Dodgers Beat Angels Without a Hit

As an Angels fan, I am annoyed. 1-0 loss.

Save Ferris

Kingda Ka

This ride was the highlight of my trip to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey yesterday. Similar to Knott's Berry Farm's Xcelerator, but way more insane - faster, higher and headache-inducing. In the 2.5 seconds I was aware of what was going on, I didn't think the ride could possibly get any faster. Everything started to rattle and my body tried to tell me, through all the screams, that humans really shouldn't do this kind of thing. Zero to 128 mph in 3.5 seconds.

"You win again, gravity!!!"

Not Wanted?

John finds some allies in his lonely crusade against Wanted, which brought in $50 million this weekend.

Attacking Mars

The Phoenix Mars Lander continues to make progress. It's only a matter of time before we uncover this.

Euro 2008 Final

Germany v Spain tomorrow at 2:45 Eastern! At least, I think that's the right time. I always have trouble figuring out times for international soccer/football matches. Even ESPN lists it as "14:45 ET." It seems the United States (or maybe just ESPN) tries to be cool and international when it comes to soccer. Anyways, I'll be watching.

Teen Killed at Georgia Six Flags

Scary, sad news and on the same day I was at Six Flags in Jackson, NJ!

Out and Proud

I don't usually browse through Yahoo!'s omg! that often (not that there's anything wrong with that), but found this cool photo album of Hollywood's out and proud.

What the World Eats

Very cool gallery from TIME's website featuring photos of families from around the world and what they eat during a typical week. Weekend cultural education? Check.

The Way of the Future

Some website housekeeping announcements:

1) This blog's RSS feed is here if you're interested. Just bookmark it and you'll be notified when there's an update.

2) Note the new "On the Bound" section in the sidebar. I'm giving Twitter a try, partially for fun and partially out of curiosity. I'm not sure that adding another layer of information updates to my life is a good thing, but it would be nice to use as a way to check in when I can't make it to the laptop.

3) I've been updating the blog a lot more recently and hope to keep up the better pace. I finally got a feed reader set up and this has made me about a thousand times more productive and efficient with keeping tabs on news, blogs and people. As you can see, I'm trying to integrate feeds and updates into this site more.

4) Congratulations to Simon on his graduation from Stanford with a Masters in electrical engineering! I've known Simon since 7th grade and I credit him with getting me into blogging when we collaborated on the famed blog of old, IKWITA. Best of luck Simon! You're welcome to guest blog here whenever you like. Same goes for Brian, our other former IKWITAer, who has his new blog here.

WTF NC?

A North Carolina grandmother learns about the "potentially offensive letter combination" WTF from her grandchildren and complains to the state authorities, who were surprised to find that a sample license plate on their website also contained The-Letter-Combination-That-Must-Not-Be-Named.

"Officials learned last year the common acronym stands for a vulgar phrase in e-mail and cell phone text messages."

Seriously? They're just now learning this? I clearly remember seeing "WTF?" emblazoned on an elementary school locker when I was in kindergarten. This was shortly after I had been introduced to the Biblical word for donkey several days before by an especially communicative class bully. And where did I attend kindergarten? Millbrook Elementary in Raleigh, North Carolina.

UPDATE: Andrew Sullivan picks up the case, too.

UDDATE: Brendan Loy, as well.

Candy Bar ID Quiz

How many candy bars can you identify based on a cross-section photo?

For the record, I got 14 out of 20 correct. I'm not sure if I'm more proud or ashamed. Anyway, let me know how you do!

The Setup

Michael Showalter and Mike Birbiglia sending each other up:

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

What's the deal with comedic set-ups on talk shows? Did you ever notice that Seinfeld is the easiest comedian to spot this with? I was watching some of his guest spots on The Tonight Show and it's very obvious when he launches into a stand-up bit rather than normal conversation. I love the guy, but man...

Tone Deafness Studied

90% of people can carry a tune.

Heat Burst in Nebraska

Since I just returned from a quick trip to Nebraska, it's worth posting this story about a recent heat burst in Cozad. Nebraska gets some of the strangest weather in the country.

From Wikipedia on heat bursts:

"A heat burst is a rare atmospheric phenomenon characterised by gusty winds and a rapid increase in temperature and decrease in dew point."

The phenomenon is not fully understood, apparently.

Apocalypse Watch 2008

Here.

Among other things, I suppose.

Facebook vs. Grammar

The challenges continue.

"Users who haven't specified their gender in their Facebook profiles will be asked to do so in the coming weeks. That way, Facebook doesn't have to default to "their" or the made-up word "themself," as it had been doing.

While not knowing someone's gender poses grammatical challenges in English, it has created even larger headaches as Facebook expands to other languages, where a gender-neutral option isn't available in plural form."

Letterman Ratings Hit Record Low

You know, it's probably people like me that made Letterman hit his lowest ratings since 1993. I'm a casual fan, but haven't been watching the show lately. I think Conan has assumed the younger, quirky niche. Maybe Letterman should try throwing snowballs at Brian Williams' office window...or Katie Couric's. (Unfortunately, I am unable to find of video of Conan doing this. If someone finds it, let me know!) My Dad told me that Letterman was big when he was in college - the Jon Stewart of his time.

In conclusion, Letterman needs to get his act together.

Obamania

He's quite popular. A collection of Obama magazine cover appearances. The New Republic's tripped me out for a second.

Love's Labors Lost at Sea

PZ Myers waxes lyrical about the romance of researching rotting squid carcasses:

"You have got to love cephalopod researchers. A rotting carcass, possibly of Architeuthis, is found in California — shredded by sharks, missing its eyes and most of its arms, torn by shrieking seagulls, described as bruised, battered, and chewed up — and the scientists are all "Helloooo, Nurse!", and you can just imagine one of their hind legs doing a spastic tarantella and their eyes zooming out big as saucers."

Remembering George Carlin (But Not Too Much)

I haven't had time to comment on George Carlin's passing due to travels and a hectic schedule recently, but I did want to say a few things about him, especially since I've been doing stand-up comedy for a few years and have certainly thought about his style and influence on people like me.

He would have mocked us for thinking about him, remembering him or talking of him in the afterlife. I think Carlin's independence and skepticism stood out more to me than his ranting about society's ills and absurdities. His comedy, at least for me, wasn't always the kind of positive energy I admire in Eddie Izzard, for example, but it was, for better or worse, usually true.

I first encountered Carlin on an HBO special aired sometime in the late 1990s while I was staying up late and unable to sleep. I found him incredibly clever and soon took the opportunity to borrow a copy of his Braindroppings book from a high school friend. I read the rest of his books within a month, but never had a chance to catch-up with a lot of his stand-up until the past year or so and the treasure trove that is YouTube.

Now that I've been performing stand-up for a little while, I can see that Carlin's biggest influence on me is not in the way I tell jokes or the attitude he imparted on several generations - it comes more from his way of thinking and trust in individual reason. Something seems absurd to you? Explore it...you may be right. It's at the foundation of many comedic premises and certainly something most comedians are aware of, but it was the way Carlin's intellect made you laugh and then soaked into your brain to make you think, long after your belly soreness wore off that truly mattered. You remembered his take on the world as you learned about science and religion. Or evolution and psychic claims. Carlin was fiercely independent in his humor and his mind - and he only asked us to do the same.

Vatican to World: It's Tradition, Not Prada

The Vatican is jabbing back at papers and magazines that have speculated about the Pope's flamboyant fashion statements over the past few years. Red leather shoes and a brimmed hat dubbed "the Saturn" have led some to speculate that the old pontiff was wearing duds forged by major fashion houses like Prada or Gucci or Forever 21 or whatever.

But neigh! Apparently, Popes have always been dressing this way. The Pope wears funny red hats because the Popes of old have worn funny red hats and that's just the way it is. Tradition: the beginning and end of all reasons.

D'oh!

Kona Koffee Kapers

From the AP:

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii - Police in Hawaii say a thief got his caffeine fix when he made off with more than 1,000 pounds of Kona coffee beans.

Police say the beans were taken from a home sometime between May 27 and May 29. The beans were in 100-pound burlap bags.

The Kona area of Hawaii's Big Island is famous for its premium coffee beans.

Police are asking the public to report anyone trying to sell green coffee beans.

Or experiencing convulsive twitches while chatting with 5000 of his/her closest friends. That's a lot of premium coffee to run off with. You can't even run off with that amount, can you? You would need a truck, a Boesky, at least two Jim Browns, one Miss Daisy, two Jethros and the biggest Ella Fitzgerald ever.

How much caffeine would it take to kill you? Here's a good way to find out. Just enter your drink of choice and the caffeine calculator will tell you how many you'll need to punch a ticket to Ghost Town.*


(*Ghost Town is not a legitimate slang term for death and was made up for the purposes of this post. Then again, should any slang term be "legitimate"? Puzzles. Conundrums. It's what we do.)

RSS Feed

RSS Feed for this site is here in case you want to be notified of new posts, but would rather not check everyday (especially when I slack off).

Virtual Speedbumps

Philadelphia will install 100 virtual speedbumps, optical illusions that slow people down without damaging cars, slowing down emergency vehicles or being an annoyance. Cool.

Photo of the Day

Jenny's got it for you:


"People are dumb--Another perfect example of people being dumb. If you notice the picture on the left, not only is the purse on the floor, everything is spilling out and the floor is dirty. The right hand picture has the purse not only hanging from the table, nothing is spilling out, and the floor is perfectly clean."

Quote of the Day

Marc Ambinder on Obama and a snag with Muslim women circulating the Interwebs:

"Politics has found its Jack-In-The-Box story for the day, courtesy of Ben Smith's article on two Muslim women who were denied the chance to sit behind Obama because they looked too Muslim-y. The story itself is fine and worth the read, and my political take on it is banal: of course there is a sensitivity within the Obama campaign anything that fuels the rumors that Obama isn't a Christian. (I half expected Obama to join the First Christian Evangelical Catholic Christ Church of All Saints when he quit Trinity)."

Slackers! Multitaskers! Mythbusters!

A new study suggests that those of us who use the Internet for personal reasons at work aren't all slackers. I think it gives a lot of workers peace of mind to quickly check a ball score, scan recent headlines, exchange a quick email with the significant other or verify that Britney's latest uh-oh wasn't an oh-no. That said, it's also quite useful for slackers.

Have to read this update from Perez now....kthnxbye!

Yeti! Where Be You?

Alastair Lawson on the search for the Indian Yeti.

"The truth is out there somewhere," says Dipu Marak sincerely.

"But like the Loch Ness monster this creature is obviously not fond of giving too many photo opportunities."

It's only a matter of time before someone takes a great shot of a Yeti only to discover a UFO and JFK's real assassin lurking in the background, noticed only after developing or downloading the image. That last sentence was poorly constructed.

Crosswalk Countdowns

Continuing with our theme of urban spontaneity, a video from Urban Prankster, a group affiliated with Improv Everywhere in New York. This was a mission they did in Santa Monica. Enjoy!


Crosswalk Countdown - GuerilLA from Kelly Herrington on Vimeo.

Train Beats

Last night, my girlfriend and I, along with scores of other New York day trippers, were forced to discharge our Trenton-bound train at Newark due to a catastrophic and mysterious case of Train Won't Work. Aside from setting us back an hour plus, it was raining and we were tired after walking around the city all day. We just wanted to go home.

But amid the groans and idle meandering, a few people were making the best of the situation. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shoe in the air, thankfully attached to a leg extended upward. It fell and that's when I realized someone was break dancing on the wet platform concrete at Newark Penn Station. By the time I reached the dancer, the requisite circle had formed and another guy was spinning like Michaelangelo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (you know, during the opening where he screams "COWABUNGAAAAAA!). Just like that.

My ear lurched when I heard a shot to my right. Someone pulled out some drumsticks and was hammering on the trashcan. It was a nice 2-3 minute performance and lifted everyone's spirits a little. What the hell is a train delay when you can dance?

A League of Their Own?

I noticed that a lot of comedians come from fairly prestigious institutions of higher learning. This makes sense, in a way, but I still think it's surprising how many stand-up comedians and writers come out of these places. I suppose it seems like a relatively risky path for a graduate to take, but you have to do what you love, right? My curiosity sparked, I got Google-happy and here are my results:

Franklyn Ajaye - Columbia Law (dropped out)

Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G, Borat) - Cambridge

Lewis Black - Yale Drama

Mike Birbiglia - Georgetown

Graham Chapman - Cambridge

John Cleese - Cambridge

Jim Gaffigan - Georgetown

Greg Giraldo - Columbia, Harvard Law

Steve Hofstetter - Columbia

Eric Idle - Cambridge

Terry Jones - Oxford

Robert Klein - Yale Drama

Bill Maher - Cornell

Demetri Martin - Yale, NYU Law (dropped out)

B.J. Novak (The Office) - Harvard

Conan O'Brien - Harvard

John Oliver (The Daily Show) - Cambridge

Michael Palin - Oxford

Mo Rocca - Harvard

Michael Showalter - Brown

Robin Williams - Julliard

Blogopticon

Vanity Fair has a Blogopticon, measuring blogs on axes of Scurrilous - Earnest and News - Opinion. By some obvious mistake, Caught on the Bound was left off. Letters have been written. Pitchforks have been raised. Torches have been conveniently found on the wall near the entrance and will easily light after centuries of non-use.

Skylines - Kuala Lumpur

Isn't It?

Ironic, that Alanis Morissette's song, "Ironic" doesn't really give any examples of irony?

GraphJam

If you're a fan of Demetri Martin or get bored doing math/science-related homework, you'll like GraphJam. A sample of what it has to offer:

Doomsday Watch 2008

Per yesterday's post, Caught on the Bound has been on the lookout for the nuclear holocaust predicted. Everything's fine here in Pennsylvania. Anyone else see anything?

And I Feel Fine

Ed Brayton covers the end of the world as we know it.

Money quote:

"Here's a simple rule I find useful: if you belong to a religious group that has a "compound," things are not going to end well."

I would add: it's also not going to end well if you try to leave your religion but keep getting caught in the barbed wire. Wait! Did I just get an idea/excuse to post this? Yes. Yes I did:



Anyways, stick around tomorrow for Caught on the Bound's Doomsday Watch 2008!

"The House of Yahweh recently gave ABC reporter Brian Ross access to their west Texas compound. Yahweh leader Yisrayl Hawkins says a nuclear holocaust will come June 12th and only members of his group will be saved."

Also, commenter Lilly de Lure says:

"What, again? You'd've thought people would have learnt by now that if you insist on predicting the end of the world at least be smart enough not to mention anything so tediously falsifiable as an exact date."

Personally, I'm sticking with the Mayan calendar's end date of Dec. 21, 2012.

Heat

Sunbathing? Deadly. Lawn mowing? Deadly. Sitting around? Deadly. Heat is the weirdest killer. Don't try to outrun it. In all seriousness though, it's sad to hear about this. Take precaution! I'm currently soaking my head in water and blogging with goggles.

Alright.

It's been over three years since he passed away, but you never need an excuse to enjoy the comedy of Mitch Hedberg.

Hear Me? I Want Sugar in My Tea

Caffeine is even better with sugar.

It's time I got back to the good life.

Skylines - Napoli

The First Unicorn

Could something like this have been the inspiration behind the mythical creature? This made me think of the Lisa Frank unicorns adorning many a female classmate's notebook in elementary school.

Nailed It on the Head

Yet another nail-in-the-head story. OK, so it doesn't happen that often, but it's still impressive when you hear stories like this.



What if this guy wakes up one day a few weeks from now and discovers that he now has an IQ of 195? Maybe the nail hit a switch in his brain that unlocks the latent human ability to communicate through telepathy! Anyways, glad the guy is OK. Lucky stuff.

Objectivity

So only 77 votes tallied, but this is kind of a problem. The global warming question has fallen into this no-man's-land of partisan bias. I think the problem stems from:

1) The issue of global warming tries to explain long-term effects that extend beyond the scope of our immediate lives. Whether or not global warming is happening, it's unlikely to show a real tangible effect any time soon. In short, the answers gained from research aren't enough to sway people either way.

2) Even if global warming IS occurring, there is still rampant confusion as to whether or not this is a sign of something bad or simply natural climate change that would have happened without human interference.

3) The effects of immediately "going green" (in a forward-looking, long-term, change the world sense) for industry and corporations are written off as negligible for the foreseeable future. Why bother?

4) We don't need another film like this made. (No, I'm not talking about An Inconvenient Truth)

(Hat-tip: Matt Y)

Garfield - June 11, 2008

I haven't laughed at a Garfield since 2002 2008.



For a second, I thought Garfield had finally gone insane. Sweet snickering spiders!

Photo of the Day

Thanks, Jenny!

Obama on Religion and Politics

It's from 2006 and I hope he still thinks this way.

To Boldly Split An Infinitive and Take Things In A New Direction

So it's come to this. Having a blog is something that feels somewhat natural on one level, and wholly strange on another. I like the idea of having a place on the Internets to put my thoughts and interaction with the world, but have struggled to find a consistent lasting tone to sustain it. That's why Caught on the Bound isn't updated as frequently as the blogs I like reading. I think this is because, at its absolute best, blogging is a personal thing. Sure, there are links and rehashing news you could find on CNN, but it always comes branded with a personal reaction on a blog - something to identify with. You can nod along with the idea, shake your head and mumble, "What was he thinking?" or simply laugh at something we universally find funny.

That's why I declare this moment to be a crossroads for Caught on the Bound. I've tried to avoid dipping too deeply into political, religious or otherwise forbidden territory, but have found that this makes this blog a rather empty place. From this point forward, expect to see Caught on the Bound in a new personal light. I want it to be light-hearted and fun, but also in step with the world and developing events.

You'll be seeing more commentary on the things that interest me personally, but hopefully with a sizable layer of mass-appeal. I don't want this to be a log of my daily activities, but I will include something if it's cool - like skydiving or investigating the Telectroscope.

Onward. Caught on the Bound will prevail.

The Chickens Are Restless

Sorry about that random week off I just took. I guess, when you look at the entire course of the blog, one week off isn't much compared to the 5 month stretches I seem to take, but still. You know? I mean, hey. Alright? Yeah. Here's a random picture:

Once You Pop...

Fredric J. Baur died May 4 at the age of 89. Baur was an organic chemist and food storage technician who specialized in research and development and quality control for Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble Co.

Ordinarily, this news would never register on a national scale and since he passed away on May 4, you could argue that it didn't - until we found out how he would be buried - and why.

Baur was the inventor of the iconic Pringles can and requested that some of his ashes be buried in his creation. Thank you, Mr. Baur, for your invention. I have fond memories from my childhood/adulthood/right now of popping that top and tilting the salty chips into my mouth. I cut a slot in the top of one container and made a little bank for myself. I punched out the opposite end and made a telescope. I put little beads in it and made a rain stick. I lived a little better, Mr. Baur.

In memory:

Uncontacted Tribe Spotted in Brazil

Crazy. Arrows were flying.

Linking Fixed

RIGA, Latvia (Caught on the Bound Newswires) - Caught on the Bound users reported broken links when accessing the site through www.caughtonthebound.com rather than the Blogspot address.

Editor-in-chief and Supreme Site Overlord Kevin Curran was roused from his slumber by an aide at 3:30 AM this morning to deal with the problem.

"What we're looking at is some kind of power revulsion oscillation," said a bleary-eyed Curran. "Very common. Very common. Hey, are you going to the kitchen? Can you get me a muffin?"

CotB technicians worked through most of the morning to correct the problem, finally beating back the DNS domain demon with deft programming and two-clicks of a mouse.

"I think 'DNS domain' is a redundant term," said Earl, a longtime programmer and respected minion of the site. "I mean, that's just bad journalism. DNS stands for Domain Naming System. Idiots."

Earl was placed on administrative leave.

Quote of the Day

"There's an old saying about those who forget history. I don't remember it, but it's good."

- Stephen Colbert

Skylines - Brisbane

Adventures - The Telectroscope (Updated)

I'm heading into New York today and will try to check out the Telectroscope or "transatlantic telescope" as blogged about previously. Pictures and footage to follow!

UPDATE:

As promised, my report on the Telectroscope! I've been getting a lot of traffic from people looking for information about it, so here you go:

I took the A train to High St. in Brooklyn. When you emerge, just head towards the bridge and follow along the left side of it until you reach the water - and there it is!


It looks a lot like a telescope. Luckily, it wasn't too crowded either. Some cool tidbits from my Telectroscope experience:

- The staff handed out whiteboards and markers for communicating with our counterparts in London, near Tower Bridge (the Telectroscope has no audio, just the visual). They keep hoping for someone to propose marriage or discover world peace through it; but mainly, we wrote things like "New York Calling!" or "Hello!" or "So anyways, do you just want to call me?"

- It appeared to be raining in London as some of the Other Siders had umbrellas out. One guy near me emphasized his sunglasses and how nice the weather was in New York. This was met with shrugs and good humour on the London side.

- I tried to communicate through interpretive dance, the language of international relations. I did this worm thing with my arms and sure enough, some guy on the other side did it back. Awesome.

- A girl in London started blowing kisses at everyone, which led to a funny bout of miming affection through the great glass tube. It must have been weird for people walking by to see a group of men pretending to fall backwards in front of a giant telescope.

- One couple had made an appointment to meet friends in London through the scope...and they found them!

The strange and somewhat eerie part of the experience is communicating in silence across a great distance. The white boards gave it a bit of a verbal element, like the Internet, but people primarily reacted to movement and gestures, which heightened the sense of distance, like a farmer waving to you from his tractor far away. Strange, fun and highly recommended.

Skylines - Nairobi

Procrastination

Phoneless Chords

I play guitar. Not very well or professionally or anything. I just like to play when I feel like it. I like figuring out chords and hearing how they interact.....man. Sometimes, I sing along with the guitar playing. This can be quite fun, but one answer sort of eludes me. Am I in tune?

I decided to get my recorder that I use for comedy and impromptu interviews on the train and such and record me singing while playing guitar. The result? Decently in tune. Except for random notes here and there. Like, I'll be in tune with no issues and then out of nowhere, some atonal specter of doom makes me sing sort of in tune with the chord but not with the melody, usually at the end of a lyrical phrase. It works, but it's just completely unexpected and makes the song sound like a mistake. And I hear this and think, "I could go for a Coke."

Explanations - Easter Island

Invincible (Sort of)

I don't really follow the NFL very closely, instead preferring the gamely joust of the college game, but I found this article on Vince Young interesting. He nearly quit after his first year in the NFL, which is known to be a difficult year of transition, seriousness and un-fun. And lots and lots of cash. But anyway:

"If nothing else, it's a reminder that we never, ever really know what's going on with our favorite athletes. Or anyone, really. Being rich, being famous, being idolized, being on the cover of Madden ... none of it guarantees that a guy won't be sitting at home crying his eyes out and listening to, I don't know, Elliott Smith albums or something."

And lots and lots of cash.

Photo of the (Yesterday)

"Nothing says Memorial Day like a bunch of bikers driving through town. Thank you to everyone who has served our country. Thank you for our freedom."

Thanks Jenny!

A Cinematic Odyssey

Friend of Caught on the Bound, John Young, reports on a 2001: A Space Odyssey forum for Entertainment Weekly. I know this is one of his favorite films and, after having the opportunity to see it on the big screen at Notre Dame (complete with THX), I too count it among my favorites. A cool tidbit from John's report:

"The ape costumes used in the "Dawn of Man" sequence were so convincing that many moviegoers assumed Kubrick simply trained real apes. This perhaps explains why the film didn't receive an Oscar nomination for its costumes."

Skylines - Hong Kong

Quote of the Day

"I write down everything I want to remember. That way, instead of spending a lot of time trying to remember what it is I wrote down, I spend the time looking for the paper I wrote it down on."

- Beryl Pfizer

The Catchphrase

I'm sure a lot of us have at least a passing familiarity with The Legend of Zelda, either as a video game or as the famed should-have-been-nominated-for-an-Emmy 80s cartoon series. In case you missed any part of it though, this is a good recap of the series:



My favorite scene (and I did watch the whole thing) has to be Link just standing there grappling with snakes for no apparent reason. Honorable mention: scenes in which Link is either in his underwear or somehow hanging out in Zelda's bedroom wearing a robe. Mario never got this good.

Dedicated to Patrick Donnelly's graduation from the University of Notre Dame.

The Laugh Lab

Joke research! I've filed this under alternative careers.

Alone with the Cards

Turns out you're not alone when you play solitaire.

"Solitaire has been a popular diversion for bored office workers for decades, even causing New York office worker Ed Greenwood to be fired when city mayor Michael Bloomberg spotted him playing it on the clock."

Anyone else play Snood? That's equally addictive in its own way.

Tous les Garcons et les Filles - Francoise Hardy

Just go with it.

Pandora

If you haven't already, do.

Based on the Music Genome Project.

Wallflowers

"Fiercely independent, Jakob Dylan determined early on to make his own name rather than ride on his famous father's coattails. The young musician named his band the Wallflowers after an intense brainstorming session with other band members - and only later discovered (much to his chagrin) that his father had once written a song (albeit still unpublished) with the very same name.

A rider in Jakob's contracts later stipulated that no references be made to "Bob Dylan's son" in any preshow advertising. Ironically, the rider was actually requested by Bob Dylan."

(from anecdotage.com)

Photo of the Day

"I was driving along minding my own business, and I saw some smoke, and then I saw this. It's not every day you see a car engulfed in flame. I just hope they got everyone out because...holy crap...I mean seriously!"

A bit of a change-up from Jenny's previous photo.

Whoosh.

Not that Labour needs any more scares. Tony Blair's plane comes within minutes of being shot down by Israeli fighter jets. Scary stuff.

Quote of the Day

"The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues."

-Elizabeth Taylor

Coming to A Shore Near You

Strange Maps provides an update on the odyssey of The Friendly Floatees, a bunch of rubber ducks shipwrecked in the middle of the Pacific in 1992, which continue to ride the ocean currents today, popping up on shores in Australia, South America, North America and now Europe.

We might do well to consider The Friendly Floatees as an allegory for life. Or maybe a metaphor. It's like a simile. That is, could we be drifting through life, unaware of the next shore to receive us? To put a relativity spin on this, perhaps we are the drifters and the rubber duckies are a fixed beacon in time and space, trying desperately to guide us home and destroy our illusion of motion and progress when they, not we, are standing perfectly still in the universe.

Like I said, it's a metaphor or something. But like an allegorical simile. The Caught on the Bound staff is currently in the midst of heated debate now. Best to tend to it.

Pork and Beans - Weezer

The video for Weezer's new single, Pork and Beans. You might recognize some Internet/YouTube-ish stars. I like the sound of this single; a lot closer to their earlier stuff, but I hear the rest of the album is pretty experimental and out there. Fine by me.

Garfield Hip, With It

There's just no way this joke would have worked in the 80s. Also, did Liz steal Charlie Brown's shirt and dye it? Somewhere, in the Peanuts universe, a shirtless Charlie Brown is curled in the fetal position hiding his shame.

A Transatlantic Telescope

UPDATE: My first-hand report here!

Various news outlets are reporting the completion of a "Telectroscope" that allows Londoners and New Yorkers to see each other in real time. Really? Well, sort of. It's a cool art exhibit:

"The whole thing is about seeing what is real and what isn't real and how the world is," said Nicki Webb, a co-founder of Artichoke. "Is it nighttime when we are in daytime and does it look familiar to us or not?"

When the sun illuminated the lens of the Telectroscope next to the Thames this morning, it was, of course, still nighttime in New York. So the screen inside the scope broadcast back only an empty sidewalk silently framed by the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan skyline.

But then something miraculous occurred.

A police officer and a street cleaner walked into the frame. Stopped. And waved."

The New York Times has more here.

Photo of the Day

In an attempt to bring more cool visuals into this space, I've commissioned Jenny to provide some random photos and captions. Enjoy!

"This is one of my favorite pictures of a soldier crab from Cayman Brac. He just has that "If you were smaller, I could totally take you" look. He's a crab that's going to take on the world. Currently, he lives with a wife, three children, and a pet snail lovingly named 'slow-poke'. Volunteering at the local crab shelter 'Have a Claw, Help a Crab', he has made a name for himself in the community asking for donated shells to give crabs a home and a second chance."

Notes on the Beatles

If you're a Beatles fan like me, you've probably wondered how they managed to churn out album after album of good music while incorporating new elements, styles, forms, influences and haircuts for nearly a decade. Sure, there was plenty of talent but couldn't there just be some secret formula that Lennon and McCartney plucked from the musical ether? Some elegant underlying secret to Pop Music?

I doubt it. But I do find Alan W. Pollack's "Notes on the Beatles" series to be a good shot at finding out. Pollack studied music for a number of years before embarking on a more lucrative career in computers, I believe, and in 1989 he attempted to analyze a few of the Beatles' songs and give listeners a sense of what made them so great. What began as an interesting little project eventually turned into an interesting big project as Pollack managed to breakdown and analyze every single song in the band's catalog.

As a musicologist, a lot of the notes are somewhat dense if you don't have a background in music theory; but his comments are thoughtful, accessible and warmly engaging as he outlines the distinctive features of each tune. So enjoy!

By the way, is there anyone that doesn't like the Beatles? I've met only one person who came right out and said that he didn't like the Beatles - and he knows who he is. We'll find you.

I mean, there's something for everyone with the Beatles right? I admit to not being so keen on McCartney's hokey songs like Maxwell's Silver Hammer or Honey Pie, but this is a group that gave us early metal (Revolution), hard rock (Paperback Writer), children's songs (Yellow Submarine), acid pop (Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds), pop standards (In My Life, Something, Here, There and Everywhere, Yesterday) and pushing-the-envelope art songs (Strawberry Fields Forever).

In conclusion, who is your favorite Beatle?

Indiana Jones Exit Poll

John apparently saw the new Indiana Jones film. What did he think?

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is a truly mediocre action-adventure movie. Absolutely, unequivocally mediocre.

It's silly, silly, silly, silly, silly, and it's dumb, clunky, and condescending."

I really, really, really, really, really hope I don't feel the same way after seeing it. Ouch. Although, I must say, the "condescending" part has me intrigued. Will Indy break the fourth wall, stare out at the audience and say something like, "Of course they wouldn't know anything about that now, would they?" Here's hoping I don't break down in the theater after the third "silly."

Evolution of Intelligent Design

Apparently, 25% of high school biology teachers still devote classroom time to creationism or intelligent design. I have no problem with this. But to be fair, we should also devote classroom time to the Flying Spaghetti Monster, the Invisible Pink Unicorn, Thor, Zeus and their relevant theories of creation.

Then again, I was somewhat swayed by Kirk Cameron's "crocaduck" argument. For a second, I almost forgot Dr. Grant's velociraptor theories (which, incidentally, they now believe had feathers).

Where's My Camera?

A Utah photographer gets hit by a javelin at a high school track meet and somehow manages to take a picture of his accident. Not for the queasy, but the curious.

Vintage Ads for Modern Products

A fun Photoshop contest. Browsing through the ads feels like some kind of parallel universe - distant yet familiar. In the year 2540, we'll have anthropologists and archaeologists digging through the ruins of the once Great Internet and uncovering what appear to be startling anachronisms: "iPods in the mid-20th century? Impossible!" Of course, by then, the language will have evolved from the archaic turn-of-the-millennium speech and sound more like "Ipes in way backsies? Nuh-uh!" And they will laugh at all of us wearing jeans the way we laugh at Washington wearing tights.

Obama in Portland

Photo not available: the other six people who live in Portland

Soon...

In Defense of the 'Liberal Professor'

"The absence of larger numbers of conservative faculty members is, to a great extent, explained by the very correlation between education and ideology. Other explanations might relate to the different choices that liberals and conservatives, especially those with advanced degrees, make about education, careers and income.

Simply put, more conservatives with a bent for higher education are going to have to opt for smaller salaries if their presence in the academy is to grow."

An interesting read, especially if you worry about pinko-leftist commies teaching kids about democratic socialism. That said, I'm going to go hug a tree while hating money.

Stuff White People Like: Stuff White People Like

Stuff White People Like, the straightforward blog with a book deal now, seems to have hit upon a quiet and, until now, unexpressed awareness of the silly excesses of hipsterdom. I see it as a more accessible version of Robert Lanham's The Hipster Handbook.

As I've seen some already point out, the ironic twist may be that the biggest fans of Stuff White People Like are, in full accordance with the site's premise, white people.

Naked Theology

Harry Collins on New Atheism's arguments:

"Once scientists move outside their scientific experience, they become like a layperson. I'm not a religious person, but if I want to talk religion with someone, it won't be a scientist; it will be with someone who understands theology (who might be either an atheist or a believer). I believe people like Dawkins give atheism a bad name because their arguments are so crude and unsubtle. They step outside their narrow competences when they produce these arguments."

This is something that Dawkins and other scientists have addressed. What is the point of discussing the finer nuances of theology or how many angels can dance on the head of a pin when you are challenging the underlying premise of God's existence? Everything else is built on this assumption. There's little value in comparing the merits of fine silk versus linen cashmere as royal costume when it's clear that the Emperor is not wearing any clothes.

(Via Sullivan)

The Scream Dream Team

Now suppose you find yourself in the all-to-common situation of having to assemble an all-star team of screamers (and we're talking blood-curdling, ear-piercing skull reverberations here). Who do you choose?

My starting five for the Scream Dream Team:

1) Jamie Lee Curtis
Easy. Her performance in the 1978 horror film Halloween earned her the nickname, "The Scream Queen." What's a Scream Dream Team without the Scream Queen being seen .... een. Sorry, wasn't sure how to end that sentence.


2) Macaulay Culkin
When the first image that comes to mind of this kid (creepy guy now) is screaming with hands firmly on cheeks, you know you have a solid vocal chord virtuoso that can belt one out with the best of them. Macaulay Culkin, as Kevin McCallister in the 1990 film Home Alone, defined the scream for a younger generation, adding an essential visual component of wide-eyed gaping shock and horror. And this was only aftershave he applied to his face! Imagine his scream if he saw Dracula or Freddy Krueger or Michael Jackson? Actually, he did see Michael Jackson. The horror.

3) Maria Sharapova
Her loudest grunt on the tennis court measured an ear-drum perforating 101.2 decibels. For those of you requiring some context, 100 decibels is how loud the average car stereo is at maximum volume. Welcome to the team, Maria. Welcome to the team.

4) Fay Wray
The actress who played Ann Darrow in the original King Kong inspired a contest to see who most closely matches her famous scream. Can there ever be a real winner?

5) The Scream
The painting by Edvard Munch. Variety, spice, terror. The opposing scream team would never expect a visual knockout blow like this! Not bad for oil, tempera and pastel on cardboard (seriously, it was on cardboard).

Harry Potter and the Hallows

The road to hell is paved with adverbs.
- Stephen King

This quote appeared in my iGoogle Quotes of the Day box and reminded me of what King had to say about J.K. Rowling last summer during The Anticipation:
(from "Deathly adverbs" by Jan Freeman of The Boston Globe")

Even Harry Potter's most loyal fans would concede that his creator, J.K. Rowling, has a weakness for adverbs. Four years ago, in an otherwise admiring review of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," Stephen King observed that Rowling "never met [an adverb] she didn't like." Harry, he noted, "speaks quietly, automatically, nervously, slowly, and often -- given his current case of raving adolescence -- ANGRILY."

King found this flaw "endearing rather than annoying," but not all readers are so indulgent. In December, when the title of the final volume was announced but "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was not yet finished, a writer at the online review Blogcritics told Rowling it wasn't too late to improve her style.

"Ms. Rowling, I have a challenge for you while you're still in the editing stage of book seven," proposed M.J. Ryan. "Take a highlighter and mark those adverbs up. Get rid of them. Release yourself, and your readers, from 'Adverb Hell.'" And start at the top, said Ryan: "'Deathly' is an adverb. In the title. How lazy can you get?"

That said, there better be an 8th book. LEGACY AND SERIES CONCLUSION BE DAMNED.

Charlton Heston passes away

I think it's odd for someone like me to be writing about Charlton Heston's death in any serious way. Politically, I tend to hang out on the left side of the fence and generally think we should go gunless in the United States (let's give cops big sticks and just beat people). However, after taking several film classes in college, two films stand out in my memory -- Orson Welles's Touch of Evil and the epic Ben-Hur, both of which I had the pleasure of seeing on the big screen.

Heston played Ramon Miguel Vargas in Touch of Evil. That's right, he played a Mexican. "My name is Var-gahs!" I remember hearing. Very strange and way off-base by today's standards. But seeing Ben-Hur was one of the most exhilarating film experiences I've ever had, and I suppose I should thank Charlton (did anyone ever call him that?) for that performance. Rest in peace you crazy epic gun-touting man. Rest in peace.

E.M. Forster - "What I Believe"

"I believe in aristocracy, though - if that is the right word, and
if a democrat may use it. Not an aristocracy of power, based upon
rank and influence, but an aristocracy of the sensitive, the con-
siderate and the plucky. Its members are to be found in all
nations and classes, and all through the ages, and there is a secret
understanding between them when they meet. They represent
the true human tradition, the one permanent victory of our queer
race over cruelty and chaos. Thousands of them perish in
obscurity, a few are great names. They are sensitive for others
as well as for themselves, they are considerate without being
fussy, their pluck is not swankiness but the power to endure, and
they can take a joke."

Emphasis Mine

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands (CNN) — For three days, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is enjoying some private down time on the island of St. Thomas, a source close to the U.S. territory's Government House in the capital of Charlotte Amalie confirmed Monday.
Watch CNN's Exclusive footage of Sen. Obama on vacation.

Signs of Life

I tried to post on this blog earlier in the week, but it didn't recognize me. And so as the fruit bat of time flies haphazardly through the darkness of life, we find that the the ripe apple of opportunity will always be on the tree of persistence.

Eddie Izzard: Lust for Glorious

The Flies in Winter

A house fly swooped by me just a moment ago. It brought to mind a question that has lingered with me since I was a little kid. Where do flies go in winter? After a graceful stumble through high school biology, I figured they somehow hibernate or cryogenically seal themselves off from the wintry world, waiting for some glorious spring buzzing. But this guy was already dizzily buzzing about a few months too early.

Wikipedia offered an answer (as it always does -- the question is always in the veracity): the fly was pupating indoors, which accelerated its growth and caused it to hatch early in a warm environment.

I might have to use another tidbit I learned from Wikipedia about flies. If you clap your hands a few inches above a fly, it will trigger its flee reaction and likely send it right into your closing hands.

Words Are Flowing Out

And not landing anywhere near this blog, eh? I've decided that I will keep making little posts like this as a way of bringing myself back into full bloggable splendor.

Right!

Terribly sorry about the delay. Caught on the Bound will, in fact, return for a much-heralded 4th season. As you may have guessed (or hoped), funding for the site's production budget was cut in half, so things have been kind of shoe-stringy lately. So, what to do with the $6 in the budget? Chipotle burrito.

In other news, I'm going to throw everything I have in my brain back at this site.

Not as bad as it sounds.