The New Yorker ran an article yesterday by Joshua Rothman titled “The Man Who Speaks for Earth.” It’s about Douglas Vakotch’s recent anthology, Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication. Vakotch is the Director of Interstellar Message Composition at SETI, which means that his job is, as you can guess from his title, to compose messages sent out toContinue reading “A List of Things I’d Want to Say to Alien Life Forms”
Category Archives: bad jokes
A Warning Letter to Grandparents of College Students
Apparently, the administration of Miskatonic University has seen fit to warn the grandparents of their students of the dangers of college attendance…
George Carlin’s “Politics and the English Language”
George Carlin’s own version of Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language” — an intelligent, much needed follow-up.
A Note from Epstein’s Mother
Dear Teacher: Please excuse Epstein from class for the rest of his life because he has died. Signed, Epstein’s mother So long, Robert Hegyes, and thanks for all the laughs. You made me and my friends laugh at ourselves when we were in the seventh grade and we still haven’t forgotten…
The Unbearable Banality of Knock-Knock Jokes
Keep in mind: Three children, 9, 5, and not quite 2. My elder daughter posts a knock-knock joke to Facebook: Knock knock Who’s there? Owl. Owl who? Yep, that’s what they say… Yes, it is terrible. She is passing on her own suffering, as her manager said it to her. I, in turn, passed itContinue reading “The Unbearable Banality of Knock-Knock Jokes”
The Philosophy of Contemporary Song 