John Hodgman on Obama's nerd credentials

This is priceless. John Hodgman spoke at last night's Radio and TV Correspondents' Dinner. With Obama in attendance, Hodgman examined the credentials of the man sometimes known as our first nerd president. Enjoy!

Nerd Man of the Month: Jonathan Coulton

This month's Nerd Man describes himself as a "musician, singer-songwriter and internet superstar." That alone would have earned Jonathan Coulton at least 50 percent of the votes necessary to clinch the Nerd Man of the Month title. Couple that, though, with a personal recommendation from John Hodgman and the fact that he's a Contributing Troubadour for Popular Science and he becomes an obvious shoo-in.

If you've never heard Coulton's irresistable pop-ish, folk-ish, nerd-ish songs, have a listen at www.jonathancoulton.com. There, you can sample songs from his 52 songs in 52 weeks project or you can try something from the awesomely titled "Our Bodies, Ourselves, Our Cybernetic Arms." Peruse the song titles and you know any purchase is going to be well worth the price. You've got "Ikea." You've got "Re: Your Brains" in which a zombie plaintively asks his victim to open the door and acquiesce to a perfectly reasonable brain eating request. And you've got the popular favorite "Skullcrusher Mountain," which features these brilliant lyrics:

I made this half-pony half-monkey monster to please you
But I get the feeling that you don’t like it
What’s with all the screaming?
You like monkeys, you like ponies
Maybe you don’t like monsters so much
Maybe I used too many monkeys
Isn’t it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you?

Seriously, who can resist that? Not the folks here at The Park Bench, that's for certain. And if you can't get enough of Jonathan "Mr. May" Coulton, don't forget to check out this very amusing interview with this "geek and postmodern digital pioneer" in Psychology Today. It's got a picture of Coulton AND his cat. Bonus!

In which we hear back from Mr. Hodgman

Upon learning of his win as April's Nerd Man of the Month, John Hodgman was kind of enough to respond and let Park Benchers know that he was "humbled and grateful" for the honor.

He also was kind enough to nominate a potential Mr. May: songwriter Jonathan Coulton. I give him a "hell yes" vote just for his song, "Tom Cruise Crazy." Check it out below and let me know if he passes muster.

Nerd Man of the Month: John Hodgman

Every day men come up to me on the street and ask, “When will I be named Nerd Man of the Month?” I say, “Not until you put some pants on, Mr. Attorney General,” or “Not until I forgive you for Battlefield Earth, Mr. Travolta – which means never, sucker!” And then I laugh and laugh, and then they walk away, sad and dejected, unsure if they will ever again truly feel like men.

This month’s Nerd Man recognition goes to John Hodgman, who has never once approached me about the award, because he’s a dude who just doesn’t care. You no doubt will recognize Mr. Hodgman from his Daily Show work and his star-turn as “PC” in the Apple ads which have subliminally convinced millions of unwitting Americans to buy iMacs and tape pictures of Justin Long to their screens. You also might recognize him as the author of The Areas of My Expertise, a book which looks like this:


Just as prisoners have found solace in the pages of Oprah Magazine and America’s leaders have found inspiration in the words of their lobbyists, I too found salvation in The Areas of My Expertise. Its tales of hobo uprisings (seriously) and gigantic lobsters and myriad other matters both profound and insignificant held me rapt through a 27-hour-long Nyquil haze this past week. It’s a very funny book and is highly recommended for both sober readers and those totally wrecked on cold-care products.

For his gloriously smooth humor and subversive writing, which includes a very fine blog, and for increasing the value of my Apple stock and for wearing very pleasant-looking glasses, The Park Bench is pleased to name John Hodgman its April Nerd Man of the Month.