Entries tagged 'funny'

tim bray coined MARS: it stands for “mysql + apache + ruby + solaris.” (get the shirt.)

bill de hóra proposed MADD: “mysql + apache + django + debian.”

when forwarding the above to an internal mailing list at mysql, i proposed MAUDE: “mysql + apache + ubuntu + django + eclipse.” the logo would be a picture of bea arthur, of course.

but mårten mickos, ceo of mysql, came up with MARTEN: “mysql + apache + ruby + tomcat + eclipse + nagios.”

or would that be åpache?

the people’s choice by jeff greenfield is a novel about a presidential election where the president-elect dies in an accident shortly after the election — before he is sworn in. the vice president is a quayle-like dunderhead, and the constitutional quirk that is the electoral college comes into play. it’s a fun book, even if the ending isn’t totally satisfying.

american dreamz is a politics and pop culture satire mash-up, where a dimwitted president goes into a funk after being re-elected, starts reading the newspaper, and is put on happy pills so his cheney-esque chief of staff can whisper into his ear when appears as a guest judge on an american idol-like show. with a premise like that, it turns out to be a lot funnier than it should be. a lot of the reviews i’ve seen seem to have liked the iraqi contestant the most, but i think his american cousin steals every scene he’s in.

sourcery by terry pratchett is the fifth discworld book. the story sort of collapses at the end, and it feels like some elements (plot and characters) are sketchier and not as fully realized as they could have been. but it is frequently laugh-out-loud funny, and that makes up for a lot.

going postal by terry pratchett is the latest of the discworld books, and it is brilliant, of course. it’s the story of a con man who is is appointed postmaster general instead of being executed, and how he applies his talents to revitalizing the post office even in the face of the signal tower (“clacks”) monopoly. it is very funny, although it doesn’t have quite the heart that monstrous regiment did.

the color of magic by terry pratchett is the first of the discworld books, but it is fairly unlike the other books in the series that i have read. it is basically four interlocking short stories. i thought it started sort of weak, at least compared to the other discworld books. it has some very funny bits.

i don’t know that i would recommend starting the series with this book — i certainly don’t feel like i lost much by not having read this until third or fourth.

i’ve got another discworld book up next, because my last trip to the library was pretty much a bust. it was one of those trips where the books that the system claimed were on the shelf were not.

i think the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy fits admirably into the different iterations of this story (radio show, book, television show, interactive text adventure, and now movie). it is more similar to the others than it is different, and i think it may be the only version where trillian is more than a sketch of a character.

considering how well the movie has done, and the various references to going to the restaurant at the end of the universe at the end of the movie, i would be more surprised to not see a sequel than to see one.

myth-taken identity and myth alliances by robert asprin and jody lynn nye are the latest additions to the long-running series of myth books (originally just by asprin).

a long time ago, i was offended because someone else was buying a book in the series at the same time as i was, and referred to it as a “popcorn” book. but now that i’m older and wiser, i can sort of agree with that assessment. but asprin and nye manage the continue the fun cross-breeding of pop culture satire and fantasy conventions that make the series great.