So NORAD is tracking Santa on his travels again. This year they’ve got much better integration with Google Maps and you get the chance to take a look at photos of a lot of the places he’s stopping. The best part isn’t the videos when they do manage to catch a glimpse of him. No, the best part is all the Christmas wishes from people around the world when you go to look at the photos.
Funny Bone
Proving that the database is only as smart as the programmer
I’ve been less than diligent lately about taking advantages of iTunes weekly giveaways mostly because, well, they have devolved into kind of sucking. Sure, they gave us Amy Winehouse at some point before October 31, 2007 (the date on which I migrated computers and had to restore my iTunes database), but mostly it’s been barely mid-level songs by artists you wouldn’t spend $9.99 to hear.
Still, I go look every couple of weeks, perhaps download a song or two, and see what videos they have available. This week’s free movie is Slacker Uprising by Michael “Roger and Me” Moore, a movie that, by the way, he’s giving away on his own web site. I clicked through to see how it was being received, what the comment gnomes had to say and was suddenly captivated by the box in the lower right labeled “More by this director.”
Paradise, Hawaiian Style, hum, I thought. Has Michael Moore gone soft? Travelogue? So I clicked. And I got this:
No, Michael Moore hasn’t gone soft. iTunes has gone crazy.
Paradise, Hawaiian Style was directed by Michael D. Moore a native of Victoria, BC who was born in 1914. The film was Elvis Presley’s 21st leading role appearance and his second in a movie shot in Hawaii.
Apple has proven once again that iTunes is really just a database in nice clothes and that any database is only as good as the people who put the information into it. That said, as gaffs go this one tickled the hell out of me.
OK you fuckers, I’m going to tinkle now*
I had the distinct pleasure of seeing George Carlin at the Warner Theater in DC several years ago. We had third row left seats and it was fabulous.
Having been raised on mid-1980s Saturday Night Live (good, but not great comedy; SNL peaked early) and stolen viewings of Eddie Murphy’s Raw and Robin Williams’ Live At The Met, Carlin when I discovered him in my early 20s on HBO was a delight: clever, smart, and ascerbic as hell. He played with language in a way that no other comedian in my experience had before, and, frankly, no other comedian has since.
Carlin was once quoted as saying “”If you’ll scratch a cynic, you’ll find a disappointed idealist.” Like many things, he was right about this I think.
Listen to Carlin’s original “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television” from his 1972 album Class Clown (this version was recorded off the original vinyl that was given to TGF at 14 years-old by her future brother-in-law).or check out his 1978 revised list.
Regardless of whether you partake of the media or not, the world is linguistically a poorer place for Carlin’s death. The man knew the value of words and grasped their power.
* Derivation from Carlin’s original “Seven Words” sketch
Cartoons on the web
I wish all cartoonists had a tip jar or swag or something you could buy to help support their art. There are so many good cartoons out there:
- Mikhaela Reid’s Boiling Point
- Full Frontal Nerdity by Aaron Williams
- Paige Braddock’s Jane’s World (which does have major distribution)
- The long-running and still relevant Dykes to Watch Out For from Alison Bechdel
to name a few.
And then there is Toothpaste For Dinner by Drew. Sometimes belly-laugh funny, sometimes simply relevant, always makes you think. Below is today’s
It made me laugh. What can I say, it’s been that kind of day.
Quote of the day
“In the Old Country we have a thaying,” Igor volunteered
“A what?”
“A thaying. We thay, ‘If you don’t want the monthter you don’t pull the lever.'”
– Igor to Moist Von Lipwig, Making Money by Terry Pratchett