Archive for June, 2010
Joan Rivers isnot 77
June 14, 2010
Last week, according to the local &;paper of record&;, the LA Times, on June 8, &;Joan Rivers turned 77, an age that makes her shudder. After all, for years, the comedian has put a lot of money and effort into trying to look younger.&;
Certainly the latter half of this statement is all too demonstrably true, as Rivers has in her campaign to not become Phyllis Diller became the poster child for repeated plastic surgery. But along with erasing lines, Rivers has erased her birthdate&;and the Times is complicit with this.
For Joan Rivers to be 77, she would have been born in 1933. This would mean she wasn&;t quite 21 when she graduated from Barnard College in NY in May of 1954. This is barely possible, but unlikely, especially as she was a transfer student.
More than 15 years ago, when I was employed by the National Enquirer, I did a &;clip job&; on Rivers, going through printed clips on her at AMPAS, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences library in Beverly Hills.
According to these aged clips, Joan was actually born in 1931, meaning she is now in her 8oth year, a prospect she no doubt finds far more insufferable than &;turning&; 77 (again).
I have to hand it to her; she&;s worked really hard to get the later date out for years, and short of pulling her birth certificate a la &;Kenyan alien&; Barack Obama, it&;s hard to prove.
Does it matter if a woman shaves a couple of years off her age? Probably not; I know someone who&;s half-seriously attempting to shave 9 years off hers. What&;s not OK is for the Times to just print it. What ever happens to &;If your mother says she loves you, check it out?&;
Tags:Hollywood, Joan-Rivers, LA-Times, National-Enquirer, uncritical-press Posted in Hollywood, Hollywood Follies, Los-Angeles-Times, tabloid-journalism | 3 Comments &;
LA Times Brings BackTV Listings
June 11, 2010
Gary Scott reports that the LA Times, after three years, is actually bringing back the Television Times weekly listing section. Cutting it was yet another bad decision for the Times, as with a universe of hundreds of channels broadcasting 24 hours a day, (and no Cable Guide for your $100 a month) one has little ability to determine what one wants to watch or record days ahead.
The Times seems to have realized that telling readers to create and print out their own listings was a non-starter.
The impenetrable prose of the press release claims that starting June 13, in a &;tiered roll out,&;&;newstand and eventually subscription readers (wrong order of things, Times) will get a &;44-page tabloid section&;with 24-hour daily grid listings spanning morning, afternoon, primetime and late-night programming, four pages of alphabetized TV/cable/satellite movie listings, a full-page cover story, a TV-related crossword puzzle, episode highlights and synopses, and a dedicated sports programming page.&;
Did they admit they made a mistake when they killed the section 3 years ago and left thousands of angry subscribers? Nah&;
But then, the barely alive print TV Guide apparently had to be shamed into putting back the daytime (&;I want my stories!&;) listings, so stupidity loves company.
Tags:LA-Times, TV-Guide, TV-listings Posted in death-of-magazines, death-of-newspapers, Television | Leave a Comment &;
Reggie the Alligator: My Cousin inMiddle School
June 8, 2010
They caught my cousin Simple in middle school the other day, and disgracefully tied him up with a stick before they no doubt made a pocketbook and matching belt out of him.
Why would an alligator go to middle school?
Simple: The students are still young and tender.
Tags:Reggie-the-alligator Posted in Reggie-the-alligator | Leave a Comment &;