Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Peter Larsen: Author Ron Carlson returns with 'The Signal' (The Orange County Register)
Ron Carlson writes in the morning, when the mind still is quiet, before the world and all its distractions intrude.
Tirdad Derakhshani: Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano takes First World nations to task (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
You won't like what Eduardo Galeano has to say.
The Top 100 Sports Books of All Time (Sports Illustrated)
In the early 1900s editor Maxwell Perkins told anyone who would listen that Chicago sports columnist Ring Lardner was the most talented writer he knew, high praise given that Perkins' stable included Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe. It shouldn't have come as a shock, though. Many of the country's best writers have long been fascinated with sports, and that passion shows up in their prose.
Tony Adler: The Towering Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise (chicagoreader.com)
Roberto Benigni puts his love for Dante's 'Divine Comedy' onstage.
Howard Shapiro: Like her great-grandfather Ike, Jennie Eisenhower is used to the spotlight (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
The first thing you notice, of course, is the performance.
Brian Juergens: "Lou Diamond Phillips: 'Do not apologize for who you are'" (afterelton.com)
The actor and 'I'm a Celebrity ...' star shared a story about a closeted friend who died before his time, and spoke about living openly and honestly and pursuing love.
20 QUESTIONS: Crayton Robey (popmatters.com)
The Boys in the Band defined a moment in LGBT history. Crayton Robey explores that history in Making the Boys, which debuted at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.
Interview by Danny Scott: A life in the day: Werner Herzog (timesonline.co.uk)
The maverick German film-maker, 66, on snakes, soup and spontaneity.
SCOTT FOUNDAS: Woody Allen on Life, Actors, Younger Women and His 40th Film (L.A. Weekly)
Allen's 'Whatever Works' marks the realization of a project he first conceived in the 1970s as a vehicle for Zero Mostel, then set aside following the actor's untimely death. The result is a light comic burlesque -- a minor key but eminently pleasurable Allen confection
John Patterson: 'I kiss trouble' (guardian.co.uk)
'Transformers' star Shia LaBeouf opens up to John Patterson about his own metamorphosis from drug dealer's son to Hollywood heavyweight.
Will Harris: A Chat with Tyler Labine and Bret Harrison of Reaper (bullz-eye.com)
Tyler Labine: "All in all, for a second season, I thought it went well. We introduced some cool characters. But I can officially go on record now as saying that I was not happy with the storyline with me trying to f**k my stepsister."
John Anderson: With 'The Proposal,' Sandra Bullock is ready to show she can still do it all (Newsday)
... Sandra Bullock rematerialized in "The Proposal," after spending about two years off the movie grid (and a few more than that MIA from the romantic-comedy arena). The film, from "27 Dresses" director Anne Fletcher, stars Bullock as a pushy Canadian publishing exec who coerces her assistant (Ryan Reynolds) into marriage, so she can stay in the United States.
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The 'Eye for an Eye' Edition...
The recent domestic terrorist murders of Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, Kansas, Army recruiter Pvt William Long in Little Rock, Arkansas and security guard Stephan Johns at the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. occurred in jurisdictions that have the capital punishment. Prosecutors of these crimes will, no doubt, consider asking for it due to obvious premeditation of the perpetrators.
Are you in favor of Capital Punishment?
Send your response to
said:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Old Mail
Carradine
This was in the hotmail account which finally 'healed' itself today.
Okay, I took a forensic science class and the teacher (who had over three decades of forensic experience) said that when someone is found dead of strangulation, there are important distinctions. If a person is found in a house/hotel room with the door unlocked and in an easily visible location, they probably commited suicide. If they are found in a closed space, with one or more locked doors between them and discovery, especially if they are naked, they were most likely involved in auto-erotic asphyxiation. Carradine's body sounds like it was found in the second situation. Why would a murderer strip him naked and wrap rope around his genitals? I know people don't like to talk about this, but he was probably masterbating and messed up.
Andrea the Anthropologist
Thanks, Andrea!
Must have been an excellent class!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunnier and warmer. Temperatures back to seasonal.
Did I mention that our old pal Erin Hart is on an extended visit to Argentina? ¡Qué Buena, Chica!
Happy birthday Sally!
British PM's Wife Hosts Screening
Aung San Suu Kyi
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's wife hosted a private screening of a new film on Myanmar Burma Thursday, on the eve of detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's 64th birthday, officials said.
Sarah Brown hosted the first-ever film screening at the prime minister's Downing Street offices to raise awareness for a campaign calling on Myanmar's military junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi before elections next year.
At least one minister and various charity bosses were to attend the showing of "Burma VJ", which a Foreign Office spokesman said "exposes the atrocities and injustices that have been taking place under the military regime."
It is comprised largely of footage filmed over a number of days by an undercover network of video journalists -- VJs -- using concealed cameras. It is due to be released nationwide on July 14.
Aung San Suu Kyi
United Way Donation
Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba has made a donation to the United Way in Oklahoma City, where she ran into trouble for attaching a poster to one of the charity's billboards.
The United Way of Central Oklahoma announced Alba's donation Thursday.
Spokeswoman Erin Brewer says Alba's lawyer asked the charity not to disclose the amount, but that Alba qualified for a program that recognizes donors who give $500 or more. Brewer deemed it "generous" and "appropriate."
She previously apologized for putting up posters aimed at raising awareness about the declining population of great white sharks. Police have said she will not face criminal charges.
Jessica Alba
Dropping Hints
Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie is trying his best to secure Stephen Fry a guest spot on his hit US show House.
After dropping hints on Jonathan Ross's chat show in the UK recently, the actor has taken his campaign Stateside to get his former comedy partner acting alongside him once again.
"I can only oil the wheels as much as I can and I keep dropping his name," Hugh let slip before taking part in a special Q&A with fans at the The Paley Centre for Media in LA.
"I keep saying 'he's alright really, despite what you may think', but it's obviously a question of finding the right role, the right moment."
Hugh Laurie
Town Square Set Reopens
Universal Studios
Universal Studios staged a homecoming for Courthouse Square.
The outdoor set, best known as the town square from the "Back to the Future" films, welcomed the first backstage tour tram Thursday since it was destroyed a year ago when a fire ripped through the back lot. Roofers using a blowtorch accidentally started the blaze, which also destroyed the King Kong attraction, a video vault and other outdoor sets.
Stilt walkers dressed as hippies, members of the University of Southern California marching band and actors portraying such characters as Eddie Murphy's Nutty Professor and Doc Brown from the "Back to the Future" films emerged from the courthouse during a ceremony to welcome the first tram, which was christened with a bottle of champagne.
Construction crews are still busy working on Courthouse Square, which in addition to a courthouse also features small-town facades portraying such locales as a firehouse, police station and antique store. The outdoor set has been featured in such films as "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Gremlins," "Bruce Almighty," "Amistad" and the TV show "Ghost Whisperer."
Universal Studios
Rallies To Iranian Protesters' Cause
Channel One TV
Inside a studio perched atop a suburban strip mall, producers at Channel One TV pore over hundreds of pictures electronically spirited out of Iran by protesters challenging their nation's disputed presidential election.
The station is one of several Farsi-language television and radio outlets in Los Angeles bringing news, images and the voices of political turmoil in Iran to a worldwide audience, including Iranians subjected to a government-imposed media blackout in their own country.
Those satellite TV and radio stations have long served as fixtures in the social fabric of L.A.'s well-heeled "Tehrangeles" community, comprising the world's largest concentration of ethnic Iranians outside Iran.
Openly critical of Tehran's Islamic government for years, Channel One has urged viewers in Iran to join in civil disobedience. The station also promoted a rally by Los Angeles-area college students in support of Iranian protesters on Sunday and sought to drum up attendance for a second such L.A. gathering set for June 20.
Channel One TV
Opens Amsterdam Branch
Hermitage Museum
Paintings of Russian tsars and robes decorated with gold will be on display at the new Dutch branch of the Hermitage on Friday, part of a bid to underline links between the two countries and boost interest in the parent museum.
Located along the Amstel River in Amsterdam city center, a former nursing home has been transformed into a museum to show art from the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
"Czar Peter the Great would be happy with this museum. It all started with Czar Peter," State Hermitage director Mikhail Piotrovsky told a news conference.
Peter the Great, who ruled Russia from 1672-1725, visited Amsterdam in 1696 and took Amsterdam's canals as an inspiration for the city that bears his name, St. Petersburg. He started the tsars' tradition of collecting art.
Hermitage Museum
Federal Gay Marriage Challenge
Strange Bedfellows
The story of two famous U.S. lawyers from opposite ends of the political spectrum banding together to launch a bold and unexpected fight for gay marriage sounds like it could have been written in Hollywood.
A handful of political filmmakers led by a Democratic consultant have crafted a gay rights challenge they hope will reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
The case which has its first hearing in a federal San Francisco court on July 2 could quickly make gay marriage a national right, or, some veteran gay rights advocates fear, cripple the movement.
The team has political experience, winning referenda in California in particular, and has brought together real-world firepower in the form of Ted Olson and David Boies, the lawyers who faced off in the 2000 election vote recount that led to George W. Bush's presidency.
Strange Bedfellows
Judge Upholds $4M Verdict
'Flip This House'
A federal judge in South Carolina has upheld a $4 million verdict for the creator and one-time host of cable television's "Flip This House."
The Post and Courier of Charleston reported that U.S. District Judge C. Weston Houck on Wednesday affirmed the victory for Richard Davis against A&E Television Networks.
Davis had won a jury award in the breach of contract case.
Davis had argued that he had an oral contract with A&E to evenly divide profits from the show. The network said there was no contract.
'Flip This House'
Surrogate's Home Burglarized By Cops
Sarah Jessica Parker
Two Ohio police chiefs are being investigated in a suspected burglary aimed at supplying a tabloid with photos and other information about the surrogate mother carrying twins for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, an official told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The alleged burglary took place in mid-May in the eastern Ohio town of Martins Ferry, and the allegations against Police Chief Barry Carpenter and Bridgeport Police Chief Chad DoJack surfaced about a week later, said the knowledgeable law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation continues and no charges have been filed.
The targets were "pictures, phone messages, all those things" at the home of the surrogate, Michelle Ross, who is no longer believed to be staying in the Martins Ferry area, the official said. Published reports have said she's due to give birth in July.
Agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation have been investigating, and a special prosecutor, T. Shawn Hervey of Harrison County, has been appointed. Carpenter and DoJack didn't return messages seeking comment. Martins Ferry Mayor Phil Wallace confirmed the bureau was investigating Carpenter but wouldn't elaborate.
Sarah Jessica Parker
A Thinker Sets Record At Auction
Auguste Rodin
One of the Thinker sculptures by French master Auguste Rodin was sold at auction for more than 3 million euros (2.6 million pounds) in Paris, auctioneers Drouot said Thursday.
The bronze, just 72.5 cm (28.5 inches) high, set a record for any of the Thinkers, a series of 21 sculptures made by Rodin in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
One of the most famous sculptures in the world, the Thinker represents a naked man sitting on a rock looking downwards, with his elbow on his knee and his chin resting on his hand.
Originally designed to be part of Rodin's monumental Gates of Hell, inspired by the works of Italian poet and philosopher Dante, the Thinker took on a new meaning as a symbol of Socialism during a French political crisis in 1906.
Auguste Rodin
'Big Brother-in-Law'
Marcelo Tinelli
Marcelo Tinelli, the host of Argentina's top-rated television show, says he's just having some fun with his new political satire, but he could influence a close congressional race on June 28.
Last year, Tinelli ran a racy pole-dancing contest that sent ratings for his "Showmatch" variety show through the ceiling.
Now, he has shifted gears and put political leaders on the defensive with "Big Brother-in-Law," a parody featuring impersonate prominent politicians.
The show lampoons President Cristina Fernandez, her husband Nestor Kirchner who preceded her in office and is now running for Congress, Kirchner's main opponent Francisco de Narvaez, and others.
"Tinelli is the most successful television person in Argentina and television here has a fundamental influence on people. That's why politicians are going on now to show themselves and be ridiculed," said Pablo Hecker, a media analyst who writes for newspaper and other publications.
Marcelo Tinelli
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