I must be weird. That may not come as news to you, but increasingly often I'm coming to the conclusion that there's something wrong with me. See I've not spent more than about 5 minutes following the latest cute, little white girl tragedy on CNN. They've given us hours of coverage, but 5 minutes so far is all I've been able to stomach.
I'm speaking, of course, about the Tracy, California-based saga of Sandra Cantu who was brutally murdered last week. As soon as suspicion fell onto Sunday School teacher Melissa Huckaby the story solidified its tabloid news status and the engines over at Nancy Grace, Inc. began to fire into overdrive.
After all, it's a tabloid TV dream come true. It's just like JonBenet, only we have a bad guy...and the bad guy is a woman...and there's a religious angle as well...her father is a pastor! You can just hear the breathlessness over at Headline news with the release of each sordid, new detail. And now the final shoe has dropped. The charges include rape with a foreign object. Good Lord, they must just be thanking their lucky little ratings-addled stars.
You just have to know that every producer in that newsroom is working overtime to find out just what object was used in the rape of that little girl before her lifeless body was stuffed into a suitcase. I'm actually surprised that we haven't seen Nancy herself slam a replica Samsonite up onto the counter and arch her eyebrow knowingly at us while spouting platitudes about that "poor, cute, little girl." It's only a matter of time before they start talking about that object (whatever it was) in the same hushed tones initially used to describe Bill and Monica's cigar.
I continue to hope that the nation at large will tire of that bleached, hawk-faced nightmare pimping the latest tragic little girl to us while pretending to care about the plight of her family. But she continues ceaselessly cashing in on the constant drumbeat of christmas photos interspersed with the crying visage of her accused killer in shackles. You know Nancy, there's money to be made from a lot of things in this country. Can you please, please stop ripping it from the backs of little dead girls? We'd all (espeicially the families of the departed) be a lot better off if you did.
Looking for something fun, engaging and educational to do with your kids this summer? Here's the recipe and instructions for the Sidewalk Chalk science experiment that our Tuesday morning guests referred to. Have fun!
Always looking for new, talented people to add to the show, we've scored again. Television critic Tom Jicha from the Sun-Sentinel newspapers will join us every friday to talk about the highlights and lowlights of this week in TV. In between visits please follow Tom's blog online...
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Right now 16 colleges from around the country are competing in a challenge issued by the US Department of Energy and sponsored by General Motors. The teams are using existing technology to come up with implementable solutions to improve gas mileage and limit harmful emissions.
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As you know if you caught the show this morning, our movie reviewer is up for a Webby Award! Brett Erlich, co-host of the "Rotten Tomatoes Show" on Current TV has been nominated and is a finalist for the video that's currently our featured video on the homepage. It's very funny, and Brett deserves a win.
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No matter whether the Saints or Colts emerge victorious on Sunday, there's bound to be tens of thousands of disappointed fans of the loyal opposition. Jeff Goldblatt, founder of the Rejection Hotline (www.humorhotlines.com) joined us Friday morning and said he's set up local "It Could Suck Worse" hotlines for fans of the losing side.
Here they are...your picks for the must-see horror flicks for this Hallowe'en week. So what are you waiting for? Hit the video store!
1. SUSPIRA
2. DAWN OF THE DEAD
3. SCARECROWS
4. ZOMBIES ON AN AIRPLANE
5. MONSTER CLUB
6. PET SEMATARY
7. SLEEPY HOLLOW
8. IT
9. OMEN
10. MONSTER SQUAD
11. FRIGHT NIGHT
12. BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA
13. FORBIDDEN PLANET
14. THEM!
Last night on the program a caller alerted us to a broom standing by itself on the floor of a convenience store. We decided to try to replicate the experiment here in the studio and...voila!
A grandmother from Rockville, IN, Sally Harpold, was recently arrested for violating the state's laws against the purchase of more than 3.0 grams of pseudoephedrine in less than 7 days. That violation occurred because she purchased a box of 24 Zyrtec-D tablets for her sick daughter, then six days later purchased a 36-count box of Mucinex-D for her husband and herself.
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Many thanks to our good friends Bob Heil of Heil Sound and Dave Hinson of Killer Vintage Guitars for joining us on this morning's program in tribute to the life, music, and legacy of Les Paul who died yesterday at age 94. Bob and Dave were also kind enough to furninsh us with some pictures of their interactions with Les...
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Friday morning we talked with UCLA linguistics professor Pam Munro about the newly-released 20th anniversary UCLA Slang Dictionary. If you want to order a copy online you can email Anya at anya@humnet.ucla.edu for information. Enjoy!
