Award-winning writer Maggie Van Ostrand writes an entertainment column for www.fandomania.com; contributing editor www.texasescapes.com; contributor to the Chicago Tribune; the Boston Globe, Amarillo Globe-News, Sun-Sentinel, New York Newsday, head writer for TV trivia show; ghostwriter for network sitcoms and satirical stand-ups.

She writes a weekly column for Ohio-based Our Community, and monthly columns for a pair of senior zines, and two English-language Mexican pubs. Maggie appears with George Lopez and Jennifer Lopez in a feature-length satirical documentary on Immigration which will be entered at Sundance; and is keynote speaker on anything she can make funny.
http://www.maggievanostrand.com, @magpie99

Blog Entries by Maggie Van Ostrand

Halloween Parties and the Latest in Gruesome Candy

Posted October 23, 2009 | 02:28 PM (EST)


2009-10-22-marty_feldman.jpg

The best place to party is San Francisco where, in the words of political satirist Will Durst, Halloween is redundant. But if you can't make it there, have an awesome time anywhere on October 31st. Just keep it current, cool and creepy.

Long...

Read Post

To Tweet or Not To Tweet: That is the Question

1 Comments | Posted September 21, 2009 | 06:41 PM (EST)


2009-09-21-yorick.jpg

Nobody sits down to compose a letter these days. Instead, they talk, text, or Tweet, so we've prepared a time-saver for those hipsters, geeks, and Twitteristas who haven't the time to reduce the classics to Twitter's required 140 characters, counting spaces. We've prefaced them...

Read Post

God Sues Congress

6 Comments | Posted September 12, 2009 | 07:07 PM (EST)


2009-09-12-10Commandments.jpg

In a one-off interview with God (sorry, no photographers were permitted), this reporter had the privilege of learning His plan to file lawsuits against individual members of Congress and clergy. Though I could actually not see Him, I knew He...

Read Post

Republican Nutters Reunion

9 Comments | Posted September 11, 2009 | 02:35 PM (EST)


2009-09-10-Wilson.jpg

The Republican Party's planned another attack on America last night, appears to be the number one topic this morning. When congressman Puppet shouted out his vile and lying accusation, it was designed to distract Americans from talking about the President's speech. They succeeded.

...
Read Post

Johnny, Tommy, Rummy, and Ash

1 Comments | Posted August 25, 2009 | 04:32 PM (EST)


2009-08-25-McCain.jpg2009-08-25-binladen.jpg

We've been waiting almost a year to find out from John McCain where bin Laden is hiding, since McCain said during the campaign that he not only knew where that was, but knew how to get him. Want to...

Read Post

Marilyn Monroe, Room With a View

2 Comments | Posted August 24, 2009 | 02:41 PM (EST)


2009-08-23-Monroe.jpg

Elsie Poncher was one smart lady, and so was her late husband, Richard. In advance of the inevitable, he had purchased two side-by-side burial spots in Westwood Village Memorial Park from Joe DiMaggio when Joltin' Joe and Marilyn Monroe were divorced. One spot is...

Read Post

Obama Talks Mozart on Maddow

5 Comments | Posted August 18, 2009 | 02:47 PM (EST)


2009-08-18-Rimages.jpg 2009-08-18-Mozimages.jpg 2009-08-18-Oimages.jpg

In a debate with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, President Obama said, "If only we had had the Public Option in our health overhaul, Wolfgang Mozart would be alive today."

"With all...

Read Post

Michael Jackson's Family to Adopt Larry King, Sources Say

5 Comments | Posted August 14, 2009 | 10:31 AM (EST)


2009-08-13-JoeLarry.jpg
Due to high ratings generated by the appearance on CNN's Larry King Show of Michael Jackson's brothers, Michael Jackson's sisters, Michael Jackson's father, Michael Jackson's ex-wife's ex-lawyer, Michael Jackson's ex-doctors, Michael Jackson's bodyguards, Michael Jackson's own ex-lawyers, Michael Jackson's good friends, and the...

Read Post

That Girl in The Progressive Insurance Commercials

119 Comments | Posted August 1, 2009 | 01:42 PM (EST)


2009-07-31-images.jpg

When it comes to great characters from famous television commercials, the most memorable appear no more: 1997 Taco Bell's talking Chihuahua ("¡Yo Quiero Taco Bell!"); 1989 LiteCall's Mrs. Fletcher ("I've fallen and I can't get up"); and 1984 Wendy's Clara Peller ("Where's the...

Read Post

You Got To Know When To Fold 'Em

1 Comments | Posted July 3, 2009 | 10:42 AM (EST)


2009-07-03-pantyhead.jpg

When Kenny Rogers sang, "Ya got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em ... " in his hit, "The Gambler," he was singing about more than playing cards, he was singing about housekeeping.

With all that's going on in the...

Read Post

Common Scents: Why Brides Carry Bouquets

7 Comments | Posted June 1, 2009 | 10:55 AM (EST)


2009-05-30-bouquets

Everybody loves a bride. Why, women love to see one almost as much as we love to be one, especially a June bride.

Back in the 15th Century, most people got married in the month of June because they took their yearly baths in...

Read Post

Swine Flu? Try a Sockful of Onions

Posted April 28, 2009 | 12:18 PM (EST)


Before the days of modern medicine, people relied on folk remedies. To ward off the flu, for example, you might have to wear a sock full of onions eat a spoonful of hot chilies on a piece of pumpernickel, or hold your face over a steaming haddock. Today, fortunately, we...

Read Post

Seabiscuit Gets the Last Laugh

Posted March 27, 2009 | 03:27 PM (EST)


2009-03-22-seabiscuitsmile.jpg
On May 11th, a 44-cent rate-change stamp featuring the great thoroughbred racehorse, Seabiscuit, will be issued by the U.S. Postal Service. This stamp is significant for one huge reason: We the people did it! It took us eight long years, but we did...

Read Post

Easter Equals Peeps

Posted March 19, 2009 | 04:01 PM (EST)


2009-03-19-peepspix.jpg
Ah yes, comfort food. We're talkin' mashed potatoes and gravy, Mallomars, potato chips and meatloaf. But for me my friends, it's the time of year where new dimensions will be reached to the very definition of the word "comfort."

It's Peeps time. And...

Read Post

Joe Lieberman Fought the Rouge Pot and the Rouge Pot Won

Posted February 15, 2009 | 02:42 PM (EST)


2009-02-12-SunsetBlvd 2009-02-12-Boehner

97.3 per cent of all statistics are made up. That's why it's so helpful for insomniacs to listen to our Washington politicians quoting statistics. Since we have no idea where their numbers come from, we also have no...

Read Post

Campbell Brown Turning Into Keith Olbermann?

Posted January 26, 2009 | 02:29 PM (EST)


TPTB at CNN must be watching MSNBC, because it's apparently trying hard to compare Campbell Brown to Keith Olbermann.

2009-01-26-olbie.jpg 2009-01-26-campbellbrown.jpg

What, CNN's not happy enough with the hate-spewing Lou Dobbs? That's not enough negativity for one channel? They...

Read Post

The Sarah Palin Boogie

Posted January 12, 2009 | 02:41 PM (EST)


Sarah Palin has not suddenly become environmentally hip, but she has gone green... with envy. She may not yet be able to answer which newspapers she reads, but she certainly has figured out how to stay on their pages.

She picks out celebrities and piggybacks her name onto theirs, just...

Read Post

From Conspicuous Consumption to Conspicuous Frugality

Posted January 9, 2009 | 12:33 PM (EST)


When Al Gore sounded an alarm about global warming, everyone became aware that mankind (an oxymoron if ever I heard one) must preserve itself and the environment. If we are to survive, we must waste nothing and, like the Corleone and Soprano families, we must enter the business of waste...

Read Post

Is Rudolph a Cross-Dresser?

Posted December 15, 2008 | 02:53 PM (EST)


2008-12-15-reindeer.jpg

When I was assigned this interview with a bunch of reindeer, I could not have known how difficult it would be to get to the bottom of the Rudolph myth. Neither could I have known how complicated would be the logistics involved in getting...

Read Post

Sarah Palin Offers to Govern Illinois, Also

Posted December 12, 2008 | 12:14 PM (EST)


2008-12-10-PalinBeautyQueen.jpg 2008-12-10-Blagoyounghair.jpg

Sarah Palin, on hearing of Governor Blagojevich's recent alleged bribe-seeking troubles, has offered herself up on the political platter to govern Illinois as a sign of friendship, emphasizing that she "only needs to find out also where it...

Read Post