Picture of the day: Water (no) Balloon
By Brian | October 15, 2010
Courtesy of NPR’s The Picture Show, here’s a sample of photographer, Edward Horsford’s high-speed work:
Using a complex system of lighting, sound-activated flash techniques and such, Mr. Horsford has managed to capture the water inside a water balloon just after the balloon breaks and just before the water loses the shape of the balloon and goes “splat” all over the floor.
It’s water balloons without the balloons!
Click here to see some other excellent shots…
Categories: Random Acts of Blogging | 2 Comments »
Unlikely Twins, Part XXIII
By Brian | October 13, 2010
Here’s hoping that on October 13th, the latter does not attempt to wish the former a happy birthday…
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| Margaret Thatcher, Former British Leader |
Sacha Baron Cohen, Former Fake Kidnapper of Pamela Anderson |
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Grover’s Take on Those Old Spice Ads…
By Brian | October 11, 2010
If you have Internet access, you’ve likely seen those Old Spice ads – the ones where the shirtless man speaks confidently about, well, nothing in particular (except himself?). I must admit, I’ve never quite understood them, except to say that they’re memorable and instantly recognizable, which I guess is the goal when it comes to commercials. But funny? Maybe an occasional chuckle, but that’s about it. Which is what makes this very clever:
I’m sure Saturday Night Live has done it’s send-up of these ads, and while I haven’t seen it, I’ve gotta believe Sesame Street has them beat this time around…
Categories: Primetime TV | 1 Comment »
The Yankees Win the 2010 ALDS
By Brian | October 10, 2010
Another terrific night at Yankee Stadium – father and son. Click here for some memories to throw on the pile. And here is the highlight:
We went to watch batting practice before the game, and got a great spot next to the right-field foul pole. Nick Swisher and Joba Chamberlain, two of the nicest guys on the team, were standing in right field shagging fly balls and then throwing them into the stands. When a ball made its way into the corner and Joba came to retrieve it, he caught my eye. I immediately pointed to my son, Brandon, who was staring wide-eyed at Joba with a big smile on his face. Joba handed me the ball.
This being a year where my kids had to choose who got to go to which game, Brandon was nice enough to call home and tell his big brother, Avery, that Avery could have the ball when he brought it home.
The Yankees won the game and the series, meaning there would be no Game 4. As it turns out, though, it looks like Avery might get a chance to see a playoff game this year after all, as I may have secured a pair of tickets to an ALCS game. My kids and I have a rough life, huh?
Categories: Family Matters, New York, New York, Sports Talk | 1 Comment »
The Negotiators
By Brian | October 5, 2010
So it’s October again in the Greenberg house which, for as long as my kids can remember, means one thing: post-season Yankee baseball.
Last year, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to purchase four tickets to the second game of the American League Division Series (ALDS), which turned out to be one of the greatest baseball games I’ve ever seen live – truly a memory my kids, my wife and I will share forever.
This year, things are a little more complicated. First of all, the Yankees didn’t win their division, which means that the ALDS doesn’t begin in Yankee Stadium as it did last year. Instead, it begins with two games in Minnesota and then returns to Yankee Stadium for games three and four. Since it’s a best of five series, if one team wins three in a row, there won’t be a game four, meaning there would only be one game at Yankee Stadium in the whole series.
The second complicating factor is that I couldn’t get four tickets to a single game this year. Instead, I got two tickets to game three and two tickets to game four (refundable if the game isn’t played). My wife willingly bowed out in deference to the kids, meaning I’m all set to take one kid to the first game and one kid to the second game. If there is a second game. Which is not a guarantee.
Further complicating matters is the concept of a “clinching game.” If the Twins and Yankees split the two games in Minnesota, then there would definitely be two games in Yankee Stadium, but the second one would give someone the opportunity to win the entire series. If it’s the Yankees, that would likely be the more exciting of the two games. If one team wins both games in Minnesota, though, then Game 3 is a potential “clinching game” for one of the teams, but if that team fails to win that game, then Game 4 becomes another potential “clinching game.”
So, when I got home from work today, I presented my 10-year old and my 7-year old with the following challenge: you guys work out between yourselves who goes to which game. If you haven’t decided by Friday afternoon, we’ll flip a coin. Oh, and no fighting.
My wife and I had discussed several scenarios on the phone during the day, but never came close to an arrangement that was as fair and well-reasoned as the one my two kids reached on their own:
Avery (the 10-year old), concluded immediately that they should make the decision tonight, rather than wait until Friday to see how the first two games played out, because if they waited, then they’d both want to go to the same game, and someone would be upset. Brandon (the 7-year old) calmly agreed. Then, they went off on their own, produced the following matrix, and presented it to me with their thinking:
Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Twins Twins Avery Brandon Yankees Yankees Brandon Avery Twins Yankees Brandon Avery Yankees Twins Brandon Avery
The thinking went like this: If they split the two games in Minnesota (rows 3 and 4 of the above matrix), then there are definitely two games, and Avery gets to go to Game 4 (the potential “clinching game”). In return, if the Yankees win both games in Minnesota, then Brandon gets to see the Yankees’ potential clinching game (and possibly the only game played). If the Twins win both games in Minnesota, then Avery gets to see the Twins’ potential clinching game (not as exciting as a Yankee “clinching game”). And, of course, in either of those scenarios, whoever runs the risk of not going at all gets to see the next clinching game (Game 4) if the series goes beyond Game 3.
Then they both signed their names at the bottom of the paper and gave it back to me for safekeeping.
So, to sum up: the next time the United Nations (or perhaps Congress?) needs to settle an argument between opposing interests, they should give my boys a call. But not in October – we’ve got some baseball to watch.
GO YANKEES!!
Categories: Family Matters, Sports Talk | 4 Comments »
Unlikely Twins, Part XXII
By Brian | October 4, 2010
Given how often they’ve been arrested, these two October 4th birthdays could have scheduled some birthday parties in prison. They’d have been awfully loud parties, though…
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| Susan Sarandon, Actress and Democratic Activist |
Charlton Heston, Actor and Republican Activist |
Categories: Unlikely Twins | 1 Comment »
Unlikely Twins, Part XXI
By Brian | September 28, 2010
Happy Birthday, this September 28th, to two opposite sides of the show business spectrum:
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| Brigitte Bardot, Sex Kitten |
Ed Sullivan, Introduced Guys who Juggled Kittens |
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Two of these things are not like(d by) the others…
By Brian | September 23, 2010
This story is strange on a wide variety of levels.
But first, the facts: Pop singer, Katy Perry, recorded a segment for Sesame Street, in which she sang a (child-friendly) version of her hit song, Hot N Cold, with everybody’s favorite montser, Elmo. The segment was posted on Sesame Street’s YouTube channel as a “sneak peek” at the show’s season premiere. After more than one million views, the folks at the Sesame Workshop received a number of complaints that Ms. Perry’s outfit was too revealing, making it inappropriate for a TV show aimed at preschoolers. The Sesame Street folks decided not to air the segment on television and removed it from the Sesame Street YouTube channel, although they did allow it to remain on other YouTube channels and websites, including Katy Perry’s own YouTube channel and katyperry.com.
Oh, strange story, let me count the ways…
1) Sesame Street pre-releases clips of its shows on YouTube? Is this really such hotly anticipated content that we can’t wait for the actual show to air?
2) Parents actually watch pre-release clips of Sesame Street on the Internet? Are there folks out there who really want to pre-screen Sesame Street on a regular basis?
3) To Sesame Street’s target demographic, cleavage doesn’t suggest anything naughty – it suggests lunch!
To be honest, I don’t very much care that they didn’t air it on television. One of the great things about the times we live in is that television isn’t our only source of media content. Anyone who wants to see Katy Perry sing with Elmo (or just ogle her cleavage) can do so on the Internet just as easily (or, some would argue, more easily) than on television. And if your two-year old is a big Katy Perry fan, you’re free to sit him/her down in front of the computer and let him/her watch. So the TV show becomes the “extremely safe zone.” That used to matter a lot, because the decisions of a select few affected the choices of the masses. Today, not so much.
For those who are curious, here’s the video. But be forewarned – if you click on it, you have to stop claiming that you read my blog just for the articles…
Categories: Primetime TV, Words about Music | 1 Comment »
Unlikely Twins, Part XX
By Brian | September 21, 2010
If these two September 21st birthdays had gotten together, maybe they could have produced something that both made kids laugh and made adults scream in unholy terror:
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| Chuck Jones, Cute Cartoons for Kids |
Stephen King, Horrible Nightmares for Adults |
Categories: Unlikely Twins | 1 Comment »
Geek humor
By Brian | September 14, 2010
Here’s one for my more techie friends. If you don’t understand this, trust me – just move on…
The warning message that Microsoft PowerPoint gives you when you open a presentation from a SharePoint site:
Woah, dude…. Check out that PowerPoint deck. Like….totally awesome, man……
Categories: Tech Talk | 1 Comment »