Truth or Poe? You decide:
Republicans Vote To Repeal Obama-Backed Bill That Would Destroy Asteroid Headed For Earth
Truth or Poe:
February 2, 2011
12 Comments | 
Humor, Poe's Law | Tagged: Humor, Poe's Law | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
Septic tank leadership
February 2, 2011
Septic Tank - where the big clumps float to the top - SeptiCare image
Former Sen. Jake Garn, R-Utah, used to tell a story he claimed he first heard from then-Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyoming.
“The seniority system in Congress is a lot like a septic tank. You know: All the big clumps rise to the top.”
Not sure why, but that story sprang to mind when I saw this headline:
Michele Bachmann Rises as Sarah Palin Falls
10 Comments | Humor, Politics | Tagged: Humor, Politics | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
The future: Promise, or threat?
January 30, 2011Rather sweeping changes coming in Advanced Placement courses — World History, German and French for the coming year, Spanish and Latin for 2012-13, and probably Biology. Changes for U.S. History (APUSH) got delayed however.
At AP’s website where teachers can look at the proposed changes, three quotes alternate on the first page, including one from our resident ghost, George Santayana:
We must welcome the future, remembering that soon it will be the past.
Promise? Threat? Meant to cheer, or strike fear and doubt?
Or is it just a good line from Santayana in an ambiguous situation?
(You’ll find the quote here: The Philosophy of George Santayana, Northwestern University Press, 1940, p. 560)
2 Comments | Advanced Placement, Education, Famous quotes, History, Humor, Quotes, Santayana's ghost | Tagged: Advanced Placement, Education, Famous quotes, History, Humor, Quotes, Santayana's ghost | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Not over Up and Over It!
January 30, 2011Nearly six million people have watched this — surely you’re among them:
Up and Over It! Odd name for a dance company (would it be suitable for a synth pop band?). Suzanne Cleary and Peter Harding, veterans of Irish step-dancing megaproductions.
But, did you click over to see their Facebook site, or their regular website? This dance team takes dance in Ireland well beyond the range of “Riverdance,” and makes it really entertaining.
Acclaimed Irish Dancers Suzanne Cleary & Peter Harding blow the brains out of the Irish Dance show genre in a multi-media extravaganza. This brand new show liberates Irish Dance from its velvet-clad, tin-whistle-blowing, diddly-idleness and drags it kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. Inspired by hip-hop theatre, contemporary dance and electro-pop, Cleary and Harding present their alternative take on the Irish dance show format, asking what’s next for the 90s phenomenon we all loved or loathed?
Have you looked? A sampler of their work:
Story telling by artists, but in media underused and underappreciated, probably because of the difficulties to work in them:
Most of the time, it’s just good fun to watch. Isn’t that meaning enough these days?
(Sheesh! Riverdance was ’90s? High school kids today won’t remember it.)
1 Comment | Art, Humor | Tagged: Art, dance, Humor, Ireland, Peter Harding, Suzanne Cleary, Up and Over It! | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Would Albuquerque and Santa Fe be part of Texas, but for Millard Fillmore?
January 9, 2011Different take on Millard Fillmore here, at Duke City Fix (“Duke City” is a nickname for Albuquerque).
Republic of Texas, showing boundaries that would have inlcuded much of New Mexico in Texas - Wikipedia
2 Comments | History, Humor, Maps, Millard Fillmore, Texas | Tagged: History, Humor, Maps, Millard Fillmore, New Mexico, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
A day that will live in obscurity
January 8, 2011Except of course for you, Dear Reader, who knew that January 7 is the anniversary of the birth of Millard Fillmore, our 13th president.
But, did Brian Crane know that when he penned this Pickles strip for January 7?
Pickles cartoon strip, for January 7, 2011 - Brian Crane, Washington Post Writers Group
Could it really be just coincidence that Crane picked Fillmore for the punchline, on Fillmore’s birthday? Or is it really that great an inside joke?
1 Comment | Cartoons, History, Humor, Millard Fillmore | Tagged: Brian Crane, Cartoons, Coincidence, Comics, History, Humor, Millard Fillmore, Pickles | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Feeling like you’re ready to fly? Not here, Comrade!
December 30, 2010
No Walking Off Roofs! Photo by Chris Jeffries
Some warning signs really do need an explanation.
But, what if your name is Peter Pan? What if you have some Pixie Dust?
Photo by Chris Jeffries, taken at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia.
No, not that one; this Chris Jeffries.
Leave a Comment » | History, Humor, Travel | Tagged: History, Humor, St. Petersburg, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Unfortunate juxtaposition in bookstore display
December 29, 2010
Unfortunate display juxtaposition of President Bush's book and latest Wimpy Kid book
Bush gets a bigger discount that Wimpy Kid?
5 Comments | Books, Humor | Tagged: Books, George W. Bush, Humor, Ugly Truth, Wimpy Kid | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Atheists got no song, no hymnal but the blues?
December 28, 2010Tip of the old scrub brush to Disciple/Methodist David Bates, with whom I used to enjoy singing bass on the back row of the choir.
From a 2010 production of Austin City Limits, Steve Martin joins the Steep Canyon Rangers in an a capella singing of the entire atheist hymnal.
Atheists have a very witty lyricist.
Update: “Austin City Limits” asserted its copyright on that version (might be available at their website). Here’s the song from a handheld camera at Merlefest, courtesy of Freedom Tuners:
Also via Boing-Boing; credit where credit is due.
6 Comments | Humor, Music, Religion | Tagged: Atheism, Austin City Limits, Humor, Music, Religion, Steep Canyon Rangers, Steve Martin | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Best law firm holiday card, from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
December 20, 2010Forget the imaginary War on Christmas and all the Fa-la-olderal surrounding that fight.What about the greeting from your company’s law firm? I understand this card, from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, won the Wall Street Journal’s designation as best law firm card of 2010. Yes?
Apologies — it will play when you open the thing — I’ve put it below the fold so you don’t get surprised.
1 Comment | Holidays, Humor, Law, Life | Tagged: Holiday Card, Holidays, Humor, Law Firms, Life, Manatt Phelps & Phillips | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Protest signs with high qualifications
November 28, 2010From John Stewart’s march for rational discussion, came this sign:
Protest sign from John Stewart's D.C. rally: Evidence based change, after peer review
That would take more than three cups of tea, certainly.
One of dozens of witty signs from that rally.
Tip of the old scrub brush to Kenny, near Beijing.
1 Comment | Dissent, Humor, Politics | Tagged: Dissent, Humor, Politics, Protest Signs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Going to the, um, wall, for your grandmother
November 20, 2010What I really like about this story is that the guy did it for his grandmother, to pull her out of a funk.
Sacha Goldberger's loving portrait of his grandmother, who happens to be a superhero.
A few years ago, French photographer Sacha Goldberger found his 91-year-old Hungarian grandmother Frederika feeling lonely and depressed. To cheer her up, he suggested that they shoot a series of outrageous photographs in unusual costumes, poses, and locations. Grandma reluctantly agreed, but once they got rolling, she couldn’t stop smiling.
Frederika was born in Budapest 20 years before World War II. During the war, at the peril of her own life, she courageously saved the lives of ten people. When asked how, Goldberger told us “she hid the Jewish people she knew, moving them around to different places everyday.” As a survivor of Nazism and Communism, she then immigrated away from Hungary to France, forced by the Communist regime to leave her homeland illegally or face death.
Aside from great strength, Frederika has an incredible sense of humor, one that defies time and misfortune. She is funny and cynical, always mocking the people that she loves.
With the unexpected success of this series, titled “Mamika,” Goldberger created a MySpace page for his grandmother. She now has over 2,200 friends and receives messages like: “You’re the grandmother that I have dreamed of, would you adopt me?” and ” You made my day, I hope to be like you at your age.”
Initially, she did not understand why all these people wrote to congratulate her. Then, little by little, she realized that her story conveyed a message of hope and joy. In all those pictures, she posed with the utmost enthusiasm. Now, after the set, Goldberger shares that his grandmother has never shown even a hint of depression. Perhaps it’s because her story serves some sort of purpose. That through the warm words of newfound friends, she’s reminded of just how lucky she is to be alive.
Several great photos here, at My Modern Met.
Who wouldn’t admire a guy who makes a superhero out of his grandmother?
Going to the wall for your grandmother -- Sacha Goldberger photo.
More, and resources:
- Sacha Goldberger’s photography site (in French — don’t let that put you off; even if you don’t speak French, it’s great). Some of the best work involves a red chicken. Chaplinesque comedy at its absolute best — no captions offered, or needed. (Hmmmm. If you click on the “book” part of the site, it comes up in English. I think.)
Leave a Comment » | Family, History, Humor, Life, photography | Tagged: Family, Humor, Life, photography | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Hams squared: Presidents left holding the ham
November 13, 2010You could call it art.
Millard Fillmore, holding a ham - by the artist known as Bijijoo
Perhaps it is related to the rain and the clouds: An Oregon artist painted portraits of the U.S. presidents, each holding a pink ham. A big ham.
No kidding. Salon explained:
As it turns out, “The Presidential Ham” is both real and utterly hilarious. Since 2006, Oregon artist bijijoo (real name: M.T. Horne) has painted pictures of each president holding a giant, pink piece of pork. Some, like Abraham Lincoln, are fiercely protective of their meat; others, like Richard Nixon, look proud and dismissive. But each image has a very clear and important message: I am a president, and I am holding this ham.
Some people may be suspected of having too much time on their hands. Or too much ham.
No, Millard Fillmore was not the first president to put ham into the White House.
Tip of the old scrub brush to Dr. Bumsted.
3 Comments | Art, Humor, Millard Fillmore, Presidents | Tagged: Art, Ham, Humor, Millard Fillmore, Portraits, Presidents | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Back to the Eisenhower era? It’d be a smash
November 9, 2010Sen.-elect Rand Paul wants to take us back to the Eisenhower era? Too much regulation, “strangling business,” he says?
See what the Eisenhower-era Chevrolet does versus the Obama-era Chevrolet — Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash tests:
There. Feel safer?
Tip of the old scrub brush to Mary Almanza.
38 Comments | History, Humor, Politics, Regulation | Tagged: Government, History, Humor, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Politics, Regulation | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Badly-needed fable for our times
November 6, 2010When you’re fed up with the hysteria that Glenn Beck offers instead of true history, when your neighbor complains about how government regulation should “get off my lawn,” point them to this story.
It’s truer than Beck, righter than Limbaugh, and it deserves a wider audience:
[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdhTumEUBN8&feature=player_embedded]
Tip of the old scrub brush to Crooks & Liars Video Cafe, John Gray in Cincinnati, Ohio (whoever he is), and to Thom Hartmann, the performer of the piece, who seems like a regular Joe on the level.
A transcript, below the fold:
4 Comments | Accuracy, Government, History, History blogs, Humor, Politics | Tagged: A Day in the Life, Accuracy, Government, History, Humor, Joe Middle-Class Republican, Politics, Radio, Thom Hartmann | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 