Funny?

By, Jacky Fleming

To tickle your funny bone (or maybe to irritate it), I've gathered up a gaggle of feminist comics, by some amazingly creative artists, for your Monday musing. Which do you connect with most?

By, Judy Horacek

By, Tom Gauld

By, Barry Deutsch

By, Corinne Mucha

Red or Blue -- This is for you

“Lil’ Liberals” is the latest spoof video created by Remedy Pictures' Patti McCreary and her business partner Steve Utaski.  Produced to coax smiles from liberals and conservatives, alike, “Lil’ Liberals” main intent, according to the producers, is to change the focus from dolls that are measured by hair, clothes, and bling, to dolls that are measured by their opinions about social issues.  Isn’t that how we should learn to know others – by listening to their opinions and engaging in respectful dialogue together? 

McCreary and Utaski acknowledge the difficulty in making this potentially polarizing video, and tried “to ride that line right down the center of the blue and red state divide.”  I think they did a good job.  Their work is a good reminder to take time to listen to what others’ think, and not to be too eager to lump everyone together under red or blue team pennants, all while challenging the social norm linking women’s worth with outward appearance.

Bravo!  Brava!  Yay.

Click this link to watch the Lil' Liberals video on vimeo.  What do you think?






Rule #1: Don't ask a feminist to promote a sexist product.

You've all likely heard about the ridiculous "Pens for Women" Bic has been trying to market.  They are, basically, regular pens that come in pink and purple and are twice as expensive as "men pens."  There is so much wrong with this idea, all of which is expertly, and oh-so-humorously, pointed out by the brilliant Ellen DeGeneres.  Believe it or not, Bic apparently asked Ellen to be a product spokesperson for the lady pens.  You guessed it -- she refused.  And she came up with this hilarious stand up about it. 

So, get yourself a splash of coffee, tea, or something stronger.  Now, sit back and enjoy Ellen's witty comeback. 

Tee hee

 

Special thanks to Glenn McCoy (and www.papyrusonline.com) for his take on "Christmas Group Therapy."

Funny!

 

Cray Cray II

 



Maybe some of you remember my blog about dealing with bureaucratic craziness. I wrote about my three-year battle about a 72 cent credit I had with Sprint (which has become my four-year battle about a 72 cent credit with Sprint). Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion! 

Here is my old post, to refresh your memory: Yes, frustration. That's what you get when you deal with bureaucratic craziness. Here's my latest example: I used to have a cell phone contract with Sprint. Yes, I'm naming the carrier. Probably not a good idea. Definitely poor taste. But, whatever. Anyway, I used to have a cell phone contract with Sprint, as I said. That was three years ago. I didn't mind Sprint. I was reasonably happy with Sprint. But, we found a better plan and changed to it. It was with a different company. A company that is not Sprint. Another decent company not much better and not altogether worse. Whatever. However, lately, I have begun to hate Sprint. Detest Sprint. Have horrible dreams about Sprint. Why? Sprint is a prime example of bureaucratic craziness.
 

It seems I overpaid the last payment of my last Sprint bill by 72 cents. Yes, that's right, 72 cents. So, Sprint dutifully sent me a statement informing me that I had a credit of 72 cents. I called them and told them that I am no longer a customer and therefore, would never be in need of my 72 cent credit. Could they send me a check for 72 cents? No, Ma'am, they couldn't. They can't cut checks for less than a dollar. Well, then, I said, just keep the 72 cents. No, Ma'am, they couldn't do that either. Accounting controls. Well, what should we do? Did they want me to send them 28 cents so they could cut me a $1 check? No, since I was no longer a customer, there was no way to pay into my account.  

X*&!#Z! 

So, what happened? For the last three years, I have received a monthly statement from Sprint telling me that I have a 72 cent credit with them. I've called them several more times and had repeats of the above conversation with different representatives. 

Grrrrrr. 

So, if Sprint goes bankrupt because they have had to send me a hundreds of statements in the mail, each with 42 cents worth of postage, and have had to buy the paper to print those statements and have had to hire the people to process those statements and to keep track of my account that is closed . . . well, don't blame me. I tried. 

August, 2013 – Thrilling update: In Milwaukee, I moved from a suburban condo to a downtown condo. I dutifully filled out change-of-address forms for my contacts because, as the post office warned, mail is only forwarded for six months. No exceptions. An evil grin broke out on my face as this awareness settled into my marrow. I could move and not let Sprint know about it. I could move and, eventually, the mail forwarding would stop, and I’d be . . . FREE from Sprint! 

I carried out my plan, merrily tossing the Sprint statements that were forwarded. It wouldn’t be long, I knew, before those statements wouldn’t know where to find me.  

After six months of getting statements –nothing. No Sprint statements! Could it be true? I had champagne. I had caviar. I booked an around-the-world cruise. (Just kidding about that last one.) 

Then, the nightmare ensued. They found me. I don’t know how, but they did. Today, when I got my mail, there it was, like a gremlin – the danged Sprint statement, addressed to me at my NEW address. 

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! 

I considered banging my head in frustration on the mailbox, but thought better of it. (Violence never changes anything.) Perhaps, I could contact my Sprint people one more time and plead my case . . . again. 

After being transferred from person to person for fifteen minutes because I hadn’t been a customer for four years (ah, yeah), I finally landed with a sane Sprint customer service representative. When she heard my story she burst out laughing.  

“Please,” I pleaded. “Can we fix this?” 

She hesitated and I braced myself for the usual replies, but then she said. “Of course. This is crazy. You’ve received 51 statements about your 72 cent credit.” She didn’t know how the statements made it to my new address but told me I could expect a check for 72 cents within three days. 

The clouds broke up and the sun shone brighter. Birds sang (or were those angels?) and I felt a thousand-pound weight lift off of my shoulders. Sprint would no longer be sending me 72 cent credit statements. Never ever again. 

I hung up the phone and dabbed away the tears as I realized I had finally succeeded in breaking up with my phone carrier. 

About time.  

Do you think I'll get multiple 72-cent checks?

Candy is dandy . . .

 

A dear friend of mine recently gave me the book The Best of Ogden Nash.  What fun to peruse these funnies!  Here, for your mid-week boost are a few of the quotes that jumped out at me.  Read.  Grin.  Share.

"Happiness is having a scratch for every itch."

"If you don't want to work you have to work to earn enough money so that you won't have to work."

 "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of."

"The bed is a bundle of paradoxes: we go to it with reluctance, yet we quit it with regret; we make up our minds every night to leave it early, but we make up our bodies every morning to keep it late."

And, of course:  “Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.”

What's your favorite?