Happy Birthday Michael Jackson
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/music/content/accent/epaper/2008/08/28/a1d_jacko50_web_0829.html

Have to give props to my ex who lives & works in Florida now for this piece. She used my snappy little 'pop culture expert' quote where I kinda ripped off Dave Chappelle, but it's the thought that counts, anyway...

Currently listening : Feeling Strangely Fine By Semisonic Release date: 1998-03-24

3:53 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Hot for VP?
Category: News and Politics

Let me amend that last post ... maybe worse than Quayle ... at least Quayle even if you didn't agree with him, had more than one term in the Senate.

But more importantly, Palin is saying and people are pointing to her as someone who will take on the oil companies, which is the complete opposite of the truth. She's more in bed with 'big oil' than anyone. My suspicion is that in return for the support of Bush, Cheney and their minions, McCain was forced to put someone on the ticket who would do their bidding (think Katherine Harris). The fact that person is a woman was an afterthought.

On a lighter note, my old conservative friend Chris Mooney writes, (think Van Halen circa 1984), "Hey, what do you think the VP will look like this year? ... Got it bad, got it bad, got it bad, I'm Hot for VP!" He will probably read these and think "there he goes ranting again..." but oh well.

Currently listening : Feeling Strangely Fine By Semisonic Release date: 1998-03-24

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Worst running mate since Quayle?
Category: News and Politics

http://www.tmz.com/2008/08/29/mccains-vp-miss-alaska-loser/

You gotta be kidding me ... McCain is over 70 and he thinks a not-even-two-year governor like this is qualified to be President if anything happens? Terrible judgement.

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Good Thing He Had A List...
Current mood: evil

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080826/ap_en_ot/obit_freeman_4

Ain't that ironic?

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Jester’s Blog: Required Viewing
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

If you haven't already caught it, make an effort to check out the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget. Not because Bob Saget is any good (in fact the roasters take great delight in savaging just how awful and untalented he is), but because of the gleeful, profane abandon the roasters use on Saget and each other.

Another unlikely bit of recommended viewing is the hard to find, definitely Tivo-dependent show "Comics Unleashed" that airs in syndication on some odd late night time slots. The show, hosted by Byron Allen, unexpectedly turns out to be a pretty good insider discussion of stand-up comedy; and it's especially good when it lands more accomplished performers. One recent episode featured Adam Carolla, Wayne Brady, Robert Wuhl and Dom Irrera -- an ecletic mix of four very different comedians. Their talk included comparing opinions on doing impressions, with one key insight being that today's singers are much harder to impersonate, because they're not as unique as music stars of the past.

Currently listening : Golden Delicious By Mike Doughty Release date: 2008-02-19

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Jester’s Blog: Circulation
Category: Web, HTML, Tech

As Jester continues to build, I will try to give a periodic idea of the readership and hit counts. The site is averaging between 2,000 to 3,000 hits per week (depending on whether the measure is done by actual clicks or search engine crawls), as can now be seen on these circulation reports:

http://www.jesterjournal.com/Circulation%20reports.htm

So also, to more easily digest this, here's the top 10 all-time stories/reviews from the site, and notable new stories that have registered lots of hits.

1. Heckler movie review, 2,519.

2. Demetri Martin review, 2,371.

3. Joe Rogan CD review, 1,935.

4. Doug Benson review, 1,651.

5. Mishna Wolff review, 1,519.

6. SNL 2006 review, 1,518.

7. Charlie Sanders interview, 1,466.

8. Fresh Meat with Catie Lazarus review, 1,346.

9. John Hodgman (Inside Joke) review, 1,280.

10. Horatio Sanz Christmas show review, 1,266.

Notable new hits:

Jim Norton book review, 963.

Chris Farley biography book review, 610.

Dov Davidoff CD review, 456.

Richard Lewis review, 243.

D'Arcy Erokan/Devon Coleman interview, 240.

Currently listening : Tracy Chapman By Tracy Chapman Release date: 1990-10-25

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Jester’s Blog: A Note on Bernie Mac
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Seeing Bernie Mac for the first time in "The Kings of Comedy" was as revelatory an experience of comedy for me as an adult as seeing Bill Cosby "Himself" was for me as a kid. Bernie Mac had that same ability to make funny storytelling come alive, and the blue nature of his stand-up before he became more family-friendly did nothing to detract from his material -- in fact it gave him an attitude and edge that were essential to putting his act across to audiences.

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Jester’s Blog: LCS: My Instincts Are Dead On
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Iliza won! Yay! Am I right, or am I right...

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Jester’s Blog: LCS: And The Winner Is?
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

To put it on the record, pulling for Iliza Shlesinger to win Last Comic Standing tonight. She's funny. And she's hot. What can I say?

To amend a couple of the last few posts, while I put aside my own little stand-up experiment after a couple discouraging outings, I will be trying again one more time on Sept. 13, with maybe a few practice runs before that. That may be the closure finale of this whole thing.

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Starbucks closing correlations
Category: Food and Restaurants

From colleague Eric Hazard and the American Madness website:

Eric Hazard Says:
July 18th, 2008 at

What is interesting is the number of stores closings in close proximity to the former headquarters of Bear Stearns.

The Bear Stearns building is located on Madison Avenue, between 47th and 46th. Of the 6 Manhattan store closings (one is mysteriously listed as Manhattan, NY rather than New York, NY), 3 are within 2 blocks of that building. Said another way, half of all of Manhattan's Starbucks closing are directly related to the Bear Stearns implosion.

Yikes!

Currently listening : We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions By Bruce Springsteen Release date: 2006-04-25

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