Bowling Trophy Blooper

I saw this clip on one of those Best Damn Sports shows last night. It's very funny, but the timing is so dead-on, it's hard to tell if it's legit.

First, we have the announcer (Chris Schenkel) repeatedly hectoring the guy to say "Say goodbye". Then we have a piece of crap trophy, the "Larry Fine" double-take from the guys on the left when it breaks, and the practiced look of comic bemusement from the bowler as the announcer reads the credits.

It all looks like something you might see on a "Super Dave Osborne" special or something.

InMirror

Perhaps you've noticed from previous postings, that I'm fascinated by lookalikes.

I just found a site that's entirely devoted to the topic - InMirror.com. Most are good, some are great. For example, did you know that the famous celebrities in the above photo are actually two entirely different people?

The Cleveland Spiders

I was kind of hoping baseball's woeful Washington Nationals would go into a second-half depressive funk, and break the major-league record for most losses by a team. (Sadly, it appears as though they have some fight left in them, and will likely finish the season as merely the worst team in baseball this year).

Who was the worst team of all-time, you ask? Surely it was the '62 New York Mets (40-120), right? Wrong! Well, wrong if you count the 19th Century (few people do).

The worst team was the '99 (as in 1899) Cleveland Spiders, who went 20-134. Even more pathetic, they were 11-101 on the road. How could they have played 112 road games in a 154-game season? Easy - they were so bad, visiting teams refused to travel to Cleveland to play them! They finished a whopping 84 games out of first place.

You can read about why they were so bad here.

And while we're at it - here's my nominee for worst professional team name of all-time.

Gordon Waller

Am told Gordon Waller (of Peter and Gordon) passed away on July 17.

Not much to say about Gordon. The duo was one of my favorite acts from the British Invasion - but it was almost impossible to discern any difference in talent or contribution between the two; they both sang close harmonies and played guitar. (I guess Peter gets a slight nod because his sister's boyfriend wrote most of the duo's hit songs).

Well, here's one he didn't write.

Raymond J. Johnson, Jr.

Here's something - Raymond J. Johnson, Jr. (aka comic Bill Saluga) has his own YouTube channel.

So far, just the one video. It contains what you might expect - the quintessential Raymond J. Johnson Jr routine, which always begins with someone calling him "Johnson".

The bit was reasonably popular in the '70s and '80s... culminating in a novelty record called Dancin' Johnson in 1979. I seem to remember Saluga doing the song on The Merv Griffin Show at the time - in front of a mostly bemused audience filled with Hollywood tourists.

And don't forget - Johnson's schtick was referenced in Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody".

2000 AD

The Golem's current favorite comic is 2000 AD - an exciting title from Britain - which has published 1600-something issues weekly (more or less) since 1977. It's the comic that gave the world Judge Dredd.

It has been difficult for me to find in the states. I was able to pick up a few while visiting Glasgow in 2005 - and was impressed with the sophisticated storytelling and artwork - kind of like Heavy Metal (the magazine) in it's day, only much more fun.

Am happy to report you can now download the comics (in PDF format) from a website called Clickwheel.net. (It's a good deal too - cheaper than the imported issues would sell for in comic shops).

I'm going to especially recommend 2000 AD Origins - a free download which reprints the first appearances of comic favorites Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Halo Jones and many others.

Debt Clock

One of the highlights of any trip to the Big Apple is seeing the big "National Debt Clock" clicking away. It's one of life's gentle little reminders that we are all doomed to a life of financial chaos.

A friend of mine sent me this - an internet version of the debt clock. It also has a real-time display for such "stick your head in an oven" numbers as bailout money, the budget deficit, and medicare fraud.

Makes you want to jump off the Empire State Building.