In which I apologize to Astrology fans everywhere…
By Brian | July 7, 2010
OK, so it all started back in August of 2009, when I saw on one of those “Born on This Day…” sites that Leonard Bernstein and Billy Ray Cyrus share the same birthday. I thought this was somehow ironic, and posted it under the heading “Proof That Astrology Is Nonsense.”
Fast forward to April of this year, when I turned the concept into a (mostly) weekly series, showing photos of pairs of celebrities who shared the same birthday and were somehow “odd couples.” Eight of these posts went by with the usual reaction – an occasional comment or a “Like” from the Facebook crowd.
But then yesterday, I published my ninth post of the series (George M. Cohan & Franz Kafka), and started receiving multiple messages from folks who were upset about how I was over-generalizing, over-simplifying, under-valuing, and speciously criticizing the field of astrology. None of which was the point, of course, as much as it was to highlight weird pairs of celebrities. That said, astrology? Really? Is nothing up for free ridicule anymore? Ah well, live and learn.
In any case, I’ve renamed the series Unlikely Twins, and have removed just about all references to astrology and/or horoscopes. Hopefully, we can all now share a weekly chuckle, and leave the arguing to important matters – like politics. Or whether the World Cup is getting in the way of a perfectly good baseball season.
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(And oh, by the way, Happy Birthday to both Ringo Starr and Gustav Mahler, composers of Yellow Submarine and Kindertotenlieder – Songs on the Deaths of Children, respectively…) |
Categories: Blogging about Blogs, Unlikely Twins | 9 Comments »
The Best of TED: The paradox of choice
By Brian | July 7, 2010
Here’s another installment of my Best of TED series, in which I share talks from the Technology, Entertainment and Design conference that have struck me over the years as particularly insightful or fascinating.
In today’s installment, author Barry Schwartz discusses what he calls “the official dogma:”
If we are interested in maximizing the welfare of our citizens, the way to do that is to maximize individual freedom. The reason for this is both that freedom is in and of itself good, valuable, worthwhile, essential to being human. And because if people have freedom, then each of us can act on our own to do the things that will maximize our welfare, and no one has to decide on our behalf. The way to maximize freedom is to maximize choice. The more choice people have, the more freedom they have, and the more freedom they have, the more welfare they have.
As you might imagine, he then goes on to offer a very convincing argument that this isn’t true. The more choices we have, Mr. Schwartz tells us, the more paralyzed we become. He gives many examples, but my favorite is this one:
I wear jeans almost all the time. And there was a time when jeans came in one flavor, and you bought them, and they fit like crap, and they were incredibly uncomfortable, and if you wore them long enough and washed them enough times, they started to feel OK. So I went to replace my jeans after years and years of wearing these old ones, and I said, “You know, I want a pair of jeans, here’s my size.” And the shopkeeper said, “Do you want slim fit, easy fit, relaxed fit? You want button fly or zipper fly? You want stonewashed or acid washed? Do you want them distressed? You want boot cut, you want tapered, blah blah blah …” On and on he went. My jaw dropped, and after I recovered, I said, “I want the kind that used to be the only kind.”
He makes similar points about how the presence of smartphones give us the choice to work, even when we’re at our kids’ soccer games, or how people with more mutual funds to choose from tend to participate less in their company’s 401(k) plan.
The talk reminded me of another Mr. Schwartz – Stephen Schwartz – who wrote, among other things, a Broadway musical called Pippin, about the son of Charlemagne, who spends his life searching for total fulfillment. In the end, he winds up married to a simple farm girl with a young son, and he sings:
Rivers belong where they can ramble
Eagles belong where they can fly.[But] I’m not a river or a giant bird
That soars to the sea
And if I’m never tied to anything
I’ll never be free.
I’ll encourage you to watch the entire video. Unfortunately, as both Mr. Schwartz’s might tell us, it’s your choice…
Categories: The Best of TED | Comments Off on The Best of TED: The paradox of choice
Unlikely Twins, Part IX
By Brian | July 3, 2010
I thought at least one of these guys was born on the Fourth of July. Turns out, it was July 3rd. In any case, they likely went about their days very differently:
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| George M. Cohan, Optimistic American Icon |
Franz Kafka, Freaky Nightmare Inducer |
Categories: Unlikely Twins | 3 Comments »
Take Me Out to the Ballgame
By Brian | July 2, 2010
One of the things I love about summertime is getting the kids out to a few baseball games, which is why I have a feeling these next few weeks are going to be remembered for quite some time:
- June 30 – Went with my Dad to see the Yankees play the Mariners at Yankee Stadium. The kids couldn’t come along to this one because they had camp the next morning, and also because we got the tickets from a source other than our usual one and there weren’t enough seats for them. That’s OK, though – I’ve been going to Yankee Stadium with my father for more than 30 years, so it’s good to add yet another memory. Even if the Yankees did lose a yawner that night…
- July 3 – Taking the kids to see the Washington Nationals play the New York Mets in Nationals Park in Washington, DC. A new baseball stadium for all of us (just so happens to be a New York team visiting), plus the latest rookie phenom, Stephen Strasburg, is pitching. And we get to spend a fun afternoon with our friends from Virginia. Should be a great day…
- July 11 – “Family Day” at the Staten Island Yankees. Minor league baseball is fun once in a while, especially with the kids. The game is much more accessible – the players are closer, the stadium is smaller, and the minor league teams tend to involve the fans a lot more (most of them let the kids run around the bases after the game is over, for example). We’ve never seen the Staten Island Yankees play, so this should be a treat. Also, a chance to spend some time with another group of (Yankee-fan) friends.
- July 23 – Yankee Stadium, this time, with the kids. We try to go to about one game per month, the Yankees’ schedule and our kids’ ever-growing schedules permitting. Our last game was May 31st, Avery’s 10th Birthday, so we’re a little overdue this time. But the other games (above) should more than make up for it.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of streamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and could be again. Oh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come…
Categories: Family Matters, Sports Talk | 3 Comments »
Barack Obama – Hogwarts Student?
By Brian | July 1, 2010
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| Barack Obama earns 50 points for his house from Professor Flitwick after successfully conjuring golden birds in both hands simultaneously |
NOTE: The above picture is not Photoshopped – the birds are actually on the top of flagpoles just behind President Obama. Click here for another, more revealing view.
Categories: Random Acts of Blogging | 3 Comments »
Mary Had a Little Song Parody…
By Brian | June 27, 2010
Some random humor from my e-mail inbox:
First, my friend Jeff Porten shows what happens when you eat lamb chops while listening to Elton John:
Bo combs my fleece next morn adorned
Zero hour six AM
And I’m gonna be munching grass and straw till then
The NASA satellite was low and tight
That caught my sheepskin fuzz
Ovis aries meets AresAnd I think it’s gonna be a long long time
Got four legs waving in the air sublime
I’m not the lamb they think is all alone
Oh no no no. I’m a rocket lamb.
Rocket lamb, glad I’m wearing wool ’cause it’s awf’ly cold.Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids
Leave them with the goats’ next door
Or their heads will bug out bad like Arnold’s did.
I see Spirit stuck there, down in the sand
In space there’s no one to hear you bleat
A rocket lamb, a rocket lamb.And this orbit is still stuck on full repeat
No fancy gyroscope gives me a sign
I’d be better off as gyro meat
Oh no no no no no. I’m a rocket lamb.
Rocket lamb, Peep has no business raising sheep
Not to be outdone, Steve Walsh responded with this Paul McCartney tribute:
Well the grain exploded with a mighty crash, as we leapt over the trough,
And the first one said to the second one, “baaah”
Lamb on the run, lamb on the run,
And the farmer man and the upholstery stand, were searching everyone,For the lamb on the run, lamb on the run, lamb on the run, lamb on the run
Well the shearer drew a heavy sigh, seeing no spool of wool had come,
And a bell was ringing in the village square, for the rabbits on the run
[NOTE: actual line!]
Lamb on the run, lamb on the run.
OK, so the first one is cute, but the second one is a challenge. So at that point, I turn to Billy Joel for inspiration:
There’s nine in our flock on a Saturday
But yesterday it was ten
There’s a sheep dog standing next to me
Making sure no one else leave the penHe says, “Son, you appear to be musical
which for you, might seem quite absurd
But if you would please bleat a song that is sweet
Then I can keep track of this herdbaa baa baa, b- b- baa baa
baa baa, b- b- baa, baa baaaaaaaaaaaaaSing us a song, you’re the piano lamb
Sing us a song right now
’cause Mary is peeved I let one of you leave
and now she’s stuck eating the cow..
So there you go. Three guys writing song parodies who aren’t the least bit sheepish…
(Too much? Yeah, you’re right. Sorry…)
Categories: The World Wide Weird, Words about Music | 1 Comment »
New York City Sights – Pre-Theater Parking?
By Brian | June 26, 2010
People with tickets to see Denzel Washington in Fences at Broadway’s Cort theater will go to extraordinary means to get a good parking spot:
(to be fair, the building next to the theater is a parking garage, and the roof is just the top floor of the circular ramp that cars use to park. But I like the visual…)
Categories: New York, New York | Comments Off on New York City Sights – Pre-Theater Parking?
Unlikely Twins, Part VIII
By Brian | June 26, 2010
Their shared birthday, June 26th, and a penchant for sports may be the only two things that apply to both of these guys…
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| Derek Jeter, One of the Nicest Guys in Sports |
Michael Vick, Forever in the Dog House |
Categories: Unlikely Twins | Comments Off on Unlikely Twins, Part VIII
Maybe less salt?
By Brian | June 24, 2010
I just got this e-mail at work today:
The copy goes on & on about how good the pretzels are, but all I can think of when I look at the ad is “Now at Rockefeller Center: GLOWING PRETZELS!”
Memo to Auntie Anne: next time a little lighter on the Photoshop, ‘mkay?
Categories: The World Wide Weird | 2 Comments »
Unlikely Twins, Part VII
By Brian | June 20, 2010
On June 20th, these two guys are likely thinking about vastly different things. But they’re both thinking, “Hey – it’s my birthday!”
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| John Goodman, Fictional King Ralph of England |
Nouri al-Maliki, Actual Prime Minister of Iraq |
Categories: Unlikely Twins | Comments Off on Unlikely Twins, Part VII