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Most comics understand the intersection of their work with the world of politics. But today's satirist are building on the work of others, among them comedian George Carlin who died Monday.
Carlin's love of language - and absurdity - was recorded again and again and much of it sits here on YouTube. Enjoy. He also did an interview with Charlie Rose, in 1996 explaining much about his work. It's serious, it's very smart and it's today's HotSpot.
The clever folks at mediacurves have decided to hold a kind of American Idol for political geeks, a contest they're calling "Ballads for Ballots 2008." Contestants are asked to submit music videos - parodies welcome, of course - before July 25 to get in on the glory, which could include a $5,000 prize.
We can't wait. Well, we can. But it's only because it'll August, the height of the political silly season, and we'll need the laughs.
Until then, B4B is today's HotSpot.
There's been a lot said - too much - about NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert's life and death. But the person who said it first and said it best was Huffington Post editor and L.A. journalist Marc Cooper.
Here's his post on why Big Media's declared a national weekend of mourning for the man. The folks at the Big Papers and TV Shows are seeing the end of an era - theirs.
And here's a clue to why: A flashback (no 3 on the list) to Arnold Schwarzenegger's appearance on Russert's show from 2004.
What this nation needs is firm leadership. And, in the eyes of some - namely Spot-on's ace sales guy Greg Dewar - it's Battlestar Galactica Captain William Adama who can provide it. When he gets here. Sometime in the future.
Dewar's started a site to gin up support for this tongue-in-cheek cause. You don't wanna miss the gag, the site or the opportunity to own one of the least serious and deeply funny T-shirts of this political season.
It's today's HotSpot.
Spot-on's writers do a lot of different things and often write for other venues. For today's HotSpot, we'd like to point you to Kevin Weeks' piece over on NPR's site giving the details of the anniversary celebration he refers to in today's post.
It's Kevin's usual mix of thoughtful reflection and interest in food with one bonus: recipes!
Thirty years ago today, Californians rose up and said "No more taxes." Proposition 13 - which capped property taxes in the state and launched the ballot initiative as the political bludgeon of our time - was born.
Those crazy kids over at UC Berkeley are holding a seminar today to mark the anniversary. And they've put up an informative website detailing how the measure came to pass.
It's today's HotSpot.
Time once again for Spot-on to engage in a little bit of nepotism. Oh, stop. You'd do it, too, if you were us.
Clare Nolan's more recent show documentary - Undercover Titantic with Bob Ballard - begins airing June 2 at 9 p.m. ET. It's not really a show about the sinking of the great ship built to sail the ocean blue. Nope. It's a story about spies and cover stories and looking for Russian subs using the Titanic as cover.
So set your Tivos!