Whoop. That should be October 5, 200.

Suck.com wrote this snarky essay the week Pseudo folded. (Last blurb in the Hit and Run from October 10, 2005.)

"Alas, you can only extrapolate growth curves for so long, and though they'd formed an integral part of Pseudo's ongoing coverage of the burgeoning southeast Asian underground music scene, Veena and Neena, the identical twin boa constrictor belly dancers, will have to seek employment elsewhere."

I was about to say -- Firefox lets you add a keyword for any search just by clicking in the search window. (And you can also assign a keyword to any one of your bookmarks in the "properties" view.)

Sharon Stone is a really good actress. (Anyone remember "Casino?") After "Basic Instinct," I heard she even tried to go around the major studios to get more control over her career. (Her I.Q. was once tested at 154.) So she's not your typical empty-headed celebrity.

In the video clip she starts by showing support for Tibet and the Dalai Lama. And she's just trying to tell the story about how the Tibetan fund offered their support to China, saying that was a good thing and that she wished that had been her own first reaction. (Listen to the tone of her voice when she says "Is that karma?!" Like she's not sure, like it's a crazy hypothetical.)

The Chinese government is obviously punishing her for her support of Tibet, and trumping up this "karma" controversy to do it. But everyone's skipping that context. I'm surprised there's not more sympathy for Stone for getting tarred with a bogus controversy by a repressive foreign power.

I could focus on the discussion, because scenes like this kept popping into my head.

Lucy: You're a failure, Charlie Brown. You're stupid, you've never win a baseball game, and you'll never be able to fly that carbon.

Charlie Brown: You're wrong, Lucy. Here I go. ARGH!!!

Lucy: What happened?

Charlie: It got caught in that carbon-eating tree.

I thought they said that loan guy was making $1 million a year, and had a summer home in Connecticut plus something (presumably rented) in Manhattan. If he had set some money aside, he would've been fine. (And presumably he has some co-workers who "got out" with some money.)

The real problem is it was his first job out of college, so he got used to an "easy mortgage money" lifestyle. If he recalibrates his expectations he'll be okay.

There were no moderators at the original Lincoln/Douglas debates. Lincoln and Douglas spoke directly to each other, and for better or worse, they dared to state their real opinions on the most important social issue of the day.

Lincoln actually lost the debates -- or at least, failed to get elected at the end of the campaign.
"I now sink out of view," he told a friend, "and shall be forgotten."

Debates should be about issues -- jobs, the environment, healthcare, the economy, Iraq, civil rights. It's a waste of time to detour. ("Someone else did this, but what do you think of it?!")

Someone argued that in order to inject these "gotcha" moments, the media invented the non-issue of "character" so they'd have an excuse for getting gossip-y. The other standard syntax is a meta question -- if I ask you a really combative question, will you be able to deflect it well enough to prove you're worthy to be President?"

The first "gotcha" question I can remember was in 1988 -- Bernard Shaw asked Michael Dukakis: "If your wife was raped, THEN would you support the death penalty?" But now every question is a gotcha question.

"Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and just give her a house."

-- Rod Stewart

Yeah, I came here specifically to say: I miss the "boop" noise.

"In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed, signalling the launch of a grand new nation. (Boop!) George Washington commanded the Continental Army, keeping alive this proud and noble vision. (Boop!)"

Though I think I remember the "(((((FOCUS)))))" image.

But you have to fill it with MAGIC water...

"Happy birthday, honey. It's poisoned!"

I'll take a global recession. That "credit crunch" could've provoked a global meltdown of the world's economic systems, but things look better now.

In fact, I wonder if the IMF wrote their report a few weeks ago (when things were looking even worse).

But then again, the Guardian has always been bear-ish on the economy. (Aren't all British newspapers driven by tabloid-esque headlines?)

* I tried watching, but the first three videos had each been removed from YouTube.

* Greatest comedy sketches? To paragraph Napoleon Dynamite's brother... "Like anyone can know that."

* That "Everest" URL really is funny.

I think one of those bit me last night...

So now pets are like that old joke about beer.

"You don't buy dogs. You just rent them..."

It might be true -- but it also might not? Welcome to the internet...

At worst it's a 21st-century tall tale, a heart-warming legend that get shared when we gather 'round the virtual village square.

And it gives us something to talk about.

Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that the drugs could be dangerous?

The scientists only told Wired News that "none of those molecules have been tested in rigorous safety studies." And even then, even Wired admits that it's only "a pinch" of these molecules in their mostly-herbal confections.

But maybe I just like the romantic idea of European gypsy love potions based on folk chemistry -- instead of the notion that all hard-ons must originate from Pfizer.

Ob Penis joke: The scientist asks whether they should be pulled? (From the market...)

Only if Jocelyn Elders does the pulling.