• Blogs Wot I Read - Funnies - Radio

    All I need to say regarding James Brown

    Wondermark by David Malki – 261: In which James Brown is … well, you know I listened to an NPR retrospective on James Brown the other day. I didn't know his songs were always in the same key. I hadn't realized how repetitive they were until I listened to several full length songs during the course of the show. And now I know that he's an artist best heard sampled on other people's tracks, because the funk should never be boring. There. I said it. Via Joey, whose new site redesign is lookin' sharp, but why is the accordion player headless?

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics - Radio

    NPR: Tom DeFranco Debunks Myth of Friendship

    NPR : Notes on the Real Gerald Ford Just now on MSNBC's coverage of President Ford's funeral, an old Washington pol was trotting out the "Nixon and Ford had a deeper friendship than previously thought" meme. According to DeFranco on NPR this morning, it's utter bunk. Nixon used to say to anyone in hearing that Ford was stupid, while Ford was much, much smarter than anyone gave him credit for. Apparenlty, he's the only President who was able to conduct his own budget briefing, a complicated affair usually left to experts. Bet Bush leaves it to people with higher math skills.…

  • Clan: McTiVo - Dear Mom - Music - Today

    The Passing Year

    Great Performances . From Vienna: The New Years Celebration 2005 | PBS I've been listening to KUNC's "eclectic music" programming via streaming Internet just now, and they  announced that they'll be broadcasting the annual New Year's concert from Vienna later this afternoon. I started crying. Last night at midnight, I was just dozing off when firecrackers and loud "reports" (guns or M-80s or whatever) started going off. It occured to me that 2007 was a year without Mom in it, and started crying.  Yesterday, at the farewell liturgy for Holy Innocents (AKA Holy Moly), a former vicar came up to…

  • Clan: McTiVo - Dear Mom - Music - Today

    The Passing Year

    Great Performances . From Vienna: The New Years Celebration 2005 | PBS I've been listening to KUNC's "eclectic music" programming via streaming Internet just now, and they  announced that they'll be broadcasting the annual New Year's concert from Vienna later this afternoon. I started crying. Last night at midnight, I was just dozing off when firecrackers and loud "reports" (guns or M-80s or whatever) started going off. It occured to me that 2007 was a year without Mom in it, and started crying.  Yesterday, at the farewell liturgy for Holy Innocents (AKA Holy Moly), a former vicar came up to…

  • Clan: McTiVo - Geek Out! - Mini-Posts

    Doctor Who: Spoilers in Linked News Item, Plus Also We Are Such Geeks

    BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Doctor Who Spoiler warning for my husband David, and for ***Dave of DDtB – we’re only up to the end of the second season here, but the linked article includes information about the third season now being filmed. And meanwhile, David is hooking up his new toy, which is some kind of mega-whizbang media hub switch thing that will allow us to view shows captured by his Snapstream software, which acts as an auxiliary to TiVo. Currently, to do this involves screwing around with some cables and his laptop, sometimes with inadvertent humor: The last…

  • Dear Mom - Movies

    What We Did Yesterday

    David and I celebrated Jewish Christmas yesterday with my in-laws; we went to a movie and then drove around looking for a Chinese restaurant that was open. Actually, we never did, but a sports bar was open, so that's where we ended up eating. The movie was "The Good Shepherd," which was extremely layered and nuanced. You really had to pay attention to details, and the foreshadowing was there for the ending, but it was so subtle that when I pointed it out to my husband David, he was amazed. Matt Damon's performance as CIA man Edward Wilson was masterful;…

  • Clan: McTiVo - Uncategorical Weirdness

    Doctor Who: Sometimes, He’s Out

    Television Without Pity » Doctor Who » Fear Her Rose and the Doctor head to London 2012 for the Olympics, only to find themselves on a suburban street where the children are disappearing. After a bunch of herrings both red and anvilicious, it is discovered that one lonely little girl named Chloe is responsible: she pulls her neighbors into her art by drawing them. Shes also got her mean scary demonic dad locked up in a very scary picture in her closet. After a billion years of gumshoe and lots of sardonic twitticisms, it is discovered that the girl is…

  • Flickr

    Imagery: Sumo

    In November of 1993, I visited Japan for 2 weeks. It was a big adventure; my friend Debbie was living in Nagoya then and the original plan was that we’d take off for a few days together and then I’d be on my own. The plan changed when Debbie had a family emergency, and she left me in the hands of some friends of hers. I spent a lot of time at first getting used to living in a Japanese apartment, exploring Nagoya via subway, and watching a lot of Japanese TV. Then after a few days of culture shock…