The House of Irony / Author Archive

Check out the video of Marc Ecko tagging Air Force One. Yes, the president’s plane. After you’re done watching the tag video, watch Marc Ecko talk about why he did it at the stillfree website.

thanks to Dave B. for the heads up.

CNN reports that science has uncovered a disturbing discovery today. It seems a new crustacean has been found in the oceans. What makes this unique is that this creature resembles a lobster, yet it is covered in fur. Evolution is a frightening and beautiful thing. In this case, more frightening than beautiful. This new discovery completely falls in line with recent sightings of a bear-like creature with lobster appendages. Perhaps this new crustacean, which scientists have named Kiwa hirsuta, is a distant relative of the elusive Crawbear. Only time will tell. Unfortunately, there may not be much time left.

thanks to Jax for the heads up.

Just watched the episode of Inside The Actors Studio with Dave Chappelle. It’s probably the funniest and most honest interview, and definitely the best episode of the show, I’ve ever seen. The advice and truisms from Chappelle aren’t just for people who want to be performers, they’re for life in general.

And yeah, it does have heartfelt moments, and wisdom, and insight, and all that other gay stuff. But it’s also funny as hell. There are even parts where James Lipton breaks in some comedic chops… and, for once, he doesn’t look like a pretentious kiss-ass doin’ it. At one point, Chappelle even makes him get up and bust out some old school ballet moves. And the crowd went apeshit. I think that’s one of the signs of a great performer. He doesn’t just make himself look good. He makes everyone around him look like a star.

Just watched Good Night and Good Luck, and I can’t think of anything but good things to say about this movie. Everything from the cinematography and directing to the acting was superb. Especially David Strathairn as broadcast journalist, Edward R. Murrow. The movie follows Murrow through his battle with Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the communist witch hunts of the 50s, and one of the great things about this film was how it blended the movie footage with original footage of McCarthy and the trials from that time period. Hats off to George Clooney for his directorial chops on this one.

In terms of the issues of the movie, I don’t know if I should be depressed or fascinated by how relevant the issues of this movie still are today. The fight against a totalitarian mindset. A government that uses the tactics of fear and paranoia to keep dissidents in line. And television as a tool to educate and inform vs. television as a tool to pacify and distract. Any modern journalist would do themselves a huge disservice by failing to see this movie. Murrow is the proverbial island of sanity in a sea of the absurd. Which is what we all rely on our press corps to be.

Having said that though, the movie also does an excellent job of humanizing Murrow and his contemporaries. They give you just enough personal story behind the characters to remind you that these are actual people fighting the fight, and not just nameless soldiers. At the same time, the crux of the story is never lost to the personal turmoil if it’s characters. The only complaint I could have with this movie is that it ends too soon. It really leaves you wanting more. Which, after all, is what any good movie does.

Ok. We all know that the whole Santa thing is a myth perpetrated on us by our devious parents. It’s right up there with all the other lies we were told as children. Things like the Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy, and White Jesus. But I think some of us would still like to believe in something. If you want to re-capture your childhood and send a letter to someone, who better to send it to than Christopher Walken.

My favorite on that page, other than the one pictured above, is the Noah from NY letter.

Virgin Galactic and New Mexico have agreed to build a 225 million dollar spaceport so they can send tourists into outer space. They are planning to start flights in 2008, and it costs $200,000 to book a seat. Apparently, 38,000 people from 128 countries have already booked seats for the flight.

Let’s make it 38,000 and 1. I’m goin. That’s all there is to it. I just need someone to front me the money. There’s no way any of my friends will do it, because they all smell like class struggle.

So, here’s the deal, Corporate America. I don’t like you and you don’t like me, but if we work together, we can put me in outer space. I just need $200,000. I’ll be in the upper stratosphere and out of your way for awhile. What you do to the planet while I’m gone is your business. You wanna put on the funsuit and torpedo-fuck a third world country? Have at it. What happens on earth, stays on earth. I’ll wear whatever you want when I go up in the shuttle. You wanna paint your logos on my back like you do with prize fighters? I’m down with that.

I’m usually against this sort of thing, but my conscience and sense of social justice has it’s price. And this is it. This is outer fucking space we’re talking about here. I’ll even wear a jacket full of corporate brands made personally for me by a starving child if I have to. I’ll be all like, “Thank you for the jacket, Kenji. I’m sorry that your childhood was stolen from you by your manager’s baton and his cruel eyes. I promise I’ll shed a single tear for you and all mankind when I’m looking down on the planet.”

So that’s my plan, Corporate America. C’mon. I know you like me (in that way). I’ve seen the way you get mad when I fraternize with the working class. You’ve always had a thing for me, and I’ve always been a little attracted to your wealth and abundant lifestyle. You’re stylish, and I’m cute as a button. Let’s get together and make some delicious space music.

Call me.

The LA Times reported that some kid was busted for making exploding pens and leaving them on the street for hapless passersby to pick up. The pens were set to detonate when they were uncapped. The kid is now being held in juvey, but you know he’s destined for either Gitmo or an invisible rank in some elite C.I.A. explosives unit. Here’s a quote from the article in the LA Times about how the kid had a book on making explosives.

The books seized by investigators described explosive-making procedures but did not say how to rig a pen to detonate, Miller said. “Coming up with the idea was his doing,” he said.

When you show that kinda moxy/crazy, you either get punished huge or you get exploited by the government. There’s no good reason why this kid isn’t making James Bond style weaponry for the 007s of America.