MY WEEK (November 13, 2014): A DVD review and how I feel about ‘celebs’ in politics

I’m seeing Hello Dolly! at The Capitol later this week and I’m driving to Warninglid next week to watch Par For The Course (page 51) but I was worried that I wouldn’t have anything to write about for this issue.

Well, all I can say is ‘thank goodness for Family Guy’.

I was rather surprised on Monday when I found out that season 14 of the TV show had been released on DVD. The box sets usually come out every year but the previous one only came out in June. I’m not complaining – I’m still a Family Guy devotee after almost 15 years – but I decided not give it a proper review this time. It’s pretty much more of the same, a show so stuffed full of jokes that there’s barely any room left for things like ‘logic’ and ‘consistency’.

Noteworthy gags include Peter developing extremely bad breath after getting shrimp stuck under his gums, baby Stewie going through a vicious break-up with his teddy bear and daughter Meg dating video game character Mario. Speaking of Meg, we find out that her full name isn’t actually Megan in this season. In one of the show’s frequent flash-backs, it’s revealed that Peter wrote ‘Megatron’ on Meg’s birth certificate because of his love for Transformers.

In the non-animated world I was amused to see people tweeting the word ‘Parklife’ at Russell Brand, referencing the Blur song from 1994 to mock the comedian’s flowery writing habits. Annoyingly, Russell stopped the joke dead in its tracks by releasing his own parody version of the song. Political views aside, a witty joke about someone has far more power when the target doesn’t see the funny side, so I’ve got to give Russell Brand some credit for ending the gag by being a good sport.

I’m not a fan of Russell Brand to be honest. The main reason, I guess, is I find it pretty annoying when a millionaire whines about “economic disparity” and offers up anti-capitalist sentiments while arguing that he’s a man of the people.

I’m not against making money, so I have no problem when people decide they want to get rich in the entertainment industry. However, success in this industry means that performers get to ditch the standard 9-to-5 working week that the rest of us have to endure. Again, this is fine, but rich celebrities should at least recognise that they’re not having the same experience as us and consider the possibility that they don’t know what’s best for ‘the masses’.

I don’t want this to sound like a rant but I work hard for my money and when I spend some of it on an entertainer, I just want them to entertain me.

I don’t need a lecture about life or politics, thanks. I’ll figure things out for myself.