A Killing in Connecticut
At Doublethink, Sonny Bunch cites the horrifying murders committed by Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky in Cheshire, CT in 2007, and concludes: As far as I am concerned, those two have made their lives forfeit. I want the state to take vengeance upon them for the evil that they have done. If they were to be drawn and quartered and their remains were scattered to the four corners of the continental United States, you wouldn’t hear peep out of me. Every time I start to waver on my support for the death penalty ...
'Toyetic'
For anyone who fears he or she may hold Hollywood studio executives in insufficiently low esteem, the Wall Street Journal offers this trend story: Soon to be starring in his own feature-length film with Universal Pictures: Stretch Armstrong, the pliant, muscle-bound doll whose roots go back to the 1970s. Big Wheel, the plastic tricycle, has its own TV show in the works. Even the board game Risk has a deal for a film, to be co-produced by star Will Smith.... John Fogelman represents the likes of Courteney Cox, Whoopi Goldberg and director J.J.
Happy 40th, Sesame Street
The revolutionary children's show hits the big four-oh this month, having launched on November 10, 1969, just in time for my two-and-a-half-year-old self to get in on the ground floor. To celebrate the occasion, Movieline has gathered clips of ten songs from the show, including abiding classics ("Sing") as well as pop satires such as the Beatlemanic "Letter B" and Madonnawannabe "Cereal Girl." Somehow, though, the editors left out what is for me, and I think many, the defining song of the show, and perhaps Jim Henson's career.
Can't Win with 'Em...
Dave Weigel's dispatch from NY-23 last night describes the evolving message of the Hoffman camp: Hours before the polls closed, Hoffman backers were echoing the pundits’ spin–this race would be a referendum on President Obama, and a victory for Hoffman would put the brakes on health care reform by making Democrats worry about challenges to their re-elections in 2010. As a Hoffman victory became more and more remote, the rhetoric changed. The message became the message of two weeks ago. This election wasn’t about showing Republicans that conservatives could win.
How Bad Can They Make the Oscars, Ctd.
When word broke last week that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences was planning to have multiple hosts for the Oscars this year and that they'd be chosen in part on the basis of having "different strengths and a different generational appeal," it was easy to envision televisual disaster.
Holy Ironic Convergences, Batman!
It's remarkable enough that a bat somehow made its way into San Antonio's AT&T Center and buzzed the court during the Spurs-Kings game. It's more remarkable still that Spurs guard Manu Ginobli was able to pluck the flying critter right out of the air for disposal. But for all this to happen on Halloween night? Yes, I know I'm late to this. But I'm suffering from my own ironic seasonal mishap--involving pumpkin vines and a torn tendon: don't ask--and as a result have some catching up to do.
For the Nerd Who Has Everything
Step-by-step instructions for making his very own Death Star pumpkin, guaranteed to keep him busy for 4-10 hours. This, and other labor-intensive cucurbitaceae possibilities suitable for any taste, can be found here.
Dept. of Pots and Kettles
In her latest ill-advised broadside against Levi Johnston, Sarah Palin accused the soon-to-be Playgirl model of "sell[ing his] body." It's a peculiar complaint for a former beauty queen to make, but particularly peculiar for one who told People, "I did the beauty pageants to earn money for college"; who, by placing in the Miss Alaska contest did, in fact, earn a scholarship (of which she reportedly said, "that's what got me through college"); and who described the process thus in Vogue: "They made us line up in bathing suits and turn our backs so the male judges could look at our butts." In re
Sun Rises in East
I swear that when I wrote this: Look, anyone who imagines that New Gingrich is going to make a serious bid for the presidency in 2012 is nuts. (The smart money is that he'll muse endlessly about the possibility; let it be known that if the party wants him badly enough he'll allow himself to be drafted; and, when this does not happen, publicly take his name out of contention, explaining that he's abruptly found himself far too busy with some new organization with the word "Future" in the name.
Presumed Guilty
A few weeks ago, I posted a "Nightline" segment featuring an interview with John Jackson, the prosecutor in the death penalty case of Cameron Todd Willingham. Willingham, who was almost certainly innocent, was nonetheless found guilty and executed by the state of Texas in 2004. The basis for the conviction was evidence given by arson investigators that was subsequently shown to be entirely unscientific.
