Thursday, July 24, 2003

Guess the End of This Story

A 74-year-old woman was wandering through a Detroit casino one day when she found a nickel in an unattended slot machine. She attempted to play it but casino employees rushed up and surrounded the woman. She was questioned and photographed. Then they confiscated both the nickel and a meal ticket she was holding, plus they ejected her from the casino and warned her that she'd be arrested if she ever returned. She sued the casino and a mediator suggested settling her claim for $17,000. The casino rejected this amount as exorbitant and allowed her suit to continue. Guess the end of this story.

• Posted at 6:41 PM · LINK

You've Been Obsessed With This...Admit It!

Whatever happened to Monti Rock the Third?

• Posted at 6:34 PM · LINK

Something Dumb

A very talented gent named Craig McCracken created the animated series known as The Powerpuff Girls, which is seen constantly on Cartoon Network and everywhere else. Another very talented gent named Genndy Tartakovsky created the ones known as Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack, which are also seen often on Cartoon Network. Why am I telling you this? Because — jerk that I am — I got them confused in my newly-released book, Wertham Was Right. As Kenneth Plume (of IGN FilmForce) just called to my attention, I wrote on page 56, "Powerpuff Girls is the vision of a terrific artist named Genndy Tartakovsky."

It doesn't invalidate the point I was trying to make, which was that the best cartoons are done by strong-willed, distinctive creators, but it's still incorrect. I plugged in the name of the wrong strong-willed, distinctive creator, and I can't blame it on the head of the C.I.A. Nor can I claim that the British are still standing by this statement. It's no one's fault but my own. Genndy did work on The Powerpuff Girls but it was created by Craig, and next time I'm out at Cartoon Network, I'll give them both copies of the book with my sincere apologies and invite them to kick me in some appropriate spot. (If you'd like to order a copy in spite of this, click here. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't.)

• Posted at 5:09 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

There's something very dislikable about Bill Maher but boy, he writes a funny, on-target commentary.

• Posted at 11:42 AM · LINK