Morning News - It's All Bill Clinton's Fault

Brett Singer — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:00:00 GMT

One current theme I've heard leaking out of the GOP Hive Mind lately is the idea that the Obama Administration needs to stop blaming the Bush Administration for, well, anything. For example: "I think people will be blaming George Bush until they die. We are almost halfway through the 1st year of Obama’s Presidency and they are still blaming the last administration for EVERYTHING. I think the blaming needs to stop and people need to start taking responsibility for their destinies."

Here's a little item from Business Week about the failures of the auto industry: "The Clinton Administration, as many before it, simply could not figure out how to force the Japanese to open their auto market, so in 1995 after a bout of highly publicized negotiations, it declared victory, even in the obvious face of failure. And the Clinton Administration was also unable to address the absence of a national health-care system. These two failures were huge, seen in retrospect."

So. Let's review. The Obama Administration and/or all Democrats need to stop blaming the Bush Administration because, you know, c'mon. It's been MONTHS since Obama took office. But blaming the Clinton Administration, which has been out of office for NINE YEARS, makes perfect sense. Yes, these articles are from two different sources. But the idea that nothing a former President did has any effect on our current situation is just silly. Thus endeth the opinion portion of Morning News.

Malls are in trouble, and therefore stocks in mall companies may not be a good buy right now, according to the Motley Fool (me, I know nothing about finance). To me, the problem with malls was always the excessive amount of useless stores. "I Can't Believe They Put A Clock In It!" That sort of thing. These are not stores that will survive in weak economic times. OK, that's opinion as well.

Funny item from Buzzfeed -- Ferris Bueller's best friend's house is up for sale. The house, located at 370 Beech Street in Highland Park, Illinois, can be yours for a mere $2,300,000. Four bedrooms, four baths, and the coolest garage ever to appear in a classic 1980's film. ("When Cameron was in Egypt land... Let my Cameron go...")

Dopey iPhone app of the day -- ShakeIt, which attempts to simulate the shaking that people used to do with Polaroids. As a commenter on Wired puts it: "That seems silly. Got any apps to add pops and hisses to my MP3 files?"

And also from Wired, news of a new Wii accessory that will monitor your heart rate while you get your Wii on. The Wii Vitality Sensor attaches to your WiiMote and will do more than just tell you your BPMs, according to Nintendo. “It intends to have you see the information relating to the inner world of your body, achieve greater relaxation." Or it could tell my son that he's waaay too into the game he's playing and needs to take a little break.

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Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to the Gummi Bear Girl?

Jen Chaney — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:58:00 GMT

Twenty-three years ago, she offered a "warm and soft" gummi bear to a defeated high school principal while riding an Illinois school bus in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." As a result, she has been dubbed the "gummi bear girl" -- or as IMDB calls her in a slight improvement, "Girl on Bus." But young actress Polly Noonan went on to do more impressive things than merely offering sweet, squishy candy to older men in John Hughes movies.

Noonan, who now lives in New York City, has remained committed to the craft of acting. Her film credits may be few; most notably, she appeared with Johnny Depp in a little-seen film called "Arizona Dream" and, later, in the Steve Martin film "Novocaine." But Noonan has made a real name for herself in the theater.

She has spent many years appearing in plays written by Sara Ruhl, including "Passion Play" and "Dead Man's Cell Phone," both of which earned her Helen Hayes Award nominations when the productions ran in Washington, D.C. This bio from her stint in Steppenwolf Theatre's production of "Dead Man's Cell Phone" in Chicago lists a number of her other extensive theater credits.

Also, in a fascinating side note, Noonan can be spotted (partially) on the cover of the Lemonheads album "It's a Shame About Ray." Her voice can be heard on the eleventh track of the Lemonheads release that preceded "Ray," "Lovey."

I wasn't able to figure out what exactly she's up to at this moment in time. (She was in a production of "Cell Phone" in Florida earlier this year.) But the fact that she went from wearing ridiculously horrendous Coke bottle specs in "Ferris Bueller" to becoming a serious, working stage actress is enough of a reason to take some time to celebrate what she's accomplished.

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