Saturday, December 18, 2010

Late Night TV

Jimmy Fallon 'Drunk on Christmas' with John Rich



David Letterman's Farewell To Larry



Jay Leno's 12 Days of Christmas



Craig Ferguson's Christmas Present from Jimmy



Jimmy Fallon's Christmas Present from Craig



Conan's Got A Christmas Kitty, Too

Movies

Romantic Comedy: "How Do You Know"




Sci-Fi Adventure: "Tron Legacy"



3-D Cartoon Classic: "Yogi Bear"

Posters






From Team Coco's site: Rejecting Sobriety

Bells

Ensemble



Quartet



Solo

Prime Time TV

Top Comedy Moments of 2010



See more at the Huffington Post

Enjoy

Until Next Year... Have a Happy.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Rage Test Results Are In

Dr. Robert Green, medical geneticist at Boston University follows up on whether some men have a genetic predisposition to violence... Among those tested Henry Rollins, the former punk rocker and host of the NatGeo documentary, “Explorer: Born To Rage,” about what scientists have called “the warrior gene.”
Cue the Maury Povich impersonator
Audio Embed: BBC, PRI & WBUR's Here & Now 12/16/10,
Host: Robin Young.

Example...


Video: Newsy.com

Conan's Christmas Pudding



All in all, rocker Roger Waters is more than just a guest in the chair.

Happy New Components

A Recycling Wreath From Reddit

Alexi's Mistletoe Mania



O Holy Crap!


Caution: Jeweled Christmas trees may ruin visions of sugarplums.

Nissan Leaf Drops In NW

Never Gassed Up, Ready To Go
After its U.S. debut in San Francisco on Saturday 12/11/10, Nissan's Leaf continues its 2010 West Coast tour... 100 miles at a time.
Wednesday in Portland,
Today in Seattle

Audio Embed: Puget Sound Public Radio 12/16/10,
Reporter: Tom Banse

Congress Turns Up The Car Noise

Farewell To The King

Larry King Live: Belated old-age retirement, hello.






Videos: CBS, CNN & MSNBC
CNN's Shake-up

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Fall of the House of Blitzer
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogThe Daily Show on Facebook

Apparently replacing Larry King with Piers Morgan was just the start.

Nothing But Foam


King of Beers dethroned in internationally orchestrated coup. The set indicates the interview was recorded near the election. Either they saved the story as a Larry King tie-in, or the hangover was a killer.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Rock On

Neil Diamond and Alice Cooper lead the latest group of inductees, but as always groups that didn't make the cut are getting buzz, too.


Analysis by Newsy.com


Music video by John Mellencamp from 1985... The latest year a nominee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame could have debuted.

Death Tax

The fact is that taxes take a slice any time money changes hands, but the phrase "Death Tax" was pre-tested for its capacity to provoke rage in those who don't know any better... Most of the time you don't have Columbia University economist Jefferey Sachs to correct the distortion when Joe Scarborough slips from political analyst to Republican activist with talking points about families in Farmville.


“We can have concentrated wealth in the hands of a few or we can have democracy,
but we can’t have both.”

-- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis (1856- 1941)

A Powerful Progressive Proponent

As the House of Representatives questions inclusion of estate taxes in the Obama/McConnell compromise, a look at its history, dating back to when progressives were Republicans... With Michael Graetz, co-author of the book Death by a Thousand Cuts: The Fight Over Taxing Inherited Wealth.
A Stand Against Inherited Oligarchy
Audio Embed: Morning Edition 12/15/10,
Host: Don Gonyea.
The old saying goes, "The only two certainties in life are death and taxes." So it might have been inevitable that they'd meet.

Ezra Klein, An Estate Tax Primer -- Washington Post, 12/15/10:
In a report called "Spending Millions to Save Billions," Public Citizen and United for a Fair Economy estimated that a handful of the country's richest families had spent more than $400 million lobbying for the tax's repeal -- and if they were successful, they stood to save more than $70 billion.

Person of the Year



Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the world he had been selected as TIME's Person of the Year for 2010 early Wednesday by updating his status.

It's an appropriate venue... Not only because of his position, but also because the proposed update of the American Psychiatric Association’s official Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders would eliminate narcissistic personality disorder from the field’s holy book of billable hours.

Self-absorption is so widespread it's the new normal in a world of reality TV, plus "social media" with virtual "friends" and "followers" you've never met... Like technology made it possible for everybody to have their own "Al Franken decade."

Mark Zuckerberg illustrates anyone can make it... In every sense.
Stop Me Before I Facebook Again
Audio Embed: All Things Considered 12/13/10,
Reporter: Vanessa Romo

Are They F@#kin' Crazy?


From the "Sugar-Tooth Steelyard McDan Tour" (2006)

Further Idenitity Crisis

Prosopagnosia, or face blindness, is a brain disorder in which the person affected is unable to recognize faces. Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports on the syndrome and two suprising people who have it.



Read more at CBS News. See a previous post with author interview.

Fox, Fact or Fiction


Rachel Maddow talks smack about blowhard competitors with Dave.

Hazmat In Our Heads?

FDA hearing testomy questions safety of mercury in dental fillings.
An Inside The Mouth Job
Audio Embed: CBS Radio's Osgood File 12/15/10.
Movie still: Sir Laurence Olivier as Szell in Marathon Man (1976)

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Lame Duck Clusterf@#k

A few Republican senators find comfort and advantage in invoking the heroes of 9/11 but refuse to give them health care.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Lame-as-F@#k Congress
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogThe Daily Show on Facebook

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich explains why the Obama-GOP tax cut deal has already rattled the world financial markets.



Counterproductive Senate filibuster rules have legislators frantic as the term ends. Senator Tom Udall has a rules change fix in mind for the one day a simple majority can rule.



Can anything happen before time runs out?

Birth of New Bipartisanship?

"No Labels" group formed to promote solutions to nation's problems.
Moderates... 3rd Party Animals?
Audio Embed: Morning Edition 12/14/10,
Reporter: Robert Smith

There are some hot shot political pros starting this movement against "hyper-partisanship." But exactly what they stand for isn't clear yet.


Video: Newsy.com

Assume The Position

Heisman Winner Strikes A Pose


Late Night with David Letterman 12/13/10

Reception/Wishful Thinking

The man wasn't soliciting at the airport, he's a driver sent to pick up a guest on the popular British TV show called Loose Women.

Seriously. It's like "The View."

Phallus Versus Phallus
A prankster struck the snow-covered lawn of the Eiffel Tower.

Anyone Lose A Moon?

A newly published theory attributes Saturn's rings to an "Ancient Moon's Death Spiral"... Coincidentally, the name of my new band.
My Saturn Needs A Ring Job
Audio Embed: CBS Radio's Osgood File 12/14/10.
Icy ring fragments painted by Don Dixon

Another Take

Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly take a crack at
Bowie & Bing's famous holiday duet


Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Blessed Are The Peacemakers

Richard C. Holbrooke 1941-2010





And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star

-- "The Impossible Dream" from Man of La Mancha (1972)


Last Words... Sage Advice
Audio Embed: Dave Ross, KIRO-FM/Seattle, 12/14/10.

Farewell To The King

Conan O'Brien guests on the final live week of CNN's Larry King Live and recalls meeting the all-time King of Late Night, Johnny Carson.

Ongoing Anger Issues

A Life Sentence


Billy Joel's (2006) Tokyo performance of (1976) Turnstiles classic.

Rage Against The Bad Gene

Scientists have identified a gene on the X-chromosome they call “the Warrior Gene.”

But they don't mean it in the spiritual or enlightened sense of the word. If malfunctioning or non functioning, it makes people more prone to anger, aggression, hostility, a hair-trigger temper and violent behavior.

It's recessive, and can occur in both sexes, but women (with two X-chromosomes) have a greater chance of overcoming that part of their makeup, while men have only one X inherited from their mothers.

Punk rock legend Henry Rollins, of Black Flag fame, hosts a television show that investigates the possible origins of the short fuse, in which a diverse group of men agree to be genetically tested.

Born To Rage” airs at 9pm ET, Tonight 12/14/10, on NatGeo.
It's Mom's Fault
Audio Embed: BBC, PRI & WBUR's Here & Now 12/13/10,
Host: Robin Young.

Can't Fight The Seether


The Louise Post/Nina Gordon lineup from American Thighs (1994)

Of Mice and Men

It's A Long Story, Creepy and Kinda Gay

Pre-Packaged, Neatly Labeled

While some challenge the red/blue divide of national politics, others lay in wait compiling file footage for vicious attack ads yet to come.
Thinking Outside The Box
Audio Embed: Dave Ross, KIRO-FM/Seattle, 12/10/10.


Pete Seeger's (1963) version of Malvina Reynolds' suburban satire.

Side Bet Secrets



The Takeaway tried to untangle the nature of financial "derivatives" and the markets that monopolize exotic trades with the author of the NY Times article and a fuel oil dealer who tries to hedge prices... They lost me, except to think that selling these blind and opaquely priced side bets gives Wall Street even greater incentives to manipulate commodity prices and trading in futures markets.
Faulty Financial Formulas
Audio Embed: The Takeaway 12/13/10,
Hosts: John Hockenberry & Celeste Headlee.

Heavy Bread

In California, the L.A. Times reported state welfare recipients were withdrawing money from ATMs located on the gambling floors at tribal casinos and state licensed card rooms.

A similar investigation by public radio in Washington found welfare debit card withdrawals at out–of–state liquor stores, smoke shops and even strip clubs.

That probably wouldn't have been a problem on the Pacific Island of Yap, where natives didn't have any of those destinations and built an economy without their money ever moving.
Everybody Must Get Stoned
Audio Embed: Morning Edition 12/10/10,
Reporters: Jacob Goldstein and David Kestenbaum

Monday, December 13, 2010

Paperless

An Online Local (AOL) Alternative

It isn't replacing all the displaced journalists who've lost jobs with the rapid decline of the newspaper, but where it exists, AOL's "Patch" is bringing the local news online. Russ Mitchell reports on the new service that's putting at least some of those reporters back to work.



Currently Patch publishes coverage in fewer than 20 states, but it is accepting both applications and suggestions about where to expand.

Atheist, Agnostic, Absolute

A holiday season dialog about conviction between two questioners.
Atheists, Agnostics & Absolutes
Audio Embed: Weekend Edition Saturday 12/11/10,
Host: Scott Simon with author Michael Krasny.

Dog House


Shopping for women has perils; jewelry in a JC Penny box is one.

Fill In The Map Gap

A recent Very Small Array Google Auto Search session uncovered the full extent of America's late-season college football obsession.

Da Plane, Da Plane!

The Department of Motor Vehicles isn't anyone's idea of efficiency, but they keep track of cars better than the Feds do with planes.
Lost With All Scams
Audio Embed: CBS Radio's Osgood File 12/10/10.

Bing & Bowie Redux

Doesn't everyone think Jack Black & Jason Segal at Christmas?

Can You Say Apple II?

The real thing from 1979...

For a guy who could pick his own title, Steve chose wisely... There's no other CEO of his stature with a bigger impact on product design.


And His Partner In Crime, The Other Steve

The hardcore engineer in the original Apple partnership duo.
The Wizard of Woz
Audio Embed: Wait Wait Don't Tell Me 12/10/10,
Host: Peter Sagal; Judge & Scorekeeper: Carl Kasell
Panelists: Maz Jobrani, Amy Dickinson and Roy Blount, Jr.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Christmas Food Court Chorale


An apparent flash mob (really the Chorus Niagara) broke into George Frideric Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" at the Welland (ON) Seaway Mall.

They Were Waiting For This?

The Hasselhoffs! Yeah baby!!!
Audio Embed: Berger & Prescott, podcast via Facebook.

After only a one night run in which two episodes aired on A&E TV,
the network pulled the Hasselhoff’s horrible new reality TV series...
As yet no word on executive firings.

Denis Leary


A new book, "Suck on This Year," his Firefighter Foundation & more.

Cell Phone For Seniors

And Their Analog Kids
From Laughline via Ken Morgan