'Best of TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
May is....
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
While not as hot as yesterday, still over 20°s too warm for the season. Yuck.
The Alaskan grandmother's visit has been remarkably pleasant - so far.
We watched the next-to-the-last 'Frasier' tonight - a parade of bad hair pieces with a dreadful script. So far past jumping the shark, it was more like something the shark excreted.
While surfing past the local Faux news tonight, suddenly realized I'd dated one of the reporters a long time ago. Not quite as bad the Raygun speech-writer Erin set me up with, but close.
Tom Chapin, right, and singers Emmylou Harris, center, and Lou Reed, look at Emmylou Harris' award at the World Hunger Year (WHY) Chapin Awards ceremony, Monday, May 3, 2004, in New York. Emmylou Harris was honored for her exemplary work and dedication on issues of hunger and poverty. WHY is a leader in the fight against hunger and poverty in the United States around the world and was founded by the late singer/songwriter Harry Chapin.
Photo by Diane Bondareff
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Disney Forbides Miramax
'Fahrenheit 911'
The Walt Disney Company is blocking its Miramax division from distributing a new documentary by Michael Moore that harshly criticizes resident Bush, executives at both Disney and Miramax said Tuesday.
The film, "Fahrenheit 911," links Mr. Bush and prominent Saudis - including the family of Osama bin Laden - and criticizes Mr. Bush's actions before and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Disney, which bought Miramax more than a decade ago, has a contractual agreement with the Miramax principals, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, allowing it to prevent the company from distributing films under certain circumstances, like an excessive budget or an NC-17 rating.
Executives at Miramax, who became principal investors in Mr. Moore's project last spring, do not believe that this is one of those cases, people involved in the production of the film said. If a compromise is not reached, these people said, the matter could go to mediation, though neither side is said to want to travel that route.
For more, 'Fahrenheit 911'
Plans to Vote
Andre 3000
Andre 3000 of the rap duo OutKast says that when it comes to voting, he's been negligent, but things will be different this November.
"Stuff came up," the 28-year-old, whose real name is Andre Benjamin, told The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
But Benjamin, one of dozens of entertainers taking part in a voting promotion, said he has "realized just how important it is."
He and OutKast partner Antoine Patton have been involved since 2000 with Rock the Vote, a national group founded in 1990 that partners with MTV's Choose or Lose campaign.
Andre 3000
www.rockthevote.com
From left to right: artist and photographer Sam Taylor Wood, singer Elton John, his partner David Furnish and singer Lulu arrive for Attitude Magazine's 10th Birthday Party at the Atlantic Bar & Grill in central London Tuesday May 4, 2004, to celebrate 10 years for the gay style magazine.
Photo by Myung Jung Kim
Launches Cable News Network
Al Gore
An investor group headed by former Vice President Al Gore said Tuesday it is launching a cable news network for young adults, buying an existing network with an eye to retooling it with "irreverent and bold" programming.
The group is buying the Newsworld International channel from Vivendi Universal Entertainment for an undisclosed sum. The deal with Gore's company, INdTV Holdings, was announced Tuesday during the National Cable and Television Association convention in New Orleans.
For more details, Al Gore
Picked Up for Fourth Season
'The Shield'
Michael Chiklis is hitting the streets again - FX has picked up "The Shield" for a fourth season. The renewal marks the first time the cable channel has brought back any of its original series for a fourth season. Fifteen new episodes of the graphic police drama are scheduled to begin airing in early 2005.
"This year's arc of episodes is not only the strongest yet, but as good a season of television as I've seen during my entire career," FX entertainment president John Landgraf said Monday. "We can't wait to see what they come up with next year."
'The Shield'
Not Breaking Up
No Doubt
No worries: No Doubt isn't breaking up. "I thought it would be a good publicity stunt to say we were breaking up, but really we're not," the group's lead singer, Gwen Stefani, tells Cosmopolitan magazine for its June issue.
"We decided after our album 'Rock Steady' that we were going to take some time apart to pursue independent projects," she says. "And I really wanted to do a movie."
That movie is "The Aviator," the Howard Hughes biography starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese.
No Doubt
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Baby News
Eva Ruth & Kathleen Emilie Maguire
The Dixie Chicks' Martie Maguire and her husband, Gareth, are the parents of twin girls.
Eva Ruth and Kathleen Emilie were born April 27, the group's publicists, FrontPage Publicity, said Tuesday.
A photograph of the babies was posted on the Dixie Chicks' Web site, www.dixiechicks.com, with this comment: "Does this mean there might now be a second generation of Dixie Chicks in the making? Perhaps it's no coincidence that there is a long tradition of twin fiddles in music."
Eva Ruth & Kathleen Emilie Maguire
Receiving Honorary Doctorate
Alice Cooper
School's in for Alice Cooper. The rock star, whose hits include "School's Out," is being awarded an honorary doctorate by a Christian liberal arts college. The 56-year-old will receive the honorary degree at Grand Canyon University's commencement ceremony Saturday.
Cooper, whose classic albums include "Killer," and "Welcome to my Nightmare," has been a financial supporter of the school, university officials said.
Alice Cooper
Adam Neiman, CEO of No Sweat Apparel, is seen hanging a display of his No Sweat Sneakers during a press conference unveiling his sneaker Tuesday, May 4, 2004, in Portland, Ore. No Sweat Apparel, a Massachusetts clothing company begun by workers' rights activists, is taking on shoemaking giant Nike with a $35 sneaker and a publicity campaign that challenges Nike to open its books on what it pays workers in the company's Asian factories.
Photo by Rick Bowmer
Filed for Divorce
Keenen Ivory Wayans
Keenen Ivory Wayans has filed for divorce from his wife of three years, citing irreconcilable differences, according to court papers.
Wayans, 45, and his wife, Daphne, have been married since June 2001 according to papers filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court. Wayans is requesting joint custody of his five children.
Keenen Ivory Wayans
Gay Community Still Hidden
Pittsburgh
The Showtime series "Queer as Folk" began its fourth season Sunday, chronicling the lives of gays and lesbians living in the Steel City. But there's no bustling downtown gay community with nightclubs and businesses in the real Pittsburgh, and the show's streetscapes are really filmed in Toronto.
Though the show has a following here - Monday nights at the South Side restaurant Tuscany are "Queer as Folk" watching nights - many gay and lesbian Pittsburghers say the real gay community is more subdued, even hidden.
"There are a lot more closeted people in this area. Most times I just hear people say, 'Wow, that is so not Pittsburgh,'" said John Doughty, 32, Pittsburgh resident who is gay.
For a lot more, Pittsburgh
Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Pittsburgh
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Agree to Pay $50M
Recording Companies
Major recording companies have agreed to return nearly $50 million in unclaimed royalties to Sean Combs, Gloria Estefan, Dolly Parton and thousands of lesser known musicians under a settlement announced Tuesday.
A two-year investigation by New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office found that many artists were not being paid royalties because record companies lost contact with the performers and had stopped making required payments.
The participating companies include: SONY Music Entertainment; Sony ATV Music Publishing; Warner Music Group; UMG Recordings; Universal Music; EMI Music Publishing; BMG Songs; Careers-BMG Music Publishing; BMG Music and the Harry Fox Agency.
Recording Companies
Babi Darling (L), winner of the Miss Koovagam beauty contest, and second runner up Lakshmi pose in the Villupuram area of the southern Indian city of Madras, May 4, 2004. Sixty-eight eunuchs from across the country participated in the contest organized by the state AIDS control board on Tuesday.
Photo by Babu
Can't Film in German Reichstag
Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise will not be allowed to film scenes from "Mission Impossible 3" in the German parliament building, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. The parliament spokeswoman was confirming a report in the Bild daily that a location manager from Babelsberg Studios near Berlin had asked permission to shoot scenes for the film in the Reichstag, known for its giant glass dome that attracts thousands of tourists.
The request was rejected as part of the parliament's regular rules about filming, which is only allowed in relation to political proceedings, she said.
"The dignity of parliament should be preserved," she said. "It is handled similarly by other parliaments."
Tom Cruise
Faces Battery Charges
Bobby Brown
R&B singer Bobby Brown will be in court Wednesday on charges that he hit his wife Whitney Houston in the face.
Brown, 34, is scheduled to appear before Fulton County Magistrate Judge Barry Zimmerman for a preliminary hearing. The outcome of the hearing will determine if there is enough evidence to go to trial on the misdemeanor battery charge.
Simple battery is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Normally on a first offense in domestic-violence cases, the charge is dismissed if the defendant undergoes counseling.
Bobby Brown
Tested Positive for Cocaine
Courtney Love
The prosecutor in the misdemeanor drug case against Courtney Love said Monday she tested positive for cocaine when she was arrested last year.
After a judge continued the trial to May 25, Assistant City Attorney Jerry Baik told reporters outside the courtroom that Love tested positive for several illegal drugs after the October arrest, including cocaine. He declined to identify the other drugs.
Courtney Love
Hefty Franchise Renewal in Works
'Law & Order'
Just as NBC and Universal are at the finish line on their long-awaited merger, the companies have to deal with some urgent criminal business.
Top executives are hunkering down with representatives for "Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf to hammer out a mammoth renewal deal for his three series as well as a formal pickup of a fourth installment, "Law & Order 4: Trial by Jury."
Nobody's talking on the record yet, but sources said the negotiations began to heat up late last month as NBC's most recent license agreement for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" formally expired, thus putting pressure on the network to get a deal done before the May 17 presentation of its fall schedule to advertisers in New York.
'Law & Order'
Belgian artist Benjamin Verdonck sits in a swallow's nest hanging 30 meters up on the glass wall of a building in Brussels, May 3, 2004. Verdonck was trying to hold conversations with passersby on the street below as part of a city arts festival.
Photo by Francois Lenoir
Loves Propaganda
Ralph Reed
Stumping for resident Bush, the former head of the Christian Coalition told Nevada Republicans he can't remember the last time he watched a television newscast on CBS, NBC or ABC.
Now a regional chairman for the Bush-Cheney campaign, Ralph Reed said he depends on the Internet, conservative talk show hosts and the Fox News network to get his information about the world.
"I get in the car in the morning and listen to Rush Limbaugh. On the way home, I listen to Sean Hannity. At night I watch Fox News," he said.
Ralph Reed
In Memory
Libby Libra
In more than 20 years as cat-in-residence at the Haysville (Kansas) Community Library, Libby Libra survived being run over, a catnapping, a tornado and 10 days shut up in an abandoned wing of the old library building.
But after a siege of bad health due to persisent thyroid problems, library officials had the cat euthanized last Friday.
Libby was abandoned outside the library as a kitten in April 1983, when she was thrown from a car.
"Somebody brought her in to clean up and we just kept her," said library director Betty Cattrell.
As the kitten healed, Cattrell said, she quickly developed into an efficient mouser.
"I don't know how many mice she killed, but the old school building was really infested," Cattrell said. "She had it cleared out and in good shape in her younger days."
Libby liked to eat banana bread, sip spring water from library staff member's cups, tiptoe across their keyboards, and greet library patrons.
In 1990, Libby was run over by a car while sunbathing in the library parking lot, and two years later somebody took her from the library. She was gone for more than two weeks before escaping and returning in the midst of a hailstorm.
"There wasn't any part of her body that wasn't bruised," Cattrell said.
In May 1999 Libby was in the library when a tornado destroyed much of downtown Haysville, damaging part of the library building and its roof. After that, she was afraid of storms.
But, Cattrell said, Libby Libra was a cat who simply focused on her duties.
"She took her job as greeter seriously," Cattrell said.
The cat gained some renown, being featured two years ago in a book entitled "The Kingdom of the Cat" by British author Roni Jay.
Libby Libra
Firefighters rest near Corona Lake, Tuesday, May 4, 2004, as they take a break from battling a wildfire in Corona, Calif. Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes Tuesday as wildfirated from their homes Tuesday as wildfires burned through Southern California brushlands parched by hot, dry weather that led to an early fire season declaration.
Photo by Nick Ut
'The Osbournes'
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