Fox sinks to a new low with its latest reality dating show, The Littlest Groom, in which dwarf women compete with women of average height for the attentions of a 4'5" bachelor. Surprisingly, the president of US advocacy group The Little People of America supports the show. "Hiding us behind closed doors or in funny costumes will never give us the exposure needed," Matt Roloff said. "My sense is that they probably didn't do anything too derogatory." Dude, it's Fox. It's a network built on the mantra of "hey everyone, look at these crazy freaks." And it's being aired in Febraury, also known as sweeps month. If you really think Fox's interest in the show stems from a genuine desire to celebrate diversity, you need serious help.

Best headstone ever.

David Hasselhoff is claiming partial responsibility for the fall of the Berlin wall and thinks his picture ought to be displayed in the museum at Check-Point Charlie. Yeah, and Saddam Hussein could launch a WMD attack in 45 minutes...

The first corporate casualty of bird flu: KFC in Vietnam switches to all fish. Surprisingly, this would imply that what they usually serve actually is chicken after all. I wonder if they're still serving gravy - it's a little known fact that the base for KFC's gravy is what they like to call "cracklings," also known as the crap that gets scraped out of the bottom of the fryers.

Lesson of the day: if you see a dead whale being hauled on a trailer, don't get too close. I don't think that's quite the "educational purpose" they had in mind for the whale carcass though.

Party at the Vatican! Break-dancers performed for the Pope on Sunday, and it sounds as though he rather enjoyed it. "The 83-year-old pontiff seemed to approve, waving his hand after each dancer completed a move, then applauding for the entire group." Who knew the Pope could dig it.

Rest in peace, Captain Kangaroo. So many TV figures from my childhood are dead now - Mr. Rogers, Mr. Dressup, the Friendly Giant...it's a sad day.

In other sad news, Spalding Gray has been missing for almost two weeks now. By way of tribute, I am re-reading Impossible Vacation. Again. Gray's friend John Perry Barlow wrote a beautiful essay about him last week, entitled Is Spalding Gray Finally Swimming to Cambodia? Let's hope it isn't a eulogy.