Happy New Year

Heath Ledger's Final Role

Click here for YouTube -- The only pictures of Heath in his final role, as Tony in the 2009 film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

,..and here for -- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Teaser Trailer

PLOT: In the present day, immortal 1,000-year-old Doctor Parnassus (Plummer) leads a traveling theater troupe that offers audience members a chance to go beyond reality through a magical mirror in his possession. Members of the troupe include a sleight of hand expert, Anton (Garfield) and a dwarf (Vern Troyer), Percy. Parnassus had been able to guide the imagination of others through a deal with the Devil (Waits), who now comes to collect on the arrangement, targeting the doctor's daughter (Lily Cole). The troupe, which is joined by a mysterious outsider named Tony (portrayed by Ledger, Depp, Law, and Farrell), embark through parallel worlds to rescue the girl.



...and finally, here for YouTube -- Tribute Heath Ledger. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009).

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Eartha Kitt

January 17, 1927 - December 25, 2008

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12.26.08

Christmas 2008

Earthrise

Not-So-Lonely Planet -- Op-Ed, New York Times, 12/24/08

12.24.08

12.23.08

My Army

My Army

where is my army of servants
maids cleaners housekeepers
valets chauffeurs dishwashers
tuners grooms lackeys butlers
laundresses financial advisors
trainers secretaries assistants
filing clerks masseurs barbers
manicurists polishing windows
why do I have to do everything
myself (except the gardening)

-- Michael Townsend Smith

12.21.08

Lame Duck Ducking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWt3-kPBQ4A&feature=related

Full Moon

Biggest Full Moon Of The Year Expected Tonight
Friday, 12 December 2008, 10:15 CST
No, you can not see Neil Armstrong's footprint. But go ahead and look: The full Moon of Dec. 12th is the biggest and brightest full Moon of the year.

Golgotha

Golgotha

Odetta

Odetta, Voice of Civil Rights Movement, Dies at 77
New York Times, December 3, 2008

Odetta at the Performing Garage

July 5, 2007 -- The Off-Off Broadway Experience article by Donald L. Brooks

12.01.08

Moon, Jupiter, Venus, evening of December 1, 2008
photo by Donald

Tonight, millions of people worldwide can see a close three-way conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the crescent moon. Highlighting the uniqueness of this event in one's life is the fact that most of the time the moon, Jupiter and Venus come together, they are too close to the Sun or unite at a time when they are not so visible. The next time the two planets and the moon will be as close and visible will be on November the 18th, 2052. .An interesting fact reveals that historians think that a similar approach between Jupiter and Venus in the year 2 BC may have been the source of the star of Bethlehem story found in the Bible. The stellar pair would have appeared so close together that they might have seemed to blend into an amazing beacon of light. However, from now on, the planets and the moon will start separating from each other, and we'll have to wait for about 44 years to see this again.

Thanksgiving

11.25.08

Madness

The Madness of Lykourgos, Apulian red-figurevase C4th B.C., Antikensammlungen, Munich

I know it is madness. Madness as is thought to be. Madness even if madness is not the madness most men of madness claim to be, mad. Madness as a pure thing of madness itself. Madness as a separation from the world and a union with the cold night of remembrance where creatures and their memories haunt and scurry with little regard for their doings and little care for the temple that holds them. Madness is a yoyo without a string, but one one plays upon with no notice. Madness is winter alone without cold or ice but that is all that is there. Madness is a string with no nest for a broken blue ova. a red robin weeps and we call it a song. Madness is all the songbirds no longer and madness is the sameness of all things that once diverged. Madness is now, madness is here, madness all around us. Madness.

Donald L. Brooks

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Twilight

I was a teenage vampire

British actor Robert Pattinson 's break-out role in 'Twilight' has girls swooning - and the movie hasn't even opened yet...click on for article.

YouTube etalk Robert Pattinson Twilight interview -- HERE

Click here for Twilight - Official Trailer New Movie 2008

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Blown Away

Sometimes my mind just wants to blow away with the wind and never come back like nothing was. Thoughts that no longer have any facts to prove they exist. Memories without a past. Nothing without something. There’s a cold corner in hell reserved for those who like the heat. Heaven has halos for the best of them and no guarantee for the rest of them. What did I do yesterday and will I remember it tomorrow for some reason. Or will it come back to me on my deathbed at the moment my brain takes flight like a dandelion’s little parachutes whisked away by a breeze from the mouth of a child? Why am I haunted by places I’m not sure existed. Why do I remember an item and not where it lay? Things grouped together for what reason I know not and then those torn apart never to be put together again. Humpty Dumpty is an omelet -- when did it become a law to kill and not to love?

Donald L. Brooks

Click HERE for another Blown Away by Michael Townsend Smith

Last Gasps

Veterans Day

Chris Isaak

Chris Isaak -- "Wicked Game" -- YouTube

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Headlines

Click HERE for hundreds more!

11.05.08

"If there is anyone out there who doubts that America is a place where anything is possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer…” -- President-elect Barack Hussein Obama.

YouTube except of speech, HERE.

Vote

© 2007 -- Karl Rottmann

YMA

Yma Sumac, who died on Saturday, probably aged 86, was a Peruvian singer and a phenomenon in the 1950s and a highly popular crossword puzzle entry! Click here for obituary in Telegraph, UK.

Click here for Yma Sumac: Tumpa (Earthquake)

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Zombies on Parade

"Zombies on Parade" by Donald L. Brooks with music by Arthur Abrams, choreography by Robert Dahdah, the cast -- Miguel Angel, Mr. Brooks, Bridget Dowret, Richard Mays, Cat Migliaccio, Allison Patrick, Ellen Steier, Ylva Weekes, and assorted zombie actors, Halloween at Theater for the New City -- Friday, October 31, 2008

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Remembering Arthur

Remembering Arthur Sainer, by Michael Smith

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Joe Cino T-Shirt

T-Shirts and Et cetera...

10.28.08

Palin as President -- Click here for Sarah in the Oval Office -- when there, turn on the sound, click on the items in the room, the windows, doors, front panels on desk, and, of course, Sarah herself!

10.23.08

Click here for 10 Year Old Yo-Yo Master Tricks

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10.22.08

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10.21.08

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10.20.08

The Tampa Bay Rays celebrate after defeating the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series.

10.17.08

Rembrandt. St. Paul in Prison. 1627
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