Meta and Meta

Something to Believe In

I believe in sleep. For it is sleep that makes dreams possible.

Wie Man Wird, Was Man Ißt

That should have been the title to this.

UPDATE [12.14.07]: Or this. (Via Brian Leiter.)

The Right Hand of Justice

[Treoblogging] From the AP:

Former Judge Donald D. Thompson, a veteran of 23 years on the bench, is on trial on charges he used a penis pump on himself in the courtroom while sitting in judgment of others.

Of course other possible titles for this post would include:

• Erection, Your Honor!
• Piercing the Veil
• Can't Wait for Oral Argument
• Construction of Judicial Cannons
• Bench Trial Ends in Hung Judge

And so forth...

Die Komödie Ist Nicht Hübsch

Quite interesting article in the Guardian about why Germans just aren't funny "the rigours of the German language's far less flexible sentence structures [thwart the linguistic devices] that constitute much English language humour...."

I have my doubts about this analysis. When I lived in Munich I watched an interview with a young German man who, when asked about the Germans' putative lack of any sense of humor, simply stated: "Well, maybe that is not such a bad thing."

I tell you, man, they are willfully unfunny.

(Via Arts & Letters Daily.)

Was Colbert Funny?

The MSM "analysis" of Colbert's routine at the White House Press Correspondents' Dinner declares it "unfunny." But then, the regular MSM players don't know funny.

Kung Fu Monkey knows funny.

(Via Majikthise.)

Mathematical Hunting Methods

This cracks me up every time I see it.

(This time via John Holbo. Bonus points to John for the analogy to Steve Martin's equally absurdist "soup folding" bit from Cruel Shoes.)

He Made Muthaf***ers Laugh

Richard Pryor has died.

UPDATE: A nice obit at the NYT.

Maybe Women Do Know Funny After All

Why do men like the Three Stooges more than women do? According to this CNN report on a study of "how the male and female brains react to humor," it's because women are "more analytical" and men "less discriminating" about comedy.

Setting aside that no mention is made in the report that the researchers controlled for feminine revulsion to violence (e.g., Moe's poking Curly in the eye--ha! get it?), feminine revulsion to ugly men, or the possibility that the Three Stooges isn't a terribly good exemplar of funny, I still wanted to criticize the study on the grounds that it conspicuously lacked a further control--viz., for the possibility that women just don't know funny.

But then Slate issued this partial disproof. Sarah Silverman, at least, knows funny.

Still, I say she's an outlier...