Funny, sad and telling, how in the age of post-racial societies, race is becoming ever more important.
“‘Cap’ Congress and ‘trade’ Obama back to Kenya”
A week may be a long time in politics. But a year has not been enough for the Democratic president to meet the expectations of his candidacy, deal with the situation he inherited or defuse the barbed charges of his detractors.
Even after a year doing the best he can of a rotten situation he inherited, racism, ignorance and zenophobia still drive an amazingly large swath of [white] America. Not that it is surprising … to anyone that is African-American but it re-enforces what many of us already knew the US has a long, long road to go before it becomes a post-racial society. Furthermore, being the only truly universal society, we continue to squander our most valuable asset: our multiculturalism.
Time to Jump Ship
If NBC liked it, then they should have put a ring on it.
Funny and oh, so true!
Update:
Looks like Conan is following the advice:
People of Earth:
In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.
Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over “The Tonight Show” in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004, I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.
But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my “Tonight Show” in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.
Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the “Tonight Show” to 12:05 to accommodate the “Jay Leno Show” at 11:35. For 60 years, the “Tonight Show” has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the “Tonight Show” into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The “Tonight Show” at 12:05 simply isn’t the “Tonight Show.” Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the “Late Night” show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.
So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard, and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of “The Tonight Show.” But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet, a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the “Tonight Show,” I believe nothing could matter more.
There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.
Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.
Yours,
Conan
Thank you Comcast for making it so easy
Comcast is introducing a “data meter” to broadband customers in Washington state on Tuesday to help customers keep track of broadband consumption — and avoid hitting the company’s controversial data usage cap.
Today, here in Seattle, Comcast announced that it will make available a meter in which customer can check on there broadband usage. The purpose is so that people will know when they reach the Comcast limit of 250 GBs a month. According to Comcast, about 1% of the customer base in Seattle surpass that limit. They also say that these broadband hogs negatively effect the other 99% that don’t even come close to the limit. Which begs the question in my mind: how could the 1% be such a burden? Comcast also let it be known that if you get caught going past the limit twice in 6 months, they will cut your service off for a year. What! You mean I give you the privilege of over-charging me and when I dare to get the most for my dollar you cut me off. Are they for real? Moreover, I just don’t having my usage being so available as I’m sure there are (or will be myriad ways that Comcast will be able to dig in and monitor what your surfing. The money quote though is, “We may change our practice but will, of course, provide notice to the customer of any change.” Yup, today broadband meter. Tomorrow all knowing monitoring device. Well, thank you Comcast for making it so easy. I will not be using your service anymore for cable, broadband or phone. Hope you’ll be able to see that on your customer base meter!
Residuals
Is it me or is Fringe just an Abrams, Kurtzman, Orci & Co. update of the X-files? I mean the similarities are striking. Mulder and Dunham are both FBI agents1 partnered with non-believers (read: Scully and Bishop) that slowly start to believe as the show goes on. Mulder and Dunham both are drawn to the work because a loved one was “taken” from them. Both are aided by a mysterious African-American men.2 The backstory to both X-Files and Fringe revolve around a weird cabal that has deep connections all over the World. If I had money to waste I’d produce a X-Files/Fringe crossover movie … like the Aliens/Predator vehicles but much better. Now that would be a fine cinematic singularity.3
The Writer in Chief
Over the past few years, we’ve gotten to know our president as a lot of different things: campaigner, lawyer, father, basketballer. But what if Obama’s first and truest calling—his desire to write—explains more about him than anything else?
I often wonder why I keep writing this blog. It is somewhat time-consuming. It requires discipline and dedication. Only a few people actually read/follow it and in the age of Twitter, Facebook and Friendfeed … writing a blog seems so, so slow and tiresome. But today, I read this interesting article. While it was fascinating to discover how the President came into writing and how he still uses “the writer’s mind” in how he communicates, the more important nugget, I was able to get, was that there is more to writing, in any form, then just putting words to paper. As I see it, writing longer prose or descriptions forces me to think deeper and clarify my thoughts about things I see, hear and experience. While, I may not have an audience to speak of, writing here does force me to consider how another may see or perceive my writing. That forces me to not be lazy in how I express myself. Writing also forces me to interact with language (grammar and spelling) … or to put it more precisely with human communication. So I hope that I will keep writing here and elsewhere. If anything, at least I’ll get an intellectual work out from it. And there can’t be anything wrong with that, can there.
The winner is …
U.S. President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his calls to reduce the world’s stockpile of nuclear weapons and working for world peace.
This was a bit of a surprise. But considering all that he’s done in the past ten months it is deservedly given. Right on Big O!
Only in America
The U.S. Secret Service is investigating an online survey that asked whether people thought President Barack Obama should be assassinated, officials said Monday.
This is the stupid a** type of thing that deepens my doubt that America will ever get past its despicable racial legacy because, let’s face it, this has never happened to any other President except Obama. Let’s hope they catch the sick bastard(s) that created the poll and put the screws to him/her (but I’m not holding my breath).
It’s all green between the lines
“The one thing we know for sure, and that players eventually figure out, is that the National Football League moves on. Players … They’re always replaced. The league goes on, players continue to play, coaches continue to coach, and the game goes on.”
This quote more than any other synthesizes contemporary sports in America. Plain and simply … it’s a business. And it seems that Mr. Crabtree clearly understands this point. As in many business decisions, he is taking a risk which he, no doubt, hopes will pay dividends in the long run. His advantage, in my mind, is that no one knows just how good (or bad) he will be and so as long as he stays in shape and out of trouble there will always be some team that would be willing to pay for his services … even if he has to sit out a year. With an injury (Bo Jackson), bad luck (Drew Bledsoe) or just making a bad decision (Michael Vick/Plaxico Burress) lurking to derail a players career at any given moment … why not negotiate to get the money up front and guaranteed. That’s just good business. More power to him. Stay strong my brutha!
Michael Crabtree holds out for a better NFL contract, and the questions fly