Completely Unnecessary

There’s little more that can be said about Katherine Hepburn except to note again that she is freaking awesome.

This 1979 60 Minutes interview is 5+ minutes of sheer greatness. Kate riding a bike down Manhattan streets, cantankerously abusing the 1970s film industry, brushing off all Morley Safer’s compliments.

The wonderful thing about Hepburn is how at ease she is in her own skin. The way she sits in the chair- legs apart, leaning back -  expresses her unpretentious confidence in herself, even as she unflinchingly analyzes her avoidance of the Academy Awards.

The Great Kate [Jezebel]

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I’m sure you’ve seen this video already, but here’s your near-VP blithely taking the media’s questions whilst turkeys are slaughtered behind her.

The irony - because, of course, Palin loves the unusual murder of animals - is that she was at the turkey farm to pardon one of the other turkeys.

And now, watch his brothers die as Palin craps on and on.

(Actually, don’t listen to her because reading MSNBC’s totally hilarious/unprofessional captions is the best part.)

The media critic in me wants to chide MSNBC for their lack of gravitas (and especially the ‘fowls’ pun), but, aw screw it, it’s the holidays!

Consider yourself pardoned, MSNBC!

Poor Sarah Palin. Just can’t catch a break from herself.

h/t Wonkette (though it’s everywhere now)

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Cathy rightly points out that Palin’s mic capture as she walked out on stage now totally makes sense.

The first thing she said was, “Can I call you Joe?” It must have been the set up for the ‘Say it ain’t so, Joe” line. Her handlers must have told her to ask so she wouldn’t sound insolent later.

Gawker is right to call that moment her ‘failed cute’ - as she tried to mix Black Sox baseball, Reagan and goshdearnitdagnabit. It’s clear that the thing was planned…. and then poorly-executed.

Oh yeah, and followed by a reference to Joe Biden’s wife going to Heaven. His second wife, of course. Ouch - way to not know anything about your opponent; I don’t think she’d be that crass.

Postscript - from the States (and deep into the scotch), Avi notes that ‘this election is a referendum on the collective intellect of America, for the rest of the world.’

Too true.

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Oh, hot mics - when will you cease to plague the punditry among us?

They, the commentariat, who - while never saying a word of actual substance whilst on the air - have a legion of apt, insightful (and frequently profanity-filled) opinions on the matters of the day.

And those opinions are captured every time someone forgets to turn. the. damn. thing. off.

Peggy Noonan wrote in her column today:

Gut: The Sarah Palin choice is really going to work, or really not going to work. It’s not going to be a little successful or a little not; it’s not going to be a wash. She is either going to be magic or one of history’s accidents.

Fair enough. A seemingly honest assessment of a conflicted conservative.

What does Peggy Noonan really think, though? Only a MSNBC hot mic can tell us [video and transcript]:

It’s over… The most qualified? No. I think they went for this — excuse me — political bullshit about narratives… Every time the Republicans do that, because that’s not where they live and it’s not what they’re good at, they blow it.

Hell yeah, Pegs!

Also, whoops!

How much better would political television be if stuff like this was actually on the air. Have an opinion, let’s argue! Great!

Finally, Noonan also wrote today:

…[Palin] is a feminist not in the Yale Gender Studies sense but the How Do I Reload This Thang way, because she is a woman who in style, history, moxie and femininity is exactly like a normal American feminist and not an Abstract Theory feminist…

Note: any gun-toting feminist already knows how to reload that ‘thang’.

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I was reading this article on TPM Election Central today, and, gosh, if the older gentleman with bills didn’t look familiar!

Well, there’s a reason - he’s the same bill-checking older gentleman that was concerned about the economy at three am! Here’s him blue-hued by the Clinton staff to indicate ‘nighttime’:

How many thousands of hours of stock footage do you think there is available to both these campaigns?

So, it is just laziness or do you think the McCain campaign is trying to bring up memories of the Clinton campaign? Perhaps a subtle way of reminiding those anti-Obama Clintonites of their vows?

Yeah, or just laziness.

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Not much of it on this blog these days. My sincerest apologies to both of you.

I mean, sure, I can get excited about things like Ted Stevens indictment, but the general election is missing a certain je ne sais quoi.

This is coupled with high levels of unforeseen busyness and my crazy upstairs neighbors. There have been more coffees, but less blogging. (There’s also the fact that I don’t have anything I’m desperately trying to avoid, like my work.)

Seriously, my upstairs neighbors have reached a fever pitch in their nocturnal stomping/shifting of furniture. Last night’s activity included five hours (from 11:30p til at least 4:30a) of door slamming, running, the dropping of numerous items. Shocking, last night was missing the ritual 1:45a leaving-the-faucet-running-for-five-minutes!

It’s like the two minute hate, but longer, and I do the hating.

Anyway, I’m going to try to step up the blogging again. I miss it and I feel like it makes me pay more attention to the world. I’ve got some women’s issues, but they’re on my laptop and I can’t find them, because of the tired.

Also, I missed the finale of Farmer Wants a Wife, about which I’m totally gutted. How will I ever know who ‘larrikin’/jerkface farmer James chose? How will I know how many times he was referred to as ‘larrakin’ farmer James?

Fun Times: Gawker’s video rundowns about TV journalism are some of the best things I’ve seen in my life:
The Dangers of Being a Television News Reporter
Best of TV Lip Slips
Top Ten Angry On-Camera Meltdowns

Also Gawker-related: I really enjoyed this video of average guys attempting Olympic sports.

Maybe I’ve just been spending all my online time watching videos.

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Or not me.

Chris sends me a link to this video today, with instructions to watch the Chicago section at 2:25:

I’ve watched the girl in the center like a hundred times now. That’s fucking got to be you.

Chris’ filthy mouth aside, he’s almost right. The girl, standing a little bit in front of the crowd making an ostentatious fool of herself ought to be me.

But it’s not.

An edited version of our conversation says more about how my friends view me (and how I view myself) than just about anything else:

Me: That’s not me - though I grant that her spastic movements might lead you to think that.

Chris: It’s a combination of things. The glasses and hair are reminiscent of yours, as is the “I’m being funny right now” facial expression. And the black tank top/cropped pants combo seems like a plausible outfit for you. I feel like if you were to replace whoever that is, the difference in grainy internet footage would be pretty much indistinguishable.

Me: Yeah, it’s really the mouth-open facial gesture during the ’sexy bit’ that makes it seem like me. If she’s from Chicago maybe it’s just something they taught us in public school.

Between this and the girl from Iowa, I’m not as unique and precious a flower as I’ve always assumed.

Though I am disappointed that Chris thinks I would wear those shoes.

(Btw: To Matt, the creator of the film - why such short shrift to Melbourne? We get half a second of Fed Square at 0:56 and that’s it!)

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They consist of capers, Bacardi Gold (god love you, Shawn), Michael Clayton (maybe, haven’t watched it yet), and George Orwell. They are all I’m doing tonight, and for a good portion of tomorrow.

And sleep.

Everyone always jokes about the grad school lifestyle - we’re always so tired, ha ha ha. It’s funny because it’s not really true. Grad school isn’t that hard. Mostly we drink at the Corkman a lot.

But for the last two weeks, I have lived the dream. Violeta had a question while we were coding today, and I laid down on the floor while we rehashed whether or not ‘boat people’ counted as members of the public (or some such thing). I fell asleep and missed half the question. Then I fell asleep at the desk timing John Howard speaking, stopwatch in hand.

So then I did that for about six more hours and then worked on things that were due yesterday for another four. One drink at the bar pretty much sufficed.

This weekend = no study, no gender, and certainly no goddamn media theory. My students are suffering - they have essays due on Monday - but I am taking the weekend off on their behalf. My bear blanket has never looked so good.

I’m a history loser, so my free time will be spent rereading Homage to Catalonia (which, if you haven’t read, is amazing - George Orwell fought in the Spanish Civil War), but I plan on doing nothing productive.

Nothing.

For those of you who read this blog for news - and I seriously question your judgment - here’s a remake of Clinton’s 3am ad at which my spiteful and mean sense of humor (or perhaps fatigue) had me crying with laughter today:

I still really like the ’something’s happening in the world,’ but also wonder who on Earth at MSNBC taped her for so long?

Video via Wonkette

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I still kind of wish I’d been a zookeeper:

[Via Jezebel]

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This clip has everything!

• American voters condescendingly explaining to a foreigner that both Democratic nominees can’t win the nomination! (0:11)
• The Russian reporter implying that our country might devolve into a second Civil War! (0:30)
• Voters calling Clinton a bitch and imitaing that horrible face the press is always publishing her making! (1:00)
• Voters having trouble negotiating the voting booth drapery! (1:20)
• A grumpy lady in a loud blazer who just. can’t. walk. away… (1:30)
• Political kitch collecting in your basement (just like my uncle)! (1:48)
• A white woman and a black man described as ‘unusual people!’ (2:10)
• The Bill Clinton memorabilia you’d hoped never to see (2:19)
• Clinton writhing going on and on and on (2:30)

Enjoy (except the last bit, which might make your eyes bleed…) :

Via GoogleNews

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