Iconoclasts- Norman Lear talks Archie Bunker

Posted 33 Minutes Ago

Legendary television producer Norman Lear talk about Archie Bunker from All In The Family with Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz in this clip from the next episode of Iconoclasts. Each hour-long episode of the six-part series features two leading innovators from different fields who come together to discuss their passions and creative processes. Airs Thursday, November 15th @10PM on The Sundance Channel! For More info, visit: http://www.sundancechannel.com/iconoclasts/

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Announcement

My dear readers,
I have a very exciting announcement! This little blog is moving up and out. That's right, I have a new domain name, a new design, and a new-found freedom from Google's tyranny! Starting now, this site will not be maintained, but don't worry, my new site has all my old articles archived. So, come visit me at MadMegan.net! Hurray!
-- Megan

K-Fed's Rollin' VIP (Into My Heart)

If the Doomsday Clock didn’t convince you that the end is near, this ought to do it. I might actually be gaining a grudging respect for K-Fed. It started back when he sued Britney for custody. Now he’s making fun of himself in this Nationwide commercial.



I love nothing more than a celebrity who lampoons themself (see Gyllenhaal, Jake, and Radcliff, Daniel ) so K-Fed better watch out before he worms his way into my cold, black heart. I even kind of love the way he says “what?” when the manager yells at him. Oh Lord, what have I become?

Screw you too, Google!

When I signed up for ads on my blog, I agreed to not say anything disparaging about Google, or AdSense. Now that they have arbitrarily disabled my ads, and refuse to pay me my portion of the the money I generated for them, I have no compunction about putting Google on the Catherine Keener List of Shame.

Hello Megan,

Thank you for your appeal.

After receiving your response, we re-reviewed your account data thoroughly. We have reconfirmed that invalid clicks were generated on the ads on your site in violation of our Terms and Conditions and program policies.

https://www.google.com/adsense/terms
https://www.google.com/adsense/policies

We have these policies in place to help ensure the effectiveness of Google ads for our publishers as well as our advertisers. According to our policy on this matter, we are unable to reinstate you into the program.

As you may know, publishers disabled for invalid click activity are not allowed any further participation in AdSense. For this reason, you may not open a new account.

Please bear in mind that subsequent or duplicate appeals may not be considered and you may not receive any further communication from us. We appreciate your understanding.
Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team

Your Daily Marine Biology Lesson

The frilled shark, Chlamydoselachus anguineus, is a primitive shark species, of the family Chlamydoselachidae in the order Hexanchiformes. Distribution is worldwide, but they are very rarely found in shallow water. The sharks are usually found at depths of between 120 m and 1280 m. They typically eat squid, and deepwater bony fish. (Source: Wikipedia)



I guess it’s a really good thing that I don’t go down to 120 m when I scuba dive, because this thing freaks the crap out of me. Why does it look like it’s half shark, half tadpole? Why do his gills give me the willies? Apparently this shark was brought up from deep water, into captivity, and died shortly thereafter. And I am totally okay with that. Mankind is much nicer to cute, fuzzy endangered species.

Tyra Banks Is Healthy

America’s Next Top Model is my favorite guilty pleasure, and as such I harbor a secret love for Tyra Banks. Although I am not legally allowed to go into details about how I personally know her (confidentiality agreements apparently include blogs, darn it), I will say that she is a smart, grounded individual who is serious about her career, and loves to play up the drama mama on both of her television shows. I will also say that she is very tall, slender, and lovely in person (despite needing to reconsider her weave). So when I hear her being bashed in every media outlet as “fat,” I do take umbrage. Today, she addressed this issue , stating that she is a very healthy 161 pounds. On her 5’10” frame, that is a respectable weight, though certainly a lot more than she sported in her modeling days. She addresses the media’s nastiness, saying:

"I've made millions of dollars with the body I have, so where's the pain in that?" she says. "If I was in pain, I would have dieted. The pain is not there — the pain is someone printing a picture of me and saying those (horrible) things."

In this era of too-skinny starlets suing newspapers for exposing their eating disorders (seriously, Keira Knightley, who do you think you’re fooling?), it seems like a glaring hypocrisy to have to do the same to defend a healthy body. I applaud Tyra for appearing on her show in a bikini today, and hope that this small measure will help usher in a new age of body-confident role models.

Happy Birthday Neil!

Just a little birthday tribute to the man who makes my soul sing, Neil Diamond. Here’s to another sixty-six years of musical/spoken word genius.

For Your Consideration

A hearty congratulations to all the recently announced Oscar nominees! The list of leading actors alone is proof that no early 1990’s television show is too small to launch an award-winning film career. Leonardo DiCaprio has Growing Pains, Will Smith has Fresh Prince, even Forest Whitaker has an episode of Diff’rent Strokes on his résumé. But, it is my pick for best actor, Ryan Gosling, who delighted millions of pre-teens girls with his stint on the Mickey Mouse Club (re-named MMC, for that “oh-so-cool” factor). Watch the following clip and have “Faithful” stuck in your head all day long.



PS Peter O’Toole? You are severely lacking in the bad sitcom requirement for this category. You better start digitally inserting yourself into some Facts of Life reruns (maybe as Edna Garrett’s estranged husband, who has been lost at sea low these many years?) before the Academy gets wind of this!

Your Morning Upper

If you took the time to read the story attached to yesterday’s post, you are probably still hopelessly disturbed. Below is my way of making it up to you. If it doesn’t quite do the trick, visit cuteoverload.com for a reminder of all that is good and kind in the world. And I will try to keep things on the light-hearted end for a while.

An American Crime

Hey, did you know Catherine Keener and James Franco were in a new movie at Sundance? Did you also know that it’s based on the true story of one of the most horrific torture/murders in American history? The trailer seems gruesome, but if you’re left curious, check out this link. Warning, this is not for the faint of heart. Or for anyone who loves kids, or respects human life.

Early Evening Pick Me Up

Not sure if it's too early to start getting excited by this sure-fire suck fest, but here you go! Ioan in a wedding scene, I can't wait!

My Personal American Idol

And I thought I was bad, by devoting part of my work day to this little blog! Meet Emmalee Bauer. Slacker, procrastinator, and my personal hero.

“The young hotel Sheraton sales coordinator found that she had a lot of free time at work, but that she needed to look busy to avoid reprimands. So she started obsessively chronicling every moment of her day in a journal, ultimately filling 300 single spaced pages. Unfortunately, someone eventually figured out that Bauer's clackety-clack noises weren't actually evidence of her productivity and fired her, and at a state hearing to determine whether she should receive unemployment benefits, portions of the journal were made public. The Des Moines Register ran a few choice excerpts:
'I am going to sit right here and play Elf Bowling or some other nonsense. Once lunch is over, I will come right back to writing to piddle away the rest of the afternoon. ...'”

This is something I may or may not have considered doing (depending on if you are my employer, reading this right now). But it never really occurred to me that she could be fired for it, and worse, denied unemployment! I guess next time I toy with the idea of putting “filed nails, updated myspace page, and took post-nap lunch” on my daily update, I should reconsider.

The Way of the Future

Electrolux has designed these nifty shoes that vacuum as you walk! Wow, I am too lazy to vacuum, but I walk all the time! These are perfect for me.





Of course this invention is building on the ingenious shoe mops, which were developed sometime in the last century, by the illustrious innovator, Pippi Longstocking.

Your Afternoon Scare Tactic

When I read this, I actually dropped my Nutter Butter (less fat than a Ritz Peanut Butter Bite!). Apparently, some “scientists” have a very “scientific” Doomsday Clock, with which they can “scientifically” tell us how scared shitless we should be. It’s all very science-y, but here is what you need to know… if you never want to sleep again.

“We stand at the brink of a second nuclear age… symptomatic of a larger failure to solve the problems posed by the most destructive technology on Earth.
…We have concluded that the dangers posed by climate change are nearly as dire as those posed by nuclear weapons… Over the next three to four decades climate change could cause drastic harm to the habitats upon which human societies depend for survival.”

Of course, just as I am trying to convince myself that the situation can’t be all that bad, I hear that it is snowing in Malibu for the first time in 45 years. It’s like the freaking Day After Tomorrow over here.
The only consolation I can offer you folks, is the notion that these Doomsday Scientists also thought we were “five minutes to midnight” back in the Cold War, and all that came out of that was the following cinematic screen gem.

An ObamaNation

“US Democratic senator Barack Obama… said today that he is taking the initial step toward a presidential campaign that could make him the first black American to occupy the White House.”

Well, well, someone finally got around to confirming, after months (years?) of speculation, that he is running for President. About damn time. I guess it will take more than a little real estate scandal and accidental pro-sex-offender-bill-voting to keep a good man down. Now get Hilary on your ticket, and the sky’s the limit! Obama/Clinton 2008, woot!