Tally Hall's Internet show

Also: check out www.tallyhall.com for a sneak preview skit entitled "Natural Ketchup"

(I couldn't figure out how to embed that video)

Also #2: check out their actual music at www.myspace.com/tallyhall ...Go on

OCD Pig Squeels for Contract and Film Deal

First, check this out.

If you are too lazy to click a link, here's the synop: Six-week old piglet Cinders cleverly discovered a way to avoid a certain future in a skillet near you. Perhaps while watching a recent episode of Monk, Cinders plotted her "fear" of mud.

Cinder's owners fitted her with her very own pair of "Wellies," formerly adorning their child's key chain. I did expect for the Wellies to be a bit more fashion-forward like these:

Now, Cinder can walk in the mud sans fear of getting dirty.

Mr Keeble and wife Debbie, both 42, run a sausage company and keep about 200 pigs on their 1,000-acre farm.

But the father-of-four said there was no chance that Cinders would be slaughtered.

"She's more of a pet really now and she's going to live a very long and happy life," he said.

With a name like "Cinders" is their doubt that the piglet was destined for the stove?

I'm sure they tell ALL the piglets that they will live very long and happy lives, all the way to the slaughterhouse.

Cinders isn't the first pig thirsty for fame. She comes at the curly-tailed end of a long line of porcine princesses.

There was , also a compulsive worrier.

Then came our literary friend Wilbur in E.B. White's .

All leading up to , the mistaken-identity pig who can impress in the sticks as well in the city.

I fully expect Cinders to extend her brand beyond the fenced confines of North Yorks. Expect her own line of Wellies, perhaps with sausages or lil piglets flying. I also heard a movie deal was in the works, after a guest spot, of course, on next week's episode of Monk. ...Go on

U-S-A

In case you missed it.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0811_HD_SWB_HL_L0194

...Go on

In this corner: depression

It's Saturday night and I'm searching job sites. ...Go on

No Such Thing As Bad Publicity

What have we learned this week class? If you want to get your face on the screen or in the paper you have to either announce your candidacy for presidency or, depending on your desperation, admit having an affair with a novice filmmaker.

Columbia Journalism Review has been persistent during the past week or two in questioning why media have ignored the John Edwards affair. “A Lack Of Corroboration” briefly explores WaPo's handling of the story.

Here's what I wonder with the Edwards deal-e-o: Since I am extremely distrustful of the intentions of the media hungry and politicians, did Edwards admit having an affair because no one in the press seemingly cared enough to give the story air time or ink?

Edwards maintains the child is not his. I'll need to see the kid's hair cut receipts to judge for myself.

Furthermore, the woman involved in the affair got a contract out of the fling. Being unemployed, I take this as another strategy to break into the entertainment business.

Step 1: go to a bar.
Step 2: make nice with someone running for president.
Step 3: get a job.

Class dismissed.

Note: I had some other witty things written but they were lost when Blogger was doing maintenance on the site. ...Go on

Election 08': McCain, Obama and....Hilton?

Paris is smarter than we think people.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

After seeing this, I think we should give her more credit. Sure she is like Jennifer Lopez with mediocre looks and singing ability, but the girl knows when she is being used or being made fun of. We can clearly see that with this fun little response for Mr. Old and wrinkly McCain. She makes more sense than he does, so she's got my vote. Although seeing the White House not white anymore might be a traumatic experience for me.

...Go on

China

China gets all the perks. First it was announced that they would host this year's Olympics. If that weren't enough, they also got the total solar eclipse.

You can go here to check it out in case you missed it. They have a few videos recapping the amazing event. Totality occurs a little after 51 minutes in the telescope-only video.

I will always be amazed by the cosmos. I do recall a solar eclipse when I was in elementary school that was truly amazing. ...Go on

Gas Up. TV Up.

USA Today had this in yesterday's paper. Turns out the increased gas prices are leading to more people turning on the tele. I also read about an increase in movie attendance.

The Big 4 networks (and total TV viewing) are up slightly, reversing years of declines, even as basic cable continues to grow with more original series.

"People are home more," says John Rash, media buyer at Campbell Mithun, a Minneapolis ad agency. "The sluggish economy may have meant more people opted for television as their entertainment of choice."

Unintended consequences of rising gas prices. ...Go on

When You're Smiling

There's no denying it. Being young has its disadvantages, especially in the world of journalism. You can look forward to long hours, low pay (if you're lucky enough to get paid), hostile treatment from sources and the often depressing nature of covering what's wrong with the world.

But, just in time, there is this site: windowonthemedia.com/JollyJournalist.

I heard about this in an Australian podcast, which examines the current media situation in Oz and around the world. So, if you're feeling the malaise of being unappreciated take a refresher course in what makes journalism great.

My reasons: you get to see the world through the eyes of others and tell stories. Plus, you aren't chained to a desk.

Why do you pursue journalism? ...Go on

Patch Print Problems In Three Easy Steps

I'm a parasite.

A leech.

According to this article in the Maui Time Weekly I am part of the problem, not the solution. Ted Rall makes some interesting market-based points about how to remedy the tanking print industry. Among them, all newspapers should pull the plug on their online offerings.

Other suggestions included copyrighting every article and cease participation in wire services.

Other key points:

• "The New York Times or the big city daily has better news, but how much better?" said San Jose State University business professor Joel West. "If it's $20/month (or even $10 or merely requires a login) will readers bother? Most won't. As with other commodities, better loses to 'good enough.'"
• "A reader of The New York Times' print edition generates about 170 times as much revenue as someone who surfs NYTimes.com. (This is because print readers spend 47 minutes with the paper. Online browsers visit the paper's website a mere seven minutes)."

...Go on

Be Gabriel Almeida

Attention journalists: You may recall introductory lectures from your journalism classes instructing you on a story's legs and newsyness. Well, Gabriel Almeida is getting the press all of our professors predicted.

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - An 11-year-old boy is enjoying a flash of fame in Brazil after biting a pitbull that attacked him as he played in his uncle's back yard, local media reported on Thursday.

Gabriel Almeida, who lives on the outskirts of Belo Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais, broke a canine tooth when he bit into the dog's neck to fend off an attack. Since then, he has been pampered in the studios of several TV stations, where he has been recounting his ordeal.

And what do we all know class? Dog bites man isn't a story, but Man bites dog certainly is.

"I grabbed him by the neck and bit," he told O Globo newspaper. "It's no big deal. It's better to lose a tooth than to lose your life.

"He was freed when bystanders pulled the dog off him and needed four stitches in his arm.

Would the story have received as much coverage had it been the boy's molar that was broken?
...Go on