Rock Hudson and Bea Arthur Sing About… What??
Well, it’s a weird one: The late Bea Arthur and actor Rock Hudson sing a Dixieland duet about drugs on an unidentified 1970s television show. Enjoy!
Monthly Archive: April 2009
Google Salutes Samuel Morse
Nifty logo tribute from Google to Morse Code inventor Samuel Morse on his 218th birthday.
The Late Bea Arthur
Dead at 86. Everyone knows her big credits, but I didn’t know she was the original matchmaker in Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway. And — Fosse connection alert — her first husband produced All That Jazz.
Those Monkey-fighting Snakes!
A wonderfully cleaned-up version of Samuel L. Jackson’s famous line from the movie Snakes on a Plane:
Snoop Waxx
Rapper Snoop Dogg poses with his new wax replicant at Madame Tussaud’s in Las Vegas. (That’s the real item on the left.)More photos here.(Photo credit: Judy Eddy / WENN.com)
J.G. Ballard, 1930-2009
British writer J.G. Ballard has died at the age of 78.He wrote Empire of the Sun and Crash, both of which were made into movies. The Crash based on his book is the 1996 cars-n-sex one that starred Holly Hunter and James Spader, not the 2004 L.A. race relations one with Sandra Bullock and Don Cheadle.
Is This Cleopatra’s Tomb… and Nose?
Archaeologists in may have found the Egyptian tomb of Cleopatra — buried, perhaps, next to her lover Marc Antony.
Speaking of Paul Newman
Here’s an old film of Paul Newman, warning of the dangers of drugs. Specifically, pills — you know, bennies and goofballs and so on.Courtesy of The Smoking Gun.
Newman Makes the Connecticut Hall of Fame
Actor Paul Newman has been inducted into the Connecticut Hall of Fame.Other inductees include Jackie Robinson, Mark Twain and Katharine Hepburn.
Today We are All #42
Major league players — every one of them — wear #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson’s first major league game.
Franken Got More Votes
Minnesota’s comedian-politician Al Franken got more votes in his challenge for Senator Norm Coleman’s seat. That’s what a three-judge panel said yesterday. Read about it here.
Something Not About That Dog
This story is about comic books, the Canadian air force and the long-standing mystery of Dan Cooper, otherwise known as D.B. Cooper.
First Photos of the First Dog
This is the first shot of the First Dog, Bo, according to The Los Angeles Times.
The New First Dog is a Puppy Named Bo
He’s named Bo.The identity of the first puppy — the one that the Washington press corps has been yelping about for months, the one President Obama has seemed to delight in dropping hints about — leaked out Saturday.
First Dog Coming Soon?
The Daily News says yes.The First Family will reportedly welcome a black Portuguese Water Dog puppy to the White House on Tuesday… The future First Dog is reportedly a 6-month-old male pup which was returned to a kennel by its first owners.[Update: It’s official!]
Malkovich: Drifting Toward Obi-Wan
Yow! John Malkovich seems to be crossing over from middle-aged-guy-playing-older to genuinely-getting-older status.He’s got a little Sir Alec Guinness going — maybe it’s the folds between the eyebrows.
The Easter Patriot
The Easter Bunny pledges allegiance to the flag before the 2008 White House Easter Egg Roll.More Easter Bunny photos here.(Photo credit: Carrie Devorah / WENN)
Piracy Update
“All those GI Joe dolls I bought him paid off.”So says the mother of pirate-fighting chief officer Shane Murphy of the Maersk Alabama.Capt. Richard Phillips is still being held by Somali pirates after a failed escape attempt last night.
When Harry Met Hippo
Random photo of the day: Actor Harrison Ford feeds Happy, a 5,000-pound Nile hippopotamus, at the Smithsonian National Zoo on Tuesday.That’s Ford’s girlfriend Calista Flockhart and her son Liam watching the action. Liam seems skeptical.
The Simpsons on Postage Stamps
The United States Postal Service is promoting new stamps featuring The Simpsons.They want to know which is your favorite Simpson stamp.You can win a poster of Matt Groening.
Michael Jordan’s Year in Baseball
SI has photos.The basketball star batted .202 and hit three home runs in 127 games with the AA Birmingham Barons in 1994. But he also stole 30 bases. And got called screwball into the bargain.
Tom Lehrer is 81!
And last year he was 80.
Kirk is Back
Four decades after NBC axed the original series, the unstoppable Star Trek franchise was back again last night — with a feature premiere in Australia and a surprise preview in Austin.
Peary at the North Pole, 100 Years Ago
Here’s a photo from the U.S. National Archives of the expedition party led by Robert E. Peary at the North Pole. The photo was taken 7 April 1909, one hundred years ago today.Peary and his party, including Matthew Henson, reached the pole the day before, on the 6th of April.
Bird and Magic, 30 Years Later
They said it:Bird played in the game but admitted, three decades later, he has still never watched a replay of it.”Why?” Bird said at a Ford Field news conference before the national title game between North Carolina and Michigan State. “I don’t like the memories of it.”Johnson leaned over to console Bird.”I watch it enough for him and I,” Johnson said with his trademark laugh.
Bob Dylan Analyzes the Presidents
BF: Do you remember any particular battle that [Ulysses] Grant fought?
The Beatles Reunite, Kinda, Sorta
Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney played together over the weekend, and Rolling Stone thought enough of it to give it several column inches. So did many others.
Farrah Fawcett Hospitalized in LA
Farrah Fawcett is in an LA hospital, reportedly unconscious, and has been there for a few days… Farrah has been battling cancer for three years and recently returned from Germany, where she had experimental stem-cell treatment.So says the LA Times, quoting Radar Online.
Sarah Palin’s Sister-in-Law Caught Burgling
While her four-year-old waited in the car.Todd Palin’s half-sister was arrested Thursday after police say she broke into a Wasilla home to steal money for the second time this week but ended up getting caught by the armed homeowner… Todd Palin is Gov. Sarah Palin’s husband. He referred questions to a spokeswoman for the governor, who said the family would have no comment.
Ichiro On the Disabled List
According to this Seattle Times story, baseballer Ichiro Suzuki will be on the Disabled List until April 15th, due to a bleeding ulcer. He’s played 807 out of 810 games in the last five seasons, and this is his first time on the DL.
Sorry, Ms. Flack
According to her alma mater, Howard University in Washington, D.C., singer Roberta Flack was born in 1940, not 1939. Several sources give her birth year as 1939 — and that’s what we had. Sorry for making you out to be older than you really are, Roberta.
75 Chimp-Lovin’ Years
Jane Goodall turns 75 today.She was born in 1934 — same as Hammerin’ Hank Aaron and Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf.
Galileo’s Telescope in the U.S.
One of two extant telescopes used by Galileo is in the U.S. on exhibit. Here’s the story.Here’s the telescope, which will be on display at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute, part of an exhibit opening April 4th, "The Medici and the Age of Astronomy."
The G20 WAGs
Heh: a slideshow.Those cut-ups at The Times!
She Touched the Queen!
And nobody seemed to mind.
Trying to Meet Salinger
A journalist from the U.K. Spectator travels to the home of reclusive author J.D. Salinger and finds a writer who doesn’t want to meet people in "What I Heard at J.D. Salinger’s Doorstep."
Our First Couple Is Taller Than Your First Couple
Barack and Michelle Obama visit Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip yesterday at Buckingham Palace.
They Blew Up Lenin’s Rear
That’s what this report from the BBC says.
A Good Start
New GM head is named Fritz.