You know what? This news isn't so "fake"

The New York Times featured this article about The Daily Show's Jon Stewart. It's an interesting read whether you're a fan of the show or not.

Personally, I am a huge fan of The Daily Show, which is probably not shocking to anyone who read this post earlier this week. I have to confess I am one of those people who gets a large portion of my news from The Daily Show, and a lot of it has to do with what is mentioned in the article, that so much of the "real" news is dominated by ridiculous news like Paris Hilton's prison stay or missing white kids. (I am in no way making light of the heartbreak that the families of missing children go through, but 24/7 news coverage is not the way to find those kids.) The fact is that you do get real information from The Daily Show. Yes, it is information delivered with a side of satire, but it is still information. There have been many times when I've seen something on The Daily Show and waited and waited to see it on CNN the next morning only to turn the tv off having learned nothing more other than Britney got to visit with her kids or french fries might make you fat. (Thanks for that nugget of info, Dr. Sanjay Gupta!)

The Daily Show is proof that intelligence doesn't mean dull. It also proves that we need to have a sense of humor about what is going on in this world but still be vigilant and active when we disagree with what is going on. Jon Stewart and the gang are often the only voices of reason in the American media, a fact that I think even Jon Stewart would find depressing. We trust him because he tells us the truth and has figured out a way to break that truth to us with humor and integrity. Can Wolf Blitzer say that?

MIA for a Reason

I know I haven't posted much this week. Between spending hours glued to the Olympics, getting ready to go back to work and the meetings attached to that, and making sure I'm leaving my house in order to go back to work, I just haven't had as much time to sit in front of the computer thinking of witty things to write.

I am working on something about the Olympics, an obsession I've developed this week that has shocked even me. As I've said many times before, I'm not really much of a sports person. Yeah, I'll watch the occasional Cubs game or go support my students at the occasional volleyball or basketball game (heck, I've even been known to go to the occasional high school football game!), but it's not something I will spend hours watching obsessively. Until this week and this man right here. I will be glad when his gold medal run is over because the stress of worrying about whether he's going to make it or not is becoming unbearable for me! Between him and the tension of the Nastia Luikin-Shawn Johnson showdown last night, I'm a wreck!

Ridin' that Train . . .

I'm so glad I saw Pineapple Express on "Free Popcorn" day at my local multiplex. This movie gave me the most serious case of the munchies in recent memory, which the possible exception of the desperate need I developed for chocolate during a viewing of Chocolat.

With that said, Pineapple Express is the Toyota Prius of movies right now, a hybrid film combining the typical stoner comedy with an action buddy flick. It tells the story of schlubby Dale Denton (played by schlubby Seth Rogen), a process server who spends 99% of his days smoking weed that he buys from Saul, played by James Franco. While he is enjoying a doob rolled from the very rare and very potent strain of weed called Pineapple Express (thus the title) that he just bought from Saul, Dale witnesses a murder -- a murder committed, coincidentally enough, by Saul's supplier Ted. Dale panics and takes off, throwing out his roach in the process. Ted, of course, recognizes the weed in the roach and sends his goons out to kill Dale. The rest of the movie is pretty much Dale and Saul fleeing from the assassins.

It's a thin plot to be sure, but the comedy that is mined from this situation hits its mark a good portion of the time. Rogen and Franco have a laid back comic timing, and a lot of the humor can be found in their rather awkward interaction with each other. To Dale, Saul is just his dealer and the time they spend together is only the result of Dale's need for weed. To Saul, their relationship is a friendship, and Franco plays Saul's vulnerability with heart and humor. When Danny McBride's Red (the middle man between Ted and Saul) enters the mix, the awkward humor intensifies to the point where it's almost painful. McBride is not in the movie nearly as much as the poster for the film would imply, but the scenes that he is in belong solely to him and he manages to nearly steal the film and establish himself as a rising comic star.

This movie is full of scene stealers, though, including Gary Cole who plays Ted with a gleeful villainy that masks its own awkwardness and Craig Robinsonof The Office fame as a super sensitive assassin. Ultimately, though, this movie belongs to James Franco who breaks from the pretty boy stereotype to give a goofy, charming performance that dominates the movie. You feel for Saul, whose perpetually stoned grin mask a good guy whose heart is in the right place and who dreams of more than just selling drugs. He is loyal and principled, reacting with hurt when people don't act with those same principles.

This is not to take anything away from Seth Rogen. Rogen is a reliable, engaging comic presence who finds humor in words. I guess I just couldn't help but thinking that Rogen's Dale was pretty much the same character we've seen from Rogen over and over again, going all the way back to his debut performance as Ken on Freaks and Geeks. It's a great character, but it's not really anything new. Rogen is giving us something we know (and know well) whereas Franco is shedding our preconceived notions about him and breaking new ground for us. Franco is a surprise; Rogen is routine.

Pineapple Express does grow a little long (which can be said for just about any movie with Judd Apatow's name attached to it) and credibility becomes stretched in the final act showdown between Saul, Dale, Ted, and a group of scary Asians. Overall, though, it's probably the funniest movie of the summer (although I'm waiting to see Tropic Thunder this weekend before I make any definitive statements like that) and worth the trip to the multiplex -- even if it's NOT "Free Popcorn" Day!

A Confederacy of Dunces

Those of you who come to this site looking for funny little stories about my adventures in middle America or movie reviews or pop culture quips might want to skip this one.

It's time to get serious.

As some of you might know, besides my love of pop culture, I also have a pretty serious love of politics. So serious, in fact, that it was my major in college. (That's a fact that always shocks people who didn't know me before I started teaching.) Many of my earliest childhood memories are related to politics -- watching Richard Nixon make his exit from the White House, Gerald Ford's subsequent swearing in, the election of Jimmy Carter, organizing a lunch table election in 4th grade, etc. I've always been fascinated by the political process, and if it weren't for some incredibly incriminating photos that I'm sure are still circulating out there, I'd probably consider a career in politics at some point.

There's a problem with that, though. I've come to the startling conclusion that, even considering my youthful indiscretions, I'm too smart to be in politics.

That's not ego or delusional thinking speaking. It's, sadly enough, fact. The truth of the matter is that Americans seem to have an aversion to intelligent candidates. Take a look at the past two elections and you'll see the proof. Al Gore and John Kerry were both clearly intelligent men prone to giving thoughtful, lengthy responses to questions. The problem is that this intellect came off as stiff or condescending. "We" wanted someone like us and not someone who was better than us. And so we've had to endure eight years of George W. Bush and his gaffes and syntax errors and his hambone routine. More than once I've seen footage of Bush on television and have felt humiliated that this is the face we've given America on the international stage.

Here's the thing: I DO want a president that not only thinks he's better than I am but who IS better than I am. To quote Will Farrell's impersonation of W. (you knew I'd slip a pop culture reference in here somewhere): "Presidenting is hard!" I could never handle the rigors of being president -- making those literally life and death decisions on a daily basis, trying to sort through the complexities of economic policy or Israeli-Arab relations. I don't want my president to be someone I could "have a beer with" because I want a president who's too busy to tie one on with someone like me. I want someone who will be thoughtful and detail-oriented and who will have the courage and conviction to make those life and death decisions. And I want someone who will be able to explain to me why those decisions were made with a reason better than we're "fighting evil".

Do I think George W. Bush is a bad person? No, I honestly don't. I think he's allowed some really bad things to happen on his watch, and I think that a good chunk of the reason for that is because he lacks the analytical skills to take control. He's allowed himself to become a puppet of his advisors who seem to have their own personal agendas at play. The problem with the Bush Administration is that they seem to see everything in black and white. The world is not black and white -- it's multi-colored and full of depth and complexity and that's something that seems to be lacking in Bush's policies, whether the policies we're talking are foreign, domestic, or social. I want my leaders to recognize that complexity and respond accordingly rather than dividing the world into "with us" or "against us" camps. That takes intelligence that has been lacking in our government for quite some time (as Steven Weber points out in this post from the Huffington Post).

It's time for us to stop wallowing in this mediocrity and start seeking out leaders who will help us rise above this. If we want to stay a superpower (is that term even valid anymore?), we need to realize that it takes more than super muscle power to lead -- it takes super brain power, too.

Two Down . . .

There's the legend that deaths come in threes. Yesterday, we lost Bernie Mac. Today, Isaac Hayes. That leaves one more to complete the cycle.

For many of us, Isaac Hayes makes us think of two things -- "Shaft" and South Park. "Shaft" is probably one of the coolest freakin' songs ever -- it's sexy and cool. Hayes was pretty revolutionary for his time, mixing a dance beat with cool grooves and adding his spoken word intros that predated rap by nearly a decade.

Of course, as rap grew, Isaac Hayes sort of disappeared -- until he was brought back as Chef on South Park. For years, he played the sage who served as the boys' guide to life , the one they went to when they needed advice or information. And then Hayes got pissed at Matt Stone and Trey Parker for bashing scientology and quit . . . and Chef was dead. I couldn't bear to show his grisly death here, so I went with the more "hopeful" resurrection offered at the end of the episode. Let someone else be gruesome.

RIP Bernie

I was stunned this morning to read of Bernie Mac's death from pneumonia at age 50. I didn't really know who he was until his vastly underrated sitcom hit the airwaves. I was such a fan of his show, though. His mix of disdain and affection for the kids (who else would compare kids to cockroaches?) was my kind of humor. He will be missed.

Let the Games Begin!

Okay, normally, I'm not really all that into sports. They just don't hold my interest. So as the hype has been growing all summer about the Beijing Olympics, my reaction was pretty much, "So?" I "outgrew" the Olympics long ago -- about the same time McDonalds stopped doing their Olympics promotion where you could win free stuff for every medal the US got in a certain sport. Last night, I was looking forward to curling up and watching new episodes of Monk and Psych, maybe doing a little reading, and that was about it. Then I noticed that the opening ceremony of the Olympics was about to start. My sis and I were both like, "What the heck? It'll be pretty to watch."

Pretty doesn't even begin to cover it. What the Chinese did was put on an extravaganza like I've never seen before with 2008 drums that lit when struck, 2008 tai chi masters doing their thing, dancers, amazing animation, flying people, and more. It was breathtaking, awe-inspiring. More than once my sis and I were both in tears at the majesty of what we were witnessing. Even the parade of nations was full of beauty -- from the various uniforms (LOVED the Finland dresses!) to the inspirational stories, especially the one about the little boy accompanying Chinese flag-bearer Yao Ming. Nine-year-old Lin Hao is a survivor of China's recent devastating earthquake. He was in school when the quake hit. He managed to pull himself from the rubble and then went back to pull two of his classmates to safety. Of the 30 children in his class, only 10 survived the quake. When asked why he had gone back after saving himself, Lin Hao told reporters that he was a class safety monitor and it was his job to make sure the people in his class were safe. Watching him march beside Yao Ming (and then being held up by Ming during the torch lighting so he could see what was going on) was one of those moments that may stick with me forever. Just when you think this world is going to hell, you hear a story like that and remember what courage really is.

So maybe I just might catch a little bit of the Olympics over the next couple weeks. Hearing the stories about some of these athletes reminded me that this is about more than sports. It's about making dreams come true, even if you're the only person on your country's team and have no chance of even touching a medal. I just have to make sure to stock up on Kleenex.