There’s been lots made of the Steve Jobs/Buddhism connection. Thanks to eagle-eyed friend and reader Sam DeWitt for sending on this latest example. Sam writes:

“Walter Isaacson, author of the new biography Steve Jobs, was interviewed on The Daily Show. He talks about Steve Job’s ‘Zen stare,’ in which he would not blink when staring down an opponent — or something like that. Buddhism is also mentioned a few times in the interview, and it is just all-around fun. (It is The Daily Show after all).”

See what Sam is talking about, watch here. (In Canada? Then go here, and watch the third segment of October 25th’s show.) Thanks as always, Sam!

Last night, Chef Jose Andres joined Coco to talk rum and other concoctions. While we’re told by the Conan’s Facebook page that “Buddha” appears in the segment, that’s not quite right. It’d be more accurate to say that it’s Hotei, aka, the “fat Buddha,” or the “happy Buddha” who makes the cameo here, at around the 5:20 mark. Also appearing are lots of disembodied replicas of his body parts — all made of Jell-O.

This is not the first time Hotei and rum have made a pop-culture appearance together; see the entry for Pyrat rum on this page of the Dharma-Burger archives. But it’s almost certainly the oddest.

“One time I read all of Siddhartha at a traffic stop.” — Chris Traeger, Parks And Recreation‘s performance-obsessed state auditor

Elephant’s got the video. Click here.

In the opening scene from Wednesday night’s new South Park the boys are watching a Terrance and Phillip cartoon set on some sort of Buddhist location:

What happens in the T&P cartoon? Well, suffice it to say that Phillip turns to Terrance and says, “Take that, Dalai Terrance.” And if you can’t guess what happens next, perhaps we should just leave it unsaid.

And then the show veered off in a total ‘nother direction, as it does. That was it for Buddhist Terrance and Phillip.

It would look that way.

C’mon, Groupon, — and, Timothy Hutton. Did you really think this was going to come off well?

You may very well have lost more customers than you could’ve gained with that one.

Really: The initial online chatter about this ad has been very strong — strongly opposed, that is, with many people proudly announcing on social media, via the “#Groupon” hashtag, that they find the ad exploitative and will no longer support the bulk-couponing/group discount service.

And yet: Groupon is actually trying to raise money for The Tibet Fund. See here. This is not backpedaling; the site you’ll see when you follow that link was live when the commercial aired. The question is: will it work?

Maybe. But not too long after the Super Bowl had ended, the Wall Street Journal had already published an online piece called “That Was Fast – Groupon’s Super Bowl Ad Draws Backlash” and an online Facebook group decrying the ad had been created. Clearly, if Groupon was interested in raising money for the Tibet Fund, that message did not come through.

(Do you want to help Tibet? The Shambhala Sun’s special “Helping Tibet” page, full of organizations you’ll be proud to support, is a fine place to start.)

Update: As New York’s Vulture entertainment blog now writes, Guess who directed this commercial?

As a tattoo kinda guy (I know: ecccch), I have mixed feelings about Spike TV’s show “Permanent Mark,” about a dude who travels the world collecting exotic tattoos. It’s great travel-show-style eye candy, though it often emphasizes a sort of sometimes-drunk machismo to which I just don’t relate. (I guess I’m a sensitive, wussy type.) But the latest episode takes the show’s titular host to Thailand, where with the help of Buddhist monks, he receives a highly-prized — and highly painful — bit of ink from one particular monk who happens to be a true master of the art.

You can now watch the entire episode online, here.

(Dang, do I want to go to Thailand.)

Airing on Friday and Sunday of this weekend, and including an update on the case and the possibility of a new trial. Details and sample video at Shambhala SunSpace.

Or see CNN’s preliminary online piece here. And if you’re on Facebook, friend the people behind the Free the WM3 push here. Or see (and donate to) them on the web here.

A new National Geographic Explorer show, “Born to Rage,” debuts tonight. As The Onion’s A/V Club writes about the show:

“There’s a gene that can, surprisingly, indicate a stronger likelihood for men to engage in violent behavior. The hook is engaging: Punk rock icon and genuinely angry man Henry Rollins serves as a kind of host, interviewer, and lead test subject. Their other test subjects are also interesting: retired gang enforcers, biker dudes, Buddhist monks, and a former Navy SEAL/current successful CEO.”

Here’s more from the AV Club, and here’s the show’s site.