Seeds and Stems

This is a funny, but not embedable, video: Condi Saves Harlem from Kim Jong-il, via MadTV.

And James Marlow, an acquaintance from the dot bomb days, says he's quitting his position as head of Yahoo! sales here in Atlanta, to become... a politician. Says James in this email message today:

Well, the time has come for the next great adventure. After six fantastic years with Yahoo! I am leaving to run for United States Congress in the special election to represent the 10th District of Georgia.

The 10th District in Northeast Georgia is where I grew up and I hope to have a chance to bring some new energy and fresh ideas to Washington D.C. While I’ve been interested in and involved with government and politics for quite a while, this will be my first run for elective office. Now is a time when our country needs people with experience outside politics and government to step up and try to help bring some new solutions to Washington.

Website for Marlow for the 10th to be up soon. (But dude, where's your YouTube announcement???) I can't endorse his candidacy, or not, as I know James only from Internet-related matters. I have no idea what his political inclinations may or may not be... at this point. What I do know is that Marlow's got to be 100% more on the ball than the Georgia Legislature peckerwoods another James is writing about today.

And finally, whew, some good news about politics and blogging from Jeff Jarvis:

Henry Copeland of Blogads asks the panel to speculate what the technology and moment and person will be that changes politics in this campaign. Armstrong says that someone will become the Walter Cronkite of online, mashing up video with a voice. (Joe) Trippi says that money will explode; within weeks hundreds of millions of dollars will come in from people. “It totally changes the entire game, the big money, the PACs don’t matter anymore… It’s gonna be like a flood.”

DeFeo agrees that the volume of contributors will explode. He says that we are still waiting for that moment to arrive when we declare that the internet has dethroned television in campaigns. He believes that this will actually be a series of moments that add up. Ruffini says that online video is meeting a new meet; in the last campaign, you had to be a big guy to post an online video. No more.

That post in full here. And screw all those SXSW poseurs. Instead, see you at PodCamp Atlanta!!!!!! Manuel's 7pm. Let the wild rumpus begin.

Comedic Visions

Sometimes your heroes turn up... on Peachtree Street. Of all places.

Keep "Miss Puss" Clean And Sparkly Fresh

Gawd... you will ROFL with the Fruitcake Lady. If you haven't already done so on the Tonight Show. Still, what better way to set a great tone for the day. I gotta watch again!

Have A ROFL With Your Morning Coffee

And Chris Hitchens thinks women aren't funny? All that booze has finally gone to his always-dubious sensibilities. Be sure to stay with this until Ellen just loses it! Freakin' hilarious.

Nobody Does It Better

No one can keep women in a perpetual state of hysteria better than our Dear Lord Jesus Christ. Ever since He stepped foot on the planet, women have been doing really odd things to themselves in His name.

The latest I-Love-Jesus-More-Than-You trend is the "Heritage Doll" - used to frame the "post-abortion syndrome" debate and to manipulate the most emotionally vulnerable women in our society: those in prison.

I can't decide who's committing the biggest sin here: the "Heritage Doll" maker, Rhonda Arias, 0r the lawmakers and officials who allow her access to the penal system to let her ply her vile, sick trade in hysteria and manipulation. From today's NYTimes Magazine cover story, Is There A Post-Abortion Syndrome?:

She (Arias) instructed the women (in prison) to stand up, speak in memory of their lost babies and take their heritage dolls to the altar. The women stood one by one. They clutched their dolls and said they were sorry. They imagined a baby with his father’s dimple or curly hair or green eyes. One woman mentioned a child who had been born and taken into state custody, and the woman who kissed the pictures of her daughters sent them her love. For the most part, though, the messy mothering of living children — and the reality of their lives outside the prison — did not intrude on the ceremony. The women focused on mourning the elusive, innocent loss represented by the dolls. They gave them fairy-tale names: Sarah Jewell, Angel Pillow, Xavier Dante. At a side table, Kimbrough and Harper wrote the names on certificates for children “expected to be born.” The documents promised, “By virtue of being conceived, the spirit of this child lives eternally with Jesus and in the heart and the mind of the mother, now and forevermore.”

Ahhh... the eternal comedy of abortion morality issues. And we haven't even gotten to the funny political gig yet! Someone at the NYT online edition has a delightful sense of humor though. They put a feature on Sarah Silverman just across from the shot of the heritage doll. I chortled long time over that. But only when my anger and disgust subsided.

Viewing At Manuel's Tonight

No, not a viewing of the body, but of What Not To Wear. All the ladies of the Atlanta Gorgeous Ladies of Comedy troupe will be appearing on tonight's 9pm episode on TLC, and there's a viewing party at Manuel's!

Jenny Clark will get the actual fashion makeover, and the other ladies are starring as the support team/cast, including my old College of Knowledge pal, the infamously funny-wicked Allison Dukes Gilmore, one of the Gorgeous Ladies and also a Laughing Matters vet. Tune-in tonight wherever you can and join in the loopy reindeer games.

I Heart Glaswegians

I have no idea if this is true or not. Regardless, it's a great joke. And just in time for the holiday office party season:

Bono, the lead singer of the band U2 is famous throughout the entertainment industry for being more than just a little self-righteous. He was playing a U2 concert in Glasgow, Scotland when he asked the audience for total quiet. Then in the silence, he started to slowly clap his hands, once every few seconds.

Holding the audience in total silence, he said into the microphone, "Every time I clap my hands, a child in Africa dies." A voice with a broad Scottish accent, from near the front of the crowd, pierces the silence..."Well, fukin stop doin it then!"

Dixie (Deaf ) Darlin'

Oh maaaaahhh Gawwwd. I've found the perfect mate for, uh, GriftDrift? She's even a virgin! Can I get a broker's fee? Hilarious.

Sas Performs

Here's my TrueGritz sidekick, out there in public without her wig. No burka either. Is that allowed? Beats me, but she's funny and brave and gets 'em laughing. Enjoy!

Graduation Routine Laugh Version

Here's my Jeff Justice Comedy Workshoppes Level II graduation night performance at The Punchline, where all hard-working grads get to go.

Jeff's classes make an excellent holiday gift. But I can't think of any gift you can give yourself, other than giving birth naturally (and there's no video of that little endeavor thankfully), that can be more empowering, more rewarding, nor more just gosh-darn fun and exhilarating. Plus, you'll bond with your classmates like you haven't bonded with a group since you were a wild-child riding around in a station wagon full of pals getting high before the Friday night high school football games.

Whether you want a career in stand-up or a confidence boost for public speaking, or just seeking more fun and zest, Jeff's classes will change your life -- for the better too. He's a great teacher and a great coach. Graduation night laughs are guaranteed. Trust me.

I Am Woman See Me Knock Over A Light

After nearly 20 years in production, this was my first all-women shoot, outside of TrueGritz. This one, with me as DP, was for Gorgeous Ladies of Comedy. Didn't make a dime, but I felt like I'd finally reached the top of a really steep mountain. Trust me, the view is beautiful here!

Something Sicker This Way Comes

How do you solve a problem like... Sarah Silverman? You don't.

YOU don't get to do anything to America's fanged little angel. Except pretend to loathe her when you really want to know her better. You can try praying for her soul.

My advice? You'd be better off tending to your own inner-sickness of a garden instead, 'cause, hon, after what she does to our delicate sensibilities and psyche, that's the only place you got left to go.

Here's an excerpt from Slate:

Her (Silverman's) best jokes are thought experiments in the internal logic of political correctness: "I want to get an abortion, but my boyfriend and I are having trouble conceiving."

A Playboy interviewer, probing for something salacious, once asked Silverman if she had a nickname for her vagina. She answered "Faggot"— a throwaway joke that manages to kink sexual identity into such an ingenious pretzel it could fuel a doctoral dissertation.

Full story here.