Just as English is an acquired language, “American football” is an acquired sport for me. However, unlike English (in which I have become somewhat proficient), after many years of trying, I still don’t fully understand this “fútbol Americano.” Don’t get me wrong; just as I have come to love my adopted country, I have come to love American football, albeit it has been a very intriguing relationship. My...

After noting on TMV that Mr. Limbaugh was taken to hospital suddenly, I see across the blogosphere that there are in various hamlets, outbreaks of some kind of madness regarding Rush Limbaugh, with some issuing the equivalent of “armchair fatwahs” against the man. I think that’s wrong-hearted. I know Mr. Limbaugh from prior associations through our books being neck and neck on the NYT bestseller list...

What qualifies me to do a retrospective review of the best films of the decade? Well, I’d like to think that I know a lot about film, that I’ve seen a lot of movies, that I love movies, and that I have good taste. Plus, I’m a blogger, so here you go, like it or not. (Oh, and I was a film critic way back when for The Tufts Daily.) Seriously, it’s been an interesting exercise looking back...

HAPPY NEW YEAR’S EVE DAY TMV READERS! “To us the things on cable news seem so freakin’ dumb, And we can only hope that we’re not the only ones… But since they’re still reporting it….we just might be the only ones.” — Lyrics by Hank, Music by Rhett & Link.

UPDATE: Jan 1, 2010: Mr. Limbaugh says he did not have a heart attack and does not have heart disease: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100101/ap_on_re_us/us_limbaugh_hospital UPDATE: Rush Limbaugh will “take a lot of tests” according to Walter Williams, guest host on Mr. Limbaugh’s radio show while Mr. L is vacationing in Hawaii. “While pains [in chest] can be an indicator of a cardiac event,...

They inducted him into the Kennedy Center tonight and it reminded me of two important things. 1. He is an absolute genius 2. He’s one of my personal idols, who I’d love to meet A few samples of his work

I was flipping channels tonight during dinner when I came across the latest reality show which features a family of ‘plus sized’ people trying to lose weight for their health (just to give you an example the 14 yr old son weighs 300 lbs and is the slimmest family member). Aside from shaking my head at these kinds of shows I was also reminded of one of the topics on local radio the past few days,...

TMZ — perhaps one of the most enjoyable, well-written and best reported celebrity news/gossip sites on the web — has just gotten “punked” in a media event that shows the dangers of 21st century 24/7 media competition. Print media (in this race with its arms and legs tied, a broken back and a hernia), new media, blogs, websites, TV, cable — are all now trying to get reader/viewer...

My life-partner, Doug, hails from Athens, GA, 70 miles up the road from where we live now. On Christmas day Doug was shocked and saddened by the death of Athens’ folk singer and songwriter Vic Chesnutt. Death by suicide ends Chesnutt’s heroic and tragic life story: Vic Chesnutt, 45, a singer-songwriter of spare, idiosyncratic folk tunes tinged with melancholy, died Christmas day in Athens, Ga.,...

Avatar and Titanic director James Cameron is rightfully hailed for his incredible vision, directing, and his determination which has not just generated huge movie grosses but raised the bar on cinematic art by putting on the screen ever drop of creativity that bubbled in his mind. But, as is not unusual in the celebrity world, he is not-so-blessed with some hubris — the hubris of making millions, moving...

Here’s a full comedy classic TV episode that is MUST Christmas viewing for the holidays, for famlies, aspiring comedians, cartoon fans, comedians, and for older folks hooked on nostalgia — but it’s value goes far BEYOND nostalgia. The great comedian Jack Benny often did a version of his Christmas shopping show on radio and on TV where he would frustrate clerks in a store with his cheapness...

They’re not exactly DREAMING of a White Christmas in parts of the United States today. But here’s the original version of White Christmas as sung by Bing Crosby in the 1942 film “Holiday Inn”: “Rat Pack” member Dean Martin, a singer who was influenced by Crosby, also recorded a beautiful version of this Irving Berlin standard: But it was Crosby’s song and his version...

One of my favorite shows is Yes Minister, a wonderful play on government with great doubletalk scenes. Here are some Christmas greetings for you. In case you wondered, here is the text. “I wonder if I might crave your momentary indulgence in order to discharge a by no means disagreeable obligation which has, over the years, become more or less established practice in government service as we approach...

Someone’s coming to town — and I don’t mean Rahm Emanuel. It’s that guy in the red suit. Here’s a classic Christmas song sung in a zippy way by a classy singer:

The sound you hear is of hot air being released from “balloon boy’s” dad Richard Heene’s hopes to be a big star being delfated by Colorado judge who has sentenced him to 90 days, part of it to be done in work release. It’s a meager sentence — given the anguish he and his accomplice wife caused millions of viewers who agonized over the fate and what they felt could be the death...

Following up my post on the classic book A Christmas Carol I thought I’d offer a couple posts on some classic Christmas Carols. The first is Silent Night. I suspect some (or most of you) already know some of this story but it is still an amazing one to consider. In December 1818 a man named Joseph Mohr was deeply troubled. He was the assistant pastor of the church in Oberndorf, Austria. The problem he...

Social and legal analysts from all political and economic persuasions are at a loss for satisfying and complete explanations of America’s dropping violent crime rates. A similar phenomenon is occurring simultaneously in many other advanced western nations – even with better healthcare systems than ours. May I suggest a few obvious explanations that we all may have over-looked? The U.S. and many advanced...

Here’s wishing everyone health, wealth, prosperity and happiness in 2010. Happy holidays!!!

With news of the adultery of Tiger Woods, American Puritanism is once again a topic of conversation in Europe. To the average European, his fall from grace is as Shakespearean as it is American. For France’s Rue 89, Pierre Haski writes in part: “There is certainly something very American about this psychodrama, in which a private matter brings down from his pedestal an icon who, nonetheless, has...

Network television is terrible these days, but I don’t care. The awful re-runs of shows that stank to begin with, the endless reality twaddle featuring pathetic individuals debasing themselves for a 15 minute shot of shame, the holiday fare that at best is only fair, at worst gluttonous, and almost always too often aired, none of this bothers me. I have “West Wing.” For reasons I can no longer...

As we come closer to Christmas I am starting on my traditon of holiday themed posts. I hope we can all enjoy them in the spirit of the season. This is a repost from last year. I think most of us, regardless of faith, find it difficult to make it through the holiday season without watching at least one version of A Christmas Carol. The warmth and spirit of this classic are such that they transcend class, culture...

RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Here, from the glorious black and white days of television, is a gem — on several levels. Comedian Frank Fontaine, slipping into his singer’s mode, does two Christmas songs, but when he does the second, “The Christmas Song,” Jack Frost may not be nipping at his nose but a pesky fly is. Watch that second song closely and watch Fontaine’s face. And note legendary comedian Jackie Gleason’s...

I’ll be seeing it later today, enticed by the words of others. All agree the plot is melodramatic and not particularly exceptional. But those special effects… Razib Khan: The special effects were very good. I have seen special effects of similar quality, but never such quality in such quantity. The detail was striking enough that I assume I stopped thinking of it as “special effects”...

Hot on the heels of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s announcement of plans to ‘Administer the World’ and continuing with our coverage of the diplomatic falling-out between Brazil and the United States over Brasilia’s embrace of Ahmadinejad, we have this slap-in-the-face editorial from Brazil’s Estadao, which warns Brazil’s Foreign Ministry and chief executive about...