Some good news!

I was worried about Life’s prospects when I heard that NBC had canceled My Own Worst Enemy and Lipstick Jungle, but apparently I wasn’t paying enough attention to the news coming down the wire. Before axing those two shows, NBC had already given Life a full-season order. Awesom! Let’s hope the show can do well enough in its timeslot to come back for a third season! I love Damian Lewis and Sarah Shahi to bits, and want their show to succeed!

I’m enjoying a lot of things this season, but many of the things I don’t like all fall into one category: romance. I don’t know if this show just doesn’t need it at all, or if I just think all its attempts up until now have been pretty unconvincing. I don’t believe that Charlie should have anything to do with Jennifer, his ex-wife. At the very least, she is just one more person who wasn’t there for him when he needed her. Also, I kind of suspect her of being evil and somehow related to what happened to Charlie (although she did warn him when that teacher posed as a reporter and asked her questions about Charlie). Anyhow, just going on what we know up until this point, I do not think it’s realistic to believe that Charlie’s remarried ex-wife has his best interest at heart, or that anything between the two of them is going to end well.

Also, I think that Reese should stay 100 feet away from Tidwell at all times. 1) The man looks like he does not bathe (Dear Donal Logue: please make your character less vile); 2) He is her boss and that cannot be a good idea; 3) He is ridiculous (the tics, the rudeness, the stunning callousness); 4) Sarah Shahi is as hot as the fire of a thousand suns, and should be with a similarly awesome guy (what’s Bradley Cooper doing these days? A little Alias reunion would be sweet).

Finally, what the hell is going on with Ted and Olivia, Charlie’s dad’s fiancée? I will admit that Christina Hendricks and her impressive bosom are pretty sweet, but what is this storyline all about? We know nothing about Charlie’s dad, and haven’t even met him yet, but we’ve seen said missing father’s intended how many times now? Okay, so Charlie is avoiding her. But wouldn’t that make her even less likely to come around? You can’t change the mind of somebody you can’t pin down. But then what’s the story with Ted? I guess a romance between these two is not entirely implausible, seeing as she obviously has a thing for old dudes, but because I don’t understand Olivia, the whole thing seems suspect. I guess I can understand why Ted just come out with, “Hey Charlie, I kissed your dad’s fiancée during that earthquake,” but why would he have neglected to mention her presence at all? And lied about how the pencil got out of his hand. Was Ted always this bad at lying? Maybe that’s why he ended up in prison. Plus, even if I did finally understand and maybe support a Ted-Olivia, Christina Hendricks is kicking ass and taking names over at Mad Men, and how often could we really expect her to show up on Life?

I’m a miss Capucine!

Voilà deux vidéos de Capucine, une jolie petite fille francaise qui a gagné beaucoup d’adoration sur l’Internet par raconter une histoire originale tres amusante…wait! This is my English blog. So sorry. Anyway, here are two videos of Capucine, the adorable little French girl whose convoluted story of lions, mammoths, animal suicide and heaven rejection is currently tearing up the Internet. The first video is of said story, and the second is of her showing off her newly acquired English. Although her story is hilarious (and good for practicing my French), I actually prefer the second video, because her English version of Frère Jacques sounds like my nephew’s attempts at the French version: the first verse is more or less coherent, but the second is a mishmash of confused Franglais and is just hilarious. Then, just when you think that the song has slipped completely out of their grasp, they reel it back in with a triumphant “ding dang dong!” This video reminds me that I need to record Satanski’s attempt at this song, as all of my other blackmail material is getting old.

[vimeo 2113477]

[vimeo 1876895]

Lighten up, Francis.

My mom is understandably super happy about Obama’s win. It really shows her how far we as a nation have come. My mother grew up in segregated South Carolina. Only her youngest brother (last of my grandparents’ 10 surviving children), ever went to school with white children, and then I think only in the last few years of high school. So my mom doesn’t hate anybody, but still has comfort issues around white people. She doesn’t really hang out with any, and I think that, to her, my having so many white friends is a source of confusion, amusement, and perhaps a little bit of pride (she’s happy that I don’t have the same bad associations that she does).

So anyway, I received all of these really uplifting, corny, cheesy, vaguely messianic emails from her about Barack Obama going into the election, and the volume, corniness, cheesiness, and messianic undertones have all increased since his win. Just like everybody else on the Internet, I have seen Patrick Moberg‘s illustration pretty much everywhere since November 4.

And now you've seen it, too!

But by now we all know that too much saccharine sentiment in our diets can lead to an irony deficiency, so here are two covers that I prefer to a lot of things my mom has sent me (predictably, she hated them). They’re from the Chicago Reader. The Obama cover is the one they went with (for obvious reasons), but they had the McCain cover all ready just in case.

Sydney Tamiia Poitier: I love you, but I hate your…

In this, the first ever edition of “I love you, but I hate your…”, I will tackle the conundrum of people I like doing or participating in things I hate. Our inaugural subject is Sydney Tamiia Poitier.

Sydney Tamiia Poitier, I love you, but I hate your show.

There are a lot of things to love about this actress:

• She basically has the easiest job ever of mooching off her father’s fame, due to having his name and all.
• She’s gorgeous, successful, and has boobs and hips!
• She was on two of the best shows ever to appear on television: Veronica Mars and Joan of Arcadia!!
• Her initials are the same as the Stone Temple Pilots, a fabulously awesome band.

There are at least as many things to hate about her show:

• She’s appearing in a remake of Knight Rider. My childhood weeps.
• Life is up against this show, and is not necessarily expected to emerge the victor.
• I’m scared of a world where the 2008 version of Knight Rider is a ratings juggernaut.
• Why are people still interested in a program about a talking, crime-fighting car? This show makes me think less of people.
• Thinking about her means that I think about Knight Rider, which means I think about David Hasselhoff. Please, don’t make me think about the Hoff.

Stupid Internet, ruining everything

Stephen Lewis, a humor columnist at the Murfreesboro Post of Tennessee, wrote an opinion column yesterday that included a song about the Obamas move to Washington. As you may have guessed by its inclusion in this post, this song was not in the best of taste. Mr. Lewis chose to set his “Ode to President Obama” to the tune of “Movin’ On Up,” the theme song to 1970’s-era television show, The Jefferson. Wow, Stephen. That’s Klassy!

Here’s the first verse:
“Well we’re movin’ on up,
To Washington, D.C.
To a deee-luxe pimp pad,
Painted whiiiite.
Yeah we’re movin’ on up,
To the White House.
I’ll be jetting with P. Diddy cross the sky.

Let’s examine the stereotypes found just in those lines (nevermind the rest of the song): We’ve got the missing “g” in “movin,'” because when you’re a black, Harvard-educated lawyer planning at least a 4 year squat in the White House, the last thing you’re thinking about is saying your words properly. Then we’ve got “pimp pad” (I’ll excuse “deee-luxe,” as it is in the original song). Because every black man aspires to being a peddler of women. And of course, what’s the point of being famous and black if you can’t hang out with P. Diddy? Nothing says you’ve reached the zenith of the American political establishment more than hanging out with Sean Combs.

Because newspaper articles on the Internet has the opportunity to reach readers around the world, Mr. Lewis’ stupidity did not stay limited to the Volunteer State. By Monday morning, this article, which initially appeared in the Sunday edition of the Post, was making the rounds on the Internet, offending latte-drinking, arugula-eating leftists and beer-swilling, gun-toting rightists alike. By Monday afternoon, the editor of the Murfeesboro Post, Michael L. Pirtle, had issued something resembling an apology. Here’s a link to Mr. Lewis’s column, with the editor’s note of the usual passive-aggressive sort apologizing “for any offense generated” by this column.

Help create the next Barack Obama

You can help set in motion the events that could produce the next Barack Obama. How? For the low, low amount of $10, you can donate to Nothing But Nets, an organization that provides refugee children in Africa with an anti-malarial net that protect them from deadly disease. But what does that have to do with Barack Obama, you ask? Well, with that net, some nice young African man or woman can stay alive long enough to attend school, come to the United States to further his or her education, and marry some American person. Then, in four and a half decades, that offspring could become our next commander-in-chief. So, as you can see, the real winner here is us. If you’d like to donate through my team (which isn’t even a real team, but I’ve always liked signing up for stuff), click here. If you’d like to start your own team, you can do that, too. Please at least check out the Nothing But Nets web site, if you’d like more information or if you’re thinking about giving.

But does he have the big Mo?

So North Carolina has been called for Barack Obama, too, meaning that Missouri is the only remaining unclaimed state. The Associated Press, via the Boston Globe, announced this with a bit of a flourish.

For those of you who can’t be arsed to click the above link, the final paragraph in the article reads as follows:

So Obama has not just redrawn the map. He’s printed an entirely new one.

Pretty sentiment, if not particularly objective or news-like.

Senate news

We know what happened in the presidential election, but what happened in some of the other races I’ve been following?

First we’ll start with the good news:
Elizabeth Dole, hate- and fear-monger extraordinaire, was defeated by her opponent, Kay Hagan! I’m proud of North Carolina not only for ousting Dole, but also for going for Barack Obama (maybe)!

Then we’ll go to the meh news:
Frank Lautenberg, 84-year-old incumbent Democrat Senator, easily kept his seat in New Jersey. This means that he will be 90 years old at the next election. That’s super freaking old. He’s done a good job, so I hope he keeps it up, but I don’t understand how so many people who could complain about a 74-year-old presidential candidate could in good conscience elect a senator who is a decade older.

Then the “aw crap, Minnesota” news:
Norm Coleman defeated Al Franken by just over 700 votes. I try not to hate on those who vote for third party candidates, but seriously Minnesota, wtf? If even one thousand of those chuckleheads had voted for Franken, this would be a whole different day in Minnesota. There’s going to be a recount, so maybe there’s some hope, but I’m not holding my breath, since they say that a definitive winner may not be declared until December!

Michele Bachmann, who famously suggested that the media should reinstate McCarthy-era investigations into the patriotism of politicians, easily kept her seat. There is no justice. While I would have preferred it if she lost, and lost big, I would have hoped that any victory of hers was hard fought. I hate the idea of someone this bilious feeling as though she should keep behaving in this way and saying the kind of insane things she usually says.

What the world is saying

Here are some international reactions to Barack Obama’s election as the 44th United States president:

• Argentina (in Spanish)
• Australia
• Brazil (in Portuguese)
• Canada
• China
• Costa Rica (in Spanish)
• France (in French)
• Egypt (in Arabic)
• Germany (in German)
• India
• Indonesia
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan
• Jordan (in Arabic)
• Mexico (in Spanish)
• Nigeria
• Russia
• South Africa
• South Korea
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom

Hell yeah!

I didn’t want to play Jinxy Jane yesterday, but I’m glad that I can now, without reservation, say that Barack Obama is the president-elect of the United States! I was asked at the party I attended last night, with all possible apologies and courtesy for the question, what Obama’s win meant to me, a black woman. And I have to say, I’m not sure whether I am approaching this from a place of racial pride. I have a lot of things going on right now. For the first time, the presidential candidate who I voted for won. I would have been happy if the new president-to-be could simply speak English, and instead we got somebody who is a captivating speaker, capable of raising people to almost religious levels of fervor and devotion (I think that sometimes it’s overdone, but it probably isn’t his fault that he is so charismatic). Plus, it’s exciting to know that the country will be run by a young guy, one who is certainly at a very different place in his life than I am, but who hasn’t been alive in eight different decades.

I find it moving to watch really committed Obama fans from all walks of life expressing such jubilation at his win. Walking back to Port Authority last night from Murray Hill, I saw so many people who were practically vibrating with happiness. On 5th Avenue, in front of the expensive stores, people spontaneously raised cries of “Obama” and “Wooooo!” People were so happy, and even the cops were smiling! I didn’t see one place where there was even a hint of trouble or unease. Everybody was too joyful to cause any sort of problem. I watched white people, young and old, cry tears of joy over the election of a black president. I looked at Obama and thought, “In a little over three decades, that could be my nephew.” I don’t believe that this proves that anybody in American can be anything, but I believe it moves us closer to that point than we have ever before been.