Eugene David ...The One-Minute Pundit |
THE NEWS HACK'S CREED: I know more than you. I make lots more money than you. I'm smarter than you. I'm sexier than you. I appear on TV all the time. I work ten minutes a day. I rule the universe. I'm going to live forever. You are an idiot. THE NEWS HACK'S CREED, No. 2: A lie isn't a lie when it tells THE TRUTH. THE NEWS HACK'S CREED, No. 3: I've come to realize that the looseness of the journalistic life, the seeming laxity of the newsroom, is an illusion. Yes, there's informality and there's humor, but beneath the surface lies something deadly serious. It is a code. Sometimes the code is not even written down, but it is deeply believed in. And, when violated, it is enforced with tribal ferocity. --JOHN "OMERTA" CARROLL. THE NEWS HACK'S CREED, No. 4: News isn't news when we don't report it. PERMALINKS: THE NEWS HACKS' DICTIONARY THE EUGENE DAVID GLOSSARY AMERICA'S MOST UNINTENTIONALLY FUNNY WEB SITE! Blogroll Me! |
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Posted
7:09 PM
by Gene
Hint: it's usually spelled with an R in a CIRCLE. *See paragraph 14.
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5:44 PM
by Gene
You can never spend too much on THE AHTS; it's a permanent cost overrun.
Posted
5:06 PM
by Gene
WHY ARE POP CHRISTMAS SONGS INTOLERABLE? The standard explanations won't do -- that the Christmas season's one long shopping spree, and the platitudes of the songs are the platitudes of corrupt businessmen; that they're overexposed and inescapable, especially now with FOREGROUND MUZAK. Certainly the notion of America enveloped in DOOM and GLOOM and ENNUI won't do; Tom Lehrer and Stan Freberg wrote their very sour takes on Christmas in the late fifties, before our favorite assassination. No, the best explanation is that the songs are FLAT-OUT BAD. Christ was born to provide fodder for Lawrence Welk. Consider that none of the truly top Broadway songwriters ever wrote a hit Christmas tune -- save Irving Berlin; the holiday perfectly fit a lyrical style that at its worst echoes a rhyming dictionary ("Where the treetops glisten,/And children listen,/Stand beside her,/And guide her," etc., etc., etc.). The songs also brought out the most crass in the record industry as it entered its fat years in the fifties, a time when Mitch Miller thought it cute to have Ol' Blue sing a duet with a dog. You can't think of Meredith Willson's utterly corny "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" without the cute pizzicato strings and the cute flutes and the cute xylophone and Johnny Mathis with a two-second reverb and a clothespin on his larynx. (When Willson wrote his Christmas musical Here's Love twelve years later his depleted inspiration made him re-use it, proof that the holiday does not bring out the best in musicians.) Even the very few good Christmas tunes suffer from guilt by association. Arthur Fiedler turned Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" into an exciting, bracing mini-tone poem, but everywhere else Mitchell Parish's lyrics kick in, with their fakery of farmers and pumpkin pie and Currier and Ives, and it's back to the land of hack arrangements by Ralph Carmichael and the ooohing and aaahing of the angelic chorus. "The Christmas Song" (not great, but pretty good) marks the beginning of Nat "King" Cole's transformation from a jazzman of the first rank to an automatic molasses dispenser. Elvis, who frequently performed bad songs at half-mast, was the perfect pop Christmas singer, oozing the drivel out like a particularly unctuous undertaker soothing a dead body's relative, or a relative's dead body. And let us not forget the KIDDIE TUNES written for television though it didn't yet exist, sound-alike songs like "Frosty the Snowman" (you can hear the songwriters cutting a deal on the tune) and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," whose title character originated at a now-defunct department-store chain (Montgomery Ward). One of the great mysteries of popular music is how Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots survived a piece of junk like "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" to write the immortal "You Go To My Head"; by rights their next tune should have been written by Bob Merrill. (Look up the tune in ASCAP's ACE directory and you find a veritable army of the tiresome acts that buried it: the Ames Brothers, Brenda Lee, Ray Conniff, Liberace, Guy Lombardo, the Mills Brothers -- and yes, I include Bruce.) While it is true that familiarity breeds contempt, the contempt starts early when those familiar notes in your brain are so contemptible.
Posted
4:53 PM
by Gene
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4:42 PM
by Gene
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1:12 PM
by Gene
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12:36 PM
by Gene
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12:25 PM
by Gene
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12:19 PM
by Gene
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12:04 PM
by Gene
QUICK! Hum me a tune!
Posted
9:25 AM
by Gene
HA HA HA, they only saw you on the LEFT COAST 'cause of FOOTBALL! HA HA HA!! Ah, the perils of being the THOMAS PAIN [SIC] of our time.
Posted
9:22 AM
by Gene
Posted
9:04 AM
by Gene
TRANSLATION: WE'LL DO WHAT IT TAKES TO GIVE OUR MORTAL ENEMIES HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE!!!!! Calllllllllling Puuuuuuuublic EEEEEEEEEEEEDITORRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
Posted
8:57 AM
by Gene
And Glen (being one of the Lord God PINCH's good little boys) tries to help them along by insisting poverty, "the death penalty [and] broader moral questions such as responding to the world AIDS epidemic and a US economy increasingly reliant on low-wage labor from abroad" are "moral issues." TRANSLATION: Their moral issues AREN'T OURS.
Posted
8:52 AM
by Gene
Friday, November 26, 2004
Posted
8:04 PM
by Gene
I'd say they ran into the MUSIC BIZ. P. S. CLASSIC: 1. Something pop-cultural that we like that's been around for a LONG TIME -- like twenty years.
Posted
6:32 PM
by Gene
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4:46 PM
by Gene
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4:05 PM
by Gene
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4:03 PM
by Gene
Well, it beats WAR -- barely.
Posted
11:47 AM
by Gene
Unfortunately advertising is by its very nature intrusive and obnoxious, and anyone who's staked a claim with the sugar daddies of show-biz has staked a claim to be considered intrusive and obnoxious.
Posted
9:17 AM
by Gene
Posted
9:10 AM
by Gene
Maybe he hoped he could sell IT on eBay.
Posted
9:01 AM
by Gene
It's just as well; years of spending ten hours a day studying the Great Leader's thoughts is punishment enough.
Posted
8:46 AM
by Gene
And one suspects when they get hacked, they stay hacked. Thursday, November 25, 2004
Posted
4:27 PM
by Gene
Maybe, Mr. Greeley, if you wrote a NOVEL -- no? I guess the staid ol' Catholic Church will have to try to change without you.
Posted
1:00 PM
by Gene
Or Kim-Il Sung.
Posted
9:29 AM
by Gene
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9:08 AM
by Gene
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9:06 AM
by Gene
As usual, they have not a clue.
Posted
8:59 AM
by Gene
You wonder when reality will touch the Lord God PINCH. Perhaps the GLIBERALS and Doody Dowds get the TRUE BELIEVERS of Midtown Manhattan going, but elsewhere they're figures of uproarious laughter, even one guesses among some liberals, and each time the Lord God PINCH gives space for their left-wing John Birching it's another chunk out of His Kingdom's reputation. Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Posted
7:48 PM
by Gene
Set perpendicular to the river, the library looks comparatively slick.
Posted
4:55 PM
by Gene
The number of Canadians who say they have smoked pot in the past year has nearly doubled in a decade, a major new study on addiction says. More than 44 per cent of Canadians say they have used marijuana at least once in their lifetime, a figure that spiked to 70 per cent among 18 to 24-year-olds, the Canadian Addiction Survey says. And more than 14 per cent of all of the survey's respondents reported using the drug in the past year — up from 7.4 per cent in 1994. But there is good news: The prevalence of pot use increased with education and income, according to the survey. So our friends to the north are at least getting stoned on purpose. EH?
Posted
1:58 PM
by Gene
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1:55 PM
by Gene
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1:10 PM
by Gene
"I volunteered," said Lena Haddix of Lawton, who has five children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. "I wanted to do something for the country, because I was always left behind taking care of the children." GO GREAT-GRANNY!
Posted
1:01 PM
by Gene
Given Ricky Duhhh, I don't think this headline's funny. Knowing VNU, I don't think it's intentional either.
Posted
11:54 AM
by Gene
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11:39 AM
by Gene
money.
Posted
10:16 AM
by Gene
Posted
9:23 AM
by Gene
After watching Friday night's beating handed out by Indiana Pacers' Ron Artest upon several unsuspecting fans during a Detroit Pistons vs. Indiana Pacers basketball game, the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder and president of BOND (Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny).... Don't these clowns realize they're as much megaphones as THE PAPER OF RE-CORD is for its Je$$e? The last thing we want from NEWS HACKS is RUDY VALLEE.
Posted
6:53 AM
by Gene
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6:49 AM
by Gene
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6:29 AM
by Gene
Not risky enough for execs to stop wasting zillions on stupid deals that sell nothing while screaming to their flunkies, as they always will, "I KNOW THAT GUY AND YOU DON'T!!!!!" Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Posted
5:19 PM
by Gene
Note who put it online -- conservative and Israeli news sites. Maybe as news it isn't important, but still this yells out the liberal's (and the NEWS HACK'S) tacit acceptance of Jew-baiting.
Posted
3:33 PM
by Gene
Not that he has to worry. Much. P. S. POWER LINE!!!!! takes the appropriate credit: RATHER RELIEVED!!!!!!!! NO HE WAS NOT, and there is no evidence yet that he was. Knowing Danno he thinks he's going out with the crowd cheering. Knowing VIACON, so does IT. THIS is why people complain -- sorry STERNO!!!!!, they're RIGHT to complain -- about the CREDIBILITY OF BLOGGERS. Nor am I sure, though the organizations they front be obsolete, though serious news consumers no longer watch them except perhaps to measure the CW, that the passing of THE THREE STOOGES marks the end of the nightly network news. Twenty million still tune in -- more than listen to RUSH -- or HOWARD -- or the NO-SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN ZONE -- or even MICHAEL MEDVED. NEWSMAX!!!!!!!!!!!! TAKES CREDIT TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! P. P. S. Well, I guess there IS a crowd cheering.
Posted
11:59 AM
by Gene
EARTH TO HOLLYWOOD: GET A LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted
10:24 AM
by Gene
Craig Askew! Meet Mrs. Nicolas Cage!
Posted
10:13 AM
by Gene
Are we in the golden age of video gaming? (Can you hear THE VOICE OF AL screaming, WE ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?) OR: "If games were movies, we (have) Star Wars, Titanic, Toy Story, Casablanca and Gone With the Wind all (hitting) at the same time," says John Davison, editorial director for Ziff-Davis video game publications. Star Wars, Titanic, Toy Story...That should be enough. JOHN! You looking for a job at GanNETt? They'd LOVE to have you! OR: More than a few of the 1.5 million who put down a deposit for [Halo 2] months in advance took days off work to play it. It was well worth it to Craig Askew [SIC], 33, of Henderson, N.C., who has been waiting for Halo 2 since he finished the original three years ago. He played more than 25 hours the first week the game was out, including most of Wednesday, a day he had arranged to take off from his truck-driving job. Last week, he put in another 10 hours, plus more than 12 on Sunday. Askew says he didn't specify why he needed the time off. Taking a day off work "to spend some time playing Halo 2 is very unusual for me. The quality of this game is second to none. My HDTV and I have never been this happy playing games." [We're so GLAD you're in love, Craig.] Others simply called in sick. TRANSLATION: GET A LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted
8:54 AM
by Gene
Posted
8:52 AM
by Gene
Who says show-biz is elitist? P. S. This study was commissioned by ADVERTISERS, meaning lots of advertising vice-presidents get to pinch themselves.
Posted
8:48 AM
by Gene
News hacks can gloat for months.
Posted
8:35 AM
by Gene
Americans have supplemented the empty head with the hollow heart.
Posted
8:30 AM
by Gene
You don't suppose these are the same types who would have gnashed their teeth over TV scenes of suffering from Saddam? I thought that's why the League of Nations instituted the -- forget it. One thing's clear: CURLEY'S (Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!) STOOGES will give more play to this "study" than to Kofi's prize-winning scandal. Monday, November 22, 2004
Posted
5:50 PM
by Gene
And what DOES this have to do with BOXING except being another self-inflicted blow to the head?
Posted
5:33 PM
by Gene
I want someone to tell me Little Jeffrey's fantasy kingdom isn't already a BANK.
Posted
5:11 PM
by Gene
This should be fun. Will he be as corporate and tone-deaf as MR. Law?
Posted
2:21 PM
by Gene
Claim: WSJ has been neutered as a good source of war info New York Review of Books via MotherJones.com How about: Fox News a superior source of war info National Review via TownHall.com
Posted
9:48 AM
by Gene
[R]ather than flog the bloggers for rushing to publish the raw exit poll data on their Web sites, we may owe them a debt of gratitude. A few more presidential elections like this one and the public will learn to do the right thing and simply ignore news of early exit poll data. Then perhaps people will start ignoring the bloggers, who proved once more that their spectacular lack of judgment is matched only by their abundant arrogance. The problem is, ARROGANCE is something you might associate with people who've CURED CANCER!!!!! P. S. FROM STERNO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!: : My sneaky friend Nick Denton nominated me to join Jason Calicanis in setting up a Blog Ethics Committee. The first thing it should propose, let's ban ANY BLOGGER who criticizes HOWARD!!!!! P. P. S. I hadn't noticed this post came just after another mention of ARROGANCE, but to the degree SUPERMEGAGIGABLOGGERS ape NEWS HACKS, so they ape their ARROGANCE.
Posted
9:40 AM
by Gene
[I]t seems reasonable for abortion opponents or gun owners to assume that newsrooms full of pro-choice Second Amendment-haters haven't been and won't ever be fair. Yet newsrooms, from the New York Times down, reject that argument, too. At least one speaker at the editors' conference thought this argument was reasonable. The Times' ombudsman. At a Friday panel discussion, I asked Times Public Editor Daniel Okrent whether he thought it was a problem that polls showed reporters and editors are overwhelmingly Democrats and liberals. Sure, he said -- "We have to have intellectual diversity." Unfortunately, Okrent wasn't around when [Chris] Hedges vented. But Okrent may have had Hedges (and Hedges' bosses) in mind at another point in his remarks. "Arrogance has gone off the charts at the Times more than any other place," he said. No kidding.
Posted
9:28 AM
by Gene
![]() Some insurgents have feigned surrender to lure marines into danger. You don't suppose this could be behind our latest ATROCITY, could you?
Posted
6:50 AM
by Gene
If I'm not mistaken, HACKS, Wisconsin went for KERRY. Which proves what?
Posted
6:37 AM
by Gene
Typical PINCH smirk: In the greater Atlanta market, reaching more than two million households, "Desperate Housewives" is the top-rated show. Nearly 58 percent of the voters in those counties voted for President Bush. The last I saw this MEGAHIT drew THIRTEEN PERCENT of total households, meaning EIGHTY-SEVEN PERCENT WEREN'T WATCHING IT, and I suspect that's as true for Atlanta as anywhere else. We may also ponder that for the last ratings period only FIFTEEN shows had more than a TEN, and that at any given time a goodly number of TVs are OFF.
Posted
6:29 AM
by Gene
"I began this translation as a kind of dubious experiment...." Those words will ring truer than anything in this LATEST one. Sunday, November 21, 2004
Posted
7:20 PM
by Gene
Jackson penalized 30 games, O'Neal 25 for roles in melee with fans Let's see if this survives a COURT CHALLENGE. I am NOT kidding.
Posted
6:04 PM
by Gene
Posted
6:01 PM
by Gene
Posted
10:36 AM
by Gene
Posted
10:12 AM
by Gene
...How is it working with the media today, given the proliferation of gossip columnists, entertainment shows and publications? Well there's good news and bad news. The good news is that there are so many places to go if you have work you want to publicize, because that's what we do, we publicize the work. The other side is that it's so competitive among the media.... Indeed -- because they're so eager to help you PUBLICIZE the WORK.
Posted
9:56 AM
by Gene
Common Market and British Voice Hopes in Impasse President Names Dean at Columbia to Post on A. E. C. City Acts to Pay Its Bills Faster Who remembers these stories? Do they have any significance now? Where are the fool Jonny Alters and Gliberals to debate them? Well, there was one front-page hed to remember: Marilyn Monroe Dead, Pills Near And no, Jonny, this does NOT prove PAT and MR. MARK were RIGHT in COLLABORATING, for even THE PAPER OF RE-CORD (in an un-bylined "special") had to admit MM was one of the all-timers, and your and your boss's synergistic gushing will go down the rat hole like Common Market impasses, Columbia deans and New York City bills.
Posted
9:35 AM
by Gene
But if only a tiny number are highly offended by raunchy TV, millions are mildly or somewhat offended. And those millions vote. They want to know that the president is on their side in the ever-worsening battle between parents and popular culture for the attention of their children. So what do we do? We turn our pages over to PAT KINGSLEY!!!!! STERNO!!!!! will NEVER stop boasting now.
Posted
9:24 AM
by Gene
MR. MARK, THIS issue ought to win YOU a PRIZE -- a BOOBY PRIZE. ONCE AGAIN you prove BLUNDER is AMERICA'S SECOND-MOST RISIBLE RECYCLABLE AFTER THE PAPER OF RE-CORD. WILL SOMEBODY TELL HIM ST. WARREN MAKES A GOODLY CHUNK OF HIS MONEY FROM THIS COMPANY OFF SATs? THAT should say something of its USEFULNESS. OR: News Sources People Use Most Often Survey Question: Which (news) sources are you using more often? ![]() Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, ’’Media Attitudes/ Youth Engagement/ Religion After 9/11’’ Nov. 13 - 19, 2001 [That's what it says there.] I admit the chart sort-of cheats but the gist is understandable. ![]() P. S. MR. MARK, does this explain all those funny-looking brass elephants you have on your desk? P. P. S. In the last three years BLUNDER claims to have won 231 AWARDS, which pretty well indicates how useful THEY are.
Posted
9:21 AM
by Gene
Posted
9:19 AM
by Gene
TRANSLATION: HOWARD is THE DONALD of RADIO.
Posted
9:16 AM
by Gene
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9:12 AM
by Gene
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