*A BBC News article about the Vatican forgiving John Lennon--sort of--for his infamous comments comparing The Beatles to Jesus. I remember first learning about the brouhaha and marveling that people blew his remarks so far out of proportion. The best thing about the controversy was Lennon's bewildered apology. For some reason, I crack up each time I hear him say that he wasn't "comparing us to Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or whatever it is." Something in the way he says it amuses me because it's clear how stupid he sees the whole thing. Of course, it probably wasn't too funny to him at the time.
*An extraordinary piece by Roger Ebert chronicling his own physical appearance over the years and how he feels about resembling the Phantom of the Opera (his words, not mine).
*A spirited rebuttal to "Heroes" creator Tim Kring's assertion that his show is struggling because of the difficulty of sustaining a serialized drama in today's TV environment. Kring sounds increasingly desperate, like a guy who doesn't really know why his show isn't catching on anymore and is trying to come up with anything to convince people he has an answer.
*An appreciation of recently-deceased comedy writer Irving Brecher at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear. Ivan focuses on Brecher's radio work, but what a career--the Marx Brothers, "Life of Riley," "Meet Me in St. Louis" and on and on.
*Last but not least, Stephen Bowie offers a fascinating take on "The Donna Reed Show" while insulting the views of DVD Talk reviewer Paul Mavis. I think Bowie goes too far with regards to Mavis, but his essay is great reading.
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