My Name is Earl has done things no other half hour comedy has ever attempted. From the beginning the premise was clear. In the first season, Earl learned about Karma and set out to right every wrong he ever did to someone else in his life. Each episode he apologized and crossed someone else off his list.
Second season Earl went to prison. Watchers like I presumed it would just be for an episode or two but no, it turned into the whole season, completely dropping the original premise of the show and becoming a prison comedy.
This third season he's out of prison, doesn't believe in Karma any more, and is getting on with his life. His brother found the original list Earl had thrown away, and now he's determined to get Earl back on the right Karmic path.
So currently the premise of the show is whether or not they'll ever get back to the premise of the show. I like that.
Every detective or medical show past or present has at least given you a chance of figuring it out. At the end, you can say to yourself gee, I thought the killer was the daughter but it turned out to be the sailing instructor, or I thought the transplant was going to work but I guess they should have gone for the hysterectomy.
Not on House. There isn't the slightest chance in hell you'll ever guess the ending of House. The creators of this latest reincarnation of Sherlock Holmes have deliberately deprived you of that thrill. They give you all the same clues House gets, but he knows so much more than you that even a million stabs in the dark won't lead you to the esoteric solution Dr. House comes up with, which is not only from the heights of obscurity but never previously mentioned anywhere in the show. Someone tuning in at the very end would have just as good a chance of figuring out the ending as someone who watched the whole thing. Since you're NOT going to second guess the plot, you focus on the people, and particularly, House's brain and the performance of a Brit doing the best American accent imaginable. Good idea.
MD
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Crank it
You know how occasionally you hear some new songs and say to yourself wow, these are great, I'd like to play them for everybody. At muxtape.com, anyone can upload any 12 songs and voila, you've created a mixtape anyone can listen to live. I just made this. Every one a killer you've probably never heard. I'll listen to yours if you'll listen to mine.
Oh, and here's the best washing machine ad of all time...
Why is the hottest presidential candidate's wife reminding me of a porn film?
----- Original Message -----
From: Elizabeth Kucinich
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 10:00 AM
Subject: Behind The Green Door
| Behind The Green Door Dear , We have some exciting events over the coming months to launch us into November's general election. On the heels of its West Coast premiere at SF MOMA in February, Duncan Roy brings Dax and company to present four site-specific editions of the show at Hollywood hot spot The Green Door in conjunction with Justin Kern. Tony Award-nominee Justin Bond once again helms the show as emcee with a cast that features "Weimar New York" regulars Penny Arcade, The Pixie Harlots, Daniel Isengart, Taylor Mac, Julie Atlas Muz, Tigger!, Sanda Weigl and proudly introduces Novice Theory. Special guest performers from the Los Angeles area will appear in the show each night. The producers of the show intend to make a personal contribution to Dennis' re-election campaign from the proceeds of Thursday (April 10) night's show. To find out more about the show and to purchase tickets, visit www.weimarnewyork.com. |
| Paid for by Re-Elect Congressman Kucinich Committee |
Cleveland, OH 44111
 |
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Canada troops battle 10-foot Afghan marijuana plants
Canada troops battle 10-foot Afghan marijuana plants
OTTAWA, Canada (Reuters) -- Canadian troops fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan have stumbled across an unexpected and potent enemy -- almost impenetrable forests of marijuana plants 10 feet tall.
General Rick Hillier, chief of the Canadian defense staff, said Thursday that Taliban fighters were using the forests as cover. In response, the crew of at least one armored car had camouflaged their vehicle with marijuana.
"The challenge is that marijuana plants absorb energy, heat very readily. It's very difficult to penetrate with thermal devices. ... And as a result you really have to be careful that the Taliban don't dodge in and out of those marijuana forests," he said in a speech in Ottawa, Canada.
"We tried burning them with white phosphorous -- it didn't work. We tried burning them with diesel -- it didn't work. The plants are so full of water right now ... that we simply couldn't burn them," he said.
Even successful incineration had its drawbacks.
"A couple of brown plants on the edges of some of those [forests] did catch on fire. But a section of soldiers that was downwind from that had some ill effects and decided that was probably not the right course of action," Hiller said dryly.
One soldier told him later: "Sir, three years ago before I joined the army, I never thought I'd say 'That damn marijuana'."
-more -
Monday, March 31, 2008
Al Jaffee's brilliant fold-ins
Unfolded
Folded
Check out incredible flash versions of Al Jafee's brilliant fold-ins from Mad Magazine.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Psychic prediction of the week: Oliver Stone's "W"
18 months ago, some prankster posted this fake coming attraction for Oliver Stone's new film to YouTube. Now, according to the IMDB, it actually IS Oliver Stone's new film.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Please don't squeeze this column
I wasn't digging for a story, just the cheapest toilet paper, but I stumbled across a story nonetheless. Today, yes, toilet paper is actually more interesting than the election.
When you see a product that says something like "25% less fat," the first thought that crosses your mind is usually "than what?" Bacon? Always good to know your fruit cocktail has 25% less fat than slices out of a pig's belly.
Of course they're all trying to fool you into buying their product but my critical eye had never fallen across the toilet paper aisle till I noticed something strange. The "double" rolls of toilet paper not only didn't have twice the amount of toilet paper in a regular roll, but in some cases actually contained LESS toilet paper than the regular rolls. Are they allowed to change the definition of the word "double" like this?
Charging more for pretending it's more while it's actually less is a time honored technique in the food biz. Just try to buy a "gallon" of ice cream. Anything "whipped" looks bigger but it's just air.
It turns out you can roll toilet paper tightly or loosely, just like lots of things. Roll it tightly and the roll feels hard. Roll it loosely and the roll feels softer, hypnotizing you into believing the paper itself must be softer. This was Charmin's idea - to wrap their toilet paper loosely so the roll itself felt softer - while Mr. Whipple told the world "Please don't squeeze the Charmin." Everyone went ahead and squeezed it, it felt squishy, and rather than coming to the conclusion "Hey, there's a lot less toilet paper in this roll," they came to the conclusion "Gorsh, this paper is s-o-f-t."
Then Charmin realized they could actually put twice as much paper on every roll and charge more for it. Then Charmin realized they only had to call it Ultra and SAY there was twice as much paper while actually using the same amount of paper as the non-Ultra paper and STILL charge more for it. Hint. Squeeze the fucking Charmin. If it's soft, it ain't twice the amount of a regular roll.
Gee, I hope they're exporting this technique to the rest of the world. Meanwhile, if you've got too much time on your hands, check out the product information the store puts on the shelves, the ones that give the price per square foot of toilet paper, and tell me people who believe product labels aren't getting less wipes per mile.
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