cairo. that's in egypt.

Alright, folks. Just one more. Please write on one of the following topics by 8PM Sunday night.

1. Your best friend from high school is now an up-and-coming Hollywood producer. (Who knew?) You're pushing your way through "Club Sidewalk" after a night on the town, when your friend leans over and says, "Pssst! I'm looking to make a satirical movie about post-9/11 American culture. You got any ideas?" Hmmm, interesting. How do you respond?

2. Team America: World Police has been called a right-wing satire of post-9/11 American culture. Do you think that's true? Why?

3. Describe a cliche that you noticed in Team America and talk about its significance (just think about it, there are a bunch of them).

4. What's the moral of Team America?

wot yous is supposed to be bangin on about

Jagshemash! Drawing on this week's discussions of Sacha Baron Cohen's "Da Ali G Show," write about one of the following:

1. If you were to tape your own Da Ali G-type show for Cornell, what character or persona would you create? Try to think of someone who would give you the same kind of flexibility that Bruno, Borat, and Ali G give to Sacha Baron Cohen. What local event or hot spot would you cover? What questions would you ask?

2. Borat has enjoyed the bulk of popular attention lately, but we ignore Bruno at our peril--or do we? Give us your take on this episode of "Funkyzeit mit Bruno" about Alabama, the gayest part of America (and if you have insights into this clip from an Arkansas gun show, then share those, too).

3. "Fashion saves a lot more lives than doctors"--Bruno strikes again at Fashion Week. Share your thoughts.

4. We didn't get a chance to fully explore Borat's experiment with country music. What do you think?

5. Have another Ali G, Borat, or Bruno clip that you're excited to talk about? Give us a link, and explain what the clip reveals to you about humor, satire, particular people, or particular parts of American society.

from rough to ready

Just to recap what I said on Thursday about your essay assignment:

1. Bring a final draft to class on Thursday, April 19.

2. Aim for three pages. Make them lean and mean.

3. Use an alias, nom de plume, pseudonym, instead of your real name.

Since I want to give you as much time as possible to rework your rough drafts (seriously, folks, why else would I give you so much time to work on a three page paper?), we'll do another light blog post for this weekend. Your topics are a mash-up of ideas offered by Leo and Laura on Thursday:

1. Post a link to an outrageous political website. Tell us how you know about it and what you think it says about contemporary American politics.

2. Post a link to video of a cringe-worthy political gaffe. Give us a brief description of it and what you think its impact was or will be.

3. Post a link to video of a political commercial that you can't stand. Explain who the candidate, issue, or party is, and why it gets on your nerves.

I'm playing catch-up all weekend, so expect to hear from me soon about your last paper. See you on Tuesday!

maher mahem

Hey, everyone. After reading this last batch of essays, I'm convinced that we need to do more work with revision. So here's the plan for next week. On Tuesday, we'll continue to discuss Bill Maher's When You Ride Alone, You Ride With Bin Laden (for those of you who aren't finished with it yet, here's your chance to catch up with the rest of us). On Thursday, we'll do a peer review of the rough draft of your next paper.

In that rough draft, I want you to express a strong opinion using the essays in Bill Maher's When You Ride Alone, You Ride with Bin Laden, as a guide. Begin with an observation, a personal story, a story that you've heard about in the news, or even one of your pet-peeves that relates to day-to-day life in the United States. Then explain to your readers how things would be better--more just, more fair, more meaningful--if people would make one or two changes in their lives. Be smart, be sharp, and have some fun. The paper should be 2-3 pages long. Bring three copies of it with you on Thursday for our review session.

Since you'll be writing that paper this weekend (long meaningful pause), you don't have to write a post for the blog. But I do want you to post something that you find inspiring--a link to a video, song, or picture, or perhaps the text of a speech, article, or poem. That's right, "inspiring," not "ironic" (although I suppose the two aren't mutually exclusive).

Here's my contribution. Less than two months after the 9/11 attacks, U2 appeared on "The Late Show with David Letterman," a show that's recorded in Manhattan about two miles away from Ground Zero. U2 performed two songs that night, but it's the opening number--"New York," with slightly changed lyrics--that still makes my skin tingle. Unfortunately, the picture-quality of this video isn't very good. But you do get a few close-ups of Bono puckishly trying to coax a tense, benumbed nationwide audience to start feeling again. Thankfully, the sound is rich and booming, so you can't miss the beautifully revised lyric, "Come September/a lot can change/summer love/turns to winter's pain." There is also the defiant lines, also slightly different from the original, "religious nuts and political fanatics/don't belong/New York is singing a different kind of song," underlined with an homage to Marvin Gaye--"What's going on?" Perhaps most inspiring is Bono's soaring vocals when he sings "I love New York" at the end of the song. There was a time after 9/11 when some of us really needed to hear that.

Long live U2, long live rock and roll.

(At 10:40 in the video, Bono talks to Letterman about "What's Going On?" and AIDS relief, as well as a 9/11 benefit at Madison Square Garden. Bono's lyrics for the album version of "New York" are here.)