I’m excited to announce that I will be live-blogging tomorrow’s episode of “Eleventh Hour” on CBS. Airtime is Thursday Dec 22, 10PM EST/9PM CST. I was originally contacted by the show’s PR firm in December to do an episode then but holidays and schedule postponed it to this month. In the interim, I’ve taken advantage of that time to catch up on almost half the season’s 10 episodes and I can honestly recommend the show to anyone who appreciates science, mystery and a touch of the unknown. I can honestly say that this is the first show to have come along in the spirit of The X-Files that does the genre justice (and some of you know about my rather public involvement with that show in the day…hehe)
The setup is that I’m brought in as the science “expert” with another blogger who does this weekly doing the main commentary. In essence, I’ll be the wingman on a two man team providing some scientific backbone in a real-time blogging session that will also take some fan questions along the way. This upcoming episode promises to be a good medically-tilted one about a boy who was seemingly “cured” by drinking some spring water. I can hardly contain myself if that teaser delivers the medical hoax debunk-fest think it’s going to.
The live web cast for the show is here and I assume it will be active around 15-10 minutes before the show actually starts. If you have time and interest, it would be great if you could join us for some multimedia primetime fun! Hope to see you there!
Is it about Obama being a turban-headed Muslim terrorist? Is it about Palin’s $150,000 wardrobe that ostensibly will go to charity afterwards? Is it about McCain’s gorilla-rape joke? No, no, it’s none of these silly, misguided attack ads. This “my friends” is about a Palin impersonator shilling for a CHINESE BUFFET RESTAURANT:
What is not evident in the video above is the fact that, like many buffets of this caliber, it’s mostly full of grease-laden crap bearing no resemblance to fresh, bright Chinese food of any kind. It’s so catering to the fried-chicken crowd that it even sports a drive-through. I kid you not. With the commercial and the food, clever gimmicks and bad substitutes go hand-in-hand. And there is no lack of people willing to eat it up.
I am not kidding. Elmo. For the last 6 months or so I’ve seen more Elmo than anything other single type of programming–period. It’s the side effect of the strange psychological mind-meld that furry creature can achieve with the 2-year-old age group.
However, a few moments of Sesame Street are actually cool and clearly have some “inside jokes” aimed at the older kids/grown-ups watching it with the little ones.** This one is perfect for the theme of today, featuring the sexy, sassy, singular Tina Fey as the Skipper of this bunch o’ scalawags! It’s about 13 minutes and has some “annoying” Elmo moments of course, but it’s all worth it for Tina and the smart-alecky muppet shipmates. I’m hosting here instead of YouTube in case of “copyright” violations (not with PBS, per se, but with hot-ticket celeb media lawyer types WRT Tina Fey)–enjoy!
And on a similar note, Change of Shift, the illustrious nursing blog carnival is hosted this week by Emily McGee, aka crzegrl, and of course also has the pirate theme built right in. She’s got multimedia content to go with all the awesome posts there, so check that out too!
In closing, yes, I know I’m posting this the day AFTER but the video encode (it’s my own personal rip from the TV, not commercial) and some other things didn’t allow me to get it in before the end of yesterday. But it’s never too late to honor pirates, right?! (and yes, I didn’t talk like a pirate, but I’m just trying to get this late post up before it gets later. Don’t make me walk the plank!)
**As a side note, I should say that our TV is never used as a babysitter, though it’s nearly impossible to not have it be a crutch when things get super-hectic. The norm is interactive participation, and having funny cameos like Tina Fey makes it a LOT easier for adults to do that.
Today is Canada Day! And in honor of a blog friend (to whom I won’t link so there’s no inappropriate association, but s/he knows who s/he is) I post this funny (language NSFW) to celebrate along with:
Obviously, this is from South Park, but this time Canada strikes back! You hear that, buddy? Oh, I’m not your buddy, friend? Well, OK buddy.
Believe it or not, YouTube was full of bum links for this, and obviously the copyright bots are out in full force for something like South Park, so this is my own copy and is being hosted locally. I’ll keep this post up for a day or so then consider taking it down before the lawyers start sending C&D letters. Happy Canada Day!
50 years ago this month, a lanky 23-year-old young man from the small town of Kilgore, Texas went on Soviet soil and conquered an entire nation–truly winning their hearts and minds–at the height of the Cold War, a mere six months after the Soviets launched Sputnik I to start the space race–not with military might, but with music. I am, of course, speaking of Van Cliburn, one of the most famous pianists this century.
Story short, the Soviets decided they were to host a grand competition for the world’s finest pianists, violinists and cellists, all in honor of the famous Russian composer Tchaikovsky. Premier Khrushchev was certain that the Soviets would illuminate the musical world as Soviet musicians would compete and emerge victorious on an open stage for the world to see. I’m sure the Soviet Ministry of Culture had their “hand picked” winner, but the crowds were chanting Cliburn’s name. He was the obvious choice among the jury, and the shock wave was enormous. The soft-spoken Cliburn literally had women screaming as if it were a rock concert, yet Cliburn’s stage presence then and now has always been one of austere sincerity.
So powerful was the “note heard ’round the world,” that the jury had to ask Khrushchev personally to approve naming Cliburn the competition winner. And lets examine some of the luminaries on that jury: Emil Gilels, jury chairman (photo w/Cliburn), Dmitri Shostakovich, Sviatoslav Richter, to name a few: to have won over these geniuses, regardless of nationality or politics, was a feat unto itself. Imagine it! The gold medal of the inaugural Soviet competition in honor of the grandfather of Russian classical music–going to a practically unknown American at a time when the USSR was spilling over with national communist pride. So powerful was this weaponless and honest victory, that Cliburn received a ticker-tape parade in New York upon his return. Usually reserved for sports champions, military heroes, or pop-culture icons, no other classical artist before or since has ever received that honor. Cliburn’s live recording of the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto made upon returning back to the USA (with the Soviet conductor and orchestra from the competition no less) was the first classical album to go platinum, selling over a million copies. A classical album!!
No longer making recordings but still playing limited engagements, he is more known now for the international piano competition that bears his name. It shows his character that Cliburn stayed true to his roots and had the competition held in Fort Worth (ie, not neighboring Dallas or any other “big” city) where this small, humble city becomes the musical capital of the world for two weeks every four years. The Cliburn Foundation also hosts a competition for amateur pianists on off-years, something I have always had on my “Have to do before I die” list–just to participate.
Below is a video clip of Cliburn playing the last movement of Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 in 1962 during one of Cliburn’s numerous tours of the Soviet Union. This one happens to be in Moscow, with the same conductor and orchestra, and in the same hall as when he won the competition four years earlier. You can even see Khrushchev himself applauding during the last few seconds of the video. Understand that this was the same year as when the world was on the brink of nuclear holocaust from the Cuban missile crisis, yet there Cliburn was on Russian soil, wowing Soviet audiences with their own national composers. Seeing the video, it’s not hard to understand how Cliburn was and is a true musical ambassador of peace in the name of great music and art. Enjoy!
(For more, go to the Van Cliburn Foundation page and follow “50th Anniversary” links for more videos and interviews of Van Cliburn then and now)
Tomorrow, Thursday Dec 13th at 9PM EST (8PM CST/6PM PST, 2AM Dec 14th GMT) I’ll be a guest on Dr. Anonymous’ Holiday show, broadcast (streaming) live on BlogTalkRadio! Dr. A., myself and other panelists will be discussing (viciously debating…heh) various holiday songs, movies, favorites, and other festive topics. There is a call in number that will be available for you, the listener to call in and get a chance to participate.
UPDATE, Thursday PM:
The show has changed as of this afternoon to shift focus on what I’m going through with UAG. Several factors went into this decision, made by Dr. A., and outlined here. Times, links, directions, etc. are still all the same.
Being a follower of the show and having been on the ‘air’ before as a caller, I can definitely say that participating in the chat room, available only just before the time of the broadcast (and lasting until sometime after) is just as fun as listening, like a running commentary while the show is going on.
I highly encourage people not only to tune in, but to stop by the BTR radio show site to create an account (see “Register” at top of page) before the air time so you can be identified as someone other than “Guest12345″ in the chat room. If you can’t make it for the live broadcast, don’t worry–the archive of the show will be available within 24 hours to listen at your leisure.
The 1975 JC Penney’s Catalog. I definitely don’t remember this one, but my childhood was full of dreaming of getting things from phonebook-sized catalogs, like the Sears Wishbook, to smaller-sized but no less desirable merchants, such as Radio Shack. Given that I was 3-4 at the time this came out, my entire formative years would have been immersed in imagery such as this in everyday life. I’m going to need more therapy than I thought…
Something worthy of mention: Brooke Shields is actually one of the models in the girl’s clothing picture! And for those of you who think (correctly) that the fashion industry nowadays sends the wrong message to girls to be unreasonably thin, check out that same picture which advertises “also chubby sizes.” (!!!) That’s one step away from me regressing to a 10-year-old being bought Sears Toughskins “husky” sized jeans. AAAH!!! Not the “X” stitched on the back pocket! Nooooo!!!
I’m in the middle of studying for a huge exam on Monday (more later on that), but I simply could NOT WAIT to post this, probably one of the best Bushisms I’ve ever heard:
I’ve only watched the first 20 minutes or so, but if I’m brave enough I’ll post my useless review/opinion in the next day or so. Of course I’m leaving off how I got the video. It’s confidential research materials, after all.
P.S. For those returning readers wondering where the school posts of late went, I’m going to make a final update on that later today. Don’t worry–it’s not bad news. (for once)
Blogging/Web2.0, Pop Culture | enrico | 
January 21, 2009 11:51 pm | 
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