Progress Report #2 (The semester review)

It’s weird. New episodes begin on the Daily Show tonight, and I haven’t been checking their website obsessively looking to see who this week’s guests will be. (Okay, I’ve checked once, and they weren’t listed, and, in all truthfulness, I’ll probably check again this afternoon). Why aren’t I impatient with anticipation for more information? Because I don’t have much riding on it anymore. My Daily Shill mission is halfway through, and if I don’t want to read the book about Thomas Jefferson’s opinion of our recent financial crisis or watch the children’s movie about the magical fart monster, I don’t have to.

I do, however, have to complete my reviews of everything featured in the 2010 shows, and since I’ve reached the halfway point, it’s time for another Progress Report. (Miss the first progress report? Read it here)

Again, I’d love some feedback from readers (for example, do I have any who I’m not related to?). Do you have any suggestions? What do you think of the Daily Shill? Feel free to comment on the blog (I’ve enabled anonymous comments, so you don’t need to have an account) or on the facebook page.

Progress Report #2

Timeline: Out of the 127 books, films, TV shows, and albums I need to review, I’ve completed 62, or 49%. Which, you know, is practically 50%, or exactly on schedule. I cannot believe that (but it’s true—I did the math at least three times!) I think I’m going to make it, friends. There are couple TV shows that I missed that I’m not sure how to find (namely, Brian William’s Hurricane Katrina: The first five days and Morgan Freeman’s Through the Wormhole), so let me know if you’ve got any leads, but I feel like I’m going to find success.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of my progress:
I’ve read 34 of 73 books.
I’ve watched 18 of 35 films.
I’ve watched 8 of 15 TV shows.
I’ve heard 2 of 4 albums.

Writing: Though I still wish I were funnier and that I had a little more time to commit to making well-written reviews, I also think I’ve gotten a lot better at this over the course of the year. Here’s hoping I keep improving throughout year two of this mission.

Things I Would Change: In my last progress report, I had this section, so I felt the organizational need to keep things consistent. However, though I still stand by everything I wrote there, I don’t think there’s anything additional that I’d change. Which is pretty cool.

Best Book: Crazy Like Us
Worst Book: Courting Disaster
(Yes, these haven’t changed since the last progress report)

Best Film: A Single Man
Worst Film: Cop Out Oops, I forgot about Remember Me

Best TV Show: Louie
Worst TV Show: Hot in Cleveland

Best Album: Y Not
Worst Album: More Malice
(Keep in mind, I’ve only heard two albums, and neither was particularly good.)

Am I Glad I’m Doing This?: Yes. Yes I am. Though I’ll be thrilled to read whatever I want to when I complete this mission, I’m going to miss reading new things (and watching new movies) and writing about that. It’s going to be especially weird watching the Daily Show interviews and not having so much at stake with each one. Keeping that in mind, here’s a

Plan for the Future: (Did you see what I did there? I didn’t forget to finish my last sentence, it was just leading into this new section. There’s a transition any English teacher would hate).
When I see a book or a movie (or something else) promoted within the Daily Show that I want to read or watch, I’m going to do it, and I will post a review to the Daily Shill. Likewise, if you see something on there that you’d like to read a review for, let me know, and I’ll probably do it. I’m not ready to let the Daily Shill die.

A few thank yous:
First off, a huge thank you to people who actually read this, even though I don’t know for sure that you exist (but I think you might). Thank you Mom, for always telling me what you like about a review; thank you Nana, for telling me you don’t want to delete the e-mails you get of posts; thank you Amanda, for asking me when there’s going to be a new review when it’s been awhile.

Another enormous thank you goes to libraries, specifically the Chelsea District Library. Nearly every book, movie, and album I’ve reviewed was checked out from this library. I literally could not have done it (and could not keep doing it) without the library. And the Chelsea District Library is my favorite place to be (even though it is also my workplace.)

Thank you to the two Daily Shill correspondents, Georgia and Andrea. Your reviews of the Rally to Restore Sanity and the Daily Show Experience were funny, exciting, and informative. Miss reading those reviews? Read them once and just want to read them again?

Here’s a link to Georgia’s piece on the Rally to Restore Sanity.

Here’s a link to Andrea’s piece on attending a taping of the Daily Show.

And, lastly, thank you to Brodie for naming this blog, designing the logo, and helping me to get the few books and movies that I couldn’t get through the Chelsea library. (And for being supportive throughout this entire Daily Shill process. You’re great!)


In 2011, I’m going to attempt to post every Monday. Since grad school is starting back up, I can’t 100% commit to this, but I’ll do my best. I will also try to post a review later this week, since this enormous Progress Report post is reviewless. No promises, though—I’ve already got homework.

Earth (The Book)

If I were given only one word to describe Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race, I would choose delightful. The book, written by Jon Stewart and the Daily Show team, has everything I love about the Daily Show: namely, jokes (both smart and silly). Following the textbook-like format of their previous publication, America (The Book), Earth (The Book) presents itself as a guide to the aliens who will find our planet after human life is eradicated.

I can’t tell you how many times I laughed out loud as I was reading the book – seriously, my family asked me “What’s so funny?” on more than one occasion. The book, which covers basics like Earth, Life, Society, Religion, and Culture (among others), is filled with big pictures and tons of jokey copy. It was the polar opposite of many of the books I’ve read for the Daily Shill.

Though the pages of the book are designed to be read in any order (on someone’s coffee table or in the bathroom, for example), I went through and read every page consecutively. And I loved it all. Even though I read the library’s copy, I am considering buying Earth (The Book) for myself so that it will be on hand whenever I have only a few minutes to read and need a good laugh.

I give Earth (The Book) a 5/5, and recommend it to everyone. It is a delight.


Buy the Book


And, thus ends my week(ish) of daily reviews. For those of you who celebrate Christmas, have a super one this weekend, and for those of you who don’t, still have a super weekend! I’ll be back on Monday with my weekly review.

A Visit to the Daily Show

Ever wonder what it's like to attend a taping of the Daily Show? Well, today, all your questions will be answered. I turn, yet again, to a Daily Shill Correspondent. This time, it's Andrea Levine, our Senior Big City Correspondent. Take it away, Andrea!

As I approached the surprisingly unassuming building that houses the Daily Show studio, one thought pulsed through me:

It smells like manure.

Once I solved that mystery (oddly located horse-drawn carriages in a not-so-scenic neighborhood), I readied my butt for a whole lotta pavement sitting. Despite a friend having secured tickets online, I was told that they overbook every show so as to ensure a full house. More than one person had recommended getting there super early to guarantee a seat, so there I was at 1:45...with about 6 people in front of me. I guess random Tuesdays in fall are not exactly peak season for eager tourists looking to be starstruck. Lucky for me I am a local who is ALWAYS looking to be starstruck, and my lone responsibility on Tuesdays is my early morning Hebrew grammar class (the only thing more riveting than a visit to The Daily Show). The line didn’t get much longer until around 3:30, at which point a bunch of young guys with very official-looking ear pieces made us stand single file against the wall as they set up stanchions. They came back a few times throughout the four-plus hour wait to explain policy, mainly concerning photos (big no-no, obviously) and the metal detector we would be going through, and that if we had to go to the bathroom we’d BETTER do it now, because if we go during the show we’re shit out of luck. (See what I did there? On an inconsequential side note, the reading material in the bathroom included "Richard Simmons’ Never Give Up: Inspirations, Reflections, Stories of Hope." I couldn’t tell if this was an intentionally tongue-in-cheek choice, but it was a great tone-setter for the evening regardless.)

I felt like the staff “bros” were a lot more intimidating than they needed to be, especially when it came to the metal detector. They warned us against holding up the line, adding that what cuts it at the airport metal detector is not necessarily going to cut it at The Daily Show. They also made a point of noting that we did not have to take off our shoes, reiterating, “this is NOT the airport.” The irony of this was that my boot buckles set off the detector, and the guy literally felt up my ankles. Not gonna lie, I felt a little like a prison inmate...at least based on what I’ve seen on Oz, minus the rape and gang wars. But I digress.

I figured the studio would be small, but what really struck me was how tiny the desk was. For some reason I always thought of Jon as pretty tall, and could not imagine how his legs would fit under that thing. To the right of the desk is a very small stage which presumably was reserved for the correspondents, although our show was Jon-only. I couldn’t complain, especially seeing as how the guest was none other than Han Solo. If anything makes up for a Corddry-less episode, it’s my favorite scruffy-looking nerfherder. (Is Rob Corddry even still on the show? I have to admit, it’s been a while since I last watched. But I love me some Corddry.)

Once we were all seated we were entertained by a pumper-upper comedian named...I actually don’t remember his name. But he was surprisingly delightful, most notably in teasing the older members of the audience, of which there were actually quite a few. It was really refreshing to see the mix of people in the crowd, all successfully pumped by whatshisname.

And then...JON. Who, by the way, is not actually that tall. And IS actually that handsome. He thanked us for braving the cold, and reassured us that what with the horses being in such close proximity to the building, it is infinitely worse to wait outside in summer, stank-wise.

Jon starts every show with a brief Q&A with the audience, a great way to establish an easygoing vibe and to show us how much it means to him that we came. Questions included:

“Which hurts more, the Mets or the recent elections?”
“The Mets, for sure. That cuts to the SOUL.”

and...

“Why don’t you use your notoriety to help affect real policy as opposed to just commentary?”
“That’s a great question...I’m better at this.”

Unfortunately, the first question came from a young girl begging for a job on his staff, resume and cover letter in hand. I thought it was pretty tacky, especially because even as Jon tried to play it off with a joke she kept pushing. He, of course, handled it perfectly, assuring her that a random stage hand would “file” the paperwork as he brushed her off. In his opening on-camera comments, he mentioned that a ticket to The Daily Show is not, in fact, a job interview. It was funny, but I was a little mad that she got the shout out, even if it was at her expense. (Alright I’ll be honest...I’m just hating on her because I’m jealous.) The fun, I-feel-like-such-an-insider part of this was realizing that the opening comments of every show are generally in reaction to this Q&A session.

Onto the show. The man is a consummate professional, and it was truly inspiring to watch him at work. It never once felt like he was reading a script...I’m honestly not even sure how much of it was scripted. His charm is genuine and effortless; he even makes cursing classy. The show is filmed in real time, and at each commercial break he chatted it up with his crew, sans any celebrity pretense or bravado. The breaks also gave me opportunities to have my requisite OHMYGAHDTHISISHAPPENING moments, which I appreciated.

Never have I had such a moment as when Harrison Ford walked in. The grandeur of said moment was interrupted, however, by the hilarity of the fact that Harrison’s pants were too short, and he was wearing pale yellow socks with loafers. His good looks may betray his age (and I assure you, they are GOOD), but the wardrobe was a gentle reminder of the fact that the man is pushing 70. I wouldn’t normally use the word “adorable” to describe rough and tough Indiana Jones, but the silly pants made it splendidly applicable.

Perhaps he was overcompensating for the hemline in his demeanor, because he seemed pretty annoyed the whole time. It was likely an image thing (he’s fucking Harrison Ford, he can do whatever he wants), but I was definitely hoping for a little more lightness; I mean come on, it’s Jon Stewart! Crack a smile! Or at least find a way to insinuate “GET OFF MY PLANE” into the conversation! (Too much? I told you, I get starstruck.) His best jibe was in response to Jon admitting that he had not seen Harrison’s new movie, Morning Glory. When asked what it was about, Harrison initially fumbled over his words, at which point Jon asked, “have YOU even seen this movie?” Ford’s deadpan reply after a beat of silence:

“It’s fucking brilliant.”

He couldn’t have been on for more than 5 minutes, which seemed like it must have been an eternity to him based on his gruffness. But it was definitely nice to have more one on one time with Jon. It really did feel like that, despite the 300 or so people in the audience. After the moment of zen (a Glenn Beck clip! Score!) Jon let us know that the show was about a minute and a half over time, and that we would be cutting a short segment and refilming its intro. Once that was finished, he gave us a sincere thank you and exited to thunderous, admiration-laden applause.

Four and a half hours of waiting, and then it was all over so fast. I’d love to be able to get back; I’m not even sure how my friend got the tickets. She joined a mailing list or something. I’ll have to look into it. Until then I’ll just borrow Highwater Harrison’s words to assure you that, horse stank and prison guard staff members notwithstanding, attending The Daily Show is everything you think it will be and more.

That is to say...It’s FUCKING BRILLIANT.

Watch Jon Stewart's interview with Harrison Ford

Hey all, it's Emily again! Don't you just love these essays (or should I say reports?) from correspondents? I sure do! And let me tell you, their timing is fortuitous, as grad school has been monopolizing my life. However, there is an 80% chance that another post will be made by the end of the day (and, this time, it'll be a review by me). So check back! Or become a fan on facebook (and check your news feed) and you'll get an update!

The Quants

Math and Wall Street: two subjects I know very little about. They also happen to be the subjects of Scott Patterson’s book The Quants. The Quants follows the professional lives (and a tad of the personal sides) of math geniuses that used their knowledge to develop trading strategies on Wall Street. These strategies made the Quants (the collective name for these math whizzes) oodles of money—that is, until they led to the near collapse of the market.

Patterson, a reporter for the Wall Street journal, writes like a journalist (no surprises there), saying what happened without attaching much commentary. His writing is clear and straightforward, which is a good thing because, despite having taken Econ 101 last term, I was confused by a lot of the economic stuff. Patterson did explain various theories and processes, and I probably could have understood The Quants better if I had taken the time to think about his explanations and taken notes to reference when the theories came up again. But I didn’t. So I spent a decent amount of time not really understanding what I was reading.

Another confusing aspect of the book was keeping track of the vast number of Quants that Patterson chronicled. It was easy to mix the different men up, even though a list of “the players” was given at the beginning of the book.

All things considered, I give The Quants a 3/5. It was a well written book, but one that sometimes bored and confused me due to my lack of prior knowledge. However, I would definitely recommend it to my econ major friends (yes, all three of you) or to anyone who wants to have more insight on how the United States got into our current economic state.

Watch Jon Stewart’s interview with Scott Patterson

Buy the Book

And now, I must share two things that don’t really belong in a review, but have to do with The Quants. First, the author shares a name with an actor. On the three days that led up to the Daily Show interview, the Daily Show’s website promoted the interview with a picture of the actor, rather than one of the author (it was fixed the day of the interview). I love to imagine the person in charge of finding a photography thinking, “Who knew that Scott Patterson of Gilmore Girls fame knew so much about the economy? ”

Secondly, at one point in his book, Patterson was describing the lavish wedding of one of the Quants. He used the sentence “Guests dangled from helium balloons” and did not go on to explain it. How is that possible? Don’t you want to dangle from helium balloons at every wedding you go to?

Why the Daily Show?

I’m currently reading Citizens of London, and I hope to have a review by the end of the week. But I’ve been meaning to write something a little different on this blog. This isn’t a review, but it answers the question “Why the Daily Show?" And to get there, I’ve got to go back three and a half years.

It is about 10:45 on my first day of college, and I am terrified. I am prone to homesickness anyways, and here I am, in a suite with five girls I’ve known for maybe 8 hours, and I’m not going to see my parents for a month. It’s a minor miracle that I’m not bawling.

There’s a knock on the door. I open it to reveal boys, two scruffy looking guys. I can tell they aren’t freshmen—they aren’t wearing their keys on lanyards around their necks or carrying the yellow folders filled with schedules and maps that we freshman have been holding like they are superglued to our hands.

“Youafreshman?” One of the boys asks, making the sentence all one word.

I nod.

“Well, dis-orientation parties start tonight at the soccer house.”

The other boy chimes in with directions, but I’m not paying attention. In addition to being scared of living with strangers and not seeing my family, I am also afraid of alcohol and boys. I just look at them until they leave. The presence of those guys made me so nervous, I don’t even recognize the pun of the party name until I tell my roommates about it a minute later. But I hate puns, and I don’t laugh.

“I hope you guys didn’t want to go to this disorientation thing. I forget where they said it was.”

“No,” Theresa, my roommate says, “We’re gonna watch The Daily Show. Want to join?”

I have never heard of the Daily Show. Really, I want to go to bed. But suddenly I’m filled with a new determination. Maybe going to a party with alcohol and boys is too big a step, but I am going to make friends with my roommates, dammit!

So Devika, Theresa, Natalia, and I all sit on Devika’s bed and begin to watch the show. And I eat it up. I learn what’s happening in the world, I laugh, I instantly fall in love with Jon Stewart. That perplexes me a bit, as he is the same age as my mom, but he is funny and has a long nose—I can’t resist. I don’t think about home for half an hour.

After the show is over (or maybe after Colbert, I don’t remember) we stay in Devika’s room and talk for awhile. I go to bed before the others – we have class the next day, and I’m tired. But I don’t cry that night. And the next night, at 11, we turn on The Daily Show. And the next night. And it becomes a ritual.

Midway through that freshman year, we talk about taking a road trip to New York after we graduate. We want to watch the show live.

Now, here I am, two months before graduation. I don’t think the trip is going to happen. But we still watch The Daily Show together. I can’t imagine college without it.

The Pluto Files is a Delight!

I've always enjoyed when Neil deGrasse Tyson makes an appearance on the Daily Show or the Colbert Report. He is funny, personable, and wears ties with planets on them: what could be better? An episode of Nova starring Tyson and dealing with the controversial classification Pluto, of course!

Throughout this episode, Tyson travels across the country on a Pluto-related mission, focusing on the question of whether Pluto is a planet. He talks with scientists who support Pluto's planethood and those who do not; he visits the hometown of the scientist who discovered Pluto and the town where the scientist's family now lives; he even visits Disney World to play with Pluto the dog.

Though the majority of the program is about science, it doesn't deal with it in a dry way. Tyson is hilarious! But the jokes didn't stop me from learning things (like, did you know that before the planet was named, Americans associated the name Pluto with a laxative? Or, that if the sun was represented by a balloon with an 8-foot diameter, the relative-size of Pluto could be represented by a ball bearing from a roller skate?) Plus, The Pluto Files shows multiple clips from the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. How could I not like it?

I give it a 4/5. Definitely worth watching, and it's only 50 minutes.

Watch Jon Stewart's interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson

Watch The Pluto Files on the pbs website (I'm not sure how long this link will be up, so do it soon!)

Or buy the DVD

Why I'm Doing This

I'm pretty sure my family and friends think I'm crazy for attempting to do this. They're probably right. Instead of reading/watching everything The Daily Show's guests promote, I should be doing my homework, working on my senior project, applying for grad school, and working. But, you know, I got this idea.

It's all AJ Jacobs' fault. For those of you unfamiliar with the fella, he is a writer who often turns his life over to "experiments," such as following all the rules the Bible gives and telling the complete truth. Earlier this month, I was reading his book The Know It All, where he reads the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica in an attempt to become the smartest man on earth (A thoroughly enjoyable and interesting book-- you should read it). And I got to thinking, These experiments are kind-of like games. And I love games. I wonder what I could do.

That night (after watching The Daily Show), I came up with my plan. I did a little research, and learned the task was not going to be easy. In 2009, there were 160 episodes of The Daily Show. In those shows, 78 guests were promoting books, 22 were promoting movies, 16 were promoting TV Shows, 3 were promoting albums, 2 were promoting articles, 2 were promoting podcasts/radio shows, and 1 was promoting a website. The remaining guests were promoting ideas. But I had the idea, and I wasn't going to throw it aside because it was hard.

This year, I am going to read and watch all of those promoted things. And I'm going to review them here. It's probably not possible for me to get them all done in a year, but I won't quit until I've blogged about them all. I won't get to be as timely as I'd like. I'm a college kid with very limited funds, so I'll be getting the majority of the books from the library and seeing the movies in the cheap theater, which both involve waiting. Plus, there's the whole "finding time to do my actual homework" thing. But I'm going to do it, gosh-darn-it. And I hope you'll read.