One of the bleaker moments during last night’s vice-presidential debate was when both Palin and Biden refused to support same-sex marriage. Biden tried to tiptoe around the issue by arguing that gay couples are entitled to the same constitutional benefits that hetero couples enjoy, but when it comes to legally redefining the institution of marriage to include gay couples, Biden locked arms with Palin, put his foot down, and said no.
Palin indicated during one of her mind-blowing sessions with Katie Couric that homosexuality is a “choice.” This, of course, is a highly controversial answer that refutes the testimony of homosexual men and women who claim they have no control over their sexual orientation. It also fails to acknowledge recent scientific advances that support the inherent nature of a homosexual lifestyle.
One such advance was made by Simon LeVay in the early ’90s. When comparing the brains of homosexual men with those of heterosexual women, LeVay made an interesting discovery.
Let’s talk Jamie Lee Curtis. Say who? Yeah, her. She’s working the media circuit to promote her latest and greatest box office killer—wait for it, wait for it—Beverly Hills Chihuahua. How this has anything to do with Curtis polling Rachael Ray’s audience for lactation and then crying out like an infant in the middle of an interview is . . . quite reasonable, really. Let me repeat: She’s promoting a film called Beverly Hills Chihuahua. [ED note-So totes going to see it!]
Paris Hilton’s new reality show, “Paris Hilton My New BFF,” debuted on MTVthis past Tuesday. Over 300,000 freak shows put themselves on the web to compete for a spot on the program and 18 made the cut. They’ll face a new series of challenges each week (resisting the urge to throw a Choo at Her-Royal-Hilton ain’t one of them, but should be) and one lucky soul will be eliminated at the end of every show. How? With Hilton waving a wand and chirping “TTYN!” (ICYMI: That’s TXT MSG speak for “Talk to you never!”) But wait— it gets worse.
The media world’s constant upheaval is like a game of musical chairs, except all of the chairs get taken away at once.
According to several inside sources, the Village Voice continued its cost-cutting measures Thursday, dismissing two reporters for budgetary reasons. The paper’s copy chief also resigned in protest after the deputy copy chief was laid off Wednesday.
The deputy copy chief, Shazdeh Omari, was then brought back after Rick Szykowny’s resignation. The two reporters, Sean Gardiner and Maria Luisa Tucker, joined the Village Voice in 2006, after the paper was purchased by New Times Media.
Leonardo DiCaprio released a PSA Wednesday chock-full of celebrities (like Jamie Foxx and Tobey Maguire) encouraging people to vote … by telling them not to vote. A tricky bit of reverse psychology there.Â
There are two versions of the ad, called “5 Friends,” one where featured celebrities like Jonah Hill, Kevin Connolly and others swear (posted above), and another with their profanity bleeped out. As my colleague Tara Graham astutely points out, the PSA is really just an excuse to watch famous people curse.
And apparently, that’s what drives viewership. At the time of this posting, the uncensored version of the PSA had almost three times as many views as the clean version, and those differences are likely to grow larger each day.
With just under 500,000 views on YouTube for the uncensored version in about 24 hours, it looks like Leo has a bonafide hit on his hands. The 5friendsvote channel was the second-most-viewed channel on YouTube Thursday, and “5 Friends Uncensored” was the third-most-favorited video.
Here’s the real question: Why? Why is it such a hit? The PSA seems to break all the rules of a successful Internet video.Â
First of all, it’s too long. A 4:45-minute running time is an eternity to watch people standing in front of a white background. (Put aside for a moment that they’re trying to convince you to vote.) And the camera jumping and zooming around doesn’t make things any more interesting. The celebs even wait around for a minute, doing nothing, to give viewers a chance to write down a voter registration Web site.
Second, it’s not funny. Jonah Hill is funny. Sarah Silverman is funny. Ellen DeGeneres is funny. But they aren’t funny in this PSA. Hill dropping the random F-bomb doesn’t make me want to watch it again.
Third, it’s condescending as hell. Maybe it’s tough for a PSA to avoid being somewhat condescending, but it seems much worse when I hear celebrities telling me I should register. As if hearing something from a famous person somehow makes it more important. And the whole message delivery feels off, too. By telling me how I shouldn’t vote, they’re actually telling me I should vote – doesn’t that seem a little forced?
So what’s driving up the viewing numbers? Either people truly are forwarding this around to five friends, or the average YouTube user will watch anything with a celebrity in it (the more the better!). Celebrities who swear? That’s just magical.
“No one cares more about the environment than oil companies,” said Steven Colbert on The Colbert Report last night. Check out his sketch that poked fun at the expiration of the offshore drilling ban. Colbert tells the audience: “A lot of people talk about loving the earth. But how many of them actually penetrate it?” asked Colbert.
Perhaps those thousand of bankers and financial folks who were laid off in this economic fiasco can flip their skills into a “green†job. According to a study released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors Thursday, the new shift to renewable energy and efficiency is expected to create a whopping 4.2 million jobs. Currently, there are about 750,000 folks who work in green jobs. Hey, there’s hope for the unemployed yet.
Forget hybrids and low emissions vehicles. And we all know gas prices and constantly filling up at the pump are a bummer. Daimler’s new tiny Smart ED car may be the answer. This new all-electric vehicle debuted at the Paris Auto Show today. It goes about 90 miles without recharging and barely makes a sound.
What do greenies and Goldman Sachs have in common? They are a part of the Senate’s bailout bill that passed yesterday in a 74 to 25 vote. Although the legislation was primarily designed to aid the nation’s financial system, the bill has incentives for renewable energy use. Environmentalists regard these cuts as essential for promoting growth in wind, solar and other alternative energy industries.
Many of us can remember our parents telling us to eat all the food on our plates. Now kids and grownups in Los Angeles don’t have to. They can give their food scraps to the City of Los Angeles “recycling ambassadors” under a new pilot program.
Houston, there appears to be a problem: SMOG. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the city tops the list at #2 (LA is numero uno) for severe smog problem.
