#7 Going to a taping of a TV Show.

That's right. The Daily Show. An institution in my life since college, though admittedly one that's fallen out of my life a little since I've gone TV-less. I'd been tuning in more as of late. After all, how it found its way into my life, into many of our lives, was as a cathartic device. 8 years of that dope without some laughter would have been mighty rough. So it's probably not a good sign that I'm going back to get my fix off him after only a couple of years out of that administration.

Anyone who watched last night knows that it is an episode more in the serious vein. We were all primed and strongly encouraged by everyone working on the show to laugh loud and clap long, because we weren't mic-ed as much as Jon and the other anchors, and we were providing the laugh track. Except there wasn't exactly a ton of that.

Sounds like a swipe, but you know what happened this weekend. We were actually kind of wondering how it was going to be handled. Little too soon for the usual mockery from the sidelines. And I'm pretty impressed how it was handled. Plus how fun it is to actually hear him swear without the bleep.

Sure it was partially scripted, but some of it seemed off the cuff, judging on the pauses, and him looking off of into space. So yeah, I'm impressed that at a moment that a whole lot of other people used to highlight the particular things they found wrong with people that disagree with them, or use it to make the point they've been making all along. If they're on the left, it's that the Tea Party are a bunch of violent hicks, if they're on the right, it's that the left is against them and making cheap accusations against them. He didn't play that game, because that would be cheap and dishonorable.

Shit, I've dragged this all down. This was a birthday mission. Annnnd in that spirit, my friend did get a Happy Birthday out of him. With my line!

There's a Q & A session before the show and she raised her hand and said "Would you like to wish me a happy birthday?"

He looked puzzled "I...uhhh...did. Oh you mean out loud? Happy Birthday. How old are you?"

"28"

Then I swear he started to make the classic cheesy compliment of "Oh, if I were a younger man," and then moved on to the next question, where some kid asked him exactly how he lost his virginity. You can guess that went over awkwardly.

Anyway, it's free. You just have to reserve tickets on line, get there early, and then wait in line for a bit, but hey, so totally worth it. Even if it wasn't for a show that exceptional, it still would have been neat to be in a television studio. It all looks so different. The set pieces all look smaller because the stage is so big. The rafters above you extending up for ages, with all kinds of cords, mics and cameras dangling from them. Reality constructed right before your eyes in a way that it fits inside a little box.