Check it, Peons: Your CNN Humiliation Compartmentalized

Thursday, June 28, 2007

PHONE MESSAGES FROM MOM


Last night I came home and there was a message from my mom on the answering machine. Now, I must point out that she habitually leaves weird, random messages. And, despite her obvious Finnish accent, she always states who she is first. As in: "Terve, Aiti-Kaisa here." She must assume that there are hundreds of other 60-year-old Finnish women leaving daily messages on my machine. Messages I've received in the past include:

1.)"You know, that Michael Jackson person...he's really weird."

2.) "All of a sudden, your father won't eat swiss cheese. I don't know why. What's wrong with swiss cheese?"

3.) "I saw on the news that it's raining in New York. Do you have rain boots? Don't be vain about it. I know you like those high heels but there is no reason to ruin good shoes. And everyone knows you're short anyway. You're not fooling anyone."

4.) "I saw that there are bedbugs in New York. Even the fancy apartments have them. I think you should wash your sheets tonight."

5.) "Do you think that John Travolta person wears a wig?"

Anyway, last night I got this:

"Who is this terrible man on the TV that looks like a fat penis? Bald man with a mustache. Telling everyone what to do with their lives and he has a southern accent and looks like a fat penis. I hate him. Why do they let people like this on the TV?"


I don't know. What do you think? Should I give her the number to the Dr. Phil hotline? I'm sure he'd love to hear from her.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

BLIND ITEM #7


Which former CNN VJ, who now lives in New York, and whose last name rhymes with button, drank too much last night and woke up this morning on the sofa with a piece of deli meat in one hand and an unknown stain on her Don Ho shirt?

Monday, June 25, 2007

MOLECULAR MANIPULATION MAN


I recently took (a very minor) part in the 48 Hour Film Project. It's a great competition that happens in various cities once a year. You are given 48 hours and a few guidelines to create a film. The genre provided was "Superhero", and the mandatory line was "If you must know, my father told me."
My role in this artistic endeavor was pretty limited. However, true to form, I sported a fabulous viking costume.
Check it out:
MOLECULAR MANIPULATION MAN

COUNTDOWN TO FLACCIDITY


A little while ago, I was out with some friends who told me that although they are not anywhere near eligible for AARP, they have taken Viagra, just to heighten the sexual experience. The only issue, said one of them, was that he had a hard on for 12 hours.
12 hours!
It got my wheels spinning, imagining what the experience must have been like for this hapless young fellow. So I came up with this...


I suppose most people view Erectile Dysfunction drugs as a means for old men to terrorize their fossilized wives and young mistresses, and as fodder for stale jokes about failed politicians. But the way I see it, you hear what you want to hear with the ad campaigns for these drugs, depending on who you are. Gramps hears that his long dormant pecker might actually twitch when the nurse bends over. I hear that my dick will be harder than Michigan steel, a California Redwood and a New York D.A.’s soul.

I probably don’t have to tell you that I find this concept fascinating.

Now, I hasten to add that I'm 28 years old I don't have any problems in this department, so the attraction was more like those college kids in the 1950's that tried to see how many people they could cram into a phone booth. You know, exactly HOW HARD for HOW LONG could I get? The idea appealed to the scientist in me. Of course, I didn't have any idea that the experience would last 12 hours.

12 hours.
That's 720 minutes.
That's 43,200 seconds.

That's a mighty long time for your member to stand at attention.

So in the spirit of empiricism, I decided to keep a precise log of each hour that passed. The results are printed below for the benefit of future drug-fueled sexual swashbucklers:

HOUR ONE: Great. I have sex four times with my girlfriend. She knows she's in for the long haul, so she came prepared with KY Jelly, the massive "anti-family pack" of condoms and Pizza Hut on her cell phone speed dial. We know we aren't going anywhere tonight. The sex is stellar. She moans, cries and makes some noises you normally hear from the fatty in Human Resources as she devours a Hostess ho ho.

HOUR TWO: Still great. Although, now I have to pee, and my dick is still rock hard. I try to twist my pelvis over the toilet and point my dick down into the bowl. But, I ultimately face the shame of sitting on the toilet like a girl, my rod (and yes, in the condition it's in, it makes sense to call it that) resting against the rim at a rigid 45 degree angle.

HOUR THREE: More sex. I explore her in every position possible. We get a little winded and decide to try less athletic things with my dick. We measure it with a ruler, hang a spoon on the end of it and don a shotglass on its head.

HOUR FOUR: She gives me head, but it isn't very fun because I can't come and after 15 minutes, she has a slight case of lock jaw. We are alarmed at first, wondering how we would explain things if she had to be rushed to the hospital: Me with a visible hard on, and her with an open mouth like a German blow up sex doll. Fortunately, her mouth returns to normal and we order pizza.

HOUR FIVE: Eat pizza. Wang still hard. She takes a bath.

HOUR SIX: We consider doing it again, but watch a Seinfeld rerun instead. I wonder how Jerry got so many attractive women with his stupid bleached white tennis shoes and suburban pantry-stocking housewife jeans. I don't say anything, because if my girlfriend thinks he's hot, I don't want to know.

HOUR SEVEN: Schlong still hard, and I start to get a little irritable. To cheer me up, my girlfriend tries hanging various items of clothing on it. We start slow, with just a sock. We proceed to add one glove, a scarf, and a pair of boxers. Finally when we add a tank top, it droops a little.

HOUR EIGHT: Still hard. We have more sex, but it's kind of like eating the last serving of mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving. They tasted good at the beginning, but you don't really want a third helping. On the other hand, a third helping won't kill you. So you eat them, but they’e kind of cold, and you don't feel so great afterwards. Then you wonder why you had the third helping.

HOUR NINE: Had enough of my hard on. My girlfriend asks if it's possible to O.D. on an Erectile Dysfunction drug, and if there is some kind of hotline to call. She then admits that if there is a hotline, she wants the job of being the operator on the other end. We imagine all the different people calling in: "I gotta get to work in the morning!
How can I meet Mr. Beasley from accounting in this condition?” We picture Elmer Fudd and Yosimite Sam with everlasting hard ons, calling the hot line. Funny, except my girlfriend’s Yosimite Sam impersonation sounds more like rabid televangalist. You’d think the idea of my girlfriend sounding like rabid televangalist would automatically cause my penis to soften, but it doesn’t.

HOUR TEN: Hard on jokes are not funny anymore, as my pecker is still rigid. This is one of those: “This will be so funny in hindsight” situations. But right now it sucks. I try to sleep, and find that I am in the realm of pregnant women and women with large boobs in that I cannot sleep on my stomach. As this is how I normally sleep, I cannot get any rest. I am a prisoner of my hopped up dick and I don't like it anymore. I slap it back and forth a few times, watching it spring back up and then decide to masturbate.

HOUR ELEVEN: Even though this is the city that never sleeps, it feels as though my penis and I are the only two citizens of New York who are not sawing logs. We watch late night infomercials, and I make a mental note to buy myself Time Life's Soft Rock Collection and improve my abs.

HOUR TWELVE: At last I'm free! I've never been so happy to be flaccid in all my life. My dick looks curiously deflated and worn out as it droops woozily, and I finally slip into bed and fall asleep. It occurs to me that I will not be trying this again until I’m at least 75.

Friday, June 22, 2007

ALLIED FORCES: POOPING YOUR WAY TO A NEW YOU!


Yesterday I received an e-mail from a Peon Confidential reader who sent me a link to the website for ALLI, a magic new weight loss pill. She wrote, "This was sent to me by a friend. I wasn't researching ways to blow out my colon...Why I thought of you immediately when I read this remains a mystery."
Well lady, I'm certainly glad you did. The ALLI WEBSITE is filled to the brim with hilarity. At first I really thought it was some type of colossal practical joke. Honestly, I thought, is anyone that desperate to lose weight that they will structure their entire day, travel plans, social events and wardrobe around shitting? Then I read the forum, where women with screen-names like "deprivedwife" ask earnest questions about whether they can have 15 grams of fat per day or per meal without experiencing "treatment effects". What are "treatment effects"? Why that's just ALLI's ultra-clinical euphemism for "shitting your brains out" and "embarrassing yourself at the PTA meeting by soiling your Oleg Cassini sweatpants with wet, oily, stinky farts".
This is truly the weirdest weight loss idea ever. It basically works on fear: "Don't you DARE eat that Whopper, because if you do, you will have to make a quick dash to the Macy's bathroom, where you will be hunched over, sweating, easing out greasy, nasty stools."

Note some of the handy tips on the website:

-YOU MAY FEEL AN URGENT NEED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM. UNTIL YOU HAVE A SENSE OF ANY TREATMENT EFFECTS, IT'S PROBABLY A SMART IDEA TO WEAR DARK PANTS, AND BRING A CHANGE OF CLOTHES WITH YOU TO WORK

(Wearing dark pants IS a smart idea. Because then when you poop your pants, people may smell it, but they can't see it...so no one in the office can pin it on you! Now that's using your noggin.)

-YOU MAY NOT USUALLY GET GASSY, BUT IT'S A POSSIBILITY WHEN YOU TAKE ALLI. THE BATHROOM IS REALLY THE BEST PLACE TO GO WHEN THAT HAPPENS

(Really? At my place of work, when we have to fart, we head to the center of the newsroom, raise our fists in the air and say; "Hey Carl, listen to this one!")

-YOU CAN USE A FOOD JOURNAL TO RECOGNIZE WHAT FOODS CAN LEAD TO TREATMENT EFFECTS. FOR EXAMPLE, WRITING DOWN WHAT YOU EAT MAY HELP YOU LEARN THAT MARINARA SAUCE IS A BETTER OPTION THAN ALFREDO SAUCE

(Dear Diary,
Last night I went on a date with Bill to the Olive Garden.
We were having a wonderful, romantic evening until I made the BIG mistake of ordering the Alfredo sauce instead of the Marinara sauce...well let's just say Bill won't be calling anymore. Let's also say that I'll be shopping for a new cream-colored Liz Claiborn pantsuit...And that I've been banned from ever setting foot in the Olive Garden again.)

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

CRIMINAL GNOMES


The story I'm about to entrall you with intrigued me because I have a garden gnome named Larry on my terrace. He's a pretty cool fellow, and does an admirable job of keeping an eye on the place. But some gnomes are not so civic minded. According to The Associated Press, some have taken to a life of crime:
It seems that during a routine check of international mail on June 10, an Australian customs officer discovered two snakes and three lizards stuffed inside three garden gnomes in a shipment from Britain. It is against Australian law to bring live reptiles into the country without a license. No one was arrested over this bizarre incident, but customs said its investigation was continuing.

I had no idea garden gnomes were so shady. But in light of this new found information, here's a list of possible garden gnome gangster names:

1.) Randy "Little Smuggler" O'Mally
2.) Guido "Giant Balls" Gigante
3.) Carlos "Red Cap" Fuentes
4.) Norm "Gnominator" Smalls
5.) Larry

Monday, June 18, 2007

CEREAL MASCOT BABYLON


I expect we've all heard the sad news that Toucan Sam might be out of a job. According to The New York Times, The Kellogg Company has established new nutrition standards. Only products with up to 12 grams of sugar per serving can be advertised to children. This means unless they reformulate Pop-Tarts, Apple Jacks, Cocoa Krispies and Froot Loops, these products will no longer be pitched to kids.
I bet it's only a matter of time before General Mills follows suit.
And you know what this means:
A whole lot of beloved cereal mascots will be in the unemployment line...
Some will take low-paying, humilating jobs just to make a buck. Some will opt to get out of the cereal racket and play shuffleboard in Florida. Some will parlay their cereal fame into new avenues. Some will fall in with a bad crowd. In two years time, just imagine where these mascots could be...

TOUCAN SAM: Official mascot for NYC Gay Pride parade
TRIX RABBIT: Blinded after taking a job in a research lab to pay for coke habit
COUNT CHOCULA: Writes tell-all about sordid nights with Boo Berry and Franken Berry
LUCKY CHARMS LEPRECHAUN: Arrested for racketeering
COOKIE CRISP WIZARD: Cameo in a Harry Potter film
SONNY THE CUKOO BIRD: Tragic accident. Winds up battered, fried and thrown in a bucket of KFC, devoured by a family of four in Poughkeepsie
SUGAR SMACKS "DIG 'EM" FROG: Internet porn. Most popular title: "Sugar Smack that Ass"

UPDATE:
Due to interest in the comments section, behold, it's FRUIT BRUTE

Thursday, June 14, 2007

TALK BACK LIVE HOOLIGAN


I think it's pretty safe to say that Talk Back Live was horrendous programming. Irredeemable, actually. Boring guests, lackluster audience participation, ugly set, terrible locale, unlistenable theme song.
As such, when I came across Rob Lathan's blog on a friend's website, I had to share his story with you. The YouTube links are included. The best part of the story is that the man was simply delivering a cake to a CNN conference, and they seized the opportunity to hold him hostage to that awful show. I mean, how often did that happen? How many Fed Ex guys, Jehovah's Witnesses, dog walkers, and singing telegram people did they trap in this same manner? Check this out:

"I finally uploaded the footage from my Talk Back Live appearances on YouTube. The footage is from 1997 - when I was crazy. Now I’m completely sane. (Yeah right.) The first vid is from my very first appearance - which also happened to be my TV debut. At the time I was working as a cake deliverer in Atlanta for a company called Piece of Cake. After dropping off a cake at a CNN conference, a producer asked if I wanted to be an audience member for a show they were taping called Talk Back Live. The producer explained that audience members could ask questions to a panel of experts about a certain topic and that day’s topic was the OJ Simpson Civil Trial. I said yes. Before I went on the set I called my college buddies and told them to tape it. The footage is a little choppy now and the sound goes out at one point, but you should still get the idea. Let’s see if I ask an intelligent question.

At the next commercial break two security guards tapped me on the shoulder and informed me that I was being kicked off the set. And so I went back on my route delivering cakes. But that was not the end of it for me. I went back to CNN Talk Back Live a few days later - this time in disguise. Of course one of the producers recognized me and said under no circumstances was I allowed back on the set again. But after pleading with her for several minutes, she finally relented but said I was strictly forbidden to ask any questions. And so I sat through the entire show without asking anything. But at least I got to express myself with my awesome costume. Let’s see if you can spot me in the audience.

I kept going back to CNN Talk Back Live every single day - each day in a new crazy costume and each day while I was supposed to be out on my route delivering cakes. But I think after a while I just wore everybody out who was involved with the show. On my final visit, I was told that I was officially banned from ever setting foot there again. If I stayed any longer they would call the cops and have me arrested. After a long back and forth of this, I finally agreed to leave and we parted way forever. I went back to delivering cakes without visiting any political talk shows. And CNN Talk Back Live went back to airing programs with mostly normal people in the audience. Eventually CNN Talk Back Live was canceled. And eventually I stopped delivering cakes. But I’ll always look back on those days with fondness. Of the few TV appearances I’ve had since, nothing has been quite as sweet as the time when somebody finally put “The Juice” in his place."

As a side note--does anyone who had the misfortune to work on this show remember this guy and his crazy costumes?

Friday, June 08, 2007

THE ETERNAL CITY (ETERNALLY HIGH)


Just found out that apart from the delicious food, the gorgeous architecture, and beautiful people, Rome offers up another pleasurable surprise for tourists and locals alike:
According to Reuters: "Scientists have discovered particles of cocaine and marijuana, as well as caffeine and tobacco, in the air of Italy's capital, they said on Thursday. The concentration of drugs was heaviest in the air around Rome's Sapienza university, though the National Research Council's Dr. Angelo Cecinato warned against drawing conclusions about students' recreational habits."

Ah, Roma. A truly intoxicating city. Surely this added bonus should be included in their tourist brochures. With the lousy dollar-to-euro exchange, it's nice to know a person can get something for free.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

MAMA D'S ARTS BORDELLO PRESENTS: A MAGNUM P.I. CELEBRATION


Aloha Magnum P.I. fans- Prepare yourselves for some high-octane excitement!
Tonight, Tim O'Mara, Pete Olson, Mike Ser and Mama D are presenting you with a rare cultural artifact...Yes, the rumors are true. We've unearthed "The Lost Episode of Magnum P.I." Hidden for years, it took the talents of four exceptional writers to decode it for your pleasure. But that's not all. You'll also enjoy Mike Maloney's raucous tribute to famed TV theme composer Mike Post and a chance to win Magnum-themed prizes. This is top quality entertainment. The best around. You don't want to miss a single Selleck-sational moment!

WARNING: One of us WILL be squeezed into tight, yellow, ball-cupping 1980's style, Magnum P.I. approved Op shorts.

TIME: 8:30pm
PLACE: Jimmy's No. 43 (backroom)
ADDRESS: East 7th (Btw 2nd/3rd)

See you there!

Monday, June 04, 2007

THE POET LAUREATE OF THE TOILET


Quiz time:
The following pieces of shithouse literature, displayed upon various stall walls have been discovered at:
1.) A global cable news organization
2.) A local New York news affiliate
3.) A crappy Lower East Side bar

Can you tell which piece of literature comes from which place?


A.) Hello ladies,

Please I beg you, I beg of all the women using this bathroom.

When you flush the toilet, please take a moment to look and see if everything flushed.

If it did not, please take the time to flush again and keep flushing until it is all gone.

I am more than confident that no one wants to see someone else's mess when they walk into a stall.

We would all appreciate the common courtesy of a clean stall.


B.) Here I sit, brokenhearted,
Came to shit,
But only farted


C.) LADIES
 
PLEASE!!!!
 
DO NOT leave your hair or cosmetic spills in/on the sink. (clip art of sink)
 
MAKE SURE everything goes down before you leave the stall. (clip art of toilet)
 
Use air freshener whenever possible. (clip art of air freshener shooting out fumes)
 
And always remember...
 
If you sprinkle while you tinkle please be neat and wipe the seat. (clip art of toilet roll)
 
Let's have a little more consideration for the next person coming into the stall. (clip art of smiling sun)

Friday, June 01, 2007

TB IN THE SKY: THE ANDREW SPEAKER STORY


So, by now we've all heard the odd story of personal injury lawyer Andrew Speaker from Atlanta, who has a drug-resistant strain of TB. Although at first he did not know his TB was so severe, he knew he had TB. Yet he STILL chose to travel for his fabulous destination wedding in Greece, make a stop in Paris, then honeymoon in Rome, then jet off to Prague, then fearing he could not get proper treatment for his vicious strain of TB, fly into Canada to sneak into the U.S. despite being told by federal officials not to get on a long commercial flight...
I think this guy is a selfish prick.
I don't care that his neighbors say he's a nice guy. They weren't sitting next to him in a cramped plane without proper ventilation. I don't care that his doctors only reccommended that he "put off his wedding" but did not explicitly tell him not to go. Use some common sense. If you know you have TB you should respect the people who will be forced to sit by you for 8 hours on a plane. If he really wanted to get married, he could have just done it in Atlanta, and not risked infecting innocent people in an enclosed space.

However, that is not the point of this post. The point is:

This story has all the makings, with just a few tweaks, of a great made-for-TV movie. Plus, the fact that his father-in-law is a TB specialist already reads like fiction. But in my fictionalized made-for-TV movie, the father-in-law personally infected him with TB. He injected it in his arm on a balmy Atlanta evening after a lavish outdoor gala because:
A.) he never thought he was good enough for his little girl
and
B.) so he could have a case study at his disposal and not have to travel to remote parts of Russia and Asia.

And no, I don't care if that's not possible medically. This is a TV drama. And a bad TV drama at that.

Also, have you seen what the wife looks like? Southern belle, with white-blonde hair and shapely legs. Again, perfect for my movie. In my fictionalized movie, he is torn about going on the trip, but she coaxes him into it with her sexy charms.
Naturally, in my movie he has to start hacking and wheezing on one of the trans-Atlantic flights, possibly spitting up blood, causing pandemonium and at least one over-turned food cart. On the plane there would be a couple of nuns, some acrobats, a famous movie star, and a rascally stowaway kid with a cute puppy.

THE CAST AND CREW:

ANDREW SPEAKER: Ian Ziering
ANDREW'S FIANCEE: Jennie Garth
FATHER-IN-LAW: Patrick Duffy
NUNS: Valerie Bertanelli and Donna Mills
ACROBATS: The Vegas cast of Cirque de Soleil
FAMOUS MOVIE STAR: Morgan Fairchild
RASCALLY STOWAWAY KID: Any Fanning sibling will do
THEME SONG "My Cough Will Go On" SUNG BY: Celine Dion
COSTUMES BY: Nolan Miller

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

CNN'S RESIDENT WORDSMITH


An anonymous tipster just sent in this exchange from yesterday's American Morning show on CNN.
After reading it, I have concluded that:

A.) One should not rely on any Wikipedia entries written by Kiran Chetry.
B.) Kiran Chetry is not the most suitable candidate to manage the leopard exhibit at the zoo.
C.) Kiran Chetry has a pretty hazy understanding of what an anesthesiologist does.

So-
While reporting the story of a leopard that had jumped into a man’s bed, this strained banter between Kiran Chetry and John Roberts took place:
(The video on screen shows the leopard being carted off on a stretcher by animal control…)

CHETRY: I hope that's just euthanized. Yes or no?

ROBERTS: (audible groan) Well, I would think anesthetized.

CHETRY: You mean killed?

ROBERTS: (audible sigh) No. Anesthetized. Euthanized would be killed.

CHETRY: Oh, OK. You're right. I hope they just hit it with a tranquilizer dart and did not euthanize the leopard.

ROBERTS: I would think so.

ROBERTS: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.

BLUE MOON RISING: A SMURF SHALL BE BORN!


I'm posting this a day in advance so you will be sure not to miss this exciting event. According to scientific types who got better SAT scores than me, "Thursday, May 31 brings us the second of two full Moons for North Americans this month. Some almanacs and calendars assert that when two full Moons occur within a calendar month, that the second full Moon is called the "Blue Moon." This time around, the Moon will turn full on May 31 at 9:04 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (6:04 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time)."

But the most fantastic part about this astronomic wonder, is that according to legend...a Smurf shall be born! Another pal for Lazy Smurf, Handy Smurf, Brainy Smurf, Smurfette, Vanity Smurf, Papa Smurf, Jokey Smurf, and my favorite (because he and the evil Gargamel helped cut the sticky sweetness of this show) Grouchy Smurf.

So, in honor of the Smurf about to be born tomorrow, I am proposing some possible Smurf names:

1.) PERVY SMURF (walks around with permanent blue balls)
2.) BRITNEY SMURF (lip syncs the "La La La La La La" Smurf song)
3.) TRASHY SMURF (born under the same Blue Moon as Britney Smurf)
4.) WHEEZY SMURF (smokes three packs of unfiltered Marlboros a day)
5.) DRUNKY SMURF (often found passed out under a mushroom)
6.) MELLOW SMURF (often found eating a mushroom)
7.) ANCHOR SMURF (completely silent, as there is no TelePromoter in Smurf Village)
8.) CHEESEY SMURF (often called upon by Papa Smurf to torture Gargamel with his extensive collection of Air Supply albums)
9.) SMELLY SMURF (cannot understand why his advances towards Smurfette are spurned)
10.) RON JEREMY SMURF (uses a special dick wheelbarrow to get around Smurf Village)

Monday, May 28, 2007

BEA ARTHUR'S BIGGEST FAN


I'd like to follow up the last post about demographic mysteries with a startling piece of information I just heard from my mother:
Apparently, my father, who in his earlier years lost half of his teeth from playing hockey and the other half from beer-soaked fist fights, who ran the Honolulu Marathon one day after getting surgery, with blood streaming down his thigh as he crossed the finish line, who has at various times in his life told a nun, a kindly kindergarten teacher and a gaggle of sweet-natured hippies to "go fuck yourself", who once set his own broken nose after fighting off a Samoan twice his size outside of Matteo's in Waikiki, who drove my pregnant mother around at 100 miles an hour in his Corvette; this man, now in his 60's has become devoted to watching...
The Golden Girls reruns.

So word to the folks in ad sales...you just never know, do you?

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

DEMOGRAPHIC MYSTERY


So there I was, watching The History Channel and ironing my clothes. (How's that for an arresting opening sentence? I mean, why else do people move to New York, if not to experience the type roller coaster lifestyle I lead? Bet you can't wait to read what happens next...)

While the program was pretty interesting (Cities of the Underworld) I was more fascinated by the commercials they chose to run. Clearly, no one in ad sales at The History Channel assumes that somebody like me is tuned in. Why? Because back-to-back they ran ads like:

1.) Male Guards. It's like a cupped maxi pad for incontinent men. Now, I have no problem with the product of course. I'm sure it's necessary. It's just that--have you seen this ad? All these senior citizen men are gathered together; out in the wilderness, bicycling, hiking, having the time of their lives, presumably pissing their pants. The tag line, uttered in the same bombastic voice used in movie trailers booms out: "Protect yourself, guys."

2.) Levitra.

3.) Cialis. These ads kill me too. So Grandpa pops a Cialis and is about to bone Grandma. But then the kids and grandkids drop in uninvited! Cut to cheery scenes of all of them eating lunch, playing in the backyard, laughing, enjoying the sunshine. Meanwhile, I'm just waiting for Grandpa to throttle one of them and bellow:
"No more ice cream, no more swing set--just when are you little shits gonna get the fuck out of here? Grandpa's got a stiffy. Now scram!"

The point is, who decided that "Cities of the Underworld" is programming geared towards incontinent men with errectile dysfunction? Are there studies taken? And how are said studies conducted? Seriously, if anyone has some answers, I'd be much obliged if you'd pass them along...

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

GAY PINK FLAMINGOS EMBRACE FATHERHOOD


Today I'd like to say congratulations to Carlos and Fernando, a gay pink flamingo couple living at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) near Bristol, England.
According to the Associated Foreign Press, Carlos and Fernando have been together for six years. They "had been desperate to start a family, even chasing other flamingos from their nests to take over their eggs."

The devoted couple were recently rewarded for their brazen behavior, and finally realized their dream of becoming fathers.
WWT spokesperson Jane Waghorn said, "They were rather good at sitting on eggs and hatching them. So last week, when a nest was abandoned, it seemed like a good idea to make them surrogate parents."

Best of luck to Carlos, Fernando and the new chick!

Thursday, May 10, 2007

10 ARTIFACTS FOR THE NEWSEUM


I just read today in the Associated Press that the NEWSEUM, a museum of journalism is opening this fall near the Capitol. The ticket price for adults is $17.91, symbolic of the year the First Amendment was ratified. (That's cute, but doesn't change the fact it will be one of the most expensive museums in the area.) Some of the items slated for display are the cell phone used by a student to get footage of the Virginia Tech shootings, and the vest Bob Woodruff was wearing when he was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

So, I started thinking about other artifacts that I would deem worthy of the Newseum. Items worthy of the $17.91 ticket price. In fact, I made a list:

-ALTERNATIVE ARTIFACTS FOR THE NEWSEUM-

1.) Lou Waters' turquoise ring
2.) The O'Reilly loofah/falafel
3.) Geraldo's mustache
4.) Al Roker's lost fat cells
5.) Katie Couric's lost perkiness
6.) Connie Chung's lost credibility
7.) Ted Koppel's toupe
8.) Lou Dobbs' righteous indignation
9.) Andy Rooney's eyebrows
10.) The Roz Files

I would stand in line for an hour, wearing ill-fitting shoes and pay my last $17.91 for a glimpse of that sublime collection. And I don't think I'm alone on this one.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

THE NEW ANDY WARHOL DIARIES


I have been fascinated by "The Andy Warhol Diaries" since I was a teenager. (My copy still has the unicorn bookplate that I glued on the first page.) Andy Warhol died in 1987, and these diaries were released in 1989. He had started dictating them sporadically to his assistant Pat Hackett as both a hazy Factory log and a way to keep track of his business expenses. But by 1976 he was calling Hackett every morning to tell her where he went, who he saw and what he did the previous day and night, along with the cost of cabs, magazines and lunches.
These diaries are full of vacuous observations, random thoughts and bitchy, rude, insulting opinions on celebrities and people he considered his friends. When I first read them, I couldn't believe the extreme celebrity minutiae, that nothing was left out. It read like a blog before there were blogs. At the time it seemed odd that someone would want to write down and preserve such trivial things. But the random, useless information about faded glamour and defunct New York nightlife intrigued me.

Soon after these diaries came out, Spy Magazine published an Andy Warhol's Diaries Index, which I tucked into my book and still have. It made searching for your favorite insult/tidbit that much easier, as it provided name, insult/tidbit and page. There are entries like:

-Tiegs, Cheryl: plainness and funny dressing of, 256
-Scorcese, Martin: blood poisoning of, cocaine problems of, 61
-Madonna: "drawing cocks" on pants, 655
-Minnelli, Liza: tacky furnishings of, 202
-Halston: pretending to suck penis and testicles of Erotic Bakery cake, 129
-Cher: having bloated pimply face, having two boyfriends at once, 434
-DeNiro, Robert: "He must be crazy, because he's really fat," 253

Anyway,
I was wondering what Andy Warhol would dictate to Pat Hackett if he were still around today. Especially since there is so much more pop culture to devour now. So I wrote these entries in the style of how he might have chronicled a few months of his celebrity lifestyle last year:


EXCERPTS FROM “THE ANDY WARHOL DIARIES” EDITED BY PAT HACKETT
(IF ANDY WARHOL HAD NOT DIED IN 1987)

MONDAY, MAY 8, 2006
Picked up US WEEKLY. (Magazine $2.99) Read about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. How come no one ever mentions his pock-marked skin? I bet he was a pimply 16-year-old who masturbated a lot. I’m sick of celebrity babies. Boring. Every gossip rag reads like Redbook or Good Housekeeping now.

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2006
Felt ill. Stayed in bed. Watched “My Super Sweet 16” on MTV. Some girl’s family in Miami spent $150,000.00 on her birthday. Probably her dad’s drug money.

MONDAY, MAY 15, 2006
Lindsay Lohan stopped by the office. We are doing a portrait of her. So many freckles! Sweet, but that white trash scent will never fade on her. She just reeks of it. I don’t care how much Karl Lagerfeld tries to shape her with his queeny fingers.

FRIDAY, MAY 19, 2006
Dinner at Sarah Jessica Parker’s place. They hired a decorator but it still looks cheap. Sometimes I think celebrity decorators are just having a joke at their expense.

SATURDAY, MAY 27, 2006

Went to Central Park. (Cab $8.00 with tip) Overheard a woman saying that the reason there are no garbage disposals in New York is because years ago the city was run by Catholics and they were afraid mothers would abort their babies and put them in the garbage disposal. Is this true?

SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 2006
Glued myself together. Took cab ($11.00 with tip) to Paris Hilton’s party at Bungalow 8. I can’t understand how people think she is a sex symbol. She looks like an afghan hound. She’s skinny, but so dumb! She has a lazy eye. Saw Vince Vaughn on the way out. Looks like a plumber. But I bet he’s got a big dick.

MONDAY, JUNE 5, 2006
Depressed today. Couldn’t work. Watched The Ellen DeGeneres show. Why is she so popular? Lesbians just aren’t funny.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2006
Lunch at Michael’s with Tina Brown. ($125.00 with tip) Dull journalist types everywhere. Everyone eating Cobb salad. Sat at a table next to Dominck Dunne, so I kept my voice down. What a name-dropper! So tacky.

TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2006
Madonna tickets for the Madison Square Garden concert came today. Not that excited. She is so tired now. She was so much more fun when she was trashy, with that book of naked pictures and saying “fuck" on David Letterman. Now she’s just some boring, preachy mom, like Susan Sarandon.

FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2006
Watched Star Jones on Larry King. So deluded. Lost all that weight and still looks bad. At least when she was fat, people would say “She’d be pretty if she lost the weight.” Then she did and she still isn’t. Larry King always looks like he has bad breath.

SATURDAY, JULY 1, 2006
Saw “The Devil Wears Prada” at AMC. (Ticket $10.75) Those clothes were ridiculous. Stale Chanel everywhere. What entry-level fashion industry assistant would wear that? Everyone knows those girls are all trying to look homeless these days, like those twin dwarf Olsen girls from “Full House”.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 2006
Went to the office. Ran into Gwenyth Paltrow on the elevator. She had B.O. I was surprised. It was the second time I’ve smelled it on her. The first time I smelled it I thought she’d just came back from yoga or something. Maybe B.O. is part of her “natural” kick. I guess her husband likes women that smell like B.O.

Monday, May 07, 2007

THE SONIC CONSEQUENCES OF INTOXICATION


Most of us have experienced the embarrassment of drunk dialing. That moment of intoxication when it seems like a brilliant idea to go through your phone book and harass ex-boyfriends, booty call long lost girlfriends, prank call professors and generally abuse this mode of communication in ways Alexander Graham Bell never envisioned...then pass out with your phone in one hand and a beer in the other.

With the age of e-mail, a new threat arrived: drunk e-mailing. This is perhaps worse, because you write horrid, rude, grammatically incorrect shit; telling a friend, relative or co-worker exactly how you feel about their Jamaican vacation, crappy forwarded jokes or ugly kid. You hit "send" with satisfaction...then pass out on the keyboard. When you wake up a few hours later with keyboard indentations on your forehead, you realize the folly of your ways. And there's no way to reverse the epistolary damage. Obviously, drunk texting also falls into this category.

Now, there is yet another drunken minefield:

Drunk Downloading.

While it has not been popularized to the extent that drunk dialing and drunk e-mailing have, it is equally dangerous. I have fallen prey to drunk downloading on many occasions. I will come home from a lovely evening of swilling gin and tonics and decide to get on the computer. I will turn up the i-Tunes. I will start to dance. And by "dance" I mean sway in my chair and wiggle my arms around. Soon I will decide that my music collection is missing something. Yes, I will think, I can no longer drunkenly sway and wiggle in this chair with any degree of satisfaction because I only have a paltry 3,657 songs in my i-Tunes library. And I cannot rest, cannot experience true fulfillment in this chair until the situation is rectified.

In the morning, I am horrified to discover that rectifying the situation somehow involved buying unbelieveably awful music from the i-Tunes store.

If you think I'm exaggerating, consider this:
I woke up on Sunday and found that while drunk downloading I had purchased the following songs:

1.) Right Said Fred's "Too Sexy"
2.) Salt n' Pepa's "I Like to Party"
3.) Naughty By Nature's "O.P.P."
4.) Fergie's "Fergilicious"
5.) Tom Jones' "Sex Bomb"

If that collection of sonic malfeasance isn't enough reason to get my ass next to Lindsay Lohan at A/A, I don't know what is.