While still puzzled at Chris Berman referring to Retief Goosen as "The Iron Goose"...

I took my niece to see an a.m. version (Hah! My dollar, my rules.) of "Mr. Popper's Penguins". I vaguely remember the children's book as some British business guy ending up with penguins. Written when penguins were not all that popular. But Jim Carrey (has he fallen this far?) takes the lead as a real estate developer. His assistant, Pippi, still uses all words that begin with "p".

Probably the funniest scene (and, believe me, not many to choose from) is when Carrey has to bribe the doorman of his townhouse, so he isn't turned into the board. Angela Lansbury plays the owner of the Tavern on the Green, who will not sell to anyone. Least of all, to Carrey, or so it seems.

Carla Gugino in a pedestrian role as Carrey's ex-wife. Two kids round out Carrey's family. None of them really wanna see Carrey, until the penguins arrive. Bookman from "Seinfeld" plays Carrey's boss.

I will say the overall theme of the penguins presence fueling the family to get back together is so pie-in-the-sky, I hope kids don't fall for that crap. Other than that, an average flick. My niece liked it, hey, she's a kid. I thought maybe 6 on a scale of 1-10, and that's pretty generous. The closing song over the credits? "Ice Ice Baby", silly.

Meal of Links

Catching up with Louis C.K.. "Louie" starts up again this Thursday.

Keith Olbermann returns this week. Have you found Current yet with your remote?

The forgotten treasures of a Gen-X childhood. My favorite? "Halloween Candy Paranoia"!

Clarence Clemons died. Saw him 3 or 4 years ago and he looked bad back then.

The editor of Pollstar says Ticketmaster is not to blame for their fees. It's your favorite artist. Who allows you to blame Ticketmaster. This is what happens when everyone downloads music.

This song is now 25 years old this week...

"Bigmouth Strikes Again"/The Smiths



All the TED talks are here. With descriptions and dates.

Pictures of famous people. With their records. The Brando one kills me.

Exercise Yard

Bruins win the Stanley Cup. And their owner is still a dick.

Visitor

5 Across: Bean counter (10 letters) Answer: Numbers Guy