Star Wars VII

The Force is strong with this merger. Disney announced on Tuesday that it had purchased Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in cash and stock shares. In conjunction with the news, Disney also revealed that plans for a seventh "Star Wars" film, "Star Wars: Episode VII," are in motion with eyes on theatrical release in 2015.

TV shows watched by liberals and conservatives

A new survey reveals political partisans are divided when they reach for the TV remote, too. And not just between Fox News and MSNBC.

Larry the Cable Guy and Jon Stewart appear to split conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats as surely as President Barack Obama's health reform law.

Republicans prefer competitive reality TV and shows about hard work, while Democrats are looking for sarcastic humor and complex characters.

Some seem obvious: Democrats love the Daily Show with Jon Stewart for the biting criticisms of (often Republican) politicians and wry wit that the program dishes out from New York City.

Conservatives list Jon Stewart's program as one of their most hated for his sarcastic commentary and his pretentious media-watching.

Republicans, meanwhile, are drawn to Only in American with Larry the Cable Guy, a show featuring the self-styled plain-talking comedian and his adventures exploring everyday people doing strange jobs across the United States.

To liberals, Larry the Cable Guy is a caricature of a redneck, an anti-intellectual who plays the the lowest grade of humor. They rank his show among the worst on TV.

On the late-night lineup, Republican viewers love Jay Leno, while Democrats split their time between David Letterman, Craig Ferguson and Conan O'Brien.

This was the 2011 survey.

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The 2012 Survey by Experian Simmons rates the shows in these categories: Super Democrats (The Daily Show with Jon Steward), Ultra Conservatives (College Football on ESPN), Mild Republicans (Rules of Engagement), On The Fence Liberals (The Graham Norton Show), Green Traditionalists (Lizard Lick Towing).

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And according to Conservapedia:

The Worst Liberal TV Shows

The Greatest Conservative TV Shows (including Family Ties, The Office, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Cosby Show, Ozzie and Harriet, American Idol, Star Trek, The Waltons, The Lawrence Welk Show, Little House on the Praire, The Bob Newhart Show, Dick Van Dyke Show)

Paul Shaffer leaving Letterman?

He has remained his loyal and steadfast companion over three decades of national TV.

But now it appears that David Letterman’s musical director Paul Shaffer may be about to quit the show - and his $5m a year contract.

The 62-year-old said that 30 years with the talk show host could be enough because he is worn out.

He suggested that the late nights could be getting to him and that he would love to spend his evenings napping rather than on camera.

Were Letterman to lose Shaffer it would mean the end of an era for the two men who have built a close relationship based a strong and enduring loyalty to each other.

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It looks like Paul Shaffer isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

The longtime Late Show bandleader gave an interview to TV Guide Canada over the weekend in which he seemed to suggest he might step down as David Letterman's sidekick once his contract is up in 2014.

"We've been on 30 years so now we've got another two years...I'm going to be certainly ready to lie down after that, take a nap," he said.

However, on Monday, Shaffer was quick to clarify that he didn't mean to imply he was quitting his day, er, night job.

"In an interview with a reporter, I made two unrelated points which, joined together, seem to say something that isn't true," the 62-year-old musical director said in a statement. "It's true that the show was recently extended for two years, and yes, someday when it's all over, I will most likely take a nap. But I hope that day never comes. As long as the show goes on, I will be there for as long as Dave wants me on it."

Cafe Paris (or whatever)

I thought I wrote about it here, but can't find it.

Some years ago, WalMart used to sell this CD called Paris Cafe or French Cafe (or none of the above), that featured accordion music.

I wish I had bought it because it would have been kind of funky to play it for dinner.  But now I can't find it.  And the memorial.

I think it was french accordion music.

Like
La Vie En Rose
or Smoke Get In Your Eyes

Moulin Rouge

or whatever this is

or Enchanted Rendezvous (I don't know the title obviously, the one Paul Shaffer plays when Dave encounters a pretty girl)

or was it Speak Softly Love

or something like that

maybe one day I'll find it.  But I'm getting my fill of accordion music for now..

left-wing (and right-wing) news

There's zillions of right wing news sites on the internet (not even counting FoxNews).  For example, NewsMax which keeps popping up on the sidebars of various web sites.

But to counter that, there's a bunch of left wing news sites too (not even counting MS-NBC).

Here's a couple I came across while googling medicare voucher.  I didn't know they were left-wing at first, but after glancing at their headlines for a split-second...

Think Progress
MediaMatters For America

I don't want to look much further, as it gets too depressing..

And back to Medicare, here's wikipedia on The Path to Prosperity which was the Republican budget proposal for 2012.

dishwashing spirit

I guess it's just me, but when I start up my dishwasher it sounds like the beginning of Spirit In The Sky.

Ohio State marching band takes on video games

They don't call Ohio State's band “The Best Damn Band In The Land” for nothing.

[via blake]

saving water

One bathroom fact you might not be aware of is that the biggest water user in the home is the toilet.  Toilets account for about 30% of an average home's indoor water consumption according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - even more for older toilets.

-- Costco Connection, February 2010

James Bond

The James Bond film franchise turns 50 today, so we're celebrating something called Global James Bond Day. And if you don't, the studio bosses will evaporate the world's oceans with lasers from space.

Really and clearly, Global James Bond Day is all about promoting the 23rd 007 film, which opens next month.

To help you assess the looming threat of Global James Bond Day, we present our list of 22 the previous Bond films, ranked from worst to best.

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I saw Costco was selling the entire James Bond collection in Blu-Ray.  Amazon too.

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The Best of Bond.