Tonight's Episode of Lost Finds Salt to Pour on Redbird's Baseball Wounds

Just when I thought I had gotten rid of that nervous facial tick that started when the Cardinals lost to the Red Sox in four straight in the 2004 World Series, tonight's episode of Lost on ABC has to bring it back up as a way to advance the plot and establish that "The Others" have contact with the outside world. (The fictional plane on the island crashed in September 2004, and the Cards lost the Series in October 2004, a fact previously not known to Boston doc and crash survivor "Jack".)

And I must mention that tonight's episode didn't reference how the Cards beat the Sox in 1967 and 1946. I feel this should corrected, emphasized and trumpeted for future episodes.

Must-See Scorsese: The Departed

Come February, some tear-filled actress or emotional actor or on-top-of-the-world director are going to accept Academy Awards for their work in the motion picture industry.

It's a feeling that Martin Scorsese wouldn't know. He has never won.

Not for Goodfellas: Dancing With Wolves won in 1990, with Kevin Costner nabbing best picture and director Oscars.

Nor for Raging Bull: Another actor-director, Robert Redford, won in 1980 for Ordinary People.

And Scorcese wasn't recognized, either, for one of the all-time great comedies, The King of Comedy, a satire about media and celebrity that remains as relevant (moreso, actually) than the day it was released in 1983.

He also hasn't been honored for great work in recent years for The Aviator and Gangs of New York.

That he has never won for best director or best picture -- and yet movies such as The Greatest Show on Earth and Terms of Endearment have -- kind of cheapens the Oscar a little, don't you think?


Does anybody still care two bits about Dances With Wolves? Who wants to sit through this movie again?

Yeah, didn't think so.

That's one of the key things about his movies: Like a work of Shakespeare, Scorsese's films stand the test of time and multiple viewings. Sometimes, and I suspect this may be true of his new movie The Departed, they're even better the second time.

So when Ellen DeGeneres hosts the Oscars next year, and when a winner starts gushing a la Halle Berry or Sally Field, just remember: The work of Martin Scorsese has never been honored. Nor has the directing of Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Altman, Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles and Stanley Kubrick.

And this, my friends, cheapens the value of the Academy Award itself.

Pick up a cell phone, call a friend and go see The Departed. It's in the same league as Scorsese's all-time best.

***

A New Holiday for Worst President Ever?

From Garrison Keillor: "I propose that we change Columbus Day to Bush Day, a cautionary holiday, like Halloween, a day to meditate on the hazards of ambition. We could observe it by going through the basement and garage and throwing out stuff we don't want or need. Also by not mortgaging the house to pay for a vacation, and not yelling at the neighbors, and not assuming that the law is for other people. A day to honor kindness, industriousness and modesty."

His full essay on salon.com can be found here.

What Hath George Wrought?

From WeeklyRadioAddress.com: "The landmark publication Destined for Destiny: The Unauthorized Autobiography of George W. Bush will be available in both hardcover and audio editions beginning October 17, 2006. This is the first time in modern history that the memoirs of a U.S. President have been released while he’s still in office."

Find out more at the sneak peek of this unauthorized video biography.

Special guest star: Jesus.

We sure hope the Son of Man has a recurring role. We could use his help about right now.

It's Nobody's Business

.. who Clay Aiken likes to sleep with, or Tom Cruise, or John Travolta, as long as it's between consenting adults.

Because it is none of our business, I don't like it when celebrities are involuntarily outed. These women and men who entertain us deserve a private life. Just because Clay gave the world "Measure of a Man," it is no reason for us to pry into his potential Pleasures with a Man.

However, if some of the whispers coming out of Washington, about a high-level Republican with a penchant for Asian boy toys, are true (and I'm suspicious), this is totally different.

I don't like outing gay people; I do like outing hypocrites.

Some websites have been outing one such potential hypocrite in recent days.

So if the gentleman from that Midwestern state prefers the company of other gentleman, I think this is everybody's business.

If this is true, then let's sound the trumpets as we all say ewwww.

Fair and Balanced (and Not Fox News)

This report in the Washington Post could be the future of print journalism: web-specific content that combines "fair and balanced" reporting with video. If you live in Missouri, you'll want to watch this.

No Wag of the Finger at This Guy

He teaches Sunday school, is deaf in one ear and is the youngest of 11 children. And on Oct. 17, his TV show, The Colbert Report, will celebrate its first birthday.

Get to know more about Stephen Colbert in this New York Magazine feature.

National Media Preview of NLCS?

I'm not sure how the national media will be covering the upcoming National League Championship series between the METS and the Cardinals, and whether the Cardinals will get much respect. I suspect that many members of the national media, who occassionally fly over St. Louis on the way to visit their phony friends in LA, might be talking a lot about the METS, and how good the METS are, and how the Cardinals are lucky just to be there.

Hey, Tim McCarver: How 'bout them METS?

But Does He Pray For More Talent?

From salon.com: "Stephen Baldwin preaches to teens that Bono is in league with Satan. Don't laugh, the born-again actor is a cultural advisor to Bush and one of the most popular new evangelists in the country."

Read the story, "Dude, Where's My Cross," here.

And read about Stephen's inability to correctly name the 12 disciples, the seven deadly sins and The Ten Commandments here.

Charlie Hustle on Baseball

One week ago today, Pete Rose was quite entertaining as a guest on The Late Show with David Letterman. In addition to saying that he would have gotten "5,000 damn hits" if he had had the benefit of using steroids, he also said he liked San Diego as the National League Team in the playoffs.

I hope he didn't bet the ranch.






Video here and here.

He Votes With Prez Bush 94 Percent of The Time

Photo source here.

What do you think?

Here's the full debate from yesterday.

Rah-Rah for Missourah

We learned some important things this morning on Meet the Press, when the two Senate candidates from Missouri debated (I guess you could call it that) on the air with Tim Russert as the moderator.

When push comes to shove, voters learned, and with a national audience watching, Jimmy T the Republican will call it Missourah, and Claire the Democrat will (correctly) call is Missouree.

Usually, Jimmy T will only say "Missouree" when speaking on this side of the state, and then change it to Missourrah when he's speaking in rural areas. Although he's a city boy and probably grew up using the non-rural pronunciation, he also realizes that he has a better chance to win votes outstate than he does in the cities. So with a national audience watching, he decided he wanted to turn up his rural-ness (or is that ruralosity? ruralaciousness?) and went with the country pronunciation.

... So who won the debate?

I think Missouree won the debate.

Clay Aiken Confirms That He's a Bachelor

We totally missed it the first time it aired, but we watched a little bit of the repeat of the Clay Aiken interview on Larry King Live last night. Here's a link to the interview. Again, he didn't answer questions about ... well, you know what. But it's clear that he's single, and he is a bachelor.

Best. Confirmed Bachelor. Ever.

As Gay As It Gets: Jack With a Stache

The Departed, the new Martin Scorcese film starring Jack Nicholson, opens tonight in town. We hope to see it very soon, and we'll let you know how it is as soon as Wally gets rid of his Cindy Brady-like sniffles.

Speaking of Jack, doesn't he look like a 70s gay male porn star in this photo? He looks even gayer than my straight friend Bobby M looked when he sported a stache (1983-1991).

Ah, the moustache. Will they ever be as common as they were in the 1970s? Should they ever be as common again?

Who wants to start a trend (perhaps as a good luck Cardinals playoff stache) and start growing one (sans beard, of course, at least for starters)?

... And don't worry, all you would-be Rollie Fingers: the moustache wax is on me.

At The Risk of Offending A Regular Reader of This Blog

This vintage clip from the Kids in the Hall just might hit a little too close to home for some.

Sorry Frenchy.

Questions of the Day

Would you buy a $4,000 cat that is "allergy-proof"?

What about some new storm windows being hawked by White House spokesman Tony Snow in Iowa?

Yeah, me neither.

Concessions for the Hard to Please

The arrangement of signs near the concession stands at the Edward Jones Dome makes it appear that George Frontiere is selling more than just foot-long hotdogs ($5.25), draft beer ($7.75) and cheese-stuffed pretzels ($4.50).

The below video shows the arrangement and was shot last weekend at the Rams-Lions game.

Think this product is a real crowd-pleaser? I wonder if Drunk Guy has ever asked to buy some?