My New Hero Is Keith Wagner: High School Journalist

From the Phoenix New Times:

By Stephen Lemons, Monday, Jun. 14 2010 @ 8:22AM



Huppenthal spanked hard by a student journalist. Is this sweet or what?

No one's ever accused Republican state Senator John Huppenthal of being the brightest bulb in the state GOP's closet. You might think Huppenthal's lowest moment came when he scuffled with a 78 year-old Democratic activist on election day 2008 over a yard sign. He was ultimately found not guilty of sign tampering and theft, but he ended up looking like a sneaky, aggro dolt nonetheless.

In fact, the hapless Huppenthal actually stated in court that he was afraid the senior citizen lady was going to carjack him.

But local student journalist Keith Wagner of Tempe's Corona del Sol High School has done Huppenthal's septuagenarian combatant one better by interviewing Huppenthal and politely, quietly skewering him, confronting the smarmy state Senator with his vote to gut funding to the state's Career and Technical Education programs. This, after Huppenthal bemoans such cuts.

The long form of Wagner's report, which gives more context to the interview:



The result is freaking hilarious, with Huppenthal so flummoxed that he has to get up and walk away. Keep in mind, Huppenthal is currently campaigning for the GOP nod for Arizona schools superintendent.

Ironically, that position has a rich tradition of being held by class-A boobs such as Tom Horne, so it should surprise no one if Huppenthal eventually wins the gig.

Huppenthal's also a toady of state Senator Russell Pearce, and has spat bogus stats in the past regarding the state's undocumented population. When challenged, he was unable to supply the source of his false factoid. Classic.

Wagner's video is getting heavy play locally by liberals on Facebook and other sites, and deservedly so. If more journalists were to follow Wagner's lead, maybe there'd be fewer clowns like Huppenthal in office.

Okay, that's wishful thinking. This is Arizona after all, the Land Time Forgot for a Reason. But still, it's worth a shot...


...................................................


I used to live about 2 blocks down the street from that school. Fucking FIERCE.

I think they should make this Keith Wagner kid AZ Schools Superintendent. They should make Huppenthal give up his Senate seat to him, too. that would be rad. This kid just wrote his own fucking ticket in a field that is hemorrhaging jobs.

EAT HIT MATE VOMIT

in that order, if at all possible.

isn't EAT HIT MATE VOMIT the name of that new Julia Roberts movie coming out this summer?

The Golden Girls in "Clueless"

Sans Bea Arthur, who was kind of a wet blanket when you think about it- she quit Golden Girls, and then she wouldn't take part in this skit, either. You're not supposed to quit the hit, Bea! Remember that for your next incarnation, yeah?

Happy Eleventh ROBSETHVERSARY!

Above: Rob at the Ratt/Edgar Winter Group/Starship/38 Special Fairground Spectacular on 05/23/2010, at which we got matching sunburns.

I was supposed to do this on june 4th, not june 6th, but i didn't forget, i just didn't do the blog post.

I met my best friend rob 11 years and two days ago, and we've been pals ever since. Have things gotten stale? Have we grown apart?

NO! You want proof? i can give you some anecdotal proof right now.

The other day, june 3rd, when Rue McLanahan died, some of you may recall that i talked about Betty White being a Highlander. I also tweeted about it. That afternoon at about 2:30, i get a text message from Rob. Talking about how Betty White is a Highlander, and that there can be only one. Later that night i called to say hey, and i asked him if he'd read my blog or tweets about Rue and Betty, and that i'd written about the very same thing, almost word for word. I was sure he must have, but sure enough, NOPE! he came up with the thought by his own self.

Pretty fucking cool.

The Secret of Kells

I am totally going to go see this today after i apply for the janitor job at the loft.

Thank You For Being A WHORE

Above: a young(er) Rue McLanahan after presumably helping Dustin Hoffman practice for the cougar rape scenes in 'The Graduate.'

Rue McLanahan has passed away at the age of 76 after suffering another massive stroke. She will be remembered fondly for her role as Blanche Devereaux, the Whoriest of the Golden Girls. History will forever remember her as the horrible woman who sexualized an entire generation of geriatrics. Thanks for that, Rue.

*shudder*

This of course means that earlier this year when Betty White told Rue "Dear Rue, I hope you hurry up and die so I can be the last Golden Girl left. NOT KIDDING," it wasn't a cute little get well card so much as a DEATH CURSE, which worked it's charms, leaving Betty White THE SOLE GOLDEN GIRL LEFT STANDING.


Golden Girls are not unlike Highlanders, in that there can be only one.

Digital Orca

Author Douglas Coupland (Generation X, Shampoo Planet, Microserfs, All Families Are Psychotic, The Gum Thief) designed this piece for the Vancouver Convention Center. I thought it was pretty cool.

From the plaque at the site:

The 'Digital Orca' sculpture breaks down a three-dimensional Orca whale (they are really dolphins not whales, but I digress...) into cubic pixels - making a familiar symbol of the West Coast become something unexpected and new. This use of natural imagery modified by technology bridges the past to the future. It speaks to the people and activities that created Vancouver's thriving harbour culture, while addressing the massive changes reshaping the BC economy. The sculpture's metal construction and lighting components evoke the daily moods of the harbour and the diversity of those who work there.

Douglas Coupland 2010

Let's All Go to the Movies

That boxer dood is pretty damn hot, AND he has enthusiastic sex with the haggard, so that's a plus in my book. The world needs more insanely attractive givers.

and now the coup de grace:



(Edgar Wright directed films) Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are two of the funniest movies of all time, especially Hot Fuzz. This looks fucking RAD. I'm pretty surprised that Universal is putting so much money and hype into it- But they're treating it like a summertime flagship release! I actually think it should do extremely well. it looks really good, stylized in a clever way, smart and funny, especially for something so clearly adolescent.

The tagline for Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World is "An Epic of Epic Epicness." how fucking great is that? Very excited about this one, for realsies.

Back In the Day

i don't know why but the last couple weeks i've been thinking about my old military school friends. it's pretty rare for me to try to look for people who aren't in my life anymore, but i've been doing it anyway. Novelli and Huda (you should be able to tell which is which by their names) were like my brothers for a couple of years, and yet at this point we haven't spoken for over a decade now, but i guess that's not that insane- i haven't talked to my actual brother more than a handful of times since 1996, not to be maudlin or anything... it's just a fact.

Novelli looks sad to me, which is kind of strange because he was always such a goof.

Huda looks happy enough, though.

it really is all in the eyes, huh? That doesn't ALWAYS work, though, because some people know how to smile with their eyes even if they aren't feeling it, but if they're NOT smiling with their eyes, then that's that. Huda's eyes smile*, and Novelli's smile is all mouth.

*in all fairness, Huda IS standing next to an open bar.

Tyra's 'Tyra' Is Finally Off the Air

She seems like such an amazing human being.

B.O.B covers MGMT's 'Kids'

and it is good to the last fucking drop. B.O.B makes me excited the same way Outkast did ten years ago, except with much less focus and unique creative vision... B.O.B's album is sort of a collection of singles with a bunch of guest stars, but you have to appreciate his stylistic range. it's good the way that N.A.S.A's album was good.

October 1st, 2010

WANT.

Cults

go HERE to check out the band site. You can download their three track 7" for FREE, either from the player right above this text, or at the site.

Heart Grow Fonder

So tomorrow's my last final, and then i'm off to house sit for my aunt in Chandler. Her computer is almost ten years old, and can barely turn on, so it's unlikely that i'll be blogging for the next ten or eleven days. When i get back to Tucson, i'll be packing up to move house by June 1st, so i'm not sure how much i'll be blogging when i get back, either... you might not hear from me until next month. Not that you would have noticed if i hadn't mentioned it, lol.

If for some reason you MISS ME, feel free to lurk my somehow MORE insipid twitter presence. i can do that from my phone.

Craig Ferguson's Leather Boy Raffle

Ten Days of Betty: 4, 3, 2 and 1 Days Left

Here's a mishmash of Betty White stuff, old and new. i love BW, but holy fucking christ, i am kind of tired of writing about her.


Still, don't forget to watch SNL's Mother's Day episode tonight with Betty White (and musical guest Jay-Z... I hope he does 99 Problems. that's my ringtone, lol), Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph and others... it's going to be an extravaganza!

and now back to our regularly scheduled programming here on SLWMAC.

Laos Is Fierce

Behold: Laotian Snake Whiskey. Yes, that's a cobra with a scorpion tail clenched betwixt it's jaws.

Twitter really has given me good stuff at a pretty fast clip.

Taken from the twitter account of skeleton robot sidekick building snake whiskey drinking Grant Imahara. He's cute as hell anyway, but you factor in the robot skeleton building and the snake whiskey drinking, and you have a recipe for stealing my heart.

I Was Wrong

Twitter is Awesome. I mean, it's really stupid too, but it's got this duality that saves it.

Behold: Douglas Coupland linked to this article about a dude who travels the world fixing crumbling landmarks and architectural wonders with LEGO. that's fucking cool, i don't care who you are.

also, i'm still finding my twittervoice, but feel free to follow me HERE.

Yes, Really.

i have unicorn key holder thingies where the lock picking part of the key sticks out of the unicorn's head instead of a horn. same vein, different hole.

Ten Days of Betty: 5 Days Left

These are a few of my favorite things: Craig Ferguson + Betty White = Yay!

Betty White has always been pretty popular, but the ZEITGEIST she has been riding the last two or three years i think probably has a significant something to do with Craig Ferguson having her on his show every month or two like clockwork. Craig's smart- he regularly pays homage to Late Night Tv's rich history. BW was, as we've seen already on the Ten Days of Betty, a Tonight Show with Johnny Carson staple, and as previously mentioned on SLWMAC, Craig recently did a tribute episode in honor of Tom Snyder when he spent an entire episode interviewing British actor Stephen Fry. Anyway, this is funny shit. A good formula works forever.