There's Nothing Worse Than Cooked Sushi

Now Japan has stepped into the mess involving laptop computers that spontaneously burst into raging infernos, which apparently can be bad for the hard drive. The nation's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry says that an Apple computer caught fire in April after the battery overheated, and has now ordered the company to investigate the problem. Both Dell and Apple have already recalled the suspect Sony batteries in the United States. They are short-circuiting and overheating because of manufacturing problems (helpful flaming laptop hints).

Curiously, the batteries powering Sony's own Vaio laptops don't seem to have this problem.

Hmmm.... Interesting business strategy: If you can't win, burn up the competition.

What Job Security?

A new survey says that consumer confidence has dropped to a nine month low.

This isn't surprising, especially considering that Pluto was laid off just last week after billions of years on the job.

Back To Square One

Just two weeks ago it seemed like the JonBenet Ramsey case was finally solved. A suspect had been arrested in Thailand and would soon be returned to Colorado to face the consequences of his 1996 crime.

Now comes word that the murder charges against John Karr have been dropped. This isn't all that surprising, since questions about Karr's mental competence began to arise almost immediately after he was first detained. DNA evidence finally ruled him out, and now it appears that he's nothing more than a whack job who wanted attention. Even worse, this means that there won't be another "Trial of the Century," for the news media to obsess on for the next six months.

Guess we can now all go back to calling the parents murdering bastards.

Reactions

As many are aware, the French Government recently announced a raise in its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide". The normal level is "General Arrogance", and the only two higher levels in France are "Surrender" and "Collaborate". The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.

It's not only the French that are on a heightened level of alert: Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout loudly and excitedly" to "Elaborate military posturing". Two more levels remain, "Ineffective combat operations" and "Change sides". The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdain" to "Dress in uniform and sing marching songs". They have two higher levels: "Invade a neighbour" and "Lose".

Seeing this reaction in continental Europe, the Americans have gone from "Isolationism" to "Find another oil-rich nation for regime change". Their remaining higher alert states are "Attack random countries (ideally those without any credible military)" and "Beg the British for help".

The British are also feeling the pinch in relation to recent events and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved". Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross". Londoners have not been "A Bit Cross" since the Blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "Bloody Nuisance". The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the Great Fire of 1666.

------From an email (author unknown)

One Stop Shopping For Stereos & Chopsticks

America's largest electronics retailer, Best Buy, has announced plans to open a store in China.

Well, at least the crap they sell won't be imported.

Dream Ticket

The 2008 presidential election is still more than two years away, but political experts are already speculating on potential candidates. On the Democratic side, the current favorites appear to be Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, while for the Republicans John McCain appears to be the most frequently mentioned name.

There is one potential dark horse ticket that many pundits are overlooking, and that's Virginia Senator George Allen for President with actor Mel Gibson as his vice presidential running mate.

Think about it: If these two guys were to promise to balance the budget, withdraw our troops from Iraq in an orderly fashion, capture Osama bin Laden, fix Social Security, devise a functional universal healthcare system, and deport all the Jewish macacas, they'd be unstoppable.

Ernesto

The first anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina fiasco is only days away, and New Orleans is celebrating with a new report that says its repaired levees may not withstand another significant hurricane.

Adding to the good news, Tropical Storm Ernesto is currently in the Caribbean, and forecasters expect it to strengthen into a hurricane about the time it enters the Gulf of Mexico.

Well, I know where I'm NOT going for my vacation next week.

Marriage Is Meant To Be Between A Man And A Woman... Or Several Women

Teenagers in Utah recently held a rally in Salt Lake City defending the practice of polygamy. The practice of men taking several wives was popular among early Mormons but was outlawed as a condition of statehood in 1900. Yet there are still sects--not recognized by the official church--that insist it is the true path to eternal salvation.

Salvation my ass. It seems more like a road to eternal hell. Guys, can you imagine five wives nagging you to take out the garbage!?!? SIMULTANEOUSLY!?!?

Or even worse, one wife starts bitching about how you promised to fix the squeaky bathroom door, while another one is yelling at you to clean out the garage, while a third one is screaming that you're always leaving the toilet seat up, and a fourth one isn't speaking to you because you got her birthday mixed up with wife #2's again. What are these crazy Mormons--er, I mean NON-Mormons--thinking?

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I'm guessing that the manufacturer of Viagra is behind this new push for polygamy.

Macaca, Part II

Virginia Senator George Allen has finally called S.R. Sidarth to apologize for calling him a macaca and welcoming him to "America and the real world of Virginia." Allen continues to insist he didn't know what the word meant.

Horseshit. Whether or not he knew the precise definition of "macaca" is besides the point. The fact remains that Allen singled out the one dark complexioned man in a crowd of 100 white people and directed an insulting comment at him. Even if by some stretch of the imagination we believe that he didn't intend it to be a racial barb, it's still nothing more than bullying. When the Senator did was no different than what schoolyard bullies do everyday when they call someone "four eyes" or some other such term. Hell, it's surprising Allen didn't climb down from his podium and steal Sidarth's lunch money.

But putting aside the racial aspect of what George did, I'm still profoundly insulted by the words "welcome to America and the real world of Virginia." What the f*ck was that supposed to mean!?!?! Sidarth was born and raised in Fairfax, Virginia. Does that mean that the million plus residents of Fairfax are some how not real Americans? Is Fairfax County somehow not part of Virginia?

To me, Allen's words are a further example of the divide between Northern Virginia and the rest of the state. The Northern Virginia counties/cities of Fairfax, Arlington, Falls Church and Alexandria are all within a half hour drive of the nation's capital. During the last several decades, those communities have grown, prospered, and become increasingly urbanized. Meanwhile, the state legislature in Richmond has continued to shortchange those areas when it comes to building roads and other infrastructure. Allen, a former Virginia governor, further exemplifies that divide.

A recent article in the Washington Post said that there are now over one million immigrants in the DC metropolitan are, of which Northern Virginia is a part. And four out of every ten of them has a college degree, compared with the national average of less than three in ten. Fairfax County in particular, where Siddarth grew up, has almost 1.1 million residents now, and 27% of them are from other countries. Is that somehow unacceptable to George Allen? Should Fairfax secede from the rest of Virginia because it's not really part of the state?

This raises an interesting question: Just what is George Allen's version of the "real Virginia?" A bunch of ignorant inbred hillbillies chugging bottles of moonshine while they have sex with their cousins?

I Just Hope A White Guy Wins

In what can politely be called a controversial move, CBS has announced that the teams on its next installment of Survivor will be based on race and ethnicity. Yes, you read that right. There's going to be a team of white people, of blacks, of Asians, and of Hispanics. In other words, not only will the new season be set in the Cook Islands, it will also be taking place in 1955. Who knows? Maybe one of the competitions will consist of Building a time machine out of a DeLorean.

At any rate, I think we all know which team George Allen will be rooting for.

A Mooing Experience

Some farmers in England claim that their cows moo with regional accents. Before you dismiss this idea as being "udderly" ridiculous, consider that some phonetics experts say that it is possible. Indeed, similar phenomenon have been scientifically documented among birds and how they chirp.

Personally, I don't care if some cows' have accents. It's the ones with the damn turbans that you have to watch out for.

Voices

As many of you have no doubt heard, Isaac Hayes recently quit his role of Chef's voice on South Park. But that's okay, because Hayes wasted no time finding himself a new gig. He will be doing voice work for fellow Scientologist Tom Cruise.

Pain

You know what really, really hurts?

Accidentally shooting yourself in the eye with a Waterpik.

Another Reason To Stay Out Of The Water

According to a new study there are some 1200 kinds of poisonous fish in the world. That's four times the previous estimate and--surprisingly--far more than the number of poisonous snake species.

Hmmm.... How long till Hollywood comes out with Fish on a Plane?

Maybe He Should Go Jump On Another Couch

Are we on the verge of another Great Depression? Is the economy about to go bust in a big way? Are we doomed to years of breadlines and singing depressing Pete Seeger songs in mono because we can no longer afford iPods?

Call me an alarmist, but what hope is the for the rest of us if Tom Cruise can get laid off?

Udderly Ridiculous

Science is often controversial. For example, take the fuss over evolution, or the argument among astronomers over the future status of Pluto.

Another big concern is whether meat and milk from cloned animals is safe for human consumption. Some people say there's no difference, and others insist we're opening some sort of Pandora's Box by doing. Unsure what to make of the argument, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Before going to bed last night, I had a glass of milk produced from a cloned cow.

This morning I woke up beside myself.

Ch-Ch-Changes

If there's one thing I really hate, it's quick change artists.

Learn Something New Every Day

An airport in West Virginia underwent an emergency evacuation after preliminary tests indicated a woman was attempting to carry explosive liquids onto a plane. If this story turns out to be true, it will be stunning news to much of the world.

I mean, who even knew that West Virginia has an airport?

Sorry We Called You Murderering Bastards

It was the day after Christmas of 1996 when the body of six year old JonBenet Ramsey was found in the basement of her parents' house in Colorado. The case quickly became tabloid fodder since the little girl's mother was constantly enrolling JonBenet in beauty pageants.

Questions soon arose about the circumstances of the killing, and the family itself quickly fell under a cloud of suspicion. One of the more popular theories was that the 13 year old son was the killer, and that the parents were covering up for him. The fact that the parents quickly hired a lawyer, and that they appeared reluctant to be interviewed by the police added to the sense that they were somehow responsible. The news media quickly jumped on the bandwagon, portraying the father, mother, and brother as murdering child molesters.

No arrests were made, and no suspect other than the family itself ever emerged. And that's where things stood for almost ten years, even after Mrs. Ramsey died of ovarian cancer just two months ago.

So it came as stunning news last night when we learned that a suspect had been arrested in Thailand, and that he had confessed. Even more surprising is the news, apparently confirmed, that he's not a relative.

What's next? An arrest of the REAL killer of O.J. Simpson's wife?

Why Is Richard Dean Anderson Wearing A Turban?

As a further sign of the times in which we live, a woman armed with hand cream caused a flight from London's Heathrow to Washington Dulles to be diverted to Boston. The plane even received an escort from two F-15 fighters.

Hand creams, like all other liquids and gels, are supposed to be banned from carry-on baggage. The concern is that a suicide bomber may mix common household chemicals to create some sort of liquid bomb that would then bring down the aircraft.

All this prompts the question: When did MacGyver become a terrorist?

Macaca

Every now and then a politician will say something so mind-boggling in its stupidity that it absolutely defies the imagination. Virginia Senator George Allen is the latest to do so. Mr. Allen, a Republican, is running for re-election this year against former Secretary of the Navy James Webb.

It was at a campaign rally in southwestern Virginia--heavily Republican and very VERY Caucasian that Allen noticed S.R. Sidarth, one of Webb's campaign workers, in the crowd. Siddarth is of Indian descent, so he was easy enough to spot in the sea of white faces. That's when Allen decided to make Mr. Siddarth feel welcome:

"This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, macaca, or whatever his name is. He's with my opponent. He's following us around everywhere. And it's just great," Allen said, as his supporters began to laugh. After saying that Webb was raising money in California with a "bunch of Hollywood movie moguls," Allen said, "Let's give a welcome to macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia."

Gee, Senator. Why not just incite your supporters to lynch the poor bastard?

Now the first question, of course, is just what the hell is a "macaca?" Well, apparently it depends on the precise spelling, but

"the word macaca could mean either a monkey that inhabits the Eastern Hemisphere or a town in South Africa. In some European cultures, macaca is also considered a racial slur against African immigrants, according to several Web sites that track ethnic slurs."

Hmmmm..... So which of those particular definitions was Allen thinking of when he singled out the only dark complexioned man at a Republican rally?

Asked what macaca means, Allen said: "I don't know what it means." He said the word sounds similar to "mohawk," a term that his campaign staff had nicknamed Sidarth because of his haircut. Sidarth said his hairstyle is a mullet -- tight on top, long in the back.
Allen said that by the comment welcoming him to America, he meant: "Just to the real world. Get outside the Beltway and get to the real world."

Oh, so my United States Senator is spouting off racist sounding remarks without even knowing what the hell they mean?!?! And here's the best part: Allen has presidential aspirations. There is even talk of him running for the office in 2008.

Can you imagine if Allen wins and actually becomes leader of the free world? He'll probably show up at some major summit meeting and refer to the President of China as a "Chinc."

And 20 minutes later the world will be incinerated in a nuclear holocaust.

Unfortunately I live in Virginia. Have all my life. And more than anything, I find Allen's remarks personally embarrassing. Any Virginian should, for it appeals to the racial insensitivities that this state practiced until the late 1960's. I still remember being in second or third grade when a single black girl began attending our school. It was a big deal, because the vast majority of this state still practiced racial segregation at the time. Is that the "real Virginia" that the Senator was referring to?

Thankfully, northern Virginia is NOT part of Allen's real Virginia. I'm sure that the rednecks voters whose support Allen is seeking consider those of us up here to be out of step with the rest of the state. And you know what? I'm damn proud of that. I'm also proud that most of northern Virginia voted solidly for John Kerry two years ago even while Bush was winning the rest of the state with 54% of the vote.

I'm guessing that 54% was the same group that finds it amusing to hold a man up for public amusement simply because his skin is darker than theirs.

Instead Of Rebates, Maybe Dell Should Offer Fire Extinguishers

Dell computers has announced a massive recall of its laptop batteries. It seems that--how to put this delicately?--they have an annoying habit of suddenly bursting into flames. In one case, at a conference in Japan, someone fortunately had the good sense to grab a camera phone instead of a fire extinguisher.

Apparently the Consumer Products Safety Commission considers this to be some sort of design flaw, especially since many people choose to foolishly place laptops on top of their laps. To date no one has been killed or seriously injured, though there has been property damage. In one case, a battery caused a fire on an airborne UPS jet. The pilots were able to make a successful emergency landing in Philadelphia. And in another incident, Thomas Forqueran of Arizona watched a Dell Inspiron notebook take out his vintage 1966 Ford F-250 which had been handed down from his father.

Well, guess that explains why I came home the other day to find a charcoal briquet where my laptop used to be.

Meeting Of the Minds

The United States first ever Mensa convention has drawn over 2000 attendees in Orlando, Florida.

President Bush was not among them.

You're Disturbed

You're probably familiar with that song by James Blunt called "Beautiful." And if you're not, well, consider yourself lucky. When you hear it, it sounds like a sappy love song, kind of a modern day "Mandy." In fact, a recent British survey placed the song fourth on a list of the 100 Most Annoying Things.

But if you stop and really, REALLY listen to the thing, you realize that it actually borders on being, well, disturbing. That's when you realize that the guy is not simply singing to his girlfriend. No, he's actually singing about his obsession with some woman he saw on a freakin' subway train. And if you watch the video, your first thought is to call a suicide hotline on this poor slob's behalf! During the course of the song, the guy takes off his sweatshirt, tee shirt, shoes, and empties his pockets. Then he neatly arranges everything, stands up, and procedes to jump off a bridge.

Yeah, freakin' romantic, ain't it?

Despite all that, there's an upside to the song. It's gone on to spawn some great parodies, including "Your Cubicle" and "You're Pitiful." MadTV did a great spoof of Blunt's video. And someone named Kevin Sage laments that the girl he thought was so beautiful turned out to be a guy.... In which case I can certainly understand his jumping off a bridge.

Improving Islam's Image

British authorities have broken up a plot involving at least 19 individuals to blow up as many as ten airliners over the Atlantic. Meanwhile, five other Pakistanis have been arrested in that country as suspected "facilitators" for the plan.

This is highly reminiscent of Project Bojinka, which was broken up in the Philippines back in 1995. That earlier operation involved simultaneously destroying ten airliners over the Pacific, assassinating the Pope, and crashing a plane into the CIA headquarters

The British plot involved suicide bombers who can't get a date in this life and were apparently hoping for Allah to help them score with virgins in the next. They were to mix common household chemicals and use electronic devices to detonate the assembled explosive devices. Those electronic devices included disposable cameras and portable music players.

Great.... So now everyone with an IPod is a potential terrorist?

The list of the names of the suspects is particularly revealing. They include Abdula Ahmed Ali, Cossor Ali, Shazad Khuram Ali, Nabeel Hussain, Tanvir Hussain, Umair Hussain, Umar Islam, Waseem Kayani, Assan Abdullah Khan, Waheed Arafat Khan, Osman Adam Khatib, and Abdul Muneem Patel. Hmmm.... I wonder what religion these guys belong to? Just a guess, but I'm betting they're not Baptists or Episcopalians. And I also can't help but notice that none of them is named "Fred" or "Bill" or "Bubba."

Yep, this will go a long way towards proving that Islam is a peaceful religion.

Turning Up The Heat

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently reduced the hurricane forecast for the remainder of the season. Instead of 13-16 named storms, there are now expected to be 12-15 of them. And instead of eight-ten full blown hurricanes, that estimate is now seven-nine.

Global warming naysayers have, of course, jumped all over this news as proof that everything is just fine, and that the liberal Al Gore crown is full of doo-doo.

Ah, but conservatives who continue to question the validity of the spherical Earth theory forget that we live on a big planet. And while things may seem hunky-dory along the east coast, they are not necessarily so wonderful elsewhere.

Case in point: How many Americans know that the typhoon season along the western Pacific has been MORE active than usual? How many of us care that Typhoon Bilis killed 600 people in southeastern China, or that Typhoon Prapiroon caused 80 deaths just last week? Has anyone in America noticed that Typhoon Saomai--packing winds of 160 mph--is again headed for southern China? And let's not pay any attention to Tropical Storm Bopha, which is hot on the heels of Saomai.

Our leaders in Washington need to realize that global warming is a--what's the word?--GLOBAL problem. Just because we may be getting off easy this year doesn't mean that the symptoms aren't manifesting themselves elsewhere.

And even if one does accept the idea that the reduced hurricane forecast is good news, what about the fact that this past July was the warmest in 70 years, and the second warmest on record? What about the 2300 heat records that were set across the nation? What about the recent study that predicts more frequent heatwaves in the future? What about all the glaciers that are disappearing around the world, something which has dire implications for water supplies and food production?

So what's the answer? What can mankind as a whole--or each of us as individuals--do before it's too late?

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to go have a cold beer.




P.S.
Link added 6:15 A.M., Aug-10-06: The 20 warmest years on record.

Shatner Is Kirk

As a number of you have no doubt heard, it's been rumored that Matt Damon will be playing Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek movie.

Well, apparently the REAL Kirk is none too happy about that.

Mommie Dearest

Congratulations to Sherry Ann Allen of Glen Burnie, Maryland, who has put in an early bid to be selected as 2006's Mother of the Year.

What did Ms. Allen do that was so darn special, you ask? Well, she got drunk.... Really REALLY drunk.... So drunk that when her 15 year old daughter Katelynn tried to take away her car keys, Sherry stabbed the teenager in the head with a butcher knife. In a further exhibition of her innovative parenting techniques, Sherry also pulled out most of Katelynn's hair and yanked out an earring.

Police then had the audacity to arrest the mother and charge her with attempted murder, assault, and child abuse.

Give Ms. Allen some credit, though: At least she didn't go off on a drunken anti-Semitic rant when the cops showed up.

Bend Over, You SUV Owners

More bad news for American motorists faced with high gas prices. BP has had to shut down a major pipline in Alaska, eliminating some 400,000 barrels of crude oil a day from the nation's supply. And considering that Americans now consume about 15 million barrels a day, that 400,000 amounts to, um, er, a "measurable" percentage.

As a result of tightening supplies, the price of gasoline has now hit an average of $3.07 a gallon. That's just a penny short of the record prices set last year in the days after Hurricane Katrina.

Hell, at this rate, we'll soon be paying almost half as much for gasoline as the rest of the world!

Boomtown

Thanks to the miracle of DVD's, I've been working my way through the series Boomtown, which ran on NBC a few years ago. I vaguely remember the show getting good reviews from critics, but for some reason it just never caught on with viewers. And in the case of Boomtown that's unfortunate, because there's just not a whole lot of quality broadcast TV out there.

But Lugosi, you didn't get a chance to watch any of it this weekend, did you? We thought you'd be busy listening to Casey Kasem, or however the hell his name is spelled.

Well, yes and yes. It's true that I've been listening to Casey's 70's countdowns in my left ear and his 80's countdowns in my right ear. But thanks to closed captioning, I've also been able to squeeze in some quality TV time.

You don't have a life, do you?

No, not really. But that's what enables me to carry on imaginary conversations like this.

You're starting to scare us.

Oh, right, sorry.

Anyway, on its surface Boomtown is a cop show. But what sets it apart--aside from solid writing and likeable characters--is its unique approach to the stories. Instead of taking a linear approach with a beginning, a middle, and an end, the show usually opens with something would normally occur late in the plot of most other TV shows. Then the rest of the narrative is spent filling in the gaps that led up to that particular point in the story. But again, those earlier scenes are not necessarily in order.
Then there's what really sets Boomtown apart: Those earlier scenes are told from the perspectives of various characters, be it the beat cops, or the detectives, or the victims, or the perpetrators, or the witnesses. And by the time its over, everything makes sense.

It may sound confusing, but it's really not. Hell, I'm able to follow the stories, even when I'm busy listening to two different radio shows.

Keep Your Feet On The Ground & Keep Reaching For The Stars

Well, guess I'm going to have to get a second XM radio. That's easy enough. The hard part will be figuring out how to listen to both of them simultaneously.... While each of them is set to a different channel.

I'm faced with this dilemma because XM has begun airing the old Kasey Kasem countdowns. The 80's channel is doing broadcasts from, well, the 80's, and the 70's channel is doing the ones from that decade. They're starting this weekend with Kasey Kasem marathons on each of the channels. Then as of next weekend they'll run the shows on Sundays at noon (eastern).

I'm thinking of jerry rigging some sort of special headphone, with one ear dedicated to the 70's and the other to the 80's. Who knows? I may even be able to market the thing, become rich and famous, get drunk, be pulled over, and go on a anti-Semitic rant against the police.

Of course, if they ever start airing Kasey's 90's shows, I'll be f*cked.

Bow Wow

It's long been said that after a few years, dogs start to look like their owners.

Hmmm.... Apparently the same can be said of Ann Coulter and George Bush.

Hey, At Least Saddam Isn't The One Killing Them

In an appearance before a Senate committee, the top U.S. commander in Iraq admitted that Iraq was likely moving towards civil war. The observation came after a memo by the British ambassador to Iraq made similar comments in a diplomatic dispatch. This comes on the heels of a recent United Nations report that an average of 100 civilians died in Iraq every day during June.

Well, this is certainly stunning news. I had been under the impression that things in Iraq were just peachy keen, and that all the negative news items coming out of there were being made up by unpatriotic members of the press. At least that's what Bush and Cheney have been telling us, and they certainly wouldn't lie to the American people, would they?

The last couple of days the forecast has been for DC to hit 100 degrees, but we kept falling short. But it was as if Mother Nature was just being a big tease, showing us a hint of skin here, a feel of her bosum there, and only letting us get as far as 99.

Today she finally allowed us to s-l-i-d-e into home, and gave us 100 for the first time since 2002.

I don't know about anyone else, but I need a cold shower.

Chris

Tropical Storm Chris is still in the Caribbean with winds of about 60 mph. Its path remains uncertain, though there is a possibility it may enter the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday. Forecasters are also less than clear on what will happen with the storm in terms of its strength. Some computer models show it becoming a weak hurricane, while others are more doubtful.

Meanwhile, the people of New Orleans are taking no chances. Some have already begun boarding up windows, and the city is preparing evacuation plans.

Oh please. People need to stop being so damn paranoid. So what if the storm does hit the city? What's the worst that could happen?

---------------The Washington Post

Happy 25th

How many of you remember what you were doing at midnight exactly 25 years ago today? Well, if you were anything like me, you were in bed, jerking off to a Farrah Fawcett poster pinned to the ceiling.

But there were others out there who witnessed the birth of a new medium: It was called MTV, and its sole purpose was to play things called music videos. And as anyone up on their '80's trivia can tell you, that first video was a song by the Buggles called--appropriately enough--Video Killed the Radio Star.

MTV is still around, of course, and over the last quarter century it has evolved beyond the notion of just playing songs. It has also brought us shows like Beavis and Butt-Head, The Osbournes, Laguna Beach, Pimp My Ride, and Jackass.

Now.... If only someone would invent a cable channel that actually plays music videos.