NPR's Lost and Found Sound
"Quest for Sound" is a call to listeners to send in their home recordings of the last one hundred years to be shaped into stories that capture the rituals and sounds of everyday life... (In Real Audio)

 Woody Harrelson's dad to get hearing - Woody Harrelson's father will get another hearing in his battle to have his murder conviction overturned. Attorneys for Charles Harrelson will focus on whether his original defense failed to reveal other plausible suspects, including a San Antonio lawyer, in the slaying of a federal judge...

 Public Broadcasters Regret List Swap - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting said Tuesday that 26 member public television stations in major markets appear to have exchanged membership lists with political organizations...

 Playboy To Cover Up Name of Game - "A judge has sided with the owners of the popular 'Tomb Raider' computer game who are trying to keep the name of sexy heroine Lara Croft off the cover of Playboy magazine..."

 Stern fan uses Kennedy news for prank - A fan of shock jock Howard Stern decided to use the disappearance of John Kennedy Jr.'s plane this weekend to pull a prank on network news stations...

 Jerry Springer for U.S. Senate? - Jerry Springer already has viewers hooked. Now, some Ohio Democrats are pushing the controversial TV talk show host as a candidate in next year's U.S. Senate race...

 Is Ventura News or Entertainment?
Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura's return to the wrestling ring blends politics and entertainment in a novel fashion and, as a result, gave cable news networks an interesting test of how it defined news...

 Gladys Knight's son, manager dies - James "Jimmy" Newman, the son and manager of singer Gladys Knight, died Saturday at his home in Las Vegas. He was 36...

 The Beatles to perform on TV in yellow sub - The New York Post is reporting that the surviving members of The Beatles will reunite for a TV special to promote the re-release of their psychedelic animated classic "Yellow Submarine." The trio will reportedly put on a live show, for the first time in 30 years, aboard - naturally - a yellow submarine cruising up the Mersey River in their hometown of Liverpool, England.

 Kubrick Movie Review Angers Studio - Before this week, hardly anyone knew much more about Stanley Kubrick's mysterious last film, ``Eyes Wide Shut,'' than the fact that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman get really naked in it...

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 Elijah Wood to star in Tolkien trilogy - Elijah Wood has been cast in the lead role of Frodo Baggins in New Line Cinema's live-action trilogy feature "The Lord of the Rings," based on J.R.R. Tolkien's internationally renowned fantasy novels. Production will begin shooting in October in New Zealand...

 Star Trek: The next frontier - The next chapter of the Star Trek phenomenon is in the process of being written. The New York Post reports that a new Star Trek installment is on the drawing board with the working title "Flight Academy Star Trek." The new series will reportedly follow a group of up-and-coming young space explorers. The latest Star Trek project could debut by the year 2002.

 Film director Edward Dmytryk Dies - Film director Edward Dmytryk, a member of the Hollywood Ten who served prison time during the Red Scare-era witch hunts of the 1940s and was blacklisted until named names of his communist comrades, died Thursday night. He was 90...

 `Parsifal' Explored on PBS - An opera first performed in 1882 can still be relevant and controversial in 1999. Such staying power is part of the story of Richard Wagner's ``Parsifal: the Search for the Grail.''

 The Beatles - Probably the most popular, influential and enduring rock group of all time, the Beatles almost single-handedly reshaped rock 'n' roll from a genre of throwaway singles by faceless stars to an artistic medium with recognizable images and idols...

 Genitals digitally removed from Kubrick swan song - The sex organs of actors in Stanley Kubrick's much-anticipated final film, "Eyes Wide Shut," have been digitally removed in the version opening in Canada next week. Canadians wishing to see the film about the darker side of sexual desire...

 More headaches for Nicholson - A woman who sued Jack Nicholson more than two years ago for allegedly pounding her head repeatedly on the floor of his home is speaking out about the incident again...

 Alcohol Hit 'Real World' Hard - "Real World'' is all about video voyeurism: The network sets up a house full of strangers and lets cameras watch their lives unfold without intruding.   But in its eighth, and most popular, season, MTV changed its hands-off policy to help a cast member with a drinking problem.  Ruthie, a 21-year-old Hawaiian, is sent to a 30-day rehab program after a series of incidents...

 Film Violence Resolution Approved - Fearing that lawmakers who blame Hollywood for recent acts of youth violence will strangle filmmakers' freedom, the Directors Guild of America voted Saturday to lobby against legislative restrictions and provide legal help to directors who become targets of ``government intrusion.''

 Robert Downey Jr. Sent to Jail - Actor Robert Downey Jr. was slapped in handcuffs and led off to jail for at least six weeks after acknowledging, again, that he is still doing drugs. ``I am going to recover, but I'm still finding that difficult...''

AMITE, La. (AP) - Oliver Stone apparently has agreed to give a deposition in a lawsuit accusing his movie, "Natural Born Killers," of triggering a violent attack. Stone and his lawyers plan to be in Louisiana later this year to testify in the case, according to the lawyer for the plaintiffs, Joe Simpson. Simpson is suing Stone and Time Warner, the movie's distributor, on behalf of the family of Patsy Byers. The convenience store clerk was shot four years ago and left paralyzed from an attack by Sarah Edmonson and Benjamin Darras. Byers died of cancer in 1997. Edmonson and Darras are each serving 35-year prison sentences. Both said they repeatedly watched the 1994 film, about a young couple that commits murders, before their crime spree.

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Thirty-five members of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association have officially voiced their disapproval over Warner Bros. decision to use digital actors to cover up the naughty bits in an orgy scene of "Eyes Wide Shut." The surprisingly distracting figures, the studio maintains, were necessary to secure the film an "R" rating, ensuring that most movie theaters would carry the picture. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the statement released by the LAFCA says in part that such modification "once again proves the deeply chilling effect the ratings system is having on creative expression in film."

Warner Bros. insists that before his death, director Stanley Kubrick himself approved the "digital fig leaves" to obscure the more graphic parts of the shot. It is an opinion critics like Roger Ebert and others find hard to believe. The digital cover-ups were only done for U.S. distribution.

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For the millions of people around the world who flocked to see "The Matrix," there's new reason to be happy. Even though Keanu Reeves is committed to a second installment of the burgeoning blockbuster techno-flick series - at a price tag worth $20 million - it now appears that there'll be even more of "Matrix" to come. Although Warner Bros. sources are remaining mum, Australia's Daily Telegraph reports that Reeves has signed on for not one but two "Matrix" sequels, and that his salary will be put on a sliding scale, comparative to the movies' performance. "The Matrix," which is still in theaters both here and around the world continues to rack in the bucks - nearly $300 million-plus-and-counting worldwide.

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SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Woody Harrelson's father will get another hearing in his battle to have his murder conviction overturned. Attorneys for Charles Harrelson will focus on whether his original defense failed to reveal other plausible suspects, including a San Antonio lawyer, in the slaying of a federal judge. His lawyers also argue that prosecutors concealed evidence that could have led to an acquittal. Last Monday, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia said that Harrelson will get a hearing in September in Denver. He has served 16 years on a life term for the 1979 slaying of Judge John Wood Jr. in San Antonio. Prosecutors said Harrelson was hired by a drug dealer facing trial before Wood. Harrelson claimed he was in Dallas at the time.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Jerry Springer already has viewers hooked. Now, some Ohio Democrats are pushing the controversial TV talk show host as a candidate in next year's U.S. Senate race. Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke says he's talked with Springer and the state Democratic Party chairman about a possible candidacy for the seat held by Mike DeWine. No comment so far from Springer. Political consultant Gerald Austin says in some respects, politics has become entertainment. And he says if Jesse Ventura can get elected governor of Minnesota, Springer may be successful. Springer was mayor of Cincinnati before going into TV. He was re-elected even after he patronized a prostitute and paid her with a check.

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(UltimateTV.com) - A fan of shock jock Howard Stern decided to use the disappearance of John Kennedy Jr.'s plane this weekend to pull a prank on network news stations.

The fan fooled reporters into believing he was a Coast Guard official and gave telephone interviews live on the air with ABC, MSNBC and CBS. Claiming that he was Coast Guard Lt. Ed Gaynor, the prankster spoke with ABC's Peter Jennings, MSNBC's Soledad O'Brien and CBS's Dan Rather.

Rather realized "Gaynor" was a crank caller when he announced that Howard Stern and his producer Baba-Boey were at the crash site. "It's very difficult to believe that people would behave in a way that's so unacceptable," a spokeswoman for ABC told the New York Post. "We at ABC News are trying to be more careful and be mindful that there are idiots like this out there." The crank caller has been identified as a Stern fan named Thomas "Captain Janks" Cipriano, according to RadioDigest.com.

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LONDON (AP), A judge has sided with the owners of the popular ``Tomb Raider'' computer game who are trying to keep the name of sexy heroine Lara Croft off the cover of Playboy magazine. On Wednesday, High Court Judge Humphrey Lloyd granted an injunction brought by Core Design Ltd. and ordered that stickers be placed over the Lara Croft and ``Tomb Raider'' names on the cover of 20,000 copies of the August edition circulated in Britain.

Playboy connected the names to a nude layout of model Nell McAndrew, said by the magazine to be real-life incarnation of the Lara Croft character. The judge had been told by George Hamer, attorney for Core Design Ltd., that Lara's ``squeaky-clean image'' would be ``tarnished for all time'' by any association with Playboy. Core Design, because of practical considerations, did not seek injunctions blanking out the photo feature on two inside pages. The ruling does not apply to copies of the magazine circulated outside Britain.

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(AP) - Elijah Wood has been cast in the lead role of Frodo Baggins in New Line Cinema's live-action trilogy feature "The Lord of the Rings," based on J.R.R. Tolkien's internationally renowned fantasy novels. Production will begin shooting in October in New Zealand. The project marks a major commitment from Wood, since shooting will last more than a year on each film - "The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Two Towers" and "Return of the King" - and they will be shot back to back. Peter Jackson ("Heavenly Creatures") will direct the mythical project, which tells the saga of a desperate battle against encroaching evil - a perilous quest to save humanity that falls upon the shoulder of Frodo, who has inherited a seemingly magic ring from his elderly cousin Bilbo. The films are intended to be "event picture" quality, with heavy computer-generated visuals.

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(Launch) - A woman who sued Jack Nicholson more than two years ago for allegedly pounding her head repeatedly on the floor of his home is speaking out about the incident again. Catherine Sheehan told a Los Angeles television station late last week that she is dying as a result of the injuries to her head, and her neurologist, Dr. William Baumzweiger, backs up her claims. According to court papers, Nicholson invited Sheehan and another woman to his Hollywood Hills home in October of 1996. Sheehan claims the actor agreed to pay each of the women $1,000 for sex. Sheehan maintains Nicholson refused to pay her after the intimate encounter and became violent. The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court, but Sheehan is now going public with her story of grave illness. She is admittedly having second thoughts about the $30,000 settlement she made with Nicholson. Sheehan says that she didn't know the full extent of her injuries at the time she made the agreement.

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