'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Review
'The Triplets of Belleville'
Last night, after watching the paint dry, I mean the funeral procession, I decided it was time for a movie. Went out to Hollywood Video,
and picked up a copy of a movie I've wanted to see for a while, actually a
cartoon, 'The Triplets of Belleville'.
This amazing story is brought to us by a French director Sylvain Chomet, and
was nominated in 2003 for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature and Best Song,
and let me tell you, it deserves it.
It reminds me of old Betty-Bop style cartoons. The story centers around a
grandmother and her grandson, who gets kidnapped by a French mob. She
travels, together with her dog, to the city of Belleville (resembling NYC in
many ways) to rescue him. There she meets up with 3 old women, Triplets of
Belleville. In their youth they were a very popular jazz group, but now
they live in a crappy apartment and eat frogs. The movie revolves around
the grandmother joining their group, and performing an excellent number
called 'Cabaret Hoover', and eventually 4 of them together with Bruno, the
dog, rescue the grandson. There's almost no dialogue in the movie, except a
few words. But what makes this movie is the music!
I picked up the soundtrack today, and it is amazing. The title song (the
one that was nominated for an Academy Award) is called Belleville
Rendez-Vous, and performed by Ben Charest, has such amazing rhythm and beat,
that you'll be humming it for days.
Together with the story, great animation and music, this makes for a
wonderful, yet weird, movie (it's a shame to call it just a cartoon). While
I think it's not for everyone, I would recommend that people take a look.
On the DVD version, there's the video for Belleville Rendez-Vous, don't miss
it.
~ Alex
Thanks, Alex!
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
Reader Comment
'Eyes Wide Shut'
Hi Marty,
Can't watch the news lately. Saint Reagan saturation
is making me crazy. This story won't sink because shit
floats.
- Tim
Thanks, Tim!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast burned off a bit before noon.
The 5th grade graduation exercise went off well. Had anticipated a rather somber occasion, but lots of parents interjected loud comments along the lines of 'that's my baby!'
The Beastie Boys, (L-R) Michael Diamond (Mike D), Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock), and Adam Yauch (MCA), with DJ Mix Master Mike behind them, perform during MTV2's '2$Bill' concert series at the Huntridge Theatre in Las Vegas, Nevada, June 9, 2004. The rap trio will release 'To the 5 Boroughs' on June 15, their first album in six years. The concert will air on the music television network on June 20.
Photo by Ethan Miller
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Alleged Remark Sparks Internet Storm
Morrissey
Morrissey, outspoken lead singer of '80s rockers The Smiths, has sparked an Internet storm with reported comments about U.S. resident George W. Bush.
The Manchester Evening News said Thursday it had received a record number of hits after reporting on its website that Morrissey, 45, had interrupted a Dublin concert Saturday with news of former president Ronald Reagan's death, adding that he wished Bush had died instead.
Morrissey's record company, Sanctuary Records, could not confirm the remarks.
"We do not have a recording of the gig, but as far as we can tell, Morrissey was just alerting the audience to the fact that Ronald Reagan had died," the newspaper quoted the company as saying. "He then simply followed that up with his comment about George Bush, which was his own opinion. He is no stranger to controversy."
Morrissey
Class of 2004
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame inducts the Motown team of Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield; the blue-eyed soul duo Daryl Hall and John Oates; soulman turned preacher Al Green and folkie Don McLean on Thursday. The hall is also inducting Charles Fox, writer of Roberta Flacks hit Killing Me Softly.
Stevie Wonder, Neil Sedaka and Rob Thomas of matchbox twenty also are getting special awards at the 35th annual ceremony.
For a lot more, Songwriters Hall of Fame
Olympic Torch Bearer
Nelson Mandela
South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela on Saturday will carry the Olympic torch on Robben Island, where he served the bulk of his 27-year prison sentence for his role in the struggle against apartheid.
Mandela, who turns 86 next month, will be among the 120 South Africans who will be torch bearers as part of the global relay. The flame will arrive in Cape Town from Egypt on Saturday.
Cape Town and Cairo are the only two African cities that will host the flame as it makes its way through 34 cities on all five continents ahead of the official games opening ceremony on August 13.
Nelson Mandela
Britain's Prince Charles (2nd R) and Camilla Parker Bowles (L) pose with two members of the Seventies supergroup ABBA, Bjorn Ulvaeus (2nd L) and Anni-Frid Prinzessin Reuss (C), and producer Judy Craymer at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London for the re-r the re-opening of the hit musical 'Mamma Mia!,' June 10, 2004.
Photo by Peter J Jordan
New Toons
'Star Wars'
The Force is returning to the Cartoon Network in a really big way.
The cable channel is reteaming with Lucasfilm Ltd. to broadcast five brand-new 12-minute animated Star Wars adventures that will continue the storylines first set out in the 20-episode Star Wars: Clone Wars micro-series that debuted last fall on the Cartoon Network.
The new segments will once again be written, produced and directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator of Samurai Jack and Dexter's Laboratory and mastermind of the original Clone Wars installments.
'Star Wars'
Judge Rules In Magazine Flap
Eminem
Rap magazine The Source has been ordered to pay Eminem's legal fees for violating a federal court order not to publish full versions of the rapper's racially charged lyrics.
The Source published the lyrics of an Eminem song on its Web site in January, violating a temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Gerard Lynch in December.
In a pair of rulings made public Wednesday in the copyright dispute between the magazine and the rapper, Lynch ordered The Source to pay legal fees to Shady Records Inc., Eminem's label.
The judge compared Eminem to Benny Goodman and Elvis Presley in finding success in musical genres created by black artists. But he said the First Amendment protects the rapper's "musical commentaries on life."
Eminem
Apologizes for Detroit Joke
Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show was pulled off the air for a night following a joke the comedian made about Detroit during the NBA Finals.
Kimmel was talking to ABC sportscaster Mike Tirico during halftime of Tuesday's game when he said, "They're going to burn the city of Detroit down if the Pistons win, and it's not worth it." Tirico, an Ann Arbor resident, immediately objected, telling him to be careful about making fun of Detroit.
ABC made the decision to pull Wednesday night's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" from affiliates nationwide shortly after the program was taped that night in California.
Jimmy Kimmel
Auction
Hepburn Estate
Bidding was brisk for items auctioned from the estate of actress Katharine Hepburn on Thursday with a brooch given to her by then-boyfriend Howard Hughes fetching $120,000, six times its estimated price.
The platinum, diamond and sapphire brooch had been estimated to fetch just $20,000 by Sotheby's, which said 222 lots sold in the first of three sessions brought just under $1.8 million.
Hundreds of items, including Hepburn's wedding dress, photos, letters, art work and furniture from her homes in Connecticut, New York and Los Angeles and drawings and paintings done by the actress herself were on offer.
Hepburn Estate
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Setting Up Shop in Las Vegas
'Avenue Q'
Wayne Newton. Cirque du Soleil. Celine Dion. And now - "Avenue Q," the latest Las Vegas headliner. The perky little Broadway show that Sunday won the 2004 Tony Award for best musical has decided to set up shop in the nation's gambling capital. It will play an open-ended engagement next year in a new theater located in a $2.5 billion resort and entertainment complex being built by Las Vegas entrepreneur Steve Wynn.
The musical had been expected to tour the country in 2005, particularly after winning the Tony, which is a potent marketing tool in selling a show on the road. But the Las Vegas offer from Wynn, who saw the show in New York in February, was too good to refuse, Kevin McCollum, an "Avenue Q" producer, said Thursday.
The only place audiences will be able to see "Avenue Q" will be New York or Las Vegas, according to the producer.
'Avenue Q'
A English five pound note, recovered from the wreck of the Titanic is shown to members of the media Thursday June 10, 2004, ahead of the start of the Titanic-The Artifact exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, England. The Titanic sank on April 14, 1912, killing 1,523 people. The artifacts were recovered from the site in the year 2000, but have not been displayed for the public.
Photo by Phil Noble
Australian Parliament
Peter Garrett
Environmental activist and one-time rock star Peter Garrett emerged as a possible Australian cabinet minister as he agreed to run as a Labor Party candidate in parliamentary elections this year.
Opposition leader Mark Latham on Monday offered Garrett a safe Labor seat from suburban Sydney and Thursday said the former frontman for rock group Midnight Oil would likely gain a ministerial portfolio if Labor wins elections expected between September and November.
The strikingly tall, bald musician left Midnight Oil last year to dedicate himself to the environmentalist cause. He resigned Wednesday as president of the Australian Conservation Foundation to join the Labor campaign.
for more, Peter Garrett
Tells of in Vitro Treatment
Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields says advances in biotechnology helped her become a mother.
Speaking at a meeting at BIO 2004, an annual international biotechnology industry convention, the 39-year-old actress said in vitro fertilization helped her become pregnant with her daughter, 1-year-old Rowan. She said she was considering going through the treatment again to have a second child.
Shields entertained the audience Wednesday with stories of how she and her husband, Chris Henchy, found creative ways - and unlikely places - to administer the daily injections that are required for in vitro fertilization, including a basement bathroom stall at the Tribeca Grill, a swank New York restaurant.
Brooke Shields
Works for Sale in Texas
Salvador Dali
From a nearly $500,000 oil painting to dream-inspired watercolors for less than $2,000, hundreds of Salvador Dali's works are for sale in Texas.
To commemorate what would have been the Spanish artist's 100th birthday, the Salvador Dali Gallery in Pacific Palisades, Calif., is showing and selling more than 600 pieces at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center starting Friday and continuing through June 27.
The gallery, which holds traveling exhibits and sales about once a year, was wooed to Texas by the Fort Worth Cultural Center of the Americas, which focuses on Latino art in its mission to expose children to the arts.
Salvador Dali
Dali exhibit
Salvador Dali Gallery
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Battles Model Over 'Marriage'
Verne Troyer
Aspiring Playboy model Genevieve Gowman is circulating a copy of a marriage license showing she was legally wed to the diminutive actor who played Mini-Me in the "Austin Powers" films, disputing his claims they were never husband and wife.
Court documents obtained by Reuters on Thursday also show that the 5-foot-6-inch Gowman is seeking spousal support from the 2-foot-8-inch Verne Troyer as part of a divorce filing in March that cites irreconcilable differences
Troyer, who played the pint-sized look-alike protege of Dr. Evil (played by actor Mike Myers), said through his lawyer last week there was no valid marriage between himself and Gowman.
But a copy of a "license and certificate of confidential marriage" dated Jan. 22 appears to show that the pair did marry in a ceremony presided over by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Richard Stone, whose signature appears on the form.
For more, Verne Troyer
An aquatic plant is seen floating on the surface of Maracaibo Lake in Zulia state, located about 500 kilometers (300 miles) west of Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, June 9, 2004, covering 10 to 20 percent of the lake's 13,500 square kilometer (5,400 square mile) surface. Gonzaolo Godoy, a marine biologist who has closely studied the phenomenon, told The Associated Press that an excess of fertilizer runoff, washed into the lake by heavy rains, could have triggered the recent, explosive growth.
Photo by Honner Angarita
Convicted of Inciting Racial Hatred
Brigitte Bardot
A Paris court on Thursday convicted former film starlet Brigitte Bardot of inciting racial hatred for portraying Muslims in a negative light in a book, comparing them, as the court said, to "invaders, cruel and barbaric."
Bardot and her publishing house, Editions du Rocher, were fined $6,050 each. She had risked a year in jail.
Bardot, 69, a 1960s sex kitten who became an ardent animal rights campaigner, was not present for the verdict. At a hearing in May, she told the court that she never meant to harm anyone with her book, "Un cri dans le silence" (A Cry in the Silence), published last year.
For more, Brigitte Bardot
Joyce's Dublin to Mark 100 Years
'Bloomsday 100'
In the summer of 1924, Irish writer James Joyce sat alone in Paris, took out his notebook and gloomily wrote in it: "Today 16 of June 1924 twenty years after. Will anyone remember this date."
Two years had passed since Joyce had published his epic novel "Ulysses" and things were not going well.
Despite attracting a small core of devotees, the book had been denounced by the Irish as un-Christian filth, banned in Britain and burned by U.S. censors due to its "indecency."
Next week, Dublin and the world will celebrate the 100th anniversary of what is now known universally as "Bloomsday" in honor of the central character of Ulysses, Leopold Bloom.
For a lot more, 'Bloomsday 100'
People make a 500-meter-long rug (1,640 feet) for a church procession to walk over during Corpus Christi celebrations in Brasilia, Brazil, on Thursday, June 10, 2004. The rug is made of elements including painted sawdust, coffee, flowers, seeds and quicklime.
Photo by Eraldo Peres
Nielsen Rankings
Basic Cable
Rankings for the top 15 programs on basic cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of May 31-June 6. Each ratings point represents 1,084,000 households. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses.
1. NBA Playoffs: Minnesota vs. L.A. Lakers (Monday, 9:07 p.m.), TNT, 6.0, 6.46 million homes.
2. NBA Playoffs: Indiana vs. Detroit (Tuesday, 8:02 p.m.), ESPN, 4.1, 4.4 million homes.
3. Movie: "Ike: Countdown to D-Day" (Monday, 8 p.m.), A&E, 3.4, 3.71 million homes.
4. Auto Racing: MBNA America 400-Dover (Sunday, 12:55 p.m.), FX, 3.4, 3.68 million homes.
5. "Law & Order" (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 3.2, 3.5 million homes.
6. "NBA Tip-Off" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 2.9, 3.15 million homes.
7. "Law & Order" (Thursday, 8 p.m.), TNT, 2.8, 3.04 million homes.
8. "Real World XIV" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), MTV, 2.8, 3.02 million homes.
9. "WWE Raw Zone" (Monday, 10 p.m.), Spike, 2.7, 2.95 million homes.
10. "Law & Order" (Monday, 7 p.m.), TNT, 2.7, 2.91 million homes.
11. "Law & Order: SVU" (Saturday, 10 p.m.), USA, 2.6, 2.79 million homes.
12. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.5, 2.73 million homes.
13. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.5, 2.71 million homes.
14. "Law & Order" (Monday, 8 p.m.), TNT, 2.5, 2.71 million homes.
15. "Law & Order" (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), TNT, 2.5, 2.7 million homes.
Basic Cable
In Memory
Ray Charles
Ray Charles, a transcendent talent who erased musical boundaries between the sacred and the secular with hits such as "What'd I Say," "Georgia on My Mind" and "I Can't Stop Loving You," died Thursday. He was 73.
Charles died of acute liver disease at his Beverly Hills home at 11:35 a.m., surrounded by family and friends, said spokesman Jerry Digney.
Blind by age 7 and an orphan at 15, the gifted pianist and saxophonist spent his life shattering any notion of musical categories and defying easy definition. One of the first artists to record the "blasphemous idea of taking gospel songs and putting the devil's words to them," as legendary producer Jerry Wexler once said, Charles' music spanned gospel, R&B, soul, rock 'n' roll, country, jazz, big band and blues.
Ray Charles Robinson was born Sept. 23, 1930, in Albany, Ga. (He later dropped his last name for the stage, in deference to boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.)
He began dabbling in music at age 3. After he was sent away, heartbroken, to the state-supported St. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind, Charles learned to read and write music in Braille, score for big bands and play instruments - lots of them, including trumpet, clarinet, organ, alto sax and the piano.
By the time he was 15 his parents were dead and Charles had graduated from St. Augustine. He wound up playing gigs in black dance halls - the so-called chitlin' circuit - and exposed himself to a variety of music, including hillbilly (he learned to yodel) before moving to Seattle.
He patterned himself for a time after Nat "King" Cole and formed a group that backed rhythm and blues singer Ruth Brown. It was in Seattle's red light district were he met a young Quincy Jones, showing the future producer and composer how to write music. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.
His first big hit was 1959's "What'd I Say," a song built off a simple piano riff with suggestive moaning from the Raeletts, which was banned by some radio stations.
Charles, who was divorced twice and single since 1952, was survived by 12 children, 20 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. A memorial service was planned for next week at Los Angeles' First AME Church, with burial afterward at Inglewood Cemetery.
Ray Charles
Nine-year-old Border collie dog 'Rico' is seen prior to a news conference in Berlin on Thursday, June 10, 2004. 'Rico' is able to understand about 200 words of human language, as scientists found out. The result of their research will be published by 'Science', the magazine by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on June 11, 2004.
Photo by Fritz Reiss
'The Osbournes'
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