Tuesday, August 24, 2004

If you want to see how each state is trending in this year's presidential election, along with a constantly updated tally of how many electoral votes each candidate would garner if the vote was taken now, check out the Electoral Vote Predictor 2004. I've been going by at least three times a week for more than a month now. It's addictive, I tell ya.

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Back in the 80s there was this umbrella that I really wanted. I think it was a giveaway from some fashion designer or department store. As I remember it, the thing was all red except for one panel that was black. Or maybe it mostly black with one red panel. I'm fuzzy on that part.

The thing I vividly remember, the really cool thing, was the handle. It was shaped like a question mark. It looked like something the Riddler and the Penguin had collaborated on.

Anybody else remember this particular bumbershoot, or did it exist only in my own fevered imagination?

Posted @ 1:24 PM

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Monday, August 16, 2004

If it had happened two or three years ago, Craig Kilborn's abrupt departure from The Late Late Show would have been a bit of a bummer to me. But my enthusiasm for Craiggers has lessened considerably since then. I can't remember the last time I bothered to catch the show, even when up late enough to do so.

Instead, I find myself excited by the opportunity his departure presents. Rumor has it that the quirky, funny and brilliant Amy Sedaris is the odds-on favorite to take over the Late Late Show big chair.

Sedaris' off-kilter sparkle (and the possibility of guest appearances by her equally amazing brother David) would be more than enough to make me stay up later and watch. At the very least, I'd certainly TiVo her.

Posted @ 3:11 PM

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Monday, August 09, 2004

Whew! Was I ever relieved to hear this: it turns out the proposed Jack Black Green Lantern movie that I wailed and gnashed my teeth over a couple weeks back is just a rumor. Black himself has put the kibosh on the story, saying it was overblown.

At least one good thing came of all this. My buddy Bowler, as horrified and shocked as I was by the idea of Jack Black wielding the most powerful weapon in the universe, was inspired to produce this excellent mock poster of how the project might have turned out.

Posted @ 1:28 PM

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Friday, August 06, 2004

Great piece today on the little-known history behind one of the Web's truly elite and indispensable sites, the Internet Movie Database.

Reading it brought my mind back to the days when I was rooming with my buddy Hutch. Our mutual love of film, TV and trivia made "let's check IMDb" the second-most frequently spoken phrase in our household. It ranked right behind "would you like a beer?"

Posted @ 1:17 PM

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Thursday, August 05, 2004

Talk about perfect casting. Steve Carell, a Daily Show correspondent and the man who nearly steals Anchorman from Will Farrell, has been tapped to play Maxwell Smart in a new movie version of the Mel Brooks/Buck Henry TV spy spoof Get Smart.

I'm normally not a huge fan of these TV-to-film things, but with Carell in the lead role, I'm there.

Posted @ 1:30 PM

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