My Three Songs: 12/01/10

1. Stone Temple Pilots - Sex Type Thing
2. REO Speedwagon - Roll With the Changes
3. Aerosmith - Dude (Looks Like a Lady)

Theme :: Today is the anniversary of the first ever sex-change operation, which took place in Denmark in 1952.

30 Years of Caddyshack

 Caddyshack premiered July 25, 1980 - 30 years ago today.  So to celebrate, enjoy this link to 30 Things You May Not Know about Caddyshack. And of course this little piece of video genius.

Chevy Chase/Caddy Shack/Very Funny Clip!

I've Got Pac-Man Fever

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Pac-Man.  A yellow circle eating white dots (an occasionally some fruit) while getting chased through a maze by colorful ghosts.

So to celebrate, here are ten cool things you can do today:

#1: Play Google Pac-Man

You know how Google changes its logo all the time for special events, holidays, etc.?  Well today, they've designed their logo to look like Pac-Man.

The best part?  If you go to Google and click the Insert Coin button (temporarily replacing the "feeling lucky" button) - you can actually play Pac-Man in the logo using your arrow keys!  If you click it twice there's a Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man to play with (although I haven't figured out how to make Ms. Pac-Man move yet).  Ahh, Google.  I know you're trying to run the world, but it's stuff like this makes me love you.

#2. Learn everything you ever wanted to know about Pac-Man.
Check out the official Pac-Man web site at www.pacman.com.  Learn all the history of Pac-Man, buy Pac-Man merch, check out the games, download screen savers and wallpapers for your computer, and more.

#3.  Play Free Pac-Man
Visit www.freepacman.org for a flash version of the game that uses the original board.  It's not official, but it's free.

#4.  Download Pac-Man for your iPod, iPhone, or iPad.
Take Pac-Man with you anywhere you want to go.  Click here to get the app in iTunes.

#5. Watch the old Pac-Man Saturday morning cartoon!
Tired of playing the game?  Then let the wondrous people at Hannah-Barbera work their magic.


#6. Eat some Pac-Man cereal.
All this video game playing and cartoon watching is making me hungry. I should have started my day with some sugar-coated cereal filled with marshmallows in the shapes of Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde.  It's deliciously 80's!


#7.  Eat some Pac-Man pasta.
Too late in the day for cereal? Never! But if you're looking for a warm Pac-meal, why not have Chef Boyardee help you out?

OK, I know they make this or the cereal anymore, and if you have any laying around your kitchen I'd be really concerned about expiration dates.

#8. Watch the "Square Pegs" episode, "Pac-Man Fever."
Long before Sarah Jessica Parker was considered anything close to sexy in Sex In The City, she starred as a super-nerd in the TV show Square Pegs.  Check out this episode where everyone is addicted to Pac-Man... or something.  I didn't bother to watch the whole thing.


#9. Spend some time with Ms. Pac-Man:
She's not just Pac-Man with a bow. And she eats pretzels.


#10. Get Pac-Man Fever 
Back at the height of the Pac-Man craze, a couple of guys named Buckner and Garcia recorded the song, "Pac-Man Fever."  The song is a terrible novelty track, yet it actually became a Top Ten hit single.  Apparently all the drugs everyone was taking in the 70's didn't wear off until well after 1982.  Click here to download the song for yourself. Interesting fact: Buckner and Garcia also wrote the theme song for WKRP in Cincinnati - so I guess they aren't all bad.

40th Anniversary of Sesame Street

Sesame Street rocks. Their first episode aired 40 years ago today, so here are some classic moments that bring back tons of childhood memories...

Chapter 82.5: Spring Cleaning

It's cold and breezy still, but the sun is shining and my mood isn't as dark as it was last night. Amazing what a couple of sleeping babies and cups of coffee can do to a person.

Anyway, I have had a lot of things on my mind lately, one of the least of which is this blog, which I cherish but have been neglecting lately. So I decided to give it a little bit of a makeover — nothing too earth shattering (there really are not many template choices when one has a free blog) — and mark a milestone.

Recently, I crossed over the 500 post mark. I'm not quite sure which one it was (though I'm thinking it might have to do with dirty diapers). But since I have a few posts in the hopper and others that are actually notes for myself (who knows what evil lurks in the post lists of man...), it's possible that this one is #500.

I've also added a followers list. I don't expect too many, but as that little woman in the Poltergeist movie said: "All are welcome. All are welcome."

In the grand scheme of things, 500 blog posts is not much of an accomplishment. I may, however, try to do something to mark my five-year "blogoversary," which is a few months away.

Anyway, enjoy your weekend. There's a lot of work still to do.

Chapter 75.8: Spam Turns 30!

Happy birthday, Spam. (The email, not the meat product) You must look so young because you're confident, having used some of the special products that you sell ... nudge, nudge, say no more.

In one of those little stories that make reading a weekend paper so much fun, the Washington Post has provided us not only with the name but the nature of the first spammer. No surprise, it was a salesman. A guy named Gary Thuerk, who may never be remembered for anything else by the rest of humanity and probably will remain a footnote as it is. Surely, he doesn't get any royalties for every unsolicited bit of email garbage sent since. But wouldn't that be a pretty penny!

I find it mildly amusing that Bill Gates predicted the eradication of spam by 2004. He's got a better chance of ridding the world of malaria, which he's been trying to do for years now -- it will take many more, but I hope he and his foundation continue their quest. Spam will prove to be a more resilient case, I suspect.

In a side note, the article states that Viagara turned 10 in March. I can only imagine what percentage of spam is due to male enhancement. How long until we hear tales of Spam Babies graduating high school?

Chapter 72.7: God Speed, Columbus

Perhaps this isn't the most appropriate lead into a post, but I missed the actual fiftieth anniversary of NASA last week, so I'm doing it anyway. Today, Space Shuttle Atlantis launched successfully into space, carrying with it the Columbus lab built by the European Space Agency. If all goes right, it will dock with the International Space Station on Saturday.

I refuse to be spooked by the backstory of how this launch was supposed to occur in December but was delayed due to malfunctioning fuel-tank sensors, and how rainy weather almost scuttled the flight today. I prefer to think of how fitting that after fifty years of American dominance in space (ok, the Russians have certainly proven they are quite capable, but we got to the Moon), we are venturing forward in a much more global endeavor. There are many detractors out there who believe spending tax money to ship people into space is a waste, but I disagree. I'm all for looking toward the future and supporting work that is designed to make the future something worth reaching.

I like that governments -- as well as individuals -- support discovery, support adventure. Sure it can be risky, as the numerous deaths in our skies and closer to earth can attest to. In my eyes the tragedy isn't simply that these people died (of course, that's terrible), but that most Americans don't appreciate what these astronauts are striving to achieve and thus seem to die in vain. Such a comment begs the question: What are the astronauts trying to do? Obviously, the answer is different with each mission, but in a nutshell, they're trying to advance civilization, small step by small step.

I'm sure people could argue about how rockets and the satellites they carry can be automated, and high-placed officials with the right credentials argue about those very things and build informed trains of thought. But there's still something to be said for human adventure. And as it would have been tragic if other Europeans didn't follow Columbus to the newly discovered America, so too is it tragic if this Columbus is not followed by other laboratories, other astronauts, other human-based missions. To the Moon, Alice, and on to Mars. But not before we have an informed understanding of what is involved in getting there.

God Speed, Atlantis. Deliver Columbus to her destination. And come back safe. There's more to do in the future.

Chapter 71.75: Antarctica Anniversary

In light of the death of Edmund Hillary -- and my own interest in things south of the border (as I continue to research and "pre-write" sections of my next novel) -- I thought I'd note the anniversary of Captain Scott arriving at the South Pole, where he discovered that he was late to the party. Roald Amundsen and his group had been there first.

The story of Captain Robert Falcon Scott is tragic and amazing, and one that I don't have time to go into right now. But check out the original story from the New York Times, which I've linked to above and here.

Chapter 66.3: 30 Years of Voyager

I've been a self-proclaimed "spaceophile" for many years, though my interest was rekindled in the mid 1990s by the film Apollo 13 and gained root with From the Earth to the Moon on HBO.

I like to call July 20 Moon Day, because it is the date on which we first set foot there. Less well known, however, are the adventures of the Voyager probes. And now we are celebrating thirty years since their launch. Today is the thirtieth anniversary of Voyager 2's launch, and its sister ship, Voyager 1, was launched just a couple weeks before that on August 20, 1977.

Both are now past the heliosphere, still sending messages and data all these years later. I believe there will be stories to tell about these ships to the generations that have been born since.

Of course, several films have already used the Voyager ships to lead into tales -- the first Star Trek movie and Carl Sagan's Contact to name just a couple -- so I'm not venturing too far afield when I say that, but I believe there's more out there. Whether I tell those tales or not, I don't know, but it's comforting to know that there's knowledge to be gained beyond our solar system. Happy Anniversary, Voyager.