Watercooler Sensation

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Bob Novak’s Little Black Corvette

• Conservative columnist Robert Novak hit a pedestrian with his car in downtown Washington DC yesterday.
• Mr. Novak, age 77, sent a 60-year-old man to the hospital after he clipped him with his black Corvette. We repeat: Bob Novak drives a Corvette.
• And the DC newspaper Politico was there. [Politico]
• According to Politico, Novak wasn’t aware he’d plowed into a guy, telling the paper, “I didn’t know I hit him.”
• In fact, he said, he was already a block away from the accident before a cyclist hailed him, saying, “You hit someone!”
• The guy on the bike, David Bono, a partner at Harkins Cunningham, had a slightly different take on the accident.
• As he crossed the intersection of 18th and K, says Bono, a “black Corvette convertible with top closed plowed into the guy. The guy is sort of splayed onto the windshield.”
• Bono then chased Novak down the street and veered his bike in front of the Corvette to block his get-away. Even then, Bono said, Novak “keeps trying to get away. He keeps trying to go.”
• At the end of the day, the pedestrian was taken away in an ambulance, the cops showed up to give Novak a citation for failing to yield, and Novak was able to get back behind the wheel and drive away.
• We love that Politico dragged up a Novak comment from 2001, after he was seen cursing at a pedestrian. “He was crossing on the red light. I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don’t run the country, all I can do is yell at ‘em. The other option is to run ‘em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that.”
• Reporters were on the scene — click here for audio of their interview with Mr. Novak.
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To our knowledge, DC does not have driving age restrictions for the elderly.

Cosbys and Tanners Are A Thing Of The Past

• Do you remember the days of TGIF, where their was two hours worth of good, clean, family fun? [CNN]
• Well, in TV world those days seem to be long over.
• Once the staple of broadcast television, the traditional family sitcom has been relegated of late to cable channels such as TBS.
• And although TBS’s family comedy show “Engvall” averages 2.4 million viewers, these numbers aren’t even close to huge family hits like “Family Matters”, “Roseanne” and “The Cosby Show”.
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• “The family comedy is like that kid in the corner of the quad who’s not the coolest kid, but he’s a good solid kid,” says Michael Wright, senior vice president of content creation for TNT, TBS and TCM. “In this business of what we do, everybody wants to be associated with the thing that’s the hippest and coolest and newest and that’s not a bad thing, but it doesn’t mean that this form is no longer relevant.”
• Experts blame the rise of the Internet and the overall fragmentation of the American family that has undermined traditional family comedies.
• Though the half-hour family comedy hasn’t been put out of its misery entirely—family comedies on now seem to have an adult edge.
• On CBS, for example, “Two and a Half Men” is considered by the network to be a family comedy, yet it seldom deals with kids’ issues, even though a child is one of the main characters.
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• In the meantime, cable is taking full advantage of the broadcast shortfall—“Hannah Montana”, anyone?

Wouldn’t it be great if they made a modern day “Full House"? Plus, the Olsen twins are practically begging for a job.

Hey You! Stop SuperPoking and Go to the Gym!

• Cynical couch potato? An email reminder of your slug-like existence might seem as welcome as spam.
• For the rest of us, quick emails, short phone calls, and other surprisingly simple positive reinforcements might just be the key to a regular exercise regime. [MSNBC]
• One recent study used three groups where the rate of physical activity was approximately two times a week.
• The group who got emails started working out 3.5 times a week, and the group who got emails with pictures of health-looking people exercising started working out more than 4 times a week.
• Their exercise rates began to drop after a month without the reminders, showing that constant reinforcement is important.
• Another study showed that telephone-based coaching doubled the rate of physical activity for pregnant and postpartum women.
• The key finding seems to be that the message needs to be positive. Nagging about exercise or unflattering pictures won’t work as well as having a workout buddy or a regular reminder email.

Going to the gym is more fun with a buddy anyway— so invite a friend and pump the ’80s music.

By the Numbers

Philadelphia Streets Will Swallow You Up

Quite literally this time, sadly. Could it be The Penguin’s revitalized scheme to kidnap and murder every first-born child in Philly City as a twisted act of revenge? It could be, but more likely it is the increasing value of manhole covers, storm drains and street grates on the scrap market due to growing demand for recycled metals in China and India. We tell it by the numbers: [NY Times]

2,500

Manhole covers and grates have disappeared in Philadelphia in the past year.

100

Average annual stolen manhole covers and grates in Philadelphia.

30 ft.

The depth of some manholes in the city.

$300,000

Last count of the cost of replacing missing manhole covers.

300/70,000

Manhole and inlet covers are locked from the inside.

$5-$10

Reward to thieves per wrought-iron inlet cover which cover curbside drains.

40 lb.

Weight of inlet covers.

80 lb.- 160 lb.

Weight of manhole covers.

160

Manhole covers have gone missing in Phoenix this year, up from 10 last year.

80

Manhole covers were stolen in Long Beach, Calif. this year.

28

States have proposed bills increasing penalties for metal theft or requiring metal recyclers to keep better records of customers and transactions.

16

Of these bills have passed.

3

Arrests have been made in Philadelphia in connection with the manhole thefts.

1 ton

Bronze statue of a horse was stolen from the former Garden State Park in NJ, cut into thousands of pieces and sold as scrap to a junkyard for a few thousand dollars.

Celebrities: Unfiltered

“She always used to be very quick-witted; she could get a punchline out quicker than anybody. That’s a rare talent, and she was kind of amazing, and I’m going to miss her terribly.”

—-Producer and writer for “The Golden Girls", Marc Cherry on Estelle Getty [ET Online]

Speed Round

THANK YOU FOR BEIN’ A FRIEND

The Lifetime network will honor actress Estelle Getty, who died this week at age 84, with a “Golden Girls” marathon Friday starting at noon. [TV Week]

WATCH MORE TV

Rumor has it that Luke Russert made such a good impression on viewers after his father’s funeral that NBC may be recruiting him to join them for election coverage. [Page 6]

SEXISM VS. RACISM

“I find myself in the last bastion of male dominance, and realizing what Hillary Clinton might have realized not long ago: Sexism in the American society is more common than racism, and certainly more acceptable or forgivable.” – CBS News anchor Katie Couric, saying it’s not a contest, but if it were, women would lose. [NY Daily News]

WEED DISEASE

“I mean, what’s my illness? I guess I could say I have a terrible case of I-wanna-smoke-weed-all-day” — Seth Rogen, to Elle magazine, on why he’s not getting a medical marijuana card. [NY Post]

CAN’T WAIT FOR THESE HOME MOVIES

“Contractions started kicking in. I sat there with her, right between her legs. We got tribal on it, we danced to it! I was DJ-ing this Brazilian music.” – Shirtless wonder Matthew McConaughey on his girlfriend giving birth to their son, Levi Alves McConaughey on July 7. [HuffPo]

HANG UP

Cancer docs at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute warned staff to limit their exposure to the electromagnetic fields emitted by cell phones due to “possible adverse health effects including cancer.” Their advice: start wearing one of those goofy-looking headsets to keep the phones away from your brain. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

WHINO GETS WAXY

Amy Winehouse’s wax figure was unveiled by her parents at the Madame Tussauds London, with her father calling its likeness “perfection.” [People]

HEATHER NO LONGER ‘LOCKED’ UP

Heather Locklear left an Arizona facility yesterday, where she was receiving treatment for anxiety and depression, People reports. The actress, who checked herself in on June 19, is now home after four weeks and is said to be in good spirits. [MSNBC]

SCANDALICIOUS GOSSIP

CW’s “Gossip Girl” is set to begin their second season on Sept. 1st, with crazy storylines and racy new ads that have parent councils across the country furious. What’s the problem? The cast is basically have sex in the ads. And here’s the twist: The racy ads co-opt language from the very criticism of the show for being too, well, racy. [ABC News]

A-ROD BECOMING A-MOVIE STAR?

Alex Rodriguez may be trying to extend his career past the baseball diamond. The New York Yankees slugger signed another big league contract, joining the William Morris Agency, where many models, actors and singers are also signed. Maybe a duet with Madonna is in the works?[The Insider]

CRUISING TO A NEW MAVERICK

Rumors have been circulating that Top Gun will soon have a sequel made. However, Tom Cruise will not be reprising his role as Maverick, though their may be some type of cameo in the works. Way to have an original idea, Hollywood. [Perez Hilton]

AUDIO: A CONTROVERSIAL VIEW

More controversy on The View when co-host Sherri Shepherd explains her recent comment to a magazine that she’s “had more abortions than she can count.”

DON’T TALK ABOUT BATMAN’S WIFE

What exactly happened in the feud between Christian Bale and his mother that got him arrested? A source close to Bale told the newspaper he “flew off the handle” at his London hotel when his mother, Jenny Bale said “some outrageous things” about her son and his wife. [MSNBC]

20 HOURS

Ever wonder how long you could last on an amusement park ride at the Mall of America? One Minnesota teacher found out, and won a family cruise, $1,000 spending cash and a lifetime pass to Nickelodeon Universe in the process. [CBS]

NOTHING BETTER TO DO

PETA isn’t happy with the newest Batman movie. After all, scenes in the Dark Knight “are totally pushing a negative stereotype about Rottweilers.” Well then. [PETA]

LEGALLY BLONDE

Bailey Hanks, winner of the reality TV show to cast the new Elle Woods, started her Broadway run last night, but that hasn’t stopped her from speculating about her future on Broadway. Her next goal? Wicked’s Glinda. [USAT]

JALEPENOS

Not content to listen to American’s blaming Mexico for the salmonella outbreak, some outraged Mexicans are fighting back. One of them says “Mexico has one of the best cuisines in the world. In the United States they don’t understand, they have hamburgers and hot dogs. That’s not a tradition, that’s just junk,” and continued to say that he will not be giving up jalepenos any time soon. [MSNBC]