R.I.P Bea Arthur

Beatrice Arthur, the award winning actress best known for her roles as television's Maude and the sardonic Dorothy on The Golden Girls, has died of cancer.

Arthur died on the morning of April 25 at her home in Los Angeles with her family by her side.

In 1978 Arthur began playing Maude Findlay, an outspoken liberal living in the affluent community of Tuckahoe, New York. The revolutionary show, which won Arthur an Emmy, was a spin-off from All in the Family, on which Arthur had appeared a couple of times in the same role, playing Edith Bunker's cousin, a feminist, and antithesis to the bigoted, conservative Archie Bunker.

In 1978 She then went on to play Dorothy Zbornak in the hit sitcom The Golden Girls, co starring Estelle Getty, Betty White and Rue McClanahan as four older women sharing a home in Miami Florida

She is survived by her sons Matthew and Daniel and grandchildren Kyra and Violet, he said.

She was 86.

Read the Post-Gazette story

Addictions and bad dreams

My current obsessions, time wasters and indulgences, in no particular order, are:

My veggie hummus/provolone wraps at work
hosting brunch
Junction neighbours -- I'm meeting a whole bunch of them
sinking 30-foot chip shots
my new bike seat
the start of golf and bocce season
watching three Japanese girls with stilettos trying to play keep-ups in a parking lot
no sleep, no sleep

Bill Mahar's New Rules For April 24

HBO television show Real Time with Bill Maher's New Rules segment for April 24. This week: Beauty pageant contestants, Somali pirates, Kenny Loggins, Kentucky Fried Chicken, the American conservative base.

Math - Bunker style

A classic television comedy moment with the cast of All in the Family and the Jeffersons.

Tofu License Plate X-rated

A Colorado woman's love for tofu has been judged X-rated by state officials. Kelly Coffman-Lee wanted to tell the world about her fondness for bean curd by picking certain letters for her SUV's license plate. Her suggestion for the plate: "ILVTOFU." But the Division of Motor Vehicles blocked her plan because they thought the combination of letters could be interpreted as profane.

Read the Associated Press story

Watch the AP video story

You Learn Something New Everyday

There are 2,598,960 five-card hands possible in a 52-card deck of cards.

A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

Pinocchio is Italian for "pine eyes."

On Sesame Street, Bert's goldfish were named Lyle and Talbot, presumably after the actor Lyle Talbot.

You would have to count to one thousand to use the letter "A" in the English language to spell a whole number.

Rescue Shelter Boys?

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) placed a request to pop band Pet Shop Boys to change their name to Rescue Shelter Boys because the organization wanted the British duo to “help raise awareness about the cruelty involved in the pet trade.” However, since Pet Shop Boys have been using the name since 1981 — making them only one year younger than PETA — they have politely declined, even though they admit it “raises an issue worth thinking about.”


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Billy Bob Goes off on the Q

While appearing on the April 8 edition of CBC radio program Q with his touring band The Boxcars, Billy Bob Thorton became upset with host Jian Ghomeshi's references to Thorton's acting career by being vague and/or unresponsive to questions.

In my personal opinion, BBT should be grateful that he has a successful acting and directing career, because if he hadn't, his band would probably not get the exposure the get. If any other bottom-to-mid-level band (which The Boxcars are, essentially) did this on CBC radio, they would have gotten cut off as soon as BBT started acting like a spoiled brat.

Get over it!

Read the Canadian Press article

New York Times Co. to Close Boston Globe?

The Boston Globe, one of the most acclaimed and profitable U.S. newspapers ever, may be closing down.

Analysts say the 137-year-old Globe, which was bought by the New York Times Co. in 1993, has been a money-loser in recent years and the Times, now $1.1 billion in debt, is threatening to shut down the Globe unless it gets $20 million in union concessions. The company was in negotiations with the union as of April 6.

The threat to the Globe, announced April 3 on the Globe’s website, has shocked some industry insiders, who say it shows no one is safe in the troubled economic times.

Stay tuned.


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'Lap Dancing Nun' to Perform for Cardinals and Bishops

A former stripper from Italy, who is now a nun, will be performing a form of "mystical" choreography, which she calls "Holy Dance", in front of senior Catholic clerics next week at one of Rome's best known churches.

Anna Nobili, 38, spent two decades dancing for men in Milan but then decided she wanted more from life and joined the Sister Workers of the Holy House of Nazareth order. And now she is putting her past life as a dancer to use as a 'ballerina for God' in a show for cardinals and bishops called Holy Dance dedicated to episodes from the Bible. She turned to a life of spirituality in 2002 after being 'inspired' during a visit to the shrine of St Francis at Assisi.

The dance programme is called La Bibbia Giorno e Notte (The Bible Night and Day).

Among the guests expected to attend will be Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, who is in charge of the Vatican's Cultural Department.

Read the Daily Mail story.

Bill Mahar's New Rules For April 3

HBO television show Real Time with Bill Maher's New Rules segment for April 3. This week: Protesters, Michelle Obama's wardrobe changes, awful clothing designers, Glenn Beck, trash in space and the ocean.

His Airness headed to Hall of Fame

In an announcement that suprised no one, NBA legend Michael Jordan has been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. The announcement was made in Detroit on April 9, site of the men's Final Four. Fellow players David Robinson, John Stockton, Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan and Rutgers women's coach C. Vivian Stringer are the other memebers of the class of 2009.

Induction is Sept. 10-12 in Springfield, Mass., home of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Read the TSN story.