Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Legilat*, Legilsat* (for Legislat*)

Last weekend on Portlandia, the Independent Film Channel's hit comedy show, in a sketch that I assume was probably called "No, You Go," two characters, played by Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, arrive at a four-way stop-sign standoff. They each sit there waving the other one through for so long their respective cars might have eventually turned to rust or gotten up and walked away of their own accord had the drivers not finally decided to both go at the same time. ("No, you tow" was the inevitable punchline.) In another bit from the same episode, Armisen plays an incredulous cashier confronted with a hapless customer who has forgotten to bring his shopping bag. (Armisen's head almost explodes.) "When I wake up in the morning, my eyes don't forget to open, my heart doesn't forget to beat..." chides Brownstein as the store's manager. "Yeah, I don't get in my car and forget the car and drive down the street, like running down the street, going like this, and then park it, and then put it in park, and then lock the door!" Armisen hilariously piles on. There were nine cases of Legilat* in OhioLINK today and 218 in WorldCat. (Legilsat* was found twice in the former database and 112 times in the latter.) I considered writing something about sexual harassment legislation or the entrance exam for aspiring law students, the LSAT, but hipster/anti-hipster sketch comedy and crazy public art from the Czech Republic seemed like a lot more fun. We're a few days late here, but apparently Portland's mayor, Sam Adams, has proclaimed January 21, 2011, "Portlandia Day." Many happy returns of the day, and many happy reruns of the show!

(Sculpture of a Trabbi on legs at the German embassy in Prague, 2010, from Wikimedia Commons.)

Carol Reid

No comments: