'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
ANICK JESDANUN: Google's Growth Prompts Privacy Concerns (AP)
Although many Internet users eagerly await each new technology from Google Inc., its rapid expansion is also prompting concerns that the company may know too much: what you read, where you surf and travel, whom you write.
Mark Henderson: Money can't buy you love, but it can mean that you have a more active sex life (timesonline.co.uk)
Higher incomes are linked in a new survey with raised libido for men and women.
RICHARD ROEPER: What it's really like to work with the world's No. 1 movie critic (Chicago Sun-Times)
Virtually every day for the past five years I've been asked the same two questions: "Where do you get your shoes?" "What's it like to work with Roger Ebert?"
How Long Do Marriages Last?
Literary Terms
Nightline
Video: Piano-Playing Puppy and National ID Cards
Monkey Mail
afraid to sign his name
ha,ha,ha
You are pathetic looosers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dear rproderick@comcast.net -
Next time have the courtesy to sign your missive.
Better yet, be of some use & enlist - unless, of course, your daddy is rich (& connected).
Or you might try the traditional republican chickenhawk routine - like 5-Deferment Dick "Go Fuck Yourself" Cheney, who "had better things to do."
While chickens have no balls, they make fabulous war profiteers.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, hot & humid.
Perfect weather for a visit to the fair.
Hosting Benefit for Mike Smith
Paul Shaffer
Paul Shaffer, musical director for "The Late Show With David Letterman," will host two benefit-tribute concerts for Mike Smith, lead singer and keyboard player for the Dave Clark Five, who suffers from spinal cord injuries after an accident at his home in Spain in 2003.
The concert will feature performances by The Zombies, Peter and Gordon, Billy J. Kramer, original Moody Blues lead singer Denny Laine and Beatles cover band The Fab Faux.
"A Tribute to Mike Smith" will be held Aug. 2 at B.B. King Blues Club and Grill in New York. The first show will be broadcast live on XM Satellite Radio. All proceeds will benefit Smith, who is paralyzed below the rib cage and has very limited use of his upper body, it was announced Sunday.
A 10-day eBay auction to benefit Smith begins July 31 and will include items such as an autographed drumhead signed by Ringo Starr, Monty Python memorabilia and VIP tickets to a Brian Wilson concert.
Paul Shaffer
New TV Channel
Al Gore
Former Vice President Al Gore, co-founder of a new television channel launching next month, said he's shunning politics - and so is his media venture.
The 2004 Democratic candidate for president was asked if he was concerned the 24-hour news and information channel, called Current, would be perceived as having a political slant. It's scheduled to launch Aug. 1.
"I think the reality of the network will speak for itself. It's not intended to be partisan in any way," said Gore, Current's co-founder (with businessman Joel Hyatt) and chairman of the board.
Aimed at an 18-34-year-old audience, Current has loftier goals in mind than party politics: Gore said it will engage young people in the "dialogue of democracy" by providing stories that interest them, and will involve them in the channel's content.
Al Gore
Multiproject Developments
'Blue Collar'
The principals behind "Blue Collar Comedy Tour," a collective of comedians including Jeff Foxworthy, scored a multiproject development and production deal with Comedy Central through its management/production company Parallel Entertainment, both parties said Monday.
The Comedy Central pact calls for the creation of a second sequel to "Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie," as well as a summer-themed special featuring the "Blue" crew, which also includes Bill Engvall, Ron White and Larry the Cable Guy.
The deal also provides an outlet for other comedians represented by Parallel, which is led by owner and CEO J.P. Williams. Three stand-up specials will be produced for up-and-coming comics, as well as a series pilot based on a concept starring Dave Allen ("Freaks and Geeks") and David Koechner ("Saturday Night Live").
'Blue Collar'
They're B-a-a-a-a-a-c-k
'The Smurfs'
The classic blue cartoon characters "The Smurfs" are poised to make a comeback in a new three-dimensional Hollywood movie marking their 50th birthday, the industry press said.
Paramount Pictures has acquired the rights to the tribe of small, blue-tinted characters created by Belgian cartoonist Peyo and propelled to worldwide fame in the early 1980s through a hit US television series.
The top Tinseltown studio is planning a 3-D computer-generated animated Smurf feature film that will form part of a trilogy of "Smurf" movies, the first of which is slated for release in 2008, Daily Variety said.
'The Smurfs'
Add 2nd Hollywood Bowl Date
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones have added a second show at the Hollywood Bowl, the historic venue they last played in 1966.
They will play the bucolic outdoor amphitheater on Nov. 8, in addition to the previously announced Nov. 6 date, the band said on its Web site. Tickets for the new show go on sale to fan club members on Tuesday, and to the public on July 25.
Rolling Stones
Cast Reunites at Bowling Alley
'Roseanne'
It's taken eight years for a Conner family reunion. But, at long last, Roseanne, Dan and the gang came together at ... where else? A Hollywood bowling alley.
For the first time since "Roseanne" ended its prime-time run in 1997, the entire original cast gathered Monday evening at the Lucky Strike Bowling Center. The occasion: Their working-class sitcom's Aug. 30 DVD debut.
Roseanne was joined by co-stars John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf, as well as the three original actors to play the Conner kids: Alicia Goranson, Sara Gilbert and Michael Fishman.
'Roseanne'
Baltimore Symphony
Marin Alsop
Marin Alsop was appointed music director of the Baltimore Symphony on Tuesday, overcoming vigorous dissent by its musicians and becoming the first woman to head a major American orchestra.
The appointment was made at a meeting of the board of directors. Financial terms weren't announced. After the meeting, board members declined to comment.
Alsop, a 48-year-old American who is principal conductor at the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in Britain, will succeed Yuri Temirkanov, who is stepping down at the end of next season.
The daughter of professional classical musicians, Alsop studied violin at the Juilliard School of Music. She trained as a conductor under Leonard Bernstein.
Marin Alsop
IRS Trouble
Norman Whitfield
Motown Records producer Norman Whitfield, who co-wrote such R&B classics as "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," was sentenced on Monday to six months of home detention for failure to file U.S. income tax returns.
Whitfield, 65, admitted in a guilty plea in January that he had deliberately neglected to report to the Internal Revenue Service more than $4 million in songwriting royalties he earned from 1995 through 1999.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson agreed to allow Whitfield to serve his six months at home, rather than in prison, after doctors confirmed that Whitfield suffered from a kidney ailment and other health problems, Kwan said.
Norman Whitfield
Infiltrate TV Shows
Product Placements
They get flush turning TV shows into promotions - and all you get are these lousy product placements. Beware: Television more and more is shill-o-vision, where commercial breaks still come and go but the commercials never end.
Commercials for Sears products, which outfit ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." For Coke, with logo-inscribed glasses nursed by Simon and his comrades on Fox's "American Idol." For Clairol, when a contest to be "Herbal Essences Girl" pitted two pals against each other on an episode of the WB sitcom "What I Like About You."
In 2004, the value of television product placements (a product or brand name inserted for marketing purposes into entertainment fare) increased by 46.4 percent over the year before, to $1.88 billion, according to the research firm PQ Media.
Product Placements
Return To The Big Screen
'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'
The "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" are set to return to the big screen after a 14-year break in a lavish new computer-generated movie, the industry press said.
The new movie that will feature state-of-the-art computer-generated animation (CGI) is set for release in early 2007, industry bible Daily Variety said.
In their first deal since their celebrated divorce from Walt Disney Co, Hollywood independent movie magnates Harvey and Bob Weinstein have agreed to distribute the film for Warner Bros studios.
'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'
Sues Over Sex Tape
Colin Farrell
Actor Colin Farrell is suing a woman for allegedly trying to distribute and profit from a sex tape he says the two recorded with the agreement they would never make it public.
The lawsuit filed Monday in Superior Court seeks general and compensatory damages as well as a temporary restraining order and injunction prohibiting the sale and exploitation of the videotape.
Farrell, 29, accuses Nicole Narain of trying to distribute the tape through an intermediary. The two had an intimate relationship 2 1/2 years ago and both agreed that the 15-minute tape that shows the couple having sex would be jointly owned by them and would remain private, according to the suit.
Colin Farrell
Joins Faux News Channel As Anchor
Bill Hemmer
Bill Hemmer, dumped last month by CNN as co-host of its morning show, has joined archrival Fox News Channel as a daytime anchor.
Once one of CNN's rising stars, Hemmer was called the "chad lad" following his coverage of the Florida recount in 2000. CNN paired him with Paula Zahn as "American Morning" co-host in 2002, before she was replaced by Soledad O'Brien.
CNN said it wanted to "improve the chemistry" in the morning when it replaced Hemmer with Miles O'Brien this spring. The New York-based Hemmer was reportedly offered a White House correspondent's job at CNN but declined.
Bill Hemmer
Smithsonian Finds Photos
Scopes Monkey Trial
Eighty years after the Scopes Monkey Trial, a trove of about 60 unpublished photos from the landmark case has been found in Smithsonian Institution archives, including a shot of Clarence Darrow's courtroom sparring with William Jennings Bryan.
The photos were taken by Watson Davis, managing editor of Science Service, who covered the 1925 Tennessee trial, which pitted evolution against the biblical story of creation and resulted in the conviction of biology teacher John T. Scopes for teaching evolution. The photos were among 267 cubic feet of Science Service material given to the Smithsonian Institution Archives in 1971.
Scopes, a Dayton, Tenn., teacher, was convicted of violating a state law that forbade teaching evolution and fined $100. The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed the conviction on the narrow ground that only a jury trial could impose a fine of more than $50. It did not rule on the constitutionality of the law. The state repealed the law more than 40 years later, in 1967.
Scopes Monkey Trial
Experts Say Signature Was Forged
Cameron Diaz
Two forensic experts have testified that a signature on a model release form involving topless photos of Cameron Diaz appeared to be forged, using an autographed publicity photo of the actress.
Forensic document examiner Bruce Greenwood, who has analyzed copies of Diaz's writings, testified Monday that the signature on the release form appeared to be forged.
Forensic expert George Reis, who worked for the Newport Beach Police Department for 15 years, also said Diaz's signature was forged and that it appeared the publicity photo was used to make the forgery.
Cameron Diaz
In Memory
Gavin Lambert
Writer Gavin Lambert, who earned his reputation as a Hollywood historian through novels, screenplays and biographies of actresses including Norma Shearer and Natalie Wood, died Sunday, said Mart Crowley, a friend and playwright. He was 80.
The British-born Lambert arrived in Los Angeles in the mid-1950s to become director Nicholas Ray's assistant. Formerly the editor of the British film magazine Sight & Sound, he devoted much of the rest of his life to writing about Hollywood.
Lambert's credits as a screenwriter included his adaptation of Tennessee Williams' "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone," an adaptation of "Inside Daisy Clover," and two Oscar-nominated adaptations, "Sons and Lovers" and "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden."
As Ray's assistant, Lambert did uncredited writing on the director's films "Bigger Than Life" and "The True Story of Jesse James." He also collaborated on the script for "Bitter Victory (AKA: 'Amère victoire')." Born in East Grinstead, England, Lambert attended Cheltenham College.
He entered Magdalen College, Oxford, but dropped out a year later when he found out he was required to learn medieval English to earn a degree.
Gavin Lambert
In Memory
Jim Aparo
Tuesday morning, July 19, legendary artist Jim Aparo passed away at the age of 72 after a long battle with cancer.
A self-taught artist, Aparo is best known for drawing Batman across the decades. Most readers know him best for his work on the groundbreaking "A Death in the Family" storyline that ended the life of the second Robin, Jason Todd.
Aparo also provided exemplary work on Brave & the Bold, Green Arrow and was co-creator of Batman & the Outsiders.
Though the website the Artist's Choice, the Aparo family has requested that in lieu of flowers, those wishing to show their love for Jim Aparo instead make a donation to any worthy charity.
Jim Aparo is survived by his wife Julie, three children, four grandchildren and two step-grandchildren. He'll be missed by all.
Jim Aparo
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