For this podcast episode of “Stu & The Dude’s Weekend Wrap-Up!”, The Dude on the Right saw a couple of movies, and Stu Gotz just tried to stay cool. Stu wanted to know if The Dude was going to cover the Democratic Debate at Soldier Field, and even though The Dude is skipping it the both of them have some grand ideas, including Gladiator fighting and wet t-shirt contests, that might make the debate more exciting. The Dude, also, has sounds of “Everything Comes Down to Poo” and “Chocolate Rain” running through his head, but sometimes poo and chocolate rain are one in the same.
Category: Fun Web Sites
Are There Any Team Comedians Today Like Abbott & Costello Doing “Who’s On First?”
By:
The Dude on the Right
Yesterday I’m driving around in the Dude-Mobile, listening to my Sirius
Satellite Radio, channel-surfing as I’m am wont to do on the weekends, and I
land on the family friendly comedy channel, Laugh Break, Sirius Channel 105.
In all honesty I’m more of a fan of Raw Dog, Channel 104, the uncensored comedy
channel, but hey, it was only one channel higher, so there I was, on 105, and as
much as I can be a fan of dirty jokes, there it was, one of the best comedy
sketches ever, the brilliant work of Abbott and Costello doing "Who’s on First?"
The thing with the "Who’s on First?" sketch is it is so simple in its concept,
yet it is the genius of Abbott and Costello that really brings it to life.
Why do I say that? Because if you just read the sketch, and there’s a
transcript and a link to the audio at
Baseball
Almanac.com, it’s really not that funny, actually kind of juvenile, and if
you read it the skit doesn’t seem to work on paper. What makes it funny is
the deadpan nature of Bud Abbott, and the frustrated, "I’m gonna sock you one in
the jaw if you don’t tell me who’s on first," attitude of Lou Costello.
And I started to wonder, because there are some great comedians nowadays, but
you don’t really have the teamwork of some of the acts of yesteryear, unless I’m
missing some of them right now with a brain fart or something. The closest
thing I can recall as a team of comedians is a ventriloquist and his dummy, and
then instantly, because I’m a twisted dude sometimes, I think of
Otto & George,
probably the filthiest of a "team," and still remember their
talking of JFK and George’s reenactment of JFK’s assassination.
So where
am I going with this blog? Oh hell, I don’t know. All I do know is
that yesterday, thanks to having my satellite radio, I got a really good laugh
from a comedy sketch that is nearly 70 years old, and as much as when I hear the
number
"Eighty-eight" I instantly think "Red Ball freight," the phrase
"I don’t
know" always kicks in a "Third base!"
That’s it for this one!
I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
To i Or Not to i. Buying an iPhone is the Question.
By:
The Dude on the Right
Normally I do a podcast on Thursday evening, but tonight I’m in a typing mood,
so I thought I would hit you with a new blog to read since I haven’t done one in
a while. From the title of this blog you can probably guess that this dude
has a dilemma and that is simply "Do I buy an iPhone as soon as humanly
possible, or do I wait?" Fine, if I do opt to get one it won’t be as soon
as humanly possible because I won’t be camping in line tonight to be "the first
on my block" to get one. I’m going on the theory that between the three
AT&T stores around me, well, if the mood hits, I should be able to score one
tomorrow evening when they go on sale. If the iPhone is already sold out
at all three stores, well, that might be the sign that I should wait a while, or
head to the Apple store in last ditch desperation. But…
Because
sometimes I am partially nuts, and sometimes obsessive and compulsive, and since
I have already, in my own bizarre way justified the expense (I need a new PDA
since my Palm Pilot is about 5 years old and the battery won’t last longer than
a day; Sure, I’ve got a 60 Gig iPod, but it’s pre-video and I think the
battery will need to be replaced soon; My black RAZR isn’t cool anymore.
Add them all together: A SmartPhone-$300, a new iPod-$350, and I’m already
saving money by getting an iPhone), now the question comes down to do I want to
be on the forefront of a cell phone revolution hoping there aren’t too many bugs
to get through, do I sit back, chill, and maybe wait for the technology to fix
itself, or do I want to go on vacation to New Jersey later in the year?
You
see along with the launch of the iPhone I’ve gotten hooked by the Apple commercials for
the phone, have become almost intimately close with Bob, the "black shirt dude,"
while watching
the Guided Tour video, the
Activation and Synch video, and the
iPhone Keyboard video (which shows how the iPhone will suggest the word
"pizza" when you can’t properly hit the virtual keys on keyboard with no keys),
looked at all of the pictures in the gallery, ruled out visiting my local Apple
store in favor of my trio of AT&T stores, and don’t know who to really believe
anymore because even some of the actual reviews that have come out in reputable
print papers seem confusing, with the only thing linking them all together is
the fact the iPhone will be limited to the AT&T EDGE network (which means slow)
as of now, and yet the Wi-Fi option is great.
Along with obsessively checking
the Apple site, I’ve also become obsessed with one of the best message boards
about cell phones, namely
Howard Forums, and all of the latest postings announcing mostly wrong
information about the iPhone. Lots of people keep posting that the iPhone
actually has a 3G chip built in, just waiting for a software patch to "open it
up" and that will be the final surprise announcement of the iPhone, but even I
don’t think that is true. I do have a concern that I can’t have a custom
ringtone for all my friends so I know who is calling instantly (Right now on my
RAZR Stu Gotz has a Beatles tune, Trash has some Jimmy Buffett, The Dude on the
Left has a Harry Caray homerun call, and Mom has some Michael Stanley Band)
because a lot of the posts say designing your own ringtones isn’t an option, but
then another post says this will be coming in the future with a later software
update. I do have a concern that my Shure headphones won’t work with the
thing because of a sort-of different/recessed headphone jack, but than another
post says Shure is working on an adapter for the iPhone. There’s all kinds
of blabbering about the Bluetooth capabilities of the phone, but I don’t really
use Bluetooth so what do I care. And along with some information that seem
legit and a lot of other that seems like crap, my favorite post, so far, deals
with a future release of the
iPhone, version 6.2, which will include an iPhaser, which one poster quickly
states that "only if all the settings, work .. istun.. ikill.. if it only goes
to istun and not ikill i will just wait for version 7.3".
And so I’ve got a
little less than 24 hours from now, and three stores to visit, to see if I will
be an iPhone owner, or if I might be going to New Jersey instead.
That’s it for this one!
I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
What’s New? A Podcast of: Jessica Alba – I Volunteer, Cicada Sounds, Go Cavs, and Go Away McGreevey’s.
For this podcast The Dude on the Right really, really, really, wants to be put on Jessica Alba’s list for a one night stand, or even a one evening stand. He also found some annoying cicada sounds thanks to Steve Dahl and The Chicago Tribune. The Dude hopes the Cleveland Cavs can win a basketball game, at least with the help of the Michael Stanley Band, and wishes the McGreevey’s would just go away. Gosh he has a lot to talk about in 15 or so minutes.
I Need Anyone in the World’s Opinion!
By:
The Dude on the Right
As the New Year has begun I thought about doing some web site redesigning, and
with that I’m looking for your input.
Pretty much, since most of what we are
doing right now revolves around movie reviews, and hopefully more concert
reviews, I updated a few pages and am looking for any comments you might have.
On the movie front, I have one design for "Rocky
Balboa" and another for "Dreamgirls."
On the concert side, the new page design has been incorporated into an old
Bob Seger concert review.
Yes, I will admit, there is some tweaking I need
to do, but for the most part I just want to know what you might like about the
redesigned pages, what you don’t like about the redesigned pages, and maybe who
does your hair since I need to really find someone who gives a good haircut.
More surprises are coming soon, to be announced shortly, but for now I just want
to know if you like anything about the new page designs.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Mentos & Diet Coke: I Wish I Were In College Again.
By:
The Dude on the Right
I guess this phenomenon started back in April 2006 when some folks found out
that if you dropped a couple of Mentos candies into a 2 liter of Diet Coke, well, the
Diet Coke erupted. Sometimes I’m too big and slow in finding out about
these things, but I blame most of this by being out of college and not even
thinking about trying wacky stuff like this anymore, namely dropping some Mentos
into a bottle of Diet Coke. But this morning I was listening to the radio
here in Chi-Town, and
Johnny
Brandmeier was reading a story from, I think The Wall Street Journal,
talking about mixing said candies into said soft drink. Supposedly a
geyser erupts, and Johnny B. did so by trying it and taking out some ceiling tiles in a
bathroom (at least Johnny listened to his producer, Guy, and didn’t try it in
the broadcast studio). I really meant to pick up a couple of 2 liters and
some Mentos today, and try the experiment for myself, but I was too lazy so I just hunted out some videos on the
internet, and none lived up to the folks at
EepyBird.com, with a click
to it at the right. It’s complete with cool music, they try to compete with the fountains at the Bellagio
Fountains, and it is fantastic. I know some of their secrets to getting
different eruption heights, thanks to my extensive engineering background, and
even their simple yet inventive way of setting off the "charges" as they would
be.
There are lots of videos out there in internet-land about this phenomenon, so
all you pretty much need to do is type something like "Diet Coke Mentos Video"
into your favorite search engine. Some show what look like college dudes
(oh, times like this I miss college) tossing lightly capped versions of the same
experiment, resulting in rocketing 2-liter bottles, and some just show failed
experiments. Chemistry is fun sometimes, and if I were a high school
teacher trying to teach a class, on the interaction of various chemicals, this
one is a hell of a lot more fun, and a hell of a lot safer, than mixing sodium
and water, at least I think that is the bad one. It’s been a while since I
took Chemistry, so please don’t try to mix anything.
If you are younger you might be more likely to say something like "What
happens if I drop a Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke?" If you are older,
that question never seems to come around anymore. Sometimes, in this case,
if you are an older, wouldn’t it have been fun to find this out and show your
kids? I admit I’ve lost a lot of this experimenting, but maybe we
shouldn’t. This is too philosophical. Just get out there with your 2
liter bottle of Diet Coke and some Mentos and see it explode. You might
need a shower, but have fun. And wear safety goggles.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
The Big Dicker, Howard Stern
By:
The Dude on the Right
Okay, the celebrating might have went on a little longer than planned for
the White Sox winning the World Series, especially since all I’ve gotten done
publicly was a
podcast with my take on the singing that went on during the series, but
behind the scenes, you cannot imagine the things I’ve gotten done. But
enough of that, this blog is about what I’m calling "The Big Dicker."
I can
hear you saying something like "Dude, what’s ‘The Big Dicker,’ and how does it
relate to Howard Stern?" If you’re a Howard fan and have visited
his site anytime of
late, I think you already know. If you’re in an area of the country that
Howard Stern was never on your airwaves, you almost might be saying "Who’s
Howard?" And if you’re a Stern hater, you’re probably saying something
like "Fine, Howard’s a big dick. That’s no surprise to me." In any
case, if you are 17 years or older and went to see an R-rated movie this weekend
(as was my case), or maybe are under 17 and bought a ticket for "Chicken Little"
and snuck into see "Jarhead," you may have gotten a little shock at one of the
commercials shown on the screen before the start of the flick.
Without ruining
the visual for you by my lame writing, you can go directly to
the
commercial with this link. And even if my writing doesn’t do it
justice, I still urge you to check it out. In any case, the commercial
starts out with a simple starlit night. Strauss’ "Also Sprach Zarathustra,
Op.30: Einleitung" is playing in the background, at least I believe that is the
piece (you might recognize it better as the theme from "2001: A Space Odyssey").
Then the stars begin to re-align, into something that resembles, well, I’m
naming it Peni Major, in other words, The Big Dicker. As "Also Sprach
Zarathustra" gets to its climactic moment (yes, the pun is intended), Peni Major
begin to tremble a little and a shooting star bursts out from a place in the
night sky that one would expect it to burst in relation to The Big Dicker.
And as the commercial is concluding, the wording is filled in at the bottom of
the ad: "Coming in January. Howard Stern. Only on Sirius…"
satellite radio that is.
Love him or hate him, know him or barely recognize
the name, there’s a pretty good chance you will start to see five words in tons
of places, in print, on TV, and little did I figure, at a commercial at a
gigaplex near me. Those five words, in some combination, will be Howard,
Stern, Sirius, satellite, and radio. Yup, the advertising blitz is
beginning as Howard Stern goes from the normal FM dial to the Sirius Satellite
Radio system. For some quick disclosure, even if I really don’t need to,
I’m a big Howard fan, based part of my last car purchase on the fact the Sirius
was factory installed, and even own some Sirius stock. But it’s an
important time for satellite radio, and Howard’s switching sides is part of that
importance. My quick assessment goes like this: Sure, both systems
have commercial free music, music purists argue which is better, but I see the
future of satellite radio’s success will be based on content other than music.
Why? That’s where the additional money comes in, in terms of additional
subscribers, signing on to hear someone they want to during the day, and maybe
more importantly, the addition of advertising revenue, because it’s only the
music that is commercial free on satellite, and both companies own up to that
fact. The content has commercials, and commercial revenue is bumped up by
the quantity of listeners, and you can be damn sure both satellite radio
companies are aware of this.
Alright, enough sounding like I’m turning into a
college business class or an investment blog, I just found it pretty funny to
see Howard
Stern’s Sirius ad, on the big screen, before I got ready to see "Jarhead,"
which is a pretty good movie by the way, and my review is to come in the next
couple of days. In any case, be warned, you probably won’t be able to get
away from Howard Stern in the next month and a half, like it or not.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
$20 – $7 = $15?
By:
The Dude on the Right
Quick, what’s my change if I bought $7.00 worth of stuff and gave you $20.00?
Did you say $13.00? Congratulations! Did you say $15.00? I highly doubt it. But
that’s what Skippy at the movie theater was going to give me as change, even
though he thought it seemed wrong, but that’s what his register said I should
get so there he stood with fifteen dollars as change in his hand. I nicely told
him he owed me thirteen bucks, and his supervisor came by, and still, Skippy
seemed confused. The supervisor looked at his screen, told Skippy he punched in
that I gave him twenty-two bucks, and yet Skippy still seemed confused. It is at
times like this that I worry about our future when Skippy is our future. Yup, he
was too stuck with listening to a computer instead of using what should be the
better computer stuck in his skull. Look, I have to admit that sometimes I am a
little too reliant on a
calculator to figure something out that I used to be
able to do in my head, and I have to look up to confirm things like figuring out
the
area of a circle (happily I still remember that Pi is about 3.14159, and on
a geek note, how geeky are the folks at
Google that with their
latest stock offering, they are offering 14,159,265 shares. Look familiar? I found the correlation
at
this
blog, and I’m sorry, I digress), but really, 20-7=15? Here’s hoping
Skippy wants to be in a band and not an engineer.
Anyway, I was at the theater to see
"The Brothers Grimm" and if you are a
Monty Python fan, you’ll probably enjoy it.
If not, wait for a rental. I also
caught
"The 40 Year Old Virgin" earlier in the week and I have to say it was
very funny. There are some new movie previews posted, and I’m hoping to finish
up that back-log of preview postings in the next day or so and also catch
"The Aristocrats" since it’s now at a theater nearby rather than my having to take a
long drive into Chicago.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
You Need to Check Out Google Moon!
By:
The Dude on the Right
When Google launched
their map service, at first I was like "What, another map service? Who
cares?" Then I messed around with it, and I’m sorry
Mapquest, you are
losing the battle in my book in the internet map wars. I will say that
right now the Mapquest folks seem to do a better job at giving
directions, but from the instant I was able to click and instantly drag
the Google map, I was converted because I’m usually pretty good at
figuring out my own directions. Sure, if I want a printed map that
unfolds and I can put in my car, you still can’t beat the folks at
Rand McNally,
but in all honesty, for my internet world, it’s too hard to spell.
So as much as I love
Google Maps, then the folks at Google did something that really
brought a grin to my face: They went into outer space.
Well, they didn’t really go into outer space, but they got some
images from NASA of
the lunar surface (that’s the moon if you didn’t know), specifically
around the area of the
six lunar landings. So like their normal map service, you can click
and drag around the moon, but just as important, you can get some great
detail of the surface of the moon. My recommendation for the day, go to
Google Moon. Then,
incrementally, zoom to the surface of the moon by clicking the "+"
button. Eventually get yourself to the closest resolution, and I can
pretty much guarantee you will be amused at the detail we have been able
to get of the lunar surface.
I did catch some movies over the weekend, so Sunday evening/Monday
morning comes reviews of "The Island," "Must Love Dogs," and "Stealth."
I also got copies of the new Michael Stanley and Cowboy Troy CD’s, so
those reviews should be posted sometime this week, as well as a
triumphant return to the concert scene with coverage of Neil Diamond in
Chicago. You can use those goofy "Subscribe" buttons at the top of the
page if you want to automatically be notified in your "My Yahoo," "Newsgator,"
or "My MSN" accounts, or updated in your favorite news reader. Thanks
for your support!
And one final comment, to my sister of mine, I find it very
unsportswomanlike of you, wishing that I get a flat on my bike, as I
continue my quest to whip your butt in our contest this time around.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!