Burning up the brothel laughs. There’s a silver lining in every tragedy and Ross Stevenson found it on 3AW this morning. “There’s been a massive fire at a brothel in South Melbourne that we need to address in order that I can make four, five really lame jokes”, said Stevenson on 3AW this morning, as they crossed to reporter Yvette Gray down at the burnt Top on Tope.

And Stevenson proceeded to go above and beyond the call of crap pun duty. The fire brigade were there. “Have they got their hoses out?” asked Stevenson. Cue boom tish sound effect, which got quite a workout during the segment. “Did it smell of burning rubber? Is the arson squad on its way?” and “they [the police] are not taking it lying down”. Journo Gray wasn’t going to miss out the fun: “I haven’t been able to talk to the controller at the moment, because they are quite tied up at the moment…” “Are they finding it a bit hard?” asked Stevenson.

Stevenson just didn’t want it to end, even when Gray had obviously run out of news to discuss. “Are people walking around with smiles on their faces?” asked Stevenson. “Well not the emergency services, because they are hard at work…” said Gray, “…there are a lot of workmen, there’s a building being built next door”. “What are they erecting next door?” asked Stevenson. They played the segment out with a bit of Elvis classic Burning Love and Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire. — Amber Jamieson

Continuing the lame jokes corner. Grant Denyer may be short of stature, but he’s big on lolz in his well-known Sunrise weather broadcasts. Today’s was a classic, crossing to Denyer who was out droving at Anna Creek station, complete with Drizabone and Akubra. He looked distinctly fish out of water…

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka4ADFOcdvM[/youtube]

The Time cover story and the reporter’s war links

“… the Time reporter who wrote a story bolstering the case for war appears to have benefited materially from the NATO invasion. Reached by The Observer, a Time spokesperson revealed that the magazine has just reassigned Baker to a new country as part of a normal rotation, though he declined to say where.” — New York Observer

What constitutes fair use online?

“The boundaries of fair use — the legal doctrine that allows for the republishing and rebroadcasting of copyrighted material in order to encourage free speech — are awfully hazy when it comes to the internet.” — DailyFinance

Blackberry ban unless India can spy

“India became the latest government to turn the screws on smartphone maker Research in Motion Ltd. in the name of national security.” — Wall Street Journal

Cathy plans retirement

“The comic strip ‘Cathy’, which has chronicled the life, frustrations and swimsuit season meltdowns of its namesake for more than 30 years, is coming to an end.” — Associated Press

The news magazine lives — just

“The Audit Bureau of Circulation released its preliminary figures for magazine circulation in the first half of 2010 on Monday.” — Huffington Post

What’s buzzing on the web this week

“Bloggers were abuzz about the Aug. 4 ruling by U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker that California’s ban on same-s-x marriages was unconstitutional, while Tweeters were fixated on the push by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett for other billionaires to donate up to one-half of their fortunes to charity, and the most-watched news and politics video on YouTube was an “auto-tune” musical parody produced by the Gregory Brothers of an interview featuring Antoine Dodson …” — WebNewser

WikiLeaks scoop — Assange has a new do

“If Julian Assange is famous for one thing besides leaking a bunch of secret documents through his website WikiLeaks, it’s his hair. Those ethereal, silver locks that made him look like an elf from Lord of the Rings: They’re gone!” — Gawker