Bughouse Square

Links and commentary -- Thrilling!

 

Rush to Judgement?

Like journalists, I like to work in a pun in my titles whenever I can, but this one is kind of weak.  Let me try again:

The Bird or Not the Bird?

Feh.  How about:

Tales from the Flip Side

Or,

Fongool Italiano

For more information on the phrase the photographer heard the Supreme Court Justice utter, check out UrbanDictionary.com under Fongool or Vafanculo.

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 03/31/06 07:43 | link | comments |

The Blame-the-Media Meme Marches On

Tom Tomorrow takes on 'shooting the messenger'

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 03/28/06 10:41 | link | comments |

More Media Fighting Back

Where were these brave defenders of the fourth estate when we marched into war in the first place?  Snark.

Lara Logan says they weren't allowed to show success stories, lest they make them targets for sabotage

Peter Daou says "We don't report on cats not stuck in trees"

Penny-Arcade gives us, by analogy, a pretty good idea how much difference this all will make

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 03/27/06 07:21 | link | comments |

Chef-Gate

According to Roger Friedman, Isaac Hayes didn't quit South Park.  Somebody quit the show for him while Hayes was recovering from a stroke.

The season opener of South Park zings the Church of Scientology -- Spoilers a-plenty

Souh Park fans attempt to organize a boycott of Mission Impossible III until "Traped in a Closet" is re-aired. 

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 03/24/06 07:23 | link | comments |

Black Velvet

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 03/23/06 11:49 | link | comments (2) |

College Professors Beat People Up, says Robertson

Pulling out Troops will be a Matter for Other Presidents to Decide, Says Bush

President Comes out against Beheadings

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 03/22/06 05:13 | link | comments |

Lots of Luck

Marvel and DC jointly file a trademark on the term "super-hero"

Some companies have to struggle to keep their trademark names from being used generically.  Marvel and DC want to take a term already generic and trademark it. 

Here is a video from the Scientology episode of South Park.  By pressuring Comedy Central not to show it again, Scientologists have brought more attention to it than ever before.  The spotlight kicked off with Scientologist Isaac Hayes leaving the show, citing "religious intollerance."  I have read some reports of clips from this episode being taken down, but popping up elsewhere.  That's the internet for you.  You can't stop the signal. 

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 03/20/06 08:10 | link | comments (1) |

Pants of Fire!

In light of the president's renewed urgency in the capture of Osama bin Ladin, OneGoodMove.org has dug up the old footage of Bush denying the importance of capturing Bin Ladin and later denying having done so in a debate with Kerry.  You may recall how Bush's campaign emphasized a characterization of Kerry as a 'flip-flopper.'

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 03/03/06 07:04 | link | comments |

Holy Crap!

They've got the president on video being told how bad Katrina is going to be four days before he told reporters, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levies."  I wonder if this will be controversial at all.

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 03/02/06 10:30 | link | comments |

What if Microsoft Had Packaged the iPod?

This parody illustrates two vastly different uses of visual rhetoric.  Apple has been very successful focusing on a sleek minimalism in both the product design and packaging of the iPod.  Microsoft, on the other hand, has not exactly been going broke with an information-rich style of packaging.  The wags here are being fair in representing how a good design team can minimize the visual horror that clutter can create, but the suggestion is that the product itself, the elegantly designed iPod, would have to be de-emphasized to accomodate Microsoft's many points of purchase.

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 03/01/06 08:18 | link | comments |