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Fair and Balanced

Monday, August 12, 2002

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• TITLE: "Fair and Balanced" This is the slogan of the Fox News Channel. It was invented to counter the Washington-based theory that Fox was too conservative in its coverage.

  Several months ago, MSNBC countered with a new slogan of its own: "America's News Channel," and, with the addition of Phil Donahue, has added the phrase "Fiercely Independent" to its line-up of lines.

  CNN doesn't have a slogan of which I'm aware, but I have a suggestion: "CNN - we were here before AOL and we'll be here after AOL."

  Maybe not.

• "... desultory ..." from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged:

  Function: adjective
  Etymology: Latin desultorius, from desultus (past participle of desilire to leap down, from de- + -silire, from salire to leap) + -orius -ory

  1. Lacking steadiness, fixity, regularity, or continuity
  2. Marked by lack of definite plan or method, sustained purpose, or regular persistent logical procedure or continuity : showing unsteadiness, inconsistency, or incoherence

• " � Dan Balz �" Here's the link to the Washington Post piece on the RNC memo.

• " � Mack the Knife �"
  The Bobby Darin version of this song (from the Brecht/Weil musical "Three Penny Opera" was recorded as a track on the album "That's All" and released as a single the next year. It was number one on the Billboard chart for nine weeks and was the only Darin song which ever reached number on.

  The Darin arrangement (by Richard Wess) is a little like Ravel's Bolero, in that it starts out softly and builds to a - as we in show biz like to say - a BIG finish. There are many who believe that if "Mack the Knife" had gone on for one more verse, Darin would have dropped dead of an aneurism right on the recording studio floor.

• "... Hot Diggity ..." Perry Como,
  on the other hand, was noted for his laid back style of singing. "Hot Diggity" was recorded in 1958 and also reached number one on the Billboard chart.

  The song was written by Hoffman and Manning who more or less stole the melody from Alexis Chabrier's "Espa�a Rhapsody for Orchestra."

  Nevertheless here's the chorus and the first stanza.
  They don't write-'em like this anymore:

  Oh, hot diggity, dog ziggity, boom what you do to me
  It's so new to me, what you do to me
  Hot diggity, dog ziggity, boom what you do to me
  When you're holding me tight

  Never dreamed anybody could kiss thattaway
  Bring me bliss thattaway, what a kiss thattaway
  What a wonderful feelin' to feel thattaway
  Tell me where have you been all my life.

• " � Hillary Clinton �" Here's the link to the NY Daily News piece on Hillary Rodham Clinton Rodham's offer to go to Crawford.

• "... Wayback Machine ..." We've discussed the matter of Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman before. They were two recurring characters on the Rocky and Bullwinkle show.
  
  
  World War II Era Gas Ration Stamps

  
  

•     Mullings' Catchy Caption of the Day:
  

  
  Actual Caption: Karen McKenzie, a graduate student majoring in entomology at the University of Florida's College of Agricultural and Life Sciences in Gainesville, holds her hand in a cage full of mosquitoes to determine if they are ready to feed.

  Uh, Karen? Just how do you check, you know, like, if a barbeque is hot enough to cook on?

  (AP Photo/University of Florida,Tara Piasio) ____________________________________________________________________________________