I said earlier that there are aspects of the White House Correspondents' Dinner that make me uncomfy. They're pretty well summarized by Alex Pareene, who thinks it's all about shmoozing, Hollywood style. I don't go for that in Hollywood and I expect better of Washington.
By the way, people keep calling this thing the Nerd Prom and arguing that that's what you call the Comic-Con in San Diego. I'm really sick of the word "nerd" and feel it's one of those words (like "diva") that gets used so casually and thoughtlessly that it's pretty much lost any meaning it once had. How is any event attended by George Clooney and Jon Hamm a "nerd anything?"
Wikipedia, which given its contributors oughta know, defines "nerd" as "…a derogatory slang term for a person typically described as socially-impaired, obsessive, or overly intellectual." And first, let's pause to note the unfortunate state of a society in which being intellectual evokes a derogatory slang term. But these days, who isn't socially-impaired to some extent and are folks who go to Comic-Con any more so than the norm? I don't think so. I think they are the norm. And if we're all nerds then no one is a nerd…if you follow me.
But I really don't know what the word means anymore and won't unless someone can point out to me a sizable constituency to which the word does not apply. Or is it just the few, like Clooney and Hamm, who are wildly successful and sexually-attractive?