May 2008

From a Special Report in the June 2008 issue Men’s Health magazine:

Research has shown that a few puffs of cigarette smoke plug fully half of the brain’s natural receptor sites for acetylcholine … After as little as seven cigarettes over the course of a single month, a nicotine virgin’s brain has begun compensating by sprouting additional receptors.

Think smoking is cool? Go read Why Are Men Still Smoking? and learn about how “big tobacco” is spending millions to make you think that.

I was really hoping that it wouldn’t suck. I didn’t think it was too much to ask. Raiders of the Lost Ark is very possibly my all-time favorite movie. No matter how much everyone else seemed to hate Kate Capshaw, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was awesome and I loved it. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was a little corny, I thought, but still a very good movie.

It’s been a long, long time since Harrison Ford wore the fedora, but I believed he could still do it. Steven Spielberg is a true American genius and consistently amazes me.

George Lucas, however, seems to have just gone absolutely stark raving mad.

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More proof that Los Angeles is the world headquarters for Club Awesome™: In how many other cities can you get to the office one day to find you’re now working in Madonna’s crotch?

Last night I finally finished reading Among the Mansions of Eden: Tales of Love, Lust, and Land in Beverly Hills, a book I bought for Tricia about five years ago. I sailed through the first few hundred pages of David Weddle’s tome a couple of weeks ago and was entranced by the marvelous stories of early 20th century Beverly Hills. But then somewhere about 3/5 of the way into it, the author seemed to lose focus and so did I. He shifted from all these awesome anecdotes about architecture and amour in the first half of the 1900s to depressing essays about drugs and crime and porn and immigration in the second half. It’s really a fascinating book, and Weddle obviously spent a tremendous amount of time on research and documentation, but I’d only rate it about 3 1/2 stars.

I have been a major Tom Petty fan for years and years. I have — I think — every CD he’s recorded. I know all the words to every song. I’ve seen him live almost a dozen times. I am absolutely astonished that it took me fifteen years to catch that “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” was about marijuana.

We are just another band trying to make enough money to fuel our private jet. Please help.

Jay Mohr’s Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live is the second “uncensored” book I’ve read about SNL. (I read Live from New York about two years ago.) Mohr is on the radio pretty frequently here in LA and I really enjoy Last Comic Standing when I catch it. His breakout role was as evil sports agent Bob Sugar in Jerry Maguire, and he appeared in the cult classic, life-in-LA film Go. This book is about the two years he spent as a writer and featured player on SNL. Yes, as you’d expect, there are a boatload of funny stories about all the crazy behind-the-scenes antics of the cast and guest hosts. But the great part about it is the story of his personal life and his struggles with depression, anxiety, and fame. It’s a really fascinating read and I definitely recommend it.

We are then introduced to the shabby state of both the grounds keeping and of stadium security at the Polo Grounds, as we see an angry rabbit (Bugs Bunny, RHP/UT) is able to heckle the visiting team from left field, where he has dug a fairly substantial hole, and is enjoying a carrot-dog and (it appears) has consumed a large bottle of wine through a straw.
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In a tense confrontation at home, we see the Gorillas replace the umpire by force with one of their own so that they can call Bunny out at home in the next play. Bunny, to his credit, then manages to argue the fake umpire into reversing his own call.

Just about everyone that uses iTunes has a hella hard time keeping their music files organized. This is a shame because (a) it’s actually pretty simple and (b) it is a colossal pain in the ass to move your library if it’s not organized correctly. (Note that I’m talking about the organization of your actual music files and not the appropriate tagging and categorization of your music library.) The bummer of the thing is that the folks at Apple unwittingly made this more complicated and difficult by trying to make it simple and easy. It happens. Trust me. I have been building software for just over a decade now and it happens all.the.time. Don’t get mad at Apple for this one. Let’s just fix it.

First I’ll tell you what you need to do, and then I’ll explain why.

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A seal has been caught on camera trying to have sex with a penguin.

Who in the world doesn’t want to eat bread that looks like human body parts?

A Partial List of Artists in My iTunes Library That I Cannot Decide How to Properly Name

• Joan Jett and the Blackhearts or Jett, Joan and the Blackhearts?
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers or Petty, Tom and the Heartbreakers?
• Rilo Kiley or Kiley, Rilo?
• Ted Leo & the Pharmacists or Leo, Ted & the Pharmacists?
• Biz Markie or Markie, Biz?
• John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band or Cafferty, John & The Beaver Brown Band?
• Camper Van Beethoven or Van Beethoven, Camper?
• Lynyrd Skynyrd or Skynyrd, Lynyrd?
• Rob Zombie or Zombie, Rob?

What’s in Jimmy Kimmel’s pants?

GatorDVG: I didn’t know Elton John was gay until like 2002.
a.friend: well, i can see that. I mean in the ’70s (when I was listening to him) he was considered cool rock and roll
a.friend: still kinda is, just the gay thing never came up
GatorDVG: I just thought the Donald Duck costume was him being kooky.
a.friend: so did everyone else…sort of like David Bowie
GatorDVG: wait
GatorDVG: David Bowie is gay?
GatorDVG: are you serious??
a.friend: u said that like you were a kid who just found out about the Easter Bunny
GatorDVG: dude
GatorDVG: come on
GatorDVG: really?
a.friend: really