Killing in the name of
People wonder why I am against the death penalty. Well, for starters check out CNN’s article about Roger Coleman of VA.
If the tests show Roger Keith Coleman did not rape and murder his sister-in-law in 1981, it will mark the first time in the United States an executed person has been scientifically proved innocent, say death penalty opponents, who are keenly aware that such a result could have a powerful effect on public opinion.
Not so sure I agree that it is the first time someone was proven innocent after being put to death, although perhaps it is the first where it is conclusive. I recall in my previous research that in NJ alone there were something like 23 cases (as of a few years back) where evidence was found post execution that linked other people to the crimes people were executed for. The distinction between those cases that I’d previously researched and this current case is that now may be the first time someone who has been put to death is going to be conclusively proven not guilty. Continues after the jump »
Pete Townshend warns iPod users
Taking a break from researching child pornography, Pete Townshend has issued an ominous warning for iPod users.
Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired. If you use an iPod or anything like it, or your child uses one, you MAY be OK. It may only be studio earphones that cause bad damage. I only have long experience of the studio side of things (though I’ve listened to music for pleasure on earphones for years, long before the Walkman was introduced). But my intuition tells me there is terrible trouble ahead. The computer is now central to our world. If downloading has a real downside it may not be the fact that musicians will get their music stolen - in truth, they appear quite ready to give it away for nothing. The downside may be that on our computers - for privacy, for respect to family and co-workers, and for convenience - we use earphones at almost every stage of interaction with sound.
Thanks, Pete, for reminding us that loud noises are bad for your hearing.
Actually, I think the most interesting part of Pete’s journal entry is the fact that his hearing loss was caused by studio headphones. I think that his well-publicized troubles were generally attributed to playing live music, but he states that everybody else playing in the ’70s was just as loud.
Kill career
This Thursday, Quentin Tarantino will appear on “The Tyra Banks Show,” or “Tyra” as those of us on the inside know it. That would have been fine and all (not really) since he’s promoting his new project, the horror flick “Hostel,” which he produced. But he apparently makes a startling admission on the show, according to Jeannette Walls’ gossip column on MSNBC.com.
The edgy “Kill Bill” director was a guest on the former model’s talk show, which airs on Thursday, when he confessed that he’s “hooked” on her talk fest.
After Banks gushed to Tarantino that she’s a fan of his, Tarantino replied, “Thank you so much. Well I actually feel the same way because I watch your show every day.” He continued: “I kinda got hooked on the show … I see the Tyra show at 10 [a.m. in L.A.], and then … there’s the other one at five [p.m.].”
What a freak. I only watch it like once a day.
The show will also feature an America’s Top Foot Model competition (a spoof on Tyra’s other show — “America’s Next Top Model”) which Tarantino, who has a raging foot fetish (see Uma Thurman in his movies), will judge.
There’s also a nice tidbit in the same gossip column about Gwyneth Paltrow being convinced that her London home is haunted.
Nike sells sneakers?
The greatest thing about TiVo? Probably that you can skip over the ads. I used to be able to stomach them, but they just don’t make any sense anymore. I find it odd that in an industry where your key purpose is just to get your name across that these 30-second spots on TV are all so post-modern.
It all started with the absurd attempts at creativity that were being thrown around during Super Bowls, which reached ridiculous levels of abstraction during the dot-com era (Remember the cowboys rounding up cats? Now, do you remember the company?). Now those once-a-year spectacles have infiltrated the normal rotation.
Seth Stevenson of Slate.com agrees with me. He’s perplexed by the new LeBron James ad campaign — The LeBrons — by Nike. Continues after the jump »
Clogged in the Crap Filter
You just never know what’ll turn up in the ol’ Crapper these days.
For instance, this morning I found former Van Halen frontman and current radio/DJ personality David Lee Roth doing absolutely nothing bold, nothing innovative and nothing fearless in his debut as Howard Stern’s replacement on 92.3 Free FM. Apparently there’s very little rhyme or reason to the format and yesterday’s broadcast left virtually no impression. 
The liveliest section of Roth’s four meandering hours came when his uncle, Manny Roth, dropped by to talk about his World War II experiences and running the Cafe Wha? in the Village. The Cafe presented Bob Dylan, Richard Pryor, Jimi Hendrix and many other cultural icons. The elder Roth, 86, was prompted by his nephew for stories from the good old days, but didn’t remember much.
Call me crazy, but if that’s the best bit in four hours — your elderly uncle talking about the good ol’ days but not remembering any of them — then Roth’s venture into radio is more ill conceived than even I could have predicted.
Might as well jump (ship, Dave). Go ahead and jump.
Laughter + crying = good times!
THE FAMILY STONE is a movie about a family coming together for Christmas. There are tears, laughter, drugs, and fist fights. Just like in my family. I found this movie to be a delight. The laughs are big, and the emotions true. I genuinely felt like this was a real family, dealing with issues that were both funny and heartbreaking.
Sarah Jessica Parker plays MEREDITH, who is going home to meet her boyfriend’s family for the first time. They are a tightly knit clan, and none of them take to Meredith right away. I read the script by Tom Bezucha a few years ago, when it was called “F*cking Hate Her”. I liked it, but I remember thinking that it was too bad that this woman was being shunned so fast. But Parker (who I admit I am not a fan of) is very good at being unintentionally a bitch. Well, mostly unintentionally. She is tightly wound, arrogant and stubborn. Lots of laughs come from her being uncomfortable, and stumbling into many Stone family no-nos. Her main nemesis is AMY, played with delightful glee by Rachel McAdams. Every time I see McAdams, I fall more and more in love with her.
By the end of the film, Meredith is accepted by the Stones, although not without considerable soul searching by many of the characters. Luke Wilson is charming as the stoner brother, and Claire Danes is her normal lovable self. But the people that really carry the movie are Diane Keaton and Craig T. Nelson. Their performances are the reason that you believe in this story; that you believe in this family. They are flawed, yet trying their best. Just like in real life, that is all we can hope for.
And to prevent myself getting too sappy, I will tell you that in THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, there is a great scene of a young boy spreading his ejaculate on some library books. Great stuff! But don’t take me word for it. Go see these films for yourself, and you make up your own mind. As Michael Ironside said in the amazing STARSHIP TROOPERS, figuring things out for yourself is the only real freedom any of us have.
Next I’ll make a Debigulator!
Sometimes “pure” science can be a dubious way to spend one’s time. Scientists have recently discovered the largest prime number to date. It will be joining the ranks of other famous primes like 3, 7, 31, and the greatest number in history…17. This new number is 9.1 million digits long. Not quite a googleplex, but still a bit out of the realm of everyday use. The number is called “M30402457”. It took 700 computers years to calculate this.
I am not sure what impact this “discovery” will have on humanity, but maybe it is a good reason to pop some Champagne. At the very least, these scientists will have more dates. The hotties will be all over them, saying, “tell me the M30402457 story again, Sheldon!”
In your face, Whoopi
Props to my co-worker Stacey for breaking the story (at least to me) of Jon Stewart being selected to host the upcoming 78th Academy Awards.
(Hold on for a second while I do my “I’m psyched Jon Stewart is hosting the Oscars” dance at my desk.)
OK.
This delightful bit of news comes from an article over on the LA Times’ Web site.
Times staff writers Scott Collins and John Horn report that Oscar show officials first approached Stewart shortly before Christmas. According to a source with first-hand knowledge of the situation, the deal was wrapped up in a flurry of activity a day or two before the holiday.
Non-shocking divorce news about ill-conceived union
Part of me wants to say “who the fuck cares” about celebrity marriage and divorce news, but another part of me can come up with something far more clever.
In an absolutely un-stunning turn of non-events, Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards are splitting up for good.
LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) — Actor Charlie Sheen and actress Denise Richards have decided to get a divorce, a spokesman for Sheen said on Wednesday, thus ending a highly publicized effort at reconciliation that became fodder for television talk shows and supermarket tabloids.
Sheen spokesman Stan Rosenfield confirmed a report in People magazine on Wednesday that the couple were divorcing but declined to give any details.
Wow, you know that if the tabloids are on the case, it’s got to be big. Hell I barely heard a peep about it until the tabloids finally picked it up.
In all seriousness though, why is this a surprise to anybody? A few years back when they got married, the celebrity-watching world seemed to let out a collective “WTF?”. It’s not that she was out of his league, but more the fact that she’s not a hooker, and as far as I could tell from watching “Wild Things,” there’s absolutely no coke on her ass to snort that really confused everyone.
And thus ends another the celebrity sham marriage gone too far. I just wish that some clever young go-getter at Us Weekly had had the foresight to label the whole thing “Shrichards” or “Chanise.”
When celebrities get married, bad things happen. Just look at how “Braniston” (I just made that up) devolved into “Brangelina.” Messy, messy, messy. “TomKat” is literally (in the non-literal sense) five seconds away from exploding into an ugly mess.
But hey, that’s the breaks in Hollywood. One minute you’re on top, the next minute you’re on bottom and Charlie Sheen is snorting blow off your ass.
“Shrichards” we hardly knew ye.
Roll over Beethoven, and tell Mozart the news
Could researchers have found the skull of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
Is there any way we can treat this in some cheap fashion, like the opening of Al Capone’s vault by Geraldo?
Researchers said Tuesday they’ll reveal the results of DNA tests in a documentary film airing this weekend on Austrian television as part of a year of celebratory events marking the composer’s 250th birthday.
The tests were conducted last year by experts at the Institute for Forensic Medicine in the alpine city of Innsbruck, and the long-awaited results will be publicized in “Mozart: The Search for Evidence,” to be screened Sunday by state broadcaster ORF.
