This past weeks SNL was not only the season finale brilliantly hosted by rock icon Mick Jagger, but also what seemed to be the last show for 7 year cast member Kristen Wiig. The bridesmaids star and Oscar nominee was praised by fake principle, Mick Jagger, in a mock graduation sketch at the end of the show for her good work over "the past 7 years. (She got held back)" and proceeded to dance with with her costars to Arcade Fire performing the Stones "She's a Rainbow" and "Ruby Tuesday". Fellow cast member Andy Samberg almost prompted a wardrobe malfunction when he picked her up and spun her around in her mini skirt which she frantically pulled down. The digital short genius is also rumored to be leaving the show due to the line in his most recent "Lazy Sunday" short: "On these New York streets I hone my fake rap penmanship/ That's how it began, and that's how I'm-a finish it". SNL veterans Amy Poehler and Rachel Dratch also joined Wiig on the stage for her last dance, joining their friends on the stage of a show they never really left. Amy Poehler along with Tina Fey know the feeling, as they both left the show to pursue their now successful TV shows, which leaves the question: What will Wiig do now?
7 ways to leave SNL:
1: For a TV series
2: For a film career
3: For a family
4: For a life
5: Natural causes
6: With a wardrobe malfunction or hints in your rap songs
7: And let's not forget the members who disappear early on in their career who we can't remember
It all began when a baby leaf monkey in a Chinese zoo ate a peanut thrown by a zoo visitor, and do to this monkey's lack of grinding teeth to break the peanut down, it got lodged in his intestine, threatening the life of the monkey. So of course, there was nothing left to do but have the zoo keeper lick the monkey's butt for an hour until it pooped the peanut out. Zookeeper Zhang Bangshen, 50, had no option but to resort to this form of treatment because the monkey was too small for medication to help it defecate the nut. And apparently too small for more traditional method of a warm cloth. Or perhaps a small sponge or damp q-tip? But all's well, Bangshen reportedly "laughed with satisfaction" after the monkey passed the peanut. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/03/zoo-keeper-licks-monkeys-butt_n_1475873.html
The Avengers were box office super heroes as they ranked in over 200 million dollars opening weekend, beating out Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2, The Dark Knight,The Hunger Games and breaking the world record for best opening weekend in hollywood history. However, according to Tony Medley of the Tulican Times, it was "nothing but 2:20 of special effects and ridiculous fights... It's like all the superheroes are trying out at the Improv to see who can give the best one-liner, and none of them do". In comparison, The Avengers made almost twice as much in their opening weekend as The Graduate's entire domestic total gross, and The Graduate is number 17 on the AFI top 100 movie list. Box office numbers reflect how many people were persuaded into going to see a movie after they saw the commercials or read something about it, the actual substance of a movie is not being measured. So when you see that The Avengers took the box office by storm last weekend, what does it say about the movie. It says that it's popular, but popularity does not equal quality. http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/
How technology effects relationships has been a recent hot topic thanks to ACT writing questions, in-class-essays and Geo-Con debates, which is why the irony of Google unveiling yet another mobile gadget is so potent at the moment. "Project Glass" is merely Google's concept of augmented reality glasses (Glasses that could make video calls, take pictures, tell you directions and keep a schedule through voice commands. Essentially an smart phone in the form of eye-wear.) But the release of Google's concept video on you-tube depicting a day in the life of a person who uses Google's augmented reality glasses is what's giving this some-what unbelievable idea all the hype. The depiction seems rather lonely, as the "date" mentioned in the user's schedule at the beginning of the day by the glasses turned out to be only a video chat, again through the glasses. However, the video did not show the user pulling out an smart phone or logging onto a social network of any kind (seeming trouble for facebook and apple). Is this a step forward in face-to-face communication? Or is Google merely replacing many technological isolaters with one big technological isolater? http://socialbarrel.com/google-project-glass-what-would-it-make-of-apple-and-facebook/36908/
Legendary television producer, rockstar and host of Time Square's New Year's Rockin' Eve, Dick Clark, died last Wednesday of a heart-attack after having prostate surgery the day before. Transurethral Resection of the Prostate Surgery is usually a very low risk and considered "exceedingly safe" by the American Urological Association. The risk is less than one is 1,000, which is why it's so peculiar that it's this surgery that did the ageless icon in. Many will still remember him as the cute teenager from American Band Stand, but for Ryan Seacrest, co-host of Clark's New Years Eve program on ABC, he will be remembered as "Smart, charming, funny, and always a true gentleman. I learned a great deal from him, and I'll always be indepted to him for his faith and support of me." New Years will truly never be the same. http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/18/showbiz/dick-clark-reax/index.html
Oklahoma State Senator, Constance Johnson, defends her satirical "spilled semen" amendment to the proposed "personhood" bill. The Oklahoma "personhood" bill would define human life as beginning at the moment of conception. So in a satirical response, Johnson created an amendment to the legislation that would make it illegal for men to spill their semen outside of a woman's vagina (this includes masturbation) drawing attention to the hypocrisy and inconsistency of the proposal. She explains that as a woman and a State Senator she is increasingly offended by state law trends that focus solely on the female's role in the reproductive process.The "personhood" bill wouldn't just outlaw abortion, it would also affect common birth control methods methods, the treatment of ectopic pregnancy's, in vitro fertilization, and stem cell research. "My amendment seeks to draw attention to the absurdity, duplicity and lack of balance inherent in the policies of this state in regard to women." says Johnson. She finds it far more important that her state address issues such as affordable health care to help improve her states ranking of 48th in health status; to create good, secure jobs that grow our economy; and ensure that all citizens have access to quality, affordable education. But she will not stand idly by while this hypocrisy to women is being overlooked. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/feb/09/spilled-semen-amendment-oklahoma-personhood-bill
Republican Scott Walker did nothing to deny the charge that republicans have launched a "War on Women" until the Monday after he silently signed three controversial bills limiting the access of abortion services, sex education, and repealing the states Equal Pay Enforcement Act. The press release for these bills, signed on Thursday, was not sent out until Friday, also listing 50 other bills he'd signed the day before. Among these bills is one that bans abortion coverage through a health insurance exchange and one that requires women to undergo a private examination with a doctor away from her friends and family. Another bill requires teachers to teach abstinence as the only sure way to prevent pregnancy in sex education courses and eliminates the education of contraception. He also signed SB 202 which repeals the Equal Pay Enforcement Act. The Equal Pay Enforcement Act, passed in 2009, gave workers opportunities to pursue complaints about pay discrimination in the work place and press charges where necessary. The repeal the Walker signed is now known as Act 219. Republicans explain: "Take a hypothetical husband and wife who are both lawyers...the woman takes time off, raises kids, is not go go go... The husband is making 200 grand a year, the woman is making 40 grand a year. It wasn't discrimination. There was a different sense of urgency in each person...you could argue that money is more important for men." -State Sen. Glenn Grothman, April 7th, 2012.
But the "War on Women" has taken root. New poll shows that likely republican candidate Mitt Romney trails Obama among women voters by 19 points. Scott Walker Quietly Signs Anti-Abortion Measures, Repeals Equal Pay Act, Ahead of Easter Weekend.
Tragedy struck Gibraltar High School when the entire cast of Anything Goes experienced death by hummus only a week before the performance. We turn to the one survivor, Evan Board, to relate the story to us: Evan Board, an extremely popular freshman amongst the theatre crowd, was cast as the understudy to every single part in the show along with his pre-existing part as the purser. He became close, and eventually seduced, every cast member, stirring up troubles and mistrust with their overbearing mothers and getting inside their heads. Evan filled in for every part when the entire cast failed to show up to first dress rehearsal (due to a long night of partying that had been arranged by Evan) sparking many nervous breakdowns. The cast began having disturbing hallucinations of physically becoming their role, and to top it off, they imagined Evan in their dressing in their costumes saying that he'd take over for them. Out of fear and rage, they stabbed him with a broken hummus jar, or so they thought. It turns out that they were actually hallucinating the whole time and they had actually stabbed themselves with the hummus jar. But despite the piece of hummus glass stuck in their stomach, they each finished the performance with more emotion and integrity than they ever had, and as the curtain closed they each uttered their last words "It was perfect". Anything Goes, now starring Evan Board as every part, opens April 13th. Tickets are available at the DCA box office.
New York-based advertising agency Bartle, Bogle and Hegarty have turned homeless people on the streets of Austin, Texas into wireless hotspots. The agency outfitted 13 homeless people with 4G WiFi devices that broadcast internet signals, as a marketing attempt for the high demand of free internet at the South by Southwest arts and tech festival in Austin. Each homeless person was paid $20 a day and got to keep all of the donations they made, but unfortunately, the reaction to the experiment was much more negative than BBH expected. Initially, their intent was to give the opportunity of selling 4G connectivity to homeless people as opposed to a piece of paper. They argued that it was similar to offering a homeless person the job of holding a sandwich board, but unlike a sandwich board, and perhaps the most degrading part of the experiment, were the shirts they were wearing that said "I'm a 4G hotspot". These shirts not only took away their humanity but also made them a walking billboard for the program. On the other hand, the homeless people taking part in the experiment seemed to like it. Homeless People Turned Into Walking Wi-Fi Hotspots
When Georgetown Law School student Sandra Fluke was supposed to testify as a democratic witness to discuss the new contraception rule in front of a congressional committee, Rush Limbaugh's exact words were "Can you imagine if you were her parents how proud would you be? Your daughter testifies she's having so much sex she can't afford her own birth control pills and she wants President Obama to provide them, or the Pope. What does it say about the college co-ed Sandra Fluke who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex- what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute." Seeing as most advertising demographics are geared at woman between the ages pf 20-50, Limbaugh's comment towards the 30 year old Law student provoked his support from advertisers to drop like flies. The last count of dropped advertisements was over 2 dozen, including major brands such as AOL and Allstate, forcing Limbaugh to issue a public apology, a rare phenomenon. He explained "My choice of words was not the best, and in an attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir". But for Fluke, that was not enough. She says "I don't think that a statement like this issued changes anything, and especially when the statement is issued when he's under significant pressure from his sponsors who have begun to pull their support." But with 15 million weekly listeners and on nearly 600 stations across America, Limbaugh is hard to take down. Sandra Fluke says Rush Limbaugh's Apology Doesn't Mean Anything
A new quote extraction technology allows twitter users to measure which statements resonate the most on twitter. Recently this technology has been playing a big part in the upcoming presidential election. The twitter election on Super Tuesday showed that Rick Santorum won the tallest spikes on the tweet-volume graph. However, the runner-up was not his fellow candidate and closest competition, Mitt Romney, but non other than the infamous Sarah Palin. In previous elections, it's been proven that the people with the tallest peaks not only inspire the most passion, but also the most hatred. Especially after a candidate's televised speech, an overwhelming amount of positive tweets are quickly accompanied by an equal amount of negative ones. The new quote extraction technology showed that Romney's most shared quote was not one of substance but rather a humorous paraphrasing of his viewpoints: "I'll do everything opposite of Obama". And similarly, Rick Santorum's most famous quote on twitter was the startling: "I support the rights of an unborn child until it's born and wants a gay marriage". On a device where anyone can say whatever they want without immediate consequences, the internet seems to be not a good resource for campaigns. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/signal/sarah-palin-crashes-super-tuesday-party-twitter-162430415.html
This notorious religion of that has been sensationalized for it's celebrity controversy now has another public relations crisis on it's hands, first dealing with rumors spread by a former high ranking official eventually leading to a lawsuit. Debbie Cook has been thoroughly invested in the church for 17 years, leading the churches in spiritual mecca and ultimately rising to captain. But this past month she testified against the church, claiming that "[she] witnessed Mr. Miscavige (current church leader) physically punching in the face and wrestling to the ground another very senior executive at Scientology International Level" and that Miscavige ordered his assistant to slap her as well, hitting her so hard it knocked her out. She also testifies that while doing work at the Scientology International Base in Southern California, she was taken to "the hole" for 7 weeks. "The hole", she describes, is a pair of double wide ant infested trailers with bars on the windows and security guards at every door. She claims that they slept in sleeping bags on the floor and when the electricity cut out the trailers sometimes reached 106 degrees, and that they ate leftovers that were barely edible. She testifies that at "the hole" she was made to stand in a trash can as water was poured over her and people screamed at her to admit "bad things". ABC news received a letter from the lawyer for the Church Scientology flat out denying that these any of these events happened and that "the hole" does not exist. They claim the Cook, among other Scientology executives, participated willingly in a religious discipline program as part of their religious observances, but no one was there involuntarily. When Cook and her husband decided to leave the church in October 2007, they received $50,000 each to sign a lengthy contract that confirmed that neither of them would publicly criticize the church or it's leaders. Cook sent out an e-mail to fellow Scientologists questioning Miscagive's leadership of the Church last New Years Eve, which lead to the Church suing her for allegedly breaching her confidentially agreement.Cook still stands by the church, claiming that she never lost her love or passion for the belief and what it stand for, but it is because of that love and passion that she wants to bring to attention the situation with the current leadership. No Scientology Churches are allowing her to attend any services. Another PR Crisis for Scientology
16 year Jessica Ahlquist recently won the battle against her school in Rhode Island to remove a prayer banner hanging in the auditorium of her public school. Ahlquist claimed in her lawsuit that the banner addressed to "Our Heavenly Father" made her feel "ostracized and out of place". The school committee argued that the mural had been in the school since 1963 was "a historical piece of art". However, on January 12, Judge Ronald Legueux still ruled that "no amount of debate can make the school prayer anything other than a school prayer". Since then, Ahlquist has been criticized and ridiculed by her school and her community for her unpopular stance on the prayer banner. She must now be accompanied by a body guard at school to avoid physical bullying by fellow students and even teachers, all the florists in the community have refused to send flowers to her house by any request, and the state representative referred to her as "an evil little thing" during a public radio interview. Atheist organizations who supported her efforts (and tried to send her flowers) have started a scholarship fund for Ahlquist to show her that even through all of the discrimination from her school and her community, she does have support somewhere. The scholarship fund has raised over $40,000 dollars so far. All of Ahlquists supporters collectively agree that it is violating the constitution to promote any kind of religion through a public organisation, such as a school, no matter what or how the message is presented. That's the bottom line. http://abcnews.go.com/US/rhode-island-teen-atheist-40k-scholarship/story?id=15751701#.T0MaHcWmh2D
In the wake of the loss of one of music's greatest female voices (Whitney Houston), a new big voice emerged as the top winner at Sunday's Grammy Awards. Adele, the girl that stole America's hearts with her heart-wrenching album about a broken romance, received the top honor for her sophomore album 21 as well as best pop vocal album for 21, best pop vocal performance for "Someone Like You", and record of the year, song of the year, and best short form video for her number one hit "Rolling in the Deep". A total of 6 awards, tying her with the incomparable Beyonce for most wins by a woman in one evening. Adele went on to deliver a heartbreaking performance on the Grammy Stage which was the highly anticipated event of the evening because of her recent recovery from vocal surgery. Bon Iver landed best new artist as well as best alternative album, which along with Adele, was a major leap in the music industry. These artists who write from the heart were up against showy, manipulated music such as Skrillex, Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj. But as David Grohl of the Foo Fighters so eloquently put: "It's not about being perfect. It's not about sounding absolutely correct. It'son in here (your heart) and what goes on in here (your head)". As "Party Rock Anthem", ironically, played him out. Adele tops Grammy Award; Ties with Beyonce's Record of 6
On Tuesday, the The Federal Appeals Court officially found Proposition 8, California's 2008 law that limited marriage to one man and one woman in California, unconstitutional. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Prop 8 violated the 14th Amendment's equal-protection clause in a 2-1 vote. It“serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples” wrote Judge Stephen Reinhardt. The U.S. Supreme Court can now weigh in on Gay Marriage as soon as next year, but the issue of whether other states and/or the federal government recognize same-sex marriage or not was not addressed. This is “because California had already extended to committed same-sex couples both the incidents of marriage and the official designation of ‘marriage,’ and Proposition 8’s only effect was to take away that important and legally significant designation, while leaving in place all of its incidents. This unique and strictly limited effect of Proposition 8 allows us to address the amendment’s constitutionality on narrow grounds,” Reinhardt wrote. The question now is is whether or not the Supreme Court will agree to hear the case. Above: Celebs get involved, using their popularity to make their voices heard. http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/proposition_8_what_happens_next.php
American households have been ringing with the sound of Demi Moore's frantic friend's voice telling paramedics that Demi is "burning up" and "convulsing" from inhaling too much nitrous-oxide. This is due to News Stations obtaining the actual 911 call that Demi's friend made and freely playing it for the world to hear, redacting only a few portions for privacy issues. However, no actual consent has been given by Demi to allow this call to play. Demi's private life has been common household knowledge long before this incident thanks to her recent split with her much younger husband Ashton Kutcher has taken over the twitter feeds. (Demi is one of the most active celebrity twitter users). But is playing the 911 call revealing that she has been smoking too much and is convulsing on the news really at the same level as the tabloids that gossip about her relationships? This exploitation of her life seems to be mimicking the video that went viral a couple years ago showing the death of a luge slider which horrified his family when it was played on the national news. We need to ask ourselves if it makes it OK to exploit people's personal lives just because they are a celebrity and they choose live in the public eye. While some things are important for the public to know, such as morals of possible presidential candidates being (or not being) acted upon, some celebrities simply wish to share their talent with the world and nothing else. We cannot assume that they are automatically "narcissistic" and "insecure" and "live off of the adoration of their fans" simply because they are a celebrity as they do in Good Morning America's report. And finally we should ask ourselves "why should we care?". Why should we spend all day analyzing how healthy these people's relationship's are and what their motives of self-destruction seem to be when it's clear that few of us have our own lives under complete control. Who are they to us? They provide a service of entertainment and art for our own enjoyment. They are not our friends and they don't effect our life.
Demi Moore was sent to the hospital on a possible overdoes. I hope she gets better because I respect her work as an actress. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/demi-moores-911-call-released/story?id=15456594#.Tyl6e8Wmh2A
What started as satirical, political humor on the Colbert Report, mocking two republican candidates for their negative super PAC ads against each other, soon became more than any of us could've imagined. Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report (a mock news cast on Comedy Central) had been picking apart how super PACs work to his audiences for weeks. Yet, when the opportunity presented itself, Colbert started a super PAC of his own. The Colbert super PAC invited unlimited contributions from donors who were listed as "Heroes" on the Colbert Report and spent this money to make super PAC ads of his own, bashing all candidates. Colbert then announced that he was forming an exploratory committee (which seemed to consist of Dr. Henry Kissinger, Pat Buchanan, Criss Angel Mindfreak, Siri, Grima Wormtongue, Rosco the Super Intelligent Ferret, Chuck Todd, and a roll of quarters) to consider running for the President of the United States of South Carolina. The committee encouraged voters of Iowa, New Hamphire, or South Carolina to write-in Rick Perry's name spelt with an A (Rick Parry) on the ballot OR place a vote for Herman Cain's suspended campaign as a vote for Colbert. This was all perfectly legal according to Colbert's lawyer. As long as he was gaining this money through a super PAC, Colbert could essentially spend the money any way he wanted. So to make it official, Colbert brought in his close friend Jon Stewart from the Daily Show to "coordinate" with the super PAC, which officially means that Colbert can't share his plans with Stewart. Ads by "The Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC" were shown in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina like actual campaign ads and Colbert held rally's such as the "Rock Me Like A Herman Cain" rally at colleges throughout these states. The Colbert/Cain campaign ultimately received 45 votes in Iowa, 160 votes in New Hamphire, and 6,324 votes in South Carolina, leaving the the campaign with more votes than Perry, Huntsman, and Bachmann combined. However, the campaign was still only had 1% of the votes, so on Monday night Colbert announced that he was re-suspending Herman Cain's already suspended campaign. Colbert explains that while "American's for a better Tomorrow, Tomorrow" was a mockery on how far politics have gone in the past election, if you think that it's a joke, then you're admitting that the election tactics being used by actual candidates in this election are also a joke. http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/mysource/business/x1069937240/Rick-Holmes-Super-PACs-get-comical-on-the-campaign-trail?zc_p=1
Beyonce first showed her glorious little baby bump in her stunning music video "countdown" which excited fans everywhere (or excited everyone everywhere, 'cause who isn't a Beyonce fan?) Little Blue Ivy Carter finally arrived on January 7th, 2012. Her name is thought to be a combination of her Daddy's favorite color, blue, and the roman numeral of both her parent's lucky number, IV. But Blue Ivy isn't just the baby of two celebrities, she's a celebrity baby! Thanks to Jay-Z featuring her cries in the song "Glory", Blue Ivy is officially the youngest person to ever appear on the billboard charts. Jay-Z released this song about Blue Ivy the Monday after she was born and it immediately became viral. The song is now entering the billboard charts at no. 74. Best. Baby. Ever. Blue Ivy Carter
The
issue of whether being raised in a homosexual home, as opposed to heterosexual
home, has a negative effect on the child or not has beencontroversial since the gay rights movement took off. (I
believe that Gay Rights is the Civil Rights of this generation.) But while many
religious organizations, such as the Catholic Church, have been opposed
to it for years, even denying gay couples the option to adopt from them, the
fact of the matter is that there is absolutely no research to back up their
claims. In fact, research shows the children raised by same-sex parents tend to
be more open-minded and tolerant than those raised in a "traditional household".
And furthermore, homosexual parents tend to be more committed and motivated
than heterosexual parents on average because they chose to be parents. Gay couples rarely become parents by accident, as opposed to the almost 50% of unplanned
pregnancy's among heterosexual parents. And yet, adoption agencies still discriminate against gay couples even when it is proven that gay couples are one of the most powerful resources for kids in need of adoption. American's needs to open their eyes and realize that the ignorant myths they have been under the spell of for so long have absolutely no substance. The effects of being raised by a single parent are not the same as being raised by two of the same gender. Two good parents are better than one good parent, and one good parent is better than two bad parents. Gender has absolutely nothing to do with it. With many children, it is impossible to tell whether they were raised in a homosexual or heterosexual household. In fact, many of these children raised by gay couples have grown to be intelligent, good-hearted and well spoken adults such as Zach Whales. (above video clip) Why Gay Parents May Be The Best Parents- Yahoo
