Here’s a few favorites I’ve been holding back. Friday the 13th seemed an opportune time to share them. Enjoy!

Finally, the truth about Batman ….

I want to get this picture made into a name tag and wear it at work …..

Always wondered what old Smokey was doing out in the woods with a shovel. Now we know. If you should go into the woods today, you better go in disguise ….

“Artificial mystery flavor.”

–Written on a label on a post-dinner, complimentary lollilop offered up by a local Japanese restaurant that I was eating at last night. The mystery flavor turned out to be coconut.

When I saw this picture of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, I immediately thought “hubba, hubba” and then I was promptly horrified. To understand why I was shocked by my own reaction, you have to remember that I grew up when the Cold War was still a go. While I don’t live in Osgiliath and therefore can’t see Mordor from my house, the presence of our ominious neighbor was always with us. Hobbiton was actually a second strike target due to the extra-long airport at the nearby Gwaihir Air Force Base. [The extra-long airport means that fighters with nuclear missiles could land and take off or so I was told. The Gwaihir airport is also an alternative landing strip for the space shuttle. The shuttle has yet to land there, but I keep hoping].

Back to the special horror, in my day, Soviet Russia was run by old guys in heavily decorated uniforms or ill-fitting dark suits who–and this is important—KEPT THEIR CLOTHES ON at all times.  When I saw pictures of Leonid Brezhnev, I didn’t say “whoa, he’s a hottie”, I said “is he alive or have they just reanimated his corpse?”

What is the world coming to, darn it?! Are we going to be trading military parades in Red Square for pose-offs across the Bering Strait? Are we going to have to oil up the President so he can flex his American biceps on Nome’s beach? Fortunately, we are in the Obama years and therefore can make a respectable showing in the “Shirtless World Leader” department. Although I would have to caution the President that the mosquitos on the Seward Peninsula are more bloodthirsty than right wing protesters at a health care forum so if he’s going to grease up with anything, it should probably be mosquito repellent.

Okay, Obama and Putin make for some major eyecandy, but it can’t end well. Sooner or later other world leaders are going to want to get in on the act and then …well, let’s just say that if North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il starts stripping to the waist, a lot of innocent people are going to have to claw out their own eyes.

And even more “Tin Man” music videos you didn’t know were out there.

Music: “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from Disney’s Mulan.

The character of Wyatt Cain (played by Neal McDonough) is the classic, hard bitten private eye dude. Initially, he has some issues with his “civilian” companions as this video illustrates.

Music: “Don’t Fix It” by the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

During the course of the story, Cain, the strong, silent, stoic type, clashes repeatedly with Glitch (Alan Cumming) who is the emotive, chatty, easily flustered type.  In time, however, they learn to like and respect each other.

Music: “Star Wars Cantina” by Richard Cheese (sung to the tune of Barry Manilow’s “Copa Cabana”)

It’s Star Wars, it’s Tin Man, it’s ….Barry Manilow? Richard Cheese parodies Star Wars and the Barry at the same time and the twisted mind of Surreal696 put them together with “Tin Man” clips.  A word to the wise: you are guaranteed to have that “Copa Cabana” melody stuck in your head for at least a day. You have been warned.

Music: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies

Me First puts the “punk” in “steampunk” with this fun, punk rock version of  “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. Somewhere Judy Garland is rolling in her grave, but, hey, it works.

Music: “Home” by Breaking Benjamin

It’s been rumored that the Sci-Fi Channel might make a sequel to “Tin Man”. If so, I hope they use this song by Breaking Benjamin which I think captures the essence and spirit of the mini-series.

Regarding this next offering, I must warn gentle readers that it is a bit spicy. If you are offended by saucy subject matter featuring that tasty bit of alright, Wyatt Cain (Neal McDonough), you may want to avert your eyes from the following video.  The subtitles are somewhat racy, but very funny.

Music: Ain’t No Other Man (musical group is uncredited)

If you’re not going to avert your eyes, you may want to have some tissues handy to mop the drool off your keyboard.

An “Tin Man” obsession is a terrible thing, but judging by the flood of “Tin Man”-related music videos on YouTube, I’m not alone in my love for this Sci-Fi Channel mini-series. And now a sampling of my favorites:

Music: “Jerry Springer” by Weird Al Yankovic

What can you say about a song with such classic lines as “yeah, well, I slept with your dog, Woofy?” Nothing except that you’ve been watching a bit too much Jerry Springer.

Music: “It’s Raining Men” by the Weather Girls

What a difference a few decades makes. Once upon a time, I would have regarded a cast that was mostly male as another example of the chauvinistic film mindset that limited film roles for women. Now, however, I realize that Hollywood is merely making eye candy for me.

Music:  “If I Only Had a Brain” by the Mount Hood Community College Jazz Chorus [Oregon] (1996 recording, now out of print)

This utterly charming cover of  the classic “Wizard of Oz” song is an example of YouTube’s underrate potential for sharing limited edition, out of print music with the masses.

So, I spent the past couple of days at the Arnor Library Association Conference on the lost island of Numenor. I was trying not to read anything into the fact that my library had me flying out on Friday the 13th to an island best known for its giant bruins. However, I soon learned that it was not the bears that were to be feared, but the squirrels.

Sunday evening I got back to my hotel to discover that there was no phone service to be had. Nada. Nothing. Apparently a squirrel had taken out a transformer and while the electricity had been restored, the land lines had not. It took ’til the next day for us to have working phones again. That’s right, the whole hotel had been rendered incommunicado for twenty-four hours.

What were the squirrels plotting? I don’t know, but I can tell you that Tuesday morning there was a warning on the staff service door that a bear had been seen around the building and that the staff should venture out in twos (one as an appertif and one as the main course or so I’m guessing). Obviously, the squirrels were to cut the electricity and the bears were to move in and feast on the helpless guests.  If you don’t have phone service, no one can hear you scream ….

Fortunately, the Valar look after fools and librarians and the plot was thwarted by a breakdown in interspecies communication. Remember, friends, it’s not paranoia if they are really out to get you .

Watch the trees! Watch the trees!

No matter how bad the last eight years have been, folks, it’s always important to remember that it might have been worse. YouTube user TheNegativeDude remixed “Dark Knight” footage in order to make this trailer for Oliver W. Stone’s “W” movie. Watch for who he casts as Karl Rove. I was hysterical.

And what look back at G.W.’s presidency would be complete without this footage of his handling of the Wall Street bailout? Gotham’s gangsters, Wall Street bankers, same thing really.

Scary Santa

Originally uploaded by MizMagee

“He knows when you’ve been sleeping/He knows when you’re awake/ He knows when you’ve been bad or good/ So be good for goodness sake ….”
or he’ll crush your house like an eggshell, kid.

Sure, you can call it kitschy roadside art, if you want. I call it a money-maker for every psychotherapist in the area …..

A few of the highlights of Halloween 2008:

Would you rather stick your hand in the maw of a man-eating pumpkin than hear/see one more political ad? This guy knows exactly how you feel. Be brave, my peeps. It will all be over soon.

Here, have some nice earwax on swabs–undoubtably, one of the most unappetizing appetizers I have ever seen.

These folks had a nice spread at their Halloween party/housewarming.

But you just can’t beat these “Buried Alive” cupcakes by oh_annalouise (Flickr).

For something less sweet, try Gourmet Mom on the Go’s “Spooky Snake Pizza”.  Check out her short video tutorial on how to make it (very easy).

Feelin’ a little queasy?

Then you should probably avoid looking at shesnuckinfuts’s “Projectile Varmiting Pumpkin” (Flickr). Whoops! Too late.

Want to see something really scary? Check out the Dow Jones pumpkin shown here. Of course, you should also beware of the dreaded puppy-eating pumpkin.

In the spirit of the election year, I, Miss Method, will now provide you with some political information. Brace yourself for the following:

John McCain is a Cylon! This website proves it!! Warning: don’t be drinking anything while reading or you will spit-take all over the screen.

Most of the Net buzz about McCain’s vice-president, Sarah Palin, is either overly laudatory, insulting or offensive. I thought this magazine cover, however, was very funny.

If you want some real help in making your decision this November, then check out Politifact, a joint effort of the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly. They check and verify the candidates’ statements and rate them according to degrees of truthfulness. What I especially like is that they tell you how they arrived at their conclusion.