A great Memphis soul song, but one crazy way to fund a government.
Wilson Pickett - "In The Midnight Hour" - The Exciting Wilson Pickett
Radio Audizioni Italiane TV (c.1966)
The Huffington Post collected a slide show of 25 (mostly) semi-humorous #govtshutdownpickuplines. It's a wonder wonks breed.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Tweak Your Week
Morning Joe
Meatloaf's massive meltdown, April Fool's anchor prank & budget.
Daily Show: Recap - Week of 4/4/11
Billy Crystal's first tweet, and confronting Middle East sexism.
Colbert Report: Recap - Week of 4/4/11
James Franco debates art and Stephen prepares for royal wedding.
Late Night
Jimmy Fallon reads his favorite tweets, hashtag = #worstspringbreak
This Week in Unnecessary Censorship
from Jimmy Kimmel Live
Who's Gone Too Far This Week?
The Onion Review
Meatloaf's massive meltdown, April Fool's anchor prank & budget.
Daily Show: Recap - Week of 4/4/11
Billy Crystal's first tweet, and confronting Middle East sexism.
Colbert Report: Recap - Week of 4/4/11
James Franco debates art and Stephen prepares for royal wedding.
Late Night
Jimmy Fallon reads his favorite tweets, hashtag = #worstspringbreak
This Week in Unnecessary Censorship
from Jimmy Kimmel Live
Who's Gone Too Far This Week?
The Onion Review
Type Casting
Jessica Biel is rumored to be in the remake of Total Recall... But in which part do you see her?
Click through for Slash Film's discussion.
Click through for Slash Film's discussion.
Thanks, Left Out Un-History
 | "Then Everything Changed" Audio Embed: Audio Embed: CBS Radio's Osgood File 4/8/11. |
Speed Kills
But Far Too Slowly For Texas
The Lone Star state already has the fastest speed limits in the nation at 80 mph... But now has raised them to 85. An oil industry stimulus?
Video analysis by Newsy.com
The Lone Star state already has the fastest speed limits in the nation at 80 mph... But now has raised them to 85. An oil industry stimulus?
Video analysis by Newsy.com
Fact Check That Fool
As blowhard reality show tycoon Donald Trump flirts with running for president in 2012 and spreads birther claims no more believable than his hair, NBC's Lisa Myers reports what truth she learned in Hawaii.
Conan Coaxes Truth From Trump
 | The Donald Is Dangerous Audio Embed: Dave Ross, KIRO-FM/Seattle, 4/8/11. |
Friday, April 8, 2011
Dump Trump!
I've previously referred to Donald Trump (Birther-NY) as a "publicity whore" and "egomaniacal entrepreneur." His latest stupid and self-aggrandizing spew as a political poser hasn't changed that opinion.
Donald Trump told Meredith Vieira he has people on the ground in Hawaii investigating the president's birth certificate. It works for Republican polls & TV ratings, but the argument is phony as the hair.
The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart went after the facts.
Back in Black, Deserves A Rerun
Lewis Black thinks publicity whore/political poser Donald Trump has what it takes to be the crazy third-world dictator that America needs.
Donald Trump told Meredith Vieira he has people on the ground in Hawaii investigating the president's birth certificate. It works for Republican polls & TV ratings, but the argument is phony as the hair.
The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart went after the facts.
Back in Black, Deserves A Rerun
Lewis Black thinks publicity whore/political poser Donald Trump has what it takes to be the crazy third-world dictator that America needs.
Mad Ads
Clothes to the Edge
Calvin Klein's "ck" initials are prominent, the "F.U." is more subtle.
Tyne Stecklein was one of 10 backup dancers chosen from a pool of 5,000 hopefuls for Michael Jackson's "This Is It" tour, which was canceled following his death in June 2009. She nails her moves for Old Navy with a precision that makes her quick change edits possible.
New Zealand clothing retailer Hallensteins failed twice by incurring the wrath of the country's ad watchdog because its song lyrics include the phrase "dumb whore" & aired on TV during G-rated Princess Diaries 2.
Tyne Stecklein was one of 10 backup dancers chosen from a pool of 5,000 hopefuls for Michael Jackson's "This Is It" tour, which was canceled following his death in June 2009. She nails her moves for Old Navy with a precision that makes her quick change edits possible.
New Zealand clothing retailer Hallensteins failed twice by incurring the wrath of the country's ad watchdog because its song lyrics include the phrase "dumb whore" & aired on TV during G-rated Princess Diaries 2.
Udderly Amazing!
Chinese Franken-cows Produce "Human" Milk
Chinese scientists say they've combined human genes with cows that can now produce mass quantities of milk that mimics Mom's own.
Video analysis by Newsy.com
Chinese scientists say they've combined human genes with cows that can now produce mass quantities of milk that mimics Mom's own.
Illustration by Ron EnglishVideo analysis by Newsy.com
"digital circlism" portrait by Ben HeinePitchman
The Greatest TED Talk Ever Sold
Film maker Morgan Spurlock put the naming rights to his 2011 TED speech up for bid on eBay, and got a company to pay $7100 for them.
Film maker Morgan Spurlock put the naming rights to his 2011 TED speech up for bid on eBay, and got a company to pay $7100 for them.
Wash Your Winkie
Serena Altschul took a ride on the wild side with English bad boy comedian Russell Brand at Universal Studios while filming the remake of the 1981 Academy Award winning comedy "Arthur," which opens today... "Hop" debuted last weekend atop box office receipts.
Mouth Organ Lesson
"One Tree Hill" star/reluctant harmonica player Sophia Bush.
CBS Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson... Innuendo & out the other.
CBS Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson... Innuendo & out the other.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Shut Down
And mindless knee jerk opposition to anything Barack backs continues to be the operational stance, if not publicly declared rationale, of the Republicans' Tea Party federal budget insurgency.
The deadline looms large.
"The price you paid for your riches and fame,
Was it all a strange game? You're a little insane."
-- The Byrds, "So You Want to be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" (1967)
 | Budget Negotiations Process Viewed as Political Game Theory Audio Embed: All Things Considered 4/6/11, Reporter: Ari Shapiro. |
Anthony Weiner (D-NY) talks about the ongoing negotiations and the disingenuousness of Republicans who claim not to want a shutdown.
| So who IS essential? Audio Embed: Dave Ross, KIRO-FM/Seattle, 4/6/11. |
And maybe what was the last widely popular "shut down"...
The Beach Boys - "Shut Down" - Surfin' USA (1963)
Fine, Just Fine
Do fines make a difference in changing behavior, or do they just get written off eventually as another cost of doing business as usual?
 | Does The Money Really Matter? Audio Embed: CBS Radio's Osgood File 4/6/11. |
Southwest Airlines Top Ten
CBS / Late Night with David Letterman, 4/5/11
Looney Tunes
Is Beck Too Crazy... Even For Fox?
As news broke that Fox News and Glenn Beck will be parting ways, at least in terms of his daily FNC show, mid day anchor Megyn Kelly slyly joked to Bret Baier: ‘I hear there may be a chalkboard becoming available.’
On Tuesday, Beck repeated his familiar mantra (the “Insurrection” is coming, his viewers need to prepare for dark times). He blamed the same groups (unions, Communists, Socialists, Islamists). He showed clips from the same people (Frances Fox Piven, Van Jones). And then, he tied it all to an arch-villain (liberal campaign funder George Soros).
After that, he asked his audience, “It's really getting boring, isn’t it?”
Fox executives Roger Ailes and/or Rupert Murdoch answered: "Yes."
Now who will urge the paranoid to hoard guns, gold and groceries?
On Tuesday, Beck repeated his familiar mantra (the “Insurrection” is coming, his viewers need to prepare for dark times). He blamed the same groups (unions, Communists, Socialists, Islamists). He showed clips from the same people (Frances Fox Piven, Van Jones). And then, he tied it all to an arch-villain (liberal campaign funder George Soros).
After that, he asked his audience, “It's really getting boring, isn’t it?”
Fox executives Roger Ailes and/or Rupert Murdoch answered: "Yes."
"(This) is a great moment for the collective intelligence of American discourse."
-- Keth Olbermann, former cable competitor, 4/6/11
Now who will urge the paranoid to hoard guns, gold and groceries?
Let's Go Mental
In the United States, National Mental Health Month for 2011 is May.
Dana Delany, Night & Day
TV's latest crusading medical examiner has a long list of showbiz credits, a wild streak, strong stomach and no shortage of stories.
Birthday Boycott
The Beauty of Brains, Blood and Guts
ABC /Jimmy Kimmel Live
Bitchiness, Body of Proof, Bruce Willis & Moonlighting
CBS / The Talk
Birthday Boycott
The Beauty of Brains, Blood and Guts
ABC /Jimmy Kimmel Live
Bitchiness, Body of Proof, Bruce Willis & Moonlighting
CBS / The Talk
Polish That Turd
Flying, Nuclear Waste & Deadly Protests
Daily Show Correspondents Olivia Munn, Wyatt Cenac, Samantha Bee and John Oliver look for the bright side of news about failing planes, leaking radioactive waste and deadly protests in Afghanistan.
Daily Show Correspondents Olivia Munn, Wyatt Cenac, Samantha Bee and John Oliver look for the bright side of news about failing planes, leaking radioactive waste and deadly protests in Afghanistan.
Masters & Manners (NSFW)
 | Speaking of Turds... Audio Embed: Berger & Prescott, podcast via Facebook. |
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Every Vote Counts
The job is not as powerful as you might think:
Often pictured with showgirls on each arm, or a martini in hand, his 12 year administration is ending because of mandatory term limits.
If voters had their choice, the self proclaimed "world's happiest mayor" might well have the job for life. But Tuesday's preliminary election narrowed the field of 18 candidates down to 2, guaranteeing the next mayor would be one of two women with the same initials.
But the more interesting story belongs to two of the also-rans... Candidates whose campaigns could not have been more different.
County commissioner Larry Brown went door to door in an old fashioned grass roots effort. Although his reputation is that of a budget hawk, he was derided as a big spending liberal in the sole big budget TV campaign, for immigrant businessman Victor Chaltiel.
Commissioner Brown fell short of making the final ballot by 15 votes.
Victor, who spent more than a million of his own money in his vanity campaign, finished 4th @ 14%... But many are left wonderring how many votes his mischaracterization cost Larry Brown in the end.
Off year/off season voting almost guarantees the lowest turnouts of any electoral process, but magnifies the importance of each individual participant... Making it never more true: Every vote counts.
- Most of "Las Vegas" is outside city limits
- A manager runs the city, not the elected mayor
- The mayor chairs, not controls, a city council
- There aren't that many ribbons to cut anymore
If voters had their choice, the self proclaimed "world's happiest mayor" might well have the job for life. But Tuesday's preliminary election narrowed the field of 18 candidates down to 2, guaranteeing the next mayor would be one of two women with the same initials.
 Carolyn Goodman: vivacious wife of the outgoing Oscar, short on substantive political positions, long on name recognition. |  Chris Giunchigliani (say June-killy-Annie): former teacher, union leader & state legislator, current Clark County commissioner. |
But the more interesting story belongs to two of the also-rans... Candidates whose campaigns could not have been more different.
Commissioner Brown fell short of making the final ballot by 15 votes.
Victor, who spent more than a million of his own money in his vanity campaign, finished 4th @ 14%... But many are left wonderring how many votes his mischaracterization cost Larry Brown in the end.
Off year/off season voting almost guarantees the lowest turnouts of any electoral process, but magnifies the importance of each individual participant... Making it never more true: Every vote counts.
More McJobs
McDonald's Announces Plan to Add 50,000 Employees... If the hair-net fits, wear it.
On April 19th McDonald's US plans to hire 50,000 new employees for a variety of positions in 14,000 restaurants around the country.
All the Better to Supersize Me, 24/7!
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On April 19th McDonald's US plans to hire 50,000 new employees for a variety of positions in 14,000 restaurants around the country.
All the Better to Supersize Me, 24/7!
I Want My iPadTV
 | It's war! Audio Embed: APM's Marketplace Tech Report 4/5/11, Host: John Moe. |
French Chef, American Spy?
 | Espionage is French for Spying Audio Embed: PRI & WNYC's program The Takeaway 4/5/11, Hosts: Celeste Headlee & John Hockenberry. |
“A Covert Affair: Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS.”
Takin'It To The Street
Internet Outage Alters Voicing of Inane Opinions
Cyber attack forces Americans to physically go outside to tell people how much they love BBQ or what they think of Christina Aguilera.
Cyber attack forces Americans to physically go outside to tell people how much they love BBQ or what they think of Christina Aguilera.
Ban the Benjamins?
Hundred-dollar bills are for criminals and sociopaths. Why do we still print them?
-- Slate contributor, Timothy Noah, 12/9/10
| Kill the Bills? Audio Embed: CBS Radio's Osgood File 4/5/11. Read the Slate Article by Timothy Noah |
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Zealots at Home & Abroad
Terry Jones, the Gainesville FL cult leader, who ALMOST burned a Quran last September 11th, finally did it... Sparking deadly violence at the United Nations compound in Mazar-I-Sharif, Afghanistan.
Protests against the burning continue, with a death toll comparable to the membership of Jones' congregation, and injured over 100 more.
While the Taliban seem to be stoking the fires of the angry mobs, a supposed U.S. ally seems to be the one who lit the bigger match.
Al-Jazeera’s Abderrahim Foukara and Professor Irshad Manji react.
International cartoonists on Terry Jones & Afghan violence.
Protests against the burning continue, with a death toll comparable to the membership of Jones' congregation, and injured over 100 more.
While the Taliban seem to be stoking the fires of the angry mobs, a supposed U.S. ally seems to be the one who lit the bigger match.
| Our Good Old Buddy, Hamid Audio Embed: Dave Ross, KIRO-FM/Seattle, 4/4/11. |
Al-Jazeera’s Abderrahim Foukara and Professor Irshad Manji react.
International cartoonists on Terry Jones & Afghan violence.
"The Koran gets burned all the time when Muslims blow each other up in mosques"
-- Rush Limbaugh, 4/4/11
Spill Baby Spill
The Wall Street Journal reports that Transocean is granting annual executive bonuses based in part on the company's safety record, despite the 11 workers who died in the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Oil Prices Soar Again
John Hofmeister of Citizens for Affordable Energy talks about the rising price of oil as BP plans to resume drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
Punk Rock Opera
 | An Irish Immigrant Experience Audio Embed: BBC, PRI & WBUR's Here & Now 4/4/11, Host: Robin Young. |
Cloudy
Choose Your Weapons
Evan Longoria
The third baseman of the Tampa Bay Rays made it through spring training, but you can't say the same for all of his gansta goodies.
Batman & Robin
 | 3B Minus AK-47 Audio Embed: WBUR & NPR's Only A Game 3/31/11, Commentator: Bill Littlefield. |
Batman & Robin
Muhammad Ali Monument
It took three years, 1300 boxing punching bags in two different colors, five miles of stainless steel wire and two miles of aluminum tubing to create this 22 foot high mobile and modular monument...
"reALIze" by Michael Kalish (artist) & the Oyler Wu Collaborative (architects).
Live On Stage
Thumbs Up
Harry Smith profiles comedian Chris Rock who is currently rocking the Broadway stage in the play "The Motherf**ker With the Hat."
Thumbs Down
The crowd at Charlie Sheen's live show in Detroit greeted him with a standing ovation but soon began to boo the troubled actor and many in the audience walked out demanding refunds.
The Violent Torpedo of Truth: The show sucked on opening night.
Harry Smith profiles comedian Chris Rock who is currently rocking the Broadway stage in the play "The Motherf**ker With the Hat."
Thumbs Down
The crowd at Charlie Sheen's live show in Detroit greeted him with a standing ovation but soon began to boo the troubled actor and many in the audience walked out demanding refunds.
The Violent Torpedo of Truth: The show sucked on opening night.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Truth At Last
The Nixons board Air Force One for the last time, 8/9/74
Richard Nixon's legacy, distorted for four decades by diehard loyalists who controlled his presidential library, gets a fresh look through the more objective eyes of new management... The National Archives.
| Sorry, He Was A Crook Audio Embed: All Things Considered 4/1/11, Reporter: by Ina Jaffe. |
Lovely, Loopy, Lounging
Victor Aleman's combination fantasy and function "chair" has single, double or triple loops designed for face to face poolside socializing.
'Loopita' from Kerozene Design... The lovely Lupita not included.
Partyin' Payoff
The bet was that Stephen Colbert would sing Rebecca Black's 'Friday' on 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon' if the two could meet a Friday fund-raising deadline for the education charity Donor's Choose.
With a 4/1 finish line, many suspected an elaborate April Fools' Day prank. But on Friday's "Late Night," Best Friends Forever For Six Months Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon delivered big time, with The Roots rockin' and American Idol Taylor Hicks joining in.
Blue Food Blues
Neither Dave Ross, nor the Food and Drug Administration, share George Carlin's enthusiasm... Studies link several widely used food coloring dyes to childhood hyperactivity and could prompt restrictions.
| Food Coloring Warnings Audio Embed: Dave Ross, KIRO-FM/Seattle, 3/30/11. |
There Goes Gravity
Do you know? Don't you wonder?
What's going on, down under you?
-- David Crosby, "Déjà Vu" (1969)
Unveiled during a conference at Technische Universität München (Munich Technical University), results from the European Space Agency's GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer) satellite gathered data to map Earth's gravity field with unprecedented precision. It offers a very different image of home.
The resulting figure, called a "geoid," is a reference for ocean, climate and geological tectonic (earthquake) studies, and will improve our understanding of Earth’s internal structure.
"Snap back to reality, Oh there goes gravity."
-- Eminem, "Lose Yourself" - 8 Mile Soundtrack (2002)
Do you remember the premise of "The China Syndrome," a 1979 movie starring Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon & the bearded Michael Douglas?
The disaster film suggested that an uncontrolled reaction's nuclear meltdown could create enough heat to melt its way into the earth, and some engineer remarked "it could go all the way to China."
Actually, that kind of hole starting at PG&E's Diablo Canyon Power Plant, near Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, California would wind up at the bottom of the southern Indian Ocean... More or less where an imaginary line drawn between Cape Town and Perth would intersect a south east compass radial from southern Madagascar.
If you're willing to put aside that whole molten magma in the middle mess, you can dig a big hole of your own with this interactive map!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Monday Matchup
It's a dogfight for the NCAA championship game on Monday night as UConn & Butler come off Saturday night Final 4 victories in Houston.
 #3 seed, 56-55 over UK |  #8 seed, 70-62 over VCU |
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