Monthly Archives: November 2011

The Weasel Wins!


Our New Mascot -- The Weasel

The election for the Greater American Confidence Party mascot has ended. The Weasel is the victor. From now on, we in the GACP will be represented by a weasel. Thanks for all of your participation. Finally, we can move forward as a party to victory!

Next we will have to choose a candidate for president of the United States.

I humbly put my name up for consideration.

The results of the month-long poll:

Who should be the mascot for the American Confidence Party?

Answer Votes Percent
Weasel 123 63%
Wild Turkey 32 16%
Grey Fox 18 9%
Racoon 13 7%
Badger 5 3%
Opossum 3 2%

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On Simplicity:


“You can’t have too much simplicity in your life…” — Pop Haydn

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“Machine of Death” Variety Show:


Photo by Nancy Magill

Pop Haydn's Teleportation Device at the FAKE Gallery

Pop Haydn entertains at the Machine of Death Variety Show last night at the FAKE Gallery

Nancy Magill and I had a wonderful time last night at the FAKE Gallery on Melrose. It was a great event to celebrate the success of the Machine of Death (MoD).

There were lots of refreshments, magic, music by Lucciana Costa, games and actual operating steampunk contraptions, all in a wonderful environment, a trove of strange and interesting art and sculpture–what a fun time!

Video of the entire event here:

http://machineofdeath.net/mod-magic-variety-show

Machine of Death is an anthology of short stories edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo, and David Malki !, inspired by this episode of Ryan’s Dinosaur Comics. From January 15, 2007, through April 30, 2007, Ryan, Matt, and David invited everybody in the world to submit short stories for the book, without fee or prejudice. Hundreds of writers from five continents took them up on the offer.

Ryan, Matt and David chose their favorites from the nearly 700 submissions, and invested personal funds to pay each contributor. The manuscript was shopped for several years to agents and publishers who liked it, but were unable to sell a book full of material by largely-unknown writers.

Faced with this rejection, the editors self-published the book and, on October 20, 2010, announced that October 26 — six days later — would be MOD-Day, in which they encouraged everybody to buy the book from Amazon at once in an attempt to become, for one day at least, Amazon’s #1 best-selling book.

On October 26, exactly that happened. The book shot up the charts and hit #1 in all categories, staying there for approximately 30 hours.

On October 28, the editors got wind that Glenn Beck, on his radio program, called out MOD as being part of a “liberal culture of death” — for beating his own book (which had apparently been released the same day) to #1 on Amazon. We continue to find this hilarious.

On November 2, 2010, the manuscript was placed online, in PDF form, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 license. That means you can (and should!) read, copy, and distribute all the stories for free.

There is also an ongoing audiobook version, which is being released as a free podcast.

For more info, go here:

http://machineofdeath.net/about/

About the FAKE Gallery:

http://www.timeout.com/los-angeles/comedy/venue/1%3A6253/fake-gallery

 

Pop Haydn

www.pophaydn.com

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Herman Cain on Libya, today:


Herman Cain on Libya, in a quiet interview with print journalists. No comment. Stunned silence…

Magill said, ” He wanted to make sure they were talking about Libya and not Ubeki-beki-beki-stan.”

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Welcome home, my best friend!


They also serve, who only sit pretty and wait…

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Danny Macaskill – Industrial Revolutions


This is a beautifully filmed, incredible demonstration of extreme bike riding, that is just too good to ignore. This is not just for kids. It is amazing and gorgeous.

It gives me hope for the future!

What a brave new world, that has such creatures in it!

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Thanks Vets!


“In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.” -Jose Narosky

Thanks to all the men and women who have faithfully served and defended the Constitution of the United States of America.

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Freakshow Deluxe Sizzle Reel


My dear friends from Freakshow Deluxe.

What a wonderful bunch of Freaks!

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Kenny Raskin’s wonderful “My Old Friend”


This is from Kenny Raskin, who created this presentation:

“I created my piece (a version, filmed for Danish television, can be viewed on youtube) in 1981. Like any normal performer, I began putting it out there when I was gigging, but also at clown and mime festivals throughout the United States. So the great thing is, if it’s a good piece, people notice you. You get some good press and you build your reputation in the business. You might even get hired by Cirque du Soleil, which is what happened to me.

“The bad thing is, people begin to copy you, and when you are new in your profession, sometimes your authorship gets called into question. That is hurtful… It’s been a long time, and most people that came up in the clown world with me know the true story. I may not have been the first person to do a routine like this, but I didn’t see someone do one and then go out and create my own… My focus these days is more on teaching the craft, so my livelihood is not at issue here. But for those who I know saw my work and used it to create their own version — Tina Lenert, Sasha, Gayle LaJoye, Peter Shub, Jason McPherson — you are welcome…”

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Mirin Dajo–the Amazing Human Pincushion


This video is not for the faint of heart. There are graphic images of swords and rapiers being pushed through a human body. It is truly amazing, but could be upsetting for some.

Mirin Dajo was a sideshow and stage performer in the 1940’s. He was by far the most amazing act of his kind that has ever been reported.

He’d stand bare-chested while his assistant would take fencing foils, and one by one, run him through–Dajo never flinched and never showed the slightest pain. He attributed this ability to his yogic training and faith in God.

The curious were invited to watch as closely as they liked, and to examine the blades even while they were stuck through him.

Dajo was invited to a medical center for tests.

Dajo’s assistant stuck a foil into his back–under doctors’ scrutiny, and then pressed it all the way through. The skin pushed outward on his chest and the foil finally broke through.

Dajo seemed well despite the event. With the foil stuck through him, Dajo walked to their X-ray lab, where they took shots verifying the foil did indeed pierce his abdomen all the way through, passing through and among major organs.

Mirin Dajo was born in 1912 as Arnold Gerrit Henskes. The first records of Dajo come from 1947 when he allowed an assistant to plunge a fencing foil right through his body at the Corso Theatre in Zurich.

The foil appeared to have pieced several vital organs, but Dajo was unharmed.

Mirin was forced to undergo many medical tests and to perform his act for baffled doctors. After x-ray tests were conducted, the legitimacy of his abilities was confirmed by the medical community. It could not be explained by any physician.

Mirin Dajo was a very religious man and some media outlets labeled him a “Messiah.”

His sideshow displays were often concluded with a lecture and a message of peace.

During his act he took to being impaled by three hollow skewers. He would then pump water through those skewers to become a human fountain.

On May 26, 1948, Mirin Dajo died from an aortic rupture.

He was not performing at the time, but his death could have resulted from previous acts.

More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirin_Dajo

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