Hornswaggler | The culture, the humor, a bit of the sports, not so much the politics, and the workplace distraction
Hornswaggle is an alternate spelling of
hornswoggle, an archaic word that means to bamboozle or hoodwink. I take my
pronunciation from the late Harvey Korman in "Blazing Saddles" --
"I want rustlers, cutthroats, murderers,
bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits,
vipers, snipers, conmen, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers,
buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswagglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train
robbers, bank robbers, ass kickers, shit kickers and Methodists!"
I don't think "Parks and Recreation" has turned the corner yet and become really funny consistently, but this episode, in which Fred Armisen guest stars as head of a Venezuelan parks and recreation delegation visiting Pawnee, is very good. The clip above is a brief highlight but you can watch the whole episode for free on the show's Web site. It's worth your time if you've got 20 minutes to kick around. Aziz Ansari (Tom) and Nick Offerman (Ron) are both standouts, and the cast as a whole is pretty strong.
Speaking of Armisen, I think SNL's lineup of male performers right now is as good as it's been in a while, with Armisen, Hader, Sudeikis, Samberg, Forte and Hammond. The only weak link is Kenan Thompson, who is rarely funny. Ever notice that he speaks in the exact same voice no matter what character he's playing?
The women are a different story. Kristen Wiig is amazing and a few years away from being one of the highest-paid comedic actresses in Hollywood, but the rest are basically invisible, partly because Lorne Michaels got rid of Casey Wilson and Michaela Watkins for reasons unknown and brought in two new actresses. I'm sure they'll get better with time, but right now there's only one established female cast member, and that's not enough.
