Simpsonized! Edition

Todays links of interest:

• eMusic to Sell Music Directly through AT&T. iPhone Rival Service?
  Apparently that exclusive deal between Apple and AT&T only applies to hardware. Still, it’s great that eMusic will get more exposure through a deal like this.
• Wikia details plans for search rival to Google
  Well, eventually someone is going to build a better search, right?
• Auction may not be a boon for consumers
  Pardon our cynicism, but anyone actually believe Kevin Martin when he promised sweetness, light, and open access?

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Hopefully Ingmar Asked Death About That Whole “Coming in 3’s” thing Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Paris Hilton loses inheritance
  No, she didn’t leave her purse in a nightclub. Grandpa Hilton apparently discovered the Internets this past weekend and was appalled at what he found when he used The Google to search for little Paris. Long story short, the Hilton fortune is going to charity instead of Paris. Finally, some justice.
• Attorney Allred developing reality TV show
  What took so long?
• Former 49er head coach Bill Walsh dies
  The 1980s and early 1990s was a great time to be a San Francisco 49er fan. A large part of that was due to the genius of Bill Walsh. The short pass-oriented so-called "West Coast Offense" was a new wrinkle for the NFL, and one that has repercussions to this day.

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Okay, how crazy is it that the Simpsons movie, the aptly named The Simpsons Movie (and available only in theaters), would gross $72 million on a hot summer weekend? Think about it: the world has been watching The Simpsons weekly for nearly twenty years, yet people still did the whole trek to the theater to see what sort of craziness the gang might encounter when released in large screen format.

It’s enough to inspire and bemuse.

There are many theories about why The Simpsons endures after all these years. Mine is that the show just keeps getting weirder — no mean feat for a show that started in the realm of pretty strange. Perhaps, unlike Second Life, The Simpsons is a true manifestation of what would happen if the laws of gravity and physics and probably even inertia were ignored.
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While you were trying to figure out how to prove that the baggie of coke in your pants pocket really wasn’t yours, here’s what we were looking at:

• The Sad and Twisted Saga of a Political Consultant’s Battle With Nintendo’s Kirby - Dumbass stunts like this aren’t going to help anybody’s campaign in Second Life, and for that matter, they don’t really help out Second Life all that much, either.
• Why Do I Find It So Hard to Commit? - One person’s lament based upon the fact that she doesn’t watch nearly as many TV shows in which she’s interested.
• Some Alternative Emmy Nominations - One person’s lament based upon the fact that he watches far too many TV shows in which he’s interested.
• How to Save The Weekly World News - At dinner last night, both Elvis and Bat Boy were gushing about how they thought that this was an excellent idea.
• One If By Land… - Right. This was really just an excuse for Rox to point out how she’s she’s all moony-eyed for David Tennant.

754 Edition

Todays links of interest:

• The Search for Spock is over. There, we said it.
  A report from Comic-con on the awesome casting choice of Zachary Quinto as the younger Spock in J.J. Abrams "Star Trek Movie." 40 years of geekdom in a single sentence.
• "The Simpsons Movie"
  You might have heard about this.
• HBO comedy site shut down
  Ah, the problems with creating new online "destinations". Is the corporate mind up to the task?

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It’s official. The Brits have invaded our apartment.

This week has been all Harry Potter, all the time. Jim has already sped through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. I’m a bit slower. Of course, I didn’t have the entire weekend to read non-stop. I have to read it during every spare minute I can find. I’m desperate to get through it before I somehow get spoiled on how it ends - which I am still convinced will happen, even though I’m about two-thirds of the way through it (and for the record, loving every word).

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Yeah, surrre Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Gonzales Denies Pressuring Ashcroft
  Yeah, surrre.
• "I am innocent," Lohan e-mail says
  Yeah, surrre.
• Vick Pleads Innocent in Dogfighting Case
  Yeah, surrrrre.

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It has been a sad week around here at ‘Loper HQ. One of our totemic icons — or is that iconic totems? — The Weekly World News, is soon going to become an ex-tabloid.

While it is still going to live on as a website, no more will its headlines about regegade apes and aliens for Bush (clearly his final stronghold of support) scream at me from the Supermarket check-out line. This sucks.

Reading the coverage about the closing, I think that I’m not the only one who feels that way. Mainstream outlets from The Washington Post to Wired have been giving it a fond obituary.

While some might sneer that this just shows How Low Things Have Sunk, I think that the worldwide outpouring of grief for the Weekly World News is a good thing. These people are simply recognizing a pioneer in the field of fake news, a clear progenitor to our current most popular practitioners of the made-up news story: The Onion, Jon Stewart and FOX News.

And besides, like Elvis or Andy Kaufman, the Weekly World News doesn’t have to die. It can be saved.

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Horcruxes or Hallows Edition

Todays links of interest:

• TiVo Announces More Affordable High-Def DVR
  Really, you now pretty much have no excuse.
• Bob Barker’s Phone Call with Drew Carey
  Bob’s very happy because Drew is going to carry on Bob’s tradition of asking viewers to spay and neuter their pets. Right up until the day after Bob drops dead.
• Apple shares take a fall on early iPhone numbers / AT&T says it activated 146,000 in 2 days; forecasts were higher
  One reason that the reaction to the 146,000 number might be kinda bullshit: there could be a huge difference between "sales" and "activation" To wit: one of your ‘lopers purchased his iPhone on Saturday, June 30 — during that first weekend — but because he was on the road, did not activate it until Tuesday, July 3, when he could get a decent broadband connection. Also: are we now at the point where we are treating sales of consumer devices like Hollywood Movie Box Office reports? We didn’t realize that we needed to activate it before Apple’s quarter ended in order to help their stock: we will be more careful next time. Christ!

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The Emmys were announced last week, and as usual, there a weird mix of “yeah, totally!” and “what the frack!”

So, I decided to do my own. This, of course, has it’s own problems: I’m pretty much limited to the universe of shows that I watched this last season. The “good” news is that it’s a pretty wide universe. The bad news is that it doesn’t include some pretty acclaimed shows. So I’m warning you in advance: no love here for The Wire (which I haven’t caught up on); Friday Night Lights (which I stupidly missed) or anything on Showtime. My bad. It’s hard to watch everything. Unless somebody wants to pay me, that is.

Also: I think that dramedies like The Riches and Gilmore Girls are primarily comedies, so thats where I slotted them. So there. It only had a little bit to do with the fact that there are wayy more strong hour-long shows right now than half-hour long shows.

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