The Friday Link for 2/19/16

First, hearing thunder this morning while it was pouring rain, in February, in Minneapolis, while it hits 50 degrees, is too weird.  I have zero doubt we are only a few years away from a snowless winter in the Twin Cities.  I'm bracing myself for the moment when even the oil/gas/coal companies can no longer deliver their anti-climate change shtick with a straight face.  Of course, they'll insist we don't accuse them of destroying the planet because that would only be 'sour grapes' and playing 'the blame game.'  They'll also insist they keep receiving the 10 million dollars a minute the IMF says the fossil fuel industry receives in subsidies.  Didn't see that story?  Well here you go:

http://linkis.com/www.theguardian.com/zyxeU

Swear to God, I'll be leading the charge for the pitchforks and the torches...

On to happier things - Patton Oswalt!  I really am a huge fan of his, something apparent since I've posted him for the Friday Link three times in the last year.  Here's one of my favorite moments of his (WARNING - Adult Language).  His description of the Magician reloading his case makes me fall over every time I hear it.  Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWfqiCpscOE

The next two clips are from comedian David Cross.  I love this open letter take down of Larry the Cable Guy.  What got me thinking of this two part letter was three things.  One, a friend posted David Cross is on tour, a tour which comes to the Twin Cities for two shows this Spring.  Two, this last weekend I watched Cars with my family for the first time in about six years.  When my son got into The Avengers and baseball, he put aside the Disney film.  My daughters liked it, but it was never their first or second choice when it was time to watch a movie.  We watched it, and it's enjoyable.  Larry the Cable guy plays Mater the tow truck, and every time he was on the screen, I thought of David Cross' open letter to him.

Thirdly, I saw Larry the Cable guy doing the ad for an acid indigestion medicine and realized how far he has been able to take the dumb guy bit.  He's REALLY not like that, as David Cross points out, but he has become it.  The actor who starts acting like the character they are always linked to.  

This is also a great breakdown of the inner workings of the comedy industry and the interviewer driven disingenuous which costs people real friendships and fuels fake rivalries.  It also highlights one of the reasons I love David Cross.  He so correctly dissects the lowest common denominator public and their insistence to blame any justifiable criticism of them as the "PC Police."   Nicely done Mr. Cross, nicely done!  It's from 2009, so it's a little dated, and it's in two parts (WARNING - A LOT of adult language).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDimQTJMjB0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHWF0IBZ6xM

It won't let me embed the video, and I'm not that smart on these things.  Please click the links and thanks!