popular thinking

THE SATURDAY SURF: Some interesting reads from other pubs...

-- Good luck trying to call iTunes for customer service. I thought it was just my imagination, running away from me. Nope. No number. My problem with iTunes isn't even really a big one -- I'd like to buy me some more Iron & Wine, but iTunes keeps telling me that selection is temporarily unavailable, please try again later. OK. So I have. For a month now. Two e-mails to customer support have yielded no answers or even hints. And there is no number. Timothy Noah at Slate has tried for us, to no avail. The story: Calling iTunes, Part 2, Wherein it is revealed that our quarry is a phantom. (Slate)

-- Bermuda is no longer quite so keen on Bermuda shorts. Who knew? Former island prime minister John Swan talks at length about the changing attitudes toward the British colony's "traditional" attire. I prepped with his son, Nick, and recall a quite memorable spring break on the island with my folks my senior year that included a side trip to the big house, where we watched one of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies on video. Don't get me wrong. That was not the highlight. Many good times, a few odd times, and the chance to watch Princeton get robbed by Georgetown on a small TV from our resort room. The story: Long Story Short (LAT)

-- Kim Dillon pulls a Winona Ryder. No, she's not dating a soon-to-be faded rocker. Rather, the Phoenix TV weatherlady and host got cited for shoplifting clothes at the mall. Not as remarkable as the time Liz Habib, a former Phoenix anchor from the same station, got arrested outside a nightclub and barked at the cops, "Don't you know who I am?" But still amusing. The story: Local TV host cited by police (Arizona Republic)

-- Porn superstar Jenna Jameson buys a strip club in her town (Scottsdale, Ariz.). Did I mention I've had lunch with Jenna, her husband and her ass't? Did I mention that you probably care more about that last item than I do? The story: Porn star buys Babes Cabaret (Arizona Republic)

-- Interesting look behind the scenes of the making and remaking of The 40-Year-Old Virgin, due in a cinema near you next weekend. Would you believe the studio has been screening various versions of this comedy for more than a year? Believe it. The story: Keeping 'Virgin' funny, but with its pants on (LAT)