Hasta Luego

This blog has been in sleep mode. But I'll be back soon with some "things I've been meaning to blog about."

Rest in Peace

Tim Russert, 1950-2008

Amid all the shouting heads on cable TV and the networks, he was tough and smart and yet always a gentleman. He could pull clarity from grand complexity, but you never got a sense he was trying to impress. He was smart and quick and I guess you could say he had every right to be pompous, like some other people on cable TV whose names I'll not mention, but his brilliance was more matter-of-fact and accessible, and his likeable personality seemed to spring from a simple and deep sincerity. So quick with a story. So quick with insight. He made a difference. He practiced his craft the way it should be practiced. Tim Russert is gone. He will be missed.

What We Lost, 40 Years Ago Today

Today is the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Jeff Greenfield at CBS Sunday Morning, who worked with Kennedy, did a remarkable reflection on his life last week.

He has been gone almost as long as he was alive, and from a distance of four decades, Robert Kennedy is often seen as a player in a pageant: heir to a murdered President from America's most famous political family … a tumultuous presidential campaign in a tumultuous political year that ended on the floor of a hotel kitchen in Los Angeles.

And below is one of the most extraordinary extemporaneous speeches in American history, all the more remarkable if you know all the context behind it. It was a risky moment, a passionate moment, a perfectly expressed American moment.

Keep hope alive.

The Season Finale of Lost

Wow.

The photo, if you don't know, is of the 18th Century philosopher Jeremy Bentham.

Did I say Wow yet?

***

One more thing: The most ridiculous TV commercial in the history of American marketing aired during the finale. More on that later. And on the brilliant and absolutely 100 percent satisfying finale, too.

Meow!

Extraordinary, but not shocking. Doesn't it just confirm what many of us already knew?

Say Wha'? HWAT?

The Pope just reiterated his ban on gay priests. Either he has 1) not met very many American priests or 2) his gaydar is jammed.

American Idol Season Finale is TWO Hours Long

Two hours. TWO. 2. 120 minutes. That's too long, don't you think?

It's going on right now. Was it really only 80 minutes ago when the show started, because it seems like such a long time ago.

And what do we get to fill this hour: annoying product placement (like for below) and more bad-contestant audition videos.

Yawn.

California Dreaming

I heart California.

LINK.

Top TV Meltdowns

Here are 10 from Gawker:

However, they leave out the best one: Stephen Colbert's homage to Bill O'Reilly.

Awful and Awfully Entertaining: The Bionic Woman

Recently received via the U.S. mail: Every episode of the original version of The Bionic Woman. Wally and I are currently on Season 1, up to the introduction of the Fembots in the classic three-part "Kill Oscar" episodes.

... Speaking of the Fembots:



TRIVIA QUESTION: What well-known classically trained actor played the scientist who created the Fembots in the series? (There's a hint in the comments.)

David Cook, Johnny Cash and Roberta Flack

David Cook just sang "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" on American Idol. Johnny Cash did a poignant cover of this Roberta Flack song on his second last album. Listen below: The flaws in Cash's voice only make his cover, I think, more extraordinary and touching and haunting.

Cash died soon after his wife June Carter did, and can't you just hear him thinking about HER as he is singing THIS.

I really liked Cook's version, too.

Vintage Bill-O Meltdown

Enjoy.

Kittens + Politics = The Cup of Joe

Starting today on The Cup of Joe with the below entry, all political-related posts will be paired with an adorable kitten picture. I'm daring MSNBC, the self-appointed all-news King of Politics, to start doing the same.

***

Try and Try Again


Despite evidence to the contrary, George Bush wants to stay the course in Iraq, clinging in his speeches to verbs like "resolve" as a way to justify the entire mess that he and the neocons created. He just can't let go of the "Democracy at all costs" paradigm. Some might call it stubborn.





Despite being term-limited out of the presidency after eight years, Vladimir Putin is now the puppet-master prime minister of Russa. He just couldn't give up power, so he hand-selected his successor as president and is now probably calling the shots behind the scenes. He just can't let go. Some might call it stubborn.





Hillary Clinton vows to stay in the Democratic race for president, wants to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations despite the clearly agreed-upon rules, continues to make borderline racist statements regarding the ability of Barack Obama to draw white votes and continues to lobby superdelegates for support. She just can't let go. Some might call it stubborn.


Meow!

Things I've Been Meaning to Blog About

Jason Castro from American Idol: I think he intentionally forgot the lyrics to Mr. Tambourine Man. Besides, isn't it just a given that anybody who actually chooses to sing Mr. Tambourine Man must want to be voted off? And so he was.

Rev. Wright: I'm not voting for Rev. Wright in the fall; I'm voting for Barack Obama.

Hillary Clinton: Even though I support Obama, she WOULD make a good president, I truly believe. I don't care that she didn't know how to pour a cup of coffee at a convenience store cappuchino machine, as shown countless times on the all-news cable networks and on YouTube. This is irrelevant and unworthy of discussion. Focus, people.

Keith Olbermann: He's smart and well-read and loves history and language. We get it. But when he uses words like "presently" -- which as Olbermann knows means "soon" and is not a synonym for "currently," as employed by 90 percent of "dumb" people -- he seems to be subtly saying: "Look at how smart I am." Yes, I appreciate that he knows how to correctly use the word when most people don't use it correctly. But every time I hear him say it, which is usually once a night, he just comes off as ... smug.

Chris Matthews: Annoying. Why? Because he drones too much about things that aren't really that important in the big picture, like Rev. Wright and Hillary's inability to make coffee.

I also have something I've been meaning to write about in regard to another important matter, and it just may involve kittens. I hope to get to it presently.

Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner?

Last night on Survivor, during a poll of the remaining contestants, James was voted by fellow survivors as the one "who does the most for the tribe." Everybody voted for James as the hardest working member of the camp. Except for James.

A few questions later, it was asked: "Who are you least likely to invite to a family dinner?"

With a family member of each contestant watching, the contestants then agreed that the answer, again, was "James."

CBS then cut to James' brother who said, with a confused look: "What's up with that?"

Good question.

I wonder if Rev. Wright has an answer. Here is one answer, and a fine one.

Shocking News

Someone turns 40 today. Happy birdday!

Five Years Ago Today: "Mission Accomplished"

As seen back then aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln:




This was before Mission Accomplished became Mission Impossible.

Bush is no Lincoln.