One important question is not answered: How many of these books were actually written by the candidate? I reviewed Jerry Falwell's "autobiography" for the L. A. Times, and in the foreword he gave thanks to the man he said "turned 300 hours of tape" into a book. And yet Falwell took credit for writing it. I suggested such books be labeled "astolds," since they were invariably as told to somebody.

Any astolds in this batch?

I am quite certain Kucinich wrote his own book, which is yet another point in his favor. Nor does he seem flaky to me for his beliefs, which strike me as entirely accurate. A little giddy perhaps, but not flaky.

If he is indeed not electable it is another sign of the fact that the fix is in, that we have no true choices.

Just a minor note, but of some importance to the concept of "independence" in films. "Repo Man" may be credited to Cox, but it was written, filmed, and directed by Jonathon Wacks (currently at the College of Santa Fe) and two of his friends. After the film was finished, they were bought out for a song, and have hardly been mentioned since.

Even Siegel and Schuster, cheated out of the riches created by the Superman character, at least got some credit.

I think In the Valley of Elah is a fine movie. It turns on the blandness of the killer's confession, of course, the fact that he has no remorse or sense of guilt.

I found that it got its impact precisely by resisting the temptation to easy summation.

" . . . bad writers can go on believing in their (unappreciated) genius forever."

Yes. Since everyone uses language in some fashion, everyone feels like an expert. Most people have no conception of the sort of thinking that occurs when begin to know a little.

In jaxagrams one creates all the complete anagrams one can think of for a word or words, then embeds them in a syntactical discourse. You score by squaring the number of letters in the source word and saying the square times the number of complete anagrams. In the case of Britney Spears, there are two source words, so you square the number of letters in each and add the result, then say this number times the number of anagrams.

Britney Spears is rich in anagrams. I adduce my jaxagram below. There are other anagrams, but I got tired.

I have to admit I'm getting a little tired of BRITNEY SPEARS, and it is not because I belong to the PRESBYTERIANS. It is just that I have seen enough headlines declaiming NY SPRITE BARES her tuckus again. As far as I am concerned, she is just another one of those BREASTY PINERS (thank God it's a SPARSE NY TRIBE). Her search for male love strikes me as just more STARRY PENIS BS, and she's so spacey she could be an alien. I'm almost sure I heard her say I BE TERRAN SPY. On the whole she's a loser, the sort of person who, in a poker game, would never catch the ace, but would NAB PISSER TREY.

I do have some sympathy for her, though. I know she has dietary problems. If it is on the menu, she will always BYPASS TERRINE, and she stays hungry by not eating, so don't invite her if you have barbecue stored up for a party, because she EYES PANTRY RIBS.

She has her good side. There's her charity work on behalf of Southern midgets, in which she urges us to SPARE TINY REBS. Once, alone on a boat with a bunch of net fishermen, when there was only one can of beer, she let them have it, which explains the headline the next day: SEINERS PRY TAB. In fact, the rumor is that she's giving up drinking entirely, having said BYE, ERRANT SIPS. Although she is reputed to be deficient in political knowledge, she once referred to the CIA as a BARREN SPY SITE, and when in retaliation they planted a tracking device in her head, like the one they use on the bionic woman, she defeated them by issuing the mental command, RESET BRAIN SPY.

She is no mere sea-side collage artist, one of those BRINEY PASTERS. She refrains from PRISSY E-BANTER, considering the writings of people who engage in it to be BINARY PESTERS. She shows a surprising degree of zoological and botanical knowledge. In England, she was able to tell by its cry when a nobleman's donkey was tired, saying to the lord, SPENT BRAY, SIRE. In her opinion, one should not make rope or fiber from the pulp of evergreens, because PINEY BAST ERRS. She likes to write--it has often been noted that she TARRIES BY PENS. She is athletic, having placed well in races conducted by a local greasy spoon, the BEANERY SPRINTS.

In short, although I am indeed tired of her, I must admit that she is NASTIER BY REPS than she is in person.

Score: 7 squared plus 6 squared times 23 = 1955