It is one thing when you find out that one of the idols from your youth has fallen from grace. It is another when one of those guys you were kind of aware of but never really liked one way or another suffers a major setback. Thus was my reaction to the news that Bernie Kosar filed for bankruptcy after being $19 million in debt. We all remember Berine Kosar in that if someone asked you "Hey remember Bernie Kosar?" you would answer yes in much the same way that if someone asked you "Do you remember on Perfect Strangers how Balki and Larry fell for the pair of roommates and how convenient it was that they each fell for only one of the two and, wouldn't you know it, each of those two only fell for the proper member of the Balki and Larry duo?" Meaning that you are answering in the affirimative but it is not a topic that arises in typical day to day conversation.
Incredibly, he owes $1.5 million to the Cleveland Browns. I think I have a good working relationship with my boss but I probably couldn't pull off getting that large of a loan and that is given the fact that I am still providing them with some value. Less surprisingly, he owes his ex-wife Babette $3 million and this should just teach you one thing: Never, under any circumstances, marry a woman named Babette.
Switching gears a bit the events in Iran are fascinating to me as much from a media coverage perspective as anything else. All of the news channels are struggling to show how this is breaking news when they have very little to actually show. Since the Iranian government has cracked down on reporters in Tehran most of the main people are reporting on the events from places like London. But, in a sign as to just how much the world has changed over the past decade or so, the entire world is aware of what is going on due to stories and pictures being posted online. Watch some of the actual footage from the rallies earlier in the week and see how many people in the crowd have digital cameras. This is one of those tipping points in the way people live in that it shows that the ability for the government to squash a major story is becoming nearly impossible. As long as there is a working internet connection someone will figure a way for the story to get out.
Still, you do see the networks trying to figure out how to deal with the fact that the majority of their footage is shaky, hand held images in a foreign language taken from YouTube. Most of the talking heads are pretty oblivious to precisely what is being shown in the videos. I can't blame them, neither can I, but it does make for some strange newscasts. They want to treat this like a 24/7 story but they just can't figure out how.
Last note. Today is the summer solstice and as always I remind people to take to heart the words from The Great Gatsby: we never do anything to celebrate the longest day of the year. So light a candle tonight to make the day last as long as possible. Daisy Buchanon would appreciate your efforts.
Best of 120 Minutes: Going to do something a little different tonight. Here is a video that would be on 120 Minutes if the show still existed in anything close to its normal form. See, there is still wonderful music out there that no one has ever heard of it is just that now while we are able to access it all it is a lot more difficult to be exposed to it.
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