The Who2 Blog August 2008 | Who2 Biographies

Newman's Last Run?

posted 31 August 2008 - 3:53pm | by Mr. Holznagel

Paul Newman, taking his Corvette out for the last time?

Newman has not confirmed that he is ill -- in June he insisted he was "doing nicely" -- but the rumors keep circulating.

(Thanks to editor Paul Hehn for the tip.)

New Profiles: Kara DioGuardi, Demi Lovato

posted 31 August 2008 - 2:49pm | by Mr. Holznagel

Here are two new profiles just requested by our friends at Ask.com: songwriter Kara DioGuardi and teen actress Demi Lovato.

What Is the Population of Wasilla, Alaska?

posted 30 August 2008 - 7:06am | by Mr. Holznagel

Small-town Wasilla, Alaska has had a lot of press since Sarah Palin became the running mate of John McCain.

Palin played high school basketball in Wasilla, was Miss Wasilla of 1984, and was the city's mayor from 1996-2002.

But just how small is Wasilla?

Mature Moonwalking

posted 29 August 2008 - 8:32pm | by Mr. Holznagel

Michael Jackson is 50 years old today.

ABC News asks him about his AARP card... then shows how he might have looked now without all that surgery.

McCain Chooses Alaskan for Running Mate

posted 29 August 2008 - 8:32am | by Mr. Holznagel

Sarah Palin, the first female governor of Alaska, is now the first female Republican candidate for vice president of the United States.

John McCain's aides made the announcement to reporters this morning.

John McCain and Buddy Holly

posted 29 August 2008 - 6:05am | by Mr. Holznagel

Happy birthday to Senator John McCain. He turns 72 today, having been born on August 29, 1936.

Wow: Singer Buddy Holly was born the same year as McCain, 1936. Holly was 22 when he died -- he's been gone almost 50 years now. McCain rolls on.

Obama Accepts the Nomination

posted 29 August 2008 - 4:13am | by Mr. Holznagel

The Democratic Convention is over and it's official: Barack Obama is the first African-American presidential nominee of a major American political party. Congratulations to him.

His website has the transcript and video of his speech from Denver's Invesco Field.

The Rocky Mountain News headline: 'Obama accepts nomination, rocks Invesco.'

Steve Jobs is Not Dead

posted 28 August 2008 - 6:43am | by Mr. Holznagel

Gawker has the accidental obituary of Apple Computer head Steve Jobs run by the Bloomberg news service yesterday.

At least Jobs got that rare opportunity to read his own obit. Many of the details are probably familiar to him already.

It is interesting to see how placeholders are used in the pre-obit for the final missing bits of the story. ("He was TK"?)

Photos of Phelps, Phinally

posted 27 August 2008 - 6:58pm | by Mr. Holznagel

Sports Illustrated has an underwater photo series that shows how Michael Phelps touched the wall 0.01 second before rival Milorad Cavic in the 100-meter butterfly.

Even with the photos, and seeing the finish, Phelps still seems impossibly far from the wall when Cavic is just inches away. Quite a finish.

Lynn Johnston: "Farley is Coming Back!"

posted 27 August 2008 - 6:37pm | by Mr. Holznagel

The Washington Post has two new stories on cartoonist Lynn Johnston. One talks about her krazy plan for starting For Better or For Worse over on September 1st, retelling the strip's early storylines in "new-runs."

Lynn reports with pleasure that Farley the Dog, long dead, will be once again alive under the new plan. (Though presumably he'll have to croak again in the future.)