September 17, 2010
Mars Blackmon was a fictional character from the 1986 film ‘She’s Gotta Have It.’ He is also the alter-ego of filmmaker Spike Lee. In the film, he was a ‘Brooklyn-loving,’ die-hard New York Knicks fan. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Blackmon became the primary pitchman in Nike commercials for Air Jordans, the basketball shoes worn by Michael Jordan. In these commercials, Mars Blackmon popularized the phrases ‘Is it the Shoes? Is it the Shoes? Is it the Shoes? … Money, it’s gotta be the shoes.’
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September 13, 2010
An announcer’s test is a test sometimes given to those wanting to be a radio or television announcer. The tests usually involve retention, memory, repetition, enunciation, diction, and using every letter in the alphabet a variety of times. One of the more well known announcer’s tests originated at Radio Central New York in the early 1940s as a cold reading test given to prospective radio talent to demonstrate their speaking ability.
There are many variants, but most begin thusly: One hen. One hen, two ducks. One hen, two ducks, three squawking geese. One hen, two ducks, three squawking geese, four limerick oysters… and so on.
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September 13, 2010
Eddie the Head is the mascot for the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He is a perennial fixture in the album cover art, as well as ever present in their live shows.The character was created by artist Derek Riggs. Riggs claimed that the design was based on a Japanese head he saw on a television documentary, hanging on the side of a burned out tank at the Matanikau River during the Battle for Henderson Field, October 24, 1942. The original Eddie was just a theatrical mask. It was connected to a pump that would eject various kinds of liquids, from food dye to paint, and would drool over Doug Sampson who was the drummer at the time.
The name originates from an old joke: Eddie the head was born with no body, no arms, and no legs. All he had was a head. But despite this major birth defect, his parents still loved him very much. So on his sixteenth birthday, his parents found a doctor that could surgically give Eddie a body. When the parents got home, they couldn’t wait to tell him that he could finally have a body and be like other normal people. When Eddie got there, they were really excited and said, ‘Have we got a surprise for you. It’s the best present ever!’ And Eddie said, ‘Oh no, not another f*****’ hat!’
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September 12, 2010
Domo Kun is the official mascot of NHK television station, appearing in several 30 second stop-motion interstitial sketches shown as station identification during shows. NHK is Japan’s national public broadcasting organization. The name ‘Domo’ was acquired during the second episode of his show in which a TV announcer said, ‘dōmo, konnichiwa,’ which is a greeting meaning something along the lines of, ‘Well, hello there!” but which can also be interpreted as ‘Hello, Domo!’ The suffix ‘kun’ is a Japanese honorific often used with young males.
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September 10, 2010
The Streisand effect is a phenomenon in which an attempt to censor or remove a piece of information has the unintended consequence of causing the information to be publicized widely and to a greater extent than would have occurred if no censorship had been attempted. It is named after American entertainer Barbra Streisand, following a 2003 incident in which her attempts to suppress photographs of her residence inadvertently generated further publicity.
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September 1, 2010
The Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) is the deity of the parody religion the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Pastafarianism, a satirical movement that promotes a light-hearted view of religion and opposes the teaching of intelligent design and creationism in public schools. Created in 2005 by Oregon State physics graduate Bobby Henderson, it was originally intended as a satirical protest against the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to permit the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in public schools. In an open letter, Henderson parodied the concept of intelligent design by professing belief in a supernatural creator which closely resembles spaghetti and meatballs. Henderson further called for his theory of creation to be allotted equal time in science classrooms alongside intelligent design and evolution.
In his letter he wrote, ‘I think we can all look forward to the time when these three theories are given equal time in our science classrooms across the country, and eventually the world; one third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence.’
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September 1, 2010
The Church of the SubGenius is a religious organization often seen as a ‘parody religion,’ that satirizes religion, conspiracy theories, Ufology, and popular culture. Originally based in Dallas, Texas, the Church of the SubGenius gained prominence in the 1980s and 1990s subculture and maintains an active presence on the Internet. In 1996 the legal entity SubGenius Foundation was incorporated in Cleveland, Ohio. The Foundation’s president and founder is Ivan Stang. It’s mascot is ‘world’s greatest salesman’ J. R. ‘Bob’ Dobbs. ‘Bob’ is depicted as a cartoon of a Ward Cleaver-like man smoking a pipe. It’s symbol is the ‘Dobb’s Mark,’ a stylized cross with three bars and a pipe, placed in a pattern that matches the eyes, nose, mouth, and pipe of ‘Bob’s’ image.
The central belief in the Church is the pursuit of ‘Slack,’ which generally stands for the sense of freedom, independence, and original thinking that comes when you stop worrying about personal goals. In essence, slack is about finding satisfaction with what you have and who you are, as opposed for searching for satisfaction in accomplishment.
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August 25, 2010
Xenu [zee-noo] was, according to the founder of Scientology and science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, the dictator of the ‘Galactic Confederacy’ who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of his people to Earth in a DC-8-like spacecraft, stacked them around volcanoes and killed them using hydrogen bombs. Official Scientology dogma holds that the essences of these many people remained, and that they form around people in modern times, causing them spiritual harm.
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August 24, 2010
A shmoo is a fictional cartoon creature created by Al Capp. They first appeared in his comic strip ‘Li’l Abner’ on August 31, 1948, and quickly became a postwar national craze in the USA. Shmoon reproduce asexually, require no sustenance other than air, make good pets, are delicious to eat, and are eager to be eaten. Their pelts make perfect boot leather or house timber, depending on how thick you slice it. They have no bones, their eyes make the best suspender buttons, and their whiskers make perfect toothpicks. In short, they are the ideal herd animal.
In the comic strip the frolicking of shmoon is so entertaining that people no longer feel the need to watch television or go to the movies. It’s been used in discussions of socioeconomics, for instance, a widget is any material good which is produced through labor from a finite resource. In contrast, a shmoo is a material good that reproduces itself and is captured or bred as an economic activity.
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August 16, 2010
Gossamer is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. The character is a hairy, orange monster. His rectangular body is perched on two giant tennis shoes, and his heart-shaped face is composed of only two oval eyes and a wide mouth, with two hulking arms. The monster’s main trait, however, is bright uncombed red hair.
In fact, a gag in the 1980 short Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century lampoons this by revealing that Gossamer is, in fact, composed entirely of hair. He was originally voiced by Mel Blanc and has been voiced by Joe Alaskey and Jim Cummings. The word ‘Gossamer’ refers to things light, delicate, or insubstantial. The name is meant to be ironic, since the character is large, menacing, and destructive.
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August 12, 2010
Ketsuekigata is a Japanese pseudoscience based on human blood types. There is a popular belief in Japan that a person’s ABO blood type is predictive of their personality, temperament, and compatibility with others. Ultimately deriving from ideas of historical scientific racism, the popular belief originates with publications by Masahiko Nomi in the 1970s. The scientific community dismisses such beliefs as superstition. Discussion of blood types is widely popular in women’s magazines as a way of gauging relationship compatibility with a potential or current partner. Morning television shows feature blood type horoscopes, and similar horoscopes are published daily in newspapers. In addition, a series of four books that describe people’s character by blood type ranked third, fourth, fifth and ninth on a list of best selling books in Japan in 2008.
Although there is no proven correlation between blood type and personality, it remains popular with the many matchmaking services that cater to blood type. In this way, it is similar to the use of astrological signs in the West, which is also popular in Japan. Asking one’s blood type is common in Japan, and people are often surprised when a non-Japanese does not know his or her own blood type.
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August 10, 2010
The custom of drinking beer from a boot-shaped glass is common in German themed bars, beer gardens, and the like. Machine pressed beer boots range in size from a shot glass up to 1 litre. The more popular mouth blown beer boots are typically 1 and 2 litres in size.
There are several different origin stories for the boot of beer. One tradition holds that a Prussian general swore to his troops that he would drink beer from his boot dependent on the successful outcome in a coming battle. When victorious, the general ordered a glass fashioned in the shape of a boot to fulfill his promise without, ‘having to taste his own feet.’ Another tradition holds that the boot began when German soldiers during World War I having nothing else to drink from instead passed around an actual leather boot of beer before heading into battle. They would flick the boot before drinking from it for good luck and again after drinking to wish the next soldier good luck.
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