From the desk of The Movie Snob:

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (B-). I saw this movie willingly, and even somewhat eagerly, which should help dispel the myth that I am a total snob when it comes to the movies. This lightweight comedy about an early incursion of the women's lib movement into the male precinct of the local newsroom delivered a fair number of laughs. Will Ferrell is San Diego's leading anchorman in the early 1970's, and Christina Applegate is the serious young journalist who wants to be the first female anchor on TV. But in my opinion, the laughs do not come from the plot, which is thin, or even the characters, who do not act in even remotely plausible ways (especially Applegate's character). No, I laughed mostly at the way the film frequently veered into outright absurdity, somewhat in an Airplane! ish sort of way. There are also lots of fun celebrity cameos, one of whom delivers one of the funniest, if darkest, gags in the movie. It's not great cinema, but I thought I got my money's worth.

And a book review...

The Coming Generational Storm: What You Need to Know about America's Economic Future, by Laurence J. Kotlikoff and Scott Burns (MIT 2004). According to these authors, America's economy is heading for disaster, principally because of Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. That's because the US, like every other developed nation in the world, is undergoing a demographic shift unprecedented in world history. Historically, young people have always far outnumbered old people, much less the very old. Our demographics resembled a pyramid, with a big base of young people, gradually tapering off with age. Now, however, the pyramid has been replaced with a virtually straight column, and the numbers of the very old are skyrocketing. Making matters worse, both political parties have been ignoring this fact for about a quarter century, such that the social safety net is about to become unsustainable. When will we start to feel the hit? When the Baby Boomers start retiring, in 2008. The authors propose some serious reforms that they argue will be painful but not crippling, but they have little hope that anybody in government is looking at the "generational accounting" that needs to be happening if our economy is not to flounder in red ink and severe inflation as the 21st century rolls on. They have disappointingly few tips for self-protection if the system is not reformed -- own your own house, so that you won't be crushed by inflating rental prices that eat up your savings, is the only one I can think of. A pretty scary book.