TV Shows: 'The patron saint of shark-jumping'

The reasons for a show jumping the shark are categorized as shown above. These come from the original JumpTheShark.com site (now a TV Guide blog).

When I chanced upon JTS years ago, it was hilarious to note this: Ted McGinley is a category by himself! Recall him from 'Revenge of the Nerds' - the leader of the jocks? The patron saint of shark-jumping - apparently, any show experiences a fall in ratings after Ted shows up on it, leading to its eventual cancellation.

Jump the Shark: 'In a television show, to include an over-the-top scene or plot twist that is indicative either of an irreversible decline in the show's quality or of a desperate bid to stem the show's declining ratings. '

Phillies back in the World Series - what 'losingest team in sports'?

Last year's champs are back in the finals with a 10-4 Game 5 thrashing of the Dodgers in the 2009 NLCS. Nice if the Yankees make it too, so we (and Boston) know exactly who to root for.

To think this is also the losingest team in sports for being the first professional club to lose 10000 games. 10000 defeats. Until recently that's what Philadephia baseball was known for.

The MLB has had some recent title holders that until recently were perennial losers. An amazing change in the fortunes of:

• The Boston Red Sox in 2004 (after 1918/86 years) and 2007, with a great record of getting to the playoffs this decade.
• The Chicago White Sox followed suit in 2005 (previous in 1917)
• The Phillies in 2008, soon after taking the 'losingest' label.

All that's needed is for the Cubs to join the party. Is that allowed to happen?

Happy thoughts, instant humor, instant cheer - look these up =)

These work at any time for me:

-Beagle in a Sopwith Camel engaging the Red Baron - like this image at left.

-This fictional list of movies to rent.

- Fox News' coverage of anything, with their priceless (inquiring?/analytical?/concerned?) close-up expressions. (Oddly, as I write, their 'no-bias' reporting is in the news now)

- The Tom and Jerry Mice Follies episode - note Tom's expression at 4:29 as he skates past Jerry and Nibbles.

- Any unintentionally funny Bollywood movie, which means most of them. Watch for absurd factual errors, nonsense based plots like in this one here. A disaster movie or a movie that's a disaster?

- Anyone that discusses or professes any of these - 'color/flower therapy, life coaching, past life regression therapy, pranic dieting, Robin Sharma' - with a straight face.

All smiles already?

Obama's 1-1 win-loss record in a week

El Señor Presidente Obama makes it 1-1 in a week - loses the Olympics bid for Chicago, mais wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

'US President Barack Obama has said he was "surprised and deeply humbled" to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, less than 10 months into his presidency.'

Surprised? I'll say... Nobel prize for the committee's audacity of hope? Come on.

Like someone said, at least Al Gore invented the internet and global warming...jeez.
This should have been considered a few years down; the Nobel prize committee waits years for science nominees' achievements to be validated.

The president may be a beacon of hope, a miracle man that showed up from nowhere, an object of media adulation, someone that's featured on TIME's cover multiple times - but that don't count for a Nobel peace prize, yet.

Add this to the strange choice for peace prize winners list - Arafat won, MK Gandhi did not.

The Curious Case of Bethany Button - meet anyone that knew the secret to eternal youth?

The female Benjamin.
Okay, so how can anyone still be only 2 years older now, than she was at college in '98?

Back in SU, sure, it was common for many new foreign students to feign their ages, like no one one could find out. For what reason, I could not discern. But many did lie away, people (M and F) were 19 for three years in succession.

However, I ran into someone recently that was a couple years ahead of me at Syracuse, and she's still in her early 20s. Time has stood still for a decade. Aging's been arrested. She's now the Curious Case of Bethany Button .

Straight-faced, she declared to a group of acquaintances, that she needed to pay more for auto insurance on account of her 'yoot' , and of course that she hated getting her ID out for nights out, cos 'twas a nuisance to keep getting carded. (What a bother to have the 21+ proof)

She was about to say she'd just stepped out of school when she saw yours truly. And I was good n' gentlemanly. =)