Last night, on Big Brother 7, "Chicken George" was evicted from the house.
After being interviewed by "news woman" Julie Chen, and in perhaps the most contrived bit of product placement in the history of American television, George was greeted with a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken by someone dressed as Col. Sanders.
Exact quote from Julie Chen to George, just before the big reveal: "So we actually have a surprise. We actually have someone who wants to say hello to you ... and comes bearing gifts."
Uh, yeah, we actually have a problem: Col. Sanders has been dead since 1980.
I think George, who was joy-filled in greeting the paid impersonator, thought he was actually greeting the Colonel.
Men's Health magazine is at it again, publishing a list of American cities and then using some silly metric to try to measure things that are, when you think about it, truly immeasurable.
For example, in its September issue, they ask the question: "How Angry is Your City"?
The happiest cities, by the way, are Manchester, NH and Bangor, Maine -- both happily and cheerfully part of blue states.
The least happy cities are St. Petersburg and Orlando -- which are, perhaps not coincidentally, in a red state.
We here at The Cup of Joe are starting to consider our own rankings of various entities, and particularly magazines.
... So how's this for a ranking?: Which magazine has the biggest dumbshits as part of their editorial staff? Answer: Men's Health. Score: A+.
I think the editors should take an exercise ball and shove it up their rectums.
Two of my four grandparents lived to be 95 or older. Three of my four grandparents lived to be older than 85.
This means I'm going to live a long time, right?
Think again. Living a long life is not necessarily an inherited trait, as is hair color or what type of personality you have.
For example, the women pictured are identical twins. They are 92. One has aged gracefully, and the other has a host of problems, including dementia and incontinence. Scientists can conclude from a large study of twins such as these that genetics isn't as important as previously thought. Read more here.
I just thank the man (or woman) upstairs that I haven't inherited some of my family's more annoying traits, including a kitten-like need for sleep and having a smaller attention span than most puppies.
That great philosopher Gomer Pyle once opined: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
I thought about this when I read in Broadcasting and Cable that drama series in development for next year will be "close-ended."
B&C reports that, "Although the flurry of serial dramas in the mode of Lost and 24 are premiering this season, it's the traditional, closed-ended formats that will likely rule the 2007-2008 season."
Personally, I have no interest in watching these new shows, such as ABC's The Nine or NBC's Kidnapped.
Why would I want to get hooked on another Lost? Isn't Lost -- with its slow, slow development and resolution of the plot -- frustrating enough?
With shows like these, I always suspect we may have another Twin Peaks on our hands -- a show with no satisfying ending.
This is why it'd be a big "shame on me" if I wasted any time on Vanished.
If I were a voting member for the Academy Awards, my choice last year for Best Picture would have been Capote. A couple months before I saw the movie, I read In Cold Blood, which is the best book I've read in a long time.
A new movie about Capote, Infamous, opens in October. I wonder if it will be able to creep out from under the Capote shadow?
I try to read two or three daily newspapers per day, and, after working all day, I really don't have a lot of time to read books or novels, because of the time commitment involved. (Though it doesn't stop me from trying, and I'm in the middle of two books now.) I always think about this when the White House reveals, every now and then, "What George Bush is reading."
Last year, it was reported that Bush was a big fan of I Am Charlotte Simmons, Tom Wolfe's latest book about college campus sexual romps. (Though the White House never officially let it be known that this was on his reading list, Bush was said to be recommending it to all his friends.) The love is mutual, because Mr. White Suit is a Bushie and voted for him twice.
So, what's on the "official" Bush reading list during his August vacation? The New York Times tells us.
Two books on Lincoln and one on polio. Oh, and a Camus novel. It was “The Stranger” that caught everyone’s attention when the White House told of the books that President Bush was taking to Texas on his ranch vacation. Last year, he toted books about a czar, a plague and salt — no French philosophers.
This business of the most powerful man in the world announcing his current reading list, presumably to demonstrate a restless intellect (although there’s no pop quiz to see whether he’s done the reading), is comparatively new. When Coolidge and Eisenhower kicked back on fishing and golf holidays, they didn’t pack many books. ...
I don't know about you, but if I were president today, and with so much at stake in the world, I don't think I'd be reading about Lincoln. I think I'd prefer to read about ... current events, the Muslim religion and Mideast history (with a particular focus on Iran). It's a little absurd to read Camus at night when things in your day job aren't going so well.
I'd prefer that he read his presidential daily briefings very, very closely.
With most Americans absorbed by the Monica Lewinsky affair, relatively few paid much attention when the United States fired some 60 cruise missiles at Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. Most public debate centered on whether President Clinton had ordered the strike to deflect attention from his domestic troubles.
Although the details of that day remain in dispute, some accounts suggest that the attack may have missed killing Osama bin Laden by as little as an hour. How that would have changed America — and the world — may be revealed, in time, by the history that is still unfolding.
This is one of 10 days in American history highlighted in this New York Times story. Can you guess what other days might be included?
With JonBenet Ramsey all over the news, and with the five-year anniversary of 9/11 coming up in a few short weeks, it amazes me how much the electronic media focus on things that, in the big picture, are not very important. Unless it's something on Project Runway, I have absolutely no interest in blue dresses.
During the Provincetown Carnival parade one week ago tomorrow, we met some very friendly drag queens (and people who were just dressing up). They'd kindly stop and pose for photos, and they made the parade a lot of fun.
With one exception. Georgette (pictured below at left) was a TOTAL buzz kill.
Although Top Chef is not one of the 10 reality shows nominated for an Emmy this Sunday night, we think it's one of the most delicious treats on television.
And for those who may be wondering whatever happened to Tiffani, the show's runner-up, you can find out by reading this Boston Globe article. She's cooking on Nantucket this summer, and she still sounds a little bitter, don't you think, not dissimilar to a large bowl of celery and kale soup with a grapefruit side salad. (Wine pairing: Sauvignon Blanc.)
For the full dish on other reality shows Bravo has in the works, including an update on Top Chef and new shows featuring real estate agents, interior designers and hair stylists, click here.
The mainstream media pay a lot of attention to Ann Coulter, the woman who just publicly claimed Bill Clinton was a homosexual because of his promiscuity. (Huh?)
Watch the below clip. This about all the attention she deserves.
I wrote about Farecast.com in a previous post. It's a way to help you time when to book a flight to make sure you get the best deal possible. But when the site launched, it only served two cities.
Good news: The site is happy to announce that airfare predictions for flights out of St Louis (STL) are now available.
Betty White is in her 80s, and she's still funny. At the recent Comedy Central roast of William Shatner, she did a routine with perfect timing and delivery and (unlike others) without the benefit of notes. (And it didn't appear there were teleprompters either.) Other roasters half her age needed crib sheets.
It's a shame the whole appearance isn't available on You Tube, but a portion of it can be viewed below, or you can tape a repeat of the whole roast tonight at 11 p.m central time on Comedy Central.
Although White is best known for playing Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show during the 1970s, and Rose on The Golden Girls starting in the 1980s, her career began in the 1950s when she did various programs, including "Life With Elizabeth" and "The Betty White Show," at the same time Lucille Ball was winning well-deserved Emmys for I Love Lucy.
Betty White, however, has been funny for six decades now. Compare this with Lucille Ball, who, after I Love Lucy, basically spent two decades not being all that funny, culminating with perhaps the most miserably unfunny show in television history, "Life With Lucy," which lasted only a couple months. In the fall of 1986, 13 episodes were filmed, and eight were aired before the network mercifully pulled the plug. Ball was in her middle 70s at the time.
If you dare, you can watch some Life With Lucy clips, including the opening, at this link.
But please don't do it on a full stomach: This show has been known to result in nausea, vomiting and gasey emissions. It's less clear whether it's ever been known to result in a single snort, chortle, laugh, guffaw or cackle.
The great Lucille Ball airing eight shows without a single cackle? That's nothing to joke about.
I'm an ex-pamphleteer turned blogger who provides tightly-focused niche coverage of movies, TV, politics and kittens. I don't discrimate against people based on race, religion, sexual preference or your level of stupidity. Occassionally, I also blog on sports, history, Britney Spears and Abe Lincoln. My lover's name is Wally, and although he seems a little embarassed by this blog, he never really says so when he's sober.
Last night, on Big Brother 7, "Chicken George" was evicted from the house.
