It’s good news Friday! Yeah, man!

You can just call me DJ Goodnews, like in that Nick Hornby book “How to Be Good.” Except I won’t cure your eczema. And hopefully my life isn’t part of a book with a female narrator but is clearly written by a male author.

First item of good news: the racist pandas are gone! Yay! According to The New York Times, Sales Genie is going to stop airing those right-over-the-line-of-edgy-and-into-the-zone-of-uncomfortable commercials with the Chinese pandas. The ones with the accents that make them seem like they should be minor characters in an Adam Sandler farce.

Not racists.

The guy who was in charge of the commercials is named Vinod Gupta and is defending himself with the I’m-a-minority-I-can-say-anything defense. Fair enough (in a way), but when it’s that ham-handed and unfunny, I’m even less inclined to be forgiving.

There is another commercial which is ostensibly just as offensive and features an Indian-ish guy named Ramesh. I think I was probably embarrassing myself by shoveling guacamole down my gullet during that one, because I don’t remember seeing it.

Gupta justifies the commercials by saying:

“People have been making fun of my accent for years,” said Mr. Gupta, who described himself in the interview as half-Indian and half-Jewish. “And I love it.”

He loves it? Like I love it when people call me short and point out that I can’t smile on cue for pictures?

Whatev.

On to more good news. Bravo is bringing two Project Runway spin-offs to its Web site.

First of all, four-fifths of the season four cast will participate in Sew Not Over (”Sew” — like in sewing… because they sew…) where they have to create three looks on a budget of one grand. Fans will pick the favorite. Read: Chris March will win. The only people not participating are Simone, Victorya and Sweet P — there’s no reason given for this. I generally have misgivings about watching television on my computer, but I think I’m willing to make an exception.

The other show will follow season three castoff Malan Bretton. Apparently, he’s been followed by cameras ever since he got the boot.

So I did the whole chili and beer thing for the Superbowl last night — all good clean fun.

Needless to say, I didn’t particularly care what was going on. Fun fact: there’s a guy named Eli Manning who is the ball-thrower for the Giants and he is the brother of Peyton Manning — the cute southern guy who hosted SNL a while back. The more you know, indeed!

However, I like the Superbowl because the commercials are fun sometimes and there’s the Puppy Bowl. Everybody wins.

What I really want to get to thought, was that awful Sales Genie commercial with the pandas with the exaggerated Asian accents. Seriously? Who vetted that one?

Am I just being hypersensitive?

If you’ve ever watched TV with me, you’ll know I have a pathological need to identify every minor actor that appears on screen, whether it’s a background player in a Reebok ad or the latest corpse in Law and Order. After last night, though, I may want to retire my skills, because I proudly identified this guy in the fourth quarter Amp ad, and I don’t think I’ll ever have a better ID moment for as long as I live.

Have you watched it?

Okay.

It’s Donkey Lips from Salute Your Shorts.

You’re welcome.

Favorite ad? Justin Timberlake. Least favorite ad? The peanut one with the unibrow lady. Honorable mention? The e-trade baby.

If you’re interested in the actual sports “plays,” that bit near the end when Eli Manning escaped a million defenders by the skin of his teeth — that was pretty great. Go Giants!

So, you must’ve heard about the new Mac Air.

If you aren’t a Mac nerd, chances are you at least have a few in your life. No doubt, they were hitting refresh on the appropriate blogs on the day of the recent Steve Jobs press conference and salivating over the latest iWhatever was going to be introduced.

Anyways, the marketing wizards over at Mac (and I’m not being sarcastic — they’re really fucking good) have a new commercial with a really catchy song. The one that goes “I’m a new soul, I came into this strange world,” blah, blah.

Well, here it is. See for yourself.

I’ll save you some Googling. The song is by a French-Israeli dame named Yael Naim and it’s called, well, “New Soul.” Have a look-see.

So, let’s get to know each other a little bit, shall we?

One thing you may not know about me is that I menstruate.

Not actually, but close enough.  Despite (or maybe because?) I have no experience with babies (I’m the youngest of two), I’m completely fascinated by them.  One day, I hope to acquire a few, Jolie-Pitt style.  For now, though, I’m looking forward to someday becoming an obsessively doting uncle.

On that note, I thought I’d share this commercial I am obsessed with because it is so fucking cute. It’s for Giant — the mid-Atlantic grocery chain — and features this baby spontaneously making weird-ass growling noises. Take a look.

TiFaux: we’re your one-stop shop for weeks and months-old news that is only news because we just found out about it.

Today, let’s talk Levi’s commercials.

I was watching Project Runway last night and — long story short — I realized that Levi’s created two versions of one of its recent commercials: one for the gays, one for the straights.

Here’s the gay version:

Here’s the straight version:

It’s sort of weird right? I mean, good on Levi’s for embracing the LGBT demographic and whatnot. But the unexpected switcheroo of come-hither brunette babe and come-hither blonde dude (combined with the usage of the same main male model) makes it seem less genuine. Not that I’m searching for authenticity in jeans commercials (dare I suggest that advertisers might not be 100% honest!).

Side note: The song used in the commercial is Peter Bjorn and John’s Up Against the Wall. It’s notable because it’s a Peter Bjorn and John song that’s not Young Folks.

If you’ve been in a mall lately or walked down a city street, there’s a chance you’ve seen the new ad campaign for the Gap. It’s called “People Dan loves dressed in shit from the Gap — mostly scarves.”

First and foremost, there’s the one-two punch of Amy Poehler and Will Arnett mugging comically for the camera.

Poehler and Arnett, also known as the couple you and your significant other will never be cool/witty/awesome enough to invite over for dinner and perhaps a few rounds of Boggle, seem to be pretty aware that they’re modeling for The Gap. Their expressions are pretty hysterical, lending some hipness and edge to a brand that became synonymous with mall brattiness (accentuated by a sketch on the show Poehler is on now — SNL).

Then there’s our good friend John Krasinski, brandishing what we all know as the John Krasinksi Impish Smirk ™. He’s looking pretty adorable, but the ad makes his charm seem a bit calculated. I don’t know how to feel about it.

I suppose that it’s okay that John, Amy and Will are shilling for The Gap. I’m generally agreeable to the idea of selling out in the name of keeping food on the table. I just ask myself if I would say no to gobs of money in exchange for a few hours of wearing a rainbow scarf. It doesn’t take me long to decide.

I was tuning into some show — I think it was Dirty Sexy Money (which, by the way, I’m totally into now) — when I noticed a familiar song on a Ford ad. A few quick Google searches confirmed my suspicions and I discovered that Band of Horses had licensed their song The Funeral for the spot.

Here’s the clip which, as you can see, was made by putting the camera up to the TV.

And, if you’re curious, here’s the video proper.

Again, I’d like to lend my support for any worthy artist who can make a buck off the corporate teat. If it keeps PBR in their hipster bellies and puts fuel in the tour van, I’m all for it.

Click here to visit the band’s label page, where you can download a few songs, including The Funeral.

Now I don’t know a lot about Mike Huckabee, but he strikes me as someone I will never vote for. That said, the man makes a funny political ad.

It reminds me of that time Bob Dole went on Letterman after he lost against Clinton. He was a humorless bore during the election but after he lost he was hilarious (creepy Viagra ads notwithstanding).

Is it possible for a serious contender (which Huckabee clearly is not) to stop being so serious during an election and still remain a serious contender?

Last night a base was stolen, so America gets a taco. America, you can claim your taco at Taco Bell next Tuesday between the hours of 2 and 5 PM.

Just writing that sentence made me laugh so hard I could barely see the screen. So stupid. So funny.