Mary, Call the American Embassy

The all-time funniest SNL skit.

The acting is flawless, incomparable to SNL's current incarnation.

Books on the nightstand

Kings of Infinite Space by Jim Hynes
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
The Method Actors by Carl Shuker
Rising Up and Rising Down (1 vol. compilation) by William T. Vollmann
Mawrdew Czgowchwz by James McCourt