So, I guess you could say that I’m still on a comedy kick. To be more precise, I’m on a Mike Birbiglia kick. It all started last Friday, as I was listening to the Comedy Central Drive Home, and they were playing Mike’s special Sleepwalk With Me Live. It was really good, and I actually related to him at a few parts. Well, I had to go into Walmart and ended up missing a good chunk of the show. When I got home, I found Sleepwalk With Me on Netflix. It turns out that wasn’t the same special. No, it was actually a movie version of the special, where names had been changed, etc, etc. It mainly focuses on the rise and fall of Mike’s relationship with his college sweetheart, Abby. Still, I ended up watching it and really enjoyed it. Since I wasn’t sleepy yet, I decided to watch his most recent special, My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, where Mike talks about how he doesn’t believe in marriage and thinks it’s a chaotic, antiquated concept. The special ends, however, *SPOILER ALERT* with him telling us that he had, in fact gotten married. Though he doesn’t believe in marriage, he’s still giving it a try and taking it one day at a time. I really enjoy Birbiglia’s work because he’s very relateable and a great storyteller. I wasn’t as much of a fan of My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, but I highly recommend Sleepwalk With Me.
So, I’m still watching Portlandia. In fact, it got really good. I’m used to the characters now, and I actually have favorites. There’s a hilarious episode revolving around Battlestar Galactica, where we see our first black Portlanders (“I want these white people outta my kitchen!”). I’m in the second season now, and it took me that long to realize that Armisen is supposed to be a woman in the women’s bookstore series. I mean, it’s a women’s bookstore! Still, I just thought he was an effeminate man. My bad. My least favorite skits involve the Mayor, as the show turns into some kinda campy, kid’s public television show whenever he’s around. Plus, I’ve got questions. Do Fred and Carrie share a house in Portland? Are they just roommates? Do they actually live in Portland, or is it a place to which they escape for its quirkiness? Why don’t they seem to have jobs? I mean, we know what Fred does, but what does Carrie do for money? SO many questions! Anyway, I’m powering through to the end, so this won’t be the last Portlandia report from me.
Yay, my favorite interracial TV family is back! There’s a new Cheerios commercial airing during the Super Bowl Sunday, but since we live in the future, everything gets leaked before its time. Here’s the commercial:
They’re having a baby! I love that little girl so much. I hope my little halfy daughter is just like her one day.
My new favorite website is Used To Be a Pizza Hut, and the name is pretty self explanatory. Readers submit pictures of establishments that clearly used to be Pizza Hut restaurants. It’s a great way to kill time, and I plan to submit a few myself pretty soon.
Here’s a pretty cool version of the Mega Man 2 theme:
Look at this! It’s called a Quokka. I got this from my Twitter pal @shankjackbel. I must own one of these!
Ya know who had a great week? Ryan Lewis. “Who’s Ryan Lewis,” you ask? That’s just why he had a great week: his anonymity. Ryan Lewis is the other half of rap duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. As the group’s producer, Lewis is a bit of a silent partner, while Macklemore’s flamboyance tends to steal the spotlight. The duo cleaned up Sunday night at the Grammys, winning Best New Artist, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Album, and Best Rap Performance. A lot of people felt that three of those categories should have gone to black artists, and it started the discussion of white appropriation of rap music. What was a great night for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis turned into a bad week, as everyone started questioning whether or not the duo was worthy of the awards that they won. Hip hop heads mentioned several acts that never won a Grammy, but should have, including the Wu-Tang Clan. It’s said that Macklemore himself tweeted an apology to his fellow nominee Kendrick Lamar after beating him. Then the debate turned to whether or not Macklemore had anything to apologize for. Anyway, while all this was going on, Ryan Lewis was having his cake and eating it too. He had all the same awards, but none of the spotlight. I’m sure it sucked when Macklemore got all the good publicity, but I’m sure Lewis is reveling in his background status at the moment. All eyes are on Macklemore and the debate rages on, but Ryan’s name rarely comes up. That’s why Ryan Lewis had the West Week Ever.
Birbiglia is okay, but I ODed on him. Once he became NPRs darling I soured on him a bit.
I figured you’d like the BSG thing on Portlandia.
Ya know what’s funny? When Sleepwalk With Me started, I said to myself “This sounds like This American Life”. Then, I did some research and found out he is, in fact, NPR’s darling. I can see how you’d sour on him, but it seemed fresh to me. I listen to nothing but Comedy Central Radio, and I can only hear Amy Schumer so many times before I wanna blow my brains out, so he was a welcome change of pace. I liked his style.
That BSG skit was GREAT! Definitely my favorite so far.
So is “Thrift Shop” the new theme song for Thrift Justice posts? That song plays in my head every time I enter a shop now and find something “awesome.”
Oddly enough, not yet. It does pop into my head when I’m in thrift stores, but when it comes to theme songs, something else comes to mind: Howie Decker suggested that One Direction’s “Best Song Ever” should be changed to “West Song Ever” for West Week Ever. I’m a fan of that idea. Poor Thrift Justice is dead in the water, as I haven’t found anything awesome in a long time. I even got inspired after watching Thrift Hunters (good review, btw), but still no luck. I hope that changes once the weather warms up. At least I’ll have yard sales then!
Must. have. quokka.
I know, right?! He’s so cute!
It’s funny, people just call them/him just Macklemore or the thrift shop guy. I’m always saying there is another guy! No respect.
You ever heard of the group Karmin? It’s the same situation: the chick gets all the attention, since she’s the vocalist, while her fiance gets no credit at all. In videos, he has nothing to do so they try to keep him business doing stupid stuff. It must be hard being Garfunkel.
Great post. The Macklemore Grammy win “controversy” is completely overblown and useless. The Grammys never respect quality rap. In this, they are similar to the vast majority of rap’s buying public. It’s not like Kendrick Lamar is the second coming of Christopher Wallace. All of these guys craft preschool lyrics over synth-heavy beats, to benefit suburban Millennials who desperately seek rebel credibility.
People act as if Macklemore is Vanilla Ice’s clone, while they forget that Kendrick Lamar on his best day has all the lyrical skill of Shyheim da Rugged Child. Given that, you’re right – Ryan Lewis’ anonymity served him well this week.
See, I can’t even name a Kendrick Lamar song. I keep hearing all this great stuff about him and Frank Ocean, but I also don’t listen to conventional radio anymore, so maybe that’s my problem.
It’s funny to me that the same people usually say “The Grammy’s are crap and don’t matter” are the same folks who are upset by Macklemore’s win. I thought they didn’t matter, right? People just want to be upset about something.