'Best of TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
BBC America Today
The Young Ones
It's the night after the big drunken blowout, and we find Rick is dreaming of being a rich capitalist pig in Dallas. But when the dream ends, is it over? I mean there's a girl in Rick's bed with him. Well, this is something to tell the others about...Rick's no longer a virgin, maybe, he just can't remember. That alone should clue him in. Eventually it comes out and of course the others have a field day making fun of Rick. Seems the girl just wandered in, her name is Helen (play by Jenifer Saunders), and of course Mike begins to hit on her. She seems to have a problem, though as she keeps destroying things and she seems to have a fetish for strangling Mike. What the now dead radio was trying to tell them was that she is a murderess trying to add to her body count.
After they run around some they suddenly find themselves back in the middle ages. This is a fine kettle of fish as the locals think they are witches and want to burn them. How will they escape? Do they escape? Tune in and find out.
~ Mr. Hawk
Kerry/Edwards
At stake is our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor
Thanks, Mr. Hawk!
(Mr. Hawk sent this on time for Thursay's page, but, sometime's stuff happens.)
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, breezy & cool.
Had trouble archiving the Saturday page - had to delete a story & a link. Will try to puzzle out the problem.
Today is the 1-year anniversary of the house being burgled. That means it's also my birthday.
Actor Russ Tamblyn, with daughter Amber Tamblyn, pose for photographers during a reception at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to screen the re-mastered digital presentation of the 1974 film 'That's Entertainment' in Beverly Hills, September 17, 2004. The film, which critics believe launched a rebirth of the movie musical, was re-mastered in honor of the 75th anniversary of the musical genre. Amber Tamblyn is the star of the television show 'Joan of Arcadia.'
Photo by Jeff Mitchell
Performed at Toronto Film Festival
The Weavers
Eighty-five-year-old Pete Seeger and his legendary 1950s folk group The Weavers received a hero's welcome when they performed two emotional reunion shows - one on screen and one in person - at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The premiere of a new documentary Friday night about the Weavers' November 2003 reunion concert at Carnegie Hall, entitled Isn't This A Time!, was followed by a brief live performance by Seeger and the other surviving Weavers - Ronnie Gilbert, 77, and Fred Hellerman, 77, and Erik Darling.
The Weavers had their first hit back in 1950, but were forced to disband in 1952 after being blacklisted during the anti-communist witchhunts of the McCarthy era.
Unlike some victims of the McCarthy witchhunts, who were simply smeared by association, Seeger and the other Weavers were in fact leftists. They did little to hide the fact, though in the early 1950s Seeger, who had previously worked with the outspoken Woody Guthrie, had cancelled his membership in the Communist Party and adopted what some critics regarded as a more subtle and allegorical style of songwriting.
Just when it seemed the group and its members were finished, a reunion concert was arranged for the group in 1955 at Carnegie Hall by Woodie Guthrie's manager, Harold Leventhal, who decided to simply defy the blacklist. The concert re-started the group's career and revived the folk music movement itself, as Leventhal went on to to nurture other up and coming folk artists like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, and Joni Mitchell throughout the 1960s.
In the new film, the Weavers and other folk singers who appear with them on screen, including Arlo Guthrie and Peter Paul and Mary, denounce the Bush presidency. The Weavers and Leventhal in particular draw explicit parallels between the McCarthyism of the 1950s and the current political climate in the States.
The Weavers
Newly-wed Italian conductor Carlo Ponti Jr., right, and his wife, Hungarian violinist Andrea Meszaros, walk down the steps of the St. Stephen Basilica in Budapest, on Saturday Sept., 18, 2004, after their wedding ceremony. At the top of the steps are Carlo's parents, Italian actress Sophia Loren, right, and movie director Carlo Ponti, 2nd right.
Photo by Tamas Kovacs
Opens San Sebastian Film Festival
Woody Allen
The distinction between comedy and tragedy often depends on the eye of the beholder, US director Woody Allen said as he opened the 52nd San Sebastian International Film Festival, insisting however that if resident George W. Bush is re-elected it will be "an automatic tragedy".
If the US president is re-elected in November, "for me it's tragic. Extremely tragic," the New York film legend said as he kicked off the eight-day event in which his new film "Melinda and Melinda" was screened for the first time.
While much in life is like the film, where the way you view a story determines whether it turns tragic or becomes a comedy, Allen insisted that the rise of George W. Bush has the making of a true tragedy.
"If you observe him, it's quite amusing, if you listen to him as he speaks, if you follow him closely it would provide you a great many laughs. But it's the perfect example of islands of comedy, comic moments against a very, very tragic background," he said.
Woody Allen
Salutes Its Musical Stars
MGM
MGM's musical stars of a half-century ago, including Debbie Reynolds, Mickey Rooney, Esther Williams and Cyd Charise, took the stage at the Motion Picture Academy to once again bask in photographers' flashes and wild applause.
The occasion was a 30th anniversary screening of the 1974 paean to MGM's golden age of the movie musical, "That's Entertainment," presented in a newly restored digital version.
The Friday night event, planned weeks ago, happened to fall at the end of a week when MGM tentatively agreed to be acquired by a group led by Sony, meaning MGM may soon disappear as an independent studio.
Reynolds, Rooney, Williams, Charisse, Tony Martin, Arlene Dahl, Betty Garrett, Julie Newmar, Virginia O'Brien, Janis Paige and Russ Tamblyn each took the microphone for a brief remark then together posed for a class photo.
MGM
Joining Cast of 'Monk'
Traylor Howard
Traylor Howard is joining the cast of "Monk." She will play a former bartender and single mother who becomes Monk's assistant, the USA Network said this week. Tony Shalhoub stars as Adrian Monk, an obsessive-compulsive private eye.
Bitty Schram, who played Monk's personal nurse, recently left the show. USA and Schram's management said the split was amicable, and the network said "Monk" had decided to go in a "different creative direction."
"Monk" is in the middle of its third season, with new episodes scheduled to air in January.
Traylor Howard
The Dalai Lama of Tibet, blesses the Mani Wheel (Tibetan prayer wheel) after giving a public address on his philosophy of universal responsibility on the first stop of his North American and Caribbean tour, at Nova Southeastern University Saturday, Sept. 18, 2004, in Davie, Fla.
Photo by Luis M. Alvarez
One-Year Extension At Caesars Palace
Celine Dion
A New Day... will continue for one more year.
Celine Dion's popular show at Caesars Palace hotel-casino has been extended into 2007, show spokeswoman Kris Lingle said Friday.
No financial details were released.
Celine Dion
Pitching Buicks
B-52's
Even though the band is without a record deal, the B-52's will be front and center during the live telecast of the Emmy Awards, Sunday (Sept. 19) on ABC.
That night, Buick will launch an ad campaign for its new LaCrosse midsize sedan. The commercials prominently feature the B-52's' cover of the Beatles classic "Paperback Writer," which was recorded specifically for the campaign.
The ad program will start with 15-second spots, to be followed by 30- and 60-second spots in November. They are scheduled to run for the next year.
B-52's
Says Rather Criticism Got Him Fired
Brian Maloney
A radio talk-show host said Saturday he has been fired for criticizing CBS newsman Dan Rather's handling of challenges to the authenticity of memos about resident Bush's National Guard service.
"On the talk show that I host, or hosted, I said I felt Rather should either retire or be forced out over this," said Brian Maloney, whose weekly "The Brian Maloney Show" aired for three years on KIRO-AM Radio, a CBS affiliate.
"What they have expressed is essentially that my show went in a direction they're not comfortable with," Maloney said.
Brian Maloney
Chinese entertainers perform a traditional dragon dance during the opening ceremony of the Three Gorges Tourist Festival in Chongqing, a municipal city in south-central China, September 18, 2004. The festival is aimed at promoting tourism along the Yangtze River. dragon_091804
Annual Munich Binge
Oktoberfest
International squads of beer drinkers, leather-clad Bavarians and devotees of excess young and old converged in Munich on Saturday for the start of the planet's biggest beer festival, the Oktoberfest.
Over the next two weeks, beer drinkers are expected to guzzle more than six million litres of beer -- enough to fill around six Olympic size swimming pools -- and chomp through vast quantities of food during the world-famous orgy of consumption.
Dressed in leather shorts, or lederhosen, Munich mayor Christian Ude got the festival under way at noon to the cheers of an impatient crowd by cracking open the first 200 liter keg with the traditional shout "O'zapft is!" - the keg is tapped.
With its huge influx of tourists, the festival creates work for some 12,000 people and generates close to a billion euros in revenues for the city.
Oktoberfest
Lose Tax Breaks
California Teachers
Because of a budget crunch, California has suspended a tax credit that reimbursed teachers up to $1,500 for classroom supplies. Meanwhile, a $250 federal tax deduction for teachers that helped defray out-of-pocket spending expired this year.
Teachers around the country often reach into their own pockets to buy school supplies for themselves or their students, either because the school system does not provide the money, or because they feel sorry for youngsters from poor homes who come to school without the things they need.
Nationwide, teachers spent an average of $458 on school supplies, according to the National School Supply and Equipment Association, a Maryland-based trade group.
California Teachers
Actress Julie Newmar poses for photographers while wearing retro clothing during a reception at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to screen the re-mastered digital presentation of the 1974 film, 'That's Entertainment,' in Beverly Hills September 17, 2004. The film, which critics believe launched a rebirth of the movie musical, was re-mastered in honor of the 75th anniversary of the musical genre.
Photo by Jeff Mitchell
Toddler Has Lifetime of Celebrity Shots
Jeremy Zorek
Talk about a scrapbook. He's only two years old, but Jeremy Zorek has already been photographed with dozens of celebrities as he and his stay-at-home dad wander New York with a camera.
Jeremy's first flick was with NFL twins Tiki and Ronde Barber in July 2002, when he was just four months old. Zorek, who has worked as an actor and in public relations, had decided to stay home while his wife went back to work.
Two months later, Zorek and Jeremy attended a book signing by Jamie Lee Curtis. Someone in the audience yelled, "Take a picture with that kid." A few days later, a similar picture appeared in the New York Post with the caption, "Who is that with Jeremy?"
That photo also got passed around, and someone suggested Zorek create the Web site - which now features the likes of Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Billy Joel, Sarah Jessica Parker, Hugh Hefner, G. Gordon Liddy, Spike Lee, Bill Clinton and Elmo from Sesame Street.
Most of the time, Jeremy smiles on cue. It helps that the boy has done some modeling. But he still squirms and cries occasionally - like his highly upset performance with Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
"I told him 'I'm sorry, he's a Democrat,'" Zorek said. "Bloomberg said, 'That's OK, so was I until recently.'"
Jeremy Zorek
In The Mail
A Day in the Life of Joe Republican
Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards.
With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His meds are safe because some stupid commie liberal fought to insure their safety and that they work as advertised.
All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too.
He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry decades before.
In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.
Joe dresses, walks outside & takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air.
He walks to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.
Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays, vacation and an 8 hour day because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards.
If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.
It's noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.
Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime.
Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards.
He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans. The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.
He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.
Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoyed throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."
Thanks, Steve B, James & Linda >^..^< !
In Memory
Billy Davis
Songwriter Billy Davis, who wrote a number of R&B hits and was part of the creative team behind a landmark campaign for Coca-Cola, has died.
Davis died Sept. 2 in New Rochelle, N.Y., after a long illness. He was 76.
The Detroit native (born Roquel William Davis) was one of four men credited with writing "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke," for a 1971 Coca-Cola TV commercial. The enormously popular anthem later morphed into a hit with slighly different lyrics, "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)."
Before that international success, Davis produced Fontella Bass' 1965 R&B/pop crossover "Rescue Me" for Chess Records.
Under the pseudonym Tyran Carlo, he co-wrote several Jackie Wilson hits, including "Higher and Higher" and "Lonely Teardrops."
His songwriting partners in those pre-Motown days were siblings Berry and Gwen Gordy. Davis, Gwen and Anna Gordy established Tamla/Motown precursor Anna Records, which birthed Barrett Strong's 1960 R&B hit, "Money (That's What I Want)."
Billy Davis
A 'four-egg-yolks' mooncake, which contains four whole salted duck egg yolks with gummy lotus seed in one cake selling at HK$40 ($5), is displayed at a bakery in Hong Kong September 15, 2004. Mainland Chinese customers are turning to Hong Kong for their annual fix after a series of food scares back home, with Hong Kong bakeries scrambling to hire staff to churn out hundreds of millions of the round, palm-sized cakes -- each of which has more calories than a McDonald's Big Mac -- as their delivery hotlines ring off-the-hook.
Photo by Bobby Yip
