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by Jon Brooks
Tue, December 11, 2007, 3:00 am PST

When People Magazine called Paul Krassner the father of the underground press, he promptly demanded a paternity test. His brainchild, The Realist, published "extreme satire," and ran from 1958-1974. Just over a decade later, in 1985, it staged a return in newsletter form and proceeded to raise hell for another 16 years. Now, the complete archive of this hilarious muckraking rag is making yet another dramatic reappearance, this time in an online version. It's a must-click dilly. Check out this partial index of articles and contributors, or head right to some of these gems:

And you won't want to miss Krassner's notorious hoax: Parts That Were Left Out of the Kennedy book, and Wally Wood's Disneyland Memorial Orgy poster. Of this last, we're not going to link to it, because, um... we're not crazy. But it's in there.

Filed under: Humor, Magazines, Parody

by Jon Brooks
Thu, November 08, 2007, 3:00 am PST

A lot of amateur comic strips have emerged on the Web lo these cyber-years, but this one's especially clever. Sub-titled "Your all-inclusive guide to a well-lived life," Scott Meyer's simple  paneled strips take the form of a "how-to." Meyer's expertise knows no limits, so you'll find advice for all of life's condundrums. From relationship tips, such as how to share a movie you love with the person you love, to health information, like how to quit drinking caffeine, to self-referential social pointers, such as how to make up to a friend you've insulted in your comic, you'll find everything you need to navigate existence in laugh-out-loud style. A few more gems:

How to make a funny Web comic strip: Check it out here.

 

Filed under: Comics, Humor

by Jon Brooks
Mon, October 22, 2007, 8:00 am PDT

We first wrote about the irascible scribbler known as the Craigslist Curmudgeon in March. The Curmudgeon is a sort of online vigilante, exposing those who advertise for writers in the writing/editing section of Craigslist but offer no pay, piddling in-kind compensation, or a dubious remuneration plan. These attempts at luring desperate writers into such unrewarding exchanges he dubs "assery," a term yet to find its way into the dictionary, though the century is still young... Anyway, we asked the Curmudgeon, with some trepidation, a few questions over email:

So you're a professional writer, we assume?

Yes I am. I recently made the switch to freelancing full time.

What prompted you to start the page?

Because Craigslist is free and doesn't seem to have too many rules and regulations, it's an assery magnet. Anyone can post a job, even if no job exists... Plus they allow job ads for people who don't want to pay their workers. I've seen it getting worse over the years and I know I can't do anything to stop it. But I can educate people and show some of the newer writers how silly some of these requests are. Hopefully by doing it in a way that makes people laugh it shows how ridiculous many of these ads and requests are.

All right. Where'd you get the term "assery" from?

Assery: The practice of being an ass. I made it up in honor of a past employer.

What's the most ridiculous attempt at exploiting writers you've seen thus far?

It's the cheap web content/SEO (search engine optimization) people. They ask for 1,000 words and pay something like $2.50. The article has to be researched and run through Copyscape and there's always this long list of requirements for this $2.00 article. Assery at its finest. Read the full profile...

by Molly McCall
Tue, October 16, 2007, 3:00 am PDT

What do you do if you find yourself in L.A. with sarcasm raging through your veins and a talent for illustration pulsing in your fingers? Become a celebrity caricaturist, of course! Since November 2006, the artist-slash-blogger behind Pretty on the Outside has churned out hilarious images of some of Hollywood's biggest heads and tiniest bodies. Needless to say, TomKat, Britney, and Posh make appearances. Look quick and you'll spot Rachel Zoe, monster stylist to the super skinny. The anonymous painter behind this site has a true knack for capturing—and skewering—the botoxed, bleached, and famished look parading up and down Melrose Ave. Don't let us give you the impression that it's all mockery and malice, though. This celebri-blogger digs Daniel Craig, has fallen for Milo Ventimiglia of "Heroes," and considers Rihanna not just pretty on the outside, but "perfect."

Filed under: Celebrities, Blogs, Humor, Drawing

by Jon Brooks
Fri, October 05, 2007, 6:00 am PDT

We first featured the San Francisco-based sketch comedy group Kasper Hauser in 2005, pointing to their witty take-off of Craigslist. We then re-visited the troupe last year, after the launch of their parody of "Skymall," that catalog-in-the-sky airlines like to tuck behind the emergency landing procedures in the seat pocket in front of you. Obviously, this is one group that's funny both online and off. When we emailed the fabulous foursome, they told us what it's like to haggle with a Nigerian email scammer, how imitating Ira Glass can be spooky, and how it feels to be one of iTunes' best podcasts of 2006...

So why the name "Kasper Hauser"?

In the early 90s, James found an old New Yorker magazine in a dumpster. It had a story about feral children (The Karpfen Bear Girl, The Justadel Snow Hen, the goat boy, etc...) and Kasper Hauser was one of the cases. He was the boy who wandered into the town of Nuremberg in 1828. When it came time to name our sketch troupe, we kept coming back to the name Kasper Hauser. It's nice and pretentious, and he was a wild kid with bad manners, just like us.

How much more exposure have you gained by putting your stuff on the Web? Do you have any "Web-only" fans that you know about?

Tons. We get emails all the time from fans who've discovered us through the podcast or the website. The Internet has given us a much broader reach than playing onstage for 50, 100... or 4 people at a time. Thank you, Internet. Although dial-up is driving us crazy. Read the full profile...


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