Blog | Uncle John's Bathroom Reader

August 5, 2010

Hockey Fight!

Okay, we're about one million views behind on this one, but it's just too good to pass up. I mean watch that Mazza player drop those gloves! Artwork!

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August 5, 2010

Headline Writing, Part Eleventy Million

There's a headline over at GrindTV right now that says this:

"Marlin goes berserk, attacks press boat during Hawaii tournament"

We here at the BRI enjoy taking our luxury yachts on fishing trips to exotic locales around the world as much as anyone—but can you give a fish a break here? It had a hook in its face. Does reacting to that qualify as going "beserk," and "attack[ing]" a boat? It may have just wanted to, you know, get the hook out of its face.

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August 4, 2010

And now for some interesting internet comments…

Someone at Yahoo hit their head and put up a REALLY DUMB ARTICLE about "money habits" you didn't know were illegal. Did you know, for instance, that it is illegal to lie on a home loan application? Of that you can't make copies of U.S. currency? I know, it's crazy!

Hey, it happens—but we still get to laugh at it. And read the comments. And there are over 4,700 of them. A few of our favorites:

These comments are way more interesting and accurate than the the stupid article.

I'm sure everyone that read this already knew you weren't allowed to copy money. It is called "counterfeiting", Marcie.

well no @#$% sherlock

Ohh.. Can't I make my own money? *facepalm* -.-

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July 30, 2010

Thank You, C-SPAN

Have you ever found yourself thinking, "Dang, it sure is a good thing that we have C-SPAN"? Well, it's a good thing to remember that before 1979 we didn't have anything like it—and it took one person, Brian Lamb, a lot of work over a lot of years to get it on the air. We wrote about it in Uncle John's Triumphant 20th Bathroom Reader (page 243). Here's an excerpt:

Mr. Lamb goes to Washington
During the Vietnam War, a young navy lieutenant from Indiana named Brian Lamb was assigned to the Pentagon press office to report troop deaths to the media. The amount of information either omitted or censored in order to paint a rosier picture of the war appalled him. “The government lied to us,” he later recalled. “We just weren’t getting the straight scoop.”

During that time, Lamb also served as an aide in the Johnson White House. Once again he saw a huge gap between what the American people knew and what was really happening. “I got a firsthand education about how the media interacts with the government, and it led me to think that there could be a better way.”

That better way was a news outlet that would report what was happening in politics—with two major differences: 1) no censorship from government; and 2) no commentary from media pundits.

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July 28, 2010

RIP: John Callahan

He wasn't for everyone, but we sure liked him.

"John Callahan, a quadriplegic, alcoholic cartoonist whose work in newspapers and magazines made irreverent, impolitic sport of people with disabilities and diseases and those who would pity and condescend to them, died Saturday in Portland, Ore. He was 59 and lived in Portland."

Here's his Web site. It actually has a section titled "Free Animations," and visitors are invited to take one or more, asking only that you provide a link back to the site in exchange. What a guy. Here's a fairly mellow one that'll give you a bit of an idea what John Callahan was all about:

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July 27, 2010

San Diego Comic-Con Round-Up

This is Secret Agent M reporting. Comic-Con is officially over. Beside more pictures of great costumes and booths, below you will find highlights of the induction of Sylvester Stallone to the Action Hero Hall of Fame, the annual Zombie Walk, and SYFY/EW's red carpet event. For those who followed all the Comic-Con news, I was no where near Hall H and know nothing about the guy who stabbed the other guy in the eye because he was sitting too close to him at a panel.

Now to the fun stuff:

Whiplash from Iron Man.

Joker from "The Killing Joke" and Harley Quinn.

Drew Struzan: Movie poster artist of Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones fame.

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July 23, 2010

San Diego Comic-Con Photostream – Day 2 [Updated through the day]

We're back! And super secret agent M is back at San Diego Comic-Con taking photos of all the sites. Day 1 was big fun – so on to Day 2:

Comic-con t-shirts

He-Man!

Spiderman!

The Ghostbusters!

Brains…brains…

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July 22, 2010

San Diego Comic-Con: Photostream

The world's premier comic book convention is going on right now in San Diego – and we have a BRI agent there taking photos of the fantastic sites. We're going to be adding photos to this post throughout the day; should be a blast.

Let's get things rolling with the first image, just sent to me via the marvelous Mana's mobile:

Iron Man bad guy?