'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Reader Questions
from j-k
Why is Ben Stiller doing a "Starsky & Hutch" movie when there's already a
perfect remake on TV? (have you seen "FastLane"?)
peace
~~ j-k
Good question, j.
No, I haven't seen 'Fastlane', but will shortly. But, did see all the episodes of 'Starsky & Hutch' back when it was fresh, and to be honest,
wasn't keen on a movie re-make, but, jeez, Drew Barrymore has done such a nice job with the 'Charlie's Angels' franchise, figure to give
Ben Stiller's vision a chance. Besides, really like the casting of Snoop Dogg in Antonio Fargas' role of Huggy Bear.
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Weather is still quite acceptable, but some rain would be nice.
Went to the farmer's market (peppers, beans, greens & tomatoes), CostCo, and Trader Joe's. The kid reminded me that I had forgotten his Advent calendar.
Wasn't raised with them, but, any calendar that counts down days in chocolate is good. Trader Joe's always has them, so we got 2 - one for him & one for me.
Still no Ginger.
Tonight, Friday, CBS opens the evening with '48 Hours' then a fersh 'Hack' and a fresh 'The Agency'.
On a RERUN Dave are Regis Philbin and Linda Thompson.
On a RERUN Craiggers are Snoop Dogg and Danny Masterson.
NBC offers a fresh 'Providence', then 'Dateline', followed by a fresh 'Law& Order: Special Victims Unit'.
Scheduled on a fresh Jay are Denise Richards, Jamie Oliver, and Peter Gabriel.
On a RERUN Conan are Denis Leary, Eve, and Violent Femmes.
On a RERUN Carson Daly are Kyra Sedgwick, Juliette Lewis, and Daniel Bedingfield.
ABC starts the night with a RERUN 'America's Funniest Home Videos', then a fresh 'Drew Carey' followed by a fresh 'Whose Line'. The evening is
capped by '20/20'.
The WB offers a fresh 'Sabrina', then a RERUN 'Family Affair' followed by a 'special' 'Olive, The Other Reindeer'.
Faux has a fresh 'Firefly' and a fresh 'John Doe'.
UPN has the movie 'Star Trek III: The Search For Spock'.
Check local PBS listings for 'NOW With Bill Moyers'!
SciFi has parts 4 & 5 of 'Taken'.
The new TNN has at least 4 episodes of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
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#6
Ad Answers O'Reilly Criticism
Bill Moyers
A simmering feud between talk show host Bill O'Reilly and public television journalist Bill Moyers boiled over after Moyers bought an advertisement in the Daily News to respond
to what he called a "vicious personal attack."
Moyers was referring to O'Reilly's syndicated column, published in the Daily News on Nov. 25, in which O'Reilly accused him of "profiting from taxpayer money" by keeping the
sales proceeds of videotapes of some programs he does for the tax-subsidized Public Broadcasting Service.
"Public television rarely funds my work — I raise the money myself, from independent sources — but when it does ... PBS owns all the distribution rights, the proceeds remain with
public television and my share is minuscule," Moyers wrote in the ad, which appeared in Wednesday's editions of the Daily News.
O'Reilly responded to Moyers' ad during his Fox News Channel show, "The O'Reilly Factor," on Wednesday night.
He said Moyers "is in bed with PBS, which is spending our money."
For the rest, Bill Moyers, or better yet,
Moyers on O'Reilly - BuzzFlash Guest Commentary.
When taxes are broken down, the average American citizen contributes a whooping $.06 (6 cents) for PBS. That's it - a nickel & a penny. But, O'Really is watching over 'our money'.
Mr. O'Really gets millions of dollars a year from his corporate master, Rupert Murdoch, who required a special act of congress to become a citizen so he could start buying up America's media.
Who's really beholding to whom is more the question.
(Not that I also wonder how much the pentagon is currently paying for hammers & toilet seats).
Begrudgingly Sets Hearing on Ownership Regs
Michael Powell
Buckling under pressure, FCC chairman Michael Powell agreed Wednesday to hold at least one public hearing on the agency's plan to loosen key media ownership rules.
In a statement issued late in the day, Powell said the hearing would be convened in Richmond, Va., sometime in February.
The Republican appointee has come under increased criticism for refusing to hold public hearings, considering the unprecedented number of ownership regulations in the offing.
Just as Powell was releasing his statement, a coalition of media advocates and public health experts warned that the FCC could jeopardize children's programming by loosening
ownership rules barring companies from further expansion.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Action Coalition for Media Coalition, the National PTA and the American Psychological Assn. were among those signing a letter to Powell
asking for a face-to-face session, saying he has thus far ignored what's best for kids.
A fan of deregulation, Powell has undertaken an unprecedented review of ownership rules that could spark another round of consolidation in the media and entertainment biz. He has
refused to hold public hearings, saying all sides have a chance to file written comments.
Michael Powell
The FCC was intended to safeguard the public's airwaves - not give them away. What the hell ever happened to 'the public's interest, convenience & necessity'? Down to 6 corporate owners of all the media, and
Powell still sees room for more 'consolidation'?
Time to mention the forbidden 'N' word - Nepotism.
This administration is chock full of special spawn, seemingly incapable of finding a job on their own.
Anybody buying the 'classless society' anymore?
Visiting Sesame Street
Sheryl Crow
Singer Sheryl Crow parodies her song 'Soak up the Sun' with Muppets from left: Elmo, Zoe and Rosita on the set of Sesame Street in the Queens borough of
New York Thursday, Dec. 5, 2002. The new segment of the 34th season of Sesame Street will premier in April 2003.
Photo by Frank Franklin II
Focusing More on Personal Life
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand doesn't listen to most of today's pop music, likes to spend time tending to her rose garden, and isn't rushing to return to the silver screen.
While she may be the ultimate Hollywood diva, the 60-year-old singer isn't immersed in show business much these days — and she's loving that.
Her passion for politics hasn't waned. The Democratic booster says she spends much of her day watching political programs and reading articles, which she posts on her Web site.
Of the recent mid-term elections, in which Republicans took control of Congress, she says: "I think the first day or two after the election, I was completely discouraged. You kind
of say, 'I'm not going to be involved in this anymore.' And then you say a few days after that — 'Now is the time to fight even harder.'"
A favorite target of conservative pundits, she says: "What I resent is, one is kept in a box, like if you're an artist, you can't have political opinions?"
Barbra Streisand
www.barbrastreisand.com
Ski Injury
Paula Zahn
CNN anchor Paula Zahn is in good spirits after breaking a bone below her knee while skiing over the weekend, a network spokeswoman said Wednesday.
The "American Morning" host will be out for the rest of this week but plans to attend an event in Washington, D.C., on Friday and could be back on the air as early as next week, Robinson said.
Zahn was injured while skiing over the Thanksgiving weekend in Aspen, Colo., where she and her husband own a home.
Zahn underwent surgery to insert screws and a metal plate in the knee area, according to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's medical correspondent, who spoke about the injury on Zahn's show Wednesday.
Paula Zahn
Visit U.S. Troops
De Niro, Crystal & Spacey
The usual military order that pervades U.S. Central Command was immediately suspended Wednesday when Robert De Niro and friends showed up.
De Niro, who came to visit troops at MacDill Air Force Base and screen his new movie, "Analyze That," brought along co-star Billy Crystal and pal Kevin Spacey, touching off a frenzy of several hundred
uniformed soldiers clamoring for autographs and pictures with the stars.
Two-time Academy Award winner Spacey, who seemed to have the best time of the three, said De Niro called and asked if he wanted to tag along on the MacDill trip, and he gladly accepted.
Army Specialist Mario Starks was gleeful after fighting through the crowd to get De Niro's signature on a large poster of the actor as murderous New York cabbie Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver."
"I met him before when I was a Ranger at Fort Benning, Ga.," Starks said. "I told him that he was still my hero."
De Niro, Crystal & Spacey
Street Named After Broadcaster
Chick Hearn Court
A street adjacent to Staples Center has been renamed Chick Hearn Court in honor of the Los Angeles Lakers broadcaster.
Hearn was the Lakers' only play-by-play announcer in Los Angeles from the team's move from Minneapolis in 1960 until his death at 85 on Aug. 5, from head injuries suffered
in a fall. The radio-television voice of the Lakers had a streak of broadcasting 3,338 consecutive games.
Hearn's wife, Marge, removed a Lakers banner to reveal the blue "Chick Hearn Ct" street sign Tuesday. She said it seemed appropriate because her husband of 64 years "never
went anyplace that he could ever find the street."
Last month, resident Bush signed into law a resolution designating a postal station close to the Hearn home in the San Fernando Valley as the Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn Post Office.
Chick Hearn Court
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
SciFi's Best Ratings - Ever
'Taken'
"Steven Spielberg Presents Taken," the Sci Fi Channel's 20-hour, 10-night programming gamble, has soared off the launching pad during its first two nights, engineering the best ratings in the history of the network.
If viewers continue to follow the saga of three generations of alien abductions and governmental conspiracies, DreamWorks and the Sci Fi Channel don't rule out the possibility of keeping the
concept alive next year, possibly as a regularly scheduled series.
On its two-hour opening night, Monday at 9, "Taken" seized 3.9 million households (6.14 million viewers), more than any other individual program since Sci Fi debuted in September 1992.
"Taken" beat the previous Sci Fi Channel record, earned by part one of mini "Frank Herbert's Dune," by an otherworldly 28%. Episode came in first for the night among all basic-cable networks
not only in households but in adults 18-49 (a 3.1 rating) and adults 25-54 (4.0 rating).
On Tuesday "Taken" showed only a modest falloff in households to a still gaudy 3.29 million households (4.84 million viewers). It averaged a 2.8 rating in adults 25-54 and a 2.2 in adults 18-49.
The first 10 hours of "Taken" conclude Friday, but Sci Fi will repeat them twice on the weekend in a marathon for anyone who missed one or more episodes. The cable channel
will run the show in a similar pattern next week, with the final two hours airing Dec. 13. All 20 hours will be available over the Dec. 14-15 weekend in a blow-out marathon.
'Taken'
The 'Naked Cowboy'
Robert Burck
Robert Burck, a street performer known as the 'Naked Cowboy', sings in Times Square in New York on December 5, 2002 as a snow storm hit the city. Burck,
of Cincinnati, Ohio, who sings in Times Square throughout the year, said he was not cold because he was 'burning with desire.' Snow, sleet, and freezing
rain from the region's first major storm of the season played havoc with the morning rush hour along the U.S. east coast snarling commuters in traffic
accidents and flight delays, and forcing schools to close.
Photo by Peter Morgan
Tuesday Night
'Pussycat Dolls'
It might have been the most celeb-studded strip-off in Hollywood history when Carmen Electra, Christina Applegate, Rose McGowan and Jaime Pressley performed as the "Pussycat Dolls" at the
Henry Ford Theater Tuesday night. The attention-loving lasses were ogled and applauded by A-listers like Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Cameron Diaz, Demi Moore , Gina Gershon, Drew Barrymore
and Lukas Haas. While most eyes were glued on the boldfaced burlesque show, a certain celebrity in the crowd was spotted snorting cocaine off her wrist as she watched the flesh-fest. At the
after-party, Gwen Stefani and hubby Gavin Rossdale danced to hip-hop and "That '70s Show" star Danny Masterson was said to still be steamed about a Scientology joke Applegate told onstage.
'Pussycat Dolls'
American Federation of Television and Radios Artists
Musicians Settle With Union
A settlement worth a reported $8.4 million has been reached between a group of aging musicians and an arm of their union that allegedly failed to provide them benefits after their careers had ended.
The settlement announced Wednesday will help musicians such as Sam Moore and the estates of Motown diva Mary Wells, Jackie Wilson and Curtis Mayfield recoup some of the money they
claim was lost when record companies failed to accurately report royalty earnings and did not make required contributions to a pension fund.
The suit filed in 1993 accused the pension arm of the American Federation of Television and Radios Artists, the union representing singers and musicians, of failing to protecting artists who had
faded from the music industry but had reaped millions of dollars for record companies.
The suit also alleged that AFTRA fund trustees did not monitor record label contributions to artists' accounts and failed to sue violators.
Under the terms of the settlement, the 15 named plaintiffs will be paid $25,000 and will be able to file claims and challenge benefit determinations in court.
The settlement also forced the AFTRA fund to streamline its claims process and establish a fund to cover the cost of successful benefit claims in the future.
Musicians Settle With Union
Man Found Dead 44 Years Later
'Trip to U.S.'
An Italian man who packed his bags 44 years ago and told friends he was leaving for America was found dead inside one of the walls of his home.
An American woman who recently bought the house near Lucca in northern Tuscany discovered the body Tuesday as she was carrying out renovations, police said.
Inside a thick wall in the cellar the woman found human remains, two packed suitcases, a trowel and other equipment to make a wall, a rusted rifle and a bottle with a suicide note.
The note, on paper headed with the name Nemo Cianelli, explained that the man had discovered he had an incurable disease and had decided to kill himself. He said he
had invented the tale of going to America to avoid upsetting his family.
Police said it appeared Cianelli had packed his suitcases, written the suicide note, built a wall up around himself and then shot himself.
'Trip to U.S.'
From ~~ Alex
Thanks, Alex!
'The Pioneer Awards'
R&B Foundation
The Rhythm & Blues Foundation will present Pioneer Awards to the Supremes, Del Vikings ("Come Go With Me") and Dixie Cups ("Iko Iko") plus Clarence "Frogman" Henry ("Ain't Got No Home"),
Johnny Nash ("I Can See Clearly Now") and Koko Taylor ("Wang Dang Doodle") at a ceremony in New York on Feb. 20.
In addition, the Foundation's Legacy Tribute will go to Jackie Wilson while Dionne Warwick will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. George Clinton, the funk progenitor who
fronted Funkadelic, and saxophonist Maceo Parker will receive awards in the sideman/songwriter category.
Honorees will share more than $100,000 in cash, and receive statuettes. The Rhythm and Blues Foundation was established in 1988 to promote recognition, financial support, educational
outreach and historic and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music through various grants and programs in support of R&B and Motown artists from the 1940s through the 1970s.
The Pioneer Awards Program has recognized more than 150 legendary artists from the '40s through the '70s.
R&B Foundation
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Keeping Up With The Smiths'
UPN
Marking one of UPN's most significant development deals for next season, the network has partnered with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith on a family comedy based loosely on the Hollywood couple's home life.
The project will not necessarily take into account the Smiths' celebrity, but rather will focus on aspects of their family life, perhaps incorporating the notion of their marriage being the husband's second and the wife's first.
Neither performer is expected to appear onscreen in the potential series, though both are executive producing.
UPN
Kandahar, Afghanistan
Ferris Wheel
Girls wearing new clothes for the Eid festival wait their turn to ride a ferris wheel in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Thursday, Dec.5, 2002. Eid marks the end of Muslim
holy month of Ramadan and is celebrated with praying and games in the streets.
Phhoto by Tomas Munita
'Big In 2002 Awards'
VH1
With awards like "Rockin' and Rulin'" and "Strange But True," the VH1 Big In 2002 awards honored — in irreverent fashion — some of the most memorable entertainment
moments of the year.
The prize given out at the Grand Olympic Auditorium — a gold submarine — appeared to leave many musicians and actors dumbfounded.
Ice Cube, who won in the category "Shakespeare in Da Hiz-House," which honored rappers in movies, held his trophy and stared at it.
Singer Vanessa Carlton, who won for "Can't Get You Out of My Head," honoring most popular song of the year, looked puzzled.
"What can you say when you're bald and bad and bewildered by such an original award," quipped actor Vin Diesel, honored in the "You Can't Spell Bald Without Bad" category.
Other categories and winners:
_ "Strange But True," which honored reality television: "The Osbournes."
_ "Do I Look Fat in This Fight," which honored women fighting in movies: Lucy Liu in "Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever."
_ "Rockin' and Rulin'," which honored rock legends: Paul McCartney.
_ "Lolita Ford," which honored young pop stars: Norah Jones.
_ "Hit Me Baby One More Time," which honored albums containing multiple hit songs: Creed for "Weathered."
_ "Favorite Very Special Episode," which honored a television series' special episode: The Rachel's baby episode on "Friends."
_ "You Kiss Your Mother With That Mouth?" which honored foul language: television's "The Osbournes."
_ "I Believe I Can Fly," which honored spy movies: Eddie Griffin in "Undercover Brother."
_ "Your Attention Please," which honored scene-stealing performances: A tie between Adam Sandler in "Punch-Drunk Love" and Nia Vardalos in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."
_ "Play it Again Sam," which honored movie sequels: "Austin Powers in Goldmember."
VH1
Copyright Lawsuits Tossed
Blatty & Friedkin
A federal court dismissed a copyright case brought by director William Friedkin and author William Blatty stemming from the 2000 version of "The Exorcist," holding that Warner Bros. had the
exclusive right to create new versions of the 1973 classic.
Friedkin and Blatty claimed in their 2001 suit that they owned the copyright to the 2000 version of "The Exorcist" and that Warner Bros. had no right to distribute the movie. Friedkin,
the director of the original motion picture released in 1973, and Blatty, the author, claimed that they contributed "original works of authorship to the new version of 'The Exorcist' -- involving
11 minutes of new footage and reworking of other material -- to create a new derivative work."
Ruling that Friedkin and Blatty's interpretation of the Copyright Act "turned the statute on its head," U.S. District Court Judge Lourdes Baird in Los Angeles dismissed their case in its entirety.
In so ruling, Baird found that Friedkin had no copyright interest in either version of the film and that Warner Bros. and Blatty were co-owners of the copyrights to both films
and that Blatty had granted Warners the exclusive right to remake the film.
Blatty & Friedkin
May Explain New World Riddle
13,000-Year-Old Skull
A 13,000-year-old skull found in Mexico may help prove theories that some of the New World's first settlers arrived along a Pacific Coast route from Japan and not just across the Bering Strait.
The skull is believed to be the oldest ever discovered in the Americas and is among 150 mostly undated specimens being studied by Silvia Gonzalez, a leading world authority on prehistoric man
and mammoths, after being gathered at Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology and other museums.
The skull has the long, narrow-headed cranial features common to the native peoples of Central and South America, as opposed to the short and broad-headed type characteristic of North American
Indians. Gonzalez, with the help of a laboratory in Britain, has determined it is 13,000 years old.
She said the skull is similar to others found belonging to the now extinct Pericues people who populated the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California state, along the Pacific Coast route, until the 18th century.
Gonzalez said the ancient skulls discovered in Mexico may provide more evidence to support that theory.
13,000-Year-Old Skull
Not An Art Performance
Suicide Mistaken
Visitors to a off-beat Berlin arts center thought a dead woman on the ground was a performance art act rather than a suicide, police said on Thursday.
Authorities said the 24-year-old woman, who apparently leapt from a window, discussed suicide in a videotaped interview with a group of artists the day before.
"A group of visitors to the center at first thought the body lying on the ground at the art center was part of an art performance," said police spokeswoman Christine Rother. "It
took a while before anyone realized it was not an act but a suicide."
Suicide Mistaken
from ~~ Tim H
Thanks, Tim!
Sadly, this reminded me of the demise of the brilliant Dick Shawn, who died on stage of a heart attack - only his audience thought it was part of the act.
Here's a link - Died Onstage & scroll about halfway down the page.
Drug Probe
Brown Cane Toads
Dutch police are investigating whether drug addicts raided a pet shop and stole three exotic toads whose warty skin can induce hallucinations when licked.
The animals were snatched from a pet shop near a drug addicts' centre in the city of Leeuwarden in the northeast of the Netherlands on Wednesday.
The fist-sized brown cane toads, from the bufo marinus species, are originally from South America and secrete a toxin from glands on their necks and backs as a defence against predators. They have been
introduced in Australia to combat a plague of greyback beetles.
Licking the toads can cause side effects like swelling of the tongue and temporary muscle paralysis, according to the pet shop owner.
Brown Cane Toads
In Memory
William 'Tex' Henson
William 'Tex' Henson, the animator behind the wise cracking chipmunks Chip 'n Dale, flying squirrel Rocky and the beloved dimwitted moose Bullwinkle, died earlier this week at the age of 78 after being hit by a pickup truck in suburban Dallas, a local medical examiner said on Thursday.
Known in the industry as "Tex" Henson, the animator joined the Disney animation studios in California after graduating from high school in Dallas. He was a cartoonist for Disney films such as "Song of the South," "Pecos Bill" and "Peter and the Wolf."
Henson's first major claim to fame was when he joined forces with another Disney animator to campaign for the comic chipmunk duo of Chip 'n Dale to become regular characters in Disney animation. The chipmunks were then featured in about two dozen films.
Henson left Disney, and after a stint in New York where he worked on cartoons such as "Casper the Friendly Ghost," he went to Mexico to supervise a studio that turned out some of the more memorable animated character on American television.
He supervised a team of about 180 animators who brought characters such as Rocky, Bullwinkle and the spies Boris and Natasha to life. The studio also turned out other cartoons featuring Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo, and the cartoon rabbit of Trix cereal fame.
"There wasn't much expected from those cartoons," Henson told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in an interview about 10 years ago.
"We were hackin' 'em out on the cheap, getting' the job done," he said, adding that most of his employees did not speak English or understand the humor of their work.
"But we made 'em as funny-looking as we could under the circumstances and I guess something clicked between the writing and the cartooning," he told the paper.
Henson later moved to the east Dallas suburb of Terrell and taught animation in the Dallas school system. He also drew cartoons for a small newspaper in the area.
He died at Parkland Memorial Hospital of head injuries suffered in the auto accident, the Dallas County Medical Examiner said.
William 'Tex' Henson
VH1 Big in 2002 Awards
John & Bo
Actor John Corbett and Bo Derek arrive for the VH1 Big in 2002 Awards in Los Angeles, December 4, 2002. Corbett served as presenter for the show which features
the year's best in music, movies and television.
Photo by Robert Galbraith
'The Osbournes'
Another New Page! 'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
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