Gobble Gobble

It's one day before Thanksgiving, and it is hard to believe that it has been a year since I first posted about Sarah Palin talking to an interviewer while turkeys were being slaughtered in the background. It is even more hard for me to believe that over 365 days later, Palin is still in the news on a daily basis. That is well past Andy Warhol's prediction of each of us getting fifteen minutes of fame. Well, anyway, here is the video below - and please have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Oh My Nose!!!

OK, there is no way that I could resist today's blog item being about Food Network celebrity Paula Dean being bopped in the face by a low flying ham. Paula was doing a spot about her helping to distribute free hams to needy families for Thanksgiving, when someone in the group got the idea of throwing one in her direction. I actually found the lack of response in her husband (guy with beard showed at end of video) to be just as funny as the incident itself. She was OK afterward, and suffered no bad injuries. No word is in yet on the ham, however. Here is the video:


This Paula Dean incident reminded me of my generation's most famous "hit in the nose" incident on television. Of course, I am speaking about the Brady Bunch scene in which Marcia Brady gets hit with her brother's football and exclaims, "oh my nose." Here is a snippet of the scene below:

American Music Awards

To tell you the truth - I have never been a fan of American Idol. I don't like watching people get ridiculed. I can get enough of that in real life. I don't remember who won last season. I know it was a guy - and that it was down to one cute guy who seemed straight and one cute guy who seemed gay. Well - the straight guy won, but the gay guy - Adam Lambert - made a big ruckus on last night's American Music Awards. Here is the video below:


There are a plethora of opinions out there today. I will take any opportunity to use that word. Terms that I have read include: pushing the envelope; double standard for men; double standard for gay men; lewd, pornographic; cool. What do I think? Well - I think that there is a double standard for men, and particularly gay men. Madonna, Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, and - more recently - Lady Gaga - have been doing blatantly sexual maneuvers for years now. Hey - look at Michael Jackson. If I had a dime for every crotch grab that he had done - I would be rich now. But - what is different about Michael? He never kissed a dude - at least on stage, that is.

You know what they say - that there is no bad publicity. Years ago, when I was very deeply in the closet - I remember watching the Grammy Awards with my mother. I told her about Annie Lennox and how she had such a great voice. I nearly plotzed (passed out in Yiddish) when she appeared on stage that night with Elvis style side-burns. It was a little too close for comfort for me and my own issues. I am attaching the video of that performance below. Well, anyway, that was years ago - and performers have been "pushing the envelope" in different ways for years now. I think that it was probably about time that this most recent envelope push was "guy on guy" action.

Google and Clouds

Today is a big "tech geek" day. I pretend to be a "tech geek" - but I am really not one. I know a little bit of stuff - just enough to sound impressive. It usually doesn't work. Anyway, the tech geek event of today is the Google's Chrome OS meeting being held in Mountain View, California. You know it has to be for real - look at the picture of the guys above who are in attendance.

From what I understand, Google Chrome is a web browser. Google Chrome OS is an operating system. The two real big competitors in this market currently are Microsoft and Apple. Microsoft has the bigger piece of the pie, but they are about it. The cute but informative video below explains how Chrome OS is faster and makes more sense now, because people, in general, are using their computers for the internet. When operating systems were first put into place, the internet was not in the forefront as it is now. That is why it takes so long to get onto the internet. Your computer still has to go through all the system checks for all of the other stuff that we only occasionally use. With Google Chrome OS - you are the internet and the internet is you. Your information and data is stored on the internet, and not on your "hard drive." I saw someone comment, "it's not stored on the internet - it is stored on Google servers." Ah - that is the catch. That "cloud" as they call it - where all of your stuff is stored - is stored in Google land. How will this effect privacy, security, etc? I really don't know - but truthfully - I don't think that there is really much left anymore anyway.

OK - take a look at the video and see what you think. Anything this cute can't be scary, right? Oh - and also - you can't download a Google Chrome Operating System - you have to buy a whole new computer.


I am including a video of something else that considers itself - cute, inventive, innovative, and what is "to come." Well, at least Mr. Google would probably hold up better to Katie Couric:

Cupcake Cars and John Edwards

Remember how John Edwards spoke about the "Two Americas" during his 2008 campaign stumping. You know - his version of the "haves" and "have nots." Bill Maher joked that Elizabeth Edwards agreed with the "Two Americas" concept, until she learned that her husband was having sex in both Americas.

John Edwards aside, this holiday season at Neiman Marcus, you can purchase your favorite person a Cupcake Car for only $25,000.00. It doesn't take too much time to figure out which "America" can afford such an unpractical gift. I bet I won't see many Cupcake Cars driving around the poorer sections of Philadelphia this year.

Here is a little snippet of the Cupcake Cars in action:

Happy Felix Unger Day!

I pride myself on knowing all sorts of meaningless trivia, but this one passed right by me. Today is known as "Felix Unger Day." Felix is the character from the Odd Couple movie/television show. I know him best as being portrayed by Tony Randall - in the television series. The Jack Lemmon version in the movie was a little bit before my viewing time. Well, anyway, it is Felix Unger Day today - November 13th - because at the start of each "Odd Couple" show - the background vocal guy would say:

On November 13, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence. (Unger's unseen wife slams door. She reopens it and angrily hands Felix his saucepan) That request came from his wife. Deep down, he knew she was right, but he also knew that someday, he would return to her. With nowhere else to go, he appeared at the home of his childhood friend, Oscar Madison. Sometime earlier, Madison's wife had thrown him out, requesting that he never return. Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?"

Here is a snippet of that now famous intro, as well as another classic Odd Couple Scene. And - before I forget - Happy Felix Unger Day.

Sarah and the Pope

Had not seen this video before. Heard it discussed on Bill Maher's Real Time show. Funny:

Robbie Benson and Maudlin Madness

I was driving to work this morning listening to a John Denver song. I know, don't judge. I grew up on that stuff. Looking back, 70s television drama and movies were sure depressing. There was a heck of a lot of doom and gloom - and I am not just talking about Vietnam and Nixon.

The king of sadness in 70s television/movies - was, in my opinion, Robbie Benson (pictured above). He was cute, but he rarely acted in anything that was happy. Really, just think back on some of his 1970s acting credits: Ode to Billy Jode, Death Be Not Proud, One on One, Ice Castles, etc. Poor guy. He even auditioned for the role of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars movie, but lost the part to Mark Hamill. I guess the role of Luke did not fit him; Luke only lost 2 relatives in the movie. That is just a mere pittance of sadness for Robbie Benson.

With that theme of 70s sadness in mind, I decided to offer some snippets of 1970s television movies that to me, represent "maudlin madness," as I like to call it. Enjoy:

Obama, Maher and Moyers

I was reading on the CNN website this morning about how investigators are seeking the help of military personnel and civilians in locating any possible tips regarding last week's shootings at Fort Hood by Nidal Malik Hasan. They write:

The Fort Hood office of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command is seeking any military or civilian personnel who may have left the scene ... with gunshot damage such as damaged privately owned vehicles, personnel clothing, etc.," investigators said in a written statement. "CID is also seeking any military or civilian personnel who may have inadvertently left the scene of this incident with material that could be used as firearms residue related evidence such as shell casings inside the boot, etc."

Something about this statement leads to to believe that the investigators may not be totally sold on the idea of a lone gunman. "Tips" usually means that there are more unknowns possibly out there.

The day before the shooting at Fort Hood, I was listening to a podcast from Bill Maher's show, Real Time. It was from sometime in the summer. The panel was discussing such ideas as: how the Christian right is really trying to put forth a strong force on military bases; how it is somewhat ridiculous to not label wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as religious wars; how one incident can alter months of positive change in how Americans view those of the Muslim faith. Sometimes, irony and timing is crazy.

I really like Bill Maher, and I also respect Bill Moyers. Here is a recent clip from a Maher/Moyers interviewer. Moyers discusses Obama and the war in Afghanistan. Fascinating stuff:

Got Dashboard?

You know what are really big right now? Dashboards. Everybody has them. Nah, I am not talking about car dashboards; I am talking about information dashboards. The iPhone has them, corporations have them, Google has them, Twitter has them; it's like this generation's table of contents. A table of contents is a thing of the past. By the time you look at the table of contents, then check out the information - the information is old. Dashboards are supposed to provide "real time" information. Real time information is why print newspapers and magazines are struggling. By the time you purchase them, it is old news already.

I am no Dashboardaphile. I sometimes find them overwhelming, in a too "busy" kind of way. CNN recently changed their website to a more "dashboard" style, and I really haven't liked it. Sometimes I still prefer the old-fashioned top-down style of print news. Well, maybe it is more related to the generation I am from. Speaking of generations, this car commercial is before even my generation. Check out this dashboard:

Reality Television

I am fortunate to have grown up during the time of PBS - or the Public Broadcasting Service. I have to admit it; it is something that I often take for granted. You know, like during their pledge periods. I am impatient and will think, "yeah, yeah - just get on with the show already." But, they depend on support to stay on the air. Well, enough of my preaching.

I was thinking about reality television, and how PBS is sometimes the best example of actual reality television. Not the kind that we often think of - like Jeff Conway and Ruth Buzzi living in the same house for a month - but real reality tv. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Later today, some of the more ugly stuff is on. At 10pmEST tonight, on PBS, the story of "The People vs Leo Frank" is told. Leo Frank (picture on left) was a young Jewish man who managed a pencil factory in Georgia during the early 1900s. He was found guilty and eventually lynched for the murder of a 13 year old worker at the factory, named Mary Phagan. Most Atlantans celebrated the verdict, but observers around the country considered it a mockery of justice. Here is a link for the web site's summary of the show:

http://www.pbs.org/thepeoplevleofrank/

Ironically, also on the PBS website, is the announcement that they have updated the web page for the Mr. Rogers Show. I loved Mr. Rogers, and still sing his songs to my daughter at bedtime. He was a wonderful man, who spoke and sang of love, acceptance, and feelings. The web page now features video/audio clips of songs and highlights from the Mr. Rogers Show. Only PBS is consistently able to show such contrasting portions of life. Some is good, some is bad, and some is ugly - but they show it all. Oh - by the way - please forgive my loose use of the Clint Eastwood film title. Here is a little snippet of video from when Fred Rogers accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 24th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards: