Jon Stewert & Stephen Colbert come to mind, this is why they are so funny and relevant. This is also why Fox’s attempted stab(s) at cloning the Comedy Central duo for propaganda purposes don’t work and will never work. It is just not funny to “douse” out of fear. And I believe Fox is afraid of the corner they have painted themselves into. Carrying water for the GOP rather than reporting the news.
…Art doesn’t just imitate life; it reacts to life, it comments on life.
Artists, flashing their fancies and passions, might not commonly be seen as anchors of common sense and prudence. Yet when politicians lose themselves in the pyrotechnics of their own romantic ecstasies, even artists will feel compelled to step in and provide the needed dousing. And that counter-active cooling will likely continue as long as George W. Bush and his white-hot ideology burn in the White House.
God, I hate it when people I really like die. I remember him from The Ghost & Mrs. Muir on TV and later on various TV shows as a guest. Always hilarious. Always sharp as a tack. He was ahead of his time, though I didn’t understand that until I was an adult. Guys like him were groundbreaking. Thank you Charles, for all the laughter. You will be missed.
LOS ANGELES- Charles Nelson Reilly, the Tony Award winner who later became known for his ribald appearances on the “Tonight Show” and various game shows, has died. He was 76.
Ewa Sowinska, government-appointed children rights watchdog, told a local magazine published on Monday she was concerned the popular BBC children’s show promoted homosexuality.
…she was quoted as saying: “I noticed (Tinky Winky) has a lady’s purse, but I didn’t realize he’s a boy.”
“At first I thought the purse would be a burden for this Teletubby … Later I learned that this may have a homosexual undertone.”
Parliamentary Speaker Ludwig Dorn said he had warned her against making public comments “that may turn her department into a laughing stock.”
Forget the part where the 6 year old thanks Jerry Falwell for his life. (This child’s parents apparently informed this 6 year old he was to have been slated for abortion - which is weird and sick to tell a child.)
It is marketing at its best- worst maybe. The religion industry had a plan to sell salvation like beer.
Let’s go back in time to when God was apparently creating satellite’s:
Spocko is all over the tainted pet food story. He is asking readers for some help:
Spocko’s Brain
Itchmo’s looking for a specific Lot of Iams Dry Dog Food
Itchmo is asking you to find an unopened 20 lb. bag of Iams Large Breed dry dog food that matches the lot number: 260608 70574173 F4 US30940 with the expiration date of 6/26/08.
WHY?
A toxicology test reported the presence of cyanuric acid in an opened bag of what is alleged to be Iams Large Breed dry dog food.
Read the story here and check to see if you have an unopened bag with that lot number.
I wish I lived in Minnesota so I could vote for this guy. I hope he wins in 08. I may contribute to his campaign. I hope he tells the penis on the forehead joke. I hope he remains real.
This Edwards haircut thing has been bugging me for awhile. I thought it was such a silly thing that it would naturally disappear from the dialog of presidential politics. But again last night I heard it mentioned on TV. Bill Maher I believe. Off site haircuts are expensive:
Let me tell you the story of a woman from Birmingham, Michigan. Let’s call her Lauren. Lauren, who was a regular client at the salon I worked for in Troy, Michigan, broke her leg. Lauren called one day and asked if I would come to her home to cut and style her hair. It was important; she had an event that evening and couldn’t do her own hair. I said I would be glad to, but explained that it would be more expensive. Lauren’s cut and style cost her $150.00 _and_ that was in the early 90’s. Unexpectedly, she even tipped me $20.00.
Here is the math:
At the time, I was producing at about $80.00 in hair work per hour (it averaged higher when I did color or perms). Out of that, my commission was about $48.00. So, to make my basic hourly rate I needed to charge about $48.00 an hour.
Packing my tools, leaving the salon, doing the hair work, packing up my tools again, going back to the salon – took TIME. Did I mention the hassle? Bending her over to shampoo her hair in her bathroom sink (though it was a gorgeous home and bathroom - it was a hassle). Packing and dragging my tools, yes, a hassle. Plus, my time away from the salon, if I didn’t charge her more, would have cost me money.
All in all it took about 3 hours. I charged her $150.00. I could have charged her more and been well within my conscience.
How you charge a VIP:
Flash forward about 15 years and the average cost per hour for a good quality hairstylist increases. Let’s say it just increases by $20.00 per hour. That stylist needs to charge at least $60.00 an hour to compensate for time away from the salon. A plumber charges more than that just to show up and diagnose the problem without doing any work!
Add to the cost that John Edwards is a presidential candidate. I don’t know if he has a Secret Service detail BUT I am almost certain he has security. And with security you have background checks and other time and money consumers -bet on that. It’s possible, I imagine, to be patted down for weapons; possibly there were arrangements for secure transportation. Add to the security nightmare that the hairdresser is bringing sharp instruments like a straight razor and shears.
By this time the hairdresser might be a little bit tense. (Ya think?) Add to this the fact that your client is about to go on TV. Trust me, most people who are about to go on TV are PICKY (whether they are used to being on TV or not). Male or female. The mirror is their best friend and worst enemy – the client is stressed out as well. They must know they look great to do their job well.
All of this is TIME CONSUMING and a HASSLE for both the client and the hairdresser. The VIP client must have a quality hairdresser and a perfect cut or style. A bad hair day is NOT an option. The Hairdresser MUST be compensated for TIME, QUALITY and dealing with all the attendant hassle that comes with a VIP client. That is just the way it is.
A quality hairstylist – working in an undisclosed location :-) does not come cheap. At a minimum of $60.00 per hour charged, the John Edwards haircut was fairly priced. The prep work alone probably took half a day. A celebrity hairstylist would have probably charged more than $400.00 for a 30 minute haircut. And that celebrity hairdresser probably has a tool bag on standby.
Assimilated Press
Commenting on the extraordinary event, author Gore Vidal said, “I dont know why anyone would be surprised by the President turning gold into lead. After all, he has already turned peace into war, prosperity into debt, confidence into fear, joy into suffering and The Bill of Rights into a pile of manure. If anyone could turn gold into lead, it is George W. Bush.”
This news must be a real bummer for the political left, who have managed to convince themselves that they were given a “mandate” by the electorate for their dysfuntional ideological views in 2004.
I don’t think it took convincing. It pretty much is a fact (dysfunctional ideology or not) that the Democrats were given a mandate to remove the Republican stranglehold in Washington. Face it - the Republicans have screwed up royally.
Signs and Wonders by Karen Kwiatkowski
When the muffler fell off my 15-year-old Subaru Justy a few weeks ago, I started driving the good car to work. It has a radio. Oh, the wonderful things I am learning from Sean Hannity!
For one thing, the Iraq occupation is a success. Not a blazing success, but a damn fine thing. According to Sean, we are made noble by the experience, and the Iraqis have already become passionate democrats. Just look at the demonstrations they held on the four-year anniversary of our takeover of the capital!
“They couldn’t have protested like that under Saddam!” he crows.
Had they done so, it is likely Saddam would have responded much as we have done. Note to self, old Saddam would scribble: Continue daily bloodshed, increase domestic intelligence collection and terror levels in targeted neighborhoods. Arrest more “terrorists” and place them in secret prisons, apply physical and psychological abuse early and often. Never let them see a lawyer, a humanitarian agency, a relative, or the inside of a courtroom, until I, and only I, say they can. Ensure courts and federal judges are completely on board.[emphasis mine]
While I think what Imus said was insensitive and brainless, to me who watched him rarely, he doesn’t hold a candle to the rest of the “jocks” and pundits who truly have screws running loose.
Imus was rude to everyone (his “act” so to speak) and it was apparent (to me) he didn’t mean anything he said in those contexts. To me he was in a catagory with Bill Maher - though not as funny or direct. I always saw Imus a the “Imus Act” not Don Imus.
In the other hand we have those who really mean what they say. Hello Hannity, Coulter, Malkin, Beck, Gibson, Bill O and Rush…
Below is another take on the whole Imus aftermath which inspired my thoughts on Imus - hastily - I admit.
The Post-Imus Conundrum
Most right-wing radio and much of cable resembles a sonic cesspool of anti-black, anti-gay and anti-almost anything but white Christian male rhetoric.
