[Classified]

The Onion has done it again. One of their videos of fake news has been taken seriously and then shared as real news by paranoid conspiracy junkies. Here's a list of links:

http://www.urlesque.com/2010/07/21/obama-martial-law-onion/

http://www.buzzfeed.com/reddit/idiots-everywhere-fall-for-fake-onion-story

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/onion-news-martial-law-2010

My favorite part is about a minute in when "Rep. John Haller" is reading a classified section and is stunned to silence for a few seconds before just remarking "...Jesus" and then continuing.

Is satire not universally understood? Is sarcasm really that difficult of a concept?

Smart parody take on Old Spice viral ad

You've probably seen some of the videos in the viral ad campaign for Old Spice, but if you haven't I will send you here before sharing this next bit. Look at the ad, now back at me, now back at the ad, now me.

Good, now that we're on the same page now look at this:



Bravo.

Actually, there are quite a few lols to be had mining the Old Spice videos on their site. I recommend checking them out. They've been whipping out new ones based on comments and questions people have been sending them.

What would you ask of Isaiah Mustafa?

Cannibal Troll

I'm a big fan of the stuff they do over at Rocketboom Institute, in particular the Know Your Meme series. No longer do you have to pretend to "get it" when someone posts an image macro on your forum. Now you can discern the masters of the art from the copy-cats. Also, Elspeth Rountree is a peach and always entertaining.

I got my morning lolz watching their most recent video, Troll Bait. I particularly enjoyed the troll family tree on the white board at the end of the video. This is a common comic gag they use to wrap up a meme which never fails to illicit a chuckle from this nerd. Bravo.

There's even a skeptical lesson buried in this video. Enjoy, and I recommend digging through the KYM archives and see how many you recognize. What are some of your favorites?

Yob's Steaming Pile of Awesome!

Why, hello there! And welcome to the inaugural edition of Yob's Steaming Pile of Awesome!

I'm your host... Yob. ...get how this works?

In my little corner of Emp-Ego, I pledge to bring you the internet.

No, not the WHOLE internet, that would be absurd! No, just the really funny parts. And not just the old, crusty, used-up funny from yesterday. I'm talking Grade A, Prime Cut, Top Shelf, Freshly-Shat, Steaming Piles of Awesome!

In honor of those who've come before me, I may, from time to time, highlight some of their work here as well, but only when they really deserve it. After all, even the greats can't make funny all the time, and I don't aim to just regurgitate crap from the big boys. I can make funny all on my own, dammit.

Soooo.... off we go!

Steamer #1 comes to us from, hell, God knows where. Looks like some Canadian guy named Frankie. Now, to be fair, Frankie is probably a really sweet kid, but damn if this isn't the funniest freakin' thing I've seen in at LEAST 2 days. (Hey, the net moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it.)

Anyway, I'll let Frankie do the *ahem* talking:

#2 has been making the rounds on the old intertubers today, and I conclude it might very well be the most honest, compelling and accurate account of the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill to date. I mean, the attention to detail, the way the actors get inside the heads of the key players involved, hell the overall production value here is incredible. Truly a work of art. ...Oh, who the hell am I kidding?

And finally, #3 comes to us from Tosh.0. Now, like I said, normally I don't regurgitate shit from the big boys. I only make exceptions when it's particularly funny. Why is this funny? I really have no idea! It's an enigma. I just giggled my ass off when I saw it, so now I'm subjecting you to it too. Ain't life grand?!


To quote their original write-up, "I'm not sure where this image originally came from, but if I had to guess, I would guess somewhere fucking awesome."

And that does it for today's Steaming Pile of Awesome! Tune in... whenever I damn well feel like it... for more hard-hitting journa-.... ugh. To hell with that. I bring the funny. You laugh. Deal?