Mayor Says 'Good-bye'
Rudy & Dave
New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, left, shakes hands with talk show host David Letterman during his last
visit as mayor to the Late Show with David Letterman, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2001 in New York. In his eight years in office,
Mayor Giuliani has made over 20 visits to the CBS late night talk show.
Photo by J.P. Filo
Top-Grossing Concert Act Of The Year
U2
U2 finished 2001 on a high note, with the veteran rockers becoming the top-grossing concert act of
the year with their Elevation Tour, according to year-end figures from the industry trade Pollstar.
Touring behind their critically acclaimed All That You Can't Leave Behind, Bono and the boys eschewed
the glitz of their previous Pop Mart and Zooropa outings in favor of a stripped-down show that sold
out arenas throughout the U.S. and Canada.
All told, the Dubliners bagged a stellar $109.7 million in North American concert receipts, making the
Elevation Tour the second biggest ever, behind only the Rolling Stones' 1994 Voodoo Lounge trek, which
took in $121.2 million.
In something of a shocker, Pollstar says the top 100 acts generated a record $1.75 billion in total gross
revenues for North America in 2001, the third straight year the live music biz has seen an uptick in
revenue--this, despite the recession and the September 11 attacks.
Ticket prices for a U2 show ranged from $45 to upwards of $200 with an average price of $77.64. The highest
average ticket price was charged by blind Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, at $116.45; Poison averaged the lowest, at $16.32.
Top-Grossing Concert Act Of The Year
Top 40 Grossing North American Concert Tours
2001
Following are the top 40 grossing North American concert tours of 2001, according to data issued Thursday by Pollstar magazine.
1. U2 -- $109.7 million (80 shows)
2. 'N Sync -- $86.8 million (43 shows)
3. Backstreet Boys -- $82.1 million (98 shows)
4. Dave Matthews Band -- $60.5 million (51 shows)
5. Elton John/Billy Joel -- $57.2 million (31 shows)
6. Madonna -- $54.7 million (28 shows)
7. Aerosmith -- $49.3 million (64 shows)
8. Janet Jackson -- $42.1 million (57 shows)
9. Eric Clapton -- $38.8 million (46 shows)
10. Neil Diamond -- $35.4 million (46 shows)
11. Matchbox Twenty -- $28.4 million (89 shows)
12. Rod Stewart -- $27.2 million (66 shows)
13. Jimmy Buffett -- $26.9 million (32 shows)
14. Andrea Bocelli -- $26.8 million (15 shows)
15. ``Ozzfest 2001'' -- $26.4 million (31 shows)
16. Sade -- $26.2 million (41 shows)
17. Tim McGraw -- $24.9 million (45 shows)
18. Britney Spears -- $23.7 million (31 shows)
19. James Taylor -- $23.0 million (61 shows)
20. Tool -- $20.4 million (63 shows)
21. AC/DC -- $18.9 million (34 shows)
22. Barenaked Ladies -- $17.1 million (74 shows)
23. Destiny's Child -- $17.0 million (59 shows)
24. Brooks & Dunn -- $16.6 million (63 shows)
25. Depeche Mode -- $16.2 million (40 shows)
26. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers -- $14.4 million (31 shows)
27. Stevie Nicks -- $14.1 million (38 shows)
28. Elton John -- $13.3 million (19 shows)
29. John Mellencamp -- $13.2 million (33 shows)
30. Michael Flatley's ``Feet of Flames'' -- $13.1 million (21 shows)
31. Blink-182 -- $13.0 million (63 shows)
32. Journey -- $12.7 million (61 shows)
33. Bon Jovi -- $12.5 million (32 shows)
34. ``Warped Tour'' -- $12.4 million (46 shows)
35. Bob Dylan -- $12.3 million (58 shows)
36. Widespread Panic -- $12.3 million (77 shows)
37. Sting -- $11.8 million (27 shows)
38. Phil Lesh and Friends -- $11.6 million (74 shows)
39. Jerry Seinfeld -- $11.5 million (62 shows)
40. Luciano Pavarotti -- $11.4 million (11 shows)
Top 40 Grossing North American Concert Tours Of 2001
Don't Forget ''Roger Rabbit''!
Zemeckis - Spielberg
In a move that could raise some eyebrows in Hollywood, Oscar-winning directors Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg,
friends for almost 30 years, are looking to end their business relationship.
Zemeckis' Imagemovers production company, which has been based at Spielberg's DreamWorks studio since 1997, is
now ``in serious discussions'' to move to Warner Bros. Pictures, according to persons familiar with the talks.
Imagemovers' five-year, overall deal with DreamWorks, which ends next year, has yielded just two Zemeckis-directed
pictures: ``What Lies Beneath'' and ``Cast Away,'' both released last year. And while both were hits, both were
also pricey co-productions in which DreamWorks split half of the box office lucre with 20th Century Fox.
Zemeckis' relationship with Spielberg goes back to 1974, when Zemeckis was studying film at the University
of Southern California. Spielberg even helped Zemeckis develop his script ``1941,'' and later directed it.
The film flopped.
Their friendship continued as Zemeckis directed the vastly profitable ``Back to the Future'' franchise for
Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment at Universal; when the Imagemovers deal was first heralded in the summer
of 1997, Spielberg called it ``the continuation of the best circle I've ever been in.''
Don't Forget ''Roger Rabbit''!
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The menagerie prevailed, and missed a chunk of primetime, again. The lizard needed his cage
cleaned, the tarantula needed her place reorganized, the fish needed their water changed...
Watched 'Jimmy Durante: The Great Schnozzola' on KOCE (PBS For Orange County).
Inka-Dinka, Mrs. Calabash.
Glad both 'Dave' and 'Leno' were fresh tonight.
Tonight, Friday, there are a lot of reruns.
CBS starts the evening off with 2 sitcom reruns ('Yes, Dear' & 'Ellen'),
then a rerun of 'That's Life', followed by '48 Hours'.
NBC has a rerun of 'Providence', then 'Dateline', and a repeat 'Law &
Order: Special Victims Unit' (anyone old enough to have seen Belzer way back when he
did some of the most brilliant stand-up of the era?)
Over at ABC, there's the 'Funniest Videos' throwaway, followed by a 'Special' - 'Domino Day',
where an international team attempts to break a world record for the largest
display of dominoes. Then they ruin the evening with a John Stossel piece of crap titled
'Why Don't The Kids Have A Voice?' (Yeah, I'm sure John has nothing but the best interests of
the kids at heart [sarcasm alert])...
The WB has 2 hours of sitcom reruns ('Sabrina', 'Raising Dad', 'Reba'
[woo hoo, teenage pregnancy morning sickness humor], and another 'Raising Dad').
AMC has a couple of Peter Cushing classics - 'Dr. Terror's House Of Horror' and 'Island
Of Terror'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
'Innocuous' Incest Implication Excised, Opening Delayed
''Kate & Leopold''
Miramax had to quickly re-work its new time-travel romantic comedy "Kate & Leopold" after astute viewers
noticed an implication that Liev Schreiber's character has sex with his own great-great-grandmother,
played by Meg Ryan. The flick was originally supposed to open last Friday, and some reviews had already come
out, when critics and preview audiences picked up on the incestuous plot point.
The movie, which also stars Hugh Jackman, was immediately pushed back to Christmas day so all references to
the despicable deed could be excised. "There was a strand of dialogue which we thought was innocuous but was, in
fact, distracting some people from the story, so we lifted it," director James Mangold told Variety.
'Innocuous' Incest Implication Excised, Opening Delayed
Updated!
BartCop 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!
''Rendezvous With Rama''
Arthur C. Clarke
In 1973, five years after the publication of his masterwork, ''2001: A Space Odyssey,'' Arthur C. Clarke
wrote about a disaster befalling the world in 2077.
Although it was a work of fiction, in which a meteor destroys three cities in Northern Italy, the 83-year-old
Clarke says that he is haunted by coincidence between the date in ''Rendezvous With Rama'' and the attacks on
the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
''At 0946 ... on the morning of September 11 in the exceptionally beautiful summer of the year 2077, most
of the inhabitants of Europe saw a dazzling fireball appear in the eastern sky,'' Clark wrote in ''Rama.''
''Within seconds it was brighter than the Sun, and as it moved across the heavens — at first in utter
silence — it left behind a churning column of dust and smoke.
''It was as if a great war had been fought and lost in a single morning.''
On Christmas Day, the novelist, who lives in Colombo, Sri Lanka, sent the following e-mail to his friend
Warren Allen Smith, in New York: ''I'm still spooked by the fact that back in 1973, on the first page of
'Rama,' I gave the date September 11 for a major disaster!''
The Prescient Arthur C. Clarke?
Most-Searched Athlete On The Internet
Anna Kournikova
Anna Kournikova has volleyed her way to the top of the Web, scoring the No. 1 position as the most-searched athlete on the Internet.
It's the blond tennis nymph's second year in a row as top banana, according to Lycos.
The Russian court queen is especially popular with men because of her skimpy, skin-baring outfits
and vampish personality, on and off the court.
Kournikova, who has drummed up nearly $50 million of endorsement deals in the past two years, easily
beat out such favorite athletes as Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter.
Rounding out the Top 10 were Allen Iverson, Michael Jordan, Martina Hingis, Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods,
Vince Carter, Tony Hawk and Jackie Robinson.
The next-most popular were Muhammad Ali, Venus Williams, Mike Tyson, David Beckham, Dale Earnhardt Jr.,
Derek Jeter, Babe Ruth, Jennifer Capriati, Serena Williams and Lance Armstrong.
Most-Searched Athlete On The Internet - Anna Kournikova
BC Entertainment Favorite Link
''Welcome to the Sideshow''
A weblog by Avedon Carol.
Welcome to the Sideshow by Avedon Carol
''Concert For NYC'' Rerun On VH1
Edited?
Some people who watched the replay of the "Concert for New York City" on VH1 Christmas Day came away
disappointed. They were waiting for the memorable moment when many in the audience roundly booed Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton. But the cable channel evidently wants to keep on Hillary's good side. The boos
were edited out and replaced with general crowd noise.
Tweaking The Show?
New!
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Kofi Annan, Role-Model?
Danny Glover
Danny Glover has the secretary-general of the United Nations to thank for his look in the film ``The Royal
Tenenbaums,'' now in theaters.
Glover said he introduced ``Tenenbaums'' director Wes Anderson to Secretary-General Kofi Annan at a U.N. event.
After meeting Annan, Glover said Anderson told him, '``Man, that's the look I want for you to have in the
movie: Kofi Annan with his hair the way it is and the goatee and the mustache.'''
Glover, 54, also told reporters recently that he pulled from his own childhood for his character, a shy
accountant named Henry Sherman, who courts Etheline Tenenbaum, played by Anjelica Huston.
``My relationships with ... young girls were always that I was their friend, and that I was nonthreatening,'' he said.
Danny Glover & Kofi Annan
A Formal Apology From The City Of Berlin
Marlene Dietrich
Germany celebrated the 100th anniversary of Marlene Dietrich's birth on Thursday with a tribute from President Johannes
Rau and a formal apology from the city of Berlin for treating the Hollywood star as a traitor.
Dietrich, who aroused anger in Germany for backing the Allies during World War Two, began as a cabaret singer in the 1920s
before she became a Hollywood star and later returned to the stage as a singer.
Born in Berlin on December 27, 1901, she died in Paris as a recluse in 1992, and was buried in Berlin.
Dietrich moved to the United States and became an American citizen in 1937, spurning efforts by Hitler's Nazis to lure
her to Germany. She later wore an American uniform for performances for the troops on the front lines during World War Two.
``Hitler is an idiot,'' she said in a wartime interview broadcast from Britain into Germany. ``Boys, don't sacrifice
yourselves. The war is crap and Hitler's an idiot.''
Her wartime performances for adoring Allied soldiers led to lasting resentment in Berlin. She received a frosty reception
when she returned to Berlin for a concert in 1960, facing protests with some demonstrators spitting at her and waving
posters saying ``Go Home Marlene.''
The ever charismatic Dietrich nevertheless got a roaring reception inside the packed theater, taking 18 curtain calls.
Even though she returned to Germany only twice after the war -- in 1947 for a film and the 1960 concert -- Dietrich
chose Berlin as a final resting place after the Berlin Wall fell.
Dietrich's Centennial Celebration
Details Of The Vancouver House Fire
Frances & Francesca
Clint Eastwood took his daughter home from a hospital after her narrow escape with Eastwood's ex-girlfriend
from a Christmas-morning house fire.
Frances Fisher sustained severe burns to her hands, while her daughter with Eastwood, 8-year-old Francesca,
clambered through her bedroom window to the garage roof and jumped into a neighbor's arms.
The fire, which began about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, caused extensive damage.
``There was fire on all floors - the basement, the main floor and the upper levels. That indicates it was
burning for a while,'' assistant fire chief Steve Atkinson said. ``They're very, very fortunate to have escaped alive.''
Eastwood arrived in Vancouver on a private jet Tuesday and visited Francesca. She was released into
his care Wednesday evening.
Frances & Francesca
More Vancouver House Fire Details
More Frances & Francesca
Clint Eastwood reportedly flew by private jet to Vancouver, Canada, to personally thank the
neighbors that helped save his little daughter and his former girlfriend from a burning home.
Asked how the 8-year-old girl was doing, Eastwood said, "She's very good, thanks. Knock on
wood. ... It wasn't a pleasant experience. I was just thanking the neighbors because these
people here were the ones who came to the aid."
When asked what he said to the neighbors, Eastwood replied, "Just `thank you very much."'
The fire broke out early Christmas day in a home rented by the girl's mother, actress Frances
Fisher, who is in Vancouver to shoot a television series.
The little girl, Francesca Eastwood, climbed out her bedroom window, onto the roof of the
garage. From there, she jumped into the arms of a neighbor.
"She's a pretty brave little gal," Eastwood said of his daughter, "because she was disoriented when
she was inside. It was all smoked. ... She had to go by Braille ... to get to the window."
Asked how Fisher was doing, Eastwood said, "She's fine. She's got some smoke inhalation and they're treating
her for things, but she'll be fine."
More Frances & Francesca - there is also a video clip at this link
100 Summer Brushfires Continue To Burn Out Of Control
Sydney Harbour Bridge
Walkers stand atop the Sydney Harbour Bridge as brushfire smoke engulfs the city of Sydney including the
Opera House December 27, 2001. More than 100 summer brushfires continue to burn out of control on Sydney's
southern and western outskirts as thousands of weary firefighters across the state of New South Wales
battle blazes for a third day.
Photo by David Gray
More Mordor Than Shire
J.R.R. Tolkien
While Hobbits, wizards and rings dazzle audiences worldwide this festive season, one South African town
seems curiously immune to the allure of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy classic.
Visitors to the dusty town of Bloemfontein last week would little have suspected that the pipe-smoking
author of ``Lord of the Rings'' was born here just over a century ago.
No plaque marks his birthplace -- now a furniture shop. No tourist maps mention his name and some bookshops
do not even stock his works.
Tolkien, born in 1892 after his British parents moved here to start a new life, was no more than four when
he left South Africa, but his memories of the place his mother called an ''Owlin' Wilderness! Horrid Waste!'' were vivid.
Modern Bloemfontein, a stopping point for visitors traveling through the dusty Free State province on their way
to Cape Town or Johannesburg, may be less bleak than the town of Tolkien's memory but it remains functional rather than graceful.
``I think people think Bloemfontein people are not literary people,'' says Jake Uys, the leader of a small band
of Bloemfontein Tolkienites trying to change that image.
Uys, who owns the town's one and only Tolkien-themed guesthouse, organized a feast of meat, berries, fruit
and ale before a special midnight showing of the film after trying without luck to secure the South African premiere.
For now, visitors will have to be content with Uys's personal Hobbit Trail -- a leaflet that points visitors to
the town's few remaining links with Tolkien.
More Mordor Than Shire
Trying To Achieve Earthly Perfection
Will Smith
Will Smith, who describes the filming of his new movie, ``Ali,'' as ``really grueling,'' says he endured one
particularly painful blow during the shooting of a fight scene.
Smith plays boxer Muhammad Ali in the biopic, directed by Michael Mann (``The Insider''). He's received a
Golden Globe nomination for best dramatic actor for his performance.
``Usually you see a guy get hit and his head flies back,'' he told reporters recently. ``But I put my chin
down and he hit me, like, almost on the top of my forehead and my head compressed down onto my shoulders.''
He said it felt like ``an electrical shock from the base of my neck down to the tips of both elbows.''
The 33-year-old actor added 30 pounds of muscle to transform his body into a nearly perfect replica of Ali's.
He also learned to box and studied Ali's Islamic faith to prepare for the role.
``I desire perfection. I desire being the best that I can possibly be,'' Smith said. ``I don't wanna take
time to eat, I don't wanna take time to sleep, I wanna let the other guy be eatin' and sleepin' while I'm
working and while I'm trying to achieve my best earthly perfection.''
Trying To Achieve Earthly Perfection
New! Updated!
(10 Dec., 2001)
The official BartCop Astrologer, Geneva, has done good, again!
Currently, look at the charts of George Harrison.
Very interesting reading!
Aragorn Speaks
Viggo Mortensen
Filming his role as Aragorn in the three ``The Lord of the Rings'' movies brought Viggo Mortensen back
full circle, reminding him of the games he played as a child.
Mortensen, 43, told reporters recently that he got the part after director Peter Jackson decided another
actor was too young to play the darkly valiant warrior.
``I got the phone call, 'You want to go the next day to New Zealand and we're already under way and the
actors have been here a couple of months,''' he said. ``I thought about it for a bit. ... And decided to
do it. I knew that I would always count myself somewhat cowardly if I didn't accept a challenge.''
``Instead of being in my back yard pretending I was in this mountainous region, really outnumbered, you
know, one against a hundred, saving the world, you are in the forest, you have a real sword, and there
are hundreds of scary-looking things coming at you,'' he said, recalling the days he spent as a
young boy pretending he was a Viking.
Viggo Mortensen
According to U.S. News & World Report
Next Target?
Though the Pentagon declines to name its next target in the war on terrorism, certain holiday decorations on
the door of the Joint Chiefs' office for Middle East/Africa policy might offer a clue. According to U.S. News
and World Report, a poster of Saddam Hussein with a cotton-ball beard and a paper Santa hat is pinned there.
A thought-bubble reads: "Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas! I wonder what Santa will be dropping down my chimney this year."
According to U.S. News & World Report
More ``Kate & Leopold''
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman took lessons from an etiquette coach and an equestrian coach to play an English duke in the new
romantic comedy ``Kate & Leopold.''
Jackman has received a Golden Globe nomination for best actor in a musical or comedy for his role as Leopold,
who time travels from 1876 to present-day Manhattan, where he falls for Kate (Meg Ryan), a marketing consultant.
``I had to go to England and find out what it's like really to be aristocratic,'' the 33-year-old actor
told reporters recently.
``And for that to feel natural I had an etiquette coach and I was having sessions with her every day learning
how to walk up stairs, how to bow, how to eat, how to drink, how to dance, how to sit and not to gesticulate when I talk.''
He also learned how to ride a horse.
Hugh Jackman
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!
Disney Behind Talk Of Moving?
Miss America Staying Put
The Miss America Pageant, held in this seaside resort since it began 80 years ago, will stay for at least one
more year while officials consider its future.
The pageant's board of directors met Wednesday and decided to turn down offers to move the pageant next year
to Nevada, Florida, California or Connecticut. Pageant officials, who had threatened to leave unless officials
offer higher subsidies, announced their decision Thursday. They didn't disclose how the 17-member board voted.
The Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority, which already underwrites the production with $678,000, has
so far refused to contribute any more money.
Started in 1921 as the Miss Inter-City Beauty Contest, the pageant was dreamed up as a Labor Day publicity
stunt by hotel owners eager to extend the summer season.
There were eight contestants the first year. It eventually grew into an annual event publicized nationwide,
and, after its first national telecast in 1954, a TV staple.
Talk of a move escalated four years ago when the Miss America Organization left NBC for ABC, which is owned
by the Walt Disney Co. Many locals have worried that the pageant might take up permanent residence at Walt
Disney World in Florida, where contestants already go for a pre-pageant vacation.
Miss America Staying In Atlantic City, For Now
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rose Parade Float
Madalenna Lai
"Boondocks" (9 Oct 01)
Still MISSING
Marc Chagall's "Study for 'Over Vitebsk'"
