April 3, 2004

Okay, I know it's a commercial. A long, freakin' commercial. But like the fabulous short movies hawking luxury cars on BMWFilms.com, this AMEX ad is actually fun to watch.

Imagine what would happen if Jerry Seinfeld was friends with Superman. Now click here and watch "The Uniform."

I've been looking forward to taking a ferry ride this spring. I could take one during the wet, winter months but I prefer to sail across the sound while standing on the outside decks. Now I have even more incentive.

The ferry system in Seattle recently signed contracts with food companies that plan to offer high tea, wine tastings, hot pizza and fresh-baked cinnamon rolls and cookies on three ferries by the end of May. Yum!

April 1, 2004

The commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks is pressing the White House to explain why the Bush administration had blocked thousands of pages of classified foreign policy and counterterrorism documents from former President Bill Clinton's White House files.

Seventy-five percent of the 11,000 pages of files, which were gathered by the National Archives in response to requests from the commission, have been withheld. White House spokesman Scott McClellan claims the missing files were "duplicative or unrelated" to Sept. 11th, or contained "highly sensitive" information.

"We are providing the commission with access to all the information they need to do their job," McClellan said.

In other words, we'll tell you what you need to know.

I sincerely doubt Sen. John Kerry and President George Bush actually sit at a keyboard and write the entries in their blogs. But if you want to read what their lackeys have to say, you can see both sites on one page.

March 30, 2004

Forget face lifts and Botox injections. If Dr. Joe Rosen of Dartmouth Medical Centre has his way, you'll be able to graft a set of wings to your back. He can even give you a tail.

Remember those silly commercials? Well, the innocent concept behind them has been corrupted by the single set of New York City.

For a free Apple iPod, folks will perform oral sex or pretend to be your fake "significant other." One girl even turned down her boyfriend's gift of an expensive handbag because she wanted an iPod mini instead.

iPods are great little MP3 players, but have some self-respect, people.

March 29, 2004

A new Jaded Writings column has been posted. This week, I discuss my memories of Spring.

• Paul Reiser - 3/30/57
• Douglas Clegg - 4/1/58

March 28, 2004

There are many roads to the bestseller list: write a great book, go on a widely promoted tour, obtain glowing reviews, appear on national television, receive an endorsement from Oprah, get banned by a religious group, etc.

But now there's a new way to sell and sell well: litigation. According to several publishers, even a flimsy lawsuit can lead to success at the literary box office.

Most folks use Webcams to chat with friends or to show off their goldfish. But one 18-year-old in Washington D.C. recently logged on to his parents' cam and saw a burglar inside their Bothell, Wash., house. The teen called the cops, who promptly arrested the suspect.

Past Afterthoughts