Sen. Sherrod Brown Debates Twerp in Ohio

Is that a snarky headline? Sorry, just watch the clip below, and I think you'll see what I mean. If you thought that Paul Ryan looked a bit immature and outmatched next to Joe Biden, you haven't seen anything yet. Sherrod Brown has become something of a celebrity among freshman Senators, often making himself available for interviews, and coming across quite knowledgeable. He does so in the clip from Thursday's debate with twerpy challenger Josh Mandel.

You might wonder why I care, blogging as I do from Las Vegas. Part of it is that I've been impressed with Brown when I've seen him on television. Part of it is that I was born and raised in Ohio, and have seen far too many embarrassing politicians elected there (Jean Schmidt, John Boner Boehner, John Kasich, and apparently Mandel), or aspiring to be (Joe the Plumber, Mandel again). Plus, the clip is from The Columbus Dispatch, which was my first regular, paying job (newspaper boy), and is a decidedly conservative source, so you know this isn't some lefty, liberal, moonbat hatchet job.*

* I am not one of the conspiracy theorists who believe that the entire media is biased (except for FOX "News", naturally), it's just that I know many conservatives are.

Season Finale of Fringe a Sci-Fi Geek's Delight

Image from source, DCU Blog

We're deep into "season finale" time on network TV, and it's been a mixed bag so far.  Desperate Housewives was rather "meh." Brothers & Sisters had a (literal) bang-up of an ending, but it felt tacked on. Most of the others I've seen don't even merit much of a mention.  And we still have 24 and Lost to look forward to in the next few days. 

Last night, it was Fringe's turn, and it did not disappoint. It was the second half of an "alternate universe" story, where our heroes cross over to an alt-Earth where things are slightly different. Just how different, we don't fully know, but many items were sprinkled in to see if you were paying attention. Things like the Pan-Am building being in New York instead of San Francisco.  Or blimps being used for air travel. Or a map of the United States with "Dakota" and "Carolina" as single states, and a California that ends at the San Andreas fault line!  But the real geek-out moment was a wall of framed comic books.  You only have to scroll down a few posts on this blog to see that I'm a DC Comics fan, and they got a loud shout-out on Fringe.

In addition to a movie marquee with Superman vs. Batman, we were treated to five alternate covers to iconic DC Comics.  Included were a Dark Knight Returns take off with Superman instead of Batman, a Crisis on Infinite Earths cover with a dead Superman instead of Supergirl, and a Red Lantern/Red Arrow cover that resembled one of the most famous DC covers of all time.  I'm still squee-ing now. And thanks to the internets, we can get more than just a fleeting glimpse of this geek-out moment.

[Excerpt]

Geoff Johns and Hank Kanalz on last night’s FRINGE alternate universe covers

Anyone see FRINGE last night? If you did, or if you’ve read this blog this week, you saw the RED LANTERN/RED ARROW cover. And maybe the bizarre SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL RETURNS in the style of Frank Miller’s BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. Or the infamous cover to CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #7, but Supergirl’s holding Superman. Or the event that rocked the mid-90s, THE DEATH OF BATMAN. So where did these come from?


An alternate Earth. For real. . .

Read more at: DCU Blog

Rachel Maddow Investigates Oil Spill and Possible Effects

I'm posting this clip because it shows exactly why I enjoy The Rachel Maddow Show so much.  It's brainy, it's informative, it is newsworthy. And I can guarantee you won't see anything else on any other cable news show that is quite like it.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

What the Hell is a Frumpet?

Image from Horn-U-Copia.net

This post exists for no other reason than to answer the question, "what did you play in band?"

Yes, I'm a band geek. But oddly, in my school at least, the band members were not known--at least to each other--as geeks. The band was heralded in our school. Sure, there were probably those in the school who looked down upon us, but we didn't know it. Our band was fairly acclaimed, and we didn't suffer ostricization.

But when I answer the question, "what did you play," and answer, "the frumpet," nobody knows what I'm talking about. During the winter doldrums of the school year, I played the French horn. You couldn't be in marching band without also finishing out the year in concert band, or symphonic band. And in those more austere bands, the French horn was the instrument of choice for those of us who couldn't play melody, with the trumpets.

During marching band season however (the most fun part of band), the French horn was deemed too clumsy. So we marched with either an alto horn (even more obscure), or the frumpet. A frumpet looks sort of like a pregnant trumpet. It isn't as flashy as a Flugelhorn, or as sexy as the alto saxophone. It's heavy, has a tiny dime-sized mouthpiece that causes lip indentation, and holds copious amounts of spit. But we held the more-important-than-realized responsibility for producing harmony, and reproducing other sounds from popular music otherwise performed by bass guitars and such.

While in marching band, I dutifully learned the parts to Hawaiian War Chant, String of Pearls, On Broadway, and Hit Me With Your Best Shot. This was, after all, 1980-1984. But truth be told, I never actually learned every note of the Whitehall-Yearling High School fight song. And I never memorized the Star Spangled Banner. Faked 'em, all the way through. The Alma Mater too. But I faked it gooood.