Monday, July 1, 2013

Behind the Scenes

Since we started this Tech Curmudgeon blog more than 6 years ago, letters have been pouring in. Many of them actually formed words and sentences. And of those, one of the questions that seems to keep cropping up is “How do you do this?” So, to answer that, here’s a brief overview of what goes on here.

First, we scour the news, both traditional and new media, in the increasingly desperate hope of finding something funny. Often, a humorous incident or development is staring us in the face, but frequently it’s too ludicrous to be believed.

If that fails, we go through our files to see what topics arose in the past that have not been adequately treated. That sometimes works, as long as the files haven’t been collected at the curb yet.

Once the germ of an idea has been found, our editorial staff carefully reviews it for timeliness and relevance, point of view, accuracy and … well, ok, just kidding about the accuracy. And the other things. It just has to be funny. Sort of.

Following this careful review, we consider how best to present this item for maximum impact. It’s often said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes we only need 500 words or less, and half a picture would look pretty lame. We also consider how much time is available between TV and bedtime.

Finally, when the whole team is satisfied, we …

Wait. I’ve just reread this. The question is not “How do you do this?” It’s “Why...?”

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