A Chicago radio station had a contest, and Paul Anka won. Here are the brackets: I think that's about right. "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" is kind of a guilty pleasure of mine, but other than that, I think the Chicago radio listeners got it right. Then again, Paul Anka is a risk-taker. Here he is singing "Smells Like … Read More
9 Year Old Writes Book On Picking Up Girls
Actually, it's entitled "How to Talk to Girls". Alec Greven, the author, is nine years old and is in the fourth grade. He's pictured here picking up talking to a couple of girls during his book tour (seriously!). It started off as a $3 pamphlet that he sold at his school book fair. Now, it's available on Amazon and bookstores everywhere. It's … Read More
Macy’s Float Gets Rickrolled
I think it was pre-planned though…. By the way, enjoy vintage photos of the Macy's Parade from days gone by here. And, apropos of nothing (except Thanksgiving), one of my favorite scenes from The West Wing: and this is good, too….
X-treme Sports
I've always wondered what makes a sport "extreme". Here's a guy doing "Extreme Kite Snowboarding" As far as I can tell, this "extreme sport" involves having a kite lift you up into the air, and then slamming you into the side of the mountain. The snowboard attached to your feet, apparently, is what makes it "snowboarding", although as far as I … Read More
Oxford Word Of The Year: “Hypermiling”
Annoucement here, from the New Oxford American Dictionary. I actually know this word, because I actually do this. "Hypermiling" is defined as "an attempt to maximize gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one’s car and one’s driving techniques." I do this all the time, and I expect most hybrid drivers do. When you get below a certain mph, the gas … Read More
Time For A Civics Test
You can take it here. 33 questions. The average American scored 49%. My score was 87.88%, but I'm kind of a civics geek. According to this article, U.S. elected officials scored lower than the average American; they scored 44%. We'll call that "the Palin effect". Don't read the article if you're going to take the test — it gives away … Read More
Project Palentir
The video below is a demonstration of a geographical representation program, showing Facebook activities worldwide in real-time. Yeah, that last sentence was geeky. So is the video. But it is pretty awesome, too.
Twelve Years After The Fact, But Still…
If you want to do Romeo & Juliet with guns, cars, etc., that's fine. But don't call it "William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juilet", because they didn't have guns and cars in his version.
For My Future Reference
For those who listen to their iPod in the car with one of those FM transmitter doo-dads, sometimes it is difficult to know what bandwidth to tune your setting such that you won't get interference from one of those stupid radio stations that tend to occupy the radio bandwidth. But here is a website that will find the vacant FM … Read More
Oh, The Times They Have Already Changed
And you know it when Johnny Rotten is doing butter commercials…
Oh, I Don’t Know…
Maybe…
Behind The Scenes At “The Daily Show”
Good article in the New York Times about how TDS is put together everyday. Here's the typical daily routine: 7 a.m.: About seven or eight producers start work, culling through video footage and material from the previous day, much of which is stored on a set of 15 to 20 TiVo digital-video recorders. Adam Lowitt, a producer who manages the … Read More
Brokeback Mountain: The Opera?
Actually, no.
Another Literal Video
"Under The Bridge"
The West Wing Season 7 Presidency
West Wing fans know that, at the show's inception, the character of Josh Lyman was modeled after Rahm Emanuel. In Season 6, the new character Matt Santos (the Democratic presidential candidate, played by Jimmy Smits) was modeled after Barack Obama. In Season 7, Santos ran against an aging moderate Republican from a western state named Arnold Vinick (played by … Read More