Recently in Media Category

You know it's a slow news day when the Zogby Poll is looking forward to New Year's Day. Whoa, that's a week down the road. But the topic of the poll is who will you be kissing as the digital clock slides into '09. According to Zogby,
"more people will kiss their pet at midnight than will kiss a friend." You can't make this stuff up, folks.

The poll also finds that women are 4.5 times as likely to spend New Year's Eve with a pet than men are. That's because men will be out looking for those women who are staying home drinking Cold Duck with their pet.

And, the topper: Democrats are more likely than Republicans to spend New Year's Eve with a pet. That's because Democrats don't have any money to spend. They've been laid off. Their pets won't be judgmental because the laid-off Democrats don't have jobs going into the new year.

And to prove it really is a slow news day, the Zogbv poll also asked folks who they'd like to spend New Year's Eve with, Sarah Palin or Tina Fey. Thirty-nine percent said they would spend it with Palin; 39 percent with Fey. The Hound also hears the Sarah Palin calendar is No. 1 on the Amazon.com list for calendars. President-elect Obama's calendar is No. 8.

Does The Hound detect some gag Christmas stocking stuffers were purchased at the Alaska governor's expense. You, betcha!

The Hound got called into one of the suits' offices and dressed down for his use of "maroon" and "nimrod" for berating those who comment on what The Hound opines in cyberspace.

This suit knew little more than the bolo boys and girls who have complained about using the terms "maroon" and "nimrod". Obviously, the suit hasn't had his fill of Bugs Bunny cartoons.

While those complaining about The Hound's use of the word "maroon" are correct that these were free African Americans who fought on the side of the Seminoles in the Seminole War (that would not be a Florida vs. Florida State matchup in The Swamp --- Go 'Noles!) which made Andrew Jackson's presidential chops.

However, Bugs Bunny used the term "maroon" as an insult not to one's lineage, but to one's smarts, though that does not include the University of Chicago Maroons. For proof of that, watch "Baseball Bugs". The Hound will not give away the plot to say it does not have anything to do with the 2003 Cubs. According to Bugs, "maroon" was equal to a dummy or worse. Does "ignoramus" ring a bell here?

Now to "nimrod", which also was popularized by Bugs, yet was picked up by one of The Hound's favorite rock groups, Green Day, as the title of the trio's second album.

How nimrod went from being the great-grandson of Noah (revisit your Bible, you gomers), to a synonym for goofball, The Hound leaves to word scholars. The Hound just knows calling someone a nimrod also means they're a goober.

So for all you dingbats and suits out there: Lighten up and be thankful you're not being labeled a nincompoop, you bunch of losers.

On at least one issue, The Hound and the Libertarian Party are barking up the same tree. The Libertarians are hailing a new piece of legislation introduced by Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) that would protect the coterie of Internet "pajama journalists" known as "bloggers" from FEC restrictions. H.R. 5699, called the "Blogger Protection Act of 2008," would give bloggers permanent protection from FEC campaign laws when linking to campaign Web sites or editorializing about candidates.
"These guys really don't get the credit they deserve for all the work they've done to create accountability and transparency in American politics," says Andrew Davis, national media coordinator for the Libertarian Party. "Often, bloggers are the first to expose politicians for lying and corruption, and hold all politicians to a new level of accountability that would have been impossible only a few years ago. They fully deserve the same protection from government interference that is given to traditional media outlets."
Bloggers were granted protection two years ago from FEC regulations that would have potentially considered linking to a campaign Web site or editorializing about a candidate a contribution or expenditure when blogging. However, those protections were only regulatory, and could be changed without Congressional approval. H.R. 5699 seeks to make those protections a statute.

Fox News 32 talked to Harry Caray's widow, Dutchie, on Tuesday night and found she did not authorize those bizarre and annoying AT&T radio and TV commercials that have been running with the impersonator of the late Cubs announcer. That certainly was shocking.

Turns out, according to Fox News, the manager of Caray's estate gave approval for the commercials with the understanding they would be "a tribute" to the late sports broadcaster. Guess he was, shall we say, mislead. Too, the Caray restaurant chain has been getting scores of calls complaining about the commercials and blaming them for the morbid ads.

However, AT&T says the ads are supposed to end on Sunday as the campaign apparently has run its course. Maybe they'll get Vince Lloyd or Jack Quinlan to be the telecommunications giant's next spokesmen.

As one acquaintance told The Hound that not only are the Harry commercials bad, but so is the impersonation. He noted that most guys, once they've had a few beers, can do a spot-on Harry Caray. Hello again, everybody. It's a bee-yooo-tiful day for baseball!
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The Hound normally doesn't listen to AM radio during work hours. While in the dog house, it's usually Lake County's best FM station on the dial, which would be WWDV/96.9 in Zion. But somebody alerted me to a poll on WKRS-AM that one just can't ignore because it's so lame. It had to do with the Kennedy clan endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president.