Bill Conlin Is A Classy Individual

I don't blog about sports, don't even watch sports, and am not familiar with any of the involved parties, but when a trusted associate who does all of the above pointed out this exchange, like a moth to a flame came I. Basically, a sports blogger was trying to engage a newspaper columnist in a discussion, and the columnist (who is a busy, busy man, I'm sure) instead decided to play another game altogether. Sing along, you probably all know the words by now:

The only positive thing I can think of about Hitler’s time on earth–I’m sure he would have eliminated all bloggers. In Colonial times, bloggers were called “Pamphleteers.” They hung on street corners handing them out to passersby. Now, they hang out on electronic street corners, hoping somebody mouses on to their pretentious sites. Different medium, same MO. Shakespeare accidentally summed up the genre best with these words from a MacBeth soliloquy: “. . .a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. . .”

I dare you to read that in Will Ferrell's "crazy Harry Caray voice". If you haven't already, that is.

You can tell this Bill Conlin guy doesn't "get" the Internet when he hands a platoon of bloggers a free Hitler Card (Just in time for the holidays! Doesn't it just warm your heart?), and his subsequent "some of my best friends are..." defense is so predictable you could set your watch by it. But of course, the first thing I came up with is "Damn those pamphleteers...sure, they did the whole thing with 'throw off the shackles of the Crown' and 'these are the times that try men's souls,' but what have they done for us lately? Being dead is no excuse." And that's the type of lateral thinking which has made me almost invisible on the Internet.

(More later? No idea. It's not like I'm doing anything else this weekend...)

T-Rexes Were Vegetarians: Gems From The Creation Museum

If Bill Hicks had lived to see the Creation Museum, he wouldn't be able to stop his own incredulous laughter to tell us what he thought of it. As it is, Hicks is dead and isn't coming back anytime soon, so instead some blog person took a tour of the $27 million complex on a dare and delivered a well-written report. Lots of pictures included. (Thanks BoingBoing!)

(Not) The Daily Show

...or "The Internet: It's Too New!" This has to be the best strike-related video so far, but since I'm a big comedy news booster, I might be biased.



The moral of the story: you don't want to screw over satirists. They have straaaaaaaaaaange powers.

The WGA Thing: Nice, Shiny Petitions

Last night, I set up a petition intending to show consumer support for the WGA's positions. As it turns out, the clever minds behind United Hollywood had the same idea, with the added advantage that they're actually organized. There's nothing stopping you from signing both, of course (except that mine is aimed at non-WGA consumers), but if you feel like you should only sign one, go with United Hollywood. The more numbers go into moral support, the better.

"The Office" Called On Account of Balls

Steve Carell (WGA in good standing) came down with a case of "enlarged balls" (balls of steel, I'd say), thus shutting down production on my favorite show for the duration. But don't take my word for it...

The WGA Strike: Hope You Brought A Book. A LONG Book.

This could go on for awhile. Just a hunch.

Nothing useful to add right now except that I'm with the Guild on this one: if the studios were firm about cutting the creatives out of new media revenues, striking was an inevitability.