Can You Dig It?

1. Happy Little Bushes

From our, "paint me once, shame on you.. paint me twice... you can't get painted twice!" correspondant...

Jerry Saltz: George W. Bush Is a Good Painter!

• By Jerry Saltz

OMG! Pigs fly. I like something about George W. Bush. A lot. After spending more than a decade having almost physiological-chemical reactions anytime I saw him, getting the heebie-jeebies whenever he spoke — after being sure from the start that he was a Gremlin on the wing of America — I really like the paintings of George W. Bush. A hacker today released what are apparently Bush family photos and three of W's own "in-progress" paintings. They all look finished to me. We knew Winston Churchill was a painter. But George W. Bush?! Our W.! I didn't even think he had an inner life, let alone a muse that called him to art! Gawker calls them "awkward" and "simple." Gawker is wrong — way wrong.


Click the link to read more of his review..but here's the crux of it. Dubya is painting in his spare time.. and they're actually not half bad.. albeit quite weird. See for yourself..

Again, he actually has some talent I dare say.. but, paintings of himself in the tub and shower? Do we really need to see that? Couldn't he release a still life of some fruit on the table or something? I'm going to have nightmares about this one... If these made the cut, which ones didn't, you ask? Fear not.. Funny or Die has the answer.



2. Oscar Buzz

If only the award show itself was this entertaining...




3. Life Is Like A Hurricane

Wow. Never thought I'd be reading an analysis of Ducktales.. but there you have it! (For the record: one of my favorite cartoons growing up. Was all about the disney animated block with that and Gummi Bears, then eventually Tail Spin. Huge fan.)

DuckTales invented a new animated wonderland—that quickly disappeared

by Todd VanDerWerff February 11, 2013

For most of the history of television, the barrier to syndication—and to profitability—has been 100 episodes. The shows that have made it to that mark are an unusual group. Many were big hits. Some found small cult audiences. Still others just hung on as best they could and never posted numbers quite low enough to be canceled. In 100 Episodes, we examine the shows that made it to that number, considering both how they advanced and reflected the medium and what contributed to their popularity.

After taking control of the Walt Disney company in 1984, Michael Eisner and Frank Wells had a simple goal for the company’s animation division: It had to be at the top of every possible medium. While the benefits of that strategy in the company’s film division paid off with movies including The Little Mermaid and Beauty And The Beast, the story of what happened in the company’s television animation division hasn’t gotten as much focus.
Partly, that’s because the strategy Disney pursued ended up being something of a dead end, though it made the corporation a lot of money. Partly, that’s because the style of hand-drawn animation Disney specialized in has become less central to the medium in the last decade. But mostly, the loss of this legacy seems to stem from the company itself, which has moved past that point in its life cycle. For a company as intent on preserving its back catalog as Disney is, it’s surprising how the corporation sometimes seems to have next to no interest in actually exploiting it. That brief foray into television animation was an exception, even though it’s now fallen victim to the rule.
This is too bad. DuckTales, the most successful show of Disney’s short-lived television-animation renaissance—and a show that kicked off a brief interest in syndicated afternoon animation from a host of media companies—has mostly disappeared from the limelight, to the degree that the company released around three-quarters of its episodes on DVD, then simply stopped. What’s fascinating about this is that DuckTales is a vastly entertaining show, with quality traits that go beyond its catchy theme song, and it’s incredibly easy to gobble up episode after episode of the thing. Plenty of cartoons from the ’80s and ’90s fail the nostalgia test, simply falling apart when re-examined through the lens of adulthood. DuckTales isn’t one, and returning to it as an adult reveals that there are hidden pleasures there that go beyond memories of what it was like to watch as a kid. For a show so breathless and action-packed, DuckTales takes its time, and that makes all the difference.

Needless to say, I am now on the hunt for said DVDs...




4. Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates, too..

A friendly reminder from our buddy, Weird Al.



5. Just In Time For Valentine's

This actually fell through the cracks last week, but thanks to our "that's baby making music right there" correspondant..

 

Vladmir Putin Hired Boyz II Men to Sing Until Russians Make More Babies

Kyle Wagner

Vladmir Putin is on a mission to raise Russia's birth rate. Best way to do that? Hire Boyz II Men to croon the babies right into the bellies.

Russia's birth rate has been climbing in recent years, but only after Putin made a hard push to get the motherland knocking boots again. After years of low fertility, which had actually reached crisis status in the country, Putin instituted a cash bonus of about $9,000 for second (and beyond) births in 2007. From 2007 to 2010, that program pushed fertility rates up almost 20 percent.
Boyz II Men, whose 1994 album II sold more than 12 million copies and was probably released in Russia the other day, are melodically responsible for between 15 and 20 million births in the United States over the course of their 20-year careers (estimate may be inexact). So it makes sense that Putin, man of many action hero poses, would enlist them to give the country's baby manufacturing a shot in the arm.
The band's February 6th performance is part of a world tour, but specifically requested by Putin to help with Valentine's Day-related romance. So basically, expect Moscow's population to double some time around the middle of November. [Moscow Times via Telegraph]
Photo credits: Putin - AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Alexei Druzhinin; Boyz II Men - Jemal Countess / Getty Images Entertainment


6. Bad Omen?

Even though Ellsbury seems to think it's a good thing..

And speaking of bad news for the red sox.. looks like ownership isn't selling... or at least, that's what Lucchino is telling Henry..



7. Come Waste Your Time

With the New Yorker..

Dont know why, but I find these awesomely entertaining.. 


  
8. Raising the Spector

Sneak peak at the new HBO bio-pic starring Pacino as Spector.. good job on the make-up/wig at least..

 (click link for trailer)
 

Pullin’ ‘Tubes: The Phil Spector Story on HBO

Written by Jeffrey Greenblatt on 02.11.2013 | Phil Spector, Pullin' Tubes

Long before the Grateful Dead rolled out their monstrous sound system known affectionately as “The Wall Of Sound,” famed record producer Phil Spector was crafting a sound in the recording studio using layers of sounds that became his calling card throughout the 1960′s. Spector originally had aspirations of being a performer, having early success with his band The Teddy Bears, who had a number one hit in 1958 with To Know Him Is To Love Him, which sold over one-million copies. Despite their success, the band broke up the next year, and Spector turned his attention to record producing, apprenticing under the famed songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller at the Brill Building in New York.

9. More Who Talk

This time from Bob Weir & Warren Haynes..




10. Move Over Coffee

There's a new morning drink in town!



11. The Man Who Shot UBL
  
“I killed Osama bin Laden”

Esquire sits down with the man who fired the fatal shots -- and learns the SEALs have abandoned him 

 

Esquire has published a profile of the man who shot Osama bin Laden, though the SEAL is never named in the piece. Author Phil Bronstein notes that he developed a relationship with the shooter, drinking Scotch together, and learning some startling revelations about the day bin Laden died.

 

12. Grammy Wrap

Not sure who won any of the actual awards.. but all of these ladies are winners in my book..

Boobs, Boobs Everywhere: Here Are the People Who Violated the Grammy Wardrobe Rules

Caity Weaver

Last week, CBS emailed all the stars attending the Grammys and asked them to cover their breasts with fabric before they arrived.
The stars, offended that the Grammys had effectively threatened to back off their breasts with a scimitar of modesty, found 80085 ways to rebel.


I think this calls for a round of everyone's favorite game: Name Those Boobs! (Comment below to play)