Obit: Mickey Spillane, 88, creator of detective Mike Hammer, hence also the writer of film noir classic, Kiss Me Deadly

No Mickey Spillane, no Quentin Tarantino. Spillane’s writing had an edgy toughness, some might say sadism, that seemed to dovetail with the alternately explosive and nonchalant method acting of Marlon Brando, James Dean, Dennis Hopper, Lee Marvin, and Jack Nicholson to create a new anti-hero archetype. A handful of his novels were made into movies […]

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It’s a series of tubes

Al Gore may have invented it, but it took Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens to explain it to the rest of us. What is this internet thing? Well, apparently it’s a series of tubes. Senator Stevens gave his lucid description during debate on net neutrality legislation recently. Thanks to his insight on a complicated […]

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