I'm in a city, a real city, no longer stuck miles
from civilization without transportation, despite the
circumstances that brought us here, there's a bus stop right across the
street that can get me anywhere, so I thought that's it, no more
Disinfotainment Today until I get a job, a real job, a job that'll give
me my own hard-earned income, an address, a car, off the dole, self esteem, the
road to success where you don't have to keep to the right and all the billboards
are for products you can afford.
Then I thought fuck that, I've combed the
classifieds and submitted to every gig I could possibly get, I'm finally
reunited with my computer, what's there left to do but sit back, or in this case
forward, and type.
This issue of Disinfotainment Today is
coming to you from the middle of an entirely different nowhere, the skylit
basement of the Spirit House in Seattle, headquarters of "the world's foremost
drug policy reform rally." Thanks to Paul Krassner, I was taken in
by this guy, Vivian
McPeak, who runs this. Yep
I'm in the notorious Hippie Hilton, temporary
shelter in clouds of smoke, attached to the underground at the hip, oh yes, no
surprise, the movement lives on, ladies and gentlemen, and brothers like me
deserve a place to stay till they can get back on their feet while stoning them
out so much they can barely stand up. Who else would take us in but a bunch of
politically aware drug war activists whose cause I not only whole-heartedly
endorse but whole-lungedly wallow in.
Can't believe I've gone this long without my
computer. It's like I arrived with only half my brain, my cerebral cortex still
in Ilwaco, which was a disaster, the world's shittiest fishing boat in
the world's coolest location, good idea, bad
execution, magnificent when sitting on deck, but enter the cabin hapless
traveler and discover the miraculous relationship between diesel and slime, but
that's quite another story, details to be filled in later, as is the week in San
Francisco, thanks to Ben Thomas, reader, fan, magnificent human being, where we
but dreamt of the Ilwaco nightmare from a hotel overlooking the Golden Gate
Bridge eating organic food bought in the Haight. But I digress and degrass,
suffering from lack of THC, if I boggle down in the details, I'll never pry
myself loose from this paragraph and get on with it.
Still broke, I seek the freebies, the Whole Foods
Market two blocks away, an area where you can eat their food, with a microwave,
toaster, free butter, and a bagel cutter, it's become my farmers market, if I
had a laptop, that's where I'd be right now. I bring my own coffee, buy a snack,
sit for hours, read the papers without paying, do the crossword puzzles in pen,
then neatly fold them back and return them to the middle of the stack.
I decide
to write. I'm thinking The Hempranos, where Tony Hemprano runs the
Badda-Bong, a medical marijuana dispensary in downtown whatever, shoot it in
Canada and call it Cincinnati, where nothing's normal and everything's NORML
because we're talking consumption, massive, massive consumption, like take what
you might consume in a week in the old days, put it in bongzilla, fire it up and
fire it up again and again till bye bye planet, much less the next two hours, an
endless circus parade of supercharged thought, three rings, no elephants,
thousands of midgets, confetti flung from the trapeze by bears on unicycles. On
the street? Like this? No way, man, I'm not moving till the universe gets out of
my head and the ringmaster whips those lions back in the cage.
I lost my
cap. We were sitting at the bus stop. Across the street was a shop called "Found
it!" I pointed and said to Max "Maybe they've got it." He looked and laughed but
this somehow struck me as the funniest thing I'd ever said and I couldn't stop
laughing, tears pouring down my face, Max thought it was funny but not THAT
funny, and in retrospect what a stoned wackjob I was, in public, a disgrace,
embarrassing the hell out of my son until the bus arrived and took us to where?
Oh yeah, the library, where you can find anything but employment without a
doctorate in library sciences, which leaves the Eliot Bay Bookstore, one of the
all time best, right off Pioneer Square, south of the Pike Place Market, an
enterprise so massive it even kept Max, the voracious non-reader, entertained
for hours.
If I'm sure of anything, it's that the
movement lives on in a subterranean outpost of mainline subculture. I've joined
the underground again, a very merry prankster in the midst of the common
fellowship of humanity, a sleeping car on the mystical orient express to Tibet,
a spiritual awakening, sitting at the feet of several masters, watching it all
happen, wondering how to tell it without blowing it, like The Stranger,
a local weekly paper that got heat for writing about a cool underground club
which got the club shut down. Tell it I must. You know the drill. Fact must
masquerade as fiction. Why do I get the feeling I've written this before,
only not on a computer, on chewed-up home-made hemp paper, with disappearing
squid ink, on a remote desert island without a remote, putting it in a bottle
and throwing it into the ocean to be eaten by some fishes who were eaten by some
fishes and swallowed by a whale who grew so old he decomposed and his basic
elements were given back to the ocean where they came out of a faucet and taste
just like a teardrop. Like Harry Nilsson said, "Now think about your
troubles."
MD
The parents of Jerry Yang and the
parents of the late Tammy Faye Messner, for their strictness that went awry.
Jerry, who won $8.25 million at the World Series of Poker, was forbidden to
gamble as a child, and Tammy Faye, known for her trademark false eyelashes and
overbearing facial cosmetics, grew up in a rigid home where she was forbidden
to wear makeup.
National Intelligence Director Mike
McConnell, for defending newly approved CIA torture boundaries - "If I
announce what the specific [permissible] measures are," he said, "it would aid
those who want to resist those measures" - and an anonymous administration
official, who parroted the party line that, if such tactics were not kept
secret, it would "only enable Al Qaeda to train against those [methods] they
know are on or off." Sample training moment: "All right, gentlemen, when you
are given the water-boarding treatment, keep saying to yourself, I'm not
drowning, I'm not drowning..."
Dick Cheney, for pretending that it
was a sudden change for him to be in charge of the White House only during the
2-1/2 hours that the so-called president was under sedation for a colonoscopy.
Also, E-bay has confirmed that Cheney attempted to auction off the five polyps
which were removed from Bush's colon and diagnosed as benign despite their
malignant host.
Senators John D. Rockefeller IV and
Daniel K. Inouye (both Democrats) for respectively sponsoring and
fast-tracking a bill directing the FCC to maintain a policy that a single word
or image can be enough to trigger indecency fines. Bush reacted, "This shit
has got to stop," and Cheney said, "Go fuck yourself."
NBC producers for bribing police
across the country, and those same police for accepting the bribes, to let
Dateline film confrontations with suspects who were lured to homes
with hidden cameras, including a suspected predator who was arrested and
filmed at his own home after failing to show up at a rigged house 35 miles
away, and killed himself as the cameras closed in on him. A spokesperson for
NBC had no comment except to announce the networks upcoming new series,
Entrapped.
Dr. David Matlock, a pioneer in
"boutique cosmetic gynecologic laser surgery,"" for marketing the procedure -
costing $6,000-$8,000 - as enhancing a woman's sexual experience. What's next:
iPhone-2 will include a vibrating dildo.
Purdue Pharmacy and three of its
executives, for claiming to doctors that the prescription painkiller OxyContin
was less addictive and less subject to abuse than other such medications,
while the drug has resulted in hundreds of deaths each year. True, their pain
disappeared in the process. However, prosecutors have dropped the charge that
physicians were urged to suggest that patients pop the perilous pills with a
Pez dispenser.
The DEA, for sending threatening
letters to landlords who rent space to medical marijuana dispensaries, causing
many unnecessary and illegal evictions. Although the 5,000-year-old weed has
not caused any deaths, there have been fears that users would raid their
neighbors refrigerators.
The Chinese government, for not
making use of its oil-buying leverage with Sudan to end the strife in Darfur.
Activists have threatened to brand the Olympic games in Beijing as the
"Genocide Olympics" if China does not apply pressure on Sudan to stop the
conflict. Meanwhile, China insists that it is becoming more humane every day,
and now allows slave laborers to listen to pirated CDs while they
work.
Former Hollywood madam Jody
"Babydoll" Gibson, for planning to testify in the Phil Spector trial that Lana
Clarkson worked for her as a prostitute, even though Gibson's "trick book,"
which was seized as evidence in her own trial, had been doctored to include a
fake Clarkson entry. Concomitantly, People magazine has selected Spector as
"the sexiest man alive."
Anti-Asshole of the Week: Rev. Reggie
Longcrier, who YouTubed this question to John Edwards in the course of the, er
um, debate on CNN: "Politicians have used religion to justify slavery,
segregation and men-only voting. So why is it still acceptable to use religion
to deny gay Americans their full and equal rights?" Edwards justified his own
religious beliefs to explain his opposition to gay marriage, and Ann Coulter
commented, "Okay, maybe he isn't a faggot then."
Paul Krassner is the author of One
Hand Jerking: Reports From an Investigative Satirist, and publisher of the
Disneyland Memorial Orgy poster, both available at paulkrassner.com.
It doesn't interest me what
you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to
dream of meeting your hearts longing.
It doesn't interest me how
old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for
love for your dream for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what
planets are squaring your moon... I want to know if you have touched the
centre of your own sorrow if you have been opened by life's betrayals or
have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can
sit with pain mine or your own without moving to hide it or fade
it or fix it.
I want to know if you can be
with joy mine or your own if you can dance with wildness and let the
ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning
us to be careful to be realistic to remember the limitations of being
human.
It doesn't interest me if
the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can
disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the
accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be
faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can
see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source
your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can
live with failure yours and mine and still stand at the edge of the
lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, Yes.
It doesn't interest me to
know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get
up after the night of grief and despair weary and bruised to the
bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.
It doesn't interest me who
you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will
stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink
back.
It doesn't interest me where
or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains
you from the inside when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be
alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the
empty moments.
like a giant killer donut from hell and the
filling is you.
9 out of 10 Tree Huggers
Prefer to Get Shot with Ecco-AMMO(TM)
Eco-AMMO(TM)
"meets the demand for close-quarters, reduced hazard munitions. Frangible
projectiles break apart into harmless fragments upon hitting a surface harder
than the projectile itself. Dangerous ricochets and collateral damage are
virtually eliminated, while the lead free composition leaves no toxic residue.
This so called Green ammo is ideally suited for training, indoor ranges, and any
application where collateral damage must be minimized."
Positive Proof Reporters in
the US are Finally
Developing the Balls to Ask Those Tough Questions
One reporter asked why the cavemen don't
ease their way by getting a shave and a haircut.
"There's a name for those kind of people,
and they're called 'shavers,' and the cavemen community looks down on them,"
Gordon said.
Okay, they might not be in the same league or even
the same ballpark, but they do tell stories in a style that harkens to the old
days, which puts them at least in the same ballgame. The Mustache Rangers are decisively
low tech and hilarious outer space radio dramas. Think Second City
meets Buck Rogers brought to you by Doc Johnson's Olde Tyme Elixir.
Positive Proof You Don't
Need LSD to Hallucinate
FROM A LAW PROFESSOR
IN FORT
LAUDERDALE Date:
Wed, 9 May 2007 18:33:42 -0700 (PDT) Subject:[TheDolphinDemocrats] Thanks Waymon
and I are sorry that we could not come to today's meeting, but we are leaving
for WashingtonDC for his sister's wedding.We both wanted to express our
appreciation for all of the hard work that Ken Keechl
did for us over the past weekend.Without his hard work behind the scenes, we would not have had the result
that we got.It was not until he
was involved did the airport take the situation seriously.For those who did not follow the story
(or only read the slanted story in the Sun-Sentinel), here is what happened:
On
Tuesday morning while Waymon and I were waiting for
our luggage, we heard a weird announcement come over the airport's PA
system.It said that "a man who
lies with another man as he would a woman shall be subject to
death."Upon hearing this twice, we looked for
security or a phone, but could not find either one.We went home, and I called the airport
when I woke up that morning.After
talking with several different people, I finally was able to talk to the manager
of the airport.He seemed
disinterested, and just closed by saying that he was "sorry for the
inconvenience."I waited one day to
see if he would follow up on the complaint. On
Wednesday, after not hearing anything from the airport manager, I emailed Ken [a
county commissioner] and contacted NBC6.NBC6 did a story and Ken started working his political magic.The next day, I received phone calls
from airport officials and the sheriff's department telling me that they were
both doing investigations.On
Friday morning, I received a call from the mayor who said that he was holding a
press conference to apologize to us.On Sunday, I received a call from the police that they were able to
locate the person who made the announcement and that he confessed.Ken contacted me as well. Throughout
the interviews, we could not say enough about how much Ken did to move things
along.He was constantly checking
in with us and making sure that the investigation was continuing.Having Ken immediately push this forward
resulted in exactly what we wanted all along â€" to make sure the person who made
this announcement was fired.Waymon and I can't thank him enough.
We
have learned many lessons over the past week.First, we realized how important it was
to have an openly gay official who could help us.He immediately understood the issue and
pushed it when others were not so understanding.Second, we learned how people still blame the
victim for these types of events.I have been asked what we were doing to get attention (getting our
luggage, by the way).Others
quickly questioned our credibility (like I would make this up and possibly lose
my license as a lawyer).Some of
the media focus was on the Bible, claiming that the main source of our complaint
was hearing a Bible verse (see the Sun-Sentinel's headline this past week).Third, we realized how we need to become
more active in our community, so you will be seeing more of us here at Dolphin
Dems meetings. The
biggest lesson, however, was that we still have so much work to do as a
community.The level of hatred that has now been
directed towards us this week has been amazing and eye-opening.Just yesterday, a older woman approached Waymon at
the grocery story and asked if he had been on TV this week.He said that he had, and she responded
by saying: "You faggots deserve what that guy said."Earlier today, Waymon left the gym and found a piece of paper on his
windshield that said "FAG!"Through
email and comments to articles online, we have been called every imaginable
derogatory name for gay men.Some
even said that we must have been having sex in the bathroom and we just heard
God talking to us out of guilt.We
have kept almost one hundred pages of comments that have circulated about us and
the incident.The majority of them
have been hate-filled and even scary.We are actually a bit scared and
are taking security precautions, simply because we spoke out about hearing the
words "subject to death" on the PA system of an international airport.As I have said several times this week,
if the words preceding "subject to death" were
"Americans", "Christians", or "Muslims" instead of referring to gays, homeland
security would have been involved!All of these threats and hateful words we have heard this week just prove
that we, along with Ken, took the right steps in pushing this important issue.
I
would like to close again by thanking Ken and all of the officials that stepped
up and helped solve this matter. WaymonHudson& Anthony
S. Niedwiecki Ass't
Prof. of Law Director
of LSVProgram ShepardBroadLawCenter Nova
SoutheasternUniv.
Answers to Previous Stupid Questions
What's an eleven-letter word for
"inevitable DC fruit?"
No, it's not "clusterfuck"
or "Bushcracker." Nobody guessed "imPEACHment." What's wrong with
you guys?
Stupid Question of the
Week
After it was discovered that the diabetes
drug Avandia
significantly raises the risk of heart attack, the FDA
decided NOT to pull the drug from the market but just to change the warning.
Meanwhile, medical marijuana is still pulled from the market, presumably due to
inadequate warning labels. The mind boggles with what such a warning would
say. Gimme
some.
Don't Take My Word For
It
"The artist belongs to his work, not
the work to the artist."
- Novalis -
"Osama's plan was to get Bush to overreact and overreach. With
the invasion of Iraq, Bush fell slap-bang into that trap. Our latest
National Intelligence Estimate suggests that Al Qaeda in Iraq is now among
our most significant threats. As far as the eye can see, the likely consequences
of Iraq range from the bad to the catastrophic. I cannot recall a more
avoidable man-made disaster."
"[D]isease is a general condition of
one's internal environment. It is not the symptoms we see, nor is it an entity
that attacks us from somewhere else. If germs are involved, they arise as a
primary symptom of that general condition. Though germs don't cause disease,
secondary symptoms (commonly called the disease) are produced in response to
their activity... Disease is a general underlying condition, not the symptoms we
diagnose or the bugs involved."
- Robert O. Young, PhD., D.Sc. with
Shelly Redford Young, L.M.T.: Sick and Tired? Reclaim Your Inner
Terrain -
"That's a bold statement."
- John Travolta: Pulp Fiction
-
"All compounded
things are impermanent.
"All emotions are
pain.
"All things have no
inherent existence.
"Nirvana is beyond
concepts."
- Buddha: The Four Seals -
"The message of the
four seals is meant to be understood literally, not metaphorically or mystically
- and meant to be taken seriously. But the seals are not edicts or commandments.
With a little contemplation one sees that there is nothing moralistic or
ritualistic about them. There is no mention of good or bad behavior. They
are secular truths based on wisdom, and wisdom is the primary concern of a
Buddhist. Morals and ethics are secondary...
"For the sake of
communication we can say that these four views are the spine of Buddhism. We
call them 'truths' because they're simply facts. They are not manufactured; they
are not a mystical revelation of the Buddha. They did not become valid only
after the Buddha began to teach. Living by these principles is not a ritual or
technique. They don't qualify as morals or ethics, and they can't be trademarked
or owned. There is no such thing as an 'infidel' or a 'blasphemer' in Buddhism
because there is no one to be faithful to, to insult, or to doubt. However,
those who are not aware of or do not believe in these four facts are considered
by Buddhists to be ignorant. Such ignorance is not cause for moral judgment. If
someone doesn't believe that humans have landed on the moon, or thinks that the
world is flat, a scientist wouldn't call him a blasphemer, just ignorant.
Likewise, if he doesn't believe in these four seals, he is not a infidel. In
fact if someone were to produce proof that the logic of the four seals is false,
that clinging to the self is actually not pain, or that some element defies
impermanence, then Buddhists should willingly follow that path instead. Because
what we seek is enlightenment and enlightenment means realization of the truth.
So far, though, in all these centuries no proof has arisen to invalidate the
four seals.
If you think the
entire West is somehow Satanic or immoral, it will be impossible to conquer and
rehabilitate it, but if you have tolerance within yourself, this is equal to
conquering. You can't smooth out the entire earth to make it easier to walk on
with your bare feet, but by wearing shoes you protect yourself from rough
unpleasant surfaces."
- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse: What
Makes You a Buddhist (Shambala Sun, Jan 2007) -
"Well, it's nothing special. Try and be nice to
people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking
in and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and
nations. And finally, here are some completely gratuitous pictures of penises to
annoy the censors and to hopefully spark some sort of controversy which it seems
is the only way these days to get the jaded video-sated public off their fucking
arses and back in the sodding cinema. Family entertainment bollocks! What they
want is filth, people doing things to each other with chainsaws during
Tupperware parties, babysitters being stabbed with knitting needles by gay
presidential candidates, vigilante groups strangling chickens, armed bands of
theatre critics exterminating mutant goats - where's the fun in pictures? Oh
well, there we are - here's the theme music. Goodnight."
Disinfotainment Today wants
to thank Paul, Nancy, Kevin, Forest, Alex, Dan, Don, Dylan, Charlene, and every
other Peace Heathen, but mostly Viv whose humor, generosity and heart ring
out across the universe, creating a family of spirit, fellowship and madness
that's a joy to behold. Gimme an "H!" Gimme an "E!" Gimme an "M!" Gimme a "P!"
What's that spell? I'd tell you but I'd have to kill you.
Well-known bootlegger Celebrity Murder Party has
released his new mashup compilation in conjunction
with Mashuptown. "Da Number Of Da Boots" is a bootleg
tribute to heavy-metal band Iron Maiden & features
twelve tracks mixed and mastered exclusively for the
collection. Seven accomplished & established names in
the world of bastard pop join Celebrity Murder Party
in contributing their own takes on the
perennially-popular British Hair Band. It's quite an
accomplishment to corral the likes of DJ Schmolli, The
Illuminoids, Simon Iddol & DJ Morgoth all in one
place, but to bring them together with a metal theme
is a sure way to raise big interest.
Copycat devises a unique perspective on Maiden with
his 'Numb World' (Iron Maiden vs Pet Shop Boys). It has
the ring of an undoable pairing, but Copycat delivers
a most haunting, plaintive rock call with large
appeal. Lobsterdust draws big praise for his 'Marley
Maiden' (from Exodus to Revelations)' (Iron Maiden vs
Bob Marley), a track that is a natural fit with the
strengths of both acts raising the rock to new
levels. The Illuminoids' track '30 Running Adidas'
(Iron Maiden vs Run DMC vs Bow Wow Wow) has energy to
spare as it throws around riffs & rap with special
snap.
Also prominently featured is Wax Audio, who has
released several collections on his own such as
MASHOPOLOS (a collection of mashup/
bootleg/bastard-pop tunes) & CMYK (an album of
original instrumental tracks). He appears on a group
comp for the first time here with tracks like
'Hallowed be thy Enemy (Public Enemy vs Iron Maiden)
& 'Maiden goes to Hollywood' (Frankie goes to
Hollywood vs Iron Maiden) & they're as great as they
sound.
The master of ceremonies, Celebrity Murder Party
features fellow mixer Joanne Lunan on the cut
'Sympathy for the Soul of the Beast' (Iron Maiden vs
George Michael vs The Soupdragons vs The Rolling
Stones vs King Curtis). All of them in only 5 minutes
& nine seconds. How does he do it? Unbelievably,he
tops himself with 'This Brutal Oilslave' (Nitro
Deluxe vs Iron Maiden vs Future Sound of London vs
Muslim Gauze vs Brian Eno and David Byrne vs Midnight
Oil), a track in which he moves with aggression &
skill to our bootleg-loving satisfaction.
The response is overwhelming positive with reviewers
like Virtual DJ commenting "I am not really into
metal, but there are some very good mashups in this
compilation. 'Maiden Goes To Hollywood' is my absolute
favorite, a strong contender for one of the best
mashups ever, if you a penchant for epic songs."
Website Culture Bully referred to 'Da Number Of Da
Boots' as one of the mashup comps of the year
(www.culturebully.com/numbero...eg-compilation),
Attuworld proclaimed it Mashup of the Week, and even
an actual metal site has linked to it:
www.bravewords.com/news/69708 . This project is
well-conceived to bring in both bootleg fans, & Iron
Maiden/metal fans as well. Are you interested yet?
MIX OF THE WEEK - DJ Magnet brings us a 2 part hip hop
mashup mix called "Hiphopotamus".
Following up the success of his recent "Hip Hop On
Pop", this mix continues the slammin' and jammin'.
Found here: - djmagnet.blogspot.com/
The new word on the street is "Wikit" and it means the
same as last week's word "Reez".
Beth Quinn Column: Grown-up needed to clean up after Pres. Bam Bam (recordonline.com)
A lot of readers tell me they assume I'll be voting for either Hillary or Obama in the next election. That's interesting because I have no idea who I'm voting for. The only thing I know for sure is this: The damage our nation has suffered these past 6 1/2 years is so great that I am neither Democrat nor Republican in the coming election. I am an American.
PAUL KRUGMAN: An Immoral Philosophy (The New York Times)
When a child is enrolled in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (Schip), the positive results can be dramatic. For example, after asthmatic children are enrolled in Schip, the frequency of their attacks declines on average by 60 percent, and their likelihood of being hospitalized for the condition declines more than 70 percent.
Ted Rall: America's Sneaky War on Speeders (altweeklies.com)
It was a beautiful afternoon in early autumn, and for an instant I mistook the brightly colored lights flashing in my rearview mirror for streaks of sunlight filtering through gently turning leaves. But only for an instant. Just past a curve on a steady downgrade a sign announced the end of the 55 mile-per-hour state speed limit and the beginning of the town 40. I hit the brakes but it was too late. That's the purpose of a speed trap. Sixty-two in a 40, the policeman said.
Cole Smithey: The Bourne Trilogy Ends (altweeklies.com)
Even audiences new to the Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) spy thriller franchise will respond with compulsory excitement at the elaborately orchestrated chain of exhilarating chase sequences that lead up to a philosophically satisfying whopper of a climax.
Deb Price: Giving Up the Debt Lifestyle
Financially free at last, my spouse and I don't need a newer car or a house in a ritzier neighborhood. We've matured faster than our savings bonds.
Study Links Diet Soft Drinks With Cardiac Risk (revolutionhealth.com)
Drinking more than one soda a day -- even if it's the sugar-free diet kind -- is associated with an increased incidence of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors linked to the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, a study finds.
Views from Abroad (andrewtobias.com)
Rick Steves "Biking through a forest of sleek modern windmills on the Danish island of Aero, I clucked about how the USA led the world in Olympic gold medals. 'In number perhaps,' my Danish friend said, 'but per capita, the Danes have triple the American total.'
David Bruce: Wise Up! Good Deeds (athensnews.com)
* In the 1950s, when Marilyn Monroe was a famous movie star and Ella Fitzgerald was still singing in small clubs, Monroe helped Fitzgerald reach the big time. Monroe called a big nightclub and told the owner that if he hired Fitzgerald to sing there, Monroe would appear every night and sit conspicuously at a table. The plan worked. The owner hired Fitzgerald, the press gave lots of publicity to Monroe, Fitzgerald, and the nightclub, and Fitzgerald says, "After that, I never had to play a small jazz club again."
I saw Vic's link about the Grizzlies at McNeil Falls but, as I've mentioned before, it's also grand to watch them on live streaming video with sound (finally…they've had some technical challenges this year). You need the free Real Player to see them and sometimes the feed is less than crystal clear, but I still can't get over how cool it is to view them LIVE from my desk at work.
Also check out the Forum, which you can connect to through the main NGM site. You have to register (it's free) to post but even if you don't, you can read the comments. The people at the Pratt Museum and some of the people who man the cameras each day often post there, with lots of great information. That includes some of the names of the bears and how long they've been seen at the falls. There are some older bears, like Luther, that are over 20 years old.
You can also see quite a number of other animals including some way cool bald eagles.
Lovely marine layer kept it cooler than seasonal, and I'm not complaining.
Tonight, Wednesday:
CBS starts the night with a RERUN'King Of Queens', followed by another RERUN'King Of Queens', then a RERUN'Criminal Minds', followed by a RERUN'CSI: The 3rd One'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Matt Damon, Jeff Altman, and Angelique Kidjo.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Miss Piggy, Jonathan Silverman, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.
NBC opens the night with a RERUN'Most Outrageous Moments', followed by another RERUN'Most Outrageous Moments', then a FRESH'Last Comic Standing', followed by 'Dateline'.
Scheduled on a FRESHLeno are Heidi Klum, Anderson Cooper, and Brad Paisley.
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Seth Rogen, Ann Curry, and wine critic Gary Vaynerchuk.
Scheduled on a FRESHCarson Daly are Derek Fisher and Mindless Self Indulgence.
ABC begins the night with a RERUN'Jim', followed by another RERUN'Jim', then a FRESH'American Inventor', followed by a FRESH'The Nine'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Marc Anthony, Katee Sackhoff, and Jim Norton.
The CW offers a RERUN'America's Next Top Model', followed by another RERUN'Amreica's Next Top Model'.
Faux has a FRESH'So You Think You Can Dance', followed by a FRESH'Don't Forget The Lyrics'.
MY has 'Damages', followed by another 'Damages'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', another 'CSI: The 2nd One', still another 'CSI: The 2nd One', and 'The Sopranos'.
AMC offers the movie 'Das Boot', followed by the movie 'Marked For Death', then 'Mad Men', followed by the movie 'Below'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] Daily Cooks! - Episode 16;
[12:30 PM] Rick Stein's Food Heroes - Episode 7;
[1:00 PM] Great British Menu - Episode 2;
[2:00 PM] The Weakest Link - Episode 6;
[3:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 8;
[3:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 9;
[4:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 3;
[4:30 PM] Whose Line Is It Anyway? - TBA;
[5:00 PM] Whose Line Is It Anyway? - Episode 10;
[5:30 PM] Whose Line Is It Anyway? - Episode 11;
[6:00 PM] My Family - Ep 1 Bliss for Idiots;
[6:30 PM] My Family - Ep 2 The Spokes Person;
[7:00 PM] BBC World News - BBC World News;
[7:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 11;
[8:00 PM] Footballers Wive$ - Episode 8;
[9:30 PM] Absolutely Fabulous;
[10:00 PM] Coupling - Ep. 3 Sex, Death and Nudity;
[10:40 PM] The World Stands Up - Episode 3;
[11:00 PM] Footballers Wive$ - Episode 8;
[12:30 AM] Absolutely Fabulous;
[1:00 AM] Coupling - Ep. 3 Sex, Death and Nudity;
[1:40 AM] The World Stands Up - Episode 3;
[2:00 AM] The Weakest Link - Episode 7;
[3:00 AM] Hollyoaks - Episode 43;
[3:30 AM] Changing Rooms - Episode 16;
[4:00 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 36 Carmarthen;
[4:30 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 2 Westpoint 11;
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 3 Hinton;
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 4 Guest;
[6:00 AM] BBC World News - BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', last night's 'Jon Stewart', last night's 'Colbert Report', 'Chappelle's Show', 'South Park', another 'South Park', and 'Lil' Bush'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is Jed Babbin.
Scheduled on a FRESHColbert Report is Michael Beschloss.
FX has the movie 'The Day After Tomorrow', followed by the movie 'I, Robot', then a FRESH'Rescue Me'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', another 'Modern Marvels', and 'Lost Worlds'.
IFC -
[07:00 AM] Media Lab Results;
[07:15 AM] Bright Young Things;
[09:00 AM] Marci X;
[10:30 AM] Kingdom Come;
[12:10 PM] Bright Young Things;
[01:50 PM] Media Lab Shorts Uploaded;
[02:20 PM] Marci X;
[03:50 PM] Kingdom Come;
[05:30 PM] The Henry Rollins Show #315: Christopher Walken/Shane Macgowan;
[06:00 PM] Bright Young Things;
[07:45 PM] Quiet Cool;
[09:15 PM] Boogie Nights;
[12:00 AM] Indie Sex: Censored;
[01:15 AM] The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love;
[03:00 AM] Indie Sex: Censored;
[04:15 AM] Quiet Cool;
[05:45 AM] Media Lab Shorts Uploaded. (ALL TIMES EDT)
SciFi has 'Ghost Hunters', another 'Ghost Hunters', still another 'Ghost Hunters', and 'Destination Truth'.
Sundance -
[06:00 AM] Air Guitar in Oulu;
[06:00 AM] Motodrom;
[07:00 AM] I Am Cuba;
[09:00 AM] Where Angels Fear to Tread;
[11:00 AM] 5 Days;
[01:00 PM] Brazil;
[03:00 PM] The Four Seasons (1981);
[05:00 PM] Where Angels Fear to Tread;
[07:00 PM] Gettin' Square;
[09:00 PM] Episode 3: Fatal Attraction;
[09:00 PM] Six Shooter;
[10:00 PM] New York Doll;
[11:00 PM] Brazil;
[01:00 AM] Koma;
[03:00 AM] Overnight;
[04:00 AM] Resonance;
[05:00 AM] Six Shooter;
[05:00 AM] The Four Seasons (1981). (ALL TIMES EDT)
Chris Tucker, right, and Chris Rock pose together at the 'Rush Hour 3' premiere after party in Los Angeles on Monday, July 30, 2007.
Photo by Matt Sayles
When it debuts Tuesday on the Web, My Damn Channel will become the latest attempt by Hollywood professionals to cash in on the huge popularity of online video.
Comedian Harry Shearer, filmmaker David Wain and music producer Don Was, among others, also hope to find creative freedom seldom offered by traditional media companies.
The site is the brainchild of former MTV and CBS Radio executive Rob Barnett, who believes Internet audiences want to see professionally produced shows other than network TV fare.
Shearer, who provides the voices for several characters on "The Simpsons" TV show, will produce a weekly political and pop-culture satire show for the site. Was, who has produced records for Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and Bonnie Raitt, will host a music interview show with actor Paul Reiser.
In this image from video provided by the web site My Damn Channel, comedian Harry Shearer, in full prosthetic makeup as Vice President Dick Cheney, sings No Cooler for the Scooter, an original torch song tribute to Scooter Libby. The video, which was shot in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles in July 2007, makes its debut Tuesday, July 31, 2007, during the launch of My Damn Channel. When it debuts Tuesday on the Web, My Damn Channel will become the latest attempt by Hollywood professionals to cash in on the huge popularity of online video. The site is the brainchild of former MTV and CBS Radio executive Rob Barnett, who believes Internet audiences want to see professionally produced shows other than network TV fare. The video will also be available on YouTube.
Photo Courtesy of My Damn Channel
The Queer Lion award is finally coming to the Venice Film Festival after four years of negotiations.
The prize will be awarded to the best full-length film in competition or in any of the festival's sidebars that features a gay theme or character, even if the character does not play a central role. The name Queer Lion is a take on Venice's main prize, the Golden Lion.
"We aren't looking for the next 'Brokeback Mountain,"' the competition's director, Daniel Casagrande, said in an interview. "We are just looking for films that accurately portray gay characters or themes."
The award comes after Casagrande approached the festival with the idea in 2003. The Berlin International Film Festival has been handing out a similar prize -- the Teddy Awards, a play on Berlin's Golden Bear -- for the past 21 years.
Callers to a morning radio show said they were embarrassed and angry that a female fan groped Tim McGraw after his concert at the Cajundome last weekend.
The woman grabbed McGraw in the crotch area at the close of his set Saturday as the 40-year-old country singer walked between the barricade and the stage to greet fans.
McGraw's wife, Faith Hill, who also performed on the Soul2Soul tour stop, berated the woman from the stage, calling her actions disrespectful.
"Someone needs to teach you some class, my friend," Hill said.
Actor George Clooney attends a news conference for the film "Ocean's Thirteen" in Tokyo July 31, 2007. The film opens in Japan on August 10, 2007.
Photo by Yuriko Nakao
After years of rumors and media speculation, television celebrity Star Jones Reynolds on Tuesday admitted to having had gastric bypass surgery before her massive weight loss.
Reynolds, 45, said she was "intentionally evasive" over the last four years about how she lost the 160 lbs (73 kg).
"I was scared of what people might think of me," Reynolds wrote in an essay for the September issue of Glamour magazine. "I was afraid to be vulnerable."
Paris Hilton is going from jailbird to songbird with a role in a movie musical about organ harvesting. Hilton will co-star with Paul Sorvino and Alexa Vega in "Repo! The Genetic Opera," which begins shooting in September in Canada, Hilton's publicist, Elliot Mintz, said Tuesday.
The horror rock opera, based on a stage musical, is set in a plague-ravaged future where people can purchase new organs on the installment plan from a corporation called Geneco. The catch is that if the payments stop, the organs are repossessed.
Hilton will portray the fame-seeking daughter of Geneco's owner (Sorvino).
O.J. Simpson lashed out Tuesday at the family of the late Ronald Goldman, a day after they won the rights to Simpson's canceled "If I Did It" book about the slayings of Goldman and Simpson's ex-wife.
Simpson used much of Tuesday's interview broadcast on business news Web site Market News First to reiterate that he maintained many fans and supporters, a fact he accused the media of obscuring.
But he found little support from members of the call-in audience, whose derisive phoned-in questions he avoided answering at times.
One caller asked the former football player if he thought it was "a bigger feat to break 2,000 yards in one season or slice two necks in one night."
Simpson seemed not to hear the question, which interviewer Delaney reinterpreted for him as, "What was your biggest accomplishment, basically, in football?"
A man waterproofs the big sculpture 'Octobush' made of sand at the Sandfestival Ruhr at the Kemnade lake in Bochum, Germany, Monday, July 30, 2007. German artist Urlich Baentsch shows US resident George W. Bush as an octopus who holds corn, oil, a cross, the World Trade Center, and a gun in his tentacles. Eleven different giant sand sculptures made by sand artists are shown until September 9, 2007 in the heart of the Ruhrarea in western Germany.
Photo by Martin Meissner
The thousands of Elvis Presley fans descending on Memphis for the 30th anniversary of his death Aug. 16 won't see much sign of it, but plans are moving along for big-time changes at Graceland.
Managers of Presley's famous home want to overhaul its tourist complex - with a new visitors center bigger than a football field, a convention hotel and high-tech museum displays that can give a new, digital life to the King himself.
Last year, Graceland took in $27 million in revenue, and the overall Elvis business brings in more than $40 million a year. That made him the second-highest grossing dead celebrity in 2006, behind only Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, according to Forbes.
Lisa Marie Presley still owns her father's house and 15 percent of Elvis Presley Enterprises, but CKX controls Graceland and its sprawling complex of souvenir shops and memorabilia museums.
In this photo released by Blank Park Zoo Monday, July 30, 2007, a baby Chilean flamingo is shown in Des Moines, Iowa. Zoo officials said the chick only the second to hatch at their zoo in 21 years. They are waiting for four other flamingo eggs to hatch.
Photo by Ryan Bickel
Whatchu talkin' 'bout, officer? Police cited actor Gary Coleman for disorderly conduct after witnesses said they saw the former "Diff'rent Strokes" star in an argument with a woman.
Coleman, 39, and the woman were in his vehicle having a heated discussion about their relationship Friday night when two people saw him hit the steering wheel with his hands, Capt. Cliff Argyle said.
"Mr. Coleman was very excited and loud. ... At one point he exited his vehicle, waving his arms, yelling and screaming," Argyle said. "Vehicles were unable to exit the parking lot because of Mr. Coleman's actions."
Tara, a koala at Sydney's Wildlife World, sits with her newborn joey in their enclosure in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, July 31, 2007. Tara's as yet unnamed baby is one of three newborn koalas at the inner city zoo.
Photo by Mark Baker
In the 1987 movie "Broadcast News," Aaron Altman, played by Albert Brooks, has one shot at the anchor's seat, only to be beset by a rabid case of flop sweat.
William Hurt's character, the slick but shallow Tom Grunick, later describes Altman's moist meltdown as unprecedented, "unless you count `Singin' in the Rain.'"
Nowadays, there's much precedent. Video-sharing sites like YouTube are ensuring that every TV anchor mishap is preserved and distributed. No, the onset of online video has not been kind to television personalities.
Nearly 400,000 have watched a compilation of TV news bloopers on YouTube. Among the videos included are the now infamous local news woman who falls hard while reporting on grape stomping, as well as Michelle Kosinksi's canoe paddling in ankle-deep flooding in New Jersey - as seen on "The Daily Show."
People wait in line to visit an upside-down house built at the Centre of Education and Promotion of the Region in the village of Szymbark, northern Poland July 31, 2007. The upside-down house created by Daniel Czapiewski is supposed to describe the times of the former communist era and the present times in which we live.
Photo by Peter Andrews
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for July 23-29. 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. (38) "America's Got Talent," NBC, 9.83 million viewers.
2. (33) "Singing Bee," NBC, 9.49 million viewers.
3. (6) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 9.34 million viewers.
4. (46) "So You Think You Can Dance" (Thursday), Fox, 9.15 million viewers.
5. (72) "Hell's Kitchen," Fox, 8.89 million viewers.
6. (62) "Don't Forget the Lyrics" (Thursday), Fox, 8.83 million viewers.
7. (19) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 8.79 million viewers.
8. (29) "60 Minutes," CBS, 8.69 million viewers.
9. (X) Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" (Monday), Fox, 8.58 million viewers.
10. (X) "Shark" (Thursday), CBS, 8.19 million viewers.
11. (22) "CSI: NY," CBS, 8.04 million viewers.
12. (12) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 7.98 million viewers.
13. (19) "NCIS," CBS, 7.92 million viewers.
14. (72) "Just For Laughs," ABC, 7.87 million viewers.
15. (54) "So You Think You Can Dance" (Wednesday), Fox, 7.86 million viewers.
16. (22) "Criminal Minds," CBS, 7.58 million viewers.
17. (85) "Don't Forget the Lyrics" (Wednesday), Fox, 7.43 million viewers.
18. (101) "The Next Best Thing," ABC, 7.09 million viewers.
19. (101) "Big Brother 8" (Thursday), CBS, 7.08 million viewers.
20. (101) "Just For Laughs" (Tuesday), ABC, 7.01 million viewers.
In Michelangelo Antonioni's movies, dialogue was sparse, shots lengthy and action minimal. This abstract style and a ruthless exploration of the malaise of modern man made the Italian director a darling of avant-garde cinema and a celebrated filmmaker across the world.
Antonioni died at 94 in his home, officials said Tuesday, after a career that spanned six decades, an Oscar for lifetime achievement and movies that have become classics such as "L'Avventura," "Blow-Up" and "Zabriskie Point."
Along with Federico Fellini, Antonioni helped turn postwar Italian film away from neorealism and toward a cinema more interested in exploring the alienation and fragile relationships of modern society than the down-to-earth troubles of life.
Antonioni became a symbol of art-house cinema, if not a crowd pleaser. His critics found his films pretentious and aimless exercises with only vague significance.
Antonioni was born on Sept. 29, 1912, in the affluent northern city of Ferrara. He graduated in economics but soon began writing critiques for cinema magazines.
His first feature film, "Cronaca di un Amore" ("Story of a Love Affair"), in 1950 reflected the influence of neorealism, by then a vigorous artistic movement. But the movie also had hints of Antonioni's future style.
Antonioni is survived by wife Enrica. He had no children.
The city of Rome said his body would lie in state at City Hall on Wednesday before a funeral scheduled Thursday in Ferrara.
Anak, a 31-year-old Orang Utan, holds her five-day-old baby Apie in her arms in Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen, central Netherlands, July 31, 2007. The baby was born in captivity at the zoo. The zoo participates in the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) , a European breeding program to save the endangered Orang Utans from extinction.
Photo by Michael Kooren
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