Palin: Tomato-less in Salt Lake City

By GottaLaff

If I didn't already know the back story, I'd swear this was a parody post:

The Salt Lake City Costco removed all tomatoes from the store before a Sarah Palin book signing, reports the Salt Lake Tribune.

"It turns out that Palin had been pelted with a tomato at an earlier stop on her book tour and the management at the Costco was determined it wouldn't happen here."

No tomatoes for you!



Think about it: Do you remember another public figure who had to ban tomatoes prior to a book signing?

Me neither.

One might accuse Barbie McLipSchmutz of tomato bigotry.

Man Arrested for Throwing Tomatoes at Sarah Palin

By GottaLaff

Now, now, children...

A man was arrested for throwing tomatoes at Sarah Palin during her book signing on Monday at the Mall of America.

The man allegedly threw two tomatoes from the second balcony, however did not come close to hitting Palin.

Bush. Shoe thrower. Redux.

Bloomington Police report that a Bloomington commander was struck in the face with one of the tomatoes and may face charges for assaulting a police officer. The suspect was booked at the Bloomington jail.

It would be rude of me to point and laugh, despite my having just given a lecture on the humor of Mack Sennett, who was the official "creator" of slapstick comedy and directed Mabel Normand, who is credited with being the first to throw a pie in someone's face on film.

That was Hollywood Then, this is Bloomington Now, and far be it from me to endorse Fancy Projectilin'... unless it's scripted.

Books for Barack

By GottaLaff

Of course this would be appropriate only for the Obama campaign considering they can actually read:

[Ayelet] Waldman, the California novelist whose books include "Love and Other Impossible Pursuits" and the Mommy Track mystery series, is an ardent Obama supporter and is encouraging lovers of literature to contribute to his campaign in exchange for a "mystery bag" of books.

For a donation of $250 or more to the Democratic candidate through Waldman's MyBarackObama page, which is linked to the website, www.books4barack.com, participants will receive 10 signed copies from books donated by hundreds of contemporary American authors. Some are rare, first-edition or highly collectible — or all three.

Her website said that as of Monday, more than 1,000 signed books had been donated. The sets of 10 books are chosen at random and will begin arriving Friday in a canvas tote bag imprinted with "Books for Barack" to those who forward their e-mailed donation receipt and mailing address to Waldman.

Among the authors and books are Stephen King ("Hearts in Atlantis" and "Duma Key"); Judy Bloom ("Wifey"); Dave Eggers ("What Is the What"); Arthur Golden ("Memoirs of a Geisha"); Greil Marcus ("Dead Elvis"); Terry McMillan ("How Stella Got Her Groove Back"); Jodi Picoult ("Change of Heart"); Lemony Snicket (boxed edition of "A Series of Unfortunate Events"); Khaled Hosseini ("The Kite Runner); and Waldman's husband, Michael Chabon, ("The Yiddish Policemen's Union.")

Other authors include Connecticut residents Amy Bloom, Alice Mattison, Chandra Prasad, Sandi Kahn Shelton and Stewart O'Nan. Anne Tyler, Richard Price, Amy Tan, Mario Batali, Roy Blount Jr., Chris Bohjalian, Billy Collins, Anita Diamant, Nora Ephron, Garrison Keillor, Jonathan Lethem, Alice Sebold and George Saunders also donated books.

H/t: Chris