'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Molly Ivins: Time to Go Long (AlterNet.org)
What matters here is not what the Republicans or the Democrats do -- it's what you do before November. Sit up, join up, stir it up, get online, get in touch, find out who's raising hell and join them. No use waiting on a bunch of wussy politicians.
Annalee Newitz: Good Fake, Bad Fake (AlterNet.org)
Stem cell research fraud vs. literary fraud: Only one harms its victims.
J. Douglas Allen-Taylor: Dear Johns: For Shame ( AlterNet.org)
A controversial plan to deter prostitution in an urban neighborhood never quite measured up to its hype.
Retraining The Brain (cbsnews.com)
It is hard to tell by watching her, but 4-year old Harper Thomas is participating in what may be a medical revolution. So are Betty and Ernie Radez, aged 87 and 85, respectively.
Rachel Kramer Bussel: I'm Pro-Choice and I Fuck (villagevoice.com)
The intimate link between reproductive and sexual freedom
Charles Ferruzza: There are more of you cheapskates out there than we thought (pitch.com)
... reminded me of when I was a novice waiter many years ago and a quartet of sadists were seated in my station. They put a pile of dollar bills in the middle of the table. "This is your tip," one of them announced. "And for every mistake you make, we'll take one bill off." This little game made me increasingly nervous, so of course I fumbled through the meal. By the time I served these freaks dessert, there was only a single buck on the table. "Sorry, kid, you're only getting a dollar," said the smirking jerk after he paid the bill. "Oh, thank you so much, sir," I said. "And for your next trick, could you please stick it up your ass?"
Justin Kendall: Fear This Geek: Kansas City's Johnathan Wendel is a walking Fatal1ty (pitch.com)
Johnathan Wendel is a cold-blooded killer. He plays violent, first-person-shooter video games better than anyone in the world.
Craig Aaron: Country's Jingoistic Jingles (inthesetimes.com)
But not everyone in the South is on the bandwagon. "I'd say to Travis Tritt and Lee Ann Womack and the rest of 'em that the one thing they better understand is that their core constituency is getting fucked out here," says Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, a political consultant who's trying to help Democrats reconnect with Red state voters. "In job loss, health care, everywhere you look, rural America's getting screwed."
Hubert's Poetry Corner
The Day Neiman-Marcus Stood Still
How did a highly polished foreign visitor turn joy into fright for a group of innocent young students?
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast, but no rain.
No new flags.
Working At Sundance
Al Gore
To borrow a cliché from the Hollywood marketing playbook, the new global warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" stars former vice president Al Gore as you've never seen him before.
Al Gore wheeling his own suitcase through airports, taking off his shoes and emptying his pockets at security. Al Gore firing up crowds with his one-man PowerPoint presentation show on arctic melt rates, devastating heat waves and dangerous changes in ocean currents.
Al Gore cracking jokes, reflecting candidly on his own foibles.
The failed presidential candidate doesn't immediately come to mind as the kind of charismatic star Hollywood might turn to to dramatize a pet cause. But his quest caught the attention of a group of filmmakers - among them "Pulp Fiction" producer Lawrence Bender - who have translated it to the screen in a documentary slated to premiere Tuesday at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
For a lot more, Al Gore
Thanks, JD & Norma!
Singing At Super Bowl
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin will join New Orleans singer Aaron Neville in performing the national anthem at next month's Super Bowl. They will be accompanied by another veteran New Orleans musician, pianist Dr. John.
Franklin, Neville and a 150-person backing choir will sing to a taped vocal track to be recorded in Detroit several days before the Feb. 5 game at Detroit's Ford Field, the Free Press reported on its Web site.
In addition, John Legend and Joss Stone will join Motown star Stevie Wonder in performing Wonder's hits as part of the Super Bowl pre-game show, which will be broadcast live on ABC.
Aretha Franklin
Puppeteer to Be Honored
Caroll Spinney
Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who plays "Sesame Street" icons Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, will receive the lifetime achievement award at this year's Daytime Emmy Awards.
Spinney was chosen for his work entertaining and educating children for nearly four decades, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced Wednesday.
Spinney has played the 8-foot-2 lemon-feathered Big Bird and garbage-can dweller Oscar the Grouch since the children's public television series debuted in 1969. He chronicled his experiences portraying the characters in "The Wisdom of Big Bird."
Caroll Spinney
Ending In May
'Malcolm' & 'That '70s Show'
Fox's veteran comedy "Malcolm in the Middle" will end its seven-season run May 14, while "That '70s Show," now in its eighth season, will bow out four days later, the network said Tuesday.
For the homestretch, "Malcolm" will return to Sundays beginning January 29, opening the night at 7 p.m., a slot generally occupied by cartoon reruns.
"King of the Hill," which is not in production but has never been officially canceled, might come back as early as January 2007 if discussions with the series' producers are successful.
'Malcolm' & 'That '70s Show'
Puts New Life Into Silent-Film Library
TCM
The image of silent-movie actress Eleanor Boardman flickers on a screen above a scoring stage at Signet Sound Studios. She's watching knights in shining armor comically fall from their horses.
Sitting in the control room, 28-year-old film composer Marcus Sjowall looks down from the black and white image and listens intently. An orchestra on the stage is playing the first musical notes for cue M19 of his score for the 1923 silent classic "Souls for Sale."
Sjowall is the sixth winner of Turner Classic Movies' annual Young Film Composers Competition. The contest allows composers between the ages of 18 and 35 a chance to write music scores for silent films that originally had only live musical accompaniment in the theater.
The winner receives $10,000, earns the opportunity to have his or her score broadcast on TCM, and, perhaps most important, gets a chance to break into the exclusive world of film scoring.
TCM
Baby News
Holly Hunter
47-year-old Academy Award winner Holly Hunter has given birth to twins, publicist Nicole Caruso told People magazine on Wednesday.
"She had the babies," said Caruso. "They are happy and healthy."
No further details have been revealed, including the sex of the babies, but the children are the first for both Hunter and boyfriend Gordon MacDonald.
Holly Hunter
Hospital News
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes was being treated at a Memphis hospital Tuesday for exhaustion, his longtime songwriting partner said.
"He's just overworked and had been in Atlantic City performing, the D.C. area performing, and in Tunica (Miss.) a couple of nights ago. He was just overworked," David Porter told The Commercial Appeal newspaper.
Isaac Hayes
More At Home On Faux
'Journal Editorial Report'
The "Journal Editorial Report," a production of The Wall Street Journal that formerly aired on PBS, will begin its run on Fox News Channel this weekend, the network said Wednesday.
It will air Saturdays at 11 p.m. EST, repeating Sundays at 6 a.m.
"Journal" editorial page editor Paul Gigot continues as host of the half-hour program, which this week will feature the paper's Dan Henninger, Kimberley Strassel and Bret Stephens debating the threat from an Iranian nuclear weapon, and whether CEOs are paid too much.
'Journal Editorial Report'
Sued by Ex-Assistant
Laurence Fishburne
Laurence Fishburne's former personal assistant is suing him for allegedly firing her because she was pregnant and single, her lawyer said Wednesday.
Kristal Crews filed the lawsuit against the actor in Superior Court on Tuesday, seeking unspecified damages.
Fishburne's attorney, Lawrence Gartner, denied the allegations, saying in a statement that during Crews' employment "she was always treated in a fair and professional manner."
Laurence Fishburne
Violated Parole
Leif Garrett
Former teen idol Leif Garrett was charged Wednesday with possessing heroin after he was arrested for allegedly trying to ride the subway without a ticket.
Garrett, 44, also was charged with fare evasion.
He was held without bail for allegedly violating terms of his probation for a previous drug offense. He pleaded guilty in March to attempted possession of cocaine-based narcotics and was placed on probation.
Leif Garrett
Pleads Not Guilty
Brad Renfro
Brad Renfro pleaded not guilty Wednesday to attempted possession of heroin after being arrested for investigation of trying to buy the drug on Skid Row.
Renfro, 23, wearing a black suit and tie, entered the plea to the felony charge in Superior Court. He was ordered to return Feb. 23 to see if the case can be resolved without a trial.
The actor's lawyer said he hopes Renfro will be sent to a drug diversion program.
Brad Renfro
Animals Not Mistreated
Michael Jackson
The giraffes and other exotic animals Michael Jackson has kept at his Neverland Ranch are not being mistreated, federal officials have concluded.
The Department of Agriculture sent an inspector to the 2,600-acre ranch in Central California last month in response to a complaint from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. PETA based its complaint on European tabloid reports that animals were being kept in substandard conditions.
"I'm unaware of any violations of the Animal Welfare Act at Neverland," Darby Holladay, a spokesman with the USDA in Washington, said Tuesday.
Michael Jackson
First Solo Tour
Donald Fagen
Steely Dan principal Donald Fagen will begin his first-ever solo tour March 1 in New Brunswick, N.J. Currently, 18 dates are on tap through March 28 in Oakland, Calif. The trek comes in support of his third solo album, "Morph the Cat," due March 7 via Reprise.
On the day of release, the artist will play a hometown show at New York's Beacon Theater. The tour set list is expected to be dominated by Fagen's solo work, with a sprinkling of Steely Dan material. The makeup of his band has yet to be announced.
On-sale information for the upcoming shows can be found on Fagen's Web site, as well as VIP packages which offer seats in the first 10 rows plus access to soundcheck.
For a list of tour dates - Donald Fagen
Found in Calif. Caves
New Animal Species
Twenty-seven previously unknown species of spiders, centipedes, scorpion-like creatures and other animals have been discovered in the dark, damp caves beneath two national parks in the Sierra Nevada, biologists say.
"Not only are these animals new to science, but they're adapted to very specific environments - some of them, to a single room in one cave," said Joel Despain, a cave specialist who helped explore 30 of the 238 known caves in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
The species have yet to be named, described scientifically and placed in the continuum of known living organisms.
New Animal Species
Danish Museum Re-evaluates 2 Paintings
Rembrandt
The National Gallery said Wednesday that two of its paintings that were previously believed to be fake Rembrandts are actual works by the Dutch master.
International art experts re-evaluated 10 canvases that bear Rembrandt's signature, but were kept in storage facilities for years because they were believed to be copies made by his students.
Using state-of-the-art technology, the experts established that the paintings - The Crusader, from between 1659 and 1691, and Old Man in Profile, from about 1630 - were painted by the master.
Rembrandt
Hamster, Snake Best Friends
Gohan and Aochan
Gohan and Aochan make strange bedfellows: one's a 3.5-inch dwarf hamster; the other is a four-foot rat snake. Zookeepers at Tokyo's Mutsugoro Okoku zoo presented the hamster - whose name means "meal" in Japanese - to Aochan as a tasty morsel in October, after the snake refused to eat frozen mice.
But instead of indulging, Aochan decided to make friends with the furry rodent, according to keeper Kazuya Yamamoto. The pair have shared a cage since.
Aochan, a 2-year-old male Japanese rat snake, eventually developed an appetite for frozen rodents but has so far shown no signs of gobbling up Gohan - despite her name.
Gohan and Aochan
'Radical' Professors Targeted
Witch-Hunt In Westwood
Thirty UCLA professors are being targeted by an alumni group that accuses them of expressing left-wing political views.
The year-old Bruin Alumni Association is offering students up to a hundred dollars per class to supply notes, and tapes exposing the professors.
The group says on its website, bruinalumni.com, it is concerned about professors who use lecture time to press positions against resident Bush, the military and corporations. The effort is being led by Andrew Jones, a 2003 graduate and former chair of a student Republican club.
Witch-Hunt In Westwood
Prime-Time Nielsen
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Jan. 9-15. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses.
An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.
1. (X) "AFC Divisional Playoff-Saturday: New England Patriots at Denver Broncos," CBS, 26.3 million viewers.
2. (2) "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 22.5 million viewers.
3. (12) "Lost," ABC, 20.6 million viewers.
4. (4) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 20.1 million viewers.
5. (5) "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 19.0 million viewers.
6. (1) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 17.8 million viewers.
7. (6) "Dancing With the Stars," ABC, 17.4 million viewers.
8. (10) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 17.2 million viewers.
9. (10) "NCIS," CBS, 17.2 million viewers.
10. (X) "24" Preview Special (8 p.m.), Fox, 17.0 million viewers.
11. (19) "Criminal Minds," CBS, 15.9 million viewers.
12. (17) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC, 15.6 million viewers.
13. (X) "24" Preview Special (9 p.m.), Fox, 15.5 million viewers.
14. (19) "ER," NBC, 15.4 million viewers.
15. (25) "House," Fox, 14.8 million viewers.
16. (14) "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," NBC, 14.7 million viewers.
17. (9) "Cold Case," CBS, 14.6 million viewers.
18. (3) "Without a Trace," CBS, 14.2 million viewers.
19. (33) "CBS Sunday Movie: Jesse Stone: Night Package," CBS, 13.9 million viewers.
20. (23) "Out of Practice," CBS, 13.7 million viewers.
Ratings
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
