Love, Laughter and Truth

I like David Letterman. I first saw his show when I was 11 years old, sleeping over at a friend's house, and it was unlike anything I'd ever seen. He read a list of the top ten excuses for being late (#1: "I'm Batman!") and later went to a supermarket to buy canned hams for everyone in his audience. I didn't quite understand why I thought this stuff was funny, but I did.

Over the years, I've remained a fan of Letterman and tried to catch his show at least a few times a week. Recently, though, I'd internalized some of the arguments against him: he's too old, his show on CBS can't measure up to his days on NBC, he doesn't care anymore, he's got nothing left in the tank but cynicism and bitterness.

Recently, Dave's undergone a bit of a renaissance after a few memorably snarky interviews in which he dressed down a succession of vapid young stars. But even that didn't really prepare me for what he had in store on Friday night. His only interview that night was with Mary Hicks, mother of the late comedian Bill Hicks. Mary was there to talk about her son and his controversial appearance on The Late Show in 1993, a performance which was completely removed from the airing of the show that night.

I'm afraid I'm not very familiar with Hicks's comedy, but this was a pretty heartwarming thing. Certainly the lead-off interview on any late-night talk show is a valuable chunk of airtime, and there is no shortage of actors who would be eager to plug whatever dire January movie they're currently appearing in. Instead, Dave spent two segments chatting with an elderly woman in order to make amends for a 15-year-old incident.



Letterman has a reputation as a cranky old man, but moments like that (and the show devoted to Warren Zevon's final performances) reassure me that the guy's really a big softie.

Sure She Is, Jimmy. Sure She Is.

I don't recall hearing about this unlikely wedding, but if it's on Wikipedia...

Barack O. is President

Some things about today that made me glad:

1. Since the term of the previous president expires at noon, and Barack Obama didn't take the oath of office until a few minutes later, there was a brief time today when the United States didn't have a president. The country didn't immediately descend into anarchy, however.

2. Just after taking the oath, Obama didn't let out a malevolent laugh and declare that he had been a terrorist sleeper agent all along, and that the voters, like fools, had all just played into his hands. That would have been embarrassing.

3. "Former president George W. Bush." "Former vice president Dick Cheney."

Why do I love the internet? Because someone on it made a graph showing how many A's people use when typing the name "Khan," as it is shouted by William Shatner.

Oddly enough, I once thought about putting together a similar chart, but mine would have been devoted to the number of A's in the name "Walt."

Reviewing Unseen Movies

Despite what the titles may lead you to believe...

• My Bloody Valentine 3-D is not a gimmicky concert film of the beloved shoegaze band's recent reunion.
• Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is not about the formation of a mossy fungus on the bottom of a rock.
• Don Cheadle probably does not rescue anybody from genocide in Hotel for Dogs.
  

Hey, remember Natalie Portman's Shaved Head? The writers at The A.V. Club picked them as the worst band name of 2008! And to think I knew about them way back when...

Happy New Year, Everyone

Death Cab for Cutie - The New Year


The Walkmen - In the New Year


The Zombies - This Will Be Our Year