'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Weekly Review
HARPER'S WEEKLY REVIEW
June 24, 2003
North Korea announced its intention to accelerate its
program to build a nuclear deterrent and said that a U.S.
naval blockade or embargo could lead to "all-out war"; a
state-run newspaper said that "the Iraqi war proved that
disarmament leads to war. Therefore it is quite clear that
the DPRK can never accept the U.S. demand that it scrap its
nuclear weapons program first."
Resident Bush declared that
the world will not tolerate nuclear weapons in Iran. "Iran
would be dangerous," he said, "if they have a nuclear
weapon."
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence made a
deal to conduct a "review" of the Bush Administration's
handling of intelligence on Iraq but only if Democrats
agreed not to call it an "investigation."
Stansfield Turner,
a former director of central intelligence, criticized the
Bush Administration for its use of intelligence to justify
the conquest of Iraq: "There is no question in my mind [that
policymakers] distorted the situation, either because they
had bad intelligence or because they misinterpreted it."
John Dean, former White House counsel to Richard Nixon, was
more blunt: "If Bush has taken Congress and the nation into
war based on bogus information, he is cooked. Manipulation
or deliberate misuse of national security intelligence data,
if proven, could be 'a high crime' under the Constitution's
impeachment clause. It would also be a violation of federal
criminal law, including the broad federal anti-conspiracy
statute, which renders it a felony 'to defraud the United
States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any
purpose.'"
American soldiers in Iraq were
being killed at a rate of one per day.
Attorney
General John Ashcroft asked journalists to help convince the
American people that the U.S.A. Patriot Act, the
antiterrorism law that gave sweeping new powers to federal
law enforcement agencies, is really a good thing.
Continued at www.harpers.org/weekly-review
--Roger D. Hodge
'Stuff'
from Alex
(a reader rant/review)
That AT&T "GO" Commercial
Blitzkrieg Bop...WOW...What a song! I bought the first Ramones album when I was 16 based on the picture on the cover only and boy was I surprised.The energy,the anger, the difference...I was sucked in! The doors that record opened continue to open even now in my joy of music so many years later.
I've seen this spot over and over again and I just DO NOT GET IT...history once again subjugated to a fucking jingle.
NO ONE in that spot embodies the spirit of that song...that energy or time.
I can count the people in that ad who have a true appreciation for what that song represents on NO hands.
What's next as we grind to a halt?
Rob
turtles and more...:)
Thanks, Rob!
Reader Comment
Re: SciFi Channel and UFOs
Greetings from your Long Beach neighbor.
Your story on SciFi causes me to invite you to
www.watchfarscape.com.
SciFi is so hypocritical - an entertainment entity that they killed
production of an award-winning adult sf drama series because they lacked
respect for their audiences' intelligence, while trying to bait them
with Shannen Dougherty in goth clothes.
Or could it have been something to do with the similarities between the PeaceKeeper regime and Shrub's ordn-oriented foreign policy?
In any event, I know you'll enjoy the spin malpractice of Bonnie Hammer
and "Mr. Latex."
Tom B
Thanks, Tom! The last couple of years have been remarkable - major broadcasters no longer care about making a profit, all they want to do is consolidate. Well, that & fund the GOP.
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
June Gloom burned off before noon, in a gentle reminder that it is summer, after all.
8 days ago, one of my favorite neighbors put a for sale sign in her yard. Today, the 'in escrow' sign went up - a new record. Yesterday, the guy across the street put up a for sale sign - wonder if he'll break the new record?
Has anyone else been paying attention to Dave Letterman's nightly bit - 'The George Bush Joke That's Not Really A Joke'? Would seem someone is paying attention.
If you're in the LA-area (or have KABC on dish), at 1:05am (pdt) tonight (ok, technically Thursday am), they'll be broadcasting the democratic candidate contenders debate at UCLA, taped earlier in the evening.
The kid & I will be having lunch at the Long Beach Aquarium today.
Planning on a field trip to Pasadena for a book signing Sunday morning.
Tonight, Wednesday, CBS starts the evening with '60 Minutes II', followed by the 2nd half RERUN made-for-tv movie, 'Guilty Hearts'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are Lucy Liu and Nick Cave.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are Jeremy Sisto and Ben Gleiberman.
NBC begins the night with a FRESH 'Fame', followed by a RERUN 'Law & Order', then another RERUN 'Law & Order'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Pamela Anderson, Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper, P. Diddy, Nelly, and Murphy Lee.
Scheduled on a FRESH Conan are Clyde Peeling, Simon Cowell, and Wendy Northcutt.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Jay Mohr and Sondre Lerche.
ABC opens teh evening with a RERUN 'My Wife & Kids', followed by a RERUN 'George Lopez', then a
FRESH 'Drew Carey' (show 200), followed by another FRESH 'Drew Carey', then the Series Premiere 'The Dating Experiment'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Kelsey Grammer, Kelly Hu, and Joe Budden, with this week's guest co-host David Cross.
The WB offers a FRESH 'Boarding House: North Shore', followed by a RERUN 'Jamie Kennedy', and then another RERUN 'Jamie Kennedy'.
Faux has a RERUN 'That 70's Show', followed by a FRESH 'American Juniors', then a FRESH 'Parasite Hotel'.
UPN has a RERUN 'Enterprise', followed by a RERUN 'Twilight Zone'.
A&E has 'Biography' (Graham Kerr - The Galloping Gourmet), followed by 'American Justice', then 'City Confidential'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Rare Breed', followed by the movie 'Joe Kidd', and then 'The Comancheros'.
BBC has 'Ground Force' - Isle of Wight (7pm), 'Changing Rooms' - Eltham (7:30pm),
'Homefront in the Garden' - Ealing (8pm), 'Homefront in the Garden' - Southgate (8:30pm),
'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 6 (9pm), 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 7 (9:40pm),
'Keeping Up Appearances'- Episode 1 (10:20pm), 'So Graham Norton' - Linda Hamilton (11pm),
'So Graham Norton' - Michael Learned, Trude Mostue (11:30pm), 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 6 (12am),
'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 7 (12:40am), 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 1 (1:20am),
'Homefront in the Garden' - Ealing (2am), 'Homefront in the Garden' - Southgate (2:30am),
'So Graham Norton' - Linda Hamilton (3am), and 'So Graham Norton' - Michael Learned, Trude Mostue (3:30am). (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Cirque du Soleil: Varekai', followed by 'Circus Of The Sky', then 'Cirque du Soleil: Varekai'.
A RERUN Jon Stewart is TBA.
Discovery has 'Unsolved Mysteries', followed by 2 FRESH shows - 'Coming Home: Re-Entry', and 'Columbia's Final Mission'.
History has a whole night of 'Modern Marvels'.
SciFi has 'Tracker', then the movie 'Body Snatcher'.
TCM spends the day in glorious black & white - [6am] 'The White Cliffs Of Dover' (1944);
[8:15am] 'Keep Your Powder Dry' (1945);
[10am] Easy To Wed' (1946);
[12pm] 'The Asphalt Jungle' (1950);
[2pm] 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' (1946) (the John Garfield version);
[4pm] 'I'll Cry Tomorrow' (1955);
[6pm] 'The Night Of The Iguana' (1964);
[8pm] 'King Kong' (1933);
[10pm] 'The Richest Girl in the World' (1934);
[11:30pm] 'Viva Villa!' (1934);
[1:30am] 'One Sunday Afternoon' (1933);
[3am] 'Captain Thunder' (1931); and
[4:30am] 'The Finger Points' (1931). (ALL TIMES EDT)
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Music icon Lou Reed has his hands imprinted as supporters cheer in the background Tuesday, June 24, 2003, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Reed was inducted into Hollywood's Rockwalk.
Photo by Ric Francis
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Germany Recalls Berlin Speech
John F. Kennedy
With just four words, US president John F. Kennedy talked himself into Cold War history in a moving speech 40 years ago this week in the heart of divided Berlin.
The city will Wednesday commemorate the occasion with the formal opening of an exhibition on Kennedy's June 26, 1963 visit and what it meant then and now for US-German relations.
On Thursday, his speech will be broadcast over loudspeakers at the precise time, 6:44 pm, that he delivered it from the balcony of the town hall in the Schoeneberg district of Berlin.
It was June 1963. Berlin was nervous about its future on the dividing line between communist east and capitalist west. The Cold War was at its height.
Struck by the images and impressed by the size of an expectant crowd, some of whom had camped out overnight, Kennedy reworked his prepared speech.
At the end, Kennedy uttered the famous words: "All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words 'Ich bin ein Berliner'."
He had written out the sentence phonetically to pronounce it correctly with his Boston accent: 'Ish bin ine bearLEANar.'
German grammar enthusiasts often point out that Kennedy's phrase 'Ich bin ein Berliner' actually compares him to a doughnut, a Berliner being a popular name for the patisserie.
For the rest, John F. Kennedy
Senate Approves Funding
Black Museum
More than 70 years after it was first proposed, a museum dedicated to black history and culture is close to congressional approval as part of the Smithsonian Institution.
Four possible sites on or near Washington's National Mall are proposed in a bill the Senate passed by voice vote late Monday. The bill authorizes $17 million to begin the project with the hope of completing it in a decade. Construction costs would be split between the federal government and private donors.
The House is expected to pass its version of the bill before Congress recesses in August, said Candice Tolliver, a spokeswoman for Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a former civil rights activist who has tried for more than a decade to get the museum approved.
The Senate bill is S. 1157. The House bill is H.R. 2205.
Black Museum
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Former President Bill Clinton accompanied by the Rev. Jesse Jackson waves to the crowd before speaking at the annual convention of Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH coalition Tuesday, June 24, 2003, in Chicago. Clinton told the audience that it would be likely there would be a need for affirmative action for years to come.
Photo by M. Spencer Green
Records Fall With Return To USA
'Monk'
The USA Network original series "Monk" returned for its second season Friday in fine form, registering its highest-rated episode yet.
The 10 p.m. premiere of the quirky detective series drew a 4.1 household rating, up 18% from the first-season premiere. A total of 5.4 million viewers and 3.6 million homes watched the episode, making it the highest-rated second-season premiere for an original scripted series on basic cable.
Among viewers 25-54, "Monk" scored a 2.8 rating, beating out all broadcast and cable competitors in that demographic except NBC, which aired "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
'Monk'
TNN Files Papers in 'Spike' Case
Spike Jones Jr.
Lawyers for television network TNN filed court papers Monday by Spike Jones Jr., son of the legendary music satirist, saying it is "frightening" that filmmaker Spike Lee is trying to claim exclusive ownership of the name "Spike."
Viacom said it wanted to change the cable network's name to Spike TV to try to attract more men to an audience that is already about two-thirds male. The company said Lee, whose given name is Shelton Jackson Lee, could not prove that its use of the name "Spike" referred to him.
Jones said in court papers that he and his family own the rights to the name, likeness, recorded performances and television shows that belonged to his father, the 1940s and '50s bandleader.
The family has sold an option for film and television rights to Good Medicine Films for a biographical movie about his father, Jones said in court papers. He said the tentative title of the movie is "Spike," and that he was concerned that the injunction against Viacom would hinder production.
"I do not believe that Spike Lee 'owns' or has any individual right to the use of the name 'Spike' or as an individual to prevent its use by others any more than I do," Jones said.
Spike Jones Jr.
Lays Off 80 - 'Consolidation'
Comedy Central
Comedy Central on Tuesday announced the layoff of 80 employees in order to integrate the cable channel with Viacom's MTV Networks, which purchased AOL Time Warner's half-interest in the network in April.
The job cuts, which total 20% of the company, affected many different areas, particularly departments that would overlap with MTV's centralized operations, including affiliate sales, legal, finance, human resources and research. Departments that typically operate in a decentralized function such as programming and marketing, were largely unaffected.
Comedy Central
New AIDS Benefit CD
'Songs For Life'
Songs by John Lennon, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin, and Patti LaBelle appear on Songs For Life, a new AIDS benefit CD released on Tuesday (June 24) by Capitol Records.
Proceeds from the album will go to the Royal Initiative to Combat AIDS, which is a U.S. non-profit group that's targeting the epidemic in Southern Africa.
Also appearing on the set are Carole King's "You Will Find Me There"; Judy Collins' "Children of All Nations"; and another John Lennon song, "Hard Times Over Now," which the late Beatle recorded with his wife, Yoko Ono.
The project was supervised by producer Phil Ramone.
'Songs For Life'
Hours Trimmed
Paula Zahn
CNN has reversed its early-evening plans and cut Paula Zahn's new show down to a one-hour 8 p.m. ET news program while giving the 7 p.m. slot to Anderson Cooper.
Zahn returned to the airwaves Monday night in her new slot in an unusual arrangement whereby the 7-9 p.m. ET slot is still referred to as "Live From the Headlines" but with Cooper hosting the first hour and Zahn the second segment. Cooper has filled in for the entire slot during the past month as Zahn prepped for her new show and took a break. He also has been a frequent sub for Aaron Brown on "NewsNight" and hosted a 10 p.m. news show on the weekends.
CNN originally had announced that Zahn would anchor a two-hour program, "American Evening With Paula Zahn," with a format to be announced. The network is still not discussing the format, but it's apparent that Cooper will preside over a show more focused on reporting the day's events than Zahn's, which will likely be more interview-driven. On Monday, Zahn said she expects the show to be "edgy" and "provocative."
In the five weeks that Zahn has been away, the Cooper-hosted "Live From" has had mixed results, generally rising slightly in the key adults 25-54 demos from the same period a year ago, while dropping in viewers overall. In the same period, Fox News Channel has been up by 27% in the demo, while MSGOP has dropped by 39%. In fact, CNN Headline News has passed MSGOP in the demo from 7-9 p.m. in the past five weeks, despite losing 22%.
Paula Zahn
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Leads Charge on Arts Funding
Tim Robbins
Hollywood celebrities led by actor-director Tim Robbins called on Gov. Gray Davis not to slash funding for public arts programs, saying children would suffer most and the money would scarcely make a dent in closing the state's $38.2 billion budget deficit.
The celebrities, joined by entertainment executives, arts advocates and a Los Angeles school board member, presented a letter urging Davis to reconsider his proposed 73 percent cut in funding for programs in visual art, theater, film, dance, music, literature and arts in education.
Tim Robbins
A child protests Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's arrest in front of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok. Japan's Deputy Foreign Minister Tetsuro Yano claims Suu Kyi is not being held at Insein prison as stated by the British government.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Launching Fetish Clothing Line
Eve
Rapper and actor Eve has officially launched her clothing company, Fetish Clothing LLC. The company has partnered with Innovo Group Inc to manufacture, market, and distribute the women's contemporary collection. Fetish By Eve will be available in department and specialty stores in the fall.
The collection will include leisure, athletic, and basic styles, as well as fashion with fabrics such as velour, satin, cotton spandex, stretch poplin, corduroy, and denim. Prices will range from $28 to $88 for tops, $48 to $148 for jeans, and $125 to $350 for activewear.
Eve
Dedicates Exhibit in South Dakota
Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner, who filmed much of his Oscar-winning "Dances With Wolves" in South Dakota, has dedicated "Tatanka: The Story of the Bison" exhibit near Deadwood.
The exhibit features a bronze sculpture by Peggy Detmers that depicts three Lakota riders on horseback who are chasing buffalo off a cliff, a system used by Indians to kill a large number of buffalo, on which they depended for survival.
The exhibit, which marked its grand opening over the weekend, also features a living-history encampment and a restaurant that serves bison meat.
Kevin Costner
Stuns U.K. Fan
Eminem
Eminem stunned tens of thousands of people attending a concert in England by giving a necklace estimated at $450,000 to one of his fans.
"I'm going to give this to the sexiest woman I see," Eminem said from the stage of the concert attended by 65,000 fans in Milton Keynes city on Monday night, according to the British Broadcasting Corp.
He then leaned over the stage into the crowd and gave his jewelry to a stunned girl standing at the front of the audience, the BBC said.
"It looked like a huge diamond-encrusted crucifix," said a nearby member of the audience, Toby Friedner. "The girl he gave it to was blond, pretty, wearing glasses and 18 to 20," he was quoted as saying.
Eminem
www.eminem.com
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Wants Streisand Suit Thrown Out
Kenneth Adelman
A photographer Barbra Streisand is suing for putting photos of her Malibu estate on the Internet asked a court to dismiss the entertainer's action on grounds that it infringes on his right to free expression.
Lawyers for Kenneth Adelman also said in documents filed Monday that his photo of the property, along with more than 12,000 other aerial images posted on a Web site, "address a matter of serious public concern — the preservation of the California coastline."
A Superior Court hearing on the motion was scheduled for July 14.
Adelman has said his California Coastal Records Project Web site, californiacoastline.org, provides an aerial photography survey of the coast for scientists and other researchers.
Kenneth Adelman
Chilean Mapuche Indian witch doctor plays the 'Kultrun' drum, a traditional musical instrument during an indigenous New Year ceremony in Santiago, June 24, 2003. While Chilean Catholics commemorate the nativity of Saint John the Baptist, indigenous cultures were celebrating their New Year.
Photo by Carlos Barria
Appears in Court on DUI Charges
Diana Ross
Pop diva Diana Ross told a municipal court judge that she felt forced into taking a breath test during a traffic stop last year.
Ross and her lawyer, Stephen Paul Barnard, are seeking to have the results of several breath tests tossed out. They appeared in court Monday to argue their case.
Police said she had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.20 percent. The legal limit in Arizona is 0.08 percent.
"I felt a threatening tone from him. You know, like a command, a demand," Ross said, referring to Tucson police Officer Scott Sullivan.
Diana Ross
Collection Online
Vatican Museums
The Vatican put its enormous art collection on the Web on Tuesday, launching a new site for the Vatican Museums that it hopes will attract more tourists while also disseminating the church's message around the globe.
The site allows visitors to take a virtual reality tour of some of the dozen museums and galleries that make up the Vatican collection, zooming in on a frescoed panel in the Raphael Rooms or viewing Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel with a three-dimensional video.
Images of the works are accompanied by descriptions translated into Italian, French, English, Spanish and German.
Vatican Museums
Vatican main site
Vatican Museums site
Extends Summer Stadium Tour
Bruce Springsteen
Five shows have been added to Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's summer U.S. stadium tour.
Included on the list is what will be the first rock concert ever held at Boston's Fenway Park (home of the Major League Baseball team the Boston Red Sox).
Following last week's confirmation of a concert in Milwaukee's Miller Park, the Boss has appended his itinerary to include stops in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo and Chapel Hill, N.C. Additional stadium shows will be announced next month, with the tour expected to end around Sept. 30.
For dates & more, Bruce Springsteen
Universal Parks = Cash Cows
Steven Spielberg
Director Steven Spielberg gets a thrill -- and a little bit richer -- every time someone takes a ride on one of the many popular attractions based on his movies at Universal Studios' theme parks, according to a newspaper report on Tuesday.
Under an unusual but highly lucrative deal he landed as a consultant for Universal, Spielberg receives 2 percent of the gross -- from ticket sales to concessions -- from the company's two parks in Orlando, Florida, the Los Angeles Times said.
The nature of Spielberg's reported deal with the parks came to light as French-based parent company Vivendi Universal began considering bids for its U.S. entertainment assets, including Universal Studios.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker also shares in revenues of Universal Studios Japan, but terms of that deal are more complex because of the park's complicated ties with investors and the city of Osaka, the Times said, citing unnamed sources.
The arrangements for both Orlando and Osaka are especially valuable because they extend in perpetuity, and some former Universal executives told the Times that Spielberg's deal could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars over time.
According to the newspaper, Spielberg does not have a similar interest in Universal Studios Hollywood, as that park predates his deal for the Florida and Japan facilities.
Steven Spielberg
Returning To The Road
Alien Ant Farm
Alt-metal act Alien Ant Farm is preparing to return to touring for the first time since a bus accident left lead singer Dryden Mitchell with serious spinal injuries more than a year ago.
The North American run will kick off July 5 in Las Vegas and close Aug. 3 in Houston. A European tour with stops at England's Reading and Leeds festivals will follow.
Mitchell fractured vertebra and sustained nerve damage in the May 2002 accident on a highway outside of Navalmoral de la Mata, Spain. Bus driver Christopher Holland of Crofty, Wales, was killed, and the band's head of security, David Zajic, suffered multiple skull and facial fractures.
The rest of the group -- guitarist Terry Corso, bassist Tye Zamora and drummer Mike Cosgrove -- had less serious injuries ranging from broken bones to cuts and bruises.
Alien Ant Farm
Painting Fetches Record
Egon Schiele
A painting by the Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele that was looted by the Nazis in 1938 fetched 12,660,000 pounds at auction in London, setting a world record for the artist.
The landscape becomes the most valuable looted painting to be restored to its original owners. The proceeds will be split between the heirs, some of whom live in Britain, according to The Times.
"Krumauer Landschaft" was sold by Sothebys auction house in London Monday to an anonymous collector bidding by telephone, the paper reported.
The landscape, a view of the small town of Krumau on the banks of the Moldau in Bohemia, was painted in 1916, two years before the artist fell victim to a flu epidemic at the age of 28.
Egon Schiele
Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo carries a vicuna during the 'Chakku' ceremony, where people cut the vicuna's wool in Ayacucho, 205 miles southeast of Lima, Peru, on Tuesday, June 24, 2003.
Photo by Oscar Paredes
'Ark of Darkness'
"The Ark of Darkness", a Political/Science-Fiction work, in tidy, weekly installments (and updated every Friday).
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
