EPISODE 128 - Beef Stew

Today's show is full of what one might think are 'bad jokes'. These are true stories that are so outrageous, weird or down right funny that you can't help but wonder if they're real. We can tell you, they are. And that's what makes them all the more funny or just plain unfortunate. All of today's topics fall under one of these two categories.First up is a recap of the now almost daily rantings of Mel Gibson via phone to his ex-baby mamma Oksana Gragoriblah something something. When you hear Mel's colorful metaphors for the Russian gal or when he calls her pre-teen son a pussy you immediately wonder if this is a bad joke. It's not. If there's one thing Mel has shown us these past couple of years, it's that he's insane. These phone calls are just the last crazy nail in his nuthouse coffin. This one falls under the 'funny' category for sure.Besides Mel Gibson's evident boo boos, there's another Boo Boo in the spotlight. This one comes in the form of a computer generated bear cub wearing a purple bowtie. The trailer for the live-action Yogi Bear movie debuted on the net last week. The film will feature CGI versions of the ol' Hanna-Barbera staples. With 2 well known actors portraying the bears you might think this too is a bad joke. Alas, it's real. The movie is due out this Christmas. Tune into the show to find out which of these actors actually tries to put some effort into his voice-over gig. Surprisingly, he's not too shabby at it either... still, the simple fact that this is yet another cartoon to movie adaptation after such gems as Space Jam, George of the Jungle and Alvin and the Chipmunks 1 and 2, it comes out as just plain unfortunate.Another story on this week's show is no so much a bad joke as it is bad math. The National Association of Theater Owners wants you to believe you're paying less for that movie ticket than you were just 9 weeks ago. And less than what you were 40 years ago! How do they make the math work. It would seem they're using matinee prices. Hmmm... Why would they shy away from telling us the "normal" admission price of a movie? And why was that not used in this breakdown instead? Oh year, that's right... because it's freakin' $10 to go to the movies nowadays! It's a rip-off in my opinion. And NATO is trying to fool us. I buy this "lower ticket prices than 40 years ago" less than I actually buy movie tickets. Maybe theaters should have control over admission prices? Get a Best Buy/Circuit City-style war going between them?Stan Lee continues to keep busy with his comic/TV/movie development company called "Pow! Entertainment". In fact, he's got 3 new comic book super heroes set to premier in October. We've got the brief stories of each on the show. We know it's Stan Lee, but the general Who Asked You? consensus on these is, unfortunate. It's unfortunate that we just aren't feelin' these new characters. But if they do turn out to be cool, we'll gladly accept our mistake. Someone will have to tell us though, because none of us plan on reading these comics.If you're a resident in Tennessee and will be heading to the polls soon to vote for your state's governor, you've got 5 to choose from. Actually, it's more like 4. One of them, Basil Marceaux dot com — not sure if he's legally changed his name to include the dot com, but that's how he introduces himself — clearly stands no chance what so ever. Still, he may not win over the voters, but his odd incoherent pitch on a local Nashville news station has won over YouTube. Basil has some interesting ideas for the Volunteer State. Not sure if he'll ever be able to put them into complete sentences if elected, but interesting ideas nonetheless. This is both funny and unfortunate.Finally, if you're ever in Hakone, Japan and have a hankering for Ramen, be careful where you get it from. There's a spa there now offering a jacuzzi tub full of pork broth for you to simmer in. They even come by and dump in a batch of fake noodles. The health department won't let them use real Ramen. Visitors basically get to pretend their tiny people in a giant bowl of noodle soup. Bad joke? We wish. The only bad joke in this story one made by me.