Conservatives in Congress are drawing up their wish list for a Republican Senate, including “pure” bills, like a full repeal of Obamacare, border security and approval of the Keystone XL pipeline — unlikely to win over many Democrats and sure to torment GOP leaders looking to prove they can govern.
Swinging into another lovely week in “The League” land, Pete gets his lunch interrupted by his old friend Lane. Everyone has a friend like Lane. You know, that friend that calls and laments about everything that’s wrong with their life, who only asks how your day is so they can tell you how terrible theirs was. Anyway, Lane ends the call in a huff at the sound of Pete eating potato chips because *sacrilege* how could he dare eat while on the phone?!? Lane and I could never be friends. I go to TOWN when I’m on the phone with people. Oreos, chips, cheese doodles – I run the gamut, no food is safe.
At Gibson’s, Pete relays the story about Lane’s phone call, Andre reveals his lady problems with his cat, and Ruxin announces that he has two tickets to the Bears vs. Packers game — hello, competition between friends, haven’t seen you in a while. Taco interjects the excitement with his frustration at everyone being late to meet him at the movies. Everyone seems confused at Taco’s anger and they remind him that it’s Daylight Savings. Bewildered, Taco asks for explanation. The gang attempts miserably at explaining why Daylight Savings is a thing and Taco deems the entire thing stupid. Yeah, I feel you Taco. I can get with Daylight Savings in the fall but in the spring when we lose an hour? BULLSHIT.
Lane crashes in on Ruxin while he’s at work and has a borderline mental breakdown. In a weird moment of incessant babbling that sort of has me feeling like this is what you’d hear someone say if they were on shrooms, Lane offers to perform Reiki on Ruxin, Ruxin declines, and he somehow walks away with the Bears vs. Packers game tickets. Le sigh. No “friendly” competition after all.
The usual game-watching at the MacArthurs’ house is in motion and Andre shows up a little late with scratches all over his arms. His relationship with M’Lady, his cat, has become full-on abusive and he’s in serious denial. As is his awareness of paisley being something that’s fashionable… Taco comes in the living room unsure of why everyone is still awake. By his own method of telling time, “Taco Standard Time,” it’s five in the morning. Everyone’s really freaking confused until Andre gets word from his phone that Lane tried to commit suicide. (Here’s another situation where this show is seriously pushing the envelope… these writers DEFINITELY smoke a lot of weed and just say ‘screw it, let’s do it’ whenever they think of something horribly offensive.)
Ruxin goes to visit Lane in the hospital with no other purpose than to find out what Lane did with the Bears/Packers tickets. Lane insists that all the answers Ruxin’s looking for are in the thirteen-page suicide note he emailed everyone. Meanwhile, Taco has gone total Taco and changed all the clocks in the McArthur household to match “Taco Standard Time,” fourteen hours and thirty-nine minutes ahead of actual time. This and the massive CLOCK FIRE (????) Taco has erected in the front yard make Kevin super late to work. Mr. Lipscum is pissed at Kevin because he missed a major deposition that let a career criminal go free. Kevin uses Lane’s attempted suicide as his late excuse which sparks sympathy in the usually cold Lipscum and he insists that Kevin take the rest of the day.
Pete and Ruxin go to lunch with Lane, who is extremely upset that everyone is putting up their TL;DR blinders to his thirteen-page suicide note. As such, he has memorized the letter and proceeds to recite the absurd tale. Pete and Ruxin’s food arrives literally one sentence in and they can’t help but dig in to their fajitas. This enrages Lane even more and he leaves.
Andre visits Kevin to discuss his issues with his cat. He asks Kevin if he’s seen the videos he sent over and Kevin obviously says no. Andre pulls out the iPad and proceeds to play a Ray Rice/Solange-Jay Z-esque elevator video of him and M’Lady. Mr. Lipscum comes in and thinks Andre is Kevin’s suicidal friend. He sends his well-wishes, remarks on Andre’s scratches, and leaves. Kevin advises Andre to show that video to no one else and before he can say anymore, Taco arrives to give everyone “Taco Standard Time” watches. No one is interested. Andre is particularly unenthused with the watch, but is more unenthused when Mr. Lipscum returns to Kevin’s office with a doctor in tow to take Andre away because he believes Andre is a danger to himself. Well, this escalated quickly.
Pete refuses to read Lane’s suicide note so he recruits his coworker Jeremy to read it for him. Jeremy shows the note to Pete’s boss and Pete’s boss insists he leave for the day to better himself. Meanwhile, Andre is stuck sitting in a suicide prevention support group and the experience devolves into Andre venting about his abusive relationship with M’Lady. The group freaks out on him when they realize that he’s been venting about a cat and not a person. SO many judgments are thrown. This is a great scene, by the way, and there needs to be a gif of Andre “throwing judgments” made IMMEDIATELY.
At the MacArthur’s, Ruxin and Pete chat about the density of Lane’s suicide note. Kevin interrupts with the Andre/M’Lady elevator video and the reaction from the gang is pure disgust. Their disgust continues when they get a “suicide tweet” from Lane. They ponder if the protocol is to retweet or favorite. They agree on favoriting.
Lane goes for suicide round two with an attempt to asphyxiate himself in the car with the exhaust pipe. He fails when Taco joins him and the two just get stoned. Ruxin and Pete come out to find them and they inquire about the Bears/Packers tickets. Lane has given one to Taco and the other to Pete. Ruxin is left alone with the exhaust pipe. Womp womp.
THINGS TO NOTE:
Keep up with “The League” recaps here every week. “The League” airs on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on FXX.
Conservative radio host Dennis Prager claimed during a Republican get-out-the-vote rally in Sarasota, Florida, on Tuesday that the number of sexual assaults on college campuses has been exaggerated to win votes.
“It’s a gargantuan lie to get votes,” Prager said. “It’s as big a lie as the culture of rape on your campuses. What nonsense. There is a culture of rape on campuses run by the feminist left?” Prager addressed about 700 people at the rally, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Prager claimed that Democrats had trivialized rape by defining it too broadly. The Department of Justice defines sexual assault as “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient.”
“One in five women are sexually assaulted on campuses,” Prager said. “Do you know what sexual assault means? Did you ever look at what counts? An unwanted kiss is considered sexual assault. I’m stunned it’s only one in five. Four out of five women have not gotten an unwanted kiss? My wife gets unwanted kisses every so often.”
Prager’s comments contradict several studies that show that sexual assaults on college campuses are significantly underreported. A recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology survey found that women students failed to report sexual assault because they did not realize behavior they had been subjected to fell within its definition.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) spoke at the rally in support of Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R). Scott did not attend the rally, organized by WLSS 930 AM and the Sarasota Republican Party.
Joe Gruters, head of the Sarasota GOP, told the Herald-Tribune that sexual assault on college campuses is an important issue and Prager’s comments were inappropriate.
“It should never have been part of a political discussion at the rally,” Gruters said.
Days after Weather Channel co-founder John Coleman told Fox News that global warming is a myth, the cable network has clarified its stance on the matter.
In an official “position statement” on global warming issued Wednesday, the Weather Channel said that man-made climate change is real.
“The climate of the earth is indeed warming, with an increase of approximately 1 – 1 1/2 degrees Fahrenheit in the past century,” the statement reads, adding that climate scientists “nearly unanimously” agree that “the majority of the warming” over the last hundred years has been the “result of human activities.”
The Weather Channel has an unwavering position on global warming, and you can read about it here: http://t.co/XHlxDwYBLT
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) October 29, 2014
Though the Weather Channel did not mention Coleman, who co-founded the media outlet in the early 1980s, or his recent comments in the statement, the timing of its release seems telling.
On Monday, Coleman made headlines after telling Fox News’ Megyn Kelly about his views on global warming, saying that he feels persecuted as a climate denier.
“Thank you for having me on your program,” Coleman said. “A climate skeptic can rarely get on TV ever since Al Gore made it a plank of the Democratic Party … it’s a tough go for people who don’t believe in climate change.”
This is not the first time Coleman has shared his views on the subject. In 2007, Coleman wrote in a blog post that global warming is a “non-event, a manufactured crisis and a total scam.”
“[I’ve] read dozens of the scientific papers. I have talked with numerous scientists. I have studied. I have thought about it. I know I am correct,” Coleman wrote at the time.
Earlier this month, Coleman penned an open letter criticizing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, insisting that “there is no significant man-made global warming at this time, there has been none in the past and there is no reason to fear any in the future.”
Coleman reportedly left the Weather Channel in 1983. Since then, he’s worked as a weather anchor at various TV stations. He retired earlier this year.
Earlier this evening, we did bring you word about how Microsoft has launched the Microsoft Health app to go alongside the Microsoft Band wearable device. Just what is Microsoft Health all about? For instance, it happens to be a cloud-based service which would enable one to live in a healthier manner through the provision of actionable insights that are based upon data collected from the different fitness devices as well as apps that one makes use of each day. Needless to say, the new Microsoft Band would be one of them, among others such as smartwatches and smartphones.
Not only that, services such as RunKeeper or MyFitnessPal would also be able to hook up easily to Microsoft Health. Through the use of this fitness data as well as the Intelligence Engine in the cloud, Microsoft Health is touted to deliver valuable and personal insights that helps you to arrive at your fitness goals.
It is hoped that down the road, the information collected from a broad range of devices and services would be able to provide you with insights into your whole day, whether it concerns work, nutrition, fitness and rest. Basically, anyone who intends to live a healthier life will be able to build upon this particular experience together.
Microsoft Health would let you figure out just which particular exercise is able to help you burn the maximum amount of calories, and you will have a better idea on how long your body would take before it can recover prior to kicking off the next training session.
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Since he’s a relatively youthful 45 year-old, it’s genuinely hard to think of Hal Sparks as an elder statesman of broadcasting. But then again, given that Sparks booked his first professional TV hosting gig while still in high school (At 18 years of age, Hal was the host of Treasure Mall, that short-lived syndicated game show), he’s already got over a quarter-of-a-century of in-front-of-the-camera time under his belt.
“And I’ve been in this business long enough that I’ve seen people come up and then just go away. I’ve seen performers who were more successful than me, who had a leg up, had more resources to draw upon, had more wealth when they started out their careers then completely flat-line or disappear or worse,” Sparks recalled during a recent phone interview. “That’s why — when I’m talking about the business with the kids that I work with these days — I always try and get across the idea that they’re doing right now isn’t really about now. It’s all about your career. More importantly, how you always have to be thinking a few moves ahead if you expect to last in this business. Have long game.”
Which is perhaps why — on the heels of Hal’s first foray behind-the-camera (Hal directed the “Brother Battle” episode of Lab Rats, which airs on Disney XD tomorrow at 8 a.m. and then again at 5:30 p.m. on November 1st) — he seemed genuinely excited to be adding something new to his skill set.
“I mean, I have directed before,” Sparks was quick to clarify. “I directed sketches and produced segments while I was on Talk Soup. But that was all single camera stuff. Whereas on Lab Rats, this was the first time that I’ve ever directed a multi-camera show.”
“And there are a lot more moving parts on a production like this. It’s a giant octopi of technology and human beings,” Hal continued. “That said, I have to say that I enjoyed this experience immensely. And while I do plan to continue acting — my dream is to eventually become one of those performers who’s been around for a long time and has this huge list of projects. Which is why they then get to play juicy supporting roles like Mickey in Rocky — I also hope to get the chance to direct more multi-camera shows in the future.”
Mind you, one of the main reasons that the people at It’s A Laugh (i.e., the production company behind this Disney XD series) decided to let Hal try his hand at helming is that Sparks really goes out of his way to make life easy for the crew.
“Look, making a television show and movie in a communal activity. So knowing as much as you can about the other processes, all the other jobs involved with production is incredibly helpful,” Hal said. “Which is why — when you’re acting on a TV show — you always have to be camera-aware as an actor. Not to mention being editor aware. I have always prided myself as an actor of being very editor-aware, knowing that — when they cut this stuff together — it’s gotta match.”
“I know, I know. When you’re acting, you’re supposed to always be concentrating on conveying a true emotion or delivering a really funny or poignant moment. But at the same time, when you’re working on a TV show or a movie, you always have to remember Rule Number One. Which is hit your mark and bark,” Sparks continued. “As long as you’re standing where you’re supposed to be standing when you make that noise which comes out of your face and the camera crew then gets everything that they need, you’ve done your job.”
Of course, given that Lab Rats regularly makes use of special effects, that then made directing an episode that Hal’s character also appeared in something of a challenge for this first-time hyphenate.
“When we do effects on this show, we typically do four layers of shooting. And when we were shooting the episode that I was directing, there were oft-times where I was one of those layers. So I’d then be the only person being filmed on set while everyone else stood out of that shot,” Sparks said. “It can sometimes get a little weird when an actor has to direct themselves. There’s this social awkward moment when they have to turn to a member of the crew and then say ‘You see these reins? I have to hand them to you for one second. But as soon as you’re done, could you please hand them back to me as soon as possible?’ “
“But in my case, because I’ve worked on Lab Rats for a number of years now and that I know & trust this show’s crew, this honestly wasn’t a problem. I just had someone call ‘Action’ for me just when the director of photography was ready. I then came onstage, hit my mark and said my line. And if everyone was happy with what had just been shot, we then moved onto the next thing that needed to be filmed,” Hal stated.
Which — I know — doesn’t exactly make the process of making a television sound glamorous or exciting. But Sparks believes that it’s important to be plain spoken, especially when he’s sharing insights about the business with the younger members of the Lab Rats cast.
“I keep telling these guys that if you want to keep performing, you have to remember that the episode you’re shooting today isn’t just a single episode on your show. This episode is one out of a thousand that will help you build the skill that you’re going to need if you’re going have a lengthy career in this business. Which is why you have to take it all seriously. You have to milk every episode for as much as you can, learning-wise, skill-wise, developing yourself, all that stuff,” Hal said.
To hear Sparks talk, you have to apply this same level of care & thought to all aspect of your career. Especially when it comes to selecting which projects you should appear in.
“Take — for example — Lab Rats. I read five scripts for five different sitcoms that I was up for that particular pilot season. And this Disney XD show was the only one where the jokes were organic, the only one where the jokes sprang naturally from the circumstances,” Hal explained. “Plus when Disney greenlights a show on one of its networks, it usually gets a full run. You’re not going to do six episodes and — no matter how good your show is or if it doesn’t find its audience right away — it then goes away.”
“But what really sold me on doing Lab Rats is that my character is the head of a mixed race family. I thought that that was a wonderful add to this show’s story. And the fact that Disney doesn’t make a meal of that, they just let it be, is even more extraordinary,” Sparks enthused. “Every other network would have just pounded that aspect of Lab Rats straight into the ground. Here on Disney XD, we’re just a family.”
Which isn’t to say that there isn’t a down side to appearing on Lab Rats. Take — for example — those Disney XD fans that Hal encounters whenever he goes to the airport now.
“When I was on Queer as Folk, I’d have adults pretend that they were texting on their cell phones when they were really taking a picture of me. That’s the classic grown-up I-saw-so-and-so-at-the-airport stuff that you have to deal with. But when it comes to Lab Rats fans, they’re short and they follow you in little packs. It’s hilarious,” Sparks laughed.
“I mean, there’s no polite way to say this: 11 year-olds are terrible at stalking. They think that they’re sneaking around and that you can’t hear them. But they whisper so loudly,” Hal continued. “And given the way that they behave, that then allows you to shoot a look over your shoulder every so often and then watch as they scatter. They’ll then try and hide by ducking behind some trash cans. “
“But then — without fail — the old one among them who come up and go ‘My brother loves your show, but he’s too afraid to say it. Can you sign something or can we get a picture?’ And it then turns into a lovely group hangout. Or the boldest kid will be the one who doesn’t believe that it’s you. They’ll walk right up to you and say ‘I don’t think that you’re that guy from Lab Rats. My brother and my Mom think that you are. But I don’t think so.’ It’s so funny. ‘Yeah, I am that guy.’ ‘No, you’re not.’ ‘You’re right. I’m not.’ ‘I told you it wasn’t him!’ And then they run off. It’s a hilarious social interaction that’s completely unique,” Sparks concluded.
Well, here’s hoping that the young performers that Hal works with on Lab Rats do a better job at listening than those Disney XD fans that he encounters at the airport.
It’s not “even year magic.” It’s Madison Bumgarner.
The San Francisco Giants defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-2 in the decisive clash of the of the 2014 World Series for their third championship in five years. The dramatic Game 7 triumph included a scoreless relief appearance from Bumgarner, the team’s ace starting pitcher who had already recorded wins in Game 1 and Game 5.
“I wasn’t thinking about innings or pitch count. I was just thinking about getting outs, getting outs until I couldn’t get them any more and we needed someone else,” Bumgarner told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports on the field at Kauffman Stadium as his teammates celebrated around him. “Fortunately we were able to get some quick innings and I was able to stay in there.”
The Royals, looking for their first World Series title since 1985, ran out of outs before Bumgarner did. Pitching on just two day’s rest, the 25-year-old left-handed pitcher entered the winner-take-all Game 7 with the Giants leading 3-2 in bottom of the fifth inning and didn’t leave until it was all over. He held the Royals, a team that had produced a staggering 10 runs just a night earlier to force a seventh game, to just two hits the rest of the way.
STORY DEVELOPING…
A regularly filing earlier this month revealed that Samsung’s 2014 third quarter profits would show a big stumble over past quarters, with it being expected that the company would be showing three-year lows. The official quarterly results report is in, and in it we see the same story: in the quarter ending on September 30, Samsung’s revenue and operating profit … Continue reading
Microsoft’s hotly anticipated wearable had a rocky unveiling today, popping up first via its mobile apps rather than in anything official. The company has wasted little time, however, and has officially taken the wraps off its fitness wearable: the Microsoft Band. Named such for its wristband design, no doubt, the Band is a fitness tracker with an edge, able to … Continue reading
These series of statistical graphics show that, while there’s still plenty of war, hunger, sickness, and poverty in the world, things are much better than what they were only a few decades ago—not to talk about centuries ago. We are still far from utopia, but the data is stubborn: We are getting there. Fast.
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