Maximum Fun Forum

It's far from foul-mouthed, but I thought I'd share my lifelong outshot: the old-time radio family comedy "Vic and Sade." I'm always trying to let people know about this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcWTjgnr8no
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4pZ3fPfKug
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbOufuKvSJg

I should say that I'm not really a hardcore fan of OTR, especially OTR humor (though I do like SUSPENSE and other programs like it). It is very heavy-handed; they're just so desperate to make you laugh that it's off-putting. (To me! No intention to bash anyone's favorite thing here.) "Vic and Sade" is the opposite. There's no laugh track, and no "jokes" per se. Everything is delivered in a deadpan, relaxed, conversational manner -- which makes the absurd humor even funnier. Upon first listening to "Vic and Sade," you're likely to think to yourself, "Oh, isn't this quaint and charming" -- but as you listen and you get to know the characters and setting, the writer's wonderfully weird sense of humor begins to reveal itself.

It has many characters, the vast majority of which you only get to know through one-sided phone conversations and the anecdotes of the four main characters, since the action rarely leaves the house and the microphone never sticks around when guests come over. The show portrays conversation in a uniquely accurate way, with people leaving thoughts and stories half-finished as they are interrupted by one another or by the telephone ringing. Some have compared it to Seinfeld, calling it the original "show about nothing."

In case you can't tell, I LOVE this show! I hope it will appeal to others too. Luckily, all the extant episodes have gone into the public domain and you can find them here:
http://www.vicandsade.net/
(Stick to the earlier episodes until you get to know the characters well. In 1942 one of the main actors was drafted and had to be replaced, and in the latest episodes the show kind of jumps the shark by breaking the "no additional speaking characters besides the four main ones!" rule. Still okay, but not the same -- the show starts to slip into that deliberate ham-fisted wackiness that is so common in OTR comedy...)

After a stressful semester, I've been relaxing and enjoying myself by rereading Jeff Smith's Bone, maybe the best story ever told in frames and speech bubbles. I've compared it to some people to an American equivalent to Asterix or Tintin, in its being accessible for just about all ages, but not strictly children's lit (though might fall into the category of YA fantasy); it's different, however, in not being episodic like those, and frankly being much better (also not racist). Bone takes place in an engrossing world with loveable characters, and gorgeous art. It was originally printed in black and white but I highly recommend the lovely colorized versions.

It also is apparently being made into a film, being produced by the makers of Happy Feet. I'm not sure what to think about that.

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Switchfoot's Dare You to Move http://youtu.be/jE-Krlqi4fk

Aggressively passionately determined and faith filled. You don't "need a ticket" to "get up off the floor!" and start making earth a better place.

I just re-read this- it's still an absolute treat.

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My favorite short film of all time.
Fake Stacy : http://vimeo.com/35029117

Ignore the absurd controversy and racy video for a second. (Feel free to check them out later, because it's kind of hilarious and depressing and weird in it's own right, but it's not Outshot worthy for that). Now that you've bookmarked that for later, we can talk about The Flaming Lips and Erykah Badu's cover of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=553eSnDGI9I

And it needs to be talked about, because it is absolutely magnificent. Just 10 minutes of some of the most beautiful sound that will ever pour from your speakers. It just crashes over you with a sort of... inevitability that's impossible to ignore. It arrests your attention, and for ten minutes, there's just no breaking free. So gorgeous. So moving. So perfect.

Greg Egan.

If you are down to read some science fiction, you should read Greg Egan. Or if you really like Borges you should read Greg Egan. Fuck it, just read him. He is really wonderful. Whenever I read his books, I end up thinking about how amazing and lovely it is that his books exist.

Part of his wonderfulness is the fact that his ideas are massively mind-blowing. Consistently, while reading his books, I will start to feel an actual head-rush. And his not miserly with the ideas either. Diaspora, for example, is totally dense with ideas, and there's at least four absolute mind-blowers. (It's Hard SF, but I'd feel just as comfortable putting him on the shelf next Borges as Vinge. Or put him next to Philip K. Dick. Actually, put them all on the same, really awesome, shelf.)

The other part of his wonderfulness is his, for lack of a better word, humanity. In a typical Greg Egan story, he'll take some massive far out idea, and then he'll show you it's implications for people. Not just how it affects his characters lives, but how it effects their sense of themselves. How it affects them existentially. And then usually there will be a small moment where someone decides to do something lovely and humane for someone else, often at great cost. It won't be a big plot type thing. Just a small but meaningful gesture. Usually just to make someone feel less alone. In the midst of these reality warping, too big and weird for humanity situations, with these characters that critics tend to describe as "post-human", they will decide to do these lovely, beautiful, humane things. And that is the main reason to read Greg Egan.

*Note: Egan will drop some physics on you, and he will often go into greater depth and on at greater length, and also over your head, but bear with him. Let him talk about the science and math that he loves, and he will reward you with something that you will love


Books:
Permutation City
Diaspora
Schild's Ladder
Distress
Quarantine

The Classical is a website about Sports. It is written by people you might have heard of as sports writers, such as Bethlehem Shoals (of Free Darko) and David Roth, and people who you might have heard of, but not as sports writers, such as Tom Breihan and Tom Scharpling.

It is a website about sports that is not afraid to drink Frank Thomas's Beer, and point out what really is the worst baseball article ever.

They also publish charts and grafs of the highest illustratory value:



There is a column about baseball cards that is surprisingly good at bringing me to the verge of tears.

It is a wonderful website. It is about sports.

(Also, it is plagued by comment spam that has given me excellent phrases like this: "Mr. Edwards, 58, faces six counts of Beats by Dr Dre")

In closing, here is an unrelated animated gif of the Yankees Outfield not understanding how a double switch works.

I'm claiming this as my outshot, what a wonderful gif. It looks like a snippet from a comedy routine, but I don't think the timing could be any better even if they rehearsed it.

Prince and the Revolution's Around the World In A Day.

The follow up to Purple Rain could not have been more different. The album is not the musical evolution of an artist. It's Prince and the Revolution in stretching out their full range.

This music exists for no other reason than that's what they felt like recording at the time.

Raspberry Beret makes me smile every time I hear it.

http://youtu.be/Q9g6_ejsxDg

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My duet with my cat Yoko: http://khu.sh/songify_4ff28357361cf&v2

Regarding Jesse's outshot about stupid comedy:

I'd like to recommend Evil Roy Slade, a made-for-TV Western spoof from 1972 that has achieved something of a cult following. It stars John Astin at his maniacal-grinning best as Evil Roy Slade, the meanest villain in the west. It's a classic tale of evil triumphing over good, and it is full of stupid, weird, hilarious jokes.

My favorite joke: "Where's the rest of your hat?" (It's Evil Roy's horrified indignation that makes it funny.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1NsNSkt1xU

I also love this part:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGuhv8ls_D8

We like our comics, so I'll recommend Craig Thompson's "Habibi". It's been getting quite a bit of attention since its release last year and just recently won an Eisner for Best Writer/Artist. It's set in a fictionalized Arabic country and follows a pair of children, 9 years apart, as they grow up in this horrible world. The story deals heavily with sexuality, including quite a bit of rape and prostitution, but through the perspective and narration never really seems gratuitous. The art is wonderful, the story compelling, but what really shines is the narration. The main characters use stories from the Qur'an as a form of escape, so their lives are often shown being paralleled with Islam, especially the prophets. The cultural and historical significance of numbers and calligraphy is often interwoven as well to create a story that is really unlike anything I've ever read.

How good is it? I just purchased my own copy and burned through the 672-page book in one night.

I've been meaning to get that. I really liked Blankets and have been looking for a new graphic book to read.


Following along the same lines, I'd suggest Duncan the Wonder Dog by Adam Hines. It feels kind of disjointed for the first half (I've read interviews where he says his pacing is heavily influenced by Chris Ware), but still found it really interesting and I loved the art. It takes place in a world where animal can speak English but we still treat them the way we do in reality, giving rise to pro/anti-rights groups (both peaceful and violent), political maneuvering, etc. Right now only the first book of a planned 9 is out and Adam Hines is guessing it'll take 25 years until volume 9 is out (vol 1 is 390 8.5 x 11 pages), which is kind of a bummer.

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BIG CtS fan here.

Safety in Numbers is one of my favorite songs ever put out, as is Nuclear Apathy and from the s/t Ice.

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Nature Encourages Mutual Dependence
Dynamic Forces Spur Change
Energy Powers Future Motion
Balanced Systems Stimulate Civilizations

My Outshot is the rock group Fang Island. They are the spiritual cousins of Andrew W.K. in terms of their positivity and genuine love of music and life. They have described their songs as "music to high-five to". I'm never in a bad mood when I listen to Fang Island, because I'm too busy kicking the air and pumping my fist with excitement.

Here's a link to a song from their just-terrific new album Major:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5crIDUyoKI

Here's video of them blowing the roof off of KEXP's studio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74DyR7n8x2M

And here's their BandCamp site where you can here all of the Fang Island.
http://fangisland.bandcamp.com/

Enjoy!

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Twitter is a hoot and a half! @freshmutton