It’s the story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to.

Neil Patrick Harris…..as Dr. Horrible
Nathan Fillion……….as Captain Hammer
Felicia Day…………..as Penny

And a cast of dozens!

Joss Whedon began writing his musical web series (watch the teaser below), with the help of all his relatives and friends, during the writer’s strike, then streamed the first three acts, free, on the official web site (not to be confused with the official fan site). The “free streaming broadcast” part is no more, but they are available on iTunes and, in the not-too-distant future (before Christmas) the complete short epic will be available on DVD. It’ll be legen….wait for it….dary!

P.S. At great personal risk, I was able to obtain this copy of “The Master Plan”, secretly penned by Joss Whedon in a dark, scary secret cave somewhere (but not the Bat Cave. This one’s shown at the beginning of the teaser, I think) that will explain the whole twisted, diabolical scheme. Read it! Be safe!

Yesterday’s post was intended to be sort of tongue-in-cheek; I just wanted an excuse to use the old Cagle ‘toon and see if anyone was still concerned about mad cow. Guess many still are. So I was glad to get this from Roboseyo in Seoul, Korea, where the natives are pretty restless about mad cow. I found it humorous and worth sharing. Says Rob:

“I have good news for all my Korean friends, and even concerned citizens in America.

See, after I got home from a lovely date with girlfriendoseyo, and a delightful walk through all the friendly protesters offering me red signs, and walking like docile cattle through the winding streets around Gwanghwamun, I checked my e-mail.

I got an e-mail from an actual, real scientist… I forget his name because I was so excited that I deleted the e-mail without thinking after I read it, but he went to Harbard or something, I swear, and here’s, like, totally the best news I’ve ever heard, and it’s absolutely totally true, because a real, actual scientist from Harbard told me.

He says that I don’t have to worry about mad cow disease, because kimchi makes you immune to it! He said kimchi’s special combination of garlic, han, spicy chili, and jung kills the prions that cause mad cow, and he showed me some serious, like really actually real science that totally proves it’s true. Here it is: See!

That totally proves it! If you don’t want to catch mad cow disease from American beef, all you have to do is eat it with kimchi, and the kimchi will kill the prions! […]

So just make sure you eat your beef with kimchi, and you’ll be fine! I swear! It’s science! Science is true!

P.S. New definition of Irony: Mad cow beef protester taking a break from shouting slogans for a nice, relaxing cigarette.”

No presidential election would be complete without a contribution from JibJab to make light of it. Here’s their latest…

Another oldie from Mike…

The Lone Ranger and Tonto are camping in the desert. After they pitch their tent, both men fall sound asleep.

Some hours later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says, “Kemosabe, look towards sky; what you see?”

The Lone Ranger replies, “I see millions of stars.”

“What that tell you?” asks Tonto.

The Lone Ranger ponders for a moment, then replies, “Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three in the morning. Theologically, it tells me the Lord is all powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you, Tonto?”

Click to read more ...

Davey sent a wmv version of this a couple years ago and I’d posted it on my AFP website. It apparently was shown on Good Morning America in August ‘06 and is due a reprise. If you live in a metered water area as I do, you’ll see this in a whole different light…

Q: How many psychotherapists does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: How many do you think it should take?

Q: What do you get if you cross an insomniac with an agnostic dyslexic person?

A: Someone who keeps waking up during the night wondering if there really is a Dog.

Via AFP archives.

Ever watch Dilbert, the TV version of the well known Scott Adams comic strip? This is a Dilbert “minisode”, a five minute short, but you can watch full length TV shows as well on this site.

It’s called Hulu, a website that offers free, high-quality streaming video of TV shows and movies, primarily from NBC and FOX and their cable networks. It’s supported by occasional commercials (sorry, but at least they’re short) and provides higher viewing quality than YouTube, even some offerings in HD. Miss an episode of The Office or House? Catch it here!

Sorry, no downloads, but if you’ve got an Apple iTV, you can probably stream to your big screen. How cool is that?

Got this updated oldie from Michael…

One sunny day in 2008, an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue, where he’d been sitting on a park bench. He spoke to the Marine standing guard and said, “I would like to go in and meet with President Obama.”

The Marine replied, “Sir, Senator Obama is not the President and doesn’t reside here.”

The old man said, “Okay,” and walked away.

The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, “I would like to go in and meet with President Obama.”

The Marine again told the man, “Sir, as I said yesterday, Senator Obama is not the President and doesn’t reside here.”

The man thanked him and again walked away.

The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same Marine, saying “I would like to go in and meet with President Obama.”

The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, “Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to President Obama. I’ve told you several times that Senator Obama is not the President and doesn’t reside here. Don’t you understand?”

The old man replied, “Oh, I understand you fine! I just love hearing you say it!”

…eight years ago, when Southwest Airlines Flight 1455 from Las Vegas overshot the runway at Burbank, crashed through a metal blast wall and then through the airport perimeter wall and came to rest on Hollywood Way, a four-lane city street, near a Chevron gas station.

Amazingly, only two passengers received serious injuries. Even more amazing, check out the gas prices!

H.T. to Mike!

Simple, concise and strategic. But not so in the U.S. where our politicians endlessly debate alternative fuel sources and vie for their favorites (read “special interests”) to get all the federal funding.

Oil companies want oil to remain “the” transportation fuel source unless they get distribution control of the alternatives; farmers want ethanol to play a big part even though, at best, it can only supplement oil; solar panel makers aren’t sure exactly how they might power autos but they want in on the apparent “green energy” boom; battery manufacturers have been challenged to make cells that provide greater driving range and cost efficiency than are available today; and some, including Bush, want to tap the bazillion gallons of oil under our own feet, although Democrats seem bent on preventing that from ever happening.

All have a place in the solution although none alone are the holy grail of transportation fuel. Problem is, we can’t move forward with any of them until the political squabbling ends and that doesn’t appear anywhere on the horizon. Meanwhile, we’re getting skewered by our dependence on foreign oil. And while some believe we can just “wait until prices come back down” (like that will ever happen!), our politicians continue whoring around with special interests while Rome burns.

Got this from Denny Wilson…

It was visitors’ day at the lunatic asylum. All the patients were standing out in the courtyard and singing Ave Maria and singing it beautifully. Oddly, each of them was holding a red apple in one hand and tapping it rhythmically with a pencil.

A visitor listened in wonderment to the performance and then approached the conductor. “I am a retired choir director”, he said. “This is one of the best choirs I have ever heard.”

“Yes, I’m very proud of them”, said the conductor.

“You should take them on tour”, said the visitor. “What are they called?”

“In the beginning this was a big problem. One inmate wanted to call them the ‘Big Apple with Little Brown Seeds Singing Sons of Siam’. But I said it was too long and, anyway, none of them were from Siam. Then, another thought ‘The Pencil Leads’ was a good name but the others disagreed because they had no one to write to.”

“Well”, the visitor asked, “What name did they finally agree on?”

“Surely that’s obvious”, replied the conductor. “They all agreed to call themselves…”

Click to read more ...

James sent this “post Fourth of July” Comedy Central skit with the caption, “Steve Pelkey, American Hero”…

Are you ready to kiss - or be kissed? Is there a special someone that you’d like to kiss? If you haven’t yet experienced that first kiss, it can be a daunting challenge! Is it the right time? Is anyone watching? Does your partner even want to? Is your breath fresh? And the big question: Should you use some tongue?

There’s lots of advise available, often conflicting. Many advise that, assuming your prospective kissee is willing, you just “go for it”…

Click to read more ...

Got this from Rich. It reminded me of meetings we’ve all attended…

As we approach Independence Day and prepare for our annual backyard barbecues and “safe” fireworks with the kids, many of us reminisce about the “good old days” when cherry bombs, bottle rockets and Roman candles were as much a part of the holiday as The Star Spangled Banner and Aunt Minnie’s Dutch apple pie. But most states outlawed them years ago to reduce injuries and fires. Replacing them are “snakes and sparklers” and assorted thingies that do little more than whistle and smoke.

Apparently, “real” fireworks are still available in Nevada (if they have whores, they’re bound to have serious fireworks, right?) but our Governor has begged Californians not to buy them this year. No wonder; we already have more than 1200 wildfires burning through our landscape, and firefighters have no idea when they’ll get them under control!

All of which reminded me of a classic scene in the movie Joe Dirt, a conversation between David Spade and Adam Beach…

Now, I’m not telling you what to do or not do, but I’m with Arnold on this, at least this year. How ‘bout forgetting the “real” fireworks? Go to a controlled fireworks show in your area instead. They’re bigger and better anyway, right?