Michael Castellon

Peter Daou has posted his take on Stephen Colbert’s performance at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner:

The White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner was televised on C-Span Saturday evening. Featured entertainer Stephen Colbert delivered a biting rebuke of George W. Bush and the lily-livered press corps. He did it to Bush’s face, unflinching and unbowed by the audience’s muted, humorless response. Democratic Underground members commented in real time.
…
Bush’s clownish banter with reporters – which is on constant display during press conferences – stands in such stark contrast to his administration’s destructive policies and to the gravity of the bloodbath in Iraq that it is deeply unsettling to watch. This may be impolitic, but wouldn’t refraining from frat-style horseplay be appropriate for this man? Or at the least, can’t reporters suppress their raucous laughter every time he blurts out another jibe… the way they did when Colbert put them in their place? (more)

In what should prove to be an interesting marketing scheme, McDonald’s is dabbling in including DVD dispensing machines at some locations:

McDonald’s is experimenting with a new venture — movie rentals.

The DVD’s are dispensed from a big red vending machine about the size of a soda machine.

The machines, run by McDonald’s subsidiary Redbox Automated Retail, are being tried in Mickey D’s in six cities in an experiment to see whether they drive more customers into the stores.

Each “Redbox” holds 500 disks and includes a touch screen so customers can pick a movie, and a credit-card reader for paying the $1-a-night fee. They don’t take cash. Customers return the movies at the machine.

McDonald’s came up with the idea in 2003.

Rental chain Movie Gallery is experimenting with DVD rental machines, too, saying the machines will make rental transactions easier for customers and make its stores more efficient. (more

Kids love McDonald’s, and they love movies. They also love machines that dispense stuff. It’s my guess this could be a pretty successful contraption.

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvp.video.google.com%2Fvideodownload%3Fversion%3D0%26secureurl%3DnQAAAAnxe87u7qIoYfvmORfu0VyDOsWt_3y0ZZvyVYXxCSmMZfhzjCrpJB9Y5j8OHf9zVyCzj_5tFxev8126Ua_y18lAbH1CjUgtVbCDEmTBRet4YSWxlwIV8-vhKQuv9Ml0WQ_Kq1fBnElIxarYN2FfeRud1lCAwnXHTzz7HFK_q_JwAE_-aDbMkiaD9PTLH1U6lprBRynS379RN1fu6DFe1u0%26sigh%3DjNhrU-L86zCfrayh5dcu98M61V4%26begin%3D0%26len%3D1785051%26docid%3D3812507039888532441&thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer%3Fapp%3Dvss%26contentid%3D612b193cec89db26%26second%3D5%26itag%3Dw320%26urlcreated%3D1145636992%26sigh%3Dpc_v32i4rC07mIdaJWIk1iBPcBQ&playerId=3812507039888532441

When we were children we sometimes didn’t see how incredibly cool some things are.

Here’s an example from Sesame Street.

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvp.video.google.com%2Fvideodownload%3Fversion%3D0%26secureurl%3DngAAAD6WEJLwkrFDj-DVKJKIAkAx2fROad8ADgKk76LO1w8vQN5wvZUMfsftnBWrDVjEJTaFkM1gq6Z99lWgkwE5ChS3lf-QtCk1KALnUG0rj6GfZlpcSxLHc9guzPfNQ_tcz1qBS-4k_ZuJQh7-4E6bgttda62qTCXaKw5JpFKDtCNGZumxWyqs-FsEwf5afA3y7EdPtwfXHQhMdPlGvaTiU54%26sigh%3DT1QvWulJL_1_Kl4v2vq0oG_ic-Y%26begin%3D0%26len%3D162562%26docid%3D-2780804592573424880&thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer%3Fcontentid%3Dc795be260cf867c9%26second%3D5%26itag%3Dw320%26urlcreated%3D1145407904%26sigh%3D0FkbpinQGlzVP_4QYFEQzrUFTUE&playerId=-2780804592573424880