The Mr. Nice Guy Show Blog

Listen to The Mr. Nice Guy Show podcast, too.

My thoughts on what's goin' on in the world,

just like years ago on the radio.

Saturday, May 17, 2003

I Love It!!!

"'N Sync announced this week they are heading back to the studios to work on a new album. When asked about it, a spokesman said, 'They tried solo careers, but they're more successful when they suck as a group." (Conan O'Brien)

-M!

Tuesday, May 13, 2003

Cell Out


Why oh why are there so many people out in public - especially operating moving vehicles - talking on cell phones???

I just find this amazing.
Who the heck are they all talking to?
Is everyone so popular, so busy, so active that they must constantly be on the phone?

I once saw a couple of young women walking down a hallway together, both talking on cell phones. I think they might have been talking to each other and just forgot how to communicate the old way.

I love cell phones. I have a real cool, pricey one with Internet access and a number that even spells out my name. I rarely use it...and even more rarely use it while driving. Never mind the obvious reasons, it just seems silly to do two things at once. Pull over, go inside, sit down, and enjoy your conversation.

I remember one instance back in '98 when I absolutely had to use the big, giant, hulking cell phone I had at the time, while driving. It was on I-95 in Jacksassville, the worst city in the worst state in the nation. Heavy afternoon traffic northbound, with everyone drivin' like a maniac.

I was headed to the airport for a job interview out of state. Last minute ticket and payment info had to be settled. I'm rushed, driving and writing and yakking and felt like an idiot for doing it.

The only way the situation could've been more dangerous...more ridiculous, was if - while I was doin' all that - I also tried to balance a beach ball on my nose.

-M!

Monday, May 12, 2003

Everybody, Everybody?

This evening, the AP is reporting that Ray Romano, star of the CBS show "Everybody Loves Raymond," has signed a new deal that will earn him $1.8 million per episode.

This would make him the highest paid actor in television, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety.

I've seen the show. I don't see anything funny about it, don't think he's any kind of actor, and - without reaching for the calculator and pondering it too much - I'm figuring they're paying him about $1.7 million too much per episode.

-M!

Sunday, May 11, 2003

All the News That's Fit to...Ooops!

The New York Times, "America's newspaper of record," has egg on its face today.

In fact, it has an entire chicken coop
- including the poop - on its face.

In a gigantic article in today's Times (7500 words, 10 Web pages and four print pages long), they told of how it's been discovered that their reporter, Jayson Blair, "committed frequent acts of journalistic fraud," including stealing material from other newspapers, inventing quotes and lying about his whereabouts.

An investigation conducted by the Times found problems in at least 36 of the 73 articles written by the dude from the time he began receiving national reporting assignments in late October to his May 1 resignation. The Times described the episode as "a low point in the 152-year history of the newspaper," according to an Associated Press story about the goofy affair.

The investigation is continuing, and readers were even asked to write to a special email address if they know of other instances where this dumbass, a 27 year old college dropout (not what you'd expect at the Times, eh?), lied to his readers.

My conclusions:
1) He should be ashamed of himself. He should be shunned from society. His picture should be published widely so we can all mock and spit on him if we see him.
2) None of that will happen. If he's even reasonably articulate, in a couple of months he'll probably get a job at Fox News.

-M!

Spineless Media Just Won't Ask Questions
It just continues to amaze as I watch the media let the White House and Pentagon write the newspapers and newscast scripts. Fortunately, I'm not alone:

See...
The New Newsspeak by Russell Smith and
Introspective Media Not in the Cards by Norman Solomon.

-M!