KEN KESEY
The acclaimed author and leader of the Merry Pranksters has died at age 66 of liver cancer. Kesey worked with fellow beatnik Neal Cassidy and intellectual freethinker Timothy Leary in promoting the vast LSD revolution of the 1960s. Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a dissection of conformity still widely popular with students today.
MONSTERS,INC
Monsters Inc. continued to rack up at the box office, taking in another $46.2 million and extending its total gross to an amazing $122.8 million. The Farrelly Brothers’ Shallow Hal, starring an enormous Gwyneth Paltrow (what happened?), debuted in second place. Next weekend, records are likely to be shattered with the opening of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
OZZY OSBORNE
Ozzy Osborne’s “Merry Mayhem Tour” is being rescheduled for late November after Osbourne injured his leg getting out of a shower. In true rock spirit, Osbourne toured for a week with a severe stress fracture before consulting a doctor. The tour’s date in West Palm Beach will now be rescheduled indefinitely.
SUTHERLAND
The much hyped television show 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland, failed to live up to ratings expectations with only 11.6 million people tuning in for its debut. The show was trampled by the first episode of NYPD Blue, which is now in its ninth season.
WU-TANG
The Wu-tang Clan will have a new album dropping in mid-December that is reportedly more “single oriented.” Rza is serving as the main producer amid rumors of group instability and the possible departures of Gza and U-God. The first single “Pinky Ring” has been released to national radio. Wu-tang forever?