Last night for some reason I was thinking about Weird Al Yankovic’s 1989 film UHF (the film’s imdb.com page is here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098546/). It occurred to me that this film would completely baffle my students because they would have no idea what a UHF dial is, having grown up solely with remote-control televisions and cable (myContinue reading “UHF and the Loss of Cultural Memory”
Tag Archives: television
NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!
I had this classic Monty Python sketch in my head this morning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tym0MObFpTI It struck me that now when I hear the words “Spanish Inquisition” my first reaction is to laugh rather than to be horrified by all of the lives it unjustly destroyed. I am not sure how to feel about this. I suspectContinue reading “NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!”
Books Acquired Recently
Aldrich, Nelson W., Jr., ed. George, Being George: George Plimpton’s Life as Told, Admired, Deplored, and Envied by 200 Friends, Relatives, Lovers, Acquaintances, Rivals–and a Few Unappreciative Observers. New York: Random, 2008. I am fascinated by George Plimpton as a sort of public intellectual who was one of the last of his kind. However, this fascinationContinue reading “Books Acquired Recently”
Thoughts on Yogurt
Yogurt fascinates me. I don’t like eating it because it is just too weird, a bizarre amalgamation of other dairy products: part liquid like milk, part flowing solid like ice cream, part fermentation like cheese. But I really enjoy watching other people eat it because I get to observe someone interacting with the above oddContinue reading “Thoughts on Yogurt”
Some Thoughts on Edgar Allan Poe
Yesterday a friend of mine posted this hilarious cartoon on Facebook: http://i.imgur.com/rlEZr.png. Any time you can combine Edgar Allan Poe and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” you have to do it. I’ve been thinking about the cartoon and chuckling all day, which in turn got me thinking about Poe in general, and how he keeps inserting himself intoContinue reading “Some Thoughts on Edgar Allan Poe”
Euro 2012 Quarterfinals Preview
The first round of Euro 2012 ended today with England beating Ukraine 1-0 and France losing to Sweden 2-0. England thus advance to the quarterfinals as the winners of Group D with France in second. The English victory was a stereotypically English display–defend, defend, defend, and score on a set piece. Wayne Rooney had a goodContinue reading “Euro 2012 Quarterfinals Preview”
“The Wake-Up Bomb” at the 1995 MTV Music Awards
Here’s a link to R.E.M.’s performance of “The Wake-up Bomb” at the 1995 MTV Music Awards (oh those halcyon days when MTV mattered/was relevant to music)*: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLhZN6dwnEY I remember watching it on television at the time and being a) disappointed, because I had never heard the song before since it hadn’t been released yet–I wasContinue reading ““The Wake-Up Bomb” at the 1995 MTV Music Awards”
“Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”
Here’s the video for U2’s “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_WDG8iLT1o There’s not much to say about it other than that it’s a fantastic video: It’s animated! Bono reads The Screwtape Letters! Batman plays the cello! It was always a treat when it came on television, back when MTV still played videos.
Et tu, Andy?
I still haven’t gotten over Kristen Wiig’s decision to leave Saturday Night Live, and now Andy Samberg has announced that he is also leaving, and Jason Sudeikis might be, too: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/andy-samberg-leaving-saturday-night-live-16478784#.T8xRK79ob7c. This is a tough blow. Samberg’s digital shorts and “Weekend Update” characters (especially his impression of Nic Cage!) are fabulous; next to Wiig andContinue reading “Et tu, Andy?”
Daniel Shank Cruz 
