Category:
Television
Television
Bernie und Ert
As long as we've been talking about German humor....First the original, with superior voice-acting, then an English dub, for comprehension.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 28, 2008 -
Comments (5)
Category: Drugs, Entertainment, Puppets and Automatons, Television, Foreign Customs
Bjork and Her Television
I really think the beloved and utterly unique Bjork should be the official spokesgal for WEIRD UNIVERSE.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 21, 2008 -
Comments (5)
Category: Aliens, Science, Television, Foreign Customs
Color It Clean
So long as we've started a toilet thread, let's all watch "Color It Clean," so that we appreciate the men and women who maintain our public lavatories.This film reminds me of Barney Gumble's autobiographical entry in the Springfield Film Festival. I could find the clip only in Italian, but that adds a certain frisson to the viewing experience, I think.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 03, 2008 -
Comments (3)
Category: Bathrooms, Buildings and Other Structures, Bums, Hobos, Tramps, Beggars, Panhandlers and Other Streetpeople, Hygiene, Body Fluids, Excrement, Inebriation and Intoxicants, Television, Documentaries, 1960s
Smoki Bacon
Smoki Bacon, that is, glamorous NYC and Boston socialite and literary bon vivant.
How could Smoki's Zelig-like presence at all the great intersections of literary history have escaped me till this very moment?
Sample the tasty Bacon yourself in this highlights reel from her cable-TV show with Dick Concannon.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 28, 2008 -
Comments (3)
Category: Celebrities, Literature, Writers, Odd Names, Television
Tiger Trouble
I first learned of the reign of man-eating tigers here ten years ago, watching this series of PBS's NATURE show. One episode revealed how the natives had to wear human face masks on the backs of their heads to avoid tigers pouncing on them and eating them. (It was not a totally successful tactic.) I believe this bit later showed up in the wonderful Calvin and Hobbes strip, with Calvin trying the same tactic to avoid Hobbes's attacks.
This photographer, who goes by the handle of Jimbojack, has some wonderful photos of the region for you to look at.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 21, 2008 -
Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Death, Regionalism, Television, India
Follies of the Mad Men #28
SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Ingesting almost two hours of vintage cigarette commercials for the same brand might be dangerous to your health. Symptoms may include light-headedness, uncontrollable giggling, and a desire to stick two cigarettes in your mouth simultaneously. Indulge with caution!
Posted By: Paul - Thu Sep 18, 2008 -
Comments (13)
Category: Business, Advertising, Television, Tobacco and Smoking, 1950s
George Putnam, RIP
TV newscaster George Putnam has died. Read his LOS ANGELES TIMES obituary here.Putnam was frequently cited as the inspiration for the Ted Baxter character on THE MARY TYLER MOORE show.
Make your own judgment based on the videos below.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Sep 16, 2008 -
Comments (5)
Category: Centuries, Death, Obituaries, Entertainment, Actors, Hollywood, ShowBiz, Stupidity, Television
One Touch of Homer Makes the Whole World Kin
After briefly distracting the patients, the researchers then asked them to think about the clips for a minute and to report “what comes to mind.” The patients remembered almost all of the clips. And when they recalled a specific one — say, a clip of Homer Simpson — the same cells that had been active during the Homer clip reignited. In fact, the cells became active a second or two before people were conscious of the memory, which signaled to researchers the memory to come.
Why is Homer Simpson singled out as the test case? Obviously because the human brain has specific neurons that emulate or actually induce and compel Homer-Simpson-style behavior.
And there in a nutshell you have the whole basis for ninety-nine percent of the contents of WEIRD UNIVERSE.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Sep 05, 2008 -
Comments (13)
Category: Celebrities, Science, Experiments, Psychology, Stupidity, Television, Husbands, Cartoons
Candid Camera
Candid Camera was, in my opinion, the greatest TV show about psychology ever made, and this is one of its classic segments: Group behavior in elevator. It speaks volumes about the human need to conform.Another segment I like is "The Interpreter," from the British Candid Camera. Watch as the interpreter never questions the romantic advances the woman makes toward him, even though her "fiancee" is sitting beside him.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Sep 04, 2008 -
Comments (1)
Category: Television, Video, Psychology
They Never Said It
In my 'Odds and Ends' folder on my computer I've got a file called "They Never Said It." In it I put every example I come across of a famous line of dialogue that was never said by the fictional character it's attributed to. It's a fairly short list so far (a list of misquoted real-life people would be much longer), but this is what I've got:"Beam me up, Scotty."
Never said by Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek television series.
"Just the facts, ma'am. Just the facts."
The signature line of Sgt. Joe Friday, lead character of the 1950s' television drama Dragnet. The closest he ever came to saying it was, "All we want are the facts, ma'am."
"Elementary, my dear Watson."
Never uttered by Sherlock Holmes in any of Arthur Conan Doyle's writings (though Holmes does, once, say 'Elementary'). The phrase was first used in a Sherlock Holmes movie in 1929.
"Play it again, Sam."
The actual line said by Ingrid Bergman's character in Casablanca is, "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'."
"What is it, girl? Timmy's fallen in the well?"
It's the signature line from the Lassie TV series, but it was never uttered. Timmy never fell down a well.
"Greed is good."
Attributed to Michael Douglas's character Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street. The actual line is "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good." Though in the trailer for the movie the line was shortened to "Greed is good."
"You dirty rat."
James Cagney's most famous line that he never said. The actual line from the 1932 film Taxi! is "Come out and take it, you dirty, yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!"
"Judy, Judy, Judy."
Cary Grant's most quoted line. The closest he ever came to saying this was in the movie Only Angels Have Wings, in which his character's former girlfriend was called Judy and he said things such as, "Hello, Judy" or "Come on, Judy."
Posted By: Alex - Sun Aug 24, 2008 -
Comments (2)
Category: Literature, Movies, Television
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |