Do you know anyone who would write a kick-ass weblog? I think we should all encourage such people to give the format a try – it can only benefit from more voices. My friend Lisa, for example, would be a hoot to read. She’s still skeptical, though, even after I offered to set her up with Blogger or Movable Type. And my friend Amanda, off to the big city (NYC) for her adventure at Columbia, could write a fantastic weblog about her experiences. Call it the Weblog Recruitment Project 2002.

As if we needed any further proof that ‘The Simpsons’ has jumped the shark

“The guest-star-apalooza begins in the 14th-season premiere, when Homer goes to rock & roll fantasy camp and jams with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, Brian Setzer and Lenny Kravitz.”

-Entertainment Weekly fall TV preview

Someone pull the plug, please. Or pretty soon all this crap will blot out the memories of the best show ever.

Possible new permanent tagline for this site:

I really don’t know what the hell I’m doing.

Sunshine State

I’m a big John Sayles fan. “Limbo” is one of my favorite movies, despite what my brother says. I also like “Lone Star” a lot. I like the way Sayles lets his story and characters unfold at their own pace.

In the case of “Sunshine State,” though, I think he let his pacing get the better of him. This is a two hour and 20 minute movie, and it only feels like it’s getting going at about the two hour mark.

The huge positive here is the wonderful cast: Ralph Waite, Jane Alexander, Timothy Hutton, Mary Alice, Angela Bassett, and especially Edie Falco. But the story feels like a miniseries cut off in the middle. It’s still better than 90 percent of what’s out there. Recommended.

Until I get some sort of photo database going, I’ve added links to my recent photo pages under the “photos” thumbnail at the right. When I do other pages like these, as I hope to do this fall, I’ll add them there too.

Things I want to do in the next year

1. Visit Scotland.
2. Learn to play Go.
3. Learn PHP and MySQL.
4. Take a long train trip somewhere.
5. Find someone who will give me a neck rub whenever I want one.
6. Get my weblog directory project started.
7. Find a space outside of the house to work. A cubicle will do.
8. Lose some weight.
9. Meet several weblog people IRL.
10. Write something really amazing.

I think goals are a worthwhile pursuit. Gives you something to shoot for. The trick is to make them at least possible, but not too easy. I’ll let you know how I do next year.

Kelly, Kelly, Kelly

My girl won “American Idol.” Which isn’t necessarily a good thing – for her or for her potential audience. Now she’s saddled with that label (both record and “A.I.”) for god knows how long, and will probably be forced to release cringe-inducing branded music, even though she’s capable of so much more.

(Embarrassing fanboy moment – if anyone has a tape of Kelly’s “Stuff Like That There” and would be willing to part with a copy, let me know.)

Let’s face it: “American Idol” is the reality-TV equivalent of Marie Osmond’s dolls on QVC. It exists not to discover new talent, but to hawk sponsors like Ford and Coke, and “product” like the latest Kelly Clarkson CD. It’s one of the most craven attempts to package people like so many boxes of Cap’n Crunch so they can be ravenously consumed by a public that will do anything the glowing box tells them to.

So why did I watch every minute?

I’m going to Hell, clearly

Pictured above was my prize in the white elephant gift exchange at the family reunion. Jealous? (Click to see full item.)

I think he looks a little like Freddie Prinze from “Chico and the Man.” With Loretta Lynn’s hair.

This post is about “American Idol”

Kelly Clarkson could make even the “craptacular ballad sludge” they wrote for the final show sound good. (quote stolen from Television Without Pity message boards) And as usual over the last few weeks, the sound design or whatever you call it was so awful that it was hard to hear any of the actual singing.

Seemed to me the namby-pamby ballads they made them sing were more suited to Justin “Sideshow Bob” Guarini’s throaty half-voice, and Kelly had to work twice as hard, with a voice absolutely at the breaking point after weeks of belting, to make anything out of them.

Possible new words mean things tagline.