It's TV Night!

I caught a piece of the classic stop-motion animation of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer this evening, and I don't think it's just nostalgia when I say that it's fucking awesome. It's so dated at this point that it's totally cool. The characters speak way too slowly. The songs are short and catchy. Yukon Cornelius might be the best character name ever. An elf that wants to be a dentist? Come on, people! This is great stuff!

Then the missus and I got sucked into this show in which rich people slum it in some poor community and then give broke do-gooders a boatload of cash. They're giving out life-changing money here, so of course it's sort of moving and powerful.

But part of this staging of reality shows is a bit over-the-top. Why do the rich people have to give out their money while wearing clothing worth thousands of dollars? Why don't they wear the shitty, casual clothing they met these people in? There's something a bit condescending about the exercise.

Don't get me wrong. Giving away a shitload of money is pretty amazing for people who do great work. But it's all sort of stagy, and it really hit home when the rich dude put on his shiny suit right before handing out the cash. That way we know who's really in charge here. Nice work, Fox.

And speaking of Fox, Fox News finally got to ask a question at a President-elect Obama press conference, and I gotta say, the Fox News Reporter totally blew it. He asked about Bill Richardson's beard. That's right: Bill's beard. What this has to do with commerce I have no idea.