'TBH Politoons'
Reader Comment
A Statement
Today, we should know which of these statements is true:
George W. Bush, You Don't Have To Go Home To Texas
Or
George W. Bush, You Don't Have To Go Home To Texas -- But You Can't
Stay In The White House
Er - maybe not...
Thanks, Bruce!
Music Recommendation
The Squires of the Subterrain
Super albums from a super talent
You asked " Do you have a great album no one's heard?" Well, maybe
you've heard these (or not), but more people ought to be turned on to "
The Squires of the Subterrain".
Take a listen to
any of the samples on any of the albums and you'll probably end up
agreeing with me, that is that Chris Earl (aka The Squire) is every bit
as much a genius as is Brian Wilson and Ray Davies. Check them out,
you'll be amazed!
Jim K.
Thanks, Jim - will do!
Selected Reading
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny, still cool - what passes for autumn in these parts.
Last week we were summoned to the kid's school for a meeting. He'd been acting up in class & not doing his homework.
It was agreed that he's bored, and the options offered were to jump him up a grade, or find more challenging classes. Well, duh.
As a quick fix, he's going to stay in the 6th grade, but he'll take 8th grade science (science isn't offered in the 6th grade) for now.
And, he's joining the orchestra - says he wants to learn the violin.
The violin surprised me. There is no shortage of musical instruments in the house (guitars, banjo, piano, organ, flute, oboe & clarinet), but
he's shown no interest in any of them. But, violin is cool.
Kids.
Can't Think About Bush Winning
Patti LaBelle
If resident Bush wins re-election on Tuesday, you'll see Patti LaBelle with reddened eyes on Wednesday.
The R&B diva, an ardent supporter of Democratic nominee John Kerry, said she "can't even think about it" happening.
"I'm going to cry a lot, but I know that's not going to happen, because too many people have come out of the sleep that they've been in," LaBelle told The Associated Press last week.
"I've not always been a voter," the 60-year-old singer said.
"I started when (former President) Clinton was running for man of the year," she said, laughing. "As far as I'm concerned, I wish he could have stayed another eight."
She certainly doesn't feel the same way about resident Bush.
"As far as we're concerned, people are accepting a phony president," she said. "Having those kids go over and getting killed (in the war in Iraq) ... I don't approve of that at all."
Patti LaBelle
Decries Iraq War
Stephen Hawking
Britain's most famous scientist, Stephen Hawking, condemned the U.S. led invasion of Iraq as a "war crime" and said Tuesday it was based on lies.
The physicist spoke at an anti-war demonstration in London's Trafalgar Square timed to coincide with the U.S. election. Protesters read out the names of thousands of Iraqis and coalition troops killed since the March 2003 invasion.
"The war was based on two lies," said Hawking. "The first was we were in danger of weapons of mass destruction and the second was that Iraq was somehow to blame for Sept. 11.
"It has been a tragedy for all the families that have lost members. As many as 100,000 people have died, half of them women and children. If that is not a war crime, what is?"
"Our message to the U.S. is that the war is illegal and unnecessary, and we want our troops to come home," said Andrew Burgin, a spokesman for demonstration organizer Stop the War Coalition. "We also want to highlight the enormous number of Iraqis killed in this conflict who are so often ignored."
Stephen Hawking
Files Last Regular Column
Jimmy Breslin
Opinionated and outspoken to the last. In his last regular column, published in Newsday on Tuesday, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Jimmy Breslin said he was so sure Democratic nominee John Kerry was going to win the presidential race easily that he wasn't even going to stay up to watch the election returns on television.
"So I go to bed with total confidence. ... And I leave today as the only one in America who from the start was sure John Kerry would win by a large margin," Breslin wrote.
Most of the column was about why Breslin thought Kerry would win. Only at the end did he write, "Thanks for the use of the hall."
Jimmy Breslin
Celebrates 62nd Birthday
Larry Flynt
Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt celebrated his 62nd birthday at his Paris strip club, with a nervous eye on the presidential election back home.
"Perhaps it will be necessary that I think of moving elsewhere, but actually I don't even dare to think of it," Flynt told The Associated Press Monday during a party with friends and family at his 2-year-old Hustler Club, just off the Champs-Elysees.
Flynt said he feared the re-election of resident Bush would lead to an erosion of civil liberties, citing the 2001 anti-terrorism Patriot Act.
"I hope that the undecided really will raise the question of personal freedoms before voting, but personally, I feel sick thinking of four more years of Bush in charge," he said.
Larry Flynt
Music Industry Trusts' Award
Peter Gabriel
Pop singer Peter Gabriel has been honored with the Music Industry Trusts' Award. Those paying tribute to Gabriel, who began his career with Genesis before becoming a successful solo artist, included U2's Bono, R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and film director Martin Scorsese.
Gabriel, 54, received his award Monday in a ceremony at London's Grosvenor House Hotel. It was presented by Richard Branson, who signed Gabriel to his then-label Virgin Records in the 1970s.
The honorary award is given each year to an artist who has made an outstanding contribution to the British music industry. Previous recipients include Elton John and Beatles' producer George Martin.
Peter Gabriel
Irked Republicans
Rock the Vote
MTV and the nonprofit group Rock the Vote, partners in a massive public awareness campaign to encourage young Americans to participate in today's presidential election, have come under fire from Republicans accusing them of pushing a pro-Democratic agenda and challenging MTV and Rock the Vote's assertions that their get-out-the-vote campaigns are nonpartisan.
The charges stem mainly from a Rock the Vote campaign focused on the issue of a military draft. To get its point across, Rock the Vote sent out 660,000 e-mails in late September with a mock draft card signed by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
In addition, Rock the Vote created two public service announcements focused on the issue of the draft and a third celebrity-packed public service announcement (PSA) that referred to the draft as one of many issues young voters might be concerned about. At least one of the draft-themed PSAs ran on MTV for 10 consecutive days in September. Rock the Vote also has devoted a significant amount of content to the issue on its Web site.
Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee, sent a letter to Rock the Vote president Jehmu Greene on Oct. 13 warning her that Rock the Vote had an "obligation to immediately cease and desist from promoting or conducting" its draft campaign "as a nonpartisan organization that enjoys the benefits of being formed under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code."
Although the Republican Party's ire was raised by a Rock the Vote initiative, MTV -- which has been aligned with Rock the Vote for more than a decade and is one of the organization's financial supporters -- became a target as well. Viacom co-president and co-chief operating officer Tom Freston and MTV Networks chairman and CEO Judy McGrath are founding board members of Rock the Vote.
For a lot more, Rock the Vote
'Over There' For FX
Steven Bochco
Cable channel FX has ordered a pilot from veteran producer Steven Bochco for a series set on the front lines of the conflict in Iraq.
"Over There" is an ensemble drama that will explore the lives of a select group of Army soldiers in combat as well as the families they left behind.
Bochco, producer of such gritty series as "Hill Street Blues" and "NYPD Blue," will serve as executive producer with Chris Gerolmo ("Mississippi Burning"), who will direct the pilot he wrote. "Over There" marks Bochco's first project for basic cable.
Steven Bochco
Wedding News
Furnish - Dwight
British pop legend Elton John plans to marry his longtime boyfriend David Furnish, saying he has "never been so happy".
"We haven't set a date and it surely won't be a big public ceremony but I would like to place my life in his hands with a wedding vow," the 57-year-old told German weekly celebrity magazine Gala.
The singer was married to studio technician Renate Blauel from 1984 to 1988. He has been linked to Furnish since 1993 in what London's Observer has called "the most conspicuous gay couple in the world."
Furnish - Dwight
NBC Pulls For Sweeps
'Father of the Pride'
NBC's "Father of the Pride" will be caged for November sweeps. NBC's animated comedy, based on the Las Vegas act that featured magicians Siegfried & Roy and their big cats, will return in December with the last six of the 13 episodes ordered by the network.
NBC had no comment on the future of the series Tuesday. "Father of the Pride" has failed to deliver ratings to match its reported $2 million per episode price tag.
'Father of the Pride'
CBS Yanks Lowe's New Series
'Dr. Vegas'
Rob Lowe, who flopped last season in a freshman NBC drama, lost another bet Tuesday as his new series, "dr. vegas," was yanked by CBS.
Calling the sudden disappearance a "hiatus," CBS announced that a repeat episode of its hit drama "Without a Trace" would air this week in the slot (10 p.m. EST Friday) followed the rest of November by reruns of "Cold Case," "CSI: Miami" and "CSI."
There was no mention of a future return by "dr. vegas," which ranked 58th last week in audience with 7.3 million viewers - losing 2.1 million viewers from its lead-in, "JAG."
'Dr. Vegas'
Scheduled for Surgery
Patty Duke
Oscar-winning actress Patty Duke will undergo single heart bypass surgery Wednesday at Kootenai Medical Center.
She is expected to make a successful recovery, hospital spokeswoman Lisa Johnson said Tuesday. Duke will be under the care of Dr. Robert Burnett at the facility's North Idaho Heart Center.
Duke moved to the Coeur d'Alene area in the early 1990s, where she lives with her husband, Mike Pearce.
Patty Duke
www.officialpattyduke.com
CBS Shortens List
'The Late Late Show'
The field of candidates to replace Craig Kilborn as host of CBS' "The Late Late Show" is being narrowed to four favorites.
Former ABC sitcom stars D.L. Hughley and Craig Ferguson, comic Michael Ian Black and MTV "Total Request Live" VJ Damien Fahey, who were among the 20 guest hosts to appear on the show since Kilborn's departure in August, have been invited to return for multi-night stints this month, sources said.
'The Late Late Show'
Sues U.S. For Rights To Publish Memoir
Shirin Ebadi
A Nobel Prize-winning author from Iran, praised by resident George W. Bush for her commitment to democracy, is suing the U.S. government over restrictions that could block the publication of her memoir in America.
In her lawsuit, Shirin Ebadi argued that Treasury Department regulations restricting the publication in the United States of works by authors in countries subject to U.S. trade sanctions is unconstitutional.
According to Treasury Department regulations, American companies are forbidden to publish the works of authors in Iran, Cuba and Sudan unless the works have already been completed without American involvement.
Shirin Ebadi
Stepping Down
Sherry Lansing
Sherry Lansing, one of the most powerful movie executives in Hollywood, will leave her position as chairman of Paramount Pictures at the end of 2005, parent company Viacom Inc. said on Tuesday.
Lansing became the first female chairman at Paramount in 1992, and her current contract expires at the end of next year. Viacom said Lansing would help select a successor, but gave no details on her future plans.
Sherry Lansing
Miniature Book Sells For $20,000
Harry Potter
A miniature book containing a guide to everything Harry Potter needed for his life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has sold for 11,000 pounds (16,000 euros, 20,000 dollars), Sotheby's auction house said.
J.K. Rowling's one-inch (2.5-centimetre) tome -- which included pictures of Harry's witch's hat, broomstick and wire-rimmed spectacles -- was the third most expensive lot at a charity auction at Sotheby's.
Tatler magazine had sent 24 miniature books to celebrities from the worlds of arts, sport and politics and asked them to fill the pages with whatever they liked.
The highest bid was for boxing legend Muhammad Ali, who drew a sketch of himself fighting arch-rival Joe Frazier.
Harry Potter
Sues Jay-Z Over Canceled Tour
R. Kelly
R&B singer R. Kelly on Monday filed a $75 million breach-of-contract suit against fellow recording star Jay-Z, accusing the rapper and his associates of threats and violence that turned their joint tour into a "nightmare."
The suit brought in state Supreme Court in Manhattan following a tumultuous performance on Friday at Madison Square Garden during which Kelly abruptly left the stage after telling the audience he saw two men in the crowd brandishing guns.
Kelly said that a short time later he and three of his bodyguards were blasted in the face with pepper spray by a member of Jay-Z's entourage backstage.
Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, issued a statement through his record label on Monday saying it was Kelly who created a "dangerous situation" by claiming to have seen guns being waved in the audience. The statement said it was "the equivalent of screaming 'fire' in a crowded theater."
R. Kelly
Filmmaker Slain
Theo van Gogh
A filmmaker who was the great-grandnephew of the painter Vincent Van Gogh was shot and stabbed to death on an Amsterdam street Tuesday after receiving death threats over a movie he made criticizing the treatment of women under Islam.
A suspect, a 26-year-old man with dual Dutch-Moroccan nationality, was arrested after a shootout with officers that left him wounded, police said.
Filmmaker Theo van Gogh, 47, had been threatened after the August airing of the movie "Submission," which he made with a right-wing Dutch politician who had renounced the Islamic faith of her birth.
Police had kept watch on Van Gogh's house as protection immediately after the film's release, but it was dropped because there was no concrete evidence of a threat, public prosecutor Leo de Wit said.
In a recent radio interview, Van Gogh - who is the great-grandson of Vincent Van Gogh's brother, who also was named Theo - dismissed the threats and called the movie "the best protection I could have. It's not something I worry about."
Theo van Gogh
Inspiration For Cardboard Home
Origami
Students at a Rome design school, inspired by origami, have come up with a folding cardboard home for use by street people, the Quasar Institue said.
The relatively lightweight "living box", easy to stow when folded, is made without scissors or glue, Quasar institute director Orazio Carpenzano told AFP, adding that multiple copies would be donated to Caritas and the Sant'Egidio Community, two Catholic charities.
Costing around 12 euros (15 dollars), the structure is a long rectangular box big enough to lie down in and tall enough for a child of three to stand in.
Origami
Recommended Reading
Hunter S. Thompson
Kerry will come through
By Hunter S. Thompson
George McGovern called Saturday night from New Orleans and said he was ready to rumble.
"This is it, Hunter. This is the day we've been waiting for all our lives," he cackled. "Nixon was nothing compared to these bastards. This is the most important election of my lifetime, including my own race.
"What do you think is going to happen on Tuesday?"
"I think Kerry will win," I answered.
"Yes, I think so, too. He is about the greatest thing since God created you and me," he laughed.
For the rest, Kerry will come through by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
Prime-Time Nielsen
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Oct. 25-31. Top 20 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, 29.6 million viewers.
2. (X) "World Series Game 4: Boston at St. Louis," Fox, 28.8 million viewers.
3. (X) "World Series Game 3, Boston at St. Louis," Fox, 24.4 million viewers.
4. (4) "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 22.1 million viewers.
5. (3) "Without a Trace," CBS, 22.1 million viewers.
6. (2) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 21.9 million viewers.
7. (14) "60 Minutes," CBS, 19.7 million viewers.
8. (5) "Survivor: Vanuatu," CBS, 19.1 million viewers.
9. (10) "Two And a Half Men," CBS, 17.2 million viewers.
10. (7) "NFL Monday Night Football: Denver vs. Cincinnati," ABC, 17 million viewers.
11. (11) "Lost," ABC, 16.8 million viewers.
12. (6) "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 16.4 million viewers.
13. (12) "Cold Case," CBS, 16.2 million viewers.
14. (13) "The Apprentice 2," NBC, 15.7 million viewers.
15. (18) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC, 14.5 million viewers.
16. (X) "World Series Game 3 Preview," Fox, 14.2 million viewers.
17. (15) "NCIS," CBS, 13.7 million viewers.
18. (X) "World Series Game 4 Preview," Fox, 13.6 million viewers.
19. (17) "Law & Order," NBC, 13.2 million viewers.
20. (21) "NFL Monday Showcase," ABC, 13.1 million viewers.
Ratings
