Issue #54
Disinfotainment Today
By Michael Dare
'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Entertainment Report
Alex's
MCI is under pressure to drop Danny Glover as a spokesman because of his
President Bush-bashing and his support for Fidel Castro. "MCI must fire Glover," said Tom Fitton
, president of Judicial Watch, one of the groups urging a boycott of the telecommunications
giant. Earlier this year Glover called the president racist, reports Msnbc.com's Jeannette Walls
. More recently, Glover signed a letter saying the U.S. government's "harassment against Cuba
could serve as a pretext for an invasion." MCI "can't have a spokesman supporting terrorist
Castro," Fitton said, "any more than it should have a spokesman supporting Osama bin Laden."
Glover's spokeswoman denied reports that MCI plans to drop him. Danny Glover
Meanwhile, for NYC readers and fans of Mr.Glover, read this write up
from Playbill.com and check out his play on Broadway.
In other news:
Nothing associated with Mariah Carey's love life is ever easy. Now her fragile ego is set to be shattered all over
again by ex-boyfriend Eminem who's writing something nasty with her in mind. The rapper plans to release a track
containing all her soppy phone messages to him. The hip hop bad-boy was apparently so annoyed that Mariah had talked
about their relationship on her album, Charmbracelet, he is planning to do the same and to include samples of her
rambling and graphic answerphone messages. Mariah Carey
TV Review: Hitler (CBS)
~~ Alex
Thanks, Alex!
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast day.
The jacaranda trees are starting to bloom - they have purple flowers that really stood out against the gray sky today.
Tonight, Wednesday, CBS starts the evening with the Season Finale of 'Star Search', followed by '60 Minutes II', then '48 Hours'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are Sean Hayes and Avril Lavigne.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers is Butch Bradley.
NBC opens the night with 'Dateline', followed by the Season Finale of 'West Wing', then a FRESH 'Law & Order'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Jerry Seinfeld, Third Eye Blind, and diving dogs.
Scheduled on a FRESH Conan are Anthony Edwards and Jane Kaczmarek.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Famke Janssen, Nick Swardson, and Finch.
ABC begins the night with a FRESH 'My Wife & Kids', followed by the Season Finale of 'George Lopez', then 'The Bachelor: The Women Tell All', and then a
FRESH 'Extreme Makeover'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel is Tony Hawk with this week's guest co-host Monica Lewinsky.
The WB has the 2-hour Series Finale of 'Dawson's Creek'.
Faux offers the Season Finale of 'That 70's Show', followed by a FRESH 'American Idol', and then the Season Finale of 'Bernie Mac'.
UPN offers a FRESH 'Enterprise', followed by another FRESH 'Enterprise' (both feature T'Pol).
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Guitar Sold at Auction
Entwistle's 'Frankenstein'
Rock legend John Entwistle's prized pink guitar "Frankenstein" sold for almost 10 times the expected price at auction, Sotheby's said on Tuesday.
The pink Fender Precision guitar had been expected to fetch up to $11,300 but sold for $100,400 as part of an auction of Entwistle's collection of 150 guitars, exotic fish, celebrity sketches and gold discs.
"Frankenstein" was so called because it was made up of the remains of five smashed basses.
Also sold was a Gibson Flying V guitar that drew $61,850 while a rare Gibson Explorer went for $153,349 against an estimate of between $80,000 and $112,000.
Entwistle's 'Frankenstein'
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Unmitigated Bull Shit
Theater Ads
A study released on Tuesday showed two-thirds of moviegoers do not mind watching advertisements before a film begins, a statistic that should buttress efforts to put more ads in theaters.
Among younger movie fans aged 12 to 24, the percentage who do not mind seeing the ads rose to 70 percent, according to the study conducted by Arbitron Inc.
Arbitron also found that audiences find theater ads more interesting than TV ads and more acceptable than pop-up or other ads on the Internet.
"Our initial thought was that there would be some consumer anger. But contrary to that, the more people go to the movies, the more they don't mind the ads," said Pierre Vouvard, president of new ventures for the New York-based research firm.
Theater Ads
Dr. Mark Kuo, right, watches as Mike Lewis, left, and Ritchie Fliegler, both from The Gretsch Company, remove the hardware from a 1961 Gretsch 6120 guitar at Scottsdale Medical Imaging Ltd., Monday, May 12, 2003, in Scottsdale, Ariz. A CAT scan was performed on the guitar, owned by The Gretsch Company, in order to determine how the instrument's bracing was assembled. The Gretsch model 6120 was made with unique bracing from 1959-1961 but was discontinued for no apparent reason. Legendary rockabilly guitarist Brian Setzer requested the reintroduction of the bracing for his Gretsch signature series 6120 guitar, which prompted the CAT scan rather than disassembling the guitar to study how it was built.
Photo by Matt York
Get Media Ownership Rules Plan
FCC Commissioners
A blueprint for easing media ownership rules began circulating among commissioners on the Federal Communications Commission on Monday, which would make it even easier for a company to own multiple television stations, people familiar with the situation said.
Specifically, the FCC is considering a tiered system somewhat similar to what is used in antitrust law to determine whether a company can own several television stations in a market, sources said.
The agency is also expected to lift the ban preventing a company from owning a newspaper and either a television or radio station in all but the smallest markets. That is where an index to ensure diversity would come into play.
Tribune Co. has lobbied the FCC to ease the cross-ownership ban so it can go on a buying spree, while consumer groups and smaller broadcasters have implored the FCC not to change the rules out of fear they would be put out of business and localism would suffer.
The FCC's two Democrats have said they may seek a delay of the June 2 vote, but Powell has made it clear he would not delay it just to forestall the inevitable.
FCC Commissioners
Coming to TV
'The Smoking Gun'
The Smoking Gun, a Web site devoted to digging up court documents in the skeletons of celebrity closets, is coming to television in August with a new show debuting on the Court TV cable.
In an announcement posted on Monday, TSG said the first two episodes of "Smoking Gun TV" would premiere back to back on Aug. 20, hosted by Mo Roca, currently the senior political correspondent for Comedy Central's newscast satire "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
The Smoking Gun is a unit of Court TV, which is jointly owned by AOL Time Warner Inc. and John Mallone's Liberty Media Group .
'The Smoking Gun'
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Fall Lineup
ABC
ABC was keeping its scheduling moves close to the vest Monday, but sources said the network was shaking up every night of the week. "Monday Night Football," as always, will be the anchor of Monday in the fall and winter. After trying comedies adjacent to "MNF" last season, ABC is expected to slot a newsmagazine in the lead-in/lead-out (depending on time zone) berth.
Tuesday will remain an 8-10 p.m. comedy block, followed by "NYPD Blue" at 10 p.m., sources said, but the comedies are getting shuffled. This season's freshman hit "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" will remain in the 8 p.m. anchor slot, followed by newcomer "Hope and Faith," featuring Kelly Ripa and Faith Ford as two very different sisters.
"According to Jim" returns for its third season at 9 p.m. -- the Jim Belushi starrer has beaten NBC's "Frasier" in the slot since it moved there earlier this season from 8:30 p.m. -- paired with "I'm With Her," about a regular guy who finds himself dating a celebrity.
Wednesday will lead off once again with the Damon Wayans comedy "My Wife & Kids," followed by the buzz-worthy "It's All Relative." "The Bachelor" returns for more made-for-TV matchmaking at 9 p.m., followed by one of the new dramas, said to be either "10-8" or "Threat Matrix." Industry sources said ABC was leaning toward "Threat Matrix" for the slot.
Thursday, which has been a black hole for ABC this season, opens with "Extreme Makeover" -- something network executives no doubt hope the reality show about before-and-after plastic surgery miracles will do for its fortunes against NBC's "Friends," in its final season, and CBS' "Survivor."
At 9 p.m., it's expected that one of ABC's new dramas, possibly "10-8," will have the formidable task of going against CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and NBC's "Will & Grace)." Newsmagazine "Primetime Thursday" is expected to maintain its 10 p.m. berth.
Friday kicks off with "George Lopez," which will relocate from the Wednesday 8:30 p.m. slot, followed by the Meyer project. "Life With Bonnie" moves from Tuesdays to Fridays at 9 p.m. for its second season, followed by its former Tuesday-night companion "Less Than Perfect."
The Saturday 8-10 p.m. block will be the new home of the "Wonderful World of Disney" TV movie showcase, which has aired Sunday 7-9 p.m. for the past five years. At 10 p.m., ABC will get decidedly grittier with the second season of cop drama "Dragnet."
On Sunday, "America's Funniest Home Videos" will return to the night where it aired from 1990-1998. "Videos" leads off at 7 p.m., followed by "Karen Sisco," which ABC brass no doubt hope will be a stronger lead-in for 9 p.m. drama "Alias" than "Wonderful World of Disney." And at 10 p.m., David E. Kelley's "The Practice" returns to its longtime home after a disastrous move to Monday 9 p.m. earlier this season.
ABC
Buddhist monks raise a pole with prayer flags, for good luck, outside the Eco-Center in village Tengboche, on the trail to Mount Everest in Nepal, Tuesday May 13, 2003. The Eco-Center sells souvenirs and displays exhibitions and film shows on Sherpa culture, Buddhism and Mount Everest. In the background are the peaks of Mt. Everest.
Photo by Gurinder Osan
Hometown Parade
Verne Troyer
The hometown of 2-foot-8 actor Verne Troyer, who played Mini Me in the Austin Powers movies, threw a party and parade for him.
Troyer, who starred in "Austin Powers in Goldmember" and "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me," thanked the committee that invited him back to his hometown and threw him a three-day party.
"I'm very honored to be here," he told the Sturgis Journal on Friday. "I was a little skeptical at first. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that there would be so many people interested."
Verne Troyer
Admits Marijuana Equipment Sales
Tommy Chong
Actor Tommy Chong of the spaced-out dope-smoking comedy duo "Cheech & Chong" pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a federal conspiracy charge of selling drug paraphernalia over the Internet.
Chong, 64, of Pacific Palisades, California, and his family-run business, Nice Dreams Enterprises, admitted to conspiring to sell marijuana pipes via Web site promotions that featured the comedian's celebrity endorsement.
Under a federal plea agreement, Chong also admitted in a Pittsburgh courtroom that he promoted the drug paraphernalia during personal appearances around the country.
He could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. But federal prosecutors said the actual penalty will likely be more lenient.
Chong's plea represented a public relations victory for a local federal program called "Operation Pipe Dreams," which targets drug paraphernalia sales. The operation, which began in 2000, has 17 cases pending, most from the Pittsburgh area.
Tommy Chong
Offers Free Park Pass to Military
Disney
Walt Disney Co. said on Monday it is offering free tickets to Disney World and Disneyland to U.S. military personnel.
The world's largest theme park operator, which has given breaks to troops before, has suffered weak attendance at its parks from the slow economy and a slump in travel and tourism.
The Federal Aviation Administration has included Disney parks in U.S. no-fly zones as part of tighter national security.
Disney
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Rebuild Completed
Amber Room
A German company said that it had finished rebuilding the famed "Amber Room," which mysteriously disappeared after the Nazis took it out of Russia during World War II.
The rebuilding of the amber panels that lined the room at the Tsarskoye Selo palace near Saint Petersburg took four years and 3.5 million euros (four million dollars), the Ruhrgas company said Tuesday.
The Nazis took down the panels in 1941 when they invaded Russia and moved them to what is today Kaliningrad, but the panels disappeared in 1945 at war's end and their fate remains a mystery.
Amber Room
The world's first inflatable church is displayed at the National Christian Resources Exhibition at Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey, May 13, 2003. The 47 foot high creation opened its Gothic arches to worshippers on Tuesday to reveal a blow-up organ, a polyvinyl pulpit, an air-filled altar and fake stained glass windows.
Photo by Toby Melville
Won't Face Battery Charges
Lou Rawls
A judge tossed out a charge of battery against entertainer Lou Rawls, who had been accused of shoving his girlfriend at an Albuquerque hotel.
Prosecutors then told the judge there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the case and the charge was dismissed, Rawls' publicist, David Brokaw, said Monday.
Police from Albuquerque's international airport had been called to a hotel near the airport on the night of Jan. 15.
Rawls' companion, Nina Inman, told officers she and Rawls had been talking about their relationship when the conversation escalated into a shoving match, police said.
Rawls, who lives in the Phoenix area, was arrested and booked into the Bernalillo County Detention Center on one count of battery on a household member. He posted bond and was released early Jan. 16.
"Nina and I are very much in love, we have established a new home together, and we look forward to spending the rest of our lives together," the 67-year-old singer said in a statement.
Lou Rawls
Filed for Divorce
Jennifer Garner
Actress Jennifer Garner, star of the ABC espionage drama "Alias," has filed for divorce from her husband, fellow television actor Scott Foley, according to court papers obtained on Tuesday.
In a divorce petition entered in Los Angeles Superior Court on May 9, Garner, 31, cited irreconcilable differences in seeking to end her 2 1/2-year marriage to Foley, 30.
The petition says the couple, who married in October 2000, separated on March 23, the same day Garner raised eyebrows in Hollywood by attending the Academy Awards as a presenter without her husband.
Jennifer Garner
Six New Shows in Fall
WB Network
A crime drama with film starlet Rachel Leigh Cook and a weekly variety show with comedian Steve Harvey are among six new shows unveiled by the WB Network on Tuesday, as it tries to strengthen its hold on younger viewers.
Following its successful "Gilmore Girls" on Tuesday night, the AOL Time Warner network is planning "Fearless," about a group of young federal agents featuring Cook, the star of the 1999 film "She's All That." The show will air at 9 p.m. Tuesday.
The network will move its hit "Smallville" to Wednesday nights at 8, to lead into the "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" spin-off "Angel." "Smallville" is currently on Tuesdays at 9.
On Sundays at 9 p.m., following the comedy "Charmed," the network is also planning "Tarzan and Jane," from the makers of the hit film "Spider-Man." The show will reset the jungle tale in modern-day New York City.
WB Network
In Memory
Noel Redding
Noel Redding, bass player for the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience from its formation in 1966 through its dissolution three years later, has died. He was 57.
Redding was found dead Monday at his home in the town of Clonakilty in southern Ireland, his manager, Ian Grant, said Tuesday. An autopsy was planned to determine the cause of death.
"Noel was an extremely gentle and gracious soul. He had a kind of chivalry and nobility about him and he was kind to everyone bar none, people and animals alike," said Deborah McNaughton, his longtime partner.
Chas Chandler, a former bassist for The Animals who became a rock manager, recruited Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell to form the Experience with Hendrix in England.
The band produced three groundbreaking albums of psychedelic rock — "Are You Experienced?," "Axis: Bold as Love" and "Electric Ladyland." Its hits included "Purple Haze," "Hey Joe" and "Foxey Lady."
The group broke up in 1969 before the famed Woodstock appearance by Hendrix, who died the next year from choking on his vomit after taking sleeping pills and drinking wine.
Redding wrote two Experience songs: "She's So Fine" and "Little Miss Strange."
Born Dec. 25, 1945, in the English Channel port city of Folkestone, Redding played with the Modern Jazz Group and the Loving Kind before joining the Experience.
He has said that his greatest achievement was playing the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, where the Experience made its American debut and Hendrix lit his guitar on fire, and the band's 1992 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
After the breakup of the Experience, Redding formed his own band, Fat Mattress, which released a 1969 album of the same name, followed by "Fat Mattress 2" in 1970. Both were rereleased as a set in 2000.
Later, he formed the Noel Redding Band, which recorded "Clonakilty Cowboys" in 1975 and "Blowin'" in 1976. Other recordings included "On Tour" in 2001 and last year's "Live From Bunkr-Prague."
In 1990, Redding and Mitchell each published books about their experiences.
"Jimi's death was the most lucrative act of his sad career," Redding wrote in "Are You Experienced?" in which he alleged that the Hendrix estate owed him money.
In February, Redding threatened to sue Experience Hendrix, the company that manages the Hendrix catalogue, for up to $5 million in lost earnings. The estate rejected the claim.
On Tuesday, the Experience Hendrix Web site mourned Redding's death, saying, "His contributions to the Jimi Hendrix Experience shall never be forgotten."
The Noel Redding Bass Guitar Method was published last year in the United States by Carl Fischer Music.
Redding played most Friday nights for the last 20 years at De Barra, a local pub, Grant said, often with his friends John Coughlin from Status Quo and Eric Bell of Thin Lizzy.
Redding had no children. A funeral was planned for the weekend in Clonakilty.
Noel Redding
A giant Amorphophallus titanium plant nicknamed 'Mr. Stinky' starts to bloom in front of spectators at the Fairchild Tropical Garden in Coral Gables, Florida, May 12, 2003. The titan is known for its intensely powerful stench that lasts for over eight hours.
Photo by Marc Serota
'Ark of Darkness'
"The Ark of Darkness", a Political/Science-Fiction work, in tidy, weekly installments (and updated every Friday).
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'The Osbournes'
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'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1