American Idol: Two Shows in One

One of the things that makes American Idol so successful is that it is really two shows in one. One show is the talent show where we witness future pop stars emerge and another where we visit familiar characters.

The familiar characters are Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell, and Ryan Seacrest. They are entertaining but I'm not sure that we are ready to spin off a reality sitcom based on these four characters. On the other hand, years ago, I could not believe that the Simpson's cartoon was being made into a show of its own or that the "Jeffersons" were being spun off of "All In the Family" and still both shows have achieved great success. In this first show of familiar characters Simon is clearly a "House" like character: blunt, enjoys seeing people react to his assaults. Paula is the mother/big sister cheerleader character that encourages and tries to protect others from Simon. Randy is the cool dude with the style and catch phrases that become part of our adopted culture. And Seacrest is sometimes moderator, sometimes opponent of Simon. On second thought, I could see this being spun into a full blown show. The show could be a kind of historical fiction that shows us the main characters interact behind the scenes - before and after the show. Wouldn't you love to be in on the discussions about the talent? or Wouldn't you love to hear Seacrest and Cowell exchange playful barbs at dinner out? It would be fun to see them particularly Randy and Paula rehearsing to perform music or see Randy or Simon directing professional musicians in a studio environment. Maybe this will get to a decision maker that wants to hire me for a bunch of money to help develop this show. It is bound to be a big hit and you read about it first here.

The other reason why American Idol is such a wildly popular show is the second show: the Talent show. Part of it is that we are being treated to some really great music by some extremely talented performers and part of it is that we are seeing the human side of these performers when they lay and egg. Still another more compelling aspect is that we are watching a star or in many cases stars in the making. We are there the first time a Carrie Underwood sings on national TV and we get the feeling that we are part of that experience. I can't wait to see what stars emerge this year.

Cow Power!

Some California dairy farmers are brilliant! Remember that study from years ago that said that methane emissions from cows (cow farts) were contributing to the rapid increase in global warming? While the guy who founded the Weather Channel is not so sure about global warming, a group of California dairy farmers have ignored the global warming debate altogether and have done something practical with the cow-methane data. These farmers have created a large holding pond where they have collected cow manure and lots of water to separate the methane from the manure. This holding pond, which is about about 500 yards wide and 33 feet deep, is lined with plastic and domed to funnel the methane into a central pipe. The methane is then piped into a power plant and turned into electricity. One cow power pond provides about all the power needs for 1,200 homes. Talk about a renewable resource! Can you imagine how much power is available in Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and many many other places in the South, Southwest, and Midwest? We need a national initiative to hop on this idea and I am not kidding this time. Hope lots of farmers,ranchers, and government types find this post and/or the article linked below. This could be and should be big!
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN0440606220080304?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Vultures Eating Roofs and Cars in Florida

Vultures in Florida are eating the shingles off of roofs and the black rubber gaskets off of car windows and doors. Bubba says: "shoot 'em." That is what the residents of this Florida town asked the police to do. As if this story was not already odd enough, the police have told the residents that they can't. They can't because the two species of vultures that are eating roof shingles and car parts are endangered and federally protected birds. It is a $500 a day fine to even attempt to scare the birds off! I guess the reasoning must go something like: "since the birds cannot defend themselves, we must put their needs above the needs of human beings." Yes some of us are all very ashamed of our place on the food chain. I'm not. Shoot the birds! I could live without vultures. Tell the Paul Ehrlichs of the world that thousands of dangerous and annoying species have been wiped off of the planet and the end result has not been the collapse of the ecosystem. Here is a theory to contemplate: Constantly putting other species ahead of our own may ensure that a variety of life thrives for eons on this planet. However, a slippery slope still exists. By putting other species first, we may eventually cause our own extinction. Those vultures may be smarter than they look or act. Oh well: Viva la Vultures! The Odd News Award winner of the day!

http://www.local6.com/news/15499175/detail.html

Odd Times: Gygax and Buckley Die, Favre Retires and Seven-of-Nine Gives Birth

These are odd times for various nerds and geeks. Today, Gary Gygax passed away. Gygax brought all sorts of nerds and geeks together in the mid to late 1970s with Dungeons and Dragons. You have to be smart to play D&D because the game requires at least two or three books just to get started. The original game also required graph paper and a really good imagination. Gygax is as well known to gaming nerds as William F. Buckley is to conservative intellectual nerds.

I knew some nerds who played D&D in their early teens that transitioned into following Buckley's intellectual brand of conservative politics in their late teens and early twenties. Strangely enough, without weaving our way through Gygax's imaginary worlds, I am not sure our brains would have been developed enough to figure out what the heck Buckley was trying to tell us. Without Buckley, I feel sure that more intellectual nerds would have outright rejected Ronald Reagan which would have left Reagan's history solely in the hands of liberal historians. Left in the hands the liberals, we would all probably still be apologizing for being Ugly Americans. Gygax and Buckley will both be missed.

Brett Favre will also be missed in the NFL next season. Favre has become such an icon that he has quite a following of his own brand of geeks. I think they call themselves cheeseheads.

With so many bummed out geeks, we sure needed something positive to start to balance things out. Fortunately, Trekkies everywhere have something to cheer up geek nation. The most famous and best looking Borg: Seven-of-Nine, aka Jeri Ryan to non-Star Trek fans, just gave birth to a baby girl. I am sure some Trek fans, who long ago lost the ability to distinguish Star Trek from reality, wondered if Borgs or former Borgs were capable of having children. I am certain that many would have lined up to try and assist Seven-of-Nine in that final frontier.

Al Gore: Closing Speaker at the Technology, Entertainment, and Design Conference?

Here's a bit of peculiarity: Former Vice President Al Gore gave the closing speech at the Technology, Entertainment, and Design conference in Monterey, California. Honestly, my first thought was: Is this because that group believes Gore's wild widely reported claim that he invented the internet? I get it, Al Gore promotes green technology and green technology is important to our future. Still, I wonder if this has something to do with Gore's upcoming role of brokering a peace between various factions at the Democratic National Convention.(see my Feb 29 post) I still find that possibility kind of funny. Al Gore is a peculiar fellow often found in the middle of odd news. I suspect there will be an Odd News Award with his name on it before too long. Tune in for more on this later. I just know that Mr. Gore will provide an opportunity for further discussion.
http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/03/al-gore-makes-i.html

Duking it out at the Chuck E. Cheese

This foxnews report tells of two mommas engaging in fisticuffs at the Chuck E. Cheese. Evidently, one young man was dominating a particular game that another boy wanted to play. Since it was one of the boy's 9th birthday celebration, his mom decided to spare no indignities to try to make him happy. How embarrassing! I cannot believe that the mothers of two nine year olds could not take such an opportunity to show their sons lessons in civility and sharing. I would like to say that I am surprised but, I'm not. Our family enjoys going to Chuck E. Cheese however, we avoid going there during peak times. What a memorable birthday. Years from now I can hear the conversation between mother and son, "Mom, remember when I turned nine and you got in that fight with that other mom and they had to call the police?" Mother: "Sure how could I forget. Those were good times, huh?" Son: "Yep, good times." Police officer: "Visiting hours are over. Maim, your son will have to return to his cell now."

Added March 4th: Here is an interesting fact about Chuck E. Cheese. Nolan Bushnell, the guy who built the first video game, Pong, is the founder of Chuck E. Cheese. He started the company after he sold Atari to Warner Communications for $28-million. Here is a good video on Nolan Bushnell's Pong experience from the History Channel. By the way, starting Atari reportedly only orginally cost Bushnell $500.
http://www.history.com/media.do?id=historyrocks_pong_broadband&action=clip

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334571,00.html

Hells Angels Versus Mick Jagger

According to this article, the death of Meredith Hunter at a Rolling Stones concert marked the end of the 60s. Meredith Hunter was killed by members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang that were hired as security for the concert. This much is historical fact. The odd bit of news that I was unaware of was that members of the Hells Angels, angered by Jagger's lack of support, had plotted and begun an attempt to murder Mick Jagger . It turns out that the plot included approaching Jagger's estate from the ocean to avoid security. The plot may have had a much better chance of succeeding had a storm not appeared and left the would be murderers swimming in the ocean. Some of you may be saying, "ah, that settles a question I had not thought of - who does God like better: Hells Angels bent on murder or Mick Jagger?" The thought crossed my mind briefly but I figure that God was probably saying something like "knock it off, you guys" when he turned the boat over in the ocean. None of the Hells Angels were harmed in the incident. You would think one or two would have died if God was really weighing in one way or the other. Still, the would be murderers must have also taking the storm as a sign from the almighty because there was no second attempt on Jagger's life. As far as I can tell, these momentarily outraged gang members decided for whatever reason to no longer pursue vengeance against Jagger ever again. Perhaps they will all meet in another place, another time. Today's Odd News Award Winner!
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/03/hells-angels-plotted-to-kill-mick-jagger-agent-says/?hp