Thursday, February 01, 2007

You are about to learn a lesson in responsibility, Shake!

The 200th post is brought to you by...The Aqua Teen Bomb Scare!



Ok, I wasn't even going to blog about this. But hey, CNN keeps reporting on it. Damn, it's just now February and we already have a strong contender for "Most Fucked Up News Story of 2007." This is so embarrassing for the genius in charge of shutting down Boston. Why do they keep calling it a "hoax" and "prank?" IT'S FUCKING MARKETING. I don't know what's more embarrassing, thinking that it was "sinister looking" or acting on it after THREE WEEKS of it having been up. Even if I didn't watch ATHF, for fuck's sake it looks like a goddamn Lite Brite.



Lifted straight from the AP:

Two men who put up the promotions were to be arraigned today on charges of placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct. Authorities say Peter Berdovsky, 27, of Arlington, and Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown, were hired to place the devices.

Berdovsky, an artist, told The Boston Globe he was hired by a marketing company and said he was "kind of freaked out" by the furor.

"I find it kind of ridiculous that they're making these statements on TV that we must not be safe from terrorism, because they were up there for three weeks and no one noticed. It's pretty commonsensical to look at them and say this is a piece of art and installation," he said.

Fans of the show mocked what they called an overreaction as about a dozen gathered outside Charlestown District Court on Thursday morning with signs saying "1-31-07 Never Forget" and "Free Peter."

"We're the laughing stock," said Tracy O'Connor, 34.

"It's almost too easy to be a terrorist these days," said Jennifer Mason, 26. "You stick a box on a corner and you can shut down a city."

O'Connor said there's nothing wrong with being vigilant, but said she said it was ridiculous to shut down a city "when anyone under the age of 35 knew this was a joke the second they saw it."


Jesus.

And while we're bringing pain, how embarrassing was Senator Biden (who's now also running for President, haha) describing Senator Obama:

"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Biden said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man."

It reminds me of that Chris Rock bit when he's fed up with everyone describing Colin Powell as being "well spoken," as if it were something outstanding for a black person to be. I LOVE the use of the word "clean," which he so sadly tried to back out of on The Daily Show last night, insisting he meant, "Fresh. Like fresh ideas!" Ok, seriously? And I'm not even going to get into what it says about the black candidates who've come before Obama...

[Editor's Note: Ok, ok, I was wrong to include this scrap of media-mutilated news; I don't think Biden is racist, but I do think his word choice is really unfortunate. I also watched him fail to really explain his meaning when given the chance. In any case, see the comments section for more.]

Anyway. Good lineup on Comedy Central tonight; they're FINALLY showing the South Park "Trapped In the Closet" episode, which I never caught, followed by the Sarah Silverman premiere and then the usual Daily Show/Colbert Report combo. Might have to actually cook a decent dinner...I've been talking about making hollandaise for about eight weeks now, I just need to cart my ass to the store for butter.

And sugar.

Well, there's this recipe for butterscotch crunch ice cream. And...I got an ice cream maker for the wedding...so...it's not my fault. I should make it now so I have something hard to bite down on during Sarah Silverman each time I cringe. (But it will be a good kind of cringe? Not unlike The Office...?) We'll see.

9 comments:

MacGuffin said...

The whole bomb scare thing is pathetic considering several other major cities had the same media treatment and none of them flipped the fuck out.
And i'm gonna got out on a limb a bit and defend Biden. I honestly think he was just tring to compliment Obama. Biden's just a wee bit garrulous and when you're like that, things may come out the wrong way from time to time. Look at his policies and political allies and decide if he's racist. There's too much PC foot to coal burning going on here when someone is trying to say something flattering about an opponent no less and gets his ass handed to him for it. Much ado about nothing. Don't hate me...

Ellen Aim said...

Actually, no, you're right about Biden. My dad called me on it and we discussed it at some length, him saying

What he was really saying was that hey, for the first time, we actually have an African-American candidate who isn't carrying so much baggage (e.g., Sharpton, Jackson) that he might actually have a real chance to win the nomination.

While I never thought the guy was probably racist, I just found his word choice so appalling. My dad agreed that yes, his word choice was poor but the media pouncing on it to blow it out of proportion was far more inexcusable. (Actually he had quite a lot to say on that matter). My objection was that when I saw him on the Daily Show (where Stewart even joked about putting in punctuation which apparently WAS butchered in the first place), Biden didn't really say much about his intentions other than he meant "fresh, new ideas."

I realize he doesn't have much of a chance anyway, but you would think at this stage he'd be a little more careful of falling into the sound bite trap.

(But yeah, I was goofy to include it).

And if I were Boston, I would be so embarrassed; it's just too late for them, I assume that's why they're not letting it go.

MacGuffin said...

Biden is well known for gabbing too much and the odd foot in the mouth moments. I don't think he has much of a chance either simply because he's not a "fresh" enough face with a big enough warchest but verbal flubs right out of the gates don't exactly help to say the least. He said he thinks he has a chance as long he's the "best Biden he can be", an obvious referance to these kind of gaffs. Poor Joe... if only such mistakes had kept W from getting nominated. Money talks obviously.

MacGuffin said...

And no, you weren't goofy to include it.

Ellen Aim said...

That's a good point. I don't think anyone should be crucified for foot-in-mouth comments ever again after the moron puppet we have for a President. I saw him on one of my shows the other night saying Cheney was a "half-glass-full" kind of guy. Nice.

Anyone else with shit visibly dribbling from their mouth like W would be toast. Or with such an obviously checkered past. So sad what's allowed with enough money.

I've got two cats humping the chair, I think it's feeding time...

Triana said...

Did you enjoy the closet episode of Southpark? :) That episode, like so many, just hurt me.

Veloute said...

Make the hollandaise!

Ellen Aim said...

Tri: I did. I was a little disappointed but it would be hard not to be...so much talking up. Any Tom Cruise bashing is ok by me. And I LOVED the depiction of Scientology. Perfect.

Vel: I did. Super buttery. It worked but I had to save it with cream once. (Added the ghee too quickly at one point). I think I prefer bearnaise. And my arm hurt. But it worked! Went very well with asparagus, now I know why that's the ONE thing I ALWAYS see it pictured with.

Veloute said...

I think it is essential to have enough lemon in it and a touch of cayenne.