Pop hit demographics

Do you like graphs? Here are some graphs relating to genre and geography for pop hits since the 50s.

Chunnel! The Musical

Why not — they made "Rochelle, Rochelle" into a musical.

She's just like us!

And I shouldn't be vice president, either.

Beetles

Here's a really interesting series of posts on Beatle sound-alikes.

Huh.

Roger Ebert is a creationist. Whod'a thunk it?

Update: Apparently, some kind of sociological experiment.

Bailing out foreign banks, too?

It takes at least 2 parties to make a bad loan. In the case of these unrealistic mortgages, those 2 parties are your average citizen, probably unable to comprehend a 300+ page legal document, if they even bothered to read half of what they signed; and the banks, run by armies of lawyers and MBAs who drafted those agreements and are paid to know better. The people our taxes are bailing out unless the Dems grew a pair over the weekend) are the MBAs, lawyers, CEO, etc., not the homeowners. And the funny part is, if Phil Gramm (McCain's "unofficial" financial advisor) gets his way, we'll be bailing out foreign banks as well. All the while, John McCain hasn't said boo about all this since declaring our economic fundamentals to be strong.

If you're planning to vote for the Republican ticket to go in and clean up this Republican mess, I really don't want any of what you've been smoking.

I'm not sure it makes sense to bail out US banks for making irresponsible investments. But I'm not a smart man when it comes to money. Supposing there is a benefit to the country to not let our financial institutions collapse -- how does it make sense for me to pay to bail out foreign banks, too?

How to make Dullard Chicken

Dullard Chicken, a variation on chicken fingers, is a great dish for grups and kids alike, and it's easy to make. Plus, it's baked, not fried, so it's better for you than a McNugget.

Here's our secret recipe. This serves two adults, and it takes about 30 minutes to prepare.

INGREDIENTS

• About a pound of boneless chicken breast. Splurge and get the good stuff from Whole Foods. You don't have to justify it.
• Bread crumbs. We prefer them without high fructose corn syrup.
• Honey mustard dressing. Ranch will do too, though the honey mustard gives the dish a little bit of tang.

PREPARATION

• Slice the chicken into bite-size strips.
• Pour some dressing onto a small plate. Do the same with the bread crumbs.
• Dip each strip into the dressing. Then roll them in the crumbs.
• Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.
• Place each strip on a pizza pan, as seen here. Place into the oven and bake for 12 minutes.

PLATE

• Add green beans or other colorful vegetable.
• Cornbread or other bread completes the meal.
• The chicken is tasty as is, especially if you used honey mustard dressing. You may certainly add ketchup, salsa or another condiment.
• Wash it down with your favorite red wine.

BEFORE OR AFTER DINNER

• Enjoy a martini.

She just enjoys lying

There's no reason to have to lie to a softball tosser like Sean Hannity. I think she either plain enjoys the physical sensation of lying, or is so used to it she can't help herself any longer.

That's what Michael Scott said

With the season debut of "The Office" just a week away, here's a way to get back into that Dunder Mifflin frame of mind.

Thank goodness for Michael Scott — he took a sophomoric phrase and made it OK to say again, in an ironic kind of way.

Doing that was no easy feat. That's what she said!

Worse than you thought

Sarah Palin may actually be an even worse fundamentalist nutter than you may have first thought, if this Kossack's theory holds true. It seems pretty plausible to me.

I think Palin's views on reproductive rights are SO far outside of the mainstream that the more they are revealed, the less we need to worry about the damage a McCain/Palin administration could do to America and the world.

Of course I usually overestimate the intelligence and decency of the American voter....

Rick Wright is no longer with us

The Pink Floyd keyboardist has died of cancer age 65. So it goes.

This NPR appreciation describes Wright's role in the band pretty well.

Cressbeckler-Gershon '08

Here's our dream ticket for the White House. What do we have to do to get these two to run together?

The Onion offers Joad Cressbeckler for president:


Old, Grizzled Third-Party Candidate May Steal Support From McCain

Gina Gershon offers herself as Sarah Palin for vice president:

A king dethroned

The "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" campaign from Apple made a splash and then became a bit pedestrian. Now it's on the upswing again. This is one of the latest ones. See 'em all here.

Happy birthday, Roger Waters!

The former Pink Floyd bass player and songwriter turns 65 today. As reported here by the BBC, he owes it all to his mum.

FLASHBACK: A Dullard review of a Waters show from 2006.

The 9-11 Tribute at the RNC — And Olbermann's Reaction

Wrong on so many levels. I'm surprised this RNC 9/11 snuff film hasn't generated more outrage.

Here, have some awesome.

Bill Zeman's 3-year-old daughter critiques his drawrings.

McCain's divine inspiration?

A day after John McCain's convention speech, the world wants to know: What was the deal with the seemingly random images on the big screen behind him? Perhaps the inspiration for this atypical bit of stagecraft was this scene from "True Stories," the David Byrne movie released in 1986.

Im-Palin

Get it? No?

Anyway, this and this. And rather this. But most of all, this.

Wow, when you've lost right wing nut Ben Stein....

Choices, choices....

Here's a thought-provoking article from Ann Friedman and the notion of choice in this election.

I love John Sidney McCain so much for choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. He never had a shot, but at least now, things are gonna get really weird. At least until Palin withdraws from the race later this week to concentrate on her family. Then maybe we get Mittens back!

NOOOOOOO!

Flight of the Conchords to end after 2nd season.

Lazy bastards.