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!
![[Powered by Blogger]](http://buttons.blogger.com/bloggerbutton1.gif){kind=small}
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Jonathan Yardley, whom we had not seen for a while even though The Daily Kaplan calls him its book critic, is back with what we suspect is a thoroughly just account of Dubya's "memoirs", summed up by the hed's three words: "Competent, readable and flat." Why should we expect any president to know how to write anymore, let alone how to write memorably? Could His Omnipotence so much as speak without the aid of His Loyal TelePrompTers, dutifully spitting out words that mostly aren't even His? Giants once strode the land who could write and think, but if they're likely in this age they are least likely to be presidents, and their prose shows it.
Speaking of Yahoo!, here's something it put in our spam box today:
As you can guess we're feeling a little anonymous after that one.
As you can guess we're feeling a little anonymous after that one.
We hope it looks like HELL on ESPN, the ultimate target.
Nothing against the Ducks, mind you, he typed in quickly.
Terry Teachout has been gloating about the new AH-pe-RA he and Mr. Moravec are concocting, for a Philadelphia AH-pe-RA company: "a backstage comedy--we call it a vaudeville--about the making of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring." You may not have wanted to call it a vaudeville, Terry -- but regardless this sounds like an upcoming movee we gritted our teeth over called My Week with Marilyn. That one features impersonations of MM and Larry Olivier; this one features impersonations of "Stravinsky, Sergei Diaghilev, Vaslav Nijinsky, and Pierre Monteux". Even granting it's easier to impersonate Pierre Monteux than MM or Larry as no one's likely to know who the hell he was this is still an impersonation -- and in some ways Terry 'n' Paul's is worse because they're tracking the well-worn rut of one of the most famous works of the concert hall and the ballet, making this a virtual equivalent of an MM or Larry impersonation. And pray tell what kind of ear-wax-cleaning sounds has Paul devised here? More wax is more likely. Our culture stinks when it must rely heavily on impersonations as a substitute for inspiration; judging from the raves accorded T 'n' P's first masterpiece their work will be lucky to last the length of the four fastest bars in, say, Petrushka.
But as the above photo categorically demonstrates that does NOT make an MM impersonation any better.
P. S. As I was saying....
The construction industry continues to languish despite more than $2 billion worth of projects either under way or set to soon break ground.
Educational facilities, hospitals and other health-related institutions are driving the bulk of the current nonresidential construction work, in a reflection of the area’s main economic drivers.
RENDELLISM TRIUMPHANT!
Educational facilities, hospitals and other health-related institutions are driving the bulk of the current nonresidential construction work, in a reflection of the area’s main economic drivers.
RENDELLISM TRIUMPHANT!
Friday, November 05, 2010
We wish we'd caught this on Wednesday but it serves as a thorough eulogy for what once was the movie business, for TENTPOLES, and for GE BANCORP's misbegotten stretch in entertainment. Where was the SIX SIGMA in letting a TOY COMPANY get the better of you?
We cannot improve on some of the lines in here, and this one is most delicious: "'It should tell you something when Stephen Colbert is making fun of your movie on TV, saying, 'Pete Berg, consider this my audition: A … 4!'" Scrumptious indeed: a parody ridiculing a parody.
We cannot improve on some of the lines in here, and this one is most delicious: "'It should tell you something when Stephen Colbert is making fun of your movie on TV, saying, 'Pete Berg, consider this my audition: A … 4!'" Scrumptious indeed: a parody ridiculing a parody.
But in happier news:
Pelosi says she'll run for House Democratic leader
GO BABS! Make yourself a campaign issue FOREVER!
Pelosi says she'll run for House Democratic leader
GO BABS! Make yourself a campaign issue FOREVER!
KEITH OLBERMANN SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY WITHOUT PAY FOR DONATING TO CANDIDATES [SIC!!!!!]
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What will the forces of right do?!?!?
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What will the forces of right do?!?!?
The doddering Lord Puttnam, he who believed fillum could teach, it could illuminate, it could even inspire even as he "greenlit" a comedy about a talking penis, beholds SLIME as a threat to the world. We will obviously not vouch for a threat to the world except to say SLIME is still in it, while Lord Puttnam resides in Britain's version of a geriatric ward for zillionaires.
There was a ghastly murder the other day in a hotel in Super-Expensive Old City, and the StinkyInky's account is strange because the accused is strange -- a transvestite named Herman who refers to himself as a woman. Stinky calls him "she". (Its nominal "competitor" the Daily Nooz calls him "he".) We wonder if our city's leading newspaper isn't being a bit too cute (or possibly PC which would make it worse), but in any case, it's almost pointless; the accused may not deserved to be called "it".
KEITH O puts his money where his altogether too big mouth is!
Here's betting CONCAST and/or GE BANCORP gives him the equivalent of a House ethics probe for his ethical lapses.
(Via the usual Romy)
Here's betting CONCAST and/or GE BANCORP gives him the equivalent of a House ethics probe for his ethical lapses.
(Via the usual Romy)
RENDELLISM WILL SAVE THE ECONOMY!
Retail trade employment rose by 28,000 in October, including increases in automobile dealers (+6,000) and in electronics and appliance stores (+5,000). After reaching a trough in December 2009, employment in retail trade has expanded by 128,000.
Within leisure and hospitality, a job loss in arts, entertainment, and recreation (-26,000) in October offset a gain in food services and drinking places employment (+24,000). The food services industry has added 143,000 jobs since a recent low in December 2009. [Emphasis added]
DOW UP ANOTHER 100,000!!!!!!!!!!
(Via Seeking Alpha)
Retail trade employment rose by 28,000 in October, including increases in automobile dealers (+6,000) and in electronics and appliance stores (+5,000). After reaching a trough in December 2009, employment in retail trade has expanded by 128,000.
Within leisure and hospitality, a job loss in arts, entertainment, and recreation (-26,000) in October offset a gain in food services and drinking places employment (+24,000). The food services industry has added 143,000 jobs since a recent low in December 2009. [Emphasis added]
DOW UP ANOTHER 100,000!!!!!!!!!!
(Via Seeking Alpha)
Thursday, November 04, 2010
We do not wish to posit a time when what is now SELIGISM was played in Paradise, but long before perhaps the most boring playoffs in the alleged sport's history there was something called baseball, of a time and a type completely foreign to us, and out of that blue came the likes of Sparky Anderson, who not only won championships but spoke memorably of the game with that zesty cracker-barrel humor the best men in it always had. He could have been a politician, perhaps, if he'd so desired, such was his gift of gab, but instead he settled on baseball, and greatness.
(Originally posted 5:47 p. m.; moved thrice to save pride of place)
P. S. on 11/5/2010 at 5:54 p. m. Of course we should not have forgotten Cincinnati.
Oooooooops! The Boston Glob says Barney "whined"!
Like Frank, many of the candidates were clearly tired of the vicious attack ads paid for by unknown donors, and of the way those denunciations seemed to creep into the tone of the debate and coverage. But the candidates have to realize that they’re part of the problem.
That's because they're part of every problem.
(Via the usual Romy)
Like Frank, many of the candidates were clearly tired of the vicious attack ads paid for by unknown donors, and of the way those denunciations seemed to creep into the tone of the debate and coverage. But the candidates have to realize that they’re part of the problem.
That's because they're part of every problem.
(Via the usual Romy)
Sen. Ron Paul to Take Aim at Fed's Monetary Policy [Home page SIC!!!!!]
Hey guys, maybe you'd better stick to telling us why the markets will QUINTUPLE in the next week, huh?
Hey guys, maybe you'd better stick to telling us why the markets will QUINTUPLE in the next week, huh?
Yes, we did hear of the three Iowa judges. Whatever one thinks of gay marriage this is clearly a case of our betters trying to teach us another lesson. They deserved to be canned.
Gay marriage fight targeted Iowa judges, politicizing rulings on issue
And once again Broccoli thinks the mobs read his scribble one word at a time. We don't speak of the Nine Fingers for nothing. There is hardly a judicial decision that isn't political one way or another. Many of our judges are elected. No, judges can do a very good job politicizing on their own.
Gay marriage fight targeted Iowa judges, politicizing rulings on issue
And once again Broccoli thinks the mobs read his scribble one word at a time. We don't speak of the Nine Fingers for nothing. There is hardly a judicial decision that isn't political one way or another. Many of our judges are elected. No, judges can do a very good job politicizing on their own.
We only wish every day GEKKO KUDLOW had another of his buying spasms a crowd or a fleet of sound trucks could waltz around the Wall Street Casino, resounding with boos -- and the higher the indexes, the louder the booing.
Yes, and every time GEKKO has a buying spasm the price of oil goes up, which is too good not to be intentional. Let's turn the spigots off on the little guy again, GEKKO!
"Effectively, what the Fed did yesterday was impose a new tax on consumers," Cameron Hanover analyst Peter Beutel said.
Which goes to the WALL STREET CASINO!
Yes, and every time GEKKO has a buying spasm the price of oil goes up, which is too good not to be intentional. Let's turn the spigots off on the little guy again, GEKKO!
"Effectively, what the Fed did yesterday was impose a new tax on consumers," Cameron Hanover analyst Peter Beutel said.
Which goes to the WALL STREET CASINO!
This approach eased financial conditions in the past and, so far, looks to be effective again. Stock prices rose and long-term interest rates fell when investors began to anticipate the most recent action. Easier financial conditions will promote economic growth. For example, lower mortgage rates will make housing more affordable and allow more homeowners to refinance. [WHY MUST WE DO THAT?!?!?] Lower corporate bond rates will encourage investment. And higher stock prices will boost consumer wealth [WHICH CONSUMERS?!?!?] and help increase confidence, which can also spur spending. Increased spending will lead to higher incomes and profits that, in a virtuous circle, will further support economic expansion. [Emphasis added]
TRANSLATION: ST. BENJAMIN SUPPORTS TRICKLE-DOWN!
TRANSLATION: ST. BENJAMIN SUPPORTS TRICKLE-DOWN!
YES! Nancy! Run for minority leader! Then the other side can campaign against you every day!
Can't some old soldiers just fade away quietly?
Can't some old soldiers just fade away quietly?
We know how people roll their eyes and rail at California's unwieldy proposition process, but judging from this story the voters by-and-large got it right this year, and I would trust them long before I'd trust the professionals.
No! NO!! CABLEVISION lost subscribers too!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! Perhaps the PUBLIC is finally starting to get even with the BRIAN ROBBERS!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! Perhaps the PUBLIC is finally starting to get even with the BRIAN ROBBERS!
We can agree provisionally Paul Ryan will be a darned sight better as Ways and Means chief than Bill "The Lobbyist's Friend" Thomas, who was interested only in posturing, and CHOLLY, who was interested only in enriching himself and his cronies.
Unfortunately the man saying this is the soon-to-be-re-incarcerated Conrad "The Historian Convict" Black, who might qualify as a bum himself.
Unfortunately the man saying this is the soon-to-be-re-incarcerated Conrad "The Historian Convict" Black, who might qualify as a bum himself.
Let's just say, this being the Democratic Party, the incompetence was universal.
Meantime can the GOP really fret about not winning the Senate given a few of the candidates it put up? No, we're not thinking Christine, so much -- we're thinking MRS. VINCE McMAHON and CARLY.
Meantime can the GOP really fret about not winning the Senate given a few of the candidates it put up? No, we're not thinking Christine, so much -- we're thinking MRS. VINCE McMAHON and CARLY.
Here's what happens: If DC COMICS PICTURES' strategy proves successful (we have no reason to doubt it will be) the outfit will make nothing but TENTPOLES, meaning other companies will decide THEY'LL make nothing but TENTPOLES, meaning the output and the audience will be even more confined than now, meaning the MOVEE BIZ with luck should become a complete irrelevance in three or four years, especially when "world-premiere" home piping kicks in.
GO FOR IT!
GO FOR IT!
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
A SPECTACULAR TRIUMPH FOR SLIME: From 20 million viewers a month to perhaps less than 30,000 for the late TIMES!
Hey SLIME! Since this is working so well why not put EVERYTHING of Yours behind a wall!
(Via MediaBistro)
Hey SLIME! Since this is working so well why not put EVERYTHING of Yours behind a wall!
(Via MediaBistro)
The Blue Dogs' massacre is plainly bad news; it means a Democratic party more monolithic, and more ideological.
IMBECILE: PILLHEAD loved to boast about how He screwed up the 2008 primaries. The result (if we take Him at face value) was His Omnipotence. Now the same Belcher is apparently taking credit for "unelecting" Him. To which we say, PILLHEAD didn't want a health-care mandate, PILLHEAD didn't hold His nose in the air, PILLHEAD didn't win the European Union's Seal of Approval. Yes, PILLHEAD opened His mouth, but His Omnipotence's was bigger.
And how apt of a hack for the blithering EM to help Him take credit. But if PILLHEAD keeps taking credit we can start counting the days to a Democratic House.
And His Omnipotence is still the favorite for '12. (Sorry for the HENRY HONEST!!!!!)
And how apt of a hack for the blithering EM to help Him take credit. But if PILLHEAD keeps taking credit we can start counting the days to a Democratic House.
And His Omnipotence is still the favorite for '12. (Sorry for the HENRY HONEST!!!!!)
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Shucks, the forces of reaction took the Senate seat in Pennsylvania.
Mmmmmmmmmmmm, smell that crisp aroma of AFSCME money burning!
Philadelphians! SECEDE!
Mmmmmmmmmmmm, smell that crisp aroma of AFSCME money burning!
Philadelphians! SECEDE!
SHUCKS, it's still the Rhode Island plantation.
Even Northeasterners aren't that politically correct.
Even Northeasterners aren't that politically correct.
REP. ALAN "SCREAMING MANIAC" GRAYSON LOSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, have to put it as he'd have put it.
Well, have to put it as he'd have put it.
Shucks, two more candidates who spent zillions couldn't get elected. GOOD!
It did not help that both candidates had -- résumés: with MUG Whitman, eBay; with Carly, HP mismanagement. Still GOOD!
Prediction: Gov. Moonbeam muddles, serves one term.
P. S. When will MB2 learn a candidate spending his zillions is more likely to spend our zillions?
Or in typically tone-deaf prose:
McMahon is content to have Connecticut vote on this proposition: There already is a surfeit of Blumenthals in Washington, and a scarcity of McMahons.
And had VINCE'S WIFE won (and MUG, and CARLY) in time there'd have been a SURFEIT OF McMAHONS.
It did not help that both candidates had -- résumés: with MUG Whitman, eBay; with Carly, HP mismanagement. Still GOOD!
Prediction: Gov. Moonbeam muddles, serves one term.
P. S. When will MB2 learn a candidate spending his zillions is more likely to spend our zillions?
Or in typically tone-deaf prose:
McMahon is content to have Connecticut vote on this proposition: There already is a surfeit of Blumenthals in Washington, and a scarcity of McMahons.
And had VINCE'S WIFE won (and MUG, and CARLY) in time there'd have been a SURFEIT OF McMAHONS.
SHUCKS, Barney won -- but it will not be easy for a man born to posture, and he may pull a Denny and leave soon enough.
On the other hand the Dems sure love their hereditary seats.
On the other hand the Dems sure love their hereditary seats.
Despite the fact the Republicans will most likely not win the Senate they may nonetheless achieve a practical working majority. That it will require a few Democrats in the Senile Chamber may temper the House's more scatterbrained ideas -- we can hope.
So I can get this out of the way: We note with the HSX listings we avoided movees that seemed nominally aimed at adults; the problem is so many of these are so very depressingly much the same: political thrillers, domestic dramas, films of social dysfunction. These are aimed at the Os-CARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR®s and the cri-TICS, and most will lose money. There are too many "romantic" "comedies", and many of these can be counted on to bomb. There are also, needless to say, too many fillums with that sci-fi/fantasy hook. We found surprisingly few APATOWS but maybe we weren't looking. The problem is the money films almost to a one are sequels, remakes, and movees based on comic books, video games and TV shows -- and lots of CGIs. And too many titles are aimed at kids, chronologically or otherwise. There is no way the hacks like Mogul's Friend who spin these things can say this is anything but a disaster for their biz, although the biz has been more or less a disaster zone the last fifty years, and the makings were always there.
It should please us that thus far cranks and people who thought they could spend their way to victory are losing. The public is not that stupid.
It appears also from the excessively hard-to-follow coverage that the voters aren't punishing those doing a good job.
It appears also from the excessively hard-to-follow coverage that the voters aren't punishing those doing a good job.
And another sequel: DURBAN III -- playing New York on 9/11/2011.
Why must this be restricted to CONSERVATIVE WEB SITES?
In the next three weeks, the Obama administration will have to vote on the General Assembly resolution containing the “modalities” for September’s Durban III in New York City. The administration should not only vote no, but must also respond clearly and unequivocally to the following question. Does President Obama plan to attend Durban III, and will his administration take immediate steps to prevent the U.N.’s use of New York City as a vehicle to encourage anti-Semitism under the pretense of combating racism?
Expect the NEW! IMPROVED! OMNIPOTENCE ADMINISTRATION to ABSTAIN on both counts.
Why must this be restricted to CONSERVATIVE WEB SITES?
In the next three weeks, the Obama administration will have to vote on the General Assembly resolution containing the “modalities” for September’s Durban III in New York City. The administration should not only vote no, but must also respond clearly and unequivocally to the following question. Does President Obama plan to attend Durban III, and will his administration take immediate steps to prevent the U.N.’s use of New York City as a vehicle to encourage anti-Semitism under the pretense of combating racism?
Expect the NEW! IMPROVED! OMNIPOTENCE ADMINISTRATION to ABSTAIN on both counts.
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, from a VIDEO GAME; UNDERWORLD 4 IN 3D; Venom, A SPIN-OFF OF SPIDER-MAN; MATTEL'S THREATENED VIEW-MASTER MOVEE; Voltron, from "the classic 80s TELEVISION SERIES"; WANTED 2; WICKED!!!!!!!!!!; A REMAKE OF WINNIE THE POOH; WOLVERINE 2, A SEQUEL TO THE X-MEN SPIN-OFF; THE TWXSTERS' THREATENED WONDER WOMAN MOVEE; X-MEN: FIRST CLASS; Xerxes, A PREQUEL TO 300; XXX: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE; Y: The Last Man, from A COMIC BOOK; A 3D REMAKE OF YELLOW SUBMARINE; YOGI BEAR 3D; ZOMBIELAND 2 IN 3D; ZOOLANDER 2....
There! Finished!
And so's the movee biz!
(A final thought later.)
There! Finished!
And so's the movee biz!
(A final thought later.)
Elsewhere from Atlantic.com and Megan McArdle, a pretty fair insight into the obvious:
It's Official: The Government Isn't Getting Its Money Back Out of GM
It's Official: The Government Isn't Getting Its Money Back Out of GM
What Democrats Will Say to Themselves
Is it me or have we been getting quite a few such post-mortems -- and under the circumstance, shouldn't we modify it with the first-person plural?
Is it me or have we been getting quite a few such post-mortems -- and under the circumstance, shouldn't we modify it with the first-person plural?
Gingrich: Odds of Democratic Comeback 'Very, Very, Long' After GOP Sweep
Hey NEWT! Didn't somebody say the opposite two not very, very long years ago?
Hey NEWT! Didn't somebody say the opposite two not very, very long years ago?
Multiply this by a hundred and it's probably the best we can expect from the NEW! IMPROVED! Congress.
Line of the Day, from David Gurgle Jr.:
The biggest change is in the camp of the potential victors. Two years ago, Democrats waxed romantic. This year, the Republicans seem modest and cautious. I haven’t seen this many sober Republicans since America lost the Ryder Cup.
(Via JENNIFER!)
The biggest change is in the camp of the potential victors. Two years ago, Democrats waxed romantic. This year, the Republicans seem modest and cautious. I haven’t seen this many sober Republicans since America lost the Ryder Cup.
(Via JENNIFER!)
An article like this almost makes one wish BABS keeps control and delivers a big comeuppance to the Wall Street Casino because we KNOW the GOP will give the candy store away to it, hence more bubbles, more obsessive merging, more bad mortgages and CDOs and SIVs, more of everything they won't be able to blame on Barney Frank this time. If the Tea Party types are more than talk -- we doubt it -- they'd do well to remind their new GOP brethren that WE DON'T LIKE REPUBLICANS EITHER.
Yes, Wagner was Hitler's composer, and yes he didn't like Jews, but the time has come for Israel to recognize the man for his music, not his connotations.
The ICO is to perform in July on the fringes of the annual Beyreuth festival in Germany that celebrates Wagner's operas.
It will play Wagner's Siegfrid Idyll, an orchestral piece, as well as a work by Israeli composer Zvi Avni and music by German-born Felix Mendelssohn and Austrian-born Gustav Mahler, two of the most prominent among Jewish-born composers.
Talmi said the orchestra's appearance would send a poignant message: "You could not get rid of us. You could not get rid of our music."
And that is the important thing.
(Via the usual AHTSJournal)
The ICO is to perform in July on the fringes of the annual Beyreuth festival in Germany that celebrates Wagner's operas.
It will play Wagner's Siegfrid Idyll, an orchestral piece, as well as a work by Israeli composer Zvi Avni and music by German-born Felix Mendelssohn and Austrian-born Gustav Mahler, two of the most prominent among Jewish-born composers.
Talmi said the orchestra's appearance would send a poignant message: "You could not get rid of us. You could not get rid of our music."
And that is the important thing.
(Via the usual AHTSJournal)
Monday, November 01, 2010
Not to bring this up again but last week we mentioned Rudy Vallée. Who is this generation's Vallée -- dubious sex symbol today, hoary joke tomorrow? There are too many candidates but top of our list is JUSTIN; and this is unfair to Vallée as he could sing. We can't imagine his career would last forty years, but after the hacks all bets must be off. Next up is Robert Tayl -- PATTINSON, and Vallée was definitely better looking. There are other comparisons with his day; a certain tiresome LADY we'd liken unfavorably to Theda Bara. Maybe KATY would be Clara Bow but the problem here is she was effortlessly cute -- and you don't hear of her either. (We might say Louise Brooks but that's an insult -- to Brooks.)
And further on the topic Yahoo!'s run another of those irritating ads whose sole purpose is to rub someone's excessive show-biz luck in our faces while getting its author a studio job. Which reminds us that though we now speak of sequels the movee biz has retreated to the kind of serial programmers common in the forties -- The Great Gildersleeve, the Mexican Spitfire and Blondie. The problem is, they were B pictures. So are ROWLINGCORP's and MEYERDOM's, and we doubt people will bathe them in nostalgia in another half-century either, no matter JEFF BEWKES's immortality.
Which brings us to another star of the Twenties, and the Library of America. The publisher of PHILIP K. DICK!!!!! has actually seen fit to run a Mencken anthology -- and Perfesser Shafer has reviewed it, in a way that might not please certain Web denizens:
Mencken completists—myself very much among them—are celebrating the return of all six Prejudices to print by a publisher that will likely keep them there. But sometimes scarcity trumps a surfeit—as Mencken himself believed. In the Sixth Series, he writes that Ambrose Bierce, a writer he hugely favored, "did a serious disservice to himself when he put those twelve volumes [of his collected works] together." By Mencken's reckoning, nobody but a fanatic had ever cracked all twelve, and Bierce should have boiled his anthology down to four or six volumes, maybe even fewer. There was a problem with too much Bierce, Mencken writes: "The result was a depressing assemblage of worn-out and fly-blown stuff, much of it quite unreadable. . . . [H]is good work is lost in a morass of bad and indifferent work . . . filled with epigrams against frauds long dead and forgotten, and echoes of old and puerile newspaper controversies."
Yes, the Menck just described blogging.
And further on the topic Yahoo!'s run another of those irritating ads whose sole purpose is to rub someone's excessive show-biz luck in our faces while getting its author a studio job. Which reminds us that though we now speak of sequels the movee biz has retreated to the kind of serial programmers common in the forties -- The Great Gildersleeve, the Mexican Spitfire and Blondie. The problem is, they were B pictures. So are ROWLINGCORP's and MEYERDOM's, and we doubt people will bathe them in nostalgia in another half-century either, no matter JEFF BEWKES's immortality.
Which brings us to another star of the Twenties, and the Library of America. The publisher of PHILIP K. DICK!!!!! has actually seen fit to run a Mencken anthology -- and Perfesser Shafer has reviewed it, in a way that might not please certain Web denizens:
Mencken completists—myself very much among them—are celebrating the return of all six Prejudices to print by a publisher that will likely keep them there. But sometimes scarcity trumps a surfeit—as Mencken himself believed. In the Sixth Series, he writes that Ambrose Bierce, a writer he hugely favored, "did a serious disservice to himself when he put those twelve volumes [of his collected works] together." By Mencken's reckoning, nobody but a fanatic had ever cracked all twelve, and Bierce should have boiled his anthology down to four or six volumes, maybe even fewer. There was a problem with too much Bierce, Mencken writes: "The result was a depressing assemblage of worn-out and fly-blown stuff, much of it quite unreadable. . . . [H]is good work is lost in a morass of bad and indifferent work . . . filled with epigrams against frauds long dead and forgotten, and echoes of old and puerile newspaper controversies."
Yes, the Menck just described blogging.
A REMAKE of The Mechanic; The Next Three Days, "a REMAKE of a 2008 French thriller"; The Osterman Weekend, based on A ROBERT LUDLUM NOVEL; The Parsifal Mosaic, based on ANOTHER ROBERT LUDLUM NOVEL; The Raven, which "puts Edgar Allan Poe at the head of a police investigation into a series of murders. The killer is inspired by the writer's stories. The story is based on Poe's own mysterious death." Suuuuuuuuuuuuure!; THE SMURFS; The Tourist, "a REMAKE of the 2005 French film"; THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN, PART 1!!!!!!!!!!; THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN, PART 2!!!!!!!!!!; The Zookeeper, which "centers on a man who leaves his job at a zoo to meet someone special. When the animals figure out he is leaving, they intervene and show him a few of nature's secrets in catching a mate." NO COMMENT!....
We'll try to finish up the alphabet tomorrow!
We'll try to finish up the alphabet tomorrow!
BLOWHARDS: Nick Dorken's "changing" his approach, meaning he still runs to much EW! YUCK! GROSS!, meaning his sites are leaking ad dollars, meaning our project to never trust any article touting his money-making prowess continues to pay off.
Elsewhere WALTER WINCHELL!!!!! JR. was caught boasting (caveat -- a ROMY link), meaning he too learned at the feet of Nick, meaning we can't trust him either.
Elsewhere WALTER WINCHELL!!!!! JR. was caught boasting (caveat -- a ROMY link), meaning he too learned at the feet of Nick, meaning we can't trust him either.
SHUCKS: The con-SER-va-tives' favorite ex-con historian may be headed back to the clink after all.
(also via I Want Media)
(also via I Want Media)
Anyone here remember Bear Stearns? How it submitted to a fire sale for $2 a share (later raised to $10) to Mr. MorganChase? The du Ponts' bank in Wilmington just laid a similar gold-plated egg. I know, I know, the Wall Street Casino-led economy's going gangbusters, so why does it often not seem that way?
PERFESSER BEINART GIVES THE WHOLE SHOW AWAY:
Maybe it’s not fair to blame Jon Stewart for all this. He’s a comedian, after all. But he’s the left’s closest equivalent to Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck.
I don't want to repeat that notorious FDR SOB line but the perfesser's saying This Guy bloviates but He's OUR bloviator. That ED MURROW (or is He WILL ROGERS now?) bloviates just as well as PILLHEAD would seem to diminish Him, but never underestimate the self-delusions of pundits.
Maybe it’s not fair to blame Jon Stewart for all this. He’s a comedian, after all. But he’s the left’s closest equivalent to Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck.
I don't want to repeat that notorious FDR SOB line but the perfesser's saying This Guy bloviates but He's OUR bloviator. That ED MURROW (or is He WILL ROGERS now?) bloviates just as well as PILLHEAD would seem to diminish Him, but never underestimate the self-delusions of pundits.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
If it's Sunday it must be Big Double-A-Scribble Time:
1. The good news for BROAD¢A$TER$: Candidates are spending as though they were in GUVMENT.
The BETTER NEWS for BROAD¢A$TER$: They can cram still more ads down their turnips' throats!
So what happens after the election? In terms of actual governance, if Republicans sweep to victory, they -- like Obama -- will likely find that change is easier to promise than it is to enact. But in terms of fundraising?
"There'll be a hangover after this election," Mr. Tracey said. "There won't be a lot of cash on hand." Both sides -- and incumbents in particular -- are "basically emptying their bank accounts" on this one.
Easy solution -- get the PEOPLE to fill them up!
2. It may be too late for GROUPON's IPO because everybody's doing it, and some things cannot be sold with a coupon.
1. The good news for BROAD¢A$TER$: Candidates are spending as though they were in GUVMENT.
The BETTER NEWS for BROAD¢A$TER$: They can cram still more ads down their turnips' throats!
So what happens after the election? In terms of actual governance, if Republicans sweep to victory, they -- like Obama -- will likely find that change is easier to promise than it is to enact. But in terms of fundraising?
"There'll be a hangover after this election," Mr. Tracey said. "There won't be a lot of cash on hand." Both sides -- and incumbents in particular -- are "basically emptying their bank accounts" on this one.
Easy solution -- get the PEOPLE to fill them up!
2. It may be too late for GROUPON's IPO because everybody's doing it, and some things cannot be sold with a coupon.
Theodore Sorensen, who somewhat wrote Profiles in Courage, has died. RIP.
(Via ESPNCORP Network News)
(Via ESPNCORP Network News)
SIX OF ONE: AFSCME burning its members' dues. With luck on Tuesday night they'll have stoked history's biggest campaign-money bonfire.
HALF-A-DOZEN OF THE OTHER: "Every dollar the government pays its employees is a dollar the government taxes away from somebody else." So let's pay them nothing, Jeff!
In the modern America no problem can't be made insoluble.
(Via the usual NRO)
HALF-A-DOZEN OF THE OTHER: "Every dollar the government pays its employees is a dollar the government taxes away from somebody else." So let's pay them nothing, Jeff!
In the modern America no problem can't be made insoluble.
(Via the usual NRO)
The Host, ANOTHER STEPHENIE MEYER NOVEL; something called The Hunger Games ("Set in a post-apocalyptic future, the government hosts a televised event where twelve boys and twelve girls are randomly chosen to compete in a tournament where they kill each other until one stands." ANOTHER remake of ROLLERBALL?!?!?); something called The Ides of March aka Farragut North ("Adapted from the Beau Willimon play, the thriller centers on a communications officer who works for an unorthodox political candidate. During the process, he gets a good lesson in the real world and sees his idealism fly out the door. The story is loosely based on Willimon's experience working for Howard Dean's campaign." GEORGE CLOONEY!!!!! lets idealism FLY OUT THE DOOR?!?!?); ANOTHER REMAKE OF THE JUNGLE BOOK; The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, WRITTEN BY L. FRANK BAUM; something called The Lincoln Lawyer ("so called because [the title character] runs his law practice out of his Lincoln car" -- do I smell a feature-length product placement?); THE LONE RANGER (AGAIN); THE LORAX; The Lost Symbol, ANOTHER DAN BROWN NOVEL; something called The Mark ("When the corpse of a Confederate soldier transfers a permanent mark to his hand, a man becomes endowed with superhuman capabilities." JONAH HEX BOMBED!)....
One more page of "The" next time!
One more page of "The" next time!
And ANOTHER EUREKA! moment from AHTSJournal: Roger is the LAST person who should knock "top-10" movee lists; he and GENE turned movee reviewing into a popularity contest with excellence decided by upturned thumbs. This only hastened the "plague" of such lists. No, anyone who's mightily helped morph yet another intellectual endeavor into a tiresome shouting match should SHUT UP.
One serving US intelligence officer told The Sunday Telegraph that there was now debate underway about pressuring Yemen into allowing the CIA to base armed drone aircraft there for a sustained attack on al Qaeda bases.
I can see why some in our government might "debate" that.
I can see why some in our government might "debate" that.
AHTSJournal has another of those inimitable EUREKA! moments:
Claim: Video Game Scores Are Now As Good As Movie Scores
Which means video games now cost as much to make as movies, and which also means Max Steiner and Alfred Newman are dead.
Claim: Video Game Scores Are Now As Good As Movie Scores
Which means video games now cost as much to make as movies, and which also means Max Steiner and Alfred Newman are dead.
Mr. Coll has a strong point; The Communications Acts of 1934 and 1996 are obsolete. But free en-ter-prise will not inspire good reporting. We see that in the newspaper biz, a victim of free en-ter-rpise from the Web. We see that in cable "news", which has more free en-ter-prise than any other segment of the TV trade. We simply cannot trust unimpeded capitalists to meet their social obligations. The BP disaster proved that. No one has a feasible solution to the news mess, although Mr. Coll's idea that FOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!News help finance NPNTR may not be completely unsound, unless, as Mr. Coll seems to suggest, the GUVMENT mandate it.
Let us say a news organization noted for perfect objectivity said VIACON's rally was bigger than DR. MARTIN LUTHER BECK's. We'd believe it. When SUMNER NETWORK NEWS says it we DON'T BELIEVE IT. Sons of Murrow, you have so much excess baggage we can NEVER rid ourselves of believing you have an ulterior motive, however pure your intent. And your intent is hardly pure when your boss SUMNER owns you and the organizing force behind the rally. This kind of conflict of interest sticks to the news biz like SUPERGLUE, whatever the story, whatever the source; and in the end it gums us up.
And we can't stand the REV. DR. BECK any more than we can stand the truth tellers of COMEDY CENTRAL NETWORK NEWS.
In the end SUMNER NETWORK NEWS is to the left what FOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NEWS is to the right, the only difference that the former makes a showy pretense of being factual, and points to pictures of long dead newsmen on the wall, thinking they excuse its faults. We can count on both to mangle the truth for a cause. And for what it's worth even SUMNER'S old hardcore following has died off; Perky Katie is a distant third. The only good is the audience pie is shrinking, but 20.5 million is still too many misinformed and underinformed by all network news.
Why must so much "news" reporting resemble PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING?
(Via HENRY HONEST!!!!!, who loves such stories because they allow his playpen to go nuts)
And we can't stand the REV. DR. BECK any more than we can stand the truth tellers of COMEDY CENTRAL NETWORK NEWS.
In the end SUMNER NETWORK NEWS is to the left what FOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NEWS is to the right, the only difference that the former makes a showy pretense of being factual, and points to pictures of long dead newsmen on the wall, thinking they excuse its faults. We can count on both to mangle the truth for a cause. And for what it's worth even SUMNER'S old hardcore following has died off; Perky Katie is a distant third. The only good is the audience pie is shrinking, but 20.5 million is still too many misinformed and underinformed by all network news.
Why must so much "news" reporting resemble PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING?
(Via HENRY HONEST!!!!!, who loves such stories because they allow his playpen to go nuts)
Among these liberal rally-goers, anti-corporate sentiments were palpable....
So what's the answer, con-SER-va-tives? Pro-corporate sentiments?
A PLAGUE O' SUMNER! A PLAGUE O' CORPORATE AMERICA! A PLAGUE O' BOTH YOUR PARTISAN HOUSES!
So what's the answer, con-SER-va-tives? Pro-corporate sentiments?
A PLAGUE O' SUMNER! A PLAGUE O' CORPORATE AMERICA! A PLAGUE O' BOTH YOUR PARTISAN HOUSES!
Here's a rare instance where SYNERGY paid dividends to other than the synergists. We wonder if this would have seen daylight if PEOPLE WARNER weren't the world's largest producer and consumer of bad animation -- the three "classics" mentioned in the first graf are ALL PEOPLE WARNER's -- and we must take a TWXSTER's word that South Korean animators get good pay and aren't mistreated, keeping in mind it makes HIS company look good; but this story is remarkable in spotlighting one of the altogether too many interesting topics news hacks won't spotlight unless someone kicks them in the rears, and it's annoying to think in this instance it took a trendy "artist", and a ZILLIONAIRE DOUGHNUT EATER.