We've been getting weekly updates from Boca Raton blogger Robert Feeley for some time now: Feeley's news parody, SPN (for StuPidassNews), is at least as ripe as The Onion, only it's completely homegrown. In SPN-land, Boca is "Beaver Falls," and Feeley's august news outlet is "The Only News Source that Guarantees 97 Percent Fact-Free Contempt."
SPN under Feeley's direction usually covers the national scene: Obama appoints Marcus Welby as health care czar; a terrorist gets an extreme makeover on Oprah; Cheney visits Chile to shoot looters; a middle-class task force issues its report:
Washington, D.C.) by Robert Feeley - SPN Headlines: The Joe Biden/Obama administration's middle-class task force announced the results of a $4 billion intensive study on Friday. Their conclusion: If you're middle class, then it sucks to be you.But this week, to mark the early advent of the spring fashion season ("Climate Change Causes Spring Fashion Confusion"), Feeley takes on Palm Beach's sartorial splendors. The old guard may debate whether white shoes come out before or after Easter, but SPN identifies a more accurate marker, the social-set's equivalent of Punxatawny Phil:
But those in the know here in Palm Beach look for the first appearance of celebrated socialite and raconteur Biff Beau-Monde in his distinctive Brooks Brothers seersucker Bermuda short pants to signal "let's get this party started!"
Feeley told the Juice he has a remedy for the trouble with newspapers: His formula basically boils down to more hilarity. "My feeling on parody articles such as the ones I write is to publish them under a name like Stu Pidass and let people freak out. In my opinion, newspapers are in decline because they don't take chances. I suggest printing some outrageous parody articles and get some people pissed off -- get the phone ringing!"
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