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Humor

A marketing message at a fast-food restaurant on south Harrison Boulevard in Ogden appears to be wrong in one or more ways.

Curious restaurant sign message

Mark Shenefelt, Standard-Examiner staff

Last updated Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - 8:33am

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In this Oct. 18, 2011, file photo Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, right, spar during a Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas. Perry, still nursing wounds from his failed presidential campaign, did himself a world of good with his self-deprecating jokes at a dinner in Washington in March. First, he joked that his time as the GOP front-runner had been “the three most exhilarating hours of my life.” Then he perfectly skewered Romney by quipping that during the GOP debates, he’d been tempted to turn to his rival and ask, “Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?” (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)

Humor can help candidates; ouch when it doesn’t

Nancy Benac The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, March 31, 2012 - 3:55pm

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney hit an off note when he told a “humorous” story about his dad shutting down a factory.

Humor, Mitt Romney, Presidential Campaign, Elections, National Read more Comments

Hiaasen's 'Chomp' takes a bite out of reality TV

Susan Carpenter Los Angeles Times

Last updated Sunday, March 25, 2012 - 7:58am

"CHOMP: A NOVEL." By Carl Hiaasen. Alfred A. Knopf. $16.99. Age 10 and up.

South Florida is known for many things: Alligators, orange groves and the writer who spins the area's most sensational attributes into even more sensational story lines, Carl Hiaasen. In his many best-sellers for adults and kids, Hiaasen has demonstrated a unique gift for wrapping real environmental issues into apocryphal, bust-a-gut books that parody pop culture -- a talent he furthers in his most recent middle-school novel, "Chomp."

Features, Books, Florida, Humor Read more Comments

Hair-raising event: WSU senators vote to observe Mustache March

Nancy Van Valkenburg Standard-Examiner

Last updated Monday, March 19, 2012 - 7:29pm

OGDEN — The resolution to recognize Mustache March passed by a hair, but not before Weber State University student senators removed some of its “teeth.”

The WSU senators, who met Monday afternoon, agreed to support the resolution only after wording that declared “Mustache March” the “most awesome month” was removed.

Air Force, Facial Hair, Humor, March, March Madness, Mustache, NCAA, Resolutions, Snowbasin, Student government, U.S. Air Force, Utah, Weber State University, Featured Read more Comments

Whitesides Elementary students in Layton stage Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" on Wednesday. (KENDAL RUSSELL/Standard-Examiner)

Staging Shakespeare a 'Dream' for Layton students

April Hale Standard-Examiner

Last updated Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - 9:59pm

LAYTON — When William Shakespeare wrote “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” he couldn’t have known how the play would benefit the self-esteem of elementary school students 400 years later.

Students at Whitesides Elementary School portrayed kings, queens, fairies and nymphs Wednesday during their unique adaptation of the classic Shakespeare play.

Education, Children, Comedy, Humor, Literature, self-esteem, Shakespeare, Theater, Utah, Whitesides Elementary School, Youths, Featured Read more Comments

In time of national trial, the brave — or stupid — step forward

Charles F. Trentelman Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, March 4, 2012 - 8:59am

“Even though Mitt Romney has regained momentum as the front-runner in the GOP race with wins in Arizona and Michigan, many within the Republican Party are ready to pull the rip cord and find someone else.”

— news item

Mitt may have Utah locked up, but he’s looking dicey elsewhere. There are more questions about President Barack Obama’s birth. It may be time to throw my hat into the ring and save the nation from the loonies.

Or at least introduce a different loon. Whatever.

Abortion, Barack Obama, Deseret Industries, Humor, Legislation, Medicare, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Pet peeves, Politics, Power, President Barack Obama, Presidential Campaign, Republican, Republican Party, Republicans, Rick Santorum, Social Security, Staff column, Taxes, United Way, Utah, Utah Legislature, Wasatch Rambler, Military Read more Comments

2002 Winter Olympic Games column and cartoon, February 8.

Mark Saal and Calvin Grondahl 2002 Olympic columns

Standard-Examiner staff

Last updated Monday, February 13, 2012 - 3:54pm

2002 Winter Olympics, Cal's Cartoon, Commentary, Humor, Slideshow, Utah, Featured Read more Comments

'Lunatics' a mystery romp with lots of laughs

Oline H. Cogdill Sun Sentinel

Last updated Sunday, January 22, 2012 - 6:15am

"LUNATICS." By Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel. Putnam. $25.95.

The aptly named "Lunatics" delivers exactly what one would expect from two award-winning humorists: an outrageously funny, irreverent, over-the-top comic mystery that has no boundaries.

How funny is "Lunatics?"

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A little friendly advice for the coming year

Mark Saal Standard-Examiner

Last updated Sunday, January 1, 2012 - 9:56am

And so it begins ...

Twenty twelve. The year it's all supposed to go south.

If we are to believe certain Internet conspiracy theories, something very, very bad is going to happen on Dec. 21, 2012. That's the date the Mayan calendar -- which has been chugging along like a well-oiled Mesoamerican machine for a whopping 5,126 years -- abruptly comes to an unceremonious end. And then what? Nobody really knows.

Features, End of the world, Humor, Jon Greiner, Life at the Top, Mayan calendar, Staff column Read more Comments

Debut novel takes readers for a comic ride

Oline H. Cogdill Sun Sentinel

Last updated Sunday, January 1, 2012 - 8:55am

"RANCHERO." By Rick Gavin. Minotaur. $24.99.

In his debut, Rick Gavin offers a comic romp through the Mississippi Delta, "less a place than a boot on your neck," where eccentricities thrive, pathetic criminals flourish and the absurd can pass for the norm. Yet despite its outlandishness, Gavin shows a deep affection for this area of Mississippi and its residents via his hero, Nick Reid, a former cop turned repo man for a low-level rental shop.

Features, Books, Humor Read more Comments

Calories don't count if you close your eyes while you chew

Charles F. Trentelman Standard-Examiner staff

Last updated Saturday, March 5, 2011 - 10:29pm

Eleven years ago, I calculated that all the Girl Scout cookies sold in Utah would add 134 tons of lard to Utahns' collective butts.

That was based on 1.3 million boxes sold. From the pallet-loads friends are distributing this year (typical quote: "Really, my daughter sold every one!"), I have to assume the figure has increased.

Do not worry. This is not a broccoli-swinging, kale-slathered health rant. Quite the opposite.

Opinion, Diet, Girl Scouts, Humor, Staff column, Utah, Wasatch Rambler Read more Comments

Check out dream teams of the 112th Congress

Lee Bowman, Scripps Howard News Service

Last updated Thursday, November 4, 2010 - 11:32am

In the House and Senate, legislation often takes on the names of the lawmakers who introduced it. The McCain-Feingold Act, for instance, became the shorthand for a campaign finance reform bill sponsored by Sens. John McCain and Russ Feingold.

Congress, Humor, Politics, National Read more Comments