I'm not a Clint Eastwood fan, but from what I can deduce from the previews I've seen, his new movie Gran Torino is about him constantly speaking in an over-the-top ridiculously raspy, deep voice and pointing guns at, and perhaps shooting, teenage gang members.  It looks like probably the worst movie ever. #entertainment

Thanks again, Dove.  I like any advice that comes from a candy. #entertainment

Why aren't books rated for content?  The MPAA rates movies.  The RIAA rates music.  The FCC and TV networks rate TV shows.  The ESRB rates video games.  Why are books exempt from this?  Not that I think the world needs more censorship, but it just seems a little unbalanced. #entertainment

What's the deal with Christmas music on the radio?  It either starts the day after Thanksgiving or it's impossible to find.  On Christmas day, I want to be able to turn on the radio and hear Christmas music.  Is that too much to ask?  Why do I need to search through every God-blessed channel, only to come up with three different stations playing the same stupid Bruce Springsteen Christmas song? #entertainment

Sometimes I deliberately play certain video games and read certain books slower than I normally would because I want them to last longer.  The Halo series, Half-Life 2, and more recently, Far Cry Instincts are good examples of this.  I would slowly and deliberately make my way through the game, cautiously checking around corners and looking behind every closed door.  This feeling hasn't happened as much with books, but I definitely enjoyed reading Chuck Liddell's biography and Freakonomics (I have unusual tastes in books), and I wouldn't have minded them lasting longer. #entertainment

The library is the best thing ever.  You can borrow movies, music, video games, and oh yeah, books, which are all bought with your taxes.  If they don't have something you want, you can ask them to get it (they'll usually say yes).  However, the one bad part about the library is that you can only borrow things for a certain amount of time.  And for my local library, anything I borrow through inter-library loan can't be renewed.  So here I am with several video games and books that I can't renew, all due back in the next two or three weeks, which means I'm spending inordinate amounts of time consuming media.  This is the bad part amount borrowing vs. owning:  Not being able to read and play at your own pace. #entertainment

There's a commercial for DirecTV that comes on mostly during football games, featuring the singer Beyonce performing a wonderful rendition of a song called "Let Me Upgrade You," where the main idea is that by upgrading to DirecTV, you can have the privilege of holding large pieces of gold jewelry in your mouth while simultaneously lounging on piles of money.  But I'm a purist; I'll never receive my cable from a magical spaceship in the sky.  So instead of allowing Beyonce to upgrade me, here are some alternatives I'd be willing to discuss: 

1. Let me force-feed you raw oysters stuffed with jalapenos.
2. Let me punch you repeatedly in the kidneys.
3. Let me push you off a cliff where you'll be impaled on sharp rocks.
4. Let me give you a root canal without an anesthetic.
5. Let me chase you on Route 80 with my Hummer.
6. Let me wax your arms and legs ... with duct tape.
7. Let me play my music for you.

(If it's not clear, I'll never be a customer of DirecTV, simply because of this commercial.) #entertainment

I think it's safe to assume that advertising is specifically designed to appeal to certain demographics.  For example, TV commercials during football games all seem to cater to the male 25-45 demographic, which is interested in pickup trucks, fast food, and erectile dysfunction medication.  Similarly, commercials on Spike TV, which is full of ultimate fighting, cartoons, and "man" shows, tend to center more specifically on the male 18-30 demographic, which is more concerned with body sprays, video games, and again, fast food.  Even though demographic-based advertising isn't always entirely accurate, it's usually pretty close. 

So it's weird when advertising doesn't fit the demographic at all.  I don't usually pay conscious attention to these things, but I tend to notice when something isn't right.  Such was the case with a toy commercial on Spike TV.  It wasn't a toy commercial aimed at adults.  It was specifically for kids, showing kids playing with the toy, and showing how cool it was that these kids were playing with this toy.  It was painfully obvious that this commercial was missing the demographic.  It's not even that the demographic is above playing with toys.  It was just the wrong commercial for the demographic. 

I noticed a similar error on the radio during the Opie and Anthony talk show on 92.3 in New York.  It was a commercial for an osteoporosis medication specifically geared towards women.  If any women listen to that radio show, I can guarantee with a high degree of certainty that they're not in the age range that's concerned with osteoporosis.  It's weird to see/hear such a glaring advertising demographic failure, especially on a legitimate media outlet in a legitimate media market. #entertainment

In order for me to feel comfortable reading a book in public or around other people, I need to feel at least a little pride in it.  Such was not the case recently as I read The Fall of Reach, the first book in a series about the video game Halo.  Words can't describe how much of a geek it takes to read a book based on a video game.  Nonetheless I read it, oftentimes in public, while conveniently hiding the cover from onlookers. 

Tables turned recently after I picked up a copy of Freakonomics from the library.  It's a smart person book, so I find myself actually trying to bring to people's attention the fact that I'm reading it.  I walked through a Dunkin Donuts while cradling it in my arm, watching people ogle my smartness.  I bring it into work and don't put it away when people visit my office.  I sometimes leave it in the passenger seat of my car -- cover up, of course -- hoping someone of like mind will join me in a hearty discussion of economics, incentives, and "the hidden side of everything," my knowledge of which amounts to what I could glean from the first hundred or so pages of the book. #entertainment

Have you ever wanted to see a picture of an elephant beating up lions by swinging around a rhino by the tail? 
There you go.  This is why Brevity is a great comic. #entertainment