I'm Such an Idiom!

Idioms are interesting things, especially when you are dealing with a language that is not your primary one. For example, we were at a Mexican restaurant the other day, and the restaurant had several signs up explaining changes that had recently occurred. The signs all explained that they could not sell alcohol and said "thank you for your comprehension." I imagine that they were meaning thank you for your understanding and simply used another word that in most contexts would mean the same thing. Unfortunately, in this case it changed the meaning of the signs from "Thank you for supporting us despite this" to "Thank you for being able to wrap your puny mind around this. I know it's difficult to figure out such a complicated concept."

Trivial Tuesday

In the late 19th and early 20th century there was an uprising in China by a group known as the Righteous Harmony Society who objected to foreign influence. By what English name is this uprising commonly known?

Brain Clutter

Do you ever think back to shows that you watched when you were a kid and wonder what you were thinking to make you watch them? The subject of Welcome to Pooh Corner came up recently, and I had to start doing some looking around to find the intro song. Of course I found it, because what is the internet for if not for grainy videos of bad TV shows from your childhood. In fact, I found another video I needed to share with you as well. Before I get to that, here is the video for Welcome to Pooh Corner. I loved this show as a kid and sadly I still remembered most of the words to the song, and still imitate Piglet's "What a, what a, what a mess." I'd say that my brain could be better used for storage of more important things, but if I pushed this out, I'd only fill it with more useless junk anyway.





Ok, here's the second video. I remember that this show used to come on after Welcome to Pooh Corner, and I still remembered the song for this one too. Other than the song and that the Orangutan is named QT, I don't really remember much. Does anyone else remember watching Dumbo's Circus?





While I'm on the "does anyone else remember this" subject, do any of you who did watch Welcome to Pooh Corner remember the "Too Smart for Strangers" special? The idea of Winnie the Pooh talking about people touching you inappropriately is actually pretty disturbing, now that I think back on it.

Web's Worst Comic vol. 2: Charades

Apologies for the size, I can't get Blogger to let me make it larger. Click to see full size.

Trivial Tuesday

In the 1980's, no artist was as successful or as much of a cultural phenomenon as Michael Jackson. Whether wearing a single glove or performing his signature dance, the moonwalk, Jackson was sure to spark imitators. The moonwalk debuted in 1983 at the Motown 25 concert during a performance of what Michael Jackson hit?

Congratulations to Invisible Lizard who remembered that it was Billie Jean. Coincidentally, I saw a show on VH1 this weekend (i.e. after posting the question and after it was answered) where they mentioned the very first moonwalk.

Pieces of Eight

So, I was tagged with this meme and have been having a hard time with it. I'm supposed to tell you 8 random things about me, and then tag eight of you to do the same. Easy, right? Yeah, like I can come up with 8 things that might be interesting about me that I'm willing to tell you, but haven't told you yet. (Actually, have I done this meme already? I feel like I have at some point.)

1. I'm currently very disappointed that I missed seeing the Sci-Fi original movie Ice Spiders. I saw commercials for it, and had intended to watch or record it, but forgot all about it until it was too late.

2. I've actually thought a lot about quitting this blog or at least taking a break from it. In fact, I even wrote a post 3 months ago about taking a break, but I never posted it.

3. I love the new version of Doctor Who and am anxiously awaiting the beginning of Season 3 next month. (For those of us in the US, that is. I realize that Season 3 will be finished in the UK before I get to see the premiere.)

4. While a decent case could be made for Tiger Woods, I believe that the most dominant (in his own sport) single athlete in the world today is Takeru Kobayashi, yet recently someone broke his most famous world record. Finally, the guy is getting some competition. So if you don't think I'll be watching and blogging when they go head to head on July 4th, you are greatly mistaken.

5. I could spend hours at a time on Wikipedia, starting with one thing that I want to look up, and then just moving to article after article linked in the text.

6. I am slightly (and embarrassingly) addicted to the new Southern Style Chicken Sandwich at McDonalds. I realize that this a a horrible thing to admit, but there it is.

7. I'm having a hard time with this one. I've already filled out #8, but I can't think of what to have for the next to last one. I've come up with a few, but then I keep deciding that they are better as a full post instead. Ok, here it is: I like to quote lyrics from a song in normal conversation whenever possible and act as if nothing is unusual. You can do this with movie or television quotes as well, but since lyrics are so out of context when they are parted from music, it takes a while for people to realize what I'm doing. This works best if you can make them fit the context (at least at first) of the conversation (ex. "Her parents were not there for her. They just pretty much ignored her when she was growing up." "So, daddy didn't pay attention...to the fact that mommy didn't care?") But it also works for confusing people with completely random fake conversations. ("How was your day?" "I hurt myself today." "Oh no, how?" "To see if I still feel." "What? Are you ok?" "I focus on the pain, the only thing that's real." "What are you talking about? Oh. You're doing it again, aren't you?")

8. Since Pluto was downgraded from planet to "dwarf planet named after Mickey's dog", I've been wondering how to change the song I learned in elementary school that helped me remember the order of the planets in our solar system. You remember "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizza-pies" (or Pies or Pizzas, depending on the version) don't you? Well, it can't just end at the educated mother serving nine. There has to be something. The best I'm come up with so far is "...Just Served Us Naan," but I'm not sure that naan is exactly accessible enough to make it useful rather than confusing to elementary school kids. "Nachos", maybe?

Ok, now to tag eight of you. The problem here is that if I were to tag eight people, I'd have to tag all of you that read this blog and then find a couple of random people to bring the total up. So, I guess you can all consider yourselves tagged (if you want, or just ignore it if you don't).

Sad News

The man who first taught a generation (or more) of children that science can be fun (especially when you blow stuff up) is gone. Don Herbert, better known as Mr. Wizard, passed away yesterday.

Through his television shows, he made science exciting and accessible to all sorts of children. His influence on pop culture was such that even the sitcom Dinosaurs had its own version of him.

Rest in peace, Mr. Wizard. You were a wonderful educator and entertainer.