snap culture: September 2006

  1. underachiever and proud of it ben, 9/26/2006 0 comments
  2. where i learn that i am not all that original ben, 9/25/2006 0 comments
  3. Seth Meyers, SNL savior? William, 9/25/2006 0 comments
  4. i am generally unimpressed ben, 9/16/2006 0 comments
  5. Jamaican me "Crazy" William, 9/14/2006 0 comments
  6. Hey PC, you're a stupidhead! ben, 9/11/2006 0 comments
  7. Cracked's lists continue ben, 9/06/2006 0 comments
  8. Watch me flex William, 9/05/2006 1 comments
  9. I see drunk people William, 9/04/2006 0 comments

9/26/2006 Add a comment

Yes, a t-shirt that said that phrase on it, uttered by Bart Simpson, was banned from my elementary school. It seems that t-shirt manufacturers have upped the ante on edgy t-shirt slogans since my day. Yet schools still tilt at windmills to ban t-shirts. What a fantastic waste of time. ben

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9/25/2006 Add a comment

For years I have recommended the names "Lettuce" and "Bucket" as fantastic band names. Possibly the best I have ever come up with on my own. The only other one is "Looking for Paco," which would then be used on stage, at the beginning of the set, to say, "Hi, we're Looking for Paco," which works on multiple levels (and is better in Spanish).

However, much to my dismay, I have discovered that both Lettuce and Bucket are real bands. I enjoyed them much more as figments of my imagination.

I found Lettuce by reading McSweeney's Recommends, then googled Bucket. As best I can tell, there is no band called "Buscando a Paco" or "Looking for Paco," so I've got that going for me. ben

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9/25/2006 Add a comment

Bill Simmons and I might be the last living viewers of SNL, but I am encouraged by Lorne Michaels choosing Seth Meyers to take Tina Fey's place as co-anchor of Weekend Update. I am less enthused about Meyers being in fewer sketches as he has been one of the brighter spots in recent years.

Also, I am fine with dropping Horatio Sanz (when has he not laughed during a sketch?) and Finesse Mitchell (who was ok, but rarely appeared), but Chris Parnell should have been kept on in a strealined cast of 11, down from 16 last year.

Good news is that this leaves room for more Lonely Island sketches and videos, which were the most promising developments of the past season. William

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9/16/2006 Add a comment

by a lot of improv comedy. but this is just great: intentionally getting lost at a Yankee game and then having thousands of people chant your name to get you back to your friends and your seat.

(Thanks for the link, E-dog!) ben

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9/14/2006 Add a comment

Slate's Jody Rosen asks "Why are there so many covers of Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy'?" Her answer is that it transcends musical genres and its lyrics are universal, applicable for "tortured artists, to angst-addled teens, to wounded lovers."

I also love their costumes, which range from stills from movies ("Wayne's World," e.g.) to occupations (airline pilots on BBC's "Top of the Pops") to a full-on Star Wars theme for the MTV Movie Awards.

As for the covers, this is my favorite, from the Raconteurs.

William

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9/11/2006 Add a comment

I'm really sick of the Mac Vs. PC ads. Slate ripped the ads early in the summer. And now McSweeney's provides an excellent spoof of three ads that will never air. I'd watch those... ben

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9/06/2006 Add a comment

to be of very high quality. Though the articles are generally awful, and are far below the quality of the Onion, these lists are excellent, and have embedded all the clips for easy viewing:

10 best Jackass skits and 10 best Will Ferrell SNL skits. Enjoy! ben

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9/05/2006 Add a comment

A wonderful op-ed by Tom Lutz that argues for flexible work weeks and schedules. I am encouraged by the increasing prevalence of flex time and telecommuting. Ben, do you have economics models that can help back this up? William

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  1. Blogger ben: clearly the advantages of telecommuting are going to those who have jobs which are complementary to new technologies: email, video conferencing, etc. you can't telecommute to a factory, or to a restaurant or grocery store.

    and having a flexible schedule is what's known as a "compensating differential" in labor economics. Basically people are willing to be paid less because of the positive attributes of their job. In academia, those positives (flexible schedule, researching whatever you want) seem to outweigh the negatives (dealing with students, dealing with students), so the pay of academics is below that of some similarly educated folks (e.g. lawyers). Not all academics, of course, but the averages.     9/06/2006  

9/04/2006 Add a comment

Earth


Oh, Haley Joel Osment. Did you not grow up at a time when tales of child stars gone bad were well-documented and replete with warnings to future tykes of your ilk? Evidently not. I think the most shocking thing about this is that he drives a Saturn. Did he work for child wages? William

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