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A spy in Santa Maria, Calif., sends us this photo and the following missive:

This was from a guest book that the proprieters of a Best Value Inn near the Michael Jackson trial in Santa Maria are keeping. MJ signed the inside cover, and they're planning to give it to him when it's over. Because of its low rate and location near the court, a lot of fans from around the world have been staying there, some for months. Most of the messages in the wire-bound notebook are of support for MJ, and of thanks to the owners for running a cheap, homey motel. Matt Taibbi's note is undated, but it's near the beginning of the book, probably close to the beginning of the trial.

In case you can't see it, the entry reads: "This is the lowest moment of my professional life. — Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone."

That would be one view. Another view might be that the lowest point in Taibbi's professional life might be writing half-assed, slapdash column about the Pope that set off a chain reaction that resulted in the loss of several good people's jobs. If we had written that, and then chuckled off all that happened in its aftermath, we might have considered that the lowest point of our professional life. But that's just us.—WL

52 Funny Things About The Upcoming Death Of The Pope [New York Press]