Baron Dave Romm
Twins or Quads?
By Baron Dave Romm
Shockwave Radio Theater podcasts
Summer schedule for Baron Dave's column
This is my busy season, and this is the lull between two storms. I covered the Minnesota Fringe, including several podcasts, and will be covering various political goings-on in a few days. I encourage people to support independent journalism by clicking on the Tip Jar button.
I may not have time to do a regular column here until mid-September. And if something breaks politically I may just send in a column any day. No promises. I'll let Marty know.
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Glabal Warming: The delegates and the issues
I went to the State Fair, and another political event over the weekend. I talked with numerous people: Policians, volunteers, dancers. The Fair interviews are up on the Shockwave Radio Theater Podcast page, and I hope to have another one up by tomorrow.
In the meantime, listen to this short (3:23) mp3 comparing and contrasting delegates to the RNC and the DNC: Barb Davis White and Robert Lilligren
Twins or Quads?
This was in yesterday's News of the Weird, and I had to track it down.
Two mums, two sets of twins - quadruplets? Bounty News 7/31/08:
Two sets of twins, born to two different mothers, but they're all quadruplets.Interestingly, all four babies were conceived from Martha Padgett's eggs, but through IVF treatment, two embryos were also implanted in her lesbian partner Karen Wesolowski.
The women explained that they opted for double IVF as Karen had already experienced three years of failed treatment but admitted they were extremely shocked when they were told the results.
The Mirror calls them non-identical tots so they're fraternal (sororital?) quads. But still.
More pictures at Sina.com.
Prediction: Wild birthday parties and (eventually) a set of cousins with an interesting story at family reunions. And there will be a tv show with this (or a similar) premise within five years.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog, plays with a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E. Podcasts of Shockwave Radio Theater. Permanent archive. More radio programs, interviews and science fiction humor plays can be accessed on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
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The Weekly Poll
Results
The question was:
What is the scariest movie you've ever seen?
The Responses:
Well, Poll Fans, I know it's been a long week, but, I gots ta tell ya, it was worth the wait. Lots of great responses, that's what ah'm talkin' 'bout! Shiver-city, haha!
We'll start out with that pea soup special...
The Exorcist
Tiera wrote, "Without a doubt, the movie that scared me the most was "The Exorcist"!
I was in 8th grade when it came out, but didn't see it until I was a junior in college. That night, I slept with my light on, clutching my bible and a rosary I inherited (I'm not Catholic, so I don't know why I thought that would help)!"
sjmcos added, ""The Exorcist." That movie had people re-thinking their lives. Close second is "Alien." Seeing it in a darkened theater is very different from watching a DVD at home." We both wrote and talked together about reading this book, front to back, all night long, non-stop. Talk about scary stuff! I read that book non-stop and then saw the movie. Somewhat of a let down after reading the book first, however...
Marian the Teacher related, "The Exorcist...scared all of us at the beach. First we watched Jaws and that scared all of the kids. Then we watched the Exorcist and my son came in with his clothes on backwards and he was only four..I grabbed him and then........... we all ran out onto the beach...It took about five minutes for our hearts to stop pounding and then another ten for me to stop screaming at him...and then I realized that he was really only a baby trying to put on his pajamas. But I can't watch either of the movies to this day!!
Next, the Hitchcock classic 'Psycho'
Psycho
Ted, obviously freaked, simply said, "Psycho, eeeek!!"
Forbidden Planet
Baron Dave went back to his childhood with Forbidden Planet.
"The only movie that scared the shit out of me was Forbidden Planet.
I saw it on tv altogether too young, and the Id Monster had me
running to mommy. It's still scary, though for different reasons. Otherwise, I tend to avoid horror movies and the like. If I want to be scared, I'll watch the "news" on tv..."
(He's got a point there, don't ya know)...
Alien
Alien got a vote by rsill1 (no comment included)
The Screaming Skull
The Screaming Skull got a vote by Vic in AK
"It used to be the "Screaming Skull" Gave me nightmares forever after having seen it when I was a child. But when I became a horror host and got to use it for the first halloween special of my old horror show the "TwoFatGhouls" I realized that after not seeing it for 30 odd years that it was just campy ,goofy and more humorous than horrorible. but the MEMORY of the Screaming Skull of my youth remains the scariest movie."
The War Game
Brian Cady struck a chord with me as an ex-Cold War(rior) with...
The War Game Academy Award winner in 1967 for Best Documentary, it recreates in horrific
detail an atomic bomb attack on Kent, England. The fact that what you see
happen could happen to you at any moment makes this the scariest movie ever
made.
The Power
TomReed chose The Power...
"I can't take gore. As a victim of PTSD, thanks to a robbery, I can't stand horror films at all. And for those who can't, gore is overdone; we all know the blood is corn syrup and red food dye. For me, the most devastating horror film was George Pal's "The Power." It's about a number of people at a psychological testing lab who are being killed by a telepath - one of their own number. A man is in a room where the doors and walls disappear, then he dies of a heart attack. The protagonist (George Hamilton) is trapped on a merry-go-round that turns into a centrifuge, is shot at by toy dolls (done by George Pal's famous Puppetoon animation) and other death traps. But the most devastating part, for me, was NOT a murder. A woman who was in love with the secret telepath is hunted down by the protagonist. She isn't dead. The telepath has warped her into a pathetic, drunken failure, living in a trailer, unable to remember the details about the telepath, doomed to a life as a cheap whore and alcoholic. There are worse things than death, and for me at least, destroying a person's soul is just such a fate..."
Next up, one of my all time favs... Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead
Adam in NoHo said, "'Night of the Living Dead'- I was 12 when I watched it alone in my bedroom one night. I was scared to leave my room right after..
He also gave a nod to The Twilight Zone and Dr. Who with this observation, "Movies don't really scare me, but there are two television episodes that
gave me the creeps- the old Twilight Zone episode about the woman who was receiving telephone calls from her dead husband (I find dead air on the telephone
unsettling for some reason), and the recent Dr. Who 'Blink' with the statues that move when you don't look at them. Scary."
Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper was Jim Ds choice (I'm not sure which version) When I was a kid (long long ago) I snuck in to see "Jack the Ripper". The entire movie was black and white until he was crushed under the elevator and the blood turned red. Uggh!!
The Haunting of Hill House
And finally, ducks says... "The scariest movie I've ever seen was
The Haunting of Hill House with Julie Harris, Claire Bloom and Russ Tamblyn. No gore, no slash, just pure mind game scary. I think don't you need gore and guts and blood squishing all over the screen to be scary. Less is more. I found the Exorcist boring."
Well, that's part one. Part two tomorrow.
BartCop Entertainment Movie Poll
The NEW question is (No, not Joe Biden, but):
What is the funniest movie you've ever seen?
BadtotheboneBob
Send your response to BadtotheBoneBob ( BCEpoll 'at' aol.com )
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
FROMA HARROP: It's No Longer Just About Hillary (creators.com)
After hearing her name placed in nomination at the Democrats' convention next week, Hillary Clinton will no doubt urge her followers to support Barack Obama. What good that gesture will do for the Obama candidacy remains to be seen. Clinton has already made it several times, but a new Pew Research Center poll shows that 28 percent of her primary voters do not intend to vote for Obama, a number virtually unchanged from June.
FROMA HARROP: Even Health Care Can Be Outsourced (creators.com)
Is "medical tourism" - Americans' going abroad for cheaper treatments - good or bad? The answer is "yes." It's both. But one thing is for sure: Medical tourism is here to stay. A new study by the Deloitte consulting firm forecasts that the number of Americans going abroad for care, 750,000 last year, will explode to 10 million by 2012.
SUSAN ESTRICH: Courage (creators.com)
Political courage is not about standing up for what's easy and popular with the people who elect you. It's about standing up for what you believe in.
SUSAN ESTRICH: Leroy Sievers (creators.com)
My friend Leroy Sievers died on Friday night. I considered him a friend, but the truth is I never actually met him. I read his "My Cancer" blog on npr.com every day, and although I was never one of the many to post comments there, I read those, too, and considered the regulars to be my friends.
DEB PRICE: The Tale of the Wise Librarian (creators.com)
Weddings are supposed to be joyful occasions. But reading about Uncle Bobby's big day in a children's book upset a grownup library patron. Fortunately, a calm and wise librarian, James LaRue, was there to guide the patron through the dark emotional woods that can be very scary after reading something unsettling.
DEB PRICE: Schools Get Timely, Gay-Friendly Reminders (creators.com)
A high-school senior in Florida turned to a teacher's aide for help last September after younger students taunted her for being gay, saying "dykes" are "nasty," "gross" and "sick."
Anti-Gay School Earns A Hard Slapdown (bluecollarscientist.com)
Anti-gay folks have to do a lot better than their current load of baloney if they are to show they are any better than the Klan of the mid-20th century6.
1.Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.
2.Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
Interview: Robyn Hitchcock (villagevoice.com)
When it comes to writing upbeat pop songs about insects, deceased spouses, and other suitable-for-nightmares subject matter, former Soft Boy Robyn Hitchcock is the best there is.
Will Harris: A Chat with Thomas Dolby (bullz-eye.com)
On doing the soundtrack for "Howard the Duck": "When people ask me what movies I've scored, I sort of goŠ (Makes muffled, unintelligible sound) Šor I mention that I worked at LucasFilms for awhile, and they go, 'Oh, what movies did you work on?' And I go, 'Oh, I forget the nameŠ'"
The Sayings of the Jewish Buddhist
Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?
Katy Perry: I Kissed a Girl (youtube.com)
Hubert's Poetry Corner
The Great Airline Price Increase
Marsha's Deck
Grasshopper
Hi Marty! Got a picture of this handsome guy out on our deck today. He
is a Spur-Throated Differential Grasshopper. And he is a whopper.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny and pleasant.
A Fond Memory
Free Speech
Filmmaker Michael Schiller was taping protesters marching down a sidewalk near New York's ground zero site during the 2004 Republican National Convention when police used orange netting to form a cordon and told everyone inside they were under arrest.
"We figured we'd be fine. If they said disperse, we'd disperse. But we never got the chance," recalled Schiller. He and nearly 1,200 people across the city were arrested that day.
The incident underscored what critics say is an alarming erosion of citizens' free speech rights during political conventions.
Civil rights activists and attorneys braced for the possibility of more of the same this year. But Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's office says he has pushed to make Denver as accessible as possible to protest and interest groups.
Free Speech
World Air Guitar Title
Hot Lixx Hulahan
With perfect timing and dramatic moves, an American performer with the stage name of Hot Lixx Hulahan has captured an international rock guitar award -- without ever having to strum the instrument.
Wearing tight black pants, satin shirt and elaborate armbands, Hulahan -- real name Craig Billmeier -- crushed his competition on Friday night to capture the world air guitar championships in Finland's western city of Oulu.
"The two-year reigning Air Guitar champion, Japan's Ochi 'Dainoji' Yosuke had to give in to the overwhelming new champion," organisers said in a statement that saluted Hot Lixx's "impeccable timing and overall solid performance."
Hot Lixx Hulahan
Beauty Contest For Nuns
'Miss Sister 2008'
An Italian priest and theologian said Sunday he is organizing an online beauty pageant for nuns to give them more visibility within the Catholic Church and to fight the stereotype that they are all old and dour.
The "Miss Sister 2008" contest will start in September on a blog run by the Rev. Antonio Rungi and will give nuns from around the world a chance to showcase their work and their image.
"We are not going to parade nuns in bathing suits," Rungi said by telephone from his town of Mondragone. "But being ugly is not a requirement for becoming a nun. External beauty is gift from God, and we mustn't hide it."
'Miss Sister 2008'
Writing Camp
Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
It's billed as the oldest writers' conference in the nation, a gathering at a picturesque mountaintop retreat where literary giants, book editors and up-and-coming novelists have been coming together once a year since the 1920s.
But somebody's gotta schlep the meals: At the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the job falls to two dozen young writers who serve as waiters for the two-week summer summit, donning aprons and name tags to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner to the 225 participants.
Bread Loaf crumbs, they're not. Most are professors, graduate students in the fine arts or prize-winning writers, chosen from 600 applicants for work-study scholarships that cover the $2,300 tuition.
Founded in 1926 and named for a nearby mountain, the August Bread Loaf takes place at an idyllic campus about 10 miles east of Middlebury College, up a winding mountain road in a land that cell phones forgot. Its yellow-and-green wraparound porches, Adirondack lawn chairs and slamming screen doors.
Bread Loaf Writers' Conference
Set Damaged By Small Fire
'Private Practice'
A fire broke out on a sound stage at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood where ABC's "Private Practice" is taped, damaging part of the set.
No injuries were reported in the blaze, which was reported at 1:25 a.m. in the 5300 block of Melrose Avenue and declared out within 20 minutes.
The fire happened on Stage 1 of the studio, near Bronson Avenue, damaging the top of the office set where the ABC primetime soap opera is taped, according to a security guard.
'Private Practice'
Chill Threatens Space Program
NASA
The chill left on US-Russian relations by Moscow's military incursion into Georgia could spell problems for future US access to the International Space Station, US experts said.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will become dependent on flights to the ISS by Russia's Soyuz spacecraft when it retires the shuttle fleet that has long ferried US astronauts into space in 2010.
NASA will only get its successor space vehicle, Orion, planned for a revival of trips to the moon, ready for flight in 2015 at the earliest.
That leaves the needs of US astronauts visiting the ISS vulnerable to the possibility of a new Cold War between Washington and Moscow after Russia's powerful military overran much of Georgia two weeks ago in the dispute over South Ossetia.
NASA
Warners Takes Issue With Film Title
'Hari Puttar'
Warner Bros. has filed a lawsuit against Mumbai-based producer/distributor Mirchi Movies related to the title of its upcoming film "Hari Puttar -- A Comedy of Terrors," which Warners feels is a tad too similar to its franchise about a certain young wizard.
The case is being heard in the Bombay High Court and comes up for hearing Monday (August 25). "Hari Puttar," a comedy that centers on a 10-year-old Indian boy whose family moves to England, is slated for a September 12 release.
The Hari Puttar name began making the rounds here as a comic gag when the first "Harry Potter" film was released. Hari is a popular Indian name, and "puttar" means "son" in the Punjabi language.
'Hari Puttar'
Indictments To Stand Against Associates
Tom DeLay
An appeals court has declined to throw out money-laundering indictments against two of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's political operatives, who had claimed that state elections law used to charge them was too confusing to proceed.
Attorneys for Jim Ellis and John Colyandro, who operated Texans for a Republican Majority during the 2002 campaign, argued that the 3rd Court of Appeals should toss out their indictments because the laws used against them were vague and too broad.
In arguments made to the appeals court two years ago, Travis County prosecutors disagreed, urging the court to let the prosecution continue.
In a lengthy opinion issued Friday, the court affirmed the finding of a lower court and declined to dismiss the indictments.
Tom DeLay
Presidential Predictor?
Cockroaches
This presidential race was no contest: John McCain sped to the finish while Barack Obama was reluctant to leave the starting point.
But there's no guarantee giant Madagascar hissing cockroaches will predict the real result in November.
The roach race Thursday was part of the New Jersey Pest Management Association's annual clinic and trade show.
Organizers liken the race's prediction success to that of Punxsutawney Phil on Groundhog Day.
Cockroaches
Nasty Winter
Farmers' Almanac
People worried about the high cost of keeping warm this winter will draw little comfort from the Farmers' Almanac, which predicts below-average temperatures for most of the U.S.
"Numb's the word," says the 192-year-old publication, which claims an accuracy rate of 80 to 85 percent for its forecasts that are prepared two years in advance.
The almanac predicts above-normal snowfall for the Great Lakes and Midwest, especially during January and February, and above-normal precipitation for the Southwest in December and for the Southeast in January and February. The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions will likely have an unusually wet or snowy February, the almanac said.
Farmers' Almanac
US Grain Exports Snagged
Failing Infrastructure
Across the country, from grain elevator to grain elevator, golden wheat and corn are piled in towering mounds, waiting for a rail car to haul them to market.
Some grain can sit for a month or more on the ground, exposed to wind, rain and rats.
It's the dark side of the booming global demand for U.S. corn, wheat and soybeans. The surge in exports is revealing inefficiencies in the country's railways, highways and rivers that carry the grain that helps feed the world. And those bottlenecks are costing farmers, shippers and ultimately consumers millions of dollars a year.
Fixing the bottlenecks will take billions of dollars in investment over several years. In the meantime, exports are forecast to increase, with corn shipments expected to grow every year over the next decade from 54 million metric tons to 77 million metric tons, according to the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute.
Failing Infrastructure
Weekend Box Office
'Tropic Thunder'
The action comedy "Tropic Thunder" weathered a rush of new movies to remain No. 1 for a second-straight weekend with $16.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
"Tropic Thunder" came in just ahead of Sony's campus comedy "The House Bunny," which debuted in second place with $15.1 million. "The House Bunny" stars Anna Faris as an ostracized Playboy bunny who becomes den mother to a sorority of campus misfits.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Tropic Thunder," $16.1 million.
2. "The House Bunny," $15.1 million.
3. "Death Race," $12.3 million.
4. "The Dark Knight," $10.3 million.
5. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," $5.7 million.
6. "Pineapple Express," $5.6 million.
7. "Mirrors," $4.9 million.
8. "The Longshots," $4.304 million.
9. "Mamma Mia!", $4.303 million.
10. "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," $4.1 million.
'Tropic Thunder'
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