Live Blogging the Movie Twilight: Now I Know Why I Hate Anne Rice

Mick Zano

I tried live-blogging the movie Twilight. Never do this. I would rather live-blog a hundred Republican debates in a pool of acid (not LSD). Not sure which Twilight thingy, exactly. Mr. Winslow would never reimburse me for an actual movie ticket, so this was purely a televised event. At least it was a night filled with monsters other than Mitt and Newt for a change.

a night filled with monsters other than Mitt and Newt for a change

Oh, boy, here we go:

Hour 3: I think the chick likes the vampire…hmmm. A plot twist I was not expecting.

Hour 11: After I ask for some clarification on something, my daughter says, “He’s a werewolf, Dad, and she’s a human who likes a vampire but the werewolf and the vampire are protecting her.”

So I ask, “Why aren’t they fighting or trying to devour each other?” It reminded me of that J. Geils Band song, Love Stinks. “You love the wolf and she loves a vampire. She loves some other zombie…you just can’t win.” I think it goes like that (you should hear my version of Angel is the Manifold).

For a little history, my daughter made me turn off Abbot & Costello Meet Frankenstein last year…made me turn it off! Right at the good part, when the monsters start showing up. “This is stupid, Dad!”

Is there any hope for the next generation?

Hour 24: I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand; his hair was perfect.

Hour 39: No vampires have attacked any werewolves yet, and no werewolves have attacked any other werewolves, etc. and so forth. “I say, hey, yeh, yeh, hey, yeh, yeh, what’s going on?!”

Hour 60: How come none of the werewolves ever wear any shirts? …even on seemingly light transformational days? Now back in the day, Lon Chaney Jr. wore flannel…you know, proper lycanthropic lesbian lingerie (LLL). And now, in this bizarro-were-world, they’re entirely beyond fashion.

Hour 83: Ooh, now the vampires aren’t wearing any shirts either. I fell strangely titillated. Must look up word titillated.

Hour 88: OMG, Edward is back! Who’s Edward again?

Hour 122: I wonder how many people realize Bella is a tribute to Bela Lugosi? Not many from this bunch, I reckon. Those same people will be shocked when she becomes a vampire. Now if only she was named Boris, or Lon, or maybe Romeroella…speaking of which, is Edward a werezombie?

Hour 130: Becoming a vampire is really ‘change you can believe in.’ Bella/Edward 2012.

Hour 789: “The only reason I left is because I thought I was protecting you,” said Edward. If only our former president had had such insight.

Hour 1,346: So, I thought about it, as I’ve had months during this “movie” to do so…how had we come to such a sad state of affairs? How had horror sunk into such a pit and a pendulum (sorry), such a pitiful paranormal state (sorry), such a pit of despair? (I don’t have to apologize for that reference; it’s not from a horror movie.)

Instead of watching Edward continue to be an embarrassment to all things vampire, I mulled over horror’s plight and the horror of horror’s recent demise. I couldn’t blame Fox News. Not this time. And then it hit me, Anne F*ck*ng Rice. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Interview with the Vampire (the book not the movie) and to some degree Lestat (the book not the movie), but little did I know what evil that woman would unleash on the entire genre. I think I made it up to Lasher, which I believe is about a transsexual gargoyle. Maybe that was a different series. Bottom line, Anne Rice should have stuck to porn. It was like she created some gateway series to hell…and not a cool hell like from South Park either.

Maybe we need to go back even further into the origins of celluloid horror to find out how we came to this dark and terrible place, which would be great if this horror movie actually had some dark and terrible places in it. Where’s the ground clinging fog? Where’s the creepy cemetery? Where’s the man in the mask who turns out to be Mr. Jenkins the caretaker? Now that was horror. This is more like Breakfast at Vladimir’s, or Legally Blood.

As soon as you bring in too much of the human drama, it’s not a horror movie anymore…it’s a human—or, in this case—an inhuman drama. Whenever you make the main point secondary, everyone loses…except chicks. It’s like Titanic. Sorry, it’s not a love story …it’s about a really big f*ck*ng ship sinking into the unforgiving icy waters of the North Atlantic! Swim Rose swim! And then get eaten by sharks. Now that’s a movie.

Sorry. Maybe we need to start with fifties horror movies. We can’t blame this all on Anne Rice. After all, they were cheap and cheesy and chock full of atmospheric buildup. As bad as many of them were, at least they took themselves seriously. Then came Godzilla movies, which were enjoyable in their own right, but ended the whole “taking themselves seriously” thing…in the form of a large seven story radioactively enlarged lizard.

A large seven story radioactively enlarged lizard

The next insult to horror came in the form of John Carpenter. Although, I admire his work, and I liked Halloween very much, it had the unfortunate side effect of starting the entire slasher genre—which, besides the movie Jason & Freddie Meet the Harlem Globetrotters—was completely worthless. It was Mr. Jenkins the caretaker! I knew it!!

Then a very good horror movie did something else to help seal the genre’s fate. Remember American Werewolf in London? Yeah, Landis, I’m talking to you. You made a good horror movie that was also bordering on a comedy. You confused a lot of people with that oxymoronic combination. Sorry, but you too had some part to play in the weakening of a genre. See, once a genre is weakened it’s susceptible to shit like Buffys.

Enters Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who finished off any hope of returning to the more traditional undead fiends. The rest is history.

Science fiction set a similar, yet parallel course into the bowels of the Sarlacc, so to speak, but I already covered that debacle here. I think George Takei had it right when he intervened during a recent battle between Star Wars’ Carrie Fisher and Star Trek’s William Shatner:

“Fellow Star folks, cool it down and shut your big wormholes. Each is wonderful in its own special way. What’s needed today now more than ever is star peace, for there is an ominous, mutual threat to all science fiction. It’s called Twilight and it is really, really bad.”

–George Takei

Hour 2,421: I agree, Mr. Sulu, but thankfully I gouged out my own eye balls during the last love sequence.

If I had my way, all the werewolves and the vampires would be trying to kill each other amidst a massive gore splattered battle. Oh, and this would occur during the opening sequence, not during hour 427.

You want to try a real werewolf/vampire flick? Go see Underworld: Awakening, hailed as ‘a new war, new breed, same attitude’…this also could have worked in South Carolina for the Republicans last week. But with them it’s the same breed, the same attitude…oh, but they will have a different war, I’m sure. What? You thought I wouldn’t get any digs in?

I even called up Northern Arizona’s premiere horror writer, Michael D. Griffiths to let him weigh in.

Zano: Dude, what did you think of Twilight?

Griffiths: It sucked.

Well, there you have it. Now back to our story, already in progress.

Hour (sorry, but time has stopped): This is turning into Groundhog Day, only in undead form. Oh, wait Edward’s back….and he’s not wearing a shirt! OMG! Didn’t see that coming…with any luck I’ll wake up in a few hours to Sonny and Cher singing I Got You Babe somewhere in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Ham Slam: Miss Piggy’s Fox News Roast

Ham Slam: Miss Piggy’s Fox News Roast

London, GB—Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy attended last week’s London premiere of The Muppets. During the event, British reporters asked the pair what they thought about the growing tension between Fox News and the popular Hensonites. The cable news giant is also particularly angry at the Muppet, Animal, for urinating on Roger Ailes at the Propaganda for Dummies Symposium in San Diego last month.

When specifically questioned about Fox’s assertion the movie has a liberal agenda, Kermit said, “If we have a problem with oil companies, why would we have spent the entire film driving around a gas-guzzling Rolls Royce?”

Miss Piggy then chimed in, “It’s almost as laughable as accusing Fox News of, you know, being news.”

The Daily Discord later asked if the couple wished to retract their statements. “Certainly not,” said Kermit, “and I can tell you another thing: with Fox News around it aint easy being green.”

Miss Piggy stated she was more concerned about conservative’s recent racist attacks against Muppets in general, and added, “I know the women of Fox News are attractive, but to me it’s all just lipstick on a pig.”

She then asked to have her statement retracted, which we will now do:

Please do not read that last statement from Miss Piggy.

See Fox? That’s how you do a retraction. You should try it.

Freudian Slippery? Gingrich Shakes Baby’s Hand and Kisses Mother

Freudian Slippery? Gingrich Shakes Baby’s Hand and Kisses Mother

Lake County, FL—GOP nomination hopeful, Newt Gingrich “mistakenly” shook 11-month-old Jacob Horowitz’s hand and then proceeded to kiss Rebecca Horowitz, the infant’s mother, on the lips. This occurred on the campaign trail earlier today at a diner described by locals as “an area favorite”. One witness said the kiss was “not nearly as disturbing as what he did with his hands.”

The former Speaker immediately responded by saying his actions were intentional. “Look, the woman was very attractive and the baby had a pungent feces smell to it. What would anyone have done given those circumstances? I am frankly appalled that women everywhere go through such lengths to help Barack Obama by further reporting my unwanted advances to the media.”

Gingrich is also denying slipping the woman the tongue. “It’s preposterous. The destructive, vicious, unaccommodating nature of females is making it increasingly harder to govern this country. Many important legislators remain completely preoccupied by frigid Floridians like Mrs. what’s-her-name. Furthermore, I can assure you I do not smoke cigars that way. I also know the definition of what the word ‘is’ is and I have more lawyers than that ungrateful bitch has diapers.”

When questioned further about the misstep, Gingrich said, “I have no doubt that my esteemed colleague Ron Paul would have liberated the baby from the diaper on the spot. And Romney would have kissed the baby’s ass, regardless, because he panders to any poop anywhere, and with current polling data from Florida no one even cares what Zeppo would have done.”

Ask The Ghetto Shaman

Ask The Ghetto Shaman

Dear Ghetto Shaman,

Your show All Things Discouraged doesn’t resonate much with many of the common premises and assumptions of the New Age Movement. And by “doesn’t resonate much”, I mean none. Your collective work is pretty much one colossal cosmic contradiction. And when I say “pretty much”, I mean totally. And what do you mean by the Dry Hump Sutras?

Terrence

Dear Terrence,

This is as good a time as any to announce this: I will no longer be hosting All things Discouraged. Instead we are happy to introduce Spiritual Questions, Inappropriate Answers. Now to your question: much of the dharma is focused on paradoxes, not contradictions or even contraindications. Speaking of which, I just realized Percocets, Xanax, scotch, and more scotch is also apparently contraindi……………

The Ghetto Shaman

Discord’s Word of the Day: Googootz!

The Crank

Typically, when a coworker comes to me first thing in the morning with a ‘story’, I feign interest. I might smile and maybe even nod periodically as if listening intently to this intriguing yarn (much in the same way I read Zano posts).

This particular story caught my attention with its opening line of “Hey, I was pulled over this morning on my way in.” It seems as though said coworker was doing more than the posted top speed whilst going through a residential area. The local city constabulary is known to still be trying to figure out how the paper sack resists their efforts to punch through it, as it were, so I figure this story just might have some Discord-style yuck yucks attached to it. Little did I know…

The coworker’s tale:

“So there I was, up to my knees in Caribou dung, surrounded by a thousand Umbatzu tribeswomen naked to the waist.”

Sorry, that’s an old Wild Kingdom flashback. I still get those from time to time.

“So there I was, minding my own business, blowing through some apartment complexes, when all of a sudden I hear a siren and see the flashing lights in my mirror. I pull over to the side of the road and proceed to get my stuff out of my wallet. I even leave the seatbelt on, and you know how hard it is to get your wallet out of yer back pocket with the damn belt on!”

I am injecting a quick note that will prove important as we proceed. You see, a very large squash is sitting next to my coworker on the front seat of his pickup. To us Itralians, the word we use to describe a very large squash, or a very stupid person, is ‘Googootz’.

“So this cop walks up to my window and says the usual license registration and proof of insurance number and I start handing him my stuff.

He then says to me kinda quick-like ‘Do you have any guns, knives, sharp objects, illegal narcotics, open beer or liquor bottles, hypodermic needles, Googootz, or any other items which I might need to know about?’”

At this point I would like to add another tidbit to this story. My coworker is Montana ex-Mormon. He can count on one hand the number of Italian-Americans he has talked to in his entire life.

“So I’m all nervous-like and just say no. I didn’t really listen all that well to his question. So he repeats it and I again says’ no. He then asks me to ‘step out of the truck please.’ As I step out of the truck, I’m trying to figure out just what pissed this guy off. Ah mean, I got the new mufflers and they ARE a bit loud, and the tires are big, but they fit within the width of the truck.”

Then the officer said, “Sir, you told me you had none of the items I asked about, and I see one of them as big as life on your front seat.”

He then points to my coworker’s big assed squash. At this point, fellow Discordians, I am laughing about as hard one can internally while trying to keep a poker face on the outside. Tears start to well in my eyes as I watch my friend all red-faced and twitchy continue describing his ordeal:

“Just how the crystallized-f%^& was I supposed to know it’s a goo-whatever-the-f&*^ing goonie goo goo? I’m about to pass out when he smiles and says he was talking about the squash. He just told me to slow the hell down when going through this area, and to have a nice day, the little prick.”

As I can no longer hold it in, I burst out laughing. He then hands me the biggest Googootz I have seen in a quite a googootsin long time. He tells me it was hiding in his garden, and he wanted to know if I liked squash.

I said, “No, but I do appreciate a Googootz like you.”

Normally, this would mark the end our tale, but I brought the protagonist of our story home that day but I left it in the Ram overnight. The next morning, after my wife left for work, I saw it sitting on the passenger seat, so I brought it in and put in on the kitchen counter and headed to work. Later that day, after it got dark, I get this phone call from my wife…a rather irate wife.

“What the hell is this friggin’ Googootz doing on the counter?! It’s dark in here when I get home and all I see in the glow of the street light coming through the window…to me it looked like a friggin’ baseball bat sitting on the counter! I damn near called the cops!”

All’s I could think is this same cop would respond and, having had enough, would haul the thing downtown for questioning.

My wife continued, “I thought there was somebody in the house, maybe a burglar or something. Scared the shit out of me. It wasn’t until I put on the lights that I saw this friggin’ Googootz staring at me.”

My wife made both my coworker and I some really nice Zucchini bread. But, sadly, she doesn’t like squash anymore.

Googootz night and Googootz luck

The Crank

Cruise Captain Burns Down Home During House Arrest!

Cruise Captain Burns Down Home During House Arrest!

Rome, IT—Francesco Schettino, the Captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia, is being sought in connection to the fire that consumed his own apartment in Rome Monday. The incident completely torched the 17-unit apartment building in which the Captain was recently confined, pending a full investigation of his recent cruise ship tragedy.

After cooking a Franco American product for dinner, Schettino told the press, “Mistakes were made. I don’t usually cook for myself. I have people for that.”

Local authorities claim, Capt. Schettino immediately called the Judge in the Concordia case and said, “The building, she is ablaze!”

The Judge ordered him back into the flaming structure and questioned why he didn’t call the Italian Fire Service first. Capt. Schettino said he tried to, but had already tripped out of the fire escape and landed in an alley dumpster, where he spent the next 45 minutes trying to find his cell phone.

“So whose cell phone are you using to call me?” asked the Judge. Schettino responded with a crackling noise as if he was losing the signal and then hung up.

Capt. Schettino allegedly tried to follow the judge’s order by reentering the building, but somehow jammed his recently recovered cell phone into the base of the lobby’s revolving door, trapping several dozen egressing tenants inside of the burning structure. Authorities claim Schettino did manage to set off a warning flare that only served to set fire to a nearby building. The Captain later admitted, “Flares seem to work best over water.”

The controversial Captain also denies sailing the apartment building too close to the rocky shoreline on a request from the women in 3B. “That’s just silly,” said Schettino. “And, as for the fire, it could not have been prevented. The fire extinguisher malfunctioned and shot a white powdery substance right into my face.”

Megyn Kelly vs Andrew Sullivan: Reality vs the Neococoon

Mick Zano

This post isn’t actually for reading purposes; it’s just my version of blogular therapy. I’ve tried to make a few points in a few posts over a few pints, but reality is a tough nut to crack when you’re dealing with…er, nuts. The truth has little meaning in today’s discourse (or, Discord…). Modern conservatism, in particular, has its own truth, its own facts, and its own version of history. They’re no longer interested in debating events occurring in this dimensional plane of existence, unless it involves Snooki’s antics.

Review time: the Right still thinks, and always will, that all of the causes for our economic collapse occurred after the actual collapse (Obama’s fault), that all numbers and charts regarding the policies that brought us here are false (the Congressional Budget Office’s), and that our current Constitutional crisis was brought about, not by those who gutted the thing (R), but by those who failed to restore it (D). They invariably side with those who, by choice and policies, brought about our economic collapse (R) over those who failed to fix it (D).

Most disturbing, they fear above all else the onset of socialism, during the same time period when all of our wealth is funneling to about six people. They choose to Tea Party instead of Occupy. They have been on the wrong side of history on about every key issue of our time. They have made up their minds on so many subjects without looking at anything but their own doctored data, wrapped in ideology, and served with a side order of propaganda. Elephantitis? I am not a journalist, I’m a human Baier! (Sorry Bret).

As the last lights fade upon this reality, the Right has started to ask some hard questions like Is Obama in an Alternate Universe? Compared to you? Yep…and thank your God for that.

And it’s not just this ‘weakening of Fox News’ premise from my last post. The right needs to start policing itself properly. We have needed a stronger Conservative brand for a long time. The results are a Gingrich Administration. Hah!

There are some valid concerns on the Right, but their inherent inaccuracies cloud each and every issue. I have written multiple posts on the need for a legitimate conservative media source. You can find a couple of them here and here, and if you’re a real glutton for punishment, here.

I want to know the truth—just not their twisted, faulty, hateful version of it. Last week, Michael Savage, a man clearly sinking to Limbaugh levels, said, “This is the most corrupt, incompetent, dangerous tyrannical administration in American history.” Um, sir, where the f*%$ were you between 2000 and 2008? Why don’t you and the rest of your Savage Nation climb back under the rock? Don’t you read Zano? Obama is a B+ on foreign policy.

Today’s Fox News and Drudge mentality has so confounded, so inundated the discourse with crap that it’s really hard to filter out what’s important. One would think Obama has had hundreds of scandals at this point. I want to know what those are! Scandals need to be based on reality, like Jersey Shore. If the Fast & Furious thing pans out, Obama will still be about 427 behind his predecessor (which in your Universe was Bill Clinton).

I have said time and time again, I can’t focus on the left when some Republican is waging war on clean air, or clean water, or climate change data, or science, or evolution, or worker’s rights, or critical services, or Wiccan Drag Queens for Elvis (WDQEs). God, I love those guys, perhaps a bit too much…

You can’t enact into law the same things under Bush that you’re now railing against Obama about. It shows another keen ability to bend logic into a partisan pretzel (Auntie Anne’s Coulters?).

If you read my feature on a recent Facebook thread, these same people last week were spitting venom at Obama’s failure to roll back provisions of the Patriot Act. This time I remained silent. What’s the point at this point?

“Now Dumbama can pick you up off the street without due process and lock you up forever!”

–Foxeteer number 3, Facebook (last week)

Umm, that hasn’t been news since 2003. The sheer lack of understanding of the Foxeteers remains such a profound story that our ongoing economic collapse seems to almost pale in comparison. Someone else actually said later in this same thread “to arms! to arms!”

That’s impossible! Obama’s already pried them from your cold dead hands and he’s now sending someone over to detain your corpse, right now. Oh, and before they even plant you, he’s going to redistribute all of your accumulated wealth to poor black people. I believe that was his platform in 2008.

As for indefinitely detaining American citizens without due process, I showed some similar outrage when the Constitution was actually being dismantled, over eight years ago. How did you miss all of this? How can you all see reality in such a disingenuous way? Sure there’s some racism in there, as someone else commented later in the post how, “he’s getting away with this because he’s black.” So Bush got away with it because he’s black? I thought that was Bill Clinton.

You felt very safe when your Constitutional rights were being gutted—you even waved flags as you patriotically grabbed your ankles and took one for Uncle Sam—but okay, okay, I’m beating a dead elephant… In a nut shell, the Right is incapable of accurately critiquing a Democratic administration and they go the f^*& to sleep under a Republican one, which has worked out so well lately.

The Crank weighed in on the issue, “Obama just wiped his ass with what’s left of the Constitution.” I agree with this statement, but here’s the snag: Obama was put into a corner. If he rolled back provisions of the Patriot Act and we were successfully attacked by a terrorist group, could you imagine the outcries from the right and the left? And, of course, the subsequent Darth Cheney interview? Remember Cheney told Obama he’d “thank me someday for expanding executive power.” This is why I predicted in 2003 the Patriot Act would never be overturned. This is just more selective outrage generated by someone else’s agenda. Hey, it could be worse, Tea Peeps …you could actually be making up all this bullshit yourselves.

I just want the hacks on the Right to zip it long enough for people with some credibility and insight to tackle the issues of our day. Oh, that’s right, there aren’t any with credibility. Conservatives outside of the echo chamber have been banned from Fox News for a long time.

MSNBC is not policing the Obama Administration and the Right is so discredited, so full of shit, so partisan, you’ll likely lose the election even if unemployment climbs another 10%! I would turn to CNN, but I fall asleep almost immediately. CNN…proven more effective than Ambien in most clinical studies.

You just have to watch Fox or read the Drudge Report for their ‘scandal of the day’ mentality to see the stunning level of obfuscation. Let’s see, there’s:

  1. The Obama’s ‘Holiday Card Picture Isn’t Christmassy enough’ scandal.
  2. The Obama ‘Doesn’t Share Our Values’ scandal.
  3. The Obama’s ‘Daring to Fund Alternative Energies as We Run Out of Oil’ scandal.
  4. The Obama ‘Celebrated His Birthday this Year During a Recession’ scandal.
  5. The Obama ‘Received Loans as a Foreign Student’ scandal (that’s this week’s, courtesy of Mike Shmuckabee).
  6. The Obama is ‘On Vacation Again’ scandal.
  7. The Obama ‘Spends His Nights Strangling Puppies’ scandal (admittedly, he shouldn’t do that.)

Your scandals are scandalous! Here are the other recent ones:

  1. SOLYNDRA – if we had any sense we would find a way to save and fund places like this, but we don’t. The real scandal is this: we’re not funding green energies as oil supplies screech to a grinding halt, or as the Republicans call it ‘seizing the engines of freedom!’ I know, I know, the Canadian pipeline could have let us ignore the problem for another 30 to 40 seconds (hint: you’ve had 30 to 40 years).
  2. Obamacare – I didn’t support this either, folks (it’s not the right time), but I at least understand how it will not end life as we know it (Bush already did that). Besides, how much worse could it be than a system with costs rising higher and faster than college tuition and Starbucks coffee combined?

Oh, and it looks like Greenwald checked out one of my recent posts. OK, maybe not, but more and more people are starting to take notice of some of my major beefs within the left-right political discourse:

“Worse still is the embrace of George W. Bush’s with-us-or-against-us mentality as the prism through which all political discussions are filtered. It’s literally impossible to discuss any of the candidates’ positions without having the simple-minded — who see all political issues exclusively as a Manichean struggle between the Big Bad Democrats and Good Kind Republicans or vice-versa — misapprehend ‘I agree with Candidate X’s position on Y’ as ‘I support Candidate X for President’ or ‘I disagree with Candidate X’s position on Y’ as ‘I oppose Candidate X for President.’ Even worse are the lying partisan enforcers who, like the Inquisitor Generals searching for any inkling of heresy, purposely distort any discrete praise for the Enemy as a general endorsement.”

Glenn Greenwald

I wrote a recent article about this same point. Heck, even our own Crank had this to say on Facebook recently:

“Before voting, one should have to prove that one gets their news from more than one source. There aren’t any honest journalists anymore, and if you only listen to one side of any issue, it would be too dangerous to allow you to vote. Having an opinion today means a little work. If you are too busy or lazy to put in the time, you are not automatically entitled to an opinion. There are very dangerous people on both sides.” 

–The Crank

Well said, sir. But, as usual, Andrew Sullivan is the best at summoning things up:

“The idea that Obama is trying to create a European socialist entitlement-state in America is literally surreal. Again, we have a fantasy about what has happened these past three years, and an even greater fantasy about the eight years before that.”

Andrew Sullivan, while live blogging the Republican debates.

Andrew, of course, is being assailed right now by Megyn Kelly for his recent Newsweek article Why are Obama’s Critics so Dumb? I can answer that question in two words, Fox News. Kelly won’t have Sullivan on her show, of course, and the misinformation giants have actually blurred out his name in her feature. God forbid some of her listeners go to his site and actually learn something from a knowledgeable Conservative. It’s time to turn off that shit, people, and, yep…more and more people are taking notice of the story within the story of our time.

Also from the Sesame Street Farm toy barn

Today this passes as journalism. Hah! I promise to stop harping on this issue when this “News Station” gets on something to control their collective delusions, Integrizex? Profactz? How about some Retractionol? When’s the last time they admitted a mistake? Oh right, that’s Un-American.

Obama to Increase Deficit in New ‘Fun Size’ Increments

Obama to Increase Deficit in New 'Fun Size' Increments

Washington, DC —President Barack Obama informed the press today of his intention to raise the debt ceiling in a new, more phonetically friendly fashion (PFF).

“We want folks everywhere to feel less concerned about our nation’s debt,” said Obama. “And what better way than through creative relabeling? My economic team is hard at work, not only printing more funny money from Panama, but renaming key monetary designations for your spendular enjoyment.”

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, told the press, “We have changed the billion dollar mark to the whatmeworry, and a trillion will now be referred to as a Zen-mullet. Also, the Megafonzie, a measure of coolness from Futurama, will now be the equivalent of just under 22-trillion dollars.”

When asked, how much under 22-trillion, Geithner replied, “Just a measly albatross vreeble. Point being, we are currently only a half a Megafonzie in debt, which you have to admit sounds a lot cooler than 11-trillion.”

Each time the U.S. dollar’s bond rating is decreased, Team Obama will simply change those names as well. “I think being downgraded to something like Sparkle Bling status doesn’t sound as bad,” said Geithner.

Even Republicans like the idea, but they will still vote against it on principle.

“…the ‘we just want to get re-elected’ principle,” as clarified by Republican Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell. “If Obama would have just met us halfway, like maybe at that sports bar…”

Radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh, added, “We need to change the name of the currency itself not the increments, maybe something from the Hitchhiker’s Guide…like the Flanian Pobble Bead or the Triganic Pu. Changing the increments is just more of Obama’s financial chicanery!”

Ask The Ghetto Shaman

Ask The Ghetto Shaman

Dear Ghetto Shaman,

Though I actually have no real question, I’d like to offer ‘you’ some advice. After all, I am in a wonderful, long-term monogamous relationship built on love, respect, and trust.

RS

Dear RS,

Is that you Santorum? I told you to stop hitting my contact button because I think you’re a douche.
Sincerely,

The Ghetto Shaman

P.S. Oh, and I’m seeing your wife and she thinks you’re a douche too. So is Gingrich by the way (no surprise there).

P.P.S. And I’m taking your son fishing this weekend.

P.P.P.S.  Oh, and nice liquor cabinet, but sorry about the scotch thing.

Does the Colbert Surge Mark the End for America?

Does the Colbert Surge Mark the End for America?
Mick Zano

Many are mortified how well right wing radical, Stephen Colbert, is polling in the South Carolina Primary. He’s holding at 5%, polling considerably better than John Huntsman, who since stated, “I might as well join the f*^%ing Peace Corps.” Some feel this comedic surge may eventually shift Colbert into the position as the anti-Romney candidate. These same folks feel this eventuality could change life as we know it forever!

There was a recent post on CNN.com that addressed this Colbertian phenomenon and it was a funny article indeed. CNN is now boasting they’re the ‘Colbert No Nomination’ channel. I think, since this “journalist” never admitted he was joking, he’s fair game, so let’s begin:

“Simply put: Colbert must be stopped! He is an existential threat to our way of life and to the exceptional nature of our nation.”

Dean Obeidallah CNN

Well said, sir! The Colbert demographic is an interesting one. His supporters are comprised of a Conservative amalgam, half of which are so disgusted with their own party they’d rather vote for a comedian in lieu of a legitimate candidate, and a second group so stupid they think Colbert is actually a Republican. These are two factions of our society so sinister that, were they to join forces, it would create a tsunami of neoconservative nonsense not seen since the last Republican debate. That’s my quote, not Dean’s. We are of one mind on this. Colbert could well capture the evangelical vote, because 1.) they are not happy with Mormons or any candidate from that “Cult”, and 2.) the best adjective that describes this faction of our society sounds very much like the word “Mormons”.

“I know some will dismiss the threat posed by Colbert — these apologists will defend him as ‘harmless’ or say he’s no more than ‘a charismatic speaker’ — but that is exactly what they said about Hitler.”

Dean Obeidallah CNN

Yes, Hitler was a comedian too. As people were marched into the gas chambers, Hitler would often announce things over the loud speakers like, “Later hosens!” or “I shot a Jew in my pajamas this morning. How he got in my pajamas I don’t know.” But if the drummer missed one of the ba-dum-dums, he’d shoot them in the head. Hitler took comedy seriously; what else could possibly explain his moustache? A covert group known as Monty Python believed Hitler was actually trying to counter the creation of the funniest joke—a joke which proved lethal to all within earshot. The joke, now just a footnote of history, actually helped America and its allies win WWII. True story.

“In 1945 Peace broke out. It was the end of the Joke. Joke warfare was banned at a special session of the Geneva Convention, and in I950 the last remaining copy of the joke was laid to rest here in the Berkshire countryside, never to be told again.”

–Eric Idle

Dean also had this to say:

“Colbert has not been hiding his extreme views. Night after night (or four nights a week to be exact) Colbert has been spewing his venom. However, for some reason, the media have given him a free pass.”

It’s kind of like Ann Coulter, only he has admitted it’s a shtick, well, not in some many words, but it’s implied.

“And let’s not forget that Colbert admitted that he makes up facts to support his own political arguments, as he gleefully boasted once: ‘I can’t prove it, but I can say it.’”

Dean Obeidallah CNN

Holy shit, maybe Colbert is ready for Fox News! While Fox News is ideology and opinion in the guise of a news station, Colbert is a comedian in the guise of a Republican. Now, CNN, infinitely complicating the matter, has a journalist posing as a comedian, posing as a journalist, condemning a comedian posing as a Republican. Some people might say I am further complicating things as a comedian, acting like a pseudo journalist, acting like a fool. But who the hell are you to tell me what to do? You’re not Winslow, so just piss off. You aren’t Winslow, are you? Because he’s kind of mean and grumpy lately (SOPA?).

Here’s some of Obeidallah’s other concerns with Colbert’s views:

On unemployment: “Suck it up, unemployed. It is your own damn fault that you don’t have a job … So stop scapegoating Wall Street.” Do we really want an American president who sides with Wall Street over workers?

—Herman Cain, er…I mean, Stephen Colbert

On Gays: “There is nothing wrong with being gay. I have plenty of friends who are going to hell.”

—Rick Santorum, er…I mean Stephen Colbert

Immigration: “This is America. I don’t want my tomato picked by a Mexican. I want it picked by an American, then sliced by a Guatemalan, and served by a Venezuelan in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian.”

—Michele Bachmann, er…I mean Stephen Colbert

When are Republicans going to get the joke, it’s them?

“Colbert has only two qualities I like: 1. He’s a friend of Jon Stewart and 2. He has good hair. Besides that, he is a danger to our Republic.”

Dean Obeidallah CNN

That’s a good one, Dean. I would like to further lend support to Mr. Colbert by adding, he exudes truthiness and, in both polls and his comments, remains well within the margin of error.

And that’s tonight’s word.

Cyber Geek Accidentally Summons Virtual Demon

Cyber Geek Accidentally Summons Virtual Demon

Modesto,CA—Last night, 27 year old Farcus Laubstein made the fateful decision to watch the Evil Dead trilogy. He did this not long after successfully hacking into a Cyborg software site and acquiring considerable summoning points in the game Runescape. The California man allegedly downed two bottles of Arctic Devil barley wine and started reciting passages from H.P Lovecraft’s fictional grimoire, the Necronomicon, “just for a goof.”

The sinister combination created an inter-dimensional rift and a subsequent chain of diabolical events not seen since the last episode of The Apprentice.  

Laubstein was last heard screaming and gouging out his own eyeballs, which people who knew him claim may have been due to viewing the last episode of The Apprentice. He scratched only one word onto a nearby table, Nucttelmeron, which Hogbein believes is either a demon, or a hazelnut cocoa spread.

Laubstein’s home was burned to the ground along with any and all evidence of the hell spawn he unleashed. Dr. Sterling Hogbein, of the Hogbein Institute and Lube, has tried to duplicate the conditions, but has thus far only managed to summon “a wicked burp.”

His failure has not disheartened the demonologist and cross dresser. “I will repeat the conditions again and again until the desired results are reached, or my VHS tape of the Evil Dead II gives up the ghost, whichever comes first,” said Dr. Hogbein.

Winslow Removes the Discord ‘Casting Couch’ from Zano’s Office

Alex Bone

Collapsing Shack, AZ—After losing dozens of potentially talented reporters and multiple lawsuits, the Daily Discord’s CEO finally moved the official Discord ‘Casting Couch’ from Mick Zano’s office. “This latest list of atrocities and abuses marked the last straw,” said CEO Pierce Winslow. “And this time I mean it!”

As a result, threats, blubbering, and attempted bribery were heard echoing up and down the halls of Discord Central today.

“What can you expect?” said Winslow. “Do you see a lot of women working here? Guess why that is? Yep, it’s because either Mick Zano or the Ghetto Shaman scares them off. That and the fact we have no toilets in the rest room. And don’t even get me started on what they make the interns do. At this point, the only college that still sends us any is that damn Hogbein Institute and Multiplex. And the last one I got from there thought the World Wide Web was something from the Lord of the Rings.”

In his defense, Zano brought up the fact Cokie McGrath still worked for the Discord, “so we can’t be all bad.”

Winslow then pointed out the fact McGrath has filed no less than seven restraining orders against Zano and is even beginning to doubt whether or not he can truly “make her a star.”

When Zano was given a chance for a rebuttal, he had this to say. “This is completely unfair. Four of those restraining orders are completely unjustified.” And somewhere in the background someone did that badha bah, drum thing.

“Winslow could have at least waited until the Swedish exchange student bikini team had finished their tour,” added the Shaman.

Winslow countered by saying, “and I’m taking away that damn Badha bah drummer too!”

I caught up to local horror writer Michael D. Griffiths, who tends to lurk around the office looking for free pastries, and asked him if he knew of any inappropriate behavior going on within the halls of the Discord.

“Umm, as long as begging, screaming, panting, grunting, bribing, pleading, demanding, hanging up porn calendars, third party harassment, quid pro quo, inappropriate emails, asking to wife swap, hanging up flyers for office orgies, giving crude gifts, pinching, hugging, froughting, naughty pantomiming, knee licking, trying to get other employee to give out their daughter’s cell numbers, and hiring topless dancers for lunch breaks are okay, then I think these guys are pretty well behaved,” said Griffiths.

Mr. Griffiths later admitted, however, the Ghetto Shaman’s list would be “considerably longer.”

So as you can see, even with the loss of the infamous Casting Couch not much will probably change around Discord Central. When we asked Winslow where it would go, he said he was considering giving the couch to the Crank. “That guy needs something to cheer him up.”

Now you have to excuse me, the Crank is researching which bar has the best PBR pour in Mesa and the new interns from the institute are due to arrive any minute. Can you open a locked door with a church key? I mean they must call them keys for some reason.

Ask The Ghetto Shaman

Ask The Ghetto Shaman

Dear Ghetto Shaman,

Lemme’ Teech U Sumpin’, G-H-E-T-T-O. Shaman spelled backwards is Na Mahs, loosely translated from the Sanskrit-Pictish means NO MAS. Hang up yo’ diaper, ‘cuz yo schtick is gettin’ stale. Listen dude, I am a longtime fan. You need to start sellin’ sum T-Shirts or sumpin’. Bring back the Juice! By the way, you STILL owe me $20, bitch.
‘Lil Trump.

Uoldhaunts, PA

Dear ‘Lil Trump,

Twenty dollar make you holler! I spent your twenty in Thailand, but I swear that boy was at least sixteen. You have to be more specific. I owe a lot of people money. When we do sell T-shirts I will send you one, in lieu of the twenty.

The Ghetto Shaman

P.S. But I have a copyright on bitch, bitch…and a prescription for penicillin.