A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

REMAINDER BIN: Having returned from an almost entirely pop-cultural free week of vacation to the West Coast followed by a trip on a big boat down to Baja California. A few observations and catch-up:

• This year's "worst movie tagline" competition already has two strong competitors in The Shaggy Dog's "Raise The Woof" and Curious George's "Show Me The Monkey."
• My favorite sight in L.A. may well be the rather bizarre collection of Seward Johnson sculptures on Bill Cosby's lawn, visible from Sunset Blvd.
• Also fun in L.A. was the continuous "winter storm" coverage last weekend, with the "winter storm" amounting to a few rain flurries and some high winds. It's not a "winter storm" unless you've got snow.
• You might have read about the copyright lawsuits against a couple of cruise lines. While the Grease copyright was not infringed on my trip, the copyrights to Chicago and The Wiz certainly were.
• Yes, you should be smart enough to know that The Daily Show is a comedy, not real news, if you're the governor of Illinois.
• While the figure skaters, with their costumes that expose (ideally) exactly the right amount of tootie, get the most attention in the "attractive athletes" competition at these games, I think the U.S. Women's Curling Team (unsuccessful though they have been) might be a dark horse.
• I finally got around to seeing Pride and Prejudice on the plane, and is it just me, or is Keira Knightley nominated for an Oscar far less because her performance was great (though it was certainly fine) and far more because she was playing a beloved literary heroine? I can think of several folks in that allegedly thin category (Joan Allen, Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette) whose performances were richer and more layered than Knightley's "cute, spunky Brit" bit.