It pains me to say this, given how much I love his music, but it's true:

Joe Jackson blatantly "borrowed" the melody for his classic "Breaking Us In Two..."



...from "Day After Day" by Badfinger.



You've broken my heart in two, Joe...

Psst...just between you and me...

...that darned actress/writer Amber Benson (perhaps best known as the late, lamented Tara) has hersself a blog.

Yo, Jason...you out there, buddy? This one's for you.

Jennifer Aniston with members of the Marine Corp. More here. The pictures are a few years old, but do you care? I thought not.

If this is any indication, what I like least about the new "Witch Mountain" movie may be the fact it's got the words "Witch Mountain" in the title*

Because otherwise, this looks like it might actually be a movie I'd rather like to watch...

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

*It's a personal thing. I had my first kiss at the school where they filmed the orphanage scenes in Escape to Witch Mountain, see, and...

For the record, I liked most of Buffy, most of Angel, bailed on both in their final years; think Firefly is ridiculously overrated by Whedon fans.

Ok. As I think most of you know by now, I am something of a...iconoclast, shall we say, when it comes to Joss Whedon and his various series.

It's not entirely--or even mostly--his fault. It mainly has to do with my perception that too many of those fans are quite zombie-like in their devotion to their idol.

The man wrote a musical episode that was merely pretty good for someone who'd never written a musical before, and you'd think he was Stephen Sondheim from the way some of them carried on.

(I also think that every single thing regarding the decision to kill Tara on Buffy was a terrible mistake, and that is his fault--but neither here nor there for the purposes of this discussion)

No doubt you're wondering: Why does he tell us all of this, much of which we already know?

Because:

Say what you will about Joss Whedon (and I have), but...the man knows a good TV show when he's paired with one.

What are your thoughts on [new series DOLLHOUSE, starring Eliza Dushku, pictured] being paired with TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES on Friday nights?

I love being paired with THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES. I love that show, so it works for me.

Ok, Joss, I'll give you that one...

Times like this, you can either write a long, angry post...or you can just fucking bounce. Guess what I've decided to do.

Times like this:

Shocker (not): Rove has no intention of obeying Conyers' subpoena

Just fucking bounce:

Go!

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(sorry about the fucking ad you might see)

I was worried recently that Carter might prove to be the model for Obama in the worst way...now I'm not so sure he shouldn't listen to him

Dick, don't let's be L7...

You may have seen this elsewhere, but if not, it's definitely worth seeing. Now, I have to warn you, it involves watching more of Chris Matthews, who I generally think is dumb, than I would normally ask.

But in this case it's worth it, because by the end of the clip, you get to see Dick Armey prove himself to be a classically sexist Republican man. It's pretty cool.



Armey, BTW, is the onetime Majority Leader from Texas who decided to announce Bob Hope's death on the house floor five years before Hope actually died.

That has nothing to do with this...I just think it's the sort of thing which shouldn't be forgotten.

Yes!

Judge: Anti-gay marriage donors must be public

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

A federal judge denied a request Thursday to keep secret the names of donors to California's anti-gay marriage initiative, saying the public had a right to know who gave money to state ballot measures.

Supporters of the Proposition 8 initiative, which overturned a state Supreme Court ruling that allowed gay marriage, had sought a preliminary injunction to remove the identities of those who contributed to their campaign from the secretary of state's Web site.

They also had asked U.S. District Judge Morrison England Jr. to block the Monday release of the names of donors who either gave money two weeks before the election or shortly afterward. Those names will be publicly released in postelection campaign finance reports.

Suck it, you bigots! You don't get to deny people their human and civil rights and then scurry away under a stone like a spider. We're gonna see you, and we're gonna know what you are.

Own your homophobia, bigots. You might just sleep better at night.

Things I've found in books

So yesterday I'm reading From Earth to Heaven by Isaac Asimov, a collection of his science essays. Tucked between the last page and the back cover is a page ripped from a bible.

Specifically, it's

Genesis 40 & 41: In prison, Joseph interpreteth two dreams & Pharoh's dreams, Joseph interpreteth them.

I have no idea what whoever had this book before me was trying to put forth. I thought it might be an attempt to answer Asimov's known atheism, but he doesn't speak of that in the book. And I don't see anything in the page to answer it in any case.

I do, however, know a song cue when I see one.

The possibility that Obama might actually know what he's doing

...is considered here by Bob Cesca.

That's preposterous, of course. For one thing, Stokely Carmichael never had a booty like that*.

During the January 26 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, NPR news analyst and Fox News political contributor Juan Williams again baselessly attacked first lady Michelle Obama, claiming that "her instinct is to start with this 'blame America' ... stuff." Williams asserted that "[i]f you think about liabilities for President [Barack] Obama that are close to him -- [Vice President] Joe Biden's up there -- but Michelle Obama's right there." Williams continued: "[S]he's got this Stokely Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress thing going. If she starts talking, as [Townhall Magazine contributor and Weekly Standard contributing blogger] Mary Katharine [Ham] suggested, her instinct is to start with this 'blame America,' you know, 'I'm the victim.' If that stuff starts to come out, people will go bananas, and she'll go from being the new Jackie O to being something of an albatross."

*I say this with all the respect in the world for our new First Lady, but: Damn, she looks good in a dress.

Oh yes...have I harassed you people about watching Friday Night Lights recently?

If not, consider yourself harassed. It's one of my favorite shows and, like most of my favorite shows with only a few exceptions (House, maybe Bones), that means it needs more people to watch it.

So do, already. Watch a few episodes, see if you don't love it. If you don't, I respect that.

(I don't understand it, but I respect that.)

Oh, man.

If I hadn't already stopped watching The Simpsons (because it hasn't made me laugh in years), this might do it: Nancy Cartwright is using her Bart Simpson voice to push Scientology.

BTW, on a related note: I read an unauthorized biography of Tom Cruise (this one) recently. You know the two biggest rumors about Cruise are that he's secretly gay, and not-so-secretly a batshit nuts scientologist.

Well, if what this book says is factual, the gay thing actually may not be true. But the batshit nuts Scientology thing...is worse than we ever imagined.

How did I not know about this?

Robbie Williams does Stephen Duffy a la Howard Jones.

Things you don't want to know

GALVESTON, Texas - A slain toddler tried to stop her mother and stepfather from beating her to death by reaching out to her mother and saying, "I love you," a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday. The pleas from 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers didn't stop her mother, Kimberly Trenor, from continuing to brutalize her, assistant district attorney Kayla Allen said in her opening statement at Trenor's murder trial.

"To the very end, Riley said, 'I love you' to her mom. She's reaching out," Allen said. "That's her lifeline, to her mother. What does Kim do after hearing her say I love you? She starts beating her."

Oh, I don't feel good about this.

NBC's drama pilot "Lost in the '80s," originally picked up as director-contingent, has firmed up its order with the hire of "Confessions of a Shopaholic" helmer P.J. Hogan.

"Lost in the '80s," from Sony TV and Tantamount, is considered an '80s version of "The Wonder Years" and described as "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" meets "The Ice Storm."

Bob Brush penned the script and is executive producing with Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum and Mitch Hurwitz.

In addition to the upcoming "Shopaholic," CAA-repped Hogan directed the hit romantic comedy "My Best Friend's Wedding."

Trust me, if you're a Saw fan--which I'm reasonably certain none of you are--this picture is tragic with irony.

Tragic, I say.

Dear Ms. Deschanel...

There is such a thing as overdoing the babydoll bit, you know...

The good news is, I no longer have to even try to remember to watch "Big Bang Theory"

Now that they've cut down Sara Gilbert's part.

A wonderful moment

...marred slightly by the dubbed voices, but those go away for the number itself.



FYI this is from the 2000 film of Love's Labour's Lost.

And now for a pastoral interlude

Jessica Simpson's career is going down for the third time

She's doing state fairs, for god's sake...

You know how I say: Don't mess with my wolves?

This is what I'm talkin' 'bout.