This AICN review of History of Violence is the best piece I’ve seen on the Cronenberg film yet. And he brings the funny:

Also it’s apparently based on a comic book, so you guys are gonna like it. It is alot like Batman, Snoopy, etc. The one and only problem I had was in the very end (spoiler) when a Top Gun type jet made out of human skin flew down and vomited a bunch of phallises onto Viggo and he moaned in erotic pleasure as some creepy she-males gave him gratuitous reconstructive surgery. But I mean you know how Cronenberg is. He loves that kind of shit.

Layers and layers of funny.

Pardon my huttese, but Holy shit.

No, I’m not going to foist any of my memories on you. But the Wershovenist Pig shares some of his in the course of his long exegesis on the Sears/K-Mart merger. This isn’t indulgence on the part of the Pig, however, it’s anecdotal evidence. If you’ve been listening to Jim Cramer pumping this deal, the Pig’s careful analysis is a tonic–and might save you a few ducats:

Cramer doesn’t talk up SHLD because it’s a wonderful synergy of two dying retailers, K-Mart and Sears. He loves Sears because he want to make sweet sloppy love to Eddie Lampert. Cramer’s hoping he’s found the next Berkshire Hathaway. He’s been trying to convince Mad Money viewers to buy this story, even to go so far as to convince those low on funds to buy a single share of SHLD.

That’s a bit rich to me.

Read the rest and I suspect you’ll be convinced, too.

(I’ll note, for the purposes of disclosure, that many of my childhood memories from SJ track closely with those of the Pig since, basically, we were always hanging out at those malls together.)

In recent comments (here and here) two readers have taken issue with my continuing defense of the Old Media in general and the New Yorker in particular. John Veccione writes:

Your constant plumping for the old media reminds me of those guys who said “with the high quality of today’s buggy whips, the noisy combustion engine will never rise to the use and majesty of old dobbin. In fact, the Old Media may roar around Pangeria making quite a show but there’s a chill in the air and something small, furry and scurrying is eating its eggs!

And then anonymous writes:

What are YOUR fucking suggestions on how to deal with this problem? You sit around and throw shit at the President on issue after issue without ONCE giving a constructive thought or suggestion as to how such a smart guy like you would handle these problems.
I guess when one of your favorite magazines is The New Yorker, your concept of serious critical thinking is fucked.

My first reaction, of course, is that I don’t know what conservatism means, if it isn’t a serious defense of buggy whips.

But kidding aside, I’m quite open to the possibility that Veccione is right and that the New Media will destroy and supplant the Old Media. I’m not convinced that this is going to happen, but it certainly isn’t out of the realm of the possible. My concern has always been, should the New Media supplant the Old Media, would that be good for us? I don’t think so.

Which brings us to Anonymous, who–I hope she doesn’t mind the paraphrasing here–believes that the New Yorker is not a serious home for writing and ideas.

To address both these comments I’d urge readers to dig out a copy of the September 19, 2005 issue and read David Grann’s “The Lost City of Z.” (For reasons that probably have to do with writers’ guild lawsuits, Grann’s pieces aren’t on Nexis or the web.) My words cannot convey what a feat of reporting and writing this piece is.

It is conceivable that the blogosphere will someday produce something approaching the greatness of this Grann story. But I doubt it.

If the Old Media really is going the way of the buggy whip, if “The Lost City of Z” really is going to be replaced by “Heh. Indeed.”, then I think we will all be incomparably poorer for it. Even serious people like Ms. Anonymous.

Now that Patrick Belton has come out of the Skype closet it’s safe for me to do a bit of techno-evangelism. Get Skype. It’s a cross between instant messenger and a telephone intercom and it’s going to destroy the already-maimed traditional telecom companies.

Why Verizon allowed eBay to buy Skype instead of snatching it up for themselves is beyond me.

The New York Times reports that Sen. Biden was torn over his “no” vote on Roberts:

Mr. Biden said he had agonized over his decision, which he called “a very close call, a very close call.” The senator said he had not been persuaded that Judge Roberts was sufficiently committed to rights of privacy, particularly on “right to die” issues.

But I thought the left was worried about abortion? Oh, wait . . .

Galley Friend J.E. notes, “Did I miss something? Has ‘right to die’ replaced ‘reproduction rights’ in the left’s lexicon?”

Eric at Classical Values looks at the recent big-paper layoffs and understands why the old media is good and blog triumphalism is wrong-headed.

Very good stuff; must reading.

In the current issue of Parade, James Brady goes “In Step With” actress/singer/hottie Jennifer Love Hewitt. Some highlights:

Asked to describe her new CBS drama, Ghost Whisperer, Love assures us “It’s touching and effective.”

Brady mentions her movie flop, The Truth About Love, as having done “very well internationally.”

Love, on her shingle, LoveSpell Entertainment: “I like the business side. Now, when I read scripts, it’s really fun, and I pay more attention. It gave me a newfound respect for the writers.” Does this mean she now respects the writers of I Still Know What You Did Last Summer?

Writes Brady: “Jennifer credits CBS topper Les Moonves for getting her involved with Ghost Whisperer. ‘I was at home in jeans with no makeup,’ she said, ‘and his office called. I’ve never been treated with such kindness–like an oldtime movie actress, like royalty.'”

Or like an incredibly hot 26-year-old actress wearing “jeans with no makeup.” (No mention of a shirt, so let’s just assume…)