'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Go Vote
from Tim H
BBC is asking for votes for entertainer of the year. Ozzy is there,
but I voted for Jamie Lee.
BBC NEWS | UK | Who's your showbiz favourite?
~~ Tim H
Thanks, Tim! Some of the others on the list are: Charlotte Church, Jamie Lee Curtis,
Judi Dench, Bob Guccione, Heather Mills, Ozzy Osbourne, and Jerry Springer.
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast morning, sunny afternoon. Supposed to rain over the weekend.
Did the farmer's market/CostCo loop. They had a multi-lingual Santa at the farmer's market.
Really need to get serious about Christmas shopping. Hate shopping, but need to get some stuff in the mail.
Tonight, Friday, CBS starts the evening with the old Burl Ives-narrated 'Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer', and follow it with the newer 'Robbie The Reindeer In Hooves Of Fire', then 'Robbie The Reindeer In The Legend Of The Lost Tribe', and wraps the night with '48 Hours'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave are Natasha Richardson, comic Mike Birbiglia, and David Gray.
Scheduled on a fresh Craiggers is Kevin Nealon.
NBC opens with a fresh 'Providence', then 'Dateline' and a RERUN 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent'.
Scheduled on a fresh Jay are Jennifer Garner, John C. Reilly, and Prince.
Scheduled on a fresh Conan are Martin Scorsese and Tony Bennett.
Scheduled on a fresh Carson Daly are John Leguizamo, Brooke Burke, Taproot, Louis Ramsey, and Tori Amos.
ABC opens with a fresh 'America's Funniest Home Videos', then RERUNs 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' for the 2nd time in less than a week, then caps the night with '20/20'.
The WB rolls out 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas' (narrated by Boris Karloff), then 'A Scooby Doo Christmas', followed by a fresh 'Reba' and a fresh 'Greetings From Tucson'.
Faux has a fresh 'Firefly' and a fresh 'John Doe'.
UPN has the movie 'Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., looks up from his wheelchair as the lettering is revealed on a C-17 naming the giant jet transport in his honor,
during a ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Thursday, Dec. 12, 2002. It is the 100th C-17 Globemaster and is named for Thurmond to mark his recent
100th birthday and to honor his service as a senator.
Photo by J. Scott Applewhite
Manuscript Soars at Sale
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Rare original manuscripts for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, one of the best-loved childrens' stories of all time, fetched a sky high price at auction in London Thursday.
"They sold for 29,290 pounds ($46,250) in very competitive bidding," a spokeswoman for auction house Sotheby's told Reuters. The presale estimate for the documents
was 12-15,000 pounds. The buyer's identity has not been revealed.
The novel of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the flying car with the bubbly personality, was originally penned by James Bond author Ian Fleming in 1961 as he recovered
after a heart attack and is based on stories he used to tell his son.
Originally written as three stories but published in 1964 under the name of Ian Lancaster as one, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was an instant success.
Fleming manuscripts are extremely rare. The major Fleming collection held by the Lilly Library at Indiana University does not even include typescript of Chitty, Sotheby's said.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Donating To Wisconsin Museum
Les Paul
Electric guitar pioneer Les Paul plans to give memorabilia from his musical career to Waukesha County's historical society for an exhibit.
"This is going to be terribly exciting," Paul said recently. "I am putting one guitar in the Smithsonian (Institution) but most everything else will be going to Waukesha."
The county's historical society is turning an old courthouse into an exhibit dedicated to the 87-year-old jazz musician, who was born not far from the
courthouse and lived on nearby Paul Street.
Paul plans to donate some 2,000 records, countless piles of original sheet music and the telephone earpiece he used as a makeshift speaker for electric guitar experiments.
"I told them they can back the truck up to my house and take it," said Paul, who now lives in New Jersey.
Les Paul
Waukesha County Historical Society and Museum Web site
Kiss-108 FM's 'Jingle Ball 2002'
Kelly Osbourne
Kelly Osbourne, daughter of rock star Ozzy Osbourne and a star of her family's reality television series 'The Osbournes,' salutes the crowd as she performs
a song at Kiss-108 FM's 'Jingle Ball 2002' December 11, 2002 in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Photo by Jim Bourg
Already Had A Recording Contract?
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson may not be the doe-eyed amateur she appeared to be when she won "American Idol" last summer.
Clarkson may have already had a recording contract - and was in the middle of making a record for someone else - when she showed up to audition for the show, Star magazine is reporting.
If true, that means Clarkson may have violated the show's rule about being an amateur with no prior professional singing experience.
According to Star, Clarkson - who got a $1 million recording contract that spawned her No. 1 song "A Moment Like This" when she won the talent show - was already
recording an album with three producers (including Carole King's ex-husband, Gerry Goffin) before appearing on the show.
Noted songwriters Michael Blum, Barry Goldberg and Goffin now claim they had Clarkson under contract a month before the "Idol" auditions began, the magazine says.
For a bit more, Kelly Clarkson
Top Documentary of All Time
'Bowling for Columbine'
"Bowling for Columbine," about gun culture in America, gained momentum on Thursday as it rolls toward the Oscars, racking up the honor of best documentary of all time from the
International Documentary Association
Director Michael Moore also had the No. 3 nonfiction film on the list with his 1989 title, "Roger & Me," in which he took on automaker General Motors Corp. and its then-Chief Executive
Roger Smith over a plant closure at Flint, Michigan that left thousands of employees jobless.
Coming in No. 2 was 1988's "The Thin Blue Line," about wrongful convictions in the 1976 murder of a Dallas, Texas policeman, and rounding out the top five were 1994's "Hoop Dreams"
about high school basketball players and 1969's "Salesman," about four door-to-door Bible salesmen.
The International Documentary Association, or IDA, was formed in 1982 to serve as a forum for documentary filmmakers, and has since grown into a respected organization for nonfiction
films with some 2,700 members in 50 countries.
'Bowling for Columbine'
More Cool Stuff To Auction
Film Memorabilia
Four helmets from the original "Star Wars" blockbuster 25 years ago will vie for top billing with Jack Nicholson's jacket from "The Shining" and Pierce Brosnan's Omega
watch from "The World is Not Enough" at a movie memorabilia sale next week.
But they will also have to do battle with a black satin jacket worn by Marilyn Monroe for a 1956 photo shoot, props from the original "Alien" film and Tom Hanks' replica
tommy gun from "Saving Private Ryan" among 217 lots at auction on Tuesday.
"The Star Wars material is very rare. These helmets are from the original film and were made by Shepperton Design Studios in London," auction house Christie's film memorabilia
expert Sarah Hodgson told Reuters at a sale preview on Thursday.
The four items are a white stormtroopers helmet and an Imperial fighter pilot's helmet -- both priced at around $4,700 -- an Imperial forces helmet and a prototype rebel
fighter pilot's helmet at around $1,600 each.
Pictures, paintings, storyboards, props, autographs, scripts and garments from movies through the ages complete the wide array of items on sale on December 17.
Film Memorabilia
Commissioned To Compose Atom Bomb Opera
John Adams
John Adams has been commissioned by the San Francisco Opera to compose "Doctor Atomic," a work about the development of the atomic bomb by American scientists in the 1940s.
Alice Goodman, who collaborated on Adams' two previous operas, will write the libretto, which centers on J. Robert Oppenheimer, who headed the Manhattan Project.
Peter Sellars will direct, as he did in the premiere productions of Adams' "Nixon in China" in 1987 at the Houston Grand Opera and "The Death of Klinghoffer" in
1992 at the Theatre Royale de Monnaie in Brussels, Belgium.
Donald Runnicles, the SFO's music director since 1992, will conduct. The premiere is scheduled for September 2005 at San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House.
The production will be shared with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
John Adams
www.sfopera.com
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Shifts Schedule
ABC
ABC, faced with the daunting prospect of starting three new midseason dramas on Monday next month, will move its popular legal series "The Practice" to anchor the night.
Beginning Jan. 27, "The Practice" will air at 9 p.m. EST, between new dramas "Veritas: The Quest" at 8 p.m. EST and "Miracles" at 10 p.m. EST, the network announced Wednesday.
Moving into the 10 p.m. EST Sunday time slot currently held by "The Practice" will be "Dragnet," an updated version of the 1950s Jack Webb police series
from producer Dick Wolf (the three "Law & Order" shows).
"Dragnet," debuting Feb. 2, initially had been scheduled for the Monday slot now going to "The Practice."
ABC also announced that the prized post-Super Bowl slot on Jan. 26 will go to an episode of "Alias," the critically acclaimed spy drama that has yet to catch
fire in the ratings. The post-game spot has helped boost other the visibility of other series.
ABC
Taronga Zoo - Sydney
Jambo & Kuchani
Jambo, an African lion, left, sits next to his new female partner Kuchani at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2002. The lion pairing is the result
of a successful introduction program by the zoo's carnivore keepers which began in May when Kuchani arrived in Sydney from Auckland, New Zealand.
Photo by Dan Peled
Calls for Slick Rick's Release
Russell Simmons
The Immigration and Naturalization Service has held Slick Rick, born Ricky Walters, since June. The British-born rapper is facing deportation because of an attempted murder conviction 11 years ago.
Russell Simmons, who owns Def Jam Records, called on the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network this week to lobby for Walters' release while he fights deportation.
The hip-hop mogul has met with Congressional Black Caucus Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., and has issued a 30,000-signature petition calling for Slick Rick to be returned to his family in New York.
Walters, 37, spent five years in a New York prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder for shooting his cousin and another man in 1990.
Walters, who had lived in the United States since 1975, was a legal resident but never became a citizen. His parents, wife, and two children are U.S. citizens.
He didn't leave the country for six years after he got out of prison, until he decided to perform on a Caribbean cruise. INS officials arrested him as he came into port.
Russell Simmons
North America Tour Canceled
Guns N' Roses
The first U.S. tour in nine years by hell-raising rock band Guns N' Roses officially fell apart on Wednesday, as its promoter tersely announced the cancellation
of the remaining shows on the ill-starred jaunt.
Clear Channel Entertainment released a two-paragraph statement that gave no reason for pulling the plug. But it followed days of speculation about the status
of the group, whose only original member is volatile vocalist Axl Rose.
Rose, 40, did not show up to the group's Dec. 7 show in Philadelphia, leading to a crowd disturbance. Then, six shows were scratched, even though the tour remained officially on.
In its statement, the Clear Channel Communications Inc. unit apologized to fans for any inconvenience and said refunds would be available. A spokeswoman
for the band's Interscope Records label, a unit of Vivendi Universal SA, did not return a call seeking more details.
Guns N' Roses
Stars' Costumes Up for Sale
Planet Hollywood
Troubled restaurant chain Planet Hollywood is unloading some of its vast collection of film memorabilia, giving movie buffs the chance to bid on everything from a bullfighter
costume worn by Rudolph Valentino to Robert De Niro's boxing shorts in "Raging Bull."
The movie-themed restaurant chain, which expects to emerge soon from its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, hopes to sell more than 300 costumes and props in
an auction at Sotheby's in New York on Saturday.
Planet Hollywood is shedding part of its 40,000-piece collection, including costumes worn by stars such as Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn and Yul Brynner, because it had
closed some restaurants and had less space to decorate, said Robert Earl, the company's chief executive. He also wants to make room for new acquisitions to the collection.
Items up for grabs include the peach satin nightgown Rita Hayworth wore in a famous World War II pinup poster, estimated by Sotheby's to bring in $15,000
to $18,000, and Valentino's jewel-encrusted bullfighter costume from the 1922 film "Blood and Sand," estimated at $15,000 to $20,000.
Planet Hollywood
Peace Concert In Sri Lanka
UB40
Toasting peace with deep draughts of Red, Red Wine will be the theme of reggae band UB40's concert in the Sri Lankan capital on Saturday.
The British band, the biggest act to come to the island since a peace bid started one year ago, said it hoped its presence would signal to the world the changes in Sri
Lanka since the government and Tamil Tiger rebels signed a cease-fire in February.
The concert has been heavily promoted by the government, which will hold a fourth round of peace talks with the Tigers next month in neutral Thailand to end the war
that has killed 64,000 people in the last two decades.
UB40
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Age Old Question
David Brenner
Funnyman David Brenner is in his hometown for a few days...
And, though Brenner doesn't know it yet, meet up with his long-lost buddy Carl Weinberg, who plans to give Brenner an in-person invite to their 50th high school reunion: West Philadelphia High, Class of January 1954.
Weinberg says Brenner has been a no-show at previous reunions, and his pals want to see him. The last time they did was at West Philly's 75th anniversary in 1987.
Which brings up an interesting bit of showbiz folklore: Brenner's age.
For decades, the comic's birth date has been listed in his bio, his clippings, even the reference book Who's Who as Feb. 4, 1945. That would make him 57.
Hooey, says Weinberg, a retired government worker from Northeast Philadelphia, who is 66 and proud of it. "When we were in junior high - Holmes Junior High - about
four or five of us would go to Mergie's bowling alley [in West Philly] and we used to bowl for, like, 35 cents a game," Weinberg said. "We used to set pins up for each other to save money."
Think Weinberg's memory is off? Philadelphia School District records show that Brenner, the son of Louis and Estelle Brenner of 5830 Sansom St., with
a birth date of Feb. 4, 1936, graduated from West Philly on Jan. 21, 1954. Which, if the entertainer's bio is to be believed, would put Brenner in a cap and gown at the ripe old age of 8.
For the rest, David Brenner
Radio City Music Hall
Bambi, Nina, & Sarah
Bambi Brook walks camels Nina, left, and Sarah, from the Radio City Music Hall 'Christmas Spectacular,' in New York's Rockefeller Plaza, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2002.
Bambi's company, Dawn Animal Agency, provides creatures for film and television. The animals in the Christmas show rotate with others that live on 250 acres in
Westtown, N.Y., about 75 miles from Manhattan.
Photo by Richard Drew
Writes 'Goomba' Book
Steven R. Schirripa
Actor Steven R. Schirripa believes the word "goomba" is largely misunderstood.
So Schirripa, who plays Bobby Bacala Baccalieri on the HBO mob drama "The Sopranos," is setting the record straight in his new book. In "A Goomba's Guide
to Life," Schirripa explains that the word is considered a term of affection to describe a certain guys in the Italian-American community.
He said goombas are often bar owners or sanitation workers, but never brain surgeons or librarians. They also have a certain style — or lack thereof.
He stressed that the book is not a "how-to" book, but written just to be fun.
Steven R. Schirripa
Suit Filed
Tiegs & Stryker
Cheryl Tiegs' former husband has sued the model for allegedly not remitting $20,000 the couple's twin boys earned for posing in a magazine cover photo with their mother.
Rod Stryker, 45, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. He claims Tiegs was supposed to turn over the money that 2-year-old Jaden and Theo earned
for posing for a More magazine cover photo. But the 55-year-old model "misappropriated the funds for her own use," according to the lawsuit.
Stryker filed for divorce in October 2001 after three years of marriage and was awarded full custody of the boys, who were born to a surrogate mother.
Tiegs & Stryker
Rocky To Return, Again
Sylvester Stallone
Film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. has signed Sylvester Stallone to write a "Rocky VI" screenplay with an update to the story of the scrappy Philadelphia boxer who rises
from a club fighter to champion of the world, gets knocked down, then rises again, an MGM spokeswoman said on Thursday.
Details were sketchy because Stallone, who wrote and directed 1976's original "Rocky," has just been hired, but the idea is to avoid the big-budget style of Hollywood
sequels and return to the small, independent film feel of the original.
Early plans have Stallone, 56, portraying the fighter Rocky Balboa, again. But this time, he is running a youth center when he is lured out of retirement for one last fight.
Sylvester Stallone
Probation, Counseling in DUI Case
Nick Nolte
Actor Nick Nolte pleaded no contest on Thursday to driving under the influence of a drug he claims to have consumed in a bodybuilding supplement and was placed on
probation with orders to remain in drug counseling for several months.
Under the plea agreement accepted by Superior Court Judge Lawrence Mira, prosecutors dropped a second misdemeanor drug count stemming from Nolte's Sept. 11 arrest,
when he was pulled over by police in the Southern California seaside enclave of Malibu, dazed and drooling, behind the wheel of his car.
Drug tests later identified the substance in his system as the banned "date rape" drug GHB, and he was charged with driving under the influence of that drug.
But Nolte's lawyer, Mark Werksman, said the 61-year-old actor had unwittingly consumed the drug as part of a "weight-lifting concoction."
Under terms of his three-year probation, the two-time Oscar nominee was ordered to submit to random drug testing and spend at least three more months in an out-patient
rehabilitation and counseling program he started in October.
Nick Nolte
Selling Cars at Auction
Don Johnson
Don Johnson is selling six vehicles from his stable of cars, including a silver Ferrari Testerossa given to him by Enzo Ferrari in the 1980s when the actor was playing Sonny Crockett
on the "Miami Vice" television series. Johnson drove a Ferrari on the show.
The actor, who turns 53 on Sunday, is also selling cars from his old "Nash Bridges" TV show — including the yellow 1970 Plymouth Barracuda convertible — and a 1949 Ford pickup
truck given to him by ex-wife Melanie Griffith.
The Johnson cars are among the expected 800 vehicles on the block at next month's 32nd annual Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction in Scottsdale, Ariz. The auction, considered
the nation's premier collector-car event, takes place Jan. 15-19 at the Westworld resort in Scottsdale.
Don Johnson
Barrett-Jackson
Basic Cable
Rankings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on basic cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Dec. 2-8. Each ratings point represents 1,067,000 households. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses.
1. NFL Football: Vikings vs. Packers (Sunday, 8:28 p.m.), ESPN, 7.1, 7.61 million homes.
2. Miniseries: "Taken" Part I (Monday, 9 p.m.), Sci Fi, 3.7, 3.91 million homes.
3. Movie: "Miss Lettie & Me" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), TNT, 3.6, 3.87 million homes.
4. "NFL Prime Time" (Sunday, 7:30 p.m.), ESPN, 3.2, 3.42 million homes.
5. Miniseries: "Taken" Part III (Wednesday, 9 p.m.), Sci Fi, 3.2, 3.39 million homes.
6. Miniseries: "Taken" Part II (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), Sci Fi, 3.1, 3.29 million homes.
7. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.9, 3.047 million homes.
8. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.9, 3.045 million homes.
9. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Wednesday, 5:30 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.8, 3.036 million homes.
9. "SportsCenter" (Sunday, 11:39 p.m.), ESPN, 2.8, 3.036 million homes.
11. "WWE Raw Zone" (Monday, 10 p.m.), TNN, 2.8, 2.96 million homes.
12. "The Osbournes" (Tuesday, 10:30 p.m.), MTV, 2.7, 2.90 million homes.
13. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Wednesday, 6 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.7, 2.93 million homes.
14. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.7, 2.89 million homes.
15. Miniseries: "Taken" Part IV (Thursday, 9 p.m.), Sci Fi, 2.7, 2.85 million homes.
Rankings
Wildcare Animal Rehabilitation Centre
Tigger
Tigger, an orphaned nine-week-old male leopard cub who was rescued from a game reserve in South Africa's Northern Province, runs through the grounds of the Wildcare Animal
Rehabilitation Centre north of Pretoria, South Africa Thursday Nov. 7, 2002. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) announced a US$10,000.00 grant to the Wildcare
Africa Trust Wednesday.
Photo by Jon Hrusa
'The Osbournes'
Fairly freshly updated - 'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
#6
