Thursday, August 10, 2006

Bond Issue

Just got an advance copy of Mad Magazine #469, which I think comes out next week. It has a cover with Barry Bonds (only with Alfred's face, natch) and inside is brilliance. Inside is a three-page poem by longtime Mad scribe Frank Jacobs about Bonds and the steroid scandal that is as clever and funny as anything that's ever been in that publication. Let me know if you see it online anywhere so I can link to it. Otherwise, pick up the issue and take a look.

• Posted at 7:51 PM · LINK

Take Our Advice...At Any Price...

Before you order the forthcoming DVD collection of Magilla Gorilla, read this post from my comrade, Earl Kress.

• Posted at 7:15 PM · LINK

Today's Political Thought

One of the dumber political discussions I currently see on the Internet is whether Joe Lieberman should withdraw from the Connecticut senate race for the good of the Democratic Party and who might be able to convince him to do this. It's dumb because it's never going to happen...and this is not even a criticism of Joe Lieberman. It's simply the way politics is: Elected officials (or even people who come close to becoming elected officials) act out of personal preservation. They may say they're putting the party or their country ahead of their own personal needs and desires but no one ever does and it's silly to expect it.

Richard Nixon was especially obvious about this. Time and again, especially during the Watergate scandal, he'd say something like, "I will make my decision based on what's best for America." And then he'd make his decision based on what he thought was best for Richard Nixon. Once in a while, they corresponded but never was self-interest anything but the first consideration.

That's how they all function. Each and every one of them, including the good guys.

Because politicians' careers are all based on a simple premise: Electing me is what's good for the people. Joe Lieberman has spent his entire political life selling the notion that the best thing for the voters of Connecticut is to elect Joe Lieberman. He must believe it. Even if deep down, he thought Ned Lamont or the Republican candidate (whose name few will ever learn) would do a better job...well, that's the kind of thought that never makes it to the surface.

Lieberman may withdraw from the race but if he does, it'll be because the polls and his campaign coffers are low and he decides he'd be better off getting out and looking like a hero to some than staying in and looking like a loser to all. Maybe someone will even offer him something tempting, like 72 virgins or a new career. (I like the suggestion I saw on one blog that Fox News should hire him to replace Alan Colmes on Hannity and Colmes. He'd be perfect for that, defending Liberal values but never in a way that offends those who think Liberals do the work of Satan.)

But right now, the polls aren't out, his campaign seems to have enough money — maybe even to hire someone who knows how to set up a website — and he stands a very good chance of retaining his seat in the senate. And discussing who might be able to persuade the man to throw himself on a grenade for the good of the party is a waste of time because he's not going to do it. Nobody would.

• Posted at 6:59 PM · LINK

E-Mail Fraud

In the last twenty-four hours, four different friends have sent me pretty much the same e-mail...

Just a reminder...from July 12, 2006, all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sale calls. YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS. To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five years. HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS.

Scary. But in less than twenty seconds, I found the following over at www.snopes.com, the website that tracks urban legends and hoaxes...

Despite dire warnings about the imminent release of cell phone numbers to telemarketers that continue to be circulated via e-mail year after year, no such thing is about to occur, nor do cell phone users have to register their cell phone numbers with the national Do Not Call registry before a soon-to-pass deadline to head off an onslaught of telemarketing calls. The panic-inducing e-mails (which circulate especially widely every January or June, since many versions of the warning list the end of those months as a cut-off date for registering cell phone numbers with the national Do Not Call registry) have grown out of a misunderstanding about the proposed creation of a wireless directory assistance service.

You can read the full debunking on this page but basically it says it ain't true. As far as I can tell, the Snopes people are always right about this kind of thing. When they're wrong, it tends to get corrected quickly. This particular page is more than six months old and includes links to other sources.

I get an awful lot of these. People are always sending me the essay on politics by George Carlin that Snopes says Carlin didn't write. Or they send me the comedy monologue about 9/11 by Robin Williams that Snopes says Robin Williams didn't perform. Or they send me something else that they could have found out easily is of at least questionable veracity.

Please...I appreciate the desire to share something fun or important with your friends. But before you pass on some message to everyone in your address book, take the few seconds necessary to do a search over at the Snopes site. If they say it's bogus, it probably is.

• Posted at 1:31 AM · LINK

Freberg News

Stan Freberg's receiving an award this Saturday. Read all about it.

• Posted at 12:12 AM · LINK

Today's Video Link

Among the things we relentlessly plug on this website is Totally Looped, an improv show that occurs once a month (at the moment) up in West Hollywood...and which is being performed this (Thursday) evening. The way it works is that the director, Vince Waldron, picks out interesting film clips. The cast, which has not seen the clips in advance, has to improvise new dialogue right on the spot.

We have here five and a half minutes from a recent Totally Looped that should give you some idea of how fast and funny the improvisers are. Tomorrow night is their special "Salute to Alfred Hitchcock," which will involve them destroying some beloved moments from that director's films. If you want to see them do this in person, the info is over on this website. And now, here's your free sample...

• Posted at 12:08 AM · LINK