Former White House press secretary Tony Snow died today at the age of 53 after a second fight with cancer:

Snow, who had been undergoing chemotherapy treatments for a recurrence of the disease, left his White House job September 14, 2007, and joined CNN in April as a conservative commentator. […]

In 2007, Chief of Staff Josh Bolten had told senior White House staffers that unless they could commit to staying until Bush leaves office in January 2009, they should leave by Labor Day 2007, so Snow resigned.

In parting comments to reporters at his final White House news conference, Snow said, “I feel great.”

He also called the job “the most fun I’ve ever had.”

Snow said he was leaving the White House position to make more money for his family. His White House salary was $168,000, and he said he had taken out a loan so he could take the job. Snow said he was leaving because the loan money ran out.

As conservative a guy as anyone I’ve ever seen, Snow had a genuineness to him that shown through, even as he repeated the Bush Administration version of the world at press conferences and even as he reported for Fox News Channel.

Its a quality rare in the political world.

Snow always seemed to bring a sense of humor to even the most serious things and he seemed to be liked by most people, regardless of their political persuasion.

I remember watching his press conferences and being entertained by his oratory prowess. While I knew not to believe what he was parroting from the White House, I couldn’t help but appreciate the give-and-take process with the press corp and I couldn’t help but notice his commitment to doing his job to the best of his ability.

Plus, he generally came across as a happy and likeable guy.

Tony Snow was really a lesson in loving what you do. And doing it with a smile. And if you suddenly don’t love it, doing something else that you will love doing.

He was a breath of fresh air in the ordinarily bland and musty political landscape and he will be missed.

Brave New Films just released a new ad in their The Real McCain series, focused on John McCain’s ties to Big Oil:

How a presidential candidate won’t require Big Oil companies to pursue alternative energy plans is beyond me.

You’d think that with the national gas average at $4.07 now, highest than its ever been before, the signal would go out to presidential candidates that something needs to be done. (And I don’t just mean temporarily closing the Strategic Oil Reserve, President Bush!)

The United States needs long-term goals, including alternative energy plans, to be able to combat our energy crisis.

Tiger Woods sunk a putt to force the U.S. Open into overtime Sunday, amazing fans and non-fans alike. Who knew professional golf could be exciting?

This all happened while walking into a Charlie Brown’s with my dad for Father’s Day dinner last night. I’m not usually greeted by 20 people cheering when I walk into a restaurant, so I thought it was weird to hear the collective “YEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAHHHH!” from the people watching Tiger sink the putt at the bar.

Only Tiger Woods, kids, only Tiger Woods.

Many people, myself included, were excited when the 2100-capacity Nokia Theatre Times Square opened in September 2005.

It was exciting to have a new, easily-accessible live music venue open that kept you close to the stage from virtually anywhere in the room.

And having seen several quality acts at Nokia over the past 3 years, including Flogging Molly and Blues Traveler, I can easily say the venue is a fun place to go to catch a show.

Too bad they haven’t booked any top-tier acts there since.

You have to wonder what’s going on behind-the-scenes when a venue backed by live events conglomerate AEG Worldwide, self-described as “one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world” has a summer schedule packed with headlining performers such as Camila, Djavan, Dethklok, Chaka Khan, and Chris Isaak.

Not to disrespect Chris Isaak (whom I happen to respect as a performer) or any of the other musicians playing there as being inconsequential.

But, just who do the booking agents think they’re going to attract with a lackluster lineup that includes only 2 or 3 acts with name recognition?

And don’t tell me its because big name acts don’t play smaller venues. Take a look at Irving Plaza’s upcoming concert schedule and tell me Gnarls Barkley, Rooney, Natasha Bedingfield, and Vanessa Carlton aren’t immediately recognizable to you. Not to mention that most of these shows have sold or will sell out the 1800-capacity space, unlike the current trend at Nokia Times Square.

Maybe the difference is that Live Nation operates their venue booking more aggressively than AEG does. Or perhaps, more seriously, AEG is neglecting it’s NYC operation for its Los Angeles based Nokia Theatre.

All this comes down to one thing: while once a promising and exciting new venue located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, the Nokia Theatre Times Square has lost its luster and become just another high rent-paying wastes of space that teens and 20- and 30- somethings with disposable income to spend will avoid at all costs.

MoveOn.org released this ad (complete with retro TV theme song music!) comparing John McCain with President Bush:

There point is obvious — that many of Sen. McCain’s policies closely follow those of the Bush Administration. MoveOn accomplished that with a little bit of humor.

Too bad the video wasn’t put together better. Showing video of McCain and Bush acting silly and including only one clip of each of them saying the same thing can easily be picked apart by Republicans. There were many other instances of both of them speaking from the same mouth that could have been included.

Maybe the ad isn’t so much an argument for their similarities as it is a way to get people to check out the Bush-McCain Challenge, a quiz where you try to tell the difference between the two Republican politicians.

Street photographer Bruce Gilden shoots up the streets of New York City in a take-no-prisoners fashion.

It’s exactly what I as a “people” photographer have always dreamed of doing, and its a lot of fun to watch:

Gilden gives a lot of interesting insights into why he does what he does, but I wish he threw in an anecdote or two about New Yorkers who tried to punch him in the face.

On the streets of NYC, I’m sure there must have been more than a couple of negative reactions to his style of photography.

[via Thomas Hawk]