Noony and Nunni
This recurring sketch was one of my favorites of the last 10 years of SNL.
Pictured, Jason Sudeikis as college boyfriend ‘Geoff’ sitting on The Hair Chair by Mobus™, holding the latest in mobile toiletry, The Carry Pot by Human Function™.
A personal favorite too.
One of the best episodes/skits of SNL history.
A special treat for those of you who know my surname. A high school buddy’s been an SNL staff writer for years - and has yet to compensate me for inspiring this skit!
(via citizen) I’ve posted some of Noonan’s recent stuff - quality commentary. This time, I’ll let her quote from the delightfully sassy Donna Brazile (in response to Paul Begala’s race-baiting) do the talking:
…we need to not divide and polarize the Democratic Party. . . . So stop the divisions. Stop trying to split us into these groups, Paul, because you and I know . . . how Democrats win, and to simply suggest that Hillary’s coalition is better than Obama’s, Obama’s is better than Hillary’s — no. We have a big party, Paul… Just don’t divide me and tell me I cannot stand in Hillary’s camp because I’m black, and I can’t stand in Obama’s camp because I’m female. Because I’m both. . . . Don’t start with me, baby.
“Speeding drivers in south China are getting clear away thanks to machines which switch the numbers on their licence plates in seconds, state media said on Tuesday.” - Reuters
I’ve read London has similar problems with drivers beating the camera-enforced congestion fee by stealing plates. I suspect it would’ve been only a matter of time before the problem struck New York had the Mayor’s congestion proposal been implemented. Separating the point of (anonymous) observation from the point of fine/fee collection incentivizes cheating.
Today’s WSJ opinion section discusses the relationship between cigarette taxes and organized crime (other, more detailed research here by the same author). Given that everyone I know here knows someone who’s seriously considered renting a truck to bootleg cigs from the South, that crime connection isn’t as surprising as the recently increased tax-burden:
On April 23,…Gov. David Paterson signed into law a $1.25 per-pack tax hike on top of the state’s $1.50 per-pack tax. That’s in addition to New York City’s own $1.50 per-pack tax. Come July 1, New York City’s smokers will be paying on average $9 a pack for legal cigarettes.
As a non-smoker, this makes me uncomfortable.
Other sins we could tax to cover short-falls include: gambling, serrated knives, A&F thongs for tots, sheepskin condoms and Windows Vista.
“A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (via the New York Times): sildenafil, otherwise known as Viagra, is a bona fide cure for jet lag. At least in hamsters, that is…The researchers found that Viagra has the ability to alter hamsters’ internal clocks (their ‘circadian rythms’).” - the Economist.
Unfortunately for late-night comedians, this alternative use is nowhere near approval for humans. But if you’re too embarrassed to get the pills for actual erectile dysfunction, perhaps this is a face-saving way to procure a scrip. “Doc, the jet lag’s ruining my marriage!”
Putting aside my disappointment that this ‘raid’ involved neither drawing guns nor kicking in doors - it’s high drama when one of the Federal Government’s top watch-dogs is implicated in corruption.
The Office of the Special Counsel is “a first line of defense against fraud and mismanagement in government.” While “under investigation himself since 2005” for various abuses of power, SCO chief Scott Bloch headed the probe into alleged misuse of federal agency resources by White House officials, especially Karl Rove, to re-elect Republicans in 2006.
Bloch broke protocol at the end of that year by calling 1-800-905-GEEKS, to “eradicate a virus.” In the course of their visit, the GEEKS erased data: “The receipt says a seven-level wipe was performed but doesn’t mention any computer virus.” Allegedly, this was part of a cover-up by Bloch and associates.
Incidentally, since then “Mr. Rove has resigned from the White House and is no longer under jurisdiction of the Office of Special Counsel.” He’s a phantom.
Having come a long way from the days of providing floral-print ponchos and dress capes to men who could single-handedly fill clown cars [see picture], the Big & Tall fashion industry now struggles to narrow it’s target market and sartorial bearing. It’s an issue near and dear to my heart. As a robust man of six and a half feet who, weighing almost two PeterWKnoxs at my peak - I’ve never quite ballooned into the traditional minimum B&T waist-band: a stretchtastic 46”. Yet I have muffin-topped a few 36’s in my day. That occasionally left me in the no-man’s land between department store and B&T.
I am, however, tall enough to indulge in extra-long shirts at various B&Ts and became familiar with the odd dynamic of marketing button-up tents: the catalogues are stuffed with images of modern Adonis in long, athletic tapered Nautica board shorts. The average guy in the store, on the other hand, is unwittingly making a corset from the 4XL vest of a George Foreman brand, Carolina blue suit. Either that, or he’s triumphantly flexing in a vaguely misogynistic Big Dogs t-shirt [see below].
The trend is on, led by Casual Male XL, to change the waist of B&T. For starters, Casual Male no longer uses the phrase “Big & Tall”, having learned men translate it “fat guys in stretch pants.” They’re focusing on more athletic-looking bruisers in the 40-48” range, like appropriately surnamed Pats’ offensive tackle Matt Light. Finally, they’ve continued to improve the look of their product, especially in smaller sizes. The hope is attention to relatively more fit, but still authentically large, men will grow the market. My hope is that said market growth will lead to more varied, stylish options in case I experience another post-pubescent burst of … non-market growth. WSJ analysis of this here.
I’ve mentioned previously that my employer’s among those laying off thousands because our finance nerds were caught as flat-footed as most others during the mortgage crisis. We back-office peons were tipped off that the next few thousand sackings come tomorrow and Wednesday. Naturally, the atmosphere’s grim and everyone is anxious. The office is rife with rumor, spreading quickly among workers with no incentive to produce anything today. I’ve taken advantage by initiating this corporate chat with several colleagues, clinching with a funny link found via Tumblr:
Me: So, get a load of this
Me: Apparently someone in HR goofed and the post-layoff org chart for our division is already making the rounds.
Colleague: reaaallllllyyyy!?
Me: Yeah, check it out!
So far everyone has gotten a laugh out of it - mission accomplished.
The Census Follies discusses the Census Bureau’s high-profile, $3 billion dollar failure developing a $600 hand-held device to modernize census taking. The ultimate reason, accompanied by no heads rolling, was given as something like ‘failure to convey requirements to the vendor,’ Harris Corp. I’ll say!
Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) who loves busting pork second only to busting balls, is quoted saying:
So we’re still going to pay $600, four times what the American [tax]payer should be paying, for something that can be done on a $150 BlackBerry…A $400 iPhone can do twice as much as the $600 handheld. You could buy iPhones and do all of this.
Leaving aside the iPhone’s unavailability at the time (2006) - this begs the question - why not? I don’t mean that sarcastically. I honestly want to know why the decision was made to start from scratch on a handset with capabilities that could probably be stuffed into a Treo or customized UPS hand-held computer.