Vote Info: How to register and find out where you should go to vote: In LA call 562 462 2748 and In California: 916 653 6814
Studying Akademics: 5W Public Relations (www.5wpr.com), announced they have been hired as agency of record for Akademiks JeaniusLevelProducts, which include Stadium Division (active), akdmks ladies, Akademiks Kids, and PRPS, their men's premium denim line. The Akademiks brands are regularly seen on celebrities. 5W Public Relations will manage corporate communication, product & editorial placement and celebrity branding for all Akademiks brands.
Get Wired: Viewers can catch up on the third season of HBO's drama series THE WIRE Friday, October 1, 2004. HBO presents the first two episodes back-to-back (8:30-10:30 p.m. ET/PT). The third episode of THE WIRE, entitled "Dead Soldiers," debuts next Sunday, October 3, 2004 at 9 p.m. This episode
Halloween Tales on Travel Channel: Starting Sunday, October 24, 2004 WEIRD TRAVELS fills the week with its ghost-laden locales, spine-chilling lore, strange phenomena and haunted tales every night at 8 PM (ET/PT). Premiere programs include AMERICA’S MOST HAUNTED PLACES: SAVANNAH, Sunday, October 24, 2004 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT); HAUNTED CAMPUSES, Sunday, October 24, 2004 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT); NEW MEXICO’S VISITORS, Tuesday, October 26, 2004 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) and SPIRITS OF THE SOUTH, Thursday, October 28, 2004 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT). Other special programming includes BEYOND BOSTON, Sunday, October 24, 2004 at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), LORETTA LYNN’S HAUNTED PLANTATION, Monday, October 25, 2004 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) and CHICAGO HAUNTS, Wednesday, October 27, 2004 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT).
In AMERICA’S MOST HAUNTED PLACES: SAVANNAH, viewers will hear from the staff and visitors of Old Fort Jackson, the oldest standing fort in Georgia, and later, of encounters with Captain Flint, who locals say still haunts the world famous Pirates' House restaurant. Then, it's off to the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace museum in search of the ghosts of two former owners.
The college tour in HAUNTED CAMPUSES begins at one of America's most fabled universities, Notre Dame, where the divine design of the campus acts as a portal to the other world. In the quiet mountains of Western New England, a scandalous affair between a professor and the school's founder continues in the afterlife. At Illinois State University, even the most studious students avoid the library late at night. And later, viewers will learn about the seedy past of Sarasota’s Ringling School of Art and Design and why the attic to a Keene State College dorm room has been sealed off for years.
Then, from the mystical blood-red mountains, to the spirits that roam the ancient city streets, NEW MEXICO’S VISITORS explores the “Land of Enchantment.” The program kicks off in Old Town Albuquerque, where a demonic hatchet lady chases lovers walking the quiet streets. Across town at the KiMo theatre, a tragic accident has left a mischievous young spirit greeting theatergoers. Outside of the city, in the solitary mountains of Kingston, a one-armed man still roams the grounds of the charming Black Range Lodge. And at the Loretto Chapel, an unknown visitor left a miraculous spiral staircase and a mystery in his wake. Next door, at the luxurious Inn and Spa at Loretto, a group of nuns have formed a ghostly choir, echoing their prayers in the dead of night.
SPIRITS OF THE SOUTH begins in Memphis, Tennessee, where an ancient Egyptian curse still casts a spell on the city, and a modern-day pyramid marks a portal into the paranormal. Next, it’s off to the hills of western North Carolina to the Graystone Cabins, where creatures from another world still lurk around every tree, and a sordid love triangle leaves a ghost wandering the forests. Then, it’s down to the Big Easy for a stop at Brennan's restaurant, a visit at the Hotel Monteleone and a quick tour of an old-fashioned steamboat, whose captain was murdered. The special ends in Savannah, Georgia where the night sky hums with the echoes of the dead from the famed St. Bonaventure Cemetery and the 1790 Inn.
New and Noteworthy from Borders: For October: The Dark Tower is the seventh and final installment in Stephen King's epic series of the same name. Gunslinger Roland Deschain approaches his ultimate goal, even as his enemies grow more determined to stop him. King augments the suspense and storytelling twists he's famous for with deeper reflections on time, space, and free will to create a robust coda to this important work of fantasy. Get to know more about the series and its place in King's oeuvre in our interview with the author.
Since Lemony Snicket began recounting the dismal details in the lives of the Baudelaire orphans, he has urged children to choose happier books. But for some reason, they keep flocking to his Series of Unfortunate Events, and now Book the Eleventh, The Grim Grotto is available. Read our interview with the inimitable Snicket, in which he compares his childhood to the plight of a misplaced anemone.
As we enter the final weeks of a hard-fought presidential campaign, we'd like to draw your attention to the season's biggest political releases. Ann Coulter's How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must) (available October 5) might be just the right thing to get your blood running as the campaign winds down. If your taste leans more to the left, Chain of Command by Seymour M. Hersh, the reporter who broke the story of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, offers a critical view of the Bush administration's policy in Iraq. 
And if you'd like a reprieve from the rhetoric, you might try the equal-opportunity satire of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents: America (The Book), a mock textbook filled with the same kind of brainy, broad humor that fans of the Comedy Central series have come to expect. Finally, if you want to learn more before you pull the lever (or punch the chad or fill in the box), we have some lists to help you bone up on the candidates, the issues, and presidential history.
Fiction
The sultry, seductive vampire hunter Anita Blake raises eyebrows as easily as she does the dead. Cerulean Sins, the 11th Blake adventure by Laurell K. Hamilton, recently came out in paperback, and the 12th book, Incubus Dreams, is available now. Blake's loyalties and energies are put to the test when a vampire serial killer begins victimizing toothsome strippers. Read an excerpt from this steamy novel of suspense and the supernatural.
More New Hardcover Fiction
Shopaholic & Sister by Sophie Kinsella
Interview with Sophie Kinsella
The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The Darling by Russell Banks (available 10/1)
The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble (available 10/4)
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth (available 10/5)
Double Homicide: Santa Fe by Jonathan Kellerman and Faye Kellerman (available 10/5)
Non-Fiction
Just as he did in his previous memoirs, Running with Scissors and Dry, Augusten Burroughs proves with Magical Thinking that the ordinary can be unusual, especially when seen through his eyes. These painfully funny true stories reach back to young Augusten's appearance in a Tang commercial, through his very adult misadventures in New York City, and up to his current existence as—he'd have you know—a New York Times bestselling author. Read our interview with Burroughs.
More New Hardcover Nonfiction
Rise, Let Us Be on Our Way by John Paul II
In the Shadow of No Towers by Art Spiegelman
Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston
Dick: The Man Who Is President by John Nichols
Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans
Speak Out Against John Kerry by John E. O'Neill and Jerome R. Corsi
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts
by Julian Rubinstein
From MoveOn.org: On Friday, an exciting new movie hits theaters -- one that has the power to change the way we see John Kerry forever. Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry is a beautiful and inspiring portrait of Kerry and Vietnam, but it's bigger than that: it's a gripping, powerful film about how our country wrestles with war. It's vivid without being confrontational -- a political movie you can bring your Republican uncle to -- and it has received great reviews from some of the nation's top film critics. You've got to see it.
You can check out the trailer online at:
http://www.goingupriver.com/trailer_main.html
Then, if you live near one of the theaters where the film is opening this weekend, please bring your friends and family
http://www.goingupriver.com/john_kerry_theater_list.html
Two months ago, we brought our friends and family members to theaters across the country and helped make Fahrenheit 9/11 the most successful documentary of all time. Fahrenheit 9/11 laid out the Bush administration's flaws and failings in a way that fundamentally changed how many Americans see President Bush.
Going Upriver doesn't have the controversy and marketing muscle behind it that Fahrenheit 9/11 did. But everyone we know who's seen it has been moved and surprised by its power. It's a word-of-mouth phenomenon waiting to happen, but it's up to us, together, to make it a success when it first hits theaters this Friday.
Critical acclaim for Going Upriver includes the praise from Time Magazine, The New York Times, and Entertainment Weekly, which gave the film an "A" and said:
"This potent and eye-opening documentary shows us what the media has presented only in fragmentary glimpses: a compelling, blow-by-blow account of John Kerry's service in Vietnam -- and, more than that, the full revealing chronicle of how he ultimately came together with hundreds of his comrades to form Vietnam Veterans Against the War."...
"[P]art of what makes Going Upriver so moving is the tremulous sight of how close these protesters felt to all the soldiers still at war...Anyone who sees Going Upriver will find it hard to argue that what happened close to 35 years ago no longer matters in America today."[1]
The Bush campaign has tried to make voters believe that John Kerry doesn't have what it takes to defend America.
But the John Kerry we know has tremendous heart and determination. As Going Upriver affirms, Kerry not only bravely risked his life serving on Swift Boats in Vietnam, but, upon his return to America, he refused to abandon the men still fighting. Despite vicious personal attacks, John Kerry courageously spoke out to end a war he knew was wrong.
That's the kind of leadership we want in our president.
Make your plans to see this movie now, and round up any friends and family who could use a little inspiration. This film delivers plenty.
Sincerely,
--Adam, Eli, Hannah, James, Laura, and the whole MoveOn PAC Team
September 29, 2004
P.S. The DVD of Going Upriver comes out on October 15th. If you can't make it to see the film in theaters, you can pre-order a DVD online at:
Footnotes:
[1] Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry, Entertainment Weekly, Sept. 28, 2004, http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/movie/0,6115,700810_1_0_,00.html
Who’s Wearing What: Fashion designer Nicole Miller dressed actress Golden Brooks for the 2004 BET Comedy Awards. Brooks won “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Girlfriends.” Brooks accepted her award in a fatigue strapless gown with antique beading.
Riddick: Vin Diesel is back as Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick, coming to DVD and VHS on November 16, 2004. Available in an exclusive Unrated Director's Cut version features 14 additional minutes of footage not seen in theaters, the extended film includes a new character and never-before-seen visual effects. Additionally, video game fans can place the DVD in their Xbox® console and play the first level of the acclaimed The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay game from Vivendi Universal Games. From writer-director David Twohy, the film continues the story of escaped convict Riddick, who through incredible battles in fantastic and dangerous worlds, emerges as the most unlikely of heroes in a fight for survival that will determine the fate of humanity. The Unrated Director's Cut version of The Chronicles of Riddick DVD is priced at $29.98 SRP ($22.98 for VHS). The PG-13 theatrical version is also available to own. Pre-order close date is October 5, 2004 for the DVD and October 19, 2004 for the VHS.
Joining Diesel is Alexa Davalos (HBO's And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself); Thandie Newton (Mission: Impossible II); Karl Urban (The Bourne Supremacy, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Return of the King); Colm Feore (Chicago, The Sum of All Fears) Academy Award® winner Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love, Chocolat), and Keith David, reprising his Pitch Black role as Imam.
The Chronicles of Riddick DVD includes special features that showcase the film's action and visual effects:
Riddick's Worlds
Vin Diesel takes you on a behind-the-scenes guided tour of the Riddick sets
Interactive 360 view of eight different sets from the film
Play The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay Xbox Game!
Put this DVD into your Xbox console and play the first level of the stunning The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay game from Vivendi Universal Games.
Virtual Guide to The Chronicles of Riddick
An interactive guide that immerses the viewer in The Chronicles of Riddick from the perspectives of the characters
Riddick Insider Facts on Demand
Scene specific background facts and trivia on the characters, planetary guides and more behind-the-story information are displayed on-screen in real time as you watch the movie!
Visual Effects Revealed
A play-by-play breakdown of the most complex and compelling visual effects in The Chronicles of Riddick
Toombs' Chase Log
Track the hunt for Riddick from bounty-hunter "Toombs'" perspective and follow the action leading up to the opening scene of the movie
In addition to the aforementioned bonus features, The Chronicles of Riddick Unrated Director's Cut DVD also includes:
Deleted Scenes - to further extend the Riddick experiences, in addition to the extended film, the Director's Cut DVD will also feature five minutes of never-before-seen deleted scenes.
Audio commentary with writer/director David Twohy and actors Karl Urban and Alexa Davalos
SYNOPSIS
After spending five years outrunning ruthless bounty hunters, escaped convict Riddick (Vin Diesel) finds himself between opposing forces in a fight for the future of the human race. Aided by the mysterious Aereon (Judi Dench), who helps him unearth the secrets of his past, Riddick emerges as a reluctant hero in the fight against the evil Lord Marshal (Colm Feore) and his army led by young commander Vaako (Karl Urban) and his beautiful, power-hungry wife (Thandie Newton). Exiled to a subterranean prison, Riddick encounters Kyra (Alexa Davalos), the lone survivor from an earlier chapter in his life. Riddick's efforts to free himself and Kyra lead them to the enemy command ship where he wages a battle that will determine the fate of the universe.
CAST & FILMMAKERS
Writer-Director: David Twohy
Based on Characters by: Jim & Ken Wheat
Producers: Scott Kroopf, Vin Diesel
Executive Producers: Ted Field, George Zakk, David Womark
Co-Executive Producer: Tom Engelman
Director of Photography: Hugh Johnson
Production Designer: Holger Gross
Editor: Martin Hunter, Dennis Virkler
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick, Michael Dennison
Makeup Artist: Michael Krehl
Cast: Vin Diesel, Colm Feore, Thandie Newton, Judi Dench, Karl Urban, Alexa Davalos, Linus Roache, Yorick van Wageningen, Nick Chinlund and Judi Dench.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
DVD
Street Date: November 16, 2004
Pre-Order Date: October 5, 2004
Copyright: 2004 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Price: $29.98 SRP ($19.95 MAP) For more information go to www.thechroniclesofriddick.com
Da Nang: DA-NANG IS PROUD TO PRESENT THEIR 2005 SPRING COLLECTION OCTOBER 29TH, 2004
He’s a Lady: Episode 1, Tuesday, October 12 , 4004 10 p.m. (ET/PT) TBS presents the new reality series HE'S A LADY, premiering Tuesday, October 12, 2004, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT). HE'S A LADY, from Evolution Film & Tape, Inc. (Switched!, Bands Reunited) and Full Circle Entertainment (The Club), takes 11 men on a wild adventure as they walk a mile in their wives or girlfriends' shoes by undergoing a complete feminine makeover. The series is hosted by Tony Frassrand (House Detective) and is a quest for a quarter-million dollars.
After the women are sent home, a team of Hollywood's best special-effects professionals transforms the men into ladies, including full-body waxing, manicures, wig fittings, make-up and wardrobe. Next, the guys are introduced to the celebrity panel who will preside over the elimination ceremonies: Morgan Fairchild (The Seduction), John Salley (The Best Damn Sports Show Period) and Debbie Matenopoulos (Good Day Live). The guys must show off their new feminine alter egos to the judges, after which four contestants are immediately eliminated.
RuPaul Update: RuPaul RED HOT, his first album in five years, released September 21, 2004 with an in-store CD signing at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square which included a RuPaul Look-Alike Contest. Ru co-hosts a morning drive show on WNEW 102.7 hin New York. RuPaul is supporting Rock The Vote and will be embarking on a national tour this fall in support of RuPaul RED HOT . On September 20, 2004, he appeared as a presenter at the Dance Music Hall of Fame show, and performed in Hair on Broadway as a benefit performance for the Actor's Fund. RuPaul Red Hot was been the most downloaded dance album on iTunes for close to a month, since it debuted there, and the song Looking Good Feeling Gorgeous was recently featured on Queer Eye For the Straight Guy and will be used in the upcoming feature film, The Look. Upcoming Video-release party for Ru's new Looking Good Feeling Gorgeous video, which is a parody of the Swan meets Extreme Makeover, likely to be held at the Madame Tussaud museum here in New York.
Costner and Baumgartner Flute: Toasting Flutes For their first toast as husband and wife, Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner celebrated with Swarovski’s Crystalline toasting flutes - champagne flutes with loose crystals sparkling in the stems.
