We learn this from Jon Friedman’s Marketwatch interview with Brian Lamb:

When you ask other network executives to discuss their programming, they’ll invariably point to comedies and dramas. As if to underscore the quirky nature of C-SPAN, Lamb told me: “Our coverage of funerals is popular.”

Popular with the people — but how about the critics?  Alas, yesterday’s Emmy nominations left out C-SPAN’s outstanding achievement in the field of Gerald Ford.

Good Lord! Or, at least Good Google!

Today’s inspiring Scripture, er quote, comes in the Washington Post:

Because Google does not offer earnings guidance, analysts have traditionally underestimated its performance. Sergey Brin, co-founder and president of technology, said it was analysts who were off target this quarter, not Google.

“If the weatherman predicts rain and it ends up being sunny, it’s not that God was wrong,” he said.

Ah, divinely inspired pithy press quotes. Best gospel since John Lennon said of the Beatles: “We’re more popular than Jesus now.”

President Bush in Tennessee today:

We also put incentives in the tax code that said if you purchase equipment — you’re a small business owner and you purchase equipment, like the English muffin rolling deal or whatever you want to call it.

AND

It also means that the English muffin manufacturing company — English muffin machine manufacturing company is more likely to have work.

Political lesson here: When pushing tax cuts, don’t muff the muffin.  They’ll call you a doubting Thomas.

We here in the Ledo Pizza glass-enclosed nerve center of Extreme Mortman let out a hollerin’ whoop of delight when we saw this mention in Daily Kos and Truth and Progress:

‘Extreme Mortman’ (who used to write a funny column for the Hotline a few years back)

The key words being “used to write” funny.  What, no longer?  Ah, the mid to late ’90s.  We were giants in those days.

Let’s see if we can recreate the glory days.  Are we still funny?  An experiment: Does this work?

Knock knock.

Who’s there?

Extreme.

Extreme who?

I mean, I’m so extreme that I just flew in from the mid to late ’90s and boy are my arms tired from the turbulence.

Yup.  We still got it.  Topical as ever.

(note: here’s the actual caption from today’s San Jose Mercury News: “King Abdullah of Jordan gets a hug from Katy’s Place restaurant co-owner Gytha McFarland.” )

An alert reader sends this image from public Washington, DC information:

Our reader writes:

To send folks to do the search themselves: go to www.dc.gov; click on ‘Searchable Databases’ on the left-hand side; click on ‘Search Property Sales’; then under ‘Premise Address’ type ‘Cortland’ in the ’street’ box, ‘pl’ in the ‘thoroughfare’ box, and ‘NW’ in the ‘quadrant’ box. The results provide all property sales on Cortland Place, NW in Washington. Wolfson’s is the result ‘2103-0065′ seven results from the top.

Great nugget in the Washington Post story on the upcoming Democratic YouTube presidential candidate debate:

If the number of views determined the videos asked at the debate, then candidates could study the most-viewed videos and game the system, Bohrman explained. Furthermore, the most-viewed video as of Monday afternoon, he pointed out, asks if Arnold Schwarzenegger is a cyborg.

Of course, for the younger generation schooled less in “Terminator” and more in “Kindergarten Cop,” the most asked question might be whether Arnold Schwarzenegger is a substitute teacher.

Prepping for the all night Iraq debate in the Senate, Harry Reid said, “I personally don’t like pizza, so that won’t be a part of the deal.”

Wrong.  Turns out it was.

ABC News:

More than 30 boxes of Al’s pizza, a local DC purveyor of pies, were wheeled into the Capitol Building just before 6pm

Al’s pizza?  Not Hillary’s pizza.  Not Barack’s pizza.  But Al’s pizza.

Al Gore: He’s everywhere.  Concerts.  Pizza.  C-SPAN 3.

We learn that Madame Tussauds will unveil a wax statue of our beloved Marion Barry, joining Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln.

Wonder if this’ll be Barry’s pose …

First, last week’s trivia answer — ”John Edwards is one of those rare, naturally gifted politicians who doesn’t need a long record of public service to inspire confidence in his abilities” — and the winning question by Brian:

What was the reasoning about the Senator from North Carolina when the Des Moines Register Editorial Board “came to conclude he’s a cut above the others” in 2004?

Click here to read the editorial.

Now, this week’s Extreme Trivia answer: the Senator who has visited the Iraq Area of Responsibilities more than any other member of Congress. What’s the question?