The Construct

I like Conan O’Brien. And what NBC is doing to him is absolutely unjust. Jay Leno gambled with his own show. Too bad for him, it crapped out on the ratings. Now he wants Conan’s time slot and looks to be getting it.

Quite honestly, I find Conan the funnier guy. And Leno’s made already so why can’t he give Conan a decent break. Anyway, Jimmy Kimmel has the best potshots to Leno’s boring ass:

I guess underneath all that shiny veneer is the real ugly face of a cutthroat business. It’s just one of those things that remind you that corporate America still will rear its ugly head when it gets the chance.

“Okay, I’ll tell you. You are the worst person I know. You constantly hit on your best friend’s wife. The man pays for your food and rescued you from certain death and this is how you repay him? And to add insult to injury you defecate all over his yard. And you’re such a sponge. You pay for nothing. You always say, “I’ll get you later,” but later never comes. And what really bothers me, is you pretend you’re this deep guy who loves women for their souls when all you do is date bimbos. Yeah, I date women for their bodies but at least I’m honest about it. I don’t buy them a copy of Catcher in the Rye and then lecture them with some seventh grade interpretation of how Holden Caulfield is some profound intellectual. He wasn’t. He was a spoiled brat. And that’s why you like him so much. He’s you. God, you’re pretentious! And you delude yourself you’re some great writer even though you’re terrible. You know, I should’ve known Cheryl Teaks didn’t write me that note. She would’ve known there’s no “A” in the word, “definite.” And I think what I hate the most about you is your textbook liberal agenda. How we should “legalize pot, man.” How big business is crushing the under class. How homelessness is the biggest tragedy in America. Well what have you done to help? I work down at the soup kitchen, Brian. I never see you down there. You want to help? Grab a ladle. And by the way, driving a Prius doesn’t make you Jesus Christ. Oh wait, you don’t believe in Jesus Christ or in any religion for that matter because religion is for idiots. Well who the hell are you to talk down to anyone? You failed college twice which isn’t nearly as bad as your failure as a father. How’s that son of yours you never see? But you know what? I could forgive all of that. All of it. If you weren’t such a bore. That’s the worst of it, Brian. You’re just a big sad alcoholic bore. I’ll see you, Brian. Thanks for the f****** steak.”

-Glen Quagmire

Classic McFarlane.

Elton John’s Rocketman is definitely a classic. Shatner gave contemporary pop culture something to laugh about. I’d take Stewie over Shatner though.

“Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids.”

Our trusty (relatively) old television set just Kurt Cobained on me. It might as well have left me with a note saying, “It’s better to burn out than to fade away.” Burn out, it did.

It was one of those last of Sony’s Trinitron line. First ones of the flatscreen CRTs. It was a real trooper – enduring long hours of broadcasts from noontime TV to primetime telenovelas, recording hours upon hours of anime, displaying more than a year’s worth of movie, TV show episodes and even brief stretches of Nintendo Wii gaming.

In terms of sentimental value, it’s packs a lot. It’s one of the first few luxury indulgences of our family after our father passed away. It’s also one of the last few items that we got to hold on to after losing almost everything when our mother died. Those are why it’s one of the few things we bothered to haul from our old residence to our current one.
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I am proud that growing up in the 80s, that television shaped pretty much who I am today. Looking back, it pretty much explains how I’ve become a disturbed individual but who cares. As far as I’m concerned, TV taught quite a lot of things.

I have to admit that I think that growing up watching Batibot and Sesame Street had it better than the kids who had to endure Teletubbies. As far as I recall, much of my exposure to the English language was because of Sesame Street and Batibot exposed me to basic literacy using Filipino contexts.

Well, sure there’s also the disturbing aspect of television like getting exposed to sexuality after being exposed to Annie’s upskirt shots watching Shaider. But I’d rather have that than being molested by a gay uncle. And that’s nothing to all the other risque TV ads that we get to see today.

Psychologically, I think my agnosticism is partly due again to that Shaider episode that had a black Santa and an upside down cross. Very visual.

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