Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Alternative history is always a weak argument. Always.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

It’s a doggy dog world.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Accountability, motherfuckers.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Laughing is Good

Laughing is Good

by | 110 Comments

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This was too funny!

 

This Car Talk video is surely old news, and decades old, but  someone (sorry, don’t recall who!) Kattails linked to it last week and boy is his laughter contagious.  They are reading a story from The Onion.  It’s a slow start, but at one minute in I couldn’t stop laughing.

Open Thread.

Reader Interactions

110Comments

  6. 6.

    KrackenJack

    My favorite Car Talk was an episode where a guy was driving around with a big dog in the front seat. The dog got car sick and threw up on the dashboard. It got into the air vents and he was looking for advice.

  9. 9.

    raven

    @KrackenJack: The episode(s) I liked best were when they made fun of someone who called themselves “Doctor” and was not an MD. Tom Magliozzi had a PhD and the and Ray thought it was silly for non-medicals to use that title. After much discussion and call in’s they concluded that it was, after all, completely appropriate for folks who earned a doctorate to call themselves such. The laughed like hell about it.

  10. 10.

    RaflW

    I used to actually try to be in my car every Saturday at 11 am so that I’d catch Car Talk (podcast? What was that in 1995?). I adored that show.

    Thinking back, it was quite something that Tom and Ray would joke about Tom forgetting the previous week’s puzzler.  “Turns out he wasn’t kidding,” said Ray (via NRP affiliate story at the time of Tom’s death).

    Tom, Ray, thank you for so many laughs – and keen insights into cars, but really into how people are social beings who often argue about cars! I hope Ray is doing well.

  11. 11.

    AliceBlue

    @KrackenJack: Years ago, the air in the vents of my in-laws’ car was smelling kind of stale and moldy so my FIL got a container of Carpet Fresh (a powder to sprinkle on household carpets) and somehow emptied it into the vents.  For months afterwards, every time the engine was started, Carpet Fresh blew all over everything and everybody in the car.

  12. 12.

    Brachiator

    The SNL skit was great. Sharp writing. Anti-vaxxers come in many flavors.

    The Car Talk clip. Can’t help but laugh.

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    Car Talk used to immediately follow the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts on the local NPR station, and A Prairie Home Companion after that. Full weekend afternoon of listening, that.

  17. 17.

    Eljai

    I remember loving the Car Talk episode where Martha Stewart was on as a guest.  She described trying to get tree sap off the roof of her Mercedes with a brillo pad in a hilarious example of what not to do.

  23. 23.

    Barbara

    @raven: two episodes:

    1. Guy trying to rebuild the engine in his Ford Fiesta with a v-8.  “You are our kind of guy!”
    2. Lady who dropped off her minivan at the mechanic before Thanksgiving but forgot to take out the turkey she had bought and no one opened the car until after the holiday. Trying to figure out how to eliminate the odor.​​​
  26. 26.

    debbie

    I used to listen to Car Talk while doing laundry. There were times I had to stop folding, I was laughing so hard. That stupid Dodge Dart! And their mother!

  29. 29.

    Brachiator

    @RaflW:

    I used to actually try to be in my car every Saturday at 11 am so that I’d catch Car Talk (podcast? What was that in 1995?). I adored that show.

    I did not know, or had forgot, that both brothers had degrees from MIT. This is really impressive because that school is internationally known for its Advanced  Humor curriculum.

  33. 33.

    WaterGirl

    @M31: ooh.  I tried stitcher and they only had 4 episodes.  i’ll check out spotify.  thanks.

    edit.  hmm. that one only shows the last 4, too.  I guess I will go with the car talk radio URL I found.

  35. 35.

    gene108

    I love how Tom & Ray would just laugh at their own jokes, or start laughing before telling it, because they found it so funny.

  38. 38.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: Yeah, but they won’t let me see anything earlier than the ones released on March of this year.  Unless the Best of Car Talk podcast just started in March?

  40. 40.

    RaflW

    @raven: I might give it a try. I listened for a while to the ‘recut’ composite episodes after Tom had to stop working, and it sorta didn’t work for me. Now enough years have passed that maybe an occasional episode as pod might be fun. I’m gonna have more five hour drives in my future (extended family bought a lake cabin and we’re the farthest from it – that’s fine, there’s way more of them).

  41. 41.

    citizen dave

    Loved Car Talk back in the day.  Ray still kicking around–good to see.  I found it interesting they were so close–at least had a blast on the radio–even though there was 12 years between them

    I don’t think I would like recut episodes–just give them to me as they happened.  Johnny Carson is still going strong over the air every weeknight…

  42. 42.

    catclub

    The episode where the repair guy replaces a dog, because it was dead in the car. And the owner already knew it was dead.

  46. 46.

    Gin & Tonic

    My favorite Car Talk was when some young lady was inquiring about covering her car in sequins or something. To (probably) her bemusement, Tom and Ray took the question seriously and got pretty technical pretty fast. I may be vague on the details because I was laughing so hard.

  48. 48.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Suzanne:

    Yeah, I’ve ordered take out just twice at my local favorite in the past year but that’s due more to poverty than the pandemic.

    Also, I think I need a new desktop computer because this website just doesn’t work well on that machine. Perfect on this laptop, however.

    And the Phillies are going 162-0 after a clean sweep of the Braves this weekend with dominant pitching some timely hitting, including from starting pitcher Zack Wheeler who had two RBI to go along with his one-hit-13-strikeout performance yesterday.

  49. 49.

    WaterGirl

    I am not typically a radio person.  I used to listen to Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, but I don’t know if that’s any good anymore.

  50. 50.

    prostratedragon

    The frustrated venom of that SNL sketch gives a small taste of the reason I, for one, would not be good at public outreach on this subject. Talking to a reluctant person recently, who is someone I generally respect, it was hard not to start getting a little sharp; change of subject before outright yelling ensued was best.

  52. 52.

    WaterGirl

    @prostratedragon: The pandemic has taken a whole bunch of people I used to respect and pulled them down several notches in my esteem.

    Now I shake my head and think WTF is wrong with you?  Luckily, I am not seeing them in person so they don’t see me (literally) shaking my head.  Not sure if I care if they can read my mind or not.

  53. 53.

    NotMax

    @citizen dave

    When first I moved to Hawaii The Tonight Show was shown on a one week delay. Was a big deal locally when that later changed to merely a one day delay. All before satellite transmission was widely available without a firm (and expensive) appointment beforehand.

  55. 55.

    mrmoshpotato

    @prostratedragon:

    The frustrated venom of that SNL sketch gives a small taste of the reason I, for one, would not be good at public outreach on this subject. Talking to a reluctant person recently, who is someone I generally respect, it was hard not to start getting a little sharp; change of subject before outright yelling ensued was best. 

    “Hey slapdick!  Take the vaccine, you selfish assclown!”

  56. 56.

    WaterGirl

    @Dan B: I may have to check out wait wait don’t tell me via podcast.   Unlike the million people on BG’s thread about podcasts, I like to listen to them as I fall asleep or when I wake up in the night.  (until I fall asleep again)

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    Is it wrong that I had the heat on 3 days ago when it got down to 20 degrees for two nights, and now I want to put the AC on because the house is 80 degrees right now.

  62. 62.

    HumboldtBlue

    If you’re looking for something good to watch featuring some wonderful human drama I recommend Shtisel on Netflix.

    There are some wonderful characters, excellent acting and for those us who could not be further removed from the Haredi community a lot of learning points.

  63. 63.

    NotMax

    Yay! Managed to twiddle the settings in Windows enough to all but eliminate audio lag when connecting the headphones via the Bluetooth dongle on the PC. No more non-lip sync when watching videos. (No lag, of course, if using a cable to directly connect the headphones to the appropriate jack on the PC, it’s an artifact of Bluetooth connectivity.)

  66. 66.

    Brachiator

    @raven:

    Tom had a PhD but not from MIT

    The Wikipedia articles for Car Talk and for MIT lists both brothers as alumni. Hope it’s not a false edit.

  67. 67.

    BigJimSlade

    I recall hearing another NPR show about cars that really focused more on cars and less on goofing around. If Loomis over at LGM were less into history and politics and more into cars, he probably would’ve started something more like that one.

  68. 68.

    WaterGirl

    @mrmoshpotato: I always have the fan on, that is part of the heating and AC.  The fan runs when it’s on HEAT, AC, or off.  But it doesn’t cool anything unless it’s on AC.

    I sleep way better when it’s cool, so I might just turn it on for long enough to take it down a few degrees and then turn it off again.  On general principles.

  69. 69.

    Another Scott

    BABY: March! Cradle me in your arms and, ceaselessly, march! Else this exhaustion torment me — endlessly!

    ME: …I also tire

    BABY: What did you say?

    ME: I also tire.

    BABY: S I L E N C E

    — Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) April 4, 2021

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  70. 70.

    mrmoshpotato

    @WaterGirl: I mean, can your HVAC system just exchange cooler outside air with your spicier inside air instead of the compressor running?

  75. 75.

    Brachiator

    @WaterGirl:

    The January 30 Wait Wait, with Biden’s press secretary, was quite fun.

    Recorded remotely with Not My Job guest Jen Psaki and panelists Tom Papa, Jessi Klein and Yassir Lester.

    Podcast or streaming.

  76. 76.

    NotMax

    @mrmoshpotato

    So (relatively) chilly all day today that haven’t opened a window. Fixin’ a pot of lentil-barley soup in the Instant Pot as we speak.

  79. 79.

    Wag

    I loved listening to Tom and Ray. I would always tune in driving home from the hospital on Saturday mornings after being on call as a resident   Their infectious laughter made even the worst night on call bearable   

  80. 80.

    Jinchi

    @Brachiator: ​
     

    The Wikipedia articles for Car Talk and for MIT lists both brothers as alumni.

    I think they both got undergraduate degrees there.

  81. 81.

    Kattails

    Raises hand, that was me, someone had mentioned you’d left out an ‘e’ from your post and for some reason I immediately flashed on that episode and miraculously found it. It’s fun to see how many memories we have of that show.

    The Save the Skeets Foundation; the Crash Test Dummies Widows and Orphans Fund.  They gave a commencement address at MIT in 1999. shows up on youtube.

  83. 83.

    WaterGirl

    @Kattails: Right, now I remember!  I had opened your link in a new tab and when I came upon it hours later, I had no idea which thread it had come from.

    I updated the post up top.  That was really fun, thanks for sharing it.

  85. 85.

    OldDave

    @WaterGirl: I have two podcasts queued up on my cell phone every Saturday – Car Talk and Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me.  Both are fun to listen to, and in my case, I can use replays of Tom and Ray to help me fall asleep the following six days.

  89. 89.

    WaterGirl

    @Kattails: Wow, anyone attending commencement that year lucked out!

    When I went to North Carolina for my niece’s law school graduation, I had to listen to fucking John McCain.

    Need I say that he was not good?  Plus, it was May so the whole family had packed clothes for May in NC, and it was unseasonably cold, so we were all freezing, and listening to John McCain drone on and on.

  92. 92.

    cain

    @Brachiator: ​
     
    They had a PBS show where they focused on science stuff – it was quite good. I think both them and Alan Alda had some wonderful science oriented shows that was interesting.

  94. 94.

    WaterGirl

    @OldDave: I sent the link for the Jen Psaki Wait, Wait… to my iPad so I can listen to it at bedtime.  I was thinking I would just listen to her portion, but maybe it would be worth listening to the whole thing?

  96. 96.

    cain

    @2liberal: ​ My first car was a 1968 Plymouth Valiant (I think) that thing was a tank. We took it everywhere and put enough miles that it rolled over.​
     

    I actually still have the trunk key on my key chain! ???

  97. 97.

    SFAW

    @gene108:

    I love how Tom & Ray would just laugh at their own jokes, or start laughing before telling it, because they found it so funny.

    Shortly after Tom died, I saw a remembrance, written by one of the staff members. She said she went to visit him (maybe with Ray, I don’t recall for sure). She said that even though he was in the throes of (I think) dementia — Alzheimer’s? Lewy body? not sure — and even though he knew he couldn’t remember things (like her name), his trademark laugh greeted her as she was walking down the hall to see him. To me, that said the laugh was not a put-on, but who he really was.

  100. 100.

    Jerzy Russian

    @WaterGirl:    That was me who pointed out the missing “e”.    Later on I wondered out loud if “Wheel of Fortune” was still a thing, since they bought vowels on that show.

  101. 101.

    mrmoshpotato

    I want to laugh at this, but the Soviet shitpile’s massive grift…errr…..”campaign” had to return over $122 million to his marks. I mean “donors.”

    The Trump campaign accounting for up to 3% of ALL CREDIT CARD FRAUD CLAIMS IN THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES is the craziest stat I’ve even seen in politics. https://t.co/U1kZC1NKhe— Andy Barr (@AndyBarr34) April 3, 2021

  102. 102.

    Soprano2

    @WaterGirl: There was an article about them in the short-lived magazine “Brill’s Content” that said they could have made millions if they’d been willing to go on commercial radio. They didn’t want to have commercials because they would have been constrained in giving their opinion about cars. I know little to nothing about cars,  and I found them to be hilarious! They were true comedy talent.

  103. 103.

    eclare

    Two Cartalk faves come to mind.  One, the discussion over whether two people discussing an issue were smarter or dumber than one person.

    The other was someone who called in whose car did not go in reverse anymore.  With that wonderful Boston accent, their advice was with some careful planning, you don’t need it!

  105. 105.

    KrackenJack

    @eclare: ​
      The Journal of Irreproducible Results had an article on the Collective Clown Problem which postulated that intelligence was multiplicative rather than additive. E.g. Two half-wits working together make a quarter-wit rather than a full-wit.

  106. 106.

    OldDave

    @WaterGirl: It’s way too late to answer your question (listen to just the Jen segment or all of that week’s WWDTM), but I’ll answer it anyway.  Listen to the whole thing, just so you know what the program is like.  I found it more involving when it was recorded with a live audience, but Covid changed that.  It’s still good.

  107. 107.

    prostratedragon

    @WaterGirl:  I’ve often been described as patient by people who don’t know a slow burn when they see one, but the last few years have really shortened my fuse.

     

    @mrmoshpotato:  Or worse.

  108. 108.

    ray

    Listened to ‘See Food Diet’ on the album ‘Men are from GM. Women are from Ford.’ while driving and nearly went off the road as tears blocked my vision.  Tom’s laugh is contagious.

  109. 109.

    rayb

    Listened to ‘See Food Diet’ on the album ‘Men are from GM. Women are from Ford.’ while driving and nearly went off the road as tears blocked my vision.  Tom’s laugh is contagious.

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