The remains of chess genius Bobby Fischer are to be exhumed to determine whether he is the father of a 9-year-old girl, a lawyer representing the child and her mother said Thursday.
This is an excellent read from a talented writer about the cliche of loving a band that everyone loves but for some reason hating to admit it.
So it's a concept album, or half a concept album, because only Dennis DeYoung was committed to the concept and he was the pianist. The rest of the band almost certainly thought DeYoung was a fag.
That I memorized the album, word for word, will go without saying. That I used impromptu recitations to score titty privileges at Jewish summer camp also can be assumed.
He even mentions Hootie and the Blowfish which was absolutely one of my hate to love bands in the 90s.
I highly recommend reading through the entire essay, an excerpt from Almond's book "Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life" which I now intend to seek out.
Actor Robert Culp died of a head injury while taking a walk this morning.
While he has all sorts of credits to his name, he will always be FBI Agent Bill Maxwell to me. As the grumpy crime fighter on the 80's television show "The Greatest American Hero", he showed that you could not have super powers and still be the coolest guy in the room. Ralph Hinkley was nothing without him. I enjoyed seeing him show up in roles from time to time like on Everybody Loves Raymond and I am truly sad that he is gone. RIP Mr. Maxwell...Scenario!
Sacha Baron Cohen of Ali-G, Borat and Bruno fame scares the Oscars people so much that they'd prefer he just stay home. Apparently they rejected his bid to host early on and recently cut his presentation skit as well. He was going to be poking fun at James Cameron and Avatar by dressing up as the avatar girl and pretending Cameron was the father of her love child.
Whoever Oscar is, he clearly doesn't have a sense of humor.
If I were them, I'd now be extremely fearful that Cohen was gunning for me. I'd not want to be on that guys shitlist.
Andrew Koenig, almost famous for playing Boner on TV's Growing Pains has gone missing. The "despondent" son of Star Trek's Walter Koenig (Chekov) apparently does not want to be found. Sounds like a job for VH1's Where are they now. In the meantime Kirk Cameron is praying for Boner's safe return.
I just came across this and I absolutely loved it. Mark Twain wrote this letter in 1905 in which he completely pwned these snake oil peddlers. Apparently they marketed with their product with the claim that it would cure many diseases, some of which Mark's family members had recently died of. So you can say Mark is passionate to say the least.
Nov. 20. 1905
J. H. Todd
1212 Webster St.
San Francisco, Cal.
Dear Sir,
Your letter is an insoluble puzzle to me. The handwriting is good and exhibits considerable character, and there are even traces of intelligence in what you say, yet the letter and the accompanying advertisements profess to be the work of the same hand. The person who wrote the advertisements is without doubt the most ignorant person now alive on the planet; also without doubt he is an idiot, an idiot of the 33rd degree, and scion of an ancestral procession of idiots stretching back to the Missing Link. It puzzles me to make out how the same hand could have constructed your letter and your advertisements. Puzzles fret me, puzzles annoy me, puzzles exasperate me; and always, for a moment, they arouse in me an unkind state of mind toward the person who has puzzled me. A few moments from now my resentment will have faded and passed and I shall probably even be praying for you; but while there is yet time I hasten to wish that you may take a dose of your own poison by mistake, and enter swiftly into the damnation which you and all other patent medicine assassins have so remorselessly earned and do so richly deserve.
In case you wanted to know what Frank Serpico has been up to lately. It has inspired me to go rent the movie. Ive never seen it beginning to end in one sitting. The best part about this article though is that its the first suggested reading from my father that isn't right wing propaganda.
I don't really care myself as I haven't really been impressed with anyone doing late night tv in the last few years, but i do like that Conan isnt rolling over for NBC and their favorite son Jay Leno. Arguments could be made for or against O'brien, Letterman, maybe even Fallon, but its indisputable that Leno is effing lame and unfunny to anyone young enough to be awake at those hours. Someone please retire him to a Vegas show already.
Todd Leopold of CNN celebrates the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons by asking whether or not it should be canceled.
Matt Groening told CNN that he'd "be surprised if we close up anytime soon. ... The show's still fun to do."
Some high profile (not sure why i called people i've never heard of as high profile, but i did anyways) fans seem to think the show has run its course and that nothing good can come from keeping it going.
I personally enjoy the show but I only watch it on reruns. It totally blows my mind that the show has been on for 20 years but I always seem to catch the same 10 episodes.
Apparently Bill O'Reilly didn't like the line delivered by John Larroquette:
"Limbaugh, Beck, O'Reilly, all of 'em, they are like a cancer spreading ignorance and hate...They've convinced folks that immigrants are the problem, not corporations that fail to pay a living wage or a broken health care system..."
Personally i think it was a compliment to imply that O'Reilly cares about what the problem might be. I don't think he has a mental capacity for anything past saying what will get him paid. He is like Anne Coulter but with a wetter vagina.
Cuomo was complaining of rib pain after the accident so he went to the hospital. His wife and daughter were on the bus but they are ok. One other passenger was hurt too.
I hope Rivers is ok. I also hope he has a revelation that he should stop being a sell out and go back to making good music.
"These are the game-changers: records that signaled some sort of shift in the way music is made or sounds, or ones that were especially influential or historically significant."
They go out of their way to underline that these aren't necessarily the best albums, rather these are records that made the most impact or were the most important over the last decade. That's a pretty broad description, perhaps leaving their list up for criticism on purpose.
At any rate, it's always fun to look back on a decade of music.
I read a blog about a week ago from a guy who saw a screening of the pilot episode of the V remake. He said it was a metaphor for a vast left wing conspiracy. I blew it off, cause the guy seemed so right wing nutjobby.
As it turns out, he was absolutely correct, except that there isn't really much of a metaphor. Its pretty much straight up saying Barack Obama is part of a combined left wing and terrorist effort to make the world so miserable that it would have no choice but to to turn to him for leadership. They don't even try to hide the concept of universal health care as a cover for a government takeover. The aliens say almost verbatim that they want to provide universal health care for the people of earth.
The first V was a metaphor for the holocaust, so I guess if you cant deny the holocaust happened, then you cant deny that Obama is an illegal alien terrorist. They even have a version of Joe Lieberman. An alien who shows his friend that he is an alien, but assures him that he is a good alien.
That said:
Performances were weak.
Morena Baccarin nailed her role conjuring a little of the original series' Jane Badler but bringing her own soft charm to the character of the visitor's leader.
No one else really stood out.
With the overexposed plot and lackluster characters and actors, I am kind of confused as to who the target audience is. Do right wingers watch science fiction? Would left wingers continue to watch it if it was such a clear affront to their ideals?
I rarely pay attention to the entertainment news section but this headline made me laugh. Worse off, the people who wanted her to win this award was her biggest fan base - preteens and teenagers. This has been a year of unfortunate events for Ms. Cyrus; from mocking Asians to being accused of pole dancing.
Microsoft, initially the single sponsor of Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show, has pulled out of the deal. Apparently the topics were too controversial to be associated with. Had they ever even seen an episode before they made a deal?
James Hibbard for ABC news puts it best:
The special reportedly contained jokes about deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest. In other words, it was just like a regular "Family Guy" episode.
I am sure Fox wont have any problems finding new sponsors to fill the void.
The Arcade Fire's video for "We Used To Wait" is an interactive web browser based experiment. 
The remains of chess genius Bobby Fischer are to be exhumed to determine whether he is the father of a 9-year-old girl, a lawyer representing the child and her mother said Thursday.
Patrick Stewart of Star Trek and X-Men fame has been knighted by Queen of England Elizabeth II.
This is an excellent read from a talented writer about the cliche of loving a band that everyone loves but for some reason hating to admit it. 
Actor Robert Culp died of a head injury while taking a walk this morning. 
Sacha Baron Cohen of Ali-G, Borat and Bruno fame scares the Oscars people so much that they'd prefer he just stay home. Apparently they rejected his bid to host early on and recently cut his presentation skit as well. He was going to be poking fun at James Cameron and Avatar by dressing up as the avatar girl and pretending Cameron was the father of her love child.
Andrew Koenig, almost famous for playing Boner on TV's Growing Pains has gone missing. The "despondent" son of Star Trek's Walter Koenig (Chekov) apparently does not want to be found. Sounds like a job for VH1's Where are they now. In the meantime Kirk Cameron is praying for Boner's safe return.
I just came across this and I absolutely loved it. Mark Twain wrote this letter in 1905 in which he completely pwned these snake oil peddlers. Apparently they marketed with their product with the claim that it would cure many diseases, some of which Mark's family members had recently died of. So you can say Mark is passionate to say the least. 
In case you wanted to know what Frank Serpico has been up to lately. It has inspired me to go rent the movie. Ive never seen it beginning to end in one sitting. The best part about this article though is that its the first suggested reading from my father that isn't right wing propaganda.
I don't really care myself as I haven't really been impressed with anyone doing late night tv in the last few years, but i do like that Conan isnt rolling over for NBC and their favorite son Jay Leno. Arguments could be made for or against O'brien, Letterman, maybe even Fallon, but its indisputable that Leno is effing lame and unfunny to anyone young enough to be awake at those hours. Someone please retire him to a Vegas show already.
Clueless star, Brittany Murphy has died apparently of cardiac arrest. Rest in peace Brittany...hopefully not too sporadically.
New York Times article on a 6 hour black metal symposium held in Brooklyn, NY. 
Todd Leopold of CNN celebrates the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons by asking whether or not it should be canceled. 
Apparently Bill O'Reilly didn't like the line delivered by John Larroquette:
Cuomo was complaining of rib pain after the accident so he went to the hospital. His wife and daughter were on the bus but they are ok. One other passenger was hurt too. 
Have fun with this one. From the NPR article:
I read a blog about a week ago from a guy who saw a screening of the pilot episode of the V remake. He said it was a metaphor for a vast left wing conspiracy. I blew it off, cause the guy seemed so right wing nutjobby. 
