Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Homer Wants More D'Oh!

Here's the latest on the negotiations for the voice cast of The Simpsons to return for another season. I am wholly on their side on this. What they're asking for is a teensy fraction of what that show is worth.

• Posted at 8:54 PM · LINK

Daily Delight

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart continues to be the cleverest show on television. Or at least, I think it is. If you haven't sampled it, you're really doing yourself a disservice. I highly recommend their deconstruction of the Condoleezza Rice testimony, and if you missed it, you can view a portion online.

The way the Comedy Central website is set up, it's a little tricky to link directly to a videoclip. Go to this page and select "Me Ain't Culpa." And while you're there, watch some other clips. Better still, watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

• Posted at 8:49 PM · LINK

Short Takes

I'm still battling that deadline so here are a few brief items and updates...

Several folks have written to tell me of past, unsuccessful attempts to introduce White Castle to Los Angeles. I'm not sure if those were owned-and-operated stands or if White Castle tried farming out the business on a franchise deal. But apparently there have been times when White Castle's reticence to venture outside its established turf hasn't been as firm as it has been in the past few years.
Two people wrote to note that Aaron McGruder does not actually draw Boondocks, at least not any more. The piece to which I linked says that he's handed that task off to an assistant.
I just received an e-mail ad for medications from "Thereafter R. Listlessly." Another great name.
Yes, I know the incident of the man who wagered his life's savings in Vegas was being filmed for a British reality series. I still think it'll be more than that. And that it's not a good idea to try such a thing.
Yes, I know that there was no live TV coverage of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center on 9/11 and that G.W. Bush could not possibly have seen it as it happened, as he has claimed. I'm surprised the Democrats have not made more of that little discrepancy...but they will.
Corey Klemow writes to say, "People keep saying that Bush was 'reading to children.' As I'm sure you know (since you've linked to it and all), the footage of Bush in the classroom that day shows that the children were actually reading to him." Like me, Corey thinks that's a tiny detail but it is worth mentioning.
Lastly, this weblog post by Kevin Drum lays out an interesting account of why he changed from backing the war in Iraq to opposing it. I frankly don't understand why folks who support the effort aren't more upset about the wildly inaccurate estimates we've had of cost, manpower, timetable, being welcomed in the streets, etc. Even if one presumes they were all honestly believed when they were made, that does not inspire confidence in our leaders...or their current projections.

That's all for now. Back to deadline!

• Posted at 1:25 PM · LINK

A Glamorous Career

When I was younger and first discovering the joy of pictures of beautiful women, my favorite photographer was a man named Peter Gowland. In this article, I tell an amazing (but true!) story of discovering not only his work but his studio. And today in the Los Angeles Times, there's this article about his job. Nice work if you can get it.

UPDATE at 10:50 AM: I screwed up the above links. They should work now.

• Posted at 8:51 AM · LINK

April 14, 2004 • Current • April 12, 2004