or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
•
"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
May 03, 2005
Steve Martin Is More Of An Influence On Iraqis Than You Think
Here's a bit from Steve Martin's old album A Wild And Crazy Guy:
I wanted to expand my life in the way Leonardo da Vinci did. And that's why I took up juggling.I know what you're sayingâ€â€you're saying, Steve, where do YOU find time to juggle?
Well, I juggle in my mind.
[pause]
...whoops!
Now, here's an even funnier bit from a new New Yorker article about Doug Feith:
When I asked, for instance, if the Administration was too enamored of the idea that Iraqis would greet American troops with flowers, he argued that some Iraqis were still too intimidated by the remnants of Saddam’s Baath Party to express their emotions openly. "But," Feith said, "they had flowers in their minds."
Excellent! I knew Saddam Hussein engaged in Thoughtcrime regarding WMD. However, I didn't realize it was possible for other Iraqis to engage in its opposite, which I hereby name Thoughtuncrime.
Thoughtuncrime does not entail life; thoughtuncrime IS life.Posted at May 3, 2005 12:27 PM | TrackBack
Thoughtuncrime is the only uncrime that matters.
Jonathan, you miss the cultural reference: it's a quote from Charles Baudelaire, the French symbolist poet:
"It is that Death, hovering like a new sun,
will make the flowers in their minds to bloom!"
("The Death of Artists", 1857?)
How wonderfully appropriate...
I knew you must have listened to those Steve Martin albums.
My favorite joke is about the book he wrote titled "How to Get Along With Everyone."
Martin says: "I wrote it with this other asshole jerk-off."
Could that describe Bush's diplomatic stance?
Posted by: Colin at May 3, 2005 02:32 PM"My friend Patty promised me a blowjob." Nuff said
Posted by: Elayne at May 3, 2005 03:22 PMIt would appear that the Iraqis are guilty of doublethink, too, as apparently they have flowers in their minds and, um, guns and bombs and stuff in their hands. Is there room in Abu Ghraib for sixty million people?
Or Doug Feith? Just asking.
Posted by: Aaron at May 3, 2005 04:30 PMYou know, Doug Feith must be extremely high to ever conceive of "Flowers in Their Minds"...groovy man...that's like so 60s!
Posted by: En Ming Hee at May 3, 2005 08:50 PM"the fucking stupidest guy on the face of the earth," indeed.
It's not evil that I fear, any more. It's people like Doug Feith: Raging miasmas of incompetence coupled with a pathological obsession for extending their influence.
Posted by: patrick at May 4, 2005 07:40 AMFeith seem to win in the end -so far. At least in his own mind.
Posted by: Gotham Image at May 5, 2005 08:12 PM
