Katrina and the waves (or Do You Miss New Orleans)

This month's Vanity Fair magazine has a number of articles that deal with last year's Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath in Louisiana. The first of which details exactly what the local mayors and governers did just before, during and after that helped make the situation worse.

The second is an excerpt from Anderson Cooper's new book Dispatches From The Edge which details his own reaction to Katrina as well as dwelling on the suicide of his brother while he was in college.

The third of which is a photo montage of ex-Paris Hilton playmate Nicole Richie which I guess shows the effect of starvation which a number of New Orlean's residents had to go through in the wake of Katrina.

Reading all of this reminded me of that great telethon that was produced after Katrina. I was only watching it as Harry Connick Jr and Wynton Marsalis were playing together. But, a fascinating thing happened as various celebrities were on screen asking for viewers to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief fund.

For some odd reason, Kanye West and Mike Myers were paired together. Myers spoke first and talked about the devesation in New Orleans. Kanye West spoke second and it was clear he was adlibbing as Myers looked like he wished he could disappear as West spoke. Myers spoke again and his words were completely unrelated to what West had just said. The funny part is that he then threw it back to West and West made his famous "George Bush hates black people" line. What was even better was that the camera (finally) cut him off and showed Chris Tucker (the first black person they could find?) backstage grabbing something out of the fridge. He looked even more uncomfortable than Myers as he mumbled some pre-written speech about Katrina.

If you haven't seen the video, check it out on ifilm.com. Or, even better, Chris Rock's spoof of that speech.

In reference to Mike Myers, Top 5 films featuring cast members from Saturday Night Live.
1. Wonder Boys (with Robert Downey Jr.)
2. The Blues Brothers (with Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi)
3. When Harry Met Sally or City Slickers (with Billy Crystal)
4. Tootsie (with Bill Murray)
5. Fletch (with Chevy Chase)