Everybody's Linking for the Weekend

Whew-I'm actually kind of on a tear this weekend, in terms of productivity after a week filled with some nice reflection, a lot of projects getting kicked off the ground, and most importantly, progress (isn't that just a wonderful word when you can use it in a sentence and not precede it with the words "we need to make"?).  As a result, we're getting this post out nice and early this Saturday morning.  Here's a roundup of what you may or may not have read about on the internet this week and what my thoughts are on it:

On Entertainment...

-Jennifer Lawrence is proving that she's not going to just brush aside the Sony leaks, reportedly nabbing $20 million to star in the upcoming Sci-Fi space film Passengers, more than double what her costar Chris Pratt will be making.  This came in response to the fact that she made less money on American Hustle than her costar Jeremy Renner, who is hardly what'd you'd consider a movie star in her caliber. I'm liking this trend, and though some may quibble about millionaires fighting over who gets the biggest mansion, it draws an illustrative, real-world point about how women in the real world are still making less than men.  The same thing happened with Charlize Theron recently and Lily Tomlin/Jane Fonda called out their show's producers for giving their supporting male costars the same paychecks as the titular leads.

-I mean, we have to weigh in on Harry Shearer leaving The Simpsons and what that might mean for one of television's most venerable series.  Initially I was on Shearer's side out of principle-he's a wonderfully-talented performer who has been with the show for decades, providing life to everyone from Mr. Burns to Ned Flanders to Principal Skinner.  But after reading about the deal and what producers Al Jean and James L. Brooks are offering, Shearer is either being ridiculous or disingenuous.  $14 million for two years is an astronomical amount of money for an actor that isn't even appearing onscreen, and while initially Shearer was complaining that he wouldn't be able to work on other projects, that doesn't seem to be the case and it appears that he can actually quite literally phone-in his performance three hours a week every week.  That's nuts, and so either he is holding out for more money (which seems intensely greedy) or is just sick of the show, which is understandable but he needs to say that so that people like Jean and Brooks aren't being demonized for no reason by the fans on social media.  Either way, this is unfortunate and could result in his costars and fellow voice actors getting the short shrift in future years if he is replaced and no one seems to care (cost-cutting and all that).

-Agnes Varda, the legendary French New Wave director, will receive the Honorary Palme d'Or, a rare honor given to a director who has made a significant impact on the world but has never won the Palme d'Or.  Past recipients include Bernardo Bertolucci, Woody Allen, and Clint Eastwood.  Varda, the director of classic films like Cleo from 5 to 7 and Vagabond (that click you should be hearing is you opening another link to Netflix to start adding titles) is the first woman to win the honor.

On Politics...

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA)

-The Democrats continued to rack up more candidates, though I do feel like we're still shopping in the return bin a bit too much in 2016.  Both former Senator Russ Feingold (WI) and former Rep. Baron Hill (IN) are running for their states' respective Senate seats, and while neither is a bad candidate, both of them come with serious "loss" baggage, as they both were defeated in 2010.  They join former Gov. Ted Strickland (OH) and former Rep. Joe Sestak (PA) (also both losers in 2010) on the DSCC's roster, in addition to potentially former Sen. Kay Hagan (NC) and former Sen. Mark Begich (AK) (both losers in 2014) as theoretical candidates for the Senate next year.  We'll investigate this a bit further in the week, but I am a little concerned about the Republicans have a red carpet ready message about running former losers, particularly with Hillary Clinton at the top of the ticket.

-In other news, potentially good for the Democrats, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (CA) is making a run for the Senate seat currently held by retiring incumbent Barbara Boxer.  While this initially seems like bad news for Democrats who will have to endure a rough primary, it could set up a win-win for Democrats in the Golden State.  The primary is structured so that the top two candidates advance regardless of party.  Provided that Sanchez and Attorney General Kamala Harris remain the only big name Democrats in the race (a big if, particularly considering Sanchez's colleague Xavier Becerra may also jump into the race) and that Republicans don't coalesce around a strong candidate (a slightly smaller if, though several members of the state legislature are still making waves about the race), it could be Harris vs. Sanchez in the general.  With Hillary Clinton certain to win the state's electoral votes and with two Democrats battling it out for the Senate, you might be in a situation where Democrats are compelled to get to the polls to weigh in on Sanchez v. Harris but Republicans are not, theoretically costing Republicans in critical down-ballot House seats like CA-10, 21, and 24).

-I know I am a teensy bit late on this front, but Carly Fiorina's playing the sexism card on Katie Couric has been sitting with me in the wrong way and that seems to be a theme this week.  I am positive that in order to be a CEO Fiorina has had to put up with sexism-I'm not naive here-but the question of whether you're just running for Vice President has been posed countless times to male candidates ranging from John Edwards to Bill Richardson to even Martin O'Malley this year-it's not something that she's getting asked because she's a woman.  It's something she's being asked because she's grossly under-qualified to be the president and that's one of the only explanations for her running.

Shameless Self-Promotion of the Week...

-Reach out...for Jack Harries.

-YouTube Video of the Week...

-The YouTube Holy Trinity reunited to promote Mamrie's first book, so that's basically magic.  You learn in it which one of the Trinity cannot do impressions to save her life.

-Just One More...

-Yesterday was Endangered Species Day, which means that it's time to find some way to help save your favorite animal.  You'll be in good company, as Oscar-nominated actress Glenn Close is leading a crusade to fight the endangerment of elephants through supporting President Obama's ivory ban.  She joins the conversation that has gotten more press since the release of Kristin Davis's The Gardeners of Eden last month.  For questions about the ivory ban, click here.