Unlikely Twins, Part XXXII
By Brian | December 13, 2010
Here are two December 13th birthdays who are as different as, well, as black and white:
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| Christopher Plummer Perhaps the whitest singer in history |
Jamie Foxx, Musically speaking, a photo negative of Christopher Plummer |
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Metrodome Collapses – Indoor Video
By Brian | December 12, 2010
Check out this video of the Metrodome in Minneapolis collapsing from INSIDE THE STADIUM:
Thankfully no one was hurt. The Vikings/Giants football game, originally scheduled for today, was moved to tomorrow, and then moved to tomorrow at Fords Field in Detroit, MI. I would imagine that quite a few Vikings games will have to find alternative venues for a while – this does not look like an easy problem to fix.
(Hat tip to Lee Salz, my roving Minneapolis reporter for sending me the link.)
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Unlikely Twins, Part XXXI
By Brian | December 8, 2010
It’s a good thing several centuries separated these two. I couldn’t imagine them at the same birthday party each December 8th…
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| Mary, Queen of Scotts, “My Dear, I Do Say…” |
Sam Kinison, “SAY IT!! SAY IT!!!!!!!! |
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80’s and 90’s TV Stars take on “We are the World,” Beatles style
By Brian | December 3, 2010
There is apparently a TV show in Norway called Gylne Tider, which translates to “Golden Times.” They interview celebrities who were popular some time ago, and catch up on their lives. This is the promo for the show, which includes about fifty stars from the 80’s and 90’s singing the Beatles Let It Be:
Go ahead – pick out your favorite, “Oh my, look at how old he/she looks!” person. Mine is Kelly McGillis, who is fifty-three years old, according to IMDB, but looks, to me anyway, like she’s in her sixties or seventies.
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Unlikely Twins, Part XXX
By Brian | November 30, 2010
These two writers probably spent many of their November 30th birthdays writing, but the words couldn’t have been more different…
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| Mark Twain, Author of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn |
Billy Idol, Author of Rebel Yell and White Wedding |
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Don’t Blame Me – It was God’s Fault…
By Brian | November 29, 2010
Those who read this blog regularly know that my allegiance lies with baseball, but football is a nice diversion until Spring Training begins. So, yesterday, I’m watching the Steelers-Bills game, which goes into (sudden death) overtime, and the Bills’ receiver, Steve Johnson, does this:
My family, with whom I was watching, all commented that he probably wouldn’t get a very good night’s sleep that night (especially since the Bills eventually went on to lose the game). But today I find out that Mr. Johnson isn’t so much upset at himself, as much as he’s ticked off at the Almighty for making him drop the pass. Here’s his Tweet on the subject:
StevieJohnson13: I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO…
On the one hand . . . Wow. I mean, seriously. One wonders if God is most upset about the bad grammar, the idea that Steve Johnson believes that God made him drop the pass, or the fact that Steve Johnson can’t seem to find a way to learn from the whole experience.
On the other hand, we so often see the players thanking God for the game-winning catch, the walk-off homerun, or the last-minute heroics. It’s refreshing, in a pathetic sort of way, to see someone admit that every time God “helps” one team win a game, he also “helps” the other team lose the game. So if he’s going to believe that sort of thing, at least he’s internally consistent…
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Unlikely Twins, Part XXIX
By Brian | November 22, 2010
Hard to imagine these two guys having anything in common, despite their shared November 22nd birthdays:
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| Charles de Gaulle, Respected French Leader |
Rodney Dangerfield, No Respect at All, I tell ya… |
Categories: Unlikely Twins | 2 Comments »
Happy Birthday to Me…
By Brian | November 18, 2010
Today’s my birthday, which I mention only as an excuse to share what has become my kids’ favorite YouTube video:
The credits say Adam Sandler, but it sounds more like Weird Al Yankovic at the mic. Maybe Sandler wrote it and someone else sang it? Anyway, let’s hear it for me – another trip around the sun and I haven’t died yet – let’s all eat some cake!
Categories: Family Matters | 2 Comments »
Unlikely Twins, Part XXVIII
By Brian | November 14, 2010
November 14th gave us two great artists, but I can’t imagine too many people regularly enjoy them both:
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| Claude Monet, Made Water Lillies into Works of Art |
Sherwood Schwartz, Made Light-Blue Housekeepers’ Dresses into Works of Art |
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Goodbye, White Pages…
By Brian | November 12, 2010
The 133-year tradition that is the phone book (a.k.a., the White Pages) is quietly coming to an end. According to the Associated Press, New York, Florida and Pennsylvania have all obtained approval this month to stop printing the paper-based phone book. Virginia residents have until November 19th to provide comments on a similar request.
The statistics are rather stark: only 11% of of households relied on the white pages in 2008 (down from 25% in 2005). Land line phones are being disconnected at a rate of 10% per year, as people make their cellphone, which is not listed in the white pages, their only phone. And in places where the phone companies have been allowed to offer a choice, only 2% of customers have asked for a phone book.
Technology is obviously the “killer app” here. Phone numbers are much more easily obtained via search engines, which are often available on the smart phones themselves. The smart phones also have Caller ID and electronic address books, so frequently (or even infrequently) called numbers are recorded and stored for later use, gradually creating a personalized phone book for each person. And for those Neanderthals who don’t have smart phones, the phone company can print a single, on-demand phone book just for that person, or even send them a CD-ROM. All of this, of course, leads to big cost savings for the phone company, who doesn’t have to print the (largely advertising-free) book. And, of course, there are environmental benefits as well – each book represents just over 3.5 pounds of paper.
So it seems like a win-win situation all around. The only thing left, as far as I can tell, is for Google to invent a way to prop up the leg of a wobbly table.
Categories: The Future is Now | 4 Comments »