Fresh from their latest gig at the White House Press Briefing hosted by Scott McClellan, it’s the new comedy troupe “Not The Stenographers!” Actually, I saw them described as “stenos” on another website the other day in connection with the “Irish journalist asks Bush harrrrrd questions” story. From reading between the lines, and totally in my humble and uninformed opinion, it seems like some of the people asking tough questions know perfectly well that the answers won’t be all that newsworthy. Either that, or their editors will veto them rather than make the White House press secretary look like a…
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Something I often do, but haven’t mentioned before: I sing in the car. Yes, I’m one of those annoying people you see in traffic, sitting at a light that’s just turned green trying to hit the note AND remember the words AND get it in gear AND get their ass moving. That’s me. It’s how I gird up on my way to work, or de-gird on the way home. I often think that good songs at the beginning and end of my day act like bookends. I usually listen to WBEZ for news, but WXRT for music. In fact, you…
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I love this: BoingBoing reports that a Seattle art gallery will feature “tributes” of two well known contemporary “artists” – Thomas Kinkad and Jack T. Chick. BB is calling it the “Painters of Blight” show… As you probably know, Thomas Kinkade, the famous “Painter of Light,” has made millions of dollars with his customized prints of day-glo cottages against backdrops of enchanted forests. He has a team of “Kinkade-trained Master Highlighters” who go over reproductions of his work with oil paint. Yes! His work is mass-produced crap! He’s the Norman Rockwell of heartwarming, uplifting, mind-blinkered post- 9/11 Americana! He’s also…
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Here’s a link to Carole Coleman’s Bush interview with George Bush before his arrival in Ireland for the summit. She asked a lot of tough questions and pointed followup questions – Bush appeared to be somewhat irritated that the followup questions came faster than he could parrot the usual rote answers back to her. There’s also an official White House transcript here, most likely somewhat cleaned up. Bush didn’t come off so badly, so long as they were discussing things dear to his heart, like his beloved and still illusory weapons of mass destruction. He lit up with pleasure when…
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The title of the upcoming sixth Harry Potter book will be Harry Potter ********************, author J.K. Rowling’s official Web site revealed. Fans had to solve a series of puzzles to open a door on the site, revealing the title. Okay, if you want to try to solve the puzzle unspoiled, go here. If you just want to know the damn title already, go to the Sci Fi article cited above.
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The following is why I (heart) TWOP and Miss Alli Stuff from the Mod: READ ME, PLEASE” href=”http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?showtopic=3111702&st=105&#entry1603112″>TWoP Forums -> The Racer and Racer Accessory Posting Manifesto. It’s entirely likely that we DO have a TWOP ringer on the fifth installment of The Amazing Race (which will be known henceforth as TAR5), so I “get” why Miss Alli is putting the heads up where Racers and their Accessories might see it just now. TWOP is a place where past Racers hang out with fans, if they happen to have thick enough skins to overcome the natural tendency to get defensive…
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From a press release quoted by Salon: MOVE OVER MICHAEL MOORE… Disney & Move America Forward Team Up to Show a Brighter Side of America (SACRAMENTO) — Move America Forward is teaming up with Walt Disney Pictures to present an exclusive screening of Disney’s “America’s Heart & Soul” on Monday, June 28, 2004 at the Crest Theater in Sacramento, California. The private screening takes place at 1:00 PM and members of the news media are invited to attend. “Americas Heart & Soul” opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, July 2nd. Unlike the negative and misleading storyline of Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – People can keep sharing their fried chicken and green bean casserole if Illinois lawmakers get their way. The Illinois Senate voted 51-1 Monday in favor of loosening health regulations for traditional potluck dinners. The measure passed the House earlier, so now it goes to the governor. Hey, this one actually benefits Holy Moly, how ’bout that? We’ve had to change plans for potluck fundraisers a couple of times because we were reminded that we could not advertise them in the suburban paper, thus making them “public events” and subject to health department rules. So hey! Politicking isn’t…
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… Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will be branded an “activist judge” by a right-wing flack for saying this: Justice O’Connor wrote that the campaign against terrorism notwithstanding, “a state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation’s citizens.”
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More on the Nigerian bribery/Halliburton scandal. Oh, and of course the story was buried on the back pages on the last day of the Reagan obequiousies. The energy conglomerate formerly headed by Dick Cheney disclosed the SEC probe (as it was required to do by law for any legal action potentially affecting the company’s stock) on June 11. The timing of the disclosure was no accident–it was a Friday, the last day of the interminable Reagan funeral ceremonies, and Wall Street was thus closed. The national press corps focused on little else but the burial, so the SEC investigation got…