Lipstick references now part of our everyday vernacular

I was asked to moderate a forum at the annual meeting of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa.  The panel members were top legislative leaders.  An agent from Iowa City introduced the legislators and me to the crowd after telling a joke.  The agent — a big Hawkeye fan — said he had been talking with a friend who happened to be a Cyclone fan.  The subject of their conversation?  The new ISU football uniforms which look quite similar to USC unifroms.  The punchline was as follows:  "You can put lipstick on a Cyclone, but it’s still a Cyclone."  The crowd roared with laughter. 

A few moments later, as this Iowa City insurance agent was reading from notes, he referred to legislative "leeches." The crowd roared again.  "My teleprompter’s broken," the agent told the crowd to explain away his gaffe. The crowd had been primed by comedian/insurance agent/State Representative Lance Horback, a Republican from Tama, who dressed up in a costume, brought a few props and pretended to be an insurance agent from Alabama.  Horbach, who morphed into a character called "Milo," joked that Alabama’s legislature passed a law mandating lower insurance rates for smokers because they’re in better shape than the rest of the population since they have to walk a mile to find a place to smoke.  His other big punchline was this: "There’s no loss of use when Milo’s in town."  The insurance agents roared with laughter.