Happy Birthday, Ricky!

One of my daily rituals is reading the newspaper every morning, while sipping the first of several cups of green tea. I read each section, every page, mostly scanning headlines in search of an article or two that tweaks my interest. My local paper, the Sacramento Bee, lists celebrity birthdays on page 2. Today, I noticed, in between Carley Simon (63) and fallen rock idol, George Michael (45), was none other than Ricky Gervais. Happy 47th, Ricky!

Now, to me, Ricky Gervais is one of the handful of funnymen who always makes me laugh--John Stewart is another. Dave Chappelle ain't bad either. There are more, but let's focus on Ricky. Some of you may be saying to yourselves: Who the heck is Rickey Gervais? If I asked you if you have ever heard of a show called "The Office," I bet most of you would say you have. And that show's star? Steve Carell (another funny guy who makes me snort green tea out my nose!)? Most of you have probably heard of him--but, what about Ricky? Well, Ricky actually created "The Office"--the BBC version (he is a producer/creator on the NBC hit), a version some people swear is funnier than the very humorous one that is shown Thursdays on NBC.

My point is: while I'm sure millions of people do know who Ricky Gervais is, it is a shame that tens of millions MORE do not. The man is funny. Check out his work. Start with the BBC version of "The Office," then go out and rent the DVD for the first two seasons of his hilarious HBO series, "Extras." You won't be disappointed.

Speaking of funny...whenever I need a good laugh online, the one place I return to time after time is FunnyorDie.com. This is the best website around for humor. It was created by Will Ferrell and a few of his cohorts in comedy and is unique, in that you, the viewer, gets to vote on each video. FUNNY, if you like it and it makes you chuckle. Or DIE, if it fails to tickle your funnybone. Sort of like back in Roman Times, when the guys in the good seats at the Colosseum (Kings? Emperors? Pharaohs? Congressmen?) would vote either thumb's up or down, deciding if some poor schlub gladiator would fight another day or instantly become lion food. While having one's videos judged in similar fashion on a website is not life or death, it can be disconcerting when you get a bunch of die votes. My suggestion--vote FUNNY! I never vote DIE--it just doesn't seem right.

So, in celebration of one great funnyman, Ricky Gervais, and in memory of one of the greatest, George Carlin, I would like to share with you a few of my favorite links from my favorite funny website. Today's laughs are on me.

peace,

Mike
livelife365.com

In no particular order:

MojoCat1973
Outsider's Country Club
litho
Prez McBrayer
The Retributioners
Pnut Films
Channel 59
Ed Druckman
Bob Jake McManus
Ricky Shore Sings the Blues