I'm glad other people are disgusted with the amount of publicity Paris's court case got. I'm even more disgusted with all the people who said terrible things about her crying. Sure, I love a little gossip (sensationalist gossip, too!) just as much as the next person, but it's frightening to see that real news, things that matter, are half as important as a mysteriously stupid and unproductive star.

And I swear that OJ Simpson is the last person I'd want to quote, but he makes a good point:

"When Paris Hilton was going to jail last week, more people knew about that than knew that we were sending people into space that day. It has replaced what is real news. There was always a place for it, but it was [gossip writer] Rona Barrett. Now it is the equivalent of Edward R. Murrow reporting it today."

Pop culture is depressing. The Gallery of the Absurd, where I got the above picture, is not. It's a site filled with tabloid-inspired pieces of art and they're all very well done and quite often hilare. Some faves (click to enlarge):