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From 'TBH Politoons'
Great Site!
Thanks, again, Tim!
Weekly Review
HARPER'S WEEKLY REVIEW
June 25, 2002
The Supreme Court of the United States decided that it was no longer
okay to execute retarded people, because a "national consensus" has
emerged that such judicial killings are cruel and unusual punishment
and are thus, in light of "evolving standards of decency," prohibited
by the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. The Court offered little
guidance for determining what constitutes "retarded."
After a series of Palestinian suicide attacks, including an attack on a home in
Itamar, a Jewish settlement near Nablus, in which a mother and her
three children were murdered, Israel's security cabinet voted to seize
the entire West Bank. Israeli troops killed three young children and
an old man when they shelled the central market in Jenin.
According to
recent polls, a majority of Israelis favor walling off the Occupied
Territories and evacuating most of the Jewish settlements; a majority
also said they did not think Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has a viable
solution to the Palestinian question.
Attorney General John Ashcroft
petitioned the Supreme Court to permit the federal government to hold
secret deportation hearings, a policy that has been rejected by a
judge in New Jersey, where an unknown number of people are being held
for unknown reasons. Ashcroft argued that the hearings must be closed,
even to the families of those being tried, in order to prevent
terrorists from getting clues about ongoing investigations and to
prevent Americans from harassing the detainees.
Continued at www.harpers.org/weekly-review
--Roger D. Hodge
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
June is such a nice month in these parts. Once again, my old pal Coastal Eddy kept it overcast til near noon, and under 80 for the rest of the day.
Bit warmer out in the Valley.
Heard 2 new Heineken commercials tonight, both taking advantage of the music of my 'drive-in years' - first one was Henry Mancini's 'The Pink Panther Theme'. The 2nd one,
heard during Conan was 'The Association' doing 'Never My Love'.
Have been trying to make some order with the books around here. Biggest problem has been going 'ohhhh, haven't seen this one in a while,' and the next thing
I know a lot of time has passed. Today, came across 'Primetime Proverbs: The Book of TV Quotes' by Jack Mingo & John Javna.
First quote in the book, ''You're never too old to do goofy stuff.''
- Ward Cleaver (Hugh Beaumont), 'Leave It To Beaver'
Tonight, Wednesday, CBS starts the night with '60 Minutes II' and follows with the movie 'Black and Blue'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave are Tom Brokaw and Bow Wow.
Scheduled on a fresh Craiggers is JoDee Messina.
NBC has a 'Trifecta' of reruns - 'Ed', 'The West Wing', and 'Law & Order'.
Scheduled on a fresh Jay are Tom Green, Rosario Dawson and Trey Anastasio.
Scheduled on a fresh Conan is ?
Scheduled on a fresh Carson Daly are Johnnie Cochran and Trik Turner.
ABC has reruns of 'My Wife & Kid', 'Jim', then 2 reruns of 'Drew Carey', and wraps the evening with a fresh 'State v.'.
Scheduled on a fresh Bill Maher are Margaret Cho (comedian), Alan Thicke (actor), YAF Exec. Dir. Floyd Brown (YAF exec. dir.), and Lynn Redgrave (actress).
The WB has 2 reruns of 'Dawson's Creek'.
Faux has reruns of 'Malcolm', 'Grounded For Life', 'Bernie Mac', and then a fresh 'American Idol'.
UPN has reruns of 'Enterprise' and 'Wolf Lake'.
TCM offers a mini-marathon of classic Greta Garbo films. First up is
Ninotchka (1939). Next is Two-Faced Woman (1941).
It wraps with Camille (1937).
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Calgary, Alberta
Spelling Lesson
Demonstrators take off their clothes near a GAP store in Calgary, Alberta, Tuesday, June 25, 2002, to protest the company's labor policies in third world countries. Leaders of
the G-8 countries are holding their summit in Kananaskis, Calgary.
Photo by Dave Martin
10 Most Outrageous Moments
''Ozzy Unauthorized''
'Ozzy Unauthorized," a book by Sue Crawford, drops on us next month. It lists as his Ten Most Outrageous Moments:
1. Trying to kill Sharon. In '88 after bingeing on vodka, Ozzy tried to choke his wife, saying, 'We decided you've got to go'. She hit the panic button, cops came and this Wizard of Oz was arrested. He spent three months in rehab.
2. Biting the head off a live bat. '83. Des Moines. A concert. A fan threw a live bat on stage. Thinking it a toy, Dizzy Ozzy bit its head. Talk of going bats, he was rushed to the hospital for rabies jabs.
3. Biting the head off a live dove. 1981. After zapping a fifth of whiskey, he took three doves from his pocket and bit off one head. Security removed him, blood dripping from his mouth, from the CBS building and told him never to return. "It was f- - - - - - great. Tasted like good hamburger," said this sweet TV star.
4. Urinating on the Alamo. San Antonio. Drunk. In drag. Posing for pictures, he decided to relieve himself. "I spotted this old tumbled- down brick wall and thought that would do," recalls Ozzy. Yet again he went into the clink.
5. Shooting his chickens. Told to feed the farm creatures exactly as he arrived home following an exhausting Black Sabbath tour, he flipped, grabbed his shotgun, ran into the garden and blasted every chickie to smithereens. Presumably that's Ozzy's way of unwinding.
6. Killing his cats. So this one nice day of heavy drugging, he lay underneath the piano in a white suit with a shotgun in one hand, (no one thought to take that away from him by now?), knife in the other. President Bush's favorite performer killed all 17 of his pet cats.
7. Trying to kill his siblings. Strangling a brother, setting fire to a sister by pouring petrol on her (obviously, he didn't have that shotgun) and, at 14, stabbing an aunt's kitty cat because he was "bored."
8. After ingesting 900 acid tabs while touring with Black Sabbath, he took seven different drugs one day. It took eight days to come off it.
9. Having his coke delivered in soap powder boxes.
10. Seducing a groupie in front of the missus in Japan. Five hours of drinking sake later, Oz invited a female to his room. Sharon punched the girl and smashed Ozzy's head with a picture frame.
Ozzy's bio is published by Michael O'Mara Books.
''Ozzy Unauthorized''
Fun Link
Oompa Loompas Sex Scandal
Sex Scandal Rocks Wonka Factory
Incendiary Book
''9-11, The Big Lie''
Thierry Meyssan says he got four death threats on Monday alone — and that's a normal day for him.
Meyssan is the author of an incendiary book claiming that no plane ever crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, and that all the attacks that day were plotted by a faction within the U.S. military.
The book has been widely ridiculed by the entire French media. But somehow it's been a hit, scoring in the top 10 on best seller lists for three months, though it's been slipping lately.
Meyssan suggests that a right-wing faction inside the U.S. military masterminded the Sept. 11 attacks in order to advance a military agenda, including waging war in Afghanistan.
He contends that an American missile, not a plane, struck the Pentagon. Pointing to pictures taken after the crash, he says the hole in the building doesn't correspond to the shape of a
plane and its wings.
Asked, then, what happened to American Airlines Flight 77 and the people aboard, Meyssan said: "That's one of the questions I don't have a response for."
Most of Meyssan's work is based on public documents, the Internet and newspaper articles, he says. He did not actually go to the United States to carry out research,
but he says he had correspondents working for him there.
For a whole lot more, ''9-11, The Big Lie''
The Memoir Race
The Clintons
The story so far on the Clinton memoirs: Hillary is right on time. Bill is taking his time.
Both books originally were expected in 2003, but the former president apparently is in no hurry to finish, and a spokesman for his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, said 2004 is more likely.
Meanwhile, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who received an $8 million advance from Simon & Schuster, is expected to meet her deadline easily and have her book out next year.
The Clintons
There's That Quote Again
'Trifecta'
President Bush often tells the story these days about the time, during the campaign, when he vowed he would keep the federal budget balanced unless the nation found itself in a war, a national emergency
or a recession. "Never did I dream we'd have a trifecta," Bush then says, to audience laughter. Sometimes, he adds that he made this statement to a reporter while campaigning in Chicago.
Problem is, nobody can find evidence that he actually said this during the campaign. (In fact, Bush often said his tax cut could be done without causing a deficit even in a downturn.) The New Republic
magazine first pointed out the problem, and NBC's Tim Russert earlier this month told Bush budget director Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. that NBC could find no evidence Bush said such a thing. Daniels replied
that he's "not the White House librarian."
A group called Spinsanity did some library research of its own and found that the president, who first mentioned the mysterious Chicago campaign interview last Oct. 3, has used the "trifecta" joke at
least 13 times since Feb. 27 -- even after Russert put Daniels on the spot -- and the war, emergency and recession lines another two dozen times. But Spinsanity found no recorded mentions from the campaign.
'Trifecta' - Scroll down to 2nd item
Keeps 'Nightline' Promise
David Letterman
David Letterman will give his first TV interview in six years to late-night rival Ted Koppel on "Nightline."
Letterman and Koppel were pitted against each other this spring, as ABC reportedly wooed Letterman to jump ship at CBS and take over the venerable news program's slot. Koppel has hosted
"Nightline" since its debut in 1980.
When Letterman put the rumors to rest and signed a new contract with CBS in March, he said he thought Koppel's show should stay on the air forever. Koppel called Letterman to thank him and asked
if he'd be willing to be interviewed on "Nightline." Letterman agreed.
Letterman's producer told The New York Times he's keeping that promise. When "Nightline" adds an extra half-hour in the second week in July, Letterman will be the first guest. Later that week,
Koppel will be a guest on "The Late Show with David Letterman."
David Letterman
Edging Out 'Reality' in TV Ratings
Repeats Rule
Repeats of TV hits like "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Everybody Loves Raymond" ruled the U.S. household ratings chart for the first week of summer without prime-time sports
as CBS broke NBC's seven-week hold on overall viewership.
The major networks' summertime "reality" offerings mostly took a backseat to reruns of their biggest dramas, sitcoms and news magazines in terms of total viewers for the week ended
June 23, according to ratings issued on Tuesday by Nielsen Media Research.
But two new reality shows, the Fox network's "American Idol" and the premiere of NBC's stunt-oriented "Dog Eat Dog," led the race for the key demographic of adults aged 18 to 49, the
viewer group most prized by advertisers.
The Tuesday and Wednesday editions of "American Idol," a nationwide pop music talent search show with an edge, ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the 18-49 demographic, with "Dog Eat Dog" and the
CBS crime drama "CSI" tied for third.
CBS had the four highest-rated shows overall with repeats of "CSI," comedy hit "Everybody Loves Raymond," news magazine "48 Hours" and the comedy "Becker."
A rerun of NBC's "Law & Order" drama rounded out the top five in household ratings, while two spinoffs, "Special Victims Unit" and "Criminal Intent," ranked seventh and 15th overall.
Only two reality shows made the top 20 for household ratings -- "Dog Eat Dog" at No. 13 and Tuesday's "American Idol" at 15.
Repeats Rule
''McEnroe Used Steroids''
Tatum O'Neal
Actress Tatum O'Neal said in a television interview airing this week that her ex-husband, temperamental tennis great John McEnroe, used steroids during his career on the
court and became violent as a result.
O'Neal, who shot to fame with an Oscar-winning feature film debut in 1973's "Paper Moon" and left acting years later to marry McEnroe, discussed her marital woes and her
own battle with drug addiction in a segment of the ABC News program "20/20" airing on Friday.
Excerpts of the Barbara Walters interview, O'Neal's first on national TV since publication of McEnroe's recent memoir, "You Cannot Be Serious," were released by ABC News on Tuesday.
In one of her most startling comments, O'Neal, 38, said McEnroe used steroids "when he was coming back after (their second son) Sean was born" in 1988. Asked by Walters
if tennis officials knew about it, O'Neal said, "I never read about it. I made him stop because he was becoming violent." The Association of Tennis Professionals, the
governing body for men's pro-tennis, bars players from using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs on the tour, a spokeswoman said.
O'Neal, who lost custody of their three children to McEnroe after their eight-year marriage ended in divorce in 1994, said his famous on-court temper flared often in
their home as well. She described him as verbally abusive and said she ultimately left McEnroe after "he kicked me down the stairs."
O'Neal said that losing her children and her drug addiction were her biggest regrets but she is undergoing drug rehabilitation and has "been clean now for a few months."
Tatum O'Neal
Adding New Character
Beetle Bailey
Comic creator Mort Walker knew he was on to something when he brought a computer technician into Beetle Bailey's world and asked fans for their input.
Walker, who started drawing Beetle, Gen. Halftrack and Sarge in 1950, soon understood just how much computers have permeated our lives. Many fans had ideas for gags, including the old joke
of struggling for hours to repair a computer that — surprise! — is unplugged.
Walker thought he could come up with a new cache of jokes, all centered on the frustrations of figuring out upgrades, gadgets, CD-ROMs and Internet surfing.
And he was looking for a new character who would epitomize the expanding technology. So he asked readers to submit names, and he came up with a winner: "Chip Gizmo" will appear July 4 at Camp Swampy.
He's around 30 and will live in his own world — with a mind swirling in cyberspace. At the same time, the other characters will live more like Walker, reflecting the generations of World War II and Korea.
Beetle Bailey
From Alex
Mohegan Sun
When the tribe that owns the Mohegan Sun casino decided to stage an opening weekend for its new luxury hotel and raise the resort's profile, leaders stacked the cards in their
favor. Celebrities were their aces.
So there was the ageless Cher, sashaying across the stage of the Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday night after yet another costume change, while nearly 10,000 fans yelped adoration.
The JumboTron screen flashed the front row -- Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, Rosie O'Donnell with pregnant love Kelli Carpenter, Bill Clinton.
Later, the tanned and beaming ex-president showed up at the Mohegan Sun's Wolf Den lounge, drowning out the clinking slot machines in a saxophone jam with Jim Belushi and Dan
Aykroyd at a Blues Brothers concert. Joining them: veteran soul men Wilson Pickett and Sam Moore, plus Aerosmith's Tyler.
Mark Brown, chairman of the Mohegan Tribal Council, decided to ''up the ante, go the extra mile'' to make the new 1,200-room hotel a vacation destination. ''I wanted to see so much
frenzy that everybody will know where Uncasville, Conn., is,'' he explains.
10:30 p.m. Inside the Wolf Den lounge, Clinton has stepped in on sax, and Aykroyd and Belushi have roared in on Harleys.
11:30 p.m. Aykroyd's surprise 50th birthday party, thrown by wife Donna Dixon, is a private concert after-party attended by musician pals and old Saturday Night Live
castmates, including Chevy Chase. It unreels like a Hollywood premiere, down to red-carpet arrivals that draw many of the 200 media members in attendance. Flashes
flicker, even for celebs who, to be kind, are a little past their sell-by date. Fans held back by security guards are rewarded by peeks at the currently hot, including Fatone,
in baseball cap turned backward and piercings.
1 a.m. The birthday boy walks the line and rhapsodizes about Mohegan Sun (''a masterpiece carved out of the woods'') and all the pals who have come in for his birthday.
''It was a great moment'' when Clinton ''played the (bleep)'' out of The Beatles' I Saw Her Standing There, Aykroyd enthuses. ''Isn't he fun? I miss him.''
For a whole lot more, Mohegan Sun
Queen of Dis 'n' Dismiss
Rosie O'Donnell
Making her first standup appearance since quitting her TV talk show, Rosie O'Donnell ripped into assorted celebs Saturday at a gala at the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino in Connecticut.
"When you have a show, you have to be nice to people," the self-described "big-mouthed, fat lesbian" said in an often-raunchy declaration of independence. "Now I can say what I want."
So she did.
She said she refused to talk to Michael Jackson at Liza Minnelli's wedding because "I make it a rule not to speak to pedophiles." When a gasp arose from her audience, O'Donnell insisted,
"Oh, come on. I think you all know that kid was probably telling the truth or else Michael wouldn't have paid him off. ... He's a freak ... and not in a nice way."
She also lampooned Oprah Winfrey and Sharon Stone for missing the bash. Bill Clinton did make it to the resort, where he was honored by the Mohegan tribe for his support (word is,
it showed its gratitude by contributing $250,000 to his presidential library). But O'Donnell — who, we hear, made $750,000 for her half-hour set — didn't spare the ex-Prez.
"This is how weird the guy is. He's here last night, and his security guy comes over and says, 'Bill Clinton would like to speak with you.' I said, 'I'm real busy.' Because
I don't want to speak with him. If I [did], I'd say, 'You really p---ed me off. Because you said to my face, "I did not have sex with that woman." She's 22 years old. You put
the big scarlet letter on her soul for the rest of her life. And you want to make nice?' "
Rosie O'Donnell
Milan Fashion Show
Gucci
A colorful bathing suit with side knots is worn with a loose open shirt at the Gucci men's fashion collection for the Spring/Summer 2003, unveiled in Milan Tuesday, June 25, 2002.
Photo by Antonio Calanni
Royalty Deal Approved in LA
Peggy Lee Class Action
A Los Angeles judge on Tuesday approved a $4.75 million settlement of a class action royalties suit led by late singer Peggy Lee, despite 11th hour objections by actor Larry Hagman.
Lee had accused Decca Records, now a unit of Vivendi Universal, of underpaying royalties to her and hundreds of other artists for some four decades. About 160 artists -- many
of whom are now dead -- were part of the class action, including Pearl Bailey, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Patsy Cline, Ella Fitzgerald, and Bill Haley.
Tentative settlement of the two-year-long court case was reached in January, just days before Lee's death at the age of 81.
But Hagman, executor of the estate of his mother Mary Martin, best known for her roles in the Broadway musicals "South Pacific," and "The Sound of Music", objected
last month saying the figure was too low and unfair to some artists.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney however ruled that the settlement was fair because it followed extensive mediated bargaining and because only a small
percentage of class members had objected.
The class action suit represented artists who recorded for Decca before a court ordered cut-off date of January 1, 1962. Musicians had claimed that Universal underreported
sales figures, overcharged for services, and short-changed them by paying royalties based on incorrect prices relating to their CD sales.
Peggy Lee Class Action
Fun Link
Bad Taste Bears
-= Bad Taste Bears =-
'We Are Not Amused'
Queen Elizabeth
Britain's Queen Elizabeth has expressed her royal disapproval at appearing on a poster promoting a sex manual alongside the quote "Phwoar, one must get one."
Buckingham Palace said on Tuesday it had written to Ann Summers, the "passion and fashion store" whose racy underwear and sex aids have taken the British high street
by storm, because it had breached rules on using the Queen for promotional purposes.
The posters, which appeared in the windows of Ann Summers' 62 British stores, show Queen Elizabeth, who celebrated 50 years on the throne earlier this month, at the state opening of Parliament.
But instead of a speech in her hands, the 76-year-old monarch carries the new Ann Summers Wild Guide to Sex. A thought bubble coming from the royal head reads "Phwoar, one must get
one." "Phwoar" is a British exclamation indicating an interest in a member of the opposite sex, much like a wolf whistle.
Queen Elizabeth
Newark Black Film Festival
Pam Grier
Pam Grier will present her 1975 blaxploitation movie "Friday Foster" as part of next month's Newark Black Film Festival.
Grier will answer questions from the audience after the screening, set for 7 p.m. July 10 at the Newark Symphony Hall.
The 53-year-old actress starred in the title role as a former model and magazine photographer who uncovers an assassination attempt on several prominent black leaders.
Yaphet Kotto, Carl Weathers, Ted Lange and Scatman Crothers co-starred.
Organized by The Newark Museum, the Newark Black Film Festival is in its 28th year. It runs from Wednesday through Aug. 8, and admission to all screenings is free.
Pam Grier
Newark Black Film Festival
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Launches Tour in August
Aerosmith
Veteran rock band Aerosmith will "walk this way" again with a four-month North American tour that hits the road in August in support of the group's upcoming greatest-hits collection.
The two-album set, "O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits," is due out July 2, combining chestnuts from the band's previous Geffen and Columbia records releases with two new tracks, "Girls of Summer" and "Lay It Down."
The tour opens Aug. 13 at the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey, and will wrap Nov. 14 at the Shoreline Amphitheater in San Francisco. Country rocker Kid Rock and veteran rap
outfit Run DMC are slated to open select dates.
Led by singer Steven Tyler and lead guitarist Joe Perry, Aerosmith first rocked the charts and arenas with such hits as "Dream On," "Walk this Way" and "Sweet Emotion." But their success
was cut short by the excesses of drugs and ego. The band regrouped in the late 1980s, pulling off one of the most remarkable comebacks in rock history with songs like "Love in an Elevator" and "Janie's Got a Gun."
Rounding out the band's current lineup are rhythm guitarist Brad Whitford, bassist Tom Hamilton and drummer Joey Kramer.
Arrowsmith To Tour
Offers Summer Promotion
Disney's California Adventure
Just a month after saying it had no plans for new summer deals, The Walt Disney Co.'s California Adventure theme park said on Tuesday it will offer a promotion throughout the summer months.
The promotion by the year-old park comes as one of its major competitors, Universal Studios Hollywood, also offers a major summer promotion, reflecting continued weakness for
theme parks from out-of-town travelers, analysts said.
Under its new promotion, California Adventure is offering adult admissions at the children's price of $35 through Sept. 3 for Southern California residents, said spokesman
John McClintock. Children ages 3 to 9 accompanied by a paying adult get in free.
The repeated use of promotions during the normally busy summer season shows that, despite recent reports of improved attendance, theme parks would like to see their visitor volume
higher still, said Brian Eisenbarth, an analyst at Davidson Investment Advisors.
Disney's California Adventure
Under Pressure To Toe The Patriotic Line
US Cartoonists
They are largely black and white (and read all over) but George Bush wants to colour them red, white and blue.
Nine months after the attacks of 11 September, leading American political cartoonists say they are under intense pressure to conform to a patriotic stereotype and
not criticise the actions of Mr Bush and his "war on terror". Those who refuse to bend to such pressure face having their work rejected, being fired or even publicly
humiliated by the President's press secretary.
Last month the veteran TV anchor Dan Rather sparked controversy when he said the patriotism engulfing the country had stopped the media asking difficult questions of
America's leaders, and admitted he personally was guilty of such self-censorship. Now cartoonists, often the most biting political commentators of all, say they are feeling the same pressures.
Excessive patriotic zeal exerted by editors and publishers means that many "progressive" cartoonists are having their work dropped. Some, especially those who work for
smaller newspapers or who are freelance, are engaging in self-censorship to ensure their work gets used.
The issue of such pressure is being highlighted this weekend by an exhibition of political cartoons from more than 30 cartoonists, including six Pulitzer Prize winners, whose
work questions the administration's behaviour in one way or the other. One of the organisers, Mike Konopacki, whose work is syndicated to a number of newspapers and magazines,
said political cartoons had become "dumber" since 11 September. "The emphasis is on humour rather than analysis."
Clay Bennett, a Pulitzer winner, said cartoonists had a duty of responsibility. He felt extremely strongly about the way the government's terror crackdown had reduced people's
civil liberties. "A police state is just around the corner," he said. "If it's freedom the terrorists hate, than why are we doing away with freedom?"
For the rest, Independent News
India
Karni Mata Temple
A child places his arms in a tray full of milk as rats drink at the Karni Mata temple in the town of Deshnoke in Rajasthan. Picture taken June 20, 2002.
Photo by Kamal Kishore
Snarky Gossip
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin still seemed to be in character Saturday when he showed up for the wrap party for his movie "Party Monster."
Culkin plays Michael Alig, the club kid convicted of taking part in the 1996 killing of drug dealer Angel Melendez.
The "Home Alone" star looked as though he'd just stumbled out of a rave party at dawn when he arrived at Eugene. Asked what it was like to play a killer,
he mumbled something incomprehensible and went inside.
Macaulay Culkin
Changing Diapers, Still Rocking
Mick Fleetwood
Drummer Mick Fleetwood, who turned 55 on Monday, finds himself in the odd position of changing diapers at middle age even as he toils in the studio with members of the veteran
rock band he co-founded in the late 1960s.
The tall, lanky, British-born musician divides his time these days between working on a new Fleetwood Mac album, dabbling in various entrepreneurial activities and raising twin
baby girls with his wife of about 10 years, Lynn.
During a telephone interview, Fleetwood told Reuters that both his creative and parenting skills had improved with age.
He also said he and his fellow bandmates are more at peace with themselves and each other, in stark contrast to the old days when Fleetwood Mac endured bitter internal rivalries
and turmoil as the group churned out hit after hit.
The new album reunites Fleetwood with three members of the band's most popular incarnation -- bass player and British co-founder John McVie, along with American songwriters and
former lovers Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Sitting this one out is McVie's ex-wife, singer-keyboardist Christine McVie, who has retired and is living in England.
Fleetwood expects the band to have the album out by early next year and to follow up with a tour in April 2003. The band also is releasing a greatest hits package around Christmas 2002, he said.
Mick Fleetwood
BartCop TV!
Hits London Auction Room
Elvis Mania
As the King of Rock 'n Roll lays siege to British pop charts for a third week, a memento of his philosophical leanings goes under the hammer at a London auction house, expected to fetch up to $8,265 Tuesday.
The copy of "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran bears a 38-line message from Elvis Presley to Tom Diskin, the right-hand man of his manager Colonel Parker, extolling the virtues of true friendship and signed "E.P."
The inside sheet is signed in black marker pen beneath the words "Christ Flight; Christ Love; Christ Peace."
Also for sale is a design in Presley's own hand for security tags for his army of cohorts. "It's like a business card with the TCB logo," said Owen.
Presley's 18th UK chart topper broke a long-standing tie between the King and the Beatles for the greatest number of No. 1 hits.
Elvis Mania
Fun Link
RTMark
RTMark
Reprises 'Some Like It Hot' on Stage
Tony Curtis
The stage career of the young Tony Curtis had barely begun when he was whisked away to Hollywood in the late 1940s to be groomed as a star of the silver screen.
Now, at age 77, Curtis is getting a second shot as a stage actor, appearing again in "Some Like It Hot," the fabulously successful 1959 farce in which he starred
with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon.
Curtis said he didn't have to think long before accepting his role in the production, a musical version that faithfully follows the storyline of director Billy Wilder's
movie that was selected by the American Film Institute as the funniest American film of all time.
Playing the part was an opportunity to "get active and give back to my audience that has been so generous in its support to me," he said in an interview between performances in Houston.
On stage Curtis is now playing the amorous millionaire Osgood Fielding III, who falls in love with "Daphne", the character originally played by Jack Lemmon.
The story ends with an exasperated Daphne pulling off her wig and telling the smitten Fielding she cannot marry him because she is a man, to which Fielding,
played originally by Joe E. Brown, replies: "Nobody's perfect!"
For a lot more, Tony Curtis
Sets Auction Record for Year
Picasso's ''Nu au Collier''
A painting of his mistress by Spanish master Pablo Picasso set a world record for an auction this year, fetching just short of $24 million on Tuesday.
The sale by auction house Christie's of the rarely seen "Nu au Collier" (Nude with a Necklace) passed a record for the dearest canvas of 2002 set only on Monday by London rivals Sotheby's,
who sold French impressionist Claude Monet's "Nympheas" (Water Lilies) for $20.3 million.
Christie's had originally priced the painting -- not seen in public for half a century -- at $9 to $13.5 million. At Tuesday evening's impressionist and modern art auction it was knocked
down to an anonymous buyer for $23.97 million.
"Nu au Collier" is one of a series Picasso painted in the early 1930s of his young lover Marie-Therese Walter.
The 45-year-old Picasso, then married to Olga, famously bumped into the 17-year-old Marie-Therese in the street in Paris in 1927 allegedly blurting out the corny pick-up line, "I am
Picasso. You and I are going to do great things together."
It worked, and they did -- although Picasso did not leave his wife until 1935 when Marie-Therese gave birth to their daughter Maia.
"Nu au Collier," painted in 1932, is unusual for Picasso in its vibrant use of color and line that closely echoes the style of his friend and competitor Henri Matisse.
Picasso's ''Nu au Collier''
Long-Lost Painting Found
Balthus' ''Joueuse de Diabolo''
A long-lost painting by the late French artist Balthus, regarded as one of the finest realists of the 20th century, has been uncovered in a private collection in Switzerland, a Swiss gallery said Tuesday.
The 1930 painting, "Joueuse de Diabolo," depicts a girl in a dance-like pose playing a game. Balthus gave it to his friend Emo Bardeleben who left Switzerland for New York in 1932.
Works by Balthus, who died last year at the age of 92, are worth millions of dollars, but rarely come up at auction.
Balthus, born Count Balthazar Klossowski de Rola to a Polish family living in Paris, was a self-taught painter. He is best known for his provocative, some said pornographic, paintings of young women.
The owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, showed the oil painting recently to the museum's experts, who have included it in a coming exhibition of 107 paintings and watercolors by Balthus.
Balthus' ''Joueuse de Diabolo''
Released From Hospital
Bobby Brown
Bobby Brown was resting at his New Jersey home after being released from the hospital for treatment of an infection, a family spokeswoman said.
The 33-year-old singer was traveling through Virginia with his wife, Whitney Houston, in their tour bus when they stopped at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg last week, said Nancy Seltzer, a Los Angeles publicist.
Brown, admitted Wednesday, was treated intravenously with an antibiotic and released Friday, Seltzer said. He continued taking oral antibiotics during his recuperation at home, she added.
Bobby Brown
Suit Vs. Accounting Firm
The Eisners
Michael Eisner, chairman and chief executive of Walt Disney Co., and his wife have filed a federal negligence lawsuit against their accounting firm, claiming they had to cover
$3 million in unpaid state taxes and interest.
In a lawsuit filed Monday, the Eisners claim Executive Monetary Management Inc. failed to give the correct advice on preparing and filing California state income tax returns.
The company allegedly claimed that it was unaware that California law did not conform with a 1996 extension of a federal rule on contributions of appreciated stock to private foundations.
The Eisners
Copping Plea in DUI Case
Natasha Lyonne
"American Pie" actress Natasha Lyonne will enter a plea agreement in a drunken driving case against her in Miami.
Lyonne's lawyer confirmed that the 23-year-old actress will plead guilty to drunken driving. Under the agreement, Lyonne's driver's license will be suspended
for six months and she will have to perform 50 hours of community service.
In addition, her car will be impounded for 10 days, she will pay about $1,000 in fines and court fees, and she will pay for the road sign she hit. Lyonne also will be on probation for six months.
Natasha Lyonne
Still Seeking Volunteers
'The Osbournes'
Fairly freshly updated - 'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2 !
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
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