Show Prep 207

Greetings and Salutations, People: I have a question to which it is impossible to give a straight answer: “Do you want to say no?”

Tweet of the Week:  

@AristotlesNZ
WebMD's slogan should be "It could be nothing...but it’s probably cancer."

VSR is brought to you by the Amazon.com link on VerticallyStripedSocks.com.

Things I liked this week:

Nuggets remain hot: 14 wins in a row

Gorgeous weather…up until last night

Watching soccer in a blizzard – Shorts are a silly choice

Going to the zoo last Saturday…A Lady Ross’ Turaco (A blue bird with a red feathery head) untied my shoe.

Today on VSR – An old college friend will join me to talk about her recent cruise…she was aboard the Carnival Cruise Ship “Triumph” on its rather infamous voyage that because stranded at sea. Then, as if that’s not enough, we’ll finish our home-and-home podcast series with the kids from the Robot Rabbit podcast as Sarah and Leonard will be dropping in to hang out in the second hour.

If you’d like to join in the fun - (646) 716-7522 OR OHMS-1-MRLAB

(Bring on Face) –

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

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

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A 61-year-old French man was arrested at Philadelphia International Airport and charged with impersonating a pilot after airline officials found him in the cockpit of a plane scheduled for takeoff, police said Friday.

The crew of a US Airways flight bound for West Palm Beach, Fla., found Philippe Jernnard of La Rochelle, France, in the jump seat behind the pilot on Wednesday evening and removed him after he became argumentative.

Jernnard, who was a ticketed passenger, was wearing a white shirt with an Air France logo and had a black jacket with epaulets on the shoulders. Officer Christine O'Brien said police also found him in possession of a counterfeit Air France crew member ID card.

It's not clear how Jernnard got into the cockpit, but police said there's no indication he meant any harm. Officer O'Brien said Jernnard initially became upset at the gate when he asked to be upgraded to business class.

"The US Airways employee at the gate told the Jernnard that there was no space left in business class, and He became irate," then boarded the plane.

Kalamazoo, MICHIGAN - A deer "killed" by a driver in Michigan surprised a couple of police officers when it jumped out of the trunk of a parked car.

The officers were checking a suspicious vehicle parked behind a motel in Kalamazoo.

Local television stations report the driver told officer David Miller he had killed the deer after hitting it on the road he had put the deer in the trunk of his car and was planning to bring the animal home as meat for his family.

But the deer had other plans, recovering just in time to make its escape as the driver unlocked the trunk with a release button.

A camera mounted in the officers' squad car captured the deer climbing backwards out of the trunk, stumbling onto the pavement and bolting into a nearby woods.

Fortunately, we have an exclusive audio recording captured with recording equipment in the officer’s car…(Clip 52 – That was AWESOME)

Bowie County, TEXAS - So you’re outside, doing a little yard work, when you spot a snake. What do you do? Apparently, a Northeast Texas woman decided the answer to that question was to set the snake on fire. You will not be surprised to learn that this doesn’t turn out well.

The unnamed woman poured gasoline on the snake to try to kill it. Her son then dropped a lighted match on the snake. The burning snake, which was of course trying to get away, slithered into some brush near the home. The brush ignited, and so did the house.

The house was destroyed, according to the AP, and a house next door was damaged. Fortunately, both houses were vacant…Sadly, the snake didn’t make it.

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

Interview questions for Joy Dyer:

(Clip 51 – The Love Boat Theme Intro)

Why were you on the cruise?

When the fire broke out in the engine room, how quickly did things get weird on the cruise?

What was the oddest thing about being dead in the water?

Does it seem feasible that there could have been a rescue mission to get you and your fellow passengers OFF the ship rather than tow you to shore?

I heard that it was a story of two ships…bringing out the best and worst in people. Some people acting belligerent and hoarding food while others prayed and banded together to help others. Did you see both sides of this?

I read a story that one night they just had an open bar, but that it got cancelled after some people abused it, did you see any of that first hand?

Was there anything legitimately scary going on?

Were the crew of the ship still trying to treat you like you were on vacation, or did it become a survivalist type atmosphere?

What kind of apologies were made?

Was there anything fun about being put into such a weird situation?

What was the food situation like?

What was your reaction when you first arrived on solid ground?

Did you learn anything about yourself as a result of this experience?

Why was everyone who got off the boat wearing white robes?

The Triumph is scheduled to get back to see June 3^rd…Would you recommend getting tickets?

Will you ever go on another cruise?

Bring on the Whale

Band name of the week:

Before they were Muslims - Lew Alcindor, Cassius Clay, Chris Jackson, Whatever Amhad Rashad was called before he changed his name‏

2012 Diagram Prize: Winner was announced March 22nd

(Literature prize for book with the non-intentionally weirdest title.)

This year’s finalists were:

Was Hitler ill? by Henrik Eberle and Hans-Joachim Neumann

Lofts of North America: Pigeon Lofts, by Jerry Gagne

How to Sharpen Pencils, by David Rees

God’s Doodle: The Life and Times of the Penis, by Tom Hickman

Goblinproofing One’s Chicken Coop, by Reginald Bakeley *Winner*

How Tea Cosies Changed the World, by Loani Prior

GREAT STORY FROM THE PAST…

Germany, 1865 - As a cofounder and member of the liberal party Rudolf Virchow was a leading political antagonist of Otto von Bismarck. He was opposed to Bismarck’s excessive military budget, which angered Bismarck enough to challenge Virchow to a duel in 1865.

Of the two versions, one has Virchow declining because he considered dueling an uncivilized way to solve a conflict. The second has passed into legend, but was well documented in the contemporary scientific literature.

It said that Virchow, having been the challenged and therefore entitled to choose the weapons, selecting two pork sausages, a normal sausage and another one, loaded with Trichinella larvae, or roundworm. Bismarck declined the proposition as too risky.

More people on Earth have access to cell phones than toilets:

A new United Nations study has found that more people around the world have access to a cell phone than to a working toilet.

The study’s numbers claim that of the world’s estimated 7 billion people, 6 billion have access to mobile phones. However, only 4.5 billion have access to a toilet.

At a press conference announcing the report, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson announced the organization is launching an effort to halve the number of those without access by the end of 2015.

“Let’s face it—this is a problem that people do not like to talk about. But it goes to the heart of ensuring good health, a clean environment and fundamental human dignity for billions of people,” Eliasson said at the press conference.

In August 2012, the Bill Gates Foundation began its own effort to “reinvent the toilet” as a way to help curb the number of people around the world without access to sanitary waste disposal.

Interestingly, the report states that India alone is responsible for 60 percent of the world’s population that does not use a toilet, an estimated 626 million individuals. Yet, at the same time, there are an estimated 1 billion cell phones in India.

Conversely, in the world’s most highly populated country, China, only 14 million people do not have access to a toilet. However, there are also fewer cellphones in China, 986 million, according to the Daily Mail.

Driving the point home, more than 750,000 people die each year from diarrhea and one of its primary causes is from unsanitary conditions created in communities without access to toilets.

And there are other benefits of installing more modern sanitation options that don’t immediately come to mind.

“This can also improve the safety of women and girls, who are often targeted when they are alone outdoors,” said Martin Mogwanja, deputy executive director of the U.N. Children’s Fund. “And providing safe and private toilets may also help girls to stay in school, which we know can increase their future earnings and help break the cycle of poverty.”

Actors passing up roles:

Will Smith – Passed on being Neo in The Matrix (to make Wild Wild West)

Matt Damon – Passed on Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight and was offered the lead in Avatar

Jack Nicholson – Offered Michael Corleone in The Godfather

Johnny Depp – Offered Ferris Buehler

Molly Ringwald – Turned down Julia Roberts role in Pretty Woman and Demi Moore’s role in Ghost

Kevin Costner – Andy Dufrene (Tim Robbins) in The Shawshank Redemption

Shawn Connery – Gandolf in Lord of the Rings and Morpheous in The Matrix

Tom Selleck – Offered Indiana Jones before Harrison Ford.

Vertically Striped Music Recommendation:

Dr. Dog – That Old Black Hole (Clip 91)

Shalom and Good Evening to you all!