In Beijing the focus has moved from the pool to the track, where Usain Bolt breezed through the 100-meter dash so easily he looked like an Olympian god running against mortals. No doubt he's now the world's fastest human.

Another Olympian who held that title was "Bullet" Bob Hayes, who...

Hey! Guess what everybody? Katy Perry kissed a girl! And we get to hear about it over and over and over again!

Katy Perry's hit "I Kissed A Girl" has a super catchy beat. Every time it comes on the radio I start to tap my toes, then upon...

"I want to see the plan. That is what I used to say to Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. Count me out if it is for violence. Don't expect me to be on the barricades unless it is with flowers."--John Lennon

Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and...

There was a different mood when I walked into the office this morning. Unlike last week when everyone crowded excitedly around the TV to watch the Olympic matches, all were seated, clicking away at their keyboards. The TV wasn't even turned on. It was as if the Games had ended...

Here's an idea for you Internet news hounds: take a break from the Obama VP watch tonight and honor the passing of Isaac Hayes by renting a DVD of the incredible documentary Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story. You will learn some amazing things about American culture and politics, and...

From time to time, Hollywood loves to make movies about itself.

It's a place so insular and self-centered that it's convinced that everyone else on the planet is as enraptured as they are about themselves and the going-ons behind the scenes. That is the central theme behind the new...

I am not a scientist, and I didn't especially like science in school. Something about the Krebs cycle and the free electrons in isotopes (whatever they were) left me cold. I do read a lot of non-fiction, mostly political books, as part of my new "day job" of helping to...

In a truly unexpected turn of events, The CW has decided to not make the premiere of its upcoming drama 90210 available to critics and members of the media prior to its scheduled premiere on September 2.

Is this any way to treat the most buzzed-about new series of the...

Adam Mansbach is a dude of many hats. A hip-hop poet that can recite histories old-school and new without missing a beat, especially in his acid satire Angry Black White Boy. An author who lives in Berkeley, grew up in Boston and can freestyle in Brooklyn without weak...

Okay, writers, how do I frame this fiasco? Is it a provocation, like in Curb Your Enthusiasm, where Larry argues that, when a husband pays for his and Cheryl's dinner, he shouldn't also be required to thank the wife? Is this an "Asking for trouble?" situation?

Or is "one...

On Friday I went to see the men's team epee fencing match at the Olympic Fencing Hall. I didn't know much about fencing but was with a friend who did, making the match quite exciting -- not that I wasn't already thrilled to be at an Olympic event.

The bronze...

On Saturday, August 16 I sat in China's National Stadium for the very first time to watch Jamaica's Usain Bolt literally bolt to the finish line of the 100-meter race, breaking both the Olympic and world records with speed and ease. The fact that Bolt broke a world record

There are a lot of terrific things about southern Louisiana and New Orleans, but the most inspiring is how the good folks there always seem able to get it together, roll up their sleeves and get the job done. Race, color, social...

A bouquet of eulogies for the playwright and actor, George Furth, who died at 75 last week. These titles are simply the way George would surely introduce us to each other, as he couldn't NOT introduce us without a sobriquet of some sort...

Jennie Blackton
Mommy dearest called her...

MTV recently announced that Brody Jenner, the less than entirely convincing Lothario from "The Hills," has scored his own spin-off reality series called "Bro-mance," wherein he searches for a new best friend to replace the hole left in his heart by Spencer Pratt. Given the fact that virtually everyone in...

Toby Keith likes to brag, "This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage." But when my reporting on the pro-lynching lyrics in his song, "Beer For My Horses," began to complicate the promo tour for his forthcoming "Southern comedy" movie of the same title, tough-talking Toby whined...

It struck me last night when NBC swung its camera away from the starting block where Michael Phelps was again about to make history-- and I saw the hundreds of cameras in the press section, all trained on the pool (the new definition of pool coverage). We've been here before....

Frustrating bloggers and reporters who hoped the week's business was done, SAG sent out another weekend evening email an hour or so ago. The previous such email, released about two weeks ago, is discussed here -- and, on a personal note, I managed to beat the MSM with my...