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}
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Why we do NOT need the ASSPress, and why we do not need the publicists who call themselves JOURNALISTS: Yahoo! Philadelphia (or whatever it is) stuck me with this ASSPress bilge about Atlantic City because I had the right ZIP Code -- but despite all the professors of GAMING and retired GAMING executives scratching their scalps raw deeply wondering why the city's a disaster zone no one seems to have noticed that all those not-so-glittery GAMING halls are...
IN THE GHEEEEEEEEE-TOOOOOOOOOOO....
The SLUMS have absolutely NOTHING to do with Atlantic City's failure -- and all these trumpeting ex-TRUMPSTERS boasting about how WONDERFUL AC was tell me they ignored the GHEEEEEEEEEE-TOOOOOOOOOOOO too. SO DID THE ASSPRESS, which uses words like "ghetto", "slums" and "crime" NOT ONCE.
When the commenters are far more revealing than the story, that is the very definition of SUPERFLUOUS.
A NEUHARTHISM OF THE MONTH AWARD (Feeling Sorry Division) TO WAYNE!
IN THE GHEEEEEEEEE-TOOOOOOOOOOO....
The SLUMS have absolutely NOTHING to do with Atlantic City's failure -- and all these trumpeting ex-TRUMPSTERS boasting about how WONDERFUL AC was tell me they ignored the GHEEEEEEEEEE-TOOOOOOOOOOOO too. SO DID THE ASSPRESS, which uses words like "ghetto", "slums" and "crime" NOT ONCE.
When the commenters are far more revealing than the story, that is the very definition of SUPERFLUOUS.
A NEUHARTHISM OF THE MONTH AWARD (Feeling Sorry Division) TO WAYNE!
The truth of the matter is that federal taxes in the United States are very low. There is no reason to believe that reducing them further will do anything to raise growth or reduce unemployment.
DEMOCRAT!!! COMMIE!!!!!
A former aide to RON!!!!! PAUL!!!!!?
(Via Seeking Alpha)
DEMOCRAT!!! COMMIE!!!!!
A former aide to RON!!!!! PAUL!!!!!?
(Via Seeking Alpha)
Of course so is the too-aptly named Congressman who seems to have started a publicity stunt of his own. Think of him as the Bob Dornan of the trendy left, or Jim Traficant in a better district. We have nothing to say as such stunts only yield victims, the first one the truth, and furthermore a man who thinks with his mouth has no good judgment.
Television’s Sarah Palin and Donald Trump to Meet Tonight in New York
A curious hed, especially given that SARAH!!!!! did not start out in television, but apt nonetheless. They have become the Ren and Stimpy of politics, loudmouthed cartoon characters more interested in doing stupid things and ticking people off than leading. No one would mistake either for a leader, except as they lead with their mouths. Of course many other pols are from television, but these two seem to represent nothing else.
A curious hed, especially given that SARAH!!!!! did not start out in television, but apt nonetheless. They have become the Ren and Stimpy of politics, loudmouthed cartoon characters more interested in doing stupid things and ticking people off than leading. No one would mistake either for a leader, except as they lead with their mouths. Of course many other pols are from television, but these two seem to represent nothing else.
Show biz publicists (i.e., "reporters") spent all day Sunday and yesterday dancing on their desks because THE SLUMP IS OVER!!!!! You could tell they were extremely happy because they got PAUL DRECK to join in!!!!! Of course someone had to poop at the party, and the someone was 3D. For all the advertising this is bad news because most movies are evidently NOT better in 3D, and in time they'll make the movee S&M phreaks realize they may be worse in 2D. And despite the overseas boom 3D may be a "leading indicator" of worse to come. Don't forget DVDs are pancaking too. Better celebrate while you can, PAUL, DAVID "NON" GERMAIN and company; with luck in time you'll sing the blues.
(First link via the usual AHTSJournal)
(First link via the usual AHTSJournal)
George Lucas Has 50 Hours Worth of ‘Star Wars’ TV Show
1. Is that a threat? 2. Will they better than the LEGENDARY Christmas special?
1. Is that a threat? 2. Will they better than the LEGENDARY Christmas special?
Right-wing talk-radio hosts saw their ratings slump because COMMIES FIXED THEM!!!!!!!!!!
And besides, THEIR RATINGS NEVER SLUMPED!!!!!!!!!!
Isn't this the same pile of malarkey that runs Ben "DSK" Frankenstein? NUF SAID.
And besides, THEIR RATINGS NEVER SLUMPED!!!!!!!!!!
Isn't this the same pile of malarkey that runs Ben "DSK" Frankenstein? NUF SAID.
Monday, May 30, 2011
We recall how B. S. DEFENDER would rah-rah the explosion of bad language in media, cherishing a supposed FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT. How mirthful then that bad language may be one of the culprits behind the Dodgers' box-office swoon.
What's good for PEOPLE WARNER may NOT be good for America.
What's good for PEOPLE WARNER may NOT be good for America.
Speaking of Yahoo!, this story will only prove that denying Harry Potter a Branson East Theme Park Awards nomination was a premeditated crime!
Oh, please, it's only about how many thousands the producers can charge for the passes.
Oh, please, it's only about how many thousands the producers can charge for the passes.
I can see people commenting on Jim Tressel -- very much so after this article -- but why 1,071 comments on some insignificant quarrel in an insignificant game that didn't even rise to the level of screaming?
P. S. on that DAMNING SI account: I wonder what the former Ohio State student James Thurber would think? I think he would not be surprised. Though he might not have figured on the tattoos. (KEITH O reads the pertinent story here.)
P. S. on that DAMNING SI account: I wonder what the former Ohio State student James Thurber would think? I think he would not be surprised. Though he might not have figured on the tattoos. (KEITH O reads the pertinent story here.)
Meanwhile, back to airheaded frivolity:
"In the eighties and early nineties, the movie star was the brand," explains Simon Kinberg, producer of X-Men: First Class. "Then in the nineties, visual effects became the brand. Now, the brand is the brand."
"Movie"? What's a "movie"?
"In the eighties and early nineties, the movie star was the brand," explains Simon Kinberg, producer of X-Men: First Class. "Then in the nineties, visual effects became the brand. Now, the brand is the brand."
"Movie"? What's a "movie"?
From a rag we associate with airheaded frivolity: a story on the hunt for a cure for AIDS:
[A]dvances in treatment have further shifted attention from the hunt for a cure. A study released in May found that early anti-retroviral therapy decreases patients’ infectiousness by a striking 96 percent. Today, most people on anti-retroviral drugs achieve an undetectable viral load—there is virtually no HIV circulating in their blood. An idea has taken hold: We can live with this.
But we cannot. Doctors will tell you that many patients still fail treatment and die. As people age with the disease, we are seeing that even those successfully treated can lose years of life. A massive multicountry study published in The Lancet in 2008 reported that someone starting therapy at age 20 could expect to live to only 63. The following year, another study found that a group of HIV-positive patients with a median age of 56 had immune systems comparable to those of healthy 88-year-olds. The latent reservoir of HIV seems to be most to blame, producing inflammation that degrades the immune system, increasing susceptibility to age-related diseases. What’s more, research has shown that the drugs themselves can lead to increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
The cost of treatment is also unsustainable. In the United States, second-line drugs—for people who don’t improve on standard medications—can total $30,000 a year. Cash-strapped states are trimming programs that pay for these medicines; there are now more than 8,300 people in America on waiting lists for anti-retroviral drugs. In developing countries, drugs are much cheaper—some generic regimens cost only $67 annually—but wealthy nations are wearying of picking up the bill. According to UNAIDS, 10 million people in the Third World who need treatment are not getting it at all. The math of the epidemic is unrelenting: For every three people who start treatment, five new people are infected.
A vaccine for AIDS is “probably decades away,” says Daria Hazuda, a vice-president at Merck. “There’s still an enormous amount of hope, but people now realize it’s going to be extremely complicated.” We know now that we will neither treat nor vaccinate our way out of this epidemic. But there could be another way for it to end.
And that way apparently involves stem-cell research, and you know what that means. And even this man who has been "cured" of AIDS has suffered lingering side effects. We should always hope to eradicate this scourge, but most likely it will not even be in our great-grandchildren's lifetimes.
[A]dvances in treatment have further shifted attention from the hunt for a cure. A study released in May found that early anti-retroviral therapy decreases patients’ infectiousness by a striking 96 percent. Today, most people on anti-retroviral drugs achieve an undetectable viral load—there is virtually no HIV circulating in their blood. An idea has taken hold: We can live with this.
But we cannot. Doctors will tell you that many patients still fail treatment and die. As people age with the disease, we are seeing that even those successfully treated can lose years of life. A massive multicountry study published in The Lancet in 2008 reported that someone starting therapy at age 20 could expect to live to only 63. The following year, another study found that a group of HIV-positive patients with a median age of 56 had immune systems comparable to those of healthy 88-year-olds. The latent reservoir of HIV seems to be most to blame, producing inflammation that degrades the immune system, increasing susceptibility to age-related diseases. What’s more, research has shown that the drugs themselves can lead to increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
The cost of treatment is also unsustainable. In the United States, second-line drugs—for people who don’t improve on standard medications—can total $30,000 a year. Cash-strapped states are trimming programs that pay for these medicines; there are now more than 8,300 people in America on waiting lists for anti-retroviral drugs. In developing countries, drugs are much cheaper—some generic regimens cost only $67 annually—but wealthy nations are wearying of picking up the bill. According to UNAIDS, 10 million people in the Third World who need treatment are not getting it at all. The math of the epidemic is unrelenting: For every three people who start treatment, five new people are infected.
A vaccine for AIDS is “probably decades away,” says Daria Hazuda, a vice-president at Merck. “There’s still an enormous amount of hope, but people now realize it’s going to be extremely complicated.” We know now that we will neither treat nor vaccinate our way out of this epidemic. But there could be another way for it to end.
And that way apparently involves stem-cell research, and you know what that means. And even this man who has been "cured" of AIDS has suffered lingering side effects. We should always hope to eradicate this scourge, but most likely it will not even be in our great-grandchildren's lifetimes.
Can Rahm Emanuel Save the Chicago Film Renaissance?
Obviously this writer for Dalliant & Dainty and The Junior Varsity wants him to spendspendspend if that's what it takes -- so long as its other people's money, of course -- meaning the time quickly arrives when we put TheAtlantic.com on our S-LIST.
Obviously this writer for Dalliant & Dainty and The Junior Varsity wants him to spendspendspend if that's what it takes -- so long as its other people's money, of course -- meaning the time quickly arrives when we put TheAtlantic.com on our S-LIST.
The stench got so bad even Ohio State finally objected.
Trustee Algenon L. Marbley, reached this morning, declined to comment and said that trustees decided that Gee would speak for the university.
We mustn't make fun of names so we'll just say this is what runs football factories. (Via CBS Sports)
P. S. at 1:34 p. m.
OSU doesn't have to pay Tressel anything
We'll see about that!
Trustee Algenon L. Marbley, reached this morning, declined to comment and said that trustees decided that Gee would speak for the university.
We mustn't make fun of names so we'll just say this is what runs football factories. (Via CBS Sports)
P. S. at 1:34 p. m.
OSU doesn't have to pay Tressel anything
We'll see about that!
Ostriches don't bury their heads in the sand, more than one can say for the Germans.
Let's see alternative energy sources work.
But if renewable energy is to help compensate for the eventual loss of nuclear power, a broader range of policy measures is necessary to create the kind of monetary incentives developers require.
The greatest potential for growth and profit, according to Quitzow, lies in the modernisation of the renewable energy grid – and the key to this is smarter public policy and investment.
“Grid development requires large-scale coordination and investment by the government – the private sector alone can’t achieve that,” Quitzow said.
Ka-CHINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!!!!!!!!!!
Let's see alternative energy sources work.
But if renewable energy is to help compensate for the eventual loss of nuclear power, a broader range of policy measures is necessary to create the kind of monetary incentives developers require.
The greatest potential for growth and profit, according to Quitzow, lies in the modernisation of the renewable energy grid – and the key to this is smarter public policy and investment.
“Grid development requires large-scale coordination and investment by the government – the private sector alone can’t achieve that,” Quitzow said.
Ka-CHINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
If it's Sunday it must be Big Double-A-Scribble Time:
1. All these CEOs rushrushrushing to get their luxury suites for the NFL may have saddled their companies with all sorts of unusable promotional materials! "There IS going to be a season", says the "chief consumer officer for Mars Chocolate North America" [emphasis added], meaning the bosses have been on HER case for those 50-yard tickets. "P&G...was aware of the potential for a labor dispute when it negotiated its deal", meaning the bosses weren't going to give up their right to yell at THEIR subordinates!
We sigh because most likely the billionaires and zillionaires will reach a last-second deal. But wouldn't it be nice if they didn't?
2. Jann Wenner: Magazines' Rush to iPad Is 'Sheer Insanity and Insecurity and Fear'
We know He's right, because how many scribblers has HE driven to sheer insanity, insecurity and fear because they haven't met THEIR quota for puff pieces and rave reviews?
3. News Corp.'s Hulu Hope: To Add More Commercials
News Corp.'s REAL hope: To drive away viewers while charging more for the ads!
4. You know Corporate America's leaders don't think they've arrived until they've wasted billions on an unnecessary acquisition -- like PEPSICO buying QUAKER OATS.
Here's betting Indra doesn't get what Her company paid for it. Who REALLY wants Rice-A-Roni and Life cereal? (Even if we like them.)
Quaker today faces some new competition in oatmeal from private label and chains such as McDonald's and Starbucks, as well as cereal, where most brands are down. [Emphasis added]
They couldn'ta done it without ADVERTISING!
1. All these CEOs rushrushrushing to get their luxury suites for the NFL may have saddled their companies with all sorts of unusable promotional materials! "There IS going to be a season", says the "chief consumer officer for Mars Chocolate North America" [emphasis added], meaning the bosses have been on HER case for those 50-yard tickets. "P&G...was aware of the potential for a labor dispute when it negotiated its deal", meaning the bosses weren't going to give up their right to yell at THEIR subordinates!
We sigh because most likely the billionaires and zillionaires will reach a last-second deal. But wouldn't it be nice if they didn't?
2. Jann Wenner: Magazines' Rush to iPad Is 'Sheer Insanity and Insecurity and Fear'
We know He's right, because how many scribblers has HE driven to sheer insanity, insecurity and fear because they haven't met THEIR quota for puff pieces and rave reviews?
3. News Corp.'s Hulu Hope: To Add More Commercials
News Corp.'s REAL hope: To drive away viewers while charging more for the ads!
4. You know Corporate America's leaders don't think they've arrived until they've wasted billions on an unnecessary acquisition -- like PEPSICO buying QUAKER OATS.
Here's betting Indra doesn't get what Her company paid for it. Who REALLY wants Rice-A-Roni and Life cereal? (Even if we like them.)
Quaker today faces some new competition in oatmeal from private label and chains such as McDonald's and Starbucks, as well as cereal, where most brands are down. [Emphasis added]
They couldn'ta done it without ADVERTISING!
We grasp at straws looking for critics who can write and think, and who moreover aren't afraid to let the overrated have it; thankfully Jonathan Yardley hasn't given up the good fight, as shown in this tearing apart of a PC academic novel.
We will confess, though, we'd much rather read him rip up Barbara Sinatra's "memoir".
We will confess, though, we'd much rather read him rip up Barbara Sinatra's "memoir".
Want to put a con-SER-va-tive into a bad mood? Mention attempts to limit CEO pay.
The bad news for con-SER-va-tives: They seem to be working. The good news: They're not working that well.
The bad news for con-SER-va-tives: They seem to be working. The good news: They're not working that well.
The Heat are showing how to overcome enormous hype and deliver on those expectations. For everyone else, it is like watching the bully win.
And that is exactly what Phillies fans hope to see in October.
Such typing with five hands, thirty-one fingers and a third of a brain is why I'm starting to think sports hacks are almost as undeserving of employment as "cri-TICS". They sit in the equivalent of a luxury box with their feet on the desk, summoning the glories of the heavens when their team wins and hellfire and brimstone when it loses, making six digits and nonetheless dreaming of Bristol and the guys writing infinite palaver for SI. Okay Bill or Mel or whatever your name is, the Bullies will win ten straight Series, and you'll quintuple your salary, and a regular-season ducat for the nosebleed sections will cost $2,000. How many others will be happy? And how much will it cost our city's already rotten reputation?
TRANSLATION: WINNING ISN'T EEEEEEEVERYTHING....
And that is exactly what Phillies fans hope to see in October.
Such typing with five hands, thirty-one fingers and a third of a brain is why I'm starting to think sports hacks are almost as undeserving of employment as "cri-TICS". They sit in the equivalent of a luxury box with their feet on the desk, summoning the glories of the heavens when their team wins and hellfire and brimstone when it loses, making six digits and nonetheless dreaming of Bristol and the guys writing infinite palaver for SI. Okay Bill or Mel or whatever your name is, the Bullies will win ten straight Series, and you'll quintuple your salary, and a regular-season ducat for the nosebleed sections will cost $2,000. How many others will be happy? And how much will it cost our city's already rotten reputation?
TRANSLATION: WINNING ISN'T EEEEEEEVERYTHING....
Saturday, May 28, 2011
I wonder how many hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Bloomy terminal customers went to finance this astounding 575-word bit of biznews:
Zillow With a Z Will Break NYSE’s Monopoly on Single-Letter Stock Tickers
Zillow With a Z Will Break NYSE’s Monopoly on Single-Letter Stock Tickers
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been fined $34m (£20m) for cutting off communications services during the uprising that ousted him.
Which should make its way to the Muslim Brotherhood before it's fined nothing for censoring the Web too.
(Via NEWSER!)
Which should make its way to the Muslim Brotherhood before it's fined nothing for censoring the Web too.
(Via NEWSER!)
Today THE WORLD'S LEADING WEB NEWS SITE (BLEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!!!) scratched its head over why so many female teachers are seducing boys, and as befitting the site that gave us Cheryl it had to clank and wheeze its way to an obvious reason: the women aren't stable. Those priests surely weren't stable either -- and they seduced boys too.
Somewhat reluctantly we must post this picture of one of the women (a mug shot!) because as my three readers will know a number of the most notorious cases of statutory rape have involved lookers, which compounds the tragedies. I doubt the woman could act but with just a little makeup tweaking (i.e., the slightly-off-center eyebrows) such a face is ready for Hollywood and far superior to most of those ac-TORS' we've seen -- certainly better than another Jennifer's; I cannot get it out of my head. There but for the grace of God.... (For what it's worth, however, in other pictures her hair isn't streaked and she isn't anywhere near this good-looking.)
Somewhat reluctantly we must post this picture of one of the women (a mug shot!) because as my three readers will know a number of the most notorious cases of statutory rape have involved lookers, which compounds the tragedies. I doubt the woman could act but with just a little makeup tweaking (i.e., the slightly-off-center eyebrows) such a face is ready for Hollywood and far superior to most of those ac-TORS' we've seen -- certainly better than another Jennifer's; I cannot get it out of my head. There but for the grace of God.... (For what it's worth, however, in other pictures her hair isn't streaked and she isn't anywhere near this good-looking.)
An apt tribute to a once-powerful politician:
For the last time, San Francisco students filed through the doors of Willie Brown Jr. College Preparatory Academy on Friday morning and past a banner that declared the public school a place "where students' dreams come true."
The Bayview district campus never really lived up to that promise. The fourth- through eighth-grade school fell consistently among the worst of the worst schools statewide on standardized test scores. The school was so old that lead-filled pipes made the drinking water unsafe.
Willie Brown Prep closed for good Friday. The building is scheduled for demolition, and its 160 students have been assigned to schools across the district for the fall.
For the last time, San Francisco students filed through the doors of Willie Brown Jr. College Preparatory Academy on Friday morning and past a banner that declared the public school a place "where students' dreams come true."
The Bayview district campus never really lived up to that promise. The fourth- through eighth-grade school fell consistently among the worst of the worst schools statewide on standardized test scores. The school was so old that lead-filled pipes made the drinking water unsafe.
Willie Brown Prep closed for good Friday. The building is scheduled for demolition, and its 160 students have been assigned to schools across the district for the fall.
We don't know how typical this anecdote is, but historic and cultural ignorance hold hands, and our national skolars have led them successfully to the altar.
Friday, May 27, 2011
JPOD had to rave a work of genius, using a title from Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and I had to respond electronically, saying his fellow POST typist hated it (to the resounding dissenting duuuuuhhhhh of commenters), and such art can't be genius and stupid at the same time; and of course JPOD did not say in any detail why it was genius, the mark of a man striving to be not entirely honest; and I said this was exactly why people questioned his appointment as Commentary editor as he's ever the pop-culture marshmallow; and so I sent my comment off, the practical equivalent of spitting in the wind.
Another pinheaded fight in BIGMEDIA:
Bloomberg, Comcast Argue About Channel Placement
You have to think these companies do such things on purpose to distract themselves from the inconvenience of having to serve the public.
Bloomberg, Comcast Argue About Channel Placement
You have to think these companies do such things on purpose to distract themselves from the inconvenience of having to serve the public.
That zillionaire geek typist who found a scintillating new use for iPhones is being sicced with the deadliest charge of all: the conflict of interest. The whole purpose of the PR (i.e., "news") biz is rooted in the greatest conflict of interest of all: placing your sources first, whether over a political grudge or for selling an epochal new movie. If we're going to prosecute conflicts of interest virtually the whole biz is guilty as charged.
[T]he Times’ ethics policy, within a section called “keeping our detachment,” states that while “Romantic involvement with a news source would create the appearance and probably the reality of partiality,” it’s up to the writer to disclose it to his or her editor, as Pogue did, and that “in some cases, no further action may be needed”....
If we could solve our problems like news hacks....
[T]he Times’ ethics policy, within a section called “keeping our detachment,” states that while “Romantic involvement with a news source would create the appearance and probably the reality of partiality,” it’s up to the writer to disclose it to his or her editor, as Pogue did, and that “in some cases, no further action may be needed”....
If we could solve our problems like news hacks....
The Tone-Deaf Hed of the Year from the Bloomy:
Tony Hayward Gets His Life Back
When do the people get their GULF back?
Tony Hayward Gets His Life Back
When do the people get their GULF back?
Count on SLIME's secret admirer WOLFFMAN!!!!! to plug a new celebrity blog or whatever that on first blush looks absolutely vapid -- but for some reason women like vapid blogs and Web sites. Certainly the SLIMES and SUMNERS who run such sites do.
The tragedy is even if a work is truly meritorious it can't escape the overpowering stench of news-hack hype that surrounds all show-biz. We must also remember the curse of the CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED, of which this is in spades with its Palme d'Or, and the deadly notion that movees must be consumed like medicine. When someone like the fillum critic at NRO tells us something is superb we cannot trust him. We know we are supremely closed-minded in dismissing things like this, but think of how many recent works of genius were rebuked when a clearer-thinking public came to know better.
The editorial director of Billboard (and, from the sounds of it, a former rock music critic) launches into an incomprehensible 1,508-word defense of his rag's stats, which reminds us that even after decades no one's been able to quite fathom The Paper of Re-CORD's Book Revue's, and this diatribe hints that even with the latest statistical tools -- and the Bill's may be more trustworthy than most -- there is still no completely reliable way of gathering who buys what in show-biz, which will never prevent the public-relations specialists from writing press releases full of words like "record".
Speaking of stats, its site boasts that a certain PC politically-incorrect wuhk has busted into its 200 chart with 13,000 COPIES SOLD!!!!! The stat is even less flattering seeing how many people still buy, oh, say, daily newspapers, and magazines, and other such dying things. Well, as we said before, somebody named Paul Whiteman sold 214,575 copies of a whatisit called "Whispering" featuring a slide whistle. The trendy will always be with us.
P. S. at 11:51 p. m. In counting words we missed this:
Who's to say that in three years or three months or even three weeks that the accepted value of an album won't be .99 cents? I realize that's an alarming (and unlikely, at least in weeks or months) thought for many of you, dear readers. But the decline in the perceived value of recorded music is not exactly a secret in 2011.
Keep declining!
Speaking of stats, its site boasts that a certain PC politically-incorrect wuhk has busted into its 200 chart with 13,000 COPIES SOLD!!!!! The stat is even less flattering seeing how many people still buy, oh, say, daily newspapers, and magazines, and other such dying things. Well, as we said before, somebody named Paul Whiteman sold 214,575 copies of a whatisit called "Whispering" featuring a slide whistle. The trendy will always be with us.
P. S. at 11:51 p. m. In counting words we missed this:
Who's to say that in three years or three months or even three weeks that the accepted value of an album won't be .99 cents? I realize that's an alarming (and unlikely, at least in weeks or months) thought for many of you, dear readers. But the decline in the perceived value of recorded music is not exactly a secret in 2011.
Keep declining!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
The SUPERMANNING OF AMERICA continues as five thousand people all but engage in fistfights booking "musical" acts for the late-night plugfests.
OR:
Sullivan had a keen understanding of what various demographic segments of his audience desired to see. As an impresario for the highbrow, he debuted ballerina Margot Fonteyn in 1958 and later teamed her with Rudolf Nureyev in 1965; saluted Van Cliburn after his upset victory in the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow; and welcomed many neighbors from the nearby Metropolitan Opera, including Roberta Peters, who appeared 41 times, and the rarely seen Maria Callas, who performed a fully staged scene from Tosca. As the cultural eyes and ears for middle America, he introduced movie and Broadway legends into the collective living room, including Pearl Bailey, who appeared 23 times; Richard Burton and Julie Andrews in a scene from the 1961 Camelot; Sammy Davis Jr. with the Golden Boy cast; former CBS stage manager Yul Brynner in The King and I; Henry Fonda reading Lincoln's Gettysburg Address; and the rising star Barbra Streisand singing "Color Him Gone" in her 1962 debut. Occasionally, he devoted an entire telecast to one theme or biography: "The Cole Porter Story," "The Walt Disney Story," "The MGM Story," and "A Night at Sophie Tucker's House."
The Civil Wars, Foo Fighters, Janelle Monae, Lady Gaga, TV on the Radio, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Animal Collective, Prince, Kesha, Mana, Mindless Behavior, Far East Movement, David Guetta, Fitz & The Tantrums, Freddie Gibbs, Charles Bradley, Gang Gang Dance, Gogol Bordello, Cake -- yes, I'd say that's a pretty fair trade.
Seeing John Edwards brought into court may satisfy a public that rightly thinks him deserving of some rough justice for the way he treated his wife. But however despicable he may be, putting him through the wringer for campaign finance violations is no triumph for American jurisprudence.
TRANSLATION: Spending zillions running for president is not a crime -- and can't possibly cause one!
TRANSLATION: Spending zillions running for president is not a crime -- and can't possibly cause one!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
The public relations experts called news hacks have all but stopped up their ears to the personal catastrophes that idiot Christian-radio mogul caused. What else could we expect? The outlet running this story specializes in idiocies.
A lawsuit is probably hopeless, but at least it could have a cleansing effect -- or would, without those damned PR minions.
A lawsuit is probably hopeless, but at least it could have a cleansing effect -- or would, without those damned PR minions.
Stop the presses!
Tribune has paid $157 million to bankruptcy lawyers, advisers
They're lucky they didn't.
Tribune has paid $157 million to bankruptcy lawyers, advisers
They're lucky they didn't.
Well whadya know: a state's Gaming Control Board looking out for its client casinos!
I'd never have expected this in Pennsylvania!
EDDIE, take a bow! You are proof one can be corrupt though unindicted.
I'd never have expected this in Pennsylvania!
EDDIE, take a bow! You are proof one can be corrupt though unindicted.
The Swiss, in something of a repeat of what the Spaniards did seven years ago in electing a feckless and incompetent government because Osama said so, have been scared by the Fukushima disaster into disowning nuclear power. Thankfully the off-line dates for its current plants are vague and meaninglessly into the future -- plenty of time for a real energy crisis to start, and for the Swiss to rush around like the CHICKENS of Spain with their head-cut-off useless alternatives.
OR:
The nation currently relies on these plants for 40 percent of its energy needs and becomes, as the Journal noted, the second European nation (after Germany) to ditch nuclear energy for now.
In the words of ED MURROW I, good night -- and good luck!
OR:
The nation currently relies on these plants for 40 percent of its energy needs and becomes, as the Journal noted, the second European nation (after Germany) to ditch nuclear energy for now.
In the words of ED MURROW I, good night -- and good luck!
Apple to issue Mac update to halt malware attacks
Remember -- Macs don't need security software! Pfffffffffffffffft!
"Mac OS X is no more secure than any other operating system. It has vulnerabilities, and it will let you download and run malware," Miller told Ars. "The difference is that there simply isn't that much malware written for it. The bad guys have focused all their energies at Windows, which makes up the vast majority of the computers out there. However, as market share for Macs continues to inch up, that equation is going to change and bad guys will begin to focus in on Macs, if that hasn't already started to happen. And as I mentioned above, Macs are no more inherently secure than Windows, so when the bad guys decide to go after them with gusto, it'll get ugly fast."
James agreed. "Dismissing this by saying people are crying wolf is extremely short-sighted. Macs are attacked less often, but it seems this is one of the first truly sophisticated malware apps for the Mac. It's not over."
Y-y-you m-mean St-St-St-Steve is a-a-a F-F-FALSE GOD?!?!?
P. S. at 10:57 p. m.
I know a lot of Apple users who breathed a sigh of relief yesterday, thinking that Apple’s belated response finally means that the problem is over. As any computer security researcher will tell you, this arms war is just getting started.
Apple appears to be treating this outbreak as if it were a single incident that won’t be repeated. They seriously underestimate the bad guys, who are not idiots. Peter James, an Intego spokeperson, told me his company’s analysts were “impressed by the quality of the original version.” The quick response to Apple’s move suggests they are capable of churning out new releases at Internet speeds, adapting their software and their tactics as their target—Apple—tries to put up new roadblocks.
If Apple plans to play Whack-a-Mole with these guys, they’re in for months of misery.
You kidding? No problem! MACS DON'T NEED SECURITY SOFTWARE!
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!!!!!
Remember -- Macs don't need security software! Pfffffffffffffffft!
"Mac OS X is no more secure than any other operating system. It has vulnerabilities, and it will let you download and run malware," Miller told Ars. "The difference is that there simply isn't that much malware written for it. The bad guys have focused all their energies at Windows, which makes up the vast majority of the computers out there. However, as market share for Macs continues to inch up, that equation is going to change and bad guys will begin to focus in on Macs, if that hasn't already started to happen. And as I mentioned above, Macs are no more inherently secure than Windows, so when the bad guys decide to go after them with gusto, it'll get ugly fast."
James agreed. "Dismissing this by saying people are crying wolf is extremely short-sighted. Macs are attacked less often, but it seems this is one of the first truly sophisticated malware apps for the Mac. It's not over."
Y-y-you m-mean St-St-St-Steve is a-a-a F-F-FALSE GOD?!?!?
P. S. at 10:57 p. m.
I know a lot of Apple users who breathed a sigh of relief yesterday, thinking that Apple’s belated response finally means that the problem is over. As any computer security researcher will tell you, this arms war is just getting started.
Apple appears to be treating this outbreak as if it were a single incident that won’t be repeated. They seriously underestimate the bad guys, who are not idiots. Peter James, an Intego spokeperson, told me his company’s analysts were “impressed by the quality of the original version.” The quick response to Apple’s move suggests they are capable of churning out new releases at Internet speeds, adapting their software and their tactics as their target—Apple—tries to put up new roadblocks.
If Apple plans to play Whack-a-Mole with these guys, they’re in for months of misery.
You kidding? No problem! MACS DON'T NEED SECURITY SOFTWARE!
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!!!!!
If MICKEY STARBUCKS is so hotHOTHOT!!!!! why do its ketchup packs say "©1986"?
Mark Haines, who judging from the comments at HENRY HONEST!'s was the only person at the Big C to ever ask tough questions, has died. We liked him too. RIP.
There's been a snit in the high-end literary biz as someone withdrew from some prize panel because it rewarded Philip "Portnoy" Roth. We haven't read his novels and don't intend to -- we've encountered enough excerpts from his opus maximus in "humor" anthologies -- but controversies like this are often tied up in extraneous considerations (and this one is, mostly feministic), which only further show awards are often about politics of one form or another when they're not about politicking, and that's why most deserve not to be taken seriously.
(Via the usual AHTSJournal)
(Via the usual AHTSJournal)
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Benny Netanyahu may have made a great speech, but a Nobel laureate is still president, and the bomb makers are still in their workshops.
INJURY: Crappy movies.
INSULT: Many movie theaters don't project the crappy movies properly, using picture-dimming 3D lenses for 2D -- and most theater chains don't care.
Then again....
Digital is the future — the Common plans to be all-digital by July — if only because it saves studios millions of dollars a year on processing film prints. Why, then, did Regal and AMC sign contracts in early 2009 — and National Amusements in June 2010 — with Sony, the one manufacturer whose projectors feature the external 3-D lens that’s too expensive and difficult to easily remove for 2-D showings?
The reason appears to be a basic business quid pro quo. Sony provides projectors to the chains for free in exchange for the theaters dedicating part of their preshow ads to Sony products. Unfortunately, the 3-D boom took off in late 2009 and Sony had to come up with a retrofitted solution. Said the Phantom Projectionist, “To me it feels like they’re serving people pigeon burgers and telling them its grade-A beef.’’
But what if audiences don’t notice or don’t care that they’re eating pigeon burgers? When queried by a reporter, moviegoers exiting showings at the Common recently were hard-pressed to pinpoint problems with what they’d just seen.
An older couple leaving the under-illuminated 7:15 “Win Win’’ showing thought the film looked fine; another patron praised its “creative lighting.’’ Walking out of the 7:05 showing of “Source Code,’’ Gerry Jurrens, 62, of Kingston, N.J., admitted that “in some places it seemed a little grainy, but it still looks better than what I’ve got at home.’’
Educating audiences and overcoming this inertia can be difficult.
TRANSLATION: Bad movies need blind viewers.
(Via Cartoon Brew)
INSULT: Many movie theaters don't project the crappy movies properly, using picture-dimming 3D lenses for 2D -- and most theater chains don't care.
Then again....
Digital is the future — the Common plans to be all-digital by July — if only because it saves studios millions of dollars a year on processing film prints. Why, then, did Regal and AMC sign contracts in early 2009 — and National Amusements in June 2010 — with Sony, the one manufacturer whose projectors feature the external 3-D lens that’s too expensive and difficult to easily remove for 2-D showings?
The reason appears to be a basic business quid pro quo. Sony provides projectors to the chains for free in exchange for the theaters dedicating part of their preshow ads to Sony products. Unfortunately, the 3-D boom took off in late 2009 and Sony had to come up with a retrofitted solution. Said the Phantom Projectionist, “To me it feels like they’re serving people pigeon burgers and telling them its grade-A beef.’’
But what if audiences don’t notice or don’t care that they’re eating pigeon burgers? When queried by a reporter, moviegoers exiting showings at the Common recently were hard-pressed to pinpoint problems with what they’d just seen.
An older couple leaving the under-illuminated 7:15 “Win Win’’ showing thought the film looked fine; another patron praised its “creative lighting.’’ Walking out of the 7:05 showing of “Source Code,’’ Gerry Jurrens, 62, of Kingston, N.J., admitted that “in some places it seemed a little grainy, but it still looks better than what I’ve got at home.’’
Educating audiences and overcoming this inertia can be difficult.
TRANSLATION: Bad movies need blind viewers.
(Via Cartoon Brew)
That hidden Kermit gag may be cute, but one wonders if ESPNCORP may actually be mocking Its customers by suggesting they want a charming, inoffensive romantic comedy, the sort of thing the industry will NOT give them -- and by using said gag to obscure a most-likely-mediocre Muppet movie, a given without Jim Henson's fervid inspiration.
Oooooooooooooops: PBS wants to run commercials -- promos during its shows, and the public must be e-mailing, and a spokespoop issued a sorta-kinda clarification, meaning PBS is running the ads -- promos, meaning there's less reason than ever for it to stay "noncommercial".
More GE-NIUS in FILLUM:
Looking alternately freeze-dried and pop-eyed, Portman tries very hard to mimic high emotion in “Black Swan.” She can also be so still in her movies that she comes across as an oil painting....
It’s probably not fair to judge her for her role as Padme in three “Star Wars” prequels since her conical hairpiece made her resemble a snail awaiting liftoff. But couldn’t she at least have cracked a smile?
Another exasperating thing about pop-cult writing: too many of the negatives come after the fact. Better after the fact, though, than none, the increasing inclination.
Looking alternately freeze-dried and pop-eyed, Portman tries very hard to mimic high emotion in “Black Swan.” She can also be so still in her movies that she comes across as an oil painting....
It’s probably not fair to judge her for her role as Padme in three “Star Wars” prequels since her conical hairpiece made her resemble a snail awaiting liftoff. But couldn’t she at least have cracked a smile?
Another exasperating thing about pop-cult writing: too many of the negatives come after the fact. Better after the fact, though, than none, the increasing inclination.
And in another hot-off-the-press release from America's premiere public-relations firm, the ASSPress:
Alley has lost 38 inches since `Dancing' debut
Alley has lost 38 inches since `Dancing' debut
Nestlé is buying a company that "specialises in diagnostics and in-licensed specialty pharmaceuticals in gastroenterology and oncology", which says something approaching Soylent Green is in its future.
(Via Seeking Alpha)
(Via Seeking Alpha)
Which is more blood-pressure-raising annoying: Jonathan screaming THE DEMOCRATS ARE BAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!! or con-SER-va-tives screaming GLOBAL WARMING IS A DOOMSDAY CULT!!!!!!!!!!?
Pick 'em.
Pick 'em.
That news hacks have given that idiot Christian-media mogul a second shot says their organizations are now officially public-relations conduits, and we can completely blot out any piffle of a higher calling.
Just what we need, Tim: More sports writing, longer sports writing, more complicated sports writing, five thousand different sites for sports writing, more bookmarks for sports writing -- and inevitably the ennui sets in when people realize you can only mine so many "insights" from one play.
Surprisingly, this typetypetyping did not emanate from Romy, that fount of jernalistic think-tank verbiage, but from MediaBistro, which can be just as addicted.
Surprisingly, this typetypetyping did not emanate from Romy, that fount of jernalistic think-tank verbiage, but from MediaBistro, which can be just as addicted.
Monday, May 23, 2011
That David Thomson can liken ESPNCORP's pirate FRANCHISE to Alzheimer's says not every pop-cult writer is performing oral sex on the biz. The only breakdown occurs when he vaguely imagines the Somalian pirates as romantic. Well, nobody's perfect.
Who will remember Johnny Depp in fifty years?
Who will remember Johnny Depp in fifty years?
Thanks to idiot libel laws like a vise the UK is having a rousing orgy of self-flagellation mixed with prurience over an adulterous soccer star, who invoked said laws for fear of being booed. We would say in America he needn't worry; that said it is time for the UK to join the rest of the world and stop treating the spread of gossip as the spread of state secrets.
Speaking of sycophancy, we'd like to know how many favors The Lord Goddess Oprah did for PEOPLE WARNER -- like how many MOVIES AND TV SHOWS AND RECORDS* AND BOOKS* she sold. This is tripe written for an audience of one -- the drooling author. He's also returning the favor -- and drooling in the reader's face.
A NEUHARTHISM OF THE MONTH AWARD TO DICK!
(*When PW was still in those businesses. Maybe Goddess didn't do THAT much good, you think?)
A NEUHARTHISM OF THE MONTH AWARD TO DICK!
(*When PW was still in those businesses. Maybe Goddess didn't do THAT much good, you think?)
I can't recall reading more pop-cult rave reviews than now. Their typists will rave anything and everything but they don't have the guts to say that pop-cult is better than ever. If they did they'd be laughed at to their faces. That they don't means they can write their idiot raves with impunity. It explains why some blithering NPR hack got so poutingly defensive telling the unintended truth that rock music "criticism" is "extraneous AND self-indulgent". [SIC!] Pop-cult writing is exasperating because it combines five traits I despise in news hacks: their personal intent in the worst sense of the word, which allows me to take their scribble personally in the worst way; their ignorance of show-biz history; their lack of taste couched in nose-in-the-air prose; their SYNERGY; and the fact they're looking for jobs. Any outlet that runs lots of pop-cult raves (here's looking at you, kids) very happily writes off a good chunk of its audience, and often for no better reason than that it's too old. But then any industry that has an ego bigger than Henry the K's will gladly write off an audience to bask in its own immortality. What makes it worse is that our culture was once a shining beacon to the world; those who void this constant raving malarkey think their gold-plated crap is good enough. What convinces you morons that we enjoy the non-stop puffery? This is the story of the emperor's new clothes -- SQUARED. To amplify what I said before: pop-cult ravists are a big and increasing reason our culture STINKS.
Oh, and since this post serves as a comment to this blockhead's adjectival mastery, does this woman not vaguely resemble one of the immortals the wiener so worships? You know, the one with the boobs? This is Kitty Kallen, and she sang this. And this is why I'm angry. Uh wiener, who writes Katy's, uh, songs? (By the way, wiener -- NOT pronounced "JEWEL".)
Sorry for being so intemperate but paid writers don't realize what luck they have.
P. S. on 5/28 at 12:40 a. m. An answer to that question: "Dr." Lukasz Gottwald, the Goddard Lieberson of his generation. Well, all right -- the Phil Spector. PFFFFFFFFT!!!!!
Another answer: Max Martin, from Sweden, the country that gave us ABBA. WATERLOO!
P. P. S. on 5/28 at 1:06 a. m. from Will Friedwald:
Songwriter Jimmy Webb told me about a comment he heard from Joni Mitchell: “We used to have lyricists, we used to have composers, we used to have singers, we used to have accompanists and arrangers. Now we have one person doing all those jobs and in a half-assed way!"
Will -- that's POP GENIUS!
Oh, and since this post serves as a comment to this blockhead's adjectival mastery, does this woman not vaguely resemble one of the immortals the wiener so worships? You know, the one with the boobs? This is Kitty Kallen, and she sang this. And this is why I'm angry. Uh wiener, who writes Katy's, uh, songs? (By the way, wiener -- NOT pronounced "JEWEL".)
Sorry for being so intemperate but paid writers don't realize what luck they have.
P. S. on 5/28 at 12:40 a. m. An answer to that question: "Dr." Lukasz Gottwald, the Goddard Lieberson of his generation. Well, all right -- the Phil Spector. PFFFFFFFFT!!!!!
Another answer: Max Martin, from Sweden, the country that gave us ABBA. WATERLOO!
P. P. S. on 5/28 at 1:06 a. m. from Will Friedwald:
Songwriter Jimmy Webb told me about a comment he heard from Joni Mitchell: “We used to have lyricists, we used to have composers, we used to have singers, we used to have accompanists and arrangers. Now we have one person doing all those jobs and in a half-assed way!"
Will -- that's POP GENIUS!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Joseph Brooks, who committed a cultural offense with "You Light Up My Life", then vastly compounded it with alleged criminal offenses against young women, has killed himself. Unfortunately, the women are still stuck with the crimes -- and we are still stuck with the song.
Add PR0N to the list of topics news hacks will not report on accurately -- that is, when they bother reporting on it at all. That lack of reporting (save for an occasional tired public service announcement on child PR0N) represents industry self-interest, plus a smug determination that their side has won. How news hacks could think they've won when the very ubiquity of PR0N undercuts faith in all media puzzles us. Their selfishness has helped us sweep it under the rug. But PR0N can't be swept under a rug for too long. America could not quite keep its conscience muted on abortion, and now, nearly forty years too late, the states are instituting tougher standards. The same must someday hold true for PR0N. That odious phrase "sunlight is the best disinfectant" became a stench because so many uttering it have hidden their own secrets. But as this piece boldly says, we must disinfect PR0N as publicly as possible before it gets the better of us.
Now that the world has survived for another day let us consider the two types of nonbelief demonstrated by this fraud from California (or wherever he's from; he might be from the planet BAKKER) and DR. BRAINIAC. Despite his woeful physical state DR. BRAINIAC plainly has a high opinion of himself, having put incomprehensible tomes about physics or astronomy or whatever on millions of coffee tables, so the owners can boast of their scientific literacy without even having to crack the darn thing. Possibly the Doctor is tired; possibly he's tired of living in that crippled body nobody gave him (well, if there's not a God, then nobody gave him that body), and possibly he realizes there are no more books to weigh down coffee tables with, so now's as good a time as any to talk of fairy tales.
As for the FRAUD, the best we can say for Him is He's a babe in the woods; but you don't get to steal tens of millions from the innocent by being innocent. His nonbelief consists of painting God as the sort of caricature Mark Twain had in mind when he sneered of Heaven as peopled with Victorian angels playing harps; He is John Brown, His face lathering with rage, His hair standing on end and His psychotic's flowing beard rigid as steel, forever hurling thunderbolts at His offspring for no apparent reason other than that He's perpetually angry. In the end there's no difference between these two nonbeliefs except that the BRAINIAC's is high-end and the FRAUD's is low-end, but they both come together in agreement of the worthlessness of the species some accident created. Certainly both have hoodwinked the people for profit, in different ways. (And in what must be the sole adult dispatch to come out of the FRAUD's nonbelief, His had victims.)
I will not paint myself as any deep thinker on religion -- it's the last thing I'd want to be -- but for my money THE MASTER summed up the unknowable answer neatly in speculating on the existence of ghosts: "All argument is against it; but all belief is for it." Dr. Johnson was perhaps the most powerful intellectual in history. He was also a believer.
P. S. at 3:44 p. m. We are now sorry we typed this as we have since delved into this clod from California, and we are not now certain of what he believes -- possibly he doesn't know; but we will say our supposition that he saw God as John Brown came from the notion of an ANGRY GOD, and an angry God would visit all sorts of terrors on a people subject to a predetermined schedule. We should have left well enough alone when we called this stunt "a kind of Beckist or Palinesque populist brain cramp." Given the clod's assets we reserve the right to call him a fraud, and if the stunt was not a pure expression of nonbelief it has surely led to nonbelief in those foolish enough to believe him.
From now on we will try to bone up on our subjects before supposing things.
As for the FRAUD, the best we can say for Him is He's a babe in the woods; but you don't get to steal tens of millions from the innocent by being innocent. His nonbelief consists of painting God as the sort of caricature Mark Twain had in mind when he sneered of Heaven as peopled with Victorian angels playing harps; He is John Brown, His face lathering with rage, His hair standing on end and His psychotic's flowing beard rigid as steel, forever hurling thunderbolts at His offspring for no apparent reason other than that He's perpetually angry. In the end there's no difference between these two nonbeliefs except that the BRAINIAC's is high-end and the FRAUD's is low-end, but they both come together in agreement of the worthlessness of the species some accident created. Certainly both have hoodwinked the people for profit, in different ways. (And in what must be the sole adult dispatch to come out of the FRAUD's nonbelief, His had victims.)
I will not paint myself as any deep thinker on religion -- it's the last thing I'd want to be -- but for my money THE MASTER summed up the unknowable answer neatly in speculating on the existence of ghosts: "All argument is against it; but all belief is for it." Dr. Johnson was perhaps the most powerful intellectual in history. He was also a believer.
P. S. at 3:44 p. m. We are now sorry we typed this as we have since delved into this clod from California, and we are not now certain of what he believes -- possibly he doesn't know; but we will say our supposition that he saw God as John Brown came from the notion of an ANGRY GOD, and an angry God would visit all sorts of terrors on a people subject to a predetermined schedule. We should have left well enough alone when we called this stunt "a kind of Beckist or Palinesque populist brain cramp." Given the clod's assets we reserve the right to call him a fraud, and if the stunt was not a pure expression of nonbelief it has surely led to nonbelief in those foolish enough to believe him.
From now on we will try to bone up on our subjects before supposing things.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Toms blows 7-shot lead at Colonial, Wi leads
See what you're missing by not following golf?
(Via SI.com link)
See what you're missing by not following golf?
(Via SI.com link)
Tony is the musical equivalent of all those scribblers who call graffiti AHT. Using James Levine's poor health as an excuse he wants him out of the Met so someone can do more Nixon in Chinas; he gives the show away by endorsing an "AH-pe-RA" about Anna Nicole Smith he praises as "outrageous" (Paper of Re-CORD-speak meaning tuneless and sticking it to people with taste). Levine is simply too much of an old fuddy-duddy for Tony's advanced thinking. Look, everyone wants new operas, but as every last one is doomed to be Willie Stark or T&M's stuff for the archives or the latest transgressive nuisance all they'll do is waste money (tax money wherever possible) and bloom flowerless. That Tony couldn't care less for the masses shows itself when he gushes that 175,000!!!!!!!!!! viewed Levine's Die Walküre in movee houses -- which is still only about .056 percent of the total U. S. population; the other 99.944 percent may not be lured by JERRY SPRINGER!!!!!!!!!! Alas, that seems the point of such blather: to turn a whole art form into an hermetically-sealed plaything for scribbling eggheads and their mentally-constricted friends.
P. S. from Nathan Heller's evisceration of SNL:
The way this industry cog constantly rehearses generations-old mythologies about its fearless innovation, wild times, and spunky creativity is too comfortably of a piece with many of today's aesthetic affectations. [Emphasis added]
Shouldn't opera be about something more permanent than what happened three years ago?
And to put it politely, Tony is affected.
(Via the usual AHTSJournal)
P. S. from Nathan Heller's evisceration of SNL:
The way this industry cog constantly rehearses generations-old mythologies about its fearless innovation, wild times, and spunky creativity is too comfortably of a piece with many of today's aesthetic affectations. [Emphasis added]
Shouldn't opera be about something more permanent than what happened three years ago?
And to put it politely, Tony is affected.
(Via the usual AHTSJournal)
GEEK STORY OF THE WEEK:
Apple-Loving Tech Columnist Allegedly Hit Wife With iPhone
(Via HENRY HONEST!)
Apple-Loving Tech Columnist Allegedly Hit Wife With iPhone
(Via HENRY HONEST!)
It's been a while, but we haven't forgotten: time for an expanded post dedicated to ARCHDaily!
Revenge of the Three-Footed O!
Frank Gehry builds a high-end jail!
Sighhhhhhhh...another atheistic church.
A building made of black, white and gray Lego bricks -- with a special safety feature for unwary pilots!
If this police station were in a ghetto neighborhood....
Look, I could haul junk out of a garage, spray-paint it white and call it a "Kaohsiung Maritime Cultural and Popular Music Center" too!
The object of this game is to keep from falling into the hole.
"Living Roof"? Bad Orthodontia with Black Lips!
Stonehenge with a retainer.
This is fine for a modernist's daydream, but it's in Manhattan, and after fifteen years it may well resemble an "outdoor living room".
Revenge of the Three-Footed O!
Frank Gehry builds a high-end jail!
Sighhhhhhhh...another atheistic church.
A building made of black, white and gray Lego bricks -- with a special safety feature for unwary pilots!
If this police station were in a ghetto neighborhood....
Look, I could haul junk out of a garage, spray-paint it white and call it a "Kaohsiung Maritime Cultural and Popular Music Center" too!
The object of this game is to keep from falling into the hole.
"Living Roof"? Bad Orthodontia with Black Lips!
Stonehenge with a retainer.
This is fine for a modernist's daydream, but it's in Manhattan, and after fifteen years it may well resemble an "outdoor living room".
Since when has it been news that His Incompetence is none too keen for Israel? Oh sure he can give lip service to its right to exist, but his heart lies with the Palestinians -- because they are victims. You cannot be a present or former activist without rooting for the underdog; that the Palestinians are permanent underdogs makes them even better. But His Incompetence didn't want to be a foreign-policy president; it was the inevitable speed bump astride the path to glory. Thus he tries to flatten it by jackhammering it with his head. This is what we get when we elect rank amateurs president.
Friday, May 20, 2011
The other day we mentioned "the most overrated comedy series in history." Today if Grate.com doesn't come up with:
How has this formulaic, famously mediocre comedy show outlasted everything else on TV?
To which the typist spends another two pages answering -- mostly persuasive, we'll admit. Nonetheless we'll call this a rhetorical question and leave it at that -- except to say it's doubtful the culture can stand for another 36 years of you had to be there.
How has this formulaic, famously mediocre comedy show outlasted everything else on TV?
To which the typist spends another two pages answering -- mostly persuasive, we'll admit. Nonetheless we'll call this a rhetorical question and leave it at that -- except to say it's doubtful the culture can stand for another 36 years of you had to be there.
ESPNCORP administers the cinematic equivalent of a bout with amnesia, and sure enough if some of UB IGER's sixty fans defend Him by saying "It's escapism!" Yes, but isn't the escapism too good when the movee escapes your mind?
Jim Calhoun, the CEO of Connecticut's professional-collegiate men's basketball franchise, stocks his team with dummies -- and now he'll have to pay...a price:
A low [Academic Performance R]ating is costly to Calhoun personally. His contract calls for him to donate $100,000 to a UConn scholarship fund if the program doesn't meet the APR. He also will forfeit his postseason bonus of $87,500, earned during UConn's run to the national title.
This is like what happens to a CEO when his options go underwater: He takes a paper hit but his salary's sure to stay the same. This won't hurt much either.
(The bulk of the money he makes, up to $3 million in the final year of his contract in 2014, comes from speaking and media fees). [sic]
As I said....
A low [Academic Performance R]ating is costly to Calhoun personally. His contract calls for him to donate $100,000 to a UConn scholarship fund if the program doesn't meet the APR. He also will forfeit his postseason bonus of $87,500, earned during UConn's run to the national title.
This is like what happens to a CEO when his options go underwater: He takes a paper hit but his salary's sure to stay the same. This won't hurt much either.
(The bulk of the money he makes, up to $3 million in the final year of his contract in 2014, comes from speaking and media fees). [sic]
As I said....
Selig: Dodgers' ownership woes 'historic'
Sorta like -- oh, we can't mention their names, but you know: the guys from the Summer and Fall of Love of '98?
"We've moved in in other places," Selig said Friday, as he prepared to give a commencement speech to students at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Given that location we'd ask, is he trying to move in to immortality?
Sorta like -- oh, we can't mention their names, but you know: the guys from the Summer and Fall of Love of '98?
"We've moved in in other places," Selig said Friday, as he prepared to give a commencement speech to students at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Given that location we'd ask, is he trying to move in to immortality?
CONCAST engaged in iron-fist-in-the-titanium-glove tactics with a non-profit only to punch itself in the nose. We salute ReelGrrls for adding its own back of the hand to this self-administered salute. A donor engaging in such blatant double-dealing is not worthy of any organization.
Someone must tell these corporate buffoons; what was good for St. Jack of Valenti is no good anymore.
As for the "appointment" that caused this self-administered rhinoplasty, let's call it what it was: bribery after the fact. (Or let's call it what con-SER-va-tives would: free en-ter-prise -- and the triumph of the First Amendment! Pfffffffffft!)
Someone must tell these corporate buffoons; what was good for St. Jack of Valenti is no good anymore.
As for the "appointment" that caused this self-administered rhinoplasty, let's call it what it was: bribery after the fact. (Or let's call it what con-SER-va-tives would: free en-ter-prise -- and the triumph of the First Amendment! Pfffffffffft!)
Sell Apple to buy LinkedIn
Sell one overpriced stock to buy another even more overpriced stock. Excellent advice!
Sell one overpriced stock to buy another even more overpriced stock. Excellent advice!
LinkedIn Would Be A $34 Stock Without Mania Premium
Doesn't every Wall Street Casino concoction that sells for above what it's worth have a mania premium?
Doesn't every Wall Street Casino concoction that sells for above what it's worth have a mania premium?
Please, Jim, we thought one point of MICKEY STARBUCKS was to wash away the bad PR. Why should MICKEY S have to apologize for anything when in five years it will have obliterated all traces of what makes people mad -- except the excessive advertising and GAMES schmoozing! (Pffh-hh-hh!)
And yet another demonstration of the reverse psychology performed by PR specialists everywhere: MICKEY S serves oatmeal?
And yet another demonstration of the reverse psychology performed by PR specialists everywhere: MICKEY S serves oatmeal?
Alakazam, alakazoom, presto chanego, and...
"Basically the valuation looks a little bit rich. They worked very hard to get a favorable price and one could argue the only reason it was up yesterday was support from the sponsoring banks," analyst Nik Stanojevic at Brewin Dolphin said.
Aw c'mon, Glencore! Your bankers couldn't pull an overpriced rabbit out of the hat?
"Basically the valuation looks a little bit rich. They worked very hard to get a favorable price and one could argue the only reason it was up yesterday was support from the sponsoring banks," analyst Nik Stanojevic at Brewin Dolphin said.
Aw c'mon, Glencore! Your bankers couldn't pull an overpriced rabbit out of the hat?
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Luigi Zingales on Mr. Bunga-Bunga:
How can such a pro-business prime minister wreak havoc on the economy and on the idea of free markets? Because “pro-business” doesn’t necessarily mean “pro-market.” While the two agendas sometimes coincide—as in the case of protecting property rights—they’re often at odds. Market competition threatens established firms, which often use their political muscle to restrict new entries into their industry, strengthening their positions but putting customers at a disadvantage. A pro-market strategy, by contrast, aims to encourage the best business conditions for everyone. That’s in fact the opposite of what a real-estate tycoon wants: to keep competitors out and enhance the value of his own properties. By capturing (or more precisely, purchasing) the free-market flag in the same way one might acquire a business brand, Berlusconi likely has destroyed the appeal of the free-market ideal in Italy for a generation.
Okay, con-SER-va-tives! Republicans! Are you pro-market or pro-business? We can guess.
How can such a pro-business prime minister wreak havoc on the economy and on the idea of free markets? Because “pro-business” doesn’t necessarily mean “pro-market.” While the two agendas sometimes coincide—as in the case of protecting property rights—they’re often at odds. Market competition threatens established firms, which often use their political muscle to restrict new entries into their industry, strengthening their positions but putting customers at a disadvantage. A pro-market strategy, by contrast, aims to encourage the best business conditions for everyone. That’s in fact the opposite of what a real-estate tycoon wants: to keep competitors out and enhance the value of his own properties. By capturing (or more precisely, purchasing) the free-market flag in the same way one might acquire a business brand, Berlusconi likely has destroyed the appeal of the free-market ideal in Italy for a generation.
Okay, con-SER-va-tives! Republicans! Are you pro-market or pro-business? We can guess.
Further on the subject of things we must know, interesting how The Lord Goddess Oprah's court jester The Flying Keyboard was lobbying for Michigan's movee tax credits even as he was all set to benefit from them with his screenplay. This is a talk-radio loudmouth talking, which doesn't obscure the notion that news hacks never have conflicts of interest -- because they don't report on them.
We only hope this isn't one of those Benny-Allen feuds radio hacks use to goose the ratings, as both mouths work for the same station -- but then again, we wouldn't be surprised.
(Via the usual Romy)
We only hope this isn't one of those Benny-Allen feuds radio hacks use to goose the ratings, as both mouths work for the same station -- but then again, we wouldn't be surprised.
(Via the usual Romy)
25 things you don't know about 'Idol' finalists
You know, clowns, you could give us 25 things we don't know about a lot of more important, less self-serving topics, things it might serve us to know, things we don't know because news hacks are too lazy or stupid or rich. That we can learn these 25 things from the MESS and JANN says the news biz' rep has a lot further to fall.
Really, there must be a contest for the most lame-brained heds on the Web. This would have to be a...finalist.
You know, clowns, you could give us 25 things we don't know about a lot of more important, less self-serving topics, things it might serve us to know, things we don't know because news hacks are too lazy or stupid or rich. That we can learn these 25 things from the MESS and JANN says the news biz' rep has a lot further to fall.
Really, there must be a contest for the most lame-brained heds on the Web. This would have to be a...finalist.
When NEWS HACKS and their assorted friends suggested that Ah-NULT could traipse his merry way through a resumed fillum career they did so with the knowing smirk, the unspoken but vaguely noticeable assertion that only Christians and other such Neanderthals would begrudge him a shot at making big bucks through bad movees. (Jeff Bock and David Poland, whoever you are -- take a bow!) Well, Ah-NULT appears to have a little more sense than these hacks, which says nothing; in any event we hope for a long, drawn-out, costly divorce proceeding, which means it won't be.
And regardless of what in-the-know veteran lia -- publicists like SUE may suggest, siring two kids a few days apart by may not be a career tonic.
And one would hope too this might not be the end of the embarrassments, chortlechortle.
And regardless of what in-the-know veteran lia -- publicists like SUE may suggest, siring two kids a few days apart by may not be a career tonic.
And one would hope too this might not be the end of the embarrassments, chortlechortle.
Sounds as if LNKD is a proxy for FACEB000,000,000,000,000K, meaning it could go upupUPUPUP...until it comes down.
Dick Ebersol, a founder of the most overrated comedy series in history and the man who sneered at viewers, "YOU'LL WATCH THE OLYMPICS MY WAY OR YOU WON'T WATCH THEM AT ALL!!!!!", has thankfully (if "surprisingly") resigned, meaning CONCAST can hire someone who'll be just as arrogant and tone-deaf.
NBC Sports will still bid for the Olympics, but Ebersol's departure sends a signal that they're not willing to break the bank. ESPN can and will.
Meaning It can break Its turnips' banks!
NBC Sports will still bid for the Olympics, but Ebersol's departure sends a signal that they're not willing to break the bank. ESPN can and will.
Meaning It can break Its turnips' banks!
It's official -- we're in another high-tech bubble!
"At this rate, LNKD will be bigger than 136 companies in the S&P 500," says Bespoke on Twitter. Of those buying at "tree-top tall prices," David Menlow of IPOfinancial.com advises to "put those people on suicide watch.”
Suicide watch? Triple-your-money-in-two-days permanent-prosperity watch!
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!!!!!
“Some might say the company is overpriced,” Randall says. “I’d say it’s ‘premium valued,’ which is just a ten-dollar Wall Street phrase for the same thing.”
Which will be worth TWO HUNDRED in the next three hours!
P. S. at 10:46 a. m.:
"OK. This is almost hilarious. P/E Ratio for $LNKD right now: 1,221 - SERIOUSLY?! Yes you are reading that correctly," says Bloomberg's Cris Valerio of LinkedIn's (LNKD) debut. Stock did soar to over 100% but is now a mere +90%.
GEKKO KUDLOW! WE NEED YOU!!!!!
"At this rate, LNKD will be bigger than 136 companies in the S&P 500," says Bespoke on Twitter. Of those buying at "tree-top tall prices," David Menlow of IPOfinancial.com advises to "put those people on suicide watch.”
Suicide watch? Triple-your-money-in-two-days permanent-prosperity watch!
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!!!!!
“Some might say the company is overpriced,” Randall says. “I’d say it’s ‘premium valued,’ which is just a ten-dollar Wall Street phrase for the same thing.”
Which will be worth TWO HUNDRED in the next three hours!
P. S. at 10:46 a. m.:
"OK. This is almost hilarious. P/E Ratio for $LNKD right now: 1,221 - SERIOUSLY?! Yes you are reading that correctly," says Bloomberg's Cris Valerio of LinkedIn's (LNKD) debut. Stock did soar to over 100% but is now a mere +90%.
GEKKO KUDLOW! WE NEED YOU!!!!!
Of course CRITICAL ACCLAIM would not equal box office success in regional theatah. We're talking a niche art form with a niche following. How many people need to see theatah? It is the classic discretionary purchase. If the public discerns CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED theatah is no better than garden-variety theatah, why bother with it? Here is another reason cities should not bankrupt themselves using props such as theatah to replace manufacturing.
(Via the usual AHTSJournal)
(Via the usual AHTSJournal)
It didn’t hurt when it dawned on people that many of his plays, for all the profanity and brutality, were works of great power and beauty, and often very funny to boot.
TRANSLATION: We have OUR party hack.
TRANSLATION: We have OUR party hack.
Disclosure: I'm a member of the Visiting Committee for the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Yes, you would have to plug kolledge.
Yes, you would have to plug kolledge.
This publicity stunt is more exasperating than usual for a few reasons, and that's saying something as the whole point of publicity stunts is to cause mental anguish. First off it's selling an ahthouse picture, one we've obliquely addressed before, and that in the nature of such genius itself sounds like a publicity stunt. Second and more important, the Europeans are mad. This is blazingly hypocritical. Given Nazism's popularity in the old Europe and how so much of the continent's in-crowd is demanding the Jews abandon Israel they really ought not to wear their outrage on their sleeves. We imagine the level of Jew-hatred is quite high in the film business, not that much of an irony as many of its Jews are self-loathing, though God knows with their output they aren't self-loathing enough. This ahtiste should have shut up before the fact; now the time has come for the pretentiously outraged to shut themselves up.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Ford Motor Co. wants the car to promote the health and wellness of its occupants.
The automaker is working with organizations that promote health among sufferers of chronic disease such as diabetes on a research project to use Ford's Sync connectivity abilities to help monitor health while on the road.
The idea is to synchronize an occupant's medical devices with the voice-activated MyFord Touch system.
The connection can be via Bluetooth, the computing cloud or from smartphone apps and would be used to seamlessly monitor a person's condition when they are on the road.
People spend a lot of time in their cars and the initiatives are seen as a means of continuous monitoring and as an opportunity to use drive time to promote health and manage diseases and conditions such as diabetes, asthma and allergies.
"We want to create the car that cares," said Gary Strumolo, Ford manager of vehicle design and infotronics.
TRANSLATION: Big Brother's good side.
The automaker is working with organizations that promote health among sufferers of chronic disease such as diabetes on a research project to use Ford's Sync connectivity abilities to help monitor health while on the road.
The idea is to synchronize an occupant's medical devices with the voice-activated MyFord Touch system.
The connection can be via Bluetooth, the computing cloud or from smartphone apps and would be used to seamlessly monitor a person's condition when they are on the road.
People spend a lot of time in their cars and the initiatives are seen as a means of continuous monitoring and as an opportunity to use drive time to promote health and manage diseases and conditions such as diabetes, asthma and allergies.
"We want to create the car that cares," said Gary Strumolo, Ford manager of vehicle design and infotronics.
TRANSLATION: Big Brother's good side.
Speaking of worship, the sons of...Kinsley who just gave us a man who broke from the Church of Lucas must now pile excruciating sentence upon excruciating sentence from The Hitler Expert worshiping WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE DYLAN. Now if only we could think of the Web the way we think of television....
Baltimore takes credit for the abdicating Lord Goddess Oprah!
We will not quote a certain line about underestimating intelligence but MENCK had something to do with Baltimore too.
We will not quote a certain line about underestimating intelligence but MENCK had something to do with Baltimore too.
Good news: only two albums have sold over a million copies thus far this year.
I want the apologists to say it's PIRATING.
I want the apologists to say it's PIRATING.
Syrian president: Security forces made mistakes
Yeah Bashar -- they weren't tough enough!
P. S. at 2:36 p. m.:
"The recent events in Syria we believe prove that the country cannot go back to the status quo ante," said White House press secretary Jay Carney. "Syria's future will only be secured by a government that reflects the popular will of its people."
What sort of scathing words would the TWXSTERS' newsrag use on Tiny Jay if he hadn't written for it?
Yeah Bashar -- they weren't tough enough!
P. S. at 2:36 p. m.:
"The recent events in Syria we believe prove that the country cannot go back to the status quo ante," said White House press secretary Jay Carney. "Syria's future will only be secured by a government that reflects the popular will of its people."
What sort of scathing words would the TWXSTERS' newsrag use on Tiny Jay if he hadn't written for it?
THR has run an astonishing press release about upcoming "new" programming on PEOPLE WARNER's so-called "Turner" cable channels, and a goodly number come from Warner Horizon Television or CBS Television Studios (PEOPLE WARNER and SUMNER own the sputtering joint-venture CW), and an astonishing number of the projects are from people the biz has heard a million times before, like "Mitch Albom, Thom Beers, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Brad Paisley, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Richard North Patterson, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Joel Silver, Arthur Smith, Scott Turow, Bertram van Munster and John Wells." In short, this list combines the worst aspects of incest with the worst aspects of talking to yourself.
But one thing we're sure of: the advertisers are DROOLING! McDoubles, caviar, they're all the same to them, just so they can spend senselessly.
But one thing we're sure of: the advertisers are DROOLING! McDoubles, caviar, they're all the same to them, just so they can spend senselessly.
The new head of the IMF will be walking into an incredibly difficult situation, with EU institutions cracking under the strain of the crisis, and member governments getting increasingly testy with each other. The problems of the EU are historically unique, requiring finesse and considerable political capital, and the incoming executive won't have practically any time to get up to speed, much less build up the relationships and credibility that increasingly look as if they'll be necessary to see this through.
Of course, I don't think there's much likelihood of a resolution short of exiting the euro (a defacto default). But if there's any hope for a less drastic solution, it just got a lot dimmer. And of course even the drastic solution would be made considerably less catastrophic with timely and competent assistance from the Fund.
DSK could have thought of these things before he had his sex fit.
Of course, I don't think there's much likelihood of a resolution short of exiting the euro (a defacto default). But if there's any hope for a less drastic solution, it just got a lot dimmer. And of course even the drastic solution would be made considerably less catastrophic with timely and competent assistance from the Fund.
DSK could have thought of these things before he had his sex fit.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
A eulogy for Ah-NULT:
In the sad coda to his political career, Schwarzenegger validated all those who had criticized him along the way as a vulgarian and a political naif— a Hollywood production with little below the surface.
In Spencer’s assessment, he accomplished little, and made little mark on the state’s politics.
“He got elected because he was a star. The problem was, he didn’t know how to govern,” Spencer said. “I don’t know if there is any legacy.”
In the sad coda to his political career, Schwarzenegger validated all those who had criticized him along the way as a vulgarian and a political naif— a Hollywood production with little below the surface.
In Spencer’s assessment, he accomplished little, and made little mark on the state’s politics.
“He got elected because he was a star. The problem was, he didn’t know how to govern,” Spencer said. “I don’t know if there is any legacy.”
Elsewhere from the genius of Hollywood, ESPNCORP and THR, Marilyn Monroe is playing Billie Burke.
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!!!!!
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!!!!!
Speaking of ESPNCORP TELEVISION NETWORK, Tim looks into his cloudy crystal ball and sees:
Four smart and talented people who run networks with a lot of mediocre crap on them.
And dozens of mediocre ADVERTISING VICE-PRESIDENTS who want to finance that mediocre crap!
[T]he networks [are] try[ing] to buy into that Mad Men allure, only this time with viewers.
OooooOOOOOoooooh, I think he means hundreds of thousands of news hacks and cultists aren't viewers! That's an insult!
Noticeably absent from this schedule is anything likely to make you wince (intentionally) or endure bleakness for the sake of dramatic quality.
Repeat after me: Dark is GOOD! Dark is GOOD!
Four smart and talented people who run networks with a lot of mediocre crap on them.
And dozens of mediocre ADVERTISING VICE-PRESIDENTS who want to finance that mediocre crap!
[T]he networks [are] try[ing] to buy into that Mad Men allure, only this time with viewers.
OooooOOOOOoooooh, I think he means hundreds of thousands of news hacks and cultists aren't viewers! That's an insult!
Noticeably absent from this schedule is anything likely to make you wince (intentionally) or endure bleakness for the sake of dramatic quality.
Repeat after me: Dark is GOOD! Dark is GOOD!
GOOD MORNING, AMERICA!
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former head of the International Monetary Fund....
Strauss-Kahn, who until this weekend was the chief of the IMF....
MMMMM-IIIII-CCCCCC...KKKKK-EEEEE-YYYYY...
This story has been updated to reflect the fact that the person who spoke to ABC News is a close friend of the alleged victim, not the alleged victim's brother, as originally reported.
But not THAT updated!
DAH-DA-DUT! DAH-DA-DUT! M-O-U-S-E!
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former head of the International Monetary Fund....
Strauss-Kahn, who until this weekend was the chief of the IMF....
MMMMM-IIIII-CCCCCC...KKKKK-EEEEE-YYYYY...
This story has been updated to reflect the fact that the person who spoke to ABC News is a close friend of the alleged victim, not the alleged victim's brother, as originally reported.
But not THAT updated!
DAH-DA-DUT! DAH-DA-DUT! M-O-U-S-E!
In France, 43 percent of the general public said viewing pornography was morally acceptable, but only 16 percent of Muslims agreed. In Germany, 58 percent of the general public, but only 18 percent of Muslims, said it was acceptable. And while 35 percent of Brits said it was acceptable, only 1 percent of British Muslims shared that view.
1. The Muslims are right on this one. 2. Unfortunately a few of their number have their own kicks. 3. Love to know how many of the French think DSK is morally acceptable.
1. The Muslims are right on this one. 2. Unfortunately a few of their number have their own kicks. 3. Love to know how many of the French think DSK is morally acceptable.
A "standard-issue indie-quirk picture" (!) gets the review it deserves:
The Beaver might have been interesting if it was boldly, defiantly, autobiographical – with Gibson holding a toy Adolf Hitler puppet. Or if it was about a stressed beaver with a Gibson puppet.
The Beaver might have been interesting if it was boldly, defiantly, autobiographical – with Gibson holding a toy Adolf Hitler puppet. Or if it was about a stressed beaver with a Gibson puppet.
TRANSLATION: Sexy boxes with intricate wiring, social-networking sites and their cousin show-biz WON'T BRING BACK THE ECONOMY.
Will someone wean our government superiors off RENDELLISM once and for all?
Will someone wean our government superiors off RENDELLISM once and for all?
Steven Suskin, the very reliable theater expert and reviewer of cast recordings, writes of two albums that they "lie outside my field of interest, in that the songs are far more contemporary than what I like to sit around listening to."
If it's any consolation, Steven, I really do think people stopped writing decent tunes, oh, forty years ago.
If it's any consolation, Steven, I really do think people stopped writing decent tunes, oh, forty years ago.
McSTARBUCKS, America's biggest free-enterprise government bureaucracy, is hiring more people here but getting rid of them overseas. Actually cutting out the clerks isn't a bad idea as that cuts out the worst part of the MICKEY S customer experience. So why more workers here? Or was that a hint-hint from His Incompetence?
(Via Seeking Alpha)
(Via Seeking Alpha)
No one need convince me television is a bad, but we might ask if this is a moot point since the problem may not be a technology, but technology itself. And what is computering but television with words?
You have to wonder -- how many NEWS HACKS knew of Ah-NULT's love child -- but kept quiet because he'd make such a GREAT GOVERNOR?
Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft!!!!!
Monday, May 16, 2011
No more time could be allotted Donald Trump for him to listen for the still small voice that would indicate God was calling upon him to serve his country at a time of desperate need. The salvation of the United States through the agency of a man so self-sacrificing that he is willing to affix his name to some of the world’s most hideous buildings could not contend against another world-historical event of perhaps even greater importance than the November 2012 election: the announcement of NBC’s fall schedule.
JPOD writes something GOOD!
JPOD writes something GOOD!
Hey THUMBS®! What are you whining about? I thought movies were the meaning of "excelsior"! Wasn't The Dark Knight one of the greatest artworks of all time? Didn't we just have a revelation from St. Judd of Apatow? Don't you "critical" clods rave many of the same masterworks the "violent or moronic fanboys" rave? You clowns run off at the mouth about the GENIUS of films and you have the NERVE to say they're getting worse? Even if they are, THUMBS®, doesn't THE GREATEST NETWORK IN HISTORY provide an outlet for nudity, profanity and -- I mean, ART? But as your friends in the biz tell you, there's always an out, THUMBS® -- rave IMMORTAL TV TOO! Or better still, rave more of those art pictures no one sees. Best yet, just keep raving movies! Although even your defenders might think it piling Pelion on Ossa, or 3D on basest junk. Pile on! You may say "it doesn’t really take a movie person to approve" those violent or moronic films, but it does take a movie "critic" to constantly RAVE them! I'd guess you've raved as many movies these last five years of your career as you did your first five -- and those first five in the middle of what the twerp Peter Biskind and other industry conformists call THE GREATEST AGE OF MOVIES EVER!!!!! (And for Russ Meyer.) Would it ever occur to you, THUMBS®, that maybe you "critics" share as much of the blame as the bean counters or the violent or moronic fanboys -- or Jack Valenti -- for the fact the movies STINK? No -- or you wouldn't have made all those zillions kissing Michael Eisner's behind. (And Gene too!) Those bean counters weren't the only ones who helped ruin a great industry just so they could get rich.
THUMBS®, your typing is one part pish, one part tosh and 100 percent BULLHOCKEY.
''Movies are becoming like dinosaurs -- their bodies are getting bigger and bigger and their brains are getting smaller and smaller.''
That's all right -- someday we can use the now brainless dinosaurs for OIL!
(Revised 5/21/2011)
THUMBS®, your typing is one part pish, one part tosh and 100 percent BULLHOCKEY.
''Movies are becoming like dinosaurs -- their bodies are getting bigger and bigger and their brains are getting smaller and smaller.''
That's all right -- someday we can use the now brainless dinosaurs for OIL!
(Revised 5/21/2011)
When HENRY HONEST! promos "THE MOST CLOSELY GUARDED SECRET IN PUBLISHING!!!!!" and says it's filled with "tales of sexual indiscretion, drugs, jealously between co-workers, fights between executives and talent", and we see TOMTASTIC!'s co-authored it, we can say without fear of contradiction that in its essentials it must be BORING.
Despite the lustful coos from con-SER-va-tives THE DONALD will not run for president. Why? It would mean making His finances public. Also it would mean exposing all the games He's played using accountants -- and all His BANKRUPTCIES. People might also ask about His brief friendship with MUAMMAR. Fuggedaboutit, DONALD.
A prophecy fulfilled!
A prophecy fulfilled!
Sunday, May 15, 2011