John Nolte has another insightful commentary on the state of the film and television industries.

Sandra Bullock: Part of a dying breed?

A lot of what I see on Andrew Breitbart's websites annoys me, but I almost always find myself in agreement with John Nolte, the media critic who edits Big Hollywood for Breitbart. And he's got another good piece on what's wrong with big movies and big stars these days, partly written in refutation of a Daily Mirror piece. Click the link to read it.

Big Hollywood -- Death of the Movie Star: Yes, It’s For Real: "The talent is out there. The movie industry just refuses to put it to work."

It's a funny thing about being funny....

With the re-release of ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game of Big Dumb Fighters, I received a pleasant surprise.

Not only have some of you out there purchased the game, but you're playing it. Not only are you playing it, but you're making your own original characters. Some of you have even noticed a "flaw" in the character generation system and taken the time to come to the blog and find my email address and write me. I just want to say thank you playing the game... it's why we make them!

Now, the designers of ROLF! do NOT consider what you've found a flaw; we thought it was funny and knew exactly what we were doing. That said, I acknowledge that our senses of humor aren't universal. Furthermore, I also didn't think the character generation system would be put to much use and that you players out there would be using the pre-generated characters rather than making them from scratch.

At the very least, your feedback is resulting in a couple of sentences worth of "optional character generation rules" in "Icing Otzi: A ROLF! Historical Recreation" (coming later this week) and if enough of you speak up in agreement over the "flaw," then a full-fledged Second Edition will have to be made. (Even if said "Second Edition" results from the addition of maybe ten more words at most... but they're very important words).

What is this "flaw," you ask? Ah, but that would be telling. See if you can suss it out!

The Best of 'Epic Rap Battles of History' Vol. 1

A friend sent me a link to "Hitler vs. Vader" and I was so amused I took at look at the rest. So you don't have to waste the amount of time I did, I hereby offer the best of the "Epic Rap Battles of History." (I can't recommend watching these anywhere someone might take offense to strong language.)

Hitler vs. Vader


Albert Einstein vs. Stephen Hawkings


Sarah Palin vs. Lady Gaga

Tennessee Thursday: Rep. Vince Dean

As of July 1, it is illegal in the "great" state of Tennessee to post things on the Internet and websites that might cause anyone who views the material "emotional distress". Apparently, several of the pinheads who pass for "lawmakers" in Tennessee don't think the United States Constitution and its amendments don't apply to the citizens of Tennessee--not only was this bill drafted, but it passed the legislature AND was signed into law by the governor.

The Tennessee Thursdays series is devoted to the "lawmakers" who drafted this awful law, as well as offering examples of postings that might be illegal in Tennessee.

Postings That May Be Illegal in Tennessee #3:

If you are offended by anything in this post, send an email about it to the subject of today's profile. I'm sure he'll be happy to help you recover from any "emotional distress" I have inflicted upon you.

Tennessee "Lawmaker" Profile #3: Rep. Vince Dean

Vince Dean is a retired police officer who began his political career as a city councilman and then mayor of East Ridge, Tennessee. He is a Republican, who entered state politics in 2005 when he was elected to the seat he currently occupies in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

When not helping to write Unconstitutional dribble, Dean serves on the House State and Local Government Committee, the House Transportation Committee, the House State Government Subcommittee, and the House Public Transportation & Highways Subcommittee.





To read more about evil clowns (and possibly experience more emotional distress, visit the Terror Titans blog.

If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning

The famous Catherine Aird quote is very applicable to this fellow's demise. Somehow, I think he ended up making a very different point than what he was going for.

NY motorcyclist in helmet protest hits head and dies

There are many who may or may not be following in his skid marks, however. Like these braniacs:

Please. Don't be "that guy." I like my motorcycle-riding readers to stay alive. If you don't order a helmet from Amazon.com with the links below, please get one from somewhere.






(For what it's worth, I don't necessarily agree with helmet laws, but there's no question that there are some people so stupid they need to be protected from themselves.)

Repeating My Advice to Public Figures:NEVER Apologize! It Will Not Work.

A couple weeks ago, the not-terribly funny comedian Tracy Morgan came under fire for making some vicious jokes about murdering his son if he turned out to be a homosexual.

Tracy Morgan being unfunny (as usual).

Naturally, the "advocacy groups" and other self-righteous glory-hounds starting howling with mock outrage.

As often happens, Morgan groveled for forgiveness--which got him nothing except being held out to ridicule and abuse by those he whose forgiveness he sought.

Now, Morgan is in the exact same situation again, only this time it's not The Gays that are mad, but the advocates for the Retarded.

Entertainment Weekly: Again? Tracy Morgan Under Fire for ‘Retarded’ Jokes

If there's anything that comedians, actors, performers of every stripe--even politicians--and other people in the public eye can learn from Morgan and others who have been in his situation, it's that it NEVER does you any good to start apologizing for what you say and do when "advocacy groups" start assailing you with faux outrage and indignant histrionics. All that happens is that they and their fellow publicity-seeking parasites--sorry, concerned representatives of community groups and non-profit organizations--will sense weakness and will come after you even harder.

Your best option--ONLY option, really--is to double-down and tell them to go screw themselves. And then make a few more jokes of the stripe that supposedly offended them.

Apologize to your friends and loved ones if you hurt or anger them, but don't EVER let yourself be forced into asking forgiveness from those who are just waiting to pounce on you because the make a living taking offense and your humiliation becomes a line on their resume. Stand up for yourself. Don't let yourself be bullied. It will gain you nothing but more contempt.

Think about it. Is there a single actor or politician who as gained ANYTHING from sucking up to the professionally over-sensitive "activists" who have infested American culture over the past 25 years? I can't think of a single person.

The response any public figure should issue when
those who make a living taking offense demand apologies.

A little something to help you get through the long weekend

Earlier this week, I published my first of several eBooks featuring classic fiction re-edited to a lesser or greater degree by yours truly. I'm leading this new venture of mine with a long-time favorite--John Kendrick Bangs' "Houseboat on the River Styx".

I've performed some editing and abridgments of Bangs' original book and combined it with an edited version of the sequel, "In Pursuit of the Houseboat". I hope my efforts have breathed new life into this neat fantasy classic that has the leading Shades of Hades creating a social club. Arguments about life, the afterlife, and why it's too bad that Noah didn't put dinosaurs on his ark ensue.

For a special sales price of just $1.25, you can get a 94-page pdf-format book with chapter illustrations by famed fantasy artist Larry Elmore and others that you can enjoy on a number of platforms, the iBook in particular.

All of my earnings on the book go to feed my hungry cats, so please buy a copy today! Archie and Edith will be ever so grateful.

(Also, be sure to keep a look-out for the tie-in with my recently released game "Rolf!: The Rollplaying Game of Big Dumb Fighters". It'll present several of the characters from "Houseboat on the Styx" through the prism of "Rolf!", battle ready for your imaginary mayhem enjoyment.)