'Best of TBH Politoons'
Contributor Suggestion
Dolphins
Marty,
You need to check this out
. It gives me chill bumps just to think of it.
Too cool!
Jeff
Holy crap - that is cool!
Puts a whole new spin on bubble-blowing.
Thanks, Jeff!
Reader Suggestion
Octopus and Shark
Marty
I remember in the past you have had a number of references to sea
creatures and the aquarium. This clip is of an Octopus and a Shark at the
Seattle Aquarium.
MAM 
Thanks, Marianne!
That impressed the kid, and with age, it's getting harder to do.
And, yep, we're card-carrying members of the
Aquarium of the Pacific here in Long Beach.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Onnesha Roychoudhuri: Faking It: How America Lost Politics (AlterNet.org)
When you look at the work of his presidency and the impact of tiny little negotiations that he would have every year with congressional Republicans on issues like Head Start, daycare vouchers and the earned income tax credit, this guy [Bill Clinton] turns out to be the best president in the history of the country as far as the working poor are concerned. I really miss having a president who cares about the detail of the policy.
Carel van Schaik: Why Are Some Animals So Smart? (sciam.com)
The unusual behavior of orangutans in a Sumatran swamp suggests a surprising answer.
Tony Long: A Sour Note on Modern Times (wired.com)
I tuned into my local classical music station the other day and was pleased to hear the andante from Beethoven's Sixth Symphony. I would like to have heard the movements that followed it, too, but the station chose to play Ludwig's scene by the brook as if it were written as a stand-alone piece of music
Anne Dehmer: Heads Up: 'Princess Diaries' Author Has a New Calling-Not Suitable For Children! (thebookstandard.com)
As Meg Cabot, the novelist spoke recently with The Book Standard about the zamboni guy; screenwriting; her life as the basis for her fiction; and a shortcoming of contemporary writing: oral sex. "That's my calling," she says. "To put the blowjob back in literature."
Meg Cabot: ADDENDUM TO WRITERS' DO'S AND DON'TS (megcabot.com)
I can't believe I forgot to tell you guys the most important DON'T of being a writer when I blogged about the do's and don't's of being a writer the other week: If you have photographic memory, and cannot discern your own thoughts from that of another writer's, DON'T become a writer!
Five Minutes With: Ken Burns (campusprogress.org)
Ken Burns sat down with Campus Progress to talk about documentaries, the Confederacy, and the Smithsonian controversy.
Daddy's girl (guardian.co.uk)
Isabella Rossellini's beauty is legendary, inherited from her mother, Ingrid Bergman. But it was for her father, the director Roberto Rossellini, that she developed an obsessive devotion. She talks to Dan Halpern about her extraordinary childhood, losing her looks and what she learned from Martin Scorsese.
RICHARD ROEPER: Top lyrics list means its time to play Scattergories (suntimes.com)
Ever since I heard about that Britain VH1 poll about the greatest lyrics ever, I've been thinking about some of my favorite lines, like "Mommy's alright, daddy's alright, they just seem a little weird.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Education (athensnews.com)
When Peter Ustinov was a small boy, his parents received a school report which stated, "This boy shows great originality, which must be curbed at all costs."
Quote
Kurt Vonnegut
"George Bush is so dumb it wouldn't surprise me if he thought Peter Pan was a wash basin in a whorehouse."
- Kurt Vonnegut Source
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Lovely marine layer that hung on til mid-day.
For anyone who may be interested in California gubernatorial politics, Phil Angelides (D-Sane) debates Steve Westley (D-Rational), tonight at
7pm (pdt) - watch it live online.
No new flags.
Campaigns Against 'Shaped News'
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss has challenged the establishment for decades and now the maverick actor and activist is taking on the mainstream media.
The Oscar-winning star says an obsession with delivering instantaneous news and images provides too little context for audiences to reflect and understand what is happening in the world.
"We don't build into our system of thoughts the need to explain, the media doesn't build that into its transmission of knowledge and information."
That creates what Dreyfuss calls "shaped news" -- a version of events according to how the mainstream media want audiences to see what happened, and a violation of journalism's core value of objectivity.
Richard Dreyfuss
Skips Birthday Event
Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford was saluted on his 90th birthday with praise from his fellow actors and a screening of his 1946 film "Gilda."
Ford didn't attend Monday night's event hosted by American Cinematheque at its theater, Grauman's Egyptian. Because of his fragile health, caused by a series of strokes, he has been confined to his Beverly Hills home and uses a wheelchair.
"Thank you to everybody that is wishing me a happy birthday," Ford said in a videotaped message. "I wish I could thank every one of you personally with good wishes to all of you. ... I wish I were up and around, but I'm doing the best that I can. ... There's so much I have to be grateful for."
Glenn Ford
Blasts US Media
Tim Robbins
Acclaimed American actor/director Tim Robbins blasted the US government's policy on terrorism -- and the US media's failure to examine it critically -- at a news conference in Athens promoting his stage version of George Orwell's "1984".
"We have right now a media that is willfully ignoring the high crimes and misdemeanours of the president of the United States," the star of Hollywood hits including "Mystic River" and "The Player" told reporters.
"Clinton lied about a blowjob, and got impeached by the media and Congress," Robbins said.
"(Bush) got us into (the Iraq) war based on lies that he knew were lies. ... His war has recruited more Al-Qaeda members than Osama bin Laden could ever have dreamed for ... yet no one in the media is calling for impeachment," he said.
Tim Robbins
Media Bias Showing
Stephen Colbert
For two days the battle has raged on the Web: Did Stephen Colbert go too far in lampooning President Bush, to his face, at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday night? Is that why his barbs did not generate more laughter around the room of 2700 journalists, celebrities and other guests? Or was it because he suggested the press was spineless in failing to confront the president on Iraq? Or was Colbert just not that funny?
Dana Milbank of The Washington Post, appearing on Keith Olbermann's MSNBC program Monday night, joined the ranks of those who attended the dinner who felt Colbert "was not funny." On the other hand, he said the president's routine that night with a Bush impersonator was a howl.
Still, with the knocks on Colbert increasing, I have to ask: Where was the outrage when President Bush made fun of not finding those pesky WMDs at a very similar media dinner-in the same ballroom--two years ago? It represents a shameful episode for the American media, and presidency, yet is rarely mentioned today.
Stephen Colbert
'I Pity the Fool'
Mr. T
The TV Land network announced Tuesday that it will start I Pity the Fool, a series where the A-Team star travels across the U.S. dispensing inspiration and advice. "The 't' stands for talking," he said in an interview. "I'm going to talk it up. It's what I've been doing all my life."
The series starts in October. He'll offer help to people struggling with personal or professional problems.
"My show ain't no Dr. Phil, with people sitting around crying," he said. "You're a fool - that's what's wrong with you. You're a fool if you don't take my advice."
Mr. T
Leaves New Zealand Hospital
Keith Richards
Keith Richards has been released from a New Zealand hospital where the Rolling Stones guitarist was admitted with a head injury after he reportedly fell out of a palm tree.
Richards, 62, suffered a mild concussion while on vacation in Fiji Thursday. Several Australian and New Zealand media outlets reported the fall from the tree.
New Zealand's Sunday Star-Times also reported that Richards got on a Jet Ski after the fall and had another accident.
Keith Richards
Hospital News
James Woods
James Woods, nominated for Oscars for his roles in Salvador and Ghosts of Mississippi, was recovering at home Tuesday after doctors performed an angioplasty, his publicist said.
The procedure, designed to open clogged heart arteries, was performed Monday at a Los Angeles area hospital and Woods, 59, returned to his Southern California home, spokesman Ron Hoffmann said. The artery restriction was discovered during a medical checkup. Hoffmann said.
James Woods
2 More Run Afoul of the Law
'The Sopranos'
Continuing a string of off-screen run-ins with the law, two more fringe characters from "The Sopranos" - the television mob boss's favorite chef and his muscle-bound bodyguard - have been charged in separate criminal cases.
John Ventimiglia, who plays temperamental chef Artie Bucco on the HBO hit, was arraigned Monday on drunken driving, drug possession and other charges after officers spotted him weaving in and out of traffic.
Louis Gross - who plays bodyguard Perry Annunziata on "The Sopranos" - was charged with criminal mischief after a woman claimed that he broke into her home on April 18. True to his character, the 23-year-old observed omerta (the Mafia's code of silence) on Monday following his release without bail.
'The Sopranos'
Not In Wax Museum
Prince Charles
Britain's Prince Charles, who caused a stir by describing Chinese officials as "appalling old waxworks," has failed to make the cut at Shanghai's new Madame Tussauds Museum.
Charles's late wife, Princess Diana, and their elder son, Prince William, are on display. Soccer star David Beckham and his pop singer wife, Victoria, rub shoulders with celebrity Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Charles's unflattering reference was contained in a diary he kept during a visit to Hong Kong in 1997 for the handover of the former British colony to China. A British newspaper published the diaries last November.
Prince Charles
Honored At UN
Mukhtaran Mai
A Pakistani woman whose gang rape in her native village sparked an international outcry, was honored at the United Nations for becoming a leading womens rights advocate.
"I think it is fair to say that anyone who has the moral courage and internal strength to turn such a brutal attack into a weapon to defend others in a similar position is a hero indeed and is worthy of our deepest respect and admiration," UN Under Secretary General for Communications Shashi Tharoor said as he introduced Mukhtaran Mai.
Her case and her high-profile quest to bring her rapists to justice attracted extensive international attention, much to the embarrassment of the Pakistani authorities.
Mukhtaran Mai
Water Lilies Return
Claude Monet
Daylight is again streaming onto Claude Monet's celebrated water lilies in a Paris museum where eight of the colour-drenched canvases are returning to public view.
The Orangerie Museum reopens to the public Friday after a painstaking six-year renovation, paying tribute to impressionists' love of light by installing a giant skylight and making the building again resemble a greenhouse - its original use.
During renovations, most of the collection went on the road as part of a travelling exhibition that visited museums in Fort Worth, Texas; Sydney, Australia; and Tokyo. Earnings from the tour financed a quarter of the renovation costs.
Monet's water lilies, however, could not travel with the rest of the collection. Built into the walls of the Orangerie, the paintings remained in place - and behind protective boxes - during the renovation, which ran two years beyond schedule.
Claude Monet
Electronic Vandalism
'Stephen Harper Eats Babies'
A mocking announcement about Canada's prime minister, "Stephen Harper Eats Babies," was flashed on electronic advertising signs on Toronto area commuter trains for several days, and technicians were still scrambling on Tuesday to get the signs fixed.
"Stephen Harper Eats Babies. Stephen Harper Eats Babies. Stephen Harper Eats Babies," started to appear every three seconds across some LED screens late last week. The signs usually carry transit updates and advertising spots.
"It appears that this was a case of electronic vandalism," said Stephanie Sorensen, corporate communications and media specialist for the GO Transit commuter system.
Screens on GO Trains have been shut down since Monday. Sorensen said she expects they will remain off line for a few more days until password-protected technology is installed to protect them from computer hackers.
'Stephen Harper Eats Babies'
Skating Scandal Revisited
'Tonya and Nancy: The Opera'
When Tufts music student Abigail Al-Doory sought inspiration for her opera, she looked not to Wagner's "Ring" cycle but to the Olympic rings, where themes like power, envy and greed are plentiful.
In "Tonya and Nancy: The Opera," Al-Doory provides 18 movements on the scandal that turned the once-dainty sport of figure skating into a soap opera of whacking, wailing and time spent in jail.
Scheduled for two Tuesday night performances, the production portrays the skaters not as rivals but as a pair, singing for the audience's sympathy as the tawdry affair unfolds.
'Tonya and Nancy: The Opera'
Prime-Time Nielsen
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for April 24-30. 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, 28.7 million viewers.
2. (2) "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 28.3 million viewers.
3. (3) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 27.4 million viewers.
4. (12) "House," Fox, 24.5 million viewers.
5. (4) "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 21.3 million viewers.
6. (5) "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 20.8 million viewers.
7. (8) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 18.7 million viewers.
8. (6) "Without a Trace," CBS, 17.9 million viewers.
9. (15) "Survivor: Panama-Exile Island," CBS, 17.1 million viewers.
10. (17) "Deal Or No Deal" (Monday), NBC, 15.6 million viewers.
11. (13) "NCIS," CBS, 15.6 million viewers.
12. (20) "Deal Or No Deal" (Wednesday), NBC, 15.2 million viewers.
13. (19) "CSI: N.Y.," CBS, 15.2 million viewers.
14. (49) "CBS Sunday Movie: Jesse Stone: Death In Paradise" CBS, 14.8 million viewers.
15. (13) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 14.5 million viewers.
16. (18) "Cold Case," CBS, 14.1 million viewers.
17. (26) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC, 14 million viewers.
18. (11) "The Unit," CBS, 13.9 million viewers.
19. (31) "24," Fox, 13 million viewers.
20. (32) "ER," NBC, 12.3 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Elma Farnsworth
Elma Gardner (Pem) Farnsworth, who helped her husband, Philo T. Farnsworth, develop the television and was among the first people whose images were transmitted on TV, has died at age 98.
Farnsworth, who married the young inventor in 1926, worked by her husband's side in his laboratories and fought for decades to assure his place in history after his 1971 death.
His first TV transmission was on Sept. 7, 1927, in his San Francisco lab, when the 21-year-old inventor sent the image of a horizontal line to a receiver in the next room.
According to the book Philo T. Farnsworth: The Father of Television by Donald G. Godfrey, the first human images transmitted by Farnsworth were of his wife and her brother, Cliff Gardner. A 3 1/2-inch-square image of his wife with her eyes closed was transmitted on Oct. 19, 1929, Gardner wrote. The book lists her as "first woman on TV."
But credit for the invention nearly escaped Farnsworth after RCA claimed the innovation was the work of its chief television engineer, Vladimir Zworykin. In 1935, the courts ruled on Farnsworth's patent, naming him TV's undisputed father. The decision was upheld on appeal, though Farnsworth continued to get little recognition.
Philo Farnsworth gave his wife equal credit in his invention, saying, "my wife and I started this TV," according to Godfrey.
Elma Farnsworth was born near Vernal on Feb. 25, 1908. Her family moved to Provo, where she met the man she would marry and call Phil. The couple had four sons. The Farnsworths lived in several parts of the country, including in Fort Wayne, Ind., before returning to Utah.
Elma Farnsworth
In Memory
Jay Bernstein
Hollywood publicist and manager Jay Bernstein, known for his impeccable clothes, gorgeous girlfriends and the pistol he packed in his waistband, died Sunday. He was 69.
As a manager, Bernstein helped turn Farrah Fawcett from an unknown beauty into a household name. He did the same for Suzanne Somers and Kristy McNichol.
Bernstein always wore a holster in the small of his back where he carried a loaded .38-caliber or Beretta pistol, fellow publicist Edward Lozzi said. He would swing his jacket around as he danced so clubgoers could catch a glimpse of the gun.
He got his Hollywood start in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency. He went on to work for Rogers & Cowan before opening up his own Jay Bernstein Public Relations firm, where his client list included Faye Dunaway, Tony Bennett, Brooke Shields and Pamela Anderson.
Bernstein left public relations to pursue work as a manager and producer. His credits include the 1979 movies "Sunburn" and "Nothing Personal" and such television series as "The New Mike Hammer," "Houston Knights" and "Mike Hammer: Private Eye."
Jay Bernstein
In Memory
Kay Noble-Bell
Kay Noble-Bell, a star woman wrestler during the 1960s and '70s, has died. She was 65.
For many years, Noble-Bell, who wrestled as Kay Noble, was one of the best known women in the sport. The St. Joseph, Mo., native, known for her toughness in the ring, began her pro career in 1957 and continued wrestling until the early 1980s.
Survivors include her husband, Dick Bell, four daughters, five sons, 20 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
Kay Noble-Bell
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