Math Bus: Dirty Tax-Doing Girls [Things We Actually Like]

"It's the Math Brothers favorite time of the year. Why? Cuz it's TAX SEASON! Boo Yah. In this special episode the Math Bros cruise around the campus of illustrious Columbia University to find some unsuspecting ladies who will do their taxes." This porn parody is funny until you realize that's because of all the hours you spent getting familiar with Bang Bus.

Guy Liveblogging Clinical Test Of Viagra Knockoff [Sex]

"I am selling my cock to science to pay the rent." Sex blogger Philip Clark writes about taking part in a drug trial. I'm waiting to see "Oh god the pain why did I ever sign up!" [Hot Action]

Why Superman Will Always Suck [Comics]

A point-by-point explanation of why Superman is the worst superhero. It's not just because he's indestructible! Highlights are below. [Bam Kapow]

1. Indestructibility: "We obviously go into most superhero stories more or less positive that the hero won't die, but they still entertain us because the hero doesn't know that."
2. Moral absolutism: "Superman has no values of his own, so he's content to just uphold the values of the ruling class."
3. Truth, justice, and the Kryptonian way: "You could say he's a symbol of 'hope,' but not hope in human nature - hope in an all-powerful alien who saves the world daily so you don't have to get off your butt and act like a moral person."
4. Powers given < powers earned
5. Batman > Superman: "It's five times harder for Batman to do anything which Superman takes for granted on a daily basis, yet he often does it a hell of a lot better."
6. To fix these problems is to turn him into another superhero altogether: "Heck, Superman's arc in Kingdom Come isn't even anything deeper than "America has forgotten me and I them, and we need to restore faith in one another." Wow - real interesting. While you're doing that, Batman will be over in the corner, contemplating suicide.

Jack Shafer Doesn't Want Your Stupid Webby Award Anyway [Slate]

"It's with great shame that I confess that Slate is a nominee" in the Webby Awards, says Jack Shafer, the site's lead destroyer of all fun. He's upset that so many people get to come home with a trophy: 600 winners and over 1100 pre-announced "honorees," out of almost 10,000 contestants who paid $275 or more each to be considered. He estimates the awards show pulls in $2 million (which honestly doesn't sound like that much to me, considering costs). Of course Shafer's hate-on, like any promising Slate piece, has a caveat.

Shafer even promises that if Slate wins a People's Choice award, he'll insult the whole event from the podium. So, er, go vote for him.

Plane Crash Fetishists Reveal Dark Things About All Of Us [YouTube]

A pilot called "Crashman" uploaded his edited, scored videos of plane crashes to YouTube. "I expected to be excoriated by this wider, larger general public as a ghoul, an exploiter of the suffering of others...But, and I had expected this too, neo-Ballardians began to show themselves, finding subtle excitements and even strange beauty in the videos, that uneasy, disquieting splendour inherent in the slow-motion breakup of a speeding aircraft." See six of his videos below. [Ballardian via Boing Boing]

"White Bird"

"Helicopter Opera"

Katie Couric Leaving: Report [Breaking]

After barely 18 months on the job, Katie Couric is reported to be on the verge of leaving CBS. The Evening News anchor is costing her network $15 million per year, and she is likely to exit CBS well before her contract expires in 2011, possibly early next year, the Wall Street Journal is reporting. A parting of ways will mark the embarrassing end to CBS' big bet that viewers wanted to move beyond staid news anchors to sunnier fare, like Couric's fireside interviews and lighthearted banter.

The Journal cited anonymous network executives and sources close to Couric in its report. An CBS spokeswoman denied "plans for any changes regarding Katie," and a spokeswoman for Couric issued a statement that didn't address the matter.

Couric may end up replacing Larry King on CNN, the newspaper speculated:

One possible new job for the Ms. Couric: succeeding Larry King at CNN. Mr. King, who is 74 years old, has a contract with the network into 2009. CNN President Jon Klein, a CBS veteran with close ties to some at the network, has expressed admiration for Ms. Couric's work, and the two are friends. They had lunch in late January, and the anchor attended Mr. Klein's birthday party in March. Time Warner Inc.'s CNN said, "Larry King is a great talent who consistently delivers the highest profile guests, and we have no plans to make a change." Through a publicist, Mr. King declined to comment.

Mr. King's talk-show slot at CNN might be a better fit than evening-newscast anchor for Ms. Couric, who is 51. She made her reputation as a skilled interviewer when she was an anchor at the "Today" show on General Electric Co.'s NBC network.

Ratings for the Evening News have remained mired in third place for the 18 months of Couric's tenure. In fact, after an initial spike, Couric, once known as "America's Sweetheart," has never exceeded the ratings of her predecessor Bob Schieffer, the sort of conventional anchor she was supposed to zoom right past.

[WSJ]

Feds To Your Phone: "WTF BIO-TERROR!" [Publicity Stunts]

The FCC just announced it wants to partner with your mobile phone company to deliver critical text messages in times of emergency, like terror attacks, imminent hurricanes or child abductions. The phone companies are all totally into it. The best part is that, in a basement somewhere, there's going to be some federal bureaucrat guy who actually gets to send these things:

A federal agency, yet to be appointed, would create the messages and information that would go to the participating cell phone companies, the FCC representative said. Once that agency is named, all carriers who opt into the system will have to meet the requirements of the system within 10 months.

May we suggest getting Rosie O'Donnell involved? She knows how to be frugal with the letters.

[CNN]

Overanalyzing the "Bromance" [Trend]

We thought we went over this a few years ago with that New York Times "Man Date" article. But now the Seattle Times has taken it a step further with a trend piece dissecting the bromance - close friendships between hetero dudes.

From "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" to Good Will Hunting, popular culture is filled with examples of straight guy love. The sitcom Friends often crafted jokes around the ultratight nature of Joey and Chandler's relationship, and in the 2005 film Wedding Crashers, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson seemed to have something more like a tortured love affair than a friendship. But close male friendship isn't just a quirky television fantasy or a running gag in the movies. Real-life bromances are everywhere.

According to Peter Nardi, a sociologist at Pitzer College who specializes in male friendships, all these phrases are safer than they used to be because men are less afraid of being perceived as gay. It has become more acceptable for them to show some emotion. Al Gore and Bill Clinton hugged when they won the 1992 election and sports figures cry on camera when they're busted for steroids, Nardi pointed out.

Ivanka Trump At Airport, Has "Rectangularly-Shaped" Bottom [Gawker Stalker]

Emailed stalker sighting: "Just saw Ivanka Trump going through security at LaGuardia. Pretty in person, with perfect skin, she has nice legs but a surprisingly rectangularly-shaped bottom. Traveling with a very inbred English-upper-class-looking public school boy."

Subscribe with an RSS reader Older News Archive Add news to your web site