Posted 3:36 PM by Matt
Bill Clinton has released his list of his favorite 25 books of all time. Look here for the list. Pretty solid choices, although Living History shouldn't really be on the list. It's decent and all, but why not go with one of the many "Clintons are SATAN!" books, like this one, or this one, if just for the humor value?

Posted 5:04 PM by Matt
NPR's Terry Gross and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. A match made in heaven? Click here to find out. It's almost as entertaining as the Gene Simmons incident a few years back (which Triumph mentions.) Link courtesy of A List a Day. Parental Advisory: Contains both extensive bleeping and Terry Gross snorting.

Posted 4:28 PM by Matt
I was listening to my custom station at Launch, and now they're playing the "High Bias Remix" of Michelle Branch's "Breathe" right now. There are some people who shouldn't emulate Cher and Madonna. Michelle is one of them.

Posted 1:55 PM by Matt
Google Race, which uses Google to rank mentions of presidential candidates (note--these exclude Dick Gephardt, Carol Moseley Braun, and Dennis Kucinch) in proximity to different words and phrases, is a great new time-killer. A few sample searches:

"Rap"--Unsurprisingly, Al Sharpton ranks #1. Surprisingly, Joe Lieberman and George W. Bush are 2 and 3 respectively.

"Beer"--Sharpton again #1, and Lieberman #2. John Kerry comes in third.

"Megalomania"--Sharpton, Lieberman, Bush.

"Liar"--Sharpton, Lieberman, Bush

"Asshole"--Edwards, Dean, Sharpton

"Wanker"--Sharpton, Bush, Clark

"Paris Hilton"--Sharpton, Clark, Dean

Any other fun suggestions out there?

Posted 10:54 AM by Matt
I had 24 pieces of Spam in my personal Yahoo account this morning. Here's the breakdown:

9 mention "Paris Hilton" in the subject line (one other relates to it in the e-mail itself).
4 were for...ah..."enlargement" products.
4 more (other than the "Paris Hilton" ones) were for other "adult entertainment."
1, I couldn't figure out what it was and I certainly wasn't going to click on the link at work.
1 was blank from my good friend "Fat blocker."
1 was an unfunny lawyer joke: "Q: What do you call a lawyer who has gone bad? A: Senator."
1 was a stock scam

The last one was my site meter report for this blog.

Draw your own conclusions.

Posted 10:37 PM by Matt
In continuing Broadway news, Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, the new solo show starring Ellen Burstyn has closed after one performance. The clock is ticking for you, Taboo.

On an unrelated note, saw Elf tonight. My bet is that it takes the place of Home Alone as the perennial Thanksgiving-night movie on a major network. It's tender, sweet, funny, charming, and all that good stuff. What Jon Favreau has done is make a movie for adults that also has jokes for kids, in contrast to movies like Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas, which seem to target kids and dump in a few jokes for adults. Casting is impeccable top to bottom. Unlike Home Alone, there's not the senseless brutality. Yes, Will Ferrell gets beaten up by a dwarf (a very funny Peter Dinklage), and lunges at a "fake Santa," but there's not significant property and physical damage. Particularly of note is a likely breakthrough performance by Zooey Deschanel. She's been on the radar for a while, beginning with her performance in Almost Famous, but here, she's just utterly charming and sweet. And yes, she sings. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see her on Broadway in the near future--perhaps replacing Tammy Blanchard as Louise in Gypsy or replacing Sutton Foster in Thoroughly Modern Millie. Head to your local movieplex as Christmas approaches--heck, take the family--and enjoy.