Ways To Kill Time In A "The Office"-less World - a podcast by Matt Sommer
from 2006-12-22T20:56
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I've mentioned John Hodgman on the show before-- he was a veteran of THE DAILY SHOW, and is best known as the "PC guy" in those annoying Mac ads. He's also hilarious.
Not only that, but he recently wrote a book entitled THE AREAS OF MY EXPERTISE, which he describes as "a compendium of COMPLETE WORLD KNOWLEDGE." Publisher's Weekly further illuminates the contents of the book:
"From sections titled "What Will Happen in the Future" to "What You Did
Not Know About Hobos," he piles up smart-alecky nonsense in layer upon
layer of surreal, wholly fictional factoids. Whether highlighting
American presidents who had hooks for hands, or sketching out the
mythical secrets of Yale University, Hodgman creates a strange and
intermittently hilarious parallel universe where lists of history's
worst haircuts (in addition to the Mullet, there are the Scrape, the
Scab and the Shag-Swoop) are printed alongside descriptions of "famous
novels that were not originally published as books." Sprinkled
throughout with breathless "factual" interjections..."Were you aware of
it? The body of Thomas Edison was never buried. Instead it was
displayed for many decades in a traveling carnival.... DOES IT EVEN
SEEM POSSIBLE?"this "almanac" demonstrates Hodgman's formidable
imagination, if not his ability to amuse consistently."
Not Know About Hobos," he piles up smart-alecky nonsense in layer upon
layer of surreal, wholly fictional factoids. Whether highlighting
American presidents who had hooks for hands, or sketching out the
mythical secrets of Yale University, Hodgman creates a strange and
intermittently hilarious parallel universe where lists of history's
worst haircuts (in addition to the Mullet, there are the Scrape, the
Scab and the Shag-Swoop) are printed alongside descriptions of "famous
novels that were not originally published as books." Sprinkled
throughout with breathless "factual" interjections..."Were you aware of
it? The body of Thomas Edison was never buried. Instead it was
displayed for many decades in a traveling carnival.... DOES IT EVEN
SEEM POSSIBLE?"this "almanac" demonstrates Hodgman's formidable
imagination, if not his ability to amuse consistently."
Funny stuff, indeed... but the REAL reason I'm posting this is to let everyone know that iTunes is currently GIVING AWAY a 6 hour audiobook version for FREE. Hodgman reads the book in his usual dead-pan fashion, and his friend/comedy partner Jonathan Coulton (who we heard on TWSS with his song "Code Monkey") provides musical accompaniment. I've listen to the first 2 hours so far, and I am enjoying it immensely.
Check it out... it will definitely help fill the void as we wait for January 4th.
Further episodes of That's What She Said -- The Office
Further podcasts by Matt Sommer
Website of Matt Sommer