Michael Dare
The Latest At Dareland
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Stressing the Positive (nytimes.com)
Washington has made a decision to muddle through the financial crisis, hoping that the banks can earn their way back to health.
Barbara Ehrenreich: Trying to find a job is not a job (latimes.com)
Keeping the unemployed busy is an exercise in denial -- and social control.
Cantor Bows To Rush: "This Is Not A Listening Tour" (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)
Rep. Eric Cantor led a much-publicized GOP listening tour this past weekend -- or so we all thought.
Tom Danehy: If he can get access to Popeye's, Tom may choose to serve his country (tucsonweekly.com)
I'm thinking of joining the Air Force. You probably think that it might be a tad late in life to be making such a move, but I've got a good reason.
Mark Morford: There I was again (sfgate.com)
Ever get the feeling you just saw the person you could've been?
Irene Messina: Tucsonan William Maddux thinks that it can be a privilege to be poor (tucsonweekly.com)
On a moonlit night in July 2004, William Maddux left his home in Fond du Lac, Wis., and headed for New York City. Led by his dream to become a published author, Maddux didn't board a plane, take a bus or drive a car. Instead, his mode of transportation came in two forms: his intuition and his two feet.
Birthday boy (guardian.co.uk)
Alan Bennett, who turns 75 on Saturday, is a writer who captures the nuances of English life like no other. Blake Morrison salutes the comic writer who became a national treasure.
20 QUESTIONS: School of Seven Bells (popmatters.com)
Benjamin Curtis, formerly the guitarist for the Secret Machines, pulled School of Seven Bells together and he sits down with 20 Questions to discuss his moonwalking skills and the greatness of Star Trek and Ney York City.
20 Questions: Ken Stringfellow (popmatters.com)
Ken Stringfellow is a well-known figure in the world of smart pop music, having worked with the likes of the Posies, R.E.M., the Minus 5, and Big Star. These days he's playing with the Disciplines and their new album Smoking Kills released just last week.
Patrick Foster: BBC rejected 'dire' Fawlty Towers (timesonline.co.uk)
Classic comedy was dismissed as ' full of clichéd situations and stereotypical characters' and labelled a 'disaster'
Roger Ebert THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940: A Great Movie)
To begin with a story: Our grandson Taylor was deeply immersed in a video game on his laptop. I began to watch "The Thief of Bagdad" on DVD. At first he ignored it. Then I saw him glancing at the screen. Then he closed the laptop and watched full time. During the spider sequence, only his eyes were visible above the neck of his T-shirt. "That was a good movie!" he told me. "What did Taylor say when he found out it was almost 70 years old?" his mother, Sonia, asked me. "I didn't tell him," I said.
Ben Sherwood: "Lost & Found: How a Three-Year-Old Survived 52 Hours in the Woods (and How You Can Too)"
The story of Joshua Childers presents an opportunity to revisit the most important survival rule if you get lost in the woods (or anywhere else for that matter).
Reader Review
STAR TREK
by Vic in AK
Where do I Start??? My brain is still swirling from all the coolness it got stuffed with from seeing this NON STOP assault of pure Trekkie Porn!!!
James Tiberius Kirk....Young Punk....Swaggering Ass Kicker!...Cheater....Savior of Humanity...almost Savior of Vulcanity...OOPS!!! ....Spock...s ...Spocks..."Are you out of your VULCAN MIND???" You are now and forever my friend...and wing-man!...Uhura....more like YAHUUUURRRAAA!!!!! Everybody shows up for the game and nobody drops the ball...Of course the plot has Jim and his prematurly adopted family/crew chasing and engaging some horrible Armed to the tooth Evil clown painted ,Bent on revenge, homicidal genius, "Illegal Alien" and killing said evil doer in a last second, give me all you got,Thats not logical but WTF, I'm just a doctor, I canna do it, Skull Fucking!!!
It is also HYLARIOUS ...full of inside , in your face..Jokes and almost slapstick...no wait there WAS slapstick!!! Humor...If you are a Diehard Trekkie you will SPLOOGE...if you are anything but a diehard trekkie you will SPLOOGE!!!!
OK Beam me up.......and hurry up with the next 4 or 5 episodes!
And everybody sing along
The Weekly Poll
The 'Take Me out to the Ball Game' Edition
"For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."
Ernie Harwell, radio and TV voice of the Detroit Tigers for 42 years and Baseball Hall of Fame member, would intone those words at the start of the first Spring Training game broadcast every year... Ah! Baseball's back! Batter Up!
Are you a baseball fan and, if so, who's yer team? (anecdotes welcome)
Send your response to
Results Tuesday
replied:
Alan J A-8 | L-8
Charlie A-7 | L-8
DC Madman A-1 | L-1
Gary G A-0 | L-1
Jim from CA A-2 | L-2
Joe S A-8 | L-8
Sally A-8 | L-8
MAM A-8 | L-8
Maria in Chicago A-5 | L-5
Marian the Teacher A-8 | L-8
Sandra in Maine A-0 | L-0
Tom B A-0 | L-0
Purple Gene Reviews
'Goodbye Solo'
Purple Gene's review of the movie "Goodbye Solo" (2008).
Directed by Ramin Bahrani.
Well I finally got the chance to got to the movies with my big brother "That Mad Cat". He flew out here (Oakland) from Nashville. We both love going to the church of the Cinema on Sunday and found an odd "Indie-ish" movie playing at the newly re-modeled Shattuck screening room in Berkeley…..plush couches and bean bag pillows arranged in a living room style. I had my popcorn and lemonade in hand as the credits rolled…..
The Theater was probably half filled by the time the previews of new movies were through…..
Reader Correction
Re: Odd Day
Yesterday - Prepare to be awed by Odd Day.
Marty;
While the above establishes: "For the mathematically challenged, Thursday's date, 5/7/09, is one of only six this century that will feature three consecutive odd numbers," I think it really means: "... that will feature three consecutive prime numbers."
Of course, all prime numbers (except for the number 2) are odd numbers, but not all odd numbers are prime.
I haven't actually read the article, but am only responding to what you excerpted.
DanD
Thanks, Dan!
I believe you hit the nail on the head. I'll keep an eye out for an 'official' correction.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny and a bit cooler.
Ends Darfur Fast
Mia Farrow
Actress Mia Farrow, ailing after almost two weeks on a hunger strike, announced on Friday that British billionaire Richard Branson would take over her protest in solidarity with people in Sudan's Darfur region.
A Farrow spokesman said her health had deteriorated in the past few days and her doctor requested that she end the liquids-only fast she began 12 days ago to protest at Khartoum's expulsion of more than a dozen aid agencies from Darfur.
Farrow asked Branson to take over the fast, her statement said, adding that the British entrepreneur had accepted and would begin a three-day hunger strike on Friday.
Farrow, who was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N. children's agency UNICEF in 2000, has been campaigning for years to raise funds for children in conflict zones such as Darfur, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Chad and Nigeria.
Mia Farrow
MSM Whines
Obama
By and large, they personally forked out for his campaign, they voted for him, and they know he is capable of boosting TV ratings just by making an appearance.
But executives at the big four U.S. TV networks are seething behind the scenes that President Barack Obama has cost them about $30 million in cumulative ad revenue this year with his three prime-time news conferences.
Now top network executives quietly are hoping that Fox's decision not to air Obama's April 29 news conference will serve as precedent for denying future White House requests for prime airtime.
Even more irksome, the White House is bailing out bankers, insurers and carmakers, but nary a nickel has gone to the media industry which has cut costs and lay off staff.
Obama
ABC Talk Show
Aisha Tyler
Actress-comedian Aisha Tyler will host a "hybrid" talk show pilot for ABC.
"The Aisha Tyler Show" will incorporate aspects of a traditional talk show with comedic political commentary, comedy segments and other elements usually associated with late-night shows. Aimed at a younger audience, "Tyler" is being developed as a fully "wired" concept, with fans being able to communicate with Tyler via Facebook, Twitter and other platforms.
There has been speculation that the project might be eyed for ABC's afternoon block, which airs the soaps "All My Children," "One Life to Live" and "General Hospital." (CBS recently canceled its long-running soap "Guiding Light" and will replace it with a game or talk show.)
But ABC sources stressed that "Tyler" is being targeted for syndication or cable.
Aisha Tyler
Unseen Lyrics On Display
George Harrison
A "mystery" George Harrison lyric, written when the Beatles were on a break from touring, has gone on public display for the first time.
Written in early 1967 when George was aged 23 or 24, the untitled song was penned while the Beatles had stopped touring to spend more time in the studio to work on Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Written in Harrison's handwriting, the song was never recorded by him, or even put to music, as far as the British Library - where it has gone on display - can tell.
The late Beatle wrote: "I'm happy to say that it's only a dream; when I come across people like you; it's only a dream and you make it obscene; with the things that you think and you do.
George Harrison
At Center Of Gurkhas Issue
Joanna Lumley
An actress best known for playing a selfish, champagne-guzzling fashionista is winning her battle against the British government on a humanitarian issue - securing settlement rights for Gurkha war veterans. She also is embarrassing Prime Minister Gordon Brown's faltering government in the process.
Joanna Lumley, 63, is famous in Britain for playing Patsy, a chain-smoking magazine editor who slept her way to the top in the TV comedy series "Absolutely Fabulous." But off screen she has used a ruthless combination of charm and sternness to force the government to review the way it decides which Gurkha veterans from Nepal are allowed to settle in Britain.
Lumley, whose army officer father fought alongside Gurkha soldiers, has used TV to propel her campaign to force the government to allow all of them to live here, appearing at news conferences with elderly war veterans in uniform and wearing medals.
She is so popular that when she bumped into Immigration Minister Phil Woolas at a restaurant in Parliament, she persuaded him to hold an impromptu news conference during which she harangued him publicly over government policy while he shuffled around looking ill at ease. The Daily Mail newspaper wrote Friday that Lumley had treated Woolas live on air "like a miscreant child forced to apologize to the school with the headmistress looking on."
The fight between the government and the actress and veterans has caught the public imagination.
Joanna Lumley
Honorary Doctorate
Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton, award-winning entertainer, businesswoman and education advocate has a new title.
"Just think, I am Dr. Dolly!" she said Friday after receiving an honorary doctorate of humane and musical letters from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Always joking about her buxom figure, she added, "So when people say something about 'Double-D,' they will be thinking of something entirely different."
Parton, a Tennessee native who is the fourth of 12 children from a poor Appalachian family, is well-known for her philanthropic work. Her Imagination Library sends a book to about 500,000 children each month from birth until they start school.
Dolly Parton
Jury Clears
Snoop Dogg
A civil jury says Snoop Dogg didn't hit a man during a 2005 concert.
The rapper wasn't in court Friday when the jury's verdict cleared him of civil assault and battery claims. The jury did find that Richard Monroe Jr. suffered serious injuries during one of Snoop's 2005 concerts near Seattle and awarded him almost US$450,000 in damages to be paid by a record label, another performer and others involved in the concert.
Jurors found that the Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, doesn't owe Monroe anything for a severe beating he sustained after jumping on stage.
Snoop Dogg
'Footloose' For Real
Heritage Christian
A student at a fundamentalist Baptist school that forbids dancing, rock music, hand-holding and kissing will be suspended if he takes his girlfriend to her public high school prom, his principal said.
Despite the warning, 17-year-old Tyler Frost, who has never been to a dance before, said he plans to attend Findlay High School's prom Saturday.
Frost, a senior at Heritage Christian School in northwest Ohio, agreed to the school's rules when he signed a statement of cooperation at the beginning of the year, principal Tim England said.
The teen, who is scheduled to receive his diploma May 24, would be suspended from classes and receive an "incomplete" on remaining assignments, England said. Frost also would not be permitted to attend graduation but would get a diploma once he completes final exams. If Frost is involved with alcohol or sex at the prom, he will be expelled, England said.
Heritage Christian
Emma, Jacob Rule
Baby Names
Barack and Miley move up, but the classics still rule. Emma is the top baby name for girls, Jacob for boys.
Emma's surge to the top in 2008 ended Emily's 12-year reign as the No. 1 baby name for girls, the Social Security Administration announced Friday. Jacob held onto the boy's crown for the 10th straight year.
Barack may have been the man of the year in 2008 as Obama won the White House, but the president still trails the king. Barack moved up a record 10,126 places to No. 2,409. Elvis is still in the building, though he slipped from 673 to 713.
New girl names in the national top 1,000 included Isla (623), Mareli (718), Milagros (731), Dayami (750) and Nylah (821).
Debuting among the boys were Aaden (343), Chace (655), Marley (764), Kash (779) and Kymani (836). Beckham debuted at 893, perhaps a nod to the British soccer star, David Beckham, who now plays for the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Baby Names
Junk Food Ads
TV
Junk food ads account for two-thirds of televised advertisements for food that are shown when children are likely to be watching, researchers into obesity said on Friday, based on a study of 11 countries.
Germany and the United States led the way at 90 percent, with Britain and Australia the lowest at about 50 percent, the researchers said, urging governments to limit such marketing in order to combat obesity.
About 177 million children and teenagers under 18 years old worldwide are clinically overweight or obese. The figures include 22 million overweight children under five years old, according to the International Obesity Task Force.
The researchers, who looked at children in Australia, Asia, Eastern and Western Europe and North and South America, found that junk food ads mainly featuring fast food, confectionery and high-fat dairy foods increased during times young people were most likely to be watching.
TV
College Grad
Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon is finally getting his bachelor's degree in communications 15 years after leaving a New York college to pursue his comedy career.
The "Late Night" host will pick up his diploma and speak at the College of St. Rose commencement Saturday at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
Fallon attended St. Rose in Albany from 1992 through 1995. He started as a computer science major but switched to communications. He left for Los Angeles just one semester short of graduating.
The college says Fallon earned his degree after satisfying requirements for the remaining credits by presenting a portfolio of his work.
Jimmy Fallon
Allergic Reaction
Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen suffered serious burns after trying to bleach his body hair.
The comic star - who plays a gay Austrian fashion reporter in his new film 'Bruno' - used strong chemicals to make him look "all-over hairless".
But the 37-year-old star suffered an allergic reaction to the bleach and broke out in a painful rash. He was taken to hospital for treatment and couldn't sit down for days.
A source revealed to Britain's The Sun newspaper: "Sacha is committed to as much realism as he can muster in his films. He'd heard that all-over hairlessness is a popular trend in the gay community, so he thought he'd bleach all his hair so it looked invisible.
Sacha Baron Cohen
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of April 27-May 3. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. NBA Playoffs: Chicago at Boston (Saturday, 8:04 p.m.), TNT, 5.01 million homes, 6.98 million viewers.
2. NBA Playoffs: Boston at Chicago (Thursday, 7:08 p.m.), TNT, 4.04 million homes, 5.35 million viewers.
3. "NCIS" (Wednesday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.47 million homes, 4.49 million viewers.
4. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.4 million homes, 5.11 million viewers.
5. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.31 million homes, 4.92 million viewers.
6. "NCIS" (Monday, 7 p.m.), USA, 3.3 million homes, 4.39 million viewers.
7. "NCIS" (Tuesday, 7 p.m.), USA, 3.27 million homes, 4.26 million viewers.
8. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.2 million homes, 4.08 million viewers.
9. "NCIS" (Monday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.18 million homes, 4.21 million viewers.
10. "NCIS" (Wednesday, 7 p.m.), USA, 3.13 million homes, 3.96 million viewers.
11. "Hannah Montana" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 3.11 million homes, 4.46 million viewers.
12. "Wishology" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.99 million homes, 4.07 million viewers.
13. "Penguins of Madagascar" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.97 million homes, 3.64 million viewers.
14. NBA Playoffs: Portland vs. Houston (Thursday, 11:08 p.m.), TNT, 2.945 million homes, 3.69 million viewers.
14. "Sonny With a Chance" (Sunday, 8:30 p.m.), Disney, 2.945 million homes, 4.12 million viewers.
Ratings
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