Gawker: katrina

Punchline Visits Scene of World's Worst Joke

Pareene — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:44:13 EDT

Yep, Brownie's back in New Orleans. And your day editor is Facebook friends with him. [Politico]

Bobby Jindal's Goofy, Sing-Songy Lies

Pareene — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:08:48 EST

Not since "MACACA" have we seen presidential ambitions go up in smoke so quickly, and so satisfyingly. Did you know Bobby "The Governor" Jindal straight-up lied in his terrible sing-song response speech?

Jindal lied about a dead hero too, so it's extra fun! Sheriff Harry Lee of Jefferson Parish organized volunteers during Katrina to rescue residents trapped on rooftops. This was supposedly against some of that damned bureaucratic red tape or something, and in Jindal's telling he marched into Lee's office and said if the rowboats didn't go out NOW they could just arrest the governor, or something. Well, this was a lie, because Jindal wasn't even in Jefferson Parish when the flood waters were that high. His office admitted that the story was bullshit, then tried to cover for Bobby by claiming that they meant that the dramatic phone conversation happened days later.

Banksy Does New Orleans

Hamilton Nolan — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:35:45 EDT

A tipster has sent us five photos of brand new works by semi-secret superfamous street artist Banksy. All five were just put up in New Orleans, to commemorate the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on August 29. Some of the pieces relate directly the hurricane and its disastrous aftermath; others are targeted at the legacy of Fred Radtke, an infamous N.O. anti-graffiti crusader known as the "Gray Ghost" for his practice of painting over graffiti in gray paint—regardless of the color of the underlying wall. They're all pretty great. Five [UPDATE: Now six!] pieces, after the jump:

[Original photos by John d'Addario , toaminorplace, and Anthonyturducken's Flickr.]

Remainders: 'Jane' Magazine Successfully Gives 'One Night in Paris' Gravitas by Comparison

gdelahaye — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 18:30:00 EDT

• Jane magazine continues its quest to lower lowest common denominator. [Jane]
• Heidi Klum is African, too? With Seal? Who actually is kind of African, or like African-British or something? Now we're just confused. Insert apartheid joke here. [Flickr]
• Tom Cruise cuts deal with third most likeable owner in professional sports. If you're working from a list that only also includes Mark Cuban and Al Davis. [LAT]
• World's oldest person dies at 116. World's youngest people continue never to call, never to write. [CNN]
• Bush to commemorate one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with three minutes of silently not paying attention. [Yahoo]
• Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Debbie going to fuck East Coast's brains out. [The Bad Pitch Blog]
• FHM lays off five staffers, forced to return company badges, bathroom keys, and mysoginistic concepts of women as objects solely for the sexual gratification of illiterate men. [FishbowlNY]
• Here is a picture of Rachel Sklar's dad. Whatever, Garfield's not the only one who hates Mondays. [HuffPo]

To Start: Reprehensible, Embarrassing, Despicable, Shameful, Disrespectful, Unhealthy, Unamerican

Jesse — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 09:14:29 EDT

Well, yes. 'Remarkable' is one world for it. We could think of others.

Macabre Reminder: The Corpse on Union Street [NYT]

A Blessing From a Martyr

Jesse — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 09:58:06 EDT

You've got to admire a graceful acknowledgement that one's 15 minutes are up. From the internal Times blog:

A Special Reader's Reaction to Hurricane Coverage

Dear John,

This is not my joke of the day, the hurricane coverage is fantastic. Please congratulate all for me. Wish I were with you in that disaster rather then this one.

All best,
Judy

The construction of this note makes us wonder: If Judy Miller is compelled to point out that this was not her joke of the day, does that mean she usually does send a joke of the day? And, if so, why have none of you people sent it to us yet?

Ingrates.

UPDATE: Yes, we know it should be "rather than," not "rather then." We were giving Judy a break, recognizing that she is in JAIL.

Bush Family Always Looks at the Bright Side of Life

Jesse — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 12:33:38 EDT

Editor & Publisher points us to a choice Barbara ("The Old One") Bush quote from public radio's Marketplace over the weekend, about the New Orleans evacuees at Hoston's Astrodome: "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this — this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."

This reminded us of her son's quote from Friday: "The good news is — and it's hard for some to see it now but out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast."

We were admiring the Bushes and their impressive ability to remain optimistic — it must be something about the air in Kennebunkport, or maybe about the fact they have a Kennebunkport — when we started hearing an appropriate song waft through our head. Something about looking to the bright side. Something like:

Life's a piece of shit
When you look at it
Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true.
You'll see it's all a show
Keep 'em laughing as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you.

And always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the right side of life...

And we remembered: It's in Spamalot.

Which means Condi was simply doing research.

Barbara Bush: Things Working Out 'Very Well' for Poor Evacuees From New Orleans [E&P]
Always Look at the Bright Side of Life [MP3]
Earlier:
Bush Sees the Bright Side [Wonkette]
Breaking: Condi Rice Spends Salary on Shoes