Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- DARPA's hypersonic "Glide Breaker" could blast missile threats out of the sky

- Think I may actually buy this T-shirt

- SpaceX will launch the US Space Force's third new-generation GPS-3 series navigation satellite. Cool but one question from the article - why do bank ATM's need GPS?

- And just like that another 5 minutes of stand-up material for Jim Gaffigan is born.

- The best explanation of Dora the Explorer you'll ever read

- Tom Brady on what the loss of Kobe meant to him and what's really important. Well worth the read.

The Bill Burr Experience

Edit: Reposting this from 2-years ago because I still think it's a good idea

In recent years a new formula has overtaken the world of stand-up comedy. It used to be (and still is the case for people like Jay Leno) that a comedian had an act and the act and jokes varied very little from year to year. Then comedians started developing an hour's worth of material, honing that material on the road and finally culminating in a taped hour (or so) special. After the special was done the comedian would basically retire the material and start work on a new hour's worth of jokes and stories. Let's call this the Louis CK Formula.

Keeping things new and fresh is absolutely the way to go for people like Louis CK, Jim Gaffigan, and other top comics. However, it almost seems a waste that after the specials are done the material only lives on in DVD sales, on Netflix or HBO Go or in YouTube clips. Here's my idea to fix that and we'll use Bill Burr as an excellent example.

Bill has two great recent specials - You People are All the Same  (2012) and Let It Go (2010). He could tighten the material to about 45 minutes of each by getting rid of anything current events related or stuff that didn't work as well as hoped. Then he could hire actors who looked like him (scrawny, sickly looking red heads) who would do the material. One would open with 45 minutes from Let It Go, then a 15 minute intermission followed by second guy doing 45 minutes from You People are All the Same. Curtain call, both actors take bows and then head off to the next city.

I'd go to see something like that. Bill Burr owns the rights to his own material and this would be a way of both making money off past labors and giving people an excellent entertainment option. Think of it this way - if AC/DC only played new songs in concert people would flock to AC/DC cover bands to hear the old songs.

Call it the Bill Burr Experience and let's get the show on the road. Release the Kracken!

"No More" Hot Pockets

Sometimes an idea just stays with you and you have to write it down to free up your brain. The other day I mentioned it would be funny if the NFL's domestic violence "No More" commercial was about Hot Pockets instead. I keep thinking about how that commercial would look.

"No more moving slow because you just ate one an hour ago."
"No more regret because you shamefully ate one."
"No more drunk or living in a trailer dietary excuses."
"No more dirty microwaves and lava hot fillings."
"No more destroyed roof of your mouth."
"No more self inflicted diarrhea."

The commercial would end with a cut away to Jim Gaffigan with a single tear coming down his face (just like the Indian in the 1970's littering commercial). The great thing is you'd never actually mention Hot Pockets by name but with Gaffigan at the end - everyone would know the joke.

No more.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I wonder how Jim Gaffigan would feel if those NFL "No More" commercials were about hot pockets instead of domestic violence... What is Gruber for the goose is Gruber for the gander... Can we use the term "straight lid" as a synonym or code word for "douchebag"?... I'm going to use the word "feisty" this week to describe random items. This potato chip is feisty! What a feisty gas pump! What a feisty idea!... Seals "raping" penguins. Please don't call this "sexual harassment"... The Growler would be a good name for a WWE wrestler. He would be an angry drunk guy. Look out - it's the Growler... Federal agents raid NFL locker rooms...In the early 1900's there was a prostitute in Chicago named Suzy Poon Tang. She was so good in bed that her name became slang for - well you know...

The Bill Burr Experience

In recent years a new formula has overtaken the world of stand-up comedy. It used to be (and still is the case for people like Jay Leno) that a comedian had an act and the act and jokes varied very little from year to year. Then comedians started developing an hour's worth of material, honing that material on the road and finally culminating in a taped hour (or so) special. After the special was done the comedian would basically retire the material and start work on a new hour's worth of jokes and stories. Let's call this the Louis CK Formula.

Keeping things new and fresh is absolutely the way to go for people like Louis CK, Jim Gaffigan, and other top comics. However, it almost seems a waste that after the specials are done the material only lives on in DVD sales, on Netflix or HBO Go or in YouTube clips. Here's my idea to fix that and we'll use Bill Burr as an excellent example.

Bill has two great recent specials - You People are All the Same  (2012) and Let It Go (2010). He could tighten the material to about 45 minutes of each by getting rid of anything current events related or stuff that didn't work as well as hoped. Then he could hire actors who looked like him (scrawny, sickly looking red heads) who would do the material. One would open with 45 minutes from Let It Go, then a 15 minute intermission followed by second guy doing 45 minutes from You People are All the Same. Curtain call, both actors take bows and then head off to the next city.

I'd go to see something like that. Bill Burr owns the rights to his own material and this would be a way of both making money off past labors and giving people an excellent entertainment option. Think of it this way - if AC/DC only played new songs in concert people would flock to AC/DC cover bands to hear the old songs.

Call it the Bill Burr Experience and let's get the show on the road. Release the Kracken!

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

Jim Gaffigan's take on Subway sandwiches

I got a big kick out of some of these photos. Good stuff. 

Very cool story of 19-year old entrepreneur who worked out of AOL's offices for 2 months  

These GIF's are awesome - wicked awesome. 

Interesting profile of perhaps Mitt Romney's biggest groupie