gregladen | September 17, 2009Since there appears to be a lack of general cultural knowledge of Henry Gibson and Laugh In, some foggy memories (not least being my own) and deep time historical knowledge of comedians Arte Johnson, the early form of Goldie Hawn, Rowan and Martin themselves, Ruth Buzzi, Jo Anne Worley, and Lily Tomlin 1.0, here's some material for you.
See how many celebrities you can spot (Henry Gibson is in the very long blooper scene at the end of the first video, at about 8 minutes into the second video with Greer Garson , and elsewhere). Even more interesting, see how may prenumberations you can…
gregladen | September 17, 2009Details here.
Adam Savage, co-host of Myth Busters will be on to discuss skepticism, celebrity advocacy, and of course, the wildly popular MythBusters and it's role in skepticism.
and
Derek Bartholomaus, creator of The Jenny McCarthy Body Count will discuss anti-vaccination advocates, the recent rise in treatable illnesses, and why some people really hate science.
gregladen | September 17, 2009"[T]here will come a day when the speaker [of the United States House of Representatives] will be hauled into federal court and threatened with jail because she dares to stand at that podium .. and ask the chaplain to start our day with the prayer."
Not soon enough, I'm afraid.
These words were uttered by Virginia Rep J. Randy Forbes in reference to a trial going on now in Florida in which two sdhool official are facing charges for violation of the Constitution of the United States of America. Which part of The Constitution? The part that Republicans, Right Wingers, Libertarians and…
gregladen | September 17, 2009The evolutionary history of mammals can be reviewed as the evolutionary history of tooth loss. The early mammals had many teeth, and every now and then in evolutionary time, a tooth is lost wiht subsequent species arriving from that n-1 toothed form having that smaller number of teeth. With ver few exceptions, no mammals have added a tooth during the history of mammals. (Excepting maybe the very very earliest period, but probably not.)
Well, the loss of enamel itself is also an evolutionary trend in mammal history, and recent research published in PLoS Genetic associates genetic changes…
gregladen | September 17, 2009This is the 199th anniversary of one of the many, many events in Mexico that can be thought of as formative in its long and complex history. Mike has an interesting post comparing the very different patterns of "Independence Making" in Mexico vs. the US.
One of the biggest differences, of course, was that the Native American population in what is now the US was much more systematically exterminated than was the Mexican native population. That meant that when the revolution came, the guns were being held primarily in brown hands in Mexico and white hands in the British colonies.
Anyway…
gregladen | September 17, 2009Steve Harvey is cool with me being an idiot. And you too, likely (being an idiot that is).
What I want to know is this: If there are so many smart people in this world, why are there still Steve Harvey??????
hat tip
gregladen | September 17, 2009We know there is a link between education, church going behavior, and the inability or unwillingness to accept that evolution is real and that humans evolved. But what exactly is the relationship? I think the following diagram includes the correct answer, but I'm not sure which one it is:
What am I missing?
gregladen | September 17, 2009As you know, Mary of Peter Paul and Mary has died. So has Henry Gibson. Although I did go through a folk music phase ... worked in a folk-music coffee house for a while and everything (and I went to school with Kay Wilkie, I got a cat from Arlo Guthrie, and Pete Seeger was the first member of the nature conservation organization I started when I was a kid and so on) ... I was always much more comfortable in the Niel Young - Zappa part of the spectrum. Henry Gibson, who's heart was bigger than his 1970s period lapels, was a regular on Laugh-In, which was, at the time, a very funny TV show…
gregladen | September 16, 2009Amanda got her official letter today indicating that she has a Masters Degree in Biology from the University of Minnesota. This letter is important because it is what she shows her school HR department so they can give her the tiny raise teachers get if they have a Masters Degree.
They U sent it by airmail:
Which is good, because we live really really far from the U but close to the airport:
NOT!!!!
I wonder if the letter flew to Chicago and back before getting delivered?
gregladen | September 16, 2009Unix is like a colored rotating box within a colored rotating box within a colored rotating box.
Short UNIX Historyby unixguru
gregladen | September 16, 2009Disney plans to remake Yellow Submarine ... in 3D. What I want to know is, how did the Blue Meanies get hold of the rights to this film anyway?
A 3D remake of The Beatles' 1968 film Yellow Submarine has been confirmed, Disney Studios has announced.
It will incorporate the 16 Beatles songs and recordings from the original animated film.
Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook said the new film will be directed by Robert Zemeckis using the same motion-capture effects employed in Polar Express.
bbc
gregladen | September 16, 2009St. Petersburg mayoral candidate Bill Foster believes, contrary to the overwhelming majority of scientists, that dinosaurs and humans co-existed. He believes the world literally was created in six days, and he once complained to school officials when his son was taught about Darwin's theory of evolution in fifth grade.
Is that relevant to the campaign for mayor of Florida's fourth largest city?
Yes!! And in a place like St. Petersburg Florida, it virtually guarantees a landslide victory for this yahoo!
"This city is trying to increase its employment base with respect to scientific…
gregladen | September 16, 2009A couple of weeks ago, I published a very controversial post titled "Maybe We Should Have Elected a White President After All" about the ongoing, possibly growing racism in connection with Obama's presidency. The idea that a lot of the anti-Obama, including anti-health care reform, rhetoric and action was racially motivated was understood by some and rejected by others who seem to not want to see any significant racism in the mix. This was parallel to the head in the sand reaction to my earlier post on the the arrest of Skip Gates in Cambridge Massachusetts last July.
There are those of…
gregladen | September 16, 2009I'm getting bored playing with Mike H. I don't know if you've noticed or not, but I've replaced most of the links to his blog, Crook's Shadow, with alternative, funny links. That is partly because I don't want to accidentally give his blog any technorati (or other) cred, and partly because it amuses me.
But I am getting tired of him. He's stopped making utterly stupid arguments and now all he does is thumb his nose and and pick his nose and who knows what else he is doing to his nose. (I think that's his nose, anyway.)
One one hand I don't like banning people. On the other hand I have…
gregladen | September 16, 2009A follow-up on "Racist Act at Health Care Forum ..."
Earlier, I posted this video:
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In this video you see a fairly typical (for these days) "Town Hall" meeting, this time with Senator Claire…
gregladen | September 16, 2009A man from Rogers, Minnesota...a small town in the Sixth Congressional District represented by Michele Bachmann...went through the trouble of strapping on his Glock .40 caliber handgun and dropping his Kel Tec 380 in his pocket before visiting the site of President Obama's talk last Saturday in Minneapolis. His name is Josh Hendrickson and both handguns were loaded.
He went to the speech to stand outside and show off his cammo and his guns. The press took note and had a chat with him. Hendrickson told them, "I'm a pretty laid-back guy that loves his kids and his country."
Hendrickson was…
gregladen | September 16, 2009Senator Claire McCaskill's health care forum. You can't see much detail, but when a couple of black women in an all white room are dragged off by the police, I figure they were probably victims of the growing racism we are seeing in this discourse.
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gregladen | September 16, 2009This includes Jimmy Carter's comments.
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