Monthly Archive: July 2008

Brrrother. The tabloids are doing their best to reopen the Steve Fossett case, suddenly yakking about how Fossett may have faked his own death.

‘Gapper’ is our term for a profile we probably ought to have had long ago.

Can’t get enough of this charming video of the singer Feist on the new season of Sesame Street:If the tune sounds familiar, you may recognize it from the popular iPod Nano “a little video for everyone” commercial…

The terrific writer Joseph Mitchell was born 100 years ago today.Mitchell wrote with a “fondness for the eccentricities of New York life,” as The Associated Press put it in their 1996 obituary. His stories, mostly published in The New Yorker, are full of saloonkeepers, Bowery bums, oystermen and oysters, beefsteak cooks, crazy storytellers, and the uncream of Manhattan.

The Washington Post has concluded its 12-part series on the death of Chandra Levy and has named a suspect: a Salvadoran immigrant named Ingmar Guandique.

Randy Pausch, the professor whose frank and uplifting “Last Lecture” made him an unexpected public hero, has died at age 47.Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006 and told he had 3-6 months to live. Soon after, he gave a funny, heartfelt last lecture to students and faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, on the topic of achieving childhood dreams.

We’ve just posted new profiles of two Olympic swimmers: Natalie Coughlin and Dara Torres.Couglin was the hit of the 2004 Athens Olympics, where she won five medals (two gold, two silver, one bronze). Torres won five medals at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 (two gold and three bronze).Torres is a wee bit more famous right now because she’s 41, the mother of a two-year-old, and has been semi-retired since her 2000 Sydney heroics. She’s the oldest swimmer ever to qualify for the Olympics.

Columnist Robert Novak has been cited by police after hitting a 60-something pedestrian in downtown Washington, D.C., according to Politico.The website says Novak tried to leave the scene but was stopped by a bicycle commuter, who blocked Novak’s black Corvette with his bike and dialed 911. “I didn’t know I hit him,” Novak reportedly said, although Politico also quotes the bicyclist as saying the pedestrian was “splayed across the windshield.”

Senator Barack Obama held a press conference today in Jordan after his visits to Iraq and Afghanistan. The Washington Post has the transcript.(Elsewhere, Haaretz columnist Bradley Burston offers Obama ten MIdeast traps to avoid.)

The date is set for Jay Leno’s forced retirement from The Tonight Show. His last day will be May 29th, 2009, and he’ll be replaced three days later by Conan O’Brien.

The Times of London offers up a list of eBay’s “10 most bizarre bits of political memorabilia.” Included are six snippets of graying hair from Lyndon Johnson (“comes with a notarized affidavit from the family of Steve Martini, White House barber”) and the coffee-stained to-do list of Jacqueline Kennedy.The stain is artfully described as being “perhaps from Mrs. Kennedy herself.”

Cheerful Hollywood parents give their kids inventive names like Knox and Sunday Rose. What about our gloomier celebs? A half-dozen ideas:Felicity AnginaEnnui BlueCreosoteMonday MorningMaginot LineBupkesAny other suggestions, commenters?

The Associated Press reports that “blissful newlywed” Greg Norman shot a surprising 70 on day one of the British Open, cheered on by his wife, Chris Evert.Wait, what? Chris Evert and Greg Norman are married?Apparently so. They married last month in the Bahamas. Both split recently from their previous spouses — Laura Andrassy for him, skiier Andy Mill for her.

South African leader Nelson Mandela is 90 years old today.

Not that it has much to do with biography (though we do have a profile of the corporate namesake), but we found it rather fascinating that Starbucks has released a complete list of the 600 stores it plans to close.We salute their transparency.

Weird tale of the day: The Joker, leering arch-enemy of Batman, is based on an actor from the movie Casablanca. No, not Ingrid Bergman.

Billy Joel is playing the last two concerts in New York’s Shea Stadium. It’s being torn down in a few months. Joel gets rave reviews in today’s Newsday and New York Times.

The Boston Globe offers up a photo essay of actors who had films released after their deaths.Including Bruce Lee (Enter the Dragon), Chris Farley (Beverly Hills Ninja) and, of course, Heath Ledger (Batman).

It’s not the most crucial issue of the day, we know, but: Have news reports garbled the weights of the Jolie twins, Knox and Vivienne? It looks like it from here.

“At 23, she exuded a blend of innocence and sensuality, but she was not a party girl. At heart, Chandra was a bit of a nerd.”The Washington Post has launched a major 12-part investigation of the 2001 murder of intern Chandra Levy.

Happy 90th birthday to three-time Academy Award winner Ingmar Bergman! He was born in 1918 and died just about this time last year.

[An update on the twins’ weights: 10 Grams of Baby Fat]The BBC, People, and Agence France-Presse all report that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are the proud parents of a new boy and girl.

“The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: ‘Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter.’

Q: What’s it like to be called ‘The King’?A: I don’t know. I ain’t never been nothing else.The Kansas City Star interviews Richard Petty on the 50th anniversary of his first NASCAR race.

This wonderful clip has been making the rounds lately: Joe Cocker at Woodstock, with helpful subtitles.Thanks to Mark Evanier for the link.

The streak is over. Roger Federer had won five straight Wimbledon championships… until today, when Rafael Nadal beat him in a five-set thriller to claim the 2008 men’s singles title.

“My father expected me to be a professional man. The problem was, I hated school. I hated being told what to do. In the Boy Scouts I never got a single merit badge. In school my grades were terrible. I just didn’t want to be there. I just wanted to be on the radio.”–Rush Limbaugh, in a detailed new profile from The New York Times Magazine.

Turns out George W. Bush and Sylvester Stallone were born on the exact same day: 6 July 1946.Stallone was born in New York City, Bush in Connecticut.The Internet Movie Database claims that Stallone is one of Bush’s two favorite actors. The other? Chuck Norris.

Eating expert Joey Chestnut won the Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest in extra-horrifying fashion on Friday, beating former champ Takeru Kobayashi in a five dog eat-off.Both men finished the regular 10-minute competition with a total of 59 dogs. That led to extra franks, with Chestnut barely beating Kobayashi to the gullet.

Happy 100th birthday to Thurgood Marshall. The first black justice of the U.S. Supreme Court was born on this day in 1908.(Why is he not on the Maryland state quarter?)

Religion and Romans editor Paul Hehn has posted a new profile of Flavius Josephus, the Jewish leader who was conquered by the Roman general Vespasian but then became pals with him anyway. (Conquerors were open-minded in those days.)

The trailer is out for the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace.[July update: The trailer was available on YouTube, but it’s been taken down. Now you can find it on the film’s official site.]

Comedian Dan Aykroyd turns 56 today, and it’s been 25 years since philosopher Buckminster Fuller died.