The week I almost didn't sum up

This week I experienced that kind of mid-week fatigue that makes a person rank his or her pajamas based on how dangerously comfortable they are.  (For the record, my cream and maroon star pajamas are now for weekend use only.)  So, I didn't sum up the week on Friday like I usually do.  But since I have things to write about that happened during my lazy Saturday, I'm going to stand by my decision to put things off.  So, without further ado, lets look at the things I missed, hadn't gotten to yet, or simply didn't know I wanted to write about until now.

1.)  All week, I meant to write  the response to this piece in The New York Times, "When Chocolate and Chakras Collide" about "foodie yoga" got on the internet.  I personally enjoyed this satirical piece from Gawker's Adrian Chen (writing as not-Adrian-Chen), "The Singular Delights of 'Foodie Yoga.'"  Honestly, as a yogi and as an eater, I'm not totally sure what I think about the idea of pairing yoga and fine dining.  As some one who plans her dinner during savasana (I know, I know, that's not the point) and I probably wouldn't turn down a dinner at the yoga studio if it was offered to me and it involved wine and chocolate, the trend seems to be taking things to a level that's slightly more pretentious than it should be.  It also makes me wonder if "foodie yoga" is actually a trend or just really smart marketing.

2.)  The man who wrote this passed away.

Many of us nerds - and some of our non-nerd friends - were sad.

3.)  I started watching season three of The Tudors.  I've only seen the first disc of the series on DVD (so, three episodes), but all I can say is: WHERE'S THE SEXY?

Remember this?  Now, I'm just hoping Jane dies by Episode 4 so we can all get on with our lives.  When did this become a political drama?  As someone who can actually get her info about Early Modern Politics elsewhere, I believe this needs to be a LOT soapier.

On a related note, I figured out the direction Jonathan Rhys Meyers has been given for the past three seasons: 1.) Start slowly, with something sarcastic but sort of dangerous-sounding, 2.) Fire up the crazy eyes, and 3.) Yell menacingly and as though you have unchecked power and the divine right to rule (and execute).

4.)  Jon Hamm hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend, and for the first time in a long time the show was funny.  There was a lot of joking about Don Draper, which is always welcome, but there was also a lot of very funny.  Here's the best sketch of the night, Ham and Buble:

 

And while I'm limiting myself to one sketch from last night as to avoid posting the entire show, I am going to go ahead and remind you about Jon Hamm's John Ham.

The week Martha Stewart (Living) desperately wanted me back

Is it a bad thing that an offer for a special magazine subscription rate makes me feel special?

It was back to school this week, which has meant meeting a new bunch of students, explaining my master plan to them (and convincing them that said master plan does NOT include the destruction of their academic careers), and adjusting to a new schedule.  The return to the semester grind also has me checking the skies in the evening to see if it's getting dark later.  Because when 5pm rolls around and it's still light out it means that May is almost here.  I guess until that time comes, I'll claim every 40-degree day is evidence of Spring's arrival and continue to wear short sleeves indoors while blasting the heat. 

Since I can't frolic and play outside without my jacket, here are some things that caught my eye this week:

1.)  We say goodbye to Conan O'Brien as host of The Tonight Show tonight.  His run was far too short, but I look forward to finding out where exactly he'll turn up.  If these past two weeks prove anything - aside from the fact that it's very interesting to watch late-night hosts dissect the events unfolding at NBC and The Tonight Show - wherever he turns up, he has an audience.  Here are some clips in case you need a reminder to watch him when he resurfaces.

Since Conan is trying to spend as much of NBC's money as possible before he leaves, he's started doing a bunch of sketches that have little to do with being funny and a lot to do with spending lots of money.  Here's the most expensive sketch to date (since Friday's show hasn't aired yet).


Oh yeah, and this week, the Masturbating Bear, who was not allowed to migrate to The Tonight Show from Late Night with Conan O'Brien, returned.


And, because I think this is brilliant, here's the cold open from the first episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. 


2.)  My friend Kim posted this great cartoon from The Oatmeal titled "10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling."  If only I could tattoo this on the brains of students.

3.)  The Office ran a clip show.  It annoyed me.  Don't tell me it's a new episode when it's really just pieces of old episodes strung together within a crappy story matrix.  It makes a show look like it's stalling for time before sweeps.  It also reminded me that the old episodes that were used to make the clip show were far better than the crappy clip show.  The Office, I thought you were better than this. 

4.)  I'm still trying to figure out if I like Gawker's Gawker.TV site.  I think I do, but I'm still trying to figure out the rhythm of the site.  Pros:  Really nice posting about the late-night TV situation.  And I really like that they end the day with a really good stand-up clip.

5.)  Heather Armstrong of dooce announced today that she signed a development deal with HGTV today.  It's like my TV world and my internet world are having a love child.

The week we were allergic to everything and nothing

(Note: To actually see the videos I put in this post, you have to click through to the post itself.  Or you can just read it as though I'm referring to imaginary objects.  Either way is cool with me.)

This week was a slow one.  Not bad slow, but not good slow.  Just slow.  Things really picked up on Monday when I took a half-dose of Benedryl and drank some coffee.  Man, my body thought we were moving double-time.  But things after that were pretty sedate.  My greatest accomplishment was convincing my boyfriend to watch the two-hour season premiere of The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love.  I set out of prove to him that the first episode of The Bachelor is always hands down hilarious, and this premiere did not disappoint.  Now that I've figured out how to put videos in these posts, here's the moment from the premiere when Jake and the ladies played an impromptu/staged game of touch football in evening wear.



Interestingly, that was one of the less odd moments of the episode.  There was a whole lot of moderately crazy talk floating around (which seemed included the mantra of "I deserve this," which probably has its origins in one of those popular "if you believe it hard enough, it will come to you" self-help disciplines), some inapproriate jokes in both English and Cambodian, some dress up, and a lot of out of context talk about God.  Go figure.

And because I can't help myself, here's that off-color joke in Cambodian.



Sorry to ruin things, but it fell flat.  Aside from the joke not being very funny, it proved too risque for the participants on a show who are going to spend a lot of time making out in hottubs for the camera and possibly heading to the "Fantasy Suite" together.  It's one thing to allude to how your creative use of body chocolate won you the ring in the finale.*  It is quite another to refer to how you've been waxed, thankyouverymuch.

In other fun news, I found out today (which means probably everyone else knew already) that How I Met Your Mother is doing a musical episode for their 100th episode.  I kind of like musical episodes on television - mostly because I sort of like musicals - and therefore really enjoyed the video slideshow, "How I Serenaded Your Mother," that June Thomas of Slate put together to showcase television's best musical episodes.  The slideshow includes clips and brief explainations of how said shows were able to justify a typically non-singing cast suddenly bursting into song (and not always in tune).  It makes me almost want to watch Oz. 

To round things out for the week, I want to mention today's episode of Oprah, about husbands living secret double lives and the often illegal or disturbing consequences of those lives (I won't give anything away, but one of the charges that one of the husbands is doing time for is "body stealing").  If for some strange reason, you don't TiVo Oprah like I do, I highly recommend heading to Oprah.com to see what it was all about.  My only issue with the episode is - to paraphrase Dennis Leary when he spoke about Oprah and doing research on her show when writing his last book - I feel like I'm supposed to learn something from each episode, and today I wasn't sure what that lesson was.  Vigilance?  Don't be seduced by easy living?  Ask where the money comes from?  Men are terrible? Always listen to Maya Angelou? (Though the advice "When people show you who they are, believe them the first time" was pretty darn good.) **

 And that was my week. 

*Don't believe me?  Check out Season 1 of The Bachelor.

**I think that the biggest perk of being a celebrity like Oprah is being able to casually mention something Maya Angelou or a major celebrity said to you to one of us wee people who live in the glow of the television set as though we, too, speak to Ms. Angelou on a regular basis and she just never had that particular conversation with us. And I don't hear this as Oprah name-dropping Maya Angelou or holding her celebrity status over me.  Instead, I've filed it away as cocktail chatter should I ever have to make some small talk with either Maya Angelou or Oprah.  And that is the power of Oprah.