Entertainment/culture
oracknows | November 13, 2007Today's the day, everyone.
I haven't mentioned this before, but the documentary on the trial over the teaching of "intelligent design" creationism in the classroom in Dover, Pennsylvania two years ago is set to premiere on your local PBS station tonight at 8 PM. The Nova documentary, Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial, already has the Discovery Institute up in arms because from all reports thus far (and indeed from the content of the documentary website, which presents fossil evidence and a detailed discussion of evolution) it is uncompromising in its viewpoint that ID is not science…
oracknows | November 11, 2007Friday morning while doing some work in my office, I was treated to a discussion by the two hosts of a morning radio talk show. The talk was apparently prompted by a rather odd website, ihateyoungpeople.com, which asks:
We want you to create a video of yourself explaining what you hate the most about young people. It's your chance to rant and rave and vent about the younger generation.
The most passionate and creative entries will be a part of a national cable television pilot... and all "appropriate" submissions will be posted on the I Hate Young People video sharing site
So fire up your…
oracknows | October 31, 2007...we need a little something as night approaches.
I know just the thing: Brain-eating zombies.
Given that this is the blog that conceived of the misbegotten literary (if you can call it that) device known as the Hitler Zombie, how could I not post a clip involving an actual cinematic brain-eating zombie on Halloween? (Warning: In the interest of full disclosure, this clip contains a brief and pretty well obscured topless shot and a couple of uses of the F-word.)
Intelligent talking zombies who understand how to use pulleys. Now that's scary! Yes, this was a clip from one of my favorite…
oracknows | October 28, 2007These days, pretty much everyone, smokers included, knows that smoking is bad for you. It promotes lung cancer (and several other varieties of cancer as well), heart disease, emphysema, and a number of other health problems. If you ask most smokers, they will tell you that they'd like to quit but have found it very difficult. Indeed, we are now starting to appreciate that secondhand smoke is a health hazard, leading some states and localities to ban smoking in public spaces.
This is a huge change in the 43 years since the original Surgeon General's report on the danger of smoking was released…
oracknows | October 20, 2007I can't say I saw this one coming, but it turns out that Albus Dumbledore is gay:
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has revealed that one of her characters, Hogwarts school headmaster Albus Dumbledore, is gay.
She made her revelation to a packed house in New York's Carnegie Hall on Friday, as part of her US book tour.
She took audience questions and was asked if Dumbledore found "true love".
"Dumbledore is gay," she said, adding he was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, who he beat in a battle between good and bad wizards long ago.
The audience gasped, then applauded. "I would have told you…
oracknows | October 16, 2007Work and a conference intervene to prevent a fresh dose of Respectful Insolence today. Fortunately, there's still classic Insolence from the archives that hasn't been moved over to the new blog. This one originally appeared on March 7, 2005.
The short answer is: Yes. The long answer is below.
When I first posted on this yesterday, I had hoped things weren't as they appeared. Although representing himself as a free-thinking skeptic who proudly trumpets his atheism and calls religion a "neurologic disorder," Bill Maher has, sadly, apparently officially passed from the realm of "smug but…
oracknows | October 13, 2007
Will Smith is the last man on earth. The movie is directed by Ridley Scott. The last take on this story (Richard Matheson's post-apocalyptic I Am Legend), The Omega Man, is one of my all time favorite science fiction movies. (Yes, I know it didn't follow the story that closely, but it stood on its own.)
'Nuff said.
oracknows | October 13, 2007The Skeptical Surfer informs me of a rather disturbing programming decision by PBS:
I first caught wind of the autism film "Beautiful Son" through the surfing community. Surf filmmaker Don King has an autistic son. Being a filmmaker, Don always has a video camera at hand and has documented his "journey" of discovering that his child has autism. This, along with other footage and interviews, have become a film about autism called "Beautiful Son."
[...]
The film has not yet premiered, but there is enough supporting evidence via a web site and film preview to draw a few conclusions. Let's start…
oracknows | October 10, 2007One of the most important responsibilities of health care workers and hospitals is to protect the privacy of the patients for whom they care. Unfortunately, in the case of George Clooney's recent hospitalization for injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash, a consequence of electronic medical records was revealed when dozens of employees, some of whom apparently leaked the information to the press, accessed Clooney's medical records. Of course, these employees didn't seem to realize that EMRs allow the tracking and identification of anyone who logs on to the system. Anyone who logs on leaves…
oracknows | September 29, 2007It's Saturday afternoon, time for a break from science as I attack the disaster that is our backyard. In the meantime, let's rock out for a few minutes:
I'm not a huge KISS fan, but the above song is the absolutely best song that KISS ever did in their entire career--and it's an ode to my hometown, to boot! It just plain rocks out.
Enjoy!
oracknows | September 23, 2007Believe it or not, this post is related, albeit somewhat tangentially, to my area of expertise, breast cancer. It's also related to one of my great loves in life, namely loud, obnoxious rock and roll. Unfortunately, it involves bad art and an album cover so puzzling that, even when considering the source, I have a hard time figuring out just what the heck they were thinking when they put this album cover together.
I'm talking about, believe it or not, the cover of the new Ted Nugent album Love Grenade.
I know, I know, it's not as if one expects the cover of a Ted Nugent album to make sense.…
oracknows | September 22, 2007I have to tip my hat to Kevin Leitch. I really do. He's done something that I couldn't manage to force myself to do, at least not completely.
He's subjected himself to the entire episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in which Jenny McCarthy showed up to plug her new book about her fight to "save" her child from autism, Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism.
Far be it from me to attack Jenny McCarthy for wanting to help her autistic son. Her devotion is admirable, and virtually all parents, other than crappy parents, want to help their children. The problem is that, in seeking to…
oracknows | August 23, 2007You know, even though I know he's been a Republican talker for a long time, that he worked for the Nixon administration as a speechwriter and lawyer, I've always kind of liked Ben Stein. My wife and I used to like to watch Win Ben Stein's Money, and he was quite amusing as the principal in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He's always come across as a pleasant doofus, even though I know that image appears to be carefully calculated one.
Now I learn that he's the narrator and a driving force behind a pro-"intelligent design" movie called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, which is due to be released…
oracknows | August 12, 2007While trying to avoid working on my grant yesterday, I was idly flipping channels. I had planned on killing a few minutes while psyching myself up to go back into the Bat Cave that is my office, ignoring a gloriously perfect sunny day with temperatures in the low 80s, to do battle with the grant application again, when I came across it: The greatest movie ever made!
The movie is called Fiend Without a Face, a low budget science fiction/horror movie from the 1950s.
It's awesome, and I'll tell you why. The monsters are disembodied brains. Yes, this is (mostly) a medical blog, and talking about…
oracknows | August 5, 2007Now I remember why breakdancing got on my nerves in the 1980s:
(Via Attuworld.)
Thus endeth the silliness for this rainy Sunday.
oracknows | July 28, 2007Ya gotta love The Cramps. Their style of rockabilly is so bizarre that it's been dubbed by some as "psychobilly." And, if you happen to be unlucky enough to have to be hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital, I can't imagine a much better bit of therapy than to see The Cramps perform at your hospital.
Enjoy!
There's more:
And, while we're at it, here's a Cramps classic:
(Via Mt. Holly Major's Office and Boing-Boing.)
oracknows | July 21, 2007What do you get when you mix a bunch of octogenarians and nonagenarians with The Who?
You get this:
It's a band called The Zimmers. Members range in age from 69 to 99. I particularly like the mass instrument smashing at the end of the video. I have to admit, however, to the near irresistable urge to respond to the lyric "Hope I die before I get old" with "Too late!"
Even so, I hope I can still rock if I make it to my 80s or 90s.
oracknows | July 17, 2007
This time, it's from Colorado, and it's the King:
Rock collector LaDell Alexander, 60, has found a stone she swears has the face of the rock king Elvis Presley on it and has taken it home and plans to sell it on eBay in August, near the 30th anniversary of his death.
Alexander said "people are calling me the Elvis Rock Lady. Seven out of 10 people see Elvis (on the rock)."
Hmmm. I wonder what the other 3 out of 10 people see on the rock.
So is this a hunka hunka burnin' rock?
In all seriousness, though, if Ms. Alexander can use the Elvis Rock to separate some credulous fool from their money…
oracknows | July 7, 2007Wow. That's all I can say.
The unreconstituted Led Zeppelin geek in me is amazed. That kid can really channel Jimmy Page.