Roman Danylo, star of “Comedy Inc.” on CTV and the Comedy Network, in the Tantric Sex Seminar sketch

thanks Linda

John Callahan, Cartoonist, Dies at 59
by Bruce Weber
The New York Times
July 28, 2010

John Callahan, a quadriplegic, alcoholic cartoonist whose work in newspapers and magazines made irreverent, impolitic sport of both people with disabilities and diseases and those who would pity and condescend to them, died Saturday in Portland, Ore. He was 59 and lived in Portland.

The causes were complications of quadriplegia and respiratory problems, said his brother Tom.

Like his friend Gary Larson, the creator of “The Far Side,” Mr. Callahan made drawings with a gleeful appreciation of the macabre as it exists in everyday life. He was, however, a man who lived his whole life with disadvantages, some of them self-wrought, and he viewed the world through a dark and wicked lens.

“This is John, I’m a little too depressed to take your call today,” the message on his answering machine said. “Please leave your message at the gunshot.”

Bemused by the culture of confession and self-help fostered by the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Geraldo Rivera and others, he was uninclined, in his work, to be outwardly sympathetic to the afflicted or to respect the boundaries of racial and ethnic stereotyping, and his cartoons were often polarizing: some found them outrageously funny, others outrageously offensive.

(more…)

thanks Linda

By Paul Krassner, via Toni Dalton:

Tuli Kupferberg is better off dead.

My friend and countercultural icon had been suffering from a couple of strokes, hospitals, breathing tubes, feeding tubes, anemia, infections, blindness, catheter, hearing aids, wheelchairs, psychosis, memory loss, diapers, constipation, anti-depressants, sleeping pills, fatigue and a chronically bed-ridden life that seemed to be no life worth living.

Tuli was a dedicated truthseeker, and I’d like to honor that quality with a couple of truths.

There was a rumor that Phiip Roth had lifted the onanistically obsessed idea for Portnoy’s Complaint from a song by the Fugs–a band on the cusp of rock and punk, named after Norman Mailer’s euphemism for fuck in The Naked and the Dead–but this notion was disavowed by Fugs leader Ed Sanders, who assured me, “Philip Roth did not plagiarize a Fugs song. He came to a Fugs show in 1966, and I think he was inspired by Tuli, in top hat and cane, singing ‘Jack-Off Blues.’  Many times in reunion concerts, introducing Tuli singing that song, I have suggested that Roth got some of the impetus for Portnoy’s Complaint from that time he was inspired by the Tuli tune.” (more…)

Pork board squeals over imaginary unicorn meat
by Sarah Skidmore
1010WINS
June 22, 2010

Portland, Ore. — It’s official: The National Pork Board says it knows unicorns don’t exist.

The industry group says it was only protecting its trademark when it issued cease-and-desist warning to online retailer ThinkGeek for calling a fake unicorn meatproduct “the new white meat.”

The fictional canned meat, described as an “excellent source of sparkles,” was an April Fool’s prank.

But the 12-page letter from the board’s law firm was no joke.

“We certainly offered our apologies,” Scott Kauffman, President and CEO of Geeknet Inc., the parent company of ThinkGeek, told the Associated Press. “It was not our intention to confuse the public as to the attributes and qualities of the two meats.”

In a public apology this week, ThinkGeek said its nonexistent canned unicorn meat is sparkly, a bit red and not approved by any government entity.

“We certainly understand that unicorns don’t exist,” said Ceci Snyder, vice president of marketing for the National Pork Board. “Yes, it’s funny. But if you don’t respond, you are opening your trademark up to challenges.”

Read the rest of this article here.

UPDATE June 7, 2010: Israel Apologizes For Circulating Spoof Video Mocking Gaza Flotilla, Huffington Post

Three points of view, submitted by Toni Dalton, from LatmaTV, June 3, 2010:

The Gaza Flotilla participants explain how they can con the world – http://www.facebook.com/latma.co.il

Also from Toni, from salon.com:

How Israeli propaganda shaped U.S. media coverage of the flotilla attack by Glenn Greenwald

And from ZSpace:

Kill A Turk And Rest, by Uri Avnery

Fake BP Twitter account remains shrouded in mystery
by Caroline McCarthy
CNET News
May 27, 2010

Along the beleaguered Gulf Coast, the emergency measure known as “top kill” appears to have halted the flow of oil from a ruptured offshore BP well–but the bogus Twitter sensation known as @BPGlobalPR continues to gush out black comedy gold.

“Just got the concession call from Exxon Valdez. They were great competitors and remarkably evil about everything,” the account, which claims to be written by the British oil giant’s public relations department, tweeted shortly after the unfortunate revelation that the recent Gulf Coast disaster had surpassed the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in volume. “They want to fine us $4,300 for every barrel of oil spilled? Umm, we’re not spilling barrels, the oil is going directly into the gulf. DUH,” @BPGlobalPR asserted irreverently on Wednesday.

As the follower count of @BPGlobalPR starts to edge past 60,000 people just over one week after its inaugural tweet, the identity of the author remains completely unknown.

Read the whole article here. NOTE: See the bottom of the post for a very bizarre correction…

Submitted by Kate McCamy:

Early ‘Machete’ trailer has message for Arizona
1010WINS
May 7, 2010

Los Angeles (AP) — Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez is no fan of Arizona’s controversial new immigration law, and he cut a special trailer of his new action film to make the point.

Fox won’t release “Machete” until September, but Rodriguez posted a trailer online Wednesday introduced by star Danny Trejo, who says the clip has “a special Cinco de Mayo message to Arizona.” Read the rest of this article here.





Machete (2010) “Illegal” trailer

More info:

thanks Erin

As seen on Laughing Squid, posted by Aaron Muszalski, April 23, 2010:

From Graffomat.com:

Graffomat is entering the market with a new state of the art graffiti supply vending machine! Graffomat will supply you with all of your favorite state of the art graffiti supplies such as markers, caps, gloves, and everything else that the graffiti writer needs. Including ski masks!

Forget about the times where you would run out of paint in the middle of the night and there would be nothing you could do about it. Graffomat is here for you 24 hours a day, located easily accessible on almost every street corner in your neighborhood…

Watch the Graffomat ad:

thanks Erin

In the Future, Everyone Will Be a Piñata for 15 Minutes
by Dave Itzkoff
The New York Times
April 15, 2010

This 20-foot-tall piñata representation of the head of Andy Warhol, designed by the food artist Jennifer Rubell, will make its debut at a gala for the Brooklyn Museum on April 22. In answer to your next questions: Yes, you will be allowed to hit it with bats, and yes, it is filled with desserts. (In a telephone interview, Ms. Rubell said it will contain “the vernacular of American treats, which will remain nameless for the moment.”) If you have complicated feelings about Warhol, his impact on the art world or his pairing of the Velvet Underground with Nico, this could be your opportunity to release them in an appropriate forum.

Ms. Rubell said the Warhol piñata will be the culmination to the gala, which will feature other food-themed exhibitions paying tribute to contemporary artists, including Marcel Duchamp, Bruce Nauman and Paul McCarthy. There will also be some sort of Jackson Pollock-inspired installation that dispenses drinks.

Related Links:

Lot’s more! (more…)