Letterman Drops A 300lb. Safe On A Buick

I'm pretty sure this recurring bit on the Letterman Show is executed with the utmost safety, but...

Can you imagine walking to the corner deli, minding your business, only to see something plummet ten stories to the ground? Did I just really see that 300-pound safe fall of a building and onto a car? Or was I too busy listening to my iPod and dodging pedestrian traffic to care?

Well known for his pointless and absurd segments, Letterman has been destroying things in the name of comedy for a while now. His last-laugh humor has lead to the destruction not only safes but a variety of household items, by methods including explosives, steamrollers, and - most frequently - throwing them off the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater.

What’s next Dave? I really just can’t wait. I’d love to see you throw a snowman off the roof into a pile of presents or maybe a tuba into a vat of Jell-O.

Real Audio: Jack Palance

Mah-mah... I get gitty over anything that uses "mah" in place of a boring or aggitating voice. Ever since I first heard the repeated trombone riff as the voice of the teacher in Charlie Brown, I realized that "mah" is probually one of the most brilant sound effects ever.

Some times, you just dont care to think up the most mundane or annoying thing for a character to say. And even if you did take the time to think it up, no one would want to hear your brillant attempt at immitating everyday life.

Besides the fantastic addition of an aggitating femme, this Real Audio clip takes an actual voice session with Academy Award-winning American actor, Jack Palance. Best known for playing the characters of Curly and Duke in the City Slickers movies, Palance is also one of the the most sinister cinematic villains of 1950s.

A characture of a not-so-uncommon moment in time, when some one may have wanted to slap this man for being so self-serving, animator Russell Arch brings Palance to life with texture and squiggles.

Andy Dick GAP Commercial Parody

I'm personally not a fan of Dick's humor and after the William Shatner Roast, I felt like much of his audience may have tired of the puns on his open bi-sexuality. But, this video clip is actually pretty clever.
It would be even more so if Jay Leno hadn't spoofed the Audrey Hepburn Gap skinny black pant commercial on The Tonight Show.

If you are unfamiliar with the original Gap advertisement, I suggest reading Adfreak's commentary on the campaign:

a Funny Face-era Audrey Hepburn dancing to AC/DC’s “Back in Black”? The new commercial, which landed in my e-mail box over night, is meant to relaunch Gap’s skinny black pant, according to creative director Trey Laird, who talks about the ad in this video on the Gap site. While I get the point, there’s something so discordant about Angus Young teamed with Audrey Hepburn.

Jon Stewarts North Korean Summer Home

In my media savvy mind, this video from The Daily Show last night proves Indiana University's recent study.



Julia R. Fox, assistant professor of telecommunications at Indiana University, recently conducted a study that found The Daily Show to be “as substantive as network news.”

"Our findings should allay at least some of the concerns about the growing reliance on this non-traditional source of political information, as it is just as substantive as the source that Americans have relied upon for decades.

The analysis was run again using the half-hour program, rather than the story, as the unit of analysis, and Fox still found no significant differences in substance. The study does not address differences in the ways viewers of both programs process and remember political information or the differences in tone between them.

"It is clearly a humor show, first and foremost," Fox said of Stewart's program. "But there is some substance on there, and in some cases, like John Edwards announcing his candidacy, the news is made on the show. You have real newsmakers coming on, and yes, sometimes the banter and questions get a little silly, but there is also substantive dialogue going on … It's a legitimate source of news."

With no analysis to back my addiction, I have been relying on Stewart as a primary news source for at least a year. I think I learned more from Stewart coverage of the CNN reports on North Korea's reported nuclear weapons test than I would have from the clips themselves. And as an added bonus, it its pretty darn funny. I almost fell out of my chair. Don't believe me? Just ask the Arrowhead delivery man who watched me laugh so hard I could barely breath.

Hebrew Crunk!

In order to revitalize young Jewish people's in the Holy New year's rituals, Taglit-isreal presents the following...



This animated sampling mixes a beat sounding similar to Ludacris's Money Maker with the blaring of the holiday's Shofar, a trumpet is an essential part of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services.

I think that it's interesting that a religious foundation that organizes "birth-right" trips to the "Holy Land" would promote this video as a way to make the high holiday appeal to the younger or YouTube generation.

This viral, at a glance, may appear offensive to the religious nature of the Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the New Year, is the most important and widely celebrated Jewish holiday. Though not a member of the religion, even I can see how the Rabbi rocking out on a ceremonial horn could ruffle a few feathers. I can only imagine what the parents, who have never even heard of Crunk, might think of this.

All seriousness aside, I do think this video is absurd and well conceived. Nothing says "celebration" to the MTV or video-hosting crowd like a booty shaken rap video. But there is one thing I am still having difficulty deciding... which is more crunk, the gold teeth or the booties on 'dem apples?

Dont Hassel the Hoff

Former Baywatch Babe and Nightrider hunk takes a dive with these cheesy music videos.



I have to look away. There is just something gruesome about a middle age man rocking out like he never has before, literally because he never has before. Without the voice of Boy Meets World's Mr. Feeny*, Hasselhoff's hunky ride doesn't have the same appeal. Check out this video Jump in my Car and let me know your thoughts.

Just can't get enough, here's one more for those of you who are Hooked on Hoff videos.

*note: I do realize I am dating myself with this reference. May it be known that I only watched Night Rider in reruns