And is incredibly frightening. Right-Wing conference tells activists to get their guns ready for ‘Bloody Battle’ With Obama The Nazi.
9.30.2009
Felicia Day Visits Jimmy Fallon
Felicia Day of The Guild and Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog visited Late Night last night and had a terrific interview with Jimmy.
Source link
9.25.2009
LeVar Burton Can Finally Tell the World About His Long Nightmare
From his heartfelt opinion piece*:
When the news came that Reading Rainbow would be canceled due to a lack of funding, I felt—well, to use a cliché like you'd find in one of the hundreds of books I pimped endlessly—like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Every day I went to work hoping that maybe the studio had burned down, that maybe the program had been cut, that maybe PBS would finally stop squeezing the life from me drop by drop. Now that it's over, I feel the relief a bruised and broken soldier must feel when he is rescued after rotting away for decades in some dank, forgotten POW camp.
May that godforsaken show burn in hell.
*This is from The Onion, it’s satire, it wasn’t written by LaVar, but I thought it was hilarious and literally Laughed Out Loud. But you don’t have to take my word for it - (via @levarburton)
9.21.2009
The Urinal Protocol, With Math
I might as well do two posts in a row from xkcd. (Actually I ran on this from someone on Twitter and thought, “I have to post this thing.” It only just occurred to me that my last post was from them.) Upon this, all I can say is, they rock!
Most guys are familiar with the International Choice of Urinal Protocol. xkcd shows, in an amazing and funny post, that it’s actually really complicated when we guys use urinals. Of course, there’s math involved.
9.20.2009
Carrie Prejean, the (Un?)Ironic Opposite Marriage of Alanis Morissette
The Most Ironic Statement of the week award goes to: Carrie Prejean at Values Voters Summit: "I'm disgusted at the way some people can be so intolerant." Said the woman who became famous for her intolerant comment in support for denying people equal rights (and her semi-nude pictures). She also wins the self-righteous cognitive dissonance award. You go girl!
9.18.2009
Something Positive To End a Meh Week
I remember hearing this StoryCorps story when it aired March 28, 2008 on NPRs Morning Edition. Click here to listen to it. Enjoy and be inspired.
A Victim Treats His Mugger Right
“ Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner.
But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn.
He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.
"He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, 'Here you go,'" Diaz says.
As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm."
The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, "like what's going on here?" Diaz says. "He asked me, 'Why are you doing this?'"
Diaz replied: "If you're willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me ... hey, you're more than welcome.
"You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help," Diaz says.
Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth.
"The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi," Diaz says. "The kid was like, 'You know everybody here. Do you own this place?'"
"No, I just eat here a lot," Diaz says he told the teen. "He says, 'But you're even nice to the dishwasher.'"
Diaz replied, "Well, haven't you been taught you should be nice to everybody?"
"Yea, but I didn't think people actually behaved that way," the teen said.
Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. "He just had almost a sad face," Diaz says.
The teen couldn't answer Diaz — or he didn't want to.
When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, "Look, I guess you're going to have to pay for this bill 'cause you have my money and I can't pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I'll gladly treat you."
The teen "didn't even think about it" and returned the wallet, Diaz says. "I gave him $20 ... I figure maybe it'll help him. I don't know."
Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen's knife — "and he gave it to me."
Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, "You're the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch."
"I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It's as simple as it gets in this complicated world." ”
9.17.2009
The Grim-Reaping Of Summer Tour ‘09 Continues
Henry Gibson (1935 – 2009)
Actor Henry Gibson died of cancer at the age of 73, a week before his 74th Birthday. While you might not recognize his name, you will almost certainly recognize Gibson’s face from one of his many screen credits from the last 45 years. Gibson got his break in the 1963 Jerry Lewis comedy The Nutty Professor, but received his first major role as a three year stint as part of the cast of Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.
Children of the 1980’s (like myself) will probably remember Gibson from the 1989 Joe Dante comedy, The ‘Burbs, in which Gibson played the villain. He also played the leader of the “Illinois Nazis” in the 1980 John Landis classic The Blues Brothers.
Director Robert Altman cast him in four of his films: The Long Goodbye, A Perfect Couple, Health, and Nashville. He made a brief appearance in Altman protege Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia as an eccentric barfly. His last notable role was a re-occurring judge on Boston Legal. He also worked frequently as a voice actor, most notably providing the voice for Wilbur the pig in the 1973 animated film Charlotte’s Web.
Mary Travers (1936 – 2009)
I am surprised by how deeply I'm feeling her death. I'm not sure why.
(Update) I think it's a combination of being a politically and socially active person and that I gained a love of folk music from my parent's. Among the songs Peter, Paul, and May was known for: "If I Had a Hammer" (which they performed during the 1963 March on Washington), "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?," and "Blowin' in the Wind" (and, yes, "Puff, the Magic Dragon").
The New York Times has an death notice.
And here's Pete Seeger himself introducing a clip of Peter, Paul and Mary.
RIP
(Update) I think it's a combination of being a politically and socially active person and that I gained a love of folk music from my parent's. Among the songs Peter, Paul, and May was known for: "If I Had a Hammer" (which they performed during the 1963 March on Washington), "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?," and "Blowin' in the Wind" (and, yes, "Puff, the Magic Dragon").
The New York Times has an death notice.
And here's Pete Seeger himself introducing a clip of Peter, Paul and Mary.
RIP
9.16.2009
9.14.2009
Monday Music
It wasn’t all bad at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards Sunday night. I didn’t watch, but this performance by Pink! was shared on Twitter. I like Pink and this high wire performance is pretty amazing. (PG-13)
Weekend in Review
Several famous persons opened their mouths and embarrassed themselves… It happened A. LOT! This sums it up.
Diane Rehm: 30 Years Of The Unexpected
From an interview with Scott Simon on the September 12, 2009 Weekend Edition Saturday. A wonderful interview of a National treasure, Diane Rehm. It's also good news that she's returning to her show on Monday.
9.11.2009
On the Anniversary of 9/11, Thinking of People and Groups Working to Make this World a Bit Better
In his commencement address at the University of Portland this spring, environmentalist, and best-selling author Paul Hawken said:
No one knows how many groups and organizations are working on the most salient issues of our day: climate change, poverty, deforestation, peace, water, hunger, conservation, human rights, and more. This is the largest movement the world has ever seen. Rather than control, it seeks connection. Rather than dominance, it strives to disperse concentrations of power. Like Mercy Corps, it works behind the scenes and gets the job done. Large as it is, no one knows the true size of this movement. It provides hope, support, and meaning to billions of people in the world. Its clout resides in idea, not in force. It is made up of teachers, children, peasants, businesspeople, rappers, organic farmers, nuns, artists, government workers, fisherfolk, engineers, students, incorrigible writers, weeping Muslims, concerned mothers, poets, doctors without borders, grieving Christians, street musicians, the President of the United States of America, and as the writer David James Duncan would say, the Creator, the One who loves us all in such a huge way.
9.08.2009
Argument to Beethoven’s 5th
Live television — two words that conjure up excitement, suspense, and a good kind of danger — is today mostly defined by sporting events, breaking news from the campaign trail, or yet 
another chance to watch Big Brother, American Idol or America's Got Talent.
Back in the day, however, television was nearly all live — and frequently great, if this five-minute clip gaining new life on the Web is any indication.
Watch as Sid Caesar (star of Your Show of Shows and Caesar’s Hour) deftly pantomimes a domestic argument with Nanette Fabray — a sort of battling Bickersons meets Beethoven. Caesar’s legacy has often been overshadowed by the later careers of his writing staff (Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Neil Simon). But as this sketch delightfully demonstrates, Caesar needed very few words — if any — to bring down the house.
9.06.2009
9.05.2009
Into The Looking Glass
What I don't get, five years ago the Dixie Chicks were practically publicly crucified just because they said they weren't proud the President was a fellow Texan, but NOW it's OK to call the President (a mid-20th cent. German dictator) bring guns near him at town hall meetings and shield children from him because he is encouraging them to work and study hard? My mind boggles with incredulity and wonder.
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