The internet has become the frontlines for innovations in geek culture and comedy.  So when these two things collide on the premier website for supervillainy, only good can come from it right?  And so it is that The ISS (that's International Society of Supervillains) has birthed its first book - an instructional text on how to become a supervillain appropriately titled Hate You Forever.

The fact of the matter is that, at 172 pages (incl. many illustrations) and only $13, the book - full title being Hate You Forever: How to Channel Your Rage Into Effective Supervillainy - is definitely a quick read.  But that's not a negative thing at all.  In fact, it points to the powers of pithiness that King Oblivion, Ph.D. (a/k/a MD Wilson) employs in his writing.  He gets in, establishes various jokes (include some great running gags) and then gets out before the whole thing becomes stale and annoying.  True, some of the humor may be aimed more towards a certain demographic (let's call them the "indoor kids"), but by and large this is a very entertaining read for people who love absurdity and flights of (fearful) fancy.

Oblivion outlines all the various aspects of supervillainy - persona, goals, base of operations, costumes, personnel, and varios other tropes that have cropped up previously.  With a Tony Robbins approach to the outlandish antics of costumed rogues, Oblivion is able to present the absurdity of global domination as another mundane avenue for realizing one's potential.  Combined with the black humor of someone who delights in the pain and anguish of others (especially henchmen), it makes for a hilarious bout of cognitive dissonance.

True, some of this material has been covered elsewhere.  If you're a fan of The Venture Brothers, Frisky Dingo, Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog or Joe Meno's The Boy Detective Fails, then this may seem like well-worn subject matter.  But it doesn't have the melancholy aspects that all of those projects seem to include.  As opposed to realizing the depressing futility of being a constantly losing supervillain, Hate You Forever delights in the prospect of waging war against heroes - even at the cost of a few punches in the face. 

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Via University of Otago

As the Senate sends the Health Care Reconciliation Bill back to the House to make minor adjustments/vote on it, I find myself expectantly looking to Comedy Central at 11pm, but finding only the emptiness and bitterness that comes with a rerun of The Daily Show.  But some part of me keeps hoping against all rational thought that Jon Stewart and his team have randomly decided to come back to comment on the insanity of the situation, the dickishness of all involved and the hyperbole of the media.  But instead, I find only week-old jokes about Chris Dodd's wattle.  And then I realize how often it seems that The Daily Show goes on a break and some large news story happens that gets the media abuzzing and falling overthemselves to declare things in the most superlative and unsubstantiated ways possible.  Some of these news events seem planned to coincide with the infotaining show's leave of absence, while others are just bizarre coincidences.  It seems like it's quite often that Stewart and his crew are unable to lend their rational, deflating voice to the partisan squabbling that clogs up much of the airwaves.

I'm not one of the large demographic of people that gets his news from The Daily Show.  I tend to frequent New York Times and Huffington Post for that.  However, I am someone who turns to The Daily Show's invaluable army of interns and media libraries as they expose all the various instances of hypocrisy that I tend to miss while I avoid cable news channels.  And it seems I'm not the only one who deeply misses Stewart's clarifying call for accountability and civility.  The Huffington Post generated this list of the 12 largest news stories that occurred while Daily Show was on a break.  And so, in light of this collective longing for the humorous and insightful critique of our government and media, I humbly propose that The Daily Show develops...The B Team!

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Today's word of the day is "aloof."

Aloof

-adverb

at a distance, esp. in feeling or interest; apart: They always stood aloof from their classmates.

-adjective

Today's word of the day is "imminent" -

Imminent

1. likely to occur at any moment; impending: Her death is imminent.
2. projecting or leaning forward; overhanging.

Today's word of the day is Discrepant:

Discrepant

You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think.

- Dorothy Parker's answer when asked to use the word horticulture during a game of Can-You-Give-Me-A-Sentence?

"Comedy without victims is boring." - Joe Rogan

For she has brought balance to The Force and allowed me to even enjoy (non-bitchy) references to the Prequels.  Check this art out!

These are adorable...and AWESOME!  Please head over to Katie's site to check out more.  I really look forward to whatever her next project will be.  (Via Great White Snark)

Oh, Home Movies...how I miss you...

After the jump, a few more glimpses into the brilliant, fevered minds of Brendon Small and company...

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From Tim Heidecker - of Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job! fame - I give you - The Wire, with a lafftrack:

(Language NSFW - but HILARIOUS)

I peaked in sixth grade.  More precisely, I peaked athletically in the summer following sixth grade.  Well, perhaps peaked is the wrong word, as it implies that there was a steady improvement in my skill set.  Let’s just say that my athletic skills inexplicably spiked in the summer following sixth grade.

As previously mentioned, sports are not my strong suit.  My asthma put the kibosh on most running activities, relegating me to the role of embarrassed spectator in many a gym class.  My coordination wasn’t really evident—appearing less like a controlled movement of an athlete than the controlled spasms of an epileptic whenever any ball came my way. 

That's not even close to me...I never wore glasses! (From The Decemberists' album, "Picaresque)

My skills were non-existent and I was immediately branded as an outsider to the majority of my fellow male classmates.  I became an “indoor kid,” the kind that gets cheered for just finishing the race in a way that was meant to boost self esteem but really just highlighted my pathetic nature to the predators in my class.

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Sorry I've been away, my nonexistent audience.  I've been trying to pimp out a new group of videos I've created with my collaborator, Keith Doughty, based on The Goonies.  We got mentions in /Film, Topless Robot, JoBlo.com, Cinematical, FilmDrunk - so that's awesome.  Here's one of the videos, for Sloth's Song, below along with some background info:

In 2001, my college buddy, Keith Doughty, and I began working on a musical based on the seminal 80s film The Goonies.  I had been raised on that film, quoting from pre-adolescence onward.  I identified with the asthmatic protagonist who didn't fit in with others, especially his older sibling. 

I was watching it for probably the thousandth time during one vacation, when the scene where Mikey is alone on the porch comes on and with it came inspiration.

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As 2009 slowly fades away into another in a long series of regrettable flashbacks, we look to the future where we will all be perfect people filled with orgiastic bliss.  But how do we get from the ashen ruins of this depressing present to the promises of a glorious tomorrow?  Resolutions, my friends, resolutions.  And so I present

My Top 5 Resolutions for 2010!!!

5) Stop killing all those celebrities.  Look, I'll be the first to admit that we can always stand to trim some fat from the flock of celebrities in our society.  But even I think I went a bit overboard this year.  I'm not proud of how many famous people I sent to the grave with my ingenious (yet simplistic) methods of murder.  It's like eating a whole can of Pringles - yeah, you did it, but staring at that empty tube is more of a moment of shame than a sense of accomplishment.  But when my lethal reign of terror spread even to that sweet lady from 227 & Sesame Street, I recognized I'm going to have to curb my murderous desires.  Looks like someone caught a lucky break, Danny Bonaduce.

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