Friday's Talking Points

• Nate Silver, who gained fame with his predictions for baseball statistics, has released his expected results for the 2009 Oscars. Interesting notes: Mickey Rourke is a 71% favorite for Best Actor over Sean Penn, no one has any chance to win Best Actress besides Kate Winslet or Meryl Streep, and if Slumdog Millionaire doesn't win Best Picture, an investigation should be launched, because it is the 99% favorite going into this weekend. Does all of this pre-Oscar prognostication ruin the ceremony itself?
• Charla Nash, the woman who was attacked by her best friend's chimpanzee, has been transferred to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, for undisclosed reasons. According to the CNN report, Nash underwent seven hours of surgery after her best friend's chimp named Travis brutally attacked her.
• Hey Yoga Fans! The Competitive Yoga Circuit (yes, this is a real thing) was held over the weekend of February 7. The sport, scored by judges, is split into divisions for men and women, and all competitors go through three mandatory poses for doing two freestyle poses where they can really "strut their stuff." Courtney Mace, a woman from New York, won the female title, while a man from Singapore won the men's. And you thought curling was strange.
  

Thursday's Talking Points

• Yesterday's New York Post printed the following editorial cartoon:
  
  Technically, this cartoon is a topical reaction to the escape of a deranged chimp, but no matter how you slice it the cartoon clearly shows two (white) policemen shooting a primate whom they identify with Barack Obama. Considering that the depiction of Africans as monkeys or primates is more or less the oldest trick in the Racist Book, it's hard to view this as acceptable in any sense. For reference, here's what the AP has to say about the cartoonist:
  

  
  It is not the first time that Delonas, the longtime cartoonist for the Post's Page Six, has raised eyebrows with a heavy-handed caricature.
  
  An earlier Delonas cartoon made fun of Paul McCartney's ex-wife Heather Mills for having only one leg, and another compared gay people seeking marriage licenses to sheep lovers. In a cartoon last month, an enormous Jessica Simpson dumps boyfriend Tony Romo for Ronald McDonald.
  

  
  


• The Mabou Mines Ibsen adaptation DollHouse is currently playing in NYC after a world tour. The female roles are played by normal-sized women, and the male roles are filled by little people. New York Magazine calls it "an avant-garde gimick that works on almost every level."


• Speaking of things that are little, Mickey Rourke's Chihuahua, Loki, passed away Tuesday. Looks like she's not getting a callback for Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2! (Too soon?)

Wednesday's Talking Points

• Facebook.com has been stirring up some controversy lately. This time, that whippersnapper Zuckerberg (friend of the blog) apparently made changes to the site's Terms of Service wording about two weeks ago, and didn't tell anybody. According to the Consumerist blog, these changes gave Facebook access to user data even after a user deletes his account. Or, in their words, "We can do anything we want with your content. Forever."
• Facebook today retracted the new terms, and the story was written up on the front page of the New York Times website. If you're like me and a) had never heard of this "scandal," and b) remember when the NYT used to print stories about the Pentagon Papers and illegal wiretaps, then this was probably of note to you too.
• Surprise! After securing over $10 billion in "loans" from Uncle Sam, the car industry (in this case, GM and Chrysler) are seeking $22 billion MORE. In loans, though, so it's cool.
• Additionally, an Obama aide recently hinted that there may be a second stimulus package in the works. Hello, China, yes we have some more debt for you to buy. What's that? You don't want to buy anymore. No you're fiscally irresponsible (click)! Hello, Dubai? You're bankrupt!? Well I guess we're pretty much screwed then.
  

Tuesday's Talking Points

• Later this month EMI will be releasing a 3 CD collection of recordings kept in a time capsule at the Paris Opera since 1907. One of the challenges of opening the time capsule was that the records had been wrapped in asbestos-covered cloths for protection.


• After 429 episodes, The Simpsons has a new HD, Dolby Digital 5.1 title sequence.


• A constitutional amendment in Venezuela passed Monday which would allow Hugo Chávez to run for another term. International observers called the election "free and fair", according to the BBC.


• Soramimi is a Japanese word for song lyrics which produce a different meaning when interpreted as words in a different language. An example (from Wikipedia) is the phrase "nu ma nu a iei" from the song Dragostea din tei; in Japenese these words sound like a phrase meaning "Drink it! Drink it! Yeah!"

Monday's Talking Points

Today is February 16, and we're back from our week-long Valentine's Day vacation with some hot topics that you can use to impress that cutie who's been catching your eye all winter. Here they are:

• In American politics, after the economic stimulus bill passed through both houses of Congress with the support of only three Republican senators, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) indicated on television Sunday morning that President Barack Obama was not really committed to "true" bipartisanship and that Democrats bullied through their version of the bill without the advice or consent of Republican lawmakers as a form of gloating that they had won the 2008 election. Should the Obama administration and the Democratic Party have made more concessions in the Bill, or have they won the right to submit any legislation they wish? Is Bipartisanship necessary?
• At Saturday's NBA Slam Dunk Championship, former dunk champion Nate Robinson, who is 5'9, defeated reigning champion Dwight Howard, who is 6'11. Robinson's most notable dunk included one in which he jumped over his opponent Howard and then slammed the ball in, while Howard's entries were highlighted by a dunk on a basket he had raised up to 12 feet. To recap: that's a 5'9 man dunking on a 10 foot basket, and a 7 foot man dunking on a 12 foot basket. Can you jump anywhere near this high? Can you even touch the net?
• Rapper M.I.A. gave birth to a baby boy this weekend and soon after released a crazy blog post in all capital letters celebrating the birth. To wit:

"ME AND BABY ARE PUTTING OUR TOUR DATES FOR 2010 TOGETHER
AND MAKING MIX TAPES
AND FIGURING OUT A WAY TO BREAK OUT OF THE HOSPITAL !"

To be honest, if I had just given birth, my blog posts would probably be batshit crazy too. Can't wait to hear M.I.A.'s baby rap over the "Paper Planes" beat though.

• And finally, a gym in London now offers a barbell made of people. Instead of sliding iron onto the end of your bar, five men of varying sizes "(including two midgets)" and a 340-pound man will provide the weight that you lift during your daily workout. "One advantage" to this system, News of the Weird notes, is that a human barbell can "shout encouragement" at the lifter upon request. Thank you, London.
  

Monday's Talking Points

A little rap-heavy for your Monday...

• From an interview between Katie Couric and Lil Wayne:

  KC: "Do you ever think, gee, maybe I should ease up on the weed?
  LW: I never think that. I'm a rapper. And that's who I am, Miss Katie. And I am a gangster. And I do what I want. And I love to smoke.



• Rapper M.I.A. performed at last night's Grammy awards while nine months pregnant.


• The comic book superhero Superman was most likely named after Nietzsche's Übermensch, but in German translations of the comic books the character's name is just Superman. What's up with that?

Saturday's Talking Points

• According to Sports Illustrated, baseball player Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003, along with over 100 other players in the league. A-Rod is one of the best players in Major League Baseball, and is on track to easily break Barry Bonds' much-disputed all-time home run record.
• Google and Amazon have announced that the over one million books in the public domain that they had made available for free on their websites will now be available on cell phones like the iPhone and the Android. Would you want to read a book on a cell phone? Can you see this becoming popular?
• Scientists at the University of British Columbia released a study reporting that looking at the color red makes people more accurate, while looking at the color blue makes people more creative.
• Actor James Whitmore, who played Brooks in the much-loved movie The Shawshank Redemption, died today. He was 87. Whitmore was here.

Hope all you groovy robots and yellow rangers are enjoying the weekend out there. I know I am.

Thursday's Talking Points

• Sigifredo Lopez, a legislator in the South American country Colombia, was released after being held hostage for nearly SEVEN YEARS by the rebel group FARC. The rebel group is still holding 700 other men and women hostage.
• An American tourist on vacation in Puerto Rico was abducted while taking a morning jog and killed by a local man. Police do not have a motive and believe that the killing was random.
• Christian Bale went absolutely crazy yelling at his director of photography on the set of the new Terminator movie.
• Headline of the Day: "Guess which orifice you can now donate your kidney through?"
  

Wednesday's Talking Points

Hot off the presses and into your sweet little hands. Easy options for today's conversation: TV shows, movies, and a touch of abortion.

• Relying on New York Magazine and Entertainment Weekly for TV news can make certain shows seem much more popular than they actually are. For example, last year, in its 14th season, ER drew more weekly viewers than 30 Rock.


• When President Obama overturned the Mexico City policy (also called the Global Gag rule) on January 23, 2009, he was (intentionally) one day late. Both Clinton and Bush signed executive orders pertaining to the policy on January 22, which is the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. An insider said that this move was intended as an attempt to "set a new tone in Washington."


• Jessica Biel is hosting this year's scientific and technical Oscars (you know, the geeky ones that aren't televised). For some reason, this show is usually hosted by attractive women. The last man to host was Richard Dreyfuss, in 1996.


• The actors in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who are currently on the Board of Governors are Annette Benning, Henry Winkler, and Ed Begley, Jr. Both Winkler and Begley had recurring roles on Arrested Development. This is probably a coincidence.

Tuesday's Talking Points

A day's worth of trivia, banter, opinion, and irrelevant potpourri, gathered meticulously from the realms of politics, entertainment, and our own lives. Guaranteed to make you more interesting at any upcoming social event or awkward gathering of pseudo-friends.

• Rejection letters from the world's leading consulting firm include the phrase, "We have reviewed your background and are impressed by your accomplishments. However, we are unable to offer you the opportunity to interview with us at this time." Question: If your resume simply read, "I sit home and eat cheese doodles all day," would they still be impressed by your accomplishments? Worth checking out.
• There are currently 240 detainees remaining in the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 100 of them are from Yemen. President Obama has given himself a one year deadline to decide their fate and close the prison.
  
• Since 1978, vending machine accidents have killed at least 37 people, and injured another 113.
• At this year's Super Bowl, right before kickoff scalpers were selling tickets outside of the stadium for less than face value, in a desperate attempt to unload their miserable investments. These are tough economic times.
  
• Jessica Simpson... wha happened?
  

Pocket today's talking points and instantly become one of the coolest guys around the water cooler.