M Is FOR MASHUP - October 29th, 2008
No Letup In Bootlegs
By DJ Useo
The Weekly Poll
Results Delayed
The New Question
Has there been a particular book or movie that you can say truly changed your life?
Send your response to BadtotheBoneBob (BCEpoll (at) aol.com)
Results have been delayed while Bob consults with the pros from Dover.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Garrison Keillor: Some Voters Are Going to Have to Lose Their Homes Before They Connect the Dots (Tribune Media Services. Posted on AlterNet.org)
It's clear that some Americans are beyond persuasion. Thankfully, it seems that most of us are willing to recognize BS when we see it.
Patricia Lopez: After a lifetime of laughs, Al Franken's on a serious mission (Star Tribune)
When Al Franken produced a 1992 "Saturday Night Live Presidential Bash," he fired off a letter to a man he'd been skewering for years - Richard Nixon - in the hope that one of his favorite political punching bags would bestow a personal appearance on the show.
Mark Caro: Oliver Stone has no regrets about release of 'W.' (Chicago Tribune)
Oliver Stone waited almost two decades to make a movie based on his Vietnam War experiences, but he couldn't wait till President George W. Bush was out of office to immortalize him on film.
Keith Blanchard: The Next Great Depression Is Here... If We're Lucky (huffingtonpost.com)
I think we've been bellied up just a little too long at the all-you-can-eat buffet of the world. You probably think I mean that figuratively. But one out of five Americans is overweight now, and one in four of us is clinically obese. Yowsa! One in four!! We are not just the fattest people on Earth, we're the fattest people in the history of people. We're so fat our favorite color is gravy. We're so fat that when our beeper goes off, other countries think we're backing up.
The prophet of loss (guardian.co.uk)
Vince Cable saw the recession coming long before his political opponents - and it turned out he had the solutions, too. So where does the Lib Dems' economics expert think we go from here? Stuart Jeffries meets him.
Tim Dowling: The bright side (guardian.co.uk)
If you want to put a positive spin on these dark times, weigh yourself now, and then look forward to weighing yourself again after a winter of frugal meals.
Julia Marino: Local [SE Ohio] community organizer makes 'Daily Show' correspondent laugh (athensnews.com)
"Oh, Liz, there's that Ohio wit again!" "The Daily Show" correspondent John Oliver's brisk British accent resonates in the still, comfortable air of Liz Shaw's historic home in Meigs County.
Mike Ludwig: Grammy winner Carole King gives Obama canvassers pep talk in Nelsonville (athensnews.com)
When a local canvasser asked how to approach prospective voters who make "veiled statements" that imply they don't trust Obama as a leader on racial grounds, King suggested sending children and young people to speak to them because conservative members of the "older generation" are less likely to challenge young people with racially fueled concerns.
Charlie Brooker: So, you think it's funny to laugh at irritating celebrities when their lives fall apart, do you? (guardian.co.uk)
Perhaps I'm mellowing in my old age but kicking real people when they're down doesn't activate my chuckle cells.
Kerry Lauerman: The end of "Opus" (salon.com)
Berkeley Breathed explains how our coarse national dialogue led him to end his strip. But what fate awaits our beloved, big-nosed hero?
Michael Hamersly: What you oughta know before seeing Alanis Morissette (McClatchy Newspapers)
After two forgettable dance-pop albums, Canadian singer Alanis Morissette found her true voice and exploded into rock history with the raw album "Jagged Little Pill." Its hit "You Oughta Know" became an empowering anthem for women all over the world. The album went on to sell 30 million copies, making it the bestselling debut album by a female artist in the United States.
Patrick S. Pemberton: Irish-American rapper [Everlast] says keeping up with the news weighs heavy on his mind and his music (McClatchy Newspapers)
"I'm just watching America fall apart," he said via phone recently from Birmingham, Ala., as CNN reporters discussed the latest Wall Street losses in the background. "I'm watching all the young people's futures being robbed from them right now because their parents are losing all of their college money."
Walter Tunis: Acclaimed bassist Edgar Meyer is based in many genres (McClatchy Newspapers)
Many artists have a recognition factor specific enough that when their name appears on a concert bill or recording, you know in an instant the type of music that is at hand. AC/DC? Jay-Z? George Strait? You know what you're in for with those guys. Someone like Edgar Meyer is another story entirely.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Good Deeds (athensnews.com)
All of us have seen fliers that announce important information such as "Roommate Needed" or "Drummer Wanted for Hard Rock Band." The paper flyers include a fringed bottom made with scissors. Each fringe contains such important information as a telephone number. Often, a note states, "Take one," referring to the fringes, which can easily be torn off the flyer and carried away. On Oct. 20, a number of such fliers appeared in public places in Athens. The fliers stated, "Important Information. Take one." On each fringe was written the phrase "I Love You." Other fliers had fringes on which were printed, "I Like You" and "Thank You."
~ Tony In Philly 
responded:
And, Joe S ("I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion."
~ Henry David Thoreau) the pumpkin fry-bread cook answered:
Reader Comment
Re: Zenman vs the NRA
Marty,
This morning, ZenMan's item on the kid killed by an assault rifle ended with the phrase "FUCK THE NRA." How dare he so rudely criticize an organization that has so staunchly misinterpreted yet defended half of a Constitutional amendment lo these many years!?!? Unthinkable!
Roy the retired airman
Tyler, TX
Thanks, Roy!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny and dry.
Free Obama Concert In Tampa Bay
Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett plans a free concert Sunday in Tampa to urge people to vote for Democrat Barack Obama for president. The "Last Chance for Change" rally and concert is happening two days before the election at the outdoor Ford Amphitheatre.
People can get two free tickets by visiting any of the early voting information tables the Obama campaign has set up in the Tampa Bay area. Show time is 3 p.m.
More information is available at www.FL.BarackObama.com.
Jimmy Buffett
Visited Leno
Michelle Obama
No $150,000 wardrobe malfunctions for Michelle Obama.
"Actually, this is a J. Crew ensemble," the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama told comedian Jay Leno on Monday on his talk show. She wore a yellow sweater, skirt and blouse ensemble.
Questioned by Leno, the potential first lady declined to criticize GOP vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin about revelations that the Republican National Committee spent $150,000 at Neiman Marcus and other high-end retailers on clothes and accessories for Palin and her family.
Obama said she and her husband have a policy of spending their own money on their clothes. But she said she wanted to be "empathetic."
"A V.P. pick, it's like being shot out of a cannon. All of a sudden you're at the center of attention, and you want to look good," said Michelle Obama, adding she has never met Palin. "You're living in your home, minding your business, and all of a sudden you're on the national stage and everyone's watching."
Michelle Obama
Charity Event Doubles As Tribute
The Painted Turtle
A Hollywood who's-who turned out for an annual fundraiser for Paul Newman's children's camp that doubled as a tribute to the late actor.
The lineup for a dramatic reading of "The World of Nick Adams" on Monday night at San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall already was set when the acting legend died of cancer Sept. 26 at the age of 83. The event benefited The Painted Turtle, a camp for children with life-threatening illnesses, that was started by Newman in 1999.
"We expected Paul to be with us and so this kind of turned into kind of a tribute," said Danny Glover, who joined Jack Nicholson, Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, Warren Beatty, Sean Penn and other big names in the reading. "This is the first time we are doing this without Paul - there is a void there, without a doubt."
Some 2,500 people attended the star-studded benefit, which began with a video in which Newman discussed his work with the Association of Hole in The Wall Camps, which runs 11 camps around the world including The Painted Turtle.
The Painted Turtle
Plant-Less Tour
Led Zeppelin
Legendary rock band Led Zeppelin are planning to return to recording and touring -- without singer and frontman Robert Plant, bassist John Paul Jones told BBC radio.
Jones said the hard-rocking group were trying out different singers to replace Plant, who has repeatedly voiced his reluctance to join in a full reunion after a mammoth one-off gig at the O2 Arena in London last December.
Jones said he, guitarist Jimmy Page and Bonham's drummer son Jason were keen to get out playing concerts again -- and were not hanging around waiting for Plant to change his mind.
Led Zeppelin
Top-Earning Dead Celebrity
Elvis
Elvis Presley may have left the building several decades ago, but his earning power is far from diminished with Forbes.com ranking him the top-earning dead celebrity for the second year in a row.
Presley pulled in $52 million in the past year, helped by increased visitors to his Graceland estate to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his death and new ventures like the Elvis Sirius Satellite Radio show, according to the web site.
Coming in at No. 2 with $33 million in earnings was cartoonist Charles Schulz, who died in 2000 and is best known for his "Peanuts" comic strip, while Australian actor Heath Ledger nabbed third spot.
German-born physicist Albert Einstein comes in at No. 4 with $18 million in earnings, mainly from Baby Einstein, the majority Disney owned videos and toys for children, while TV producer Aaron Spelling -- whose shows include "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Charlie's Angels" -- was ranked No. 5 with $15 million in earnings.
Elvis
Co-Hosting Nobel Concert
Michael Caine
Michael Caine will co-host the 2008 Nobel Peace Concert honoring this year's laureate, organizers said Tuesday.
The 75-year-old two-time Oscar winner will host the Dec. 11 show with Scarlett Johansson.
The show is headlined by Diana Ross and includes Feist, Dierks Bentley, Julieta Venegas and Seun Kuti.
Michael Caine
New Line
Sopranos Wines
"The Sopranos," the U.S. television series about a New Jersey mob family, has sparked an unusual spinoff -- a line of Italian wines that will be launched in the United States this fall.
Sopranos Wines are being produced under a licensing agreement between the TV network HBO and New-York based Vesuvio Import Company. The wines will be distributed by Duggan's Distillers Products Corp..
A joint statement said the line from various Italian wineries would feature a variety of wines ranging a Chianti DOCG, Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noir priced up to $11.99 to a higher end Chianti Classico at $23.99 and a Chianti Classico Reserva at $29.99.
The Vesuvio Import Company, created to develop this new line, was named after the famed fictional restaurant depicted in the series that ran for six seasons over more than eight years, ending in June 2007.
Sopranos Wines
Authors, Publishers Settle Suit
The Google
Eager to cool the debate over copyrighted text online and anxious to make some money, Google and the publishing industry announced Tuesday that they have settled their three-year legal battle over the Internet giant's book search program.
Under an agreement reached by Google, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, librarians and the public will have an easier time tracking down millions of out-of-print books. At the same time, Google and the book business will have greater opportunities for online sales.
"This is an extraordinary accomplishment," Paul N. Courant, university librarian for the University of Michigan, said in a statement. "It will now be possible, even easy, for anyone to access these great collections from anywhere in the United States."
Under the Google Print Library Project, snippets from millions of out-of-print, but copyrighted books have been indexed online by Michigan and other libraries. Google has called the project, which also scans public domain works, an invaluable chance for books to receive increased exposure.
The Google
Reduced Drug Charges
Steven Page
A drug charge against Barenaked Ladies singer-guitarist Steven Page was significantly reduced Tuesday by an upstate New York court.
The felony charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and the 38-year-old musician was given what's called an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, which means the charges will be dismissed if he stays out of trouble for six months.
Page was arrested in July while visiting girlfriend Christine Benedicto and another woman at their suburban Syracuse apartment.
Benedicto and another woman, Stephanie Ford, were charged with misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance. They also had the charge adjourned in contemplation of dismissal; marijuana possession charges against them also were dropped.
Steven Page
No Obama Infomercial
ABC
A half-hour Barack Obama campaign ad will blanket the major broadcast networks Wednesday night - except for ABC.
Attempting to protect its struggling Wednesday lineup, ABC tried to reach an agreement with the Obama campaign to air the commercial on a different night, according to people familiar with the discussions who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
The Obama campaign bought time on CBS, NBC and Fox for $1 million per network. In Fox's case, the ad will precede the resumption of rain-suspended Game 5 of the World Series in Philadelphia.
Fox decided to pre-empt its World Series pre-game show for the Obama spot and will start its baseball coverage after the commercial's 8:30 p.m. conclusion.
ABC
France Honours
Roger Moore
British actor Roger Moore, who played the suave secret agent James Bond seven times, was awarded the Order of Arts and Letters, one of France's highest honours, at a ceremony in Paris Tuesday.
Culture Minister Christine Albanel, who presented the honour to Moore, said he was a true legend of both cinema and television.
Moore first became famous in the 1960s television series The Saint. He also teamed up with US actor Tony Curtis in the 1970 series The Persuaders, in which they played a couple of rich playboys with a sideline in investigating crimes.
He played his first Bond film, "Live and Let Die", in 1973, taking over from Sean Connery. He played his last one, "A View to a Kill", in 1985.
Roger Moore
VA Report
U.S. Veterans
Nearly 15 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seeking medical care from the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department have suffered sexual trauma, from harassment to rape, researchers reported on Tuesday.
And these veterans were 1.5 times as likely as other veterans to need mental health services, the report from the VA found.
Rachel Kimerling of the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System in California said in a telephone interview the term "military sexual trauma" covers a range of events from coerced sex to outright rape or threatening and unwelcome sexual advances.
The study does not cover active-duty servicemen and women, as VA services are only available to discharged veterans.
U.S. Veterans
Tortured Into Confessing
Mohammed Jawad
A young Guantanamo prisoner's confession to Afghan police was obtained through torture and cannot be used as evidence in his trial on charges of wounding U.S. soldiers with a grenade, a judge in the U.S. war crimes court ruled on Tuesday.
Mohammed Jawad was 16 or 17 at the time and appeared to have been drugged, said the judge, Army Col. Stephen Henley. The Afghan officials who interrogated Jawad at the Kabul police station were armed and the death threat was credible, he ruled.
Jawad was turned over to U.S. forces after confessing and, two months later, was sent to the detention center at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The military prosecutor in the case quit last month, alleging the U.S. government was suppressing evidence that cast doubt on Jawad's guilt. And a U.S. general who supervised the prosecutors was reassigned after fellow officers accused him of pushing for charges in the Jawad case prematurely because he felt it would excite the interest of U.S. citizens.
Mohammed Jawad
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Oct. 20-26. 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. (1) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 19.49 million viewers.
2. (2) "Dancing with the Stars," ABC, 18.5 million viewers.
3. (3) "NCIS," CBS, 17.23 million viewers.
4. (7) "Dancing with the Stars Results," ABC, 16.35 million viewers.
5. (4) "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 15.95 million viewers.
6. (X) World Series Game 4: Tampa Bay at Philadelphia, Fox, 15.48 million viewers.
7. (9) "The Mentalist," CBS, 15.28 million viewers.
8. (7) "Criminal Minds," CBS, 15.01 million viewers.
9. (X) World Series Game 1: Philadelphia at Tampa Bay, Fox, 14.634 million viewers.
10. (11) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 14.63 million viewers.
11. (4) "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 14.45 million viewers.
12. (10) "CSI: NY," CBS, 14.39 million viewers.
13. (11) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 13.5 million viewers.
14. (14) "Survivor: Gabon," CBS, 13.31 million viewers.
15. (16) "The OT," Fox, 13.28 million viewers.
16. (15) "House," Fox, 13.08 million viewers.
17. (X) "World Series Game 4 Preview," Fox, 13.06 million viewers.
18. (13) "60 Minutes," CBS, 12.82 million viewers.
19. (X) World Series Game 2: Philadelphia at Tampa Bay, Fox, 12.78 million viewers.
20. (16) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC, 12.26 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Gerard Damiano
The director of the 1972 hard-core adult movie classic "Deep Throat" has died in Florida.
A report in News-Press newspaper in Fort Myers, Florida, quoted the son of director Gerard Damiano as saying he died Saturday. He was 80 and had suffered a stroke in September.
The New York-born director made a long line of adult films, but "Deep Throat" became a mass-market box-office success and was credited with launching the modern hard-core pornography industry.
Damiano said in an interview with the News-Press in 2005 that he was diplomatic in a difficult industry.
"I was just a nice guy, which is why I think I did pretty well," he said.
"I mean, I'd meet an actress and have to say, 'Sit down, take your clothes off - I'm going to ask you to do some nasty things.' You have to be pretty nice."
Gerard Damiano
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
