April 2011
From The Inbox
New Meetup Group: Married Couples Club
Me and my wife were just saying the other day that it is hard to find good people that are married to hang out with. We have the typical people you work with friends but what about local friends. This group is designed to connect those couples with other couples who have similar interest. So if you want to have an occasional spades game, domino match, movie night, barbecue, parents night out or just… [read more]
I don’t think I’ll be reading more. I’ve heard about these people! I’m keepin my clothes on!
From The Inbox
“Looking for a house on a big property with a pool. Have any friends or business contacts that would want to host a vodka-induced, bikini-clad, celeb-fest?”
If I did, I wouldn’t be checking my email.
ICE-T,
Michael Orell, AND
Peter Vidani HAVE STARTED A
gentleman’s steampunk home recipe SITE CALLED
IN WHICH WE
Joseph Gordon-Levitt,
Anthony DeRosa, AND
Someone from the WordPress core team HAVE STARTED A
hipster bicycling lifestyle SITE CALLED
HIGH GEAR RATIO
Oh, I get it, it’s a meme! Okay, so let me try to create one:
Aziz Anzari,
Nick Douglas, AND
Someone who knows CSS and takes UCB classes HAVE STARTED A
mobile chatlogging humorfood site SITE CALLED
Holler At Ya!NOM SOCIETYSig-huh. Never let BrianVan get there first.
Blakeley pre-weight-loss in a tube top already has dibs on NOMSOCIETY
Oh, I get it, it’s a meme! Okay, so let me try to create one:
Aziz Anzari,
Nick Douglas, AND
Someone who knows CSS and takes UCB classes HAVE STARTED A
mobile chatlogging humor SITE CALLED
Holler At Ya!
Burying the Lede
Guess the news of Choire writing for MAXIM didn’t quite merit a gala announcement.
[DRUDGE SIREN FESTOONED WITH SHELL NECKLACE AND AXE BODY SPRAY DOT GIF]
Waiting for Peter Feld to make the obligatory “Flower Girl is the new Andrew Giuliani” joke, as if anyone in the room was alive when that happened.
You should check out Alan Sepinwall’s thoughts about Michael’s evolution over time. hitfix.com/blogs/w…
It’s true that the Scott character had to evolve past the Brent archetype because someone like Brent wouldn’t have entertained the audience. And so the character’s bumbling nature comes from different causes.
Even so, the show’s characters maintain revolting and, often, despicable characteristics. They are not COMPLETELY lacking warmth, but even the warm moments are executed clumsily. Yet the show has a bad sweeps-week habit of making all the characters fall in-line for polished, collective moments of affection and bonding as if they were suddenly a Mormon drama club. I mean, is Toby going to sing Michael a goodbye carol tonight? I hope not. I hope their last scene together is a fight in the parking lot - if only to show a glimpse of the integrity these characters (and the show writers) have.
I don’t think Sepinwall and I necessarily disagree on any of this. He may have less of a problem with a transition-to-redemption that I do, but I think we both acknowledge that the character has moved in that direction. I just don’t think the show itself has.
By the way, HitFix needs to pass around the change cup or whatever it takes to get those server latency issues addressed. Pages don’t even start loading for 15 seconds. Ptoooey.
Here’s something where everyone can see a job being done poorly:
The way that NBC is promoting tonight’s episode of “The Office”, where Michael Scott (Steve Carell) cycles off the show as a regular character. One could safely presume he’ll show up as a guest eventually, but if you keep track of story arcs in sitcoms as “eras” (assigning it the importance of a distinct geological period) then tonight is the “end of an era”.
And so it is with NBC, who in the past has promoted the final episode of “Seinfeld” with hugs and warmth and pop-market Green Day songs. Same show where the main characters reacted notoriously blandly to the death of a family member. Still tone-deaf, NBC is once again promoting a notable moment on a show that has some pretty dark and caustic humor by running these treacly spots. Do they even watch “The Office”? Michael Scott isn’t a completely sympathetic character, and his cohorts are not deeply fond of him. Tonight’s episode will probably be, as usual but without the fatigue of routine (thanks to their sharp writing staff), a parade of awkward insensitive moments meant to parody the most insufferable days of a typical office environment.
Willa Paskin got this right yesterday: NBC’s sappy “Coke and a smile” emotionally manipulative branding doesn’t make sense when applied to the world of Dunder Mifflin. And I reject it entirely. Not just for being inappropriately applied, but because it doesn’t sync with reality. Life is full of painful moments that are sometimes just as valuable and rewarding as some of the tender moments, and the most meaningful milestones don’t crest on contrived displays of warmth and affection. Those are not colors on this peacock’s tail.
I think of the people on the creative staff of this show, working to give the show the tone that it has, and then this is how it is heralded to the world. As if it were the goddamn Hallmark Hall Of Fame. I feel pretty bad for them. But don’t worry, writers! I remember that everyone on the show, especially Michael Scott, is an asshole! Your effort isn’t wasted on me!
Cathartic as it might be for me, I don’t believe you get to own everything you encounter.
Mr. Mohney’s lovely post is mainly about other things, but I’d like the Internet to wake up each and every morning and write this 100 times on the blackboard.
Someone should at least tell this to all the sad young literary things in Brooklyn.
It’s a good thing Carolyn’s not signed into chat right now. I have about 900 ongoing issues I need to get off my chest where she is the only one who’s up-to-speed on the topics+context.
Let’s just say it’s a bunch of (external) things where people are doing their jobs quite horribly and need to be directed offstage with a crook.
As seen on the news (repeatedly), NYC taxi drivers are pushing for fare increases. The reasoning: fuel costs.
Even Pat Kiernan suggested out in the open that fuel costs should maybe be resolved with “fuel surcharges” like every other industry that relies on gasoline for operations. That would be reasonable! Add 50 cents (flat rate) to every cab ride charge to cover the cost of gas nowadays.
Why only 50 cents? Because so many of the new cabs are hybrids and have very good fuel efficiency, and also they aren’t manufacturing Crown Vics anymore. Are you a medallion owner (which necessarily means you must be wealthy, since the going rate is $1 million) who doesn’t want to lose money? Then get rid of your gas guzzler and go green! It only costs 2.5% of the medallion cost to switch vehicles, after all. Can’t really expect the city to REWARD people who drive environmentally unfriendly vehicles, right?
NO, WAIT, I DON’T GET IT. SORRY. TURNS OUT THE CAB DRIVERS WANT MORE THAN $1.50 EXTRA EVERY RIDE BECAUSE THEY’RE GOING TO KEEP IT FOR THEMSELVES. IT’S TIME WE GAVE THEM A RAISE FOR KILLING PEDESTRIANS, BLOWING OFF EVERYONE 3-5PM DAILY AND NOT TAKING ANYONE TO BROOKLYN.
Hey, remember in 2005 when the MTA shut down for a bit and cab drivers used the emergency rules to commit runaway fraud during the holiday season? Let’s give another honest dollar to honest folks! Just one condition, my extra dollar comes from my knee and I’m gonna leave it in the driver’s crotch. Happy to pay!
“I hate them,” Mr. Olsen, 40, said of the row of [solar] panels attached to electrical poles across the street. “It’s just an eyesore.”
FOLLOW THE LINK FOR MORE SUBURBAN BUTTHURT
Folks, when you get to the point when your life is consumed with negativity over a 3x3 panel mount on a utility pole, you really should just wrap things up and off yourself. That’s right, commit suicide. Tracy Morgan needs your kidneys.
I really *will* miss Urlesque
One of Cole’s posts just helped me figure out something I’d been trying to figure out for a while. Glad to find it, but so bittersweet!
YOUR CANDLE BURNED OUT LONG BEFORE… YOUR LEGEND EVER DID
