We once wrote a joke for the LA Weekly about there
being a love-in at Griffith Park that Sunday. Between the Thursday of
publication and the weekend, it snowballed, and there actually WAS a love-in in
Griffith Park that Sunday, we went there ourselves, a journalistic dream
realized under sunny skies and calliope music from the merry-go-round.
Sometimes
it actually works that way, like the Rocky Horror Show says, "Don't dream
it, be it." The love-in wouldn't have happened if we hadn't lied and said it was
happening, and now we are forced to conclude that Barack Obama sabotaged Stephen
Colbert's presidential campaign in South Carolina because we lied the day before
and said Hillary did it.
According to the New York
Times:
Those
lobbying against Mr. Colbert included Don Fowler, the former chairman of the
Democratic National Committee and the husband of Carol Fowler, the current
chairwoman of the state party.
Mr. Fowler distributed a letter to council members
saying that Mr. Colbert "seeks to make a travesty of our primary." In his
letter, he raised the specter of the 2000 presidential campaign, saying that
if Ralph Nader had not drained votes from Al Gore, Mr. Gore could have been
president.
Might we point you can't make a travesty unless the ingredients are
there.
Are we the only ones brought up to
believe anyone can be president? There's no excuse for leaving ANYONE off
the ballot because the position is open to ANYONE. It's not up to a committee of
motivation police to judge the worthiness of your purpose. You pay your $2,5000,
you get your signatures, and you're on the ballot. That's the America we
want to live in. Give us more choices, not less. The politics played by the
South Carolina Democratic Committee were dirty and they should all have their
souls washed out with industrial strength partisan
remover.
We personally want a Dennis Kucinich/Ron
Paul or Ron Paul/Dennis Kucinich ticket. With Stephen Colbert as press
secretary, of course.
NEW
THIS WEEK
Violations of the public trust by government agencies have
always been a dime a dozen, but we think you'll be particularly disturbed by the
outrageous tale of Laurie Jessup, who cured her son of cancer and
got arrested for it. We thank
angryscientist for reporting Mother Jailed,
Put On Trial for Curing Her Son of Melanoma.
Who's
The Asshole of the Year? I don't know. You don't know. Paul
Krassner knows.
Robin Mencken was married to Country
Joe back in the Woodstock days, so she's no stranger to political activism.
This week she interviews filmmaker Bill Haney, who's
documentary The Price of Sugar exposes the slave labor underlying
the Dominican Republic's Sugar industry.
If we were Democrats, we'd vote
for Dennis Kucinich, and if we were Republicans, we'd vote for Ron
Paul. We've got interesting news from both.
Jane Stillwater's an American grandmother
who's been traveling the mid-east on her own dime. She recently investigated
what's happening with the most important of the Five Pillars of Islam, the Hajj,
in Pilgrims' progress?: Do Iraqis feel safe enough to go on Hajj this
year?
Did you know Gene Autry wrote a Ten Commandments for
Cowboys? Neither did we.
Lanny Swerdlow is one of the most
erudite and rational marijuana activists around, and we're proud to announce the
premiere of his new radio show.
COLUMNISTS: David Schoen, Lynette
Sheffield,
and zEN
mAN.
CONTRIBUTORS: BartCop Entertainment, Justin Bilicki, Dave Brice,
William J. Brink, The Creative Commons, Barry Crimmins, Jeff Crook, Cory
Doctorow, Janis R. England, Daniel Ellsberg, Joe Falcone, Steven Finger, Thomas
Good, John Kapelos, Paul Krassner, Art Kunkin, Ira Miller, Ironic Times,
mizzima.com, oldamericancentury.org, Michael O'McCarthy, Tony Ortega, Sam
Pizzigati, Pravda, Baron Dave Romm, Satan, David Swanson, tbhpolitoon,
wrapped-in-the-flag.com.
All copyrights reserved by original
writers or
artists.
Andrew Tobias: THE PRICE OF OIL (andrewtobias.com)
Since the Texas oil men, George Bush and Dick Cheney, took over, and since the secret meetings of the energy task force (the list of whose members even a GAO law suit could not dislodge), the price of oil has quadrupled.
Roger Ebert: Answer Man
Q. Thank you for steering me to "The Greatest YouTube Clip of All Time," with 100 movies, 100 scenes, 100 numbers. I enjoyed it immensely. I think I was identifying about half of the films without looking them up. How did you do?
Ann Hubbard, Williamsburg, VA
A. I got them all. Not always by title, of course. A lot of them I correctly identified as, "Oh, yeah, that movie!"
Bruce's Newest Book: "The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds: Volume 3" (lulu.com)
This book contains 250 anecdotes about good deeds, including this one: In 1977, at Los Angeles' Comedy Store, lesbian comic Robin Tyler was heckled by several straight men. One man yelled at her, "Are you a lesbian?" She struck back with, "Are you the alternative?" In support of Ms. Tyler, all the comics who followed her act told the audience that they were homosexuals, too-although all of them were straight.
Guess there should have been a 'all of the above' choice offered.
This wasn't supposed to be a trick question, but I screwed up, and forgot Bob Denver had 'married' Charlene Darling - in spite of being very partial to the Darling family episodes.
Hint - hint - I am very open to the contribution of trivia questions.
mj was first, but wrong with:
I'm going to guess Bob Denver because of time and other schedule constraints. Just a guess.
Steve P was second, but also wrong, writing:
OK, I'll take a stab at this one and say Bob Denver. I'm pretty sure I can visualize the other 3 in an episode.
kitchenrat was third, and also wrong with:
Jack Nicholson. I believe I've seen all the others.
heydee guessed wrongly with:
D: Don Rickles
joe b also guessed wrong -
This is a guess but I say Bill Bixby.
And, Buzzcook, the last, was right, with:
All of them appeared on the Andy Griffith show.
I remembered Bixby, Denver and Rickles so I was going to say Jack. Then
I double checked on the googles and found a list of guest stars
Of the four guys Nicholson is the only one to appear more than once. I
guess Jack wasn't the most memorable TV actor around.
Btw that list of guest stars is an amazing who's who of well known actors.
CBS starts the night with a FRESH'Kid Nation', followed by a FRESH'Criminal Minds', then a FRESH'CSI: The 3rd One'.
On a STRIKE-related RERUNDave (from 9/28/07) are Paris Hilton and Emile Hirsch.
On a STRIKE-related RERUNCraig (from 9/20/07) are James Woods and Ben Lee.
NBC opens the night with a FRESH'Phenomenon', followed by a FRESH'Bionic Woman', then a FRESH'Life'.
On a STRIKE-related RERUNLeno are Terry Bradshaw, Vanessa Hudgens, and Michael Buble.
On a STRIKE-related RERUNConan are Claire Danes, Jonah Hill, and Teddy Thompson.
ABC begins the night with a FRESH'Pushing Daisies', followed by a FRESH'Private Practice', then a FRESH'Dirty Sexy Money'.
Jimmy Kimmel has David Spade and Dave Annable.
The CW offers a FRESH'America's Next Top Model', followed by a FRESH'Gossip Girl'.
Faux has a FRESH'Back To You', followed by a FRESH'Til Death', then a FRESH'Kitchen Nightmares'.
MY has a FRESH'Decision House', followed by a FRESH'Meet My Folks'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', another 'CSI: The 2nd One', still another 'CSI: The 2nd One', and 'The Sopranos'.
AMC offers the movie 'Insomnia', followed by the movie 'The Hunt For Red October', then the movie 'Below'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Episode 10;
[1:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Episode 9;
[2:00 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 16 Detling;
[2:30 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 17 Newmarket;
[3:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 12;
[3:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 1;
[4:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 8;
[4:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 9;
[5:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 6 Clubway 41;
[6:00 PM] My Family - Ep 1 Bliss for Idiots;
[6:30 PM] My Family - Ep 2 The Spokes Person;
[7:00 PM] BBC World News America;
[8:00 PM] Hotel Babylon - Episode 6;
[9:00 PM] Hotel Babylon - Episode 7;
[10:00 PM] BBC World News America;
[11:00 PM] Hotel Babylon - Episode 6;
[12:00 AM] Hotel Babylon - Episode 7;
[1:00 AM] Absolutely Fabulous - Ep.4 Donkey;
[1:40 AM] The World Stands Up - Episode 13;
[2:00 AM] The Weakest Link - Episode 3;
[3:00 AM] Hollyoaks - Episode 53;
[3:30 AM] Changing Rooms - Ep. 18 Willenhall;
[4:00 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 14 Newark;
[4:30 AM] Bargain Hunt - Episode 15;
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 41 Mayhew;
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Episode 1;
[6:00 AM] BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', an old 'Jon Stewart', an old 'Colbert Report', 'Chappelle's Show', 'South Park', another 'South Park', and 'Sarah Silverman'.
On a STRIKE-related RERUNJon Stewart is Chris Matthews.
On a STRIKE-related RERUNColbert Report are Sean Penn and Robert Pinsky.
FX has the movie 'I, Robot', followed by the movie 'Tears Of The Sun'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Boneyard', 'Lost Worlds', and 'MonsterQuest'.
IFC -
[07:45 AM] The Big Kahuna;
[09:25 AM] Media Lab Results;
[09:35 AM] The F Word;
[11:00 AM] Girl With a Pearl Earring;
[12:50 PM] IFC News Special;
[01:00 PM] The Big Kahuna;
[02:35 PM] The F Word;
[04:00 PM] Girl With a Pearl Earring;
[05:50 PM] The Big Kahuna;
[07:30 PM] Marci X;
[09:00 PM] Garden State;
[10:45 PM] House of D;
[12:30 AM] Garden State;
[02:15 AM] House of D;
[04:00 AM] The Dancer Upstairs. (ALL TIMES EST)
Screen Actors Guild (SAG) member Julia Louise-Dreyfus, left and Lilly Tomlin join members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and others on the picket line in front of Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif., Tuesday, Nov., 13, 2007.
Photo by Richard Vogel
Richard Gere, who has donated time and money to the causes for Tibetan independence and HIV/AIDS care, on Monday accepted a prestigious humanitarian award given by the city of Philadelphia.
The actor was given the Marian Anderson Award, named after the black American opera singer who achieved international acclaim by the mid-1930s but faced racial segregation at home.
Gere, 58, accepted the honor and its $100,000 honorarium at a gala at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.
Gere was lauded for taking on the dual role of artist and activist before it became fashionable, lending his fame and finances to global issues.
Stephen Colbert may have abandoned his brief bid for the White House, but he ended up in a three-way tie for a seat on the Colonial Soil and Water Conservation District Board.
His electoral success will be fleeting, however.
When the Williamsburg Electoral Board draws a name from a hat to decide the winner, Colbert's name won't be among the three: He's not a registered voter in the former colonial capital of Virginia.
Colbert, 43, and two students from the College of William and Mary each received three write-in votes in the Nov. 6 election for a seat on the board that oversees natural resources.
It doesn't take a psychic in a bejeweled turban to figure out that Johnny Carson landed the top spot.
But deeper down the ranking of "The 50 Greatest TV Icons," you may find a name that surprises you (or even makes you scratch your head). Which is part of the fun.
The list, released to the Associated Press, was compiled by cable's TV Land network and Entertainment Weekly magazine.
It's the source of a two-hour TV Land special airing Friday at 8 p.m. EST (and is also featured in the issue of Entertainment Weekly appearing on newsstands the same day). The special counts down from Larry Hagman (No. 50) to Carson, with mini-profiles of each "icon" in turn.
Marvel is putting some of its older comics online Tuesday, hoping to reintroduce young people to the X-Men and Fantastic Four by showcasing the original issues in which such characters appeared.
It's a tentative move onto the Internet: Comics can only be viewed in a Web browser, not downloaded, and new issues will only go online at least six months after they first appear in print.
Still, it represents perhaps the comics industry's most aggressive Web push yet. Even as their creations -- from Iron Man to Wonder Woman -- become increasingly visible in pop culture through new movies and video games, old-school comics publishers rely primarily on specialized, out-of-the-way comic shops for distribution of their bread-and-butter product.
About 2,500 issues will be available at launch of Marvel Digital Comics, with 20 more being released each week.
A diseased chestnut tree that was fondly described by Anne Frank in her diary about life in hiding under Nazi occupation will be cut down next week, Amsterdam officials said Tuesday.
The huge horse chestnut, estimated to be more than 150 years old, has been in bad condition for years.
The tree sits in the garden of a canal house on Amsterdam's Keizersgracht that is overlooked by the annex the Frank family hid in, which has been turned into a museum.
The authorities are planning to put a graft of the old horse chestnut, which will be 100 percent genetically similar, in exactly the same spot.
Actress and comedian Kathy Griffin, star of the reality TV series "My Life on the D-List" and boyfriend, Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computers Inc., arrive for the Paley Center for Media Los Angeles Gala honoring NBC's Jeff Zucker and Dick Ebersol in Los Angeles November 12, 2007.
Photo by Fred Prouser
The movie "Beowulf," out this Friday, is sure to reignite one of the most contentious arguments among medieval scholars. Experts bitterly debate when the classic was written.
There is one original manuscript copied in 1,000 AD. But it has no author or date and was damaged in a fire in 1731.
"Beowulf" was written sometime between 515 AD and 1025 AD, said Michael Drout, professor of English at Wheaton College. Some argue for earlier dates, for reasons such as language and references to ancient Germanic peoples, according to Drout.
Others believe it was written later because of the date of the manuscript and the possible influence of Latin Christian literature.
The head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday proposed that the agency relax its ban on the cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in the 20 biggest U.S. cities.
The "relatively minor" rule change would help bolster the newspaper industry by allowing owners in the top markets to buy a TV or radio station, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin (R-Rupert's Fluffer) said.
The plan is less ambitious than a 2003 proposal to scale back the ownership rules, which were struck down by the federal courts the following year.
Martin said it was the only change he was seeking. "I think this is a balanced approach," he said fantasized.
Jane Fonda enjoys the applause prior to addressing the Democratic Women Leadership Coalition and Minnesota's Democratic Farmer-Labor Feminist Caucus, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007 at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn.
Photo by Jim Mone
Boy George was charged Tuesday with falsely imprisoning a 28-year-old man, British police said.
The 46-year-old former Culture Club frontman, whose real name is George O'Dowd, has been ordered to appear before a court Nov. 22.
The Sun newspaper reported in April that a Norwegian man, Auden Karlsen, claimed he was chained and threatened at O'Dowd's London flat, where he had gone as a photo model.
Uncle Kracker says he didn't sexually assault a woman in a North Carolina nightclub, and he's not entirely happy that he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of misdemeanor assault to avoid a trial.
The 33-year-old singer, whose real name is Matthew Shafer, told The Detroit News and The Oakland Press of Pontiac on Monday that he struck a 26-year-old woman after she hit him. He said it started when he bumped into her during a party after a concert in Raleigh in August.
Authorities alleged Shafer had put his hand up the woman's skirt at the club.
Shafer pleaded guilty in September to a misdemeanor assault charge. A judge sentenced him to 12 months' probation, fined him $1,500 and ordered him to undergo an alcohol assessment.
Screen Actors Guild (SAG) member Mary Kay Place holds her custom-made picket sign as she joins members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and others on the picket line in front of Universal Studios and Universal City theme park in Universal City, Calif., Tuesday, Nov., 13, 2007.
Photo by Reed Saxon
A female stagehand wants to stop Jeff Goldblum's movie "Pittsburgh" from airing on cable television or otherwise being distributed until her scene is cut.
Debbie Sue Croyle contends in a federal lawsuit filed Monday that she didn't sign a release to appear in the "mockumentary" and was humiliated because Goldblum used a double entendre in a scene in which she appears.
Croyle, a 30-year veteran stagehand, was working at the Benedum Center in 2004 when Goldblum was appearing in a Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera production of "The Music Man."
The 55-year-old actor isn't named as a defendant, though the movie centers on his appearance in the musical and suggests in mock documentary style that he did so against the advice of his agent and friends, who were concerned it would hurt his career.
A globe kept by Adolf Hitler and saved from the rubble of his Eagle's Nest retreat at the end of World War II sold at auction for 100,000 dollars on Tuesday, five times higher than expected.
The globe sat for 62 years in John Barsamian's dusty attic in Oakland, northern California but now will become part of the display collection of tycoon Bob Pritikin, a former magician and hotelier.
Matt Davis, who acted as emissary to Pritikin, said he was prepared to spend up to 200,000 dollars for the globe, which had been expected to fetch around 20,000 dollars prior to the sale.
The Nazi relic will join 40 million dollars worth of art and collectibles in Pritikin's mansion, the largest private estate in San Francisco.
Victoria's Secret supermodels poses after the Hollywood Historic Trust presented the Victoria Secret Angels with the 'Award of Excellence' star on Hollywood Boulevard famous Walk of Fame in front of the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007.
Photo by Kevork Djansezian
The chocolate enjoyed around the world today had its origins at least 3,100 years ago in Central America not as the sweet treat people now crave but as a celebratory beer-like beverage and status symbol, scientists said on Monday.
Researchers identified residue of a chemical compound that comes exclusively from the cacao plant -- the source of chocolate -- in pottery vessels dating from about 1100 BC in Puerto Escondido, Honduras.
This pushed back by at least 500 years the earliest documented use of cacao, an important luxury commodity in Mesoamerica before European invaders arrived and now the basis of the modern chocolate industry.
Cacao (pronounced cah-COW) seeds were used to make ceremonial beverages consumed by elites of the Aztecs and other civilizations, while also being used as a form of currency.
Prime-Time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Nov. 5-11. 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, 21.94 million viewers.
2. (8) "Without a Trace," CBS, 21.69 million viewers.
3. (2) "Dancing with the Stars" (Monday), ABC, 20.47 million viewers.
4. (3) "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 19.50 million viewers.
5. (4) "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 18.63 million viewers.
6. (5) "House," Fox, 18.17 million viewers.
7. (7) "NCIS," CBS, 18.15 million viewers.
8. (8) "NBC Sunday Night Football," NBC, 17.33 million viewers.
9. (6) "Dancing with the Stars" (Tuesday), ABC, 17.06 million viewers.
10. (X) "CMA Awards," ABC, 15.95 million viewers.
11. (16) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC, 15.03 million viewers.
12. (12) "Survivor: China," CBS, 14.86 million viewers.
13. (11) "Criminal Minds," CBS, 14.65 million viewers.
14. (10) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 14.07 million viewers.
15. (13) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 13.8 million viewers.
16. (16) "60 Minutes," CBS, 13.12 million viewers.
17. (14) "CSI: NY," CBS, 12.92 million viewers.
18. (14) "Samantha Who?," ABC, 12.86 million viewers.
19. (18) "Cold Case," CBS, 12.78 million viewers.
20. (20) "Brothers & Sisters," ABC, 12.35 million viewers.
Augustus Hawkins, who was California's first black congressman and helped form the Congressional Black Caucus, has died. He was 100.
Hawkins, a Democrat, represented South Los Angeles for more than half a century, first starting off in the state Legislature in 1935 and then getting elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1962. Black politicians called Hawkins an inspiration and mentor.
Hawkins sponsored the equal employment section of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act that created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He helped create the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971.
He retired in 1990 and lived in the Washington, D.C., area. He was director of the Hawkins Family Memorial Foundation of Educational Research and Development, which he founded in 1969 to give college scholarships to young women in his district.
Hawkins' first wife, Pegga Adeline Smith, a concert singer, died in 1966. His second wife, Elsie, whom he married in 1977, died two months ago.
Best-selling writer Ira Levin, whose novels included the horror classic "Rosemary's Baby," the Nazi thriller "The Boys From Brazil" and the satirical fantasy "The Stepford Wives," has died, his agent said Tuesday. He was 78.
The native New Yorker, whose father was in the toy business and had hoped that his son would follow in his footsteps, decided at age 15 that he wanted a career in writing and finished second in a screenplay writing competition held by NBC while a senior at New York University.
Levin began working as a TV writer before finishing his first novel, "A Kiss Before Dying," a murder mystery that was an instant success. His debut won the Edgar Allan Poe Award as the best first novel of 1953.
It wasn't until 14 years later that Levin completed his second novel, "Rosemary's Baby," the creepy tale of a New York couple in the clutch of Satanists who want the young wife to bear Satan's child.
Levin also wrote the long-running Broadway hit "Deathtrap," which debuted in February 1978.
This combination photo shows New Frontier hotel and casino collapsing during an implosion in Las Vegas, Nevada November 13, 2007. The casino on The Las Vegas Strip was purchased by Elad properties, an Israeli-owned real estate investment group, for more than U.S. $1.2 billion in May 2007. Elad Group, which also owns the Plaza Hotel in New York, and the IDB Group are expected to build a multi-billion dollar megaresort themed after the Plaza on the site.
Photo by Steve Marcus
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