I resist the retro-radical appeal of 80s nostalgia, but the Cracked.com listing of the 20 Stupidest GI Joe Vehicles Ever is excellent. I once owned the Cobra Buzz Boar, Cobra Night Raven S3P, Sergeant Slaughter Triple ‘T,’ and, I believe, a dollar-store knockoff of the Mini-Tank Armadillo.
I absolutely cherished the Night Raven; it’s still sitting in a closet at my mom’s house, waiting to teach my future children a lesson about the undeniable firepower of detachable planes!
The November 2008 issue of National Geographic has a story, “
FLYMF alum Wayne Gladstone has done a humor-video series for Cracked.com, “Hate By Numbers,” offering funny rants about nonsense-plagued cable news programs. Sadly, the final installment, “HBN Says Goodbye,” appeared today.
While Wayne is taking a break from “Hate By Numbers” to focus on screenplays, you can still keep up with his latest news at his web site, Kafka Lives in Maine. The site includes the complete Hate By Numbers collection, other comedy videos, and links to his publications.
Among the latter is Wayne’s very funny work for FLYMF: New Ideas For Chris Hansen When He’s Done With To Catch A Predator, When George Lucas Gets His Hands On Other Blockbusters, Best Saturday Night Live Skits That Never Aired, and A Love Letter To Giardia Lamblia, The Parasite Formerly Living In My Small Intestine.
I thought this exchange between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was funny, in a chilling real-politic sort of way. From the Times Online:
With Russian tanks only 30 miles from Tbilisi on August 12, Mr. Sarkozy told Mr. Putin that the world would not accept the overthrow of Georgia’s Government. According to Mr. Levitte, the Russian seemed unconcerned by international reaction. “I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls,” Mr. Putin declared.
Mr. Sarkozy thought he had misheard. “Hang him?” — he asked. “Why not?” Mr. Putin replied. “The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein.”
Mr. Sarkozy, using the familiar tu, tried to reason with him: “Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?” Mr. Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: “Ah — you have scored a point there.”
In one good thing might come from our dimwit President’s disastrous reign, it could be that for generations to come, heads of state wake up, look at themselves in the mirror in the morning, and say, “Don’t pull a Bush today.”
As for Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, he responded to this exchange as one might assume:
Mr. Saakashvili, who was in Paris to meet Mr. Sarkozy yesterday, laughed nervously when a French radio station read him the exchange. “I knew about this scene, but not all the details. It’s funny, all the same,” he said.
I bet he thinks it’s hilarious!
FLYMF contributor J.D. Smith has penned a children’s book, “The Best Mariachi in the World.” The story, illustrated by Dani Jones, is summed up as follows:
Everyone in Gustavo’s family is in a mariachi band . . .
Everyone except Gustavo, that is. They all play violines, trompetas and guitarrones. They all make wonderful music in restaurants and at wedding parties. Gustavo would love to join the band, but he can’t play any of the instruments. What’s a wannabe mariachi to do? Follow Gustavo as he finds his place in the family mariachi band.
On his Amazon blog, J.D. relates that he wrote the book 10 years ago while on his morning commute (luckily for the pedestrians who might otherwise have been mauled, Smith lives in Washington D.C., which has an excellent public transit system). The book is available in English, Spanish, and bilingual versions, making it a perfect gift for young ones interested in some language-bending. Check it out today!
J.D.’s work for FLYMF includes The Great Tuvalu Liquidation Sale and…uh, other titles that aren’t entirely fitting to be associated with a children’s book. But you can visit our contributor’s archive and browse down to find them yourself.