Surely, We Can't Be Serious

The worst--truly worst--part of the post-Thanksgiving period, though, is not Black Friday. No, far more intolerable is the apparent need for every radio station, regardless of format, to fill large swaths of airtime with Christmas songs. Look, we love Bruce Springsteen, but one can only listen to his version of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" so many times before going on a killing spree. Yes, the Big Man has been good and can expect a new saxophone, already!



In other news, Leslie Nielsen died. Funny to think that, to members of the Solipsist's generation, he is revered as a brilliant (if Canadian) deadpan comic, whereas to our parents' generation, he was a B-movie romantic lead. We recall him hosting "Saturday Night Live" once and poking fun at his career transition. "If I'm in a serious drama, for example, I might say a line like this." He then recited some meaningless piece of dialogue. "If I'm doing a comedy," he continued, "I would say the line like this." He then proceeded to say the line in exactly the same way. Priceless.


F0r Nielsen, life truly began again after the age of 50. There's hope for us all, yet.