SOMEWHERE, BEN AFFLECK MOURNS: Sure, the real Emmys aren't till next Sunday, but the Creative Arts Emmys were this week, and a few of note:

• Kathryn Joosten (Mrs. Landngham!) picks up her second Emmy for guest actress for Desperate Housewives.
  
• Wade Robson gets an Emmy for his SYTYCD choreography, which I'm sure will trigger some Eeeee!
• "I'm F*****g Matt Damon" is your outstanding song.
• "Eternal Moonshine Of The Simpson Mind" upsets "Family Guy: Blue Harvest" for short animated program.
• John Adams wins almost every award under the sun for technical achievement in movies/mini-series.
• Showtime's This American Life picks up a direction award and a "Nonfiction Series" award (note that this is different from "reality series" and "reality competition series," both of which are their own category).

A TRUE TRIBUTE, TO BE SURE, WOULD BE HEAVILY FOOTNOTED: But for the moment I'm too stunned: the Associated Press is reporting that author David Foster Wallace (Amherst '85) has been found dead in his home. It is being reported as a suicide.

He was -- I can't believe I'm saying "was" -- a fiction writer with a journalist's attention to detail, a sprawling mind willing to explore the full potential of the page. Infinite Jest remains the heaviest piece of fiction I've ever finished, and I'm just gobsmacked right now. Go ahead, read his essay for Harper's about his seven-night cruise, his August 2004 piece for Gourmet on the morality of eating lobster (PDF), or this piece on the sport he played and loved, "Roger Federer As Religious Experience". What a shame.

THE DANGERS OF LONG-LEAD REPORTING: Two pertinent examples from an NYT Play Magazine piece in running quarterbacks:

It wasn’t until the third round that a truly mobile quarterback was picked, when the New England Patriots selected Kevin O’Connell of San Diego State; considering the durability of Tom Brady, the man he will be groomed to replace, O’Connell’s running is likely to be in place and on the sideline for the next few years....

Even if Troy Aikman — a virtual statue behind his line — suffered a similar number of concussions as Steve Young, and even if the Cincinnati Bengals' quarterback Carson Palmer blew out a knee in the pocket while Vince Young's only professional injury so far, a strained quadriceps muscle, was a non-contact injury, the league-wide consensus is that giving free rein to a quarterback is too risky.

The latter one, at least, merited an online excision and correction: "An earlier version of this article gave outdated information on Vince Young. After the article was published, Young injured his knee and will be out two to four weeks." Why not do something about the first one as well?

[Side warning for all FFL owners: BAL-HOU postponed until November. Realistically, and given recent news, was anyone starting anyone in that game other than Andre Johnson and the Ravens defense?]

[Speaking of injuries: the fever went from 103 to 99 in less than 24 hours, and I'm more-or-less fine now. God bless the three-day azithromycin prescription.]

CARRY ON: When Jennifer Lopez had to drop out of her guest judge job for the Project Runway finale, it was a make it work moment. And make it work the producers did--replacing J.Lo will be Tim Gunn, acting, for the first time, as a judge. (And apparently, all six remaining contestants did show.)

THE GOLDEN ROAD: So, for the first time in I can't even remember how long, I'm staying home from work today because of a variety of ailments, starting with a 102 fever and ending ... well, let's just stop there.

I used to love sick days as a kid growing up for one reason: The Price Is Right, one of the favorites of everyone here. (See, e.g., Isaac's "Price is Right game or deviant (apocryphal) sexual practice?" challenge.) So while I'm on the couch ailing, how about telling us a story from your sick days growing up?

GRANTED, SOME MIGHT ACCUSE ME OF BIAS IN FAVOR OF FILMS SCRIPTED BY SUSANNAH GRANT ADAPTING WORKS BY FORMER PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER REPORTERS: The first trailer for The Soloist, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, is now online. Now-LA Times columnist Steve Lopez's stunning original columns about homeless violin prodigy Nathaniel Ayers are all here, and when I say "well worth your time," I truly mean it.

JACKIE CLUTCHES HER PILLBOX HAT CRYING "WHY?" "WHY?": In a slight departure from our normal pop cultural blogging, I want to note (via BoingBoing) that Tonya Harding shot JFK.

N.B.: Edited link to take you directly to the Tonya Harding article. Lots of other odd stuff on that site.