Good times with still-president Bush

Oh my, what fun we had with still-president Bush:

WASHINGTON, DC–President Bush delighted an intimate gathering of White House dinner guests Monday, regaling the coterie of dignitaries, artists, and friends with a spirited, off-the-cuff discussion of the Roman poet Virgil's lesser-known works.

"Ah, W. was in top form tonight," Spanish foreign minister Josep Pique Camps said. "We were all held captive by his erudition and charm. First, a brief history of the opium trade, then a bit of Brahms on the piano, then a rousing discussion of Virgil. That boy is a wonder, isn't he?"

Or how about this one, from back just before he took office. Walk through the article and see how many true prophecies you can find:

Bush concluded his speech on a note of healing and redemption.

"We as a people must stand united, banding together to tear this nation in two," Bush said. "Much work lies ahead of us: The gap between the rich and the poor may be wide, be there's much more widening left to do. We must squander our nation's hard-won budget surplus on tax breaks for the wealthiest 15 percent. And, on the foreign front, we must find an enemy and defeat it."

"The insanity is over," Bush said. "After a long, dark night of peace and stability, the sun is finally rising again over America.

the definition of "funny, but not ha-ha-funny"

Actual Palin interview.

The Saturday Night Live version.

I can't tell the two apart, except one is hysterically funny, and the other one makes me hysteric. I'm foetal under the desk right now.

Also note how the SNL version uses many actual quotes from the Couric/Palin interview, with almost no change.

Love song for the internet age

I've been there:

(Amanda Palmer: "I Google You")

"... and in the darkness bind them"

When you title your book Penetrating Wagner's Ring, I don't know what, but you're asking for something. As it happens, "you" were unlucky enough to get these evil genius Amazon reviewers. I don't know how they manage to stay so subtle:

Before reading this book, the thought of penetrating Wagner's "Ring" left me cold. Why would I go near Wagner's musty old "Ring", I thought, when there were so many younger, more supple pieces available to me? Surely Wagner's "Ring" would seem worn and battered from nearly two centuries of over-use?

How wrong I was! What this book shows, and what many other reviewers have clearly experienced, is that Wagner's "Ring", despite its great age, is still full of life, freshness and verve, and that there are still great rewards to be had from treading this well-trodden path. Full of insightful comments from the many men and women who have played in Wagner's "Ring", often dressed as Valkyries, this book is an invaluable guide to extracting pleasure from Wagner's much-abused piece.

I know, it's childish. But goodness knows there's too much Heidegger on this blog already.

Homophobilicious!

That, my friends, is some serious funny.

Humor

An open source philosophy experiment:

Why are things funny?

Like, say, the following two conversations:

- How's our mutual friend X?
- He's fine... NO I'M JUST KIDDING, HE'S DEAD! HA HA HA HA.

Or

- How's our mutual friend Y?
- He's dead.
- Oh, God, really??!
- NO, I'M JUST KIDDING! HA HA HA HA.

If they actually happened, they wouldn't be funny, except for the amusing gentleman who is the jokee. The joked, however, is not amused. Wherein lies the quintessential fun-ness of jokes?