Category: Comedy

Have You Read This Book?

March 20, 2009
BooksComedyMy Life

The book is Steve Martin’s “Born Standing Up“. I’ve always been a big fan of his, from way back in the days of the “wild and crazy guy”, happy feet, “let’s get small”, and the arrow through the head. Remember? Well, I guess that depends on how old you are. And of course since then he has made many worthy films too.

This book follows his life from childhood into his beginnings with magic and comedy. Then into his becoming famous and how it affected him. Finally he covers why he decided to never do stand-up comedy again. The book ends there, hopefully he will write another one someday that will deal with his life after stand-up. This book is written in an easy-to-read style with some subtle humor, although you do get the down side too. It was a quick read and an enjoyable one.

Here’s what Elvis Presley said about Steve Martin in 1971:

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Terrific Tunes For Tuesday – Take 7

March 17, 2009
ComedyMusicTerrific Tunes

I love the Beatles so much. And I love their film “Yellow Submarine”, having seen it some 20 or 30 times. But so what? you say. Well, many years ago Eric Idle and some of his Pythonesque friends got together and filmed a mock biography of a very Beatles-like group, The Rutles (learn more). Where the Beatles were the fab four, these lads were the pre-fab four. It was a hilarious spot-on parody and the more you knew about the Beatles the more clever of an affectionate send-up it was. If you love the Beatles you must see The Rutles in “All You Need Is Cash“.

In one part of the movie, they are spoofing the period where the Bealtes, in full psychedelia, released the animated film “Yellow Submarine“. Well, in the Rutles parody, they released “Yellow Submarine Sandwich”, looking remarkably like the beatles film but of course spoofing it. The video below, for The Rutles “Cheese And Onions”, captures the sound of the Beatles really well, and also captures the look of the animated movie. Clever lads, those Rutles! 😉

See past Terrific Tunes For Tuesday.

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Or you can buy The Rutles music here

Hey, leave me a comment about The Rutles!

Avenue Q – Not Sesame Street At All

March 12, 2009
ComedyMy Life
3 Comments

The other night we saw the play Avenue Q (official site). I had heard there were puppets, kind of like Sesame Street’s muppets, but that did not prepare me for what I saw. Not at all. First, let me say I liked the play quite a bit. Now, here is the description from Time magazine, back in 2003:

 What if the denizens of Sesame Street grew up into profane, broke, self-doubting college grads who kept some of their innocence but developed potty mouths?

Well, that sort of describes it. The set is a lot like Sesame Street, with people and puppets popping in and out and interacting about life and such. But here the characters are wildly stereotypical and not at all politcally correct.

To get an idea,

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Bumbershoot Music And Arts Festival

March 5, 2009
ArtBumbershootComedyMoviesMusicMy LifeSeattleTravel
2 Comments

– Update: The new Bumbershoot web site for 2009 is online as of March 6. Check it out. The first group of performers will be announced later this month, so they say, with more to follow…
– Second update: I can die happy now. Bumbershoot itself commented on this post [see below] and on their site! [click here]
It’s about six months until the 2009 Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival in Seattle. We go there every year, since 2001. And we already have a room reserved for this year, which will be our ninth Bumbershoot.

One of life’s coolest and most wonderful things, Bumbershoot is three full days of 15-20 stages, outdoor and indoor, full of music, comedy, art, dance, literature, theater, film, vendors, street perfomers, visual arts, exhibits, activities, food, and tons of other arts-related stuff. Some of you already know how much I love this festival. Some of you might have even gone with us! Or might go this year? The festival is over Labor Day weekend (this year September 5-7), when the festival has been held for some 38 or so years. I only wish I had known about it sooner.

You can find out more on their web site, although they haven’t put the 2009 site up yet. But you can sure check out the 2008 site to see how very cool this festival is. For instance, you can see what artists played the festival from 1980-2008. Seriously, check it out. There are also some pictures of our Seattle/Bumbershoot trips from 2007, 2005, and 2004 on the photos page. If you want to be on my Bumbershoot email list, for the occasional scoop about the festival and who might be playing this year, just send me an email here or leave a comment below.

As always, open for commenting…

Movie Time!

December 29, 2008
ComedyMoviesMy Life

The holiday season and movies. Don’t those two things go together? We rented four movies and bought six more. Don’t panic! The ones we bought were only five dollars each!

Here’s what we rented and watched:

The Dark Knight – Yeah, the Batman movie with Heath Ledger as The Joker. Has any recent film had this much hype? Well, it was a well-financed effort with lots of flash, action, and special effects, as I expected. It was non-stop action and Heath did a creepily great job as The Joker. I liked the movie for the escapist fun that it was. Petra was less enthused. 😉

The Women – A chick flick. In fact, there were no men even in this movie! It was ok, but nothing special.

Smart People – I thought Ellen Page, Dennis Quaid, and the other stars would make this a smart movie, but it wasn’t as good as I thought hoped it might be. So-so, but it had it’s moments.

Little Miss Sunshine – We both enjoyed this one. It was very quirky and entertaining and the performances and writing were good. Plus, it wasn’t like every other movie. This one was fun.

And the ones we bought, real cheap like:

Grace Is Gone

Cassandra’s Dream

The Great Debaters

Mad Money

The Pursuit Of Happyness

Dreamgirls

Do you have any thoughts about any of these? Any complete turkeys? Are they all great? Leave a comment…

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid

December 18, 2008
ComedyMovies

“Steve Martin is Rigby Reardon, a private eye with a nose for crime, who’s hot on the case of a murdered cheesemaker in this hardboiled comedy caper”. OK, well, that’s a start. And that’s what the package says. But I recently re-watched this classic comedy film from 1982. I hadn’t seen it since back then, and that was a long, long time ago. But I remember liking it then and I still liked it now. Granted, there is a little silliness here and there and a few semi-crude one-liners, but overall it is a clever parody of the film noir detective and crime movies of the 40s. In fact, it is intersperced with scenes from those films, seamlessly weaved into the storyline. Jimmy Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Veronica Lake, Betty Davis, and many more classic actors unknowningly lend their talents as their scenes become part of this movie.
Of course Martin hams a little, though not “too” much. And Rachel Ward is fine as the “dame” who hires him. Sure, she has 80s big hair, but she’s still a looker and a worthy addition to this exercise in comedy and editing. And Carl Reiner is around for added comedy effect, both acting and directing. 

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Happy Birthday, Woody Allen!

December 1, 2008
ArtComedyMovies
12 Comments

Happy Birthday to Woody Allen!

Woody is one of America’s greatest filmmakers and humorists. A short overview of his life and career is here on Wikipedia. But that does not do it justice. The man has been making very-good-to-outstanding films since the 60s and continues today. And that is not to even mention his books, plays, or his clarinet playing. He is one of the truly great artists of our time and I honor him by wishing him a wonderful birthday.

The main thing, though? His films. So many deserving, quality films. Here are my “Top 11” Woody Allen films, at least for today, in no particular order:

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Happy Tofurky Day

November 25, 2008
Animal RightsComedyFoodGrandkidsMy LifeVegetarian

Happy Tofurky Day!Yep, you read that right. We don’t eat no dead birds ’round these parts. We’ll have a vegetarian feast instead. And you can tell by looking at us that we are NOT starving. So, Happy Tofurkey Day to family and friends. And anyone else who has stumbled into this den of rogues, scoundrels, n’er-do-wells, and blackest of sheep.

Today’s culinary tip: What kind of wine should one enjoy with a fake “turkey”? Most experts, including myself, would suggest limiting it to either red, white or pink. Anything else would be a major faux pas.

Now, could you kindly please pass the Tofurky, the nut loaf, the potatoes, the stuffing, the corn, the soup, the bread, the gravy (of course), and both kinds of pie? You can keep the cranberry sauce ;-p

Barack Is In The House! Our House!

November 20, 2008
ComedyFamilyMy LifePolitics
1 Comment

Barack The houseYeah, baby! It’s the President-Elect. And you all know what big Obama fans we are, having already read this and this. So, really, it’s no big surprise that he showed up at our house to thank us personally for voting for him. Hey, pictures don’t lie!

Possible captions for this photo:

Barack: “This is better than the White House”

Us: “No, you can’t give our dog to your kids!”

Us: “RED wine? That’s our favorite too!”

The dog: “Want to watch General Hospital?”

Me: “Too bad you didn’t know Petra before you picked your vice-president!”

Any other ideas? C’mon boys and girls. Just click on the comment link below…

The Las Vegas/Grand Canyon Trip – Days 1-2

October 26, 2008
ComedyFoodFriendsMy LifeTravel

Petra Goes Gambling In Las VegasWhat happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But how interesting is that? Bah! So here are the facts about what happened in Las Vegas, more or less, pretty much, you know what I mean. And don’t panic, the Grand Canyon part of the trip will be in the next post. And pictures will be here one of these days too.

We flew Our plane flew out of Sacramento fairly early on the morning of the 10th. It was a short and uneventful flight. Our friends Larry and Robin picked us up at the airport. What were they doing there, you ask? Well, since you asked, they were driving a van across country for a relative and hooked up with us for the 4-5 days of this trip. Indoors (yes) In A Vegas CasinoAfter the warm and fuzzy “hi good to see you” part, we headed to the Original Pancake House (inside a casino of course) for a enormous hearty breakfast. Then after we gambled there for a little while, we headed to the Riviera Casino to pick up our tickets to tonight’s show. We’ll get to that in a few. But now it was time to check into the Worldmark, our hotel for the next two nights. It was a nice, roomy place with two bedrooms, two baths, and a kitchen. Of course by then we were hungry again. 😉

So we went to Komol Thai Restaurant, where we had gone on our previous Vegas trip. And it was good this time too. Then it was back to

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Burn After Reading – The Movie

September 28, 2008
ComedyMoviesMy Life

Burn After ReadingIf you have an open mind and enjoy some dark and quirky humor, then you will really like this movie. I really did! The performances are great all around, the script is wild and funny, the pace is quick with lots of twists, and I was laughing out loud and loving this film. Maybe it is not for everyone. But nothing is, right?

Here is the Rotten Tomatoes page, where it currently has a very good 78% rating. And here is the official web site, check it out. This Coen Brothers film is in a league with The Big Lebowski and Fargo, and that means it is really good. If you didn’t like those then you might not like this. But then what the $%^& is wrong with you? 😉  Ha, just kidding…

More info and lots of video trailers to watch are here on the IMDB site, another great movie site. I’m just saying’, go see it if you like something a little out of the ordinary. It was really good! Have you already seen it? Let me know what you thought, leave a comment.

The Excellent Seattle Trip: Days 6 – 8

September 9, 2008
AlcoholArtBooksBumbershootComedyFoodFriendsMusicMy LifeSeattleTravelVegetarian
2 Comments

Note: Be sure to check out some of the links too!!

Monday 9/1

The last day of the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. Yikes! So let’s enjoy it!! After a quick monorail ride to the festival grounds, we strategized in the hospitality area. And we ate. Hey, you gotta eat or you’ll die, right? We started the days entertainment with an hour containing two short independent fims grouped loosely under the title of Portrait Of The Artist. The films were a bit weird but harmless and not bad really. Then on to the main stage for recently popular modern rockers Paramore. They are a young and energetic band with a charismatic female singer, and we were up pretty close to the stage. I had ony heard a song or two by them but ended up liking their entire set. I’ll have to watch for their CD. Oh, and as a general side note, there will be pictures of them and the rest of the trip up on this site soon. Check back often! Then, when the pictures are not here yet, you can grumble “Why is Steven so slow?” Ha! It’s fun, try it! Anyway,

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The Excellent Seattle Trip: Days 4 – 5

September 5, 2008
AlcoholArtBumbershootComedyFoodFriendsMusicMy LifeSeattleTravelVegetarian

Bumbershoot 2008Note: Be sure to check out some of the links too!!

Saturday 8/30

Today is the first day of the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. We are totally psyched and even more ready. Lots of music and almost every kind of arts spanning what, 15 or so stages, and elsewhere on the grounds too. It’s huge and wonderful! Check out their web site! We got there and ended up standing in a bit of a line to get in, since it is such a popular event. Once in, we headed to the hospitality area. Since we had bought the “gold passes“, we got an indoor area (with private restrooms) and free snacks and beverages all day long. We were with friends Larry and Robin and we met up with Mama O and her posse there too. Then the various groups headed their various ways. Petra and I went to see

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Happy Birthday, Steve Martin!

August 14, 2008
ComedyMovies
1 Comment

Happy August 14th Birthday to Mr Steve Martin [wikipedia, read this], actor, comedian, writer, and general funny guy. I’ve laughed at and admired him since the early days of the happy feet, the arrow through the head, the cruel shoes, and the banjo with jokes. His humor, along with his expressions and his timing, made him hilarious.

He’s had a great career, long and varied. He’s been in a slew of films, too many to count now. Some were funny like The Jerk, The Man With Two Brains, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, Roxanne, and Bowfinger. Others were simple formula pictures that he brought up just by his being in them, like Father Of The Bride, Housesitter, and All Of Me. And some were clunkers like Cheaper By The Dozen and Bringing Down The House. But Steve was always worth watching. What was your favorite of his films? Least favorite? Leave a comment and let me know.

And now a few quotes [after the jump]

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