The top photo was taken circa 1958 of my grandfather when he worked as a graphic design in NYC. The bottom photo is of me taken 50 years later, also working as a graphic designer in NYC.
Thanks to Justin Ouellette for taking this photo for me. He is an amazing photographer
I love this and I’m so glad DT did it.
After years of people recommending it to me, I finally committed to reading Live From New York, the incredible SNL oral history. I have about 50 pages to go, and I love it.
I just stumbled upon a new favorite quote from Amy Poehler, who observes (regarding being sexy AND funny) that “Vanity is the Death of Comedy. I’d much rather have people laugh than go, ‘Whoo!’ “
This hit home, as users on our site can be quick to judge (especially girls) from their semi-anonymous platforms. Usually our users are super nice to me, for which I am sincerely flattered and grateful, but a recent notable exception is this video, where one sensitive user notes that I look like ‘a Russian man.’ I really enjoyed the comedy I was able to add to this video until comments like that started rolling in, and then I found myself suddenly self-conscious. But I think if I had overthought my vanity that day (I was exhausted and the humidity had destroyed my hair), I wouldn’t have been very funny at all. It’s another interesting element of this whole ‘being a girl in comedy’ thing. You know, wanting to be funny versus wanting to be pretty. Not to say they’re exclusive of each other. I just think you have to be very self-assured to have the outlook Amy Poehler does.
BTW, I was excited to see the Phantom flex some of his vocal might when he harmonized with the yoga class. The Phantom always thought he had great pitch.
The people in this class thought we were insane.
On a positive note we have a lot of beer and wheelchair. I think we are in for a great night.
One of the many pictures of Amanda that I wish I had of myself. I especially like the untied shoe. What an angel.
Screenprint, “Atypical Rainy Day in Manhattan”
6 colors
This is my brother’s favorite screenprint. He’s so talented, that douche.
Noooo! You fucking uppity yuppy bastards. Go move to the suburbs if you don’t want to live near bars. This is New York City for chrissakes.
This makes me so incredibly annoyed/sad. What happened to the city that never sleeps?
Recognize that scarf? If you don’t, take one stop on the L train and you’ll see it all over the place. Or maybe you could just watch the news. You’ll likely catch a glimpse of it there.
So how did this turn into this?
Well, the scarves first became a popular fashion trend in the US during the First Palestinian Intifada in the 1980s. Now they’re back and being sold all over – TopShop, on the street on Broadway, and even in Urban Outfitters as the “Anti-War Woven Scarf.” Well, at least until controversy arose & they discontinued it, but then released the all too similar “Fringe Square Scarf.” Hipsters, Spanish leaders, even daughters of presidential candidates are all hip to the style.
So I get it – it’s cute, and is great with cutoffs and a wifebeater. Fold it in half and tie it around your neck so the triangle points down, right? Totes. But do they even know what they’re wearing? Perhaps. But perhaps not, as one NYTimes scarf-wearing interviewee says, “I’m not too up to speed in what’s going on in the Middle East.”
Here’s a bit of history about this great new accessory. It’s a Keffiyeh, and was originally the headwear of Palestinian peasants. It became the symbol of Palestinian nationalism and of class struggle during the 1936 to 1939 Great Arab Revolt against the British Mandate of Palestine when the insurgents forced upper-class Palestinians to wear it to show sympathy with the fighters. Later, in the 1960s when the Palestinian resistance movement began, Yasser Arafat adopted it. It now adorns the heads of the younger generation in the Middle East to show support of the Palestinian cause. The black and white keffiyeh is associated with the Fatah, the largest faction of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and apparently the red and white keffiyeh is associated with the Hamas. You know, the terrorists?
But the Keffiyeh stands for many different things for many different people. For some, it stands for Palestinian solidarity, or “taking a stand against the state of Israel’s oppressive and racist policies toward Palestine” - the PLO scarf. For some, it stands for anti-Semitism while promoting terrorist groups. For others, it is an attempt to trivialize the Palestinian cause by making the symbol so ubiquitous that it loses its meaning. For some it is merely a practicality to shade one’s face from the sun and heat in arid desert nations. For others, it is a shemagh, the Anglicized name given to the scarf by British soldiers who wore them during WWII. For others, it’s just a fashion trend, an item of symbolic meaning marketed for the masses. Get your own at Talibanana.com!
Diana! Once again so insightful, and timely. I actually bought a similar scarf (my version is red and black) recently - a couple of friends had them and I thought they were cute. It instantly generated comments from my more historically and culturally erudite pals. It’s interesting/scary to learn where a trend comes from, and how oblivious those are that spread it. Guilty! (and guilty even more for still thinking it is kinda cute.)
The CollegeHumor All Nighter was enormously fun. I want to thank the people we talked with in the chat room all night, who had such specific questions that they are obviously reading this (and every CH) blog. We had a lot of fun on the live stream, and it definitely kept everyone going even when things hit a lull.
All ten videos we made overnight are collected in one place here.
Seconded!
CollegeHumor All Nighter is underway. Tune in and watch our progress all night at www.collegehumor.com/allnighter.
It’s almost 7am. I haven’t pulled an all-nighter in almost three years, and I’m starting to ache a little. But damn is this collection of videos impressive. 10 comedy videos in 12 hours. Quite a feat if I do say so myself.
