As a kid I grew up on television. I learned all about mathematics, English, science, and history from shows such as The Electric Company, Sesame Street, Pinwheel, The Great Space Coaster, Schoolhouse Rock!, Zoom, and a dozen other shows and shorts. One lesson in particular has always stuck with me, and it came from a most unlikely of source: WKRP In Cincinnati.
In this episode, Venus Flytrap makes a deal with a local hood. If Venus can teach this hood the basic structure of an atom in two minutes, then said local troublemaker would return to school.
The deal, as it turns out, taught many of us just how fun and easy learning can be…
I tell ya, they don’t make shows like that anymore…
I’ve written about this sort of thing in the past, but it always fascinates me how the people behind the movies and television shows can so easily fool us into believing just about anything.
History is filled with men (both real and fictional) who knew how to clothe themselves in attire that set them apart from the rabble. Men such as Al Capone, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Gary Cooper, Muhammad Ali, Michael Caine and Dr. Jekyll when he wasn’t busy being Mr. Hyde knew the importance of cool threads. David Bowie, Freddy Mercury, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown and Miles Davis were artists who didn’t follow trends but started them. Guys like the Marlboro Man, Indiana Jones, Humphery Bogart and Steve McQueen inherently knew how to dress and looked damned cool simply standing still.
James Bond made the tux look sleek, Warren Beatty could wear anything straight out of the dryer and look respectable, Keith Richards owns the rock star look, Duke Ellington was a dapper big-band genius, Clint Eastwood was stone cold cool and Salvador Dali was a style all his own…
…and then there’s this guy:
Karin and I caught sight of “Patches” here last night while channel surfing. I’m not sure what look he’s going for, but all he’s missing is a giant carnation in his lapel and red clown shoes to tie the entire ensemble together…
There were two winning Mega Millions lottery tickets last night. These lucky individuals will be splitting $355 million dollars.
But way, that’s not the amazing part. Did you know that the winning lottery numbers were 4,8,15,16,23 and 42? That’s coming awfully close to the winning lottery numbers that Hurley played on the T.V. show Lost:
If you did happen to have played the Lost lottery numbers then you would have won banked $150. Not a bad take for aping the actions of a fantastic television character.
Oddly enough, following the advice of a fortune cookie can also result in a winning lottery ticket. In this particular case the Mega Number was also 42.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go finish up Douglas Adams’ (ghostwritten) final chapter in the Hitchhiker’s series…
Wow…as if I couldn’t get any more excited about the upcoming relaunch of Conan’s show, this bad boy pops up on the webertubes, jabbing a highball of comedy straight into my quivering prefrontal cortex, fully dilating my bloodshot eyes with an unexpected jolt of expectation, and kicking that dreaded jimmy leg into overdrive:
After watching this I have to say, “Jay who?”
With The Walking Dead premiering at the end of October and Conan quickly following suit in November, television is kicking into high gear as December draws near. All I need now is a viewing of The Year Without A Santa Claus and It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and my year will be complete.
