Listen: Kurt Vonnegut died. That sucks. I just wrote about him a few weeks ago.

It's impossible to compare Vonnegut to any other writer. Read one thing he's written, any single one, and you'll want to go out and get your hands on everything else. Perhaps his most famous was Slaughterhouse Five, a war story with the simple twist that its hero, Billy Pilgrim, "has come unstuck in time." Or maybe it was Cat's Cradle and its examination of the fictional religion Bokononism. Breakfast of Champions? Harrison Bergeron? Sirens of Titan, Player Piano? I can't pick a favorite. I may have to go up into my box in the attic and get them all out again.

BoingBoing.net is keeping track of all the tributes that are going up.

Po-tee-wheet?

Trying something different this year. As my birthday approaches, I finally got around to creating an Amazon wish list with some stuff on it. It's over there on the sidebar.

So if anybody reading this is planning on asking what I want for my birthday, there's a good place to start. 🙂 Maybe some random rich stranger who's a big fan of my Dancing with the Stars recaps will send me some toys? Yeah, sure.

Update: Nonono, this is old, you want this week's update!

Short and simple this week, I have very little time for recapping. Once again Sanjaya is not even in the bottom three. This week it's Phil, Chris R and Haley. I guess we don't get to see her legs anymore, Haley is going home.

I don't get annoyed by Sanjaya. I get annoyed by an internet worth of people saying "Hey, you know, I'm not so sure that American Idol is a singing competition anymore, I think it's more of a popularity contest." Ya think? The only time that American Idol was a singing competition was the first season, when nobody really knew what to expect. Ever since then it's been all about getting the fanbase and campaigning bigger than the next guy. The problem is that once it was about picking who you really thought was the best singer (i.e. Ruben versus Clay or Bo versus Carrie), now it's about picking somebody who is a funny choice. Nobody thinks Sanjaya is the best singer, so even though it's their right to vote for whoever they want, it's ultimately ruining the premise of the show. If he does end up winning (which I don't expect will happen), it would basically be the end of whatever credibility the show still has.

More American Idol stories…

Technorati: American Idol

I'd been alerted to this Citigroup news a few weeks ago. A friend of ours from playgroup works for them and was told that although he'd be safe, to prepare for some rough times. I remember when Scudder/DeutscheBank had their layoffs, I was told that I was safe as well. And I was, right up until they turned the lights off. But I eventually lost my job just like everybody else.

Oh, well. I wish him luck. Now I've got to figure out how to get the other 17,000 to BUY MY BOOK! I write from experience :).

No surprises, Leeza got kicked off. Called that one in my sleep. I expect John to go next, and then Clyde. After that it'll get interesting.

Who, exactly, are Big and Rich? Or is it Bigg? I don't really care. Man, I felt like I was losing IQ points just looking at them. Who comes in costume anymore? Which one looked dumber, the guy who looked like a 7yr old who just got a new Black Bart cowboy costume for Christmas, or the one that looked like a well-dressed hobo who just jumped off the freight train? Where was his stick with a hanky tied to it?

The one cool thing of the night was when they did "Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy" which is the song that Cheryl and Drew Lachey won with back in season 2. She even wore the same outfit, and when they were doing the same choreography I pointed this out to Kerry. Sure enough, who shows up? Drew Lachey pops up right in the middle to finish off the dance. Very cool, and not the sort of thing you ever get on American Idol.

It continues to amaze/pain me that they stretch the show out to an hour just for a 30 second payoff. At least there were no psychics this week.