Papa Simpson fights back

Ashlee and Jessica’s proud papa, Joe Simpson, has, according to Reuters, made a statement in defense of his younger daughter — get this! — criticizing the media for blowing the lip-sync scandal out of proportion:

“I was definitely surprised by (the reaction) because she didn’t expose a boob, she wasn’t doing drugs, she isn’t anorexic and she didn’t get married in Vegas.”

His next statement (as paraphrased by Reuters) puts the confusion about Ashlee’s intentions on Saturday’s SNL to rest:

He explained that the singer has acid reflux, which affects the vocal cords, and was ordered by her doctor not to sing live that night.

If I were her I’d get a new publicist. And a new face…because she’s ugly.

R.I.P. Ashlee Simpson’s Career

If you watched this weekend’s SNL you were not just treated to Jude Law’s send up of Tony Blair, but also to the end of Ashlee Simpson’s career. The sister of Barbie Doll impersonator Jessica Simpson was busted trying to lip-synch her way — Milli-Vanilli-style — through “Autobiography”, her second musical performance of the night. Her band began playing, and, before she could lift the microphone to her mouth, a voice began singing…something. Obviously flustered, Simpson did a square-dancing crab-walk off the stage and didn’t return. The band played on. The director cut to a commercial. Then we saw a bizarre and wonderful sight: bears acting like people. At the end of the show Simpson blamed her band for playing the wrong song, but more probably someone in the SNL sound booth is getting fired for cuing up a vocal track Simpson was not expecting. We’ll never know whether she planned to lip-synch outright, use a vocal track to boost her live voice — the two most plausible explanations according to the Miami Herald’s David Bauder — or if it was an honest mistake. Bauder’s article reports the official statement on the incident:

[Simpson's] record company, Geffen Records, said there was a computer glitch. Instead of some pretaped electronic percussion, the recording of “Pieces of Me” started mistakenly performing…

Regardless, her unprofessional reaction probably cut her nepotism-fueled celebrity short by at least fourteen minutes.

Chicago Filipino American Film Festival

The Filipino American Network presents the Chicago Filipino American Film Festival this Friday and Saturday at Northside College Prep H.S., 5501 N. Kedzie, Chicago, IL:

“It’s finally here! After two years of planning and
preparation, our inaugural Filipino American Film
Festival arrives next Friday (10/22) and Saturday
(10/23). Join us in celebrating the groundbreaking
works of emerging Filipino American filmmakers, as
well as critically acclaimed films (with subtitles)
from the Philippines.”

Sinclair Retreats on Kerry Film

Yahoo! News reports that top Republican Party contributor Sinclair Broadcasting Company has

Vote Robocratic!

You’ll be glad you did.

Sky Captain and the Black & White World of Tomorrow

I knew I wasn’t crazy: This page confirms that Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was at one point a black & white film. The color was added in post.

Site Upgraded

I upgraded the content management system of the site to the latest version of Movable Type, Version 3.11. It includes great comment spam protection, subcategories, dynamic page generation, and scheduled output. I also switched to a home page that uses 3 iFrames instead of 30 (count ‘em, thirty!) frames. Cheers!

eXsorbeo

Remember playing all your favorite games on the eXsorbeo? It was one of the first handhelds to come out in the early 90s, and the only one with One Eyed Monster War, Pocket Pool AND Tonsil Hockey! Don’t remember it, huh? I don’t blame you. It’s one of what promises to be many pornographic atmospheric elements in the new Grand Theft Auto game: “San Andreas”.

More Iraqis die, world press agrees to disagree

I’m not inclined to believe Cuba’s press coverage of Iraq just because they are also victims of American sanctions and political abuse, but see if you can spot the semantic differences between headlines from the Communist island nation, the UK and the US:

US army massacres over 100 civilians in Iraq

US forces battle for rebel Iraqi town

Soldier Killed in Samarra, Mosque Seized, U.S. Says

I wonder if you were able to match the headline to its country of origin. I bet you were! Good job!! You probably won’t be too shocked that much of the rest of the world described this tragedy in a manner somewhere in between the Cuban and British headlines.