the people being tested are a part of something much larger. They're connected. So in the end, all the pieces will fit together and it'll be clear.

Good god, I'm hyped...

One more Gelbart interview

This one on NPR, from 1996. In it, responding to the inevitable "Do you have a favorite M*A*S*H episode?" question, he talks about "The Interview."

I gotta admit, I'm glad I lived to see this

To see what?



...to see a President of the United States wielding a light sabre.

May the oppression of the Sith never return!

Where is that phone # 2 get Showtime?

Eva Amurri on her mother Susan Sarandon going with her to stripper classes for Eva's role in the new season of Californication:

"...We didn’t, like, do it together, although I’m sure that’s a nice visual for people,” Ms. Amurri said. “She came and she tried a little bit and she was a really great sport and awesome at it. She tried some simple stuff. But nothing like …”

Like pole-climbing? “Oh, no, no, no.”

(Click to see full-size)

Her parents are obviously fine with it. But her younger half-brothers, Jack, 20, and Miles, 17 (sons of Ms. Sarandon’s current partner, Tim Robbins), are not so thrilled.

“My brothers want to kill me,” Ms. Amurri said. “They’re mad that their friends will be able to see me topless. But I’m not nude in every single scene, so I told them I would give them a list of the ones they can watch comfortably.”

Playing the links

Corey Klemow sent me a link to an unpublished speech written by Larry Gelbart. I don't know if he saw this, but at the bottom of the page there's also a link to what's billed as Gelbart's Last In-Depth Interview. It's actually excerpted from a book about writers of humor that I've had requested from the library almost two months.

As usual, excerpts follow; following the links is more than recommended.

Almost exclusively, writers are the only ones among us who are given the chance to live their lives all over again.

the central theme for Tootsie came from me. And the central theme was that Dustin's character, Michael Dorsey, would become a better man for having been a woman.

Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman): "I was a better man with you as a woman than I ever was with a woman as a man."

Your brain will never stop for the day, even if you have stopped working, and there's a very good chance you'll come up with something better.

Isaac Bashevis Singer's advice for the struggling young writer was to stop struggling and write. As for me, I don't have any other advice. If I did, I would have had a far more trouble-free life and a much, much better career.

More dumb comments by Megan Fox

At least, I'm sure that's how they'll be reported, even though they make perfect sense to me.

After developing a reputation for not only her sex appeal, but making provocative and occasionally outrageous statements in the press, Megan Fox wants you to know something about her: "I'm kidding!"

"Ninety-eight percent of the things that come out of my mouth are intended to be harmless or even charming," Fox tells PEOPLE at a fan event and autograph signing for her new film Jennifer's Body at Hollywood's Hot Topic store. "They're not ever intended to be offensive or controversial."

Fox also insists she's not just trying to put on a saucy persona in the public eye for her own amusement. "It's just to get through it, I think, because you want to present and you want to be available to your fans, but you also don't want to give too much of yourself away, because people take advantage of that," she says. "It's learning the balance between giving the information that needs to be given, but then also protecting your privacy and your personal life, the things that you hold dear."

There's more, including her talking about a girl's discovery of her woman's sexuality.

Boy, too bad she's so dumb, huh? I mean, if she were not dumb, and as hot as she is, she might actually be a threat and people might actually be scared of her.

Heck, that might even explain why so many magazines and bloggers seem so attached to the idea that she is dumb and/or shallow.

For instance, if you look at the headline of and then read the story to which I've linked, you'll see that they took Fox's general comment about the sexual power of women and made it specific to her--thus making her sound like a stuck-up bitch.

Which, of course, she is. I know. People Magazine told me so.

Too bad.

That's my Senator.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) said yesterday that she wants changes made to the health care bill unveiled by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT). “I wouldn’t vote for a bill that doesn’t have Medicare reform and the public option,” Cantwell said. “What would I tell the people in Washington state?”

Way to go.

Right as usual, King Limbaugh

If I think too long about how much money Rush has vs. how much I have...I'll simply have no choice but to drown myself.

In a remark extraordinary even by the standards of conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, the right-wing radio heavyweight declared on his program Wednesday that the United States needed to return to racially segregated buses.

2009, it is, BTW, for those of you who haven't looked at a calendar lately. And he's calling for segregated buses. But wait, there's more.

He also said:

“If homosexuality being inborn is what makes it acceptable, why does racism being inborn not make racism acceptable?” the talk show host asked. “I’m sorry — I mean, this is the way my mind works. But apparently now we don’t choose racism, we just are racists. We are born that way. We don’t choose it. So shouldn’t it be acceptable, excuse — this is according to the way the left thinks about things.”

Racism...homosexuality. Exactly the same thing. Even though one is about whom you love, and the other is about what kind of person you hate. And never mind that racism is not inborn. As the song from South Pacific said:

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught...

I find myself wondering, just who taught Rush Limbaugh...

Jesus Christ.

This is who we (and by "we" I mean Dick Cheney) sent to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.

In 2005, Jamie Lee Jones was gang-raped by her co-workers while she was working for Halliburton/KBR in Baghdad. In an apparent attempt to cover up the incident, the company then put her in a shipping container for at least 24 hours without food, water, or a bed, and “warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she’d be out of a job.” Even more insultingly, the DOJ resisted bringing any criminal charges in the matter. KBR argued that Jones’ employment contract warranted her claims being heard in private arbitration — without jury, judge, public record, or transcript of the proceedings. After 15 months in arbitration, Jones and her lawyers went to court to fight the KBR claims. Yesterday, a court ruled in favor of Jones.” Mother Jones reports:

Jones argued that the alleged gang rape was not related to her employment and thus, wasn’t covered by the arbitration agreement.

I dunno if I can get past the part where she had to argue that in the first place.

Viewer's Choice

Which of these pictures is more heavily Photoshopped?

The skank Aubrey O'Day?



Or the much-maligned Megan?

I think this guy's right

When I heard that the president of the United States called someone [Kanye West] a "jackass," I cheered. This is exactly the kind of human, non-Spock-like outburst Obama needs to do much more of to better connect with the vast majority of the American people.

...what the president's natural outburst shows is that sometimes you don't have to split the difference and find common ground with lunatics, the underinformed, or crooks.

Sometimes, maybe even often, you have to call them a jackass.

Thank you Susan Sarandon.

Thank you for giving your daughter such good genes.



Eva Amurri as a stripper in the new season of "Californication."



Note to self: Must...get...Showtime!

A question.

What happens when The '80s Man and Saw lover sees the new Saw VI poster?

The answer: He starts to hear "Take My Breath Away" begin to play...

(BTW, if any of you were major fans, you'd know that "He helped me" is a quote from Shawnee Smith's character, in the first movie.)

Wait a minute.

There's a silly story going around today about how, when Joe Wilson's wife spoke to him after President Obama's speech last week, she asked him who the nut was.

You know, the one who had burst out "You lie!" during the speech. Before learning, of course, that it was Wilson himself. A heh heh heh heh.

But I wasn't going to say anything about said silly story because I still think staying on the shout story more than a cycle is making my side look stupid.

However, read this entry at Think Progress about it, and see if what jumps out at me is the same as jumps out at you.

Mrs. Wilson, who met her husband at teenage Republican camp, said that Joe “is very passionate” and that he doesn’t deserve the treatment he’s been getting from Congress.”

Well, actually, he does, it's just that this Congress, having let Bush and Cheney walk away clean, has no moral standing whatsoever from which to give it to him.

But of course, that's not what jumped out at me either. This was:

There's such a thing as teenage Republican camp?

Family Values.

With the White House zeroing in on the insurance-industry practice of discriminating against clients based on pre-existing conditions, administration allies are calling attention to how broadly insurers interpret the term to maximize profits.

It turns out that in eight states, plus the District of Columbia, getting beaten up by your spouse is a pre-existing condition.

In 2006, Democrats tried to end the practice. An amendment introduced by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), now a member of leadership, split the Health Education Labor & Pensions Committee 10-10. The tie meant that the measure failed.

All ten no votes were Republicans, including Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming), a member of the "Gang of Six" on the Finance Committee who are hashing out a bipartisan bill.

I've been waiting for this one

Alan Alda says farewell to his friend Larry Gelbart. Excerpts follow, but for god's sake read the whole thing:

Larry Gelbart could take an event where sentimentality was allowed, even expected, and turn it on its ear. My friend Allan Katz, who also wrote for "MASH," was with him once at a friend's funeral. When Larry realized he had to leave early, he leaned over to Allan and said simply, "I'm sorry to grieve and run."

And the more I watched him, the more convinced I became that the only effort he put into it was in not saying most of the funny things that occurred to him. He would only let one get his lips moving if it was really worth hearing. And he would often enjoy it as much as you did, as if he had never heard it before. Because he hadn't.

But he's gone now. The bastard seems to have won this round. We have the words and images our friend left behind, but we don't have that easy smile, full of generosity, or the sound of that silky voice and lovingly articulated words. They really were pearls that came out of his mouth, and he never gave the impression he was laying them before swine. All of us who worked with him were awed by him, and we revered him, but we always, always were comfortable in his presence because above all we loved him. And we could see that he loved us back.

Oh, my god.

Y'know...many of us on the left have been wondering with curious incredulity just when a prominent member of the Republican party would speak up with a realistic look at Sarah Palin. Now, we learn (from a new book) that in the days following her nomination:

"This woman is being put into a position she is not even remotely prepared for," he said. "She hasn't spent one day on the national level. Neither has her family. Let's wait and see how she looks five days out."

Who made this assesment with which no sane person could possibly disagree (and which days since have done nothing but confirm)?

Former President. George. W. Bush.

It breaks my heart to say this...

...because I generally think she's adorable, but...Drew Barrymore has reached "What happened?" status.

Oh, that explains it.

Megan Fox, on the left; Diane Kruger, on the right, and in the middle, Emma Roberts...because she fills them both with naked fear.

I'd been wondering why I suddenly find myself sticking up for Megan Fox so often, even though between you and me I don't actually think she's the sexiest woman of all time.

(Jennifer Connelly--speaking of Jennifer's Body--for example, was much hotter as well as a better actress a few years ago, and Krista Allen was...well, she was at least as hot a few years ago). Although Fox does have it all over Sandra Bullock (sorry, Sandra). But I digress.

It seems that Ms. Fox...

"...was raised Catholic. [And] went to Catholic school for 12 years."

All together now:

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh.

I should've found room for The Marx Brothers, especially Groucho, in last months list of things in which I find delight

Everybody loves a clown...



This excerpt from Animal Crackers always makes me smile.

"where are Soda, and Super-dope, anyhow?" "Super-what?" "All brawn, no brains."

Driving to the library about an hour ago, I heard the news that Patrick Swayze had died.

For me I think he'll always be Darrel Curtis in The Outsiders, a movie with a place in my heart (as I wrote about here). Maybe he wasn't the greatest actor who ever lived but, in that movie, boy was he ever the big brother every only child wanted...or maybe it was just me.

(Even when he hits Ponyboy).

The movie Ghost is one of those rare instances where my taste and America's line up, which these days only seems to happen when a Harry Potter or Pixar movie comes out. I thought it was excellent.

Point Break was dumb, but it was fun dumb....which is more than I can say for all his films.

As for Dirty Dancing...if you can't say something nice...

PS: Oh, and I saw at least part of Roadhouse, but all I remember is Kelly Lynch's ass.

Okay, that's just snotty

On my Blogger "Dashboard" right now, there is a little announcement informing me:

New! Email Notifications Get feature announcements and tips to get the most out of your blog. Enable now!

Well. How nice.

And normally, I'd be more than interested in tips to get the most out of my blog(s).

If I hadn't been waiting a week for Blogger to unlock one of those said blogs, a process which is supposed to take only a couple of business days.

Once you've requested a review, a Blogger employee will review your blog within two business days and take action as necessary.

We received your unlock request on September 8, 2009.

That's math so simple even I can do it...

Run, Rick, run

Rick "man on dog" Santorum is talking about running for president.

Which of these photos are new?

The 1980s are back in (Hair) style.

For some of us, they never left.

















I wouldn't mind if 1940s hair & lipstick made a comeback, either.

That's what they say

Sex and relationship monthly astrology: Virgo

How to attract a Virgo: Usually fit and trim, a Virgo's body is it's temple.

How true. That's why I'm sitting here with the physique of a Navy man.

Sex with Virgo: Extremely devoted, but independent and never-clingy, a Virgo is a well-balanced mate.

It sounds like we're quite a good "buy," sexually speaking.

A fun fantasy for the Virgo would be the nurse/patient scenario.

...Uh-oh, they're on to me.