Snob

5TFU is a simple web radio station. Its content is completely anonymous; upload a track, and it's on the radio, identified only by a numeric string. Don't like what you hear? Click 5TFU! and it's gone.

Ana Botella con la máquina de limpiar mendigos

(Remember)

By XJ Selman  Published: January 19th, 2014  We've previously discussed the hilariously revealing trends of online pornography. As luck would have it, porn sites and other tireless Internet sex detectives (or sextectives, for those of you who dig portmanteaus) have been hard at work, crunching

Utilizan el Aula de Anatomía para practicar con pies de cadáveres frescos

When people hear "service dog," they usually think of guide dogs for the blind, but Xander here is blind himself. Even so, he's one heck of a service dog, helping abused children and women work past their emotional problems with his sweet hugs and adorable face.

According to his owner, Rodney Beedy,"A lot of times he’ll hear a child crying at an event and he’s bolted several times, at least 500 feet over to this child to comfort them." Even without the use of sight, Xander gets around really well, following Rodney around without any need for a leash.

Aside from everything else, he looks great in a suit too.

• Sucedió en la retransmisión de los Premios Forqué.

El pasado lunes, se celebraron los tradicionales Premios Forqué. Una ‘gala’ donde no faltó el habitual discurso del Ministro de Cultura, José Ignacio Wert. Intervención que terminó entre un abucheo por parte del público asistente y que La 2 de TVE silenció, rápidamente, subiendo hasta los topes el volumen de una música instrumental y eliminando el sonido ambiente de la grada. Sin embargo, Ana Morgade, presentadora del acto, nada más regresar al escenario denunció la censura que se acababa de producir. Lo hizo con su particular ironía inteligente.

“Perdonad, compañeros de sonido, no sé qué ha pasado. Ha sonado ahí un sonido raro. Mirad, en los volúmenes, hay un botón que pone ’opinión del pueblo’, a ver si lo podéis bajar un poco, ¿eh? Porque no vaya a ser que opinemos y esto sea una democracia… o algo“, sentenció con retintín la presentadora. Fue así:

Las redes sociales explotaron en quejas, que denunciaban, indignadas, la decisión de los responsables de la actual televisión pública de intentar deformar la realidad. Y, por tanto, amplificaron los abucheos a Wert. Esta consecuencia viral podría parecerse en rasgos generales al concepto del denominado Efecto Streisand, un fenómeno de Internet que se produce si un intento de censura, manipulación u ocultamiento en la red se transforma en contraproducente para el censor, ya que el contenido silenciado acaba siendo masivamente divulgado por los usuarios hasta alcanzar una mayor difusión de la que se habría conseguido sin ningún tipo de censura.

Aunque, en este caso, hablamos de televisión y no sólo de internet; el Efecto Streisand se ha reproducido, de nuevo, en Televisión Española como altavoz de la censura televisiva. Con esta decisión, TVE ha dado mayor difusión y relevancia al abucheo en un espacio de televisión tan minoritario en audiencias que hubiera pasado desapercibido. Además, al mismo tiempo, con esta medida, se ha potenciado aún más la pérdida de credibilidad que sufren los actuales responsables de la cadena pública.

Unas decisiones que son agigantados pasos atrás en el avance objetivo que se realizó en la independencia de la televisión pública. Esa independencia que creía en la inteligencia cómplice de un espectador que ya cuenta con constantes y poderosas herramientas que le permiten estar más informado que nunca. 

• ¿Por qué se llama Efecto Streisand?

En efecto, tiene este nombre por la famosa Barbra Streisand. Todo empezó en 2003 cuando la actriz y cantante demandó, por la módica cantidad de 50.000.0000 dólares, al fotógrafo Kenneth Adelman que investigaba la degradación de la costa de Malibú y publicó imágenes de su espectacular mansión al borde del mar. Con su intento de retirar estas fotografías, Barbra Streisand consiguió justo lo contrario: que las instantáneas de su lujosa casa se difundieran velozmente a través de Internet. Ya era imparable.

Y ADEMÁS…

¿Cómo debería ser la TVE que necesitamos en el futuro?

Un año del cambio de modelo de TVE,  ¿y de la pérdida de independencia?

Claves de la pérdida de audiencia de los Telediarios

Cosas que debe saber un abogado del Estado para presidir RTVE

Fernando Navarrete, el valor añadido del nuevo Consejo de RTVE

Os Praceres, en Pontevedra, fue a finales del siglo XIX un lugar elitista de veraneo con playa de arena blanca, balneario y mansiones a las que acudía la jet-set. Montero Ríos, figura central de la Restauración y presidente del Gobierno –brevísimo-, tenía allí su Pazo y recibía al cogollo político de Madrid. Las imágenes de la época muestran aquel cultivado turismo pitiminí de pieles blancas y comidas pantagruélicas. La Guerra Civil reventó el lugar y en 1957 Franco adjudicó en medio de la ría una gigantesca fábrica de celulosa que arrasó la playa; hoy hay vecinos que se despiertan a 50 metros de una troceadora de sólidos. El impacto sobre la naturaleza fue similar al de poner un vertedero en mitad de Cannes. La fábrica sigue allí luchando por seguir a los pies del mar mientras Feijóo, tras el romance de Fraga con Ence, le ha puesto fecha de salida: 2018. Aún no está claro que la empresa salga ni que la Xunta lo exija.

Un día de 1999, hermoso apogeo de la democracia, los resignados vecinos de Os Praceres se despertaron con una gran noticia. Ese año la Xunta, que había autorizado un relleno gigantesco del vecino puerto de Marín, adjudicó una vía del tren en mitad de la plaza del pueblo. La única plaza de Os Praceres sería atravesada por un ferrocarril; naturalmente, la administración exigía que la máquina redujese la velocidad al pasar y que hubiese señales para que los niños no atravesasen las vías. Todo eran ventajas; los vecinos no lo entienderon. Se levantó en protesta mucha gente, pero fueron sobre todo mujeres las que hicieron guardia. Os Praceres, en la parroquia de Lourizán, es barrio de mariscadoras. Detuvieron a varias y el inicio de los trabajos tuvo que aplazarse. No hubo refuerzos de ninguna parte de España, eso sí lo recuerdo, porque para entonces la gente no buscaba en cada rotonda un palacio de invierno. Tampoco hubo eco en la prensa española. En 2002, tras una agotadora lucha, el tren cruzó la plaza de Os Praceres ante la atónita mirada de los vecinos. Hubo gente que dijo que jamás pensó que a 200 metros de una fábrica contaminante frente al mar fuese a pasar un ferrocarril en medio de la única plaza del pueblo. Ahí siguen.

Cada vecino tiene su obsesión. Sobre plano, el problema de Gamonal es diferente al de Os Praceres salvo en una cosa: los vecinos rechazan la obra. Probablemente sea la primera vez que un ayuntamiento quiere gastar un dineral en algo que un barrio no ha pedido. Lo lógico es que antes de la campaña se recojan peticiones vecinales y que haya bronca cuando no se cumplan, pero cómo andará el interés general en Burgos que un alcalde quiere gastar a toda costa el dinero en una obra repudiada. Ahorro el contexto por sabido, incluido ese empresario Méndez Pozo que hay en cada ciudad de España, la última en la que uno me dijo, a los diez minutos de conocerme, que él no pagaba una tasa porque para eso había colocado a su sobrino en una concejalía del Ayuntamiento. “¿Y si la repone?”. “Tengo más sobrinos”.

Hace poco un amigo que visitó Os Praceres me preguntó por qué se hizo una aberración así. No sólo eso: por qué nadie se había enterado. Contesté sin pensar que había faltado más violencia. Que yo había visto esa mueca de los alcaldes cuando se juntan 3.000 vecinos en una manifestación y esa otra cuando 300 organizan una barricada. Y el papel fundamental y peligrosísimo de los periodistas buscando noticias. Ha causado estupor que se haya conseguido parar una obra en Burgos mediante la violencia, pero la violencia funciona. Es responsabilidad de los violentos y de los que ceden, como el alcalde. Tampoco hay que avergonzarse: a veces conviene un contexto. Y la experiencia.

Los vecinos de Os Praceres, fatigados, decidieron obedecer a la democracia y presentar denuncias. Dejen de ocupar las calles y ocupen la ley, les dijeron. Allí se fueron a gastar en abogados. Empezaron a ganar juicios y la administración los recurrió todos. Por fin en 2007 el Tribunal Supremo declaró ilegal el relleno del puerto y los pasos a nivel del tren de Os Praceres. Devuelvan el mar y devuelvan la plaza. He hablado con varios responsables políticos en los últimos años y no se molestan en reconocerlo: jamás cumplirán la sentencia.

Los vecinos de Gamonal ni siquiera tienen de su parte la ley.

El Mundo, 19-01-2014

The post Lección práctica de Gamonal appeared first on Apuntes en sucio.

  








       

Animals sitting on capybaras. Includes other capybaras. Previous capybaras. À la recherche du capybaras perdu. Capybaras we have known and loved.

Here’s something that will bring comfort to men insecure about their prowess in the bedroom: Arousal isn’t haphazard. Rather, it’s a function of evolutionary science. Thus, we can not only say that certain things are more likely to be arousing, we can also say why they are arousing (or not), which gives us insight into the subject of arousal more generally. In fact, scientists are currently mapping out arousal as it pertains to the female brain.

One thing to keep in mind as you read this is that every man and woman is different. Just because “people” find something arousing doesn’t mean that the specific person you’re with is going to be aroused by something. However, you will gain a bit of insight into people in general.

1. Anxiety Is Arousing For Men

Some time in the mid-80s, a Boston University scientist came upon a surprising tidbit of arousal science: Men are more likely to get an erection under duress. Here’s how the study worked: Men who had no problem achieving or maintaining an erection were told that if they didn’t get in the mood, they would receive an electric shock. The tangible effect was that the threat of shock increased sexual arousal. Unsurprisingly, men who had trouble getting and maintaining erections were not helped by being threatened with an electric shock if they failed to perform.

2. The More Aroused, The Less Grossed Out

Here’s a study with even more surprising results: The more a woman is aroused, the less she’s grossed out by… well, pretty much anything. Women who were sexually aroused were more likely to drink from a cup with an insect inside or to wipe their hands on a towel that had already been used. When you think about this, it isn’t terribly surprising, as sex often involves smells, sounds and actions that might seem “icky” in the cold light of the morning. It also explains why sex can become less frequent as a relationship goes on: Because she’s not as aroused by you as she used to be, she’s less interested in engaging in “icky” sexual behaviors.

3. Women and Men Like Porn About the Same

A 2006 study at McGill University discovered an interesting tidbit about cross-gender arousal: Men and women become aroused at pretty much the same speed… at least when they’re watching porn. All told, it takes a man or a woman about ten minutes to reach peak arousal when it comes to watching porn. The scientists found this by having subjects watch half an hour of the Canadian countryside to establish a baseline for arousal as measured by genital heat. After this, the subjects were then shown porn, a horror movie or highlights from Mr. Bean (yes, really). Genital arousal only spiked when being shown porn, by the same amount and in the same general time frame of ten minutes.

4. Ladies Love Cucumbers

No, not in that way.

The smell of a cucumber increases bloodflow to the clitoris, resulting in heightened arousal for women. Next time you’re out shopping, maybe don’t pass by that cucumber-scented body scrub quite so quickly. Other scents that can be your friend when it comes to pulling ladies include baby powder, Good and Plenty (you know… the candy), pumpkin pie and lavender. Turns out these are a few things that help in how to turn a girl on.

Old Spice and English Leather somehow did not make the list.

5. Women’s Tears Are a Chemical Turnoff

It’s probably not much of a surprise to learn that women’s tears aren’t exactly an aphrodisiac. However, the why of it is curious: Tears apparently serve an evolutionary function of saying “not tonight, dear.” The reason? There are couple of theories, including an evolutionary function to reduce male aggression toward women, as well as put men off during “that time of the month,” which is, biologically speaking, one of the worst times for reproduction. Interestingly, reflexive tears (the kind shed when you chop onions) were not effective in deterring male arousal — only emotional tears.

Scientists collected tears from women (and one man), stuck them on a pad underneath the subjects’ noses, measuring decreased arousal. Note that this had nothing to do with whether or not the men were involved in what caused the tears: The very presence of the tears was enough.

5. How to Turn a Girl On: Humor

This is another one that might not surprise you too much. Experience shows that women love funny guys. In fact, one of the main things that we teach at The Art of Charm is that humor is a great way to get your foot in the door with a woman, because it helps her to relax and loosen up in what are generally stressful social situations. Unsurprisingly, when it comes to how to turn a girl on, humor is a huge advantage.

Turns out that science agrees. A French study found that men who told a joke to another man (who then left) were far more likely to get phone numbers from women who had overheard the joke. Not only does humor help basically everyone to relax, it also demonstrates intelligence, another trait that women love in a potential mate. What’s more, humor is an unpretentious way of communicating intelligence. It’s a win all around.

6. Deep Voices

Here’s one that you might not have thought of: The tone of your voice. A joint Canadian-American study in 2007 found that women preferred men with deep voices. Such men were perceived to be more masculine, dominant and even more healthy than men singing soprano. The study looked at 100 Tanzanian tribespeople with no access to contraception or other creature comforts of the modern world. Men with deep voices sired the most kids — one of the most straightforward expressions of male virility going. Case in point: Barry White and his eight kids.

In case you were curious, the opposite is also true: Women with higher voices are more likely to attract a mate than their deep-voiced counterparts.

untitled by N. Feans on Flickr.

El Colegio Oficial gallego organiza tres cursos en el aula de anatomía de la Facultade de Medicina de Santiago

Can you guess a movie from a parental advisory? In a new quiz from UsVsTh3m, the Parental Advisory Movie Quiz, you'll be given a quote taken from IMDb's user-edited parent's guide (not the whole advisory). Then you must select one of three movies that you believe the quote describes.

I guessed five out nine correctly, even though I have seen very few of the movies. That's what comes from working on the internet -I know a lot about movies without ever seeing them. I have to admit I learned some new things about them just taking the quiz! How did you do?  -via b3ta

Vivimos tiempos de quimiofobia. A la vez que buscamos la tecnología más puntera, en el ámbito de la comida la rechazamos, y preferimos la comida “hecha por la abuela”, “natural”, “orgánica”, “biológica”. Sin embargo, lo natural no es necesariamente más saludable que lo químico. De hecho, la diferencia entre natural y químico es difusa.

Además, la naturaleza desarrolla compuestos más impredecibles que los sintetizados en un laboratorio. Y se olvida con frecuencia que los vegetales (los comestibles, entre ellos) acumulan en su organismo sistemas y moléculas de defensa que directa o indirectamente son tóxicos para el organismo humano. Una berenjena, por ejemplo, contiene casi tanta nicotina como un cigarrillo “Light”.

Lo explica mejor J. M. Mulet en su libro Comer sin miedo:

Por lo tanto, la palabra natural solo hace referencia al origen del producto; nos dice que viene de la naturaleza, pero no que sea mejor ni peor. La química nos enseñó hace tiempo que las propiedades de cualquier producto depende de su composición química, es decir, de los átomos y de las moléculas que lo forman… Nada más. Dos alimentos que tengan los mismos átomos enlazados de la misma manera para formar las mismas moléculas tendrán exactamente las mismas propiedades, incluido el sabor, color, olor y, por supuesto, beneficios o perjuicios para la salud, independientemente de dónde y cómo se hayan obtenido; ya sea de la naturaleza o mediante síntesis química.

La diferencia entre natural y artificial es difusa porque la naturaleza no nos da de comer. La mayoría de las sociedades que viven “en la naturaleza” presentan deficiencias en la nutrición. La mayoría de las cosas que comemos solo existen gracias a la intervención humana. Todas las especies que nos dan de comer han sido seleccionadas, criadas y domesticadas.

Para plasmarlo de una forma más gráfica, un profesor de Química ha hecho un seguimiento de los ingredientes de distintos alimentos naturales, como un plátano.

Algunas personas se preocupan por los ingredientes catalogados con “números E” (por ejemplo, glutamato monosódico, que es E621), pero un plátano 100 % natural, sin incluir pesticidas, fertilizantes ni insecticidas, también llevan su equivalente.

Para desarrollar estos gráficos, calculó la composición porcentual de todos los ingredientes y escribió una etiqueta de “ingredientes” para cada fruta utilizando números E cuando fuera posible.

Por ejemplo, la antocianina, de la que tantas bondades se han contado, también se la conoce como E163, que suena más químico y malo, pero no lo es. Miles de ingredientes minoritarios como el ADN se han omitido por razones de brevedad.

Vía | James´reading list

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La noticia La química de los alimentos naturales: también llevan 'número E' fue publicada originalmente en Xatakaciencia por Sergio Parra.

 
Before there was Kim and Thurston, there was Poison Ivy Rorschach and Lux Interior, one of the most charming, happiest, long-standing (together thirty-seven years) collaborative couples in music. They gave a recently rediscovered interview to Dutch public radio station VPRO around 1990 during The Cramps’ Stay Sick tour.

In the hour long interview, Poison Ivy and Lux talk about the gyrations involved in dealing with major and independent labels, overseas distribution deals, their invention of the word “psychobilly,” the ‘80s war on drugs, voodoo, religion, war, sex, B movies, and how they “Crampified” original classics such as “Bop Pills.” Their encyclopedic knowledge of rockabilly and B movies, which they rattle off effortlessly, is incredible. Lux outlines the history of American B movies for the interviewer:

Lux: The thing that’s so great, I think, about B movies is that when you watch a movie like that, they were made so quickly and usually by fairly amateur filmmakers that what you’re seeing is much more of the reality of the time and place where they were made than a motion pictures studio like MGM or Paramount or something like that. You’re actually seeing people who can’t act very well, so you see them as people, and they usually take place in somebody’s real house and on real streets and things, while all the other movies were being made on sets. There’s a slice of reality you don’t get in regular movies with those. I don’t know what it is.  Once you’ve developed a taste for that, you can’t go back somehow.

 

 

Poison Ivy: A lot of sexploitation [movies], just even titles, influence our songs. The dialogue from a lot of those movies is in our songs. “Hot Pearl Snatch” is the name of a movie, “All Women Are Bad” is the name of a movie. They’re powerful titles to us enough that we felt like writing songs about them. Also they’re in lines of our songs.

Lux: “Bikini Girls With Machine Guns” could be a B movie. The line in that, “This stuff’ll kill ya,” that’s a title of a Herschell Gordon Lewis movie about moonshine. Our songs are just loaded with B movie titles and lines out of B movies. In “What’s Inside a Girl” I say “In the bottom of the bottomless body pit,” like that, and that’s out of a movie called—

Poison Ivy: “The Love Butcher.” That was actually a line of dialogue out of that movie. It’s hard for us not to use these lines because we’re just kind of submerged in these movies. We think that way. They don’t sound like dialogue to us.

Listen to The Cramps on VPRO radio

 
Below, Lux Interior and Poison Ivy interviewed in Amsterdam, 1990:

 
Thanks to Kogar!

I cannot convey to you the balls it took to dress like that in Indiana in the early 80’s
 
As a Hoosier, I will always have a special place in my heart for Indiana punks, but I’d love The Zero Boys if they were from Park Avenue. Formed in the late 70’s in that vibrant renaissance town of Indianapolis, Indiana (big dose of sarcasm there), the band released their full-length album, Vicious Circle, in 1982. Though your casual punk may not know the name, the Zero Boys shared bills with Dead Kennedys and Minor Threat, and their petulant hooks and irresistibly sleazy melodies have always been a favorite of your more esoteric record collectors

You can hear their EP, Livin’ in the 80’s here, but I highly recommend you check out the fantastic live footage below, from their 1981 performance at Indianapolis’ own Pizza Castle. The audio is expertly restored, and you can hear the boys perform such underground classics as “Livin’ in the 80’s” and “Civilization’s Dying,” which was later covered by The Hives. There’s something just so absolutely perfect about the lyrics of “Livin’ in the 80’s”—“I have no heroes, just having a good time, don’t remember The Beatles, I don’t like the Stones,” delivered with such youthful contrarian snot. I can’t imagine a better venue for a show like this than a pizza joint, either.

You can actually buy a DVD of the entire performance here, which contains most of Vicious Circle. I had a friend who used to play it non-stop in the background at parties, and I vouch for the performance—it’s not often you find 1980’s ephemera that still feels fresh and mean. At one point, singer Paul Mahern hypes the album, cordially urging the audience to buy the EP for two dollars, and a button for seventy-five cents. He’s not too snotty about it though—we midwesterners value good manners, even in our punk legends.
 

 

 

 
While the word “propaganda” has a rather nasty, manipulative connotation, it isn’t necessarily defined as “lies” per se. All that WPA art encouraging people to brush their teeth and get tested for syphilis? Excellent uses of propaganda! And whether you’re trying to organize a community garden or start your own fascist regime, I think the most effective propaganda follows that same model of simple, informative, attractive messaging, easily interpreted by children or the uneducated. Catch ‘em young, and make it pretty, I always say.

Our Lenin, a children’s biography of Vladimir Lenin, does this perfectly. Translated and adapted from a Russian book, the US version of Our Lenin was published in 1934 by the US Communist Party. Although teaching the kiddies to revere Vladimir Lenin uncritically is certainly problematic (to say the least), the book is a beautifully executed piece of messaging, and the illustrations are just exquisite.
 

 

World War 1
 

Would you like a socialist utopia, or capitalist fascism? Pick carefully now, children!
 

Ohhhh, so that’s how it works. Seems easy enough.
 
Via Just Seeds

Why We Should Stop Teaching Novels To High School Students (Natasha Vargas-Cooper for Bookforum)

by Jeremy Popkin

If there’s a name in standup that qualifies for the “needs no introduction” treatment, it’s Patton Oswalt. The man who describes himself as “America’s comedy goblin” is an A-list comic whose specials – the latest of which, Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time, premieres tonight at 10pm ET on Epix and is available streaming online now via an Epix free trial – are some of the few things in the standup world that approach event viewing. Oswalt is adept at turning run-of-the-mill misanthropy into acerbic fireworks, his best known bits involving rants against KFC Famous Bowls, death beds, self-checkout machines at the grocery store, and the soul-crushing nightmare that is living in New York City. He’s also proven himself to be an immensely talented actor, breaking audiences’ hearts in films like Big Fan and Young Adult, warming them with roles in Ratatouille and Parks and Recreation, and invoking whatever the hell emotion people are supposed to feel when from the mind-melting insanity of The Heart, She Holler.

I recently had the chance to talk to Patton over the phone about his latest special, his various internet exploits, and what his generation has accomplished in standup comedy.

This is your fifth hour-long special. Do you still have any anticipation or nervousness about how people will react to your new standup releases?

I never really know what to expect. I certainly hope people think it’s funny, but beyond whether they think it’s funny or not, all of that stuff is out of my control. And I just have to be pleased with it myself, ultimately.

You’ve said before that your standup specials serve as snapshots of your life at the time you perform them. What would you say this special captures about your life at the moment?

Right now, I’m becoming more comfortable with being in my forties. And time is gonna tell whether that’s a true comfort or a false comfort before some kind of midlife crisis, I don’t know which one it’s gonna be. But right now I’m kind of content, so then we’ll see what’s next.

A lot of your early material came from places of failure or frustration. Has it been at all challenging to develop your standup as you’ve grown more successful?

It would be a challenge if I was simply trying to stay within that viewpoint, but I’m willing to let things that I felt when I was younger fall away and embrace newer things. With me, it’s just that constant challenge of 'How do I honestly deal with the world and try to make it funny?', rather than 'How do I keep my attitude from when I was in my early twenties alive far beyond any reasonableness?'

As you’ve gotten older you’ve approached some vulnerable subjects in your standup, such as your weight and depression. Was it ever difficult for you to talk about those sides of yourself onstage in front of an audience?

When I was younger, it was, yeah, because I didn’t have the confidence to be that vulnerable.

When you talk about something that personal in your act, do you have to try and find the right balance of emotional and funny?

I have to do that with all my jokes. It’s always about finding the balance between the emotional and the funny. How deep do you go, how flippant do you make it? You gotta find the balance.

Are you ever surprised with which bits resonate with audiences? Have you ever felt like, “Really? The KFC Bowl? That’s the one you guys loved?”

Yeah, I mean again, that’s kind of the fun of doing sets. You don’t know which ones are going to have the impact. There’s things that you think are maybe a little deeper and are gonna land harder, but they don’t land as hard as you think or have no second life. And there are other things that you were almost tossing off that kind of take on a life of their own, and that’s the fun of it.

The standup comedy scene is thriving right now. As someone who grew up during a decline in standup during the '80s, are you proud of what your generation of comics accomplished in reviving the form?

I’m definitely proud of what a lot of the alt comics did, in that we kept doing standup even when it wasn’t paying. We found rooms, we did our own shows, even though the big clubs were closing we didn’t quit because the money went away. We really loved doing standup no matter what, so the fact that we were able to keep that going, yeah, I’m pretty proud of that.

Have you seen any younger comics who were influenced by what your generation was doing?

I see a lot of younger comedians that, definitely, you can see the influence of what was happening in the early '90s in what they do. Yeah. That whole new generation that’s coming up definitely has a feel for that. They’re just way more disciplined.

Having graduated college as an English major, would you say that your writing background is what allows you to turn a phrase as beautiful and vivid as, “Her dad must have fucked her in a Garfield mask?"

Maybe, but I was never sitting down writing comedy. It was all coming to me onstage and I would work things out. It’s hard for me to sit and write jokes. I just go up over and over again until the thing kind of forms in my head from speaking it, so maybe the background was there as a foundation, but it was never there for me to sit down with a piece of paper and pen and actually write it out. And that stuff never gets written out, it just kind of comes out.

Is it safe to say that you’re an Internet hero? Considering things like your Spiderman Halloween costume with your daughter, your Star Wars filibuster, and your essay after the Boston bombing, it seems like you spread more joy around the Internet than it deserves.

[Laughs] Yeah, but I think that the term “Internet hero” is a contradiction in terms. Heroes are active and outgoing, so if I’m connected to the Internet, that involves sitting in the darkness typing. So I don’t really know how well those terms go together.

But your essay did give people hope. It wasn’t you going out in action, but it resonated with a lot of people.

I’m glad it did. That’s another example of, I don’t know how things are gonna land. I wrote that kind of more for myself just on my Facebook page and then it took on a life of its own.

As someone who has always had very passionate opinions about pop culture, is it at all intoxicating to now have a platform where you can have your opinions heard by millions of people?

I think that’s intoxicating for everyone right now, that’s one of the reasons the internet exploded the way it did. Everyone now has a platform – you can get your voice out there. I’m lucky that maybe I can reach a few more people than other people, but I think that you don’t need to be a celebrity to reach a lot of people. If you know how to write and really express your views, that stuff will catch on no matter who you are. That’s the great thing about the internet, is it’s kind of a great leveler. There’re plenty of famous people who write stuff on the internet all the time and the stuff they write doesn’t go anywhere because they have nothing to say. And there’s plenty of so-called “anonymous people” who, they’ll write things and it really catches on because they’re amazing writers who have really vivid opinions.

As someone who’s really active on Twitter, would you say that service in particular has grown into a genuinely useful breeding ground for comedy?

Oh yeah, especially in terms of Vines and one-liners. There are a lot of people that have started their comedy careers purely through Twitter. That’s where their breakthrough came from.

How much forethought goes into what you put on Twitter?

None. A thought comes and I just write it out. The fun of Twitter is, it’s just a thought and you put it out there. There’s no planning for Twitter, at least not for me.

You were recently on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. If you were able to pick any vehicle out of the annals of pop culture, would a DeLorean have been your first choice?

Let me think. I would have liked to have been picked up in Mad Max’s Interceptor from The Road Warrior. That would have been amazing, but that’s a production car only made in Australia, so that might even be beyond Jerry [Seinfeld]’s grasp. But the DeLorean was still pretty thrilling.

You’re currently the narrator on The Goldbergs. Considering your schedule, is that the perfect commitment level for you right now for a major network sitcom?

Right now, yeah. That’s kind of perfect. Drive in, I do my lines, I go home. It’s great.

Would you ever consider doing something as time intensive as your King of Queens role again?

Yeah, if it was the right vehicle that came along, sure. King of Queens was a ton of fun. And I wasn’t on every episode, so I had time to do other things.

In your more serious roles, and even in your more comedic ones, you’re very good at playing characters who are very abrasive on the surface, but who are more sympathetic and sometimes tragic figures at their core. Are those the roles that you enjoy playing the most?

Those are the roles that I seem to be being offered, so I try to make them fun to play. I like anything that’s well written, whether it’s heroic or villainous. Right now there’s a lot of, especially on TV, there’s just really, really good, juicy writing that an actor can sink his teeth into. So again, I’m just fortunate that I’m getting offered stuff along those lines.

Do you think any acting role you get will ever top The Heart, She Holler in terms of just flat-out insanity?

I can’t imagine how one would. But, again, Hollywood always surprises me, so I’m gonna never say never.

Do you have any upcoming projects that you’re really excited about doing or that you’ve done and want people to check out?

There’s a couple but they’re kind of amorphous right now, and I’m not gonna say until they’re closer to coming out. I don’t like to promote things too far in advance. I want to let them percolate for a little bit. So I’m just gonna say, “We’ll see.” There’s stuff coming but I’m not gonna say what.

 

Jeremy Popkin is a freelance writer in Philadelphia. His work has been featured on Ology, Nerve, and Destructoid.

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