So, Saturday Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, hosted Saturday Night Live and…
…it seems he did a decent if not extraordinary job.
Elon Musk as Wario on Saturday Night Live… May have to see what the heck this skit was about
Interesting how that happens when you’re not a comedian and/or actor and host the show, eh?
There was a bit of controversy surrounding his hosting because in the past he stated he was against unions (bad), and early on in the pandemic dismissing the seriousness of COVID-19 (also bad), and, of course, there are a few of those idiotic tweets he issued (IMHO overblown but, at times, cringey).
Anyway, some folks had rough words against SNL for having him host and… now that it’s over it all feels so overblown.
Look, those things I noted above do not endear me to Mr. Musk, much as I love my Model 3.
It feels like he should allow his workers to Unionize but he’s not the only CEO who works against that (looking at you, Jeff Bezos). Further to that, he’s not the only person who stated stupid things regarding COVID-19, though this was early on and he hasn’t repeated them -to my knowledge- since. Yes, he pushed to keep his factories open and yes, there was a surge in COVID cases among his workers and that’s very much on him.
However, unlike Mr. Musk -who I’m guessing has reconsidered those early stupid statements, though perhaps I’m giving him more latitude than I should- there currently exists an entire “news” group that devotes their time continuing in efforts to put down the seriousness of this virus despite the overwhelming and abundant evidence of how serious it is… just look at the grim news coming out of India.
Anyway, Musk’s hosting was the topic du jour for one very hot minute and today, Monday, two days later, people are showing highlights and examining which jokes landed and which didn’t…
…and it feels like this story about Musk’s hosting of SNL was, in the end, a very minor one that will likely be forgotten before week’s end.
Its interesting, if nothing else, to see how the internet/news establishment “flames on” with what is ultimately a relatively small topic, nonetheless builds it up and, when its been used up, move on to whatever’s next.
Sorry I’ve been away from these parts for a few days… been busy moving my daughter -who finished her University studies- and is moving out of her apartment and needed help doing so.
…My back this morning sure does appreciate that fact…
Anyway, there’s been interesting news and events and we’re still in the middle of the Coronavirus Pandemic and I remain disheartened to find some people in other parts of the state ignoring using masks. For example, there’s this terrific Pizza place near my daughter’s apartment -how I wish I had this place close to home!- and I was totally shocked when I went into the place to pick up our order and found the entire staff of the place -a smallish, closed in restaurant- operating without using any masks.
In fact, the only masks I saw were from people who came in to pick up their orders!
Anyway, as I said, there’s been other news, perhaps things more important than this, but Elon Musk, the CEO of electric car maker Tesla and SpaceX, will host Saturday Night Live on May 8th (right around the corner!) and Dean Obeidallah over on CNN.com feels…
While acknowledging the fact that having someone as high profile as Mr. Musk as the show’s host, Mr. Obeidallah feels:
(Saturday Night Live) should do better than bestowing that honor on Musk, given his irresponsible statements about Covid-19 and his insensitive comments surrounding the transgender community.
“Honor” being invited to host SNL.
I mean, I can see his point. When the Pandemic was first raging, Mr. Musk did indeed make some outrageous comments regarding the pandemic. Indeed, he seems to me like the people at that Pizza place I mentioned above, someone who discounts the seriousness of Coronavirus.
But…
His statements may well be silly -or well beyond- but they’re not quite as outright stupid as some others I’ve heard. Looking at you, MyPillow Guy and Ted Nugent, not to mention one Donald J. Trump… who actually has hosted the show, though I would grant you it was before he became the nightmare president we’ve had to deal with.
Besides, SNL is, like it or not, a show where they can do what they want within the parameters of what is allowed by the station it runs on.
Having said all that, and acknowledging that I love my Tesla Model 3 even as I sometimes cringe at what Elon Musk says… I wonder if the episode will be any good.
Elon Musk, as clever as he is with his businesses, is something of an awkward public speaker, at least IMHO.
I can’t help but wonder that his appearance, regardless of some of the controversial things he’s said, will be a dud only because I don’t know if he has the acting/comedic chops to be a successful host.
Ok, getting political again… last night I happened to catch the SNL Weekend Update Special (I didn’t know they were doing these at all and just happened to luck into seeing it!).
Toward the show’s end, we were treated to the always delightful Tina Fey and this:
You know, I’ve been away these past three days and it feels like I’ve missed just about everything that happened this busy weekend.
What, you say Saturday Night Live had a Trump related skit that was hilarious but didn’t feature Alec Baldwin as President Trump?! Come on, man, that’s not possi–
Oh my. That is hilarious. So funny that I’m sure if there was an Alec Baldwin President Trump skit, it must not have been that goo–
I stand corrected. Keep it up guys and gals.
******
On Sunday we had this little sport event over here on our side of the pond (and within the borders of our country) which we call the Super Bowl. It featured the surprising Atlanta Falcons, whom pretty much everyone hoped would win, against the (boo! hiss!) New England Patriots.
I’ve mentioned it before but when I was young, I didn’t really care to watch sports. It was really boring to me. Sometime shortly after starting my first year in a University, I slowly began to appreciate sports. Eventually, I became a sports fanatic, though my interests are most certainly local.
I’ve mentioned before how I saw, on TV, almost every single game played by the then Florida Marlins (They’re now called the Miami Marlins) back in 1997 for what turned out to be their first Championship series. There was no way going into the season to think they’d make it to the playoffs, much less with the Championship, yet they did and I’ll be damned if I missed even five games of that season, so devoted was I to watching.
By that point, however, I watched the Florida Panthers, I watched the Miami Heat. And of course I watched the Miami Dolphins, my gateway drug team.
You would think after such a magical year of viewership, culminating in “my” team getting the ultimate prize, I’d become a full-fledged MEGA-fan.
This was not to be.
While I had great fun watching “my” team through that year, after the glow of the ultimate win faded away, I thought back to all those hours I spent watching the games and realized how incredibly lucky I was to see a season end this year…and how very, very, very unlikely it was I’d have that chance again.
I also did the math and realized I had spent and awful lot of hours watching sports when I could have been doing something else.
You know, like writing.
So I dialed it all back. Waaaaaay back.
I still like catching a game here and there, though I’ve for the most part given up completely on Hockey and Baseball. Yeah, I may be a “fair weather” fan, I suppose, as both our Hockey and Baseball teams have seen better days. I barely catch Miami Heat games nowadays and, again, that could be a sign of my fair weather nature.
Yet I do catch the Miami Dolphin games and, of all sports, Football seems to be the one I stick with the most.
Part of the reason is that it doesn’t require quite as big a time investment as the other sports. A Football season lasts 17 weeks and each team plays 16 games (each team has a 1 week “bye”). In theory and if you make it to the playoffs, you may have another 2-3 games to play before its all over, depending on your rankings going into the post season.
Getting back to this Super Bowl, it featured the greatest comeback by a “down” team to win. Of course, that team was the (boo! hiss!) New England Patriots and this article by Drew Magary pretty much explains why…
It encapsulates my feelings as well. You can be a good team, hell, you can be the BEST team ever with the best Quarterback ever and the best Coach ever, and still be reviled for what’s been found out about you. Specifically, your history of cheating. Or, to be more clear, of being caught cheating.
Still, since I’ve become less of a sports fanatic than before (trust me, it is true), I’ve come to the realization that there’s no reason to get so damn emotionally invested in these games.
Sure, I’d love my Dolphins to rise up from the pit they’ve been in for far too many years and finally return to the glory they once possessed, but let’s face it: The Dolphins, and indeed every team in the NFL, is part of a business organization that looks out for their bottom line. They all have high paid athletes whose emotional investment in the games they play is far above and beyond any fans’ investment as they are, you know, actually playing the games.
Further, sports is one of the most cut-throat goal oriented businesses out there. You’re either good or not and the proof is spelled out by the score at the end of the game and your record at the end of the season.
The Patriots are good. My Dolphins, not so much (though after this past year, there’s some hope!).
Though there is no love for the Patriots in me, I caught this article over at Huffington Post and even those most repulsed-by-the-Patriots, those who think Tom Brady should take a long walk on the proverbial short pier, should read this:
I don’t know about you, but if there’s one pleasant thing to glean from the Patriots’ latest Super Bowl win is the thought that it gave Galynn Brady, Tom Brady’s mother, a reason to smile.
Even the most cold-hearted anti-Patriot fan should take a look at this photograph and recognize that it, if nothing else, is reason to be, if not happy for the Patriots, at least feel happy for Galynn.
