Captain Sulu rocks the house

(Via She Who Must Be Obeyed.)

Deja vu all over again

Didn't Law & Order: No Subtitle already do a Ted Haggard episode a couple of weeks before Law & Order: Criminal Intent did one?

People I know who are running for office

Dayne Walling is running for mayor of Flint, Michigan.

Pakou Hang is running for St. Paul City Council.

Please check out their sites, and if you're a constituent, I hope you'll consider voting for them.

Our ironic cousins

Simon Pegg of Spaced and Shaun of the Dead shares some thoughts on American and British styles of humor:

It's not so much about having a different sense of humour as a different approach to life. More demonstrative than we are, Americans are not embarrassed by their emotions. They clap louder, cheer harder and empathise more unconditionally. It's an openness that always leaves me feeling slightly guilty and apologetic when American personalities appear on British chat shows and find their jokes and stories met with titters, not guffaws, or their achievements met with silent appreciation, rather than claps and yelps. We don't like them any less, we just aren't inclined to give that much of ourselves away. Meanwhile, as a Brit on an American chat show, it's difficult to endure prolonged whooping without intense, red-faced smirking.

Of course, it's the mainstream output of our respective entertainment industries that tends to shape our general opinion of each other. Ask the average American what they perceive British comedy to be and you will most likely be quoted shows such as Benny Hill and Are You Being Served? (although, thanks to BBC America, this is beginning to change). The fan demographic for both shows is markedly more diverse than in their country of origin. This is probably due to their parochial peculiarity, rather than the quality of the comedy (although both shows had their moments) and perhaps explains why the American audience took to Shaun Of The Dead with such affection. A refusal to occupy that transatlantic middle ground that sometimes scuppers British films intent on appealing in America means that the film plays as resolutely British. That approach does risk certain social and cultural references being lost in translation. But not many. The only joke in Shaun Of The Dead that never got a laugh in the States was Ed's request for a Cornetto ice cream at 8am on a Sunday morning. Overall, the cast's understated reserve in the face of flesh-eating zombies just added another layer of amusement for American viewers.

When it comes to their mainstream, America's emotional openness has often given way to a sentimentality that jars with our more guarded and cynical outlook. This is why the initially enjoyable Happy Days became blighted by saccharine lessons in family values, as Henry Winkler's originally subversive Fonzie was mercilessly appropriated by the middle-class American family, castrated by Marion Ross's Mrs Cunningham and forced to sit on it (although it's interesting to note that in outtakes from the series, Winkler and Ross would often play out an irresistible sexual tension between them with stolen gropes and kisses, solely for the enjoyment of the live studio audience, hinting at darker, more interesting themes than the show itself ever tackled). Generally speaking, sentimentality isn't easy for us. It makes us nervous and uncomfortable. We become edgy and dismissive of these brazen displays of emotion.

It just gets weirder.

Joe McDade's excellent adventure continues:

In addition to the woman near the pool, a married couple told police they had seen Mr. McDade expose and fondle his genitals.

When the wife got up from her beach chair, Mr. McDade followed her to a boardwalk that leads to the hotel and, still exposed, watched her wash her feet under a shower, the report said.

The wife told police she thought Mr. McDade was a mental patient “because he did not try to hide himself,” the report said.

First Don Sherwood, now this...

What IS it with Republicans who represented my hometown district in Congress?

February 14,2007 | SANIBEL, Fla. -- A former Pennsylvania congressman was accused Wednesday of exposing himself to two women at a beach resort.

Joseph M. McDade, 75, was issued a summons on a charge of exposure of sexual organs, a misdemeanor that carries up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

A court date was not immediately set.

Calls to McDade's Fairfax, Va., home and at the Washington lobbying firm where he works were not immediately returned.

Happy Valentine's Day

Celebrate with a card like this one from Polite Dissent!

And a little stuffed bull shall lead them.

Bully fixes the DC Universe.

One sign your fellowship application is going less well than it could

I just misspelled "strategery."

This week just keeps getting worse...

Kirstie Alley to star in American remake of Vicar of Dibley. (Via TV Tattle.)

Paging Dr. Spaceman! Paging Dr. Spaceman!

Space makes you CRAZY. I, for one, would welcome a kidnapping attempt by Zooey Deschanel.

(Headline courtesy of She Who Must Be Obeyed.)

When Homer met Jerry

A belated video post in honor of the late former president, who did not leave the country in worse shape than he found it. Would that we could say the same for all of his successors.