Scientology and the Clearwater Police

According to this film, police in Clearwater, Florida, are being paid $178 dollars a day to act as Scientologist muscle. Link (It’s long, but it’s worth it).

Jaw-jaw

Comments, links, complaints about my behaviour at Tedfest…this is where it all happens.

Why I will love Woody Allen till the day I die

From the best film-blog out there, Shadowplay; David Cairns is typically astute on Allen the physical comedian in the accompanying post.

Redidified Garfield

For some reason, a lot of people have been sending me Garfield re-mixes this week, but this is my favourite–Garfield as a real cat really makes the strip sadder than hell. Link

(Thanks, Nick, and everyone else who sent a remix my way. And to Ted, who was first.)

The generally poor quality of erotic costumes for men

Gentlemen! Need to make things ‘happen’ in the bedroom? Why not dress up as an ATM machine? That’s right, an ATM machine.

It has somehow come to this. There are apparently women out there who would enjoy having their boyfriend stick his penis out of a slot and pretend it’s money. (I mean, I think that’s what what you’re supposed to do, but really, who knows?) I will say this, it’s lucky he has a hat saying ‘ATM’, because if he didn’t, then it would be really difficult to tell what he was actually supposed to be, and he might have ended up looking a little foolish.

Or how about surprising her one night by sneaking into bed, dressed as the wolf from ‘Little Red Riding Hood’? Because women love it when you make them shit themselves with fear while dressed as an old lady!

I don’t really know what’s going on here.

And this made all the blood in my body run into my hair.

(Link, in case you think I took these photographs myself.)

Electro worms and so on

Thanks to Js for this wonderful gallery of science fair experiments.

Asymmetric warfare

Rall is responsible for two of my favourite graphic novels, My War With Brian and The Worst Thing I’ve Ever Done. He also has a very generous online presence.

(A friend wrote to me asking if I felt this cartoon referred specifically to the attacks of 9/11. I don’t, I wouldn’t have posted it if I did–I think of it as a general comment on the West’s attitude to the Middle East, where ‘our’ attacks on them are considered par for the course, whereas their attacks on ‘us’ are considered so outrageous that they must be met with total all-out destruction.)

I’m all ears

Comments, links, whatnot, this is the place.

“Do you…enjoy knives?”

I watched Harold and Maude again recently. It still stands up, I think because the surrealism was so ahead of its time, and Harold’s love of death such an enduring teenage theme.

And it’s so funny. I often worry about surrealism in my own comedy–it sometimes seems like cheating to me. But a film like ‘Harold and Maude’ acts as a handy reminder that, when it’s done right–when you establish an internal logic and then stick to it– surreal comedy can levitate you out of your chair with happiness.

There’s something in my eye, all right?

Well, apparently, a woman found an injured lion, brought him home and nursed him back to health. When the lion was better, she called the local zoo and they picked him up. Now, whenever she comes to visit, the lion…he…I’m sorry, I would write more but I CAN’T SEE THE SCREEN FOR TEARS! Link

(I don’t know whether any of this is true or not, but I’m choosing to go to bed happy.)