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Funny Movies
The NEW question:
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Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Mark Morford: "Small: The New Cool?" (sfgate.com)
Behold, the shrinking car, home, your flabby flesh. Yay for the recession!
Michael Moore Dares to Ask: What's So Heroic About Being Shot Down While Bombing Innocent Civilians? (alternet.org)
John McCain flew 23 bombing missions over North Vietnam in a campaign called Operation Rolling Thunder. During this bombing campaign, which lasted for almost 44 months, U.S. forces flew 307,000 attack sorties, dropping 643,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam (roughly the same tonnage dropped in the Pacific during all of World War II). Though the stated targets were factories, bridges, and power plants, thousands of bombs also fell on homes, schools, and hospitals. In the midst of the campaign, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara estimated that we were killing 1,000 civilians a week. That's more than one 9/11 every single month -- for 44 months.
Farhad Manjoo: Is Something Rotten at Apple? (slate.com)
E-MAIL PROBLEMS, FLAKY IPHONES, AND BROKEN MACS. WHAT'S STEVE JOBS TO DO?
Michele Hanson: Foreigners make the best of the food they have. We take something perfectly good and destroy it (guardian.co.uk)
Almost the entire world cooks better than us, notably Soweto slum dwellers and the French.
A Review by Gerry Donaghy: "X Films: True Confessions of a Radical Filmmaker" by Alex Cox (powells.com)
Alex Cox's legacy rests largely on a movie that he made a quarter century ago. Repo Man, quite possibly the only film to combine L.A. punk swagger with Robert Aldrich's classic nuclear noir Kiss Me Deadly, skewered everything from American consumerism to UFO cultists to Scientologists and successfully captured the zeitgeist of Ronald Reagan's America.
EDDIE CIMINELLI: "A Language That Nobody Else Could Understand": An Interview with Elbow
With their new album The Seldom Seen Kid fresh on shelves, the guys in Elbow sit down with PopMatters to reflect on the losses, tragedies, and hopes that got them to where they are now, all while celebrating the music that continues to unite this group over nearly two decades of existence.
Timothy Finn: Yes, Nils Lofgren is an E Street Band guitarist, but he has his music, too (McClatchy Newspapers)
One of the most recognizable parts of one of Neil Young's most beloved songs is the piano in "After the Gold Rush." Nils Lofgren was 18 - with no piano training - when he recorded that part. That was back in 1970. For Lofgren, it was the beginning of a long and influential relationship with Young and his longtime producer, David Briggs.
Walter Tunis: Piano with a Southern accent (McClatchy Newspapers)
Sit Chuck Leavell behind a piano, and the musical richness of the South comes to life.
Brian McCollum: Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor has put some old demons behind him (Detroit Free Press)
We used to wait for Trent Reznor. And wait. And wait.
Will Harris: A Chat with Joey Zehr of the Click Five (bullz-eye.com)
On changing singers after releasing only one album: "It's a very weird thing, and you try to keep yourself business-minded about it, but it's music, and, ultimately, in the end, the emotions have to be right. It's too stressful to be an artist and not have the emotions right."
McCainpedia
Video" Michael Moore Declares No More Mr. Nice Dems
Purple Gene Reviews
'Trial by Trigger'
Purple Gene's review of the 20 minute 2 reel Western synoptic short film from the "Santa Fe Trails" series "Trial by Trigger" (1944) (this movie is a quickie remake of the "Valley of the Giants" (1938)).
Directed by William C. McGann.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny and pleasant.
Hosting 'SNL' Premiere
Michael Phelps
Recording-breaking swimmer Michael Phelps, who took home eight gold medals at the Bejing Olympics, will host the 34th season premiere of NBC's long-running late-night sketch-comedy series on Sept. 13.
Joining the 23-year-old athlete as musical guest will be rapper Lil Wayne.
The network will air seven new "SNL" episodes before November's presidential election.
NBC will also air three prime-time episodes of "Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday," a special half-hour "Weekend Update" edition of the show, beginning Oct. 9.
Michael Phelps
Special Rules For Special People (With An 'R' After Their Name)
Jack Abramoff
The Justice Department on Wednesday recommended a dramatic reduction in the prison sentence of imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff (R-Corrupt), who became the key witness against lawmakers and congressional aides he spent years corrupting.
Prosecutors asked federal judges in Washington and Florida to shave years of prison time off his sentence, citing his work in an FBI investigation that sent numerous powerful people to prison and contributed to the Republican Party's loss of Congress.
In 2006, Abramoff began serving nearly six years in prison for a fraudulent Florida casino deal. On top of that, he faces about 11 years in prison when he is sentenced next week for corrupting Capitol Hill lawmakers with expensive meals, golf junkets, luxury sports tickets and other gifts.
The Justice Department is asking for a much more lenient sentence. Prosecutors asked that the Florida sentence be reduced to less than four years. They asked a federal judge in Washington to sentence Abramoff to five years and four months, with credit for the two years he has served in the Florida case.
Jack Abramoff
What Checks? What Balances?
Justice
The Bush administration is raising the stakes in a court fight that could change the balance of power between the White House and Congress.
Justice Department lawyers said Wednesday that they will soon ask a federal appeals court not to force the resident's top advisers to comply with congressional subpoenas next month. Resident Bush argues Congress doesn't have the authority to demand information from his aides.
U.S. District Judge John Bates strongly rejected that stance last month, ordering former White House counsel Harriet Miers to testify and White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten to turn over documents related to the firing of federal prosecutors.
It was a historic loss for the Bush administration, a stinging ruling in the first such case ever to make it to the courts.
Justice
Playing Tel Aviv
Paul McCartney
An upcoming concert by Paul McCartney has revived memories of the 1960s, when an Israeli official supposedly called off a Beatles concert for fear it would corrupt the nation's youth.
The episode is often fondly quoted as a relic of a long-lost Israel where the public's innocence needed protecting.
Trouble is, the story might not be true: With Israelis in a tizzy about McCartney's arrival, the official's son is taking the opportunity to try to clear his father's name, calling the tale a "Zionist urban legend."
On Wednesday, McCartney confirmed the Sept. 25 concert in Tel Aviv, which had been rumored for days.
Paul McCartney
Heading To The Internets
Dead Sea Scrolls
Scientists in Israel are taking digital photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls with the aim of making the 2,000-year-old documents available to the public and researchers on the Internet.
Israel Antiquities Authority, the custodian of the scrolls that shed light on the life of Jews and early Christians at the time of Jesus, said on Wednesday it would take more than two years to complete the project.
A team of specialists has taken 4,000 pictures of some 9,000 fragments that make up the scrolls, which number 900 in total. A few large pieces of scroll are on permanent display at the Israel Museum.
Dead Sea Scrolls
Pageant Cancelled
'Miss Sister'
An Italian priest who had planned an online "pageant" for nuns has suspended the project, saying he was misinterpreted and had no intention of putting sisters on a beauty catwalk.
"My superiors were not happy. The local bishop was not happy, but they did not understand me either," Father Antonio Rungi told Reuters by telephone from his convent in southern Italy Tuesday.
He said his concept for the contest, in which nuns would vote for themselves on his blog, would include attributes such as their spirituality, social awareness, charity and other qualities.
"We have to draw more attention to the world of nuns, who are often not sufficiently appreciated by society," he wrote, adding that he had hoped his initiative would help boost sagging vocations to religious lie.
'Miss Sister'
Painting Missing
Fernand Leger
An elite women's liberal arts college outside Boston has lost a painting by early 20th century French Cubist Fernand Leger, whose work has sold for tens of millions of dollars.
The painting, "Woman and Child," disappeared after Wellesley College lent it to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art for a 2006-2007 exhibition while the school's Davis Museum and Cultural Center was being renovated, the college's president said on Wednesday.
The 1921 painting was returned to Wellesley -- known for influential alumnae including New York Sen. Hillary Clinton -- after the exhibition closed, but remained tucked in a crate while renovations continued at the Davis museum.
Wellesley officials realized the painting was missing in November, when they went to look for it as part of a project to catalogue the museum's collection.
Fernand Leger
Offers Refund
Neil Diamond
Disappointed Neil Diamond fans will get a refund after attending a concert at Ohio State University in which the 67-year-old singer's voice sounded raspy.
Some fans left the Monday concert early and others said Diamond completed the concert without mentioning anything to the audience about his voice.
A statement from Diamond, the singer of such hits as "Sweet Caroline" and "Song Sung Blue," on Tuesday says a doctor has diagnosed acute laryngitis.
Diamond spokeswoman Eve Samuels says the singer is offering a refund to those who place a request before Sept. 5. "I haven't let you down before and I won't let you down now," the singer said in an apology on his Web site.
Neil Diamond
Posts Bail In Vegas
Mrrion 'Suge' Knight
Marion "Suge" Knight was jailed Wednesday on assault and drug charges after he was accused of beating his girlfriend while brandishing a knife near the Las Vegas Strip, police said.
Knight, 43, posted $19,000 bail and was scheduled to be released late Wednesday with a promise to appear Sept. 26 in Las Vegas Justice Court, a court spokeswoman said.
Police said the founder of bankrupt Death Row Records was arrested about 6:40 a.m. after officers arrived at the scene of a minor traffic accident and found Knight hitting a woman in a parking lot off a busy thoroughfare.
He was booked into the Clark County jail on felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a controlled substance, and misdemeanor charges of possession of dangerous drugs without a prescription and domestic violence.
Mrrion 'Suge' Knight
Busted At LAX
Mackenzie Phillips
Former teen star Mackenzie Phillips has been arrested on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance after she allegedly was found carrying drugs at Los Angeles International Airport.
The 48-year-old Phillips was heading to New York when she failed to pass a security screening and a secondary search turned up a small amount of cocaine and heroin in her possession, airport police Sgt. Jim Holcomb said.
Phillips is the daughter of John Phillips, the late leader of the singing group the Mamas and the Papas. She has struggled with drug addiction in the past and was fired from "One Day At a Time," which ran from 1975 to 1984, for drug-related causes.
Mackenzie Phillips
FBI Busts Blogger
Guns N' Roses
A blogger suspected of streaming songs from the unreleased Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" on his Web site was arrested Wednesday and appeared in court, where his bail was set at $10,000.
FBI agents arrested 27-year-old Kevin Cogill on Wednesday morning on suspicion of violating federal copyright laws. Cogill appeared in court in the afternoon wearing a T-shirt; his girlfriend sat court and afterward said, "Rally the troops," but declined further comment.
Federal authorities say Cogill posted nine unreleased Guns N' Roses songs on his Web site in June. The songs were later removed.
In later posts, Cogill wrote that the FBI had questioned him and asked his readers if any of them knew a good attorney. He was represented Wednesday by a federal public defender.
Guns N' Roses
What Global Warming?
Arctic Sea Ice
More ominous signs Wednesday have scientists saying that a global warming "tipping point" in the Arctic seems to be happening before their eyes: Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is at its second lowest level in about 30 years.
The National Snow and Ice Data Center reported that sea ice in the Arctic now covers about 2.03 million square miles. The lowest point since satellite measurements began in 1979 was 1.65 million square miles set last September.
With about three weeks left in the Arctic summer, this year could wind up breaking that previous record, scientists said.
"We could very well be in that quick slide downward in terms of passing a tipping point," said senior scientist Mark Serreze at the data center in Boulder, Colo. "It's tipping now. We're seeing it happen now."
Arctic Sea Ice
Train Runs Out Of Fuel
Amtrak
A quick train trip down the coast turned into a long haul for more than 80 Amtrak passengers when their train from Los Angeles to San Diego ran out of fuel Sunday night.
Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said the train sat for about two hours on the northern edge of San Diego before another engine came along to push it the last several miles to the San Diego train station.
The train, which had left Los Angeles at 8:30 p.m., didn't get there until 1:15 a.m. Monday, two hours late.
Amtrak
Closing NY Office
Virgin Comics
Virgin Comics, a partnership between Virgin Books and India-based comics publisher Gotham Entertainment that had Hollywood dreams, announced Tuesday that it is closing its New York offices and will reorganize its operations.
Citing "the current macro-economic downturn," the company, under CEO Sharad Devarajan and president Suresh Seetharaman, said it hopes to restructure the business and consolidate its operations at a Los Angeles base. Eight people have been laid off.
The company launched in 2006 with Virgin Group chief Richard Branson, author Deepak Chopra and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur among its founders. It began by publishing comics inspired by Indian and Hindu mythology and then moved into a line known as Director's Cut, which attempted to lure filmmakers into the comics world in hopes of subsequently turning their books into film projects
Virgin Comics
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Aug 18-24. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. "The Closer" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 4.82 million homes, 6.45 million viewers.
2. "The Cheetah Girls: One World" (Friday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 4.01 million homes, 6.18 million viewers.
3. "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.70 million homes, 5.15 million viewers.
4. Auto Racing: NASCAR Sprint Cup (Saturday, 8 p.m.), ESPN, 3.36 million homes, 5.00 million viewers.
5. "Monk" (Friday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.31 million homes, 4.58 million viewers.
6. "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" (Saturday, 1 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.30 million homes, 4.70 million viewers.
7. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.23 million homes, 4.97 million viewers.
8. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.14 million homes, 4.76 million viewers.
9. "Saving Grace" (Monday, 10 p.m.), TNT, 2.92 million homes, 3.78 million viewers.
10. "Psych" (Friday, 10 p.m.), USA, 2.85 million homes, 3.96 million viewers.
11. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 12 noon), Nickelodeon, 2.83 million homes, 3.98 million viewers.
12. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.82 million homes, 3.73 million viewers.
13. "Burn Notice" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), USA, 2.80 million homes, 3.86 million viewers.
14. NFL Exhibition Football: Browns vs. Giants (Monday, 8 p.m.), ESPN, 2.79 million homes, 3.53 million viewers.
15. "The Hills" (Monday, 10 p.m.), MTV, 2.76 million homes, 3.48 million viewers.
Ratings
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