Adding to the confusion regarding copyright, but certainly increasing accessibility for consumers, YouTube has partnered with MGM to provide full-length movies on their site. This will also include episodes of TV shows produced by MGM and will supplement a similar deal already announced last month with CBS.
Some of the artists of the 60′s are revising their hits with new lyrics to target their aging baby boomer audience :
They include:
- Herman’s Hermits — Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Walker
- Ringo Starr — I Get By with a Little Help From Depends
- The Bee Gees — How Can You Mend a Broken Hip?
- Bobby Darin — Splish, Splash, I Was Havin’ a Flash
- Roberta Flack — The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face
- Johnny Nash — I Can’t See Clearly Now!
- Paul Simon — Fifty Ways to Lose Your Liver
- The Commodores — Once, Twice, Three Times to the Bathroom
- Marvin Gaye — Heard It through the Grape Nuts
- Procol Harem — A Whiter Shade of Hair!
- Leo Sayer— You Make Me Feel Like Napping
- The Temptations — Papa’s Got a Kidney Stone
- Abba — Denture Queen!
- Tony Orlando — Knock 3 Times on the Ceiling if You Hear Me Fall
- Helen Reddy — I Am Woman, Hear Me Snore!
- Leslie Gore — It’s My Procedure, and I’ll Cry If I Want Too!
- Willie Nelson — On the Commode Again!!
(E.U.L.A. stands for End User License Agreement, which is what everyone tacitly agrees to when they break the seal on a CD-ROM case.)
A fire started on some grassland near a farm in Indiana. The fire department from the nearby town was called to put the fire out.
The fire proved to be more than the small town fire department could handle, so someone suggested that a rural volunteer fire department be called.
The volunteer fire department arrived in a dilapidated old fire truck. They drove straight towards the fire and stopped right in the middle of the flames. The volunteer firemen jumped off the truck and frantically started spraying water in all directions.
Soon they had snuffed out the center of the fire, dividing the flames into two easily controllable parts.
Now the farmer was so impressed with the volunteer fire department’s work and so grateful that his farm and crops had been spared, that he presented the volunteer fire department with a check for $1000.
A local news reporter asked the volunteer fire captain what the department planned to do with the funds.
“That should be obvious,” he responded. “The first thing we’re gonna do is get the brakes fixed on that stupid fire truck.”
Michael Crichton died on Election Day. He was one of my favorite authors. I always appreciated how well he researched topics before writing a book about them. Evidence of his compelling stories, characters, premises, and plots lies in the number of his books that have been made into movies. Here’s the list:
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
The Terminal Man (1974)
The Great Train Robbery (1979)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Rising Sun (1993)
Disclosure (1994)
Congo (1995)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Sphere (1998)
The 13th Warrior (1999)
Timeline (2003)
This isn’t counting original screenplays (e.g., Westworld, Twister, and others) or materials he wrote under pseudonyms while he was a med student. Pretty impressive. The literary and film-making worlds will mourn him.
His official website
Bio and Trivia from IMDb
Google Maps proving useful in yet another way. You can even click on states to zoom in to the county level.
Here are some quotes from various late-night talk show hosts/comedians. I’ve tried to include a balanced perspective. 
John McCain
“He looks like a guy who’s backed over his own mailbox. He looks like the guy at the supermarket who is confused by the automatic doors. He looks like the guy at the movies whose wife has to repeat everything.” –David Letterman
“President Bush spoke at a campaign rally in support of John McCain. They raised millions and millions of dollars, most of which will be used to repair the damage of President Bush supporting John McCain at a campaign rally. So it’s kind of a wash” -Jay Leno
“It got a little heated at one point during the debate. McCain talked about experience and he said, ‘We don’t have time for on-the-job training.’ Then why did you pick Sarah Palin?” -Jay Leno
“McCain kept talking about how he could help this man. If McCain really wants to help this guy, you now what he should do? Just have him re-pipe all of McCain’s houses. That would be a job for life.” -Jay Leno, on Joe the Plumber
“John McCain may be behind but the man is a fighter. He doesn’t know the meaning of the word quit. He used to, but it was stored in the same part of his brain that remembered to vet his running mate.” -Stephen Colbert
Barack Obama
“According to recent news reports, Bill Clinton has now become an adviser to Barack Obama. Bill Clinton is giving advice to Barack Obama. Do you know who is really upset about this? Michelle Obama.” -Jay Leno
“And how about last night on all the major television networks, Barack Obama has a half-hour infomercial TV special. I mean, thank God. It’s about time this guy got some media coverage, don’t you think?” -David Letterman
“The presidential debate was a town hall format, which is John McCain’s favorite way to speak to crowds, as opposed to Barack Obama’s favorite way, a Sermon on the Mount.” –Jay Leno
“Barack Obama said today the government’s $700 billion bailout should not be a blank check. Barack Obama says he knows that $700 billion is a lot of money. In fact, it would take him at least 10 Hollywood fund raisers to come up with that kind of money.” -Jay Leno
From David Letterman’s Top Ten Questions on the Barack Obama Running Mate Application: #9: “Do you have any crazy clergymen we should know about?”
Sarah Palin
“Sarah Palin is taking heat because the Republican National Committee has so far spent $150,000 on wardrobe for her and her family. She spent $50,000 at Saks Fifth Avenue, $75,000 at Neiman Marcus and about $5,000 on hair and makeup. Hey, representing small town, common-folk hockey moms isn’t cheap, folks.” -Jimmy Kimmel
“Sarah Palin was asked a question by a third grader and she got it wrong. She apparently still does not know what the vice president does … She says he or she runs the Senate. No, not in this country. You know I would never accuse George Bush of being a bright man, but when he was elected, at least he knew which building to show up to.” -Bill Maher
“Political experts are saying that to succeed in the vice presidential debate, Sarah Palin needs to show that she has the same concerns as everyday Americans. For instance, Palin planned to start the debate by saying she’s really troubled by John McCain’s choice for vice president.” -Conan O’Brien
Joe Biden
“And as you know, they’ve already come out with a Sarah Palin action figure. And today, the Democrats released a Joe Biden action figure. It talks and talks and talks. You just can’t get the thing to shut up.” -Jay Leno
“Joe Biden is Barack Obama’s running mate. Yeah, nothing says change like a guy who’s been in the Senate for 35 years.” -David Letterman
“After his big speech in North Carolina today, Senator Joe Biden said he was experiencing a sore throat and lost his voice. Boy, the good news doesn’t stop for Barack Obama. Just one lucky break after another.” -Jay Leno
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