In the news today

I had this post finished and it somehow got lost in cyberspace. So I must type it again. If the original ever shows up, let me know...please!

Congrats to Tubby Smith who was named by the AP as the 2004-2005 SEC Coach of the Year.

This editorial is priceless but in a serious way:

...'Good gravy, get real'
Republicans attempting to dismantle the most successful social program in history...
War in Iraq...
War in Afghanistan...
Huge national debt...
Poverty and poor...
State budget mess...
37th District seating mess...

And your lead story March 7 was about whether the basketball rivalry really makes a difference?

Good gravy, get real. I'm quickly going back to The New York Times.

This and the pop-up ads on your Web site -- sheesh.

JOHN HENDRICK

Ashlee Simpson was reported to have been last seen in Kansas City

Things have changed since then. Simpson has become something of the Martha Stewart of the pop world: a scapegoat who got caught and punished for doing something others have done much more flagrantly.

Monday night Simpson headlined a show that drew about 1,900 fans to Memorial Hall, and the obvious answer to the obvious question is: No, she didn't fake the vocals or anything else (except maybe some enthusiasm for being in Kansas City, Kan.).[...]

Simpson has only one album's worth of material to perform, so her show was short. I'd say it was expectedly short, except that tickets cost around $45 a pop, which usually means you'll get more than an hour's worth of music from the headliner. Not tonight.

My stand-up comedy plus musical comedy routine is easily two hours tops if not more.

Jeff Griggs has a new book out on Del Close. Here's what it's about and what other's are saying:

"As Socrates was to learning, Lenin was to communism, and Al Sloan was to General Motors, so Del Close was the force which impelled Second City and improv to its present standing. Griggs's portrait is touching, funny and captures Del's essence beautifully." - Dan Aykroyd

"Get inside the brain of Del Close and witness the evolution of comedy."- Matt Besser, Upright Citizens Brigade

"Every improviser should read this book. Twice."- Ike Barinholtz, MADtv

A legend of improvisational theater, Del Close is best known for discovering and cultivating the talents of John Belushi, Chris Farley, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, and countless other comedy giants. He was resident director of Chicago's famed Second City and "house metaphysician" for Saturday Night Live, a talent in his own right, and one of the brightest and wackiest theater gurus ever. Jeff Griggs was a student of Close's at the ImprovOlympic in Chicago when he was asked to help the aging mentor (often in ill health) by driving him around the city on his weekly errands. The two developed a volatile friendship that shocked, angered, and amused both of them-and produced this hilarious and ultimately endearing chronicle of Close's last years.

Comedy Love Call benefit

Adam Sandler, Jon Stewart, Conan O'Brien, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and a host of other funny people yukked it up Monday at Comedy Love Call, an autism benefit at the Beacon Theater.

"I just wanted to see Triumph the Insult Comic Dog live," comedian Lewis Black told The Associated Press before the show. "To me, that's like going to heaven. On TV is one thing, but to see him uncensored going off on stuff is a blessing."

Robert Smigel's naughty puppet character from Late Night with Conan O'Brien was certainly uncensored. From inside an on-stage puppet theater, the rubber dog razzed guests and simulated a sexual act with a Sesame Street puppet. Smigel, who son has autism, spearheaded the event.

Comedy Central's The Daily Show correspondent Stephen Colbert kept it clean in a verbal spar with NBC's Dateline host Stone Phillips, each impersonating each other's anchorman shtick by reading fallacious news copy.

"Robert recently said, `Hey, you've become famous enough to be somewhat valuable to the cause. Want to be part of the show?'" Colbert told the AP.[...]

Saturday Night Live cast members Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph vamped it awards-show style as a nonsensical Sharon Stone and a dotty Diana Ross. The duo popped up throughout the night, even appearing with a fan whose mom bid $8,000 for him to participate in the show.

"We're against any -ism," said Poehler as Stone on the evening's raison d'être.