Al Jaffee profiled in the New York Times. He has drawn every Mad Magazine fold-in from the beginning to today; I just assumed some staff artist had assumed responsibility for the feature somewhere along the way. I also must say I felt a bit dense; it never occured to me that the fold-in was a parody of the fold-out features in Playboy et al. For the love of God, check out the interactive gallery of fold-ins which accompany the article. One of those things that reminds you why you got out of bed in the morning; maybe, just maybe, there'd be something beyond awesome on the internet. Or maybe that's just me. Anyways, you can probably guess which two fold-ins are my favorite; but I also enjoyed very much the more somber fold-ins in the "War and the military" category.

Stuff White People Like lands $300,000 book deal. In a related story, somebody at Random House has gone completely apeshit crazy. Hey, Random House, turn this blog into a book. Unlike the White People blog, nobody's already read this one, so it'll be all new content (and I won't even have to do anything).

That said, I will be reading the I Can Has Cheezburger book when it comes out.

Dith Pran, photographer of Killing Fields fame, dead at 65.

Have a history of dubious business deals and a string of angry investors and suspicious prosecutors looking into you? You probably shouldn't appear on "My Super Sweet 16." I remember hearing about this on "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" a few months back.

Anti-emo riots break out in Mexico. So if you visit Mexico, wear your Fall Out Boy t-shirt, and maybe while you're busy being bludgeoned by punks, the drug cartels will not bother to murder you.

Gustavo Arellano of Ask a Mexican fame does see a possible upside: "This teaches the rest of the world that Mexico is not just a bunch of cactuses and sombreros."

Could Al Gore be the next Democratic presidential candidate? If the Democratic leadership is as stupid as they seem, possibly. Seems an ideal way to piss off Obama and Clinton supporters, while subverting the democratic will. Of course, this idea is coming out of Florida, which seems unclear on how this whole "voting" thing works. Of course, it's always someone else's fault, they say (Nader, Buchanan, Howard Dean), but it always just happens to happen in Florida.

Arnold Schwarzenegger fires Clint Eastwood over San Onofre toll road.

Richard Widmark, dead at 93.

XETV channel 6 is out as San Diego's Fox affiliate. And I for one welcome the move. As a small child, I was terrified of the old XETV logo. Apparently it came on one time in the middle of a program due to technical difficulties, and my sister told me it meant I broke the TV (though I contend that, beyond that, the logo itself is creepy--the number six and yellow don't mix). For several years later, the mere site of the icon would cause me to bury my head in a pillow and slowly sob. Even today, I feel a vague unease looking at it.

The sad thing is, I'm totally serious. And, despite a dreadfully poor memory, especially of my early years, I can remember the texture of my grandparent's couch and pillows as my grandparents tried to figure out why the TV commercial made me scream.

Wal-Mart sues brain-damaged woman whose son died in Iraq to recoup their health care costs. Not a surprise, of course, that Wal-Mart is evil. Though I guess a story this pathetic means I'll have to find a new place to get my oil changed.

Clinton "misspoke" about sniper fire. As if there weren't enough reasons not to vote for her, I have to say I am extremely uneasy about voting for any candidate whose concentration in office might be diverted due to what I can only imagine is the immense psychological stress involved in having a public feud with Sinbad.

Dolly Parton's self-released new album goes to #2 on the Billboard charts (article doesn't specify, but I assume they mean Country charts). Good for her. I got the album off Amie Street (it's also on eMusic). I liked it. Pop country, but good pop country. "Backwoods Barbie," the title track, lives up to the tradition of songs like "Coat of Many Colors," in depicting the dreams and reality of Dolly's childhood. Some odd choices of covers, like "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Tracks of My Tears." Didn't care for "Better Get to Livin'" but it sounds like the sort of thing that country radio should dig.

I wonder if its successful because of country radio support, or successful despite the lack thereof. Is radio playing the new album? Anyone know where to check airplay numbers?

UPDATE: Now that I've actually read the article linked to in the article I linked to, I see that "Better Get to Livin'" stalled at #52 on the charts. So I guess there's still no room for a 62-year-old country legend on today's country radio.

Chris Wallace defends Obama, creates awkward moment on Fox and Friends. Can't wait to see Colbert's take on this one; apparently Steve Doocy was hurt by the confrontation, but if Wallace upset brown-haired-guy-who's-not-Steve-Doocy, there could be hell to pay on the Report.

UPDATE: The video is here. Oh, and it looks like Colbert is in reruns this week.

In light of last week's incident at the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Times has a look at other Opera mishaps through the ages.

Paul Scofield, dead at 86.

In landmark speech, Gallant distances himself from Goofus.

Having recently updated the featured comic strip panel on the right side of this page with the recent Gil Thorp basketball orgy, I realized I never linked to This Week in Milford's recent selection of the best and worst Gil Thorp panels of 2007. Of course, you'd have seen this if you'd been following the Gil Thorp web community, as you all should be, and if you haven't, then the glory of Gail Martin, the Rock-and-Roll Carol King, is wasted on you.

Me, I'm still bitter about the results, and that "Lock your eyes on one hole, get set and swing and keep doing it" somehow lost in the wacky-assed quotes division.

Arthur C. Clarke, dead at 90.

Anthony Minghella, dead at 54.

I hope you had a happy Saint Patrick's Day yesterday, and that you didn't receive any inappropriate gifts.