"Jumping the Shark"

I recently heard some folks on the local sports radio station using the term "jumping the shark". I had no idea what they were talking about until I ran across this Slate article pointing me to (what else) www.jumptheshark.com. The premise is that there's some way to tell when a TV series is "over" -- for example, when the show introduces a new kid, when two characters whose romantic tension had driven the show end up getting together. The canonical example is Happy Days, where an episode featured Fonzie jumping a shark on water skis.

This reminds me of a Saturday Night Live ad parody I saw several years ago featuring songs that marked a similar turning point for bands...when they're no longer cool, but have descended into self-parody.

X10

Have you been as annoyed as I have with the many "pop-up" (or lately "pop-under") ads from X10.com? Well, thanks to Plastic for pointing out a way to get rid of them. Click here.

And here's a Slate article on the ads.

Innsbruck Photos

Here are the long-awaited pictures from Innsbruck.

NewsTALK FEEDBACK

My father's comments on James Jeffords and Trent Lott appeared in Friday's Arizona Daily Star (his is the penultimate remark). He says they left out the part about Trent Lott not being able to get elected dogcatcher in Vermont.