3/21/01 - The trailer for Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, with Nicole Kidman and Ewan MacGregor, is now online. Looks colorful, if nothing else...I just wish I hadn't immediately thought of 54 when the trailer began...I probably would have liked it better.

NCAA update. Right now, I'm No. 1013 of 506644 Yahoo tournament brackets, in the 99th percentile with a score of 49 points. Unfortunately, this'll be the high water mark as two of my Final Four (UNC, BC) are no more. I suppose that's what I get for choosing wishful thinking over common sense and not choosing Duke out of the East.

Now here's something I can stand behind our President on. Also in the GOP-makes-good dept., Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore scraps Confederate month.

Taco Bell trys to alleviate grief-stricken America by turning the Mir's demise into a possible taco giveaway. I've been known to quaff my sorrows in chalupa.

Campaign finance update: Torricelli takes aim at high TV rates. Sounds good, but is the amendment a dealkiller?

Spidermanhype posts this first picture of the webcrawler's nemesis, the Green Goblin. Looks kinda goofy to me, but I expect he'll look better once they give him his purple cloak. They are giving him his purple cloak, right?

Top-secret spy imaging locates the Mars Polar Lander, sitting around on the surface apparently unharmed. (Via Lake Effect.)

In the campaign finance reform debate, the psychos have started popping out of the woodwork. Today, one Right-wing fringer labels McCain the "Manchurian Candidate." Expect a guy in a Queen of Diamonds outfit any day now.

A new survey on the state of the drug war finds that 75% of Americans thinks current policies aren't working, and that treatment has become a much more popular alternative to incarceration in the 13 years since Nancy "Just Say No" Reagan left office.

Some blog news of note: One of my old friends and ex-rowers (now one of the pinions behind Epinions), Jon Kibera, has thrown together some code and started his own blog. Also, Lots of Co. gets a spiffy new post-Tripod URL, as does Butterfly Wings. And, finally, GitM got the Blog You treatment, garnering 5.5 of 8 Sutherlands and losing points for lousy design (I'll concede) and not sticking the landing.

3/19/01 - Off to NYC for the next thirty-six hours or so to meet Professor Brinkley and check out the Columbia History Dept. So, no updates tomorrow. See you Wednesday.

A Times reporter manages to capture one of the mysterious floating SNL post-show parties, by scratching his nose.

The debate on campaign finance reform begins today, with defenders of McCain-Feingold trying to stave off poison pill amendments. But it appears that, no matter what happens in Congress, the fate of the legislation will ultimately be decided in the courts. Fortunately, the bill was written with Buckley vs. Valeo in mind.

In related news, it's gotten so bad in Washington that even some lobbyists are backing McCain-Feingold.

In a move sure to provoke vociferous Oliver Stone-like dissent, Spielberg decides to skip Lincoln hagiography in favor of a darker, more balanced view of our greatest President. Should be interesting.

Reggie Miller becomes the first NBA player to score 2000 three-pointers. I think I've groaned at about a tenth of 'em.

3/16/01 - Change of venue: Since my sixty-day post-Clinton contract has expired (and my usefulness well before then,) today is my last day at the FCC. So, until I go to grad school in the Fall, I'll be working as a freelance writer - mainly for the FCC-in-exile, former Chairman William Kennard over at the Aspen Institute. Regaining the two hours a day I spend commuting will be a nice gift...hopefully I'll make good use of it.

On the eve of the newest round of campaign finance wars, Jake Tapper profiles John McCain.

5/25/24 - Taught Berkeley IV to sit today...it took him three weeks longer to master it than his predecessor... The LA Times looks at pet cloning.

Austin Powers director Jay Roach gives up on Hitchhiker's Guide after Disney won't shell out the necessary FX cash to make Douglas Adams' famous book properly. The project may now go to French director Michael Gondry, whose film debut will be the forthcoming Human Nature, scripted by Being John Malkovich writer Charlie Kaufman.

NYC continues to grow. Just save me some room in there somewhere.

Dubya releases a list of campaign finance reform principles. No. 6: Look like you're doing something, without actually doing it. No. 7: Try to cut McCain off at the ankles if at all possible. Etc., Etc.

3/15/01 - Unleash the Madness! Gotta love the first few days of the tourney...upsets and Cinderella stories aplenty. Other than the NBA Playoffs, it's the last big sporting event before the lean months of summer, when we all have to pretend that regular season baseball is even remotely interesting. No serious damage to my bracket yet, but it's only been four games...

The website for Cats and Dogs, Warner Brothers' counterprogramming to Pearl Harbor, gets an update which includes this swanky poster.

Sorry about your Palm, Girlhacker. I too have become recently Palmless, since I mistakenly left mine in the FCC cafeteria a few weeks ago, where it was quickly ganked. As a result, my wallet is currently approaching Costanza-like proportions from all the little slips of papers I'm carrying around. But, perhaps fate is trying to tell me something. Particularly since I'm moving to either NY or Charlottesville in the Fall, I'm contemplating forgoing a land-line completely (assuming cable Internet access is available) and upgrading to the Kyocera Smartphone (Link via Metafilter.) Does anyone out there have any horror stories about Verizon Wireless I should know about? Any compelling reasons why I shouldn't make a mobile phone my only one?

Why Neal Stephenson is a bad correspondent. (Via Caught in Between.)

The Post examines anew how the film Traffic has transformed the politics of the drug war in Washington. Apparently, all Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) needed to see the wisdom of treatment policies over incarceration was to view himself on the big screen.

Tracing the phenomenon: The LA Times (and Foxtrot) on All Your Base. Where next? Everybody Loves Raymond or Drew Carey, perhaps? What the phrase really needs now for maximum exposure during the summer is a beat-intensive hip-hop song by Southern rappers a la "Whoomp there it is!" or "Ride the train." Then all our base really will belong to them.

Stalking a considerably older meme, the NY Times takes a gander at Dopewars.

After an extended honeymoon, it begins. President Dubya gets his first wave of lousy press.

Forget Scully, Doggett, and the Lone Gunmen. Mulder's traded 'em in for Julianne Moore, Orlando Jones, and Seann "Stiffler" Scott respectively. David Duchovny does his best Venkman impression in the trailer for Ivan Reitman's Evolution.

Cruise vs. Cruise. Two upcoming high-profile and pre-strike Tom Cruise films - Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky and Steven Spielberg's Minority Report - run up against each other in filming, causing tensions to flare.

As Bush tries to rally support for the Hagel campaign finance plan, John McCain rails against Dubya's loophole-ridden compromise, calling it the "affirmation of soft money." Bully for him...perhaps he can find a way to bottle that progressive moxie and ship a case to the sad, sad DLC.

3/14/01 - A fourth Hannibal Lecter vehicle? Um, is that really necessary?

Michael Jordan quells SI-inspired rumors of a comeback. Good. The last thing the guy needs to do to his untarnished legacy is to return to the league out of shape and get schooled by every Sportscenter-hungry rook in the NBA. That being said, I just don't understand people - namely, aging sportswriters with an aversion to cornrows - who consistently declare the game is worse since Jordan's day. What are you talking about? Between more international players and the recent rookie classes, I think the level of athleticism and excitement has increased dramatically in only the past few years. Take, for example, the Sacramento Kings - one of seven or eight solid title contenders in the league - all five starters on that team are great passers and consistent scoring threats. How could they be less exciting than watching the Bulls stand around while MJ goes to the line 20 times a game on ticky-tack garbage? Get with the times, people.

Columbia University launches the Malcolm X project, to be headed by historian Manning Marable.

Buried quasars and black holes...a new look at the early universe.

Jacob Weisberg delves into actuarial tables to put the brakes on the Thurmond Dead Pool.

Exhibit A in defense of the South: A substantial segment of "Imitation of Life", R.E.M.'s new single, is now online. (Thanks, April.) I agree with the Murmurs reviewer that said this song is to Mills, Buck, and Stipe as "Beautiful Day" was to U2 - almost gratuitously self-referential in its hooks. That being said, I already like it better than "Beautiful Day," so there.

"The South is a gangrenous limb that should have been lopped off decades ago." Wow. This may be the most ignorant column I've read all year. I presume this fellow is trying to be funny...it doesn't work. Sounds like his experience in the South was relegated to half an hour in the Atlanta airport or something (FYI, NC is the tobacco state, not SC.)

Grrrr...scumbags. The campaign finance levee breaks, with Senators John Breaux (D-LA, 202/224-4623) and Bob Torricelli (D-NJ, 202/224-3224) beginning the Democratic backpedaling from McCain-Feingold. Sensing opportunity, Dubya throws himself behind the gutted Hagel-Breaux "alternative". If Democrats defect en masse from this bill, I'm leaving the party and I'm not looking back.

Not ready for prime-time? Colin Powell screws up in testimony...twice. First, he announces that the US will be moving the Tel Aviv embassy to Jerusalem, enraging the Arab world. Then he twice violates our diplomatic nod to the "One-China policy" by referring to Taiwan as "the Republic of China," thus enraging our largest, strongest neighbor. State Dept. spokesman Richard Boucher spins by declaring "don't get too excited over one word here, one word there." Um, hate to be the one to break this to ya, guys, but the difference between successful and disastrous diplomacy often rests on a word here or there.

The Organization President? Try prep school instead.

3/13/01 - Steven Spielberg buys the film rights of a Lincoln biopic, to be based on Doris Kearn's Goodwin's next tome. The book, and presumably the film, will focus on the war years and Lincoln's relationships with his Cabinet.

Colgate toothpaste...the smooth, creamy, cavity-fighting foundation of TransAtlantic diplomacy. Dubya's either a moron or a genius...I think you can guess which way I'm leaning. We don't really need Rain Man-type commentary like this from the Leader of the Free World.

With St. Patrick's Day right around the corner, Daily Radar tells you definitively the best place in the world to be wasted.

Joe Kennedy passes up the Massachussetts governorship again, opening the way for any number of Democrats to throw their hat in the race. In related news, Dubya and the GOP can't stop referencing JFK in support of their tax cut, even if the arguments don't quite fit.

Thurmond death watch continues at the Times, who today scrutinizes the desire of Nancy Thurmond for her husband's post.

Depeche Mode announce tour dates. No U.S. venues yet. In other music news, Bjork's Vespertine, slated for May, gets pushed back to August or September.

3/12/01 - March Madness begins, and I haven't found a pool yet. To be honest, I'm feeling pretty uninformed this year, which is probably a good thing. The only time I won an NCAA pool was my freshman year of college, when I didn't watch a single game.

Patrick "Putty" Warburton lands a gig as Will Smith's new partner in Men in Black 2. Doesn't sound like he lasts very long, though.

Harvard gets a new prez, former Treasury Secretary and Harvard professor Lawrence Summers. Thank goodness they didn't go for Gore.

Gladiator meets Excalibur in A Knight's Tale, the Heath Ledger-Rufus Sewell summer pic whose trailer premieres today. I dunno...looks like a rental at best.

3/9/01 - Queen, the musical. Hey, it's already gotta be better than David Hasselhoff in Jekyll & Hyde.

Since a best-selling book about Top Five's was named after one of his tunes, it's only fair that Elvis Costello share his Top 500 Records with us. Bought the Vanity Fair issue awhile back explicitly for this list, so I'm glad to see it's migrated online (Via Metafilter.)

So much for changing the tone. Will Dubya's political hardball on the tax cut cost him vital support from the Conservative Blue Dog Democrats in the future?

Thor vs. Superman? Batman vs. Captain America? A Green Arrow-Hawkeye shooting contest? The long-awaited ultimate crossover - DC's Justice League of America and Marvel's Avengers is a go, with Kurt Busiek and George Perez at the helm. I can see the Vision and the Martian Manhunter getting along swimmingly.

The Times joins the Thurmond health watch.

Good at trivia? Check out this bizarre list of questions that my brother found the other day. Unfortunately, no answers are provided.

Slate's David Greenberg assesses Doris Kearns Goodwin. I'd take her over Michael Beschloss any day of the week.

Harry posts an interesting Army news brief on actors' Ranger training for Black Hawk Down. Spoilers if you haven't read the book (or don't remember Battle of Mogadishu coverage on CNN.)