Don’t Judge Others!

By Matthew Casey

I got to thinking about my past today.  I was thinking about all of the people who have played some role in my life at one point in time or another.  As I thought about this, one person that came to my mind was a nasty seventh grade math teacher who didn’t seem to like me that much and he seemed to think he knew what my destiny in life was going to be, even though I was only twelve or thirteen at the time.

I’m not going to name any names here, but this teacher didn’t think too highly of me.  It is no secret that I am no mathematician. Math never has and never will be my strong subject, but for some reason back in the day this teacher seemed to think that because of my inability to successfully calculate angles and circumferences without a calculator that I would be a complete and utter failure.  Somehow my hate and disgust for numbers sealed my fate in life in his eyes.

I will never forget the day just before school was out for summer that he said to the class that he could tell at that moment who was going to go far in life and who was going to be a complete failure.  He began pointing to the people who were going to be “failures”. Suffice it to say, I was one of the few kids that his finger came to.

He told me that I was never going to be anything in life because I was horrible in math and that because of this I would be lucky to ever land a job doing anything better than pumping gas or flipping burgers Wendy’s. He told me that I would be the person pumping his gas every week and scrubbing his windshield clean and that if I missed one little smudge of dirt he would be talking to the manager to make sure that I lost that job.

Well, like Tuftin Dean’s country song “I’m not so Little Anymore” I would like to see this teacher now and reintroduce myself.  Maybe he would be surprised that I am not working at a local gas station, nor am I flipping burgers in a fast food restaurant.  In fact I think I am doing pretty well for myself.  I live in Toronto; I am getting by somehow financially and getting a higher education.  I am also living my dream and getting the chance to do what I love by interning at The Weather Network.  So in my view I think I can be called a lot of things, but a failure isn’t among them.

I’m not resentful over this teacher, in fact this is the first time I have thought of the man in years.  But it just makes me laugh at how someone can look at a person and judge them just based on superficial circumstances.  How does anyone really know what anyone will accomplish or become in life? You can’t simply look at a person and judge them based on their strong points and weak points and tell them that they will never be successful.

Even history has shown there are people out there who were told they were going to be failures and would never make it in life but they beat the odds and are very famous today.  For instance the great country musician Johnny Cash was told that he was never going to make it in the country music business because all he wanted to sing was gospel, look at how famous he became.  He is now considered one of the founders of the country music genre.  How about Oprah Winfrey?  Before she was the “queen of daytime talk” she was television news reporters who was fired for being “unfit for television” and now look where she is. These people and there are many others are perfect example of why we shouldn’t just give up when we fail at something the first time around or the tenth time.   Had Johnny Cash given up on his dreams look at the great classic country music the world would have been deprived of.

I’m glad that I didn’t settle for just being a gas bar attendant.  To me when someone tells me I won’t make it or I will fail it makes me try even harder.  There is nothing I love more in life than being able to prove somebody wrong about me.  The satisfaction of overcoming what someone else thinks of me is better than the rush that I get from eating one of my favourite foods—chocolate.

So don’t give up on anything in life.  If you have someone telling you that you will fail or aren’t going to make it do everything you can to prove them wrong someday.  And for any teachers out there who may read this I hope you never tell any student, no matter how horrible you think they are, that they are going to be failures in life.  There is just no reason to do that!  Besides, you might even make them so angry that they will blog about you someday down the road.

Saturday Night Live: Betty White/Jay-Z (5/8/10) **REPOST**

Since there was no new review this week, we have decided to re-post a popular SNL Review! Enjoy!

By Brendan Wahl

At long last, a day that no one thought they would ever see. After an arduous Facebook campaign by a young man named David Matthews, Lorne Michaels and co. began to take notice and so Betty White was invited on to host the show. Despite her agent insisting that she should do it, White said she was far too nervous to do it at first, but she finally caved and agreed to do the show.

That sure made everyone and their mothers the happiest little campers to hear that the legendary television star, Betty White, was to host the legendary television staple in comedy.

The wait began to find out just who would be joining Mrs. White for the huge and memorable night. When Jay-Z was announced as the musical guest, the reaction was somewhat apathetic as people thought this was one of the worst choices possible. But then things briefly looked up as it was announced that Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Molly Shannon would all be joining her, all of them being mothers themselves.

So did it all work out and were we given a hell of a show? Let’s find out!

The Show:

1. The Lawrence Welk Show

Much like the Christmas show with James Franco back in December, we open with another Lawrence Welk Show parody featuring three sisters who are seemingly normal-looking (Gasteyer, Poehler, and Rudolph) and strange, deformed Junice (Wiig). Betty makes an appearance here as their mother and the sketch, while silly, is still a fun way to open the show. B+

2. Monologue

Betty goes for the more simple approach to a monologue and simply states that she had no idea what Facebook was beforehand, finds it a complete waste of time, and then makes a few cute jokes about her age. B+

3. MacGruber

This time, MacGruber joins forces with his grandmother (White), where his politeness ultimately leads to a moment where…BOOM! MACGRUBER! A-

4. The Delicious Dish

Much to the audience’s delight, Margaret Jo (Gasteyer) and Terry Rialto (Shannon) return for another edition of NPR Radio to present Delicious Dish. This time, they get a visit from a kindly old business owner (White) who is there to spread the word about her Dusty Muffins. What follows is essentially a repeat of “Schwetty Balls” but with vagina references instead. However, still quite funny. A

5. the Manuel Ortiz Show

Here’s a sketch that I wasn’t sure was going to return! Manuel (Armisen) hosts a Latin-themed talk show complete with dancing in between guests. This time, one of his guests (Forte) wants to come out to his parents (White & Moynihan). Maybe the weakest sketch of the night, but still not bad. B-

6. MacGruber

The second part of the MacGruber triptych sees our hero finally snap at his grandma and yell at her really loudly. A-

7. Gingey

Continuing the hot streak of fairly simple premises but hilarious results, this sketch takes place in 1904 as several ladies get ready to go to a party while one of them (Poehler) looks somewhat less feminine than the rest. Of course, White is quick to point out that she’s a lesbian and also throws out a number of great lines. A-

8. MacGruber

The final segment of MacGruber sees a very strange, sexually disturbing development take place between MacGruber and granny. A-

9. Jay-Z sings a medley of “Real As It Gets”, “99 Problems”, & “Empire State of Mind” (feat. Bridget Kelly)

Is this the first time the same song was performed twice in the same season?! I expected nothing from Jay-Z but he powerhoused his way through this performance and rocked the house. After an amazing 8 1/2 minute performance, *I* almost got up and cheered. A+

10. Weekend Update with Seth Meyers

Lots of fun on Update this week as Maya Rudolph reprises her Whitney Houston impression in one of her funniest moments actually as she huffs and puffs through a re-enactment of her latest concert flop. Amy and Tina join Seth later on for a hilarious segment of “Really?!” as well, while 50-year old Sally O’Malley (Shannon) finally meets her counterpart in Dottie O’Donegan (White), a 90-year old who likes to sit down a lot. A

11. Scared Straight

If ever there was a host that I was more excited for them being in this sketch than Betty White, I doubt it. Here, Betty plays Lorenzo’s (Thompson) crazed grandmother who is quick to help along with the rape jokes and thinly-veiled movie references. Lots of fun. A-

12. CSI: Sarasota

Making a combination of old jokes and also poking fun of David Caruso’s stupid quips provides the premise for this fake ad for two cops (White, Dratch) looking for the reasoning behind strange occurrences like 103-year olds “suddenly” dropping dead. Another sketch that clicked. A

13. Digital Short: Thank You For Being A Friend

What starts off as a beautiful tribute to Betty with the cast and guest stars singing the “Golden Girls” theme song to her soon develops into Betty’s own hardcore punk remix. Another wonderful piece. A

14. Jay-Z sings “Young Forever” (feat. Mr. Hudson)

Jay-Z brings the goods again with a favourite of mine from “Napoleon Dynamite” with some rapping over top of it. Mr. Hudson provides the singing portions and makes this another worthy ditty. A

15. The Census

In a sketch that was very reminiscent of the Christopher Walken/Tim Meadows census sketch from a few years ago, Betty plays a kooky tenant with some strange answers for the census-taker (Fey) (“Blarfinger Blarfinger!”). A great sketch to close out the night. A+

Betty joins Jay-Z, her guests, and the cast to say goodnight and much to her surprise, they give her two dozen roses. Adorable.

I don’t even know what to say after that one. Betty was adorable, Jay-Z rocked the house, the writing rocked, the guests were utilized in a great way. Overall, a fantastic show.

Host Rating: B+

Musical Guest Rating: A+

Show Rating: A+