Friday, July 31, 2009

A SPLAIN IN THE GLASS

Hopefully 'Being Human' won't fly under the radar for too long on BBC-A, and fans of 'True Blood' will embrace it eagerly soon enough. Doing its small part to reconcile the vampire underworlds of the two series, Toobworld Central had to find a splainin for the discrepancy between their two environments. In 'True Blood', vampires are living openly, striving for their civil rights, thanks to the Tru-Blood drink which came on the market just over two years ago. But in 'Being Human', vampires still live in the shadows, their existence unsuspected by the general human public. I was toying with the idea that maybe 'Being Human' could be taking place more than two years ago, before that Japanese corporation introduced Tru-Blood on the market. But then there would be a constant stream of Zonks to splain away when contemporary movies, TV shows, current events get mentioned.
Instead, here's my suggestion: both shows are taking place in the Toobworld Here & Now. But in 'Being Human', Tru-Blood has not yet been introduced to the British consumer. Probably some tie-up in the UK equivalent of the FDA. Therefore, until Tru-Blood can be found on the store shelves of ASDA, Tesco, and Arkwright's, the vampires of the British Isles have to remain in the shadows....

BCnU!

A KINGDOM OF SPOOKS

Near the end of Season One of 'Kingdom', it was stated that Peter Kingdom's father Roger was a notorious shagger in his day. He probably stepped out on both his wives (the second one being the mother of Peter's siblings Simon and Beatrice).

It could be that Roger Kingdom had no qualms in chasing after married women, some of whom may have become pregnant by him and then forced to pass off the resultant offspring as their husbands' children.

If so, Peter Kingdom may have at least one half-sibling he may never know about - Ros Myers, who works for 'MI5' in 'Spooks'.
Ros grew up believing that her father was really Sir Jocelyn Myers, a well-to-do diplomat who was involved in the conspiracy to force the Prime Minister to sign a special measure act. This would have allowed the co-conspirators (led by MI6 head Michael Collingwood) to lock up people without trial and to use the police to prevent civilian protests.

It was Ros who helped expose the conspiracy and saved the lives of Harry Pearce and Adam Carter in the process. She severed her ties to MI6 afterwards and joined MI5 where she has risen to become the head of MI5's Section D after Harry Pearce.
She looks a lot like her half-sister Beatrice Kingdom, but probably doesn't have the same sort of mental health issues......

BCnU!

IT'S NOT HBO; IT'S TOOBWORLD

HBO has "staked" out a piece of that "promoverse" mentioned yesterday. In their promotional blipverts, characters from various HBO TV series interacted with each other. But unlike the situation with USA Network, these were already established shots digitally blended together.

In this new spot, TV characters are phasing into the homes of "real-life" people of Toobworld:



Am I the only one who thinks of 'Hi Honey, I'm Home'? In that early 90's sitcom, the Nielsen family joined the Sitcom Relocation program and were brought out of their TV universe to live in the "real" world. (Since we were watching it on TV, they ended up in Toobworld. We're the ones living in the Trueniverse.)

Among the other TV characters who came to visit them were Alice Kramden, Trixie Norton, Mr. Mooney, and Alice Nelson. This HBO promo seems to be working along the same principle..... BCnU!

AS SEEN ON TV: JOHN CHARLES FREMONT

As it's been tradition for Toobworld Central to celebrate the TV Western during the summer months, it's our plan to feature an historical Western figure every day in the "As Seen On TV" spotlight.

And to kick things off....
JOHN CHARLES FREMONT
AS SEEN IN:
"Dream West"

AS PLAYED BY:
Richard Chamberlain
John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813 – July 13, 1890), was an American military officer, explorer, the first candidate of the Republican Party for the office of President of the United States, and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform in opposition to slavery. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder, which remains in use, sometimes as "The Great Pathfinder".
[from Wikipedia]

BCnU!

AIFD Symposium{the show flowers}

You guys must be tired of seeing AIFD posts, but guess what? I have one, more!
Well, aside from this one. I just couldn't fit them all in. I still get excited about flowers and take a gazillion pictures:)
Enjoy!

All fresh fruit. I get "fancy" with melon balls once in a while but this is madness!
They actually carved a rose out of melons.

Fruit, but in a different way. This is part of Lisa and Jenny's, one of my instructors at school, presentation on being Green. They used this paper product from home depot that looks like burlap or something and fresh apples, succulents and moss. Total organic, green feel.


If this looks familiar, it's because Jenny made the urn in March for Bouquet to Arts and it has been living as a succulent urn at school since then.


You know I *love* this structure of PVC pipes and flowers, right?





This floral door looked big on stage but in real life the bird they made out of Flowers was enormous! The birds(swan/goose?) beak was made out hypericum berries, its feathers were made out lily petals, and the head out of white button mums.

This was a pillar of calla lillies and anthurium.
The structure was quite fascinating and made me think of Daniel Ost.

Holy Epergne!

Lime and Lavender flowers looks so wonderful and unexpected to me for the holidays and I love the Holiday decor for the door. An updated take on the wreath.

What can I say, I love pave?
This was a huge floral arrangement made out of Phalaenopsis orchids, super green roses, jade roses, and green dianthus. Loved it and can totally see it being used at a wedding ceremony.
The little pink and coral number next to it is pretty hot too.

This is the one that took my heart.
It was a wall piece that was made with folded ti leaves
(everyone who has been around me when I get ti leaves knows I love to twirl then and fold them to different shapes, so this made my heart smile).
They used the bunched ti leaves to hide the water tubes that held up the orchids.
GORGEOUS!

Making Your Amends


"Win as if you were used to it, lose as if you enjoyed it for a change."
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)







AS SEEN ON TV: LITIGATOR GLORIA, HAPPY AT LAST

Shark Week kicks off August 2nd on the Discovery Channel. To celebrate, Toobworld Central is showcasing its own kind of shark in the "As Seen On TV" feature......
GLORIA ALLRED

AS SEEN IN:
"Amber Frey: Witness For The Prosecution"

AS PLAYED BY:
Nora Dunn

BCnU!

By the Sea Family Photography: Oahu

This family came to Oahu to attend a wedding and decided to have a lifestyle photography session in Kailua.








Thursday, July 30, 2009

LIE TO ME, BONES


Here's a little crossover being dangled by Ausiello of "Entertainment Weekly":

Sources confirm that Fox is toying with the idea of staging a crossover next season that would find Booth and Brennan (of 'Bones') working on a case with Tim Roth’s 'Lie to Me' doc Lightman.

He goes on to say however, that the FOX tipster warns that it may never happen.....

BCnU!

Thanks to Rob of "The Medium Is not Enough" (link to the left) for the head's-up!

NEW @ TOOBWORLD CENTRAL

I'd been good for so long in staying my desire to order books and DVDs.... One little chink in the dam and the floodwaters come spilling out!

Here are the latest acquisitions at the Toobworld Central library, which arrived yesterday:

"Here's Looking At Us: Celebrating Fifty Years Of CBC" by Stephen Cole
At least this one I didn't pay for; it was a gift from a friend, a high muckety-muck at Sony-BMG. Canadian television, like all world television, is an interest because I'd like to keep expanding the concept of Earth Prime-Time beyond the US borders - as if over sixty years of American content wasn't enough to keep me busy!

And my knowledge of Canadian TV is certainly lacking. From the cover I was only able to identify one TV icon from the Great White North - The Friendly Giant.....

"Space Buddies"
This DVD is for my 4½ year old nephew; I'll give it to him when I see him on vacation. Not sure if I want to go through the experience of watching it with him though....

'Torchwood: Children Of Earth'
I couldn't think of a better way to honor everyone involved in bringing this exciting and very brave work of television than by buying a copy of it....

'Life On Mars' - the UK version, Season One
Can't wait for my brother to finally meet Gene Hunt. He knows Glenister already from 'Cranford'. We all know he's in for a treat!

'Cronkite Remembers'
A 3 DVD box set of the anchorman's remembrances of the events of the 20th Century, from both a personal as well as from a news story angle. There was a similar videotape back in the mid 1990's and I picked that up for my Mom as a gift. So this is something of a nostalgic gift to myself......


BCnU!

NUMBERS RUNNING: EXAM ROOM 4

Number 4, the first number in the Valenzetti Equation (the numerical sequence made famous in 'Lost'), showed up in the most recent episode of 'Nurse Jackie':
BCnU!

FOR AN IDDIOT'S BIRTHDAY.....





HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMY.......

AS SEEN ON TV SPECIAL: JACKIE

Had she lived, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis would have been 80 years old this past Tuesday.

Earlier this year, she was seen in the HBO drama "Grey Gardens", a dramatization of the lives of her cousins Edith and "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale. Jeanne Tripplehorn played the former First Lady in a short scene of a very uncomfortable visit she made to their home. (Little Edie asked her: "Did Jack Kennedy give you gonorrhea?")
JACQUELINE KENNEDY
AS SEEN IN:
"Grey Gardens"

AS PLAYED BY:
Jeanne Tripplehorn Here is a partial list of the actresses who have played Jackie O over the years on TV:

Francesca Annis

. . . Onassis: The Richest Man in the World (1988)

Jacqueline Bisset
. . . America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story (2003)

Blair Brown
. . . "Kennedy" (1983)

Juanin Clay
. . . "Robert Kennedy & His Times" (1985)

Robin Curtis
. . . LBJ: The Early Years (1987)

Jennifer Dale
. . . Hoover vs. the Kennedys: The Second Civil War (1987)

Roma Downey
. . . "A Woman Named Jackie" (1991)

Jill Hennessy
. . . Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot (2001)


Karen Ingram
. . . "Quantum Leap" (1989)
{Lee Harvey Oswald - Oct 5, 1957-Nov 22, 1963: Part 1 (#5.1 & 5.2)}

Elizabeth Lambert
. . . "Dark Skies" (1996)

{Moving Targets (#1.2)}

Cristine Rose
. . . The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald (1977)


Jaclyn Smith
. . . Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (1981)

Jeanne Tripplehorn
. . . Grey Gardens (2009)

Anna Valle
. . . Callas e Onassis (2005)


Joanne Whalley
. . . Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (2000)


Jesalyn White
. . . LBJ vs. the Kennedys: Chasing Demons (2003)

Laura Yonker
. . . "Days That Shook the World" (2003) {JFK} BCnU!

TVXOHOF, 07/2009-D: PARADISE

"New York's a real city, Claire.
Chicago's a real city.
Paradise... has got a way to go
...."
John Taylor
'Guns of Paradise'

For the final July entry into the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, we're heading to Paradise! No, there won't be 72 virgins waiting there - we're talking about the Western town in California, which even had its own series.

Paradise, California, is a real town, but its history and current development is probably a lot different in the TV Universe than it is in the Trueniverse. Over the years, we've been able to see the historical development of TV's Paradise from a simple mining camp to a frontier town to a scenic resort area.

It begins with my favorite TV Western:

'Maverick' - "The Cats Of Paradise"
Bret gets involved [in] financing Modesty Blaine's plan to sell cats to a mining town to control the rat population. But when she leaves him holding an empty bag, Bret must face the wrath of a jealous but superstitious sheriff and a hired killer willing to put cash and duty ahead of friendship.

In this episode, there were a few buildings, but the citizens lived mostly in camps near their mining stakes. Paradise had a mayor and a murderous, superstitious sheriff named Scratch Madden (played by a surprisingly mean Buddy Ebsen).

'Guns Of Paradise'/'Paradise'

Gunfighter Ethan Cord, left to raise his dead sister's children, tries to settle down in the town of Paradise, but finds that his past continues to haunt him.
A few decades later, the town was thriving and becoming more civilized, but there were still signs of trouble. So it was a good thing the townsfolk had Ethan Cord there to help out. (Although a lot of that trouble came to town because of Cord.....)

'Quincy, M.E.' - "Visitors In Paradise"Quincy and Danny plan a simple fishing vacation in the town of Paradise. Then a case of mistaken identity drags Quincy into a closed murder case. The more Quincy digs, the more he realizes the case should never have been closed the way it was - and the more determined someone becomes to discourage the investigation. A new test that permits Quincy to tell the difference between male and female blood will confirm or deny the suspect's story, and maybe expose something worse...

Jumping ahead nearly a century, Paradise is now the tourist attraction where you can just go to relax and leave the city life behind. For everybody except Quincy, that is. (Rockford would have had trouble here too if he ever drove through. Some people just attract trouble.)

It would have been nice to include two other series in this collection, but their versions of Paradise lie elsewhere.....

'The Roy Rogers Show' - "Ride Of The Ranchers"
Every year, during Paradise Valley's Ride of the Ranchers, wealthy rancher Don Jose traditionally leads the ride. However, this year a gang of outlaws plans to attack Don Jose's ranch while he's away at the Ride, in order to take his strongbox which they believe is full of money.

'The Roy Rogers Show' - "Strangers"
Although Lanny Gaines and his ailing father have lived in Paradise Valley for several months, none of their neighbors has stopped by to introduce themselves. One day a group of surveyors arrives at his ranch and Lanny, overjoyed to finally have some company, takes them in. What he doesn't know is that the men are not surveyors but a gang of outlaws on the run from the law.

I don't think it was ever explicitly stated where Mineral City could be found, but I think it was probably one of the more traditional Western states like Arizona or Oklahoma or Texas. Otherwise, I'd love to have Paradise Valley nestled between the towns of Paradise Valley and Mineral City in California.

'Bat Masterson' - "The Price Of Paradise"
Bat arrives in Paradise, Colorado, to collect a gambling debt from a crooked casino owner who doesn't like to pay his debts. He also doesn't like to pay his taxes, going so far as to change the course of a river so his town would lie beyond the authority of the county tax assessor - until Bat accepts the appointment.

This would have been so perfect for the Toobworld version of Paradise, California, but alas! I'll hopefully get the chance to see this episode one day; it could be that these episode guides online have been perpetuating the wrong information all this time. We'll see.

But at any rate, we not only have three series to insure the qualification of Paradise, California, but 'Paradise'/'Guns Of Paradise' had a decent three year run to make the town a true contender.

Welcome to Paradise!

BCnU!

All episode descriptions courtesy of the IMDb.com......

Worst Companies in the World, 2009


Corporations must face trial for crimes against Indigenous Peoples; Bush and Cheney must go on trial for torture

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Corporations exploiting the water, land and resources of Indigenous Peoples, using displacement, rape, torture and assassination, must be charged in an international court. The corporations and the individuals must be charged for crimes against humanity.
While Canada leads the world in the number of gold and uranium mining corporations carrying out criminal acts, the United States leads the world in corporations of torture and war manufacturing.
The US and Israel lead the world in the production of Apartheid spy and border technology aimed at control and profiteering. The US and Israel also lead the world in misinformation technology, including misinformation-based television and print media.
This is only the beginning of the list of the Worst Corporations in the World 2009, now being updated:

BARRICK GOLD (Canada) is coring out sacred mountains, including the Western Shoshone's sacred Mount Tenabo. In New Guinea, Barrick has carried out rapes and murders as it seizes Indigenous lands. In Australia, protests by the Save Lake Cowal campaign are ongoing at the Barrick Gold open pit mine at Lake Cowal, New South Wales, Australia. Lake Cowal is home to many migratory water birds and sacred sites of the Wiradjuri people.
Barrick leads the list of the worst companies in the world, for its mining in Papua New Guinea, the United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, Australia, Peru, Chile, Russia, South Africa, Pakistan, Argentina and Tanzania.
Read about Barrick's global crimes against Indigenous Peoples:
http://protestbarrick.net/
DENISON MINES/International Uranium Corporation (Canada) also leads in crimes against Indigenous Peoples for its uranium mines. Denison is now threatening to reopen a uranium mine in the Grand Canyon, which could destroy sacred land of Havasupai, endanger tourists and contaminate Southwest water supplies. Denison is already poisoning the land and water of Utes and Navajos in Utah and Natives in Saskatchewan, Canada. Read more:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2009/07/boycott-denison-mines.html
DESERT ROCK/NAVAJO NATION is planning the third coal fired power plant on Navajoland in the Four Corners area, already saturated with radioactive tailings from uranium mines, two other power plants and hundreds of oil and gas wells. These are already desecrating the Navajos most sacred place of origin in this region, Dinetah. The financing to the local Dine' Power comes from Sithe Global, primarily owned by the Blackstone Group, whose cofounder Stephen Schwarzman is a member of Skull and Bones. Skull and Bones is the secret society at Yale, whose power mongers include the Bush family, who robbed the grave of Geronimo, then attempted to silence the San Carlos Apaches about this.
The electricity from Navajo Nation coal and power plants goes primarily to non-Navajos in the Southwest while many Navajos still live without electricity and with the respiratory diseases and cancers from pollution and toxins. The revenues from polluting industries are the primary source of salaries and lavish expense spending for elected Navajo Nation officials.
GOLDCORP (Canada) In Guatemala, Indigenous are fighting Goldcorp which brings in 200 tons of cyanide a year for gold extraction. While poisoning the water and land, Goldcorp continues to displace and make homeless Indigenous Peoples. In 2005, one Mayan protester was killed at the Canadian owned Goldcorp mine, operating under Montana Exploradora at the Marlin mine.
DOW CHEMICAL/UNION CARBIDE killed 18,000 people in the Bhopal disaster in India. The Yes Men, activists and filmmakers, are making sure no one forgets. Who will care for those left ill and disabled?
Dow has a long history of poisoning and killing people, from the cancer alley of the Louisiana coast to Vietnam.
Wikipedia says, "During the Vietnam War, Dow became the sole supplier of napalm to the United States military who used napalm in their efforts during the war.
"
Agent Orange, a chemical defoliant containing dioxin, was also manufactured by Dow in New Plymouth, New Zealand and in America for use by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. In 2005, a lawsuit was filed by Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange against Dow and Monsanto Company, which also supplied Agent Orange to the military. The lawsuit was dismissed.[14]
Read more about how Dow Chemical and Union Carbide have poisoned the world and killed people:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dow_Chemical_Company
MONSANTO is killing people slowly with mutant seeds.
VEDANTA RESOURCES (England) preys on the people of India: "According to the tribesmen and others supporting them, the mining of the Niyamgiri hills will lead to massive deforestation, affect water resources, destroy the local ecosystem and endanger wild animals commonly found in the area like tigers, leopards and elephants." http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?a=jh1w5qadfca&title=Orissa_s_anti_mining_protests_reach_Delhi
Once again, in the Southern Amazon, Canada's mining death squads strike. The biggest projects belong to Vancouver-based Corriente Resources and Toronto's Kinross Gold.
CAMECO, another Canadian company, is planning to mine uranium in Lakota territory and Lakotas are now battling this corporation. The US secretly transported 500 tons of yellowcake from Iraq to Montreal for the private company Cameco in Canada in 2008.
Profiteering from Apartheid at borders, from Palestine to Arizona and around the world are Boeing, the Israeli Defense contractor Elbit Systems and Wackenhut Transportation (owned by G4S in England/Denmark.)
Profiteering from the imprisonment of migrants and people of color in the US are GEO (formerly Wackenhut) and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA.)
The war profit manufacturers that keep youths dying in foreign lands, and politicians lying about the reasons for those wars, include General Dynamics, Raytheon, Lockhead Martin, DynCorp, Blackwater and a long list of weapons suppliers, drone manufacturers, killers for hire and "intelligence" corporations.
Chiquita International Brands admitted in court that the company hired assassins to kill farmers and activists in Colombia.
For overcharging at the gas pumps, all qualify as the worst corporations in the world: Exxon Mobile, Chevron, Shell and all the others.
Just as corporations must be held responsible before an international court, Bush and Cheney must be placed on trial for torture, kidnapping and murder.
The Obama administration is backing an anti-terrorism policy of Bush, urging a federal appeals court to throw out a lawsuit that accuses Boeing's Jeppesen Dataplan of helping the CIA fly suspects overseas to be tortured.
In a poll by Censored News, readers voted the United States "the worst corporation in the world."
In domestic and international terrorism, the torture trainers at the US School of Americas (now the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation), Army intelligence officers at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., and the US Border Patrol top the list. Border Patrol agents continue their murders, rapes, assaults and drug smuggling.
The US courts, filling prisons with people of color, and violating federal laws designed to protect Native Americans and the environment, follows. Then there is FEMA, which watched people die after Hurricane Katrina, and continues to distribute toxic trailer houses to desperate people across America. At its core, is toxic racism.
Waving its flag as a peace loving country ensuring human rights, the United States leads the world in deceptive war profiteering, spilling the blood of its youths to water the economy.
Obama has not ended the war, he has only changed the location from Iraq to Afghanistan, ensuring corporate war profiteering, the deaths of American youths and the murder of innocent mothers, children and elderly in their homelands.
Finally, unless Obama makes public the evidence of torture and ensures Bush and Cheney are held responsible for torture in violation of the Geneva Conventions, Obama will have failed as president.
Obama's silence is complicity in this crime.

Remember When You Were Young


Though Mongo is an admitted sap for schmaltzy, sentimentality, even I was surprised by how moved I was watching the ESPN special on Tony Hawk...It was called "Homecoming".

It was the first time that I can remember that skaters of my generation were both featured and heard from in person on a mainstream network.

Mullen spoke...and was goofily charming. Caballero spoke...and was elegant and wise. Mountain spoke...and was the voice of the people. Mongo didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I was overwhelmed by the past and present of what skateboarding has meant, and still means, to me.

Finally...there is Tony Hawk himself. He is a man to be respected both as a skater and as a human being. There is no one who has meant more to both the "art" and the "business" of skateboarding. He is without a doubt, one of the five greatest skateboarders of all time.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

ECCE PROMO! A TRIBUTE TO "MONK"

USA Network has its own little "promoverse", a TV dimension in which all the characters from their shows interact with each other.

Although many of the shows invoked are to be found on Earth Prime-Time, these promotional blipverts can't be considered part of the main Toobworld. That's because 'Monk' and 'Psych' both interacted with 'The Dead Zone' in other promotional interstitials. And 'The Dead Zone' had a US President and Vice President differing from the established holders of those offices.

At any rate, USA Network is now showing a new promo in which various characters from other shows celebrate Adrian Monk as his series enters its final year......



BCnU!

NUMBERS RUNNING: ORDER-23 ON THE 8TH FLOOR

Wednesday night's episode of 'Leverage' was "The Order-23 Job", and right there is one of "The Numbers" from 'Lost'. "Order-23" was the scam they pulled on a Bernie Madoff-type of swindler, in which they had the guy thinking he was under quarantine during a massive infection crisis.

And they pulled off this con on a nearly abandoned floor of the hospital in Belbridge, Massachusetts. That was the 8th Floor, another in the sequence of "The Numbers".

It could be said that the amount of money Mardashian had stolen was based on "The Numbers" - $400,000.00, with "4" being the key integer.

This particular scam had the feel of an operation from 'Mission: Impossible', especially the ones used in "Two Thousand" and "Encore". Maybe Nate and the gang got hold of an IMF playbook....

BCnU!