Portmanteau Notes (6#) -

I have been mostly away from the computer since the weekend for a variety of reasons: intermittently stormy weather, problems with my aging laptop, and catching up with some home maintenance, among others.

Did you watch Aurelio Zen on PBS? I enjoyed it.

I liked the titles at the beginning, which looked like the designer was inspired by Saul Bass. I thought the story was pretty good and the actor who played the detective was good, but not very convincing as an Italian. On the other hand, I totally bought the actress who played his mother.

I see that it's scheduled to be repeated tonight. And sometimes these PBS detective stories are repeated late at night, too.

I noticed that the prankish hackers have been active in the interim. They hacked a fake story at the UK Sun. I thought those pranksters said they were going to retire and melt back into their crazy message board. I guess they just couldn't resist an encore. Meanwhile, there has been an arrest of a Florida college student in the Tampa area who has been accused of related activities.

A Sun Surprise: Will there be a Murdoch Sun on Sunday?

There already is an unofficial version of it on my nearby newspaper stand, but it is dated for Monday, the next day!

I recently leafed through it rather quickly. The contents were anemic compared to the American National Enquirer.

Anyway, most of the American tabloid press has migrated to TV, where it is presented after the regular evening news. And, apart from the national editions of the NY Post and NY Daily News, the rest of the printed tabloid publications here are weekly, as far as I know.

I don't see how Mr Murdoch is going to make much more of a splash here in that realm. It may also be pertinent that the ABC TV Network seems to be moving more in that direction lately. Do we really need more tabloid press?

Last, but not least: The OSentinel reports that attorney Cheney Mason's wife has been getting harassed with threatening phone calls and fears for her family's safety.

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