Chess

I like to play chess.

My ability is slightly above that of the average chimpanzee, but I like to play anyway. I just start up Chessmaster 9000, and choose an opponent with a rating lower than Circuit City's stock price.

Here are some nice online resources for learning and playing chess.

Instant Karma

When it comes to music, there was no one more interesting than John Lennon.

Unfortunately, there were no two people less interesting than John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

Still, this was a good one.

Wal-Mart

Each year in the U.S., on the day after Thanksgiving, retail stores open their doors early - and holiday shoppers run through like savages.

Not sure why.

This year, somebody got trampled to death.

Society has hit a new low.

Rosie O'Donnell

You might be feeling a little bummed out by Rosie O'Donnell's lousy variety special last night. It's not like absolutely nothing good came from it - the comments on this page are HILARIOUS!

The Electronic Brain

Here's a 1973 magazine ad for the Electronic Brain - a very basic calculator (by today's standards) made by Commodore.

It is actually a Minuteman 3, one of the earliest pocket calculators. Hard to believe, but these were so unique in 1973 that we would play with them for hours. (We didn't have this one, we had one of the original Texas Instruments models).

Also hard to believe - adjusting for inflation, $49.95 is almost $250 in today's dollars. These days, more sophisticated calculators are routinely given away for free.

If you're interested in old calculators, here is a great site with pictures and descriptions.

Vincent Price

There are a lot of fine Thanksgiving traditions: the Macy's parade, football games in Detroit and Dallas, Miracle on 34th Street (the beginning of it took place during Thanksgiving), the National Dog Show, and the Vincent Price Thanksgiving Special.

Vince McMahon

Here's Vince McMahon attempting to sing at the 1987 WWF "Slammy" awards.

Vince is introduced by the future Governor of Minnesota, and yes, that's the Hulkster himself on lead guitar. The band is made up mainly of WWF "superstars" pretending to play.

It's Golem Time!

Our sister site - It's Golem Time! finally has some content. Go look at it before the various copyright holders being infringed upon - shut it down.

President-Elect Obama

Perhaps you've recently seen Barack Obama, and wondered about this whole "Office of the President-Elect" business.

As you might have guessed, it doesn't officially exist.

Howdy Doody

Here are clips from the last episode of Howdy Doody in 1960.

If you haven't seen it before, this is the first time heretofore silent clown Clarabell spoke on camera. What does he say? If you don't already know, I won't spoil the surprise. (It happens around 4:30 in the clip).

There is another surprise after the credits - a few of the original NBC bumpers, including the one for the show that replaced Howdy.

Saturday Night Live

Do you realize there is almost no good reason to watch Saturday Night Live anymore? I'm not just saying that because it's lousy (which it is). All of the good sketches are available in their entirety - for free - on Hulu by Sunday morning. So why stay up?

Now there's another reason to watch SNL on Hulu - they're showing sketches that didn't make the live broadcast. I guess they're from dress rehearsal. This particular sketch isn't funnier than anything else from last night's show - but at least you haven't seen it.

30 Rocks

Let's check out the latest episode of "30 Rocks" - courtesy of our friends from Sesame Street.

Burt Ward

Here's Burt Ward (TV's "Robin the Boy Wonder" from Batman) performing "Boy Wonder I Love You" on a record I am told was written by none other than Frank Zappa. (It was 1966, so he probably knocked this out during the "Freak Out!" sessions).

This manages to be both horrible, ill-advised, and creepy - the trifecta, if you will, of bad vanity records. (Was it intended to be a joke?) Stick around for the ending, when "Boy Wonder" clarifies something we're all thinking about the source of the bizarre fan letter he's reading.

[Courtesy AprilWinchell.com]

The Luchagors

Amy Dumas (above) is a former WWE Women's Champion.

She is also the lead singer for a rock band called The Luchagors. Here's a song of theirs called "White Boy" (the video looks like a fan-made job, but it gets the point across.)

I think it's pretty good. I mean, am I the crazy one - it's good, right?

Bee Gees

This story is a month old, but I only just discovered that "Stayin' Alive" by The Bee Gees contains - ironically - an ideal beat (103 beats per minute) for keeping cardiac arrest patients alive.

Is this a phenomenal coincidence - or is it just the usual bullshit non-story you find in typical British newspapers? You decide.

And if you're feeling a bit pokey, here's the video.

The Saga of Frank Sinatra, Jr.

We wrap up "Spawn of Sinatra" week with Drew Friedman's hilarious "The Saga of Frank Sinatra, Jr." - which ran in the October, 1985 issue of National Lampoon.

We've looked at Friedman's work before. He was one of my favorite cartoonists in college. I used to attempt his technique by shading the doodles in the backs of my textbooks with little dots (...with mixed results, I might add).

This one is especially biting; I've never forgotten the "He sure ain't his old man" line at the bottom of page one.

Nancy Sinatra

Continuing our tribute to the Sinatra Spawn - today we look at Nancy Sinatra, who was actually quite good.

This song - Bang Bang - was somewhat ahead of its time, I think. Well, Quentin Tarrantino thought highly enough of it to put it in Kill Bill, anyway.

Interestingly, Sonny Bono wrote this for Cher in 1966, and the single sold over 3 million copies. Sinatra's version was obscure until Kill Bill, now its the one everybody plays.

Monty Python on YouTube

There is a new - official - Monty Python channel on YouTube.

It features high-quality clips from the Flying Circus series, their various movies, and TV specials. It also includes some original material - including (so far) new interviews with Eric Idle and John Cleese.

In case you're looking for a good starting point, I've always considered this one of the funniest sketches ever. (Too bad the TV version doesn't have a proper ending).

What If?

What if Frank Sinatra, Jr. sang the theme from Gumby?

[Courtesy AprilWinchell.com]

FlipMyText.com

˙ɯoɔ˙ʇxǝʇʎɯdıןɟ ʇɐ sʞןoɟ pooƃ ǝɥʇ ʎq pǝʇɔǝɹɹoɔ uǝǝq sɐɥ ƃuıɯoɔʇɹoɥs sıɥʇ 'ʎןןnɟʞuɐɥʇ

˙pɐǝɥ ɹnoʎ uo ƃuıpuɐʇs ǝןıɥʍ ǝdʎʇ oʇ noʎ ʍoןןɐ oʇ sɯǝʇsʎs ƃuıʇɐɹǝdo ʇsoɯ ɟo ʎʇıןıqɐuı ǝɥʇ sı 'sɹǝʇndɯoɔ uɹǝpoɯ ʇnoqɐ ǝɯ pǝɹǝɥʇoq sʎɐʍןɐ sɐɥ ʇɐɥʇ sƃuıɥʇ ǝɥʇ ɟo ǝuO

The Soup

Here's a funny clip from The Soup that pokes fun at a ridiculous sequence from a recent WWE wrestling show.

Funny - I used to watch Talk Soup all the time, but I rarely ever watch this show.

Rodney Dangerfield

My Dad rarely stayed up past the 11 o'clock news, but he would often make an exception if he knew Rodney Dangerfield was appearing on The Tonight Show.

Here's why.

Lindsay Lohan

Let's watch and learn as Lindsay Lohan gets hit with a big bag of flour in France.

PETA was behind the attack because Lindsay is wearing fur here... NOT because she likes to munch on beaver - as some have speculated.

Note: They keep changing the link, so you might want to view it while you can.

TV Spinoffs and Crossovers

In the good old days (the 1970's), many successful TV series were actually spin-offs from other successful TV series. For example, Mork and Mindy and Laverne and Shirley were successful spin-offs from Happy Days (above). But did you know that Happy Days was a spin-off from Love, American Style..? You did, huh? Well, did you know Happy Days also spun off three really crappy shows - Blansky's Beauties, Out of the Blue, and Joanie Loves Chachi...?

This site is all about TV spinoffs and crossovers. Enjoy.

Pittsburgh Street-View

A group of artists - anticipating the Google Street-View truck driving down their Pittsburgh street - staged some ... I guess you'd call it performance art - to celebrate.

It's mostly silly shit like the woman dressed like a ham (above).

Mad TV

Today we awake to the news that Mad TV - the show responsible for giving the world Artie Lange and Frank Caliendo - is about to bite the proverbial dust after 14 seasons on FOX.

Mad had a few good jokes (and cast members like Nicole Sullivan) in its early days, but it's mainly functioned as a Grade-Z version of Saturday Night Live for the past decade.

I looked for a funny clip to accompany this post, but all I could find was Mad's parody of Heroes. Enjoy!

Morning Joe - F Bomb

Let's all watch as MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Scarborough drops a rather large F-bomb on his LIVE national news show.

The stunt earned him a permanent seven-second delay from the network.

It's Supper Time

Come on home, son - it's Supper Time.

The Iron Shiek (Testimony on Behalf of...)

This clip is from 1984-85 or so.

Apparently, the Iron Shiek has run afoul of the law in Connecticut on assault charges, so lawyer Mickey Sherman thinks it's a good idea to videotape some of his WWF friends as character witnesses. I guess since they are "character" witnesses, this explains why they give their testimony "in character"? (Fred Blassie calls the judge a "pencil neck geek").

Lots of great old WWF managers, announcer Gene Okerlund (making the dubious claim that he worked for NBC in 1968), and a surprise celebrity witness at the end.

Kicked Out of The Late Show

Here's an interesting story of someone being kicked out of the audience at Late Show with David Letterman. Apparently, they ask for false enthusiasm, and then when you show it - they give you the boot.

Neti Pot

Three cheers for the Neti Pot - a thing you can stick up your nose to flush out your nasal cavity.

This video is especially alarming because the woman using the "neti pot" (which really looks like just a small tea pot filled with salt water) - acts like a robot before sticking it in.

Paul Shaffer

Here's a funny sketch from Late Show with David Letterman featuring Paul Shaffer.

Paul really did write "It's Raining Men" you know.

Japanese Houseplant's Blog

In Japan (where else?) - there exists a houseplant (Midori-San) that writes a daily blog.

It's not much of a blog - mostly just links to YouTube, with the occasional wheezy essay on old comic books, Devo, and wrestling.

Pringles

I seem to remember a Pringles commercial from years ago, where the little guy on the can (Julius Pringles, aka Mr. Pringles) is rapping along to House of Pain's "Jump Around".

That must have just been some kind of crazy dream, right?

Wrong.

Shep vs. Nader

Pity poor Ralph Nader.

He's just been reduced to irrelevant, and now he's being badgered by the biggest asshat in cable news.

Tivo

If you have Tivo, you might enjoy reading the Ten Things You Didn't Know You Could Do with the thing.

CNN's Hologram Interview

OK, what was the phoniest thing on television yesterday (besides the staged photo-ops of Oprah and Jesse Jackson crying during Obama's acceptance speech)...?

It was CNN's ill-conceived "virtual interview" with a "hologram" reporter. It was a pointless waste of money, and worst of all it made Tim Russert spin in his grave.

And Now The Bad News...

...we'll be seeing a lot more of this crummy impression.

Election Day Predictions

McCain ... 247
Obama ... 291
Hogan ... 0

Barack Obama is your new World Champion.

Don't Forget - Big Day Tomorrow!

Tomorrow night is when we will finally take all that political crap off the right-hand sidebar of the site.

Mark your calendars!

Krazy Kars

Everybody loves silly car designs. See? Fun, right? And how about this one? Good times, indeed.

Well, here's a company that makes nothing BUT silly-looking cars. They're completely crazy - they run on WIND power! They are the proud designers of the silliest (real) car of all-time. That's it above (yes, that's a car, not a pencil sharpener).

Victoria Jackson

Here's former SNL-er Victoria Jackson making an ass of herself on The O'Reilly Factor.

Red Box

Have you ever tried Red Box? That's those big red vending machines at the supermarket where you can rent "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" for a dollar.

It seems Universal is trying to run Red Box out of business. The reason? They want to produce their own version.

Devo

"Come Back Jonee" is one of the better songs from Devo's debut album. It's about John F. Kennedy, although you wouldn't know it from the lyrics (or the spelling).

According to the commentary track on a DVD release of this video - bassist Gerald Casale states the bowlers in this video were "local alcoholics". Enjoy.