The Word of the Day (October 5, 2012)

The word of the day is Bodendenkmalpflege. 

I don't know what it means, but I know that it is German.  Also I think that it's scientific.  

Steve Higgins and Robert Gibbs . . . Separated at Birth?

This presidential campaign, which seems as if it has being going on since I was in eighth grade, continues to go on.  By this point, I have seen so many televised political ads that I've developed an almost uncontrollable urge to end my blog entries by writing "I'm Mitt Robertson, and I approved this post."

Discussing controversial political opinions is the last thing that I want to do on this blog.  My only vaguely political observation at the moment is to point out the uncanny physical similarity between Steve Higgins, who stands behind a lectern on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and Robert Gibbs, who stood behind a lectern at the Obama White House.  

Steve Higgins:

Robert Gibbs:

Maybe it's the lectern that does it.  

I'm Mitt Robertson, and I approved . . . oh, wait. 

A New Case of Celebrity Confusion

I spent most of last week thinking that Saturday Night Live would be hosted by Shia LaBeouf.  On Friday night, when I started to actually pay attention to ads for the show, I found out that the host was Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I have developed another case of celebrity confusion, in the manner of my Ed Helms-Jason Sudeikis confusion. 

There was a time when I would never have confused the kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun with the kid from Even Stevens. But somehow, in the last few years, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shia LaBeouf turned into the same person, at least in my mind.  I can't explain it, though they do kind of look alike, and they are former child actors who are now starring in major movies, so maybe that does explain it.  

I have occasionally confused the title 3rd Rock from the Sun with the title 30 Rock, although the shows themselves are nothing alike. 

And up until a few years ago, when I would hear that Shia LaBeouf was going to appear on a talk show, I would expect to see one of the daughters from The Cosby Show.  

Three Weeks into September

It's hard to believe that it's twenty-one days into September. Not only is summer gone, but fall is already more than one-sixth over.  (I go by meteorological summer, and not astronomical summer, as I mentioned earlier.)  Now the air grows cool and the evenings grow dark; this spooky time of year makes me think that I should write a scary story, and try to get it published.  And some years I will start a story, but I never finish it, because I don't have the energy, and I don't really have any stories to tell.  

It always makes me a little sad when the summer ends.  It might be because the kids have to go back to school, and I  can still remember what it's like to have three months of freedom, and then feel it slip away.  But maybe more than that, I know that the end of summer means that the season for reptile and amphibian observations will be coming to an end soon.  I am happy to say that I did meet one of my herpetological goals for the summer.  I had my first field encounter with the Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea).  I didn't see any, but I heard them calling one night at Huntley Meadows in Fairfax County.  I made some audio recordings, and maybe one day I will figure out if it's possible to post them on the blog.  

Random Observations (September 4, 2012)

1) It has been announced that the upcoming season of The Office will be the last. The Office is one of only three prime time shows that I watch on a regular basis; one of the other two, 30 Rock, will also be ending after this season.  This will be the ninth season of The Office, which is a pretty good run for a comedy series, so I can't complain too much on that front.  What does worry me is that the producers plan to "do justice to the existing characters in the most creative and explosive way" and "blow up things and take some chances", which makes me think that they will ruin the show.  

2) In reference to my last "Random Observations" post, I need to issue a retraction. Taylor Swift is not moving to a mansion in Hyannis Port, and I need to stay away from the celebrity gossip, so that I don't have to issue retractions. 

3) Also from my last "Random Observations" post, I would like to reiterate the part about the toothpaste, because I feel that it has been underappreciated.

4) Ten years ago, who would have thought that Britney Spears would be having a conversation (using something called "Twitter") with a robot probe exploring Mars? Or, more accurately, that Britney Spears would be having a conversation with someone from NASA pretending to be a robot probe exploring Mars? Or, perhaps, that someone from Britney Spears' management team pretending to be Britney Spears would be having a conversation with someone from NASA pretending to be a robot probe exploring Mars? At this point I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say.  

5) I need to find some new topics about which to make random observations, other than shallow pop-culture television and music news.

Death Comes for Bigfoot

A man in Montana was recently killed while attempting to hoax a bigfoot sighting.  He ran onto a highway while wearing a ghillie suit, and was hit by two cars.  (A ghillie suit is a form of camouflage used by hunters and snipers, with a texture that resembles shaggy fur, and a name that recalls an unfortunate Kristen Wiig character.)  

I have wondered for a while about a similar potential situation.  What would the legal fallout be if someone dressed in a bigfoot costume in a forest were to be shot?  Would the shooter be charged with murder or manslaughter, on the grounds that he should have known that bigfoot does not exist, which is the overwhelming consensus among zoologists?  Or would he be charged with some lesser offense, or not at all, because he legitimately believed himself to be killing a non-human creature, even if such a belief is not scientifically supported?  I don't know enough about criminal law to provide an answer, but someday someone may have to provide the answer in real life.

Random Observations (August 16, 2012)

It seems to take me days or weeks to write a traditional blog entry, so I am trying some smaller random observations.  

1) When I hear the new Taylor Swift single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", the spoken word section reminds me of the Frank Zappa song "Valley Girl".  For what it's worth, though, Taylor Swift is moving to a mansion in Hyannis Port, and not to a really good part of Encino.  

2) On television commercials in which people brush their teeth, they never use toothpaste.  

3) This is not exactly current events, but I have been thinking that virtually every character on the show Happy Days had a name that ended in an "e" sound—Fonzie, Richie, Potsie, Joanie, and Chachi.  The only one of the younger generation of characters whose name ended with a consonant sound was Ralph Malph. (When I watched Happy Days as a very young child, I was not clear on phonetic concepts, and so I thought that Ralph Malph was Ralph Mouth.)

4) I recently learned that former Dire Straits keyboardist Alan Clark and former Dire Straits saxophonist Chris White have formed a band (along with the drummer from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and some other people) called the Straits to fulfill the demand for public performances of Dire Straits songs.  (Dire Straits, in case you didn't know, broke up twenty years ago.)  That is not too surprising.  What is surprising is that they are writing and recording an album of new material, presumably in the style of Eighties Dire Straits.  But what will it sound like without Mark Knopfler (who will be touring this fall with Bob Dylan)?