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New Humor Column Takes Home and Garden Craze to the Red Alert Level
Jun 11 2005 by Allen Voivod
Tormented by faux finishes? Losing sleep over Eggshell White vs. Cotton Fluff vs. China Cup? Coveting your neighbor's designer toilet? Never fear, the U.S. Government has nothing better to do than involve itself in your home life - or so one comedy website would have you believe.
A new bi-weekly column on www.DeadBrain.com looks humorously at the explosion of interest in home remodeling and decorating. The column introduces the "Department of Homeland Homes and Gardens," a fictional governmental agency adorned with this motto: "Taking the terror out of home décor." One recent entry includes a show of support for the troops in Iraq by the banning of all French-country-themed decorating. Another previews an upcoming decorating show, a la MTV's "Cribs," called "Cryptz," featuring "the final frontier in decorating" and giving viewers a peek at celebrity mausoleums.
"We're enormously pleased to add the column to our stable," said DeadBrain.com Editor Allen Voivod. "And to continue the horse metaphor, we hope it turns into a Seabiscuit-like success story - the movie version, that is, and not the real-life book version, which was such a downer, I cried for nearly a week."
Conceived by L.A.-based writer Tara Zucker, the column was inspired by Zucker's own experience as a homeowner. "It seemed like all of a sudden everyone I knew was buying or trying to buy a house. I'd be at parties, and all my smart, politically-aware friends were suddenly talking about nothing but HGTV and Home Depot.
"I did obsessive research for my own remodeling project, too," admitted Zucker. "I'd visit chat rooms where people wrote long, passionate messages about things like full extension drawers. Okay, that was me. But other people wrote back, with equally obsessive responses. Anything that inspires that kind of passion is just ripe for parody."
Zucker's articles proved so amusing, DeadBrain.com recently announced that her Martha Stewart-focused "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Alderson" piece is nominated for a Best Celebrity Article prize in the current round of The Satire Awards. Winners will be announced on July 15th, 2005.
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