'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Weekly Review
HARPER'S WEEKLY REVIEW
October 28, 2003
Iraqi guerrillas using a homemade launching pad fired eight to ten rockets at the Al Rasheed hotel in Baghdad, where American officials have been staying since April. Some of the Americans were seen fleeing the luxury hotel in their pajamas and shorts; one of the missiles struck a floor just below Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, but he escaped unhurt.
Several soldiers home from Iraq on leave went AWOL.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld admitted in a leaked memo that the United States still doesn't have much of a plan for fighting the war on terrorism, and in a published interview he called for a new government bureaucracy to fight the "war of ideas" against international terrorism.
The chairman of the independent commission investigating September 11 threatened to subpoena the White House for documents that it has been refusing to turn over.
Resident Bush was reportedly astonished to discover, during his recent trip to Asia, that Muslims around the world believe that the United States is hostile to them.
Continued at www.harpers.org/weekly-review
--Roger D. Hodge
Reader Suggestion
Re: NRA Blacklist
Hi Marty,
This is a link to the an NRA blacklist site complete with a fun, jaunty, western style paranoid jingle. I wouldn't recommend playing the music in a work environment, co-workers could get very nervous.
~ Chris
NRA Blacklist
Thanks, Chris!
from Mark
"Aggressive Press Corps"
G. Dubya held his tenth solo press conference today. In the post-conference
wrap-up, David Asman of Fox News Channel, said "But he sort of rose to the
occasion when challenged by an aggressive press corps." In what alternate
universe does this group of lap dogs appear to be aggressive?
In the pre-war solo press conference, Bush let it slip that "this is
scripted". Yeah, we're talking about aggressive press corps. So I watched
this one closely to see signs of scripting. A teleprompter would make it
too obvious, but there are other telltales.
More ...
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Coastal Eddy has returned - the temperatures have dropped while the humidity has risen. Much better.
Still getting a lot of ash.
Running late again - had the 2 boy kittens to the vet for alterations. One of them came home with a real buzz on.
Talked to dear old Dad tonight - he & the Babe are leaving for another polka cruise.
If I don't get the 'Cher Page' up tonight, check back in the afternoon. Thanks, again, Tundra.
Tonight, Wednesday, CBS begins the night with '60 Minutes II', followed by a FRESH 'King Of Queens', then a
FRESH 'Becker', followed by whatever is replacing 'The Brotherhood Of Poland, NH'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are Keanu Reeves and Sue Johanson.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are Gary Sinise and Olivia Wilde.
NBC opens the night with a FRESH 'Ed', followed by a FRESH 'West Wing', then
a FRESH 'Law & Order'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Michael Clarke Duncan, and Dashboard Confessional.
Scheduled on a FRESH Conan are Al Franken, Courtney Thorne-Smith, and the Thrills.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Danny Aiello, Drea De Matteo, and Anthrax.
ABC starts the night with a FRESH 'My Wife & Kids', followed by a FRESH 'It's All Relative', then
a FRESH 'The Bachelor', followed by a FRESH 'Karen Sisco'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are NASCAR driver Tony Stewart and Brian Nash, with this week's guest co-host David Alan Grier.
The WB offers a FRESH 'Smallville', followed by a FRESH 'Angel'.
Faux has the Season Premiere of 'That 70's Show', followed by the Series Premiere of 'A Minute With Stan Hooper', then a
FRESH 'The O.C.'.
UPN has a FRESH 'Enterprise', followed by a FRESH 'Jake 2.0'.
A&E has 'American Justice', 'Biography' (Jamie Lee Curtis), another 'American Justice', then 'Fashion Rocks'.
AMC offers the movie 'Halloween III: Season Of The Witch', followed by the movie 'Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers', then the movie 'They Live'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Holmes;
[7pm] 'Ground Force' - Edmonton;
[ 7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Stoke Newington;
[8pm] 'Homefront in the Garden' - Bromley;
[ 8:30pm] 'Homefront in the Garden' - Eltham;
[9pm] 'My Hero' - Episode 4;
[9:40pm] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 5;
[10:20pm] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 6;
[11pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Ep. 2 Cher, Jessica Wallace, Andrea Corr;
[12am] 'My Hero' - Episode 4;
[12:40am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 5;
[1:20am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 6;
[2am] 'Homefront in the Garden' - Bromley;
[2:30am] 'Homefront in the Garden' - Eltham;
[3am] 'So Graham Norton' - Ep. 2 Cher, Jessica Wallace, Andrea Corr;
[4am] 'My Hero' - Episode 4;
[4:40am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 5;
[5:20am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 6; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'West Wing', 'Creature Features', and the movie 'Mary Shelley's Frankenstein'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jon Stewart is Norm Macdonald.
History is all 'Modern Marvels' all night.
SciFi has the movie 'Death Becomes Her', followed by the movie 'The Frighteners', then the movie 'Psycho' (the sucky new version).
TCM spends the morning celebrating Gold Diggers, the afternoon paying tribute to
James Cagney, 2 films by
Tod Browning in the evening, and odd men all night.
[6am] 'Gold Diggers Of 1933' (1933);
[8am] 'Gold Diggers Of 1935' (1935);
[10am] 'Gold Diggers Of 1937' (1936);
[12pm] 'Gold Diggers In Paris' (1938);
[2pm] 'The Doorway To Hell' (1930);
[3:30pm] 'The Public Enemy' (1931);
[5pm] 'The Crowd Roars' (1932);
[6:30pm] 'Lady Killer' (1933);
[8pm] 'Freaks' (1932);
[9:30pm] 'The Devil Doll' (1936);
[11pm] 'The Wolf Man' (1941);
[12:30am] 'Gorilla Man' (1942);
[2am] 'Tarzan, The Ape Man' (1932); and
[4am] 'A Yank At Oxford' (1938). (ALL TIMES EST)
Contestants in the Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest, staged by the Amoray Dive Resort off Key Largo, Florida, pose with their works in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Monday, on October 27, 2003. Contestants carved Halloween creations 28 feet beneath the ocean's surface. halloween takes place in the United States on October 31.
Photo by Bob Care
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Cornfield Maze
David Letterman
A 675-foot-long cornfield maze of David Letterman has attracted so much attention that its owners aren't sure what to do next.
The maze, which depicts a cartoon-like Letterman striding from an outline of Indiana, is the seventh that Dougherty Orchards has made in the Wayne County field, some 50 miles east of Indianapolis.
Letterman this month featured the maze on his late-night talk show and it also gained a mention in last week's issue of TV Guide.
"It was really exciting to see it on TV," said Joan Dougherty, whose family owns the property. "He just seemed so appreciative that we picked him out to represent the state. He talked about it for a long time."
Letterman, who grew up in Indianapolis and graduated from Ball State University, follows other prominent Indiana figures or landmarks to be turned into mazes by the Dougherty family.
David Letterman
Thanks, Alex!
List of Winners
2003 Radio Music Awards
Here's a list of winners from Monday night's 2003 Radio Music Awards:
Artist of the Year/Country Radio: Tim McGraw
Artist of the Year/Hip Hop Radio: 50 Cent
Artist of the Year/Modern Adult Contemporary Radio: John Mayer
Artist of the Year/Top 40 Radio: Justin Timberlake
Song of the Year/Modern Adult Contemporary Radio: "Complicated" Avril Lavigne
Best Driving Song: "Shake Ya Tailfeather" Nelly, P. Diddy & Murphy Lee
Best Hook Up Song: "Intuition" Jewel
2003 Radio Music Awards
Immortalized With Statue
Andy and Opie
Andy and Opie are on a permanent fishing trip — immortalized in a bronze statue unveiled Tuesday by Andy Griffith, whose portrayal of a genial Southern sheriff has become a television staple.
The sculpture depicts the scene in the opening credits of "The Andy Griffith Show" in which Sheriff Andy Taylor walks to a fishing hole with his son, Opie, to the tune of the jaunty, whistled theme song.
"That beats anything. I kind of wish I looked like that now," the white-haired, 77-year-old Griffith told hundreds of fans who gathered next to a pond in Raleigh's Pullen Park for the morning ceremony.
The cable network TV Land agreed to build and maintain the statue at no cost to the city, similar to deals over the past two years that placed a Mary Tyler Moore statue in Minneapolis and a statue of Jackie Gleason's "Honeymooners" character, Ralph Kramden, in New York City.
Andy and Opie
Opening Exhibit In Poland
David Lynch
Avant-garde US film director David Lynch will inaugurate an exhibition of his paintings and photos in Lodz, Poland's movie capital, in late November, an official for the Camerimage cinema festival said.
The exhibition, which the PAP news agency said would be launched by Lynch on November 30 on the sidelines of the festival, will comprise around 30 photos and eight paintings by the director of films such as "Sailor and Lula", "The Elephant Man", "Dune", "Blue Velvet", "Twin Peaks" and "Lost Highway".
David Lynch
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
New TVs Must Receive
Digital Signals
All but the smallest new televisions will have to be able to receive digital TV signals by July 2007 under a government rule upheld by a federal appeals court on Tuesday.
The makers of TVs, VCRs and DVD players tried to block the Federal Communications Commission rule, saying it would make sets more expensive and was unnecessary because cable and satellite viewers don't need the tuners.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with the FCC, which said the requirement was needed because the industry was not moving quickly enough to make tuners available.
The tuners will be needed to receive over-the-air broadcasts after the nation switches from analog to digital signals. Congress has set a goal of December 2006 for the change.
Digital Signals
Radio City Rockettes fall like dominos during their rehearsal for the upcoming 71st season Christmas show in New York, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2003. The Radio City Music Hall 'Christmas Spectacular' will run from Nov. 6th through Jan. 4, 2004.
Photo by Ed Bailey
Talks About Rheumatoid Arthritis
Aida Turturro
Actress Aida Turturro didn't think twice about going public with her rheumatoid arthritis because she wants to be an inspiration to others.
Turturro was diagnosed with the ailment after a painful day at the beach when she was 12.
Rheumatoid arthritis affects 2 million people, mostly women. It's not the wear-and-tear joint damage that plagues the elderly. Instead, the immune system goes awry and attacks patients' own cartilage, causing pain and swelling and eventually destroying the joint. It typically strikes between ages 25 and 50, and within 10 years about half of patients are too disabled to work.
Aida Turturro
Baby News
Deacon Phillippe
"Legally Blonde" actress Reese Witherspoon has given birth to a boy that she and her husband, actor Ryan Phillippe, have named Deacon, a representative for the actress said on Tuesday.
The boy was born on Thursday, Oct. 23. The couple, who were wed in 1999, have a 4-year-old daughter, Ava Elizabeth.
Deacon Phillippe
Unveiled in Poland
Schindler Plaque
Members of the Krakow Jewish community and U.S. college students unveiled a plaque Monday honoring German industrialist Oscar Schindler, whose campaign to save 1,200 Jews from the Holocaust was chronicled by the 1993 movie "Schindler's List."
The black metal plaque, placed on Schindler's former "Emalia" factory in the southern city of Krakow, bears the Talmud quotation "He who saves one life, saves the whole world," in Polish, English and Hebrew, said Pawel Zielinski of the KCI S.A. company, who attended the ceremony.
Schindler's World War II bravery in Nazi-occupied Poland was told in Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning movie, which starred Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley and Ralph Fiennes.
The plaque was funded by the Jewish community of Krakow and students from Albion College in Michigan.
Schindler Plaque
First Official Cancellation Of The Season
'Luis'
Fox has officially canned its Luis Guzman laffer Luis, which aired just four times to disappointing ratings.
For now, the Friday night slot will be filled by double episodes of Wanda at Large followed by Boston Public at 9 p.m. Starting November 14, the net will air movies on Friday nights for the next three weeks.
The sitcom has the dubious honor of being the first new show to be canceled this fall--though NBC's Coupling may have the distinction of being the first new series banished to indefinite hiatus (network speak for canceled).
Also on the freshman chopping block: UPN's The Mullets and CBS' Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire. While both low-rated series are unlikely to return after sweeps, Industry watchers say it's not impossible the shows get orders for additional episodes.
'Luis'
Jewelry Stolen From Hotel Room
Nelly
Rapper Nelly had more than $1 million in jewelry stolen from his Las Vegas Strip hotel room while he was in town for the 2003 Radio Music Awards, authorities said Tuesday.
Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Haynes, claimed the pieces were taken Monday from his room at the Aladdin hotel-casino.
Singer Michelle Branch, who also was staying at the Aladdin, reported that computer equipment was stolen from her room.
Nelly
Charged with Drug Possession
Courtney Love
Rocker Courtney Love surrendered to Beverly Hills police on Tuesday to face drug possession charges stemming from her arrest earlier this month after breaking windows at a boyfriend's house.
Love, 39-year-old singer for rock band Hole and widow of Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain, was charged with possession of the prescription painkillers hydrocodone and oxycodone.
It was not immediately clear if she would face jail time if convicted and Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, said the singer could be eligible for a drug diversion program that would spare her going behind bars.
Courtney Love
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Man With An Opinion
Rod Stewart
Rocker Rod Stewart feels he has been unfairly criticized for dating a younger woman, especially when ex-Beatle Paul McCartney escaped censure despite taking a wife half his age.
"What pisses me off is they never have a go at Paul McCartney for marrying a younger woman ... but they kill me because of Penny," he said.
"Perhaps it's because he's got a knighthood," Stewart added. "I don't know why I haven't got any honor. I do my bit for charity."
Elton John, another singer with a knighthood, also earned Stewart's disapproval for not inviting him to his parties. Dubbing him "Sharon," Stewart took a swipe at John's appearance and weight.
"My hair is nice and real and looks it, and hers doesn't. No, I take that back. He looks good at the moment, but he could lose a bit of timber," he said.
Rod Stewart
Cal Ripken, right, raises the gavel to ring the opening bell at the American Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2003. Ripken rang the bell to help raise awareness for the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation that is dedicated to using baseball as a tool for helping young people develop positive character traits such as leadership, teamwork and good sportsmanship, as well as a healthy lifestyle. At left is Amex Chairman & CEO Salvatore F. Sodano.
Photo by Alan Rosenberg
Sues L.A.
Alleged Britney Stalker
A Japanese businessman ordered to stay away from Britney Spears is suing the city of Los Angeles for allegedly taking away his dignity during a search of his hotel room last year.
Masahiko Shizawa was ordered earlier this month to stay at least 300 yards from Spears and have no contact with her for the next three years. Superior Court Judge Alan Haber, who issued the order, said Shizawa was "abnormally obsessed and fixated with" the 21-year-old pop star.
Shizawa, 43, filed the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court. His action didn't state a specific damage amount, but he estimated he'd suffered more than $2 million in damages.
Alleged Britney Stalker
As Reported On Faux - It Must Be True
Michael Jackson
At 3 p.m. PST Monday, Michael Jackson is launching a worldwide Internet download of his charity single, "What More Can I Give?" For $2 a shot, Jackson fans will be able to hear this record, made two years ago but never released. The record features Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, members of 'N Sync, The Backstreet Boys and others.
But what fans — and the two dozen participating artists — probably don't know is that proceeds from the single download are going, in part, to Scientology. Jackson has designated The HELP Organization, which uses study techniques developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, as one of the beneficiaries of his largesse.
Scientology's HELP — as well as Oneness, Mr. Hollands and ICAF — were not the designees when Jackson convinced people like Usher, Luther Vandross, Tom Petty, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, Beyonce Knowles and other superstars to participate in this recording two years ago. At the time, the stars thought they were participating in a fund raising event for families of the Sept. 11 tragedy. Now, however, "What More Can I Give?" will be collecting money for causes many of the stars may not have intended.
Michael Jackson
Scramble to Cover Wildfires
L.A. Stations
The trauma caused by southern California's deadly wildfires reached into the newsrooms of leading Los Angeles TV stations when news personnel were instructed to "secure your own families and your own homes and then come to the workplace."
As the local L.A. station news chiefs oversaw uninterrupted coverage of the fires or did regular news cut-ins, they found that people in the ravaged areas, victims in Red Cross shelters and other emergency centers were getting most of their information about their neighborhoods, homes, evacuation status and other vital knowledge from the newscasts, said Bob Long, vp news director at NBC-owned KNBC.
The images of television reporters surrounded by flames, often just feet away from where they were standing, have been the norm. In one instance, veteran KNBC reporter Chuck Henry appeared to be hit hard by smoke as he finished a particularly dramatic report. Said his boss, Long: "Chuck has done this for 30 or more years, and he's never been hurt. He has the same kind of feeling for a fire that a matador has for a bull."
L.A. Stations
Chuck Henry & his cameraman were in an ENG van that wouldn't start - they escaped thanks to a fireman's quick thinking. The truck was a total loss, right down to the tires melting into the asphalt.
Sweatshop Clothing
Sean 'P Diddy' Combs
Workers' rights activists said on Tuesday that hip-hop music and fashion entrepreneur Sean Combs' trendy clothing line used a "sweatshop" in Honduras where women sew expensive garments for pitifully low pay.
Combs called a news conference to say he was "shocked" at the revelations and promised an investigation that would have "zero tolerance" for any labor law violations in factories producing his Sean John clothing line.
The group said it believed Combs, who performs as "P. Diddy" and became one of hip hop's most successful stars as "Puff Daddy," may not have known what his suppliers were doing.
Sean 'P Diddy' Combs
Mark Birthday
'Ziegfeld Girls'
The high kicks don't come anymore, but Doris Eaton can still hit her mark.
One arm reaching gracefully forward, the other extending to the rear, the 99-year-old struck a stylish pose Monday at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Nearby was a photo of Eaton in the same stance — as a 15-year-old dancer with the Ziegfeld Follies in 1919.
One of a handful of Ziegfeld dancers still living, Eaton was at the theater to help celebrate its 100th anniversary. The theater opened on Oct. 26, 1903, and was home to the Ziegfeld Follies from 1913 to 1927. The anniversary was marked Monday with a champagne toast and a musical program of songs from the Ziegfeld years.
The Ziegfeld girls were the inspiration for America's current best-known high-kickers, the Radio City Rockettes. They were originally called the "Missouri Rockettes" and made their show business debut in St. Louis in 1925. Their creator, Russell Markert, said he got the idea from the Ziegfeld Follies.
For a lot more, 'Ziegfeld Girls'
Gathering Dust
Abducted Gnomes
A French police station has been stuck with a room of homeless garden gnomes, victims of a wave of gnome abductions, after a fresh bid to trace their owners failed.
Only a trickle of people showed up for Monday's "gnome return day" at the police station in Saint-Die-des-Vosges, near the eastern city of Strasbourg, and only one person was reunited with their stolen gnome, police said.
Some 75 kidnapped gnomes were recovered in 2001 after a group called the Garden Gnome Liberation Front released them, leaving them on the steps of the Saint-Die-des-Vosges cathedral. Police are yet to reunite 43 of the gnomes with their owners.
Abducted Gnomes
Memorial Concert Planned
Elliott Smith
Beck, Bright Eyes and Beth Orton are among the artists who will perform Nov. 3 during a memorial concert for late singer/songwriter Elliott Smith.
Set for the Henry Fonda Theater in Los Angeles, the event will feature performances of only Smith's songs. Also slated to appear are Grandaddy, Radar Bros, Rilo Kiley, Future Pigeon and as-yet-unannounced special guests.
Proceeds from the show will benefit the Elliott Smith Foundation for Abused Children. Tickets are available via TicketWeb (http://www.ticketweb.com).
Elliott Smith
In Memory
Rod Roddy
The phrase he shouted out on TV for 17 years — "Come on Down!" — became household words around the country, even if Rod Roddy's name did not.
The veteran television announcer died Monday at Century City Hospital of colon and breast cancer at age 66.
For nearly two decades his voice was familiar to fans of the venerable television game show "The Price is Right," and Roddy stayed with the CBS program as long as his health permitted, host Bob Barker said Monday.
Roddy had taped his last show two months ago, shortly before entering the hospital.
He had undergone colon cancer surgery two years ago and breast cancer surgery earlier this year.
Roddy, whose full name was Robert Ray Roddy, was born Sept. 18, 1937, in Fort Worth, Texas, and was graduated from Texas Christian University before going on to become a popular disc jockey in his home state. He also worked in radio in Florida, Louisiana, Illinois and New York.
He found work in Los Angeles doing commercial voice-overs before breaking into television as the announcer for the popular 1970s show "Soap."
His announcing stints included "Love Connection" (1981-85) and "Press Your Luck" (1983-86), but "The Price is Right" earned him his greatest fame. He became known on the program for his booming, jovial voice and flashy attire.
A private funeral service will be held in Texas, with a memorial service planned sometime later in Los Angeles.
Information on survivors was not available. Pitts said Roddy, who was single, never talked about his relatives except for his mother, who died several years ago.
Rod Roddy
A pair of one-month-old white Bengal baby tigers are shown to reporters and photographers Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2003, at the Dusit Zoo in Bangkok, Thailand.
Photo by Sakchai Lalit
'The Osbournes'
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