Huh-huh...

These upcoming Angel and Spike action figures look a helluvalot like Beavis and Butt-head to me.

Saving Faceman

Trio has gone away and been replaced by the Sleuth Channel on our cable system. As near as I can tell, this channel exists solely to air mediocre-at-best 80s cop shows and the occasional episode of Homicide: Life on the Street, which does not benefit from its company. Still, the channel has afforded me the chance to see bits and pieces of episodes of The A-Team, and I had a thought: This is one of the only 80s action shows not to have been adapted into a big budget movie. If you're making that movie, and reading this blog, I have an awesome idea: Cast Katee Sackhoff as Face. Trust me, that would be totally AIRWOLF.

24

24 remains my ultimate guilty pleasure TV series; it's preposterous and absurd, yet utterly gripping and addictive. Today I give praise to the character of Mike Novick, who returned unexpectedly last season as a member of President Keeler's administration. Mike Novick is the guy Dick Cheney wishes he was when he gets up in the morning. Mike Novick's every line of dialogue has an unspoken coda of "...you fucking shit." Except when he's talking to Jack Bauer.

Meanwhile, I'm starting to worry about CTU Director Bill Buchanan. He's smart, competent, well-adjusted, respects his underlings, and knows how to stand up to his superiors in an effective and productive manner. Clearly, the man is toast.

In brightest day, in fugliest night...

Kyle Rayner has been saddled with some truly hideous costumes in his day, but this thing sets a new low. What on Earth is up with that mask? And why not just take a cue from the animated version of the character?

Spit, spitted, spat

Here's everything you always wanted to know about spit, but were afraid to ask:

"Spitting your bodily fluids at someone is seen as more offensive than hitting them," Ross Coomber, a British sociologist who has written on the meaning of spit, told the Guardian back in 2003. "It's obviously a form of violence, very confrontational."

Hawking a loogie, spewing, spluttering or whatever you want to call it is very human. And inhuman. Getting slimed by someone else's effluence is downright humiliating.

Read the whole thing for more on the role of spit in language, sports, and art restoration.

Grease: The Novel

Technically, it's the novelization. But, damn, does it sound surreal.

Why wasn't I told about this?

So there's apparently some sort of scandal involving a right-wing blogger here in Minnesota, according to the always-useful Political Wire. Intrigued, I checked out the blog in question and discovered this gem:

Minnesota Democrats Exposed is not coming to an end. To quote a line from "A Few Good Men":

"I eat breakfast 80 yards away from 4000 Cubans who are trained to kill me. So don't for one second think you're gonna come down here, flash a badge, and make me nervous."

I don't want anyone to think a lawsuit filed against me by prominent Democrat consultant is going to make me nervous and end my blog.

Set aside, for the moment, the amusing comparison to writing (no longer) anonymous blog posts in one's pajamas to actual miltary service. What I want to know is why no one told me that there are, apparently, 4000 Cubans trained to kill just hanging out in Minnesota. You'd think that sort of thing would make the papers. Damn that media!