Tag: humor

Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

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Dad Is FatDad is Fat. Finished audio 10-13-14, rating 4/5, humor, pub. 2013

Unabridged audio read by author. 5 1/2 hours.

In Dad is Fat, stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan, who’s best known for his legendary riffs on Hot Pockets, bacon, manatees, and McDonald’s, expresses all the joys and horrors of life with five young children—everything from cousins (“celebrities for little kids”) to toddlers’ communication skills (“they always sound like they have traveled by horseback for hours to deliver important news”), to the eating habits of four year olds (“there is no difference between a four year old eating a taco and throwing a taco on the floor”). Reminiscent of Bill Cosby’s Fatherhood,Dad is Fat is sharply observed, explosively funny, and a cry for help from a man who has realized he and his wife are outnumbered in their own home.

from Goodreads

This was the perfect audio for our road trip to Washington DC in September.  I didn’t really know anything about his stand up but figured a comedian talking about fatherhood would be fun for me and for Jason. It was.

Jim and his wife live in a two bedroom, five-story walk-up apartment in New York City with their FIVE YOUNG CHILDREN!  That’s too many bodies for one cab and they don’t own a car so getting around by subway creates some fun times.  The process of how they get five children and themselves to sleep in a two bedroom apartment was funny and a little confusing.  How can people live like that?  Is there really any sleep being had?  I dunno, seemed crazy to me.  It was mostly funny and heartfelt and his love for his wife and children came shining through.  I did wonder about his sanity several times (taking 5 young kids by plane to ski in Aspen?) but  it was a great audio to listen to with your significant other.  I think having kids will help you truly appreciate it and the younger your kids are the more you’ll connect.  There are lots of laughs to be had.

I see he has as new book about food so I’ll have to give that a listen too.

I checked this out of the library.

 

Enter to win a signed book by bestselling author Thrity Umrigar here.

The Funny Thing Is…, by Ellen Degeneres

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The Funny Thing Is... by Ellen DeGeneres: Book CoverFinished 10-24-09, rating 3.5/5, Humor, pub. 2003

There is also the fact that the food is free and I always think free food tastes the best.  Like when you go to those hotel manager’s receptions.  Even though the food is taquitos and Swedish meatballs, they’re free and actually pretty good.  The thing with prison food that might worry me is that someone might try to poison a prisoner and I might accidentally get the plate that was meant for the intended victim.  That would be bad.  But let’s just say I lived through that.  Well then, I could probably live through just about anything!  Think what a strong constitution I would have.  And probably a new zest for life.  What’s so bad about prison?  That’s what I wanna know.

That’s why prison wouldn’t be so bad chapter

If you enjoy Ellen’s talk show, you will enjoy this book.  It features her charming style of conversation, hilarious insights and crazy dinner party stories, which I believe are pure fiction or Gloria Estefan has some explaining to do.  I included the excerpt from the prison chapter because it was my favorite and made me laugh out loud, but there were other chapters that made me laugh too.

Most of her observations made me  smile more than laugh.  I didn’t love every chapter, but I finished the book happy and feeling like I’d just spent some time with Ellen, so the book was a success.

I read this during the 24 hour read-a-thon and it was perfect for it.  It lightened my mood after so many hours spent reading.

This book was from my own personal library.

Shortest Book Quiz

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Since February is the shortest month I thought we’d take a look at the shortest books.  I’m accepting new book titles for the shortest books and will add them to this post. 
 
 For this week’s quiz I thought I’d start with a list from http://www.jokes2go.com/lists/list67.html.

Shortest Books Ever Written 

1. A Guide to Arab Democracies
2. A Journey through the Mind of Dennis Rodman 
3. Amelia Earhart's Guide to the Pacific Ocean
4. Career Opportunities for History Majors
5. Contraception by Pope John Paul II
6. Detroit - A Travel Guide
7. Different Ways to Spell "Bob"
8. Dr. Kevorkian's Collection of Motivational Speeches
9. Easy UNIX
10. Ethiopian Tips on World Dominance

Let’s hear your nominations for shortest book!

Stop Smoking with President Obama (Stacy)

Tips for a Happy Marriage by Liz Taylor (jb)

Hair by Donald Trump (jb)

A Teen’s Guide to Intellectually Stimulating Text-messaging (Elena)

Why I Love America by Osama Bin Laden (Jason)

Michigan: A Cultural Guide (Mark)

Why We Suck, by Denis Leary

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CD Audiobook CoverFinished audio 1-25-09, rating 3.5/5, humor, pub.2008

Let me start by noting that I listened to the abridged audio version read by author, Denis Leary.  I never listen to abridged books on tape and I didn’t know that’s what I had until I was halfway through.  That being said, I am not interested in reading this book in full.  Denis Leary has such a unique voice that it would not be the same if I read it.  His biting wit is better heard than read.  So, for the first time ever I am recommending an abridged cd over the actual book (gasp).  Another benefit of the cds?  The Irish music played between chapters.

My favorite aspect of this book were the endless stories of his Irish American childhood.  Stories of “when I was a kid…” were not annoying with Leary’s acid tongue.  My favorite story was one that involved Denis being shot in the head with an arrow by his brother and then running home with the arrow still sticking out of his noggin.  There is also an ongoing conversation with his mom which is funny and will probably remind you of at least one person you know (in a good way).

This book will offend you.  Somewhere, something will rub you the wrong way, but if you wait a few minutes you will probably be chuckling again.  I laughed out loud often, even though I never like jokes involving Jesus and I thought he went on a bit too much about having a mom home all the time.  There are plenty of things that will make you laugh- Dr.Phil, annoying children, his new love affair with Oprah, and the circus that is paparazzi.

Denis Leary received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Emerson College.  So he’s DOCTOR Denis Leary to the masses 🙂

What’s the best caption quiz?

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We have a split decision…

“Sadly, the snow covering Stacy did not melt until mid-March.”  (Mark)

and

“Yeah, now I remember why I moved to Cleveland.”  (Betty)

100_07122

I took this photo of Jason yesterday.  This week’s quiz—-

What is the best caption for this photo?  I’ll post your caption with the photo and a link back to your blog if you have one.  I can’t wait to see what you come up with!  I’ll pick the best one on Friday.

SeinLanguage, by Jerry Seinfeld

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Book CoverFinished 10-9-08, rating 3.5/5, humor, pub. 1993

“There are many things you can point to as the proof that the human is not smart.  But my personal favorite would have to be that we needed to invent the helmet.  What was happening, apparently, was that we were involved in a lot of activities that were cracking our heads.  We chose not to avoid doing these activities but, instead, to come up with some sort of device to help us continue enjoying our head-cracking lifestyles.  The helmet.  And even that didn’t work because not enough people were wearing them so we had to come up with the helmet law.  Which is even stupider, the idea behind the helmet law being to preserve a brain whose judgement is so poor, it does not even try to stop the cracking of the head it’s in.”  -The Thing is the Thing chapter

Jerry Seinfeld makes me laugh.  I loved his tv show.  I am amazed at how many times I catch myself or my husband referencing that show.  We’ve seen every episode more than once because it’s on all the time now and when I’m aimlessly flipping through channels I’ll always stop at Seinfeld.

This is a book of full of his observations, sometimes witty, sometimes sarcastic, but usually entertaining.  If you’ve ever seen his stand up then you have heard some of these nuggets of wisdom before.  It’s been in the family room for a month now and every few days when I needed the lighten my mood I’d read a few pages and it worked.  It’s 15 years old, but still capable of being relevant.  I loved it.