My computer got upgraded (?) to Win2000 last week. It was uneventful, except for the system clock, which was strangely pushed forward an hour. When it was noon, my clock told me it was 1:00. If I tried to change it, the fascist control mechanisms of our IT department told me I didn’t have “the proper privilege level” to adjust the clock. How uppity of me.
The time zone change played well into fantasies I was New York bureau chief for some global news megalith. It also led me to mistakenly (really!) leave an hour early one day last week.
The techs fixed it last night. Damn.
Author: jbenton
claudia schiffer likes tortoises
Claudia Schiffer is pregnant. “Schiffer, 31, is said to have fallen for [new hubby and Brit film producer Matthew] Vaughn after he gave her a tortoise.”
So that’s the secret! Must file that bit of info away for future supermodel seduction.
tijuana journalist presses on
education research story
It’s that rarest of days: I had a story in today’s paper. Being an education reporter in the summer reminds me of Osama bin Laden: no class.
The story may be the wonkiest thing I’ve ever written, about why education research sucks so damned hard. (Well, I phrase it differently in the article.)
woman gets finger cut off for ring
shakespeare’s crossdressing, guardian interview
It hit me while watching As You Like It in Samuell-Grand Park last night: did Shakespeare do any comedies that didn’t involve crossdressing? (And don’t get me started on the whole escape-into-the-forest-and-find-the-meaning-of-love-among-savages trope.) Seriously, if a contemporary film director leaned on the ol’ crossdressing crutch as much as Willie, he’d be playing primarily on Fire Island screens, if you know what I mean.
Got interviewed by The Guardian yesterday, so British readers, keep an eye out.
the three robonic stooges
One addendum to that last post: anyone who can arrange for me to view even a single episode of The Three Robonic Stooges will be paid at least twenty American dollars. Consider it a standing offer.
In The Three Robonic Stooges, everybody
classic nick, dave coulier, salute your shorts
Found while following a link at kelegraph: Out of Control, the classic mid-’80s Nickelodeon kid show, starring (yes!) Dave Coulier. (Coulier would later cause much intestinal disorder as Uncle Joey on Full House, the show whose only redeeming quality was hottie Lori Laughlin and which launched a thousand pedophiles.)
There were evidently only 26 episodes of Out of Control — surprising, since it seemed to go on for about three decades. I watched a lot of Nickelodeon as a kid. (Isn’t that what, by definition, kids do?) Mr. Wizard rocked. Mysterious Cities of Gold! The Little Prince! Danger Mouse! Inspector Gadget! And of course, the Canadian classic You Can’t Do That on Television, forever anchored by comedic genius and master of disguise, Les Lye.
Alarming fact: Dave Coulier was apparently the guy Alanis Morrissette’s “You Oughta Know” was about. Truly alarming. (Dave’s official response: I’ve been asked that question a million times and I still have the same answer–“No. Yes. Maybe. I don’t know.” I apologize in advance, but I’d like to keep my personal life somewhat private. I will say this, Alanis and I have remained friends and she is one of the friendliest, funniest and most thoughtful people I have ever met.
Random fact: Did you know Candace Cameron, D.J. on Full House, married hockey star Valeri Bure?
Depressing fact: I was a secret fan of Salute Your Shorts. That Heidi Lucas was smokin’ hot. Add your name to the “Put Salute Your Shorts back on the air” petition. Perhaps they can create a “Salute Your Shorts: Special Edition” and digitally remove mullet-boy Danny Cooksey from the cast. Ruining Diff’rent Strokes was bad enough; that hair was far worse.
elephants in downtown dallas
You know, it’s not often your path walking across a downtown Dallas street is blocked by 13 elephants, 22 horses, and four camels. Hope they missed all the potholes.
visor/office screwup
Remember my excitement at Palm sync finally being available for Office v.X? Well…
“Microsoft Handheld Synchronization for Entourage X is temporarily unavailable as we investigate some technical issues that have been reported to us by customers. We are working hard to identify and correct these issues.”
Yeah, I can tell Microsoft what those issues are: the fact the update completely hoses your Handspring Visor, screws up all your data, and makes you very thankful you have a recent backup and enough time to manually repair the damage. Damned Microsoft.