Yes We Can!

Out of everything that's come out of the DNC so far, these guys are by far my favorite. I'm glad someone is finally bringing this issue that I've been bitching about for years to the forefront.

"Bitches get stuff done"

Update: With links!

I was thoroughly psyched for Tina Fey's return to Saturday Night Live as a host tonight to mark the show's first episode since the end of the writers' strike, and she predictably lived up to my expectations. The show was a perfect way to tide Fey fans over until "30 Rock" returns in April. I thought the skits were a bit shaky at times but, you know, the cast and crew are a bit out of practice. The highlights, I thought, were Tina's speech about Hillary Clinton's qualifications ("Bitch is the new black!") during Weekend Update and the hilarious/creepy "I Drink Your Milkshake" parody sketch. The latter, I might add, nicely teased Ellen Page's hosting duties next week, which I'm equally excited for. (Re: Page: If her outfit at the Independent Spirit Awards yesterday didn't settle the "Is she or isn't she?" rumors, I'm not sure what will.)

Also, was it just me or did Amy Poehler look like she could barely conceal her disdain for Mike Huckabee during his cameo on Weekend Update? I have to say, I really admire Huckabee for having the good humor to explore a little humor at his own expense. His awkward exit-cue obliviousness was hilarious. Maybe once he finally drops out of the presidential race, he could find a future in comedy.

"30 Rock" is a microcosm of American politics

At least if you're Mitt Romney.

Romney's gaffe immediately reminded me of the hilarious "Hard Ball" episode of "30 Rock" last season, in which Jenna (Jane Krakowski) mixes up Osama and Obama in a misguided attempt to win back the hearts of American voters ("That's why I'm voting for Osama in 2008! Oh, no comeback? Ya burnt!").

This, after Jenna's faux pas of confusing the troops in Iraq with theatre troupes during a photo shoot for Maxim: "They think what they do is so important. But it's just a bunch of gay guys that like to get in silly costumes and prance around!"

Ah, that show is brilliant. The image of an oil-covered Jenna slipping all over a leather chair while trying to pose with a rubber chicken in her mouth will always bring a smile to my face.

Watch Jenna's blunder here.

I wonder if Tina Fey is Romney's new speechwriter?

"Everybody Sucks"

There's a great piece in the current issue of New York Magazine about Gawker, which is probably my favorite Web site and which I check at least 20 times a day. (I'm also a lowly commenter on the site. When I got approved, it was the highlight of my week).

Author Vanessa Grigoriadis brings up some interesting points about Gawker's form of snark reporting and the role it plays in the modern journalism industry:

"Consider the Gawker mind-fuck at a time of rapid deterioration of our industry: Young print journalists are depressed over the state of the industry and their inability to locate challenging work or a job with health insurance. Although the situation may not be as dire as they might imagine—a healthy magazine is constantly on the hunt for young writers, because it wants the fresh take on the world found only in the young, and because young writers tend to be cheap—they need a release, the daily dose of Schadenfreude offered by Gawker’s gallows humor, its ritualistic flogging of working journalists and relentless cataloguing of the industry’s fall (e.g., items like “New Republic Page Count Watch”). Though reading Gawker subtly reinforces their misery, they generate an emotional bond and soon begin to tip it with their own inside information..."

Anyway, the article is long, but fascinating (at least for nerdy people like me). It's well worth a read for anyone interested in current media.