Month: October 2009

Random 10 10/16

A little busy today, what with my sister’s wedding this afternoon, but through the magic of post-dating here’s the Random Friday Guess 10, again:

  1. “White Dove” by John Vanderslice
    We had a daughter, disappeared at eight
  2. “Under Your Spell” from Once More With Feeling, guessed by Betty
    I lived my life in shadow, never the sun on my face
  3. “League of Failures” by Jill Sobule
    And I will fall a hundred stories and open up my hand
  4. “One of Us” by Joan Osborne, guessed by Clayton
    If God had a name, what would it be
  5. “Sudden Gift of Fate” by Mary Chapin Carpenter
    Some people have never been the lonely kind
  6. “The Longest Time” by Billy Joel, guessed by Betty
    I have been a fool for lesser things
  7. “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” by Al Green (orig. the Bee Gees), guessed by Occupant
    I can still feel the breeze that rustles through the trees
  8. “Special Delivery by Peter Blegvad
    They say everything twice to me
  9. “Sometimes” by My Bloody Valentine
    I don’t know how you could not love me now
  10. “Kodachrome” by Paul Simon, guessed by Betty
    It’s a wonder I can think at all

I’ll post all the remaining answers to last week’s when I get the chance, maybe late Saturday or Sunday. In the meantime, good luck!

ETA: I’ve added all of the answers to last week‘s lyric quiz.

Tuesday various

  • I actually don’t have a problem with new Winnie the Pooh stories by a different author, even if that means the introduction of a new character. I’m not in love with the idea, and would prefer to see something new — if Lottie the Otter is a worthy character, give her her own damn book? — but I’m more concerned with this being done to extend copyright, to prevent other new stories from being told.

  • So if God didn’t create heaven and earth, that begs the question: who did? (From a Biblical standpoint, that is. If you take the there-is-no-God, the-universe-was-not-created route, obviously it’s sort of a moot point altogether.) This seems more like a case of semantics, but interesting semantics nonetheless. [via]

  • “A van carrying beehives crashed into a truck on Monday, and huge swarms of bees broke free and stung the injured and rescue workers at the scene.” Yikes! As if the car crash wasn’t bad enough. [via]

  • Next week, my mom and I are going to see Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! at Carnegie Hall. Tickets are sold out, but you still have time to bid on a pair (for charity) if you’d also like to be there.

  • And finally, I really loved these Superhero Status Updates. [via]

Owl-stretching time

Alan Tudyk on his love of Monty Python:

When Idle finally called to tell him he had landed the part in “Spamalot,” Tudyk saved the message on his answering machine for years — until someone erased it.

“I still have the machine, though,” he jokes.

I’m sorry I didn’t get to see him perform in “An Evening Without Monty Python,” though even more sorry that I won’t get the chance to see the surviving original members reunite in New York this Thursday. (Something about a wedding rehearsal for my sister I have to go to that night…)

I will make an effort to watch the Monty Python: Almost the Truth documentary, even if I have to do it online or wait for the DVD. “An Evening Without…” felt a little like one of Eric Idle’s many (maybe too many) attempts to cash in on the show’s continued popularity without adding much of anything new. (And, much as I genuinely enjoyed it, that includes Spamalot.) This new doc at least includes everybody else.

Of the group’s lasting appeal, Michael Palin says:

“A lot of contemporary comedy seems self-conscious,” Mr. Palin said. “It’s almost documentary, like ‘The Office.’ That’s a very funny show, but you’re looking at the human condition under stress. The Pythons made the human condition seem like fun.”

He added: “I’m proud to be a Python. It’s a badge of silliness, which is quite important. I was the gay lumberjack, I was the Spanish Inquisition, I was one-half of the fish-slapping dance. I look at myself and think that may be the most important thing I’ve ever done.”

Monday various