In the wake of various television networks' inability to deal with YouTube, The Onion had some fun things to say about Viacom's thoughts on YouTube "stealing" its viewers.

I know what they meant to be saying here, but I'm guessing no one checked the language of the day before sending this out, right?

Or, they could have just watched Clerks. Thanks, Chris!

Oh, by the way. This is probably totally NSFW.

Chris Thilk let me know this morning about what the HuffPo wrote up as a bit of a boo boo by GQ when it named Pam Anderson and Kid Rock its "newlyweds of the year" in the whole "Of The Year" issue. Online, GQ.com's item says "We called them the Newlyweds of the Year with a healthy dose of humor." Now, it's being billed as "he last interview before they split."

Actual AP hed of the day:

Hugh Laurie plays U.S. doctor on 'House'

Wow. Just wow.

[update] Okay, okay, spoke too soon.

From E! Online:

Madonna Not Nailed Over Crucifixion

Enjoy!

This morning, I rec'd an email from my pal Jon Selikoff, saying "Maybe he can get The Police back together now?"

Of course, looking at this on my BlackBerry, it was a bit out of context not seeing the image that was attached.

What a guy. Check out the original article here.

[16:24] Chris: Amanda C just held up a sign that said "the NSA is still listening"
[16:24] Chris: I almost shot Coke out of my nose

You, too, can experience Coke shooting out of your nose while watching today's excellent (shocker!) episode of Rocketboom.

OMG.

In what has to be the funniest thing I've seen all year, the BBC apparently ran an interview with a man who was supposed to be Guy Kewney, a technology expert, but instead put a taxicab driver job applicant who was in the lobby of the network at the time on the air. (You can see the video at the link above)

Phil Gomes, who pinged me about this this morning, had some fun with the story, even getting a poke in at FairPlay. More details over at Guy Kewney's blog, where he is most certainly taking this well. Well, after he had this to say.

[update 12:29pm 5/15] As it turns out, he's NOT a taxicab driver after all, but an applicant for an IT job at the BBC who thought this was an "initiation prank," Kewney informs. That's okay, though, Phil's FairPlay joke still stands.

[link via Baristanet]

Man, I've taken some funny surveys before, but none come close to the one that Anil Dash points out from a CNN story about the whole Dubai Ports World situation in the U.S. You know, the one that has pretty much ended when the company chose to sell off the assets in the States that it was set to take over. I won't say any more, go check it out for yourself.

Over at The Ice Block, David is having a bit of fun with a story from this weekend, when news came out that the New York Islanders had a bit of a problem with the plumbing in the Nassau Mausoleum Coliseum... Needless to say, you should drop by and share your own headline for this - especially if you're a Ranger fan. I mean, what could be more fun than a bunch of crap in the Islanders locker room, right?

You know when you read something and your brain latches on to the most unimportant thing that was written?

Well here is another one of those cases. By my math, Dave is 50. Just thought all of you should know. Happy 50, Dave!

Had a great time at the GETV Turns 1000 event last night in San Francisco. In case you're not familiar with GETV, or Geek Entertainment Television, it's a pretty slick videocast / vodcast / whatever we're calling it today that is put together by Eddie Codel, Irina Slutsky, Jennifer Myronuk, Sarah Pullman, Violet Blue, and whoever else they pull in to work on it. It consists of interviews covering anything from what's new in the Web 2.0 world to helping geeks get dates.

Was great to meet with Irina, Jeremy Pepper, Phil Gomes, Corey Denis from ioda, Caterina Fake, TailRank's Kevin Burton, and a number of others. So check out GETV when you have a chance. It's another fun addition to the world of video online. And plus, who else has random game shows where you get to quiz Eric Rice on operating systems?

In what has to be the funniest thing I've seen in a long, long time, "Saturday Night Live" had a hysterical short film this weekend having to do with the Chronicles of Narnia film release, Magnolia cupcakes, Mr. Pibb, Red Vines, and a number of other things that might make you fall out of your chair if you watch. In any case, I highly recommend it. Check it out here.

The folks at Consumers Union - yep, they're behind Consumer Reports - have put together a website called hearusnow.org to keep consumers informed about media ownership, Internet and telephone regulation, and TV & radio broadcasters. As a precursor to the petition they're asking people to sign that asks for the FCC to hold public hearings on certain topics, there's a three-minute video comparing the power that media consolidation wields over the public via broadcasting outlets. It's not quite JibJab, but it's definitely got a point to it.

You know those times when you see a headline and it's funny to you, but you realize it probably isn't to most of the population?

This is one of those times. Good job, Reuters!

With all the hubbub and M&A activity going on in the world of weblogs this week, Josh Hallett thought it wise to be completely transparent as to some potential content deals he was working on.

Via The Morning News, check out what is allegedly the "formula" behind the cartoons from the New Yorker.

There's lots of discussion recently about the use of a wiki to "edit" an article by Esquire's A.J. Jacobs, much of it pointing out the amount of interest it gathered from those who wanted to contribute. Very cool story, you must admit - that said, Ed Cone points to a fantastic Onion brief that's so on topic it's not funny. Er, is funny. Whatever - just go read it.

"Congress Abandons WikiConstitution."

Is the fact that the National Weather Service lets you create and aim a hurricane at sections of the United States a good thing? In any case, it's definitely educational and of interest - how long before the petitions to yank this from the site begin to fly?

[via Liz Donovan]

In what might be the most amusing thing I've seen this week (last week's is here), it looks like self-publishing firm Lulu.com has created something very novel - though a bit pricey - to do with the rejection letters that pretty much anyone attempting to get their works printed has gotten at some point. That's right, now you can have your very own toilet paper, covered with the rejection letters you so want to set ablaze.

Sure, it's $90 for four rolls, including setup - but when you re-order, at least it'll be cheaper.

Ever have one of those "no one's ever going to have a computer in their home" moments, or hear someone else have one?

Well, the NYT's Peter Edidin rounds up some interesting comments from people as various broadcasting mediums "grew up," and they're just what you'd expect. Hopefully some of these people got to live long enough to see just how wrong they were.

[Thanks, David]

A few days ago, FOXSports.com's Kevin Hench wrote an item about scoring rules that as a viewer, seem somewhat off-base for the sport of baseball. It's not the article that I have such issues with, though - it's more about how he introduces the piece in his subhed.

He credits the line, "If you're scoring at home, or even if you're alone" to Keith Olbermann, now an MSNBC news and commentary anchor, and former ESPN SportsCenter host. Perhaps that's where the line had become more mainstream, but that certainly isn't the place I originally heard the term - the origination, at least as far back as I go, is with WFAN radio host Steve Somers. Somers used to, especially while working the overnight show, listening to caller after caller explain how happy they were to speak to their own "Captain Midnight," call out the identification letter and number combinations for each of the live copy commercials with that same phrase - "That's LV5829 for those of you scoring at home, or if you're alone." To the untrained or unfamiliar listener, one might have thought that this was some sort of weird contest the station was running, where you had to keep track of these codes for some odd reason - but that wasn't the case. It was just something Somers did - and still does, here and there - but it most certainly didn't originate with Olbermann.

Clearly, the headline of the day is BusinessWeek Online's "What Makes Suicide Bombers Tick" in an article by Stan Crock.

Over at Barista of Bloomfield Avenue, they've got an "exclusive" commentary by NPR correspondent Luke Burbank, who provides the lowdown on how the caste system "pecking order" of media types went down at the Michael Jackson trial in Santa Maria.

Gee, and you thought the fun and excitement ended after high school - you thought wrong!

Radar sez that former New York magazine EIC Kurt Andersen took a bit of a bitter pill a few years ago after bankrolling the high life of socialite Inna De Silva while attempting to get a story for the pub. As it turns out, the story wasn't there, but the expenses the mag's staffer incurred were - or so Radar says.

Gawker follows up by publishing the response of Phoebe Eaton, the New York reporter involved in the above story - Eaton calls Radar's report a "venge-item," and declines that any of the spending happened in the first place.

So what's up with that? That's some pretty black-and-white kind of stuff here.

In the 2005 edition of the all important Media Fishing Challenge, the Springfield News-Leader's Steve Brigman is proud to report that his paper was the lucky winner. We're not sure who else participated, but it was apparently other media types who like bass, catfish, and other fish.

When your PR person needs to have a PR rep, that's when you know there's obviously a problem. In case you hadn't heard already, the San Francisco 49ers had a bit of of an issue this week when a video meant to "coach players on handling media questions in the diverse city," according to the AP's Michael Warren, turned out to carry material that most folks wouldn't find exactly proper for public consumption. The video, created by 49ers PR director Kirk Reynolds, was used last fall in preparations for the 2004 season.

While the concept was probably a good one - offer up situations that players might find uncomfortable or difficult and see how they react, the execution probably wasn't thought through as well as it should have. Needless to say, Reynolds resigned from the team last week, and will stay on into July. Clearly, there was a problem within the team's front office, as the San Francisco Chronicle's Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross state that the source who delivered the video to that newspaper anonymously also mentioned that s/he had "to send it along to the National Football League" as well.

Check out eight excerpts, courtesy of the Chronicle. Additionally, columnist Scott Ostler wants a sequel - with tongue firmly planted in cheek - I think.

Mr. Sun is always good for a laugh. But today, he's good for an all out, true to form, LOL. He's got the deets on the Mainstream Media-seeking "MSM-1000" truck that looks to destroy members of the media anywhere it can find them. Okay, not really, but it sure looked that way!

More here.

David at Vodkafish sent me a great screenshot of the front page of ESPN.com this afternoon. They were showing something about Washington Nationals slugger Jose Guillen - but accidentally replaced his image with one of Andre Agassi - actually the same image that was placed on the right side of the page, just blown up and pixelated.

The error, at 12:25 p.m. :

The fixed page, just a few moments later:

The Associated Press reports on a high school student who has made a name for himself with his fellow classmates by publishing food reviews for the cafeteria in the school newspaper.

Herald-Mail lifestyle editor Jake Womer shares a simple, yet important, story about ethics in the newsroom. If you were wondering what happened to products and gifts that are sent to various staffers at a publication, or what to do at your own publication when you receive things, this is a good example.

Indiana's Chronicle-Tribune has an article from Friday by Jonathan Bethely describing the experience some local fifth graders had when they were taken to a university's communications department and given a tour. The students are all part of a school program that gets them involved in journalism in that they are regularly doing interviews with other students and taking photographs to be distributed in a newsletter.

NJ.com's John Shabe wasn't disappointed with the media folk that shared the dinner spot he was at last night, the Algonquin Hotel's Oak Room. Looks like CBS News' Don Hewitt & Leslie Stahl were there, but one of them had a bit of trouble staying awake.

Tuesday's Wall Street Journal has a funny item online if you're interested in the purchase of Ask Jeeves by IAC/InterActiveCorp - and it's a doozy.

Kevin Delaney reports that one of the top (if not the first - that's being debated) search requests on Ask.com is for "Google."

Did anyone else catch Joe Scarborough trash Bill Clinton's 'endorsement' of his wife Hillary for president on MSNBC?

Trey Jackson's got video. Whew.

Mark Koldys snags a quality FOX News vidcap with Linda Vester doing what was presumably supposed to be an interview with Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth. It's not even necessary to describe - check it out here.

In today's Washington Post, John Kelly has a little fun with his explanation of how to read the newspaper - and not the online version, thankyouverymuch. Worth a read, and he'll be online to chat with readers (!) today at 1 p.m. Eastern here.

Bowling Green's student newspaper, the BG News, features a column on Wednesday by the paper's Small Animal Issues Correspondent, Jamison T. Squirrel. It seems that Squirrel is upset about the anti-squirrel (small 's') sentiment in the media and on the Internet. He even points out that the "new fangled 'weblogs'" have missed bias here, with irrefutable evidence that they have done so in the "only 6,300 results" found in Google for "squirrel appreciation day."

Eric McErlain points out something amusing in a podcast from Adam Curry - that CBS News anchor Dan Rather allegedly has a [ahem] monogram that on a shirt with the letters "FEA" - but like Eric, I'll let you figure it out for yourself.

[ed: Or, you could just listen to Curry's podcast - he spells it out for you. It's at about 0:21:30.]

Johnny Dollar posted a fun little segment that ran on Saturday during "Fox & Friends Weekend" where FOX News' Bill McCuddy talks about the little "prank" he pulled on CNN's Anderson Cooper during New Year's Eve coverage.

Some words of advice: don't steal newspaper racks - especially if you live in the Decatur, Alabama area. It seems that someone has been stealing newspaper racks from various places and leaving them in a roadside "graveyard," the Decatur Daily's Abby Foster reports.

Unfortunately for the thief, one of the locations that had a paper rack stolen (one of the Daily's, no less) had a surveillance camera that was pointed in the direction of the racks, and a man is clearly shown doing the pilfering. Better yet, the newspaper printed photos from the camera.

[update 12/16] Well that didn't take long. Foster informs that a suspect in the case was arrested on Wednesday - just a few hours after a man's photos were published with the article about the stolen paper racks.

On Sunday, Andy Rooney had a little fun with the idea of his taking over for the soon departing Dan Rather from the CBS evening news - but don't worry, you won't see him in the anchor chair anytime soon.

In the Pekin Daily Times, Connie Seastedt shares the story of Floyd Hazelman, resident of Tremont, Illinois, who may just be the only person with a copy of the first edition of that local paper. The paper has survived over 120 years, and is from January. 3, 1881 - even the state's Historical Society doesn't have a copy, Seastedt reports.

It's good to see that the Post can trust sources like TMD for its Page Six column.

Related: "Diane Sawyer, anchorwoman?" - TMD

John Shiffman writes in Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer that the 'early' edition of the Sunday paper, sold on Saturday, mistakenly had a price of $.50 on the cover, as opposed to $1.50. While stickers that had the correct price were quickly distributed and placed on the papers, there is no word on how many issues were sold at the lower price - though the newspaper did state that they would reimburse any retailer who "lost" money on the sales.

Iowahawk has posted some "selected excerpts" from a holiday film you probably won't be seeing on CBS this year, "It's a Dan-derful Life."

[via LGF]

Over at Slowplay.com, Eric Anderson thinks that Ron Artest's NBA brawl video is much better album promotion than Young Buck's videotaped - but edited from the broadcast - stabbing at the Vibe Awards taping last week.

This week, I've been having a few ongoing discussions about the use of "Osama" or "Usama" by various news outlets to describe O/Usama bin Laden, regarded as the leader of the al Qaeda terror organization.

Matthew Sheffield led me to this article at Slate from 2001, "How Do You Spell “Osama”?," and I've bounced the idea off of a few people - with slightly mixed results. So figuring there had to be a way to get to the bottom of why a lot of news organizations were using "Osama," I checked in with the Associated Press, whose stylebook many mediafolk follow to the comma. Here's what I got:

The AP uses "Osama" because it is the most common usage of the name. Transliteration seems to be the culprit here, as this manner of bringing a language's alphabet into another's is not perfect - especially when it comes to vowels in the Arabic->English shift. So while Slate states that "In a document published by the Wall Street Journal on Oct. 3, 2001, the al-Qaida leader Romanized his name as “Usama”," the common usage still begins with an "O". I'm not even going to start on the "al Qaeda, al-Qaida, al-Qaeda, al Qaida" thing. And you thought "and sometimes Y" was tough to follow!

How's this for a journalism club fundraiser? Students at Eastern Washington University are selling Krispy Kreme donuts by the dozen on campus, all to raise funds for the club's yearly expenses, the Easterner's Stefanie Buckbee reports.

Gets me hungry.

Editor & Publisher posts details about the upcoming "roast" of Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr., chairman and publisher of the New York Times. The Center for Communication will be making this possible at its annual luncheon on Wednesday, November 17. I suppose this is the opportunity for Maureen Dowd to get out any frustrations she has with her boss, as she's a speaker at the event.

In the Boston Herald, columnist Peter Chianca writes about the Dewar's scotch that he and his colleagues had a good time with soon after the Red Sox won the World Series. The funny thing, however, is that it was a bottle that a rep for the company sent over to Chianca to test out. He harkens back to an old journalism professor who asks what a journalist should do when posed with this issue, and uses it as the fulcrum to make his point. Which, I suppose, is that columnists can write about whatever they want, especially when they're transparent about it.

Notorious MiG writes in with this link to the Kerry Spot, and says:

For you baseball fans, there's some scuttlebutt on the web that Curse of the Bambino left the Red Sox and deposited itself on Kerry. Result, Boston wins Series. Kerry loses election.

But hey, what do I know about baseball?

[ed: The Notorious MiG does hail from Russia, and isn't exactly a big fan of baseball, to say the least]