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Top Ten Videos of 2009: 5. The Onion, “In The Know: Giant Money Hole”

December 18, 2009 | Permalink

Another reliable fake-news tonic for the real news during 2009 has been, of course, The Onion. In my opinion, The Onion’s video segments are a bit of a hit-or-miss proposition, but one subset of them cracks me up pretty consistently: “In The Know,” which sends up the kind of four or five-way pundit scrum the cable news outlets so adore.

A fine example is number five on my top ten videos of 2009, “In The Know: Giant Money Hole,” which festoons the economic bailout in absurdity. Read the rest of this entry »


Top Ten Videos of 2009: 6. Funny or Die, “A Gaythering Storm”

December 17, 2009 | Permalink

In the early part of 2009, American TV airwaves were polluted by a particular commercial that became known as the “Gathering Storm” ad. Made by a group calling itself the National Organization for Marriage, it was a clumsy, mendacious message of anti-gay fear-mongering. I don’t care to put the original ad here on my own blog, so if you haven’t seen or don’t immediately recall it you can fill yourself in by clicking this link.

The ad could have been a milestone of unintentional comedy were it not for the fact that so many Americans actually buy its central falsehood that same-sex marriage could impose anything whatsoever onto heterosexual marriages and families. Needless to say, the ad’s overblown, portentous bigotry practically begged to be parodied. I made calls to a few filmmaker friends with a mind toward producing one myself, but to do it right ended up being logistically impossible.

Fortunately, the popular comedy site Funny or Die soon rolled out their version, which more than filled the comedic void. Entitled “A Gaythering Storm,” it comes in at number six on my list of the top ten videos of 2009. Read the rest of this entry »


Top Ten Videos of 2009: 8. “Learning is Fundamental”

December 15, 2009 | 1 comment

What’s funny about the current economic crisis? At the root of it, nothing. I have spent most of 2009 as one of the who-knows-how-many millions struggling with unemployment and dwindling resources. One side effect of unemployment is that it gives you additional time for pondering (a mixed blessing, to be sure). I’ve periodically wondered whether the crumbling of public education in America is the chicken or the egg (so to speak) relative to our national economic woes… which leads me to number eight on my Casey Kasem-esque video countdown, the Colbert Report clip “The Word: Learning is Fundamental.” Read the rest of this entry »


Life, Liberty, and the Denial of Benefits

October 16, 2009 | Permalink

Over at Scholars & Rogues, Rick Herschlag has spun out a post so good it gave me one of those moments of “damn, I wish I’d written that!” What’s the word for that — writeolization? Pen envy?

I want to keep the health insurance I have—which is no health insurance. I was dropped when I had a heart attack. My insurance company called it a preexisting condition, and they were right. Heart attacks have been around a very long time. The important thing is that I treasure my insurance company’s free market right to maximize profits at all moral and ethical costs. I would willingly die defending that right. And now, finally, I may get that chance.

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Derek Fired as Coach of His Fantasy Football Team

December 31, 2008 | Permalink

EJ Junior, Sr. Junior High Grumpy Hippos owner Derek confirmed at a press conference Thursday morning that he has fired himself as the team’s head coach. The Hippos finished the 2008 Whiplash league season in last place, and rumors of a coaching change had been circulating in recent weeks.

“I am appreciative of the passion and commitment I have provided during my time as our head coach,” Derek announced, “but the performance of them team has not been up to our standard as an organization, and we owe it to our players and the fans to correct that. That’s why I’ve chosen to seek new leadership at the head coaching position.”

Derek joins the ranks of coaches fired immediately following the just-finished regular season, including the Cleveland Browns’ Romeo Crennel, the New York Jets’ Eric Mangini, and the Denver Broncos’ Mike Shanahan.

Cornered in the parking lot as he left the team offices, Derek at first declined to comment on his termination, but upon further prodding proved unable to contain his feelings. Read the rest of this entry »


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