Archive for December 18th, 2013

Speak up, I can’t hear you.

Wednesday, December 18th, 2013

If you must know, I was looking up the “Ding Fries Are Done” meme when I stumbled across this entry at KnowYourMeme: The Family Guy Effect.

The Family Guy Effect is a postulated phenomenon asserting that when Internet memes are showcased on the animated television show Family Guy, the meme will see a brief burst in popularity, followed by an immediate sharp decline. Prior to being associated with Internet meme overexposure, the Family Guy effect was used to describe how a joke becomes less funny when repeated over time.

You. Don’t. Say.

Posted in Geek, TV | Comments Closed

Tickling my fancy.

Wednesday, December 18th, 2013

By the same token, Mr. Osin said, the flame had set people on fire only on three occasions, and never in a hazardous way. “It’s not dangerous,” Mr. Osin said. “It didn’t even damage the garments of the torchbearers.”

I don’t know why I find “the Olympic torch has only set people on fire three times” so funny, but I do. It reminds me of the line from the Spinal Tap commentary track about the pods working…maybe 70% of the time, but Marty DiBergi had to pick one night they didn’t work and make a big deal out of it…

Also tickling my funny bone:

The Olympic flame is not eternal, but is relit a few months before each Olympics, said Bill Mallon, a former president of the International Society of Olympic Historians. It originates in the temple of Hera in Olympia, Greece, where it is ceremonially lit by “supposedly Greek virgin priestesses,” Mr. Mallon said, using the sun’s rays via a parabolic mirror.

“supposedly Greek virgin priestesses”? I’m not sure I want to think about that.

Posted in Clippings, Sports | Comments Closed

Wild, wildlife.

Wednesday, December 18th, 2013

Residents in Sunset Valley are being warned by city officials to keep their dogs away from the nature trails due to increased coyote activity in the area.

(For folks unfamiliar with Austin, Sunset Valley is an independent municipality located on the south side of town.)

Gee, if only there was some other solution to the problem of coyotes attacking dogs…

Posted in Clippings, Guns | 2 Comments »

More obits people sent me.

Wednesday, December 18th, 2013

Harold Camping. I’m really kind of curious what’s going to happen to Family Radio now; does it survive with a new leader? Do the stations get sold off? I think most of them are non-commercial licenses; is there another religious group that would want to buy them?

Janet Dailey, noted romance author.

“I kept saying to Bill that this is the kind of book I’d like to write,” she said once in an interview, adding, “He got tired of hearing that in a hurry.” He told her to start writing or stop talking about it. She said she modeled many of her male protagonists on her husband. He died in 2005.

You know, “Start writing or stop talking about it” is actually pretty good writing advice.

For the historical record: Ray Price. AV Club.

Posted in Books, Clippings, Music, Obits, Radio | Comments Closed

Julie Andrews!

Wednesday, December 18th, 2013

It is that time of year again.

Our friends at the Library of Congress have announced the most recent batch of 25 films that are being added to the National Film Registry.

Stuff you might have heard of:

  • “Forbidden Planet”
  • “Judgment at Nuremberg”
  • “The Magnificent Seven”
  • “Mary Poppins”. Gee, isn’t that interesting?
  • “Pulp Fiction”
  • “The Right Stuff”
  • “Roger and Me”
  • “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

Pretty much all of these strike me as good choices, except “Roger and Me”. “Pulp Fiction”, I’m sure, will be divisive. More at the LAT link, including the stuff you probably haven’t heard of. On that list, I’m kind of intrigued by “Daughter of Dawn”, “King of Jazz”, and “Notes on the Port of St. Francis”.

Posted in Clippings, Movies | 3 Comments »

Obit watch: December 18, 2013.

Wednesday, December 18th, 2013

Ronnie Biggs, one of the conspirators in the Great Train Robbery and (briefly) vocalist for the Sex Pistols, has passed away at the age of 84.

I have the feeling that Biggs was often viewed as a loveable rogue. This is worth keeping in mind:

They beat the driver senseless with an iron bar; the man never fully recovered from his head injuries.

As is this:

Safe from deportation, Biggs began living large, his brazenness as much a source of head-shaking admiration in his native land as of anger over his continued cheating of justice, especially after the train driver beaten in the robbery, Jack Mills, died without ever being able to return to his job.

(According to Wikipedia, Mills died from leukemia in 1970, and one of the robbers who wasn’t Biggs confessed to the beating last year. There does appear to be some question about whether that confession was truthful.)

Edited to add: more from the paper of record. And in case you are asking yourself, “Don’t they have newspapers in England?”: they do, but I haven’t found one I trust that doesn’t have the Biggs obit behind a pay wall.

Posted in Clippings, Law, Music, Obits | Comments Closed