People In The News

The family of United States Chief Justice John Roberts attends the swearing-in ceremony for the new AHOY.

THE NEWS EXPLAINED WITH COMIC BOOK COVERS

Photos Show Bush With Disgraced Lobbyist Abramoff




Oprah Feels 'Duped' By Author Frey




Tonight On Anderson Cooper 360°


_________
Covers: The Grand Comic Book Database.

I explain the news with comic book covers nearly every week, here and at Pulse.

Requiem For A Heavyweight

Ever wonder what a Candle in the Wind remake would sound like if Elton John did one for every celebrity that dies? asks the ingenious Ken From Illinois. But he doesn't stop there; when a star twinkles out, Ken makes the dream real for readers of his blog and mailing list.

Goodbye Chris Penn
Character roles knew you pretty well
You played the Reservoir nice guy
Your bio sure would tell
You crawled out of nowhere
With minor roles in your hand
Never being able
To get out of your brother shadow again

And it seemed to me that you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind...

Read the rest of the lyric, along with tributes to Peter Jennings, Bob Denver and others, at Candle In The Wind Celebrity Remixes.

AHOY: Five Finalists Named

Link

This spot illustration by the great Steve Ditko looked corny and old-fashioned when DC Comics first published it in 1984. Twenty-two years later, it feels like a White House press release.

Schiavo To Present Oscar

(AP) Michael Schiavo, whose brain-damaged wife was at the center of a contentious end-of-life battle that played out on a worldwide media stage, is to present an Academy Award at this year's ceremony, organizers announced.

Schiavo, 42, who remarried this weekend, is riding a Hollywood hot streak.

He recently finished work on horror flick "The Reaping" and the Los Angeles-set murder mystery "The Black Dahlia" and is currently shooting the drama "Freedom Writers," in which he plays an inspirational teacher. After his first wife's death last year, an autopsy supported Schiavo's contention that she was in a persistent vegetative state with no consciousness and no hope of recovery.

Schiavo is the first in a traditionally star-studded parade of Hollywood personalities to be announced as presenters of the golden statuettes this year.

THE NEWS EXPLAINED WITH COMIC BOOK COVERS

Tom Daschle Considers 2008 Presidential Run


Are George Clooney & Teri Hatcher an Item?


Bush Administration Subpoenas Google Records for Porn Searches

_________
Covers: The Grand Comic Book Database.

I explain the news with comic book covers nearly every week, here and at Pulse.

Nearly a week after the rest of us have quit, Dial B For Blog's Robby Reed continues an amazing daily tribute to the Batman anniversary! Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6

This makes me want to sue John Layman.

Who is that dynamic action star? Last chance to Name That Superhero before there shall be an ending!

Important new sidebar poll! WHO WILL BE THE NEXT BATMAN 'SPECIAL GUEST VILLAIN' TO DIE? Vote!

Ma Parker Is Dead

Actress Shelley Winters, who played the dastardly Ma Parker in episodes 43 and 44 of Batman, is dead. Of the roughly three dozen "special guest villains" who opposed the Dynamic Duo in the feature film and series, which began 40 years ago this week, 11 are still alive:

Julie Newmar (Catwoman)
Eartha Kitt (Catwoman)
Lee Meriweather (Catwoman)
Joan Collins (The Siren)
Zsa Zsa Gabor (Minerva)
Glynis Johns (Lady Penelope Peasoup)
Cliff Robertson (Shame)
Barbara Rush (Nora Clavicle)
Malachi Throne (False Face)
Eli Wallach (Mr. Freeze)
And, frighteningly, Van Johnson (The Minstrel), who must be 150.

Services: Wednesday and Thursday, 7:30 PM, Gotham Prison Chapel.



Pix: The 1966 Batman Villains - Ma Parker and this eBay auction.

Mondovi, Wisconsin, Hello.

I know, I have to stop harping on James Frey and A Million Little Pieces. But first, two great moments from the CNN transcript of his shame-sauna with Larry King:

FREY: I don't think -- I think you could probably find people who would dispute every memoir that was ever published. And a lot of them have been disputed. When Jerzy Kosinski's "Painted Bird" came out and became a big success several years afterwards, people said, "You know what? Jerzy Kosinski never went through the Holocaust." It's happened with a number of recent memoirs. It tends to happen with a lot of the more high-profile memoirs.

KING: And Jerzy killed himself. I'm not suggesting -- Mondovi, Wisconsin, hello.

Larry later helped us understand the issue as only he could:

KING: I know that the first famous person I interviewed, let's say, was Bobby Darin. Now, I have -- that's 49 years ago. Now, maybe it was Danny Thomas, you know? And someone might write and say, you know, it was Danny Thomas before Bobby Darin. And I might say, I could have sworn it was Bobby Darin. So, that could happen.

THE NEWS EXPLAINED WITH COMIC BOOK COVERS

Linked To Scandals, Top Lobbying Firm Closes



Tensions Rise As Democrats Sharpen Questions On Alito



Batman TV Series Turns 40



Author Admits Some Of His Memoir Fabricated


Covers: The Grand Comic Book Database.

I explain the news with comic book covers pretty much every week, here and at Pulse.

Links Of Fury

The Ground Meat Cookbook, via This Is Pop!

Mideast Barbie dolls don Islamic veil, via Slog

Cheney Hospitalized, Power Not Transferred to Bush

I wake to the tweeting of birds and the feeling of something warm dripping down my snout. I lift my paw to feel my face. My bowtie is askew, my whiskers are bent, and my eyes are X's. A Million Little Meeces, by Mr. Jinks, as told to Jim Treacher.

ZAP! POW! WHEEZE!

The coolest show in TV history turns 40 today. ABC broadcast "Hi Diddle Riddle," the premiere episode of Batman, on January 12, 1966.

Bat-Signal pix: Batfriend
I was going to link you all over Bat-Hell, as I did last year. Then I saw Mike Sterling's Insanely Bat-tastic Collection Of Bat-Links. He is clearly my better; go there and start Bat-Clicking. But first, here are a few that popped up since his post, and a couple I think he missed:

• Fred Hembeck's Bat-Clippings From 1966 Newspapers & Magazines
  
• Dial B For Blog's Tribute 1 2 3 4 5
  
• Zsa Zsa Gabor, Van Johnson, & Other Surviving Bat-Villains
  
• Fab Argentine Bat-Site
• 1966 Batmobile Paper Model via Broken Glass Makes Me Laugh
  and the essential
  
• McSweeney's Analysis Of The Batman Theme!

Pieces Of Larry

James Frey e-mailed me after his appearance tonight on Larry King Live:

Larry asks me if I lied in my book.

I kick him unconscious, snort coke off his cock, and run him over with my mother's car.

The whole time, Oprah is egging me on.

Does anyone have this? I missed it.

Tom's Book Club: A Million Little Pieces

Started this the other night and couldn't stop. The parts where author/criminal James Frey puked had me crying, and the parts where he cried had me shitting. It wasn't just honest; it was Five People You Meet In Heaven honest. If you, like a person Jack Nicholson once yelled at, "can't handle the truth," then you'd better stay a hundred miles away from A Million Little Pieces!

360 Degrees of Anderson Cooper: What will he feel next? by me, at Slate.

Pic: Anderson Cooper Home Page

People In The News

Vice-President Dick Cheney was hospitalized in Washington early Monday after suffering shortness of breath, the White House said. Doctors released him after his lungs responded to routine torture.

12 Days Of A.H.O.Y.

The Polls Are Closed.
All That Remains Is To Count Down The 40 Biggest Assholes.
It Begins With An Indicted Politician.
It Will End With
YOUR 2005 ASSHOLE OF THE YEAR
"This is going to be the best A.H.O.Y. ever!"

12 DAYS • 1 BIGGEST ASSHOLE
THE NEW A.H.O.Y. ERA BEGINS
JANUARY 16

Miers Withdrawn As A.H.O.Y. Nominee

The Bush administration withdrew the Asshole Of the Year (A.H.O.Y.) nomination of White House Counsel Harriet Miers yesterday, bowing to intensifying attacks from right-leaning activists challenging the depth of her asshole credentials and the strength of her asshole qualifications.

The decision was sealed in a phone call between Miers and President Bush on Thursday night, and it abruptly reopened the search for a successor to the pivotal seat held by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Bush said he will name a new candidate in a "timely manner," but observers question whether the White House can accomplish that before tomorrow's's voting deadline.

Cast your ballot before the polls close Sunday night.

Asshole of the Year voting ends Sunday! Drop everything and vote! Right this minute!

THE NEWS EXPLAINED WITH COMIC BOOK COVERS

Media Forced To Explain Inaccurate Reports On Tragedy

***

Bush, GOP Politicians Dump Donations From Abramoff

***

Bush Says He Does Not Live In A Bubble

***

US Defense Lobby Blocks Ban On Human Trafficking

***

Nick Lachey New Year's Eve Minus Jessica Simpson

***
Most of these covers are from the essential Grand Comic Book Database. I explain the news with comic book covers just about every week, here and at The Pulse.

Creep Throat

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An executive committee member of the Southern Baptist Convention was arrested on a lewdness charge for propositioning a plainclothes policeman outside a hotel, police said.

Lonnie Latham, senior pastor at South Tulsa Baptist Church, was booked into Oklahoma County Jail Tuesday night on a misdemeanor charge of offering to engage in an act of lewdness, police Capt. Jeffrey Becker said. Latham was released on $500 bail Wednesday afternoon.

Latham, who has spoken out against homosexuality, asked the officer to join him in his hotel room for oral sex. Latham was arrested and his 2005 Mercedes automobile was impounded, Becker said.

Calls to Latham at his church were not immediately returned Wednesday.

Tulsa Pastor Arrested In OKC On Lewdness Charge
ChannelOklahoma.com

[Via AMERICAblog]

'Unbelievable!'

I happened to be recording Fox News last night--don't ask--and accidentally caught this rock of pure, uncut Geraldo. I know, every news outlet got the mining disaster wrong, but it's fun to read along as a pioneer of modern journo-porn decides to believe with all his heart something unproven. The CAPS are because he's SHOUTING.

Donna Fiducia: This is a Fox News Alert. I'm Donna Fiducia in New York. We're gonna go right to the Sago Mine in West Virgina, where Geraldo Rivera is joining us live on the phone with the latest. Geraldo, what do you have?

Geraldo: OH! THERE IS INCREDIBLE JOY THROUGHOUT THIS COMMUNITY! THEY'RE ALL SAYING THE SAME THING! THAT EVERYONE (unintelligible) HAVE BEEN FOUND ALIVE! THE MINERS ARE ALIVE! THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING! WE GOT HERE AND ALL WE SAW WERE JOYOUS FACES! EVERYONE IS SAYING THAT THEY HAVE FOUND THE MINERS ALIVE! IT IS UNBELIEVABLE! IT IS UNBELIEVABLE!

Fiducia: Geraldo, who told you this? Did you hear this from family members --

Geraldo: EVERYONE! EVERYONE! ALL OF THE MINERS' FAMILIES! EVERYONE! THERE IS JOY SPREADING THROUGHOUT THE PLACE! THERE'S (unintelligible) HEAR IT IN THE BACKGROUND, DONNA! THIS IS REAL! THEY ARE TELLING THE FAMILIES THAT ALL 12 OF THE OTHER MINERS HAVE BEEN FOUND ALIVE! IT IS UNBELIEVABLE!

Fiducia: Truly a New Year's miracle, definitely, Geraldo. This is something we didn't even expect--

Geraldo: IT IS AN UNBELIEVABLE MIRACLE! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE! I MEAN, IT IS UNBELIEVABLE!

I love it when Fiducia asks Geraldo for his source, and he says "EVERYONE!"

This Sucks

People In The News

(REUTERS) Former U.S. President Gerald Ford (2nd R) hugs his wife Betty (L) after pleading innocent to charges that he robbed two people with a gun in an alley behind a bar in Columbus Sunday. Ford was released on $50,000 bond.