Steve Dyer

by Marlo Meekins [vine]

“I remember working with a law school in which white men heavily dominated the faculty. They used lots of sports metaphors (doing an end run, Monday morning quarterbacking, and so on), with legal jargon thrown in for good measure. I suggested that this was not a particularly welcoming trait in their school, that in fact it was sexist, but they paid little attention. I made my point by speaking for about five minutes in dressmaking terms: putting a dart in here, a gusset there, cutting the budget on the bias so it would be more flexible, using a peplum to hide a course that might be controversial. The women in the room laughed; the men did not find it humorous….Language is power, make no mistake about it. It is used to include and exclude and to keep people and systems in their places.”

- Frances E. Kendall, Understanding White Privilege (via nadashannon)

spotastic:

iamachilles:

GOODBYE FOREVER, SLEEP!

My brain just took a shit inside my skull

by Elise Czajkowski

Rebel Wilson seems destined to become a major star. The Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect scene-stealer is incredibly funny and talented, and happy to throw herself headfirst into things like her MTV Movie Awards hosting gig earlier this year. And in Super Fun Night, which premieres tonight on ABC, the Australian actress gets her first starring U.S. gig in a show she created herself. Unfortunately, it’s not going to be the thing that makes her a star.

The Conan O’Brien-produced series has changed significantly in the last couple of years, bouncing between networks and re-casting pretty much everyone but Wilson. After all that, ABC decided not to air the pilot they made, instead kicking off the season with the second episode of the series. That means that the show’s setup, about three homebody friends who decide they’ll start having adventures on their Friday nights from now on, is glossed over in what should have been a premise-establishing premiere.

Wilson’s Kimmie Boubier is a recently promoted lawyer with a crush on her colleague Richard (Kevin Bishop) and a romantic rival in the form of the beautiful but batshit Kendall (Kate Jenkinson). Her roommates and best friends, Helen-Alice (Liza Lapira) and Marika (Lauren Ash) decide that that their outing this week needs to be singing at piano bar, despite neither of them appearing interested in singing or music at all. It’s really just a way to force Kimmie to conquer the paralyzing stage fright she’s suffered since childhood, and a convenient method to get the always-up-for-singing Wilson on stage with a mic.

This music video promo is more fun than the actual show.

There’s really not much more too it in than that; it’s incredibly mediocre. Super Fun Night isn’t terrible, though the jokes aren’t great and the cast doesn’t quite click. Wilson makes it somewhat watchable (the few moments she's not on screen are tedious) but it feels like exactly what it is – a show that’s been re-worked, over-analyzed, and pieced together again. And despite her credit as creator, the series does Wilson a real disservice, playing down her own natural charms in favor of hammy, sitcom-tastique clumsiness. Someday, probably, Wilson will find her star vehicle. But not tonight.

None of the footage in this promo will be in the episode that actually airs tonight. 

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by Elise Czajkowski

Miley Cyrus is hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend, with musical guest herself, and she and Taran Killam recorded some perfectly charming, self-deprecating promos for the show. She seems up for making a joke or two at her own expense, so the new writers and cast members should have plenty of material to work with.

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by Rick Paulas

I. On The Battle

Brett Weiner (WHY-ner), director/writer/producer: WEE-ner is a much more make-funable name than WHY-ner. WHY-ner is also not great. Because any time you complain, you get it used against you. But WEE-ner's like… it's a dick. So, your last name means “a dick.”

Scott Wiener (WEE-ner), politician: When people pronounce it WHY-ner, that drives me nuts. Whatever challenges there are around WEE-ner, WHY-ner is worse.

David Weiner (WEE-ner), creative and editorial director: I did a piece a bunch of years ago that was picked up by some right-wing blog. And that Fox News show Red Eye, with the host Greg I-forget-his-last-name, he did this whole monologue attacking me for my last name, saying, “if WEE-ner wasn't such a WHY-ner.” And I was watching that and thinking, you know, WEE-ner does sound better than WHY-ner. I still think that. WHY-ner is not a good last name.

Kris Wiener (WEE-ner), aspiring comedian: I can understand WEE-ners saying, “we pronounce it WHY-ner” after growing up WEE-ner their whole life. But I don't understand WHY-ners who go by WEE-ner. Other than having to tell people all the time, “No, no, it's not WEE-ner, it's WHY-ner.”

Brett Weiner (WHY-ner), director/writer/producer: So many people were calling my uncle WEE-ner, that he just gave up and started going by that.

David Weiner (WEE-ner), creative and editorial director: You can make your case for both. But I do think WHY-ner is a cop-out. It's a wuss way to go.

Juli Weiner (WEE-ner), journalist: It's cowardice.

Brett Weiner (WHY-ner), director/writer/producer: If you had the choice, would you pick WEE-ner over WHY-ner?

Russell Wiener (WEE-ner), musician: Generally anyone with i-e is WEE-ner, or they're lying. People with e-i usually pronounce it WHY-ner.

John Weiner (WEE-ner), screenwriter: It would piss me off they thought I was pronouncing it wrong. Because it's been a battle having that name. So, for somebody to say that I've been mispronouncing it my whole life… I really think you're a fucking asshole. You're an ignorant asshole, I think to myself.

Rachel Weiner (WHY-ner), journalist: I think WHY-ner is technically accurate, according to how you would pronounce it in German. VHY-ner. And then the i-e would technically be VEE-ner. That's what I've been told, but I have no idea.

Juli Weiner (WEE-ner), journalist: I studied German in school, and there's a rule for German vowels. “The first one does the walking, the second one does the talking.” Everything that's e-i should really be pronounced AYE. So, it should be WHY-ner.

David Weiner (WEE-ner), creative and editorial director: I've heard this a lot. “It should be WHY-ner because of the e-i, and then i-e should be WEE-ner because,” etc., etc. But what I always use as an example, if you look at a name like Weinstein, it has the e-i in two different places, the “AYE” and “EE.”

Josh Weiner (WHY-ner), comedy writer: One time I asked how do we pronounce it, and they said “It's WHY-ner, not WEE-ner.” I never knew why. It's like, what makes it tomae-to or tomah-to? Maybe it could be my grandfather's father just making a decision to be “WHY-ner” to alleviate any more unnecessary jokes.

John Weiner (WEE-ner), screenwriter: My dad, he pronounces it WEE-ner. His dad pronounced it WEE-ner, and he was in the mob. He worked with Lucky Lucciano. “Crazy Eyed” Louie Weiner was his name.

Juli Weiner (WEE-ner), journalist: I wouldn't correct people, so inevitably some weird situation would arise at parent/teacher night. It would be like, “I'm Dr. WEE-ner,” and the teacher would be like, “Oh, I've been saying WHY-ner.” And it would be pretty awkward. There was a weird tension there.

Brett Weiner (WHY-ner), director/writer/producer: I went to an event recently where you have to wear name tags, and I wrote “W-H-Y-N-E-R.” I feel like a lot of people were like, “Who the fuck is this guy? Why does he care so much how we pronounce his last name?”

Juli Weiner (WEE-ner), journalist: It's confusing. Like, we should have some sort of caucus where we vote on how to do it.

II. On Origins

David Weiner (WEE-ner), creative and editorial director: My real last name was Schuster. The family lore goes that when my great-great-grandfather was coming into Ellis Island, his route from Europe included a stop in Vienna. At some point they were asking “What is your name?” and he didn't speak anything but Yiddish and Polish and he said, “Weiner,” which means Vienna. And that's what stuck. We have no idea if that's truth or not, but Schuster to Weiner is a pretty big leap. One that will haunt us forever.

Kris Wiener (WEE-ner), aspiring comedian: The family story was that our family had some long complicated Austrian name, and then at Ellis Island they couldn't figure out how to spell it, so they just said, “Call them Wieners because they're from Vienna.”

Juli Weiner (WEE-ner), journalist: It's a fake name that was adopted in Ellis Island. I think the actual last name was something like Vrjynski, or something as equally horrible.

Russell Wiener (WEE-ner), musician: It is an invented name, at least in our case. It was changed at Ellis Island. My family immigrated in the late 1800s, and we don't know what it was before. It was something long with a W, and probably ending in a -ski, like Wienowski or whatever.

Rachel Weiner (WHY-ner), journalist: I just learned recently that when my great-great-grandparents came to Ellis Island it was Winninger.

Scott Wiener (WEE-ner), politician: We're Jewish/Eastern European. When my paternal grandfather came here shortly after the turn of the century, it was spelled “Weiner.” And then in the 1920s, he changed it to “Wiener” mainly because he was enamored with German language and culture. Of course, this was before they killed 6 million of our people.

III. On Hardships

Josh Weiner (WHY-ner), comedy writer: When I was a kid, I dreaded going into new social environments.

Scott Wiener (WEE-ner), politician: I was fortunate in that I'm six-foot-seven, so I was always the tallest kid. I didn't get picked on too much. People would sing, “I wish I were an Oscar Meyer wiener.”

John Weiner (WEE-ner), screenwriter: “Oscar Meyer wiener,” some form of that joke, because that commercial was huge back then in the 70s. The name brought out the dumb bully jokes. So I'd hear them, and I'd come right back at them with a joke ten times better.

Josh Weiner (WHY-ner), comedy writer: Have you ever seen Roxanne with Steve Martin? So, he's got this big nose and there's this scene in the bar where the guy says this joke about his big nose, and Steve Martin's rifles off 50 better jokes about his big nose. Just embarrasses the guy. So I would think about that if someone ever made fun of my last name. Like, wow, that must have been really hard for you to do.

Rachel Weiner (WHY-ner), journalist: The only insult I remember is from middle school is where a kid came up and said, “If your middle initial was S, you would be 'Rachel's Weiner.'” That's probably the meanest thing anyone's ever said, and it really wasn't that bad. It wasn't anything like Welcome to the Dollhouse.

Russell Wiener (WEE-ner), musician: I remember in junior high, this one kid on the bus going around and giving everyone nicknames, pointing out people's foibles or coming up with a rhyme. And he got to me and they said, “What about Russell Wiener?” And the kid's just like, “Oh, he's just a weiner.” It was like, that's not really an insult.

Kris Wiener (WEE-ner), aspiring comedian: I didn't come across any bullying, I think that's partially because I was raised overseas.

Josh Weiner (WHY-ner), comedy writer: In elementary school, from first through fourth grade, I was teased every year. But in junior high and high school, there was nothing. It totally went away. Then as soon as I got back into college, it was just “WEE-ner, WEE-ner, WEE-ner!” all over again. In some way, the stuff that was funny in first grade becomes funny all over again. Especially when you deal with alcohol.

Juli Weiner (WEE-ner), journalist: In high school, I became best friends with a girl name Julie, which is my first name, so all throughout high school I was called Weiner. She was Julie and I was Weiner, or some form like Ween. Which sort of reclaimed it. I felt cool, like one of the guys, being called by my last name. In college, I had difficulty re-adjusting to once again being called by my first name.

Brett Weiner (WHY-ner), director/writer/producer: The thing that would get me was roll call, when they read the names of all the students. And every single time it would be “Brett WEE-ner,” and I would have to correct the teacher and say “WHY-ner.”

Juli Weiner (WEE-ner), journalist: On the first day of school the teacher would read everyone's name, and I would sort of hope they'd say WHY-ner. But most of the time they would ask “WEE-ner or WHY-ner?” and I'd say WEE-ner, and there'd be some snickering.

Kris Wiener (WEE-ner), aspiring comedian: I think it forced me to have confidence early on. Like at that first day of school, they almost always err on the side of WHY-ner. Or they get to your name and say, “Um, how do you pronounce that?” And then having to say, “It's WEE-ner!” with confidence.

David Weiner (WEE-ner), creative and editorial director: In pre-kindergarten, when the teacher got to me, she kind of stumbled a bit and clearly didn't want to say “WEE-ner” because (a) in front of a bunch of five-year-olds, it's going to be disruptive; and (b) if you say something wrong to a kid on their first day of school, it's going to haunt them. So she went with WHY-ner and I corrected her and said, “No, it's WEE-ner. Like a penis.” You have to own it, and really have to own it. When you have a last name like Weiner or Cumming or any other easily-mockable names, you either sink or swim.

John Weiner (WEE-ner), screenwriter: Of course, the first day of school. They go around and say, “John WHY-ner.” And I'm like, “Here. It's WEE-ner!” They always defaulted to WHY-ner. Now I always hear, “Thank you, Mr. WEE-EYE-NER.” WEE-EYE-NER. They go right down the middle. I don't know if it's a neighborhood thing. I'm in Echo Park, and most of the cashiers are Mexican, so maybe it's a straight pronounciation thing. Or maybe they start off with WEE and think “it can't be,” so they bail out as WEE-EYE-NER.

IV. On Alternatives

Scott Wiener (WEE-ner), politician: I thought that as soon as I turned 18, I was going to change my name. I was just sick of it, sick of the jokes. And my mother would get very mad at me, saying that I was insulting my father.

Rachel Weiner (WHY-ner), journalist: As a young kid I was like, I can't wait to get married and change my name. But now that I'm an adult… maybe if I married someone with an amazing last name.

Kris Wiener (WEE-ner), aspiring comedian: I never want to change my name. I think it's a huge part of who I am. And also my boyfriend, who I think about when I think about the idea of getting married, has the same first name as me. So changing my name would give us the exact same name.

David Weiner (WEE-ner), creative and editorial director: Would you want your kid to have that last name? It's a bit of a debate. But I think not naming my kids Weiner is a weird cop-out.

Rachel Weiner (WHY-ner), journalist: I guess I should tell you also that at one point my mom tried to get my entire family to change our last name to something else. She wanted to sit down and try to come up with a new name, but my dad was not in favor of it.

David Weiner (WEE-ner), creative and editorial director: My brother got married two weeks ago, and his now-wife is taking our last name. And my mom, who's been a Weiner for 43 years now… you think she'd have gotten used to it. But she pulled my brother's wife aside and said, “Why on Earth are you taking our last name?”

Juli Weiner (WEE-ner), journalist: Whenever I thought about it, I always imagined my future husband's name would be worse than mine. I imagine falling in love with a man named VaginaFace or something. There'd be no way out, and I'd have to keep Weiner.

V. On Tony

John Weiner (WEE-ner), screenwriter: It was such a proud name before his scandal.

Brett Weiner (WHY-ner), director/writer/producer: The Anthony Weiner scandal, aside from being so weird and ridiculous on so many levels, has not done great things for the WHY-ner pronunciation of the name.

Rachel Weiner (WHY-ner), journalist: I feel like it's worse for me because it popularizes that pronounciation of my name.

John Weiner (WEE-ner), screenwriter: It's a shame because when he first started up, I liked him. I know he's just speeches, he didn't actually do anything in Congress, but he articulated a lot of passion that was needed at the time when George Bush was there. So I was like, that's fantastic. But then the worst possible thing happened. It's like a raging pun of perversion.

Josh Weiner (WHY-ner), comedy writer: It's such an obvious, easy joke to go to, nobody really does. We get it. Maybe I'm looking at this from the perspective of a comedy writer, but no self-respecting comedian would go onstage and make a joke, “Hey, this guy's Weiner and his WEE-ner.” I mean, it's the most fucking hackiest joke ever. You're a hack. It's too easy of a joke. The joke is definitely on the person who's making it.

Kris Wiener (WEE-ner), aspiring comedian: I've been asked a couple of times if I'm related to him. But he spells his name wrong.

Juli Weiner (WEE-ner), journalist: I went on MSNBC to talk about the mayoral race, and the publicist emailed, “Just making totally sure, there's no relation, right?” I tweeted right after that, “I'm going on MSNBC in an hour to talk about my crazy dad, Anthony Weiner.” And I had to clarify to her that it was just a joke. And then when I went on, they identified me as Juli Weiner, “no relation, ha-ha.”

Rachel Weiner (WHY-ner), journalist: When I was writing about it, people would email me and ask if we were related. It might have been good for Search Engine Optimization, I'm not sure.

Juli Weiner (WEE-ner), journalist: I really wanted a “Weiner for Mayor” sign. But just one that says “Weiner, 2013” with an exclamation point. I should really get my hands on those, because they're only going to be more expensive.

John Weiner (WEE-ner), screenwriter: I wouldn't say it's a compliment, but I've heard since high school, “You don't look like a Weiner.” I don't have the stereotypical look of what a Weiner would look like. Anthony Weiner, actually, he looks like he could be named Weiner.

David Weiner (WEE-ner), creative and editorial director: Now, it's not the last name that's being mocked anymore, it's the fact that someone with your last name did something else. There's actually a slight remove from the stigma of the last name Weiner. Now, there's a man.

VI. On Lasting Effects

Scott Wiener (WEE-ner), politician: It's made me more easy-going. When you have a name like Wiener, you get used to people making jokes about your name. It makes you much more relaxed about teasing and ribbing about things. And when you're in politics, you need super-thick skin anyway.

Russell Wiener (WEE-ner), musician: It builds character, I guess.

Rachel Weiner (WHY-ner), journalist: I like to think it's made me a little more sensative and considerate to people who have something about them that makes them get picked on or draws unwanted attention. Because, you get some of that.

David Weiner (WEE-ner), creative and editorial director: I think having the last name Weiner meant I had to be funnier than the next guy, had to make the joke first to deflect.

Scott Wiener (WEE-ner), politician: In 2010, I was in this highly competitive race, and I had these bright orange and midnight-blue windows signs and, of course, the biggest part was my last name. But what I hadn't anticipated was that kids had absolutely loved it. Someone had plastered their area with “Wiener.” So, I'd get random emails from parents saying that when they would drive kids to soccer practice, they'd play a game where they'd count the number of “Wiener signs” they'd pass. When kids are going on and on about their signs, that certainly has an effect on parents.

Rick Paulas's first AOL screenname was rcpweiner.

Man In A Weiner photo by Becky Stern. Photo of German war volunteer by Joe Robinson. "Stop Weiners" photo by Mike Krzeszak. Weiner dog race by Zach Taylor. Anthony Weiner photo by David Boyle. Big shelf o' weiners by Robert S. Donovan.

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The post Weiner Takes All: A Panel Discussion of People Named Weiner and Wiener appeared first on The Awl.

transaervania:

next time you go to accuse a teenage girl of overreacting remember that when a bunch of elderly white men couldn’t agree on something, they shut down the government

via

@HassanRouhani to @BarackObama: I express my gratitude for your #hospitality and your phone call. Have a good day Mr President. 3/3

— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) September 27, 2013

It was the first conversation between presidents of Iran and the United States since 1979.  #KnowHope

fedswatching:

just…

Roberto Ferdman finds that the annual beer festival – which started today – follows its own economic rules: 

Beer is what economists call an elastic good; the more it costs, the less of it people buy. But at Oktoberfest, Germany’s debaucherous annual beer festival in Munich, the rule doesn’t exactly hold. In fact, it gets flipped on its head. …

“On average, a 1% increase in the price of beer triggers a roughly .3% decline in the demand,” according to [the UniCredit Research’s 2013] report. But Oktoberfest, it appears, is anything but average. Dating all the way back to 1980, a 1% increase in beer prices at the event has, rather incredibly, corresponded with a 0.3% increase in demand. Oktoberfest beer, the report explains, falls into the category of what economists call a Giffen paradox, whereby the demand for and price of a good increase simultaneously.

limitlesscorrosion:

This is a pure bismuth crystal. The heaviest element that is not radioactive (ok technically it is but it’s half life is like 9 orders of magnitude older than the universe so it really doesn’t count.) Probably my favourite crystal structure, even if you forget the colour. Surprisingly, bismuth is also super-not-toxic. You can actually eat the stuff and it’s often in indigestion remedies. Fascinating element, all round.

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by Elise Czajkowski

After much speculation, Lorne Michaels told the New York Times yesterday that 2nd year cast member Cecily Strong will co-anchor Weekend Update with Seth Meyers when the show returns for its 39th season on Sept. 28. Strong became a favorite on Weekend Update last year with her character, The Girl You Wished You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party. Meyers is due to take over the Late Night franchise from Jimmy Fallon in February, but Michaels said that might not be the end of him on SNL.

Mr. Michaels said his general plan was to have Ms. Strong share the “Update” desk with Mr. Meyers for the season’s initial shows and then segue into a solo role later, maybe in the first season — but maybe not. If possible, Mr. Michaels would like to see Mr. Meyers stay on “Weekend Update” even after he moves to “Late Night,” starting on Feb. 24.

“Seth is a unique case,” Mr. Michaels said, noting that the new late-night show would not have a Friday edition, letting Mr. Meyers potentially drop in and work that day and Saturday on “Update.”

That move would allow for more stability in a year with several new cast members and writers, including new head writers; Colin Jost and Rob Klein are taking over that job from Meyers.

As for Strong's chatting party-goer character, Meyers tweeted that "it's prob safe to assume that she died somewhere, mid-conversation." That said, characters have occasionally switched between Update and sketches before, so here's hoping The Girl shows up in any party scene they can work her into.

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Reviewing Propaganda: Power and Persuasion, a new exhibit on display at the British Library, Christie Davies notices that, even in the midst of war, comedy remained a part of British efforts to change hearts and minds:

A central characteristic of the British propaganda in the exhibition is its extensive and successful use of humor, often achieved by giving official employment to professional cartoonists such as Fougasse. Some of the visitors laughed out loud at the British Ministry of Propaganda film London’s New Version of the Lambeth Walk performed by the Nazi Ballet (1941). The producer, Charles A. Ridley, simply took Lenny Riefenstahl’s Nazi propaganda film The Triumph of the Will (1934) and edited it so that the marchers, drummers, and goose-steppers of a Nuremberg rally sometimes move too quickly and sometimes move backwards and forwards. They no longer look menacing or impressive, but idiotic. It was all done to the then popular tune “The Lambeth Walk” that accompanied a jaunty walking dance popular in Britain and later in America. The actual music used was from the 1937 musical Me and my Girl. Even Hitler and his comrades salute in time to it.

On seeing the orderly precision of a Nazi rally reduced to a dance that had earlier been condemned by them as “Jewish mischief and animalistic hopping,” Goebbels is said to have been so angry that he ran out of the projection room kicking chairs and shouting obscenities. This short film without words was distributed to newsreel theaters throughout the world. A simple but effective technique for debunking power.

Chanel S/S 2008, ankle bracelets inspired by Lindsay Lohan’s 2007 alcohol tag.