Oprah Winfrey is TV's richest celebrity

Oprah Winfrey keeps topping Forbes' rankings of the rich and famous.

This is Forbes' third go-round this year at putting Winfrey at the top of some list or other. The talk-show titan took the top spot on Forbes.com's list of "The 20 Richest Women in Entertainment" in January; six months later, she topped the magazine's annual "Celebrity 100 Power List" for the second time.

Winfrey, 53, now leads Forbes.com's list of the 20 richest celebs on television. It's one of many new celebrity lists being issued by the Web site, which appears to have figured out that ranking boldfaced names is a good way to get some attention.

Winfrey, whose media empire includes a magazine and stakes in syndicated daytime talk shows by Dr. Phil McGraw and Rachael Ray, earned an estimated $260 million between June 2006 and June 2007.

Jerry Seinfeld is No. 2 with $60 million. The comedian, who has a vast Porsche collection, continues to get rich from reruns of his sitcom "Seinfeld," which he partly owns.

Simon Cowell of Fox's "American Idol" places third with $45 million. David Letterman, ranks fourth with $40 million, followed by Donald Trump and Jay Leno (both $32 million), McGraw and Judy "Judge Judy" Sheindlin (both $30 million) and George Lopez ($26 million).

Kiefer Sutherland, who portrays agent Jack Bauer on "24," landed at No. 10 by collecting $22 million from the popular Fox drama.

He's followed by Regis Philbin ($21 million); Tyra Banks ($18 million); celebrity chef Ray ($16 million); Katie Couric and Ellen DeGeneres ($15 million); Ryan Seacrest ($14 million); Matt Lauer ($13 million); Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer (both $12 million); and Meredith Vieira ($10 million).

Mitchell's Guide to the Opera

By Mitchell

Last night was the first opera in our subscription series for the season – Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera (or, as the Minnesota Opera insisted on calling it, “A Masked Ball.” Right translation, but I still think the title should be rendered in the language in which the piece is performed. Hence, Un ballo in maschera it is.)

As longtime readers know, every production at the Minnesota Opera is a cause for apprehension. Will we see an example of the notorious “Director’s Theater” about which we’ve written in the past? Would we see a ridiculous “re-imagination” of the story, casting it as a Civil War epic or, heaven forbid, a science fiction piece? What will they do next?

Well, as it turned out, this was a pretty straightforward adaptation of Verdi’s tale of the assassination of Gustav III of Sweden in 1792 The staging itself, a co-production of the Boston Lyric Opera designed by Allen Moyer and directed by James Robinson, was reasonable if not inspired. The performance featured show-stopping turns by the Charles Taylor as Count Anckarström, Gustavo’s loyal secretary and cuckolded husband who turns assassin, Jill Grove as Ulrica the fortune teller, and Nili Riemer in the trouser role of Oscar, the page; Cynthia Lawrence as Amelia, Gustavo’s love interest (and Anckarström’s wife), who truth be told was stolid and a bit shrill (especially in Act II's Ma dall'arido stelo divulsa, which should have brought down the house), and Evan Bowers as King Gustavo in a dependable if unaffecting performance. The orchestra, under the baton of Miguel Harth-Bedoya, was dependable as usual.

With all this done, we can turn to the story itself, which is a marvelous example of the suspension of disbelief that grand opera so often requires. For you see, although Gustavo and Amelia are lovers, their love is apparently of the unconsummated type, though you wouldn’t know it from all the carrying on they do to other people and to each other. When Gustavo visits the gypsy fortune teller Ulrica in the final scene of Act I, she prophesies that he will be killed by the next one to shake his hand, whereupon he begins working the room, trying to find someone who will shake hands with him and prove the lie to Ulrica’s words. Well, these people aren’t stupid – especially the members of Gustavo’s court who actually are plotting to kill him. It’s left to Count Anckarström, who just then walks into Ulrica’s parlor, to take his friend’s hand in his. Bingo – I think we have a winner here! Or a loser, as the case may be.

Invariably, as Act II ends, the three of them – Gustavo, Amelia and Anckarström – wind up in the same place, with disastrous results. Amelia seeks to break the affair by ingesting an herb (recommended by Ulrica when she visited her) that would make her love for him go away; Gustavo follows her there in hopes of talking her out of it. Anckarström, naturally, winds up there as well, having followed Gustavo to warn him of the cabal out to assassinate him. The loyal Anckarström convinces Gustavo to return to town in disguise, to which Gustavo agrees only on condition that Anckarström escort this unknown woman, another of the king's conquests - the veiled (and thus hidden from view) Amelia – back to safety, all the while promising not to look at or talk to her. Got all this so far?

Well, Gustavo escape. Anckarström and Amelia are surrounded by the cabal. A showdown seems inevitable. And then, somewhat improbably, Amelia rips off her veil, revealing her identity to her shocked husband and stunned conspirators. (The opera notes suggest that her vail falls off in a struggle, but this certainly is not what happened last night.) Anckarström is angry and humiliated (and who can blame him?), vowing revenge on the king who betrayed him, and the wife who cheated on him. And what’s Amelia’s response to all this? Horror? Shame? Repentance? No to all three. Poor me, she sings. Will nobody show pity on my pathetic condition? Well, what did she expect? Was she one of those women who thought that by stamping her foot she could put an end to this childish sword play between her husband, defending the king, and the conspirators seeking to kill him? If so, she fails miserably.
It’s a grating moment, one reminiscent of Puccini’s eponymous heroine Floria Tosca who, while her lover is being tortured, has nothing more to ask then What did I do to deserve this? Like so many women in opera, it's all about her.

This continues into Act III, where Anckarström first vows to kill Amelia (who is still appealing for pity rather than forgiveness), and then turns his eyes on Gustavo, joining the ringleaders in their plot to murder Gustavo. And, as luck would have it, the king intends to host a masked ball that very night (get the title?), inviting both Amelia and Anckarström (who he is unaware has discovered the truth) as well as the conspirators (he rejects all warnings of the danger that faces him). Well, this plays right into the plotters’ hands – they can murder Gustavo, but because they’re doing it at a masked ball, no one will know who they are! In the meantime, Amelia is still busy lamenting her unfortunate position, thinking of her own misery even as she suspects of the plans to murder her lover.

Fast forward to the end. Everyone is at the ball. Amelia tries to warn Gustavo, but he’s resigned to whatever happens. Anckarström enters, finds Gustavo, and plunges a dagger in his back. Gustavo dies, but not before pardoning Anckarström, and making him ambassador to Finland. (I wonder if anyone else in the diplomatic corps knows about this method of advancement?) Anckarström, convinced now that is wife was simply imprudent (and somewhat insipid) but not impure, bewails his mistake, but takes solace in the forgiveness of his once and still friend. The curtain falls. Applause all round. Drive safely, have a good night.

As I say, you have to suspend disbelief when you’re talking about grand opera. With a few exceptions, you’re there to hear the music and admire the acting, not to try and make sense of the plot. And Un ballo in maschera is no exception. It remains one of Verdi’s great operas, one that continues to remain in the repertory worldwide. However, that doesn’t stop me from making one slight suggestion to the end of the story. It concerns the true-life ending to the assassination of Gustav III. Now, I’m in no position to give Verdi suggestions. (Nor is he, actually.) Nonetheless…

In reality, there was no forgiveness, no happy ending – at least as far as the conspirators were concerned. (In fact, Gustav’s own sexuality was somewhat suspect, so you might as well get rid of the love triangle as well.) In real life, Gustav’s brother Charles, after acceding to the throne, sentenced the conspirators to death (eventually commuting the sentence to perpetual banishment from the country). Then, to set an example for anyone who might get such treasonous ideas in the future, he then had Anckarström’s right hand (the one that held the gun) chopped off, beheaded him, had him drawn and quartered, and then put on display.

Imagine what a finish that would have made! Charles, who is an attendee at the ball, swoops down after Gustavo’s death, taking power. He orders Anckarström to be taken away and, as the guards drag him away (his heels leaving marks on the stage), Charles sings the final lament:

It was predetermined from the start, your presence here.
Your role in the gypsy's tragic prophesy is now complete,
Your name written in the Book of Fate.
It has now fallen to me to complete the last chapter in that Book,
Written with the blood of a traitor.

We hear Anckarström’s screams offstage as the torturers start in on him, the music comes crashing to a crescendo, and the curtain falls. Well, a guy can dream.

And anyway, if more operas ended that way, perhaps we’d have more young people at the opera.

Random Thoughts

By Mitchell

From yesterday’s NRO, Jay Nordlinger has this wonderful description of the liberal elite and their unwavering support for “freedom fighters” such as – oh, let’s say, Robert Mugabe (Jay’s example) or Nelson Mandela (my example, although it’s always dangerous to take on a living saint). Jay’s take:

In places like my dear hometown of Ann Arbor [home of the University of Michigan] they have, for decades, been celebrating African “liberation” leaders like Mugabe. And the only thing they have succeeded in liberating is people from their money, hope, and very lives.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Boy, I admire people who can right like that, whether I agree with them or not. In this case, I do.

Also at NRO, David Frum, with whom I disagree almost as often as I agree (but I still read him; see above for why) has this to say about one of the (many) areas in which the Bush administration failed in the immediate aftermath of 9/11:

It is the party in power - the party with responsibility for management of the nation's foreign affairs - that also bears the responsibility for sustaining national unity behind those affairs. Sustaining that unity often requires sacrifices of party doctrines and sharing of national offices. Over the years, I have offered some suggestions about some of the things Republicans and conservatives should have done to maintain the support of moderate Democrats and liberals.

To this I would add: the administration did little, beyond appealing to the terrorist attack itself, to unite the American people. Now, one might think that a vicious, evil attack on home soil just might be enough to unite a country, but in these days we should know better than that. But think about it – the message was consistent: go about business as normal (just be careful and keep your eyes open), don’t let the economy suffer by curtailing spending, get right out there as if nothing had happened; in other words, don’t let the terrorists win by changing our lifestyle.

And yet, as anyone who is watching Ken Burns’ magnificent “The War” can attest, war is all about suffering and sacrifice. Not just in a political sense, as Frum points out, but on a personal level as well. Bond drives, rationing, doing without – all of it during World War II, all of it designed in some way not just for practical benefit, but to unite Americans with the suffering of their troops abroad, to give everyone a sense of shared mission. There’s nobody who would argue that World War II didn’t change our lifestyle – as, indeed, wars ought to, considering how much they change the lives of those who fight in them. It’s hard to get that same sense when our soldiers are eating rations and ducking to avoid bombs, while we’re pulling out a charge card and trying to avoid crowds at the latest sale.

Speaking of nothing in particular, you recall our piece last week about the religious symbolism present in the sci-fi series Doctor Who. Well, as we continue to work our way through the season, we came last week to a two-part episode, “Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood” (good, wholesome names there). I won’t get too bogged down in the plot – suffice it to say that the Doctor and his companion Martha are on the run from yet another group of murderous aliens intent on taking over the universe, this time by possessing the body of a Time Lord (i.e., the Doctor). Naturally, the Doctor and Martha take flight, and for the bulk of the story we’re led to believe that the Doctor is trying to escape from the aliens, fearing for his life. The aliens have a limited lifespan, and if the Doctor can successfully avoid detection they will simply die away. It is only at the end – after the inevitable mayhem, death and destruction resulting in the showdown that we knew and anticipated – that we find out the truth of the matter. The Doctor ran not because he feared the aliens, but because he wanted to protect them. From himself.

Remember, if they didn’t catch him in time, they would die off. Instead, they forced the issue (as the bad guys generally do), and the Doctor was forced to act. Which he did in a ruthless, cold-blodded way (spoiler alert!) – one to be captured as a fleeting image in a mirror, one to be chained with steel forged from a dwarf planet, one to exist in an eternal vortex, and one to serve as a scarecrow, warding off other evildoers (remember, this is sci-fi). As the Doctor said, they wanted immortality – they got it.

And to me this seems to combine elements of both the Old and New Testaments, if you want to go in this direction. Old, in that the Doctor appears as the vengeful Old Testament God of Sodom and Gomorrah, delivering justice with a swift sword. New, in that, as Jesus suggests, we all wind up sentencing ourselves. We get what we deserve. The aliens chose immortality, as the fallen angels chose power. So be it. Their sentence was an eternal damnation, much as it would be for those of us who, offered salvation, turned our backs on it in pursuit of our earthly desires. We choose it, we receive it. I'd love to chew this over with Fr. Atkins!

Vanessa Hudgens Bounces Back

After what must have been the most embarrassing single incident of her life, Vanessa Hudgens appears to have fully bounced back just two weeks after her nude photo scandal.

The perma-smiling actress was spotted at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in Santa Monica yesterday. And as a fun turning the tables trick, she pointed a camera at the paparazzi that were clamoring to get a shot of her.

Later that afternoon, the High School Musical hottie made a quick stop at a Hollywood studio for a photo shoot. She’s looking vibrant and back to normal, according to witnesses.

Hudgens has been given a boost by Ugly Betty star Vanessa Williams, who, herself had to deal with a nude photo scandal that ended up costing her the Miss America crown back in 1984. Williams believes that Vanessa is going to be fine.

She told press, “She’s got talent and she’s professional, and those are the things that’ll help her survive in life. You know, welcome to the lesson of hard knocks. She got her first big one right now. I met her and she’s a very sweet, talented girl and I’ve seen ‘High School Musical 2’ a zillion times because of my kids ... and she’ll be fine.”

NFL Cheerleader Restrictions - Here's Why

By Bobby

The National Football League placed a request to the 26 NFL teams with cheerleaders (six teams -- Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Green Bay, the New York Giants, and Pittsburgh -- do not have dance teams) that their squads may not warmup, stretch, or make any suggestive movements in the vicinity of the opponent's bench. This is a legitimate rule by the League to stop what has become a distraction in sports, and unfortunately, has turned professional sports venues into a brothel, with their cleavage-bearing, buttock-shaking, midriff-bearing simulated sex show set to hip-hop tunes from the latest thug artists blaring on the stadium.

It is sad that the NFL has had to stoop to writing a mandate, but when you turn professional sporting venues into brothels featuring strippers or Britney Spears-style performances, as we have seen with all 30 NBA teams, what does it say about our society when we now tolerate strip shows through a combination of MTV and what is being taught in the dance studios today totoday's youth? Even churches are not immune to the scandal, as many younger music leaders are pushing to replace choirs with teens who dance, often to the same suggestive moves or music, although without the raunchy costumes.

The League has made the right decision in starting to crack down on these professional prostitutes. Selling swimsuit calendars of these sex objects to pay "under the cover" bonuses to players or coaches which the team does not have to share its revenue with the other 31 teams has created an undercover market. This restriction is the first stop. The NFL needs to eliminate the brothel show on the sidelines with its suggestive outfits and the rest of its questionable antics by the "cheerleaders" who are nothing more than another outlet to draw more young 21-34 men who purchase the most alcohol and can turn these girls into sex objects. If you sell to that young crowd, you are ignoring the families. Why betray the family with promotions engineered for a young group of hormone-raging men who buy the most alcohol?

I remember years ago a now-defunct pop music festival admitted they wanted acts which catered to the 21-34 crowd, since they purchased the most alcohol. It seems professional sport is appealing to the high beer purchasers.

Kim Kardashian To Grace December Playboy Cover

It appears that Kim Kardashian’s recent photo shoot for Playboy went so well that Hugh Hefner has personally chosen Kim as the centerfold and cover girl for the upcoming December edition.

Kim had initially gone to the shoot with a plan to give some mild pictures that would tantalize without actually posing naked. However, insiders say that Kim responded so well to the cameras that a few more daring shots were taken and have made it to the final cut before print publication.

Ratcheting up her naughty-girl image, Hollywood insiders are claiming that while Kim is draped in silk sheets and covered with jewelry for the photo shoot, there are a few special pictures that “will show one b**b, and her bare butt.”

Kim has caught Hugh Hefner’s attention, and it’s reported that Hugh and Kim are personally selecting the last pictures for the magazine. With an extended 12 page photo spread, Hugh has definitely bet big on Kim’s mass appeal.

Poetry Wednesday

By Judith

Although not generally thought of as one of the moderns, Edgar Lee Masters (1868 - 1950) was part of the "poetic renaissance" that took place in Chicago at the beginning of the 20th century. Other names from this group were Carl Sandburg and Vachel Lindsay. Good company.

A prolific writer, Masters will probably always only be remembered as the author of Spoon River Anthology. In her Introduction to the 1975 Collier edition, May Swenson describes the work thus: "All in the cast are dead - 'all, all are sleeping on the hill' of a Midwestern cemetery - and from their graves they speak their own epitaphs, discovering and confessing the real motivations of their lives; they reveal the secret steps that stumbled them to failure, or raised them to illusionary triumphs while alive; it is as if the darkness of the grave granted them reveletory eyes for a recognition of their own souls."

The style was plain and earthy, but it suits the characters of the Midwest well. These are the kind of people who cleared the land and settled the country. Their poetry came in the form of the oxen struggling at the plough, the cow grazing in the meadow, a newborn's wail in the middle of the night in the middle of the winter. The selection we look at is a recitation of the life of Masters' grandmother, here called Matlock.

Lucinda Matlock

I went to the dances at Chandlerville,
And played snap-out at Winchester.
One time we changed partners,
Driving home in the moonlight of middle June,
And then I found Davis.
We were married and lived together for seventy years,
Enjoying, working, raising the twelve children,
Eight of whom we lost
Ere I had reached the age of sixty.
I spun, I wove, I kept the house, I nursed the sick,
I made the garden, and for holiday
Rambled over the fields where sang the larks,
And by Spoon River gathering many a shell,
And many a flower and medicinal weed -
Shouting to the wooded hills, singing to the green valleys.
At ninety-six I had lived enough, that is all,
And passed to a sweet repose.
What is this I hear of sorrow and weariness,
Anger, discontent and drooping hopes?
Degenerate sons and daughters,
Life is too strong for you -
It takes life to love Life.

Simpson Sisters Do Short-Shorts, Tequila Party

Flipping back a page to her Daisy Duke look, Jessica Simpson was spotted in her short-shorts yesterday on the Beverly Hills set of Major Movie Star.

The Employee of the Month actress has been under an intense workout routine to pull of all of the physical activity required for what she hopes will be a career-rejuvenating role.

In the film, “Jessica plays a bubble gum movie star named Megan Parker, who suddenly finds herself broke and humiliated in the public eye. She the wanders from the wreckage of a car accident and witlessly enlists in the U.S. Army hoping in vain that it will change her life.”

And while Jessica’s been busy working out and filming, her younger sister Ashlee has lent her focus to the party scene. Just last night, the Pieces Of Me singer was spotted out playing host at the Hornitos Tequila “Fine Line” Launch Party.

Jennifer Lopez goes back to the block

NEW YORK - Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have made an emotional visit to a Bronx elementary school just blocks from where the actress-singer grew up.

"That was so ... Oh my God, what did you do to me? Look at my makeup!" said a teary Lopez after hundreds of schoolchildren greeted the couple with cheers, broad smiles, flowers and artwork Tuesday.

Lopez and Anthony, who were married in 2004, said they were "overwhelmed" by the welcome at P.S. 36 Unionport School in the New York City borough of the Bronx.

They are about to launch a musical tour to support a children's health campaign. It will be her first tour.

"We look at you and see ourselves," said the 39-year-old Lopez. "This is overwhelming. I remember being in school, being on stage and dreaming of great things."

"There's nothing in the world, no Grammy, no Oscar, that can make me feel more warm than today," said Anthony, 38, who recently released the soundtrack to "El Cantante," a biopic of salsa legend Hector Lavoe.

Part of the proceeds from the 19-concert tour, which kicks off Friday in Atlantic City, N.J., will go to schools with programs promoting physical education and a healthy lifestyle.

Kissing Jessica Alba Is Dangerous Business

Most jobs these days have occupational hazards, but this is ridiculous. In her latest film, Good Luck Chuck, Jessica Alba had to have dental work done after chipping her tooth. And the best part is that she sustained the injury during a kissing scene with co-star Dane Cook.

The Dark Angel hottie reports that during one wild makeout session with the comedian, they both got out of control and ended up in the dentist’s office.

She told press, “I chipped my front tooth doing a kiss with Dane and he chipped his bottom tooth. We were doing this comedic Mr & Mrs Smith love scene, and we were slamming into walls and breaking things and tumbling over couches and stuff. At one point, he slammed my head into a picture frame and, while my head was smacking into the wall and breaking the picture, his teeth slammed into my teeth.”

How’s that for passion?! At least the Sin City babe isn’t sweating it too much. “Now I have a bond on my tooth and when I take it off I look like Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber. I can definitely take the bond off of my tooth and throw people off a bit. I get to take this thing off and be somebody else for a little while. It’s like a disguise.”

Wish I'd Written That

By Judith

"My own predilections have always been towards the Right. I like pomp, banners, divine rights, unreasonable ceremonies and ceremoniousness. It seems to me that when the world was a matter of small communities each under an arbitrary but responsible head then the world was at its best. If your community did not prosper you decapitated your chief. Till then he was possessed of divine rights. . .

"The literary man in England is usually predestined to the Left. Ranking socially with the governess and the butler - a little above it if he prospers, a little below if he is poor - he cannot, qua writer, be a gentleman. In consequence he tries to achieve importance outside his art."

- Ford Maddox Ford, Your Mirror to My Times

This Just In

By Steve

BULLETIN - Marcel Marceau, the world’s best-known master of the art of mime, died last Saturday in Paris at the age of 84. A moment of loud talking is being planned in his honor.

Bahamas to hold inquest in death of Daniel Smith

The long-awaited inquest in the Bahamas into the death of the son of former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith will begin on October 30, and could last two months, a senior judge in the Bahamas said on Monday.

Bahamas Chief Magistrate Roger Gomez said at least 35 witnesses were expected to give evidence, including Smith's longtime lawyer and companion, Howard K. Stern. The inquest would be conducted by Magistrate William Campbell, he added.

Smith's son, Daniel, 20, died at Doctors Hospital, Nassau, on September 10 last year, just three days after his mother gave birth to a daughter, Dannielynn.

A private autopsy found he had a cocktail of drugs in his bloodstream. An official inquest by Bahamian authorities has been repeatedly postponed.

Smith, a former topless dancer once married to late billionaire oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall, died in Florida last February of an accidental prescription drug overdose and is buried alongside her son at Lakeview Cemetery in Nassau.

Her death touched off a battle for custody of her daughter, Dannielynn, who could one day inherit a fortune if her late mother's estate wins the right to inherit some of Marshall's millions. Los Angeles photographer Larry Birkhead eventually won custody.

Naomi brings glitz to Milan fashion week

Supermodel Naomi Campbell turned up on Saturday for a sparkling start to Milan's spring and summer 2008 womenswear shows, wearing an emerald-sequined swimsuit to launch the "Miss Bikini LUXE" collection.

Campbell, in town to promote her Fashion for Relief charity, strode down the catwalk to the tune of "It Began in Africa," by The Chemical Brothers, which kicked off the collection by Alessandra and Francesca Piacentini.

The duo are giving 150 bikinis and cocktail dresses to sell on the charity's Web site to gather funds for the victims of Britain's worst floods in 60 years, which caused billions of pounds in damage and drove thousands from their homes.

Fashion for Relief says it has already given $1 million to help in the United States after Hurricane Katrina.

The LUXE collection, which departs from the designers' traditional swimwear line into dresses and wraps, mixed skimpy bikinis with floaty seventies and animal print wraps. Wide leather studded belts and armbands provided a clashing contrast.

Valeria Marini used underwear as outerwear for her Diamond Seduction collection, with elongated lace bodices worn as cocktail dresses and chiffon evening wraps that could easily slip into negligees.

Marini, who sported a pink kiss tattooed on her arm, ran a series of famous film kisses as a backdrop to the collection and a soundtrack which included snatches from Bizet's "Carmen."

On one model, a necklace of black chandelier drops lay heavily on a see-through dress in grey and yellow animal print that split at the crotch to drift into a train at the back.

In contrast, shocking pink and turquoise satin turned slips into stunning short dresses or elegant shirts for the evening.

Around 80 designers show collections on the catwalks this week, including big names like Giorgio Armani, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana.

And there is a host of parties, presentations and concerts planned as Milan aims to prove it is still, as designer Roberto Cavalli said in a newspaper interview on Saturday, the fashion capital of the world.

Milan, with its stable of established designers, faces a challenge from an effervescent London, where shows last week sparkled with new talent and innovation.

"London is very interesting and a testing ground for young designers," Cavalli told Il Sole 24 Ore in the interview.

And he raised another likely theme for the week ahead when he said he could sell a stake in his company. Bankers are likely to be keeping an eye on the catwalks -- and not just to see whether hemlines will fall with the markets.

When Clint Eastwood calls, legends oblige

CARMEL, California (Reuters) - When Clint Eastwood calls, even the biggest celebrities are happy to oblige, giving the actor an especially strong pull in putting together high-profile projects
On Friday, legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, 86, visited Eastwood in the scenic California coastal town of Carmel and invited the actor and Oscar-winning director to join him on a blues jam as the cameras rolled.

Even the reclusive Neil Armstrong has joined the former "Dirty Harry" star for a round of golf, as Eastwood considered whether to make a movie about the first man on the moon.

After filming an interview with Brubeck for an upcoming film, Eastwood, a good amateur pianist, discussed his passion for directing and promoting jazz. The oldest director to win an Academy Award, Eastwood remains full of energy and has a full plate of projects in the works.

"I'm pretty vigorous, I can go as long as a lot of others," Eastwood, 77, told Reuters.

"I'm sort of concentrating on (directing) at this point in my life and I love it because I learn something new every time," he said at his Mission Ranch hotel. "Something new makes your life interesting."

"I do it because you learn something all the time, you're a constant student of life, student of what you do, which for me is make films."

"I would always hope that the last film that I did would be the very best," he said. "The last film I did was 'Letters from Iwo Jima.' I felt I was in the groove on that one, and 'Million Dollar Baby' and 'Mystic River."'

TOUR DE FORCE

Next month, Eastwood starts filming "The Changeling" starring Angelina Jolie, about a woman whose child is kidnapped. When the child is returned, she suspects a swap has taken place.

"It's a great tour de force for a woman ... with John Malkovich and a lot of very good actors," Eastwood said.

Eastwood has also considered making a movie based on Armstrong's 2006 biography, "First Man."

"I don't know if I'll do that. That's a hard one -- never conquered the script on that," he said. "To tell the drama of it is going to be difficult."

"I've met with him, played golf with him. He's a very nice guy but he likes his privacy and I can't blame him for that," said Eastwood, who also prefers to be left alone and often shuns interviews.

When two attractive young women approached, Eastwood was initially reluctant to talk, but then posed for a photo. "I may be an elderly fellow, but not that elderly," he joked.

On Saturday, the Berklee College of Music awards Eastwood an honorary doctorate of music at the 50th anniversary of the Monterey Jazz Festival. "They figure I know the difference between A-sharp and B-flat," he joked.

Berklee President Roger Brown said Eastwood deserves recognition for making the 1988 drama "Bird" about saxophonist Charlie Parker and documentaries such as his current Brubeck film. "I'm interested in promoting this great American art form, true American art form, and keep it going," Eastwood said, adding that in the late 1940s he played piano at an Oakland bar for food, beer and tips.

In the early 1960s, Eastwood recorded an album of cowboy songs, years later had a hit country duet with Merle Haggard, and a decade ago presided over a Carnegie Hall jazz tribute concert. "I played in Carnegie Hall, and I didn't practice, practice, practice. I'm lucky," he said.

On Friday, Brubeck launched into blues chords after suggesting that Eastwood might improvise alongside him. But even with just a few people and the cameras watching, the long-time film star was comfortable letting someone else have the spotlight.

Eastwood reached over from an adjacent chair to the high notes and cautiously picked out a few spare notes. After a while he sat back and let the jazz maestro have center stage.

Get Ready For the Gossip Girl

Every fall season there are new shows that compete for our attention. And this week, there’s a special premiere that is close to our hearts. This coming Wednesday marks the series premiere of “Gossip Girl.”

Starring in “Gossip Girl” is Blake Lively, best known for her role in the movie “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” But this time around, she’s playing a troubled socialite teen.

The show takes place at a prep school in New York City. Blake’s character, Serena van der Woodsen, is returning from a year away at boarding school, and she quickly learns that things have changed while she was gone.

The best part? Well, everything is being narrated by the show’s very own gossip girl, voiced by Kristen Bell. So all the drama between Serena and her BFF Blair Waldorf (who took over as teen queen when Serena left) gets a fun spin put on it.

Be sure to catch the debut of “Gossip Girl” on Wednesday, Sept 19th on the CW Network.

Let's All Go to the Opera

By Mitchell

It had been a while since the Minnesota Opera had gotten on my nerves, and I'd been wondering, frankly, what the problem was. Well, as it turns out, I needn't have worried. The new season starts next week, and our subscription correspondence included this bit on a group called "Out @ the Opera."

"Out at the Opera" (the @ ruined the link, so I'll leave it out here) is described as "The Minnesota Opera's new group for our friends in the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered and Allies community. Join us for a peek inside the world of The Minnesota Opera with special behind-the-scenes access to the 2007-2008 season."

Now, understand this - what follows is in now way intended to be disparaging to homosexuals. In all honesty, I think the best way to get involved in any group - arts or otherwise - is to be part of a group that already shares common interests. No, this has nothing to do with sexual orientation, but it has everything to do with marketing a product and pandering to an audience.

There's already a perception that homosexuality is a dominant feature in the arts today (see this take we did on it back in February, when we looked at a 2 Blowhards piece asking the question,"Why do so many American males consider arty and aesthetic matters to be faggy?"), which makes me wonder why any organization would want to emphasize this perception, unless they wanted to make it even more so. Otherwise, they're simply playing up to their own stereotype. And why would this group be any more in need of "behind-the-scenes access" than any other? In fact, if you're going to try to appeal to a group that would seem to be underrepresented in the arts - that is, if you're going to try to play against your own stereotypical demographic - wouldn't that group be hetrosexuals?

Sure, it's true that the Minnesota Opera has a "Young Professionals" group, which either serves as a music education group or a classical dating service, I'm not sure which. And it's also true, based on some of the MO's performances we've attended, that they're desperately in need of a younger demographic. But if you're trying to expand your reach (and aren't all arts groups in that dilemma?), wouldn't it make more sense to try and appeal to people other than those that - again, stereotypically - already fall into your target market? (Drew adds, in passing, that if "Gay @ the Opera" really takes off, at least you won't be needing a young people's education program.)

And so it strikes me that the Minnesota Opera isn't really doing much to expand its reach by starting up a program that looks like it's pandering to a group that is already part of its major demographic. If arts organizations truly want to shake the perception that art is not masculine - in other words, if they truly want to reach out to new consumers and broaden their appeal - this doesn't seem to be a very smart way to go about doing it. And I'll finish up with a quote that Michael Blowhard had in his original 2 Blowhards piece: "Is this state of affairs a good thing? Wouldn't we all be a bit better off if the aesthetic fields had a few more straight guys in them?"

Just the Facts...Please

By Steve

All of us who play around with putting words on paper (or Word document) know that it’s not an exact science. We shy away from being too critical of others trying to make a living doing the same. But there do come times when you have to say something, especially when you find it in a newspaper that is supposedly doing straight journalism.

Case in point. Our local Strib ran a story (as I read it in its online version) on Tuesday. A sad, gruesome account about the disturbed man who admitted in court to killing a pet dog and taking part in the beheading of the poor animal. Horrible stuff, but could and should be reported, if only to show that there are shreds of justice and decency left in a pretty tattered world.

Then the story gets just weird, in terms of its description, anyway. The perp is in court, admitting to his heinous act. But we don’t just get the facts, we get much more. Here is the exact copy as it appeared yesterday in the Strib story:

“His voice — hoarse, slightly high-pitched and almost too soft to hear — was reminiscent of a debarked dog.”

What the... a “debarked dog???” In an apparent, close to nauseating, attempt to call forth the spirit of the deceased animal, we get what sounds like a high school sophomore’s attempt at Edgar Allen Poe knock-off.

I tried to be fair, thought maybe I was missing something, looked up my Merriam-Webster and found the only thing close to that word has to do with getting off a ship. I’m still open to correction, let me know if I’m still missing it.

As you can see from the online version that appears today, the "debarked dog" comment is nowhere to be seen. Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed something was amiss.

Wordplay aside, what happens in this sentence is much more serious. We’re supposedly reading a newspaper account of a court-room scene. We end up with a weird editorial phrase that just makes you wince.

As my wise colleague said, “if you’re going to editorialize in a news story, at least make it well written.” That is strike one, strike two, Star-Tribune.

Poetry Wednesday

By Judith

Let's look at another song lyric today. A lyric is a special kind of poem in that you can't help but say it rhythmically, even if you're just saying it in your head. Often, there's an artist or band that is most associated with a song and that's the way you hear it, despite what the lyricist and/or composer intended. In this case, it's probably ok if you hear Frank Sinatra when you read this lyric, for Sammy Cahn wrote the lyrics to many songs made famous by Sinatra and may have even taken his style into consideration when penning the words.

Teamed with composer Jimmy Van Heusen in the 50s and 60s, Sammy Cahn wrote some of the most beloved popular songs of the era, including "High Hopes," "Love and Marriage," and "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow." Sammy Cahn said of himself, "Lyric writing has always been a thrilling adventure for me, and something I've done with the kind of ease that only comes with joy!" Now there's someone who really enjoys his work.

This swingin' little number was a big hit for Old Blue Eyes and is known as one of his signature tunes. The lyric is structured so that the first, third and fourth lines of the verse rhyme, with a nice internal rhyme in the second and third lines. It gives it an up-beat and carefree feel that suits Sinatra beautifully.

Come Fly With Me

Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away
If you can use some exotic booze
There's a bar in far Bombay
Come fly with me, we'll fly, we'll fly away.

Come fly with me, let's float down to Peru.
In lama land, there's a one man band
And he'll toot his flute for you
Come fly with me, we'll float off in the blue.

Once I get you up there, where the air is rarefied
We'll just glide, starry eyed
Once I get you up there, Ill be holding you so near
You may hear angels cheer cause we're together.

Weather-wise it's such a lovely day
You just say the words and we'll beat the birds
Down to Acapulco Bay
It's perfect for a flying honeymoon they say
Come fly with me, we'll fly, we'll fly away.

Wish I'd Written That

By Drew

"If I were Elisabeth Hasselbeck, I would refuse to sit next to Barry Manilow. After all, "I Write the Songs" has officially been categorized as a war crime by the Fourth Geneva Convention. Here at home, even Wayne LaPierre supports legislation to declare "Mandy" an assault weapon deserving of a complete ban. This is not to say that Manilow hasn't been of service to his country, albeit inadvertently. Unconfirmed reports claim that Abu Zubaydah would not break, even with a bullet in his groin, until they played 15 seconds of "I Can't Smile Without You," whereupon he cried like a little girl."

- NRO's John Podhoretz on Manilow's apparent refusal to appear on The View if Hasselbeck was on the panel. Podhoretz might also have mentioned diabetic coma as one of the known side effects of Manilow's music.

The Complex Relationship Between God and the Founders

By Mitchell

My friend Badda-Blogger drew my attention to a fascinating discussion over at one of his sister blogs, Anti-Strib. (For those of you not from Minnesota, this is a site dedicated to, shall we say, fact-checking the infamous Star Tribune.) One of their contributors, Ed (the token liberal, which shows that conservatives often have a healthier idea of diversity than liberals) has been on something of a quest lately to disprove the existence of God. (I may be simplifying this, and I don't mean any offense.)

In his latest piece, Ed reminds us of the existence of the Jefferson Bible, in making the point that most of the Founders were not Christians, and that therefore it is naive of us to suggest that they intended Judeo-Christian thinking to be incorporated into the founding of the nation.

Badda knows that I’m something of a buff when it comes to the Founders, so he thought I’d be interested in the discussion. Herewith my contribution to the combox - I'm sharing this with you in the hopes that you all can contribute further thought to the discussion in general, if not this aspect in particular. (A warning: Anti-Strib is, to say the least, colorful; for that reason, I don't generally link to it. However, I think their hearts are (mostly) in the right place, and I also think this is a discussion that should be engaged, in as high a level as we can make it.)

So, [I said] Ed does make some very interesting and useful observations in this piece. However, I’m not sure what the ultimate point is. I think it’s fairly common knowledge that a number (if not many) of the Founding Fathers, Jefferson and Franklin among them, were Deists. (About Washington we’re less certain; there’s a school of thought that Washington’s faith went beyond the passivity that’s usually associated with Deism.) And while it’s true that Jefferson wasn’t a Christian, it is another thing to ask whether or not he was a believer and answer in the negative.

I’d like to shift the discussion to Franklin on this point for a couple of reasons. First, I know a bit more about him. Second, Franklin is, in my opinion, the more interesting, the more brilliant of the two, as well as (arguably) the more significant in the early history of America. And I think that in looking at the Founders’ relationship with organized religion, Franklin is also the more illuminating.

Franklin biographer H.W. Brands recounts a story in which Ezra Stiles of Connecticut asked the elderly Franklin about his religious convictions, in response to which Franklin penned what he called his creed. "I believe in one God, creator of the universe. That He governs it by His providence. That He ought to be worshiped. . . . That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this." As for Jesus, "his system of morals and his religion [are] the best the world ever saw or is likely to see. . . . I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some doubts as to his divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble."

As further evidence of Franklin’s complex relationship with religion, Brands relates the story of Franklin’s motion to open each daily session of the Continental Congress with prayer. In support, Franklin cited the biblical text, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it," and added, "I firmly believe this." Without God’s aid, "Our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a by-word to future ages."

So neither Franklin nor Jefferson were what we would think of as Christians. (Of course, on that score it doesn’t really matter what we think; the opinion of the Higher Authority outranks us.) However I would contend, IMHO, that Franklin in particular could be called a believer. Not a believer in Christ per se, in the sense that he did not see him as the Divine Son, but certainly a believer in a Creator. And, with all due respect to Ed, who I think has added a rich dimension to the level of diversity in the site, I do think that this respect, combined with the intellectual thought to which Franklin gave the topic of religion, suggests that Judeo-Christian thinking does in fact appear in the founding documents and mores of this country.

Any thoughts on the Founders, out there? Feel free to leap into the Anti-Strib discussion. (Especially you, Cathy. . .)

Cross-posted to Stella Borealis Catholic Roundtable

The Church of the Good Doctor

By Mitchell

We've noted before our long-time affection for the Brit sci-fi classic Doctor Who. Now comes a story from Cardiff, where an Anglican church announces a special Doctor Who-themed service. According to the story, "Teenagers and young people in their early 20s are being targeted for the "cafe-style" Communion service, with music and video clips from the hit series, at St Paul's Church in Grangetown, Cardiff." Fr. Dean Atkins, youth officer for the Diocese, says, "

"The figure of Doctor Who is somebody who comes to save the world, almost a Messiah figure. In the series there are lots of references to salvation and the Doctor being almost immortal. We are using the figure of Doctor Who as a parable of Christ."

Now, if this were a Catholic liturgy, we might be discussing some serious problems. As it is, considering the condition of the Anglican communion, using Doctor Who as inspiration might actually be an improvement. But seriously, outside of a liturgical setting, this becomes quite an interesting question, and one that has not been lost on this site. In fact, our friend Badda-Blogger wrote a special piece for us back in 2005 on the very topic of "Doctor Who and Symbols of Christ." (Please do go back and read this excellent essay.)

Throughout the series' nearly 45-year history, the writers have been somewhat ambivalent on the idea of organized religion, which is par for the course for most science fiction. However, religious symbolism such as that mentioned by Badda have often come to the fore - particularly in last season's episode "New Earth," which contains one of the most eloquent defenses of life by the Doctor that you're ever apt to hear on television, whether in a religious or secular context.

And so I think it's most worthwhile to continue this discussion, to examine the relationship between religion and popular culture (the science fiction series Firefly has also been noted for its many religions overtones). Just as this can aid our understanding of religion, it can also give depth and meaning to popular fiction, and provide an environment for serious discussion. (It can also introduce people to terrific TV series.) Just leave it out of the liturgical setting. . .

Angelina Jolie Slams Eating Disorder Rumors

It must be so hard to constantly be in the public eye, receiving criticism every time you walk out your front door. For Angelina Jolie, she’s had enough of the constant comments about her weight loss from the press.

She said recently, “Yes of course I have lost weight. Some days are exhausting, only I’m not able to collapse. I believe in pushing myself to the limits.”

The Tomb Raider actress says that it’s her high level of activity, rather than an eating disorder, that has kept her trim. Although there are reports to the contrary.

Last month, a source close to the Jolie-Pitts told press that Ang was suffering from an addiction to diet pills. The source claimed that the Mr. and Mrs. Smith actress had been taking pills that contain stimulants to increase metabolism in an

This Just In

By Steve

Simpson Seen Fleeing Vegas in Bronco
Former Star Says Robbery Accusation "Just a Misunderstanding"

LAS VEGAS - Former NFL great O.J. Simpson was spotted fleeing the city limits of Las Vegas , NV today, hours after police named him a suspect in an alleged armed robbery at a Las Vegas hotel.

The Hall-of-Fame superstar was spotted leaving the city in a white Bronco with license plates IM OJ, which eyewitnesses reported was traveling at an unusually slow rate of speed.

Simpson, whose only previous brush with the law was a 1995 acquittal in a double homicide, was identified as a suspect in the break-in, which occurred at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino. The gridiron great was accused of having stolen merchandise belonging to sports memorabilia dealer Thomas Riccio. Simpson, however, insisted the whole thing was a "misunderstanding."

"I just want to set the record straight," Simpson said in a phone interview with Fox News legal analyst Greta Van Susteren." Speaking loudly to make himself heard above what sounded like the sounds of traffic, Simpson explained further. "After the success of casino crime capers such as Ocean's 11, 12 and 13, my agent and I discussed the possibility of my return to an acting career. What happened in at the Palace Station Casino was simply an audition for a role in the upcoming Ocean's 14 - nothing more than that. The whole thing is just a misunderstanding."

Simpson's comments to Van Susteren appeared to contradict an earlier statement he made to CNN legal analyst Roger Cossack, in which the former Hollywood star, who ironically played a police detective in the Naked Gun movie series, said he was researching a role in the upcoming remake of the award-winning movie The Sting. "I was there simply to gather research for the movie role - nothing more than that," Simpson told Cossack. "The whole thing is just a misunderstanding."

Van Susteren and Cossack are scheduled to debate the conflicting Simpson statements in an exclusive interview with Mary Hart on the syndicated program Entertainment Tonight. Viewers are urged to check their local listings for the time and channel of the show in their area.

In a late development, Las Vegas police announced that Simpson's whereabouts are unknown. They did confirm, however, that Kato Kaelin, currently co-starring in a television series based on the movie The Great Escape, was being interviewed as a possible material witness.

Eastwood's tip to daughter: take your vitamins

When Alison Eastwood decided to follow in the footsteps of her famous father Clint and direct a movie, she got some odd advice from dad.

"Get a lot of sleep and take your vitamins -- kind of fatherly tips and not so much Academy Award-winning director tips," Alison Eastwood told reporters, laughingly, at a news conference promoting her directorial debut "Rails & Ties."

"As far as tips, he doesn't say a lot," she added.

The film drama debuts at the Toronto International Film Festival Friday night and is expected to hit theaters in North America later this fall.

Eastwood, 35, is the daughter of former model Maggie Johnson, from whom her father was divorced when Eastwood was six years-old.

She spent her childhood on her father's productions, and made her acting debut on his film "Tightrope." She turned away from acting in her teenage years and only returned in 1997, again on her father's film "Absolute Power."

Eastwood, who also has been a fashion designer and producer, said the film set feels like home and the crew, like family. So, it seemed natural that, like her father, she would turn from acting to directing.

"The one thing I learned from my dad is that you really want to set a great feeling and a great tone for the set, for the crew and the cast," she said. "If you put that kind of energy out there, you pick it up on the camera."

"Rails & Ties" centers on the relationship between a young boy and a train engineer after the boy's mom takes her own life by parking her car on a railroad track in front of the train.

REAL CHARACTERS, UNIQUE JOURNEY

The orphaned boy, named Danny, seeks out the engineer, Tom (Kevin Bacon), to ask why he killed the child's mother and thus their relationship begins.

Tom's wife Megan (Marcia Gay Harden) is dying of cancer, and the boy and older man help each other heal from emotional trauma they are experiencing.

Eastwood said she felt the characters were real and on a unique journey, and she added that for her first directing effort, she wanted to keep things simple.

"I wanted to make it a small, kind of indie feeling, intimate simple film that is character driven," Eastwood said.

Harden, who won an Oscar for supporting actress in "Pollock" said working with a first-time director did not cause her any concern.

"Sometimes people who are doing first-time scripts are (doing) something without all the boundaries and borders and rules," Harden said.

Eastwood admits she was a little nervous when she first showed "Rails & Ties" to her father, who has won Oscars for directing 2004 boxing drama "Million Dollar Baby" and 1992 western "Unforgiven."

"He kind of jokingly, after he watched it said: 'oh, chip off the old block' and I said, 'no, more like a shard'," Eastwood said, adding that he said he liked it.

"At the end of the day, he's still my dad and I want to make him proud. It was important to me that he liked it and he was helpful on a peripheral level and from afar," she said.

Eastwood added that she wants to learn storytelling strengths from her father and work with great people as he has. But she also wants pave her own way as a director.

Brangelina Hit Toronto; Pitt Talks Venice Win

After adding another award to his list of accomplishments, Brad Pitt took some time to talk to reporters about both his professional and personal life while at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The Snatch stud was there with wife, Angelina Jolie, for the North American premiere of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, the historical remake that recently earned Pitt the nod for the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival.

“I could try to play it down, but it’s great fun,” Brad mentioned while waving to thousands of fans who came for the Toronto premiere. The Fight Club actor added, “We all have our jobs (to do) and want to be really good at it, and to have this kind of acknowledgment is a real honor.”

The Jesse James story is one that has captured millions of imaginations as the tale has been told and retold in books, movies, skits, and every other form of mass media. In his new movie, Pitt looks specifically at the relationship between James and Ford, which started out as a teacher to pupil relationship, and then turned ugly when Ford turned traitor against the James gang.

Changing the subject, Pitt laughed off a recent “attack” by a female fan in Venice, explaining, “I hadn’t been jumped like that in some time.” Then, when pressed about the role of media in today’s 24 hour celebrity news cycle, Pitt was quick to point out both the positive and negative aspects of his career and the effects they have had on his family.

“I know the deal. I understand the trade-off. There are great perks, we get to travel and see the world. And we manage it. The only time it gets unmanageable is when it’s a full frontal assault on the kids.”

Big Names, Slow Sales At Toronto Film Festival

Film aficionados and industry insiders awoke Sunday morning to a cold dreary overcast day that seemed to reflect the overall mood at the Toronto International Film Festival. “We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the quality of films here, but there hasn’t been anything we’ve seen with broad commercial appeal just yet,” Lionsgate production head Tom Ortenberg said.

At one point, it appeared that potential buyers were fleeing the preview of the school shooting drama In Bloom, but it turns out they were not running from the dark drama, but rather running to one of the hottest properties, “Nothing Is Private”. This disturbing drama is directed by Alan Ball and looks into the sexual abuse that a 13 year old Arab American girl suffers.

One of the most notable sales during the festival was Helen Hunt’s directorial debut with Then She Found Me, which raked in an impressive $3 million between distribution rights in the US and Canada. This romantic comedy is about a troubled woman, and the buyers seemed to validate the positive buzz it generated.

With an extremely heavy concentration of political commentaries, it was not surprising to find conflicting opinions about the same movie. And the slow sales reflected a lack of interest in such controversial projects. However, sales did pick up as the festival drew to a close, so we can only hope that the late boost pushed it over the edge as both a financial and cultural success.

Crossing "The Bridge"

By Drew

Just to show you that there really is nothing new under the sun, Gerald at The Cafeteria Is Closed reports on this movement by some liberals to “reduce the carbon footprint” on the planet by depopulating – in other words, humans must die (off) so the planet can live on. Taking it one step further, there’s the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, which suggests that “everyone in the world should stop having kids all at once.” As Gerald says, this is only the logical extension of such thinking. “Wouldn't it be only proper for people suggesting this (and heck, given a chance, they'd enforce it) to kill themselves and set an example?”

This was precisely the idea behind D. Keith Mano’s brilliant, disturbing 1973 novel, The Bridge. Long out of print (as is, sadly, most of Mano’s work; the best place to find them is a used book store), The Bridge is set in the dystopian New York of 2035, where civil war has resulted in a world run by a radical environmentalist/totaliarian regime. In this world, all forms of life – “down to the merest microbe” – are considered equal. All acts of aggression – even disagreement – have been outlawed. The absurdity of their thinking is summed up in the words on a plaque outside the now-deserted and crumbling Yankee Stadium, “Where, in an age of brutality and ignorance, men presumed to compete against their brother men.” (Interestingly enough, Mano didn’t anticipate the use of inclusive language – which shows you that 1973 was, indeed, a long time ago.) Mano demonstrates the ruthlessness, indeed the inhumanity, of such inflexible thought with this exchange between two prisoners of the regime, discussing the consequences that followed when all automobiles were banned:

"It was after the road breakers came. After my brother died because there was no car to take him where the doctor was."

"Lots of people died like that."

"They said thousands had died in cars. It was better that one man should die because there were no cars."

Despite these and other decrees designed to, as we would put it today, “reduce the carbon footprint,” a mass genocide continues, to which the regime’s response is stark, and final:

Whereas it has been ascertained irrefutably by the Council's Emergency Committee on Respiration that the process of breathing has and will continue to destroy and maim innumerable forms of microscopic biological life, we of the Council, convened in full, have decided that man in good conscience can no longer permit this wanton destruction of our fellow creatures, whose right to exist is fully as great as ours. It is therefore decreed that men, in spontaneous free will and contrition, voluntarily accede to the termination of their species. . . It is hoped bretheren, that you will donate your physical bodies to the earth in such a manner that the heinous crimes of murder and pollution committed by our race throughout history may in some small way find redress.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but one could almost imagine the names of some of our more prominent environmentalist/politicians being attached to a statement like that, don't you think?

From thereon in, The Bridge becomes something of an action thriller, with Mano's protagonist - the unlikely, but typically Manonian-named, Dominick Priest, who had been imprisoned for the crime of "competition" (playing chess) - on a quest to return to his home and his wife, a journey which will take him through a landscape run riot by decay, overflowing vegetation (remember, even cutting grass is a murdeous crime) and wild, feral animals, and regime officials seeking to enforce the Council's mandatory suicide decree, culminating in a harrowing crossing of the remains of the George Washington Bridge.

Ultimately, what Priest represents is the resiliency of man, the urge to survive, the quality which is the bain not only of the Council, but of totalitarian regimes throughout history. Priest is not altogether a likeable hero; Mano has chosen to portray him not as some kind of monastic crusader seeking to redeem the world, but as a man on a singular mission to live, with only a limited comprehension of the higher, existential meaning of life. As such, Priest is filled with all the foibles of man, and then some. This leads to a startling, indeed deeply disturbing (while at the same time somewhat satisfying) resolution, the consequences of which can be seen in an epilogue taking place years later.

Keith Mano has always been identified as a "Christian" novelist, and it is true that his Episcopal faith has made itself known through all of his books - from Take Five, in which a man slowly loses each of his five senses, to Bishop's Progress, featuring a confrontation between a lukewarm Episcopal Bishop and the devil, to Horn, a debate between the priest of an urban parish and a radical black leader. His most commercially successful novel, Topless, can best be summed up by the book's tag line: "Father Mike Wilson's having a bad day. He just found a headless body in his topless bar." As one might be able to gather from that last description, Mano's books have always been laced with a heavy dose of black humor.

It would be wrong to call these "comic novels," however, for the humor is mostly of the ironic sort, presenting a scenario that often borders on the absurd but merely serves as the setup for Mano's provocative probing, challenging questions on the meaning of life, and our ability (or lack thereof) to ascertain it. Religion - or faith, if you will - is never far from the surface but, despite that fact that most of Mano's protagonists are priests (in name or fact), the religiousity is not of the overt, preachy type that so often passes for "religious fiction" nowadays. It's more, as one critic put it, in the style of Waugh or Greene, probing into something deeper, and often darker – not just what it means to be a believer, but what it is to actually believe in anything.

Mano's books, while critically acclaimed, were for the most part less than commercially successful; he once recounted that his agent told him after his latest slow-seller that the only way he'd be able to get published again was under a pseudonym. His most recent novel, The Fergus Dialogues: A Meditation on the Gender of Christ, was published in 1998; since then, he has for the most part retreated from writing due to the onset of Parkinson's disease.

And that is a shame, professionally as well as personally, because in novels such as The Bridge, Keith Mano proved himself to be not only a provocative novelist but a prescient one as well.

Britney Spears’ VMA Performance: Mixed Reviews

She was all set to wow America and the World over with her comeback performance of “Gimme More” at the MTV Video Music Awards. But did Britney Spears bring her A-game, or was it more of a “Gimme Less” moment?

The Toxic singer opened the 2007 VMAs live from Las Vegas with a declaration that she had, indeed, arrived. “It’s Britney, B**ch!” resonated throughout the venue as a Euro-pop-ish drum sequence initiated the “Gimme More” groove.

But from there the reviews are mixed as to whether or not Britney seized the moment to re-initiate herself into pop stardom. First of all, where was Criss Angel? We were told for weeks about this amazing stage show that Brit and Criss were preparing during a series of late-night hotel rendezvous.

And in place of the disappearing mirrors bit was a stripper pole-laden, pelvic thrust-filled dance routine including a dozen or so dancers taking turns rubbing up on the mother of two. Even Britney herself looked distracted and nervous throughout the musical number.

As usual, the Lucky girl wore a headset mic but was obviously lip-synching. And the celebrity onlookers didn’t appear to be impressed. There were constant audience shots with stars like P. Diddy and 50 Cent looking both uninterested and amused.

As for the positives, Britney looked pretty darn good, especially given the fact that’s she’s had two kids. There’s no doubt she’s been going through the year from hell, so you gotta hand it to her for showing up and giving it a go. Will it be the boost she needs to kick start her career again? Only time will tell.

Michael and Catherine Hit The US Open

Away from his island home to promote King Of California, Michael Douglas took a breather from press work, taking wife Catherine Zeta Jones to a US Open men’s tennis match on Saturday afternoon (September 8).

The typically quiet couple got all dressed up to watch Roger Federer play Nikolay Davydenko in a semifinal at the famed Flushing Meadows’ Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Spotting Michael and Catherine in the States is becoming a rare occasion of late, as the superstar couple spends most of their time living in Bermuda with their two children.

The son of famed actor Kirk Douglas told the Star Ledger in a recent interview, “My priorities have changed. Like my father, like most actors, I was a pretty ambitious guy. I was focused on my career. Starting a new family, that was never in my plans.”

However, plans can change quite quickly when someone as beautiful as Catherine Zeta enters into the equation.

Michael keenly points this out, saying, “But then I met Catherine and that I haven’t done much since isn’t coincidental. It’s tough to find a reason to leave home now and go do a movie.”

Britney Spears De-Stresses Before VMA’s

When there’s this much riding on one night, anyone would be stressed out. But Britney Spears knows how to blow off some steam before her huge MTV Video Music Awards comeback this Sunday.

The “Gimme More” singer was spotted tearing up the dance floor at LA club Opera last night. She danced to Rihanna’s “Umbrella” among other dance tracks while smoking cigarettes and having a few drinks.

According to a witness, “Britney was in a great mood all night, smiling, laughing, upbeat, she drank beer, vodka cranberry and vodka tonic.” Maybe the high spirits are because she’s confident that she’ll be back on top of the charts as of tomorrow night, when she performs “Gimme More” with the help of illusionist Criss Angel.

There’s no doubt she has a lot to prove, so a little stress relief via a night out isn’t that shocking… especially from Britney Spears.

Kardashian Denies Performing Degrading Sex Act

Kim Kardashian is trying to put a stop to the rumors that her infamous sex tape with Ray-J featured footage of her participating in a “crazy sex act.” The tapes public release was halted last year after Kim was able to get a court order barring any future distribution of the candid home video.

When asked to comment on the story, Kim was very clear that she felt that everything captured on film was part of the normal relations between men and women in the bedroom.

"People were saying derogatory things (like) someone was getting urinated on. That hasn’t happened in my entire lifetime. I’m not knocking anyone else, but I’ve never personally participated in that,” Kardashian is quoted as saying, adding, “I think it’s degrading”.

And now that she’s made an attempt at clearing up the dirty rumors, Kim’s hopped a plane from Burbank out to Vegas for the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards.

Poetry Wednesday

By Judith

Well, summer certainly has fled here in the Twin Cities. With highs only in the 60s and lows threatening frost, summer seems like a distant memory, even though, technically, summer won't leave for another week and a half. However, weather doesn't always heed the calendar and so today's poem is about the end of summer.

It's a short little ditty. Hope you enjoy.

Oh, the author? That'd be me.

Crickets

The happiest sound of summer deep
Is the cricket's evening song.
I listen and fall quick asleep
Serenaded all night long.

The saddest sound of summer late
Is the cricket in the night.
Too soon he's gone and winter's fate
Turns the world to silent white.

Avril Lavigne Makes Her Friends Cry

The true test of any super ballad is whether or not it make it’s listeners bawl their eyes out. And Avril Lavigne’s “When You’re Gone” has passed with flying colors.

“When You’re Gone” is a love song that Lavigne wrote with the agenda to relate to all of her listeners on a common level. She told press, “It’s about the person you miss and all the little things you miss about them. So many people can relate to it in different ways, whether it’s someone going off to war… or losing someone or even just breaking up with someone, or simply just missing someone because you’re going away.”

And according to the Canadian punk princess, it made her friends cry. “This song was very unique for me (because) it’s the first song ever where when I played it for the first time to all my friends… every single one of them cried. It was the weirdest thing.”

While the “Complicated” singer has enjoyed touching the hearts of her fans with the song, even she isn’t immune to it’s emotional impact. “I did a concert in Paris for MTV and there was, like, kids in the audience crying. I was, like, choked up onstage.”

Grab a box of tissues and have a listen.

Celebs in front row at Zac Posen's show

Zac Posen, with his handbag line, new fragrance deal and long list of sponsors for his show, certainly has an entrepreneurial spirit. It seems, though, he also admires the spirit of the pioneers.

His spring collection, presented Tuesday night to Demi Moore, Lucy Liu, Serena Williams, Martha Stewart, Sean "Diddy" Combs and hundreds of retailers, editors and stylists as part of New York Fashion Week, honored early American settlers and "their insistence on simplicity and craft."

In his notes, Posen explained that inspiration came from "'Days of Heaven' (a 1978 farmland film), the Shakers, wheat fields of the Great Plains and the romance of the wide open sky."

Believe it or not, "wheat" on the runway wasn't the craziest thing at the Bryant Park tents over the past eight days of previews for next season. Posen interpreted it both literally — a minidress with a large bow and a gigantic crystal wheat brooch — and figuratively. Those results were much more wearable: a series of daytime khaki-colored outfits, including a trim pantsuit with a jacket that had oversized pockets and a belt around the waist, paired with a white tie-neck shirt.

In Posen's world, pilgrims and pioneers also have occasions for fancier styles, such as a white cocktail dress with an oversized ruffled collar and pleated skirt — the pleats horizontal across the middle and vertical down to the hem — and a gown made of twisted ribbons that had tiers covering its full skirt and an exaggerated pouf on one shoulder.

Posen somehow turned a tornado into a good thing, sending a silver breeze down the runway with a lot of draping, a swirl of fabric on the skirt and a haphazard feather burst on one shoulder. However, a ravine remained a dangerous place, somewhere that a gown, especially a fussy, asymmetrical, one-shoulder one, should go.

The final group of gowns came down the runway together, each representing a different kind of cloud. The Cirrus gown had a puff of blue and white fabric on its shoulder, the Cyclone had the puff around its middle — not a look many women are striving for.

It made for a dramatic photo but there really was only one, the slimmer and strappier Cumulus, that likely has any future in the real world.

Britney Spears: Toxic Enough for a Summons to the Oval Office

By Bobby

Once again, the cult of Britney Jean Spears has struck again.

The no-talent former Mousekateer has become a porn star, as have many Disney Channel stars as they have matured. Witness the results of Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake, and even the raunchy photos of Ashley Tisdale on her solo album to show the results of such porn starhood.

In reading reports today about the performance of Miss Spears, it was clear she made so many blunders that she would make a teacher or coach write the Oval Office summons at the stroke of dawn. Knowing now she refused to practise for the routine was outrageous, let alone her outfit, something that any decent singer, let alone the cream of the crop, would refuse to wear on stage. Would Renée Fleming, Anna Netrebko , Bryn Terfel, Walter Cuttino, or Jami Rhodes ever sing a major piece that is hard to learn with just one practise session and to wear that type of costume?

Also hearing she was drunk while in practice was inappropriate. The only drink any singer should have when in practice is plain water – no colas, sugary drinks, juice, or booze. (Booze is for car engines, not humans! Target Honda driver Scott Dixon lost the IndyCar Championship by running out of booze in the last three-fourths of a mile Sunday!)*.

Can you imagine the organist and vocalist at a church set for a solo attempt to sing the piece without five practice runs, with the organist working on the music just once and never knowing about it, or coming in without having run the performance once at full throttle? It is as pathetic as the typical church solo some churches offer with a vocalist reading the lyrics (not sheet music) and singing secular tunes in a church (not sacred) to a karaoke machine (which many churches feature) that are just as bad as what that no-talent Miss Spears did Sunday night.

It was reminiscent of a commentary I made four years ago (before this blog), just after the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards (which had the Spears/Aguilera/Ciccone kiss). A friend who posts on conservative site noted to others, "I've never liked Britney Spears, she is a fake no-talent bimbo . . . but that MTV kiss was the capper. Enough to gag a maggot . . . "

I noted to her, "(Britney has) no talent at all. It takes work. She doesn't do it. A friend of mine lives in Winter Park (FL) and I think my friend could rattle the cage and annihilate Britney in a singing contest! As I said to another friend afterwards, I can beat Britney Spears in a singing contest (provided I work with my voice teacher and she picks the accompanist). That shows the patheticness of her "talent".

I woke up the morning after the MTV awards and did not know what happened that evening. After watching Brian Kilmeade outraged by the kiss on-stage at that awards show, I commented the kiss was troubling, and "Serena has sent a technical bulletin. Madonna (Ciccone), Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears have been called to the Big Red Truck after the MTV Video Music Awards."**

That was not enough for Miss Spears, who once again went over the edge Sunday night at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas.

MTV has shown how they are a notorious peddler of pornography, and how MTV influences even today’s youth showed this year with their performers and their attitudes. Compare Kayne West’s attitude after losing at the VMA to Dale Earnhardt Jr’s disappointment at missing the playoffs.

*1 Indy Racing League cars race on ethanol – which is the alcohol of all alcoholic beverages. Cars run on 200-proof ethanol – pure booze.

**The original reference was written in August 2003. The “Big Red Truck” is now known as the “Oval Office”.

No Fashion Show For Lauren Conrad

If you were hoping to see The Hills’ Lauren Conrad gracing the runway for the new Marc Jacobs fall line, don’t hold your breath. The reality star says she won’t be there.

Conrad denied reports that she would be working it on the catwalk for the fashion designer. Last week, she cleared up the inaccurate rumors with a statement to press.

She said, “There has been a lot of talk that I am going to be walking in the Marc Jacobs show next week in NY and as amazing and flattering as that would be, it is unfortunately not true. There may be confusion because as part of my internship with Teen Vogue I worked at his casting this week. I am a huge fan of Marc Jacobs and I can’t wait to see all his new looks when they come out in the Fall.”

Perhaps LC should reconsider working with Jacobs. It sure beats the heck out of being famous for her feud with Heidi Montag.

Christina Aguilera Sells House, Gets Blacklisted

Now that she’s finally admitting to being pregnant, Christina Aguilera has decided to get a new place to call home for her family of almost three. The “Beautiful” singer purchased Ozzy Osbourne’s former home in Beverly Hills, and that means she’s selling her old pad.

The Dirrty singer has put her $7 million Hollywood Hills mansion up for sale. It’s a luxury four-bedroom home that would make anyone with $ 7 million to throw around very happy.

Sharon Osbourne told press, “It’s a house full of love, so I’m really happy for her,” when she found out that it was Aguilera that purchased the former Osbourne estate.

But the news is bad for Christina if she was ever hoping to work with David LaChapelle again. Apparently, her name has appeared on a list of singers that the photographer/video director refuses to work with.

However, the “Genie in a Bottle” singer is in good company. According to a source, “David refused to work with Madonna, Gwen Stefani or Christina Aguilera. He hates them!”

Patriot Day

By Mitchell

Today is Patriot Day. (Not to be confused with Patriots’ Day, the Massachusetts holiday in April commemorating Paul Revere’s Ride, when they run the Boston Marathon.) At least it is, according to my daytimer. But have you heard much about it? I saw some flags flying at half-staff on my way in to the office, and of course you can’t really get away from 9/11 on the cable news networks. The testimony yesterday of General Petraeus was a reminder of what today is all about.

And yet, for all that, what is today all about? The war on terror is still going on, or so we’re told. The periodic terrorist attacks in Britain and elsewhere should remind us of that – but then, the Europeans have always been so violent. Every once in a while we get word of a potential terror plot uncovered and quashed, and we’re grateful for that.

We’ve got a war going on in Iraq, for sure, but even so it doesn’t quite feel as if we’re at war here in the homeland. There’s been no rationing, no rallies for war bonds, no sense of sacrifice, and most of all no shared sense of mission. We’re as divided now as we’ve been in a long while – liberal politicians against conservative politicians, anti-war conservative Catholics against war-supporting conservative Catholics. Father against son and son against father, one would assume.

I read this morning about myGoodDeed.org, a group dedicated to the idea that the best way to memorialize the dead of September 11 is to do something good for others. Now, let me be the first to say that I think doing good for other people, particularly people we don’t know, is a wonderful idea. As a matter of fact, I think it’s such a great idea that we ought to do it every day, not just September 11. There was something in that terrible time, watching the horrifying images coming live from New York, seeing the anguish of those searching for lost loved ones, that made you want to do something nice, to be someone nice. And in fact, many predicted that a kinder and gentler America might come about as a result of 9/11. I suppose that might go down in history alongside the Titanic and the Edsel as far as predictions go. Nonetheless, there’s something about the idea of simple kindness that is very appealing, that shouldn’t be discounted. And yet –

Is this really what we’ve come to? Commemorating the worst attack on American soil, the deaths of nearly 3,000 innocent people, by a homicidal maniac who’s still on the loose – by being nice? If you’ll pardon me for saying so (and this is with no offense to the founders of myGoodDeed), there’s something awfully Oprah about all this.

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know what we ought to do about the war on terror. I’m still not sure that Iraq was or should be part of it, although I’m equally sure we can’t just cut-and-run, even if we wanted to. From the get-go I’ve suspected that 9/11 somehow represented a Divine Rebuke to this country, one that has for the most part gone unheeded. And yet, as Drew mentioned yesterday, the lives of a lot of innocent people are at stake, and it’s the government’s job to do what it takes to protect them.

What I do know is that this country, and many of its people, lack a certain determination to see this thing through to the end. It’s been there ever since September 12, to be honest – at a time when we had the sympathy of much of the world, when much of the country was united in equal parts fear and loathing. That was the time, if there was any one particular time, when decisive action was called for. A demand to the Taliban ruling Afghanistan that they hand over Bin Laden in 48 hours or else. (And an assurance – no, a guarantee that they didn’t want to know what or else meant.) Some argue that we were in no position to act that quickly, that it took time for intelligence to determine exactly who or what was behind the attacks. But I recall that even as the clouds continued to swirl around Manhattan, informed speculation among pundits was that Bin Laden was involved. And besides, using the logic that has propelled us through Iraq, if the Taliban and al-Quada were really that evil a presence in the Middle East, we’d be able to justify an attack on them on general principle.

No, my fear is that we let the moment go, and it’s been a mess ever since. Had Bush requested and received a formal declaration of war in his speech to Congress, had he encouraged Americans to sacrifice and go on a war footing rather than arguing that “business as usual” was the best response – but then, one could go on and on in this vein. (Indeed, a couple of weeks after the attack I recall talking with a priest whose parish was near the State Fairgrounds, speculating as to whether or not there would even be a State Fair the next year – such a gathering of people would make a prime terrorist target, and at any rate the Fair traditionally had been suspended during wartime. Such an idea seems laughable now.) The war seems endless, and those in charge seem to lack any clear definition of “victory,” let alone the quaint thought of something such as unconditional surrender. And it’s doubtful that we are a stronger country than we were – our culture seems to grow more debased every day, our politics is more fractured and venomous than ever, and if there’s any real consensus on the direction to go, I have yet to see it. Perhaps in light of all that, doing a good deed for someone else is about the best we can hope to accomplish, pathetic thought that thought may be.

And so we return to Patriot Day, or Good Deeds Day, or whatever you want to call it. There will be a certain somberness about the day, as there has been each year since 2001 (though in decreasing measure each year). One should take a moment to commemorate the innocent dead in New York and Washington, and to remember those who heroically risked their lives (and in many cases lost them) to protect others.

But one should also remember that those who were behind this – the terrorists, the Islamofacists who seek to return civilization to the Stone Age, the rogue states like Iran, above all Bin Laden and his insidiously evil henchmen – are still on the loose, still looking for an opportunity, still doing their dance of death with the taste of blood in their mouths. This is the evil we face, the evil that men do. It is real, and it is present. And there will be a showdown – it is not a question of if, just when and where. It is for us to determine how we choose to respond. If we have the courage and the willpower to do so.

And in the meantime, another September 11 comes and goes, and we relive once more the images of New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. Soon the snow will fall upon the ground once more, as the ash did from the collapse of the towers, falling as it did in the closing paragraphs of James Joyce's last and greatest story, "The Dead," as we all will be one day.

*****
. . . His soul had approached that region where dwell the vast hosts of the dead. He was conscious of, but could not apprehend, their wayward and flickering existence. His own identity was fading out into a grey impalpable world: the solid world itself, which these dead had one time reared and lived in, was dissolving and dwindling.

A few light taps upon the pane made him turn to the window. It had begun to snow again. He watched sleepily the flakes, silver and dark, falling obliquely against the lamplight. The time had come for him to set out on his journey westward. Yes, the newspapers were right: snow was general all over Ireland. It was falling on every part of the dark central plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly upon the Bog of Allen and, farther westward, softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon waves. It was falling, too, upon every part of the lonely churchyard on the hill where Michael Furey lay buried. It lay thickly drifted on the crooked crosses and headstones, on the spears of the little gate, on the barren thorns. His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.