One of my favorite stories to come out of the Haitian tragedy is of a man who was trapped in the rubble for 60 hours, severely injured and bleeding, and managed to stay alive with the help of an.. iPhone app?! Yeah. So the guy, Dan Woolley, an aid worker from Colorado, remembered he had downloaded an app called "Pocket First Aid & CPR" from the American Heart Association, and used that information to treat his wounds properly. It's kinda amazing what this guy did, using his shirt to bandage his leg, tying his belt around the wound, firmly pressing a sock to his bleeding head, setting his alarm every 20 min to not fall asleep as a result of experiencing shock. A total validation to Apple's pretty bold statement, "There's an app for that." I imagine we will see this somewhere in their app commercials.
Monday, January 25, 2010
There's an app for that!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Adieu, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien aired last Friday. Conan ended his short stint as host on a classy note, making all the people who were on Team Coco sad to see their freakishly tall, red-headed friend go, but proud to have been supporters of such a tremendous man.
A lot of sites are posting up Conan's farewell speech, but rather than falling in suite, I'd rather show one of my favorite clips from Conan's Tonight Show:
Additionally, my favorite Late Night with Conan O'Brien clip EVER (YouTube disabled embedding it, so click the link!): Conan and Mr. T Go Apple Picking
Friday, January 15, 2010
Jimmy Kimmel Finally Managed to Make Me Laugh
Jimmy Kimmel. You've had your own late night show for how long..? And I still don't get you. WHO ARE YOU?? Are you really supposed to be funny..?
Well, Jimmy Kimmel finally managed to make me chuckle last night, when he was featured on Jay Leno's 10 at 10 portion.
Some highlights include:
Jay: What's the best prank you ever pulled?
Jimmy: I think the best prank I ever pulled was I told a guy that 5 years from now, I'm gonna give you my show. And then when the 5 years came, I gave it to him and then I took it back instantly. It was hilarious. I think he works at FOX or something now.
Jay: Ever order something off the tv?
Jimmy: Like how NBC ordered your show off the tv?
Jay: What's the most number of lap dances you've had in one night?
Jimmy: Jay, my mother is watching this show, so. Actually, no wait a minute, this show's cancelled right, nobody's watching this show.
Check the whole awkward questionnaire here:
I love how all these other late night hosts are getting their little jabs in. Team Conan FTW, ya'll!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Update: Team Conan
Ok. This will be my last post on this topic, I swear. But as an update to my Leno vs. Conan post late last week, I am posting the following very eloquent response to the debacle articulated by the man in the middle himself, Conan O'Brien. Everyone, meet class. As if I didn't love him anymore, Conan's letter is the epitome of grace and class, all with a touch of his signature humor. I think many of you probably read this already, but I'm re-posting because I want everyone to know what a stand-out guy I think this dude is. What struck me most from this response is just how much Conan, who has only been hosting the Tonight Show for 7 months, understand and respect the history and legacy of the Tonight Show institution than NBC and his predecessor host Leno does. Tsk tsk. Honestly, Leno should be ashamed. He's the one who should be graciously giving the spotlight back to Conan, and this discussion shouldn't even be happening if he was half the classy person Conan is. People of Earth: Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over the Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both. But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule. Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy. So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of the Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more. There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work. Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.
Conan's Response:
In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.
Yours,
Conan
Friday, January 8, 2010
Mini-rant: Leno vs. Conan
Reports are surfacing this morning that NBC is canceling Jay Leno's low-rated prime time show and giving him back his old 11:35 late night timeslot. What would that mean for Conan, who is currently the host of that 11:35 slot? NBC is reportedly considering shrinking Leno's show to a half hour, and having Conan's show air at 12:05am. OK. Despite what this rant might sound like, I actually didn't really care about latenight show wars. To me Letterman is the best and as long as he is staying put where he is, I don't care. But, as this whole situation continues to become a mess and an exploding fiasco, I'm mad at NBC and at Leno for letting all of this happen.
Yes, airing an episode of Leno's show 5 times a week is vastly cheaper than filling that primetime spot with a drama/reality show double the budget. But from a creative standpoint, taking the exact same show, cause let's face it, Leno's 10pm show is not any different from his old Tonight Show, and airing it an hour earlier was pointless and a big fat waste of time and credibility on the already struggling network's part. And the only person I feel bad for in this whole thing is Conan, who is a brilliant entertainer, and who uprooted his entire life to be based in LA for the new Tonight Show. He's been dragged through the mud through this entire thing, while Leno has coasted by on preferential treatment, and now Conan is stuck in this awkward, weirdo position of having everything implode on him through no fault of his own. TMZ is reporting that the choice is up to Conan, and I seriously hope he walks away and screws NBC over. But, whatever happens, I'm on TEAM O'BRIEN. Ok, end rant.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
BeautifulPeople.com
Happy New Year, Life in Box-ers! I kinda love this time of the year, when everything feels fresh and new, and people make a mad dash to upkeep the resolutions they've made for the upcoming year. Typically one of the most popular New Years resolutions has to do with physical appearance- getting to the gym, losing a couple of pounds, taking care of your body. Aaaaand, if this isn't a motivating factor to get your butt to the gym in a regular manner, then I don't know what is. Since the beginning of this year, a dating site called Beautiful People has kicked out about 5,000 of its members after they've posted pictures "revealing that they have let themselves go." Come again? Basically, Beautiful People is an elite dating service that prides itself on being a community of people who place priority on looks, and well, if you are not beautiful enough, then you are not allowed to be a member. Users can join only after enough members vote them "beautiful" 48 hours after their profile is uploaded. Elitist? Supremely. Hilarious? Totes Mcgotes.
Apparently the 5,000 members who were kicked out gained a little too much weight after the holidays, and so their memberships have been revoked. But fret not, lose the weight and register again! I actually find this whole thing realllllly hilarious. And a tad ridiculous, but I so appreciate the honesty of it all, summed up nicely by Robert Hintze, the founder: "As a business, we mourn the loss of any member, but the fact remains that our members demand the high standard of beauty be upheld... Letting fatties roam the site is a direct threat to our business model and the very concept for which BeautifulPeople.com was founded." HAHA! Best.company.statement.EVER.
