RIP, Peter Falk. Columbo was an early favorite of mine. Though he’s an Italian-American in Los Angeles, the stealth intelligence hidden under self-deprecation makes me think of southerners. It’s kind of odd that they seem to be remaking everything, but not really Columbo. I guess it goes back to the ad campaign they had when they relaunched in the 90’s, showing various actors of the day (Mark Lynn-Baker, Fred Savage) wearing The Coat, saying “There’s just one… Columbo.” If they relaunched it, I wonder whom they would get to play the role. They’d probably screw it up, mixing some action, gunplay, and martial arts in there.

After France stuck by nuclear power, I decided to declare a moratorium on making fun of them. The moratorium is now lifted.

With USC having vacated the title, there is the natural question of who should get it. Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops says that he isn’t asking for it. Well. Nobody’s offering it. 55-19, the Sooners lost to the Trojans by. Texas Tech’s Tommy Tuberville argues that it should go to Auburn, which he coached at the time. The argument there is much stronger. Vacating titles is lame, but if you’re going to do it, it should go to the next team down the list. Another candidate would be Utah. But Utah’s coach at the time was Urban Meyer, who likely doesn’t give a rip about yet another one of those. Besides, after he left Utah (and spent time complaining there about how his team wasn’t taken seriously), he went on the record as saying that non-BCS teams should not be considered for championships. The BCS has basically said that they’re not going to give the title to anyone else.

I got a kick out of this story. Of course BeautifulPeople.com has the right to exclude whomever they like, and of course the Shrek virus was wrong… but still.

Our postal problems may be more severe, but Canada’s are more immediate.

The new rule is, we pass at the pleasure of security. Even if you’re elderly and presumably wealthy tourists.

The fact that this raid was not about failure to pay student loans makes it a little less odious, but only a little. White collar crimes simply do not warrant the SWAT treatment.

Unexpectedly, we’re driving less. My first thought was that this was economic (fewer jobs to drive to), but that would show up before a recession and after, but so much between 2010 and 2011, both of which were the pits. Meanwhile, autotaxis now legal in Nevada!

A man was charged with a $275 fine for helping clear out tornado damage. Such vigilantism must be punished, of course.

An interesting chart of men of different heights and sizes. Having been some of the heights and weights listed, I can say that some of them are misleading.


Category: Newsroom

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9 Responses to Linkluster XLIII

  1. Mike Hunt says:

    When you didn’t even post one of your auto-posts yesterday, I thought of this Onion-esque headline:

    Blogger Finally Runs Out of Topics

    ===

    If they relaunched [Columbo], I wonder whom they would get to play the role.

    Tony Shalhoub, of course…

  2. Brandon Berg says:

    Unexpectedly, we’re driving less. My first thought was that this was economic (fewer jobs to drive to)

    Mine was gas prices. A lot of people have a lot of optional driving that can be cut down if it gets really expensive.

    The fact that this raid was not about failure to pay student loans makes it a little less odious, but only a little.

    I didn’t know that the Department of Education had SWAT teams. I guess Reagan should have finished it off when he had the chance.

    An interesting chart of men of different heights and sizes.

    It was a bit unsettling to open up that page and see the cell with my exact height and weight at the intersection of the highlighted row and column. I’m pretty sure that the web site isn’t actually watching me through my unplugged web cam, but I have no idea why that row and that column are highlighted.

    It’s also a bit unsettling to learn that I’m the same height and weight as Pippi Longstocking.

    I don’t look much like the men on the 6’0″/200 page, but I wouldn’t say the pictures are misleading. It’s just that height and weight don’t fully describe a person’s body composition.

  3. trumwill says:

    When you didn’t even post one of your auto-posts yesterday,

    Yeah, I’ve become an oddly busy guy for a bum. Trip preparations and Commodus stuff. And the most interesting year in a long while has become a little less interesting this month.

    Tony Shalhoub, of course…

    Monk is another one there’ll never be another of.

  4. trumwill says:

    I didn’t know that the Department of Education had SWAT teams. I guess Reagan should have finished it off when he had the chance.

    Back before they confirmed it wasn’t a student loan, I was thinking “English lit grads everywhere better hope that we never stop the drug war, because otherwise all the SWAT teams will be switched over to the DoEd.

  5. SFG says:

    I think the highlights are t 6 feet and 200 lbs because they’re nice round numbers. Literally in the case of the 2nd one. 😉

  6. Mike Hunt says:

    If they relaunched it, I wonder whom they would get to play the role. They’d probably screw it up, mixing some action, gunplay, and martial arts in there.

    Sort of like I Spy. Or Get Smart.

    Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops says that he isn’t asking for it. Well. Nobody’s offering it.

    Using “Well” as the only word in a sentence is something that George Will does. As for Stoops’ comments, I don’t think he called a press conference to state it. I’m sure he just answered a question that was asked.

    we pass at the pleasure of security

    What made it even worse in this case was that the security was actual federal employees, not just security guards acting tough and throwing their weight around. These guys had actual weight to throw around.

    the stealth intelligence hidden under self-deprecation makes me think of southerners

    LOL Good one…

  7. trumwill says:

    As for Stoops’ comments, I don’t think he called a press conference to state it. I’m sure he just answered a question that was asked.

    Fair enough. A classier thing to say would have been “if it goes to anyone, it should go to Auburn or Utah…”

    What made it even worse in this case was that the security was actual federal employees, not just security guards acting tough and throwing their weight around. These guys had actual weight to throw around.

    It’s sad that the “never mess with a man with a badge” now includes not messing with glorified security guards on the federal payroll.

    LOL Good one…

    People associate southern accents and mannerisms with stupidity. Smart southerners have been known to take advantage of this.

  8. Mike Hunt says:

    People associate southern accents and mannerisms with stupidity. Smart southerners have been known to take advantage of this.

    I don’t care how smart anyone tells me she is, but I can’t listen to a single thing Nancy Grace says…

  9. trumwill says:

    Well, being smart doesn’t make someone less obnoxious. It can often be quite the opposite. Olbermann and Hannity are also indicative of this. They cover their smarts in obtuseness. Which is annoying regardless of accent (though accents can amplify it, if it’s an accent you’re not generally fond of).

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