Strollerderby : parody

Chris Brown As Charlie Brown

Brett Singer — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Mad Magazine isn't nearly as funny as it used to be. Part of that is because I'm much older than I once was, but I really do think that the quality has definitely fallen off in the last (gulp) couple of decades.

But this time they nailed it.

In three strips, with spot on artwork, Mad published "You're a Bad Man, Chris Brown." See Chris visit Lucy for psychiatric help! See Chris tell Linus how he wants to punch the Little Red-Haired Girl! And see Snoopy, the World Famous Criminal Attorney, throw up his hands in defeat because his client can't keep his mouth shut.

OK, it's not fall out of your chair hilarious. And it's never good to make light of situations like what happened with Chris Brown and Rihanna. But being able to make any comedy out of something like that is tough, so I like to give credit where it's due.

You're a Bad Man, Chris Brown (Mad Magazine)

Why Teens Are Quick to Blame Rihanna

Half of Kids Surveyed Think Rihanna Had it Coming

Homebirthing Advocate's Baby Dies During Homebirth

Best of FameCrawler: Week of October 10th

Whit Honea — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Totally Biased Political Post Containing Cute Kids and Stuff (Video)

New Video & Photos: Angelina Jolie and Kids

Katie Holmes Tells Tom- I'm Leaving

Congrats, Emma! You Endured Pain In Childbirth! JOIN THE CLUB.

Bigot Bridget Bardot Mouths Off About Sarah Palin

Tina Fey is Sarah Palin on SNL: VP Debate (VIDEO)

Mark Wahlberg Talks to the Animals on SNL (VIDEO)

Ricky Schroder Talks About Son's Accident

Madonna Scares Me

The Truth About Angelina Jolie

JLo: I Had A Nervous Breakdown

John McCain Bingo!

Sarah Palin: The Disney Movie

JeanneSager — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:49:00 GMT

The disclaimer at the beginning of the "preview" for the new Sarah Palin movie says it all: the preview "would be really lame as a real movie." I'm going to step out on a bridge (you know what kind) and bet it would be really lame in "real life" too.

Head of Skate follows a hockey mom (of course) who likes to whip up baked Alaska with little American flags propped on toothpicks to go with the lasagna she'll serve after picking up son Algebra from hockey practice. But when an old dude (who I dare to say looks much more alive than old Johnny Boy) knocks on her door and offers her the chance to be vice president, she tells the country, "I found my friend's skates this morning, how hard could it be to find Bin Laden?"

OK, all very funny in a Mighty Ducks kind of way, but when the president dies and "Betty Norendorfer" whispers her gleeful thanks over his dead body, I got Alaska-style chills. And it didn't help to see her kids whipping around the kitchen with their hockey sticks held high - what kind of movie mom doesn't tell them they'll play with those things in traffic if they scratch her floor.

Try not watching this one until they end - it's like the trainwreck where you just . . . can't . . . look . . . away. If it makes it better, they promise "It's a movie you just have to see even in cases of incest and rape."

Image: The Sarah Palin Blog

What Bristol Palin Can Expect, After Baby Algebra

Preventing Teen Pregnancy, One Tick at a Time

Hockey Moms on Palin: She Refused to Carry the Juice

Madeline Holler — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:01:00 GMT

"Hockey Moms for Truth" have come out with a damning video of Sarah Palin, the VP candidate who described herself to the nation as "just your average hockey mom." According to these women, she was never a very good one (ice chest with no handles, indeed!).

[via Politico, via Salon]

Dick Cheney whispering hush: Goodnight Bush

Brett Singer — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:00:00 GMT

"Goodnight Bush" is a new take on an old classic, but probably not something you'll be reading (and reading, and reading, and reading – what is it about "Goodnight Moon"?) to your kids at bedtime.

According to the New York Times, the book was an unsolicited manuscript received by Little, Brown, who noticed it in the pile because it was mailed in a clear envelope. Good move – the package stood out, and the book is now on sale; it currently holds the #1 spot on Amazon.com in the Political Humor category.

"Goodnight Constitution. And goodnight evolution."

Hee hee.

The authors actually take their parody more seriously, with one of them saying, "We wanted it to be the definitive requiem for everything they've done." Um, okay. Can I just think it's funny?

image: sfgate.com

Sesame Street Video: Movie edition

Brett Singer — Mon, 12 May 2008 20:00:00 GMT

It all began with Gwynne's fantastic article The Babble List: The 50 Best Sesame Street Moments, which inspired me to hit YouTube to find more classic Sesame clips.

First we had skits based on theater. Now, here are some equally brilliant movie parodies.

Sesame Street - Monsterpiece Theater: The Sound of Music

Notable for Cookie's unlit pipe, which was nixed after parents got upset.

Monsterpiece Theater - The 39 Stairs

Hitchcock, schmitchcock. I'll take Grover any day.

Monsterpiece Theatre - 12 Angry Men

Twelve men. All angry. Take it, Cookie.

Monsterpiece Theater - The 400 Blows

Not even Truffaut is safe.

Monsterpiece Theater - Gone With The Wind

Monsterpiece Theater: 1 Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Monsterpiece Theater: Chariots of Fur

Dora meets Robert Blake

Brett Singer — Sat, 03 May 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Robert Smigel might be the funniest human being alive. I also think he must have kids, or at the very least is very tuned in to children's television, because this parody of Dora The Explorer from SNL -- titled "Maraka and Mittens" -- is spot on and hilarious. "One of the mommy penguins is missing her egg. (pause) Can you tell me how to check for a hernia?"

The description says it all:

Maraka and Mittens practice Spanish, ponder penguins, free will and Robert Blake's guilt.

Watch the clip right here.

source: Hulu.com/Saturday Night Live, "TV Funhouse"

Sesame Street Video: Theater edition

Brett Singer — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:45:00 GMT

Gwynne's fantastic article The Babble List: The 50 Best Sesame Street Moments got me looking on YouTube for more... more... more!

Here are some Monsterpiece Theater bits related to live theater. Alistair Cookie (aka Cookie Monster) practically steals every one with his comments.

Monsterpiece Theater - Waiting for Elmo

This might be the greatest thing I've ever seen. A "Waiting for Godot" parody on Sesame Street. As Alistair Cookie puts it, "A play so modern, and so brilliant, it make absolutely no sense at all to anybody."

Monsterpiece Theater - The Taming of the Shoe

"Classic play by William Shoespeare, famous podiatrist. (beat) Trust me." Featuring lines like, "Fie. I will not be tied to any foot...I walk alone."

Monsterpiece Theater - Hamlet

Includes an extra long intro where Cookie eats to the music, and slow pans across photos of Kermit and the gang.
"It don't get classier den dis." Prince Hamlet won't give Elmo a straight answer! Starring a pre-public-jew-hating Mel Gibson.

Monsterpiece Theater - Monster of Venice

Speaking of Jews, here's a Merchant of Venice parody, which thankfully does not feature anyone as Shylock. Grover takes over as the leader of a group of monsters who have not been invited to a party. Or, as Cookie puts it: "All about monsters in Venice. Guess that why not called Monster of Cleveland. Anyway, me digress."

Monsterpiece Theater - Cyranose de Bergerac

"Tonight we present big big feature -- facial feature. (snicker)"

Sesame Street - Monsterpiece Theater - The King and I

"About a king and the letter 'I'." Of course it is. This video could grow hair on Yul Brenner's head.

Coming soon -- Monsterpiece Theater, Movie Edition.

image: Muppet Wiki

"Playground Tales": From The Jokers Behind Will Ferrell's "The Landlord"

Alisyn — Thu, 10 May 2007 17:05:00 GMT

The people over at Funny or Die have waaaay too much time on their hands; so, too, apparently, does Brooke Shields. Hence, their new collaboration, "Playground Tales," in which Brooke... no, I'll stop there. You just have to see if for yourself. I'll just say, best use of a mom-ebrity ever.

Playground Tales with Brooke Shields

The Onion's Child Abuse Report Makes You Look Pretty Guilty

Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass) — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 22:02:00 GMT

One of the reasons I love The Onion is because they keep it real. OK, maybe real isn't the right word, considering it is The Onion. But they do nail it nearly all of the time.

Today's edition has a hard-hitting report on the widespread prevalence of daily child abuse, drawing from a national poll of 75 million kidlets aged 3 to 12. The results are sure to make parents gasp and children cheer (OK, maybe make parents laugh and children stomp off in a fit of angst over very clear sarcastic boundary-crossing).

The poll sheds light on all those horrifying ways we parents are harming 95% of our country's children, documenting, "abuses ranging from less severe offenses, such as children being denied snacks just before dinner, to more egregious, long-term cases of neglect, such as never ever getting what they want, ever."

Reading this has been a lightbulb moment for me, having just today committed such mortifying mommy abuses as insisting that my toddler wash his hands after sitting on the potty for twenty minutes even if he doesn't poop and refusing to allow anything from the Easter basket to be consumed for breakfast. If the children are speaking out, though, I know there's hope.

And at least I know now that I'm not alone. What Onion-esque child abuse are you guilty of today?

YouTube Goodness: Sesame Street's Take On Classic Spike Lee Film

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 12:04:00 GMT

Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" provides the soundtrack as tensions flare on Sesame Street. Today's program brought to you by the letter's "F" and "U."