Chaplin on the Intarnebs

There's a pretty sad collection on youtube, so I went here to find some Chaplin shorts. Check out His New Job, as one example.

The Internet Archive is an amazing collection. It's got your audio, your video, your books ... etc. etc. Take a look see.

(By the way, the cute kid in the still -- from the film The Kid -- is Jackie Coogan, better known to most people as Uncle Fester in the Addams Family tv show, which is much much better than any of the A.F. films, by the way.)

And also Spike Milligan's?

Both on the same day? Man o nam. More to follow.

Dollars, Taxes!

A terrific scene from Duck Soup, which comes to mind as Tax Day approacheth.

Don't let the screen door hit you on the way out, March

Chevy Chase:
Last week we made the comment that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. Now here to reply is our chief meteorologist, John Belushi, with a seasonal report.

John Belushi:
Thank you Chevy. Well, another winter is almost over and March true to form has come in like a lion, and hopefully will go out like a lamb. At least that's how March works here in the United States.

But did you know that March behaves differently in other countries? In Norway, for example, March comes in like a polar bear and goes out like a walrus. Or, take the case of Honduras where March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a salt marsh harvest mouse.

Let's compare this to the Maldive Islands where March comes in like a wildebeest and goes out like an ant. A tiny, little ant about this big.

[holds thumb and index fingers a small distance apart]

Unlike the Malay Peninsula where March comes in like a worm-eating fernbird and goes out like a worm-eating fernbird. In fact, their whole year is like a worm-eating fernbird.

Or consider the Republic of South Africa where March comes in like a lion and goes out like a different lion. Like one has a mane, and one doesn't have a mane. Or in certain parts of South America where March swims in like a sea otter, and then it slithers out like a giant anaconda.

There you can buy land real cheap, you know. And there's a country where March hops in like a kangaroo, and stays a kangaroo for a while, and then it becomes a slightly smaller kangaroo. Then, then, then for a couple of days it's sort of a cross between a, a frilled lizard and a common house cat.

[Chevy Chase tries to interrupt him]

Wait wait wait wait. Then it changes back into a smaller kangaroo, and then it goes out like a, like a wild dingo. Now, now, and it's not Australia! Now, now, you'd think it would be Australia, but it's not!

[Chevy Chase tries to interrupt him]

Now look, pal! I know a country where March comes in like an emu and goes out like a tapir. And they don't even know what it means! All right? Now listen, there are nine different countries, where March comes in like a frog, and goes out like a golden retriever. But that- that's not the weird part! No, no, the weird part is, is the frog. The frog- The weird part is-

[has seizure and falls off chair]

Link (Thanks to Chuck Welch)

As usual, Colbert nails it

My favorite bit starts around 2:20.

This is the funniest effin thing.

Click on the video to take you to the YouTube page. I first saw it today at cuteoverload.com -- one of my favorite sites of alllllll time. I admit I may be the last person in the world to have seen it, but -- thanks to Meg at CO.com -- I have finally made it to the 21st century. Oh my dog.

I Go Pogo!

Especially in an election year. Pogo (and his maker, Walt Kelly) was my political, spiritual, and comical teacher when I was a child ... and maintains that ranking (amongst a few others) even today. You can hardly find anything about Pogo in the stores, although Fantagraphics (thank doodness for Fantagraphics) plans some sort of massive omnibus of Sunday and daily strips for release later this year.

Surreal and hilarious, full of nonsense songs and verse, breaking that comic strip panel and playing with conventions (a talk balloon commandeered by precision-choreographed bees?), Pogo did it all right ... and beautifully so. Kelly was a master with a brush and with a turn of phrase. One book (at least one) had a table of contents that read in verse. And Kelly was gloriously democratic, in every sense.

Here is the frustrating part: Apparently the well-intentioned and loving Estate is terribly terribly anxious about Pogo presence on the interwebs. I understand that they don't want to have Pogo chewed up and appropriated and hacked and mangled. But, sadly, that also means that Pogo and Walt are almost unknown to a generation or two of people, when I (and many other Pogophiles) feel strongly that we need to know that sweet and kind possum more than ever before -- and we need Albert (alligator), Churchy La Femme (turtle), Howland Owl, Beauregard the Hounddog, Porky Pine, and oh so many others just as much. I'm daring to put a picture here ... and maybe another one some other time, and I hope that the licensers won't get all up in my face about it. Anyway, I'm linking to the official site, and you should go ... and follow their accepted links to see more.

Yay! I gots my book!

My Laugh-Out-Loud Cats book! W00t!!1!