A weblog by David Morton
Julien’s Auctions will hold an auction in April to sell off some of the King of Pop’s belongings. Given the range of ridiculously expensive, narcissistic paraphernalia, it’s no wonder MJ’s facing bankruptcy:
When reached for comment, Paul McCartney exclaimed, “I can’t believe that jerk blew the royalties from ‘Hey Jude’ on such a retarded painting.”
Watch the Objectified trailer, a documentary film on industrial design by director Gary Hustwit, creator of Helvetica. The new film features interviews with Jonathon Ive (Apple) and several peeps from IDEO, etc., discussing product design and the relationships forged between designer and consumer. Film premieres at SxSW 2k9.
At Sundance this month, Derrick Comedy will debut Mystery Team. The comedy centers around 3 clueless teenagers who are looking to re-establish their reputations as sleuths, trying to solve a murder mystery. The trailer reminds me of a mashup between The Pink Panther (with Peter Sellers) and Bottle Rocket.
Terri Gross’s 2007 conversation with Mark Olsen and Will Scheffer, creators of Big Love. The new season starts Sunday on HBO. And I’ve been anticipating Season 3 for quite some time.
A hilarious web pilot, written and directed by John August, centering around 5 characters in a post-apocalyptic world. One of the characters is played by Justine Bateman. It’s quite unfortunate that this series never took off.
The Beast 50 Most Loathsome People in America, 2008 spares no one from ridicule: from Barack Obama to Michelle Malkin to Stephanie Meyer. Number 1 is a given. And though it’s lengthy, this one is well worth every minute of your time. via 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera
On Barack Obama:
Beyond a few token acts of bipartisan marketing, Barry’s major duty in the Senate was to avoid legislating, so he could pretend Washington-outsider status and nullify attacks on his non-existent policy positions. That’s the thing about Obama and his candidacy: He was a blank slate, the pinnacle of vapid public relations—onto which the benighted masses may project their sincerest, yet unfounded, hopes in the wake of the worst administration in history.
[Barack Obama] has gotten in a little practice in bowling lately on the Nintendo Wii his daughters received for Christmas. Mr. Obama, who famously struggled in bowling during last year’s Democratic primaries, said he performs better in the video game.
Apparently, you can make history with a Wii remote.
Joe the Plumber goes to Israel:
Wurzelbacher says he’ll spend 10 days covering the fighting and explaining why Israeli forces are mounting attacks against Hamas.
He tells WNWO-TV in Toledo that he wants “go over there and let their ‘Average Joes’ share their story.”
Jeffrey Goldberg says, “Why the hell not?”
Today, I re-stumbled on the story of Jim Wier, the Snapper CEO who told Wal-Mart he didn’t want the big box retailer carrying his lawn mowers any longer. A pretty fascinating story (today via Give Me Something to Read).
For some reason, Wal-Mart keeps popping up on my radar. I went grocery shopping there last night, and lay in bed, watching the tail-end of Where the Heart Is this morning.
I can’t stop watching this clip of Al Franken putting Ann Coulter in her place at The Connecticut Forum in 2007.
Strange that Ann Coulter’s jaw was wired shut during the election, and Al Franken will more than likely be sworn in as a U.S. Senator as a result of that election and subsequent recount, recount, and recount.
Donald’s Snow Fight (1942) is not only one of my favorite Christmas cartoons, it’s also one of my favorite animated shorts ever. NBC used to play this along with ‘Pluto’s Christmas Tree’ and a few others I don’t remember before Mickey’s Christmas Carol every year. Go ahead and check it out, because it will probably be taken down at some point.
We’ll always have the memories.
Watch Louis CK riff on technology & the entitlement society with Conan O’Brien.
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They would be way cooler for sure. The 3rd one will make your day.
Kitsune Noir reminded me that yesterday was the 5th anniversary of Smith’s death. Good tribute there. And shit, that’s a depressing way to start the day. To make matters worse, my iTunes at work is completely devoid of Elliott Smith. Hook a brother up.
To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”
To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.
No, I didn’t get a chance to see W. over the weekend. Though I don’t know why I would even bother. As evidenced by this vignette of cinematic genius, Josh Brolin already peaked as an actor.
And if you’ve been counting the days like I have, the wait is almost up as the most highly anticipated sequel ever is scheduled to go into production next summer.
UPDATE: As Safeguy kindly informed me, that interview was filmed last year. So where does that leave Goonies II outside of an incredibly rad NES game? Dunno…
Apple is making a concerted effort to lower the carbon footprint of its new Macbooks:
How green is the new Macbook?
It’s been rightly stated before that the greenest product is the one you already own. This graph illustrates the basic fact that most of a consumer product’s energy consumption occurs during the manufacturing process. I maintain that there’s not a green product in the world that will solve our energy crisis, though I’m still a sucker for green porn — especially when it’s of the Apple variety. At the end of the day, I’m still a fanboy I guess.
See The greenest Macbook ever for more info. Also check the infommercial on the new Macbook.
Promotional still from the upcoming, 2107 film, There Will Be Wind.*
Upon the launch of T. Boone Pickens’ $58 million PR campaign, I was simultaneously intrigued and put off. After all, the Texas billionaire was single-handedly responsible for tarnishing John Kerry’s military service forever. Yet there he is, taking over the airwaves, and trying to lead the charge on an issue I care deeply about.
Considering his influence with Red State conservatives and the enormous blue chip capital he brings to the table, I’ve begun to set my prejudices aside and change my thinking entirely: he is exactly the right kind of person to change the nature of our current energy dialog.
The Pickens Plan just passed the 1 million supporter-mark earlier this week through the grassroots power of the internet — an odd marriage if there ever was one. I guess Americans love cowboys almost as much as they love tales of redemption. So give Daniel Plainview’s heir apparent a few moments of your time and check out some of the highlights of the Pickens Plan.
*Thanks to Aaron Robbs for being a champ, and putting the image together for me.
“All contractors are licensed, and he does not have a license, either as a contractor or a plumber,” the union official said, citing a search of government records. “I can’t find that he’s ever even applied for any kind of apprenticeship, and he has never belonged to local 189 in Columbus, which is what he claims on his Facebook page.
At least we’ll always have the memories. So long, old chap.