Bartcop Entertainment - Friday, 4 January, 2002

(BartCop Entertainment)

Friday

4 January, 2002

big hammer - bigger hammer

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''Lord Of The Rings'' - Q & A for the Tolkien-Uninformed

by Jeff Crook

This week, I received a couple of responses to last week's Q&A. One was a scathing appraisal of my worth as a reviewer, as Lord of the Rings was so obviously a dismal failure, in the opinion of the writer. To those who hated the movie, I'm sorry for you. I am a difficult critic to please, especially of things so close to my heart as Tolkien's work, Star Wars, and Star Trek. But I think it was a fantastic success, as do 67% of people polled at http://www.lordoftheringsmovie.com.

I also think Star Trek: Enterprise is surprisingly good.

So maybe that is my problem. So often in the past, I've been disappointed and heartbroken by the crap produced by Hollywood and the television studios. When a movie like Lord of the Rings, or a show like Enterprise, turns out not to be horrible, it makes it feel like a masterpiece. Time will only tell with Lord of the Rings, whether its flaws will ultimately overwhelm Peter Jackson's ernest attempt to get it as right as it can be got.


Now, for the questions.


Why did Aragorn kill Ugluk? Or will his second manifest himself as the Uruk Hai leader?

Actually, that wasn't Ugluk. The Uruk Hai who led the hobbit-hunting expedition at the end of Fellowship is named Lurtz. He is a creation of Peter Jackson's, probably to give Aragorn something to fight and kill.

I suspect that in the Two Towers, Ugluk will take his place as the leader for the mad dash across the fields of Rohan.


Weren't you bothered by all that was left out, notably Old Man Willow, Tom Bombadil, and the barrow wight?

In the case of the episode with Bombadil, something had to be cut from the movie to get it into three hours. If Jackson had included Bombadil, the movie would have gone another hour, if not longer, because many of the earlier and later changes to the story, including the removal of Gandalf's letter to Frodo, Crickhollow and Farmer Maggot, Barliman Butterbur, and the evidence of Gandalf fighting the ringwraiths on Weathertop, were able to be cut as a result of the loss of the Bombadil chapters. So when he cut Bombadil, it wasn't just Bombadil being cut, it was a whole lot more. I wouldn't have minded a four hour movie, but I doubt many other people would have appreciated it, especially after it ends the way it does (see below).

(SPOILER WARNING)

I've spoken with other people who have said that the whole Bombadil section is a pointless diversion, and there are some Tolkien scholars who agree. I'm not one of them. For one thing, Tolkien himself thought it immensely important for a number of reasons.

First, it portrays something of the older world in which the story takes place. Bombadil's world is like a dream from an earlier age, and Elrond says that Bombadil has always been there. When the hobbits (and the reader) stray into the Old Forest, they get their first glimpse into a world much larger and much more ancient than the Shire. The adventure in the Old Forest and the Barrow Downs is their wake-up call.

Second, it gives the hobbits a break from the Black Riders. It's quite a fer piece from the Brandywine Bridge to Bree, and there were Riders on both sides of the river searching for the ring. It is inconceivable that, having been so hotly pursued in the Shire, they could have walked unmolested to Bree. Therefore the detour through the forest, to shake off pursuit.

But the greatest lesson of the Bombadil chapters is that the hobbits are granted hope. Bombadil represents a force over which the evil of Suaron has no power. He treats the ring like a toy, and it has no effect on him when he puts it on his finger. Old Man Willow, whose evil influence is spread throughout the forest, if powerless in the face of Bombadil's magic, as is the barrow wight. Bombadil shows the hobbits that there is a greater power than Sauron, just as their encounter with Gildor and the elves while still in the Shire (also cut from the movie) shows them that there is a power greater than the Black Riders. So they are granted the hope which allows to continue, to not fall into despair and give up.

And this is why I think Tolkien included these chapters. He even says so, in the voice of Gandalf, once the hobbits reach Rivendell. Despite all the dangers and Frodo's near death from the Morgul knife, Gandalf states that it was the moment in the barrow, when Frodo almost used the ring to escape, thus abandoning his friends, that was the most dangerous. For it is at this moment that Frodo denies the seduction of the ring. Without this initial denial, there is no way he could have withstood the Morgul knife much less make it all the way into Mordor. He would have long before submitted to the ring.

That's why these chapters are important. Oh, and let's not forget that this is where the hobbits get their weapons - the blades of Westernesse. In the movie, Aragorn just hands them the swords and we do not learn of their importance or history. Who made them is a vital fact, for an ordinary blade could not harm the Wraith King. But it will be Merry's blade that proves his undoing.

And all because they took a short cut through the Old Forest and met silly old Tom Bombadil in some unimportant chapters.

Anyway, I understand why Jackson cut these parts. Something had to be cut, and Bombadil was the place to do the cutting.


Why replace Glorfindel with Arwen?

Because you have to have a love interest. In Tolkien's story, the love interest between Arwen and Aragorn is a minor thing and doesn't really come into play until the very end. Peter Jackson was trying to appeal to more than just hardcore Tolkien fans. And there is a philosophy in storytelling that says there has to be a love interest in a good story. It isn't true, but at the same time it is.

So if you are going to have a love interest and have Liv Tyler play her, you'd better get her involved in the movie early. In the books, Arwen really doesn't do much of anything but sit around and look pretty. Modern audiences won't sit still for that. Therefore, you've got to give her an earlier role and involve her in the action. That means either creating a new place for her, or replacing another character with her. I suspect fans would have been much more upset if Jackson had written an entirely new role for Arwen so early in the movie. Better to use her to replace a minor character - Glorfindel.

Also, just remember that he could have used her to replace Legolas. That's what I was afraid of.



That's all for this week, except for one final comment. This is something that I've heard from people who saw the movie but haven't read the book. I also heard quite a few people mumbling this as they left the theater:


That's it? They just left them walking down the mountainside?

Yes, that's it, because this movie is the first of a three-part story. It leaves us literally on the cliffs of the Emyn Muil. That some people didn't know the first movie would end this way came as a total surprise to me, and to Peter Jackson, I imagine. There should have been previews for the next movie at the end of this one, a kind of 'tune in next week' to help the uninitiated accept the unresolved ending. At the very least, put TO BE CONTINUED on the screen. Because I actually spoke to one person who didn't know that there were two more movies to come. She thought that Fellowship of the Ring was the whole story.

Please write to me at Jeff if you have questions or general comments. I'll try to answer them here.

~~ Jeff Crook


Thanks, Jeff!
Sometime over the weekend hope to get up a 'Jeff Cook / LOTR Q & A' page...

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The Best Night of the Year

Michael Dare

The Best Night of the Year

by Michael Dare



The Leonids from Space
 

     It was November, it was 2001, it was the middle of the night, and I was up. There was news of an enormous meteor shower, the Leonids, due at four in the morning on a Sunday. I'd gotten similar bulletins that didn't pan out so my hopes weren't high. Turns out predicting meteor showers is in the same ballpark with predicting ANY kind of weather, and what looks like a storm can mysteriously evaporate into sprinkles by the time it reaches you.
 
    It's been four years since I moved to the middle of the desert and a good ten miles from the nearest city lights. Though I've paid attention to the predictions, I still haven't seen anything that comes close to a meteor shower. Not that I'm complaining. Life is fine without meteor showers. It's just that if there happens to be one, this would be the place to be since the everyday sky here is ceaselessly spectacular. Weather has become one of our primary sources of amusement, and we'll actually get up from our TVs and computers to run outside for nothing more than a nifty piece of weather. 


      The difference between where you live and where I live is that where you live, if you want to see the stars, you go outside and look up, but where I live, if you want to see the stars, you go outside and look straight ahead in absolutely any direction. My horizons are 360 and far away. If it's snowing on Mount Gorgonio, if there's a double rainbow across the Coachella Valley while lightning continually strikes in Joshua Tree, if the sides of Mount San Jacinto are on fire, or if there's a particularly momentous sunrise over the Salton Sea, the Dares are there.


      The reason I was up had nothing to do with meteors and only slightly to do with showers. I had a choice. Should I go to the bathroom and flush a toilet with water that I have to bring in by truck, or should I treat each drop as precious, go outside, and water a cactus?


      I ran to the front door in my underwear. From the hallway, about ten feet away, I could see the horizon through the window in the door. Four meteors in a row, like that, gone in a flash. If that's what a tiny square of sky looked like, I wanted to see the whole thing. I ran back to the bedroom, put on a sweatshirt, sweatpants, socks and kung-fu shoes and ran outside.


      They were everywhere. You'd see one and stare at that spot, stupidly expecting another in the same place. There was nowhere you could look that wasn't full of meteors but down, and that's not where I was looking.


      The kids had to see this. I didn't look at a clock. I didn't worry about whether I was being a responsible dad. This was like The Who playing live outside my door, like the world premiere of the new Star Wars directed by Stanley Kubrick brought back from the dead just for us, tonight, a Steven Spielberg sky, better than Close Encounters, an impossible special effect, beyond IMAX, beyond entertainment, it was now or never. I didn't contemplate anything. I woke them both up, Buster, 14, on the sofa, and Max, 8, on the bunk bed. I was gentle. "Trust me," I said, "wrap yourself in your blanket and come outside to see this." They wrapped up and came right out, astonished that I would instigate such an exodus on a school night. 

 


     Total darkness, no moon, clear sky, every star in place, about 100 miles in every direction, non-stop meteors, hundreds a minute. The boys were going "Wow" before they hit the chairs, Buster on one, Max in my lap in the other. We went "There's one" and "Did you see that?" over and over, cold, huddled together, the Dares against the universe, watching tonight's free show, wondering what primitive man would have thought of such a display. They would have thought it was the end of the world. 


      Most meteors were quick pencil sketches lasting fractions of a second, but some were ten times brighter and wider than the rest, coming in close, the width of your thumb at arm's length, the sky like fireworks, looking like actual flaming rocks from space instead of the standard ephemeral splash of white, leaving lasting trails that hung around till they faded into the galaxies in every direction, no right way to look, one after another, a mad, cosmic etch-a-sketch, the universe playing connect-the-dots with itself.     



      I suppose it ended sometime after we got tired and went inside. The kids were back asleep in a minute, dreaming of tomorrow when they would have to explain to the teacher why they were nodding out in class.
 
      You see, it was like this. It's not my fault. The sky was falling last night and my dad woke us up in the middle of the night to go look at it and it really was. The sky. Falling. You had to be there.  

 
      2001 wasn't so bad. 

 
 
 
MD  
 
 
http://home.earthlink.net/~dare2b

There is no way to unsubscribe to Darenet other than repeating HIS name 1,000 times and praying for the worst. Sure, you can send a blank email to "Darenet-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com" but HE'LL know and you'll pay someday. Your only choice is to sneak behind his back and go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/darenet, log on, and remove yourself. You're three clicks away from going to a special hell reserved for all those who Dare unsubscribe.



Many thanks to Michael Dare!

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Reader Question

Re: 'Thieves'

As a frequent -- but not constant -- reader, I am risking that you may have covered the TV show ''Thieves'' before.

Why-oh-why has this sophisticated adventure/comedy been hiatused by ABC? Starring the best-looking couple on TV today, with the snappiest dialogue since ''Moonlighting,'' (before Cybill got pregnant), it was never given a chance by the network, which has retreated to re-re-reruns of AFV -- America's Fabricated Videos.

Will this series be given another shot, or have the ABC crooks arrested the ''Thieves?''

~~ Larry


Larry - 'Thieves' was one of the first programs the so-called wizards at ABC/Disney cancelled of the new season. They seem to think they get more return on their 'investment' by regurgitating what you so aptly called 'AFV -- America's Fabricated Videos' and back-to-back reruns of sitcoms they're trying to kill off (like 'Dharma' & 'Spin City').

Yet, there's always at least 90 minutes of Drew Carey per week.

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In The Chaos Household

Last Night

Finally saw 'Lord Of The Rings'. Ian McKellan rules!

Started out watching the 'Rose Bowl'...jeez, what a crappy game.

Long Beach is the 25th fittest city in America...sure wouldn't know it from my neighborhood.

Planning on staying up late to watch the last SCTV on NBC...Monday, Carson Daly gets his big chance to blow chunks in late night on his 'Last Call'. I am not impressed.

Good Night, Edith Prickly, Wherever You Are


Tonight, Friday, CBS has a rerun of 'King Of Queens', and then a fresh 'Ellen', followed by a rerun 'That's Life', and '48 Hours'. 'Dave' is a rerun, too.

NBC has a fresh evening! 'Providence', 'Dateline', and 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' are all new!

ABC regurgitates another so-called 'Funniest Video' rerun of a rerun. 'Once & Again' is fresh, but who cares. It's followed by a rerun of 'Vanished'.

The WB has 2 hours of reruns, 'Sabrina', 'Raising Dad', 'Reba', and 'Maybe It's Me'.

Faux rolls out 'Happy Gilmore' for the nth time.

AMC has all 3 'Omen' pictures....now that I think about it, it would seem that Howard Shore, who scored 'Lord Of The Rings' must have heard a lot of the music from the first 'Omen' before he started work.

TCM has 'Sullivan's Travels', by Preston Sturgess....if you like to laugh, appreciate great, witty writing, can deal with a viable social message, and delight in the puncturing of social mores, this is your movie.



Anyone have any opinions?

Or reviews?



(See below for addresses)

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Interview With 'Boondocks' Creator

Aaron McGruder

In a two-panel sequence of Aaron McGruder's "The Boondocks" that ran on Thanksgiving Day, a black grandfather and his two grandsons are sitting down to dinner. One of the boys, a 9-year-old would-be revolutionary named Huey, offers grace. "Ahem," Huey declares. "In this time of war against Osama bin Laden and the oppressive Taliban regime . . . we are thankful that our leader isn't the spoiled son of a powerful politician from a wealthy oil family who is supported by religious fundamentalists, operates through clandestine organizations, has no respect for the democratic electoral process, bombs innocents, and uses war to deny people their civil liberties. Amen." As soon as he's finished, his grandfather responds, "This is the last time you say grace, boy."

It's a nearly perfect bit of comic timing: A familiar setup — Thanksgiving with the family — is given an unexpected twist, then snapped back into place with a savage punch line. But there's also a more subversive element at work — you finish the strip not sure, exactly, how to reconcile what you've seen. Amid the patriotic frenzy of the last four months, sentiments like Huey's have been pushed increasingly to the fringes; they're more the stuff of rants and mass e-mailings than of the comics page of the daily newspaper, where they're juxtaposed against the mindless blur of "Cathy" and the hyperdomesticity of "9 Chickweed Lane." Even if you're not among the people who write off comic strips as a particularly disposable form of light entertainment, you have to wonder: How is he getting this stuff in?

To read the rest of this LA Weekly Interview With Aaron McGruder...

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Updated!

BartCop TV!

BC TV

Visit the site at BC TV

The 'Vidiot' never seems to rest - and doesn't let little things like laundry or housekeeping get in the way!

Damn near every show on TV must is listed - days & days worth of great reading.

If you have any questions about nearly any tv program, check out BC TV!

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Still Going Forward

Charlie, The Movie

A movie project about Charles Manson refuses to die.

Johnny Depp recently turned down the offer to play the mass murderer in a film based on Ed Sanders' 1972 book, "The Family." Depp passed — but not out of concern for his "Ninth Gate" director Roman Polanski, whose wife, Sharon Tate, was among Manson's victims. The actor, who collects Manson memorabilia, says he thought the 1976 TV miniseries "Helter Skelter" deftly told the whole story. "There was no point in doing it again," he said.

But producer Don Murphy, who worked with Depp on "From Hell," isn't giving up.

Murphy, who bought songs performed by Manson for the soundtrack, thinks the part demands a brave actor. "Helter Skelter" star Steve Railsback saw his career take a nosedive after he played Manson in the miniseries.

Charlie, The Movie

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American Music Awards

Lots Of Fun - Backstage

Britney Spears, Kid Rock, Usher, Mick Jagger and Cher will all perform on next week's American Music Awards, while Sean ``P. Diddy'' Combs tries his hand at being a television host.

But none of that promises to be quite as fun as the backstage bickering that has consumed music's two big awards shows.

The bad feelings burst into the open last month when Dick Clark, executive producer of the American Music Awards, accused the Grammy Awards of essentially blacklisting artists who appear on Clark's show.

Clark said in a lawsuit that Michael Greene, head of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, strong-armed Michael Jackson into breaking a promise to appear on the AMAs. The AMAs air Jan. 9, and the Grammys are held on Feb. 27.

Greene has denied wrongdoing, and Clark said Jackson has subsequently agreed to appear on the American Music Awards.

Yet Billboard reported that in 1995, Greene told the music industry publication that ``artists who perform on the AMAs might as well buy a ticket to the Grammys, because it's unlikely they'll be performing on our stage.''

A week or so after the spat became public, Clark said Jackson phoned him to say he will appear on the AMAs, to accept the organization's Artist of the Century award. Clark is going forward with his lawsuit, however.

Jackson won't perform at the AMAs. But due to a delicious bit of television gamesmanship, viewers will be able to see him sing by clicking their remotes.

CBS - the network that also televises the Grammys - scheduled a rerun of the Jackson tribute concert that unexpectedly drew 30 million viewers last November to air directly opposite the American Music Awards on ABC.

Lenny Kravitz, R. Kelly and Shaggy will compete for favorite male pop artist in the AMAs, while Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys and Jennifer Lopez are up for the top female award. The Dave Matthews Band, 'N Sync and U2 are the nominees for favorite group.

U2 & 'N Sync in the same category...

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If He's ''Big Bob''...

Pamela Anderson

Now that Pamela Anderson is battling her ex, Tommy Lee, for custody of their two sons, she is toning down her red-hot media coverage - at least in the United States. The former Playmate has done a raunchy spread for the United Kingdom version of Maxim. But readers of American Maxim will not get to see Pam bending down in roller skates with her underwear falling off.

In the interview, Anderson says she calls her current lover, Kid Rock, "Big Bob," and that the "other men" in her life have been big disappointments in bed.

Anyone have access to the British issue of Maxim?

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New!

In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends

bartcook

In The Kitchen With BartCop

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Fired Because Of ``Budgetary Reasons''

Mitchell Fink

Gossip columnist Mitchell Fink, who wrote for the Daily News for 31/2 years, said Thursday he believes the newspaper fired him because of readers' waning appetite for celebrity news after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Fink, who also has worked for People magazine and the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, was fired on Wednesday because of ``budgetary reasons,'' News spokesman Ken Frydman said.

Fink said being fired didn't surprise him.

``It doesn't take a genius to get the message, albeit subtle, that they're thinking maybe they can do without as much gossip,'' Fink said. ``I don't think they can. I tried after Sept. 11 to definitely be less frivolous.''

He claimed that during his tenure he ``broke more Page 1 stories than every other gossip columnist in the city combined,'' but understood the newspaper's decision. ``They've made a statement,'' he said. ``Gossip is not as important.''

Mitchell Fink

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Fly Rod & Reel Magazine Says So

Ted Turner, Master-Baiter

What was Ted Turner doing all those months when he'd been basically put out to pasture by AOL Time Warner top honcho Gerald Levin? Fishing. Fly Rod & Reel magazine, which named Turner its Angler of the Year, reports: "Since he retired from competitive sailing and picked up a fly rod in his late 40s, fishing has become a regular part of Ted Turner's life; he wets a line roughly 100 days a year."

Now that Turner - who holds the title of vice chairman at the media conglomerate - has essentially been re-hired by incoming CEO Richard Parsons, he might not get to fish as much. But he has other interests. "I was in Washington, D.C., the other day and I saw that people had been just throwing garbage out of their cars," Turner told the magazine. "So I cleaned it up. I was . . . picking up other people's garbage . . . it just needed to be cleaned up." Turner, America's largest private land owner with more than 1.3 million acres on 14 ranches, gets high marks from conservationists for reintroducing indigenous species such as bison.

America's Largest Private Land Owner

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The Uber-Virgin & Her Roommate

Britney Spears

Proving once again that she isn't that innocent, Britney Spears and boyfriend Justin Timberlake were spotted bumping and grinding at Cheetah's Sunday night gay party. The canoodling couple steamed up the dance floor within spitting distance of the club's scantily clad go-go boys and stayed well past 4 a.m. Britney and Justin had dropped by to celebrate songbird Inaya Day's new release, "Can't Stop Dancing."

Britney Spears

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New! Updated!

(10 Dec., 2001)

BartCop Astrology

The official BartCop Astrologer, Geneva, has done good, again!

Very interesting reading!

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Looking For Work

William Daniels

William Daniels, the Emmy-winning actor who led the Screen Actors Guild through two tumultuous years as union president, is looking to revive his career.

Daniels, 74, a two-time Emmy winner for ``St. Elsewhere,'' had put his career on hold during his presidency, which ended in November. He recently signed with the Gold/Marshak/Liedkte talent agency and is hoping he'll be cast during the upcoming pilot season.

``I'm very interested in working if the right thing comes along,'' Daniels told Daily Variety.

It's a major change from the previous 24 months, when he made headlines seemingly every week.

Daniels admitted four months ago that he never would have run for the non-salaried job of president in the first place had he been aware of all the discord. He has no regrets about leaving the spotlight.

Daniels' other TV credits include the principal in the kids TV series ``Boy Meets World,'' and the voice of David Hasselhoff's talking car in ``Knight Rider.''

William Daniels

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''Nothing So Strange''

& Bill Gates

Microsoft is fuming over an uncomfortably realistic "mockumentary" that depicts the assassination of its billionaire boss, Bill Gates.

"Nothing So Strange," which premieres Jan. 13 at Utah's Slamdance Film Festival, shows Gates lookalike Steve Sires being shot dead as he steps out of a limo in the flick's chilling opener.

The fake documentary, written and directed by Brian Fleming, who penned the quirky off-Broadway hit "Bat Boy: The Musical," examines a fictional 1999 assassination of Gates and the shadowy cover-up of the killer's identity by the Los Angeles Police Department.

Sires, a professional Gates impersonator, is so convincing, he was once booked by Microsoft to stand in for Gates in a company video and appeared in a print ad campaign. He later ran afoul of the company's lawyers when he tried to trademark the name "Microsortof" for his Web site, bogusbill.com.

But Sires has exacted his revenge on Microsoft by appearing in the jarring Gates murder scene, in which his head gets blown off and the camera pans over him as he lies bleeding in the street.

The only other fictional attack on Gates we're aware of is in "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut," when a cartoon Gates is murdered by a general after his PowerPoint presentation takes too long to load.

''Nothing So Strange''

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Reaction To Sean Penn

O'Really

Bill O'Reilly says he's baffled by a Sean Penn interview in the upcoming issue of Talk magazine in which the bad-boy actor likens O'Reilly to Adolf Hitler and Osama bin Laden.

For one thing, O'Reilly has never met the actor, nor has he ever singled him out for scrutiny on his nightly Fox News Channel talk show, "The O'Reilly Factor."

Penn's thoughts on O'Reilly and other talk-show hosts such as Howard Stern appear about halfway through the article, for which Penn made the cover of the February 2002 issue of Talk.

Calling O'Reilly a "grumpy, self-loathing joke," he accuses the top-rated cable-TV talker of appealing to "the lowest common denominator of people's impulses," like Hitler.

"You know, I think the genesis of this is that Hollywood has been pretty much given a free pass forever by the television media," O'Reilly said. "Very rarely have they been criticized. . . . Now they know that that protection will never be afforded them ever again because what we do here is we watch the powerful and the famous and if they misbehave we report on it. . . . No one is safe from our scrutiny."

O'Reilly said the actor now has a standing invitation to come on the show and discuss his gripes, although O'Reilly doubts Penn will ever appear.

''we watch the powerful and the famous and if they misbehave we report on it''

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Thieves Arrested

Kim Novak

Three men were arrested on charges of stealing firearms and tools worth more than $20,000 from Kim Novak's rural home.

The actress' husband, Dr. Bob Malloy, reported the crime on Dec. 26.

Christian Alan Flogerzi, 23, of Sprague River; Jason Nathaniel Corbin, 22, of Klamath Falls; and the property's caretaker, Dean Smith, 31, were arrested on Tuesday. They were charged with burglary, theft and criminal conspiracy.

More arrests are expected, police said.

Novak, the blonde bombshell who appeared in 1955's ``Picnic'' and the 1958 Alfred Hitchcock classic ``Vertigo,'' last appeared on screen in 1991 in Mike Figgis' ``Liebestraum.''

The 68-year-old spent her childhood summers in Oregon with her father, and memories of those summers prompted her and her husband to build their Chiloquin home more than 20 years ago.

Kim Novak

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BC Entertainment Favorite Link

Moose & Squirrel Information One-Stop

http://geocities.com/mooseandsquirrel1

What a great site! Information and reference materials of the first order!

Between 'Moose & Squirrel' and 'Google', who needs daddy drudge!

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Backstreet Boy Arrested

Nick Carter

Backstreet Boy Nick Carter was arrested on suspicion of refusing to follow police officers' orders to leave a nightclub after a fight broke out.

The youngest of the five-member pop group at age 21, Carter was charged early Wednesday with a misdemeanor count of resisting/opposing a law enforcement officer without violence. He was handcuffed, placed in a squad car and released on his own recognizance.

Police were called to the Pop City nightclub early Tuesday evening because of a fight. They returned to the nightclub later in the night to break up another disturbance. While officers made arrests and tried to restore peace, Carter became involved in an argument with a woman, according to the arrest affidavit.

He was told to leave the nightclub more than 10 times until officers told him to leave by ``the count of 3'' or he would be arrested. Carter continued the argument and was arrested, the affidavit said.

Backstreet Boy Arrested

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Advertising Age Asks

Nikes, Reeboks or Adidas?

Most people are wondering if alleged "shoe bomber" Richard Reid has any connection to al Qaeda, but advertising folks just want to know what brand of black suede sneakers he stuffed with explosives. "So was it a pair of Nikes, Reeboks or Adidas?" Advertising Age asks, perhaps recalling the barrage of press Timex got when Osama bin Laden flashed his "takes a lickin' . . ." watch in a post-Sept. 11 video. So far, calls to the FBI, Reid's jailers, newspapers and several sneaker makers have yielded no answers. Also on the case is trade mag Footwear News, which predicts, "It'll be quite a story when it comes out."

Advertising Age Asks Nikes, Reeboks or Adidas?

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350 lbs. Of $20s Still Missing

Fugitive Businessman Dies

His guitar, his golf clubs, even Michael B. Schwartz's two Siamese cats are still at the West Palm Beach apartment where he died Christmas Day, apparently choking on his own vomit after passing out on a stranger's black leather sectional.

But 350 pounds of $20 bills haven't been found -- and may never be, because Schwartz was buried Wednesday at Menorah Gardens cemetery in suburban West Palm Beach.

The FBI says Schwartz stole $5 million from a California banking concern that hired his 2-year-old companies, Direct Connect ATM and Schwartz Armored LLC, to stock 160 "stand-alone" ATMs with $20 bills primarily in convenience stores throughout New York and New Jersey.

All along, FBI circulars said Schwartz was thought to be traveling in one of two company vans with his "fat and obese" cats -- Bonnie and Clyde. A van has been located, and so have the cats. But not the money.

All this has left FBI Special Agent Bill Evanina, of the Newark field office, speculating about what happened to 250,000 $20 bills.

New Jersey authorities say Schwartz was last seen Dec. 2 by a neighbor in his Jersey City apartment building, loading a van outside the apartment from which he ran the businesses. Then, Schwartz disappeared.

By the time he turned up Dec. 11 on the West Palm Beach doorstep of Chris Lacroix, Schwartz had become Jeff Alexander, a man who made a fortune selling toothbrushes over the Internet, had left bad personal and professional relations up north and wanted a fresh start in Florida. Or so he told Lacroix.

Lacroix rented the master bedroom of his two-bedroom, furnished townhome to Schwartz, whom he met through Rent Finders, where Lacroix's girlfriend works.

Schwartz had no job, no outward sign of wealth. He didn't even have ID, offering that he had left New Jersey in a hurry and was having it sent down. He paid the $600 per month rent three months in advance -- in a combination of $100s, $50s and $20s -- but never bought sheets for the bed.

All Schwartz did, Lacroix said, is drink, and then throw up.

"He drank from 8 o'clock in the morning until whenever he passed out," Lacroix said. "So seeing him in that position [seemingly passed out on the sectional] when I came home, it was nothing new. He was always passed out.

"And as soon as he woke up, he'd go get a beer."

Lacroix found Schwartz dead on his couch Christmas morning, an image that will never leave him, he said.

Schwartz's parents buried him Wednesday, but West Palm Beach police and the Palm Beach County coroner's office say they are awaiting toxicology reports to determine his cause of death. The police say there was no foul play.

According to the police report, Schwartz was found sprawled on the couch, with empty beer cans, cigarette rolling papers and a TV remote nearby. A pillow lay across his legs.

The company that hired Schwartz, California-based Humboldt Bancorp, noticed $5 million was missing on Dec. 7, Pat Rusnak, Humboldt's chief financial officer, told The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. Humboldt officials noticed some irregularities specific to Schwartz's operation and tried unsuccessfully to reach him. The company publicly announced the theft on Dec. 12.

Lacroix did see a white van with New Jersey license plates, partially covered by a tarp, sitting in the carport space he had rented for Schwartz in his complex. Lacroix saw it the day after Schwartz died. Lacroix called police.

Lacroix has Bonnie and Clyde now, but plans are for them to go to Schwartz's parents, whom Lacroix met at the funeral. Lacroix said it's clear the cats miss Schwartz, whom he still calls "Jeff." As for the mysterious Schwartz, Lacroix remains disbelieving.

"He came here like a pauper; I mean, he pulled up in a cab, and all he had really were his cats in a crate," Lacroix said. "He swore up and down he was a decent guy, but that he was just having some problems."

Fugitive Businessman Dies


Hey, isn't Menorah Gardens' the name of the cemetery that's involved in the Florida/Texas Funeralgate story?

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Happier Times


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In Memory

'Buddy'

President Clinton plays with his puppy Buddy on Jan. 1, 1998, at Hilton Head Island, S.C. Photo by Mary Ann Chastain

Buddy, former President Clinton's ebullient chocolate retriever, was killed by a car near the Clinton home, police said Thursday.

Officer Bruce Cathie of the New Castle police said Buddy was accidentally struck Wednesday afternoon on Route 117, a busy two-lane road at the end of Old House Lane, the cul-de-sac that includes the ex-president's home.

Julia Payne, a Clinton spokeswoman, said neither the ex-president nor his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, was home at the time.

"We are deeply saddened by Buddy's death," the Clintons said in a statement issued by Payne. "He was a loyal companion and brought us much joy. He will truly be missed."

Police said it was unclear whether Buddy was being walked at the time of the accident or had escaped from the Clinton home. He "just darted out in front of a car," said Officer Larry Green. The driver, whose name was not made public, was not at fault, police said.

The Clintons got Buddy as a puppy in late 1997, just weeks before the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke. The dog was named after the president's great-uncle, Henry Oren "Buddy" Grisham, who had died earlier that year.

Spokesman Mike McCurry quipped at the time that Clinton got the dog, a present from a friend, because ""It's the president's desire to have one loyal friend in Washington."

Buddy became one of the most photographed pets in the nation, often seen playing on the White House grass or bounding into a helicopter headed for Camp David.

Clinton acknowledged that the family's senior pet, Socks the cat, was not happy at all with the newcomer. When the Clintons left the White House last year, Socks was adopted by the ex-president's secretary, Betty Currie.

In his first weeks in Chappaqua, Buddy became a signal dog for the reporters who camped outside the home. When Buddy emerged, it often meant the former president was coming out, too.

He once sniffed out a box of reporters' doughnuts and quickly ate three. Another time, when playing fetch with Clinton, Buddy became entangled in the ex-president's legs and knocked him down in full view of the cameras.

"You guys got a good shot," Clinton said. "That's the first time he's knocked me down in all the time we've been together."

Buddy

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In Memory

Frankie Gaye

Frankie Gaye, 60, whose combat experience during the Vietnam War was credited with influencing his older brother Marvin's legendary Motown album What's Going On, died Friday of complications after a heart attack.

Mr. Gaye was a radio operator stationed in Vietnam in the 1960s when he wrote letters to his brother expressing his dissatisfaction with the war. His experiences influenced several songs on his brother's 1971 album, including "Save the Children," "Inner City Blues" and "Mercy Mercy Me," according to Ralph Tee in the book Soul Music Who's Who.

Mr. Gaye, like his brother, had begun singing in church as a youngster. He went on to work with several Motown artists, including Mary Wells and Kim Weston, and provided background vocals on many of his brother's albums, including What's Going On and 1977's Marvin Gaye, Live at the London Palladium.

On his own, Mr. Gaye composed the sound track to the 1972 film Penitentiary 1 and toured in the United States and England. He also released the singles "Extraordinary Girl" in 1989 and "My Brother" in 1990.

Frankie Gaye

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In Memory

Alfred Henry "Freddy" Heineken

Alfred Henry "Freddy" Heineken, who helped make his namesake beer one of the world's most popular brands, died Thursday. He was 78.

The former head of the world's third biggest brewer, Heineken NV, died at his home in the seaside town of Noordwijk, the company said. The cause of death was not given.

Heineken's family will retain his controlling stake in the brewer, which trails only Anheuser Busch and Interbrew in terms of size.

Heineken started his career at the company in June 1942 as an 18-year-old. The brewery was founded by his grandfather, Gerard Adriaan Heineken, in 1864.

In 1946 he became a sales manager at the company's U.S. distributor.

During his two year-stay in the United States he became intrigued by marketing and advertising and returned to the company's headquarters in Europe to build the beer as a premium brand.

He designed the famous green bottle and the logo with the red star and the graceful black banner bearing the brand name.

Heineken became a member of the brewery's management board in 1964 and served as CEO from 1971 to 1989. He was also the head of Heineken Holding NV.

He retired as the head of the holding company in November 2001.

Heineken was the richest man in the country with an estimated fortune of more than $3.6 billion, but that made him the target of criminals. In 1983, Heineken was abducted for three weeks, before being released unharmed.

Alfred Henry "Freddy" Heineken

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Boondocks: The Best Comic Strip Today

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Still MISSING


Over Vitebsk

Marc Chagall's "Study for 'Over Vitebsk'"

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Is It Just Me, Or Does Big Boy Look Like Tom Ridge?

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