Jul 17
Ten On… - Week 15

Here’s my weekly list of ten. Where’s yours?
1. IT’S ABOUT TIME: The Apple Store in New York City ran out of iPhones. But their sign contained an interesting misspelling.
2. GIL GOING: William Petersen is leaving CSI:, though producers insist fans haven’t seen the last of Gil Grissom. Meanwhile, the speculation is already underway over who should replace him.
3. TOO MUCH OF A GOD THING: I bet you thought you’d never see a pastor who says we pray too much. Think again.
4. TIME FOR SOME CAMPAIGNIN’: Have you seen JibJab’s newest?
5. LESS FREAKS?: Producers of The Jerry Springer Show say they’re going to offer less freaks and more conflict on the upcoming season. Rather than parading a boatload of crazies, they’ll have just a few crazies who’ll stay for the whole hour and focus on their problems. It’s what they did when the show started, before they realized how much of a ratings blockbuster it would be to have a boatload of crazies rather than just a few. Expect this to last about a week.
6. LEDGER’S LAST: The new Batman movie, Batman: The Dark Knight, will play in a record number of theaters. That means that I will be avoiding a record number of theaters during its run. Yes, it is Heath Ledger’s final film, but I just don’t care to see another Batflick. Even if this one, like all of the others, is the greatest Batman movie ever.
7. EMBARRASSING MISTAKE: Frantic police in Australia smashed a car window to rescue a baby…only to discover that the baby was actually an extremely lifelike doll. The dolls are manufactured to closely resemble newborns; in this case, they lived up to the manufacturer’s intent. Of course, police have no reason to be embarrassed: they were trying to do the right thing.
8. BAD STARTS: Author J.A. Konrath offers some advice on how not to begin a story.
9. THE TRUE BREW: Why would NASA ask its astronauts for lots and lots of urine samples? Because only the real thing will do.
10. COFFEE CHAOS: In the spirit of saving the best for last, here’s the story of a man who just wanted three shots of espresso, iced. He asks for it, is told it’s against the coffee shop’s policy because it doesn’t “preserve the integrity of the coffee.” He gets mad, deals with it, writes a blog post. The coffee shop then responds. With some back-and-forth, including an update in which the blogger admits returning to the same coffee store and ordering a different coffee drink that features ice, water and four shots of espresso, even The Washington Post decided to mention the dispute and the bigger problem of blogs and dealing with conflicts. (This reminds me: Have I mentioned my recent problem with Bank of America?) Maybe we all need a little less caffeine.








July 17th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Liked #1 in a slingshot around the sun, Mr. Spock kinda way. And I read #3 yesterday, and he’s close to spot on, that we “pray” but then don’t do anything or don’t allow things to change reasonably, etc. We abdicate duty that way, methinks.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Thanks for the J.A. Konrath blog link. I am going to find one or two of his books at work today (been meanin’ to do so in any case).
Coffee drinkers, I’m beginning to think, are ALL insane.