beautiful, funny, sad & true

James Burke is a genius.

I’m kind of obsessed with a show he did for the BBC called Connections, which had its first incarnation in the 1970’s, but had two later incarnations in the 1990’s as well.  I saw the 90’s versions when they originally aired, and was mesmerized by them, so today I went back and found the original series online, and I’ve been slowly but surely watching them.

They’re all about various inventions that have changed the history of civilization as we know it, but his masterful storytelling makes each episode like a mystery, where we only know have as much information to go on as people at the time did.   He starts by showing us the modern invention, and takes us clear back to the beginning, showing us the salient points of progress that happened along the way.

It’s really brilliant.

Here’s the first part of the first episode of the first incarnation of the series.  I have no doubt that you’ll find them riveting as well.

Did you know that today is National Corndog Day?  Well, now you do.

What IS National Corndog Day?  Well, according to their web site, it’s the “happiest day of basketball and meats on sticks that you’ll ever have.”

How does one celebrate NCD?

1. Attend an established National Corndog Day celebration. Check out the party list to find the closest public NCD celebration near you.
2. Host your own NCD celebration. Hosting a NCD celebration of your own is easy! You just need the following:
   • Friends
   • TV with cable or satellite
   • An oven or microwave
   • One or more couches, lazyboys, beanbags, or other comfortable seating
   • A bunch of corndogs (Foster Farms recommended)
   • A bunch of tater tots
   • A bunch of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer (in a can) and/or Jones Soda
   • Plain yellow mustard and ketchup
   • NCD 2009 tally sheet – to keep tabs on your participant’s stats

To me, this sounds like an excuse for everyone to eat like the Dynamite family (Napoleon, Kip, Uncle Rico, et al), but if you decide to participate in NCD, feel free to post a link and tell the world about it.

When I saw that La Maison en Petits Cubes had won the Oscar for being the best animated short film, I was stunned.  Pleasantly.  I say that because I love Kunio Kato’s work, and I’ve posted some of it in my blog before.   I am SO SICK of always being ahead of my time.

That’s a joke, by the way.  My tongue was planted firmly in my cheek as I wrote that.

Here’s Part One of the video. I trust that you can find Part Two on your own.

At around 11:00 this morning, I realized that I was wearing two different types of shoes.  I know; check out the big brain on Todd.  At least they’re both Docs, though, so that’s gotta count for something.

Hilarious.