At a time when painful unemployment numbers continue to bear down on the tattered economy, many are frustrated that the nation’s leader is enjoying another luxurious trip. On CBS’ “The Late Show” Tuesday night, David Letterman took a jab at the president, saying: “He’ll have plenty of time for vacations after his one term is up.” — Letterman Knocks Obama For Latest Vacation « CBS New York Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Television
Twitter: 2010-08-17
RT @jdickerson: Breaking News: Person unknown to you did something of dubious distinctIon or is no longer missing or married. # RT @joshcomers: "Everything’s going to be okay." (First lie to self of week). # RT @TheOnion: In Focus: Al-Jazeera Introduces 'Lighter Side Of The News' Segment http://onion.com/dknefU # RT @fredthompson: Obama warns GOP planning to privatize Soc Sec. Very upsetting for him. Interferes with the current plan of bankrupting it. # Read more →
We Live Like Baboons but at Least We Have Television
Baboons who live in the African plains spend about one-third of their life sleeping, and when awake they divide their time between traveling, finding and eating food, and free leisure time–which basically consists in interacting, or grooming each other’s fur to pick out lice. . . . And as the historian Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie has shown, in thirteenth century French villages–which were among the most advanced in the world at the time — the most common leisure pursuit was still that of picking lice out of each other’s hair. Now, of course, we have television. — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Finding Flow Read more →
Twitter: 2010-07-24
RT @flowingdata: 7 Basic Rules for Making Charts and Graphs http://datafl.ws/yi # RT @margaretcho: Why is gordon ramsay always screaming and kicking shit its just fucking food # Read more →
Twitter: 2010-07-17
RT @thesulk: God either doesn't exist or isn't following me on twitter cuz the results of my physical were fine. # RT @eddiepepitone: I'd like to meet God and say – 1) why are the assholes in charge? 2) who died and made you god. 3) why is SNL still on. # Read more →
The ESPYs Were Funny — 12 Years Ago
Did you see the ESPYs tonight? Me neither, but Deadspin has a video of Norm McDonald’s monologue from the 1998 ESPYs. To give you an idea: I saw Jerry Jones backstage. He said, “We’ve got to get back to what made the Cowboys great. Strippers and crack.” The camera goes to Charles Woodson and McDonald congratulates him on winning the Heisman Trophy. First defensive player to win the Heisman. That’s something they can never take away from you. Unless you kill your wife and a waiter. Read more →
Gary Coleman, 1968-2010
Sad . . . now he’ll never know what Willis was talking about . . . Read more →
Dixie Carter, 1939-2010
LOS ANGELES — Dixie Carter, the “Designing Women” star who used her Southern charm, quick wit and stately beauty in a host of roles on Broadway and television, died Saturday. She was 70. Publicist Steve Rohr, who represents Carter and her husband, actor Hal Holbrook, said Carter died Saturday morning. — The Associated Press I must say this comes as quite a shock — not that Dixie Carter died but that Hal Holbrook is still alive. Read more →
Bon Voyage, Captain!
‘Deadliest Catch’ captain Phil Harris dies at age 53 — USATODAY.com Never saw his TV show but he was great as the voice of Baloo in The Jungle Book! ♫ Look for the (clap) Bare Ne-cess-ities . . . ♫ Say hi to Bing Crosby in hell! Read more →
Berman Leaving Bristol?
[Chris] Berman could go all the way to DirectTV or the NFL Network when his ESPN contract expires? Its probably just a negotiating ploy, but it sure would be neat to see him exclusively on channels my TV doesn’t have. — Deadspin Read more →
Twitter: 2009-12-10
RT @capricecrane: US Weekly: "Gosselin Kids Tell School There's No Santa." Really? Then who took your show off the air you little creeps? # Read more →
Obama on Letterman
I think it’s important to realize that I was actually black before the election. — Barack Obama Read more →
Love and Money
My son and I are watching a TV commercial for Love Happens, which seems to be about a man forced to choose between financial gain and the love of a woman. This is one of those “teachable moments,” because the boy, who’s 15 now, may someday find himself facing the same choice as the guy in the movie, so I look at him with love and hard-earned wisdom and with a voice of great sincerity, I say: “Take the money.” Read more →
Dwight Howard’s Reality
[Dwight] Howard has also expressed the desire to have his own reality show. Here’s a suggestion: The show should focus on Howard’s learning how to make savvy passes when he’s doubled, how to shoot a short-range jumper and how to make free throws. That’s the kind of reality that the young man should be interested in. — Charley Rosen Read more →
We Apologize to Jackasses for the Unintended Insult
TV listings: The Prime-Time TV grid in Thursday’s Calendar section mistakenly listed MTV’s “Jackass” show on the MSNBC cable schedule at 7 and 10 p.m. where instead MSNBC’s “Countdown With Keith Olbermann” should have been listed. — latimes.com Read more →
International Cuisine
We’re dropping our 15-year-old son off at LAX. He’s flying to Australia for a couple weeks to visit his cousins. He’s explaining his theory of international cuisine, which is that there’s not going to be any Mexican food in Australia because there are no Mexicans in Australia. On the other hand, they probably have New Zealand food that those of us in the States have never heard about. “That’s why it’s important to travel,” I say, “so you can learn about things like that. Or you could just stay home and watch the Travel Channel.” Read more →
Canadians are Really Into Hockey
I already knew that, but one of the TV stations at the hotel seemed to be showing nothing but ball hockey — no skates, just guys running around with sticks trying to hit a ball into a net. I asked a Canadian: “What’s up with all the ball hockey games on television?” “It’s the playoffs!” he explained. Read more →
Rated M for Mature
My son and I are watching a TV commercial for the Resident Evil 5 video game. “Rated M for Mature,” the commercial says. “Is anyone who plays video games really ‘mature,’” I ask, using finger quotes to emphasize “mature.” No reaction from the boy, a video game player himself. “You see what I mean?” I ask him. “No,” he says. Read more →
Shmoop
I posted something on Twitter about helping my son with The Great Gatsby and got what you might call a spam reply from this girl, who said “have u tried http://shmoop.com for The Great Gatsby?” Evidently Shmoop, which I’d never heard of, has people hanging out on Twitter waiting for someone to mention a book, at which point they send back a “have u tried …” reply. Lest you think that’s a totally ineffective thing to do, I actually did click over to the Shmoop entry on The Great Gatsby, which starts off like this: The Great Gatsby is a delightful concoction of MTV Cribs, VH1’s The Fabulous Life Of…, and HBO’s Sopranos. Shake over ice, add a twist of jazz, a spritz of adultery, and the little pink umbrella that completes this long island iced tea and you’ve got yourself a 5 o’clock beverage that, given the 1920’s setting,… Read more →
Separated at Birth?
Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Morgan Tsvangirai and that guy from the Miller High Life commercials . . . Read more →