GLENN BECK AND COMPANY

I am watching Fox News. Not a big deal. Do not worry. I keep forgetting that I can watch it on my laptop... so can people who do not forget to watch Fox News.

Two minutes after I "tune in" The O'Reilly Factor comes on. Bill will have Glenn Beck on as a guest. Of course, that makes sense. The big rally happened in Washington on Saturday. Mr. O'Reilly introduces the segment by asking, 'how come Glenn Beck was able to attract so many people to the rally?'

Now Charles Krauthammer is on; he said something about the "Tea Party".

MCDONALDS MAKES MCROCKS

Now this is disgusting...
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/854355

Impenetrable, impervious, indigestible. McDonalds food "products".

ON A COMEDIENNE THEME

Speaking of actress/comediennes, what ever happened to Roseanne Barr? I admit that I used to watch her sitcom Roseanne, which ran from 1988 to 1997, although I did not go past the second season; and thought that she and the show were quite funny. And I hate sitcoms. Go figure. (In all I watched perhaps twenty episodes; which is a lot. Believe me!)

Was Barr thrown out of the U.S. for grabbing her crotch while signing the "Star Spangled Banner"? (That national anthem is bad, and easy to mock. Why the States has not adopted "God Bless America" as their song, I'll never know.)

Roseanne Barr was/is a funny lady.

POST BEDWETTER

Yesterday I finished reading actress/comedienne Sarah Silverman's autobiographical book "The Bedwetter". It was better than I was expecting it to be; and more revealing. While I had heard that the book garnered generally positive reviews I thought that this would be another classic case of me reading a book or seeing a movie and saying afterwards, "did I read (or see) something else?"

A nice, smooth, and interesting read.

One thing I have heard is that some readers have found the book to be 'lacking' and 'not funny enough'. To each their own, but I think the idea is that someone like Silverman is not always doing their stage persona... especially when writing a book. That would be pretty boring, I think.

Admittedly "The Bedwetter" could be considered brief, at some 240 pages. Some people want a 400 page rip-roaring tell-all tome. Everything. There was hardly any mention of Jimmy Kimmel. People want dirt -- I want emotional truth. And I think I got some from the talented lady, even if just a little bit.


(Caption for picture above: "In my book did I mention that I'm really cute?")

RODDENBERRY AND IRWIN ALLEN

Further to my post below, the two lords of television SF/fantasy died just days apart: Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry died on October 24, 1991, and on November 2nd departed Irwin Allen (of Lost in Space, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea fame).


Wikipedia entry on Gene Roddenberry...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Roddenberry

And on Irwin Allen (pictured above)...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irwin_Allen

TORONTO TREKKIES MOURN RODDENBERRY

I'm becoming convinced that the Internet, certainly Youtube, is some sort of electronic Quiji board. You look for something but since the someone or something knows what you've been blogging about lately, you are sent to where you might want to go.

In this following video clip are some Toronto Trekkies from Stardate 1991. It was sad news indeed when Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry died, but these people seem to have been really affected...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgXwxCpjfM8




I was not going to post the above as I feel I do not want this to turn into, even if in spurts here and there, a Star Trek blog (as it has a Doctor Who * one at times) but I cannot resist a Trekkie theme.


(* Doctor Who is exempt.)

I AM A MEDIA WATCHDOG... I AM... I AM

And I must keep convincing myself of that, even during the Toronto Sun's shift over to being a right-wing mouthpiece -- right down to the 'letters' column...
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/letters/2010/08/26/15154531.html

Throwing coal into your own furnaces. That's what I call it.

Read the Sun now, if you dare, and you will see that any semblance of balance is all but totally gone. To the wind.

Quebecor, the owners of this 'newspaper', can do whatever it wants, but must appreciate why it has lost so many readers in recent years. With columnist Eric Margolis no longer with the roid-tabloid many readers have said that they now have no use for the Sun.

My quandary is this: Can I even be a news watchdog if I'm just reading what is expected?

The little dictionary beside me explains a 'watchdog' as this...

guard against undesirable practices: a person or organization guarding against illegal practices, unacceptable standards, or inefficiency.


My answer to my own question would be...

just let the Sun be the Sun. They're harmless.

AND THEN DEPRESSION SET IN

Late this afternoon after getting some work done I decided that I wanted to sign up as a member on The Ugly Bug Ball -- http://www.theuglybugball.co.uk/ -- dating site (which I posted on two days ago). To make a long story short I was so disappointed. It looks as though the site exists no more. Nothing.

What is circulating on the Net, perhaps remainders of TUBB, is the following list. What do you think of these 5 points? Offensive? I write my own reactions immediately beneath each. Enjoy, them and me…

THE FIVE UGLY TRUTHS ABOUT DATING

1. “Half of UK daters aren’t pretty, so instead of fishing in a small pool of prettiness and getting nowhere, dive into an ocean of uglies and have more choice.”

(I have not been to the U.K. in a few years so I do not know what the balance is there right now. All I know is I scored great successes during my last trip. It‘s a good thing the Brits love their 'pints'.)

2. “Ugly people are a better calibre of human - pretty people generally aren’t very nice and are often a bit shallow.”

(While I understand the point is a generalization, we must be careful. Some of the nicest and warmest people I have met were also very nice to look at. As you are growing up your personality is influenced by how people treat you. Besides, the biggest, meanest, most rottenest person I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing was my ex-mother-in-law. I wish I had a picture of her. Ahhh… for you I mean.)

3. “Ugly people have had a tougher life and therefore tend to be more considerate and more loyal. A recent TUBB survey also proved that they try harder in bed.”

(There is probably some truth to that first sentence. As for the last part… I’ve mostly encountered lethargy.)

4. “Once with an ugly partner it is unlikely that anyone will try and take them from you, meaning you can let yourself go completely once you’re together.”

(And I’ve been letting my belt out to the further-most holes. I have a confession to make: One time I “borrowed” my ex-sister-in-law. This gets complicated…)

5. “In these straightened times, TUBB is cheaper as a.) We don’t charge as much as the pretty sites and b.) Ugly people have lower expectations--for a first date a Family Bucket will usually do the trick."

(I have not compared prices… kind of difficult to do now. I find that some ‘ugly people’ [pardon me] have incredibly high expectations. These types set themselves up to fail every time. "Thwack!!!")

***

Okay, I’ve had my fun. Remember one thing: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” I used to tell that to my ex-father-in-law.

FORGET UGLY - HOW ABOUT SICK?

In regards to my previous posting (THE UGLY BUG BALL C/O UK) I see no concern for physical ugliness. It is just a superficial issue. Ugliness comes in all forms. Evil and sick people aplenty. Even in Coventry, England. To me, abusing a cat, or any animal, is punishable by...

There used to be a saying in the U.K., used by parents to threaten their kids in times of insubordination: "If you don't behave, you'll be sent to Coventry!" * (It might still be used, I don't know. )

Well, it seems some troubled kids were ultimately sent to Coventry... and now they are troubled adults...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMl6CsTDeHw




* During WW2 (on the 14th of November, 1940) the Luftwaffe bombed Coventry with great accuracy and concentration, causing large-scale destruction. Hence the expression denoted above.

I do not know what animal cruelty laws are like in Britain, but I hope they are progressive; and involve a hand phaser.

THE UGLY BUG BALL C/O UK

I admit, dear reader, to being a little shaken-up. Every two or three days a friend will send me an e-mail with a link attached; to something that they feel I might be interested in investigating.

When I arrived home this afternoon, I received not one, not two, but three e-mailed links -- for the exact same thing! Really?! Do I look as though I need to be made aware of a dating site dedicated to "ugly people"?

Thanks guys. And one girl.

I will sleep unevenly tonight.

Trust the Brits, they who developed and use the expression "as ugly as sin", to start a website for less attractive people. Not only that, but the site, in keeping with its theme, is ugly...
http://theuglybugball.co.uk/


(Picture above: At least my cat still loves me. I'm going to change his name from "Vermin" to "Always".)

TERRY GILLIAM ON STAR WARS

I'm doing one of my spells right now. I'm watching a few Monty Python's Flying Circus DVDs. Went to the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) to read up on the boys. Came across this interesting quote from Terry Gilliam...

(on future use of CGI in his films) "Nooo! Leave that to George Lucas, he' s really mastered the CGI acting. That scares me! I hate it! Everybody is so pleased and excited by it. Animation is animation. Animation is great. But it's when you're now taking what should be films full of people, living thinking, breathing, flawed creatures and you're controlling every moment of that, it's just death to me. It's death to cinema, I can't watch those Star Wars films, they're dead things."


I have always had trouble summing up what I feel is so wrong about the Star Wars 'prequel' films. Gilliam has nailed the problem for me. Those films are "dead things" indeed.

Now I can move on.

STAR TREK 365 BOOK

Here is a Star Trek (original series) bliss-out: A new horizontal format picture-based coffee table book dedicated to the famous show is set to be released on September 1st. Already it is listed on Amazon... I noticed that the list price is $29, and find that odd as the press release states that the beasty is 744 pages (and with dimensions of just over 6 x 9 inches). That tells me there is a misprint somewhere. Photo-heavy books tend to cost upwards of $50 or even a lot more.

As for text content there are episode by episode critical commentaries, interviews with cast members and production people, and behind-the-scenes information. Just the kind of things to help Trekkies... I mean, Trekkers, like me achieve critical orgasm.


First, the foreplay...
http://trekmovie.com/2010/04/15/trek-book-news-star-trek-365-cover-description-new-vanuard-tng-era-books-announced-for-2011/

BF SMIGHT TWEETS 3

Took a walk around downtown "T.O." (Toronto) today. It was so nice to be able to walk more than 20 feet and not turn into a moving shower. A cooler and less hot humid day is welcome relief.

BF SMIGHT TWEETS 2

In fact, we have York University students in this area also... even though there is a bit of a commute to get to school from here.

BF SMIGHT TWEETS

Just occurred to me that U of T (University of Toronto) students start filing back into the neighbourhood over the next two weeks.

JD ROUETTE TWEETS

I have never bothered to follow a Twitter's tweets. To me, the whole idea of reading such scribblings is akin to reading the inside of a bathroom stall door. Besides I have more pressing concerns in there.

However, my attitude has changed a tiny bit with the premiere of JD Rouette's brand new (two day old) Twitter account...
www.twitter.com/jdrouette

MIDDLE AGE BRAINS

If you are over 40 (ish) you may not want to read this article...
http://www.healthzone.ca/health/mindmood/article/845088--why-the-middle-aged-brain-can-be-a-potent-force?bn=1#comments

... Like Miles Monroe, it is my "second favourite organ". Although in my case it is second to the one on my living room floor.

"Brain, brain. What is brain?!"

Looks like I'm losing it...

DEATH COMES - JUNK MEET

Just finished watching my third ever episode of the limited CBC series Kids in the Hall: Death Comes To. (This is a repeat run... saw two stories back in its original airing.)

What a bad show -- as bad as that other CBC "comedy" series, Little Mosque on the Prairie. (And Death Comes is bad in a Little Mosque way. Both series do not play by their own ground rules.)

Hey. SunTV is playing Enter the Dragon right now. Tuned in as John Saxon met-up with Jim Kelly on a junk. Man, this straight guy thinks those two are amazing together on-screen...

... And here comes Keye Luke! Awesome. (Well, it's Keye Luke's voice.)

FUNNY CLOSING LINE

Columnist Eric Margolis is now in his last or next-to-last week with that right wing rag, the Toronto Sun.

As regular readers of mine have noticed, I like the man's straight and to-the-point weekly filings. His style is necessarily dry. But, read this and focus on the last paragraph...
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/eric_margolis/2010/07/30/14880351.html

... My day has been made already. Comedy takes many forms. The truth, in fact, can be very funny.