The LP Questionnaire - Bill Hader of Saturday Night Live

Of course, Bill Hader is so much more than just SNL. You loved him as Officer Slater in Superbad... as Jason Segel's best bud Brian in Forgetting Sarah Marshall... as the voice of Wilson Taylor Sr in Grand Theft Auto...

Hader, a comics afficionado, likes to read, is bad at video games and enjoys watching old movies. When he was in 5th grade he played Frosty the Snowman in a Christmas Play (he had no dialogue). He used to be in a sketch group called Animals From the Future that performed shows in a backyard in Van Nuys. It was at one of these shows that he met his wife, Maggie.

Bill is super duper nice (he took this pic just for me this morning on his Blackberry) and is totally awesome sauce for doing The LP Questionnaire...

Name: Bill Hader
Pro Wrestling Name: Demolition Mysterio. That name doesn't work in some states. It has to be changed to Demolition By a Guy Who Does Stuff Real Good.

1. Pretend you're 15. Name three songs you'd put on a mix tape for your girlfriend. In 1993, I would have "Drivin' on 9" by The Breeders, "Aero Zeppelin" by Nirvana, and "Pull My Strings" by The Dead Kennedys on ANY mix tape. Those were the three albums I listened to the most when I mowed lawns that summer.

2. Which evil villain would make the best president? Harry Ellis, that guy from DIE HARD. He's more of a dumb-ass than a villain, but when I was a kid I hated him so much. I was like, "Don't try to smooth talk Hans, Ellis! You're f***ing everything up!"

3. What was your favorite cartoon as a child? The Secret of Nimh. My sisters and I were obsessed with that cartoon.

4. What superpower do you wish you had? I don't know. The power to balance my check book.

5. What would the title of your autobiography be? How the F*** Did You Get in Here?

I hope you've enjoyed this edition of The LP Questionnaire. Thanks to Bill Hader whose birthday is in two days so Happy Birthday, Bill!

Stay cool,
Ms. P

The LP Questionnaire - Fred Armisen of Saturday Night Live

The LP Questionnaire returns as the 33rd season of Saturday Night Live heads off to the history books. I was lucky enough to catch the second to last episode of this season (which featured My Morning Jacket and will run again this coming Saturday if you missed it) in all its real time glory.

I'm also lucky that Fred Armisen, one of the shows latest breakout stars, agreed to do my little feature. We all know Fred through his funny impersonations, quirky characters, and as the drummer for Trenchmouth, but we may not know that he loves chocolate, hates the beach and is a skilled player of Grand Theft Auto.

This photo was taken right after a visit to the Hollywood Wax Museum and Mr. A says, "The figures looked so off-kilter and unreal. I couldn't get over the way they were posed! So this is me if I was a wax figure."

And this is Fred if he answered The LP Questionnaire:

Name: Fred Armisen
Pro Wrestling Name: Captain Hammer? That's not what I want! I'm renaming myself. Captain Captain.

1. Pretend you're 15. Name three songs you'd put on a mix tape for your girlfriend. Oh, good one! "Love Song" The Damned, "Revolution Rock" The Clash, "Green Eyes" Husker Du.

2. Which evil villain would make the best president? Mother Theresa

3. What was your favorite cartoon as a child? Felix the Cat

4. What superpower do you wish you had? I wish I could read. No, really, um...the ability to eat and eat and never gain weight.

5. What would the title of your autobiography be? The Life and Times of Princess Diana (The People's Princess). It would sell so many copies!

I hope you enjoyed this installment of The LP Questionnaire. Coming up: Bill Hader, Warren Ellis, David Peterson, Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam, Thom D'Arcy of Small Sins, Johnny Quaid, Danny Cash, Joe Vaux and more!

My Morning Jacket - Saturday at SNL

MMJ on SNL - "I'm Amazed"


"Evil Urges"


Tom and I spent the early afternoon in Herald Square trying to find a black shirt with black buttons (so as not to clash with the black velvet jacket he wore). Thank G for H&M (my favorite store on earth!). If you ever wondered what bands are doing before performing on SNL, there's one example.

An evening at Saturday Night Live is a long one (you arrive around 4 and are there for about nine hours).

However, they are kind enough to provide you with good food, bread pudding, cheesecake and gelato (cookie dough gelato, no less!)

The band went through another set of rehearsals (the first being on Thursday) that sounded great in the studio. I will admit (and am sort of embarrassed, but) I got a tad choked up when I watched them do "I'm Amazed." That song is purty good, I must say.

From 8 - 10 they do a dress rehearsal with a live audience to run through all the skits and both band performances. It was quite interesting to see how things evolved from dress to the actual show, and I think they did a great job of cutting out the fat. My favorite bits of the night were the MacGruber series and Bill Hader's Italian talk show host.

Say what you will about SNL's somewhat inconsistent nature, it's pretty awesome to watch the show come together and see how hard the performers work. They seem like a genial, close-knit bunch (I've read about how it's a pretty dog eat dog environment, but you don't get that feeling when you're there - at least not the parts I saw).

Oh, I forgot to mention that Kristen Wiig and Fred Armisen warmed the crowd up with a cover of Blondie's "One Way or Another." She has a great voice, actually, which only makes her even cooler (if that's possible). She has that Suze Orman voice down... and who was in the audience for the live show but... Suze Orman!! I got to walk out next to Suze Orman!! She was pretty good natured about the skit. I did not ask her for investment advice or if Oprah is nice or anything like that.

My Morning Jacket did really well, I thought. I figured I wouldn't be surprised having watched the whole process, but then they ended both songs with the stop-action thing (which they didn't in rehearsal) so that was pretty cute. Those boys know how to entertain. I think we were all (the wives) sort of nervous for them, but I don't know why - they've never not delivered in the hundreds of times I've seen them. However, this was probably their most high profile performance EVER.

When the show is over, the cast, crew and loads of other people head to the after party and it was chock full of celebs (I admired Will Arnett from afar... I love that guy). I asked Bill Hader if he would do the LP Questionnaire, and he said yes so I'm excited about that. Will Forte told Tom he wants to go to Bonnaroo so maybe we'll see him again someday. I never talk to famous people, mostly because what on earth am I going to say, really? But also because I think if I was a famous type person, would I want me stumbling up like a moron going, "You're so cool. Tee hee. Can I steal your fork?" Probably not.

So that is what it's like to spend a Saturday at Saturday Night Live. We got back to the hotel around 4.30 am. I haven't stayed out that late since... umm... yeah. I can't wait to go back to NYC next month for MMJ at Radio City Music Hall. They should dress up like the Rockettes.

It was a good week,
Ms. P

ps. How great was it that Pooch made it into the band pics?! He was super happy.

My Morning Jacket - Saturday Night Live

Report coming tomorrow afternoon...

Most surreal yet groovy moment: watching Lorne Michaels and Amy Poehler rock out to "I'm Amazed." How crazy cool is that?!

Okay, the top two headlines on the Velocity front page now read MMJ on SNL. We're so original.

Gucci Every1!
Ms. P

My Morning Jacket - SNL Rehearsal

Our day started with a ride in an elevator with MSNBC anchor Contessa Brewer and her salad. I think I'm the only one who knew who she was because I watch MSNBC almost obsessively. She seemed genial, and I almost wanted to get off at her floor so I could go stalk my number 1 (okay, top 5?) celebrity crush, Brian Williams. On a side note, can someone please explain Chris Matthews' recent hair evolution? I was kind of enjoying the Schroeder look but now it's a strange bronze color.

But I digress...

It was interesting to be back at Studio 8H. I say this like I'm so blase but really, it's pretty groovy to see it all again. It's just as I remembered (and with my crap memory, that is kind of shocking). The last time I was there was with Beck in 1999 so it's been a while. I remember the first thing I saw then was Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri walking down the hall in their Spartan cheerleading uniforms. I pointedly ignored them (because I'm cool like that, man) but inside was thinking, "Holy crap, that is so surreal. And cool!"

However, that was then and this is... uh... now, and here are some random thoughts from the day:

Shia LaBeouf seems like a nice guy. He held the door for me and told the band he really liked them. I saw him jumping around on a pogo stick while hordes of teenage girls (who must have been on a school tour) screamed and squealed at him through their viewing window.

Bill Hader is freaking awesome and sweet. He introduced himself to Tom and me and told us about wearing jeans and a flannel shirt at the ACL fest and trying to see MMJ, but passing out because of the extreme heat (which, if you've been, you know is beyond insane).

I had yet another "passing Will Forte" experience (last time was when I was here in 07, and he came out of an elevator I was getting on), which is a bit random (and probably creepy of me to be making note of these things). I also found out he lives on the same floor/same building as a friend of mine, and she says that he is a genial boy.

MMJ got to do promos with Kristen Wiig, my favorite cast member so I got to watch her work for a few minutes. I'm not scooping anything because they started running last night, apparently, which I would have liked to see but NBC was out in our hotel. Hey, I just checked and it's still not working. Awesome.

I saw Fred Armisen, who I once went on a date with about 900 years ago (ironically, I met him through one of Beck's backup singers... did I just botch the definition of ironic?). I did not make an a** out of myself by trying to remind him of this, though. It's great to see him doing so well as he is quite a funny guy.

It's fascinating to walk the hallowed halls and read the signed photos of past hosts and musical guests. So much television history in one tiny place. More on Sunday... or Monday... whenever I've recovered as I'm sick but desperately trying to pretend I'm not. Today has us zigzagging all over the city and it's cold and rainy. Perfect, right?

Good times,
Ms. P

My Morning Jacket on Saturday Night Live

So, I'm sitting here watching SNL and they just announced that My Morning Jacket will be the musical guest on May 10.

I wonder if Tom knows this? He's in Mexico City buying me a pinata so I'm not sure.

I'm so excited I'm eating a Girl Scout cookie and contemplating the shopping excursions my unexpected jaunt to NYC will provide (which is totally vapid, I know, but if you want deep thoughts, call Jack Handey).

Whee!
Ms. P