Happy Lent, Everybody!

I forgot it was Ash Wednesday yesterday, and I didn't give anything up this year. I might be going to hell.

[Source: Filmdrunk]

Bo Burnham Doesn't Take Kindly to Latecomers

Somebody had the good sense to film Bo Burnham's show at Penn State last week (which I reviewed here), and included this little exchange between the rising stand-up and Brendan from Full Ammo Improv. The stuff Burnham says before is funny, but if you have no interest in his material, skip to the 1:20 mark, and watch what happens when he chooses to dart into his saved seat up front juuuuuusssst as Bo starts a song.

24 Thoughts

I don't know how many people other than me are watching 24 this season (I know there are at least three of us), but it's returned to form. Sort of.

Season 6 turned a lot of people off by being completely incomprehensible, but it seems the writers' strike did some good for the show. But even with a focused story line, it seems that the series has been on TV long enough that it's becoming a parody of itself.

The clip above really jumped out at me. Since torture has been a hot topic in the news, 24 has taken it's duty to pro-torture pretty seriously - hell, I'm sure in the back of the minds of torture supporters, they think It has worked for Jack billions of times! And why not? Sometimes they set it up so torture seems like the best option.

But the involvement of a baby is a new one. I found this fucking hilarious - mostly because it seems like 24 is jumping the [torture] shark. Jack has tortured everyone under the sun - men, women, white people, black people, Asian people - this had to come up in a writer's meeting eventually. Though they were careful to portray Jack as having no intention of actually hurting the suspect's 11-month-old son, I kept imagining an intense interrogation scene with Jack and a baby.

"I WILL THROW YOUR FUCKING CHILD INTO A BLENDER. I LOVE AMERICA THAT FUCKING MUCH."

"NO! He's an innocent child! He has nothing to do with the Sengalan conspiracy!"

"HE SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE BEING BORN!"

Maybe that's just me.

Also maybe just me - are they trying to put a nicer (freckled) face on torture by having new character Renee Walker (the woman in the video) slowly accept the merits of it? She looks like she could be a kindergarten teacher. I want her to pop popcorn for me and start share time.

It's like Annie grew up, went through FBI training, and resists singing about her hard-knock life because she's got a motherfucking terrorist plot to foil.

Vote or Die

If you are one of the few people that reads this blog but NOT Onward State, you need to go vote for the other site that publishes the crap I churn out.

U.S. News and World Report nominated us for Best Alternative Media Outlet. It's awesome and took me by total surprise - but we're trailing to a couple competitors. Vote for us so people who go to Yale don't have yet another thing to hold over your head.

Go Vote!

Sixburgh, Baby

I could write a long-winded, ecstatic post in celebration of my Steelers winning a record-setting 6th franchise Super Bowl, but to be honest, it wouldn't measure up to what I felt circa 2.5 hours ago.

What I will say is that it was incredible game and I managed to have 8 people who were pulling for the Cardinals over at my apartment and not maim anyone. And the following links:

The best part of The Boss' Super Bowl half time show - the unexpected shoving of his package into the camera lens. It's no wardrobe malfunction, but hey, it gives us something to talk about.

Will Leitch, Editor Emeritus of Deadspin and noted Cardinals fan, wrote a nice piece summing up his feelings on the game. It puts a good spin on the franchises' continuing quest for a championship.

My post for Onward State - a petition for the Eagles fans to pull for the Stillers. I'm not sure if it swayed anyone, especially considering all my friends would have gleefully seen Pittsburgh fall at the very adept hands of Larry Fitzgerald.

Hopefully this will be a nice appetizer for the inevitable Collegian riot story tomorrow morning.

Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go.