HUMOR

What kind of person lacks a sense of humor? What's life worth if one can't laugh? Humor is fundamental in our lives, and -as any normal person- I got my favorite genres:

television programs

Good TV comedies are unreplaceable experiences - not only they can make you laugh until tears come out, but they also can make your inner self laugh when remembering them 10, 15 and more years afterwards. Programs like Get Smart!, Three's Company, George & Mildred (the original UK versions, not the horrible USA imitations), El Chavo del Ocho, the Jappening con Ja (in his two golden ages, that is: 1978-1980 and 1984-1986), Four on the Floor, Mr. Belvedere and Beavis & Butt-Head and have earned the "classic" status.

In any case, none of the above comes even near my all-time favorite: Sledge Hammer! (I like it so much that I put his famous phrase as my .sigquote).

comics and comic strips

In quite a different way, a good comic provokes even more laughter - the fact that it's a bunch of drawings allows for unusual effects (in particular, its inherent discontinuity allows for abrupt transitions that surprise the reader - e.g.: getting from a punch in a vignette directly to a broken face in the next one - in TV that doesn't work, as it appears forced, but in comics this is perfectly natural and common).

My all-time favorite ones are:

hacker humor

Considering I got a hacker soul, it's an obvious fact that I like this humor genre so much. I hope that some day I can exhibit proudly some valuable contribution widely recognised by hackers in the world (don't tell anyone this: I got something planned, but it's still too early to tell anyone about it).

parodies

What's life but an invitation to imitate it? This genre is the one I'm best at (who knows why), and I have written more than a few parodies in my life. The most remarkable ones are:

NUEVOS RAMOS DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE COMPUTANCIA, a mockery to the computer science assignatures from my university - only in spanish (I'm NOT translating this)
COMPUTER FOUL-UPS SOFTWARE's advertisement
THE BABYLON 5 BOGUS EPISODE LIST
Hyperbrothel Zumbo's publicity - only in spanish (I'm NOT translating this)

jokes, jokes, jokes!

I love to listen to a good joke, though afterwards I won't be able to re-tell it as funnily as the person who told it to me.

Do yourself a favor and read rec.humor.funny.

[versión en castellano] - [english version]

Miguel Farah
www@farah.cl