The entire movie-going experience has deteriorated taking the film critic with it - male and female.

There are more compelling stories and character development on HBO than in movie theaters, so why bother with the high ticket prices and the sound leaking in from movie playing in the cubicle theater next door?

The movie reviewers in our local newsweekly are vastly superior to the reviewers in either of the local dailies. (One thing I appreciate about Roger Ebert is that he is more of an essayist and that's what seems to be disappearing.) And there are some decent online sources I check out on a regular basis, including you, Stephanie.

I heard somewhere that Mark Cuban wants to bring back movie theaters; any news on that front? It could represent a start.

I was a literary agent for years and always helped the author chase down blurbs, particularly for the first work.

(Sigh) I really miss the old Spy magazine and Blurb-O-Matic...

I think he got out of the shower one day and decided with rack like that, who needs women. He hasn't really had one in his life since his mother assumed room temperature.

I confess that I didn't watch the whole show but I did see enough of John McCain to actively campaign against him this year and in the future if he decides to make another run for the senate. I am for Obama, but now I'm also against McCain. In other words, even though I disagree with McCain on a number of issues, I didn't think he was THAT bad. I've changed my mind.

I don't care if you hail from the South, East, North, or West, there is only one question for America: How has the last eight years been working for you? If you like the status quo, go for McCain, you're in for four more. If you don't, vote for Obama.

I'm not terribly concerned whether Obama chooses a female for the VP slot. However, I will be VERY concerned if his first appointment to the Supreme Court isn't a woman. I consider electing more women to the House and Senate to be a much bigger priority than symbolically filling the vice-presidential position. I personally prefer women, particularly liberal women, to be in more effective positions of power.

I am deeply saddened by the news that we lost Stephanie Tubbs Jones today.

Getting my waist-length hair cut to look like Jane Fonda's character in Klute when I was in high school is about as close as I've ever come to wanting to explore the glamorous lives of hookers. I've never harbored any illusions about it no matter how much the media (books, magazines, newspapers, TV, movies) wants to tantalize us with story after story about trading sex for money.

So, good for the journalist! It's about time this dumb notion was revealed for the lie it is. The upside is that it may generate some genuine sympathy for sex trade workers and some serious concern for going after sex slave operations. That may be a lot to turn on the illicit expectations of one pudgy, hairy man, but there we are. With so many teenage girls sporting Porn Star T-shirts, I'll be happy to pass along the article to my niece before she heads off to college.

If backed up against a wall with no other way to survive, I'll be robbing Piggly-Wiggly's. Fair warning.

This idea sounds half-baked.

The reason Cindy McCain is so wealthy is because she inherited the money from her father, James Hensley, who was a convicted felon. Mr. Hensley received his Budweiser franchise from Kemper Marley, a notorious figure in Arizona history whom, among other things, police suspect of being behind the Don Bolles murder in 1976.

I'm just leveling the playing field. Follow this link to the Phoenix New Times story published in 2000:

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2000-02-17/news/haunted-by-spirits

Not brilliant - monumentally stupid. Cindy McCain's dad was a convicted felon and they have seven houses.

Glad you went to the article. The Phoenix New Times has a history of doing some really stellar political reporting.

I don't despise John McCain the way I do George Bush and Dick Cheney, but I don't think he'll make a good president. Back in 2000, my accountant, who is about as conservative as you can get, told me that he thought McCain was terrible on economics and he hoped that McCain wouldn't get the nomination.

I was galled this afternoon when McCain's campaign raised the Rezko issue in response to the Obama ad featuring his response to the question posed by Politico. They can raise it if they want, but they better be ready to take their lumps. (Referring to the prison camp as McCain's "residence" is truly bizarre and smacks of scrambling to deflect at any cost.)

I was also a bit taken aback that nobody in the press has pointed out that those who live in glass houses - all seven of them - shouldn't throw convicted felon connection rocks.

The McCain camp can keep trying to tie Obama's home purchase to his association with Rezko as long as they're prepared to deal with the fact that Cindy McCain's father, James Hensley, was a convicted felon. But more importantly, his wealth came from his Budweiser distributorship which he received as a result from his relationship with Kemper Marley.

The Phoenix New Times piece from 2000 has the full story:

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2000-02-17/news/haunted-by-spirits/

So, for those who want to reach beyond what has reported to be the truth on Obama's home purchase, I'm entirely comfortable with tying McCain to seven houses purchased with money made through an association with a true slimeball.

At least Rezko didn't blow-up the reporters investigating him.

Let's win this thing. I don't want four more years of the status quo and that's all McCain has to offer.

Nighty night.