Mediaite » Summer of Death

What We’re Thankful For This Year

Steve Krakauer — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:59:02 +0000

On this Thanksgiving, Mediaite turns 143 days old. We’ll be checking in today between turkey courses, and throughout the rest of the long weekend, but we also wanted to look back on the 143 days since we were first born on that early July morning.

And what better way to look at our history than to break down some of the things we’re thankful for!

We’re thankful for pop culture – TV and movies (and our media spin on them):

» Harry Potter and the media muggles

» The Twilight saga characters and their media matches

» Gossip Girl cast matched with their media mates

» The Mad Men (and women) of Morning Joe

» Saturday Night Live‘s great news spoofs

» And the Saturday Night Live-inspired “Real Biker Chicks”

We’re thankful for those times when we can be service-y:

» Halloween costumes ripped from the headlines

» Ways to get over (or not get over) a fear of flying

We’re thankful for Oprah:

» Outrageous Sarah Palin stories Oprah will have to address (she went 0 for 10)

» Best Oprah moments

We’re thankful for those we’ve lost:

» “Summer of Death”

And we’re thankful for the future:

» 25 bloggers you need to know

But mainly, we’re thankful for…you our readers. Happy Thanksgiving!

Mediaite Presents: Halloween Costumes Ripped From The Headlines

Mediaite Staff — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:20:23 +0000

So it’s Halloween, and you don’t have a costume. You were going to be Kanye West, but the friend you were counting on to be your Taylor Swift got swine flu at the last minute. Then, it was going to be Sarah Palin, until you remembered that that’s what you were last year. Then, you were going to dress up as Balloon Boy, but you realized that all of your friends, neighbors, and extended family members were planning to as well. What to do?

Fortunately, Mediaite has come up with some costume suggestions for you. Pulled straight from the headlines, these are guaranteed to be hits:

Barack Obama, According to Glenn Beck’s Imagination

For obvious reasons, the current president of the United States is likely to be a popular Halloween costume this year. But beyond form-fitting Hart Schaffner Marx suits, the challenge remains: How is a trick-or-treater supposed to pull off the look?

Fortunately, cable pundit/voice of reason Glenn Beck is on the case. A well-executed Obama according to Glenn Beck’s imagination should wear a Che Guevara t-shirt, a Hitler mustache, and a Soviet-style ushanka, preferably bearing a red hammer-and-sickle. Gasoline can for torching the Average American optional.

Barack Obama, According to Keith Olbermann’s Imagination

Cable pundit/voice of reason Keith Olbermann, on the other hand, might have slightly different ideas about what constitutes a good Obama costume. Olbermann’s Obama should have billowy, flowing wings, a resplendent halo, and, if budget allows, a heavenly host of sanctified Cabinet appointees carrying blazing swords and playing gleaming trumpets, singing the praise of the anointed one, and also mentioning offhandedly that Bush kind of sucked.

Summer of Death

Year-by-year, the Grim Reaper is always a popular Halloween costume, particularly among people who don’t have any costume ideas when they go to Party City on October 30th and kind of just phone it in. But coming off the Summer of Death, the costume has a special resonance this year. A (sexy) black hood, (sexy) black robe, and (sexy) blood-dripping scythe are of course mandatory, but how to work in the contemporary angle? It would probably be in poor taste to carry photos of Michael Jackson, Ted Kennedy, Farrah Fawcett, Walter Cronkite, etc. A safer bet might be to carry around copies of expired mags Gourmet, Trump, Vibe, Nickelodeon Magazine, etc.

Levi Johnston

Last year’s Levi costume would have been an awkward suit and a hockey stick, but this year it’s much different — now that he’s an aspiring male model. Sarah Palin‘s former-almost-son-in-law is promising to reveal “huge” things about the former VP candidate, but the big news is his upcoming spread in Playgirl. For this popular costume, just wear briefs and bask in your 15 minutes of fame (briefs optional).

Next Page: Great newsy group costumes, and a twist on the Andre Agassi look

Texting Teens Are Not Doomed To Spell Poorly; Paranoid Adults Exhale

Joe Coscarelli — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:20:11 +0000

Looking back on the summer of 2009, many will remember it as the Summer of Death, but for much of the media it was also the Summer of Texting. Hardly a day goes by without some story about the dangers of cellphone use, especially the simple messaging service (SMS), from driving to sleep deprivation. The New York Times has an entire topics page dedicated to the “text messaging” beat! But along with dinner table etiquette and auto safety, some of the old and out of touch have wondered about texting’s effect on kids’ brains. Is “chatspeak” — shorthand the youth uses in texts and online — ruining spelling skills?

Not so, according to a new study being discussed on the Los Angeles Times‘ health blog. The findings report that “parents who think that frequent texting will transform their children into abbreviating, acronyming, emoticoning adults” may just be paranoid. “Kids who are good spellers [academically] are good spellers in instant messaging. And kids who are poor spellers in English class are poor spellers in instant messaging,” the study found. It all seems pretty obvious once you put aside a bias toward technology and youth culture, no?

The research, recently published in Reading and Writing, was compiled by testing 40 kids, ages 12 to 17, with a “standard spelling test” in addition to analyzing their texting tendencies. According to the Times, “The Canadian researchers discovered the young people used an enormous range of types of new language, and that girls outranked boys in use of new language.” Kids these days — creative, communicative and decent spellers. Paranoid parents, rest assured… for now.

Will O’Reilly Shame Commenters Bashing Kennedy Before the Body Is Cold?

Joe Coscarelli — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:35:33 +0000

In a time of opinion journalism and partisan politics, it doesn’t take much to rile up internet commenters into a poison-spewing frenzy. Still, the online discourse can be telling, especially as you approach the political fringe. ”Hells awaiting,” read one particularly acerbic note on the popular conservative website RedState.com this morning after reports surfaced late Tuesday that Senator Ted Kennedy succumbed to brain cancer. “If there’s any justice, he’ll finally get what’s coming to him.”

Bill O’Reilly knows how cruel the comments can get based on the amount of coverage he’s devoted to followers of the liberal blog DailyKos upon the death of key conservatives, such as pundit and former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow and more recently, columnist Robert Novak. O’Reilly went so far as to compare the DailyKos community to the KKK and Nazis based on out of context quotes about Snow’s cancer.

Now, crass insensitivity about the dead is nothing new on the internet, but since it is a reoccurring source of scorn for O’Reilly, will he be keeping a watchful eye on the conservative corners of the web today to assure everyone is respecting the death of Sen. Kennedy? It seems doubtful.

Here’s a taste of the bile spilling anonymously online so far today amid the outpouring of respect and grief for the late senator. Obviously, as it goes on the internet, sic throughout.

RedState.com

“It’s a great day to be in Massachusetts” -GOPMOM

“For somber occasions such as this, you could go with a Mimosa if you’ve got some champagne hanging around.” -janis

“Allow me to add my voice to the chorus wishing Ted a speedy trip to hell.” -usrbinperl

FreeRepublic.com

“Well. The Devil claims his own, after all.” -Eleutheria5

“Nothing like getting up to a beautiful sunny morning and hear the best news in 2009.” -tioga

“A Fudge Packer like Barney .” -dead

TownHall.com

“Hope the 9th ring is good and toasty for you,Ted! Roast in Peace!” -clyde

“Wonder why he didn’t go to Cuba for his medical treatment?” -kbTexan

“Finally, the fourth horseman of the apocalypse goes to his ‘reward.’” -FairnessMan

HotAir.com

“DIBS ON THE LIVER!!!!!!” -hanoverfist

“I wished Teddy to RIP long ago. Long past due.” -maverick muse

“HE WAS A LYING TRAITOROUS MURDERING SACK OF NARCISSISTIC EXCREMENT!!!!” -lm10001