Incorrectness

There is an expression I sometimes like to think I coined. It is an expression my friends have heard me say often. The expression is "boy, that person is such a parody of himself!" The expression is applicable when you can't imagine any way to embellish or otherwise add more humor to an already hilarious, insane and weird person or situation. The expression is applicable when someone chooses to be as stereotypical as they possibly can.

For example, last week I was driving in my car with a friend through a shady neighborhood in Manhattan. He mentioned how he rarely saw hookers in the city. Within thirty seconds we spotted two ho hookers who could not have looked more like hookers if they came straight out of a Kubrick movie. THEY were parodies of themselves.

Bill Maher is a parody of himself, and I think he enjoys it. He gave Safesearching.com the job of setting up an "official" website since his cancellation from Politically Incorrect. Although the site hasn't launched, he has already written some jokes for it which launch in a pop-up window from the homepage.

I am a big Bill Maher fan. I could not explain to someone who Bill Maher is better than he has just done himself. What follows is an excerpt from the current pop-up window on BillMaher.tv. He tries to explain who he is.

"Folks, let me sum it up for you: I think religion is bad and drugs are good.

I think America causes cancer, longevity is less important than fun, and young people should be discouraged from voting.

I think stereotypes are true, abstinence is a perversion, Bush's lies are worse than Clinton's and there's nothing sexy about being old or pregnant.

I think September 11th changed nothing and if I had known the onset of war would add 100 points to George Bush's IQ, I would have started one.

I think pornography stops rape, AIDS ribbons are stupid, and flag burning makes me feel patriotic.

I think death is not the worst thing that can happen to you, people have too much self-esteem, and being drunk is funny. I think children are not innocent, God doesn't write books, and Jesus wasn't a Republican.

I'm for Mad Cow disease and against suing tobacco companies.

I think girls hate each other, no doesn't always mean no, you have to lie to stay married, women's sports are boring and the Olympics are gay."

Thought for the day

Real peace isn't just the absence of conflict but the presence of justice.


-From Air Force One

Take it as you will.

Marketing Mayhem

We just received the day's mail. Along with credit card offers, free samples and bills came a catalog for EXPO, Home Depot's interior design spin-off.

My beef?

The catalog came addressed to my 20-year-deceased uncle! Furthermore, the company that didn't exist during his lifetime nevertheless considers him an "EXPO Preferred Client."

Let that be a lesson to all marketers!

Weapon of Mass Delusion

Mike Sanders points to an unsurprising poll which states that "A majority of Palestinians believe the aim of their 20-month-old uprising should be to eliminate Israel and not just end Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip."

Ya Ya - Nah Nah

Am I alone in thinking the "Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood" is the worst movie title since "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar"???!!!

What the hell is "Ya Ya" doing in a movie title?

What about that song "Ya ya ya coco jumbo, ya ya ya"?

Click here for the excrutiating MIDI version.

Don't confuse it India's delightful spin on the classic Pina Colada, called Coco Jumbo.

Yada Yada Yada

Disintermediation

In a recent article for GQ, Rob Walker paints an interesting picture of how the Internet has not led to the fabled revolution in music that it promised to. Some of what he says can also be applied to other industries.

What interests me most is his conversation with a former music industry honcho who explained the various filters used by the music industry. Everyone is a musician. A percentage are good and play local gigs. A small percentage get picked up by a lawyer, agent or former Sony employee with some friends. A tiny percentage of that gets to higher ups. A tiny percentage then gets recorded, released and sent to radio station programmers. A tiny percentage of everything the radio station gets is actually played. And finally, a miniscule percentage of what gets played is picked up by the public as a hot new band.

None of that exists on the Internet, where lots of people upload whatever they have and the user has to sift through everything. Rob Walker makes a valid point - just because the Internet removes gate keepers doesn't mean it offers a better experience. Anarchy isn't necessarily good - even if we instinctively applaud the elimination of intermediaries ("who are they to make decisions for me?!").

When was the last time you browsed around the thousands of bands on MP3.com?

So where does that leave us? Stay tuned and find out. We are currently working on what we hope will be a different type of online radio project. As always, I'd love to hear from you regarding thoughts on online music, radio and community.

Shakes'

Thank to the Shady Shakespeare Theatre Company for reminding me of an important lesson-

To thine own self be true.

Summer Changes

I realize now, more than ever, that the summer is a great time for self-reflection, personal growth and an opportunity for new resolutions and an evolution of ways.

Every moment is a chance to change it all.

I am a typical pale white boy from Brooklyn. Never interested in tanning, I finally decided to give it a go. So I climbed up to our roof, sat in a chair, put on some Tool and proceeded to tan. I have never before sat down with the sole purpose of tanning. Why would I want to change my healthy refrigerator-white complexion by letting the sun singe my skin? I like duck slightly singed, not me.

But you know what? I enjoyed my hour in the sun. It was different than taking an hour break to watch TV or talk to friend or read a book or magazine. It was very different. No one but me and the sun. I had seldom been alone with my thoughts in this way before. So primal. So pure.

Hope everyone else is having a pure weekend.