Category: Funny Stuff

Baseball returns to Richmond

~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

The San Francisco Giants’ AA ballclub is moving to Richmond.  Since they used to be in Norwich, Conn., this move actually brings them closer to the big club.  And CNBC is working with the team to adopt a new name.

The team is leaving Norwich even though their home, Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium, has had $1 million in renovation work done over the past five years.  Which means they will love The Diamond in Richmond.

A site called “Funny or Die” shouldn’t be anywhere near healthcare

~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

This snarky “Save the Insurance Companies” PSA featuring Will Ferrell is a hit, at least in terms of its viewership.  .

It’s certainly better than Kicking and Screaming, and it’s makes the point that many on the left are trying to drive home – that insurance companies are greedy leeches who profit from sickness, and that their money should be commandeered to fund publicly administered health insurance plans.

But the Personal Democracy Forum brings up an interesting point about the timing of this video.  Released just this week, the intense health care debate is already pretty mature.  Sarcasm and oversimplifications can help frame the debate, but they are less effective in moving the debate along.

Much like a tardy Ron Burgundy bursting into the Channel 4 newsroom after spending some time in a glass case of emotion, Will Ferrell may be too late to make his point.

Sunday Funnies: Ethics fraud at 7-11

~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

I have some friends and co-workers who have been either working for or volunteering their time for the Chris Christie campaign in New Jersey, and according to them, the election is getting ugly – even by New Jersey standards.  In one of the ultimate pot-and-kettle moves, incumbent Governor Jon Corzine is trying to hang ethics allegations on his opponent – who, incidentally, is one of about a half dozen New Jersey politicians who likely won’t end up in jail at some point or another.

I enjoyed the Christie campaign response – maybe not the most side-splitting political ad ever, but it certainly handles the issue well:

Seinfeld unfairly blamed for unemployment

~ Jim Eltringham ~ Leave a comment

Of course I had to click on this headline this morning: “Seinfeld joke gets man canned for harassment.”  Since just about everything I say is a quote from Seinfeld, The Simpsons, The Big Lebowski, or Star Wars, the implications were clear in the first line:

A Cedar Falls man who repeated a gag from the “Seinfeld” show while at work has been fired for sexual harassment.

The gag was that, when someone sneezes, instead of saying “God Bless You” one should reply with “You are so good-looking.”  That’s probably not a reference I would use at work, but it was during an outdoors retreat, so the employee, John Preston, probably felt like typical office decorum was a little relxed.  I wonder if there’s more?

A week after the retreat, Preston allegedly sent the female worker who initiated the joke a series of e-mails in which he reiterated that she was good looking.

Wait… what?

A few weeks later, Preston allegedly stopped the woman in a hallway at work and massaged her shoulders while speaking to her. That generated another complaint, and early this year Preston confronted the woman at a work-related event.

So it doesn’t sound like the Seinfeld joke – which was actually made by the woman who reported the harassment – got this fellow fired at all.  Whether or not the woman’s allegations are true – and it sounds like they are – I’m filing suit with the Des Moines Register for the time I lost reading their story based on a misleading headline.

And I have a very convincing attorney:

JackieChiles