Special Bonus
Disinfotainment Today Presents
'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Rainy day.
Have way too much to still get done.
And I feel like shit.
Tonight, Thursday, CBS celebrates Christmas with a RERUN 'Cold Case', followed by a RERUN 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', then a RERUN
'Without A Trace'.
On a RERUN Dave are Stupid Pet Tricks and Cate Blanchett. (RERUNs all next week)
On a RERUN Craiggers are Halle Berry, Paul Bettany, and Sarah McLachlan. (RERUNs all next week)
NBC starts the night with a RERUN 'Friends', followed by a RERUN 'Tracy Morgan', then a RERUN 'Will & Grace', followed by a RERUN
'Scrubs', then a RERUN 'ER' (that starts a minute early).
On a RERUN Jay it's TBA.
On a RERUN Conan are Al Gore, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band.
On a RERUN Carson Daly are Stanlet Tucci and Sum 41. (RERUNs all next week)
ABC has NBA - Basketball. Left coast is treated to the movie 'A Few Good Men'.
On a RERUN Jimmy Kimmel (from 7/25/03), are L.A. Laker Karl Malone, Vanessa Ferlito, and Boyd Tinsley, with guest co-host Lil' Max$o. (RERUNs all next week)
The WB offers a RERUN 'Steve Harvey's Big Time', followed by another 'Steve Harvey's Big Time', then a RERUN 'Jamie Kennedy', followed by a another
RERUN 'Jamie Kennedy'.
Faux has the FRESH 'World Idol' (part 1 of 2).
UPN fills the night with 'WWE Smackdown!' as Vince McMahon & the guys visit troops in Kuwait & Iraq.
A&E has the movie 'Young Guns', followed by the movie 'Columbo: A Bird In The Hand', then the movie 'Columbo: Death Hits The Jackpot'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Undefeated', followed by the movie 'The Searchers', then the movie 'Hombre'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Mitchell;
[7pm] 'House Invaders' - Blackburn, Lancashire;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - New Malden;
[8pm] 'House Invaders' - Kings Norton;
[8:30pm] 'House Invaders' - Stourbridge;
[9pm] 'Faking It' - Kickboxer to Ballroom Dancer;
[10pm] 'Coupling' - Gotcha;
[10:40pm] 'Parkinson' - Nicole Kidman;
[11pm] 'House Invaders' - Kings Norton;
[11:30pm] 'House Invaders' - Stourbridge;
[12am] 'Faking It' - Kickboxer to Ballroom Dancer;
[1am] 'Coupling' - Gotcha;
[1:40am] 'Parkinson' - Nicole Kidman;
[2am] 'House Invaders' - Kings Norton;
[2:30am] 'House Invaders' - Stourbridge;
[3am] 'Faking It' - Kickboxer to Ballroom Dancer;
[4am] 'Coupling' - Gotcha;
[4:40am] 'Parkinson' - Nicole Kidman;
[5am] 'House Invaders' - Kings Norton;
[5:30am] 'House Invaders' - Stourbridge;
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'West Wing', followed by the movie 'The Terminator', then the movie 'The Terminator', again.
Comedy Central has 'Saturday Night Live''s all day, followed by 'South Park', another 'South Park', then 'The Man Show', followed by another 'The Man Show'.
Jon Stewart is Pre-empted all week. (RERUNs all next week)
History has 'Secrets Of The Ancient World', 'Bible Code: Predicting', 'Banned From The Bible', then 'Heaven & Hell'.
SciFi has the movie 'The Shadow', followed by the movie 'Batman', then the movie 'Superman II'.
TCM:
[6am] 'From the Manger to the Cross' (1912) SILENT [considered to be the first American feature film];
[7:30am] 'The King of Kings' (1927) SILENT ;
[9:30am] 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' (1965);
[1pm] 'Ben-Hur' (1959);
[5pm] 'King Of Kings' (1961);
[8pm] 'Here Comes Mr. Jordan' (1941);
[10pm] 'A Guy Named Joe' (1943);
[12:15am] 'The Horn Blows At Midnight' (1945);
[1:45am] 'Cabin In The Sky' (1943);
[3:30am] 'Angels In The Outfield' (1951);
[5:30am] 'Festival of Shorts #13' (1998). (ALL TIMES EST)
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
CBS 'Late Show' host David Letterman gestures as he talks to U.S soldiers at the U.S. headquarters compound, known as the 'green zone' in Baghdad Wednesday Dec. 24, 2003.
Photo by Muhammed Muheisen
Visits U.S. Soldiers in Baghdad
Dave Letterman
Joking with wounded soldiers and rattling off a `Top 10' list for the desert-weary, talk show host David Letterman dropped in Wednesday for a Christmas Eve visit with U.S. troops in Baghdad.
Letterman, the host of CBS' "Late Show," visited the military's main combat hospital and met soldiers at one of Saddam Hussein's ransacked palaces that now serves as part of the U.S.-led coalition's headquarters.
Arriving at the hospital, Letterman emerged from a car wearing dark sunglasses, smoking a cigarette, holding a cup of coffee and casually taking a phone call.
Last Christmas, Letterman visited troops in Afghanistan.
Letterman — who brought along his comedy sidekick Biff Henderson and the show's musician, Paul Schaffer — toured the hospital and stopped at the bed of Pfc. Jacob Dominique, 20, of Archbold, Ohio. "We took his appendix," a nurse said.
Letterman's reply — "I saw it downstairs in the gift shop" — won a roomful of laughs.
For the rest, Dave Letterman
Poke Fun In Holiday Card
Dixie Chicks
What does it take to design the Dixie Chicks' holiday card? A sense of humor, for sure, and a style that catches the trio's eye.
Cartoonist Mark Parisi told the Boston Herald that the Chicks chose him to draw their Christmas card because they liked a cartoon he had drawn for Billboard magazine.
The Chicks' missive shows Santa holding his "naughty" and "nice" lists, one in each hand, and puzzling over the fact that The Dixie Chicks' are at the top of both. Inside, the card reads — quote — "May your holidays be the right combination of naughty and nice," with presents under the tree tagged "Natalie," "Martie," "Emily" and "Simon" — their manager.
Dixie Chicks
Blitzen, a young reindeer at the Santa Claus House in North Pole, Alaska, leaps on KTUU Channel 2 reporter Meghan Stapleton as Stapleton was doing a holiday story, in this image from television Monday, Dec. 22, 2003. Stapleton was not injured and even managed to hold on to the leash to keep Blitzen from running away, though he did drag her a couple feet.
Photo by Chris Werner
When Reindeers Attack
Meghan Stapleton
A reporter for the NBC television station KTUU in Anchorage found her way into the national spotlight while taping a scene with a young reindeer named Blitzen at the Santa Claus House in North Pole.
Just as the Santa hat-clad Meghan Stapleton knelt down with the reindeer's leash in hand, a spooked Blitzen leaped at the reporter, knocking her down in a manner one witness described as a "tackle."
Stapleton was not injured and even managed to hold on to the leash to keep Blitzen from running away, though he did drag her a couple feet.
Stapleton said she didn't immediately realize that the entire incident Monday had been caught on tape, considering the crew wasn't prepared to go live yet when she approached the reindeer.
But as soon as crew members saw the footage, they used the satellite truck on scene to send the blooper around the nation. Several NBC affiliates showed the tussle on morning news shows, including Tuesday's edition of "The Today Show."
For more, Meghan Stapleton
Thanks, Marian!
Top TV Personality
Oprah
Oprah Winfrey remained America's favorite television personality in 2003, according to a Harris poll.
Late Show host David Letterman ranked second in the poll, moving up one place. Commentator Bill O'Reilly of the Fox News Channel jumped two places to third.
Ray Romano, who plays the lead in "Everybody Loves Raymond" on CBS ranked fourth, followed by talk show host Jay Leno at fifth.
Humorist and talk show host Jon Stewart and Doctor Phil McGraw tied for sixth.
William Peterson of the CBS series CSI ranked eighth, and actress Whoopi Goldberg was ninth.
Actor Martin Sheen and actresses Ellen DeGeneres and Jennifer Anniston all tied for tenth place.
Oprah
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Becoming '8 Rules' Regular
James Garner
The Hennessy clan on ABC's "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" will have Grandpa Jim sticking around for a while.
The show's producer, Touchstone TV, has closed a deal with James Garner to continue on the sophomore comedy as a regular, appearing in all remaining episodes of the season.
He has guest-starred in all episodes of the show to date, beginning with the emotional Nov. 4 one-hour segment, the first episode without Ritter.
James Garner
Palestinians dressed as Mary and Joseph are stopped and turned away by an Israeli soldier, as they try to enter the West Bank city of Bethlehem, December 23, 2003. The two were protesting the lack of freedom of movement for Palestinians, making virtually impossible to celebrate Christmas.
Photo by Mahfouz Abu Turk
Says No To Knighthood
David Bowie
You can have Sir Mick, and Sir Elton, and Sir Paul, but you'll won't hear Sir David — as in Bowie. The veteran singer was one of the people The Sunday Times revealed as declining honors from the queen.
Bowie said he'd never accept a knighthood and doesn't even know what it's for.
Sir Mick Jagger was delighted to become a knight earlier this month. But bandmate Keith Richards called the title a disgrace and paltry honor.
The Sunday Times this week published a list of 300 people — including Bowie, comedian John Cleese and actor Kenneth Branagh — who declined honors since 1945.
David Bowie
'Indefinte Hiatus' - MSGOP
Jesse Ventura
After a two-month run, former Gov. Jesse Ventura's cable show is off the air and there are no immediate plans for MSNBC to bring it back.
The news channel's president, Erik Sorenson, sent a memo Tuesday to staff announcing he was extending a previously announced holiday break for the show.
"I've decided to focus the majority of our resources on Monday-Friday primetime in 2004," Sorenson wrote. "Consequently, the holiday hiatus for 'Jesse Ventura's America' will continue indefinitely."
The show debuted in October, but the Saturday time slot was far less than the weeknight prime-time show MSNBC had originally planned.
Jesse Ventura
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Eatery Sues Zagat for Rating
Lucky Cheng's
The owners of Lucky Cheng's, a cabaret-restaurant with cross-dressing male waiters and entertainers, have filed a $10 million lawsuit accusing the Zagat Survey of libel for giving the restaurant a low rating for its food.
The suit said Lucky Cheng's has lost about $30,000 a week since Oct. 14, 2003, when the 2004 Zagat guide was published with the low food rating — 9 out of a possible 30.
The guide publishes restaurant reviews based almost entirely on ratings provided by patrons, which are compiled to assign scores denoting the quality of the food, decor and service.
Besides the 9 for food, an accompanying diner-contributor summary of Lucky Cheng's reads, "God knows 'you don't go for the food' at this East Village-Asian Eclectic. Rather you go to 'gawk' at the 'hilarious cross-dressing' staff who 'tell dirty jokes,' perform 'impromptu floor shows' and 'offer lap dances for dessert.'"
Few restaurants in the survey have food quality ratings lower than 10. Some of the city's fine dining temples, like Lutece and The Four Seasons, have ratings around 26 or 27.
Lucky Cheng's
People gather around giant Christmas illuminations seen atop Panecillo hill in Quito, late December 23, 2003. Hundreds of ecuadoreans gathered at the site to visit a nativity sculptures made up of thousands of light bulbs. The Panecillo is a historic monument where Incas used to offer sacrificies to their Sun god.
Photo by Guillermo Granja
Sue Fox for Defamation
Ramseys
The parents of slain 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey filed a $12 million federal defamation lawsuit against Fox News Network over a story they say cast suspicion on them.
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Atlanta, John and Patsy Ramsey took issue with a report that aired last year for the six-year anniversary of JonBenet's death. In it, a Denver-based employee stated there has "never been any evidence to link an intruder to her brutal murder."
John and Patsy Ramsey have maintained their innocence and said an intruder killed JonBenet, who was found strangled and beaten Dec. 26, 1996, in the basement of their Boulder home. The Ramseys now live in Atlanta.
Ramseys
Spanish Roots
Orwell's "1984"
Giant rats still roam the farmhouse where George Orwell recovered from a bullet wound to his neck, but little else remains to suggest to a casual visitor the author's chilling vision of a totalitarian future.
Visitors flocking to Spain's northeast today are captivated by stunning architecture, beautiful beaches and mountains and a vibrant nightlife -- not terror.
Yet it was a six-month trip to the region, then caught up in a bloody civil war, that helped turn Orwell into a champion of personal freedom.
It was there that the author of "1984" and "Animal Farm" witnessed the sudden disappearances, censorship, and vicious left-wing infighting -- which killed 4,000 -- that sowed the seeds of the nightmare world of one of his most famous novels.
Orwell arrived in Spain just after Christmas 1936, an idealistic 33-year-old, ready, almost eager, to sacrifice his life to fight fascist troops led by General Francisco Franco, the eventual victor of the three-year war.
For the rest of an interesting read, Orwell's "1984"
Getting Stone Memorial
Keiko
Keiko, the killer whale star of the "Free Willy" movies, is to be honoured with a stone memorial built by village children in Norway, where he died this month, local television reported.
The children will bring the first stones to lay at the memorial site during a ceremony on January 8, followed by the rest of the village in western Norway.
"We think it would be a mistake to build a grand memorial or a tomb stone at the place where Keiko is buried," said the mayor.
"It is not a man but an animal that rests here. So we thought we should do something more realistic, without pomp or excessive cost."
Keiko
Spreading Holiday Cheer
`Naked Elves'
The Naked Elves are Alabama's newest holiday rage.
What began as a practical joke has evolved into an odd yuletide tradition: Grown men wearing red boxer shorts, Santa hats and lighted suspenders as they travel around Birmingham singing off-key carols.
Five years ago, four guys gathered on the lawn of Neal Phillips' house clad only in boxers to tease Phillips' wife Sarah.
Belting out an off-key version of traditional Christmas carols, the men stood nearly naked in the December night with nothing but their holiday spirit. And with that, a tradition was born.
Stealing from house to house Monday night, the men quietly parked and sneaked across the lawn of a home near Alabaster. Standing in a line, a designated elf delivered a quick push of the doorknob before rushing back to reclaim his place in line.
`Naked Elves'
A four-month-old Cougar named Aspen sits in the snow in the animal habitat area of Grandfather Mountain in Linville, N.C., Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2003.
Photo by Hugh Morton
'The Osbournes'
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