'Best of TBH Politoons'
New Tune
'The Creature...'
I've been playing, in my mind, of course, a song about Sean Hannity.
To be exact, it's based on a song called "The Creature Without a Head", originally performed on the "America 2 Night" television series in 1978, by the duet of David L. Lander and Michael McKean - yep, Lenny and Squiggy!
However, my version is influenced by the facial expressions of one Sean Hannity, who always has a disgusted look on his face. It's as if he just learned about sex, and he doesn't like it!
So, if you will, this is my song about Sean Hannity, and his manhood, or lack therof.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
E.S. Phillips: Unveiling Iraq's teenage prostitutes (salon.com)
Fleeing their war-torn homes, Iraqi girls are selling their bodies in Syria to support their families.
PAUL KRUGMAN: CSI: Trade Deficit (The New York Times)
Right now, forensic analysis seems to say that the U.S. trade position is worse, not better, than it looks. And the answer to the question, "Why haven't we paid a price for our trade deficit?" is, just you wait.
SASHA FRERE-JONES: MAKING NICE, The Dixie Chicks' new album (newyorker.com)
[Toby] Keith, one of country's most popular male singers, whose song "Angry American" [Natalie] Maines had called "ignorant," performed in front of a photo manipulated to show her entwined with Saddam Hussein. Maines responded by appearing at a music-awards ceremony in a T-shirt bearing the unmysterious abbreviation "F.U.T.K."
Thomas Whitaker: Mick beats George to suite (UK Sun; Posted on michaelmoore.com)
PRESIDENT George Bush can't get no satisfaction - after Mick Jagger grabbed his hotel room.
ROGER EBERT: Anthony James Ryan: In Memory
I remember him in the middle of the Arizona desert on "Supervixens!," supervising a post-hole being dug by a USC film student. "You know what he said?" Ryan asked me. "He said, 'I'm a student of the cinema and all I'm learning to do is dig post-holes'!" The post-hole was for the base of a telephone. But the telephone was designed to bolt to concrete. It sat too low in the ground, so the intern had to refill the hole. "Now you're really learning about the cinema," Ryan told him.
Seth Stevenson: Coffeeholics, A Dunkin' Donuts ad for an addict nation
As for that new slogan, America Runs on Dunkin'? Given the calorie counts on some of those donuts and flavored coffee items, it might be more accurate to go with America Waddles on Dunkin'. But I guess that doesn't scan quite as well.
Garth Brooks: Lyrics for "We Shall Be Free"
When the last child cries for a crust of bread
When the last man dies for just words that he said
When there's shelter over the poorest head
We shall be free
David Bruce: Wise Up! Activism (athensnews.com/)
Each year, the YWCA sponsors a Week Without Violence in which feminist activists draw attention to the problem of violence -- and violence against women in particular. Many women wear T-shirts which have printed on the back this message: "Imagine 604,080 seconds, 10,080 minutes, 168 hours, 7 days without violence." In addition, women give men on the streets cards bearing this message: "The next time you see one of us in trouble, pay attention. We can't stop violence by ourselves." Many men listen to the women and keep the cards.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly overcast, but no rain - yet.
Lots of things blooming - calla lilies, kafir lilies, bougainvillea, boxwoods, and the tree I don't know the name of.
It produces a bright yellow, bell-shaped flower, and when it drops off a long, furry/velvety pod forms (8" to 14" long, about the circumference of a #2 pencil). In the pod are dozens of seeds that look like they came from a maple tree. They also flutter downward in a spiral, like maples.
No new flags.
Joint Venture With Lionel
Neil Young
Rocker Neil Young on Tuesday won a bankruptcy court ruling to form a joint venture with Lionel LLC, the storied model train maker operating under protection from creditors.
The venture, known as Liontech Trains LLC, will develop the latest version of Lionel's Trainmaster control system. Lionel is partnering with Young's Creative Trains Co., and was to contribute $1.5 million to the venture.
Young, 60, the singer-songwriter who has worked as a soloist and as part of the groups Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, is a model train enthusiast who owns about one-fifth of Lionel. He has developed technology for the company in the past.
Neil Young
Scottsdale Offended By Name
Pink Taco
In a city aspiring to be defined by its good taste, a new Mexican restaurant, the Pink Taco, is opening with a name that some find offensive.
Scottsdale Mayor Mary Manross was so put off by the name, a slang term for vagina, that she asked its owner to change it.
"(The name) came out of a dish (that's on the menu), but it's tongue-in-cheek. It was amusing, catchy," Pink Taco CEO Harry Morton said. "You've got to stand out from the rest of the crowd."
The Scottsdale City Council will consider the Pink Taco's application for a liquor license May 15 and will vote whether to recommend that the state liquor board approve the license. No letters of opposition have been filed with the city so far, but Pink Taco management is nervous about the name controversy because the restaurant won't open without that license.
The original Pink Taco is inside Morton's family-owned Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, where they serve strong margaritas and upscale food with sides of loud rock, Mexican art and "East LA" bric-a-brac, i.e. low-rider bicycles and license plates.
Pink Taco
Filming Tom Petty Tour
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich will tag along with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers to film their upcoming concert tour for a documentary.
Bogdanovich, who directed "The Last Picture Show" and "Paper Moon," began work late last year on a feature film documentary chronicling the band's three-decade career.
"We've given him access we've never given anybody," Petty, 55, said as the dates were announced for the Highway Companion Tour, which will open June 9 in Charlotte, N.C.
Peter Bogdanovich
Wedding News
Aga Khan's Son
The second son of the Aga Khan, the billionaire spiritual leader of the world's 15 million Shia Ismaili Muslims, is to marry his American sweetheart this year.
Prince Hussain, 32, met Kristin J. White, who is two years his junior and who took the name Khaliya following her conversion to Islam, when the pair were graduate students at New York's Columbia University.
Prince Hussein is the third child and second son from Prince Karim Aga Khan's first marriage, to the British top model Sally Croker Poole, who became Princess Salimah Aga Khan.
Aga Khan's Son
Chooses Jail Over Community Service
Michelle Rodriguez
"Lost" actress Michelle Rodriguez pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a single count of driving under the influence, choosing to pay a $500 fine and spend five days in jail rather than do 240 hours of community service.
Rodriguez, who portrays police officer Ana Lucia, and cast member Cynthia Watros were both charged with drunken driving after they were pulled over Dec. 1 in separate cars within 15 minutes of each other.
Rodriguez recorded a blood-alcohol level of 0.17, more than twice the legal limit of .08. Watros had a blood-alcohol level of 0.10.
Michelle Rodriguez
Murder Trial Delayed - Again
Phil Spector
The much-delayed murder trial of music producer Phil Spector was postponed again Tuesday, with a judge pushing the case back to January.
Spector's trial in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson had been set for September. But at a hastily called hearing, the judge told attorneys he had scheduled two trials for the same time and had decided to try the other case first, according to the district attorney's office.
Superior Court Judge Larry P. Fidler set a new date for Spector of Jan. 16.
Spector is free on $1 million bail. He faces life in prison if convicted.
Phil Spector
Hired Pelicano
Chris Rock
A spokesman for Chris Rock said the comedian hired celebrity private eye Anthony Pellicano to investigate a model who claimed he was the father of her unborn child, according to a published report.
Rock's representative, Matt Labov, confirmed that the comedian's representatives hired Pellicano after Hungarian model Monika Zsibrita made the allegation in 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.
Zsibrita, 33, was named in a February indictment as a victim of an alleged wiretapping and racketeering conspiracy on behalf of A-list Hollywood attorneys and other prominent clients. An indictment accuses Pellicano of using his connections with a police detective to illegally run a background check on Zsibrita on July 30, 1999.
Rock was separated from his wife when he met Zsibrita. The outcome of the paternity case was unclear because it was sealed by a private judge. Labov said that no one associated with Rock had any idea the private investigator would illegally access police files, as federal authorities have alleged.
Chris Rock
Unflattering Film
'Giuliani Time'
With Rudy Giuliani (R-Philanderer) considering a run for president in 2008, a documentary aimed at tearing down his Churchillian image since Sept. 11 is about to be released.
Premiering next month, "Giuliani Time" turns a critical lens on the former mayor's controversial tenure in New York before his reassuring leadership in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks elevated his reputation.
"I'm not claiming there's anything approaching objectivity about this film," director Kevin Keating said in an interview. "It's a corrective to the perception of Rudy and the miracle of crime reduction in New York, Rudy and the miracle of 9/11."
He is also painted as a moral hypocrite, one who threatened to pull public funding from a controversial art exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum but had no qualms about parading a mistress before the public.
'Giuliani Time'
Posing for Playboy
Cindy Margolis
Cindy Margolis, known as the "Most Downloaded Woman" on the Internet, is following up her win on "Celebrity Cooking Showdown" with a career first - posing nude for Playboy.
The mother of three told The Associated Press that she finally agreed to pose for the magazine when they called on her 40th birthday.
"Thank goodness for 'Desperate Housewives.' You're not dead just because you are married and have children," the actress and model said Monday, on the phone from her Los Angeles home.
Cindy Margolis
Ad Upsets Church
'The Da Vinci Code'
The Italian government said Tuesday it will remove a massive advertisement for the upcoming film "The Da Vinci Code" from the scaffolding of Rome's St. Pantaleo church after complaints from clergy.
The advertising on scaffolding around the church features a massive reproduction of Leonardo's "Mona Lisa" and the title and Web site link for the film. It has stood since late March, the local media reported, sparking complaints from clergy in that part of Rome's historical center.
The church is owned by Italy's Ministry of the Interior, which awarded the refurbishment contract to a local company, which sold the advertising rights to another company.
Scaffold advertising like the one for the film are assigned randomly among clients who pay for them, and it was a coincidence that the ad for "The Da Vinci Code" was placed on the scaffolding outside a prominent church, reports claimed.
'The Da Vinci Code'
In Memory
Jane Jacobs
Jane Jacobs, an author and community activist of singular influence whose classic "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" transformed ideas about urban planning, died Tuesday, her publisher said. Jacobs, a longtime resident of Toronto, was 89.
Jacobs died in her sleep Tuesday morning at a Toronto hospital, which she entered a few days ago, according to Random House publicist Sally Marvin. Jacobs' son, James, was with her at the time. The author, who would have turned 90 on May 4, had been in poor health.
A native of Scranton, Pa., Jacobs lived for many years in New York before moving to Toronto in the late 1960s. She and her husband, architect Robert Jacobs Jr., were unhappy their taxes were supporting the Vietnam War and they eventually made Canada their permanent home. Robert Jacobs died in 1996.
Born in 1916, Jacobs was a doctor's daughter with a compulsion to question authority, an unfortunate quality if she happened to be one of your students - even more unfortunate if you were trying to tell her something about cities.
During the Depression, on days when job hunts went nowhere, she would invest a nickel in the subway and explore a neighborhood: the diamond district, the garment district, the meatpacking district. Soon, she made money out of her passion, writing articles for various magazines.
Jacobs is survived by her three children, James, Edward and Mary.
Jane Jacobs
In Memory
Florence Mars
Florence Mars, whose book about the 1964 slayings of three civil rights workers won praise from many but made her the target of the Ku Klux Klan, has died, a relative said Monday. She was 84.
Mars was one of the few residents of rural Philadelphia, Miss., to cooperate with FBI agents who investigated the disappearance of three civil rights workers during the Freedom Summer in 1964.
Her book, "Witness in Philadelphia," was published in 1977 and chronicled the turbulent struggle to register black voters and the brutal slayings of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman.
The killings inspired the 1988 film "Mississippi Burning" and were the center of the highly publicized trial of a former Klan leader last year.
"She had guts enough to stand up against the Klan, which few people would do," said longtime friend Gerald "Boots" Howell.
Florence Mars
In Memory
Bonnie Owens
Bonnie Owens, a singer who married and helped build the careers of country music legends Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, has died. She was 76.
Owens died at a Bakersfield hospice hospital Monday after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, said family spokesman Jim Shaw, who played keyboards in Buck Owens' band, the Buckaroos.
Born Bonnie Campbell, she met Buck Owens in Mesa, Ariz., in the mid-1940s when she was a teenager and he had a local radio show. When Owens discovered that she could sing, he helped her get a job with him on another radio show in 1947.
They married a year later, had two sons and separated in the early 1950s. They remained friends and she sometimes performed with Owens in the truck-stop town's thriving juke joints.
While working as a waitress at a Bakersfield club, she sang with Fuzzy Owen and his band, the Sun Valley Playboys. It was Owen who suggested that she records a duet with a young Merle Haggard, and their rendition of "Just Between the Two of Us" hit the top of the country charts in 1965 and won the best vocal group award from the Academy of Country Music.
She married Haggard that same year and toured with him and his band, The Strangers, for nearly a decade. They divorced in 1978 and she later married her third husband, Fred McMillan.
Bonnie Owens
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