blog riley

The liberal hand-wringing over Justice O'Connor has been pathetic: her two most important decisions? Bush vs. Gore, followed swiftly by her stepping down, giving Bush a big wet sloppy one. Rumor has it her husband is ill; nobody bothered to track this down, or figure out her true motive, which makes … [Read more...]

LIST UPDATE 2005 SO FAR … [Read more...]

SM: I am scared that Nate is going to hook up with George's daughter on 6FU. Or maybe they are leading me to think that and something worse will happen. Or nothing at all. I love that it's getting unpredicable now. One of my friends is convinced that Billy will kill someone. Maybe Billy and George … [Read more...]

"The last temptation is the greatest treason, To do the right deed for the wrong reason." Palast quotes Eliot to illustrate the uselessness of Miller considering Rove a "source" (from Common Dreams.org). STOOGE STANDS UP IN LEAKY BOAT "Did I talk to him? Rove's hands move my mouth, why would I … [Read more...]

Jimmy and I walked out of the studio agreeing that "Reason to Believe" was more misinterpreted than even"Born in the U.S.A." CALLING ROBERT ALTMAN 500 nude sunbathers (BoingBoing) KARL ROVE ON THE ROPES Nail. The. Bastard. (Yeah right.) IF THIS GUY WERE A LIBERAL HE'D BE HANGED Novak … [Read more...]

Terror. Once again, reality outdoes fiction. More later. For now: Tim Riley will appear on a Springsteen panel for NPR's "On Point" on Friday evening, July 7, at 8pm. Check this list to see if your local station carries this show, or listen live: http://www.onpointradio.org/stations/ … [Read more...]

Don't know what the story is with O'Connor stepping down, but nobody's got it yet. If she really took ROVE and RHENQUIST by surprise, she's even cannier and more venal than her vote for W. suggested. After all, this move is the ULTIMATE swing vote, right? unused radio script for PINK FLOYD (aired … [Read more...]

Time magazine chokes, Iranian President-elect possible hostage-taker, and Brooke Shields goes all FEMINIST on Tom Cruise. Kelly Macdonald saves humanity, a concept the nimble Nighy somehow manages to keep aloft for an hour and forty minutes. In the real world, let's hope Pink Floyd takes the stage … [Read more...]

FAVORITE PIANISTS (recordings) 1. Sergei Rachmaninoff (Chopin) 2. Arthur Rubinstein (Chopin, Brahms) 3. Dinu Lipatti (Chopin) 4. Friedrich Gulda 5. Walter Geiseking (Schubert, Schumann) 6. Geza Anda (Bartok) 7. Wilhelm Kempff (Schubert) 8. Rudolph Serkin (Marlboro, early Beethoven, chamber music, … [Read more...]

Funny, Craig Ferguson said this ("An armed society is a polite society...") on his show last week and I mistook it for a Scot's blandishment on American gun culture. Turns out to be Heinlein? GUILTY PLEASURES 1. Paul McCartney MCCARTNEY (1970) 2. Graham Nash SONGS FOR BEGINNERS (1971) 3. Alice … [Read more...]

DEATH CIRCUS Is Six Feet Under all about unsympathetic characters? Is Claire out of her mind? How unbearable is Ruth--more unbearable than last season? Will Rachel going to jump on her new boss? Will she jump on her new boss's family? Do Keith and David have the healthiest relationship on the show? … [Read more...]

BEAT IT : Michael Moonwalks Boston Herald (previously a winner for HELLFIRE!, after Waco. Why was there so little competition for this?) MUST BE A GOOD SIGNWhen the season-closer of a series makes you feel a sense of loss. THE SHIELD did this, despite the fact that Glenn Close's last scene, fired … [Read more...]

Why did "they" let Harry Shearer's Nixon into heaven? So he could "let off steam?" No, just hoping he and his toady Erlichman would "lose their edge [RA]. Sorta thing. LET US NOW PRAISE Chip Kidd … [Read more...]