(Disinformation Today - #228)
The New L.A. Free Press
Issue #2.09
Check the
admiration in those eyes. Makes you sorta wonder what's going on. Was the whole
thing a conspiracy, the Clintons and the Bushes, working together, one fills
the treasury, the other loots it, one fills the treasury, the other loots
it, ad infinitum, centuries of rule passed back and forth between the
Republicans and Democrats, sharing the spoils?
'Best of TBH Politoons'
M Is FOR MASHUP - December 12th 2007
Mashups To Make You Laff
By DJ Useo & The Useoettes
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Jim Hightower: WHY NOT HEALTH CARE FOR ALL? (jimhightower.com)
Sergio Olaya is a 21-year-old college student who has had to drop out of school because of our country's messed up health insurance system. ... Ironically, Mr. Olaya's job is in the U.S. Senate. He runs an elevator on which our honorable solons ride everyday. Senators share a ride with him, but they share none of the health-care anxieties and financial burdens that millions of Americans like Olaya carry. Members of Congress, you see, are fully covered by us taxpayers.
'You're consenting to being raped for money' (guardian.co.uk)
A second series of the television drama The Secret Diary of a Call Girl - about a prostitute who loves her work - has been commissioned. Appalled at the sanitised picture it portrays, a woman who charges for sex tells Emine Saner what her life is like.
AN INTERVIEW WITH PHILIP PULLMAN (moreintelligentlife.com)
When Philip Pullman started his tale of two 12-year-olds, he thought it would appeal to a few clever kids and a few adults. So far "His Dark Materials" has sold 15 million copies. Robert Butler has lunch with the author ...
Sara Hoover: An Interview With Dinty W. Moore (yep, he's real)
What I get most often is a cashier at a grocery store who looks down at my credit card and insists, "Come on, that's not really your name!" Usually the cashier is named 'Mary' or 'Frank.' Often I just smile and say, "Yes, that is my name," but sometimes I will point at Mary or Frank's big plastic name tag and insist, "That's not really your name, is it?" This seems to baffle everyone.
Michael Dirda: "The cartoonist who made Mad magazine truly mad for more than 30 year: Don Martin"
Few girls understood the delirious appeal of Mad magazine. How could your sister grasp the genius of a name like Elwood Pleebis or Horace Veeblefetzer?...
CLAUDRENA N. HAROLD: "A Blues for Otis: The Life and Legacy of a Soul Legend" (popmatters.com)
Though all too often overshadowed by those who came after him, the 40th anniversary of his death affords us a moment to pause and reconsider the all-too-brief life and enduring legacy of soul pioneer Otis Redding.
Bill Gibron: 'Bourne' Again (popmatters.com)
With the DVD version of the Summer hit The Bourne Ultimatum arriving at stores this week (11 December), it's time to look back on the entire Bourne film franchise to date. Within the context of the new digital package's throng of special features (commentary track, making-of materials, documentaries on the amazing special effects), one can look at the three films together and see a cohesive attempt to transcend the trappings of the traditional action film.
Congratulations on coming out, Jodie. Why did it take so long? (guardian.co.uk)
It's standard practice for Hollywood stars to thank friends and family when accepting awards. But when Jodie Foster paid tribute to "my beautiful Cydney" during a speech at the Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment breakfast last week, it caused a ripple of excitement.
Randall Roberts: Are You Not Devo? You Are Mutato (L.A. Weekly)
How Mark Mothersbaugh, an Agent of De-Evolution, wormed his way into America's subconscious.
Is your water bill too high? (akwater.com)
Take 15 minutes to conserve gallons of water every day, and stop the drain on your dollars. ... The sneakiest drip can be found in your bathroom toilet. Toilet tank leaks, almost undetectable to the naked eye, can add $100 or more to your monthly bill. ... To check, put a few drops of food coloring in the tank, wait about 15 minutes, and look in the bowl. If the food coloring shows up there, the tank is leaking and should be fixed. Toilets should be checked for leaks twice a year.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Gifts (athensnews.com)
* When children's book author Sid Fleischman started going bald, his kids made him a hairpiece -- they clipped hair from the family pet dog and glued it to fabric. Mr. Fleischman writes in his autobiography, "The Abracadabra Kid," that he was very happy with the gift -- "It gave me a punk pompadour decades before spiked hairdos became trendy."
Hubert's Poetry Corner
CHRISTMAS ON THE BLACK PEARL
WONDER WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE COLONEL'S TURKEY?
A tricky one. All these pairings are people who played the same role in the remake.
A. Jack Nicholson played the dental patient in 1960's Little Shop of Horrors and Bill Murray played the dental patient in the 1986 remake of Little Shop of Horrors.
B. William Shatner saw the gremlin outside the window in 1959's Twilight Zone episode and John Lithgow in the remake on Amazing Stories in 1986
C. Michael Keaton played Batman and Val Kilmer later played Batman in the sequel.
D. Zero Mostel played Max Bialystock in the 1968 version of The Producers and Nathan Lane played Max in the remake of The Producers in 2005.
Edmund Gwenn played Kris Kringle in the 1947 classic Miracle on 34th Street and Sebastian Cabot played the same role in the ill-advised remake of Miracle on 34th Street in 1973.
A: Jack Nicholson and Bill Murray
B: William Shatner and John Lithgow
C: Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer
D: Zero Mostel and Nathan Lane
E: Edmund Gwenn and Sebastian Cabot
mj was first, and correct:
Jack and Bill both played stalking types (The Shining and What about Bill?)
Bill and John were both aliens in Third Rock from the Sun.
Zero and Nathan playe Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof.
Edmund and Sebastian both played Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street.
I'll guess C because I can't put them in the same role off the top of my head.
Steve P was second, and wrong, but makes a point, writing:
The answer should be A.
The others played the same characters:
Twilight Zone
Batman
Producers
Santa
However, it could be argued that Nicholson and Murray have made careers playing a congenital smartass.
Mike M was third, but wrong, with:
I think I have this one: B
Jack and Bill played Hunter Thompson
Michael and Val played Batman
Zero and Nathan played Max Bialystock
Edmund and Sebastian played Kris Kringle
Adam was wrong, too:
I thought it was A, but it's E
Buzzcook got it right:
I'm guessing C The other pairs all share a role in common.
A is the dental patient,
B is a Twilight Zone episode,
D is the Max Bialystok,
E is Santa Claus.
In C they share the same role but in a different movie.
Bruce S responded:
Must be A
All the other offer similar affedtations -of not body types, and could cast in the same role.
Not so Jack & Bill.
S. Bennett wrote:
William Shatner and John Lithgow both were starship captains
Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer were both Batman
Zero Mostel and Nathan Lane played the same character in Mel Brook's The Producers
Edmund Gwenn and Sebastian Cabot were both British
So my answer is A, Jack Nicholson and Bill Murray.
But I don't know why.
Sally P wrote:
Boy, this one was a bit tougher for me. I am going with "B" for my answer, and I will tell you why.
It appears to me, that the other, "couples" seem to have shared a role, in a different version of a production. For instance:
Jack Nicholson and Bill Murray both played the small comic role of the masochistic dental patient in the musical, "Little Shop of Horrors."
Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer both played, "Santa" in "Miracle on 34th Street."
Zero Mostel and Nathan Lane played the role of Pseudolus in, "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum."
Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer both played "Batman."
But the connection I see between William Shatner and John Lithgow is their work in, "The Twilight Zone," and both appeared in the TV show, "Third Rock From The Sun." I remember one episode of that show, where John Lithgow's character has a panic attack after seeing something on the wing of an aircraft. This is an allusion to a scene played by Lithgow in ,"Twilight Zone, The Movie." There were other allusions in that series as well, but no, "shared" roles as far as I know. But, I could be wrong...
And, Joe ("For us, warriors are not what you think of as warriors. The warrior is not someone who fights, because no one has the right to take another's life. The warrior, for us, is one who sacrifices himself for the good of others. His task is to take care of the elderly, the defenseless, those who cannot provide for themselves, and above all, the children, the future of humanity."
--Sitting Bull) missed it with:
Oh no! A quiz that requires thinking! Aarrrrrgh! Well, ok I'll give it a try. Nicholson and Murray, They're kind of old and so are Shatner and Lithgow. Keaton and Kilmer aren't very old but Mostel and Lane are (but Lane's not as old as Mostel) Gwenn and Cabot are old too. All of them are rather stout, except for Keaton and Kilmer. And then Nicholson and Murray too (damn). Ok, I'm gonna have to go with E: Edmund Gwenn and Sebastian Cabot because they're British and the rest of them aren't.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Less sun, more cold.
The kid spent most of the day driving the porcelain bus - not his (or my) favorite way to spend a perfectly nice day.
$3 Million Used Car
Sharon Stone
A classic car belonging to Hollywood star Sharon Stone helped to raise three million dollars for an AIDS charity in an auction during Dubai's fourth international film festival, a statement from the charity said on Tuesday.
The star-studded event late on Monday at a luxury desert resort saw Stone's 1961 Lincoln Continental sell to an unidentified buyer for 400,000 dollars, said the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) for which the actress is global fundraising chairman.
Hollywood actors Michelle Yeoh and Hayden Christensen were also on hand to see another mystery bidder pay 600,000 dollars for an art installation by American artist Robert Rauschenberg.
Sharon Stone
Donates To Fire Victims
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Stefani is contributing $166,000 from her local concert to provide scholarships for students who lost their homes in San Diego's recent wildfires.
Proceeds from her Oct. 30 concert in San Diego were donated to The San Diego Foundation's fire relief fund.
The Gwen Stefani After-the-Fires Scholarship will be open to college students and graduating high school seniors who lost their homes or their source of income in the October fires, which killed at least 10 people and destroyed more than 1,700 homes.
Gwen Stefani
Beatles Hairdresser Selling Memorabilia
Betty Glasow
A lock of John Lennon's hair is being put up for sale.
Lennon gave Betty Glasow, the Beatles' hairdresser, the lock of hair in a copy of his book "A Spaniard in the Works." In the dedication he wrote, "To Betty, Lots of Love and Hair, John Lennon."
On Wednesday, fans will have the chance to bid on the hair and other autographed photos and Beatles memorabilia when they go up for auction in Worthing, in southern England.
Other items in the sale include signed photographs of the Beatles dedicated to Glasow, including one where George Harrison signed the photo George "Dandruff" Harrison.
Betty Glasow
British Library Gets Archive
Harold Pinter
The British Library has acquired the archives of the Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter, including his correspondence with leading figures in theater and literature.
The library paid $2.24 million for the archive, which includes Pinter's collection of play scripts which has been on loan to the library since 1993.
The archive includes more than 150 boxes of manuscripts, scrapbooks, letters, photographs, programs and e-mails, and a draft of "The Queen of all the Fairies," an unpublished memoir of Pinter's youth, the library said Tuesday.
Among the highlights of the archive, the library said, are "an exceedingly perceptive and enormously affectionate run of letters from Samuel Beckett," letters and manuscripts from Pinter's work with director Joseph Losey, and correspondence with poet Philip Larkin.
Harold Pinter
Documentary Miniseries
"People's History"
Matt Damon, Marisa Tomei and Eddie Vedder will contribute their talents to a documentary miniseries based on historian-author Howard Zinn's 1980 book "A People's History of the United States."
Titled "The People Speak," the project will feature music and readings based on America's struggles with war, class, race and the rights of women. No network is attached yet.
Damon and Tomei, along with Viggo Mortensen, Josh Brolin, Danny Glover, David Strathairn and Kerry Washington, will provide performances for the project, which will interweave archival footage, photographs and interviews. Pearl Jam frontman Vedder and R&B singer John Legend will handle the music.
The project, also based on Zinn's companion book "Voices of a People's History of the United States" which he co-wrote with Anthony Arnove, will begin production in January in Boston.
Zinn, who will provide introductions and the historical context through oncamera appearances, also is executive producing.
"People's History"
Details Trip To N Korea
NY Philharmonic
When the New York Philharmonic plays in North Korea - a nation that President Bush has described as part of an "axis of evil" - the musical program will be steeped in Americana, complete with "The Star-Spangled Banner."
At a news conference Tuesday to announce details of the historic visit, Zarin Mehta insisted the program was chosen because "it's just great music."
The orchestra will fly to the North Korea capital Pyongyang from Beijing on Feb. 25 for a 48-hour visit that will include master classes with North Korean musicians and an open rehearsal before a Feb. 26 evening performance. The Philharmonic has previously planned concerts in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The program, chosen by the Philharmonic, starts with the national anthems of both countries, followed by Wagner's Prelude to Act III of "Lohengrin," Dvorak's "New World Symphony" - written while the 19th century Czech composer lived in the United States - and Gershwin's "An American in Paris." The orchestra will be led by conductor Lorin Maazel.
NY Philharmonic
Hospital News
Alex Trebek
Longtime "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek was hospitalized Tuesday after a minor heart attack, a spokesman for the game show said.
Trebek, 67, was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center late Monday night and was expected to remain there about two days for tests and observation, said show spokesman Jeff Ritter.
A post on the official "Jeopardy!" Web site said Trebek was "resting comfortably in a Los Angeles hospital, and he will be back in the studio for the next scheduled tapings in January." His heart attack was first reported by "Entertainment Tonight."
Alex Trebek
Double Life As Secret Agent
Noel Coward
The late, much-celebrated Noel Coward was a playwright, screenwriter, actor, singer, composer, director, cabaret star, racounteur, world traveler, society darling, social gadabout and a genius to many while a nuisance to others.
But who would guess he'd also spent much of World War II as a spy? He was doing undercover work before and during World War II for the Brits at the request of Lord "Dickie" Mountbatten, a cousin of England's King George VI, which is but one of the many fascinating things revealed in the constantly intriguing "Letters to Noel Coward," just published by Knopf, edited and with additional commentary by Coward historian Barry Day.
Not only was Coward a man who wrote works as diverse as "Private Lives," "Cavalcade" (which was turned into an Oscar-winning best picture), "Blithe Spirit," the song "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" and "Brief Encounter" -- as well as one of the great, muscular war stories to come out of the war, 1942's "In Which We Serve" -- he apparently also was knee deep in political intrigue before and during that war, which required him to keep so mum about it that even his closest family members and friends didn't know.
Furthermore, as correspondence with Mountbatten in the book reveals, Coward was asked to behave in the superficial manner of his public image at all times, in order to keep anyone from suspecting his true motives. That behavior, in turn, led to heavy criticism of Coward for behaving like an uncaring, out-of-touch fop at a time his country was being bombarded and blitzed by the Nazis. How little they knew.
Noel Coward
Advertisers Get Refunds As Ratings Plunge
NBC
Fourth-ranked broadcaster NBC has quietly begun reimbursing advertisers an average of $500,000 each for failing to reach guaranteed ratings levels, the first time a network has taken such a step in years, media buyers said.
Networks usually offer make-goods -- free advertising slots -- in the event of such shortfalls. But NBC has none to give. In fact, no broadcast network has much ad inventory left between now and year's end -- except for, perhaps, a handful of units the week between Christmas and New Year's, and that doesn't do much for advertisers chasing holiday shoppers.
CBS, ABC and Fox also are doling out make-goods, primarily for the first quarter. They have blamed softness on a new ratings formula, but media agencies disagree. None of the networks would comment.
The networks' problems emerged even before the Writers Guild of America went on strike November 5. The networks had enough first-run shows to get them through November, and repeats and replacement programming will not begin in earnest until January -- when their problems will likely start to worsen.
NBC
Script Sells For $97,000
`Citizen Kane'
Orson Welles' personal working script of "Citizen Kane" sold for almost $100,000 Tuesday, but his Oscar for the 1941 film was withdrawn after bidding failed to rise above the seller's minimum price.
Sotheby's auction house said it immediately received inquiries about the Oscar and may consider selling it privately. The Academy Award for best screenplay had been estimated to fetch $800,000 to $1.2 million.
The Oscar for "Citizen Kane," considered one of the greatest movies of all time, was believed to have been lost by Welles himself. It resurfaced in 1994 and was eventually acquired by the Dax Foundation, a Los Angeles-based charity. Proceeds from Tuesday's sale had been earmarked for the organization.
Welles' 156-page script, the last revised draft before the final shooting script, was sold for $97,000 to an anonymous buyer bidding on the telephone. Its pre-sale estimate was $80,000 to $120,000.
`Citizen Kane'
Bush Comes In 2nd, Again
'Foot In Mouth' Award
Former England football manager Steve McClaren fought off tough competition from U.S. resident George W. Bush to win a dreaded "Foot in Mouth" award on Tuesday from the Plain English campaign.
He was hailed for a supreme example of gobbledegook in talking about star player Wayne Rooney: "He is inexperienced but he's experienced in terms of what he's been through."
George W. Bush came second for "All I can tell you is that when the governor calls, I answer his phone."
Plain English Campaign spokesman Ben Beer told Reuters: "We thought it was a bit obvious to honour Bush as he comes up with them every day."
'Foot In Mouth' Award
Taken Down To Size
"Big Shots"
In a surprising move as the Hollywood writers strike depletes networks' stocks of fresh programming, ABC has benched freshman comedy-drama "Big Shots," a low-rated male version of "Desperate Housewives."
The network has pulled the remaining three original episodes of the series starring Michael Vartan, Dylan McDermott, Christopher Titus and Joshua Malina.
It will air repeats of the rookie medical drama "Private Practice," in the coveted Thursday 10 p.m. slot behind "Grey's Anatomy" for the rest of the year.
"Big Shots"
Energy Source Found
Northern Lights
Scientists think they have discovered the energy source of the spectacular color displays seen in the northern lights. New data from NASA's Themis mission, a quintet of satellites launched this winter, found the energy comes from a stream of charged particles from the sun flowing like a current through twisted bundles of magnetic fields connecting Earth's upper atmosphere to the sun.
The energy is then abruptly released in the form of a shimmering display of lights visible in the upper latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, said principal investigator Vassilis Angelopoulos of the University of California, Los Angeles.
In March, the satellites detected a burst of northern lights, or auroras borealis, over Alaska and Canada. During the two-hour light show, the satellites measured particle flow and magnetic fields from space.
To scientists' surprise, the geomagnetic storm powering the auroras raced 400 miles in a minute across the sky. Angelopoulos estimated the storm's power was equal to the energy released by a magnitude 5.5 earthquake.
Northern Lights
Prime Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Dec. 3-9. 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. (2) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 18.80 million viewers.
2. (3) "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 17.78 million viewers.
3. (14) "60 Minutes," CBS, 16.50 million viewers.
4. (X) "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," CBS, 14.55 million viewers.
5. (12) "Survivor: China," CBS, 13.86 million viewers.
6. (16) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC, 12.78 million viewers.
7. (8) "Sunday Night Football": Indianapolis at Baltimore, NBC, 12.73 million viewers.
8. (11) "Without a Trace," CBS, 12.68 million viewers.
9. (X) Movie: "Mitch Albom's For One More Day," ABC, 12.53 million viewers.
10. (23) "Amazing Race," CBS, 11.95 million viewers.
11. (13) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 11.88 million viewers.
12. (21) "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," NBC, 11.73 million viewers.
13. (17) "Cold Case," CBS, 11.57 million viewers.
14. (28) "Deal or No Deal" (Wednesday), NBC, 11.33 million viewers.
15. (X) "Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2007," ABC, 11.31 million viewers.
16. (X) "NCIS," CBS, 11.09 million viewers.
17. (20) "Heroes," NBC, 11.06 million viewers.
18. (28) "Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 10.51 million viewers.
19. (6) "House," Fox, 10.46 million viewers.
20. (21) "Private Practice," ABC, 10.40 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
'Philadelphia' Jerry Ricks
US blues guitarist 'Philadelphia' Jerry Ricks, regarded as one of the most remarkable exponents of traditional country blues, has died in Croatia at the age of 67, officials said Tuesday.
The musician, who moved with his wife Nancy to live in Croatia earlier this year, had been in hospital in Rijeka since mid-August following a stroke.
Born in 1940 in Philadelphia, Ricks was an "example of a real 'rambler' who could never stay at one place," the statement said.
From 1970 to 1990 he lived and performed in Europe, before returning to the the United States.
Ricks played with blues legends such as Lighting Hopkins, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Champion Jack Dupree, Son House and Doc Watson.
'Philadelphia' Jerry Ricks
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