Letterman mini top ten - one answer only

Dave, you passed up the free shot at Leno I offered in Letterman Strikes Back, but found your own private revenge by settling with the writers while Leno is stuck struggling with only his own jokes. Smart move, but I guess that means your staff has no
26 Down - Good sign at a motel: vacancy

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Your On - Just Don't Say Anything Funny

Amid Strike, 2 NBC Hosts Will Return to the Air - Conan and Leno promise to return to the air on January 2, without writers if need be. Leaders of the striking writers union acknowledge that it is possible to air an interview show without writers, but warn both hosts that writers are responsible for comedy. Conan and Leno will be shunned as scabs the first time they say anything funny. This may be a problem for Conan. Letterman is trying to sign an interim contract to get his show back on the air with working writers. Both studios and writers will be queasy about a gap in their united fronts - this deal would not normally happen in a bitter strike, but the writer's union may prefer a one-off interim deal with Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company (which also produces Craig Ferguson's show) to the scab alternative offered by Leno and Conan.

Conan - Vixen or Victim

Priest Jailed In Stalking of TV Host - Even the Times could not resist this tabloid dream story. David Ajemian, a priest from Boston, was arrested on Friday while trying to attend a taping of "Late Night with Conan Obrien". The Preying Padre attended Harvard with Conan. On Ajemian's ordination in 2001, the Boston Globe noted that the converted Episcopalian was "turned on to religion" by Felliini's La Dolce Vita. Quite a character, did Satyricon inspire him to stalk Conan? Court papers included a history of menacing, if somewhat obtuse, letters and postcards Ajemian sent to the TV host, including references to the Virginia Tech gunman and the 1957 murder of gangster Frank Costello in the Majestic, the building where Conan now lives. The Diocese of Boston has placed Ajemian on leave. A Diocesan spokesman noted that the Conan situation was regrettable, but cited the improvement in the performance of the Diocese itself, "at least Ajemian is preying on someone his own age."

The story is bare bones so far, an arrest report, court records and some google results, but with strike deprived fans hungry for a Conan fix, it will keep on exploding, in the National Enquirer if not in the Times. Ajemian is the Manhattan bred son of a journalist who worked through a series of jobs (including telemarketing) and tried law school before finding his vocation (as a priest - not a Conan stalker.) This Enquiring mind wants to know:

Was Conan an altar boy?

How well did Ajemian and Conan know each other at Harvard? Is there any possibility that they were roommates briefly until Conan demanded reassignment? Is there any possibility that they were roomates briefly until Ajemian demanded reassignment?

Did Ajemian ever make real time Conan contact with a visit or a call? Was he wearing his clerical collar at the time?

Did Conan respond to any of the communications from the Padre? Are there deleted e-mails that haven't actually been erased from his hard drive?

Did the stalking start shortly after Conan's 2002 marriage? Did Ajemian perform the ceremony? Did he attend disguised as a flower girl?

Is any particular obsessvive trigger apparent in the communications sent by Ajemian? Did the decision by Congress not to push the resolution condemningTurkish genocide against Armenians set him off, or was it Max Weinberg's extended absences?

Does Ajemian have any other stalking victims? Is anyone surprised that Conan and Letterman, but not Craig Ferguson and not Jay Leno, have that stalk me vibe? Does Ajemin have friends in his non-stalking life? Does he know Mrs. David Letterman? Would he like to know Mrs. David Letterman?

As Good As News Readers - do not hesitate to comment with answers (humorous answers and/or answers based on actual knowledge of Ajemian preferred) or questions. Despite the separated at birth pictures, Conan is not related to any As Good As News contributor, don't worry about stepping on any toes.

With the Cinnamon Girl

Scouting -Yawn -Report - Posting late and bleary today as the grind of watching late night tennis is catching up with me. This would be really horrible if As Good As News was a real job. As the US Open reaches the singles semis As Good As News stands by its early predictions. Venus is still outplaying all women, but a rested Svetlana Kuznetsova will emerge from the unsung lower half of the draw to grab the title from the Henin-Williams survivor. Federer remains king, unless the succession of late, late night starts confuses him. Notice how he's starting to look grumpy in the photo from this morning's practice? Maybe he will show up for a Letterman appearance instead of the final, there is no other way this guy will lose. That's our story and we're sticking to it.

Before we move to the headlines - a first from As Good As News, a shameless plug- buy the July 2007 issue of the Comstock Review (a poetry journal) which includes work from Julie Hassett. I have been lucky enough to hear some of her poems. If you were ever married, raised a teenager, lived through the death of a loved one then you will be moved, cry, laugh out loud. $9 per copy, order from:

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Clinton Donor Fails to Appear In Court Again - OK, Times headliners- what are your mysterious rules of capitalization. As Good As News thought the riddle was solved. Capitalize the initial letter of the first word in every headline and the initial letter of every other word except for articles, prepositions and conjunctions. This approach explained every headline I noticed for a few weeks, but the pesky "I" in "In" is now driving me nuts. What possible rule, consistently applied, would capitalize "In" but not "to" in the Clinton Donor headline?

By the way, where are Hsu, Norman? The Chinese garment industry multi-millionaire, peerless Democratic fund raiser, FOB and FOHillary too, and trustee of the New School is on the lam again. Why did he come back to the US from the safety of China after skipping out on his initial conviction? How did he remain unnoticed through years of fame following his return? Why didn't someone put cuffs on him once they realized his identity a few weeks ago? This guy's story is more confusing than the capitalization in his headline.

What Do Young Jobseekers Want (Something Other Than the Job) - For over 65% of young job seekers it's more important to be in the right location than the best possible job. The right location is safe, clean and green - and conducive to a lifestyle the respondent considers desirable. A couple of the top ten cities are places As Good As News would visit only on business, and since we are retired that will not be happening soon, but in general we get the idea. Based on informal observation of my immediate family at least 50% of college students seem to be emphasizing location over job description at this time. The story is oblivious to a critical concern - the Neil Young factor. Especially for grad students and post collegiate workers, taking a job based on the location of your significant other has to be the number one priority for many job seekers. As Good As News is coming to you from the NY area because, today and thirty years ago, I want to live with the cinnamon girl, so I can be happy for the rest of my life.

Department of Just Right - The NY Times story is a rave review of the A.P.C. clothing line with store in SoHo. Post here is about the story title. As Good As News loves the Department of Just Right, sounds like it should be a hip boutique for witches and warlocks in Diagon Alley or maybe the cabinet ministry in charge of law enforecement in Monaco .