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Helter Skelter

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Has anyone yet made a definitive judgement on "Jimmy Kimmel Live?" I've really only seen a few seconds of it here and there, but not one of those seconds was funny. Although maybe it's just that i haven't acclimated myself to the program's structure and style. ...Or maybe it's just bad.

I always thought that Charles Manson should have his own late night talk show. You would have a set with couches and a backdrop, but instead of a desk you would have a large t.v. monitor on which Manson would appear "live via satelite" from the California State Prison. He would probably need a sidekick; and a Beatles cover band for his house band. Of course his monologue would be gibberish, but if with most of his guests he could behave in a manner generally appropriate for a talk show host and say, "let's watch the clip," and "my guest will be appearing at the Comedy Castle," this would make his insane rants that much more entertaining. Of course it would follow Nightline. Can't you hear Ted Koppel saying, "Thanks for joining us. Now stay tuned for Charles Manson Live."

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The Soft Bulletin

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Of course, the marketing is better than the product.

The blog debuts today, but there are posts going back about a week. Feel free to comment, respond, criticize any and all via the email link at the end of each post. I'll post some of the email comments so we can have a nice feedback loop.
Blog on!

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The Birth of Tragedy

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Peter Jennings, at least, on Saturday remarked how the space shuttle Colombia accident was a national tragedy, but I personally don't feel all that tragically impacted. (Nor do i feel nationally tragic. Locally, perhaps...) Then P.J. said stay with ABC news, "this is a tragedy which we will continue to be associated with." Well, i've always associated Disney with tragedy, but still it's nice to see ABC make such an effort to align its identity with a tragic event.
Also, CNN on their "Breaking News" rotating graphic (above the crawl, below the feed picture), gave us two indispensible pieces of information. They were:

"UNITED SPACE ALLIANCE SAYS, 'WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED"

yes, now that i know that you don't know, i know i will feel a lot better, you know?

and
"WALTER CRONKITE SAYS, 'WE ARE COMMITTED TO SPACE"

Who the hell called up Walter Cronkite, woke him from his nap and asked him for a quote? How is that supposed to contribute to my understanding of this event? If CNN hadn't already told me that the United Space Alliance said "We don't know what happened," i would be completely in the dark.