Random Thoughts

As this weeks winds to a close, I wanted to recap some stuff that has been on my mind.

1. Trevor Noah: The new Daily Show host has been on a press junket lately and I found something he said to be particularly telling about his mindset. When a reporter asked him how he felt about Comedy Central having two black hosts (him and Larry Wilmore) during their coveted 11pm-12am (EST) time slot, he made a comment that he's "half white." Clearly, Mr. Noah is still working under the three-tiered racial categories of his native South Africa where you have blacks, coloreds (mixed-race blacks), and whites. Uh, you're in the United States now, bro, and we don't really have two levels of blackness here. If you've got one black parent and you pretty much look black (as he does), dude, you're black! Not colored, not mulatto, not whatever other pseudo-black term your home country has come up with to separate you from black folks with two black parents. No, you're black.

2. Not Happening: How many failed movies do Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal have to make before the studio bosses realize these two jokers can't carry a film? I don't think either one is a particularly terrible actor but, let's face it, these two just aren't leading men. They're co-stars or supporting cast members. They can't put asses in the seats and they can't carry a blockbuster film. It's time to face the facts and stop trying to make these guys happen.

3. My Spanish Class: I took an eight-week Spanish class this summer although I only made it to six of the eight classes. I blew off class during the fifth and eighth weeks because I just didn't care. My teacher was a nice woman, but the way she taught wasn't particularly helpful for me. I felt like she focused on things that weren't relevant at times (like how to pronounce a phone number the Spanish way). If someone needs a phone number, I'm sure that can be written out or the person giving it can just give each number separately: ocho, siete, uno, etc. This is not a priority!!! Another problem I had was that the teacher tended to only speak to one half of the room (and it wasn't the half where I was seated). Maybe she felt she had a more captive audience on that side. She also wasn't that great of an English speaker which tended to hinder her ability to understand (and write) words in English. No, the class wasn't a total washout (I did learn some numbers and phrases), but it wasn't that great either.