How was I not aware of a new John Irving book? It's supposed to be a throwback to his earlier "better" books. Best since Owen Meany and all that. Set in New Hampshire? Check Absent parent? Check Wrestling? Check A gruesome accident? Check Bears? Check Spans several decades? Check No Vienna though.
Word Of The Year Announced
Oxford University Press, who edits and publishes the Oxford English Dictionary (the source of all words English) and the New Oxford American Dictionary, has announced its "word of the year" for 2009: unfriend – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook. As in, “I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook … Read More
“The Sound Of Music” Turns 50
Fifty years ago today, The Sound of Music opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Odd. I had a dream about that show (sort of) this weekend. Did you know that Christopher Plummer didn't like working in the film, calling it "The Sound of Mucus"? He even detested singing the song 'Edelweiss,' calling it "schmaltzy." 'Edelweiss' was the last song … Read More
I’m Going To Go Out On A Limb…
…. and conclude that Elizabeth Taylor liked the new Michael Jackson film. Just a hunch.
Facebook Can’t Leave Well Enough Alone, Preserves The Deceased
(1) This annoying live feed thing can be "fixed" with a little workaround. Simply click and drag your "status updates" on that lefthand column, and place it above the "news feeds". Facebook will now appear close to what it was before. (2) Facebook is now urging you to "reconnect" with your friends that you haven't interacted with in a while. Why? Why … Read More
Return To Oz
Seventy years ago, the Wizard of Oz was released. Five surviving munchkins from “The Wizard of Oz” sat down recently, dressed in their full munchkin garb, to sing songs and remember the glory days. One of them fell asleep during the chat.
2012
Critics are already panning the disaster epic "2012", coming out in November as "over the top" and "laughably over the top" and "ridiculously over the top". Here's a trailer and an extended scene: Yeah, I can't imagine why it might be called "over the top". Still, with Oliver Platt, it has at least one redeeming quality.
Letterman’s Confession
Image via Wikipedia I'm fairly sure it is none of our business who David Letterman had sex with. But he told us anyway. He didn't have to; the guy who was blackmailing him was arrested. Still, you don't see this kind of honest very much, delivered with humility, candor and humor. Interesting TV. Slate calls it a “deeply personal, bizarre … Read More
My Take On Roman Polanski
Yes, the 13 year old victim, now in her 40's, has long since forgiven him. Yes, the victim's mother at the time was apparently some freaked out fame wannabe, and put her daughter in that position. Yes, it was a long time ago. Yes, he's famous. But here's the thing. A crime is a crime. He committed a crime. He pled … Read More
TLC Math
(Jon and Kate Plus 8) – Jon = Kate Plus 8
Kanye West Is A Dick
Here's how it went down: Okay, that's a spoof (the real video is embargoed). UPDATE: Okay, here it is fo' riz-eal: MTV Shows Here's some info from Dickopedia. Kanye aparrently has award show issues: In 2006 West lost Best Video at the MTV Europe Awards and, with the grace and class we’ve come to expect from him, jumped on stage … Read More
The Beatles Officially Jump The Shark Tomorrow
That's when The Beatles: Rock Band is released. Now kids all over the world can ruin masterpieces… right at home! On the other hand, the remastered recordings of the entire Beatles catalogue are out tommorrow, too. UPDATE: Well, not the entire catalogue. For instance, did you know that, impossible as it may sound there are still Beatles songs unreleased? True – … Read More
The United States of Sin
Gee, the Bible Belt dosn't fare too well:
Trumbo
Here's the sum total of what I knew about Dalton Trumbo before yesterday: He wrote "Johnny Got His Gun", which was one of the first grown-up books I ever read. He was one of the "Hollywood Ten" who got blacklisted because he refused to name names. He wrote the screenplays to "Spartacus" and "Papillon". Last night on PBS, the American … Read More