[tws]

I came across this today. I really hope its not some hoax.



I remember thinking for a while that this would never come to fruition, due to a number of licensing issues, the general recent success of many of the original contributors ('Reno 911,' 'Stella,' Wet Hot American Summer, etc.), and of course the unflaggable nature of Viacom. But now, the long wait is over. The State remains one of my biggest influences and one of the reasons I wanted to do comedy, and I know I'm speaking for a lot of people who came up in the 90's. Not only were they a fantastically good (in that scattershot, risk-taking way) sketch comedy program, they harken back to an idyllic time when MTV was so desperate for programming that they could modulate that into something resembling "looking out for the little guy." I don't know where I'd be without having experienced the wonder of Barry and Levon, considering where Michael Ian Black and Tom Lennon are today.



Here's a very inspiring one:



And I'm not going to deny you all this one...if you don't think this is ingenius, then there's something wrong with you:



I love how Kerry Kenney was the only female yet taller than anyone on that cast.

In other, significantly less "joy"ful news, Karl Alvarez, the established bassist for the Descendents/ALL, had a heart attack recently. He's recovering well since it wasn't major, but is currently being killed by our wonderful medical system, since he didn't have comprehensive health insurance. Here is a benefit page some friends set up for him. Karl is one of thousands who haven't had the benefit of cushy health plans and secure nine-to-five jobs, which isn't fair because the music he's made with the Descendents and ALL is microcosmic of what a lot of us look forward to about the end of the day. I just felt the need to put something up here since The Descendents have been really important to me for a while. I think they've always represented an ideal. So here's to hoping Karl for a speedy full recovery from both health and economic woes.