On the cutting edge of technology

Since I occasionally give money to Northwestern University's radio station for personal reasons, they consider me a contributor to the School of Communication.

The school just sent out a video update of "what your money is being used for"...but even though this is the year 2004 and not 1984, it came on VHS, not DVD. Either they've got a lot of contributors who can't handle new technology, or they're trying to bilk more money to pay for DVD recording equipment.

Whatever the reason, I couldn't watch it because my VCR has been broken for over a month now (there's a tape stuck in it that it won't give up), and I haven't had to do anything about it because the combination of TiVo and a DVD player provides me with all the television-related entertainment I need.

The famous person wears the same size waterskis as me

Tonight, I went to an event under the aegis of The New Yorker that was called "Music and Conversation: Susan Orlean and They Might Be Giants." The two Johns played a few songs, talked to Susan Orlean about stuff, played a few more songs, talked about some more stuff, and closed by playing yet more songs and attempting to lead the audience in "the wave." Proceeds benefitted Reading Is Fundamental, because of course, when you think of They Might Be Giants, you think of reading.

Anyway, there was a man sitting in the second row who looked a lot like Colin Mochrie. Then this man should hire himself out as a Colin Mochrie lookalike, although I can't imagine a situation where a Colin Mochrie lookalike would be necessary, since the real thing is probably fairly easy to get.

Several reasons why I don't think it was actually Colin Mochrie, now that I've done a little research: Colin Mochrie lives in Canada, not L.A., and is working on a TV show there; Colin Mochrie was performing in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Friday night; and this man was with a woman who only vaguely looked like Colin Mochrie's wife does in this picture. (Yes, I guess it's possible that he flew to L.A. for the weekend because he's having an affair with someone he met while doing "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" or something like that, but isn't going to see Susan Orlean interviewing They Might Be Giants about the last thing someone would do if they were having an affair?)

In conclusion, if you're looking for something to do, I highly recommend seeing a rock duo being interviewed live on stage by a person who has been portrayed on film by Meryl Streep. Too bad Karen Silkwood is unavailable to interview Tears for Fears.

More attempts to win free music

An update on the Pepsi/iTunes contest: I've bought two more Big Gulps since the last related entry in this blog, but neither one was a winner. One was a big loser, in fact, because half of it spilled in my car due to the inadequate cupholders. Fortunately, the Thomas Guide under my driver's seat managed to catch most of the liquid, so now it has red stains all over it...but better a $18 street atlas than a car that Kelley Blue Book claims now has slightly over $3,500 of trade-in value.

Anyway, now that a local Lakers-related promotion is over, the Pepsis with iTunes caps are finally available in L.A., so I bought one of those at 7-Eleven today, and darned if I didn't win another free song. No, I didn't use the "tilt the bottle" trick, because that would be cheating, and it would look strange if I was standing in the 7-Eleven, holding the cooler door open, reaching way in the back and tilting Pepsis. I certainly don't want to get banned from the 7-Eleven that's in convenient walking distance of my apartment!

What is with my home state?

Well, to distract me from the paint fumes, I can now fume about the University of Florida losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament. There goes the $3.00 I paid to enter the office pool...unless the University of Pittsburgh also loses in the first round, and every other person in the pool had them winning the championship (which is actually semi-plausible, given that almost every other pool entrant is in Pittsburgh), and then I've still got a shot.

High on fumes

Just to follow up on something from years ago: my bathroom has finally been painted, so all evidence of the ceiling collapse is finally gone. Now it remains to be seen if water will leak through when it rains, but that shouldn't be a problem for eight or nine months.

Kodachromeski

Color photography in pre-revolution Russia? Yes, and here's how it was done. It's more or less the same method that was used 40 years later for mechanical color television, believe it or not.

In Tampa or San Francisco, they're not seagulls, they're...

I sure hope this bagel I ate was actually intentionally made green for St. Patrick's Day, and not just a result of the bakery getting rid of their overstock from the last couple of months!

Do you smell bacon?

For much of my drive to work this morning, I was behind a police car that had in its back window, I swear, a cute stuffed pig. Nice to see someone in the LAPD has a sense of humor, although I'm not sure Joe Friday would approve.

Fondly Fahrenheit

I know why Los Angeles is suddenly experiencing summer-like temperatures...it's because I just bought a new jacket. A Tampa Bay Buccaneers jacket, believe it or not. 83% off was just too big of a bargain to pass up, even if I did have to order from the Home Shopping Network (no, not from TV, from their web site). I have no idea when I'm ever going to wear it.

Split personality

Now I have two blogs, one solely for discussion of a certain upcoming baseball road trip. ("Upcoming"? It's almost six months away!)