Three Thoughts for Today

Prince
Prince performing during the Super Bowl last night was awesome! Here I was so annoyed by his ridiculous aloofness during last year’s American Idol finale and he does this great showstopper at half time that practically wins me back. He played a tight, charismatic and well-executed set in the rain, no less (is that why he wore the head rag?). He reminded me of how great his Staples Center show was in LA back in 2004. If only he were just a little more cuddly.

Barry Manilow
For some reason, Barry popped into my head today. He hasn’t been looking so hot lately. Supposedly he’s just had hip surgery or some such thing. Knowing how secretive Barry can be in his Newsletter and about his love life, I worry that he may be underplaying his ailments. A world without Barry doesn’t set well with me so I am sending him healthy wishes even if he denies any sick-being.

Today Show Debates
I used to watch the Today show a lot when I lived in NYC (the era a few months Bryant Gumbel left to just when Hillary Clinton said “right wing conspiracy,” including the death of Katie Couric's husband and her resulting colonoscopy, Sonny Bono’s death and the first Matt trot around the globe. I stopped watching in disgust at their biased coverage of the beginning of the Iraq War when they didn’t follow up on Michael Moore’s Oscar comments scandal, instead choosing to show saccharine coverage of soldiers happily going off to war they didn't adequately cover the reasons for. I started watching again last week. The show has gotten no better about mediating debates. Today’s debate was about the cervical cancer vaccination. The new anchor is a very chatty cathy Meredith Vieira -- last week she talked over First Lady, Laura Bush...not that I'm so fond of Laura Bush, but show some respect for the office, missy. Meredith let the two debaters talk completely over each other without a single bit of mediating. I had no idea what anyone was saying. It was a pointless waste of airtime. More sound pollution than news coverage.