A monthly talk show.The young Austrian lady who managed to escape from the windowless basement cell in which she'd been imprisoned for eight years since her abduction at age 10...will premiere on Vienna's Puls4 Sunday night.
I can't decide if this is a triumph of the can-do human spirit or an obscene exploitation of fame.
Young woman held in underground cell gets talk show
[AP / Cnews]
VIENNA, Austria - Television was once her only window on the world. Now Natascha Kampusch - still adjusting to life after spending 8 1/2 years in an underground cell - is starting an improbable new career as a TV talk show host.
Less than two years after staging a dramatic escape while her captor was distracted with a phone call, the young Austrian woman whose ordeal stunned people worldwide is going prime time.
"Natascha Kampusch Meets ...," a chat show featuring local celebrities, debuts Sunday evening on Puls4, a new private cable channel.
A Puls4 trailer shows Kampusch typing on a laptop computer, pouring herself a glass of mineral water and grinning as makeup artists give her a final touchup on the set. She wears her long blond hair down and sports a sweater and a floral-patterned skirt - both in purple, her favorite color.
The Book of Biff is chock full of good advice.
Okay, how many ways are there to say "the Clinton campaign is dead" with Monty Python jokes?Dana Milbank at the Washington Post likes the "dead parrot" sketch.
Customer: "That parrot is definitely deceased, and when I purchased it not half an hour ago, you assured me that its total lack of movement was due to it being tired and shagged out following a prolonged squawk."He can't spell fjords, but that's okay, who can? And who can resist describing the Clinton campaign as a "prolonged squawk"? (I really like the caption for the accompanying picture of the candidate boarding a plane: "Hillary Clinton, pining for the Rose Garden.")
Pet-shop owner: "Well, he's, he's, ah, probably pining for the fiords."
But as you can see from the cartoon, there are other possibilities. But then you probably read Fark, too.
"But I'm not dead yet!"What I can't figure is why we didn't see this prolonged deathmatch coming. The Democrats are a party of loosely-allied minorities, and here we have two of them set at each other's throats. This could not possibly end well.
"Yes you are. You'll be stone cold dead in a moment."
"You're black. Republicans will never vote for you."The first candidate to eat a wafer-thin mint will explode. All over the nightly news.
"You're a woman. Republicans will never vote for you."
"You're too young."
"You're a Clinton."
"I've had the superdelegates locked up from day one."
"Only because they're afraid of your husband."
"Everyone thinks you're a closet Muslim."
"Everyone thinks I'm Tiger Woods."
"Nobody really knows you."
"Everybody knows you, and nobody likes you."
From: T-Shirt HellWhy not: Well, it's eighteen dollars! That's an awful lot to spend on a tee shirt, especially for a running joke that is about to outrun its sell-by date.
On the other hand, who expected this race to still be undecided by now?
EXTRA: Last week's thing I almost bought:
From: Dirt Cheap ShirtWhy not: Cost wasn't the issue, since it was one of their one-day specials for $1 (plus shipping). Partly it was the fact that it is, after all, a white tee shirt, and people built like me look like slobs wearing white tees. Mostly, though, it's because it's only funny once a year, and it probably wouldn't have arrived by May 5.
But I admit I did laugh out loud when I saw it.
Hey, folks, just checking in with the latest announcements.
First let's take care of upcoming live performances:
Thanks to everyone who came out to hear "The Man Who Traveled in Elephants" at the Stage Door Players on April 26. We hope you enjoyed it.
Next up will be our summer convention schedule starting with TimeGate on May 25 at 8:30pm Convention Standard Time.
Following that will be our now-traditional appearance at LibertyCon, which will be on July 11-13. Our performance slot has not yet been set, so stay tuned.
And we finish up with our annual appearance at Dragon*Con. Will we have 1 or 2 shows this year? Nobody knows yet, but if you have an opinion, be sure to let the convention know.
We're also making plans for shows in October and December. If you've never heard us perform live, it's an experience you should stop denying yourself.
And now these commercial announcements:
We here at ARTC do this for the love of the art. Nobody gets paid and we all have day jobs. That said, our hobby isn't cheap and we want to have the ability to bring audio drama to an even wider audience. Up to this point we've gotten all of our support from people like you through the sales of our CDs and now by download at Audible.com. Recently we've begun acquiring sponsorships, a time-honored radio tradition. And now we'd like to ask you to give someone else's money to us.
SunTrust bank is currently running a promotion called My Cause. Here's how it works.
If you open a checking account at SunTrust between now and June 30, 2008, accept a Visa check card, and make a purchase using that card by August 15, 2008 they will give you an option of receiving a $50 gift card for yourself or a $100 check for the charity of your choice.
Details are found at http://www.suntrust
A couple of quick notes:
1) This is not intended to be an endorsement of SunTrust. I use them and they seem to be ok so far, but my banking needs are pretty basic. We just want the money.
2) If you'd rather take the $50 for yourself then go for it. Have a tank of gas and think fondly of us while you're filling up.
3) If you're happy with your current bank then don't worry about this. But if you're having problems and are thinking of switching anyway, think of your favorite radio theatre company when you make your decision.
Thank you all for your continued support. Even if you don't buy anything or switch banks or anything like that, the fact that you listen and tell your friends means a lot to us.
There is Adventure in Sound!
--
David Benedict
Atlanta Radio Theatre Company
listen@artc.
