http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog Eric D. Snider's blog. Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:16:51 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Courtesy of Serious Eats, behold: The Fatty Melt. It's a hamburger where the top bun has been replaced by a grilled cheese sandwich, and the bottom bun has been replaced by another grilled cheese sandwich. In other words, first make you two grilled cheese sandwiches. Then you put a hamburger ... http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/2008/10/15/it-comes-with-fries-and-an-angioplasty/ Here is what the state of Alaska's legislative commission found regarding Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, whom she allegedly fired because of his reluctance to dismiss a state trooper that Palin wanted gone for personal reasons: - Palin did not violate any law in firing ... http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/2008/10/14/report-down-palin-yay-the-report-says-up/ This weekend, as I was skimming through something I'd TiVoed back in April, a commercial caught my eye. Oregon's three leading Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senator's seat were having a debate, and the local news was pimping it as the lead story that night. What caught my attention was ... http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/2008/10/14/crucial-info-hidden-from-voters/ "Kath & Kim" (Thursdays, NBC): I lasted seven minutes before declaring this adaptation of a popular Australian comedy a lost cause. Molly Shannon and Selma Blair play the dysfunctional but chummy mother and daughter of the title, a pair of vapid, celebrity-gossip-magazine-reading buffoons. Neither character is likable, believable, or -- ... http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/2008/10/13/tv-reviews-kath-kim-eleventh-hour-the-mentalist-life-on-mars/ This may be of interest only to those of you who are my mother, but I was sick all weekend. Nothing serious, just a cold, but it was one of those things that sucks all the strength out of you. The only thing I could muster the energy for was ... http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/2008/10/13/snide-remarks-no-other-things-yes/ It's a very C+ kind of week for movies, with nothing terrible but nothing really great, either. The best of the bunch is "City of Ember," based on a young-adult novel about an underground city. Lots of fun for the whole family, and Bill Murray plays the idiot mayor! "Body of Lies" ... http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/2008/10/10/friday-movie-roundup-oct-10/ Right to the point: The reason the talk shows and "Saturday Night Live" haven't made fun of Obama much isn't that they're all liberals who can't stand to make jokes about their guy. It's that Obama hasn't given them much to grab on to. Bill Clinton was a gift to comedians: ... http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/2008/10/09/on-the-mechanics-of-political-humor/ The popularity of "I Know What You Did Last Summer," featured in this week's edition of Eric's Bad Movies at Film.com, baffles me. This movie is not scary. It is barely even suspenseful. All four main characters behave stupidly for most of the film, not enough of them die, and ... http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/2008/10/09/erics-bad-movies-i-know-what-you-did-last-summer-1997/ Here's a puzzlement. Oliver Stone's "W.," a satirical biography of a fellow by the name of George W. Bush (haven't heard of him), opens next Friday and is being screened for critics in most markets on Tuesday night. Yet it's not screening in Portland at all. One's first instinct is that ... http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/2008/10/08/why-isnt-w-screening-in-portland/ I know you've been waiting to know whether I resolved my issues with Peerflix, which was bought by LiveUniverse, and which owes me several hundred dollars. Actually, I know you aren't really very interested. But I wanted to write about it again to boost the chances that when someone Googles "Live ... http://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/2008/10/07/update-peerflix-and-liveuniverse-still-fraudulent-unresponsive-unreliable-businesses/