Oh, DEAR

Just when everyone was getting sick of metrosexuals . . .

(Link courtesy of Dave Barry's blog. As if you couldn't guess.)

Let it never be said . . .

. . . that conservatives can't be objective.

I think I'm getting old

There was a time when I'd anticipate the AFI top 100 lists for weeks. I'd try to guess all 100 of the winners in advance, in order, and keep track of how many I got right. Now, it's all I can do to catch about half an hour of the show.

Still . . . this is a pretty darn cool list of quotes, when you come to look at it.

And . . . WHOA, will you look at Pierce Brosnan! Hello, handsome!

Maybe I'm not as old as I thought.

Let's hear it for Dad

I've been reading a lot of good tributes to dads lately -- seems like a great day to share some of them! (I know, it never rains but it pours around here. You might want to set aside a half-hour or so if you want to read every one of these.)

-- First, if you haven't been following this story of a husband and father who's losing his wife but fighting for his child, please do. And say a prayer for them.

-- Second, read Jonah Goldberg's moving words about his father, who recently passed away: "He was, and will always be, what my entire world stands on."

-- Third, for some long overdue words of praise for my favorite TV dad, go here and here and here (one of mine). John Schneider, incidentally, is a Christian who's long been advocating better portrayals of fathers on televsion. Nice to see him finally getting some recognition for his own portrayal.

-- Last but far from least, a few words of my own: There's no better, wiser, or funnier dad out there, real or fictional, than The Blog Dad. He transcends Lileks's categories like no other: He can handle the mushy stuff just fine, yet he really did bench-press a Rottweiler for me once. True story. (Though if asked, he'll clarify that he didn't bench-press it, he body-slammed it.) A very happy Father's Day to him above all.

But was she already dying?

The question that not enough people are asking.

I don't know about you, but I find it creepy that so many people are latching onto this "retrospective" argument. So every time there's doubt about how much brain damage a person has, we should kill him or her to find out?

Gasp!

Mr. Lileks! You don't SERIOUSLY believe that all modern-day Sinatra fans are in it for the Mob Cool thing, do you? I did not expect such a narrow view from you, my columnistic (is that a word?) idol.

Listen, I'm not into the Sopranos at all -- and I don't particularly care for Kennedys, either. Mafia ties are something to mourn, not celebrate. Sinatra's not about that -- for me, or my best friend who introduced me to him (figuratively, of course), or for a whole host of other fans. He's about putting that CD into the player and getting carried away by the voice and the swing and the fun and the emotion and all the rest of it.

Badly put, Mr. Lileks.

However. I could forgive you pretty much anything for this gem of a review of Star Wars. "WAR! The crawl begins, helpfully noting that 'Evil is everywhere.' Yes, well, that'll happen."

And it just gets better from there. As with all the best Lileks writings, there's a magic to the way you put words together.

Kind of like the way Sinatra puts notes together.

If you'll forgive me for saying so.

At a bookstore near you

I've got a review in the current issue of National Review, of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel Never Let Me Go. Excellent book. There, I just spared you the trouble of reading the review. :-) If you've got a subscription to NR, though, you can pull up the digital version on their website.

And while you're at it . . .

Please read this blog entry from Karen Hall, sister of Joan of Arcadia's creator (and a TV writer in her own right). And then fire off a note to Sony as suggested. You may know that Joan's chances are looking pretty dead right now -- but Ms. Hall seems to think there just might be a sliver of hope. And if there ever was a show that deserved a second chance, folks, this is it.

Take a minute and speak up

I just sent the following to faces@thewb.com. You might consider sending something similar (politely worded, of course).

I'm writing to say that I don't think it's such a great idea to be airing condom commercials during "Smallville." It's bad enough that the show sent some pretty damaging messages about sexuality this season. (Clark deciding to keep dating the girl who drugged him and nearly raped him? Not to mention small-town high school cheerleaders who look like "Playboy" Playmates? Please.) You really don't need to send the message that just using a condom makes sex all right for young people who are still too emotionally immature to handle all the ramifications -- or that condoms are 100 percent protection from diseases and pregnancy. I hope you'll rethink this decision and not air any more such ads in the future. Thank you.