Tag Archives: tweet

Tales of the tape

Posted on February 13, 2013 | Leave a comment

Remember the very first scene of Downton Abbey in Season 1, when the operator learns the Titanic has sunk by reading the telegraph machine’s paper tape?

Is reading Twitter really all that different?

reading telegraphOn Sunday evening, I was one of maybe 10 people on the planet who wasn’t watching the Grammys.

(Doing so would only highlight how little I know about music.  Plus, Downton Abbey was on.  Please.)

Of course, I was checking Twitter while I was watching PBS.  And by evening’s end, it felt like I had watched the Grammys…because every news outlets, friend and celebrity I follow had blabbed all the details from the ceremony.

The Twitter version, that is — 140 characters or less.  So I had been reading a kind of modern version of the telegraph tape.

Look how far we’ve come in 100 years!

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Posted in Commentary, Entertainment, History, Humor, Internet, Music, Television, TV

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An empty chair at the table

Posted on January 15, 2013 | Leave a comment

Fifteen days into the new year, and I’ve finally come up with a resolution for 2013:

I wanna do a table read.

ABC-Modern-Family-Table-ReadCelebs are always tweeting photos of them now –

The whole cast gathered round the table, getting their first glimpse of that week’s episode.  Sometimes there are table tents identifying the major players.  Some folks are eating. Everyone appears to be having a good ol’ time.

I wanna go.  I wanna have fun.

It seems like I have enough friends-of-a-friend-of-an-acquaintance to make this happen.  Or, I can go grassroots and use social media to make my case.

Will I get invited to the table?  Is 2013 the year??

You gotta believe!!!

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Posted in Celebrities, Comedy, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Internet, Life, Television, TV

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Here come the players

Posted on August 27, 2012 | 2 Comments

After what has seemed like an endless hiatus, Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is back tonight (or early in the morning) with new shows in their brand-spanking-new studio.  I’m really excited.

You know who’s not excited?

CBS.

Craig likes to joke that the CBS brass don’t know he’s on the air.  That he can get away with the nonsense that he does because they simply don’t have a clue that there is a show on after David Letterman. It’s funny schtick.

I’m starting to believe him.

Tonight’s new Late Late Show is going to be broadcast from his shiny new studio — a studio that was part of Craig’s two-year contract renewal.  One might assume this cost CBS a little bit of pocket change.  So you’d think they might want to promote the event.

A little.

But to date, I have seen nary a promo on TV.  Nothing in print.  Even CBS.com doesn’t mention it, not even on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson page.

Pitiful.

Come to think of it — I did get a tweet yesterday.

But I think it was from someone like me, anxious for the shows to begin.

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Posted in Advertising, Celebrities, Comedy, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Internet, Television, TV

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Color wheel

Posted on August 14, 2012 | Leave a comment

Eric Stonestreet, aka Cam on Modern Family, tweeted just this morning:

Can’t take your road rage seriously, mr. yellow car driver man.

He left the details to our imagination — dangerous in and of itself — but he brings up an interesting point:

Do we assign character traits to drivers based on the color of their cars?

Studies show that red cars get more tickets, so apparently police officers believe these drivers are inherently up to no good.  They watch them closer, and the tickets follow.

But what of the other car colors?

Eric didn’t take the enraged driver seriously because his car was yellow. I have personally shook my head in wonder at bright orange vehicles — not that I don’t love the color in my salty snacks and diet soda and an occasional saucy top or two –

But to drive it down the street every day?  Even I have some dignity.

What car colors do you consider taboo?  Share in the comments section and perhaps save a reader from making an expensive mistake at the dealership.

This. Very. Day.

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Posted in Automobiles, Cars, Celebrities, Commentary, Design, Humor, Internet, Life

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Big bite

Posted on July 28, 2012 | Leave a comment

I just discovered a sport that I’d be great at…

CUPCAKE GOLFING!

It’s part of the “Big Appetites” collection by Seattle photographer Christopher Boffoli. I learned about the series just this morning in a Twitter recommendation from everyone’s favorite human Neil Patrick Harris.

Thanks, Barney.

All the photos in the collection feature tiny people in a world of big foods, which is fun to look at, sure — but is also a whimsical representation of our obsession with all things food.

Speaking of which…

It’s lunchtime.  Gotta grab a bite between Olympic viewings.

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Posted in Art, Design, Foods, Olympics, Sports

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An eye for talent

Posted on March 2, 2012 | 4 Comments

I cast a major network sitcom.

No — not cast in.  I helped cast one of the guest stars in last night’s episode of Up All Night.

Let me explain.

Earlier this year, Christina Applegate took to Twitter and asked her followers to suggest comedic actors for a project.  Knowing most people would go with the obvious choices, I put forth a recent find:

Steven Pasquale

I happened upon the actor a month or two before in the USA mini-series Marry Me, co-starring Lucy Liu.  The movie wasn’t anything to write home about, but Pasquale was.

He took your typical made-for-TV romantic lead and turned it into something uniquely appealing.  His timing was unique.  I stuck with the mini-series — we’re talking four hours, people — because he made the expected and predictable extremely entertaining.

Christina later tweeted a thank you for our suggestions, saying she had received a couple of names that she didn’t recognize and planned to research.

And look who pops up on Up All Night??

It’s pretty gratifying, I admit.  (Would be even more so with a finder’s fee.)

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Posted in Celebrities, Comedy, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Internet, Television, TV

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One hit wonder

Posted on February 21, 2012 | 2 Comments

What’s your fantasy band name?

I confess, I’ve never given it much thought.

Until now.

In a current TV ad campaign, a teenage boy asks Siri to remember the band name “Migraine Headache.”

And the terminally-quick Craig Ferguson will label any funny-sounding phrase he utters as the name of his band or the movie he’s writing.

And now I find myself doing the same.

Funny headline on nytimes.com?  Could be a band name.  Someone posts a photo on Twitter or Facebook with an odd title?  Band name.  Someone misspeaks in everyday conversation?  Band name!

My favorite from last night’s Twitter feed?

Mid-Winter Popsicle

Don’t steal that one.  It’s mine.

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Posted in Advertising, Celebrities, Comedy, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Internet, Life, Movies, Music, News, Television, TV

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Points to ponder

Posted on November 25, 2011 | 11 Comments

Anderson Cooper just tweeted that he ‘doesn’t see the point in waffles.’

He argues that they are just pancakes with holes in them. I like pancakes better myself.

I’m more interested in the idea of foods that ‘don’t have a point.’

I know I have a list.

  • Pâté
  • Veal
  • Anything that I have to ‘acquire’ a taste for

And on the day after Thanksgiving — when most people’s stomachs are stretched and sad from a day of overeating — more food and drink is bound to make that list.

What are your pointless foods?

Place them in the comments section…and we can rush to agree/argue!

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Posted in Commentary, Cooking, Food, Foods, Holiday, Humor, Life

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Making faces

Posted on September 8, 2011 | Leave a comment

Poor celebrities. We just can’t seem to leave them alone.

So why start now?

I discovered this website via a tweet from the Vulture, New York Magazine’s entertainment and culture blog:

And that’s exactly what it is — pics of celebrities that have been Photoshopped so we can see what they look like without eyebrows.

Vulnerable. Alien. Ridiculous.

Depending on how you feel about at it, it’s either mean-spirited or good, clean fun. (I vote fun.) And to show that I am willing to take what I dish out — or erase in this case — here is how I look both with and without eyebrows:

 

 

Well..there’s egg on my face!

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Posted in Blogs, Celebrities, Entertainment, Humor, Internet, Life, Photography

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Lip service

Posted on April 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

At first, I attributed the phenomenon to DVR-itis.

I was out Thursday night, and Friday was playing catchup on the NBC comedy lineup.  Even fast-forwarding through the commercials, it seemed like promos for The Voice were on every break.  So I started paying closer attention…

They were on every break.

And pretty much the same one, too…where Adam Levine says “I have to work with you,” and Christina Aguilera throws her arms up in the air and dances around in her big Star Trek captain’s chair.

By the time I finished 30 Rock, it wasn’t a promo anymore — it was torture.  I was ready to talk…about anything.

[A 30 Rock writer even tweeted an apology for The Voice promo overload, but quickly deleted it.  Job security, much?]

Now I read that Saturday Night Live* is being delayed tonight for a full two minutes to give the audience “an early look” at the new singing competition.  Granted, SNL is a rerun this week, but…

COME ON!

There is a fine line between promotion and saturation, and NBC — you crossed it last Tuesday!  I know you guys are excited to have anything new to crow about, but leave the audience wanting more, ya know?

At the rate you’re going, the audience is just gonna leave.

What’s left of ‘em.

*  NBC delayed Tonight Show with Jay Leno Thursday by an astounding 12 minutes to promote The Voice.  While in theory this practice is beyond egregious, I feel in this extremely rare case, NBC did viewers a favor. 

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Posted in Advertising, Celebrities, Comedy, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Internet, Life, Music, Singing, Television, TV

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