- Many Hollywood Celebrities Rally Behind Obama (Reuters)
- Actors' Strike Could Hurt Mass. Movie Biz (Boston Herald)
- PETA Slams Jessica Simpson for 'Real Girls Eat Meat' T-Shirt (FoxNews.com)
- Menus With Fancy Font Can Mean Fancy Prices: Study (Reuters)
- Locked Door Thwarts Robber (Mobile Press-Register)
- Guests get fed up as hotels' miscellaneous fees pile up (Freep.com)
- California summer starts with blast — of heat (msnbc.com)
- TV Batman Adam West not excited for The Dark Knight (Coventry Telegraph)
- Doctor: Flip-flops lack support (WTHR 13 Indianapolis)
It means that you give it everything you've got, even when you're giving it to a felt-tip pen. Even when you're wearing a banana suit, singing about a felt-tip pen.
Can you imagine any other actor (that is, any other actor who didn't really need the money) throwing himself into this with such gusto?
The gayness of Charles Nelson Reilly was perhaps the worst-kept secret in Hollywood. He was told it would keep him from getting work. Some weeks you could spin the dial and Reilly was on every channel at the same time. Thank God he was gay, or it would have been All Charles Nelson Reilly, All The Time.
(Saw the clip at Mark Evanier's News From Me.)
Barbara Gordon as you've never seen her before. Well, yeah, I know there are about umpteen thousand images of varying quality on the web (mostly traced or photoshopped), but these are by Kevin McGuire and appear in an actual publication of DC Comics.I mean, for an old fanboy like me, the spinner racks in Heaven must be full of comics like this.
(This image is the last page of last month's Batman Confidential #17. This month's #18 features another nine pages.)
We seem to be seeing a new summertime theme: College graduates utterly unprepared for the Real World, astounded that their sparkling new degrees, acquired through undeniable hard work and at appalling expense, have not translated into fulfilling yet lucrative positions.
Chronic financial instability weighs on philosophy majorI've commented on this phenomenon before, of course. Instead of making fun of this newest example (I really don't have the heart), I'll just say what I've said before:
[Scranton Times Tribune]
“I’ve been working since I was 15 and I still have nothing,” said Ms. Pollack, 28. “It seems like that’s always the situation, even when I have a job. I have no money because I’m giving it to everybody else.”
A student of philosophy, she is frustrated by the domineering hold the greenback has, but resigned to the task at hand — to find a way to make a livable income and one day rise above the stacks of bills to enjoy an existence free from worry over the smallest everyday expenses.
The blame lies with the student herself, and with her advisors. My own journalism school advisor told me that my intended minor subject (art) would not help me find a job, and all but made me change it to political science, a subject I hated then and hate now. (I didn't really want to be a reporter: I wanted to work in production. I wanted to make the newspaper look better.)
I would suggest that philosophy advisors, distateful as it may be (not to mention running counter to your self-interest), ask your students how they expect to make money with a degree in philosophy. You can't make 'em act on it, but you can at least put the question in their heads. They trust you, and they don't deserve to be rudely surprised the day after commencement.
I know, "stupid criminal" stories are all too common, and often untrue, but this one is so far over the top I had to pass it along. In addition, it appealed to me because it's a form of self-incrimination that wasn't possible, say, five years ago.
Greetings, all,
You may notice that these newsletters are coming more frequently and regularly now than in the past. This is because we've got a lot going on and I'm making a concious effort to keep you informed about the happenings with your favorite radio theatre group! Look for these monthly from now on, and if you have an item that you think would be worthy of inclusion, send it on to me!
Live shows:
Thanks to everyone who heard our performace at TimeGate over Memorial Day weekend. We performed "Switch on the Bull Run" by Sharon Webb, adapted for audio by Wendy Webb and Steven Nesheim. We also debuted brand new material by Thomas Berry who gave us "Haunter Hunters" and also by Desmond Warzel who was kind enough to give Ron N. Butler permission to adapt his short story "Wikihistory"
Japan man discovers woman living in his closetAn unused closet? What kind of home has one of those?
[Reuters / Yahoo]
A Japanese man who was mystified when food kept disappearing from his kitchen, set up a hidden camera and found an unknown woman living secretly in his closet, Japanese media said Friday.
The 57-year-old unemployed man of Fukuoka in southern Japan called police Wednesday when the camera sent pictures to his mobile phone of an intruder in his home while he was out on Wednesday, the Asahi newspaper said on its Website.
Officers rushed to the house and found a 58-year-old unemployed woman hiding in an unused closet, where she had secreted a mattress and plastic drink bottles, the Asahi said. Police suspect she may have been there for several months, the paper said.
(I hope she won't mind me using her picture this way...)
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.
Again, from Balls and Walnuts. I meant to run it last Thursday, but preparations for an out-of-town trip distracted me...
Theme week, day 3: Do girls fart?
