Immediately upon getting off the plane at the Aspen airport I was struck by how beautiful the place is- snow covered mountains, fresh air, breathtaking views- and you are immersed within them. Probably how it would feel to step off a plane in Tahoe. Unfortunately you have to land in Reno first and take a two hour shuttle.
My cousin John is down in Haiti volunteering to help with the relief effort. If you haven't given to the victims of Haiti by now... you pretty much aren't going to.
Let’s be honest. It couldn't be easier- all we have to do is text message. and I still I haven't done it.
There was the Hope for Haiti benefit show and seemingly non-stop pleas for help on the news. It has been cool to watch the world come together to help. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been donated. So much money was raised that Jerry Lewis released a statement. He says, "America- I knew you fuckers were holding out on me."
Everyone is coming together trying to help. I saw that former Presidents Clinton and George W. joined together to form a place donate at www.clintonandbushhaitifun
In Haiti the people desperately need food, clothing, shelter, and medicine. Which is exactly what they needed before the earthquake. That place has nothing and produces nothing... not even major league shortstops.
I know it is a terrible tragedy- but it is my job to make fun of it. Just like it is Anderson Cooper’s job to report on it. That is another thing that sort of bugs me. So many news reporters have gone to Haiti to do live reporting. I understand that this helps increase awareness, but does every reporter need to be there? Is it necessary for the local Fox 14 affiliate to send their news reporters live to the scene? At what point are they in the way and slowing down the help?
But the news business cares. HA... What it really recognizes is ratings and how to make money. That is what they are really doing. I don’t think for one minute that CNN, FOX, and the rest would be devoting so much time to this if people weren’t watching and it wasn’t generating nice profits.
A good thing about this earthquake is that the news gives us something to think about other than how bad things are here in this country. You think things are bad here- the housing market in Haiti has collapsed.
Things don’t seem so bad in our real estate market. It is way better to be upside down on your homes’ mortgage than to have your home upside down on you. I feel better that my biggest home worry is building equity- not having to just build in general.
Interesting to me is that there was just a few weeks ago a 6.5 earthquake in California and it did almost no damage. Yet a 7.0 destroys a country. I guess that 50% illiteracy rate prevented many people in Haiti from reading up on building codes.
Meanwhile- back in the paradise of Aspen. I am staying at this kick ass hotel- The Molly Gibson. The Russian girl at the front desk is a delight, the entire staff is over friendly yet not fake. A great place. The city itself is small but filled with great people. The restaurants are very good and eclectic. Only downside being the service. The entire waiting tables industry in Aspen seems to have been trained by the management of Steak and Shake. They could really care less. But the food was awesome.
Also the city of Aspen is probably the most dog friendly place I have ever been. Except for my parents house where they take in every stray and give them the run of the place and their lives. Dogs are free to go in and out of stores- it is just part of the ambiance of the city. Unique and nice.
The Wheeler Opera House is a GREAT venue. The director Gram is a big fan of comedy and brings in great shows. The house was pretty full and the show was a fantastic time- they really took care of us.
Also this week was the finish to the whole Tonight Show fiasco. I watched the final two episodes of Conan as host- which doubled the total number of times I watched since he took over, and four times more than I watched Leno in the years he has done it.
The general consensus seems to be that Conan got screwed. Those last two episodes were great. I was inspired by his attitude of ‘let’s have fun on television.’ and his statement of not embracing cynicism.
Did Conan get screwed? Probably. But if you really look at it- he was one who sort of forced Leno out in the first place. Jay was number one and didn’t want to stop doing his show. He is like Brett Favre, still very good at his craft and he wants to keep playing. Is NBC a shit bag company for doing it this way? Maybe. But it is like they are an NFL franchise who drafts a young phenom like Matt Leinert and puts the old pro on the bench. Then Leinert sucks it up and they are like- “hey, we got Curt Warner on our team, let’s put him back in.”
Is Conan hilarious and done wrong.... I think so- but this is business. If more money can be made by covering people dying in Haiti then by doing stories about Americans losing civil liberties and freedom... of Bankers and the Federal Reserve making billions and billions while the future of the country is enslaved to debt- then that is what they are going to do.
The media companies in this country are not in the business of doing the right thing. They are in the business of dumbing it down, of sensationalizing mediocrity and tragedy and in keeping us ill-informed. Oh shit- is that cynical.... I guess I learned nothing from Conan after all.
