IMAO Is The Funniest Thing On The Interweb

[administrator]

Discuss

[ChrisCarlisle]

Funniest thing on the interweb?  That's a bold claim, going to have to say no to that one.  I present Dave Barry, James Lileks and Homestar Runner as evidence of funnier things on the web.

/IMHO
//Rabid Frankolytes to swarm this thread in 3...2...1...

[MacStansbury]

How's abouts Red vs. Blue? Huh? Think of that? Huh?

The Kag Report is pretty good, too.

And, you know, my site. That's probably only the 17th funniest thing on the interweb, but you get the picture.

[CayuteKitt]

After a late night of fun at the casino with my SO, I needed something to help drain all that adrenaline and the endorphines!  So I looked into the sites suggested in this discussion thread to see what was what.

First a disclaimer:  I'm a very blunt, direct person.  I say what I mean and mean exactly what I say/type.  There is no undercurrent nor subterfuge, and no hidden agendas.  I'm neither a sycophant nor a schmoozer, and speak my mind.

That said, after checking out the sites suggested, I'm still in agreement with the Administrator that IMAO is the funniest thing....and IMAO has been consistently so in content for quite a long time.

As for the others:

HomeStarRunner was too cartoony, and although it was kinda fun, it wasn't funny in a humorous or satirical vein via essays.  It was just kinda fun.

Dave Barry likes links, and more links, and links to links, but there was precious little original humorous commentary.  In fact, there was almost none that I could find even in the archives.  Just oodles of links to others' commentary, humorous and otherwise.

The Kag Report was kinda funny, after a fashion, but the style was very irritating.  I got so irritated that I gave up without checking out anything in the archives, which was also partly necessary due to my painfully slow dialup connection rate which made loading times excessively long.

Red vs. Blue - This site was packed, and after five minutes of still waiting for the site to load up I had to terminate it as it had not even half loaded in that time.  Nothing against the site at all, it's simply due to my slow dialup rate.  So I have no comment to offer about the content of the site.

James Lileks is a brilliant diarist whose entries are often self-deprecating, or tongue-in-cheek, and almost always quite humorous.  But it's not what I would strictly term as "funny".  Mostly his essays are like personal diary entries recapping his experiences sprinkled liberally with humor, with occasional posts about current news/issues.  A great read nonetheless!

MacStansbury.com was so heavily laden with blatant self-promotionalism that I was immediately turned off, but still stepped beyond that and dug through the archives to find samplings of his writings.  But the archives were not very user friendly, and it turned into so much work, trying to get the flavor of just what the blogger's theme or intentions were that I grew frustrated and quit after about ten minutes.  So no comment here either.

These are, of course, strictly my own personal opinions.

Cheers!

[ChrisCarlisle]

(trying to keep the thread moving)

Cayute,

HomeStar Runner too cartoony? Um, it's a cartoon site! If you don't check the site each Monday when a new Strong Bad email is posted, then you don't know what you're missing.  Since you only have dialup it would make it difficult (or at least time consuming waiting on them to load).

And I'd suggest checking out Lileks again trying out the other sections of his site besides the Bleat, like the .  The Gallery of Regrettable Food, and Interior Desecrations.

Mac's site?  I can't speak for his as I'm not a regular visitor (sorry).

I'm not saying IMAO isn't funny but it lacks appeal outside of the political echo chamber.

[MacStansbury]

There's an old saying, if you have to explain the joke, it isn't funny. So, here I am explaining.

This post (and the Jesus General) were blatant flamebait. Everybody I know internetly has told me they remember "back when IMAO used to be funny." It's sort of a running gag, even at IMAO. Then again, they still got zillions of hits a day, so a lot more people than have ever heard of me think it's pretty awesome, so whadda I know?

So, anyways, the posting of links to sites that are full of the funny was what was going on, not necessarily to blogs. RvB isn't a funny blog at all, it's all about the videos. Almost everything you see on the posts is "man, great video." That's half the reason it takes 15 minutes to load.

About MacStansbury.com, you've got it pegged! It is...
1. Difficult to get around in a linear fashion
2. Blatantly self-promotional
3. Not funny

While I have my moments of almost funny, it's written as a tech-tips site. You wanna chunk something cool on your site? That's what I explain how to do. I focus on blog-stuff, which is in its nature self-promotional, but I throw in other entertainment items purely for my benefit.

And seeing as how 89% of my traffic is from Google searches who hit one page and never come back, it's set up correctly. The other 10% of the traffic comes off the RSS feed, that works more like what you'd consider a traditional blog. The hits I do get are from people like me, trying out the latest doodads and gizmos just for their own amusement.

I was just kidding about it being a funny site. I saw the opportunity to shamelessly self-promote myself, and took it. That is, of course, what this frick'n Weblog Awards is all about, right?

[ChrisCarlisle]

I saw the opportunity to shamelessly self-promote myself, and took it. That is, of course, what this frick'n Weblog Awards is all about, right?

Ah, good point.

In that case, I'm much funnier than IMAO too!

[dylan]

Is anyone funnier than Jon Swift http://jonswift.blogspot.com?

[pjcomix]

Humor is a pretty subjective thing but the DUmmie FUnnies has the biggest PING List on the Free Republic forum (nearly 1000) with a great deal of participation and input by readers there as well as on the Blog itself. Here is an example of one reader's contribution in the form of a song parody based on You Must Be Carefully Taught from the musical, South Pacific, which I posted as a blog edition since it was so creative. It is about John Edwards attempted purchase via a volunteer to get a PlayStation 3 at Wal-Mart:

IT'S GOT TO BE SECRETLY BOUGHT

You've got to be taught to use your fame
Your wealth and your power to get a game
But it's got to be done without harming your name--
It's got to be secretly bought.

You've got to be taught to scorn and scold
Those people whose shoes are cheaply sold
At Wal-Mart, whose heart is so corporate cold--
You've got to be duly distraught.

You've got to be taught to not stand in line
Before you are six or seven or nine
To act like John Edwards and think you're so fine--
You've got to get more than you ought!
You've got to be carefully taught.

[Beth]

SondraK has teh funny!

http://www.sondrak.com

[earlfando]

As the Co-Founder, Co-Editor, and a "Regular Contributor" (It's an official title, thus the Capitalization...I'm one rank above "Occasional Loiterer") of The Dictionary of Unfortunate Ideas, I would have to say, in all candor and with as much honesty as a humour blogger should muster up for these sorts of things (and I should just ask at this point what exactly do the forum guidelines mean when they say we shouldn't post "false" statements...I mean, are there legal consequences?), that (deep breath) our blog is at least as funny as all the others...at times, I mean I wouldn't say we were spot on all the time...everyone has their ups and downs. 

I have been writing a novel you know, for that bloody (can I say that in this forum?) National Novel Writers Month, the fiends, and it's difficult to be completely zany when you're struggling to pull together the strands of a plot that includes Richard Nixon, Nepalese tourist souvenirs, the quirks of the M16 rifle, and a theory of how Chinese buffet style restauranteuring can end world hunger.

Also, most of the writing isn't as baroque as the above (unless you find that sort of thing amusing).

Anyway, I've posted a perfectly good list of reasons as to why we deserve to win, so judge for yourselves.

http://unfortunateideas.blogspot.com/2006/11/top-10-reasons-we-should-win-funniest.html

If you disagree, write me at the e-mail address at the blog and explain why, and I promise not to be to rude when I respond in a post ("False" as in, I can't fib at all?  I'm really in need of some guidance here!)

Earl

[ChrisCarlisle]

I have to agree with Earl on one point (which he made in a different thread).  It would be nice if there were a greater representation of non political blogs in the humor category.  Splitting the humor and comics into two categories was a good move and should make room for the addition of non-political humor blogs into the mix.

I suppose I could assist by volunteering to judge this category, but as a nominee I'd much rather just make the final cut.   

[earlfando]

Damn...I was hoping you'd agreed that we deserved the award.  I can see I'm going to have to work harder to get the edge away from The Carbonic Smoke Ball.

In the meantime, I have more of my novel posted for those who tire of the rough and tumble world of blogosphere awards ceremonies (Not me, BTW...I love it!  Bring it on Scrappleface!  Take your best shot JG, you political wonkers!).

Ahem... Any way, it's at The Dictionary of Unfortunate Ideas along with the usual crap.

and remember, VOTE DOUI!!!

[ChrisCarlisle]

Damn...I was hoping you'd agreed that we deserved the award.

Well, the awards are like Highlander (the first movie and not the subsequently awful sequels).  There can be only one.  Since I am also vying for the Prize, I can't support your nomination.

Rumor has it the prize for winning the Humor category this year is a DVD of Krippendorf's Tribe. According CBS-TV Los Angeles, it's "Wildly Hilarious!"

[earlfando]

Hmmm... maybe that person in mediaeval garb with the long sword that's been stalking me was Chris?

I think I'd better stow the Sean Connery impression away for awhile and start carrying the Glock again.  (I'm kidding!  It's actually an Uzi.)

(How is it that one does Christopher Lambert again?  Let's see... mumble, mumble, mumble...stare vaguely at camera...stumble dramatically...that can't be all there is to it, can there?)