Not all former Soviet republics are interchangeable. He's The Sentimental gentleman from Kazakhstan Kazakhstaaaaaaaan...

Want to get appointment to a government position? Funny direction in the application process: "For prefix use Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, Dr., Senator, Judge, Mayor, etc."

Mike Popovic says that the horse's head and attached ring were, in the olden days, where callers would tie up their horses. I got a job interview, and am following three or four very different …

I mentioned that Kenny Byerly has a piece in the new Mad. He's also been gracious and self-aggrandizing enough to let us in on links to all the articles he's written for the Heuristic Squelch …

Jon Carroll: Taste defensiveness hidden in a meandering, self-indulgent column: ...we ate at Grasshopper in Oakland, one of those chi-chi places featuring Asian tapas served on square plates and looking like miniature sculptures. It was …

Yesterday I played a fifteen-minute game of chess, losing to a friendly street player named Walter. I actually like chess when I can play a friendly stranger and not be ashamed of losing. It develops …

Kenny Byerly has alerted me that he has a piece out in the new, Star Wars-themed Mad Magazine, illustrated by none other than Mort Drucker!

Thank goodness that Italy is out of the World Cup. Now that France, Italy, and Mexico are all out of contention, maybe people in my house will go to sleep at a decent hour.

I wondered whether The Daily Show would hire me, and visited their jobs listings. Probably not. Paulina: "You could go to New York and try to make it big." Me: "Oh, that's so twentieth-century."

The Daily Show replied to my fan letter! They sent me a package with a Daily Show pen and pencil and keychain and stress toy and hat! I'm wearing my Daily Show hat right now, …