More halftime hype - All hail The Boss!

Steelers? Cardinals? 3-D commercials? None of that matters. Just gimme 12 minutes of halftime partying with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Here's what he had to say in the NY Times about a lifetime of writing about "the American idea":

“And so on election night it showed its face, for maybe, probably, one of the first times in my adult life,” he said. “I sat there on the couch, and my jaw dropped, and I went, ‘Oh my God, it exists.’ Not just dreaming it. It exists, it’s there, and if this much of it is there, the rest of it’s there. Let’s go get that. Let’s go get it. Just that is enough to keep you going for the rest of your life. All the songs you wrote are a little truer today than they were a month or two ago.”

A "12-minute party"

C'mon. It's the only reason to watch the Super Bowl this year: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's halftime show. Twelve minutes means three or four songs - or a medley, but no one but The Boss knows what will be played. Here's my prediction:

• "Waiting on a Dream" (new single from new CD - got to sell some records)
• "Born to Run" (probably the last song of the set)
• "Meet Me at Mary's Place" - his best live party song in recent years
• "Glory Days" - but the irony will be lost on the average fan
• "Rave On" - Okay, it's a Buddy Holly song, but keep in mind, next week marks the 50th anniversary of "the day the music died," when Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper died in a plane crash. There's a new box set of Holly tunes being released soon, too.

Study Break! Liam Finn's "Second Chance"

Since I'm trying (without much success) to write an essay on second chances, I thought it appropriate to revisit this little gem from Liam Finn. He's got the power pop smarts of his dad and the frenetic energy of his uncle (both of Split Enz and Crowded House).

Rabbit Rests

John Updike died today at age 76. The first story we were assigned in EN 101 at GRJC was his "A & P".

"The Cult of the Snuggie"

You know you want one. The Snuggie. Perfect for keeping you warm during any indoor or outdoor activity. Like this one, perhaps:

Meet the new Boss - on Guitar Hero!

Here's the real reason why I'm in such a rush to get the Wii hooked up to the internet: Bruce Springsteen's new CD, Working On A Dream, drops tomorrow, and so will two of his tracks for Guitar Hero. "Born to Run" and "My Lucky Day" will be offered as free downloads for GHWT. If you want to listen before you buy, give it a listen here on NPR. 

A plea for Wii help!

Okay, putting together a run-of-the-mill blog is one thing, but hooking up my Nintendo Wii to the internet is proving to be a challenge. I've got the LAN connector and plenty of ethernet cable, but I'm not making a connection between my router and the Wii. Any ideas? If you have Wii experience, I encourage you to submit your advice in the comments section. 

Best. Inauguration. Photo. Ever.

David Bergman took this gigapan of Barack Obama's inaugural address. Zoom in to the building in the center of the pic, and you'll get a view of sharpshooters keeping watch over the ceremony. Zoom in on the new president, and you can see a certain Supreme Court justice taking what appears to be a snooze mid-speech. Classy.

Extra credit canceled

Darn. I had hoped to see the next speaker in GRCC's Diversity Lecture Series, but I just found out this afternoon that he's had to cancel. Bummer.

This Year's Models

Introducing the designs for this year's APE Language and Literature t-shirts. Coming soon to a Lit Lounge near you!

Slumdog gets 10 Oscar nods!

Yesssss! Slumdog Millionaire received ten Academy Award nominations today, including one for Best Picture. Other top pic nominees include The Reader (loved it), Milk (might see it), Frost/Nixon (will wait for the DVD), and The Curious Case of Forrest Gump - er - Benjamin Button. 

My money's on Danny Boyle and Slumdog Millionaire. 

If you enjoyed the inaugural speech. . .

. . . you should check out the books that molded the mind of our 44th president. Most are available in the Lit Lounge for your borrowing pleasure.

What a day!

My favorite moment of this historic day:

Amen!

A preview of today's historic ceremony

Column of the Day - "Violence At a Price"

From today's WaPo, Mike Wise takes a hard look at the "sanctioned violence" from last night's AFC Championship. The good news is that Willis McGahee will make a complete recovery. The bad news is that, until someone gets seriously injured or killed, the hits will keep on coming. And we're kidding ourselves thinking that high school football won't be affected by this. 

So, if my son's reading this, take note: You're not playing football next year. Stick with the soccer.

Twenty years after the fatwa

Salman Rushdie calls the furor and fatwa surrounding The Satanic Verses his "albatross". Twenty years later, the furor has died down, but the fatwa has never been withdrawn.

First, Circuit City, now this

It's the Gitmo "Everything Must Go" sale!

A letter from their father

Malia and Sasha Obama become the First Daughters this Tuesday, and their dad has written a letter to them (and us) about why he's doing this and what it means for their (and our) future:

I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that's why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation. 

Letterman's "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches"

Twenty-two percent of Americans will miss this:

Today's glutton for punishment

Meet Jim Schwartz, the Lions new head coach. May The Schwartz be with him.

Give Yourself the Obama Treatment

Want the iconic look of the Obama campaign posters designed by Shepard Fairey? Paste magazine (the BEST source for music, movies, books, and anything that truly matters) created Obamicon.Me, where you can upload a pic and get the Obama/Fairey look for yourself. 

Columns of the Week

When my 14-year old reluctant reader calls to tell me about a "cool" article he read, I listen. The boy has good taste, too. For all that's wrong with Detroit (the Lions, the auto industry), there's still something Mitch Albom calls "The Courage of Detroit" - read it here.

In other news, the NY Times added the essay contributions of Bono to its op-ed pages. It's enough to make Bill Kristol seem intelligent. 

Advice for aspiring politicians

It should be obvious by now, but in case you haven't heard, anything you post to your MyFaceTwittBlog can come back to haunt you. Slate.com provides a few tips on how to make your way to Washington without those embarrassing slip ups.

Then again, you could spend most of your life as a professional comedian and still be on the verge of becoming a US Senator. Just ask Al Franken. Better yet, watch Minnesota's future junior senator - tight pants and all - in this clip:

Want to Wead a Wovel?

It's not an Elmer Fudd joke. The wovel - a web-based novel - is the brainchild of the folks at Underland Press, and it combines two old school faves (serial and "choose your own adventure" novels) in one convenient website. Read this weeks installment of Firstworld, by Jemiah Jefferson, here, then vote for what you'd like to see in next week's chapter.

Mashing Up the Top 25 of 2008

From DJ Earworm:

A little podcasting press in The Press

Well, Lit Loungers, looks like we'll need to get our podcasts up and running soon. We've attracted the local media to our little project. Sure would be nice if they'd spell my name right:

News briefs for December 22

LOWELL: Lowell High School English teacher Jeff Larson wants to capitalize on the popularity of iPods, MP3 players and other media devices and develop a podcasting project to help with schoolwork. Larson's plan was one of 18 district projects that will share in $20,523 in grants from the Lowell Education Foundation. The foundation, established in 1995, raised more than $350,000 for projects not funded by the district's operating budget.