Show Prep 88

Greetings and Salutations, people! - It’s the radio show that is causing birds to fall dead from the sky, this is Vertically Striped Radio. I am your host, Craig Dodge, and it is a PACKED show today, so let’s get rolling…

Tweet of the Week:
From @jordanrubin:

"All the great innocent victims have already been killed." -Jaded serial killer

Today on VSR – We’ll celebrate the fact that the NFL playoffs are opening up this weekend by reviewing our preseason division winner predictions and we’ll play a little contender or pretender, The He-Man movie watchers club will discuss Cool Hand Luke, and I may even have a Magnificent 7 list up my sleeve, so let’s get to it…

Give out the phone number - (646) 716-6831 OR 6-HOP-1-MOVE-1

To contact VSR via email:
Email address: radio@verticallystripedsocks.com
Twitter: @socnorb777

Let’s get to the news… (Play News Music – Clip 03)
 

Let’s get to the news… (Play News Music – Clip 03)


BERLIN (Reuters) – In what possibly could be the world’s worst run zoo, a resourceful baby penguin took advantage of Germany's wintry weather to give her minders the slip and embark on a tour of the zoo before waddling into the lions' den.

A visitor spotted the African penguin, born in September, taking a stroll in the lion enclosure but the animal was lucky as the lions were asleep inside rather than braving the icy weather outside.

It took zookeepers a day to get the penguin out of the den, luring her out with a trail of herrings, the statement said.

The escape gave the penguin, up to then only known as number 459, a name. Her minder now calls her Leona, the zoo said.


NEW YORK (Reuters) – A would-be suicide jumper in New York was alive on Monday after leaping from a ninth-floor window but landing in a giant heap of garbage uncollected since the city's massive snowstorm a week ago.

Vangelis Kapatos, 26, was hospitalized in critical but stable condition after jumping from his apartment on West 45th Street on Sunday afternoon.

Sanitation workers have not collected trash since the December 26 storm dumped more than a foot and a half of snow on the city. Mounds of garbage several feet high line many sidewalks.

"Everybody is complaining that the trash hasn't been picked up," Kapatos' aunt said on Monday. "But me, I'm thankful that it was never picked up."

Police said the trash bags below broke Kapatos' fall and that he left no suicide note before jumping.

The Department of Sanitation, which was only resuming garbage collecting on Monday, estimates 77,000 tons of trash have been left uncollected since the storm paralyzed their collection efforts. The large piles of trash have mostly been an annoyance, who knew they might save a man’s life?





GREAT FALLS, Mont. – If you’re going to try to lie to cops about your name to keep from being brought in on outstanding warrants, it’s probably a good idea to make sure that your fall guy’s name is innocent.

Authorities in Montana say a man who had three outstanding warrants for his arrest gave officers a false name during a traffic stop — but ended up in custody anyway because that man with that name was also wanted.

During a traffic stop Monday in Great Falls, Jonothan Ray Gonsalez told police that his name was Timothy Michael Koop Jr.

The officer searched for the fake name and learned that a man by that name was also wanted in Hill County and arrested him.

Police say a search of Gonsalez after his arrest turned up half a gram of methamphetamine in his jacket pocket and he was charged with criminal possession of dangerous drugs.

Eventually Gonsalez’s real identity was discovered and a charge of issuing a false report to law enforcement was added to his rap sheet.

I’m Craig, and that’s the news… (Play News Music – Clip 03)

Bring on Face: 
Face vs. Craig's Dice in picking divisions:

NFC East
Face – Cowboys
Craig's Dice – Giants
Actual – Eagles

NFC North
Face – Packers
Dice – Bears
Actual – Bears

NFC South
Face – Falcons
Dice – Falcons
Actual – Falcons

NFC West
Face – 49ers
Dice – Cardinals
Actual – Seahawks

AFC East
Face – Patriots
Dice – Jets
Actual – Pats

AFC North
Face – Ravens
Dice – Steelers
Actual – Steelers

AFC South
Face – Colts
Dice – Colts
Actual – Colts

AFC West
Face – Chargers
Dice – Chargers
Actual - Chiefs

Face 3 – Dice 4 
Contender or Pretender:
New England Patriots - Contender
Pittsburgh Steelers - Contender
Indianapolis Colts - Pretender
Kansas City Chiefs - Pretender
Baltimore Ravens - Contender
New York Jets - Pretender
Atlanta Falcons - Pretender
Chicago Bears - Pretender
Philadelphia Eagles - Contender
Seattle Seahawks - Pretender
New Orleans Saints - Contender
Green Bay Packers - Contender


Magnificent 7 Goofy PSA's:
7. Chew your food
6. The Situation-Bristol Palin – Safe Sex PSA
5. Mr. Yuk - Rhode Island Poison Control
4. Star Wars Anti-Smoking PSA
3. We’re not Candy PSA (Singing Blue Pills)
2. Pee Wee Herman Anti-Crack PSA
1. Don’t put it in your mouth PSA

 
He-Man Movie Watchers Club:
Cool Hand Luke

Division of Corrections, Road Prision #36
I read that Luke's prison number (37) is a reference to the Bible - Luke 1:37. ("For with God nothing shall be impossible."), but I think it has to do with him being determined to be better than the prison.

In the "road-tarring" sequence, the actors actually blacktopped a mile-long stretch of highway for the county.

The opening scene, where Luke is cutting off the heads of parking meters, was filmed in Lodi, California. After the filming, the city did not replace the meters, and for many years afterward, you could go there and see a block long row of metal posts, sans meters.

Although she played his mother in the film, Jo Van Fleet was only 11 years older than Paul Newman.

Mom Scene: (So well written we get a whole amazing back story on Luke without much of the details being directly stated in less than six minutes of screen time.)

-She still loves Luke even though he has broken her heart.
-Luke has screwed up, and feels guilty about it.
-She is dying
-Luke’s dad left her so young Luke never knew him.
-Luke tried to live a normal life, but he wasn’t good at it.
-He had a good job and a wife, but she left him for another man. Very likely what drove him to drinking and what made him cut the heads off of parking meters
-He has a brother named John who seems to resent him, likely because his mom loved Luke more than him.
-Luke’s mom never loved John as much as Luke
-The family has trouble expressing their emotions.
-John never wants to see Luke again. (Gives him his banjo and says, “Now there ain’t nothin’ to come back for.

A Southern prison camp was built for this movie just north of Stockton, California. A dozen buildings were constructed, including a barracks, mess hall, warden's quarters, guard shack, and dog kennels. Truckloads of Spanish moss were shipped from Louisiana to the set in California to hang in the trees around the prison. While passing by the prison camp set, a San Joaquin County building inspector thought it was a recently constructed migrant worker's complex, and posted "condemned" notices on the buildings for not being up to code.




Vertically Striped Music Recommendation:
Gerry Rafferty – Stealers Wheel “Stuck in the Middle”

Shalom and Good Evening to you all!










Fake Radio Network – No Name and VSR combine powers – Call Aaron Young (360) 630-3513


The VSR Hall of Fame:


What would be the scariest animal if it turned into a vampire?
Vampire Walrus
Band Name of the Week: Vampire Walrus

What would be your Inception totem?

What if you knew you had six months to live?

Toilet Paper: Crumple or Fold?

Wells Fargo has an odd business plan: Just got my free iPod Shuffle, and I’ve on two separate occasions gotten 50 bucks from them just for opening a checking account.
 


Yellow:


Green:


Red:




Magnificent 7 – Seven Songs that define you
-Falling for the First Time – BNL
-Ana Molly - Incubus

Podcast Power Rankings


Audio: Arrested Development
Sword of Destiny (Episode 15 Season 2)

Gob: Michael, I've been looking for you.
Michael: Looks like you're looking for dragons... In the future.
Gob: I wouldn't mock the Sword of Destiny, Michael.
Michael: Careful with that Gob.
(Gob sticks the sword into his side)
Michael: Bleeding?
Gob: Nope.... Yeah, that's blood.
Michael: ...But I can't. I have to teach George Michael how to drive.
Gob: Michael if I make this comeback I'll buy you one hundred George Michael's you can teach to drive.
Michael: You're losing blood aren't you?
Gob: Probably. My socks are wet.
Michael: I'm sorry.
Gob: You'll be sorry! Wait that doesn't work after his line.

-Okay. You know what you do? Buy yourself a tape recorder. Record yourself for a whole day. I think you're gonna be surprised at some of your phrasing.




 
NEW YORK -- Tom Fenton was getting a haircut and planned to watch the Rangers game Thursday night from his couch. He got a better seat than that.

When Phoenix Coyotes No. 1 netminder Ilya Bryzgalov came down with the flu shortly before facing New York at Madison Square Garden, the team didn't have time to call up a goalie from the minors. Coyotes head of pro scouting Frank Effinger scoured the area for an amateur goalie and came up with Fenton, who lives in Purchase, N.Y., and coaches hockey at Manhattanville College. Effinger lives in the same area.

"My phone rang, I didn't pick it up," Fenton, 26, said, according to the Coyotes' website. "I eventually saw who it was so I picked it up after the haircut and called them right back. They basically said I have to get my butt down to MSG as soon as I can."

The Coyotes signed Fenton to an emergency contract and gave him jersey No. 35. He hadn't played since his senior year at American International College in Springfield, Mass., in 2009. He went 1-12-1 with a 3.60 goals-against average that season.

Fenton said he felt a little shaky when he took the ice for warmups, but he did make one observation.

"Good ice," Fenton cracked, according to the Coyotes site. "I wasn't expecting that, to be honest with you. It was great. This whole place was electric. I know we always say that cliche, but once you're out there, it's a totally different experience. Words can't really describe it."

Fenton spent the game -- a 4-3 Rangers' win in a shootout -- on the bench, but there was a point he thought he might get in.

"There was one point Barbs came across and made a pretty good save and he was kind of favoring his groin and I immediately started sweating on the bench," Fenton said, according to the Coyotes site.

"Goaltending's a little different. Just seeing these guys shoot in warmups was pretty spectacular. A lot of the guys can really wind up the puck. I don't know about [Marian] Gaborik coming down on me or anything like that."

Fenton was asked if he knew how much money he'd make for his NHL appearance.

"Oh, I don't know. I just signed the paper," Fenton said, according to the Coyotes site. "I don't care if there is anything involved there. Great story just to go home with for Christmas."

He did get one thing. The team let him keep his jersey. Oh, and another thing ... he can always say he was on an NHL team, if only for a night.


Dick Van Dyke singing Dick Van Dyke show theme: (Clip 79)


Are you uncomfortable entering Wal-Mart? We have a greeter at my local Wal-Mart who makes me super deluxe uncomfortable when I walk in.







(Clip 50) Onion News story about the Hamburglar.

Magnificent 7: Top Seven McDonalds Characters
7. Birdie the Early Bird - She was the first identifiably female character, introduced in February 1980 to promote the company's new breakfast items. She is a yellow bird wearing a pink jumpsuit and flight cap and scarf. In the ads she is frequently portrayed as a poor flyer, and somewhat clumsy in general. Birdie's origin is explained in one old commercial: a giant egg falls from the night sky into McDonaldland, and Ronald McDonald decides to show the egg love.

6. Ronald McDonald – The original Ronald was actually Willard Scott.

5. Uncle O'Grimacey - He was created in 1977 and even appeared in 1986 for an advertising narrative of McDonald's both in celebration of Saint Patrick's Day and to mark the annual appearance of the Shamrock Shake. O'Grimacey is the Irish uncle of the character Grimace and is a variant of the Grimace-design in that he is green instead of purple, sports a frock coat covered with several four-leaf clovers, and carries a shillelagh. His design motif is not unlike that of a stereotypical depiction of the Irish folkloric leprechaun. O'Grimacey resides in his home country for eleven months of the year and visits his nephew Grimace in March, bringing with him his "incredibly delicious" shake. Uncle O'Grimacey is no longer used by the chain for its promotions of the shake.
4. Fry Guys - They are characters used to promote McDonald's french fries. When they first appeared in 1972, they were called Gobblins and liked to steal and gobble up the other characters' french fries. Accompanying them was the "Keep Your Eyes on Your Fries" jingle. Their name was later changed to the Fry Guys in 1983, then the Fry Kids in 1987, as female characters (the "Fry Girls") were introduced. They are differently-colored, shaggy, ball-like creatures with long legs and no arms, almost resembling a pom-pon with legs and eyes.

3. Hamburglar

2. Grimace - Grimace is a large, purple character who was first introduced in November 1971 as the "Evil Grimace". In his first two appearances, he was depicted with two pairs of arms with which to steal milkshakes and sodas. "Evil" was soon dropped from his moniker, and he was reintroduced in 1972 as one of the good guys. In 1974, he was redesigned, going from two pairs of arms to the single pair he has today. His role continued to grow, and by the mid 1970s, he was a major character in McDonaldland. Commercials and merchandise generally portray Grimace as a well-meaning simpleton whose clumsy antics provide a comic foil to Ronald McDonald.

1. Mayor McCheese - Mayor McCheese was an enormous cheeseburger who appeared from 1971–1985, he has a burger for a head, and sports a top hat, a diplomat's sash, and a pair of pince-nez spectacles. He is portrayed as a giggly, bumbling, somewhat incompetent mayor.
BERLIN – Newly discovered documents have revealed a bizarre footnote to World War II: the Nazis' dogged obsession with a Finnish mutt who gave not a howl, but a heil. And, just as absurdly, the totalitarian state that dominated most of Europe was unable to do much about the canine's paw-raising parody of Germany's Fuehrer.

In the months preceding Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union, Berlin's Foreign Office commanded its diplomats in the Nazi-friendly country to gather evidence on the dog and its owner — and even plotted to destroy the owner's pharmaceutical business.

Historians were unaware of the scheme until some 30 files containing correspondence and diplomatic cables were found by a researcher in the Foreign Office archives.

Klaus Hillenbrand, an expert on the Nazi period who examined the documents, called the episode "completely bizarre."

"Just months before the Nazis launched their attack on the Soviet Union, they had nothing better to do than to obsess about this dog," he told The Associated Press.

The Dalmatian mix named Jackie was owned by Tor Borg, a businessman from the Finnish city of Tampere. Borg's wife Josefine, a German citizen known for her anti-Nazi sentiments, dubbed the dog "Hitler" because of the way it raised a paw high in the air, much like Germans greeting the Fuehrer with a cry of "Heil Hitler!"

In one photo, Borg, a jovial businessman known for his sense of humor, appears with Jackie by his side wearing a pair of round sunglasses.

On Jan. 29, 1941, the German vice consul in Helsinki, Willy Erkelenz, wrote that "a witness, who does not want to be named, said ... he saw and heard how Borg's dog reacted to the command 'Hitler' by raising its paw."

Borg was ordered to the German Embassy in Helsinki and questioned about his dog's unusual greeting habits.

The businessman denied ever calling the dog by the German dictator's name, but acknowledged that his wife called the dog Hitler. He tried to play down the accusations, saying the paw-raising only happened a few times in 1933 — shortly after Hitler came to power.

Borg assured the Nazi diplomats that he never did anything "that could be seen as an insult against the German Reich," according to the documents.

The zealous diplomats in Helsinki did not believe him and wrote back to Berlin that "Borg, even though he claims otherwise, is not telling the truth."

The ministries involved — the Foreign Office, the Economy Ministry and even Hitler's Chancellory — meticulously reported all their findings about the hound.

The Economy Ministry announced that the German chemical conglomerate IG Farben, which supplied Borg's wholesale trade with pharmaceuticals, agreed to cut all ties, which would have destroyed his business.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office was looking for ways to bring Borg to trial for insulting Hitler. But in the end, none of the witnesses were willing to repeat their accusations in front of a judge.

So, when on March 21, 1941, the Foreign Office asked the Chancellory whether to press charges against Borg, the reply came back: "Considering that the circumstances could not be solved completely, it is not necessary to press charges."

There's no evidence Hitler, who owned a German Shepherd named Blondi, was ever told of the case, even if it made it all the way to his Chancellory, Hillenbrand said.

Finland cooperated with Nazi Germany during WWII, and Helsinki was one of the few European capitals the Nazis never occupied.

As for Borg, he and his company survived the war unscathed. He died in 1959 at age 60; his wife Josefine passed away in 1971.

Borg's company Tampereen Rohduskuppa Oy went on to become Tamro Group, the leading wholesale company for pharmaceuticals in the Nordic countries.

And Jackie, the Hitler-saluting canine, also died a natural death, according to Tamro spokeswoman Margit Nieminen.

She said the company was not aware of the dog's place in history until the recent archive discovery.

 

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – The purse a Florida school board member used to smack a man who was holding other board members at gunpoint has sold for more than $13,000 in an auction.

Authorities say the Brahmin purse Ginger Littleton used Dec. 14 in an unsuccessful attempt to disarm gunman Clay Duke after sneaking up on him sold Wednesday for $13,100 on eBay. The buyer lives in Alexandria, Va., and asked to remain anonymous.

The purse manufacturer, based in Fairhaven, Mass., says it will match the bid. That means the charity founded by Mike Jones, the security guard who shot and wounded Duke before he killed himself, will get a total of $26,200 from the sale. The purse is from the discontinued Almond Collection and originally sold for $345.