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The Water Cooler

August 24, 2008 - 9:00 pm

Here are some things in news, sports, entertainment and popular culture we've been talking about lately.

• Almost 40 million Americans tune in to watch Michael Phelps win a record eight gold medals in the Beijing Olympics. And consequently miss a killer semifinal between Poland and Bulgaria in the women's freestyle 72 kilogram wrestling. Silly Americans.

• John Mayer says he broke up with Jennifer Aniston because he didn't want to "waste (her) time." Yet, no sympathy at all for wasting our time by making us listen to "Your Body is a Wonderland" in every doctor's waiting room we've been in since 2002.

• Warner Bros. announces that the latest Harry Potter movie's release has been moved from November to summer. Its title: "Harry Potter and the Scary Holiday Box Office Competition."

• A Texas deputy allegedly catches the mythical goat-sucking chupacabra on videotape. An alternative explanation: Life is hard for a poodle on the plains.

• Experts are skeptical about two guys' claims that the 500-pound thing they have in a refrigerator is a Bigfoot. Sometimes our leftovers get a little hairy, too.

What have you been talking about? Let us know (jprzybys@reviewjournal.com).

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