M Is FOR MASHUP
By DJ Useo
DJ Useo is still under the weather (and the radar, too).
The Weekly Poll
Results - Part 2
The NEW question:
What is the funniest movie you've ever seen?
Send your response to BadtotheBoneBob ( BCEpoll 'at' aol.com )
BartCop Entertainment Movie Poll Page
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
MAUREEN DOWD: Too Much of a Bad Thing (nytimes.com)
My mom did not approve of men who cheated on their wives. She called them "long-tailed rats." During the 2000 race, she listened to news reports about John McCain confessing to dalliances that caused his first marriage to fall apart after he came back from his stint as a P.O.W. in Vietnam.
Cyndi Lauper: Hope (huffingtonpost.com)
Like Obama, I grew up with a loving, hard-working single mom, in a neighborhood mixed with all races and different backgrounds. And like Obama, I knew that was our strength and not our weakness.
William Saletan: Untouchable (slate.com)
DID MICHAEL PHELPS GET A GOLD MEDAL FOR A RACE HE LOST?
Ben Wener: Dave Matthews Band's farewell to a fallen brother (Orange County Register)
Even if it had been a merely half-hearted performance-which it wasn't, not even close, though who'd have blamed 'em if it were?-Tuesday's inspired show at Staples Center would still linger long in Dave Matthews Band lore.
20 QUESTIONS: Larry Love of Alabama 3 (popmatters.com)
Larry Love of Alabama 3 may be 'sick' but he ain't dead, yet. He claws his way out of a groovin' but dark, existential place to answer PopMatters 20 Questions.
Mike Farley: A Chat with bassist Bryce Soderberg of Lifehouse (bullz-eye.com)
"If the Who can play without Keith Moon and John Entwistle, then Led Zeppelin can play without John Bonham. They should get back together."
Erik Hinton: "South Park: The Complete Eleventh Season" (popmatters.com)
South Park uses transgressive means to further enlightened themes, the offensive means to be later isolated and paraded in publicity and spin.
Rafer Guzman: Kevin Covais has film debut in 'College' (Newsday)
The last time most of us saw Kevin Covais, he was a pale-faced, adorably scrawny 16-year-old running the gauntlet of Simon, Paula and Randy on Fox's "American Idol" in 2006.
Roger Ebert: "Manny Farber: In memory"
Manny Farber has died. The great iconoclast of American film criticism was 91. He coined the term "underground film," contrasted "termite art" with "white elephant art" in a way that started you thinking about movies in such terms, and once described the auteur theory thusly (I quote from memory): "A bunch of guys standing around trying to catch some director pushing art up into the crevices of dreck."
David Bruce: Wise Up! Good Deeds (athensnews.com)
During the Holocaust, the father of Judy Schonfeld Schabes gave much valuable property to some neighbors who were good Christians. The property, Judy says, included "furs, jewelry, silverware, and money," and her father told the Christian neighbors, "Do what you want with this. It's yours." The Schabes family was then taken to Auschwitz on a train that left Beregszasz, Hungary. After surviving the Holocaust, Judy returned to her home and saw the Christian neighbors. They told her that her father "gave this to us, but it's yours." Judy says, "And they gave it all back to me."
David Bruce: The Most Interesting People in Politics and History, Volume 2 (lulu.com)
This book contains 250 anecdotes about politics and history, including this one: The Kennedy family was well known for playing touch football, a game that can sometimes be hazardous. Before marrying John F. Kennedy, Jackie Bouvier played touch football with his family-and suffered a broken ankle. And when John and Jackie were finally married, the groom had scratches and bruises on his face from a touch football game he had played earlier that day.
David Bruce: How Do I Write a Functional Resume and Cover Letter? (Free Download; lulu.com)
This document is written especially for college students. It tells how to write a good functional resume, list of references, and job-application letter.
New Ghoul Review
Pubic Service Massage
Hi Marty!!!
Here's a Pubic Service Massage I done made up for my latest episode of the New Ghoul Review, In the last week both A Grizzly Bear and A Moose were killed in separate accidents within a mile of my down-town home/studio location so I done up this short piece and will air it during My "Night of the Living Dead" Zombie Mayhem Spectacular
Note from Sally
ISP of the Damned
Hi Guys,
Well, again, I can't bring up BCE or BartCop! I think it's AOL - or maybe Marty/Bart haven't paid their bills (JOKE).
Of course I have a really busy day ahead, and I wanted to get the quiz out of the way early on, but that's not happening, I guess. I am also eager to read part two of B2BB's poll results. (B2BB, I am still pondering the, "funniest movie" and have it narrowed down to a few choices...)
Well, I'm off to grocery shop this morning. I will try the site again later. Just wanted to give you the AOL "Head's up."
Sally P
PS: If I can't get onto your site today, the answer is probably (A). Hahaha.
Thanks, Sally!
Guess you know why I refer to them as AO-Hell.
Note from Vic
Alaska Quarters
Dignity for All
Obama Interview
I recently posted a video on YouTube of an interview I did at the University of California, Santa Barbara regarding Barack Obama and the politics of dignity. I think this would make a great addition to your blog and that your readers would find it interesting. I talk about how the appeal of Obama is that he relates to everyone-old and young, gay and straight, immigrant or native, American or foreign-with dignity.
I also discuss what I call "rankism," the kind of abuse that happens within hierarchies or between people of higher and lower rank. I believe that Obama's intuitive understanding of rankism and the importance of dignity is necessary for creating coherent foreign policy and making us safe in a world where the biggest army no longer guarantees security. As I say in the video, "The best defense includes not giving offense." The attitude of American exceptionalism and the license it gives to treat other countries and cultures in a less than dignified way has had a profound impact on American security and standing in the world. I discuss these issues and more in this short video.
Check it out here
Thanks so much,
Robert Fuller, Ph.D.
www.dignityforall.org
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and warmer.
The kid heads back to school next Wednesday, so we took a Blue Line field trip to Chinatown.
Was kinda cool to see a huge Obama 08 banner flying from the top of one of the tallest buildings there.
One of LA's charms, at least to me, is how quickly a situation can mutate into a surreal moment out of a never-made Fellini movie.
So, we'd just pulled out of Union Station, heading back to Long Beach, and the car was pretty packed.
There was a clot of people standing near the door, when one guy stepped forward.
He was probably in his 50s, tall, very thin, missing most of his front teeth, but clean, and there was something funny about his eyes.
He started talking loudly, to no one in particular, asking for 35 cents.
He didn't want a dollar, or a quarter. Just 35 cents.
Everybody seemed to be trying to not pay any attention or make any eye contact.
He continued it wasn't for booze or drugs - that he was clean.
And that he hadn't smoked reefer in 6 days.
Well, he added, maybe 3 days, but it sure seemed like 6.
People are now looking, and listening, even smiling, maybe thinking about giving him that 35 cents.
That's when he raised his voice, declared he was blind and proceeded to pop out his right (glass) eyeball, which he then played with as he sauntered through the train car.
New Video
Madonna
Madonna has always reveled in controversy and with the recent launch of her concert tour, "Sticky & Sweet," the 50-year-old pop star has kicked up a new fuss by comparing John McCain to Adolf Hitler in a video.
The dust-up is the latest in a career of risky moves that have paid off handsomely for Madonna, whose tours and albums have long mixed music with politics, sex and religion. While other stars rose to fame in the 1980s then faded away, "Material Girl" Madonna has become a global star and even courted controversy to stay relevant to younger audiences.
As her world tour opened in Cardiff, Wales, over the weekend, Madonna showed a video montage juxtaposing images of Hitler with McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona running for president against Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.
McCain's campaign blasted Madonna with a campaign spokesman telling media organizations that the video was "outrageous, unacceptable and crudely divisive."
Madonna
Electrifies Convention
Dennis Kucinich
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, erstwhile presidential candidate and strident opponent of the Bush administration, gave the most spirited speech of the session Tuesday condemning the war, the economy and the Republicans
Short in stature, the Ohio congressman leaped up onto his tip toes time and again, thrusting his arms out and up, getting the crowd to roar so loudly he had to yell into the microphone to be heard.
It will become known as the "Wake Up, America" speech.
"The insurance companies took over health care. Wake up, America!
"The pharmaceutical companies took over drug prices. Wake up, America"
"The speculators took over Wall Street. Wake up, America!"
"We went into Iraq for oil, and now they want to drill more… into your wallet. Wake up America.
For more - Dennis Kucinich
Instant Replay Starting Thursday
Baseball
Replay ball! Umpires will be allowed to check video on home run calls starting Thursday after Major League Baseball, guardian of America's most traditional sport, reversed its decades-long opposition to instant replay.
74-year-old baseball commissioner Bud Selig, who described himself as "old fashioned" and an admirer of baseball's "human element," softened his opposition following a rash of blown calls this year.
For now, video will be used only on so-called "boundary calls," such as determining whether fly balls went over the fence, whether potential home runs were fair or foul and whether there was fan interference on potential home runs.
Replay will go into use with three series scheduled to open Thursday: Philadelphia at the Chicago Cubs, Minnesota at Oakland and Texas at the Los Angeles Angels. For other games, replays will be available to umpires starting Friday.
Baseball
A Generation Left Behind
SAT Scores
For a second straight year, SAT scores for the most recent high school graduating class remained at the lowest level in nearly a decade, a trend attributed to a record number of students now taking the test.
The 1.52 million students who took the test is a slight increase from last year but a jump of nearly 30 percent over the past decade. Minority students accounted for 40 percent of test-takers, and 36 percent were the first in their families to attend college. Nearly one in seven had a low enough family income to take the test for free.
The class of 2008 scored an average of 515 out of a possible 800 points on the math section of the college entrance exam, a performance identical to graduating seniors in the previous year.
Scores in the critical reading component among last spring's high school seniors also held steady at 502, but the decline over time has been more dramatic: the past two years represent the lowest reading average since 1994, when graduating seniors scored 499.
SAT Scores
Receives Libel Apology
Salman Rushdie
Author Salman Rushdie received an apology in court Tuesday from a former policeman who libelled him in a book about his time in hiding under a fatwa threat.
Rushdie said Ron Evans, an ex-police driver who guarded him after Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a call for his death over the novel "The Satanic Verses" in 1989, had penned "surrealist untruths" about him.
The false claims made by Evans in the book "On Her Majesty's Service" included that Rushdie had bad relations with his police protection team and that they once locked him in a room after he irritated them.
Other untrue allegations included that he had poor personal hygiene and that his relationship with third wife Elizabeth West was based on his wealth.
Salman Rushdie
Seeks $11 Million After Accident
Extras
Twelve movie extras are seeking $11 million in damages from Tom Cruise and his production company after suffering broken bones, cuts and bruises in the filming of World War Two picture "Valkyrie" in Berlin last year.
The extras were injured on August 19, 2007, when the side panel of a period German army truck burst open as it drove around a corner in central Berlin.
"A new letter has been sent to Tom Cruise, (business partner) Paula Wagner and United Artists, in which we set out the facts of the case again and put a figure on the legal demands of our clients ... of $11 million," said lawyer Ariane Bluttner.
The level of damages reflected similar cases in the past and there was a risk that a U.S. judge could order punitive damages for negligence if the case went to court, Bluttner added.
Extras
Closing Arguments
Anthony Pellicano
A federal prosecutor claimed Tuesday that taped phone calls between Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano and a high-powered lawyer showed they were conducting illegal wiretaps, even though the alleged wiretapped recordings have never been found.
In his closing argument, Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Saunders played a phone conversation for jurors in which Pellicano told attorney Terry Christensen that all the information he would be gathering would be kept between them. Christensen agreed.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Saunders said, "what you just heard was the birth of a conspiracy between two different men with a single desire - to win."
While old-fashioned private eyes pounded the pavement for information, Pellicano "sat in his office and listened to wiretaps," Saunders said.
Anthony Pellicano
Sued Over Hair Products
Kate Hudson
"Fool's Gold" star Kate Hudson has been sued by a firm that says hair care products she developed with hair stylist-to-the-stars David Babaii are based on ideas for using volcanic ash that the firm developed.
But Hudson, 29, and Babaii on Tuesday said through representatives the lawsuit, which was filed by a California corporation called 220 Laboratories Inc, is "without merit."
In the lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, 220 Laboratories said it entered into an "oral contract" with Babaii to develop and manufacture hair care products in 2006. The idea for the product was to use volcanic ash from the Vanuatu Islands of the South Pacific.
But Babaii went on to use a company called Universal Packaging Systems Inc to develop the products -- using the volcanic ash component. Hudson promoted the product in a 2007 interview with Vogue magazine and said she was one of the developers, the lawsuit states.
Kate Hudson
Australia Grants Visa
Snoop Dogg
Australia has lifted a visa ban on Snoop Dogg clearing the way for the gangsta rapper to tour in October.
Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr was refused entry to Australia in 2007 because of his criminal record, sinking plans for him to co-host the MTV Australia Video Music Awards.
The official said: "He has now been assessed under the character test as having passed, so he will be given a visa."
Snoop Dogg was banned by Australia's former conservative government which lost power last year to the centre-left Labour government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Snoop Dogg
Bush Appointee Rules
Judge John Bates
A federal judge who ruled last month that top White House advisers must comply with congressional subpoenas refused to put that ruling on hold Tuesday while the Bush administration appeals.
The House Judiciary Committee wants to force White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers to testify about the firing of federal prosecutors and the politicization of the Justice Department.
The White House contends that top aides are immune from such subpoenas.
U.S. District Judge John Bates rejected that argument last month but the Bush administration appealed. The White House said it should not have to comply with the subpoenas while the appeal plays out.
Bates, who was appointed by resident Bush, said a delay would not be in the public interest.
Judge John Bates
Jury Awards $100 Million
Mattel
A federal jury awarded Mattel Inc. $100 million in damages on Tuesday in a federal copyright lawsuit that pitted the house of Barbie against MGA Entertainment Inc., the maker of the saucy Bratz dolls.
MGA and its chief executive officer, Isaac Larian, were told to pay a total of $90 million in three causes of action related to Mattel's employment contract with designer Carter Bryant, who developed the Bratz concept.
The jury also ordered MGA, Larian and subsidiary MGA Hong Kong to pay a total of $10 million for copyright infringement.
In a victory for MGA, the jury did not award any punitive damages and found that neither Larian nor MGA acted willfully when they employed Bryant, a finding that could have dramatically increased the damages.
Mattel
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Aug. 18-24. 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. (X) "Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony," NBC, 27.83 million viewers.
2. (X) "Summer Olympics Tuesday," NBC, 26.63 million viewers.
3. (X) "Summer Olympics Monday," NBC, 26.37 million viewers.
4. (X) "Summer Olympics Wednesday," NBC, 24.76 million viewers.
5. (X) "Summer Olympics Thursday," NBC, 22.44 million viewers.
6. (X) "Beijing Closing Party," NBC, 20.58 million viewers.
7. (X) "Summer Olympics Friday," NBC, 17.88 million viewers.
8. (X) "Summer Olympics Saturday," NBC, 16.76 million viewers.
9. (16) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 8.16 million viewers.
10. (15) "NCIS," CBS, 7.61 million viewers.
11. (10) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 7.29 million viewers.
12. (88) "Flashpoint," CBS, 7.21 million viewers.
13. (22) "60 Minutes," CBS, 6.70 million viewers.
14. (17) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 6.38 million viewers.
15. (124) "Big Brother 10" (Thursday), CBS, 6.17 million viewers.
16. (109) "Big Brother 10" (Tuesday), CBS, 6.12 million viewers.
17. (29) "CSI: NY," CBS, 6.06 million viewers.
18. (124) "Big Brother 10" (Sunday), CBS, 6.04 million viewers.
19. (22) "Criminal Minds," CBS, 5.92 million viewers.
20. (175) "Cold Case," CBS, 5.85 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Dave Freeman
Dave Freeman, co-author of "100 Things to Do Before You Die," a travel guide and ode to odd adventures that inspired readers and imitators, died after hitting his head in a fall at his home. He was 47.
Freeman died Aug. 17 after the fall at his Venice home, his father, Roy Freeman, told the Los Angeles Times on Monday.
An advertising agency executive, Freeman co-wrote the 1999 book subtitled "Travel Events You Just Can't Miss" with Neil Teplica. It was based on the Web site whatsgoingon.com, which the pair ran together from 1996 to 2001.
Freeman's relatives said he visited about half the places on his list before he died, and either he or Teplica had been to nearly all of them.
Freeman graduated from the University of Southern California in 1983, briefly working for an ad agency in Newport Beach before moving to New York to work for Grey Advertising.
On Sept. 11, 2001, Freeman watched the second plane hit the World Trade Center from his apartment just blocks away. He moved back to Southern California to be closer to his family.
Dave Freeman
In Memory
Andre Young Jr.
Dr. Dre's 20-year-old son has died, the rapper's publicist Lori Earl said in a statement Tuesday.
Andre Young Jr., who was named after his father, was found dead Saturday by his mother at their home in suburban Woodland Hills, county coroner's Lt. John Kades said.
An autopsy was performed Monday, but the cause of death wasn't likely to be determined for eight weeks while toxicology tests are done, Kades said.
Andre Young Jr.
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