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Conjuring up Political, Cinematic, Cultural, and Athletic Arcana since the Final Days of the Last Century

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5/10/00 - Jacob Weisberg of Slate critically assesses the most recent wave of Gore attacks on Dubya. Elsewhere, in the midst of the Giuliani meltdown, William Saletan lays down the New Rules of Political Adultery.

Louis Farrakhan admits he "helped create the atmosphere" that led to the assassination of Malcolm X.

After a decade of mismanagement, Marvel Comics - home of Spider-man, The X-Men, The Hulk, Captain America, The Fantastic Four, Daredevil, and countless other classic heroes and villains - may be calling it quits in the comic book department. Can this really be true?

It looks like there'll probably be big changes on the job front very soon. More to follow.

The color grouping continues apace on the new Weblog Color Wheel. At the currently unscientific sampling of seventy-five blogs, there seems to be a preponderance of blues (23) and browns (15). Most rare are Reds (5) and Yellows (5). If you're not listed, send along your URL.

An English study suggests that mobile phones may be harmful to children (as young'uns are more susceptible to radiation.) My brother has a theory that cellphones today are like cigarettes in the 40's and 50's: Everybody's using them still blissfully unaware of the horrible health consequences they are wreaking upon their bodies. Yeah, I can see it.

Those souls desiring to spend the Hereafter off-world can now send their (ashen) remains to the moon. I know it's a total waste of valuable bio-organic compounds, but I've always wanted to be shipped off into space when my time comes. I suppose this is what comes from watching The Wrath of Khan at an early age.

Paula Jones is currently in negotiations with Penthouse for...well, you know what for. As if she could be any more overexposed.

While McCain and Dubya have now publicly made up, the bad blood still simmers between Al Gore and Senator Bill Bradley, and neither man is currently making much attempt to woo the other (or their supporters.) Not that there's much point - Al Gore could show up at my doorstep, vacuum the apartment, and take out the trash, and I still wouldn't vote for him. Why not? Three words, for starters: 150 dollar voucher. But Kevin, several have said to me, by voting for Nader you'll just be throwing your vote away and ensuring a Bush victory. Well, first, I still plan to vote Dem in the pertinent Congressional races. Secondly, as Mr. Nader said himself, "if the Green Party breaks 5%, the Democratic Party will never be the same. Maybe, for the first time in modern history, the Democrats would rationalize their loss because of a progressive abandonment." True, that. Besides, if the party poobahs really wanted my vote, they never would have exercised so much influence to promote such a pandering, weaselly chump change over Senator Bradley in the first place.

In very related news, Bush now leads the vice-president by eight points, 51-43, in a nationwide L.A. Times poll. The skinny is that, while Bush is up sixteen points with men (as is usual with GOP candidates), he also splits the female vote (recently a Democratic stronghold) evenly with the veep. In a four way race, Dubya still leads 47-39, with 4% for Nader and 3% for Buchanan. Despite what an utterly depressing election season it's been so far, I draw some small consolation from the fact that Ralph Nader consistently outpolls Pat Buchanan.

The trailer for the Charlie's Angels remake, featuring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu, is now online, and I think I'm going to have to put this one in my Battlefield Earth group, i.e. to be viewed only if terminally bored, and then only if intoxicated.

Ask not for whom the bell tolls - it tolls for Bobby Knight. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Get rid of him already.

The Blogoff begins. Round 1 is Wendell vs. Internook, and while the Foopster has taken an early lead, this one's just getting started...

While the world discovers Hayden Christiansen as Anakin is legit, Corona offers another, albeit really really minor, Episode 2 scoop. Apparently, Access Hollywood visited the Skywalker Ranch last week for a piece on the Episode 1 video release. Although it is unmentioned in the voiceover, the segment also featured a CGI rendering of an older Watto, the ethnic hummingbird Toydarian, walking around (and not hovering). Which makes it a good bet that both the alien in question - and Tatooine - will show up in the next installment.

In a strange and somewhat ironic coincidence, given Mayor Giuliani's consistently strong defense of the NYPD, New York City Police Commissioner William Safir announced yesterday he is also suffering from prostate cancer.

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch. I must say, judging from the trailer and the pic to the right, I really can't pick out Jim Carrey in all that green fur.

Pictures of the upcoming Sci-Fi channel Dune mini-series, with William Hurt as Duke Leto Atreides, are available here, here, and here. I don't hate the Lynch version like some people, but I do think a longer and more faithful adaption of the book might be good fun.

East-coast playoff ball at its...um...finest. Charlie Ward shines (login required) as the Knicks win a virtually unwatchable Game 2 82-76 and tie the series at one apiece. Houston and Spree combined for 5-27 from the field, but, as Coach Van Gundy noted, "Our free-throw defense was outstanding." (Miami, much to the chagrin of their fans, missed fourteen from the line.) Game 3 is Friday night in the Garden.

5/9/00 - The weblog color results have moved.

Xeney has got an all-new, slightly Kingston-esque look. A definite thumbs up, although I do already miss the little girl playing in the rain. Also, Dark Currents gets darker.

The foot cult is going down!

Dumbmonkey reports on Shaq rightfully receiving the NBA MVP award this year. But, silly monkey, don't you know that the Finals MVP will be none other than Latrell Spreeeeeee-well? ;)

Abuddhas Memes points out these ten compelling arguments for drug decriminalization. I heartily concur. You're not going to find too many political issues on which the The Nation Left and the National Review Right are in complete agreement, but drug decriminalization is one that receives support from thinking persons on both sides of the political spectrum.

The newest download available for The Sims is none other than the White House. I dread to think what manner of Trojan Horse code Maxis has hidden within the new neighbors.

It's finally official. McCain endorses Bush.

Now that the Elian sideshow seems to have finally abated, the Justice Department sets it sights on more important matters. Word is that they are considering suing the LAPD for civil rights violations. "[AAG] Lee said the Justice Department suit would allege 'that the LAPD has engaged in a pattern or practice of constitutional violations through excessive force, false arrests, and unreasonable searches and seizures, and that management deficiencies have allowed this misconduct to occur.'" It appears the two sides are now trying to settle.

Did I mention Game 2 was tonight?

Move over, Digital Divas. The weblog out there suffering from the most ridiculous corporate intrusion would have to be MattL (a.k.a. Matt Lavalee), who has just received a "Cease and Desist" order from toy company behemoth Mattel, apparently for using his name as the basis of his URL. Now, that's just plain ridiculous.

Geegaw points out this page on psychologist Albert Bandura and his behaviorist "Bobo Studies," whereby little children watched a tape of a woman attacking a clown and then proceeded to attack a clown themselves. I think the results of this study have less to do with imitated behavior than they do with a primal fear of clowns, who everyone knows are some of the most evil beings on the planet.

Aging heroic archetype Harrison Ford has opted to star in Gemini, a sci-fi film about a man chased by a clone assassin, over The Sum of All Fears, a third Ryan outing (which may now feature "Spirit and Guts" Dennis Quaid in the lead.) Sounds fine by me. Harrison really needs to get out of his infidelity (Random Hearts, What Lies Beneath) rut.

Rocker's in trouble again, although this time it's not for talkin' but for balkin'. The Braves lose to the Marlins 3-2 thanks to the loudmouth pitcher's misstep.

Despite almost surmounting a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter, the Sixers fall in Indiana again 103-97. Worse still for Philly fans, point guard Eric Snow is out for the rest of the playoffs. If there's any hope for Illadelph from here on out, Allen Iverson really has to shake off the bum elbow and come correct.

I still can't believe Batman is pimping for Onstar. At any rate, you can now take part in the Batman Challenge, which involves helping the Dark Knight catch the Joker vis a vis a few rinky-dink web games and entirely too many calls to his corporate sponsor. Why is he outsourcing to Onstar anyway? Doesn't he have usually have Alfred handle this sort of thing in the BatCave?

Civil War battle sites finally come to terms with Slavery.

Human Genome researchers complete a second chromosome, which may have profound implications on the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's and Down's Syndrome.

Former Presidential candidate H. Ross Perot seems to be losing interest in the Reform Party. Good...I can't think of any compelling reason to rescue that ole crazy Texan from obscurity.

Insomnia has induced a back-in-black, Sauron's Eye redesign (it is my true color, after all) and (yet another) expansion of the GitM portal. It only now just occurred to me that I could have spent this time perusing the Being John Malkovich DVD instead, which Elaine and I purchased earlier this evening.

5/8/00 - Evening Politics Update: McCain will finally endorse Bush, and the President gets a new sleeping partner.

Confirmations of the Hayden Christiansen casting for Episode 2 are appearing all over the place. If you desire to see the man at work, click to see these somewhat embarrassing clips from his Fox Family Channel show.

New redesigns at Slave, Swallowing Tacks, Prolific, So I Say, I Blog You, and Eatonweb, and they all look grand. Meanwhile, Musings is now the Blog Addict.

Sens. Moynihan and Kerrey publicly disagree with Gore's Social Security plan.

The Voice tackles rave movies.

I'm a 60.55 on the Bizarrity Test (courtesy of Zannah) and my true color (courtesy of Ctrl-Alt-Ego) is Black. Must've been all that Depeche Mode growing up.

Malaprop has been busy as a bee of late. Not only has Jenn started a southern portal and webring, she has also created a separate politics-only blog.

Now This passes along a nice compliment and hints of a forthcoming Peter Gabriel album to be released in June. Excellent news.

Hey, y'all. I just got back from Columbia and thought I'd regale you with an update before crashing. The myriad graduations and family reunions were great fun, marred only slightly by the groups of Confederate-clad re-enactors protesting the imminent removal of the flag at the nearby State House.

I've gone ahead and updated my playoff predictions for the second round. As for the first round, I managed to correctly guess six of the eight winning teams (Philly and Phoenix surprised me) and the number of games in three of the first round matchups. I've also used the blink tag for the very first time - Sorry.

The Knicks lose Game 1 to Miami 87-83. No worries in this corner yet, though. New York was poised to win until they went cold in the last few minutes and royally screwed up their clock management. Game 2 Tuesday.

Over at Slate, a police officer discusses the varying attitudes on marijuana in law enforcement circles.

I caught Gladiator Friday night, and all in all I'd say I liked it, although it really didn't grab me as much as I'd originally hoped. The last twenty minutes, in particular, were something of a letdown. I was surprised after the film, however, to find that what seemed like a stale Hollywood climactic cliche at the end turned out to be rooted in historical fact.

Jake Tapper critiques one of Al Gore's "School Days." Meanwhile, US News and World Report surveys the potential fallout for Gore of the embryonic Nader campaign. For his part, Mr. Nader appeared on Meet the Press yesterday morning and seems much more aggressive than he did in his 1996 foray:

MR. RUSSERT: As you campaign around the country, reading the clips, you’ve called Al Gore a political coward and the ultimate panderer. Do you really believe that?

MR. NADER: Yeah. Oh, yes. I—not only do I believe that, I mean, we have people coming up to airports, saying, “Do you hear the latest Al Gore? That’s the last straw for us.”

He's got my vote.

5/5/00 - Hello there. I'm reporting in from a laptop in Columbia, SC, mainly so that I'm sure to mention the following news:

Anakin has (finally) been cast. I know I've put up quite a few rumors in the past, but this one seems to be the real deal. Young Vader will be played by a relatively unknown fellow by the name of Hayden Christiansen. Moreover, Cruel Intentions heartthrob Ryan Phillipe will portray Bail Organa, Leia's adopted father, while Colin Hanks (Tom's son) will show up as Kister, Anakin's little buddy from Tatooine.

In other fanboy film news, the Spiderman villains in the Raimi film will be the Green Goblin and Dr. Octopus. No complaints there. And the Hannibal cast has been filled out with Gary Oldman and Ray Liotta.

The Bucks take it to the last shot but fall to Indiana 96-95. I can't stand Reggie Miller, but he definitely came up big with a playoff career high 41 points. Looks like Iverson and co. will get a chance to knock off the aged, flailing Pacers.

For Confederate flag makers, business is booming.

5/3/00 - Who said he's not all about family values? Less than two years after he lambasted the President for his intern antics, Newt plans to marry his mistress.

Aw, man. If we had left for Columbia a day earlier, I could have gone to hear Ralph Nader on the stump. In other Nader news, the Green Party candidate is now posting 7% in Oregon (to Pat Buchanan's 2%). No mention of how that seven point swing affects the two major candidates.

It seems Al Gore is using taxpayer funds - in the form of White House help - to buttress his campaign.

The Skyway Bridge Jumper Pool, a dark and obviously satiric dead-pool type site, comes under fire from suicide prevention groups when a real suicide visited there six days before she jumped.

Here's the newest substantiated-only-by-shady-sources Episode 2 rumor to come down the pike: Corona is reporting that actor-kickboxer Cylk Cozart has signed on to play a Dark Jedi apprentice to (Lucas hopes) Jedi Master Gabriel Byrne. Moreover, apparently a similar relationship will exist between Sith Master Christopher Walken and Apprentice Makiya Yamaguchi (see 4/18 post.) It sounds like fanboy wish fulfillment to me, but we are getting to the point in pre-production when the real information should begin to leak.

The Knicks-Heat playoff fever builds. As the two teams prepare for a seven-game war in which Monster Mash could be the X-factor for Riles (I doubt it), a proud Patrick Ewing claims dominance over Zo (login required).

With a little help from her friends, Firda and Haiku have moved. Time to change them bookmarks.

I wonder how long it is before my writing career tanks and I'm forced to take the Tek.Xam (login required). Speaking of writing, I've just signed the contract on a 1500-word freelance piece on twenty-somethings and politics for the September issue of Experience Magazine. Not only is the topic right up my alley, but freelance gigs beget freelance gigs. And it should be a fun piece, so I'm happy all around.

In the contest for the youth vote, it's Dubya's Ricky Martin to Gore's Britney Spears.

Move over, Warren Beatty. Gary Coleman yesterday announced his bid for the California Senate.

Is the tale of the Vietnam Vet being spat upon by his ungrateful countrymen merely a guilt-inducing urban myth?

In another of their informative anti-drug-war pieces, Salon points out how the recent Whitney Houston non-arrest illustrates the hypocrisy and double standards inherent in our marijuana laws. It is this same double standard that facilitated Al Gore's "growth" from pothead goof-off to prospective "law and order president."

On Phish and High Industrial's recs, I checked out Internook today. With a strong voice and some surely soon-to-be-controversial opinions, this guy's out to bust some heads and I for one am all eyes.

Don't call it a comeback. The scrappy Sacramento Kings outplayed the Lake Show throughout in a 101-88 Game 4 win. Los Angeles still has to be considered the favorite for Friday's winner-take-all match, but anything can happen in a one game series...

I must say, I also found it deeply satisfying in a Schadenfreude kinda way to witness Jason Kidd back in blonde and leading the Phoenix Suns to a 89-78 knockout of the San Antonio Spurs. Everyone's making a big deal about Tim Duncan missing this series, but I submit that the Spurs would never have won their rings last year were it not for Patrick Ewing's bum tendons. What goes around comes around.

Kempa returns from exams when a new U-Reach number and his usual assortment of great links. Among them is this interesting essay by South Park co-creator and closet number whiz Matt Stone on his love of mathematics. Who knew?

It appears my parents' place in Chesapeake, VA, may someday be directly in the path of the Atlantic Ocean's first tsunami.

Well, gang, Elaine and I will be heading down to Columbia, SC this evening to witness my brother and sister-in-law's graduation from Business School, my other sister-in-law's (Elaine's sister's) undergraduate commencement, and my best friend from high school's completion of Med School, all at the University of South Carolina. The skinny is that, after this evening, there probably won't be any updates until Monday. Sorry!

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