Mental Floss magazine, which I have read since the first issue, just posted this interview from last week about Prisoner of Trebekistan.  This is a real kick as far as I’m concerned.

(I should clarify that when I went all Mr. Miyagi in the interview — that stuff about the glass of water in the ocean — I meant fresh water, as when you’re dying of thirst and surrounded by salt water.  This may have been unclear.  As the gospel of Spinal Tap teaches, there is a fine line between stupid and clever.)

Also, the Entertainment Weekly review of Trebekistan
went online a while back, and there’s good news: next week they’re
issuing a correction about that accidental implication that I make serious
income from underground back-alley trivia competitions.  (How I wish this were true!)  And they’ve been super-nice about it.  So good for them.

Tuesday: The Bob & Tom
show.  Neat!  I’m doing scads of radio, but I haven’t said much here
because (a) lots of appearances are local only, (b) many shows are
unreliable about schedules, and (c) I’ve done enough radio that frankly
there aren’t many people I’m excited to talk with.  But these guys do a
great job, and I actively tune in when I’m in Ohio.  So this should be
big fun.

More as things start lining up in the coming weeks.

How about less than $1900, including taxes? 

Just want to point out the travel links at Trebekistan.com.  When I tell people you can travel a lot more cheaply than people realize, they often don’t quite believe me.  But believe me.  The time is usually a lot harder to find than the money.

If there’s one thing I want people to take from Prisoner of Trebekistan, it’s to start getting excited about how small and interconnected and accessible much of the world really is.

It’s the weekend.  You have the time.  Go.  Click.  Play.  Daydream.

Then do.

Boston politician wants to yank down the Citgo sign that has stood behind Fenway Park’s left field wall for the last 65 years.  That’ll teach Chavez to insult the president, see.

Because if the last five years have taught us anything, it’s that cosmetic solutions change everything.

Now that Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has made Noam Chomsky’s Hegemony and Survival a surprise best-seller, here’s a sampling of what Chavez had to say about other recent books in various speeches before the United Nations.

On Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck:

On James Ellroy’s The Black Dahlia:

On John Grogan’s Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog:

Next week: speaking at the Organization of American States, Hugo Chavez reviews the season premieres of Grey’s Anatomy and The Office.

Desi points out — as if this should ever need to be pointed out, but apparently so — that no religion has a monopoly on violence.

(And apparently she posted this at 4:32 am.  Desi probably needs sleep.  Although for the CuteOverload crowd, while you’re there, you might also check out the scenes of cutting-edge dog fashion.  Gotta get me one of them spider dogs.)