American
Alcohol-related deaths among U.S. students on the rise
Rates of binge drinking and drinking-and-driving also up
U.S. students go bargain shopping at Canuck universities
American media highlights value of our “colleges”
Bora Laskin and the obscurity of the Supreme Court
Court judgments are some of the best literature you’ll find in Canada
Dane Cook Won American Idol?
That guy is everywhere these days.
Animation Wrap-Up
All four of Fox’s animated sitcoms have ended their 2007-8 seasons, and once again, surprisingly, American Dad was the best of the four. I did not like it when it started, and even now it’s hardly on a level with the best episodes of The Simpsons or King of the Hill or even cult flops like The Critic. But it actually has a certain amount of storytelling integrity, which is to say that no matter how ridiculous the stories are, they are structured in a logical and satisfying way, a lot of the humour comes from the characters (especially the nerdy son, Steve) and if the story is built around a political/social issue it will actually address that issue and make it part of the story’s resolution. Simple stuff, but not often found on the other three, longer-running shows. The voice cast has come together very well, too. I suspect that some of the improvement in American Dad is attributable to the addition, a couple of years ago, of showrunner Rich Appel, one of the best showrunners King of the Hill ever had; the fact that Appel will be co-creating the Family Guy spinoff, Cleveland, makes me feel almost optimistic for that show, except that: