guest post by Violet Blue

As many of us have recently struggled through getting our taxes done, or look ahead in dread at the chasm of taxtime hate that stands between now and April 15, one video emerges to bring porny humor to the situation: Math Bus. Seen last year as a SXSW short, it flew under the radar because it parodies not just tax season, but a particularly notorious subgenre (and brand) of porn known as “Bangbus.” In the highbrow Bangbus scenario, a bunch of well mannered gentlemen called Bang Brothers drive around in a bus (or van) and pick up women to have sex with for the promise of money. This is an original concept. And then in a display of the superiority of the male species, they dump said female on the side of the road after the sexual transaction — sans cash, laughing and high-fiving. Many have asked if Bangbus is real, and in general if, or why, anyone finds this hot. All I can say is that no, Bangbus is not “real” in that the actresses are indeed pre-arranged and paid, and their contracts and all federal 2257 recordkeeping age and ID requirements are on file, meaning it’s a setup. It’s fake. I don’t have an answer for the rest of the question. Which is partly why Mathbus is a great — and pointed — satire of porn culture’s Jackass-style misogyny.

But Mathbus — man, I think it’s real. These dudes drive around and get chicks to do their taxes. It’s sick.

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid.

For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & FriendFeed.

Math Bus: Tax Season

Related posts:

- Logo Math, Visual Equations For Popluar Brands

- A Season In Hell on Pirate Cat Radio

- Metamorphosis & Music is Math by Glenn Marshall

- The Guild Season 2

guest post by Violet Blue

As many of us have recently struggled through getting our taxes done, or look ahead in dread at the chasm of taxtime hate that stands between now and April 15, one video emerges to bring porny humor to the situation: Math Bus. Seen last year as a SXSW short, it flew under the radar because it parodies not just tax season, but a particularly notorious subgenre (and brand) of porn known as “Bangbus.” In the highbrow Bangbus scenario, a bunch of well mannered gentlemen called Bang Brothers drive around in a bus (or van) and pick up women to have sex with for the promise of money. This is an original concept. And then in a display of the superiority of the male species, they dump said female on the side of the road after the sexual transaction — sans cash, laughing and high-fiving. Many have asked if Bangbus is real, and in general if, or why, anyone finds this hot. All I can say is that no, Bangbus is not “real” in that the actresses are indeed pre-arranged and paid, and their contracts and all federal 2257 recordkeeping age and ID requirements are on file, meaning it’s a setup. It’s fake. I don’t have an answer for the rest of the question. Which is partly why Mathbus is a great — and pointed — satire of porn culture’s Jackass-style misogyny.

But Mathbus — man, I think it’s real. These dudes drive around and get chicks to do their taxes. It’s sick.

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid.

For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & FriendFeed.

Math Bus: Tax Season

Related posts:

- Logo Math, Visual Equations For Popluar Brands

- A Season In Hell on Pirate Cat Radio

- Metamorphosis & Music is Math by Glenn Marshall

- The Guild Season 2

guest post by Violet Blue

As many of us have recently struggled through getting our taxes done, or look ahead in dread at the chasm of taxtime hate that stands between now and April 15, one video emerges to bring porny humor to the situation: Math Bus. Seen last year as a SXSW short, it flew under the radar because it parodies not just tax season, but a particularly notorious subgenre (and brand) of porn known as “Bangbus.” In the highbrow Bangbus scenario, a bunch of well mannered gentlemen called Bang Brothers drive around in a bus (or van) and pick up women to have sex with for the promise of money. This is an original concept. And then in a display of the superiority of the male species, they dump said female on the side of the road after the sexual transaction — sans cash, laughing and high-fiving. Many have asked if Bangbus is real, and in general if, or why, anyone finds this hot. All I can say is that no, Bangbus is not “real” in that the actresses are indeed pre-arranged and paid, and their contracts and all federal 2257 recordkeeping age and ID requirements are on file, meaning it’s a setup. It’s fake. I don’t have an answer for the rest of the question. Which is partly why Mathbus is a great — and pointed — satire of porn culture’s Jackass-style misogyny.

But Mathbus — man, I think it’s real. These dudes drive around and get chicks to do their taxes. It’s sick.

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid.

For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & FriendFeed.

Math Bus: Tax Season

Related posts:

- Logo Math, Visual Equations For Popluar Brands

- A Season In Hell on Pirate Cat Radio

- Metamorphosis & Music is Math by Glenn Marshall

- The Guild Season 2

If you’ve had the dream, you will know it

Strings, tubes, wrinkles, or flowing lines….
Massive
Small
The dot

You probably had it multiple times, and it probably started when you were young. It may have been while you were asleep. It may have been while you had a fever. It may have sometimes been a waking dream, like a trance.

You’ve often wondered what the dream was… and if anyone else had it.

*

We are looking for others who have had the dream.
Tell us about your dream.
What did you see, or what was happening, in the dream? It might defy words, but try…
How did the dream make you feel?
How old were you when you first remember having the dream? How many times would you guess that you had it? Did you stop having it at some point in your life?

*
The rules:
Send an email to: ihadthedream@gmail.com
Describe your dream.
We probably won’t write back for awhile. We need time to collect dreams and compare them.
We won’t publish comments that describe the dream, because we want people to describe it in their own words. If they see yours, it might change or influence their memories.
We may share your dream (anonymously) with someone else and ask them if your dream sounds like theirs, or not. We may send you someone else’s dream (without sharing their name) and ask you if it sounds like yours, or not.
After we build up a collection of dreams that we think are the same, we may post them (anonymously) on our blogs.

*

Have you had the dream?

Jane McGonigal & Ze Frank

“The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out”, a collection of wonderful Laugh-Out-Loud Cats comics by Adam Koford, has just been published and is now available.

Adam Koford’s The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out is a hilarious and charming mash-up of LOLcats (those ubiquitous online photos of cats, captioned humorously and ungrammatically) with the stylings of early 20th-century American comics, such as Walt Kelly’s Pogo and George Herriman’s Krazy Kat. These single-panel comic strips, drawn on “vintage” off-white paper and purportedly created around 1912 by Koford’s great-grandfather, Aloysius “Gorilla” Koford, allow familiar jokes, plus references to Proust, Star Wars, Lovecraft, classical mythology, and everything in between, to transcend their origins in a fresh, inventive way.

The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out presents the very best of Koford’s online archives, alongside 30 new comics produced exclusively for this collection. An introduction by bestselling author and Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman, whose “700 Hoboes” project inspired Koford to create The Laugh-Out- Loud Cats, frames the strips for both the longtime fan and the LOLinitiate.

See Previously:

- “The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out” Book by Adam Koford (Ape Lad)

- Laughing Squid Lucky 13 Poster by Adam Koford

- Laugh-Out-Loud Cats, The Adventues of Hobo Lolcats

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid.

For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & FriendFeed.

The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out by A. Koford

Related posts:

- “The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out” Book by Adam Koford (Ape Lad)

- Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #1000

- Enjoy Caturday on Laugh-Out-Loud Cats by Adam Koford

- Laugh-Out-Loud Cats, The Adventues of Hobo Lolcats

- Meet the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats, a New Book by Ape Lad

“The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out”, a collection of wonderful Laugh-Out-Loud Cats comics by Adam Koford, has just been published and is now available.

Adam Koford’s The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out is a hilarious and charming mash-up of LOLcats (those ubiquitous online photos of cats, captioned humorously and ungrammatically) with the stylings of early 20th-century American comics, such as Walt Kelly’s Pogo and George Herriman’s Krazy Kat. These single-panel comic strips, drawn on “vintage” off-white paper and purportedly created around 1912 by Koford’s great-grandfather, Aloysius “Gorilla” Koford, allow familiar jokes, plus references to Proust, Star Wars, Lovecraft, classical mythology, and everything in between, to transcend their origins in a fresh, inventive way.

The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out presents the very best of Koford’s online archives, alongside 30 new comics produced exclusively for this collection. An introduction by bestselling author and Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman, whose “700 Hoboes” project inspired Koford to create The Laugh-Out- Loud Cats, frames the strips for both the longtime fan and the LOLinitiate.

See Previously:

- “The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out” Book by Adam Koford (Ape Lad)

- Laughing Squid Lucky 13 Poster by Adam Koford

- Laugh-Out-Loud Cats, The Adventues of Hobo Lolcats

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid.

For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & FriendFeed.

The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out by A. Koford

Related posts:

- “The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out” Book by Adam Koford (Ape Lad)

- Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #1000

- Enjoy Caturday on Laugh-Out-Loud Cats by Adam Koford

- Laugh-Out-Loud Cats, The Adventues of Hobo Lolcats

- Meet the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats, a New Book by Ape Lad

Ford is currently having a contest called The Fiesta Movement where they are giving away 100 Fiestas to the people who submit the best videos to YouTube explaining why they want one. Our friend Chuck Cirino, who produced Weird TV in the mid 1990’s really, really wants one of the Fiestas. Here’s Chuck’s video where he explains what he would do one of the Fiestas if he is a contest winner, which includes using to drive across the US documenting interesting people and places for Weird America.

Here’s an endorsement from John Law for Chuck from the YouTube video comments.

Hi, I’m one of the 3 guys who started the Burning Man festival. I normally don’t pimp this info, but I want your attention, Ford. Chuck Cirino was way, way ahead of his time with Weird TV. He was the first to make a “reality” show out of visiting strange, wonderful people, and bizarre whimsical locations. His show, Weird TV, despite perpetual underfunding, was light years ahead of all the copy cat shows to follow. Among other pieces Chuck produced with not much budget was the first (and still one of the best) video docs on the Burning Man festival. He made it long before BM became a parody of itself and was still an unknown and miraculous event. He has vision. Chuck loves the weird; doesn’t look down on his subjects and consequently his years of incredible video in the can is a unique compendium of Americana. Like most true visionaries, he was cursed by being ahead of his time. Other less talented production companies and individuals stepped in, stole his format and “reality TV” eventually lost most of it’s initial unique appeal and devolved into what it is today. Oh, did I mention, part of the reason Hollywood has been a rough ride for Chuck in his 25 year career there is that he is NOT AN A**HOLE!

Chuck has done so much with so little for so long, that he is now completely qualified to do anything with absolutely nothing at all. Imagine what he could do with your car.

Give him the car, Ford and we won’t kill the puppy!

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid.

For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & FriendFeed.

Chuck Cirino Tells Us Why He Really Wants To Win A Ford Fiesta

Related posts:

- Weird TV Nominated For 3 Webby Awards

- Weird America

- Francis Ford Coppola on Interviewing Hollywood

- Weird America’s Video of HELCO from Burning Man 1996

- How to Fake a UFO & The Launch of UFO News

Last Friday our good friend Eve Batey launched her new project, The San Francisco Appeal, a new online newspaper for San Francisco. Laughing Squid welcomes SFAppeal with open tentacles, we’re really looking forward to your coverage of our fine city.

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid.

For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & FriendFeed.

SFAppeal Launches, San Francisco’s New Online Newspaper

Related posts:

- FriendFeed, Aggregate and Share Web Content With Friends

- Newsies Flashmob, A Newspaper Boy Song & Dance Strike

- FriendFeed Comments on Laughing Squid

- Howard Rheingold Launches A Vlog About His Experiences Online

- Chicken John Launches Campaign Blog: voteforchicken.com

touted as one of the "worst death scenes ever" this clip has one of the best delivered lines I have ever heard :: namely "man he must be smokin' some heavy doobies" :: try it out in a mirror, i doubt you can nail it like this guy did :: click below to watch ::

"Sita Sings the Blues" :: about an hour-long animation that tells the "greatest breakup story ever told" :: a bit amateurish at times, but the v.o. banter is pretty great :: pulled me in :: available for download

SXSW Interactive 2009 is fast approaching. It takes place March 13-17, overlapping with SXSW Film (March 13-21) and followed by SXSW Music (March 18-22). This will be the fifth consecutive year I’ve attended the conference. Here are my write-ups and photos from 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Here are a some SXSW Interactive 2009 resources and information:

- SXSW Interactive 2009 - the official website

- SXSW Tools - web resources for SXSW attendees

- my.SXSW - the official social networking and scheduling tool

- SCHED: SXSW 2009 - a great way to schedule your SXSW experience

- SXSW Insider’s Guide - tips and advice from fellow SXSW attendees

- SXSW Baby! - the unofficial SXSW blog

- SXSW Videos - the latest videos from SXSW

- South by Southwest 2009 Attendees - a list of people attending SXSW 2009

- ReadWriteWeb Guide to the SXSW Web Awards Finalists

- SXSW 2009 on BitTorrent - 5 GB of free SXSW 2009 music

Of course one of the best sources of information at SXSW is Twitter. I’ll be posting updates throughout the event and for official conference information, be sure to follow SXSW on Twitter. If you looking for an endless barrage of SXSW updates on Twiter, search will do the trick.

Oh yeah and then there’s the parties. Many, many parties. Laughing Squid is co-organizing the super secret 32 Bit party on Monday, March 16th, follow @32bit on Twitter for more information.

We are also a sponsor of Plutopia 2009, the 9th Annual EFF-Austin SXSWi event.

Oh and @sxswparty will be posting party updates on Twitter.

UPDATE: Andrew Mager posted a really great guide to SXSW on The Web Life blog.

photos by Scott Beale

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid.

For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & FriendFeed.

SXSW Interactive 2009 Resources & Information

Related posts:

- SXSW Interactive 2008, A Massive Geek Convergence in Austin

- 32 Bit Party at SXSW Interactive 2009

- SXSW Interactive 2008 Last Minute Tips

- SXSW Interactive 2007 & BarCamp Austin

- 16bit Party at SXSW Interactive 2008

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the City of San Francisco may want to crack down on Pillow Fight and other similar urban prank events. The article by Seth Rosenfeld, which mentions Laughing Squid and erroneously refers to these events as “flash mobs”, cites the city’s reasons as damage and clean-up. This may be the case with Pillow Fight, but as far as I know rotting flesh from a Zombie invasion is biodegradable.

Of course none of this is new. The Santacon Santas were kicked out of San Francisco in 1995 only to return later. The Urban Iditarod, Bernal Heights Hill Soapbox Derby and Bring Your Own Big Wheel Race have had problems as well in recent years.

photo by Scott Beale

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid.

For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & FriendFeed.

San Francisco Might Try to Shut Down Pillow Fight & Other Events

Related posts:

- International Pillow Fight Day 2008

- Pillow Fight Returns to San Francisco

- 3rd Annual Pillow Fight in San Francisco on Valentine’s Day

- Pillow Fight! New York

- Portland Pillow Fight

guest post by Todd Lappin (Telstar Logistics)

Here are three San Francisco street signs that more or less summarize the 2009 zeitgeist, when Prosperity comes to an end, Luck runs out, and Faith turns out to be a dead end street. Happy Monday!

photos by Todd Lappin (Telstar Logistics)

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid.

For more content like this, subscribe to the RSS feed, Twitter & FriendFeed.

Street Signs of the Times

Related posts:

- Drugs + BBQ = Sign of the Times

- A T-Shirt to Show Your Special Love for Obama

- Be Afraid: San Francisco’s Parking Stencils of Doom

- This Morning It Rained Baseball Cards in Bernal Heights

- Ghost Sign Emerges on Hawthorne Lane in San Francisco