2009-05-07T00:00:00-04:00 http://www.ripetv.com/ RipetvBloghttp://feedburner.google.com http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/774/ 2009-05-07T18:00:00-04:00

'Like it or Not'

Our generation's Tom Lehrer, Stephen Lynch, gets stalked by the TASTiSKANK girls in their new music video. The song is probably their cleanest without all the curse words and explicit sexual concepts. So it's not as shocking as their other stuff but a little more charming.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/SLQSoafakjU" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/774/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/773/ 2009-05-07T15:30:00-04:00

This song is sometimes appropriate.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/ULlfeJyQfS0" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/773/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/772/ 2009-05-07T11:45:00-04:00

Uh, Awwwwkward.

John and Elizabeth Edwards appeared together on "Oprah" Thursday, in an intensely -- maybe uncomfortably -- personal interview. Based on Elizabeth's new memoir, "Resilience," the couple discussed her discovery of her husband's affair in the midst of her battle with cancer.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Oprah asked John Edwards if he was made uncomfortable by the renewed scrutiny the book would bring. "I think that's up to her, you know?" he said. "This is -- this is -- that's what this whole -- this book is about, and it's what's inside her, what she feels. It's what it should be."<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Asked if he thought Elizabeth would leave him when she found out about the affair, John said, "I didn't know. I think the honest truth is I didn't know. I didn't know what she would do. I don't think anybody does when they go through something like this."<br /&gt; <br /&gt; While she was very frank, Elizabeth Edwards did place one condition on the interview -- that the name of John's mistress not be used. (It never appears in her book, either.) Oprah asked why. In her response, Edwards suggested Rielle Hunter is a fame-seeker who shouldn't be gratified.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; "You know, somebody wants to stand in the light, you know, that shines on John, that's one thing," she said. "If they somehow, you know, work at destroying my family and my home in order to get into that light, I'm really not interested in them being in the light too much. It's not about this woman. It's about this family."<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Edwards also said, when asked about her kids' response to the affair, that "maybe the cancer's a bigger thing in their lives than this woman's passing through."<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Oprah concluded, "You can see that this a home with love. It's a great place. And one of the things that I said to Elizabeth, the thing that I gathered from reading her book, is that the only way it can work out is because there has been so much love between you."<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/VlFE_TgBgc0" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/772/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/771/ 2009-05-07T11:00:00-04:00

Also, slo-mo surfning.

A huge ocean wave has been filmed from beneath the surface, revealing features never before captured on camera.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; The remarkable video, which will be shown as part of the BBC Natural History Unit's new series South Pacific, was filmed in super slow motion using a high-definition camera.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; It reveals the hidden power of a four-metre-tall monster barrel wave.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; It also shows the first images of underwater spiralling vortices created by the wave's action.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; The wave was filmed off the coast of Pohnpei in the Caroline Islands, part of the Federated State of Micronesia.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; The location is well known in the international surf community. Some of the biggest waves in the world break on South Pacific islands.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; The storm swells that create these waves travel more than 5,000km to break on their shorelines.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Australian cameraman Bali Strickland filmed the wave using a £66,000 ($100,000) high-speed camera that captures the action at 20 times slower than normal speed, and in high definition.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; The spectacular results show the wave barrel closing over Australian big wave surfer Dylan Longbottom, who rode the wave to illustrate the scale and power of the water.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Clearly visible are long underwater vortices created by the moving wave, a feature the BBC team believes has never before been caught on camera.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; "So much is revealed by slow motion," says Mr Cordey.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; "We saw these vortices on one shot, which I don't think anyone has noticed before. It opens up this huge insight into the birth of a wave."<br /&gt; <br /&gt; The vortices only appeared once, despite the team filming more than 10 waves, he added.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; "Maybe it's when the wave gets to a certain height or size. It wasn't a scientific experiment, so its difficult to judge. But its interesting we only saw it the one time."<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/kf4Pu1n7iZA" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/771/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/770/ 2009-05-07T10:30:00-04:00

Rough, in-your-face, and a little blood drawn.

Strike an opposing player above the shoulders with an elbow foul, and it's an automatic ejection.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; It was the rule invoked to suspend Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard in Game 6 of the first round -- a rule that the NBA has to debate whether to apply Thursday on another busy day in the office of NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Several physical plays from Wednesday night's playoff games were under review, and one of the biggest questions was: Where exactly did Kobe Bryant's elbow make contact with Ron Artest?<br /&gt; <br /&gt; And the natural follow-up: Should Bryant be punished -- even suspended -- for his actions on the play that led to Artest's ejection in one of several dust-ups during Game 2 of the Lakers-Rockets series?<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Jackson also was reviewing whether Lakers guard Derek Fisher merited an additional penalty -- likely a one-game suspension -- for his flagrant-2 foul against Houston's Luis Scola. He also has to review Magic guard Rafer Alston's slap to the back of Eddie House's head in the second half of Boston's victory over Orlando in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; "The plays are under review," NBA spokesman Tim Frank said.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/x-547U5WJdc" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/770/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/769/ 2009-05-07T10:15:00-04:00

Manny Ramirez was suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball on Thursday, becoming the latest high-profile player ensnared in the sport's drug scandals.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; The commissioner's office didn't announce the specific violation by the Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder, who will lose about one-third of his $25 million salary.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; "Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me," Ramirez said in a statement issued by the players' union.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; "Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons."<br /&gt; <br /&gt; This is the second major drug revelation to hit baseball in the last few months. In February, Alex Rodriguez admitted taking steroids while playing for Texas from 2001-03. But that was before the start of testing with penalties under a program agreed to by players and management. The New York Yankee star doesn't appear likely to be suspended.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/Ou6XmEu-t64" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/769/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/768/ 2009-05-07T08:45:00-04:00

Both videos included.

Dan Rather joined Jon Stewart in mocking the media's coverage of President Obama and Vice President Biden's trip to Ray's Hell Burger Tuesday by dressing up as a 1973 newsman and creating a fake report of a Nixon/Kissinger burrito run.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; "I'm standing outside Washington, DC's Cancun Mexican restaurant," Rather said, dressed in a wig. "Inside, President Nixon and Secretary of State Kissinger are enjoying some traditional Mexican entrees. I'm told the President ordered Mexicana Madness — that's a spicy chicken burrito — while Dr. Kissinger opted for a fish taco (lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, onions, and copious amounts of a substance known to locals as 'guacamole')."<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Rather continued, reporting that Nixon and Kissinger got separate checks — "they're going Dutch on this!" — and joking that Nixon said he doesn't make his own burritos because, "I am not a cook."<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/K_OPwNBFuCI" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/768/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/766/ 2009-05-07T00:00:00-04:00

From The Onion.

New Star Trek too sexy and awesome for die hard Star Trek fans.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/XlXxPH0Tu9o" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/766/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/767/ 2009-05-06T15:30:00-04:00

For charity, of course.

Heidi Klum, preggers and glowing, donated her cute little dress for charity on Ellen. Ellen suggested she give up the dress now and Klum complied without batting one of her cute little eye lashes.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Unfortunately, Ellen was dumb enough to offer her a screen to undress behind - ruining the moment for everyone.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/L98cdVfFba8" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/767/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/765/ 2009-05-06T12:30:00-04:00

Leaders of the Republican Party recognize mistakes and eat local ethnic food in casual attire -- it's like they're just like us.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; It does seem that the Republican party has been putting on Democratic clothes to try and energize their base. But is it working?<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/Vr2foIUWYAE" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/765/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/764/ 2009-05-06T09:30:00-04:00

Oh. My. God.

Five years ago, a shotgun blast left a ghastly hole where the middle of her face had been. Five months ago, she received a new face from a dead woman.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Connie Culp stepped forward Tuesday to show off the results of the nation's first face transplant, and her new look was a far cry from the puckered, noseless sight that made children run away in horror.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Culp's expressions are still a bit wooden, but she can talk, smile, smell and taste her food again. Her speech is at times a little tough to understand. Her face is bloated and squarish, and her skin droops in big folds that doctors plan to pare away as her circulation improves and her nerves grow, animating her new muscles.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; But Culp had nothing but praise for those who made her new face possible.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; "I guess I'm the one you came to see today," the 46-year-old Ohio woman said at a news conference at the Cleveland Clinic, where the groundbreaking operation was performed. But "I think it's more important that you focus on the donor family that made it so I could have this person's face."<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Up until Tuesday, Culp's identity and how she came to be disfigured were a secret.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Culp's husband, Thomas, shot her in 2004, then turned the gun on himself. He went to prison for seven years. His wife was left clinging to life. The blast shattered her nose, cheeks, the roof of her mouth and an eye. Hundreds of fragments of shotgun pellet and bone splinters were embedded in her face. She needed a tube into her windpipe to breathe. Only her upper eyelids, forehead, lower lip and chin were left.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; A plastic surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Risal Djohan, got a look at her injuries two months later. "He told me he didn't think, he wasn't sure, if he could fix me, but he'd try," Culp recalled.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; She endured 30 operations to try to fix her face. Doctors took parts of her ribs to make cheekbones and fashioned an upper jaw from one of her leg bones. She had countless skin grafts from her thighs. Still, she was left unable to eat solid food, breathe on her own, or smell.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Then, on Dec. 10, in a 22-hour operation, Dr. Maria Siemionow led a team of doctors who replaced 80 percent of Culp's face with bone, muscles, nerves, skin and blood vessels from another woman who had just died. It was the fourth face transplant in the world, though the others were not as extensive.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; "Here I am, five years later. He did what he said _ I got me my nose," Culp said of Djohan, laughing.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; In January, she was able to eat pizza, chicken and hamburgers for the first time in years. She loves to have cookies with a cup of coffee, Siemionow said.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/RlSGLeAZf0Y" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/764/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/763/ 2009-05-06T09:15:00-04:00

Most of us with half a brain know this already.

If you watch American Idol and have been paying attention even a little bit, you already know that Paula Abdul is a drug addict. Not trying to be mean here but what else can explain her incoherent rants, her flailing of her arms and the inability for her neck to hold her head up.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; "I could have killed myself," Abdul, 46, tells Ladies' Home Journal in its June issue. "Withdrawal – it's the worst thing." <br /&gt; <br /&gt; Abdul says she checked herself into the La Costa Resort and Spa, in Carlsbad, Calif., last Thanksgiving to help beat her use of medication. "I was freezing cold, then sweating hot, then chattering and in so much pain, it was excruciating," she says. "But at my very core, I did not like existing the way I had been." <br /&gt; <br /&gt; After taking medication to combat pain from injuries that happened during her grueling years as a dancer – beginning with a back injury when she was 17 and including a neck injury sustained in a plane crash in 1993 – the American Idol judge says, "I'd been working nonstop," and her desire to carry on with her work led her to take more pain pills. <br /&gt; <br /&gt; By 2005, Abdul was diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome, a chronic condition that resulted in debilitating pain. As a result, she wore a pain patch and took nerve medication and, occasionally, a muscle relaxant. The combo made her "get weird," she says. <br /&gt; <br /&gt; Yeah. "Weird" describes it pretty well.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/Wj7mijtQ9WY" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/763/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/760/ 2009-05-05T17:30:00-04:00

R.I.P.

Dom DeLuise passed away in his sleep last night at a hospital in Los Angeles. The cause of death is still unknown. Dom was 75.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Dom starred in ten zillion hilarious movies including The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The Cannonball Run, The Cannonball Run II, Blazing Saddles, History of the World, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, Spaceballs (as Pizza The Hut) and Silent Movie. Dom was also my favorite host of Candid Camera.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Thank you for a million laughs, Dom! You will be missed.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/OSGApxb03R8" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/760/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/762/ 2009-05-05T15:00:00-04:00

R.I.P.

Broadcasting & Cable just broke the news. Not surprising since Fox has that new hour-long Wanda Sykes show at 11 PM. So that leaves the network with a 30-minute slot at midnight. The network really cleaned house on Saturday night by not renewing Talk Show With Spike Feresten for a 4th season, nor the long-running MadTV.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/DbOWn_x7jYQ" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/762/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/761/ 2009-05-05T12:00:00-04:00

What part of "lifetime appointment" does Justice Souter not understand?

Justice Souter is retiring from the Supreme Court. This means Obama has to find a new appointment and Jon Stewart gets to weigh in.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/f9Jbqp8McuU" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/761/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/759/ 2009-05-05T10:30:00-04:00

Art historians claim Van Gogh's ear 'cut off by Gauguin'

Vincent van Gogh's fame may owe as much to a legendary act of self-harm, as it does to his self-portraits. But, 119 years after his death, the tortured post-Impressionist's bloody ear is at the centre of a new controversy, after two historians suggested that the painter did not hack off his own lobe but was attacked by his friend, the French artist Paul Gauguin.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; According to official versions, the disturbed Dutch painter cut off his ear with a razor after a row with Gauguin in 1888. Bleeding heavily, Van Gogh then walked to a brothel and presented the severed ear to an astonished prostitute called Rachel before going home to sleep in a blood-drenched bed.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; But two German art historians, who have spent 10 years reviewing the police investigations, witness accounts and the artists' letters, argue that Gauguin, a fencing ace, most likely sliced off the ear with his sword during a fight, and the two artists agreed to hush up the truth.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; In Van Gogh's Ear: Paul Gauguin and the Pact of Silence, published in Germany, Hamburg-based academics Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans argue that the official version of events, based largely on Gauguin's accounts, contain inconsistencies and that both artists hinted that the truth was more complex.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Van Gogh and Gauguin's troubled friendship was legendary. In 1888, Van Gogh persuaded him to come to Arles in the south of France to live with him in the Yellow House he had set up as a "studio of the south". They spent the autumn painting together before things soured. Just before Christmas, they fell out. Van Gogh, seized by an attack of a metabolic disease became aggressive and was apparently crushed when Gauguin said he was leaving for good.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Kaufmann told the Guardian: "Near the brothel, about 300 metres from the Yellow House, there was a final encounter between them: Vincent might have attacked him, Gauguin wanted to defend himself and to get rid of this 'madman'. He drew his weapon, made some movement in the direction of Vincent and by that cut off his left ear." Kaufmann said it was not clear if it was an accident or an aimed hit.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; While curators at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam stand by the theory of self-mutilation, Kaufmann argues that Van Gogh dropped hints in letters to his brother, Theo, once commenting : "Luckily Gauguin ... is not yet armed with machine guns and other dangerous war weapons."<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/ETFVG6CyO3w" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/759/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/758/ 2009-05-04T16:00:00-04:00

Dominated by scripted series.

NBC unveiled today a strong lineup of broad and diverse quality programming for the 2009-2010 television season announcing the pickups of six new series featuring four new dramas including "Trauma," "Parenthood," "Mercy" and the event series "Day One," as well as two new comedies including "Community" and "100 Questions." Four returning series pickups were also announced today including "Heroes," "Southland," "Parks and Recreation" and the addition of six new episodes of "Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday" skewering today’s top stories in live half-hour primetime shows.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; The new and returning series will launch next season and the epic event series "Day One" is slated to premiere out of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.<br /&gt; "The Jay Leno Show" will be broadcast Monday-Fridays, 10-11 p.m. ET beginning in the fall. Previously announced series pickups include "The Office," "30 Rock," "The Biggest Loser," "The Celebrity Apprentice," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Friday Night Lights," and new alternative series "The Marriage Ref," "Breakthrough With Tony Robbins" and "Who Do You Think You Are?"<br /&gt; <br /&gt; NBC unveiled pickups for the upcoming broadcast season in the first of a series of presentations today and tomorrow to key advertisers from Studio 8H—the home of NBC’s "Saturday Night Live"—at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. Presentations will continue in Chicago on May 7 and Los Angeles on May 12.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; "We are thrilled to be announcing such an awesome slate of new series that build on our existing quality brand and deliver emotional, human stories," said Ben Silverman, Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. "NBC will strive to make viewers feel and our shows represent the full range of human emotion from laughter to tears. We can’t wait to share these concepts with our audience and our advertising partners."<br /&gt; <br /&gt; "These new series will showcase fresh talent and bold, original concepts that are extremely well executed," said Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios. "We are grateful to the producers, casts and crews -- and our team -- who have delivered incredibly compelling and entertaining new series."<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/F7p6Zwp_Yy0" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/758/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/757/ 2009-05-04T11:45:00-04:00

12 injured.

2 people were injured when a practice dome being used by for a Dallas Cowboys rookie minicamp collapsed in a storm which brought 60 mph winds to the area.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Among the injured are coach Brett Maxie, special teams coach Joe DeCamillis, team scout Chris Hall, and four staffers. Up to three of the injured are in a serious condition but none of the injuries are thought to be life-threatening.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Paul Riggs, a TV cameraman, saw the roof coming down and sheltered under a platform with several players. "I sprinted harder than I have in decades. It fell around us. Then it was pure chaos," he said.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/OINoOHlQECc" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/757/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/756/ 2009-05-04T11:00:00-04:00

Hatton gets decked by Pacquiao. Knock-out at 7:14

Ricky Hatton got destroyed in Saturday's junior welterweight title defense against Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas, twice getting knocked down in the first three minutes. But the coup de grace came late in the second round when an unseen left-handed missile caught Hatton's jaw and sent him crashing to the canvas, where he spent the next three minutes motionless while the Filipino diaspora exulted and thousands of traveling Britons wept in their pints.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; It was a clinical finish, a hook devastating in its force, speed and precision, a shocking demonstration of power from a man who made his pro debut at a slight 108 pounds.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/LbFwFImzt_g" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/756/ http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/755/ 2009-05-04T10:45:00-04:00

{Not Even The FOX News Reporter}

White House Press Corps Stand For President Obama But Not For Former President Bush.<br /&gt; <br /&gt; Maybe it has something to do with respect.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/RipetvBlog/~4/SHys6R6whUI" height="1" width="1"/> Ripe Newsdesk http://www.ripetv.com/blog/view/755/