BOP Daily News
May 14, 2006
The spirit of BOP News lives on in
This is So Last Week,
our pop culture week-in-review,
presented in a pleasing quiz form.
|
The Vatican is not having a good week. First, the Gospel According to Judas, and now this -- Katie Holmes has left the Catholic Church. Ms. Holmes has confirmed (*ahem*) that she is now "just Scientologist," and in his TV interview with Diane Sawyer, Cruise flatly stated "No" when asked if the TomKat offspring would have a Catholic Baptism. And his in-laws seem to be accepting the news like any devoutly Catholic future grandparents would -- apparently they don't care at all. No, really. That's what Tom said! No family tension at all has arisen over ... uhm ... "Katie's" decision to forgo the fundamental Catholic sacrament. They're fine with having their future grandchild's unbaptized immortal soul stuck in Satan's clutches over a burning lake of Hellfire (as our favorite Catechism and CCD teacher, Sister Margaret, used to tell us would happen to any unbaptized baby). Really.
|
|
|
|
|
Finally, some good news arrives in the midst of the Apple vs. Apple lawsuit. Apple Corps (not the computer manufacturer) announced plans to put the entire Beatles' music catalog online and make it available for download. You won't find any Beatles recording on iTunes, owned by Apple Computer (not the music publisher). Not now, and probably not ever. However, you'll soon be able to download everything from Please Please Me to Let It Be through a yet-to-be announced website hosted by Apple (the one that owns the music rights, not the one that makes the iMac), after producers digitally remaster every track set for online release. Apple (the iPod manufacturer) has not commented on the news, and Apple (the one that brought us The White Album) has made no formal announcement. In fact, the news came to light during the Apple vs. Apple trademark lawsuit in London just this week during testimony offered by Neil Aspinall, the managing director of Apple (not the one that gave us that cool TV ad during the 1984 Super Bowl, but the other one) and former Beatles road manager. Aspinall confirmed that surviving Beatles members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison (the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, respectively), have agreed to move forward with the online effort. A representative of the London-based Apple (the one that produced and released the film, A Hard Day's Night) did confirm that the company is in talks with various web-based music download services, but would not comment on whether Apple (we still have an Apple IIe in the basement somewhere) is one of them. And, yes, we're just as confused as you are.
|
|
|
|
The final episode of The West Wing airs tonight, and the outgoing President already has his retirement set. Martin Sheen, who plays the internally tormented and vastly popular President Josiah Bartlet, is going to university. In Ireland. The 65-year old actor announced that he will enter the National University of Ireland in Galway next fall as an undergraduate. Though he's already received an honorary doctorate from the school, he's going to earn his own degree, majoring in theology, English literature, and philosophy, with a special emphasis in oceanography. While Sheen is a noted political activist and outspoken critic of the Bush Administration, he has rebuffed invitations from the Democratic Party to run for U.S. Senate in his native Ohio. He recently told the New York Times that he "wasn't qualified" to be a Senator, adding "You're mistaking celebrity for credibility." Instead, he plans to retire to the quiet life of academia while still maintaining his acting career. And we wish him all the best. Oh, and Martin, you can borrow our English lit course outlines anytime you want.
|
|
|
|
"Let Bartlet be Bartlet!"
Box Office Prophets offers quality, reliable news about the entertainment industry. BOP is also entertaining. To that end, please be advised that some content in this column is intended to be humorous and should not be considered factual.
|
|
|
|
