rock tomb.
Animal tissue typically decomposes quickly after death. Researchers say Dakota must have been buried rapidly and in just the right environment for the texture of the skin to be preserved.
Dakota the Edmontosaurus
Thickest, Oldest Is Melting
Arctic Ice
The thickest, oldest and toughest sea ice around the North Pole is melting, a bad sign for the future of the Arctic ice cap, NASA satellite data showed on Tuesday.
"Thickness is an indicator of long-term health of sea ice, and that's not looking good at the moment," Walt Meier of the National Snow and Ice Data Center told reporters in a telephone briefing.
Melting Arctic ice does not raise sea levels as the melting of glaciers on Greenland or Antarctica could, but it does contribute to global warming when reflective white ice is replaced by dark water that absorbs the sun's heat.
Arctic Ice
Love Story Ends
Petra the Swan
A long love story is over at a German zoo: Petra the swan and her swan-shaped paddleboat are parting ways. Petra, a black swan, became a minor celebrity in 2006 when she became so attached to the boat - which is shaped like an oversized white swan - that she refused to leave its side.
Officials in the western city of Muenster decided to let her stay with it over the winter, bringing both bird and boat into a city zoo.
However, Petra met a live swan this winter. Zoo director Joerg Adler says she and her new mate - a white swan - are building a nest together.
The boat is to be returned to its local owner on Thursday.
Petra the Swan
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for March 10-16. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.
1. (1) "American Idol" (Tuesday), Fox, 29.88 million viewers.
2. (2) "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 27.13 million viewers.
3. (14) "Survivor: Micronesia," CBS, 13.22 million viewers.
4. (10) "Lost," ABC, 12.08 million viewers.
5. (15) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC, 12.05 million viewers.
6. (25) "Law & Order," NBC, 11.85 million viewers.
7. (19) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 11.82 million viewers.
8. (15) "Deal or No Deal" (Monday), NBC, 11.82 million viewers.
9. (15) "60 Minutes," CBS, 11.3 million viewers.
10. (8) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 11.22 million viewers.
11. (7) "The Moment of Truth," Fox, 10.58 million viewers.
12. (15) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 10.24 million viewers.
13. (31) "Deal or No Deal" (Wednesday), NBC, 10.19 million viewers.
14. (21) "Without a Trace," CBS, 9.78 million viewers.
15. (24) "Oprah's Big Give," ABC, 9.74 million viewers.
16. (45) "The New Adventures of Old Christine," CBS, 9.62 million viewers.
17. (25) "Law & Order: SVU," NBC, 9.52 million viewers.
18. (54) "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?," Fox, 9.42 million viewers.
19. (45) "Medium," NBC, 9.34 million viewers.
20. (31) "New Amsterdam," Fox, 8.83 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke, a visionary science fiction writer who won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and the future, died Wednesday in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, an aide said. He was 90.
Clarke, who had battled debilitating post-polio syndrome since the 1960s and sometimes used a wheelchair, died at 1:30 a.m. after suffering breathing problems, aide Rohan De Silva said.
Clarke moved to Sri Lanka in 1956, lured by his interest in marine diving which he said was as close as he could get to the weightless feeling of space.
Co-author with Stanley Kubrick of Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey," Clarke was regarded as far more than a science fiction writer.
He was credited with the concept of communications satellites in 1945, decades before they became a reality. Geosynchronous orbits, which keep satellites in a fixed position relative to the ground, are called Clarke orbits.
He joined American broadcaster Walter Cronkite as commentator on the U.S. Apollo moonshots in the late 1960s.
Arthur C. Clarke
In Memory
Anthony Minghella
Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella, who turned such literary works as "The English Patient," "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Cold Mountain" into acclaimed movies, died Tuesday of a hemorrhage following surgery. He was 54.
Minghella's publicist, Jonathan Rutter, said the filmmaker died at London's Charing Cross Hospital. He said Minghella was operated on last week for a growth in his neck, "and the operation seemed to have gone well. At 5 a.m. today he had a fatal hemorrhage."
Among his other films were "Truly, Madly, Deeply" (1990), and last year's Oscar-nominated "Michael Clayton," on which he was executive producer.
Born the second of five children to southern Italian emigrants, Minghella came to moviemaking from a flourishing playwriting career on the London "fringe" and, in 1986, on the West End with the play, "Made in Bangkok," a hard-hitting look at the sexual mores of a British tour group in Thailand.
Minghella is survived by his wife, Carolyn Choa; his actor son, Max Minghella; and his daughter, Hannah.
Anthony Minghella
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