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A Long Time Ago In A Movie Theater Far, Far Away….

Star Wars

Thirty-Five years ago, an adventure began.

The Evolution of Swear Words

While I am sure that there are more complete discussion to be had on the subject, io9 has an interesting little piece,  A brief history of four letter words: "Scumbag," sounds like the kind of hokey insult that would get you laughed at if you used it. When it was used in a New York [...]

TV Remote Control Inventor Eugene Polley Dead at 96

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Eugene Polley, the inventor of the first wireless TV remote control, has died aged 96.

Ashes Of James Doohan, ‘Scotty’ From Star Trek, Sent Into Orbit

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Among the items blasted into orbit today by SpaceX was a canister containing the ashes of James Doohan, who had played Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott on Star Trek: Scotty has finally been beamed up. The ashes of the actor James Doohan, who played Scotty on the 1960s television series “Star Trek,” were launched to space [...]

Bee Gees Co-Founder Robin Gibb Dead At 62

Robin Gibb, who along with his older brother Barry and twin brother Maurice, comprised the Bee Gees died today in England after a long battle with cancer: Robin Gibb, one of the three singing brothers of the Bee Gees, the long-running Anglo-Australian pop group whose chirping falsettos and hook-laden disco hits like “Jive Talkin” and [...]

Loretta Lynn Three Years Older Than She Claims: Kentucky

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For years, I’ve used Loretta Lynn as an example of how fast societal mores have changed. It turns out that her marriage at age 13 may be a bit of myth making.

Donna Summer Dead At 63

One of the biggest stars of the Disco era, if not the biggest of them all, died today at the age of 63: Donna Summer died Thursday morning after a battle with lung cancer. Lovingly named the “Queen of Disco,” the 63-year-old was in Florida at the time of her death, according to TMZ. Born [...]

Final Volume Of William Manchester’s Churchill Biography Coming In November

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It’s been nearly twenty years now since I read The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932 and The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone, 1932-1940, the first two volumes of what was supposed to have been historian William Manchester’s planned three-volume biography of England’s iconic war time Prime Minister. They remain among [...]

Carroll Shelby, Father Of The Shelby Cobra, Dead at 89

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The man who developed more than one of the American auto industry’s most famous high-performance sports cars has passed away at the age of 89: Carroll Shelby, a Texas chicken farmer turned hot-rodder who went on to build innovative sports cars like the Cobra that challenged Europe’s longtime dominance of road racing as well as [...]

Dish Network Enables Commercial Skipping

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Dish Network is offering customers a DVR that will skip commercials. I’m sure their content providers are thrilled.

Washington Times Columnist: “Half-White” President Silent On Death Of Beastie Boy

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Another bizarre conservative rant about the President.

The Beastie Boys and the Segregation of American Music

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The outpouring from my Twitter stream yesterday on the news of the death of Adam Yauch, MCA of the Beastie Boys, surprised me.

Is The Sex In “Game of Thrones” Gratuitous?

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HBO’s Game of Thrones is violent and full of sex. Is it too much?

[FAIR WARNING: SPOILERS]

Army Cancels Ted Nugent Concert

The commander of Fort Knox has canceled a Ted Nugent concert after the rocker’s recent rant about President Obama.

Dick Clark Dead At 82

Dick Clark

Legendary television producer and music promoter Dick Clark has died at the age of 82: Dick Clark, the music industry maverick, longtime TV host and powerhouse producer who changed the way we listened to pop music with American Bandstand, and whose trademark Rockin’ Eve became a fixture of New Year’s celebrations, died today at the [...]

Levon Helm in ‘Final Stages’ of Cancer Battle

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Legendary musician Levon Helm is dying.

Ted Nugent Said Something Stupid; I Apologize

Palin Joins Rally For WV Republican Candidate For Senate John Raese

Ted Nugent, whose music I really liked when I was in junior high school, said something vile and crazy.

Secret Service Hooker Scandal Animation

Why the Internet is awesome: a Taiwanese animatronic take on the Secret Service hookers scandal.

Keith Moon, Dead For 34 Years, Invited To Play Olympics Closing Ceremonies

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Well, it would have been interesting to see the London Olympics organizers pull this one off: Organizers of the London Olympics approached the Who’s manager to inquire about having Keith Moon play at an Olympics event despite the drummer being dead for nearly 34 years, the Sunday Times reports. “I emailed back saying Keith now [...]

Simpsons Home Town: Springfield, Oregon

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Shockingly, the “Springfield” in the long-running sittcom “The Simpsons” is Springfield, Oregon, near where creator Matt Groening grew up.

Darth Vader and Son – What If Darth Vader Was a Good Father?

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Jeffrey Brown has a children’s book titled Darth Vader and Son scheduled for release on April 18.

Lying About the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy

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Should you lie to your kids about holiday fantasy characters?

Sky News Admits Hacking Emails–In Public Interest

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The Sky News leadership is taking a novel approach to charges that it illegally hacked emails: Claiming a right to break the law when they think it’s in the public’s interest to do so.

Critics Find Real Depiction of 1966 Fake

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Sometimes, art imitates life rather than the reverse. And sometimes reality seems stranger than fiction.

Message from Samuel L. Jackson to George Zimmerman

Roger Ebert and I don’t agree on much, from politics to movies. But share a fondness for Samuel L. Jackson and a contempt for George Zimmerman.

Ignorant Rednecks, Shiftless Blacks, and Selective Videos

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Dear Bill Maher and Alexandra Pelosi: The plural of anecdote is not data.

Bill Maher, Rush Limbaugh, and the Standards of Discourse

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Sure, he routinely uses gender-specific slurs against conservative women. But he’s not a misogynist!

OTB on Colbert

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Doug Mataconis’ Thursday posting “Herman Cain Releases Bizarre New Video Involving Apparent Goldfish Murder” got picked up on that night’s edition of The Colbert Report.

Carl Levin Wants Armed Forces Radio to Drop Rush Limbaugh

Michigan Democrat Carl Levin, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, thinks Armed Forces Radio should stop carrying The Rush Limbaugh Show. The Hill (“Armed Forces Chairman Levin wants Limbaugh dropped from military radio“): The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Wednesday that he would “love” to see controversial conservative radio host Rush [...]

The Junior Mints Are Too Damn High!

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Movie theater snacks are expensive. This is not cause for a lawsuit.

The Greatest Star Wars Movie?

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Was Return Of The Jedi the best of all the Star Wars films? One writer thinks so.

Davy Jones, Monkees Frontman, Dead at 66

Lead singer of the sixties rock band The Monkees, Davy Jones, sings on stage at the Newcastle Arena March 7 1997. Credit: Reuters/Dan Chung

Davy Jones, the face of The Monkees, has died.

Simpson’s ‘Homer at the Bat’ 20 Years Old

The iconic “Homer at the Bat” episode of The Simpsons aired two decades ago. Deadspin (The Making Of “Homer At The Bat,” The Episode That Conquered Prime Time 20 Years Ago Tonight): On Feb. 20, 1992, more American homes tuned into The Simpsons than they did The Cosby Show or the Winter Olympics from Albertville, France. A foul-mouthed cartoon on [...]

Lunchtime Funnies: Newt Gingrich=George Costanza?

My previous post (Newt Gingrich, Amateur Paleontologist) made me think of this clip from Seinfeld: click.

Whitney Houston, Chris Christie, And America’s Obsession With Celebrity Worship

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An object lesson in celebrity worship from the State of New Jersey.

Cal Thomas, Rachel Maddow, and Civility

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Cal Thomas made a tasteless joke at Rachel Maddow’s expense. He describes the lesson in civility he learned.

Colbert Shows Suspends Production

There’s been a lot of buzz today on Twitter about “The Colbert Report” running a re-run last night and the show suspending production for tonight’s show as well. (There are no Friday episodes, for whatever reason, of either it or “The Daily Show.”) WSJ (“Stephen Colbert Suspends Production of His Show“) fills in the details: [...]

Wayne’s World 20th Anniversary

Today’s the 20th anniversary of Wayne’s World

Grieving Over Dead Celebrities

We can feel that we “know” athletes, entertainers, politicians, and others that we’ve followed, rooted for, or whatnot over a period of time and feel a genuine sense of loss when they’re gone.

People Who Thought Oprah Was Whitney Houston

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Buzzfeed’s Matt Stopera posts some Facebook updates from people who, for some reason, could not tell Oprah Winfrey and Whitney Houston apart. This one is may favorite: I’m really not sure what to say.

Whitney Houston Dead at 48

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Whitney Houston, once one of the biggest stars in American popular culture, has died.

Newt or Schrute?

Take the quiz.

Clint Eastwood Chrysler Super Bowl Ad Becomes Political Football

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Was Clint Eastwood’s Chrysler ad a political message, or just a well done commercial?

Is There Anything That Won’t End Up Being Politicized?

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This week we learned that even breast cancer can become politicized. Is there anything that can’t at this point?

A Picture Says 1000 Words: Survivor Edition

The rock group Survivor, around 1979. Their hit "Eye of the Tiger" was used by Newt Gingrich. (GAB Archive/Redferns via Getty Images)

One wonders why any Republican politician would want to be associated with this image.

Stephen Colbert’s Super PAC Joke’s On Him

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Virtually everything Stephen Colbert is doing was legal before Citizens United.

Bureaucracy Killing DC’s Movie Industry

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The DC government’s incompetence knows no bounds.

Soul Train’s Don Cornelius Dead of Gunshot Wound; Apparent Suicide

DON CORNELIUS

Soul Train’s Don Cornelius has been shot to death. He was 75. CNN (“Coroner: ‘Soul Train’ founder dead of gunshot wound“): Don Cornelius, the founder of “Soul Train,” has been found dead in Los Angeles, Lt. Larry Dietz of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office said Wednesday. He died of a gunshot wound at a [...]

Stephen Colbert’s Joke Super PAC Tops $1 Million

Stephen Colbert’s super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, has raised a little over a million dollars.

Paula Deen Has Diabetes; Will Get Rich From That, Too

Shockingly, Paula Deen, the morbidly obese woman who fries Twinkies on television, has diabetes.

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