"The leaves are changing colors,"

"but the TV stars are staying white. And male."

How does he do it all?!

"The mummies are from Egypt, which is in Africa. Which makes them African American. But they will be played by white Canadians."


 .

"Normal Asian family on TV!"

[found via Racialicious]

Or more precisely, an average family on TV, who happens to look Asian. My favorite part is the two gray-haired members of the family enjoying the beatboxing and dancing.

I like this commercial, too, for similar reasons:

This one, too!

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You cannot afford it!

I need my own show.

I was watching The Suze Orman Show a few weeks ago, as I am prone to do, and I just don't know what is wrong with some people. Most of the guests that talk to Suze in the first segment usually want help and are eager to take Suze's sound advice. However, last night's guest was living in a fantasy world inspired by The Real Housewives of Orange County. She and her husband were emerged in a lifestyle that cost them twice what they earned per month. They also had over $230,000 of credit card debt. Yet this woman, who was physically on the show asking Suze, wanted to ignore Suze's advice. Instead of selling everything and moving into a small apartment that her family could afford, she wanted to keep the overstuffed, overblown mansion and the belongings that she didn't actually own.

This week, a woman called in to the "Can I Afford It?" segment and wanted to spend $1200 on a professional resume writer. $1200? Ummm . . .

People need to call into my imaginary show so I can give them advice. Here are the exclamations that you will hear from me every Saturday night from 6:00 to 7:00 pm:

• Preach the word, Suze!

• That's what I'm saying!

• Diversification!

• Don't get a second mortgage to lease a second car!

• Sign the prenup!

• Get your own retirement account!

• You can't live in your vintage sports car/Chanel bag/used speedboat/Christian Louboutin shoes!

• Move your money out of the stock market if you are ready to retire!

• How are you calling into The Suze Orman Show with credit card debt? Pay off your credit cards!

Unfortunately the people who call Suze can't hear me through the TV.

.

This is sad for various reasons.

Diversity still an issue at TV networks, by Greg Braxton, Los Angeles Times.

Though minorities are featured in most of the 29 new series on the major networks, only five feature performers of color in central starring roles. While most of the shows have at least one regular minority cast member, the performers are mostly in support of the main white characters. Many shows with ensemble casts (ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Big Shots") feature predominantly white casts.

The CW remains the primary network venue for multiculturalism.

Groan.

Insert Pussycat Dolls/Veronica Mars cancellation/Gossip Girl/Hidden Palms/Chad Michael Murray joke here.

I liked these, too!

From ColorLines, via Feministing, The Segregated Blogosphere, by Celina De León.

People of color make up 40 percent of bloggers, but only 26 percent of Internet users. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project's "Blogger" report, which was based on findings from their February through April 2006 tracking surveys, 11 percent of bloggers are Black, 19 percent are English-speaking Hispanic and 10 percent are some other race or ethnicity.

There are no bloggers of color with the kind of exposure and influence of superstars Matt Stoller of mattstoller.com or Duncan Black of atrios.blogspot. The result, according to [blogger Chris Rabb], has been a typical white liberal/left dialogue in the political blogosphere.

"They won't talk about the racial element of anything that's been deracialized by mainstream media. They're not going to talk about affirmative action, about the racial element of the immigration issue," Rabb said. "Whenever issues of race come up, it's seen as a distraction."

From YouTube, via Feministing, Sexism in Reality TV:


From YouTube, after seeing it on TV last night, the MasterCard paypass Elephant commercial:


I need some elephant care, too. Someone should bring me soup and tuck me in. And was that Ernie Sabella from The Lion King and those beach club episodes of Saved by the Bell? Where has he been?

Rock This Town? No, Degrassi, Nooo!

If you watched the latest episode of Degrassi: The New Generation on Friday, then you might be as traumatized as I am. I thought I'd be cool with JT dying. Hello, it's Degrassi: It goes there. What did you expect? But this? This was hard. Especially when we found out that not only is Liberty still in love with JT, but JT is still in love with her, too. Then it got all West Side Story, with "Tony!" "Maria!" "Tony! "Maria!" And right before JT could reach Liberty, some random guy stabs him. For no reason! Then Liberty rushes to his limp body, cradling her ex-baby-daddy in her arms, screaming for help.

I can't process this right now. This weekend has left me exhausted. I would talk about the reasons this episode has affected me so much, mainly because I identify with Liberty in the early seasons of Degrassi, when she was pursuing JT, but he just wanted to be friends with her. That was so me in eighth and ninth grade. Or, Grade 8 and Grade 9, as they say in Canadian.

If y'all watch Degrassi, or if you just like television shows involving average-looking teenagers going to school in America's attic (i.e. the Maple leaf country), please weigh in. Leave a comment, and we'll discuss my post-adolescent angst.