Almost Worth Knowing: Conan O'Brien Leaves NBC

Though I'm sure this is not news to anybody, Conan O'Brien has left NBC, the company where he was employed, writing for SNL in 1988, to his brief stint as the Tonight Show host this past year. Time Magazine says that O'Brien went out with class, and I have to agree. The last episode ended with O'Brien shredding his axe, while Will Farrel sang and played cowbell, putting on a truly epic and ultimately fitting rendition of Freebird, the classic song by Lyrnyrd Skynyrd. Ben Harper, Beck, and Max Weinberg (of course) also joined him on stage. If you didn't get to see the last episode, you can see it here: The Tonight Show: Episode 146.

Also, as part of my duty in relating useless information, check out this interesting Taiwanese Animation summarizing the Late-Night War. It's sub-titled, but I wonder if it might not be more fun to watch without the sub-titles.

Finally, I'd just like to say that I hope Conan comes back soon. I have many fond memories of late nights in college, when I would stay up with my roommate long enough to watch Late Night with Conan O'Brien as it aired for the second time. I honestly mean it when I say that TV as we know it wouldn't be the same without him.

Answers: On a side note, I issued a challenge two entries (and an eternity) ago. Congratulations to Katie for getting 1 point. The answers are as follows:

"Whenever you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (spoken by Sherlock Holmes)

"The truth will set (make?) you free." - The Bible (John 8:32)

"The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple." - Oscar Wilde

"Truth is more stranger than fiction." Mark Twain (often misquoted as Truth is stranger than fiction)

"A lie told often enough becomes the truth." - Lenin

Almost Worth Knowing: Interrobang and Other Things

Two entries ago (but some days ago), I wrote an entry in which I ask for the name of these symbols:

This mark, as Tony so correctly pointed out, is the Interrobang, a literal combination of the exclamation and question mark punctuations that basically means WTF. As pointed out by Wikipedia, "A sentence ending with an interrobang (1) asks a question in an excited manner, (2) expresses excitement or disbelief in the form of a question, or (3) asks a rhetorical question." I owe my discovery of this punctuation to Jess, who sent me this great article: The Culture of the Interrobang, which inter alia credits Martin K. Specter with the invention of the Interrobang in 1962. The term combines the Latin for question (interro-) with a proofreading term for exclamation (bang). Thanks, Jess. Thanks, Specter. Interrobang‽

On the second note, the "؟" symbol is known as both an Irony Mark and a Percontation Point. Originally, this symbol came to be in the 1580's to denote rhetorical questions in writing. Later on, it came to be used again "by the French poet Alcanter de Brahm (alias Marcel Bernhardt) at the end of the 19th century. It was in turn taken by Hervé Bazin in his book Plumons l’Oiseau (1966), in which the author proposes several other innovative punctuation marks..." Check those out on Irony Mark's Wiki. Pretty interesting...

I hope you guys found that all to be informative. Before I take my leave, check out this video. Maybe it'll leave you feeling a little interrobanged‽

Almost Worth Knowing: Should be Offended, but Can't Stop Laughing...

First off, I'd like to congratulate Doug for earning about 10 points on my challenge from two days ago. I won't bother trying to add to his answers. Congrats!

For some reason, I was inspired today to look up Vegeta's Over 9000!!! Video on YouTube. For those of you who do not know, Over 9000 is an old internet meme based on a short clip of the show Dragonball Z. I've posted my favorite remix below, but the original meme can be found here.

The actual point of today's entry, however, is not an old and obscure meme that any of my readers, who would care, have already seen. Instead, in the course of my studies, I discovered another video based around the same theme. The background is that, at some point, Oprah delivered a speech imploring her viewers to join her in stopping a pedophile ring. The ring, as it turns out, has over 9000 members. Oprah, in her speech, decided to refer to the members of the ring as "9000 penises." A video of the speech can be found here, but it became a meme when it was contrasted against the Vegeta Over 9000 video in a number of ways. The following is my favorite.

Here, the creator made a techno remix of the Oprah speech, turned it into a full song, and then created a DDR/ Stepmania level to match the music. Wow...

Almost Worth Knowing: There is a surprising volume of professional athletes turned published musical talents

First off, I would like to make it clear that I am using the words "talent" and "artist" in the loosest way possible. Nonetheless, I have a couple of favorite athletes turned artist, and some of them are even somewhat talented. This issue came up in my post from three days ago, when I ran across the musical exploits of one Justin Fargas, aka Young Hugg. I issued a challenge for my readers to name any other professional athletes who have published musical careers. BAyates was the first and only to respond listing Shaq, Deion Sanders, Ron Artest, Troy Hudson, and the entire 1985 Chicago Bears Team. BAyates gets a whopping 5 points!

If you haven't seen the Super Bowl Shuffle yet, it's actually quite fun. The Wikipedia article on the song provides some greater detail behind the history and production of the song, but I particularly liked the stanza by #4 Steve Fuller and the sax solos by #33 Calvin Thomas. Check it out:

Comically, it's quite clear the white guys in the video have far less rhythm. #45 Gary Fencik is especially bad. Also, as a bit of clear trivia, #9 Jim McMahon and #34 Walter Payton were spliced into the song and video afterward, because they were not available for the filming. Dan Hampton declined participation because he felt that the song was too cocky. Furthermore, the song and video were produced on the Tuesday following the 1985 Bear's only loss of the season to the Miami Dolphins. This is significant because it prevented them from becoming the second team in history to have an undefeated season and win the Super Bowl. Lastly, the 1985 Chicago Bears was not the only Superbowl Championship team to produce a song; the 1984 San Francisco 49ers also produced a song called "We are the 49ers" before becoming Superbowl Champions (according to Wikipedia's Superbowl Shuffle page). I searched for the song online, and came across the following video, but I admit I'm not sure it is same song that the Wikipedia article is referencing.

Honestly, I think I like this song even more than the Superbowl Shuffle. It makes me nostalgic of that great era of music: the 80's. Tomorrow, I'll get into some more modern examples of athletic musical venture, but for now let's just consider these two curiosities. Are the current works, by the likes of Shaq and Fargas entertaining? Yes... but it also lacks the charm of the aforementioned videos.

Almost Worth Knowing: While some of you might have guessed...

The plural of deer is... obviously, not deer, because that's the same thing as one deer. It's a common mistake, I know. It's also not deers, or deeres or doves or anything like that.

Actually, the plural of deer is doxen...

Almost Worth Knowing: New Jersey's Favorite Neighbor

It's Monday morning everyone! Hope all is well? On Thursday last, I pondered out loud about my backyard neighbors and nighttime visitors, the deer.

here's an interesting question that was raised tonight, and one I did not know the answer to myself. Deer... do they sleep standing up or laying down? in the same place every night? how often at a time? have deer dreams?

Curiously, that side note generated the most responses I've had in some time. Fortunately, the question was important enough to me that I had already found this interesting and informative article: Are You Likely to See a Whitetail Sleeping? The article is from the Quality Deer Management Association website, and based on interviews with Charles Alsheimer and Dr. Leonard Lee Rue III (who are "household names to whitetail hunters throughout North America") so I suspect the information is reliable.

New Jersey Deer

In short, deer sleeping habits are peculiar and difficult to observe because they sleep for very short periods at a time and often with their eyes open. Alsheimer reports "when their eyes are closed it is generally for periods of less than five minutes." I hope his observations are not based on his short term memory.

As far as nesting is concerned, "Deer sleep anywhere they bed and may do so singly or in groups. According to Charlie, they are creatures of habitat and they may bed in the same location day after day and month after month. Dominant bucks have favorite bedding spots, and they’ll even kick subordinate bucks out of a bed." Moreover, "Deer may lay with their front and back legs tucked under them, their back legs tucked and front leg(s) extended and even on their side with all of their legs extended." I totally would have thought they slept standing up, like cows, but I guess I was wrong.

Finally, sleep only occurs in short bouts of rest followed by an alert period, in a 30-minute cycle. In between cycles, deer may stand up, stretch, urinate, or defecate, before laying back down. Specifically, "Dr. Rue has observed bucks curling their lips while sleeping. He also has video of eyes fluttering and contends this is REM sleep and that it suggests deer can dream."

For some reason, this image came up when I did a
Google Image Search for New Jersey Deer.
Contrary to the wisdom of Google, it is not a deer...

Well, there you go... all about deer. On a personal note to Tony, the sound deer make is "deeeeer!" This is contrary to the belief of Mrs. Malone, who once tried to poison our adolescent minds with the notion that deer sound like cows. Of course not... they don't even sleep standing up like cows!

Almost Worth Knowing: I Wonder If He Regrets Not Walking on the Moon...

Answer: Two days ago, in my post on Buzz Aldrin's reporter altercation I asked for the name of the third astronaut in the historic first man-made landing on the surface of the moon. Katie, without use of the internets (she read it in TIME magazine) discovered the correct answer. Points to her...

Following the events of July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became an instant household name and unforgettable piece of history. For generations of boys who aspired to the final frontiers of space, he was likely the most iconic astronaut. Similarly, the second man to set foot on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, will also be immortalized for his part in the historic Apollo 11 mission. Yet, curiously, and perhaps a little sadly, few remember the third adventurer on that important voyage.

Michael "Handsome" Collins

Michael Collins was born October 31, 1930, in Rome, Italy. His first space flight was Gemini 10, which was an in space docking mission, in 1966. Due to medical reasons, Collins did not participate in Apollo 8, as was originally planned. Ironically, his removal from Apollo 8 may have allowed him to be back in the list of possible pilots for an important subsequent flight. In 1969, due to the volume of his experience, Collins was selected to be the Command Module Pilot of Apollo 11. For his part in the first manned lunar voyage, Michael Collins was as indispensable as either of his partners. While Aldrin and Armstrong set foot on the moon's surface, Collins orbited the moon, often out of radio contact. In this quiet seclusion, he contemplated, "not since Adam has any human known such solitude." He would later remark in his autobiography, "this venture has been structured for three men, and I consider my third to be as necessary as either of the other two." In my opinion, Michael Collins' role was that of a silent guardian over his fellow astronauts. He performed his duties admirably and his experience in rendezvous procedures and re-entering Earths atmosphere allowed him to bring his fellows home safely. For that, as much as anything else, Michael Collins deserves a place our collective memories of the historic first lunar landing.

The Apollo 11 Mission Insignia Which Collins Designed

Side note: I received a few complaints about the images in my previous post: ABE Horror: More Won Ton Baby Coverage. The fault was not mine, but in the source page where the images were displayed. Shame on you Bloody Disgusting.com. Nonetheless, I managed to locate the pictures and have proceeded to address the problem. The pictures can, again, be found where they belong in my 7/21/09 post. Check it out... the picture of Chris Clemens, in particular, is pretty cool.

Almost Worth Knowing: Moonwalker

A few days ago, in A Life Not Quite Black or White, I challenged all my readers (probably just Brett) to name 5 Michael Jackson songs, not including the 7 or 8 that I previously mentioned. Bad Ass Yates was the only person to respond, listing "Jam," Ben," "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough," "The Way You Make Me Feel," and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" amongst his responses. Not only did Brett answer correctly, but he also mocked me for making the challenge too easy. Too easy, Brett? Well, I don't see you answering my OTHER challenge!

My second challenge was for any reader to name the Michael Jackson video game that was often found in arcades in the 90's. This game was none other than Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, the video game based on the movie comprised of a number of music videos featuring songs from the Michael Jackson album, Bad.

I remember the game pretty well actually. It came out in 1990, following the movie's release in 1989, and was a staple at one of the theaters I often went to as a kid. My recollection of the gameplay is even quite accurate; the game is played from a 3/4 perspective, and follows Michael Jackson, wearing his suit from Smooth Criminal, as he tries to rescue children and fight off gangsters or other bad guys using dance moves and dance magic attacks. At certain points in the game, Jackson can activate his super-powered Dance Magic attack and cause all the enemies on-screen to dance with him until they can no longer keep up and die. Curiously, and I do remember this, at certain points in each stage, Jackson can find his real-life pet chimpanzee, Bubbles, activating a power-up that turns him into a robot that can shoot missiles and lasers. Furthermore, the game can be played with up to three players at once, with each player controlling Jackson in a different colored suit.

Interestingly, and I did not know this, the game also came out for Sega Master System and Sega Genesis with different gameplay. For more information on both games, check out the Wikipedia Article and gameplay footage below.

Almost Worth Knowing: Another Weekend Come to An End, plus an Important Consideration

Well, it's another weekend at hand, so I guess that it's that time again. I'm calling this "Worth Knowing Wrap-Up #2," despite this actually being the third or fourth time I've done a weekend wrap up, because this is the #2 time I've called it a "Worth Knowing Wrap Up." For what it's worth, however, there's not much to wrap up this week.

On Monday, 10/06/08, I asked, "True or False: You get more drunk by drinking alcohol through a straw and why?" Tony earned himself a point by correctly answering True, because alcohol consumed through a straw mixes more with oxygen, allowing it to be absorbed into the bloodstream more quickly. You can read about this and other fun facts here, but Tony's answer is pretty good and also undoubtedly correct, because he learned it in college.

On Tuesday, 10/07/08, I mentioned that the movie's version of Piccolo "isn't green, doesn't have antennae, and is wearing some outfit out of X-Men." I've since considered the look even more, and realize that Piccolo looks a lot like he's copied from Shinzon, the "nemesis" is Star Trek: Nemesis. Check it:

Piccolo

Shinzon

On Thursday, October 9, I posed the following challenge: From first to last, place the four major American Professional Sports (Football, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey) in the order in which they incorporated Instant Replay Challenges into their rules. Since nobody attempted to answer, I'll just give it to you. The NFL first incorporated rules for the Instant Replay challenge in 1986, though the current system came into use in 1999. The NHL was using instant replay rules for determining the legitimacy of goals as early as the 1991-1992 season. The NBA was next, though I'm not exactly sure when. I think it was more recent then not, though I do know a video review was used for a clock malfunction as early as 1982. The MLB finally implemented replays in for the last month of this year. For what it's worth, Tennis, has also recently adopted an Instant Replay system.

Okay, well that's all I have to say with this week's Worth Knowing Wrap-Up. In other news, I'm considering putting AlmostWorthKnowing.com on temporary hiatus, even if it means not having as long a consecutive daily blog run as BAyates. However, I'm finding that I'm a little more busy than I would like, and want to finish up my law school applications before long. Moreover, I would like some more time to concentrate on the other writing I want to do, and have a few trips planned for the near future. I haven't decided yet if this definitely means I will be taking a short break, but we'll soon see.

Almost Worth Knowing: This Week in Summary

Sorry for the late post today, but I'm feeling a tad under the weather. Also, I notice that I did not address one of my challenges from last week, so I've included that here as well.

On Wednesday, September 24, I asked for the name of the band that sings the song Rio. Answer: Rio is a 1982 single from the great 80's band Duran Duran. The single can be found on the band's second album, also titled Rio. Personally, I prefer the cover by Goldfinger, which came years later. The original song can be found below:

On Tuesday, September 30, I issued two challenges. In my European Music series, I focused on O-Zone and Dan Balan, who is from Romania, and Basshunter, who is from Sweden. For that reason, I asked for those countries capitals. Respectively, the capitals are Bucharest and Stockholm. Katie earns herself one point for the correct answer!

At the same time, I also asked for other uses of the word Bass, or as many uses as possible. Bass was already defined in my post as the fish and the musical term referring to the low frequency sound. Tony earns himself 2 points for also noting the Bass Guitar and the largest, lowest pitched, bowed string instrument, sometimes known as the double bass. Other uses can be found on Wikipedia's Bass Disambiguation page, with references to other instruments that may carry the bass prefix. Bass may also refer to the lowest vocal range for male singers, similar to tenor or baritone, to the lowest note in a chord, to the bass clef, to a number of different places, to Bass Beer, and to the name Bass, which a number of video game characters have.

On Wednesday, October 1, I wrote a blog about the Horse Drawn Carriage Industry in New York City. The comments on that one are fun and worth checking out. Furthermore, I asked for the unabbreviated version of the acronym PETA, the animal rights organization. Jess receives one point for correctly pointing out that PETA stands for "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals." Nice going!

Finally, on Thursday, October 2, I wrote about a topic relating to anime, thus prompting a challenge having to do with my favorite childhood anime, Dragonball. The question was this: When Vegeta and Nappa first engage the Z Fighters, they do not fight them directly. Instead, they plant a bunch of beans in the ground, which sprout a bunch of little green creatures for the Z warriors to fight. These things have rather high power levels (compared to the Z Fighters at the time). What were these creatures called? These creatures, as BAyates so astutely pointed out, are known as Saibamen! Their power levels registered 1200 on the scouters, which was comparable to Raditz's when he first arrived on earth, and more than Krillin, at 1,083, or Gohan, at 981!

Some Saibamen with Nappa in the background

Well, that's this week wrapped up! Hope everyone had a good week, and see you all back here soon!

Final Note: man, the Dragonball movie looks like it's going to suck even worse than Mr. Satan (or Hercule if you wanna call him that)!