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Top 10 Videos of 2011: 8. “Terrorist on Flight 77”

December 29, 2011 | 1 comment

No. 8Number 8 on this year’s big countdown is what might be called this year’s “friend-otism” entry. Previous years’ lists have occasionally contained entries which featured, as I mentioned at the time, one or more people whom I know personally. This time I’m kicking the friend factor up a notch.

Among the actors in the following video is Assaf Cohen. To say I know Assaf personally doesn’t quite cover it: we have been friends since we were kids. Assaf and I grew up doing summer theater together during our high school years. To this day he remains one of my closest friends — one I even get to see fairly often, since we both live in Los Angeles.

More about Assaf in a moment. First, here he is with Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant (Lt. Dangle and Deputy Travis Junior, respectively, on Reno 911!) in a segment from Funny or Die Presents… called “Terrorist on Flight 77.”

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In the Spirit of FUPenguin

April 23, 2011 | 2 comments

catMy high school classmate Eileen posted this picture on Facebook the other day, saying

I’m being kicked out of my chair but how could I possibly be upset?

My reply:

Easy.

Hey, kitty — I guess just having your own faux-lambswool rectangular pizza-crust cushion to lie on doesn’t befit your station, huh? You have to put it on a chair that is not yours, without seeking so much as a momentary nod of permission, and flop yourself down into a smug, entitled, croissant-shaped little snooze, is that how it is? NOT COOL, CAT. Your attitude is one big three-letter enigma, spelled W-T-F. Read the rest of this entry »


Facebook Envy

January 31, 2011 | 5 comments

A few days ago on TIME.com’s Healthland page, there appeared an article by one Maia Szalavitz, having to do with how Facebook makes you feel shitty about yourself. In an act both altruistic and mischievously ironic, a former schoolmate of mine shared the article on Facebook. Nicely done, my friend!

Ms. Salavitz’s lead-in:

Have other people’s blithe Facebook updates ever made you feel like a total loser? Or have you ever felt that your best friend’s life is perfectly easy and joyful, while yours is nothing but struggle and anxiety? You’re not alone. Everybody has these experiences, finds an illuminating new study [PDF] from Stanford University, and they tend to exacerbate feelings of loneliness, isolation and dissatisfaction in an already alienating society.

I found this somewhat reassuring, since I definitely identify with the syndrome. I can’t even guess how many times I’ve perused my Facebook newsfeed and thought something like, “Look how all my friends are so happy, thriving and successful, looking great and raising adorable kids. I am so staying away from the reunion.”

smugly happy family

The Stanford study is said to have been inspired by the “Facebook envy” experience, but it doesn’t address it Read the rest of this entry »


Top Ten Videos of 2010: 3. Garfunkel & Oates, “Pregnant Women Are Smug”

January 8, 2011 | 2 comments

G&O_logo

G&O logo

Keen observers will have already spotted that Garfunkel & Oates appeared in the “Laugh It Out” section of the C&B blogroll several weeks ago. Like one of my previous list-ees, original credit for bringing G&O to my attention is due to the WTF with Marc Maron podcast — specifically, a live episode from early 2010 that featured Kate Micucci (a.k.a. “Oates,” the brunette one). Her abundant charm came through in her conversation with Maron, and I found her solo voice-and-ukelele ditties delightful.1 Googling for more, I discovered her having formed a duo with Riki Lindhome (a.k.a. “Garfunkel,” the blonde one) and I was an immediate fan.

G&O make what they call “couch videos” of new songs they write and post them on YouTube. My listing the following video of “Pregnant Women are Smug” at #3 in my 2010 Top Ten is a little bit of a cheat, because their original YouTube video of the song appeared in April of 2009. But in 2010 they made their first national TV appearances — three, in fact, on The Tonight Show — and this is my favorite of them.

UPDATE (3/20/2011): NBC, in their infinite wisdom, has taken down the G&O Tonight Show videos to make way for newer Leno clips. You suck, NBC. To fill the video void, I’m sticking in the original 2009 “couch video” of the song. Thanks to commenter Siobhan for alerting me to the situation.

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Top Ten Videos of 2010: 7. Funny or Die, “The Committee Ep 1: Bad Dog” [NSFW]

December 31, 2010 | Comment

The big countdown continues! Like its immediate predecessor, my number seven video of 2010 comes from the wacky web-video wellspring Funny or Die. Like both number eight and number nine on this list, it directly involves a friend of mine — but, be it known that it is the last video in the 2010 list that does so. The point of the list is to share videos that I really enjoyed, not to plug for my friends or try to seem cool by association.1

Another important detail about this video: if my #7 video is NSFW (and it is), this one is very NSFW. I’m just sayin’.

So here it is, featuring Rich Sommer (Mad Men), Alison Brie (Mad Men, Community), and my friend Kathryn Joosten (The West Wing, Wedding Crashers, Desperate Housewives, etc).

I’ll tell you one thing: I’ve heard Kathy say far dirtier stuff.


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