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<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title>To Catch a... War Criminal?</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/17/to-catch-a-war-criminal/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/17/to-catch-a-war-criminal/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/17/to-catch-a-war-criminal/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/weird-news/" rel="tag">Weird News</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/pop-culture/" rel="tag">Pop Culture</a></p>Not to be outdone by CBS and its show <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/03/cbs-arranges-marriages-for-lonely-hearts-ratings/"><em>Arranged Marriage</em></a>, the potential ratings smash (or sign of the cultural end times, depending on your viewpoint), NBC just baked up its own batch of crazy: a show about <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090216/tv_nm/us_nbc;_ylt=Aq__n5rdiUmpUV0SpBG2lPhpMhkF">catching war criminals</a>.<br /><br />The show would be a spin-off of <em>To Catch a Predator</em>. <em>Predator</em> used online traps to bring potential pedophiles and sex offenders to the houses of decoys pretending to be underage boys and girls. Instead, waiting inside the houses would be host Chris Hanson, a camera crew, and a lot of questions (see below; the interview begins at 5:17).<center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fNn3VG3keCM&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fNn3VG3keCM&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br /><br />This new version would feature foreign-born war criminals. The first episode will be focused on <a href="http://www.interpol.int/public/data/wanted/notices/data/2006/77/2006_53877.asp">Leopold Munyakazi</a>, who is wanted for perpetrating a genocide against Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda in 1994. He is currently a French professor at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland.<br /><br />The government is a wee bit displeased with NBC's plans to chase around war criminals with cameras. The Department of Homeland Security believes such a show would interfere with the government's ability to capture these predators and use legal force against them. <br /><br />Due to the government's negative reaction and the overal logistics, it's hard to imagine this show actually coming to fruition in the <em>To Catch a Predator</em> mold. A more reasonable version would be a documentary series shedding light on awful war criminals. But that probably wouldn't get high ratings. <br /><br />So cue Chris Hanson, waiting for war criminals in a house NBC has rented and outfitted as a fake embassy.<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/17/to-catch-a-war-criminal/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1462492/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/17/to-catch-a-war-criminal/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/17/to-catch-a-war-criminal/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2009-02-17T08:00:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>CBS Arranges Marriages for Lonely Hearts, Ratings</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/03/cbs-arranges-marriages-for-lonely-hearts-ratings/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/03/cbs-arranges-marriages-for-lonely-hearts-ratings/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/03/cbs-arranges-marriages-for-lonely-hearts-ratings/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/pop-culture/" rel="tag">Pop Culture</a></p>Till cancellation do us part! <br /> <br /> From CBS and the producers of quality reality shows (ignore the oxymoron) <em>Top Chef</em> and <em>Project Runway</em> comes the first sign of the Apocalypse: <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i0aa29113cef25d425e5a4017faee80eb">a show about arranged marriage</a>.<br /> <br /> The series, currently called<em> Arranged Marriage</em> to make sure America gets the point, will feature four single adults between the ages of 25-45 who agree to be set up by friends and family. Unlike on Fox's 2003 matchmaking scheme, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Married_By_America"><em>Married By America</em></a>, on CBS's show, the two couples will actually get married. The series will then follow their lives as newlyweds/strangers.<br /><br />Dating shows are almost as old as the concept of dating itself and reality TV is known for its incendiary subject matter (see: CBS's<em> Kid Nation</em>, anything that's aired on Fox that isn't <em>American Idol</em>), so it's not that surprising that we've reached this point. Plus, the show could try to use the angle that arranged marriage is an ancient tradition in some Eastern cultures that could work here, with the right producing team. And, in a society with a 50% divorce rate, seeing an unlikely marriage succeed (if one of them in fact lasts) could be a huge pick-me-up.<br /><br />But this feels like television has become a satire of itself. This joke of a show got picked up because the envelope has been pushed so far that network execs no longer know what to do to manipulate peoples' lives for entertainment. As usual on reality shows, love has nothing to do with marriage, but this goes to the extreme. CBS is putting the carriage well before the horse, giving the whole concept a more unseemly feel than one usually experiences, even when thinking of reality TV. <br /><br />I have no idea if I'll be watching, but one thing's for sure: now that <em>Arranged Marriage</em> has been announced, we are clearly days away from <em>Tiny House</em>:<br /><br /> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uVTfGJnOpqs&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uVTfGJnOpqs&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/03/cbs-arranges-marriages-for-lonely-hearts-ratings/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1449372/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/03/cbs-arranges-marriages-for-lonely-hearts-ratings/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/03/cbs-arranges-marriages-for-lonely-hearts-ratings/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2009-02-03T16:58:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Arizona Sees Porn During Super Bowl</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/02/arizona-sees-porn-during-super-bowl/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/02/arizona-sees-porn-during-super-bowl/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/02/arizona-sees-porn-during-super-bowl/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/sports/" rel="tag">Sports</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/weird-news/" rel="tag">Weird News</a></p><meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type" />
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@font-face 	{font-family:"Cambria Math"; 	panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; 	mso-font-charset:0; 	mso-generic-font-family:roman; 	mso-font-pitch:variable; 	mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face 	{font-family:Calibri; 	panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; 	mso-font-charset:0; 	mso-generic-font-family:swiss; 	mso-font-pitch:variable; 	mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal 	{mso-style-unhide:no; 	mso-style-qformat:yes; 	mso-style-parent:""; 	margin:0in; 	margin-bottom:.0001pt; 	mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 	font-size:12.0pt; 	mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; 	font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; 	mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;} .MsoChpDefault 	{mso-style-type:export-only; 	mso-default-props:yes; 	font-size:10.0pt; 	mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; 	mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; 	mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;} @page Section1 	{size:8.5in 11.0in; 	margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; 	mso-header-margin:.5in; 	mso-footer-margin:.5in; 	mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 	{page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]-->Touch-what now?<br /><br />Late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIII, right after Arizona Cardinals' receiver Larry Fitzgerald scored to give his team the lead, viewers in Tucson, Arizona, were treated to a touchdown celebration of a different sort: porn.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/158716/how_the_super_bowl_got_an_x_rating.html">Comcast customers</a> in the area accidentally received a feed from adult channel Club Jenna, which, despite only lasting for a few seconds, still managed to include full frontal male nudity. The feed started with local NBC affiliate KVOA before reaching Comcast customers. However, only customers with standard broadcast or analog service experienced the interruption in regular programming. Yet another reason to upgrade to digital, folks.<br /><br />As of yet, Comcast has not discovered the cause of the disruption. All signs point to the only Pittsburgh Steelers fan in Arizona, though his prank was witnessed in vain given <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0mDgR4xRkA">the final score</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Comcastus Interruptus and Bruce Springsteen's suggestive slide toward the camera during the halftime show (see below), this was the sultriest Super Bowl since Nipplegate. And I'm not even counting Conan O'Brien's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INauC_lrHCo">Bud Light commercial</a>.<br /><br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GYyYyO47_gc&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GYyYyO47_gc&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/02/arizona-sees-porn-during-super-bowl/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1448328/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/02/arizona-sees-porn-during-super-bowl/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/02/02/arizona-sees-porn-during-super-bowl/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2009-02-02T22:27:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Beyonce Serenades Barack &amp; Michelle</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/01/21/beyonce-serenades-barack/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/01/21/beyonce-serenades-barack/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/01/21/beyonce-serenades-barack/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/politics/" rel="tag">Politics</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/music/" rel="tag">Music</a></p><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/brighthall.aol.com/media/2009/01/barrynbeyonce.jpg" alt="" /><br />Last night marked Barack Obama's first night as leader of the free world, so naturally, he spent his time getting down with his presidential self. <br /><br />Obama and the First Lady attended the Neighborhood Inauguration Ball, just one of <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090121/ap_on_go_pr_wh/inauguration_balls">10 events</a> the Obamas attended Tuesday night. The Neighborhood Ball was the first inauguration event to be open to the people, and the first ball the Obamas visited on their whirlwind night. The Ball featured performances by Jay-Z, Sting, and Stevie Wonder, among others, and was broadcast on ABC. It was a fitting moment for the new president to include regular people in the inauguration festivities and turn the Ball into a celebratory concert people of all ages could enjoy. <br /><br />At the Neighborhood Ball, the couple danced to Beyonce performing Etta James' classic <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF63wsV4L58&amp;feature=related">"At Last"</a> and later, Obama threw down some old school moves with Aretha Franklin and other attendees (see below). It is the rare president who can do "the bump" with class. As Obama settles in today and begins work on a million different issues, including suspending some of the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/obama_inauguration/7842169.stm">military trials at Guantanamo</a>, remember this image and know that we clearly entered a new age: <br /><br /><script src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/js/2.0/video/evp/module.js?loc=dom&amp;vid=/video/politics/2009/01/21/vo.inaug.obama.boogies.cnn" type="text/javascript"></script><noscript>Embedded video from &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=&amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;http://www.cnn.com/video&amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;CNN Video&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</noscript><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/01/21/beyonce-serenades-barack/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1436559/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/01/21/beyonce-serenades-barack/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2009/01/21/beyonce-serenades-barack/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><category>barack obama</category><category>BarackObama</category><category>beyonce</category><category>inaugural ball</category><category>InauguralBall</category><category>michelle obama</category><category>MichelleObama</category><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2009-01-21T15:29:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Rap Is Scottish; America Is Confused</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/12/29/rap-is-scottish-america-is-confused/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/12/29/rap-is-scottish-america-is-confused/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/12/29/rap-is-scottish-america-is-confused/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/music/" rel="tag">Music</a></p>According to Ferenc Szasz, a professor of American and Scottish culture at the University of New Mexico, rap music, that hallmark of modern American culture, actually comes from <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3998862/Rap-music-originated-in-medieval-Scottish-pubs-claims-American-professor.html">medieval Scotland</a>. Because in addition to kilts, golf, and throwing logs, the Scottish are also well known for spitting those phat rhymes.<br /><br />More specifically, Szasz's argument is that rap battles are derived from "flyting," in which two people insult each other via vulgar, satirical rhymes. This practice was so popular, poets would perform in front of kings, such as the Flyting Of Dunbar and Kennedy, performed in front of King James IV in the 16th century. <br /><br />Centuries later, flyting crossed the Atlantic when Scottish slave owners traveled to America and passed the practice onto their African-American slaves. According to Szasz, the American version of flyting first appeared as a war poem published in <em>Vanity Fair </em>in 1861. <br /><br />Watch the clip below of Eminem battling in <em>8 Mile</em> (NSFW because of the language) and then compare it to the text of Dunbar and Kennedy (supposedly also NSFW if you can actually <a href="http://www.geocities.com/bescritt/theflytingofdunbarandkennedie.txt">understand it</a>). The two should be similar in terms of the use of obscenities and clever word play as well as the competitive nature of the activities, in which only one performer is judged to be the winner.<br /><br />And do not be surprised when in retaliation, New York City claims that Sean Connery is from the Bronx.<br /><br />8 Mile: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/A_ZabBO_fuk&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/A_ZabBO_fuk&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/12/29/rap-is-scottish-america-is-confused/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1414182/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/12/29/rap-is-scottish-america-is-confused/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/12/29/rap-is-scottish-america-is-confused/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-12-29T19:40:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>O.J. Pushes Luck, Finally Loses</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/12/06/o-j-pushes-luck-finally-loses/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/12/06/o-j-pushes-luck-finally-loses/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/12/06/o-j-pushes-luck-finally-loses/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/sports/" rel="tag">Sports</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/news-1/" rel="tag">News</a></p>O.J. Simpson was <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/05/oj.simpson.sentencing/index.html">sentenced to 15 years in prison</a> on Friday for robbery, kidnapping, and assault. He was arrested in September of 2007 for leading a group of armed men in an attempt to steal sports memorabilia from two dealers in Las Vegas. Simpson said the items were actually his. Clearly the court did not agree. <br /><br />Simpson was convicted October 3, 2007, 13 years to the day after he was found innocent in the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Despite the lingering skepticism surrounding the acquittal, the court maintains that the 15 year sentence this time around is not an attempt to right a wrong, but is a typical sentence for these kinds of charges. He will be eligible for parole after nine years. <br /><br />Below is a clip of Simpson from the classic cop movie spoof <em>The Naked Gun</em>. This clip is ironic for two reasons. One: it features Simpson's character failing to stealthily break into someplace. Two: he's playing a cop.<br /><center><object width="480" height="397.5"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sOLoH6cyBgk&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sOLoH6cyBgk&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="397.5"></embed></object></center><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/12/06/o-j-pushes-luck-finally-loses/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1393054/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/12/06/o-j-pushes-luck-finally-loses/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/12/06/o-j-pushes-luck-finally-loses/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-12-06T09:24:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>What Obama Spent $3,000,000 On Last Night</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/30/obamafest-in-primetime/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/30/obamafest-in-primetime/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/30/obamafest-in-primetime/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/politics/" rel="tag">Politics</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/media/" rel="tag">Media</a></p>Perhaps <em><a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/40970/saturday-night-live-obama-address">SNL</a></em> got my hopes too high, but Barack Obama's 30-minute primetime special on NBC, CBS, and Fox wasn't anything special. And not to knock Obama's narrating skills, but could he not have gotten Morgan Freeman or the guy who does the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoPcqgCMy5g&amp;feature=related"><em>Harry Potter</em> audio books</a> or something? Give the show a little kick? He's got enough money to get those guys.<br /><br />Anyway, it was clear that the Democratic nominee was targeting undecided voters in key states, focusing on families living in Ohio and Missouri, among other battlegrounds. On the upside, the format allowed Obama the time to get to many different topics, like healthcare and education, and speak about them for much longer than in any 30-second piece. In addition, each family story, which focused on their struggles, always ended hopeful, with Obama laying out his plan to change things. The key word, as ever, was change, which may be all people need to hear at this point.<br /><br />On the downside, however, the special leaves Obama open to attacks about <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-ads30-2008oct30,0,794601.story">how he raised the money</a> to pay for the airtime. While he has raised more money than Bush and Kerry together in 2004, he did change his mind about how how he would gain that money, an easy point to pick on with only days to go before the election.<br /><br />And on the upside, again, since ABC put on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GyE21TYvzo"><em>Pushing Daisies</em></a> instead, maybe people actually watched it. That show is very good and needs viewers.<br /><br />Whether this special really will change the minds of undecided viewers is unclear. I personally find that this close to the election, other tactics are more successful, like hearing <a href="http://www.peopleinthemiddleforobama.org/">why voters in the middle are voting for Obama</a>. Perhaps, though, he did pick up some of the baseball vote thanks to people turning to Fox expecting to find pre-game coverage for Game 5 of the World Series and finding Obama talking instead (jump to 5:14):<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/s8V0LTheejA&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/s8V0LTheejA&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/30/obamafest-in-primetime/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1358012/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/30/obamafest-in-primetime/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/30/obamafest-in-primetime/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-10-30T17:41:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>NM Paper Sees Through Time, Declares Obama Winner</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/27/nm-paper-sees-through-time-declares-obama-winner/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/27/nm-paper-sees-through-time-declares-obama-winner/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/27/nm-paper-sees-through-time-declares-obama-winner/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/us-elections/" rel="tag">US Elections</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a></p><p>In an example of foresight and/or unwillingness to change its schedule, the New Mexico Sun News has already published an issue heralding <a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/27/obama-wins-newspaper-declares/?eref=ib_politicalticker">Barack Obama as the winner</a> in next week's election. <br /><br />The Sun News is a bi-monthly publication, so this piece of front page news ran in the Oct. 26-Nov. 8 issue. Rather than report election results late, editors decided to do it up <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewey_Defeats_Truman">Chicago Tribune</a> style and assume that unlike with Dewey and Truman, this time, the paper would be right. And as of this exact second, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/polling/">polls</a> say they are indeed correct.<br /><br />Apparently, depending on your political leanings, this means you don't have to vote. Celebrities (and <a href="http://underthebutton.com/2008/10/if-all-your-friends-told-you-not-to-vote-would-you-do-it-too/#comments">Penn students</a>), the New Mexico Sun News has misunderstood your video!<br /><br />Warning: video includes sarcasm and cursing:<br /></p>
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0vtHwWReGU0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0vtHwWReGU0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/27/nm-paper-sees-through-time-declares-obama-winner/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1354449/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/27/nm-paper-sees-through-time-declares-obama-winner/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/27/nm-paper-sees-through-time-declares-obama-winner/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-10-27T20:48:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Worry About Sexual History? Send an STD Card</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/22/they-have-cards-for-everything-these-days/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/22/they-have-cards-for-everything-these-days/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/22/they-have-cards-for-everything-these-days/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a></p>Only two things can truly bring people close together: technology and... let's just say, ahem, intimacy. And now, <a href="http://inspot.org/gateway.aspx">inSPOT.org</a> has brought <em>those</em> two together for a very important purpose: <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/10/21/std.e-cards/index.html?iref=mpstoryview">to get people to get tested for STDs</a>.<br /><br />This venture is an outgrowth of attempts by public health officials in San Francisco to quell the outbreak of STDs like syphilis among gay men. Upon discovering that many couples make plans to get together online, officials decided that the Internet would be the best means by which to contact people who may be infected.<br /><br />The website, developed by Internet Sexuality Information Services, allows people to anonymously send e-cards to their partners to warn them that they may need to get tested. The e-card directs the recipient to public health information about how to get checked out. So the e-cards are just like e-vites...to the doctor. <br /><br />inSPOT is linked in with many major American cities, like New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, and is still expanding to other parts of the country and the world. In today's age, in which so many people are doing so many things, this site is beneficial for two reasons. <br /><br />One: it allows people to tell their partners they may have been exposed to an STD without fear of embarrassment or anger.<br /><br />Two: it disseminates health information more effectively, allowing people to quickly deal with the situation.<br /><br />STD e-cards: more helpful, and less annoying, than those cards that obnoxiously play music.<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/22/they-have-cards-for-everything-these-days/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1348990/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/22/they-have-cards-for-everything-these-days/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/22/they-have-cards-for-everything-these-days/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-10-22T09:13:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>McCain and Palin Living It Up in Late Night</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/19/mccain-and-palin-living-it-up-in-late-night/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/19/mccain-and-palin-living-it-up-in-late-night/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/19/mccain-and-palin-living-it-up-in-late-night/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/pop-culture/" rel="tag">Pop Culture</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/media/" rel="tag">Media</a></p>With nothing left for the Republicans to do but wait and hope, the GOP nominees have apparently decided that the way to turn things around is to appear on late night television. First, John McCain visited <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiBqHczYJYo"><em>Late Show with David Letterman</em></a> on Thursday because when Letterman says, "Jump," world leaders say, "How high?" <br /><br />Then Sarah Palin and her doppleganger Tina Fey stopped by the show <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i047c06d053d60ec8da1fa258dd552254">the pair accidentally revived</a> from its Saturday Night Dead status. Thankfully, putting Palin and Fey in the same place at the same time did not create a rip in the time-space continuum in which the entire universe would have been swallowed, as pundits had predicted. <br /><br />Unlike <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/11204/saturday-night-live-editorial-response---sen-clinton">Hillary Clinton</a>, who appeared on <em>SNL</em> with her impersonator standing right next to her, Palin watched Tina Fey reenact a press conference while talking with Lorne Michaels and Alec Baldwin, the latter of whom mistook Palin for Fey. Then Palin took Fey's place onstage to call out the show's starting gun catchphrase. Watching Palin and Fey pass each other was kind of like that scene in <em>The Matrix</em> when Neo has to fight a hundred Agent Smiths, only this wasn't special effects, it was just two eerily similar-looking women.<br /><br /><em>SNL</em> wasn't too hard on Palin (in fact, it wasn't hard on her at all), but that's got to be like looking a gift horse in the mouth and then beating it senseless. Plus, Palin's appearance allowed the world to see a very pregnant Amy Poehler perform a rap about Palin while the governor bounced to the rhythm of the boogedy beat, so it all worked out in the end:<br /><br /><object width="460" height="262"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/N1MZWg4abBA9eOIE4HhstQ"></param><embed src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/N1MZWg4abBA9eOIE4HhstQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="460" height="262"></embed></object><br /><br />*Speaking of world leaders, Letterman followed up his interview with McCain with a chat with Tina Fey the next night, and of course, the conversation quickly turned to the Palin impression and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKF23VUIkAw">Fey's friend's grandmother</a>.<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/19/mccain-and-palin-living-it-up-in-late-night/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1346604/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/19/mccain-and-palin-living-it-up-in-late-night/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/19/mccain-and-palin-living-it-up-in-late-night/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-10-19T16:55:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>"Stayin Alive" Now Even More True to Its Name</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/19/stayin-alive-now-even-more-true-to-its-name/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/19/stayin-alive-now-even-more-true-to-its-name/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/19/stayin-alive-now-even-more-true-to-its-name/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/science/" rel="tag">Science</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/music/" rel="tag">Music</a></p>Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother, you can save lives!<br /> <br /> A study from the University of Illinois medical school attempted to determine whether the Bee Gees' classic "Stayin' Alive" (see/hear below) can actually <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/10/16/disco.song.health.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCText">help people perform CPR</a>. According to the American Heart Association, people are supposed to perform 100 compressions a minute when trying to revive someone. It turns out that at 103 beats a minute, "Stayin' Alive" has the perfect rhythm for dancing <u>and</u> performing CPR. In fact, whether listening to the music or just thinking of the song, subjects in the study performed more chest compressions than are considered necessary, which is sort of a "more the merrier" situation. <br /><br />The study on how you can tell by the way a man uses his walk, he's a woman's man, was inconclusive.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mNe5cNKvyi4&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mNe5cNKvyi4&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/19/stayin-alive-now-even-more-true-to-its-name/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1345852/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/19/stayin-alive-now-even-more-true-to-its-name/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/19/stayin-alive-now-even-more-true-to-its-name/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-10-19T06:04:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>The Bush Movie: Does Anybody Care?</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/17/q-about-w-does-anybody-care/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/17/q-about-w-does-anybody-care/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/17/q-about-w-does-anybody-care/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/movies/" rel="tag">Movies</a></p>Oliver Stone's George W. Bush biopic <em>W</em> hits theaters today, a release date that is obviously meant to incite an uproar right before the election, sparking both political discussion and boffo box office returns. <br /><br />But in the midst of thousands of other uproars -- political, economic, athletic if you're in <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20081016_Dominant_Phillies_claim_the_pennant.html">Philadelphia</a> -- the film is just sitting there, much like the film's subject. Though the movie is being released while Bush is still in office, <em>W</em> has sparked no real controversy because everyone has already moved on to the next administration, whichever one it may be. It's a strange thing for a filmmaker like <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/06/oliver.stone.bush.movie/index.html?iref=newssearch">Stone</a>, so used to courting political controversy thanks to earlier movies on such subjects as Nixon, Kennedy, and the Vietnam War. <br /><br />We could turn to considering whether <em>W</em> is a good movie, but reading reviews for this movie is like watching the debates: hearing the information won't change your opinion because you already know what you're going to do. And anyway, <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/w">the reviews are mixed</a>. It seems that the film is not so much a study of a president as it is a study of an actor, Josh Brolin, who embodies Bush from his college years to the present. As for the story? Well, that all depends on whether you think <em>W</em> is a comedy, a sad statement on politics, or both:<br /> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/weELpc3pYMs&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/weELpc3pYMs&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/17/q-about-w-does-anybody-care/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1344737/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/17/q-about-w-does-anybody-care/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/17/q-about-w-does-anybody-care/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-10-17T09:19:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Marcia Brady Not So Brady-Like</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/15/marcia-brady-not-so-brady-like/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/15/marcia-brady-not-so-brady-like/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/15/marcia-brady-not-so-brady-like/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/pop-culture/" rel="tag">Pop Culture</a></p>With the third debate just hours away, let's talk family values, Brady family values, as Maureen McCormick, aka <em>The Brady Bunch</em>'s Marcia Brady, goes on a rampaging media tour to talk about her memoir, Here's the Story. Apparently child stars don't deal with fame well; everybody's favorite eldest daughter spent her post-Brady years freebasing cocaine and trading sex for drugs. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k04Wv0fydvU">Oh my nose</a>, indeed.<br /> <br />Other than the ca-razy revelations about her lifestyle and syphilis-prone family, McCormick spends the rest of the memoir dishing the stuff fans have known about for years, like her relationship with Barry Williams and her feud with Eve Plumb. Still, to watch McCormick's interview is to wonder the same thing one always wonders about random celebrity memoirs: is she brave to be writing about the pain in her life or cheap to be throwing every tawdry memory out there to see what the public might try to catch? <br /> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tP2EAyb-7u0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tP2EAyb-7u0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />  <br />And as for Bobby and Cindy, you don't want to know what those two did to Tiger the family dog.<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/15/marcia-brady-not-so-brady-like/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1343339/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/15/marcia-brady-not-so-brady-like/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/15/marcia-brady-not-so-brady-like/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-10-15T14:14:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>SNL Finds Humor in People Not Named Palin</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/06/snl-finds-humor-in-people-not-named-palin/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/06/snl-finds-humor-in-people-not-named-palin/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/06/snl-finds-humor-in-people-not-named-palin/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/pop-culture/" rel="tag">Pop Culture</a></p>Thanks to Sarah Palin, <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/politics/bal-te.vptvratings04oct04,0,5366309.story">70 million people </a>watched the vice presidential debate (18 million more than the viewership for the first presidential debate) and <em>SNL</em> is scoring <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3ic261f4f6bfdb7bc444c8d211863a844a">its biggest rates in forever</a>. In fact, the Palin vs. Fey battle has gotten so big, there's a good chance <a href="http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/zwecker/1203739,CST-FTR-fey05.article">the governor of Alaska</a> will be stopping by <em>SNL's Weekend Update</em> primetime show this Thursday or the next new <em>SNL</em> broadcast on October 18.<br /><em><br /></em>But <em>SNL</em>'s latest opening sketch managed to highlight, in addition to the so-obvious-it's-amazing-no one's-said-anything-so-far idea of a "maverick" drinking game, something about somebody who <em>isn't</em> Sarah Palin. <br /><br />And that was Joe Biden's performance in the debate, from his emphasis on repetition ("Let me repeat that again: time!") to his dissing of Scranton, PA, "an absolute jerkwater of a town," to his pendulum-swinging opinion on the Republican candidate ("John McCain, and again, this is a man I would take a bullet for, is bad at his job and mentally unstable"). And while Tina Fey had Palin's winking, Jason Sudeikis had Biden's game show host smile at the end of every answer. <br /><br />Citizens can rest easy knowing that comics will be able to write jokes in the event of an Obama-Biden win.<br /><br /> <object width="461" height="266"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/oRZOSPVCsFMTZ9Df3Y5LfQ"></param><embed src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/oRZOSPVCsFMTZ9Df3Y5LfQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="461" height="266"></embed></object><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/06/snl-finds-humor-in-people-not-named-palin/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1334605/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/06/snl-finds-humor-in-people-not-named-palin/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/06/snl-finds-humor-in-people-not-named-palin/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-10-06T16:28:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Palinizing the Debate</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/03/palinizing-the-debate/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/03/palinizing-the-debate/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/03/palinizing-the-debate/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/politics/" rel="tag">Politics</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a></p>It was a normal debate, doggone it. And by normal, I mean boring. I betcha if you went and asked anybody, the Joe Six Packs, the Hockey Moms, anybody in the middle class, they woulda said that there woulda been fireworks, words exploding everywhere during an incredibly awkward meltdown.<br /><br />But since she has <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMsuVZ30SoI">no achilles heel</a>, the vice maverick (someone get the woman a cowboy hat!) didn't do that. She just walked the walk to the podium and talked the talking points she rehearsed. <br /><br />And darn right, Gwen Ifill was kicking tail and taking names, calling the candidates out like a ref penalizing a player for high checking, every time, and there were a few times, that neither one answered a question. But, of course, the governor was talking straight to the American people, which is why it's OK that she answered a question about mortage holders by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-Zs-mv_ImY">talking about energy</a>. Because she spoke in (fairly) complete sentences, without the filter of the mainstream media (until now) and turned back into that confident, lipstick-wearing pitbull we first saw when she got the nom, she exceeded expectations. And say it ain't so, Joe, that our expectations are that low for the leaders of our country.<br /> <br />All this debate did was prove that Biden and Palin know how to defend their running mates in the political equivalent of a "Yo Momma" smackdown. Which I'm sure is how it goes down on Wasilla Main Street. The only question I've got now is: what's Tina Fey gonna do with this? <br /><br />I'm not gonna answer that.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCunBErZZJE">*Wink*</a><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/03/palinizing-the-debate/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1332301/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/03/palinizing-the-debate/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/10/03/palinizing-the-debate/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-10-03T10:06:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Tina Fey Continues As Sarah Palin</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/29/that-adorable-fey-palin/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/29/that-adorable-fey-palin/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/29/that-adorable-fey-palin/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/pop-culture/" rel="tag">Pop Culture</a></p><p>On this week's <em>Saturday Night Live</em>, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were at it again, this time recreating Sarah Palin's recent interview with Katie Couric. And once again, Fey said pretty much what Palin actually said, like when they started talking about <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npUMUASwaec&amp;eurl=http://thinkprogress.org">the bailout</a>. Not as funny as <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/14/fey-and-poehler-and-palin-and-clinton/">the first sketch</a>, but this one still had that same unsettling aura that all they had to do to perform the sketch was print out the interview transcript and put in on some cue cards. Also...:</p>
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<p> <object width="410" height="237"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/iB6BlTpElyVEksC47YYpTA"></param><embed src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/iB6BlTpElyVEksC47YYpTA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="410" height="237"></embed></object></p><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/29/that-adorable-fey-palin/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1327047/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/29/that-adorable-fey-palin/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/29/that-adorable-fey-palin/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-09-29T11:49:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Debating the Debate at Penn</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/debating-the-debate-at-penn/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/debating-the-debate-at-penn/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/debating-the-debate-at-penn/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/us-elections/" rel="tag">US Elections</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/featured-stories/" rel="tag">Featured Stories</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/on-campus/" rel="tag">On Campus</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a></p>It's unlikely that <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/27/debate.poll/index.html?iref=mpstoryview">the first debate</a> changed the mind of anyone at the University of Pennsylvania. People seem very set on who they will vote for, but that in no way stops the Penn Dems or the College Republicans from trying to sway students to the other side. And regardless of political affinity, both groups are determined to get everyone on campus registered to vote. Speaking of, if anyone reading this is trying to 'get out the vote' or 'lead the vote' or 'rock the vote' on Penn's campus, please know that I am registered to vote in Philadelphia. If you ask me if I need to change my address one more time, I will make sure to somehow switch my residence to a state that is no way swinging. <br /><br />
<div align="center"><img width="411" vspace="4" hspace="4" height="310" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/brighthall.aol.com/media/2008/09/pictues-to-be-sorted-166.jpg" /><br /></div>
<br /> The Penn Dems held a debate viewing party Friday night in Jon M. Huntsman Hall and invited students from a West Philly high school to watch the debate along with the university students. Everyone gathered in a lecture hall to enjoy the all-American refreshments of chips and soda and watch the debate on two giant screens. Despite the fact that the crowd was obviously full of Obama supporters (some wore "Barack the Vote" shirts), the crowd of about 200 was mostly quiet throughout. There were chuckles during a few of McCain's comments (and anytime Jim Lehrer wrested control away from the senator), some "oohs" when the Republican tried to throw down against Obama early on, and a little bit of clapping after someone suggested they should be clapping for Obama. But all of this was invariably shushed in favor of listening quietly to the candidates.<br /><br />Elsewhere in Huntsman Hall, kids in study rooms had set up the CNN.com live feed on their computers and were watching while they worked. Many others were in their dorms or apartments, preferring to watch the debate alone or with their roommates. It seems that after an <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&amp;sid=aMDDN2oMLQus">especially tumultuous couple of days</a>, students just wanted to hear what Obama and McCain had to say.<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/debating-the-debate-at-penn/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1326522/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/debating-the-debate-at-penn/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/debating-the-debate-at-penn/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-09-27T19:01:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Paul Newman Dead at 83</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/paul-newman-dead-at-83/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/paul-newman-dead-at-83/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/paul-newman-dead-at-83/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/movies/" rel="tag">Movies</a></p>Legendary actor <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080927/ap_on_en_mo/obit_newman;_ylt=AmUUsZ72Vx_.mUdiDLO.Ibqs0NUE">Paul Newman</a> passed away from cancer Friday at his home in Westport, Connecticut. He was 83.<br /><br />Nominated for an Oscar a staggering 10 times (he won one and received two honorary statuettes), Newman has been a towering presence in film for six decades. He appeared in such films as <em>Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid</em>, <em>Cool Hand Luke</em>, and <em>The Color of Money</em>, for which he won his Oscar. In recent years, he received an Academy Award nomination for his work in <em>Road to Perdition</em> in 2002, won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance in <em>Empire Falls</em>, a 2005 miniseries on HBO, and provided the voice of Doc Hudson in <em>Cars</em> in 2006. <br /><br />At the height of his career in the 70s, Newman branched out and became interested in other ventures. He began racing cars and later started a team for the CART series (Mario Andretti was his first driver). He also started Newman's Own, a company which sells salad dressing, popcorn, and other foods and drinks. All the proceeds- hundreds of millions of dollars at this point-go to charity.<br /><br />Throughout his career, whether playing a pool shark, a lawyer, or a really old car, Newman remained a handsome, dynamic actor as well as a man dedicated to his pursuits, whether they were filmmaking, charity work, or the family he raised with actress Joanne Woodward. Below, an example of what made Paul Newman so great:<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zVZFlBJftgg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zVZFlBJftgg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <br />Paul Newman in <em>The Verdict</em>.<br /><br /><br /><br />Click <a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20205803,00.html?iid=top25-20080927-Paul+Newman%3A+His+best+movies">here</a> to see <em>Entertainment Weekly</em>'s gallery of 30 of Paul Newman's best performances.<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/paul-newman-dead-at-83/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1326507/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/paul-newman-dead-at-83/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/27/paul-newman-dead-at-83/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-09-27T18:49:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Late Night Comics Take Aim At Candidates</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/25/late-night-comics-take-aim/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/25/late-night-comics-take-aim/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/25/late-night-comics-take-aim/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/media/" rel="tag">Media</a></p>Late night comics love making fun of politicians and this week is no exception. <br /><br />A week after their amusing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Mh5w2OCSEQ">prunes bit</a> at the Emmys, <a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20228603,00.html?iid=top25-20080925-Stewart+%26+Colbert%3A+Exclusive+Q%26A">Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert</a> are on the cover of <em>Entertainment Weekly </em>in a faithful recreation of the <em>New Yorker</em> cover featuring a radicalized take on Barack and Michelle Obama from earlier in the year. Newsstand price? $4.99. Colbert with a preposterously large afro? Priceless.<br /><br />In the interview, the Comedy Central mainstays discuss the ridiculousness of both the media (Colbert likens the fascination with Sarah Palin to little kids chasing the ball at a soccer game) and the politicians themselves. Stewart on making fun of a politician's persona: "Even if you're satirizing how wonderful they are, that hyperbole is setting them up for an expectation to fail." The interview is actually pretty standard satirical fare for these two, considering that their form of the <em>New Yorker</em> cover does qualify as <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/weekinreview/20seigel.html?_r=1&amp;scp=2&amp;sq=the%20new%20yorker%20cover%20satire&amp;st=cse&amp;oref=slogin">satire</a>. <br /><br />More surprising in the world of comedic gumption was last night's episode of <em>Late Night</em> <em>with David Letterman</em>, during which the talk show host verbally torpedoed John McCain over bailing out of his appearance on the show at the last second. Normally the two have an easy-going relationship -- McCain even announced his candidacy on Letterman's show. On last night's episode, too, Letterman commends McCain for his heroic actions during the Vietnam War.<br /><br />But the abrupt change and subsequent revelation that McCain essentially lied over his need to cancel irked the host. Turns out the senator was not immediately on his way back to DC to save the economy, as he told Letterman, but was still in New York, taping an interview with Katie Couric. No way Letterman would find out. It's not like he and Couric are both on CBS... wait.<br /><br />Below, clips of the episode in which Letterman mocks McCain for "suspending the campaign" rather than tossing the game ball to his veep and later, riffs while watching a feed of McCain's interview with Couric. Says Letterman, "We are told the senator has finished his interview with Katie Couric and is now on Rachel Ray's show making veal piccata."<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XjkCrfylq-E&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XjkCrfylq-E&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/25/late-night-comics-take-aim/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1324882/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/25/late-night-comics-take-aim/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/25/late-night-comics-take-aim/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-09-25T19:55:00+00:00</dc:date></item><item><title>Prostate Cancer Treatment Questioned</title><link>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/25/prostate-cancer-treatment-questioned/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/25/prostate-cancer-treatment-questioned/</guid><comments>http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/25/prostate-cancer-treatment-questioned/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/featured-stories/" rel="tag">Featured Stories</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/university-of-pennsylvania/" rel="tag">University of Pennsylvania</a>, <a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/category/science-1/" rel="tag">Science</a></p>Hormone therapy is a mainstay for the treatment of prostate cancer. The therapy disrupts the growth of tumors by decreasing the levels of androgen, a hormone that, if left at normal levels, would increase the size of cancer cells. Such a procedure is generally a precursor to brachytherapy, a form of radiation treatment during which radioactive "seeds" are implanted into tumors to kill the cancer cells.<br /> <br />But the hormone therapy itself could <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-09-23-hormones-prostate-cancer_N.htm">have detrimental effects on the patient</a>, according to a new study presented at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology in Boston on Tuesday. Led by Amy Dosortez, a resident in the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program, researchers tracked the life course of 1700 men over the age of 70 after they underwent treatment for early-stage prostate cancer. The median length of hormone therapy was 3.5 months, while the length of time the men were tracked was 5 years. Results showed that the men given androgen-deprivation therapy prior to the brachytherapy were 20% more likely to die from any cause than those who only had brachytherapy. Dosoretz suggests that the hormone treatment could worsen the overall health of the patients, particularly given their ages, making them more susceptible to other issues, like heart disease. <br /><br />Other studies on this topic have had mixed results, however, and did not show that hormone therapy had the same effect on the patients' mortality. Researchers are also unsure as to why exactly the hormone treatment poses this risk. Regardless, the study lends further credence to the idea that the standard prostate cancer treatment may not work for every patient, particularly older men facing the disease in its early stages.<p style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;">&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/25/prostate-cancer-treatment-questioned/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/forward/1323938/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&amp;fc=1&amp;url=http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/25/prostate-cancer-treatment-questioned/" title="Linking Blogs">Linking&nbsp;Blogs</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://brighthall.aol.com/2008/09/25/prostate-cancer-treatment-questioned/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a></p>]]></description><dc:creator>Emily Lasky</dc:creator><dc:date>2008-09-25T06:20:00+00:00</dc:date></item></channel></rss>