The Many Uses of Tim Foil

Bought a bottle of Stoli for my Dad's birthday...

2011-12-19T14:38:00.001-05:00

...and it rolled out of my car onto the concrete floor of his garage and shattered. I don't usually like to rely so heavily on the old chestnut about the thought being what counts...

Did they find the Higgs Boson or not?

2011-12-13T13:21:00.000-05:00

So, as you’re no doubt aware (!), the physicists at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN (The European Organization for Nuclear Research) have, amongst their august goals, the challenge of finding the postulated Higgs Boson. This is the theoretical particle that gives all things mass. Without it, we’re back to the drawing board in our fundamental understanding of the universe.
Today, particle physicist Fabiola Gianotti did a live webcast from CERN talking about this very subject. Courtesy of Boing Boing, the short summary is this:

The public announcement wasn't really an announcement of anything. Instead, it was more like a year-in-review presentation. CERN has made some good progress in the hunt for the Higgs Boson, they've been able to narrow their search to small field, and they have seen some potentially interesting things happening within that field. But there's not really enough here to say, one way or the other, whether the Higgs Boson is there. What they can say: 2012 is likely to be a really exciting year for particle physics, as researchers dive into experiments that will help them figure out what those "interesting things" really are.

Hey! There’s another reason to look forward to 2012!

Stanley Kubrick's New York

2011-12-07T10:38:00.001-05:00

Before Stanley Kubrick built a career as a film maker he was the youngest-ever staff photographer for Look Magazine. Now, VandM and the Museum of the City of New York are making prints available by the teenaged prodigy...

(Tip of the cap to Kottke.org...)

Driving While Reading

2011-11-28T09:46:00.001-05:00

Those of you following my Twitter feed (Hello Lou Barlow!) know that I was cited last week for DWR - Driving While Reading. $35 seems like a small price to pay for the pleasure of having the story to tell but then I was reminded that this was a moving violation and I will be paying surcharges for car insurance for the next 6 years.

At least the guy didn't pepper-spray me...

And oh what the hell...

2011-11-26T11:20:00.001-05:00

While we're on the subject of Kevin Parry I'll give him another plug...hope all the traffic I'm driving to his site doesn't crash the servers!

Kalle Mattson - Thick As Thieves (Official Video) from Kevin Parry on Vimeo.

The Arctic Circle

2011-11-26T11:11:00.002-05:00

This is a great stop-motion animation by Kevin Parry. Know how I know it's great? Because Tim Burton said so. And he's right! (What a relief it must be for Mr. Burton to have the validation of a web luminary such as myself...)

The Arctic Circle from Kevin Parry on Vimeo.

Tim Burton on The Arctic Circle and Stop-Motion Animation from Kevin Parry on Vimeo.

A Little Pick-Me-Up

2011-11-25T12:39:00.001-05:00

Palmer! Merritt! Gaiman! Moby!

2011-11-05T22:45:00.000-04:00

We opened the Degas and the Nude exhibition at the museum a few weeks ago, the last hurrah of departing Art of Europe Chair George Shackelford who will be joining the Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas as Senior Deputy Director.

Just before the opening Shackelford was conducting a private tour for Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls and her husband, author Neil Gaiman. (Caution, more name dropping to follow...)

So moved by the exhibition was Palmer that she undressed on the spot and posed in repose while Gaiman took the opportunity to sketch her. It was a non-event event but caused snickers in the local paper for a few days after.

Anyhew...here's Palmer and Gaiman on Halloween, along with Moby and Stephin Merritt (the Magnetic Fields guy, sounding typically baritonishly great) performing "Science Fiction/Double Feature" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Marketing Genius

2011-11-04T22:32:00.003-04:00

Loyal readers (!) probably recall this post about a marketing campaign suggesting that 7-Up isn't only refreshing for adults but for infants as well.

Here's another beauty brought to you by the fine folks as Schick Razor Company that makes it clear that if Schick is good enough enough to shave the mangled and burned faces of the victims of the Hindenburg disaster then, by gosh, it should be good enough for you too!

(click to embiggen)

I've got dozens of unfinished songs...none as good as this one...

2011-11-04T21:52:00.003-04:00

Sophie Madeleine "Oil & Gold" - Live at the Loft from Indaba Music on Vimeo.

Agent Starling

2011-11-04T21:41:00.002-04:00

A group of crows is called a "murder." A group of starlings is called a "murmuration." Give this video 25 seconds and then hold on...

Don't Mutilate Your Papers

2011-11-02T09:26:00.003-04:00

Today is my one-year anniversary at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I spent the previous 18 years failing upwards in a career in sales and marketing, most recently selling paperclips to Staples. And if that sounds like a particularly dreary way to spend 50 or 60 hours per week, well, you have no idea.

It was about a year ago that everything came crashing down. I lost my job, the third in five years. My marriage of six years went up in smoke and I moved into my parent’s basement. Littlefoil was a champ throughout and adjusted to the changes much better than I did. It wasn’t until thereapist #5 that I found someone who knew how to help.

Thank you #5. Thanks also to my friend Kelly who worked at the MFA and brought my attention to a temporary, entry level sales job there. I started selling memberships at the front door…me, a forty four year-old washout, along with nine fresh-faced college students.

The plan was to bring in a little bit of income while exploring a new place, a new industry and a new career. And for the first time in memory, the plan actually worked. About three months later I accepted a full-time job as an Operations Manager and haven’t looked back. I have never had a job that I enjoyed as much as this one. Not camp counseling, not working at Tower records and surely not selling paperclips.

It was the first step in a forced reinvention which should have happened 15 years sooner.

So if you’re looking to make a life change, go ahead and do what I did, move into your parent’s basement and take a 55% salary reduction. It’s just that easy.

I’ve retrofitted my ideas about happiness and lifestyle and the future to fit my new situation and I’m feeling optimistic and hopeful and good.

And it’s partly because of #5 and partly because I moved out but mostly the job has been the thing. I wasn’t just being snarky about the paperclips by the way. That really was my job. Paperclip salesman. Ye gads. And good for all of the other paperclip sales people out there. We all need paperclips…it’s just that the paperclip industrial complex has a way of chewing up and spitting out gentle folk like me.

(Cue Alec Baldwin: “I used to be in sales, it’s a tough racquet…”)

But now, here I am, a man of the arts! A conduit between some of the most significant contributions to the human endeavor and the restrooms! A guide for the patron of the arts who also happens to be looking for the food court. Every day I bring people a little bit closer to history, wonder, creativity and the coat room.

Clearly, I don’t consider myself superior to the paperclip salesman, the robot salesman, the ball point pen salesman or the rubber duckie salesman. I applaud the record store clerks and waiters, the lawnmowers and the sales clerks, the car salesmen, the radio DJ's, the park guides at Sea World and the cold callers because at one time or another I've been all of those things.

Yes, I spend a lot of time directing people to the toilets but I get to do it alongside Degas, Kelly, Picasso and Marclay.

And sometimes, when I use a paperclip, I try to look back on what were such dark days for me only to find my memory a blurry fuzz. No need to bring it into focus though. My lesson is learned.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011. Year two, day one.

I stand a little bit corrected...

2011-10-30T14:52:00.003-04:00

From the fine folks at The Guardian via the fine folks at Boing Boing comes news that British Christian groups are vowing to protect the Occupy London protesters in front of St. Paul's Cathedral by forming a protective prayer ring.

And just who are they protecting the protesters from? From the Church itself! With "senior leadership" intent on seeking injunctions to have Occupy London protesters forcibly removed, a few right-thinking Christians have called bullshit.

The canon chancellor of St Paul's, Dr Giles Fraser, and the Rev Fraser Dyer, who works as a chaplain at the cathedral, have resigned in protest. The groups vowing to protect the protesters issued the following statement:

"As Christians, we stand alongside people of all religions who are resisting economic injustice with active nonviolence. The global economic system perpetuates the wealth of the few at the expense of the many. It is based on idolatrous subservience to markets. We cannot worship both God and money."

Meanwhile, the bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres and the dean of St Paul's, the Right Rev Graeme Knowles wouldn't answer when asked if they would commit to opposing the planned eviction.

Chartres said it was irrelevant for him to take a stance, telling journalists: "I honestly have no part in it, because St Paul's and the Dean of Chapter are in charge." And yet apparently he does have a part in it because here is is addressing the protesters while Knowles looks on thoughtfully. So which is it Bish? Are you the guy or not?

What leadership! (And totally dig the evil banker suit behind them!)

Jonathan Bartley, the director of the influential religious thinktank Ekklesia, said "To evict rather than offer sanctuary is contrary to what many people think the church is all about."

*By the way, in the British Roman Catholic Church, the term "The Right Reverend" refers to bishops while "The Most Reverend" is reserved for archbishops. "Asshole" may be commonly used to refer to the whole lot of them.

Longshoremans Local 374

2011-10-29T20:54:00.006-04:00

It was a good night to watch “On The Waterfront.” It was cold and rainy, a scrappy kind of night. And I was in the right mood.

And in 2011, 57 years after its release, “On the Waterfront” is equally timely and dated.

Timely because the fight against power, tyranny and corruption resonates and reflects the 99% ethic of the Occupy movement. Dated because of the abdication of responsibility by the Catholic Church for social justice and morality.

Karl Malden’s Father Barry, as the moral center of the movie, is unrecognizable. A crusading priest today? Show me one. While the Pope crusades agains condom use in AIDS torn Africa, local clergy remain circumspect about molestation and abuse but are firm and engaged in the fight against equality and justice for the marginalized.

What a difference 57 years makes. The roles are the same but the players are unrecognizable. Father Barry? What a laugh.

TFWOTD (Tim Foil’s Word of the Day)

2011-10-27T13:53:00.000-04:00

I received an e-mail from a colleague today that used the word “swivet.” Swivet is defined as a fluster or panic as in When I lost my job I was in a terrible swivet.

Go forth and use accordingly!

It's not just me...right?

2011-10-24T15:00:00.003-04:00

I'm almost embarrassed to share this because it means revealing to the world that I spent part of my time on Sunday, October 16 looking at Parade Magazine. Flipping past the ads for weight loss shakes and commemorative plates I came across this cartoon:

Is this as insensitive as I think it is? Could it possibly be? I must be reading this wrong because I googled my heart out to try and find some backlash online but there was nothing.

Until now! TMUOTF breaking news on the cyber-thingy!

LittleFoil Vs.The Brambles

2011-10-24T12:27:00.002-04:00

As a supporter of the arts and as one being supported by the arts, I submit the following whimsical video for your consideration...

2011-10-24T12:19:00.001-04:00

You really don't understand?

2011-10-22T21:25:00.001-04:00

Shades of Black and White

2011-10-22T20:31:00.001-04:00

When, oh when will the cargo shorts era come to an end?

2011-10-22T20:27:00.001-04:00

Celebrities are just like you and me...but with better writers!

2011-10-17T13:20:00.001-04:00

Some places I've been and things I've been doing...

2011-10-15T16:46:00.010-04:00

Nurturing my inner nerd...

2011-10-15T16:42:00.002-04:00

xkcd...so good

2011-10-06T20:48:00.001-04:00

Eternal Flame

Saw Jupiter last night...

2011-09-27T20:51:00.002-04:00

Hanging up there in the sky about as bright as anything else up there...especially because the moon pulled a no-show.

But there it was, reflecting off the ocean. Jupiter's moment in the sun so to speak.

Also saw a shooting star. Night beach.

Uneasy

2011-09-24T20:49:00.000-04:00

LittleFoil Up!

2011-09-16T21:42:00.003-04:00

Nice Days

2011-09-11T22:38:00.002-04:00

Hydro Power

2011-09-10T21:49:00.005-04:00

Moments

2011-05-07T21:23:00.000-04:00

Thanks for reminding me Molly...

I wish I were young again...

2011-04-27T08:34:00.002-04:00

I was never particularly fast...but was faster than I am now. I was never particularly athletic...but was more athletic than I am now. I was never particularly flexible...but I was more flexible than I am now. My knees never felt great...but they felt better than they do now.

That's why when I was watching Vision Quest the other night (I know...but insomnia you know?) this scene just made me feel old.

So does this...

Tempest Freerunning Academy from The Cool Hunter on Vimeo.

The craziest shit you've ever seen...

2011-03-11T22:54:00.000-05:00

Ye gads...all the people...

Toblerone

2011-02-22T12:28:00.001-05:00

I just had my first ever tast of Toblerone. Delicious!

Watch out Nutella, you're next!

Crap...just spilled my Orangina!

For once, a powerful PSA...

2011-01-02T22:13:00.000-05:00

Hey look! It’s the Boston Common!

2010-03-13T09:03:00.005-05:00

What do you mean you don’t recognize it? Haven’t you ever seen a visualization of the relative proportions of different colors seen in photos taken in each month of the year as plotted on a wheel?

Dude! The resulting diagram picks up the ebb and flow of seasonal colors. The close-ups below show winter, spring, summer, and fall.

Read all about it here . The final project appeared as follows in Boston Magazine…

Ye Gads! 13 Days!

2010-03-13T08:52:00.002-05:00

It’s been a long time since my last post loyal reader, and I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. It seems that blood and flesh life is interfering with bits and bytes life and I’ve been crunched for time. And inspiration.

While I am still here and grateful for your visit, the truth is I’m going to be hard pressed to live up to my “once every other day” average post goal for a little while. The next three months or so are going to be very tough.

And so today I’ll let someone else do my blogging. I hereby present a link dump courtesy of The Guardian UK .

I’ll be back as soon as I can.

How to redesign a hot dog…

Good reasons to avoid using the telephone…

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is growing. And I include this reluctantly because I think that a lot of hyperbole and nonsense surrounds this phenomenon…in fact, one day maybe we’ll do a blog post delving into this a little bit further. I should be able to get to something like that in, oh say, June of 2011…

Why humans kiss . File under self evident?

The Secrets to an Interminable Life .

Why boogers are good for you . Littlefoil’s going to love this…

Working at an ad agency isn’t as much fun as it used to be. Boo-effing-hoo…c’mon into work with me one day…

Farewell Grog

2010-02-28T19:25:00.001-05:00

FOT and frequent commenter Grog has returned with his wife Anita to Indonesia where they will get busy readying for the arrival of their first child.

Good luck Grog. Keep in touch.

Mumbo Jumbo Rhubarb Rhubarb…

2010-02-28T19:24:00.000-05:00

I present this without comment for your entertainment…

Via FOT Molly’s blog A Little House in the Clouds …

Great tweet from Roger Ebert today...

2010-02-23T20:09:00.001-05:00

"There are no atheists in foxholes, and no health care opponents in cancer wards."

You vill buy zee color teevee and you vill vatch!

2010-02-23T14:25:00.003-05:00

From the Guardian UK comes an article by Corey Doctorow that has something to do with the BBC and some British agency called Ofcom and DRM and the auctioning off of British spectrum…

Right? Fascinating stuff?

But in the course of the commentary, he also tells the story of the transition in the US from B&W to color television. Even Werner Von Braun is involved!

And of course the space geek in me can’t let the Von Braun bit slide by without comment. Before I paste some of the article and share a video, I will say that the Von Braun part seems apocryphal. There is no doubt about his Nazi past but Disney's efforts to burnish his image as he took charge of the development of the Saturn V rocket would seem to require a little bit more documentation that Doctorow provides. Still, its an interesting story…

In the mid-1950s, NBC (a broadcaster whose parent company, RCA, made colour sets) began the process of rolling out colour broadcast apparatus across the nation.

But there was a problem: there was practically no colour programming. Broadcasters didn't want to commission colour broadcasts to transmit to a nation of black-and-white sets; viewers didn't have any reason to switch their sets to colour if everything being aired was in black-and-white.

There was one source of ready-made colour material that could have gone out over the airwaves: Hollywood had been shooting feature films and accompanying short subjects in colour for decades and had amassed a prodigious back-catalogue of material that might have jumpstarted the colour TV transition.

There was another problem, though: the studios hated TV, feared it, and would like to have seen it dead and dusted. It was the competition.

Until Walt Disney decided to build Disneyland, that is. To raise the $17m he needed to embark on a mad scheme called Disneyland, the company raised millions by opening their vaults to ABC.

In 1961, the Disney show moved the NBC, where its mission became the promotion of colour TV. The programme was eventually retitled Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, and each episode featured subjects that were apt to make the black-and-white viewer feel like she was missing out on something special, indeed.

The video below is a great example of the programing that they created. It features The Spectrum Song as performed by Ludwig Van Drake who Doctorow describes as a “remix of the Nazi war criminal and rocket scientist Werner Von Braun, whose reputation Disney had helped to rehabilitate with TV specials that presented the former SS Sturmbannführer as a cuddly, daffy scientist who would help America win the space race.”

A great, pure sales pitch for color TV, hidden in an animated Nazi duck scientist. Again, it’s a gol’dang weird world.

Another Celebrity Following Me on Twitter…

2010-02-22T10:34:00.000-05:00

It has been a rather typical Monday. Late start, lots of traffic, a day full of conference calls and angry e-mails…

As I was sagging into my seat under the weight, I clicked over to my private e-mail account to see the most amazing subject line ever: “Lou Barlow is now following you on Twitter!”

Hell yeah! Lou Barlow to the rescue again.

And no, I’m not even paying attention to the fact that he follows anyone who follows him (3,331 followers and following 3,209). I’m just going to take the “feel good” and try to stretch it through the afternoon.

Sign Language: Director's Cut

2010-02-19T19:35:00.001-05:00

Oh, hey. Look at that. Didn't even notice that there was a director's cut available. So, here it is.

Sign Language

2010-02-19T07:40:00.001-05:00

A sweet little movie found via Neatorama …

Hey Pope! Keep your hands off my record collection!

2010-02-18T09:15:00.001-05:00

I haven’t pulled any punches in my occasional criticism of the Pope and his flunkies but this time its personal.

The Vatican is treading on my turf!

According the Wall Street Journal (and dozens of other sources), the the Holy See’s official newspaper, L’ Osservatore Romano, published what it called “a semiserious guide” to the top ten rock and pop albums of all time.

Or, what I am now referring to as Pop(e) Rock.

Whether or not the Vatican has any authority on morality is one thing but there should be no question whatsoever that their reach does not extend into my record collection. That’s right, I said it, “record” collection.

Curious what the Pope jams in his Pope-mobile?

1. Revolver by the Beatles
2. If I Could Only Remember My Name by David Crosby
3. The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
4. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac
5. The Nightfly by Donald Fagen
6. Thriller by Michael Jackson
7. Graceland by Paul Simon
8. Achtung Baby by U2
9. (What's the Story) Morning Glory by Oasis
10. Supernatural by Carlos Santana

Hey, it could be worse. I could fire a couple shots at each of these but considering the source, this isn’t as out-of-whack as I had hoped.

Still, a dangerous precedent don’t you think? We let him in the door with his not-bizarre CD’s and the next thing you know he’s staking out our liquor cabinets and bedrooms.

Which leads me to the title of my next record: It’s a Slippery Slope When it Comes to the Pope. In record stores soon.

Ron Houben Update

2010-02-16T22:16:00.002-05:00

There is some news in the case of Ron Houben, the Belgian man who was thought to be in a vegetative state for 23 years but who appears to have had almost normal brain activity the entire time.

Recall from my posts here and then here that a speech therapist supposedly broke through to Houben using the discredited technique of Facilitated Communication. (For more on FC, click here.)

Dr. Steven Laureys, Houben’s neurologist, initially seemed to buy into the claims of the speech therapist but promised a more thorough investigation. Now, Spiegel Online is reporting that…

Laureys has now carried out those tests, and his results hold that it wasn’t Houben doing the writing after all. The tests determined that he doesn’t have enough strength and muscle control in his right arm to operate the keyboard. In her effort to help the patient express himself, it would seem that the speech therapist had unwittingly assumed control…

In the more recent test, Houben was shown or told a series of 15 objects and words, without a speech therapist being present. Afterward, he was supposed to type the correct word — but he didn’t succeed a single time.

There is no lack of research on the subject of FC. It has been unequivocally shown that all communication is done unconsciously by the facilitator, a phenomenon known as the ideomotor effect. (For more on the ideomotor effect, click here .)

It's a crazy dol'gang world right?

Hairy Mary!

2010-02-15T20:26:00.001-05:00

Behold this video of a truck crash. The driver fell asleep but the on-board cameras stayed awake.

Beware this video of a truck crash. There is no visible personal injury but people were no doubt grievously injured. This is a violent wreck so, you know, choose wisely.

Perhaps my favorite element is the English language translation of, I guess, the native Taiwanese. It’s like accidental poetry.

When affairs took place
Car up the camera took
Of actual condition

The left side camera
Claps of condition

The right side camera
Claps of condition

The guard only needs a second
But get hurt is
An Influence lifetime.

Indeed. Truer words, truer words…

When celebrities goof...

2010-02-15T13:23:00.000-05:00

Drew Brees, quarterback of the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints has a birthmark on his right cheek. When Oprah welcomed him onto her show she thought it was lipstick from a wayward kiss and tried to wipe it off.

Oops! Reminds me on a night just last week when I asked a waitress where she was from because I couldn’t place her accent. Turns out that she didn’t have an accent but a speech impediment.

At lease no video exists of my gaffe. Oprah? Not so lucky.

Don't know why I have more on Doug Fieger than I had on J.D. Salinger. I guess Salinger didn't put out enough videos...

2010-02-15T10:58:00.001-05:00

Straight from the serious journalism department at Entertainment Weekly comes the sad news that Doug Fieger, lead singer of The Knack, died at 57 after a battle with cancer.

I distinctly remember people talking about The Knack being the new Beatles back in the day. “Get The Knack” was released in 1979 and while it spent six weeks at number it certainly didn’t have an “A Day in the Life”…

Still, I’m going to get my skinny tie out of the closet and reminisce via the magic of YouTube…

Maybe it was a fever dream…

2010-02-14T17:29:00.001-05:00

But I swear, I swear, that I was filling up with gas last night and looking at the “gas TV” on top of the pump and all of a sudden a hot, bubbly Entertainment Tonight-type host came on and said “Here are two of the founding members of Camper Van Beethoven accompany you while you pump your gas.”

And then the two guys played an abbreviated “Take The Skinheads Bowling.”

I scrambled for my phone to obtain video proof but it ended as quickly and mysteriously as it started. “Drive safe!” said the bubbly hottie and it was over.

Anyone out there able to confirm this observation for me?

An early Valentine

2010-02-12T09:31:00.001-05:00

From our friends at XKCD ...

(Click to embiggen...)

Happy Darwin Day!

2010-02-12T09:20:00.002-05:00

Darwin Day is a much better holiday than Talk Like a Pirate Day...

A Brief History of Pretty Much Everything

2010-02-12T09:14:00.001-05:00

This Jamie Bell’s final piece for an art course – a flipbook animation made entirely with Biro pens. “It’s something like 2,100 pages long and about 50 jotter books. I’d say I worked on it on and off for roughly three weeks.”

And no, I have no idea who Jamie Bell is.

Via Phil Plait’s Bad Astonomy blog…

TMUOTF: Now The Uncoolest Thing You Can Do On The Internet

2010-02-12T09:10:00.000-05:00

From the Guardian UK’s Technology Blog yesterday…

Last week, the US research organisation Pew Internet published an extensive survey that appeared to sound a death knell for blogging. It found that where, in 2006, 28% of teens described themselves as bloggers, that number has now tumbled to 14%. As the technology writer Nicholas Carr wryly concluded on his blog, Rough Type , the survey "put a big fat exclamation point on what a lot of us have come to realise recently: blogging is now the uncoolest thing you can do on the internet".

Moratorium on Space Posts Temporarily Lifted

2010-02-10T09:57:00.001-05:00

Copped word-for-word from Boing Boing …you know, to save time…

Rusty from SomaFM writes,

"The Space Shuttle Endeavour has taken off and is in space, traveling to the International Space Station where it will be delivering parts including the third connecting module known as 'the Tranquility node' to the station. It's also bringing up a seven-windowed cupola to be used as a control room for robotics. The mission will feature three spacewalks."

"You can hear it all mixed with electronic ambient music on SomaFM's Mission Control channel .

Just go to somafm.com and click on Mission Control.

"The best time to tune in is around 2pm pacific time (06:00 GMT), when the astronauts are just getting up and starting their checklists for the day. Astronaut sleep periods are approximately from 6am pacific to 2pm pacific. There will be minimal mission audio at that time, but the rest of the time all sorts of stuff is going on."

Moratorium back on…

Moments

2010-02-09T16:31:00.001-05:00

Copped word for word from the very cool blog Iconic Photos …

On 13th June 1981, a tourist in London photographed the Queen of England reviewing her troops at the annual Trooping the Colour. Six shots rang out and the Queen’s horse shied. Members of the crowd, police and troops guarding the ceremony quickly subdued the shooter, who told them “I wanted to be famous. I wanted to be a somebody”.

On his return home, the tourist, Georg P. Uebel, developed his film and discovered the above picture, which he turned over to the British police. They used it to prosecute Marcus Sarjeant, an unemployed 17-year-old, inspired by the recent shootings of the Pope, Ronald Reagan and John Lennon, to attempt an assassination on the Queen. He only fired blanks, and the Treason Act sentenced to five years in prison, a sentence for what he did, not for what he might have done.

The picture was made public at his trial in May 1982 but did not attract that much attention. It was as LIFE magazine called it, “a misfired moment of minor note”. More shocking however was the fact that at the time of his arrest, Sarjeant had on him a tape noting his intent to attack the Queen again with a loaded weapon.

Sarjeant wrote to the Queen from prison to apologise, but he never received a reply. Released in October 1984, at the age of 20, he changed his name and disappeared into history, a mere footnote.

Try this at home!

2010-02-09T16:26:00.002-05:00

How to levitate by standing next to a wet spot on the sidewalk…

Via Boing Boing .

What was your first concert?

2010-02-09T14:27:00.001-05:00

I always cringe when that conversation comes around because my answer is Kansas. It was the Portland Civic Center in Portland, Maine during my first summer as a Junior Counselor at summer camp.

David Johansen* opened up in support of his post-New York Dolls / pre-Buster Poindexter record “Live It Up” which I remember specifically because he was awesome.

Kansas? All I really remember is that they played “Dust In The Wind”, performed to perfection here by the Muppets very own Beaker.

Like it when the Muppets do pop music? Here’s another one.

*Six Degrees of Separation from David Johansen: He is the distant cousin of FOT (friend of Tim) VA who happens to be the WOB (wife of Bob) who was the drummer in the legendary It Can’t Happen To Me (ICHTM) and is a sometime-commenter here at TMUOTF. I know. WTF?!

Is that the forumla to calculate the diameter of a circle?

2010-02-08T17:58:00.004-05:00

I concluded my post on the Tea-Bagger convention by noting that Sarah Palin would be delivering the keynote address.

And then, in the greatest gift to bloggers ever, Palin delivered that speech and took questions while sneaking peaks at crib-notes she had scrawled on the palm of her hand!

Check out the video. It's pathetic.

Insert pithy but disgusted comment about the state of things here.

Teabagging and Happy Endings

2010-02-06T09:42:00.002-05:00

Thought I might grab you attention with that…

Littlefoil and I were at Friendly’s restaurant the other day and after we finished lunch our waitress cheerfully asked me if I wanted a happy ending,

Which, in the world of casual dining ice-cream restaurants, means a little ice-cream sundae for dessert.

And I was transported to a marketing meeting at Friendly’s corporate HQ…

Sr. Marketing VP: OK team. We need a snappy name for the dessert that will come with the lunch specials…let’s just spit-ball some ideas here…shout ‘em out.

Marketing Flack #1: How about “Afternoon Delight?”

Sr. Marketing VP: I like it. Might have a problem getting the rights though. Have legal call the Starland Vocal Band and make inquiries. Good start though, Anyone else?

Marketing Flack #2: How about a name that suggests something luxurious…like a “Pearl Necklace?”

Sr. Marketing VP: Not bad…a little off-topic but I like your thinking.

Marketing Flack #3: How about a “Dutch Oven?”

Sr. Marketing VP: A what? No…focus people! Ice-cream is what we do here. It’s what brings ‘em in…keep going…

Marketing Flack #4: I’ve got it! How about the “Rear Admiral?”

Annnnnd scene! Twenty five minutes later they settle on “Happy Ending.”

Someone in that room knew right? Someone must have known. And they kept their mouths shut. Probably figured that they’d let the Sr. VP hoist himself on his own petard. Probably never dreamed that “Happy Ending” would actually make it through the vetting process.

And the next thing you know, I’m having a wholesome father-son moment with Littlefoil and being propositioned for a hand-job at the same time.

I picture the very same scene way back when the Tea-Party protesters were getting organized. Only this time it wasn’t around a conference table at a corporate HQ but rather around the kitchen table of some crazy, Christian, conservative nut-job (CCCNJ).

CCCNJ #1: You know…I’m just not ready to raise my family in a socialist country!

CCCNJ #2: And that’s why we need a snappy name for our conservative, racist, homophobic anti-tax movement that won’t reveal how far out on the fucked-up fringe we are.

CCCNJ #1: You’re right! Something that harkens back to a simpler time when we didn’t have to worry about godless communists teaching evolution in integrated classrooms!

CCCNJ #3: Something that connects us to the past…to our history…

CCCNJ #1: How about we organize a modern-day tea party?

CCCNJ #2: That’s it! And we’ll call ourselves “Tea-Baggers!”

And thus, you and I have the distinct pleasure of watching a bunch of racist homophobes proudly refer to themselves as “Tea-Baggers.”

Life does have its rewards.

Oh what’s that you say? Maybe I’m being too hard on the Tea-Baggers? After all, “racist” is a pretty strong word…

Yes it is! Strong and appropriate. ABC reported on the first ever National Tea Party Convention where the opening night speaker was former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo).

Tancredo ripped into President Obama and the “cult of multi-culturalism.”

“Multi-culturalism”…thinly veiled code that even the racist rednecks at this convention understood.

Still have doubts? Tancredo went on to assert that Obama was elected because “we don’t have a civics literacy test before people can vote in this country.”

It appears that Tancredo was not taught evolution or history in school. Before the federal Voting Rights Act in 1965, many southern and western states used elaborate voter registration procedures and so-called “literacy tests” to deny blacks the right to vote.

Another glimpse behind the curtain!

Oh, by the way, guess who will be delivering the keynote speech at the National Tea Party convention tonight...

Sarah Palin.

R.I.P. J.D.

2010-01-28T15:26:00.000-05:00

JD Salinger died today at his home in Cornish, New Hampshire. He was 91.

Crumby.

Best iPad headline so far…

2010-01-27T15:20:00.001-05:00

“Behold The Miracle Doodad” from Salon.com .

Flip a coin...

2010-01-27T14:34:00.002-05:00

While surfing around on my new phone during the past week, I’ve been picking up on the over-the-top buzz about Apple’s press conference earlier today. They announced a new device called the iPad which caught absolutely no one by surprise.

It also happens that Barak Obama will be delivering his State of the Union speech tonight.

Based on my focus-group-of-one, it appears that the entire webish world was crawling out of their pants in anticipation of the Apple announcement. Obama? Not so much.

To determine whether or not my observation was valid or just a case of confirmation bias I did a quick Google search on “state of the union” which returned 87,300,000 hits.

I did a search on “Apple press conference” and was deluged with 168,000,000 hits.

While not entirely scientific, this appears to confirm that the world is upside down and bass-akwards.

(I should dismount from my high horse because I can almost guarantee you that I will not be tuning in to the SOTU either.)

Aging is the worst part of getting old...

2010-01-23T08:11:00.004-05:00

I’m about to slide from my “early-forties” into my “mid-forties” and my neck hurts. My back is a little stiff and my knees ache.

With my birthday approaching I am getting a little bit depressed about growing older. If you’re interested in helping lift my spirits, I do have a couple of suggestions for thoughtful gifts that would definitely cheer me up.

First on my wish list is the US Airways Airbus 320 that Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger landed in the Hudson River last year. The bidding is open until March 27 so you still have time to get in on it.

Sure, the avionics and engines have been removed and the offering page says “severe water damage throughout the airframe, impact damage to underside of aircraft” but how great would that thing look in my back yard?!

If you get out-bid on that, NASA is offering a retired space shuttle for a cool $28.8 million. You might want to go in with a couple of people and make this a “group gift.”

The Space Shuttle Discovery has already been claimed by the Smithsonian but the Atlantis and Endeavour are still available.

And don’t balk at the price tag because $28.8 million isn’t a bad deal. NASA was asking $42 million just a year ago! You can’t really afford not to pick one up!

There are actually lots of cool old space program related items for sale including surplus main engines for the space shuttles and Apollo and Mercury space suits (You already know how I feel about the Mercury space suits
…).

For a complete list of shuttle-related items, check out this PDF .

Hey, I’m not looking for a big party or telegrams or anything else. I just know how hard it can be to find the exact perfect gift so I just wanted to help.

One way or another I'm going to convince FOT Pat to check in here once-in-a-while...

2010-01-22T11:15:00.003-05:00

...and if that means posting a rare color photo of The Beatles from 1957, then so be it.

In this picture, George Harrison is 14, Paul McCartney is 15 and John Lennon is 16. And technically they weren't The Beatles yet, they were The Quarrymen.

From All That's Interesting via Brainpicker via Jason Kottke .

More Stick Figure Funny...

2010-01-22T10:00:00.002-05:00

...from XKCD ...

Choakley

2010-01-21T06:23:00.004-05:00

Paul Stanley gets it. Ted Kennedy had it. Martha Coakley botched it. And now Scott Brown has it.

Mind Blown - Kid's TV Show Being Questioned

2010-01-19T19:30:00.006-05:00

I just saw something unbelievable.

I was caching up on my Yo Gabba Gabba with Littlefoil when The Super Music Friend Show began and...

Look, words fail. Just please, follow this link and check it out. YouTube has a crappy version that I won't even bother embedding. Just follow the link . Turn up the volume and...follow the link !

(C'mon already).

DJ Lance is right! Listening and dancing to music is awesommmmmmmme!

Glimpses Behind the Curtain

2010-01-19T12:37:00.003-05:00

ABC News reported yesterday that coded references to New Testament bible passages are being inscribed on high powered rifle sights that are being supplied to the US military by a Michigan company called Trijicon .

One of the citations on the gun sights, 2COR4:6, is an apparent reference to Second Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament, which reads: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

Other references include citations from the books of Revelation, Matthew and John dealing with Jesus as "the light of the world." John 8:12, referred to on the gun sights as JN8:12, reads, "Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Trijicon, who had $100 million in government contracts in 2008, won a $33 million contract last year and landed a $660 million contract to supply the Marine Corps with sights in 2005, sees nothing wrong with the practice.

Tom Munson, director of sales and marketing for Trijicon, said the inscriptions "have always been there" and said there was nothing wrong or illegal with adding them. Munson said the issue was being raised by a group that is "not Christian."

Damn those “not Christians.”

Every once in a while we get a peek behind the curtain, a glimpse of what the invasion of Iraq was really all about. I’ve documented some of those glimpses here at TMUOTF…

Glimpse #1: In August of last year, I posted about George W. Bush’s efforts to rally the “coalition of the willing” for the Iraq invasion, and particularly French President Jacques Chirac by invoking the menacing Old Testament characters Gog and Magog. Money quote from Bush to Chirac: “Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East…. The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled…. This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins.”

Glimpse #2: In 2005, the UK’s Guardian reported on a conversation between Bush and the Palestinian Foreign Minister Minister in which he said "I am driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did."

Glimpse # 3: Also recounted in my August post was the GQ article from June of last year in which it was revealed that Donald Rumsfeld used to present daily intelligence briefings to Bush that featured apocalyptic bible verses side-by-side with battle photographs from Iraq. Stuff like this:

Glimpse #4: Rifle scopes engraved with biblical codes.

Religious dudes waging religious war against religious dudes. On YOUR behalf no less!

MLK

2010-01-18T10:42:00.000-05:00

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Count Basie Talks About The Blues

2010-01-16T08:03:00.002-05:00

Cool, personal video clip from a 1968 TV show called "Jazz Casual." This is a fantastic use of your next seven minutes and 46 seconds.

Tip of the cap to Boing Boing .

Wait…what’s this? Oh. Nope. Still an asshole.

2010-01-14T20:54:00.002-05:00

Pat Robertson’s comments about the history of Haiti and their very obvious pact with the devil have spawned a press release from Christian Broadcasting Network spokesman Chris Rosian. (CBN was founded by Robertson and broadcasts "The 700 Club" where Robertson made the comments in question.)

In the interest of fairness, I’ll let the spokesman speak for himself. What follows is the unedited press release as found on the CBN website here.

I do think my favorite part is when he asserts that “countless scholars over the centuries believe that the country is cursed.” Yes. That is definitely my favorite part…

Statement Regarding Pat Robertson's Comments on Haiti

CBN.com – VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., January 13, 2010 -- On today’s The 700 Club, during a segment about the devastation, suffering and humanitarian effort that is needed in Haiti, Dr. Robertson also spoke about Haiti’s history. His comments were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Boukman Dutty at Bois Caiman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French. This history, combined with the horrible state of the country, has led countless scholars and religious figures over the centuries to believe the country is cursed. Dr. Robertson never stated that the earthquake was God’s wrath. If you watch the entire video segment, Dr. Robertson’s compassion for the people of Haiti is clear. He called for prayer for them. His humanitarian arm has been working to help thousands of people in Haiti over the last year, and they are currently launching a major relief and recovery effort to help the victims of this disaster. They have sent a shipment of millions of dollars worth of medications that is now in Haiti, and their disaster team leaders are expected to arrive tomorrow and begin operations to ease the suffering.

Chris Roslan
Spokesman for CBN

Milky Way Transit Authority

2010-01-14T19:43:00.002-05:00

How badly do you want a t-shirt of this?

Check out Samuel Arbesan’s graphic representation of our galaxy.

(Click to embiggen)

Here They Go Again

2010-01-14T19:22:00.002-05:00

FOT* and frequent commenter Grog pointed me to the new OK Go video for their single “This Too Shall Pass.”

I’ve posted other OK Go videos here and here .

It’s pretty neat so I thought I would share and I was all set to write a disclaimer that, all appearances to the contrary, I was not a big OK Go fan but you know what? I’m coming around…

*Friend of Tim

WWTD: The Rear Window Edition

2010-01-14T10:08:00.002-05:00

(WWTD – What Would Tim Do? - is a semi-regular feature (read: space filler) in which I select letters from actual advice columns and answer them myself without reading the advice columnist’s response first. I will post my reply and then the columnists reply so you can enjoy comparing and contrasting answers. Feel free to offer your own advice in the Comments section.)

Today’s letter is from the January 14 “Dear Prudence” column at Slate.com .

Dear Prudence,

I'm a happily married man in my 20s with a gorgeous wife, whom I adore. We live in a big city in an apartment building. In order to let in light, we keep the curtains open in our bedroom (sans naughty time). I've recently noticed that the female who lives in the apartment directly across from ours and the female in the apartment one floor below also leave their curtains open as they walk around half-naked. I'm not saddling up to the window for hours upon end, but on occasion I catch a glimpse of skin, and I'll admit that I don't turn away. I don't know whether my wife has noticed the neighbors, but I haven't told her that I have. I feel as if I'm hiding a secret from her and even committing a form of adultery by not walking away when I see them. Should I tell my wife so we can make a decision about what to do together (and hope she doesn't divorce me)? Or should I unilaterally reach out to the neighbors, telling them that my whole building has probably been getting a show for several months and they should be more aware of their actions?

—In the Window

What Would Tim Do?

Dear In The Window,

First of all, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t take this opportunity to choose a “sign off” name that references the Alfred Hitchcock classic “Rear Window.” Opportunity missed my friend.

As for the matter at hand, it strikes me that there are three people you need to consider here. Let’s start with you. Is it weird or unhealthy that you’re compelled to sneak peaks at your naked neighbors? Not at all. You’re hard wired to be compelled in that way. As long as you don’t act upon those urges or allow yourself to become obsessed, you’re cool.

I’m not saying that there’s not a line you can cross here. There definitely is. Let’s all agree that filming your neighbor and posting her on YouTube is crossing the line.

Taking the occasional peak and allowing yourself to become titillated though…hell, we’ve all got bigger fish to fry.

The second person to think about is your “gorgeous wife.” She might not be down with the “hard-wired” idea. Best not to ogle obviously. Again, until you cross the line and start staking out your neighbor’s lobby, you’re not committing any egregious offenses.

And the third person to consider is your neighbor. Are you obliged to somehow warn her that you (and surely a lot of your building-mates) can see her naked every night? No. That’s on her. Having lived in a building similar to yours, I was always aware that my life was an open book when the lights were on and the blinds were open.

She is surely aware of what she’s doing and might find it titillating to think about strangers ogling her from across the alley. She may be putting herself at some risk in the event that one of your neighbors does cross the line to obsession and becomes dangerous but that risk is probably pretty small.

All in all, let your neighbor continue to pursue what excites her and don’t beat yourself up too much for what is a very natural response to visual stimulation. Keep it in check and be cool about it.

Sincerely,
Tim

And now for the actual response from an actual advice columnist…

Dear In the Window,

Virtually any heterosexual man finding himself in your situation would conclude he's got a Donald Trump-like gift for picking real estate. Since we're making comparisons with The Donald, who is also an expert on adultery, let's narrow the definition of it to actually having sexual contact with a woman other than your wife. As for your plans of attack, let's take the second option first. If you secretly make the rounds of the Victoria's Secret models across the way and explain to them the distress their dishabille causes you, that will surely be the day your wife does glance out the bedroom window at the neighborhood lovelies and wonders what in the world you're up to. So forget the friendly lecture. But since your voyeuristic impulse and subsequent guilt are bothering you, go ahead and mention the peep show to your wife. She may surprise you and suggest the two of you discreetly catch a Saturday matinee. If, however, she (ridiculously) gets all huffy that you didn't run in horror when you realized the neighbors were scantily clad, you should point out that while you two draw the curtain for your own "naughty time," that leaves a lot of your own half-dressed lives on display. It's possible your entire neighborhood is engaged in an endless round-robin of Rear Window. You could suggest that you get some sheer bedroom curtains so you continue to get light but don't put yourselves on view. And if it happens that when you're alone in the bedroom, the sheers somehow get nudged open a crack, and you see that next door the show goes on, consider it a freebie.

—Prudie

Agree or disagree? Have a different take? Put up or shut up in the Comments section!

Newsflash: Pat Robertson Is An Asshole

2010-01-13T17:45:00.002-05:00

...and I quote "They (the people of Haiti) were under the heel of the French and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said we will serve you if you get us free from the French. True story."

TRUE STORY he says!!

The State of Things

2010-01-11T22:05:00.001-05:00

The universe is big. Really big.

2009-12-17T14:53:00.000-05:00

Find yourself seven free minutes, turn the lights off and check this out.

Produced by the American Museum of Natural History as a part of the exhibition “Visions of the Cosmos: From the Milky Ocean to an Evolving Universe”, at the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan through May 2010.

Bottled Water Everywhere

2009-12-11T11:22:00.002-05:00

This guilt-trip brought to you byOnline Education via Neatorama .

The Pixies and Weird Al

2009-12-11T09:45:00.004-05:00

On November 4, indie-music-snob-mega-site (and I use the term most affectionately) Pitchfork reported:

At a December 8 benefit show at the Echoplex in L.A., "Weird Al" Yankovic will sing a Pixies song with members of the Pixies. This will obviously be an incredible thing to see.

Yankovic will sing the Doolittle jam "I Bleed". But maybe if we bug him enough, he'll subject a Pixies song or two to the "Weird Al" treatment. "Here Comes Your Spam"? "This Monkey's Gone to 7-11"? This needs to happen.

The show is one of two benefits, taking place December 8-9 at the Echoplex and the Echo, to raise money for Winston’s Village , which supports the family of Winston Bertrand, a nine-month-old baby born with lymphatic and venous malformations, two rare and life-threatening conditions.

Pixies frontman Black Francis will host the events. He'll perform solo as well as with members of the Pixies (including Flea filling in on bass!) and with the Grand Duchy, his duo with wife Violet Clark. The December 8 show will also feature performances from members of Love and Rockets and She Wants Revenge, as well as Michael Penn and the 88.

The next night, Francis will host an evening of comedy. The bill includes Tim and Eric, Bob Odenkirk, Brian Posehn, and Pixies drummer David Lovering. Francis will perform on both nights, which raises the absolutely intriguing possibility of a Black Francis stand-up comedy set.

Well, it actually happened. Kim Deal wasn’t there (she was in London) but guests included OK Go , Flea, Tenacious D, and Bauhaus's David J.

Here’s the proof…

Weird Al on “I Bleed” (and by the way Bob, is that the same gold, sparkly Les Paul that Joey Santiago is playing??)

Here’s Flea playing on “Where is my Mind?”

And here’s Tenacious D sitting in on “Oh My Golly!”

It’s funny because FOT’s Pat and Bob have been swapping email reminiscences about a Pixies show that we saw in 1988 at The Rat in Boston. Just one more piece of evidence about how shit-kicking cool I used to be.

Oh, and something I just noticed as I re-read this post...the Pitchfork report mentions in passing that among the comedians performing on the second night of the benefit is Pixies drummer David Lovering. Wha?

So I did some research using something called "Google" and discovered that Lovering became a magician sometime after the Pixies broke up in 1993. "I couldn't top the Pixies so I went into magic full-on and became a professional magician."

Even more, he developed a brand of magic he calls "Scientific Phenomenalism" in which he combined magic with a lifelong fascination with science.

I know, right? Me and David Lovering could TOTALLY hang out right? Turns out that he has a degree in electrical engineering and had a job building lasers before joining the Pixies. Right? Why haven't we been hanging out all this time? Anyway, his website is here and while I'm posting videos, here's one of his too...

Rewriting History

2009-12-09T14:01:00.002-05:00

Just caught this blurb in Fast Company Magazine…

To liven up a standard card-services conference, Bank of America asked two employees to write a song about the merger with MBNA. Although their heartfelt performance – titled “One Bank” and set to the tune of U2’s “One” – was ridiculed when it leaked onto the internet, attendees gave it a standing ovation.

OK. Wait a second. I remember this video. And if the guys at Fast Company are now holding this up as an example of something that works, even (ye gads), something to be emulated, well, it’s time to cancel that subscription.

For a while there, this was a gruesome favorite of mine. In the same way that you might have a favorite car crash.

At one point it was pulled from YouTube (for copyright reasons, not aesthetic reasons…) but it’s back.

I have sat through a lot of sales meetings and conferences and god-bless ‘em for trying to liven things up in between “compliance training”, marketing reviews and break-out meetings but really, are these people blind? Deaf? Please, please tell me that their standing ovation was just group-think. Please let it be that one or two assholes leapt to their feet and the others followed begrudgingly so as not to stand out as sour-pusses.

Because this is the height of lame. The very pinnacle! There is no place to go from here except to less lame.

You be the judge.

And of course, what would the internet be if there weren’t hundreds of mocking parodies for our enjoyment. And who better than David Cross?

Little Richard on Jimi Hendrix

2009-12-08T08:58:00.001-05:00

Did you know that Hendrix played in Little Richard’s band? I didn’t. But Wikipedia says its true so it must be…

On March 1, 1964, he brought a fledgling Jimi Hendrix into his band, Hendrix may have adopted his visual style from Little Richard, dressing and growing a mustache like his. He toured with Little Richard and played on at least a dozen tracks for Vee Jay Records between the spring of 1964 and 1965. Three singles, including a cover of Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On, would again hit the charts with moderate success. In 1966, Hendrix was quoted as saying, "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice."

Space Chair

2009-12-08T08:48:00.001-05:00

Ever since I saw the video for Boards of Canada’s “Dayvan Cowboy”, which was the subject of a post in August, 2008 , I have been intrigued by the idea of reaching the edge of space by balloon.

Which is why I think that this new ad campaign by Toshiba is so cool. They strapped a chair and 8 Toshiba cameras to a high altitude balloon and sent it to the edge of the earth’s atmosphere and the images are pretty incredible.

Pretty neat right? Here is a video about the making of the commercial which, if you can stomach all the “marketing-speak”, is interesting also…

Lights!

2009-12-01T22:18:00.003-05:00

The lights are up at stately Foil Manor!

Woolworth Stereo Spectacular

2009-12-01T14:49:00.005-05:00

I remember doing some record shopping at Woolworth back in the day. In fact I remember in particular buying "Love Beach" by Emerson, Lake and Palmer at Woolworth.

After wearing out the grooves in ELP's "Brain Salad Surgery", I had high hopes for "Love Beach" but the cheesy cover should have tipped me off. Even as a twelve year old in 1978 I knew shite when I heard it!

That got me to thinking..."Love Beach" came out in 1978. What other choices might a young Tim Foil have had while browsing the New Releases section at Woolworth that fateful day long ago?

The Jam - All Mod Cons
Jethro Tull - Bursting Out
Atlanta Rhythm Section - Champagne Jam (included that one for you Rog!)
Neil Young - Comes A Time
Boston - Don't Look Back
Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town
The Jacksons - Destiny
Billy Joel - 52nd Street
Kenny Rogers - The Gambler
The Clash - Give 'Em Enough Rope
Original Soundtrack - Grease
Cheap Trick - Heaven Tonight
Jethro Tull - Heavy Horses
AC/DC - If You Want Blood You've Got It
Dusty Springfield - It Begins Again
Kate Bush - The Kick Inside
Buzzcocks - Love Bites
Midnight Oil - Midnight Oil
The Kinks - Misfits
Brian Eno - Music For Films
Black Flag - Nervous Breakdown
The Police - Outlandos d'Amour
Blondie - Parallel Lines
Devo - Are We Not Men? We Are Devo!
The Rolling Stones - Some Girls
Elvis Costello - This Years Model
Al Stewart - Time Passages
The Boomtown Rats - A Tonic for the Troops
Van Halen - Van Halen
The Who - Who Are You?
Van Morrison - Wave Length
Kiss - Double Platinum

And speaking of Kiss, 1978 also marked the release of the eponymous solo records that each of those guys put out. (And of course you agree that Ace Frehley's "New York Groove" was the best of that bunch right? No argument really...)

By the way, this little nostalgic reverie was inspired by the Woolworh TV commercial below. $1.57 for an LP...Petula Clark and Canned Heat in-stock now!

Arc

2009-12-01T09:29:00.003-05:00

There are a bunch of space-related, hi-def photographs of the most recent Space Shuttle mission to the ISS here .

It’s a weird site…it appears to be a digital version of “The Chamorro Bible”, Chamorro being the official language of the Territory of Guam. I didn’t take the time to sniff around and figure out what the connection is between The Chamorro Bible and these images but I was stopped in my track by this beauty…the sun setting on November 23, 2009 behind earth’s thin blue atmosphere…

(Click on the image for the awesome full-sized version...)

Discovered via Neatorama .

(Special note: I will be using the "Photography Loophole" to avoid violating the Space Moratorium .)

The Sound Cellar: Joan Jett for PETA

2009-11-25T16:47:00.004-05:00

I almost forgot about this one...but it came to me just in time for Thanksgiving. This is an old PSA - I don't know when it was recorded - that Joan Jett did on behalf of PETA.

It must have been difficult to record an anti-turkey PSA while so clearly stoned on tryptophan ...

Ron Houben Update

2009-11-24T21:50:00.002-05:00

Of course.

As soon as I clicked "Publish Post" on my Ron Houben comments, I saw the Wired Science Blog's take on the same subject .

It looks like the FC part of the story is indeed bullshit but it also appears that Houben was sentient all this time.

Whoa. Holy crap.

Anyway, I'll just post what they posted... completely attributed of course ! But keep your ears open because this story surely isn't over.

REBORN COMA MAN'S WORDS MAY BE BOGUS
By Brandon Keim

The statements of a Belgian man believed to be in a coma for 23 years, but recently discovered to be conscious, are poignant, but experts say they may not be his words at all.

Rom Houben’s account of his ordeal, repeated in scores of news stories since appearing Saturday in Der Spiegel, appears to be delivered with assistance from an aide who helps guide his finger to letters on a flat computer keyboard. Called “facilitated communication,” that technique has been widely discredited, and is not considered scientifically valid.

“If facilitated communication is part of this, and it appears to be, then I don’t trust it,” said Arthur Caplan, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Bioethics. “I’m not saying the whole thing is a hoax, but somebody ought to be checking this in greater detail. Any time facilitated communication of any sort is involved, red flags fly.”

Facilitated communication came to prominence in the late 1970s after an Australian teacher reportedly used it to communicate with 12 children rendered speechless by cerebral palsy and other disorders. Over the next two decades, it gained some adherents in patient and medical communities, but failed to produce consistent results in controlled, scientific settings.

Researchers said that facilitators were unconsciously or consciously guiding patients’ hands. Multiple professional organizations, including the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and the American Academy of Pediatrics, say that facilitated communication is not credible.

Far more credible, however, is emerging research on patients thought to be in vegetative states, but revealed by brain-scanning technology to be at least minimally conscious, and even aware of what is happening around them. These two strains of research have collided in the figure of Houben. In 2006, a full 23 years after a horrific car accident left him paralyzed and apparently unconscious, tests run by the University of Liege’s Coma Science Group showed that Houben’s brain was active, and almost normal. He wasn’t a vegetable, but aware, and trapped silently in the prison of his ruined body.

Houben has since proven able to answer yes-or-no questions with slight movements of his foot. It’s a tremendous accomplishment, and raises the chilling possibility that, as estimated by Coma Science Group leader Steven Laureys in a Monday New York Times story , as many as four in 10 people considered utterly comatose may be misdiagnosed. But the legitimacy of interviews given by Houben and his facilitator to Der Spiegel , and shown on video by the BBC , may not be as certain.

“I believe that he is sentient. They’ve shown that with MRI scans,” said James Randi , a prominent skeptic who during the 1990s investigated the use of facilitated communication for autistic children. But in the video, “You see this woman who’s not only holding his hand, but what she’s doing is directing his fingers and looking directly at the keyboard. She’s pressing down on the keyboard, pressing messages for him. He has nothing to do with it.”

According to Randi, facilitated communication could only be considered credible if the facilitator didn’t look at the keyboard or screen while supporting Houben’s hand, and helped him type messages in response to questions she had not heard, thus ensuring that Houben’s responses are entirely his own.

The James Randi Educational Foundation has offered a million-dollar prize to a valid demonstration of facilitated communication, and Randi invited Houben to participate. “Our prize is still there,” he said.

In the Der Spiegel interview, Houben and his facilitator recounted his ordeal. “I would scream, but no sound would come out,” they wrote. “I became the witness to my own suffering, as doctors and nurses tried to speak to me and eventually gave up.” Of the correct diagnosis, they wrote, “I will never forget the day they finally discovered what was wrong — it was my second birth.”

According to Caplan, Houben’s apparent lucidity after spending more than two decades in complete isolation — circumstances known to be psychologically and cognitively damaging — is hard to believe.

“You’re going to lie for 23 years in a hospital bed with almost no stimuli, and then sound completely coherent and cogent?” he said. “Something is wrong with that picture. The messages are almost poetic. It sounds too lucid, like someone prepared these things to say. I’m not saying it’s all a fraud, but I want to hear a lot more.”

Whatever the final verdict on Houben’s facilitated communication, however, it does not alter the fact of his misdiagnosis. Laureys could not be reached for comment, but said in an Agence France Presse story that “every patient should be tested at least 10 times before they are categorically defined as ‘vegetative.’”

Facilitating Misery

2009-11-24T21:42:00.002-05:00

The AP reports today about a Belgian man who was thought to have been in a vegetative state for the past 23 years but who appears to have been conscious during that time, just unable to communicate.

The story goes on to claim that car crash victim Ron Houben finally broke through with the help of speech therapist Linda Wouters “who rapidly moved his finger letter by letter along a touch-screen keyboard,”

She told the AP that can feel Houben guiding her hand with gentle pressure from his fingers, and that she feels him objecting when she moves his hand toward an incorrect letter.

Sounds like a heart-warming story for the holidays – man freed from the prison of his own body by a patient and loving therapist.

Sadly, this story has all the hallmarks of overly-credulous journalism and poor medical and science reporting.

This is almost certainly a case of “Facilitated Communication”, a thoroughly discredited technique that purports to help those with brain damage, autism, mental retardation, cerebral palsy and other conditions communicate.

In FC, a non-communicative patient’s hand is placed in the hand of a facilitator which is then placed on a keyboard or onto a series of pictures. The facilitator then guides the patient’s hands to specific letters or images based on the patient’s movements, typing out messages.

You can imagine the emotional impact this would have on the family of the patient. At last, a breath of hope from a handicapped child or injured relative. Unfortunately, this glimpse is virtually always an illusion. It’s nothing more than a parlor trick.

There is simply no good evidence that this is anything more than the wishful or deluded thinking of the facilitator.

The American Psychological Association has issued a Position Paper on FC, stating that "Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that facilitated communication is not a scientifically valid technique for individuals with autism or mental retardation" and describing FC as "a controversial and unproved communicative procedure with no scientifically demonstrated support for its efficacy."

In the case of poor Mr. Houben, a blindfold would tell us all we need to know. If Linda Wouters, his “speech therapist”, were blindfolded and followed Mr. Houben’s hand around the keyboard, what kind of message do you think would come out?

“I’m here! I love you but I can’t speak or communicate!”

More likely something like “ksdu8ehncfp –p 038nwcp;js osdpioj”

The AP story gives the most glancing mention of the possibility that this is a case of FC. They quote Arthur Caplan, a bioethics professor at the University of Pennsylvania who said,

"That's called 'facilitated communication,'" Caplan said. "That is ouija board stuff. It's been discredited time and time again. When people look at it, it's usually the person doing the pointing who's doing the messages, not the person they claim they are helping."

In the very next line the AP asks Mr. Houben how he felt when his consciousness was discovered and continue, fully credulous, to virtually interview him! Wouters plays along and answers dutifully, spouting clichés and platitudes.

Elsewhere in the article the AP makes mention of the use of a “specialized brain scan that was not available in the 1980’s” but doesn’t bother to mention what this magical new kind of scan is and whether or not it will soon reveal scores of people trapped like Mr. Houben was.

It’s a case of sloppy reporting and it’s a case of fraud. I sure hope that Linda Wouters is only deceiving herself because the alternative would make her the most unspeakable kind of wicked.

This is a sad story about a family being taken for a ride. Let’s get the blindfold out and send Linda Wouters back to the fringe.

Bohemian Muppetry

2009-11-24T15:32:00.003-05:00

Sesame Street's 40th birthday passed without comment from me. This should make up for that.

(After clicking "play", click the "HD" button for, well, HD.)

The Sound Cellar: Linda McCartney, “Hey Jude”

2009-11-24T09:46:00.002-05:00

First let me just say that the authenticity of this track is somewhat dubious. This purports to be a recording of Linda McCartney’s isolated microphone run through the mixing board at a Wings concert.

If this is real, it is a testament to the enormity of Paul McCartney’s love for his wife. For if it’s true, Linda’s vocals are so comically terrible that blind love could be the only explanation for keeping her in the band.

And I kind of want that to be true. They were, by all accounts, blessed with true love. If you believe in that sort of thing. I once heard that during the entirety of their marriage, Paul and Linda only spent one night apart – the night that Paul was arrested in Japan for possession of marijuana.

I can’t vouch for that story either…but I once read it on the internet so it must be true.

As for the authenticity of the audio clip, “Station Manager Ken” from WFMU writes in a 2006 blog post …

I got this tape from drummer Samm Bennett about ten years ago, and started playing it on the air. Someone told me that it was a hoax created by a DJ in Boston, and at the end of this MP3, you can hear the DJ starting to talk. The person who declared this to be a hoax sounded authoritative on he subject, but I can't for the life of me recall any details about it.

By the way, WFMU is a really, really great radio station. They podcast a bunch of their shows including two of my favorites, “Seven Second Delay” and “The Best Show on WFMU”. Always great.

The Sound Cellar: Canceling Stamps in Ghana

2009-11-17T12:37:00.003-05:00

WAY over on the other side of the web, FOT Molly hips us to a cool 1975 recording of postal workers in Ghana whistling and stamping while they work.

This was originally recorded by James Koetting and appears in the book/CD-Rom “Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples” .

The four men making the sounds you hear are workers canceling letters at the University of Ghana post office. Each letter is canceled by hand, a boring task that these men make more palatable by setting the work to music. Twice a day the letters are laid out in two piles, one on either side of a divided table. Two men sit across from one another at the table, and each has a hand-stamp-canceling machine, an ink pad, and a stack of letters. A letter is slipped from the stack with the left hand, and the right hand inks the marker and stamps the letter.

The other sounds you hear include another man with a pair of scissors that he clicks - not cutting anything, but adding to the rhythm. Another worker simply whistles along. He and any of the other three workers who care to join him whistle popular tunes or church music that fits the rhythm.

Thanks again to the aforementioned Molly , who dug this up via one place and another but wouldn’t you know it, the chain started at the always awesome WFMU .

This isn’t a space entry; it’s a photography entry…

2009-11-17T12:09:00.003-05:00

…and therefore not subject to my self-imposed space moratorium .

Bernhard Christ, an amateur astronomer from Germany captured the transit of the ISS across the moon. This is a composite of several images, cleaned up for sharpness. The entire transit lasted just 0.4 seconds. ..How awesome is Bernhard Christ?

(Click to embiggen…you know you want to…just click it!)

Thanks to the Bad Astronomer for the heads-up.

Feelin' 7up?

2009-11-13T12:37:00.001-05:00

Back in the day, you didn’t have to use car seats or wear bike helmets. Apparently you didn’t need milk either so long as you had an ice-box full of pure, wholesome 7up.

(Click to embiggen...really, read the copy. It's priceless advice!)

Hell yeah!

Thanks to Duke University
via Kitchen Retro via Neatorama .

The Sound Cellar: Orson Welles, “Frozen Peas”

2009-11-13T10:28:00.000-05:00

This well-travelled nugget features Orson Welles, during his post-genius, over-blown blowhard years trying to record a voice-over for a series of television ads. The producer and director in the control room deign to offer suggestions only to find that Mr. Welles doesn’t take direction from anyone.

As a little Sound Cellar bonus I offer you another clip, this from the animated TV series “Pinky and the Brain” .

Voice actor Maurice LaMarche largely based the voice of the character “The Brain” on Orson Welles and this clip, from the episode “Yes Always”, is based on the Orson Welles outtake above. Because the reference was so obscure and the cost of creating episodes was so great, writer Peter Hastings described is as a “$250,000 inside joke”

The Golden Age of Video

2009-11-12T17:12:00.000-05:00

You like the movies? The TV? A catchy beat?

Then “The Golden Age of Video” by Ricardo Autobahn is just the ticket.

Thanks as always for the heads-up to Jason Kottke

Moments

2009-11-10T11:25:00.001-05:00

As a filmmaking hack I make no claims…but I know “good” when I see it and this film, “Moments” by William Hoffman is great.

The sequence of images and editing creates a continuous flow that is totally compelling to the eye and moving in surprising ways.

Thanks to Neatorama for the heads-up…

Uncanny

2009-11-08T18:30:00.003-05:00

This picture of a baby gibbon being held by it's mother in Vienna's Schoenbrunn zoo comes from Boston.com's excellent Big Picture Blog .

(Click to embiggen...really, click it...the face of this infant is hauntingly human...)

The Sound Cellar: Junior Samples, "The World's Biggest Whopper"

2009-11-08T13:40:00.005-05:00

I have a bunch of stuff in my record collection that I’ve been meaning to share here at TMUOTF but hosting audio on Blogger is a complicated-third-party-hosting deal that I just don’t have the time to figure out.

So I’ve cheated a bit and come up with the inelegant solution of creating a video that uses still images to animate the audio clip, posting them on Vimeo and then embedding them here.

So without further fanfare, I present to you a soon-to-be-semi-regular feature called The Sound Cellar.

Today’s selection: “The World’s Biggest Whopper” by Junior Samples. My personal relationship with this particular track goes back to my dad’s record collection . Among his 45’s was this recording of Junior Samples being interviewed about a bass he apparently caught in Lake Lanier, Georgia. Step into a time machine and give this a listen.

My parents are from Atlanta and Memphis so I have distant and hazy memories of visiting my grandparents in country towns with names like Etowah and Collierville and Cozy Cove. This recording seems to capture the pace of these rural, southern towns and something about the people who lived there.

If you’ve heard of Junior Samples at all its from the TV show “Hee Haw” but this pre-dates the run of that show. A brief description of this cut and some biographical information about Junior Samples is pasted below the clip.

I still have this 45 in my collection. Although a giant crack runs right through the vinyl, you can still hear the scratchy, dusty pop of another time and place.

From the All Music Guide …

Much-loved country comedian Junior Samples was a long-running regular on the TV show Hee Haw, where he was best known for his shaggy-dog storytelling, nearly incomprehensible accent, and colorful misuse of the English language (not to mention his trademark overalls). Born Alvin Samples in Cumming, GA, on April 10, 1926, he was a sixth-grade dropout who became a comedian by accident in 1966. His son found a large fish head, and Samples told his friends it was from a 22-pound, 9-ounce bass he'd caught, which would have broken the world record. The state Fish and Game Commission interviewed him on the radio, and his story was clearly false, but the interviewer thought it was hilarious and played it repeatedly on his radio show, to tremendous response. A tape of the story was set to music by the Chart Records label and released as a single called "World's Biggest Whopper." It nearly made the country Top 50 in 1967, and Samples appeared on several radio and TV shows, also recording a full-length comedy album for Chart called The World of Junior Samples. Bull Session at Bull's Gap followed in 1968, and the following year Samples signed on at Hee Haw, shortly after the show's premiere. He was a smash hit, supplementing his stories with harmonica performances, misreadings of cue cards, and a long-running used-car salesman character. Chart released another album, That's a Hee Haw, in 1970 to capitalize on Samples' new exposure, but he concentrated on television for the remainder of his career. He remained a cast member on Hee Haw until his death on November 13, 1983. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide