Category Archives: Commentary

The Artisan

It’s all too easy to dismiss professional wrestling as a mongrel form of entertainment that achieves neither the excitement of legitimate competition nor the imagination of true performance art. Yet, I’ve always thought those who try to pigeonhole the endeavor … Continue reading

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Gene Cox

Gene Cox began working at Richmond’s WWBT-12 thirty-three years ago.  Today is his last behind the anchor desk. The native Virginian presided over half a lifetime’s worth of news items, big and small, making them all his own.  Especially the … Continue reading

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Palin Strategy Is Nothing New

As we roll towards the 2012 presidential election, Sarah Palin’s “One Nation” bus rolls with us.  The tour speeds through the country like a patriotic bullet through the collective heart of America’s enemies. Palin has been customarily tight-lipped about whether she’s … Continue reading

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Are We Really This Dumb? Yes, We’re Really This Dumb.

Despite my frequent ramblings on what some* might call trivial topics including animal-related magic tricks, obscure (possibly apocryphal) entertainment feuds, or professional wrestling, I’m actually quite attentive to politics and current events.  I’m simply selective.  This is mostly because such … Continue reading

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SitCombat: 5/19/11

Tonight marked the much-ballyhooed season finale of the Office as the Carell-less future of the show looms in the fall. Since the Office is the last of the three “SitCombat” regulars to wrap for the year, this also means that … Continue reading

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Awkward Moments in Entertainment History: Johnny Carson vs. Charlie Callas

UPDATE (1/27/16) – See the end of this post for some important clarification about what we now know is an urban legend! Johnny Carson’s name means little to most people under 30, but, for folks of a certain generation (especially … Continue reading

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SitCombat: 5/12/11

Akin to age-old queries concerning the sound of one hand clapping or a tree falling in a wood devoid of an audience, we now find ourselves faced with an edition of SitCombat without any actual combat. Well, let me re-phrase: … Continue reading

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The Antisocial Network

Gather round, Generation Z, and take heed: There was a time when the internet was still the World Wide Web (or, to some, “America Online”).  Before Youtube, Facebook, Google, and Wikipedia formed the Mount Rushmore of the digital age, we … Continue reading

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SitCombat: 5/5/11

It’s the dawn of an exciting and frightening new era on The Office, as we’re treated to our first post-Michael Scott episode (although, as I said last week, the real test won’t come until the beginning of the 2011-12 season). … Continue reading

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Unfinished Business

Last night provided us with one of those rare glimpses at unfolding history with the full understanding of its significance as it happened.  The gleefulness of some of the responses were mildly troubling to me, as were the quickly-fatigued memes … Continue reading

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