members of the common ills know member ruth who files the morning edition report. this afternoon, my cell phone starts buzzing and it's jim of the third estate sunday review. do i have ruth's phone number? why, yes, why? (a palindrome!)
common ills community member isaiah was supposed to be profiled in this sunday's edition of the third estate sunday review. but he was begging off. he would do it if they couldn't fill the slot but he felt this was ruth's week to shine.
jim explained ruth had gotten linked by buzzflash today. isaiah saw that and asked jim if he could fall back a week and if we could let 'ruth shine because this should be her week.' what a sweet guy (and he will be profiled next week for anyone wondering).
so i call up ruth and do the hello-how-are-you dance before getting to the point. ruth quickly agreed and said she was touched by the third estate sunday review's interest and by isaiah's chivalry.
she had already heard about the buzzflash link but hadn't been able to log on because she keeps her grandson and he was already finished with his afternoon nap when the calls started coming in from her family.
i have so much i could say about ruth and about what we talked about but i don't want to spoil the upcoming profile so i'll just say ruth you earned it and everyone is proud of you.
gina and krista were just getting ready to distribute their gina & krista round-robin today when they learned the news and quickly wrote up a nice thing on ruth saluting her. so look for the profile this sunday (ruth will be interviewed saturday afternoon).
i want to quickly highlight some common ills community members. i'd said all week that i'd highlight the third estate sunday review. i did highlight 4 stories but i want to highlight 1 more (if i had the time, i'd highlight more than 1 more).
readers here know that i saw the e-mails sent to c.i. from 'paul' and 'dopey.' before i saw them, i had been read them because c.i. is the supreme 'in fairness' and will always assume the problem is within and not with someone else. so i heard them. then i saw them. and of course they were seen by the third estate sunday review before they wrote their send up of paul and dopey.
it is hilarious and it is true. (and i'm tribeca!) so read the send up and appreciate the kind of crap c.i. had to put up with. and note that c.i. did not work on that entry before 'paul' gets his panties in a wad.
i want to now note blog betty who has posted another entry and seems to be back in the swing of things. it is called 'Thomas Friedman is a one-man Sylvian Learning Institute' and it so funny. i loved picturing friedman in his jelly stained shortie robe zoning out in front of saved by the bell:
As I continued squeezing the prunes, he entertained me with tall tales of a florist downtown that had told him today that he was "the most incredible columnist in the world." Then he told of a baker who informed him that he was "the most incredible columnist in the world." As he was telling me of a cabbie, I interrupted to say, "Let me guess, he said you were the most incredible columnist in the world!"
Thomas Friedman looked so mad and so hurt. But he has worn that shortie robe all morning. Even after his grape jelly slid off his piece of toast while he watched his DVD of That Darn Cat! and I begged him to change it so I could clean the stain before it set.
also returning to the blog world this week was folding star and we really missed you folding star.
there's a lot of misinformation out there about the elections in england including that the country was voting for tony blair. that's not how their system works. if you're confused, get yourself on over to a winding road and read 'A Look at the British Election.' we missed you folding star, welcome back.
and let me close this entry down by noting the best, funniest, critique of elisabeth bumiller, c.i.'s
'Elite Fluff Patrol Squad Leader Elisabeth Bumiller reports for duty.' this is hilarious and you have to read it if you enjoy laughing:
Why this ham-fisted Wallace Boys tale? Maybe Bumillie felt Laura's "funnies" had emasculated her poster boy and his administration?
Maybe she was afraid Condi would pimp slap her?
Who knows why Bumillie ever does what she does? But did the Times really think this action/adventure yarn passed for reporting? Did no one wonder if Bumillie might need to tone it down? (Or is it that when you're the Elite Fluff Patrol squad leader, you don't take orders, you "damn" well give them!)
Purple prose straining for Mike Hammer but, with Bummiler's arrested development, only achieving the level of "young adult reader," this is truly bad "reporting."
If this is what access brings, someone cut her off, she's had more than enough. Can we get a designated driver?
