Naguid Mahfouz has died; the Nobel prizewinning author was 94.
Around the time I moved to town, Pittsburgh mayor Bob O'Connor went to the hospital with a sore throat -- and was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. Each phase of his therapy has been documented in detail by local media (he will go home during chemo, wait, he won't); today the hospital announced it will no longer issue updates on his condition. Last we heard, the 61-year old mayor had an infection, seizures, and his condition had been downgraded to "serious."
It's been one year since Katrina; Maud Newton remembers the Mississippi coast and provides some class links.
OK, enough of that, time for some pop culture tawdriness. The best way to watch the William Shatner roast is in the clips on YouTube. (Nimoy is good, Takei works without notes, and Shatner himself does just fine. The comedians spend a little too much time ribbing each other, but are addictive nonethess).