Very bad: Simon Cowell went so far as to say if Malakar wins, he’ll quit. One YouTube contributor in New York has launched a hunger strike and vows not to eat until the 17-year-old is ousted from the show. Words cannot express the monumental badness of this guy. He’s not even bad in an entertaining way (like the dubious singing … Read More
“Feminism Destroying America”
So says Chuck Baldwin, Founder-Pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida and vice presidential nominee for the Constitution Party in 2004: When one searches to find the causes for America’s rapid deterioration, there is no shortage of suspects. However, my thirty-plus years experience as a pastor, counselor, and researcher has convinced me that there is no greater threat to … Read More
In Which I Demonstrate How I Channel The New York Times Theatre Critics
My review of "Curtains", March 5, 2007: Much about "Curtains" is familiar and predictable, even stereotypical. New York Times review of "Curtains", March 23, 2007: There’s something soothing, even soporific, about such unaggressive predictability. But I’m assuming — and maybe I’m wrong — that you don’t go to Broadway for lullabies. My review of "Curtains", March 5, 2007: But this … Read More
Death Of Woody Harrelson’s Dad
Normally, this is a news story that I would have ignored, save for the fact that Woody Harrelson’s father may have some connection to the JFK assassination. Below is a picture of the "three tramps" taken into custody in Dallas on that fateful day. They were supposedly vagrants hanging around the railyards near Dealey Plaza, yet many have noted their … Read More
Sorkin’s Latest Venture? A Broadway Musical
Aaron Sorkin came to prominence with the play (followed by the movie) "A Few Good Men". That lead to some of his best work on TV — the cult fave SportsNight (which sadly never found its audience), the widely acclaimed The West Wing (which foundered after Sorkin moved on to other things), and the recent not-as-good-but-getting-better-until-it-was-axed Studio 60. What’s his … Read More
Women Forge Friendships By Talking About Their Fatsnacks
Well, that’s what researchers say: It’s almost inevitable: When women get together, the chatter eventually turns to whose skinny jeans don’t fit anymore and who weighs in heavier on the scale. And participation is socially mandatory, a new study finds. Socially "mandatory"? Who enforces this? Researchers call this "fat talk", a term coined to describe a behavior common in middle … Read More
I’ve Always Kind Of Liked Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY)
He’s a Republican, but a straight-shooter. In an op-ed yesterday, he declared his opposition to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (after voting for it in 1993) and wrote this: In World War II, a British mathematician named Alan Turing led the effort to crack the Nazis’ communication code. He mastered the complex German enciphering machine, helping to save the world, and … Read More
America: “Religious” Or “Religiously Ignorant”?
I had a girlfriend once who (after that was over) became born again. And we were still in contact, and she tried, in subtle and non-subtle ways, to "bring me into the light" or "save me" or whatever you want to call it. Her initial assumption was that, because I don’t regularly attend church or read the Bible, I must … Read More
Why You Don’t Have To Watch American Idol For The Next Two Months
For Lakisha and Melinda RANDY: "Yo yo yo! So check it out, yo! You were da bomb, man! Am I right? You brought it, girl. You rocked the house!" PAULA: "You’re a very special performer and a lovely person and that’s why we love you." SIMON: "Yeah, I agree with Randy and Paula …shockingly. And I …would …be …surprised …if … Read More
Spoiler Alert!
Jack dies of hypothermia. Jenny dies of AIDS and Momma dies of cancer.Jesus dies but then lives again.Malcolm was dead all along.Norman had his dead mother in his basement.They didn’t move the graves, just the grave makers.Private Ryan lives.Dorothy makes it back to Kansas.ET makes it home.Marty makes it back to 1985.All the passengers on the train did it.Elaine doesn’t … Read More
The Evangelical Crackup
Time was where "evangelical" evoked names like James Dobson and Jerry Falwell and, by necessary extension, the conservative GOP agenda. But Kevin Drum points to a considerable crack-up within the evangelical movement, which casts "old guard" evangelicals (Dobson et al.) on the outside of the National Association of Evangelicals (now headed by Richard Cizik), looking in with noses pressed to … Read More
Eddie Van Halen Officially Scares Me
I mean, I know he’s had oral cancer and all (losing a third of his tongue), but geeez: Here’s Eddie, circa 1984:
Hoist, Petard — You Know How It Goes
AP: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich acknowledged he was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group. "The honest answer is yes," Gingrich, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James … Read More
V Monologues Controversy Update
The New York Times covers the story today, here. It doesn’t add much to what I posted yesterday, except that it adds the views of "Vagina Monologues" author Eve Ensler: In an interview on Wednesday, Ms. Ensler said that she called the girls on Monday to praise them and offer her support. “Why a school has a problem with teenagers … Read More
Fox News Now Hyping A “War On Easter”
Oh, brother. The hyper of this non-story is Fox’s John Gibson, and the main evidence in his accusation is that certain communities have things like "Spring Egg Hunts" and "Spring Bunnies" and so on. Somebody needs to sit Gibson down and explain to him the Christian doctrine which he thinks he’s defending. He might be surprised to learn that bunnies … Read More