Joaquin Pheonix, Egyptian Media, &c.

Many of you have asked me to let you know when Jeffrey Goldberg's next column on Cuba is published. It has been published and it can be found here. Of the three columns that he's written about Cuba, this is easily the most forgettable. Don't say I didn't warn you...

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Tonight's the big night on David Letterman's show. I don't make a habit of watching the show, but I absolutely love this clip:




Last year, Joaquin Phoenix was a guest on Letterman and appeared to be completely spaced out. Of course, we learned last week that it was a hoax and he was acting. It was easily the greatest performance of his career. The video I've linked above (unlike Walk the Line) gets better every time you view it. It's also fascinating to watch Letterman try to salvage an interview that is clearly going downhill fast.

Anyway, Joaquin will be back on Letterman tonight for the first time since the hoax has been revealed. Don't say I didn't warn you...

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Ready for the 2nd installment of the Razor's 187 part series, "Fun with Presidential Photographs"? Good.

Egypt's state-run newspaper, Al-Ahram, doctored a photo taken of five heads of state during the recent Middle East peace talks to put Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ahead of the pack, when he was actually the farthest back off to the left.


Original Photo:

Egyptian Version:

Foreign types with their pin-stripes*
say Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh
Walk like an Egyptian

Sorry for the Bangles humor, but there was no way I could complete this piece without a "Walk Like an Egyptian" reference and I thought it best to get it out of the way.

I forgive the Egyptians for moving their guy to the head of the line. It's been a long fall from grace for Egypt. Please try to remember that 4000 years ago, their Pharaoh was a God. It's tough living in a country that has done anything interesting since Ramses II died.

What I'm having a hard time accepting is that they appear to have changed the color of President Obama's tie. I've always thought that Obama looked great in lavender and I salute Michelle for selecting this tie for the peace talks. For the Egyptians to change it to some tannish-grey color is offensive. Offensive not just to the First Lady, but to tie lovers everywhere. I will not sit back and do nothing while this aggression against neck ware goes on (I will sit back and write about it). Perhaps they were disappointed that it was made from silk and not Egyptian Cotton.

Acta est literarius, plaudite!

*The original lyric is: "Foreign types with their hookah pipes " - I changed it to "pin-stripes" to better capture the attire of the attendees. This is my 2nd attempt at (re)writing poetry this week. Hopefully it will go over better than this, which Christena diplomatically told me, sucked...