Why Hugo didn't make the bell at the UN

According to the Venezuelan State TV he begged off due to a 'packed' schedule. Packed with what, one wonders. Fudge? He did have time to call his little buddy, Mahmoud. Mahmoud will be visiting Hugo later in the week. But there are no gays in Iran.

I don't know, I'm thinking it Must have been a late night with too many lemoncellos and Kev.
Actor Kevin Spacey met privately Monday with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, one of Washington's most outspoken critics in Latin America.

Neither Spacey — who has won Academy Awards for roles in "The Usual Suspects" and "American Beauty" — nor Chavez spoke to the press after the nearly three-hour encounter in the presidential palace in Caracas. They shook hands warmly on the red carpet as Spacey left after a dinner with Chavez.

Hours earlier, the actor visited a $13 million film studio founded last year by the government to support Venezuelan filmmaking. Details were not released about the rest of Spacey's itinerary.
Chavez has said Venezuela hopes to produce its own films as an alternative to the "cultural imperialism" of Hollywood...

Here's a picture of Hugo's answer to the "cultural imperialism" of Hollywood.


A resident of a shantytown watches the filming of 'Bambi C4' in Guarenas, in the outskirts of Caracas, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2007, which is about Cuba's militant and former Venezuelan secret police agent Luis Posada Carriles. The movie is one of several being produced by state-run Cinema Villa studios, which Chavez started last year in an attempt to offer alternatives to Hollywood.


More photos of the Hugo Chavez show can be seen at AP Photos.