I like my ads with a side of dignity

I tend to watch the Super Bowl more for the game that kills time in between the commercials than for the commercials themselves, but I thought I would share my favorite commercial of the evening.  I also like to think of it as the commercial that made me exclaim (to the surprise of the other Super Bowl partiers), "Aw, they're in love!" and not the one (of many) that made me mutter, "Well, that was confusing AND angry."

 

And, because most of last night's commercials made it plain that men in America live in a terrible, terrible world where women are mean and withhold their spines, beer, Dodge Chargers, and Doritos from them, I thought I'd post Samantha Bee's report, "Male Inequality" from last Wednesday's episode of The Daily Show.  

A Kenneth and Liz Party

As I am physically incapable of being anything but extremely punctual, I was the first to arrive at this evening's Super Bowl party.  My gracious host and fellow 30 Rock fan met me at my car and let me know that it might be a "Kenneth and Liz party," which I found particularly funny since I get to be Liz every way you slice it.  And from now on, I will be calling my host Kenneth at work.  And, in the near future, I might try to make him get me a sandwich.  I haven't been able to find any good clips of  the "Greenzo" episode that shows us what Kenneth's parties look like (and why he doesn't have parties anymore).  But, since I'd still like to honor of the early part of the evening*, here are some short, but fun moments from 30 Rock.  

First, the party song that almost rocked the party tonight.

Now, a moment from television that scarily imitates my own life.

And finally, the reason why I want Kenneth at the door of every party.

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*The other guests were about 5 minutes behind me.

Summing up a week of snowy promises

Winter weekends can be crazy, full of ups and downs.  Take this weekend, for instance.  Those of us in the mid-Atlantic survived what was built up in the media to be the destruction of civilization as we know it by weather that's completely normal for February.  Meanwhile, in a related story, everyone on Central and Mountain time laughed at the ransacking of every business that sells food and the hysteria of our newscasters.  This evening, while still recovering from the terror of falling snow, we eagerly await the Super Bowl tomorrow night.  With so much tension in the air, let's look back at the week we just barely managed to survive.

1.) On Thursday night's Parks and Recreation, we met DJ Roomba, the most excellent cleaning/music device ever.  Since Thursday night, I've been casually hinting to my boyfriend that he needs something similar in his home.

2.) As a part of the Super Bowl week coverage, Stefan Fastis wrote an interesting piece on Slate, "Peyton Manning is a Genius.  He's also a pain in the ass.," about my favorite quarterback.  On a related note, I plan to use some of my Peyton Manning coasters during Sunday's Colts/Saints Super Bowl.  I know I've completely impressed you now.

3.)  To offset the intensity of Peyton Manning the player, I give you Peyton Manning on SNL.  And I'm not just doing this because I like him.  This Digital Short is also genuinely funny.  And I'm posting this because I agree - to paraphrase Slate's "Hang Up and Listen" sports podcast - that if Peyton Manning couldn't make us laugh, he'd be terrifying.

4.)  I am afraid I might be catching Olympic fever.  I'll know more by next Friday, at which point I might be standing on my couch, singing the instrumental NBC Olympic theme*.

5.)  I finished the third season of The Tudors.  I actually don't have much to say about it.  Solid costume drama.  Love the set design.  Desperately miss Ann Boleyn but know we can't have her back.

6.)  Punxsatawney Phil saw his own shadow, which condemned us to this horror:

 

But don't worry, I survived.  Even if I do look a little haggard.

Actually, it was worse in other places.  But I plan to remain cranky until I get a good snowstorm.

7.)  A Saturday evening marathon of Toddlers and Tiaras (currently playing in the background), has made me eternally grateful for my lack of rhythm and my parents' decision to encourage me to play sports.  

And because you've been so good, I'll let you see those Peyton Manning coasters I was talking about:

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*Though even then I might not be able to tell.  If I end up calling my brother - my favorite instrumental theme song-singing partner - I might not be able to gauge when, exactly, I've fallen into the abyss.

A Spider-Man for the Wes Anderson set

 

A fun parody of Wes Anderson's filmic affectations as we slouch our way towards the weekend.  And, if you live in the NY/NJ/PA area, a final laugh before the snowpocalpyse tears the fabric of our society to shreds...at least, until the plows come out on Sunday.

Berries a la Mode

I vaguely remember a time when Dr. Drew didn't bother me

Back in my middle school days, when cable was new and MTV showed videos or aired The Grind during the day, I remember thinking that Dr. Drew was pretty cool on that Loveline show that I wasn't supposed to be watching*.  Despite my questions about the possibility that the different iterations of Celebrity Rehab  were exploitative and my serious reservations about diagnosing a person you don't treat (even though I have no real knowledge of the psychiatric field - it just seems wrong), I've always been all right with Dr. Drew.  Until tonight.

I'm writing this post during the commercial breaks for the Teen Mom Reunion Special - "One-Year Check-Up with Dr. Drew" or something like that.  Anyway, the interviews on these MTV specials are always a bit too short.  I guess they edit the hell out of things to allow for the really long commercial breaks MTV has always had and to get viewers to go to MTV's website for exclusive footage. And, this particular case, the interviews are trending towards the condescending.

Maybe I'm being too hard on Dr. Drew.  But the constant spewing of statistics as an introduction to an interview and in the middle of a conversation are distracting.  As are the mentions of various resources - like teen pregnancy prevention websites and dating violence websites - when there's an appropriate segue.  Not that I don't think that these resources are important or that MTV's target audience needs access to them.  I think the more information, the better.  Seriously, go to MTV now and stock up on useful information.  But I do have a problem with the scripted and almost cold feeling of the Teen Mom reunion special.  In particular, I have a problem with Dr. Drew asking Amber a question about her response to immense frustration acted out violently (in this case, when Amber hit Gary) being interrupted by Dr. Drew's turning away to mention a useful domestic violence site.  I know this information needs to be presented almost immediately so as to 1.) Not condone actions that even the actor disagrees with and to 2.) Capitalize on the short attention spans of teenage viewers, but there's got to be a better way to do it.

Again, I appreciate the information and hope it helps someone, but the way this special has been running has been so forced and scripted and makes me feel as though once again, no one is listening to these young women when they speak.  For a show that is relatively organic - while all reality shows are false in a variety of ways, this one has the feeling of a commitment to the truth - these specials with Dr. Drew ring a tad hollow.

But here's what really, really gets to me about tonight's episode.  And now I say this with the understanding that these interviews have been just cut to pieces, but the particular topics Dr. Drew focused on in certain interviews - namely those with Maci and Amber - really bothered me.  While both young women are dealing with schoolwork, daycare, being home (and frustrated) all day, changing residences, and partners who have not matured at the same rate as they have, Dr. Drew focused on the idea of reconciliation between the couples.  And while I know Dr. Drew is a professional and I am just a lowly English grad student, as I watched more and more Teen Mom this season, I began to really, really hope that both Maci and Amber would leave their boyfriends for good.  It was hard to watch these girls - both with older partners - grow up quickly and pass their boyfriends in maturity.  And I didn't think that Ryan and Gary were bad guys.  They're probably very nice, but it has been clear since the original 16 and Pregnant series that neither Ryan nor Gary  were unprepare for the demands of the type of relationship that involves a girlfriend AND a baby.  And, it seemed to me that all members of these couples had trouble empathizing with one another or working as a team.  I wasn't rooting against these guys, but I felt like Maci and Amber needed to cut Ryan and  Gary off so that they could stop feeling like they were being dragged down to places that made them tense, anxious, and self-doubting.  Basically, I didn't think that the pain these girls said they felt would stop until they quit thumbing the bruise.  But Dr. Drew, he thought that getting back together was an option in Maci and Ryan's case and appeared to congratulate Amber and Gary for resolving their differences.  I guess we saw different things.


Okay, okay, Dr. Drew did a decent interview with Farrah, who I totally understood but found completely frustrating nonetheless**.  I'm also wondering if this show was shot before or after Farrah and her mom had that nasty domestic violence incident.  No one has said anything and Dr. Drew's about to bring her mother out, but that could just be to talk about the regular tension between the two of them***.

All right, that's enough Teen Mom and Dr. Drew.  I'll be TiVoing the new season of 16 and Pregnant, so until then I'll just have to live off the fumes of the memories of the quality programming MTV provided this season.

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*For the record, I mostly didn't watch.  Most things went right over my head, which meant that I got bored really quickly.
**Yes, she was selfish, but most teenagers are.  The fact that she became a mom wasn't going to rip all the teenager out of her, as frustrating as that might be for those who are around her (or watching on TV).  Also, a lot of us can understand the impulse to have your cake and eat it, too.  It just gets more complicated when raising a baby and expectations about what one's role as a mother should be gets involved.
***Okay, this is either before Farrah's mom's arrest or the whole special is set up to be mildly deceptive about what went on between those two.

This actually made me work out harder

At the gym, I tend to watch a lot of ESPN or CNBC (by the way, thank you for all the Jeopardy! answers...or questions...whatever).  In the case of ESPN, I like it and can watch it without sound and still know what's going on.  And, in the case of CNBC I have something to look at that keeps my eyes off Fox News.  But Friday night, I almost fell off my stationary bike because I had to very nearly let go of the handlebars and let out a whoop during this particular run.  And most nights I only feel compelled to yell at the TV when I'm on the treadmill in front of Jeopardy!