Phew.

Now that was a tough long weekend. I spent all of the past few days (and I do mean all of the past few days) finishing up the copy for a history textbook website. But it’s done now, so updates should get more frequent around here…

Oompa Loompa Doompadee do.

Tim Burton is tapped for the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remake. I’m not sure if a remake is really necessary, but, if you’re going to do one, I suppose Burton is the man to helm it. And in other directing news, Darren “Requiem for a Dream” Aronofsky wil be helming Lone Wolf and Cub. Does this mean Batman: Year One is dead?

Media Blackout.

The networks stay mum on media consolidation as the Powell FCC prepares to lift cross-ownership caps in local and regional markets. Not surprisingly, it looks like the FCC vote will be party-line, with the three Republicans voting as a bloc to facilitate Rupert Murdoch’s ambitions and enlist free-market ideology in order to kill free-thinking media outlets. We’ll always have the web, I guess.

Camelot Crusade?

Fred Kaplan of Slate reexamines the lingering question of Kennedy and Vietnam in light of Robert Dallek’s new biography.

The Trail at Yale.

Investigators try to ascertain exactly what happened at Yale Law School yesterday. At first I figured it might have been some disgruntled Kaczynski type. But now that it turns out the alleged bomb exploded in a classroom rather than the mailroom, my guess is some bored Elis were testing out their copy of The Anarchist’s Cookbook. Either way, two random classrooms in New Haven seem an unlikely target for Al-Qaeda.

Cash Advance.

As it turns out, Dubya’s profligate ways have forced Congress to increase the federal debt limit (so as to avoid a government default) in the very week they mull over his (now Voinovich-friendly) tax giveaway for the rich. Coincidence? I think not.

Ghan-Buri-Gone.

In LOTR news this morning, the new official magazine offers some moderate spoilers about ROTK and TTT:EE, including what’s in, what’s out, and what Shelob will look like (don’t read if you haven’t read the books.) In related news, was Frodo in fact trying to obtain a PhD?

Gonzo to the Rim.

I weep for Sacramento, but so what? It was like betting on a three-legged horse. Dr. Thompson checks in from the NBA finals.

Dream a (not-so)little Dream.

The largest World Series of Poker in history kicks off in Vegas, which should mean at least two hours of quality television on ESPN2 in a few weeks. No word on whether Bill Bennett is going for it all this year.

We only lock up the bad people.

The Justice Department gives its most detailed accounting yet of how its used its post-9/11 powers in the war on terror, although the vagueness of the report does little to satisfy congressional critics and civil liberties advocates. On a loosely related note, it must be some weird cosmic irony that the spokesperson for the Ashcroft Justice Dept. is named Comstock.