Cool space view

Yesterday's APOD:

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121013.html

The 12 Most Ridiculous Old-Timey Transportation Innovations

From Popular Science, posted in Crack.com:
http://www.cracked.com/article_20064_the-12-most-ridiculous-old-timey-transportation-innovations.html

#7. The Roadplane (1934)
No, that is not a flying car, if that's what you're thinking. When the headline says "half auto and half plane," that in no way means that it has any of the advantages of an airplane. What they mean is "It's 1934, and malnutrition has driven us mad."

The roadplane was invented by Professor T. Edward Moodie for reasons that can best be described as "nonexistent" and never made it beyond the testing phase. Once his "half auto and half plane" got up to speed, the front wheel, and only that wheel, lifted up into the air, balancing the car on two wheels and allowing the driver to steer using a yoke to control the vehicle's rudders, providing an advantage over standard road travel that no one has yet been able to determine. All we know is that there's no way you'd be able to see out of the windshield with the thing popping a permanent wheelie.

Wait, why the hell didn't he just call it the wheelie car? We'd have bought that.

Video & voiceover explanation of the earth seen at night from the ISS

I recommend that you bring this to "full screen" view:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/10/12/162782607/weekend-special-when-cities-people-and-highways-glow-like-stars

I found it a little overwhelming - the site of so much human activity is not (as is usually the case) depressing for me; but exhilarating.

Old Time radio

Frank Merriwell: "The Yale Bulldog" 10/09/48

Frank Merriwell is the captain of the football team, and the father of one of the students (Rob Marlin) on the Yale football team, is all pissy b/c his bulldog ran off; Merriwell found the dog (who, in typical Old Timey fashion, stood in front of an incoming train & barked incessantly until the train stopped). I'm most interested b/c the father is a jerk.

Well, and now there are more shenanigans going on, so young Frank Merriwell will be put in the hot seat, I'm sure (young Frank Merriwell has been accused of taking the jerky guy's dog). Big thought: the jerky guy's son went to posing as Frank Merriwell to steal the dog to influence the game - big fricking surprise. Rob Marlin - somebody please slap that man in the face.

Man - so much jerkiness.

... this is a new one: the sound effects guys on radio making the sounds of guys playing a football game.

... and Rob Marlin's duplicity is discovered (as I had thought) at the end of the show by Marilyn because, "I knew it the moment I saw the black eye on his face!" Did Rob get hit in the face by his jerky father? Entirely possible, but I still don't know. Ah, well - not like this is brain surgeon material.

Fred Allen: "Hillbilly Music" 10/21/44

He goes down "Allen's Alley", which includes a character who is a Southern Senator - who is the inspiration for Foghorn Leghorn.
"I'm talkin' - I say I'm talkin'..."
"I'm listening,"
"Well, just try to keep up, son!"

I have to say that, even though there was the (joke) rivalry between Allen and Jack Benny (and the crew on Allen's show does a good job), Benny has held up better. Still, this episode has Frank Sinatra as a singing guest (singing, "Might As Well Be Spring").

... and Fred Allen invites Frank Sinatra to think of what they might be doing in 50 years (1995), which (according to Fred Allen) means being Hillbilly singers.

Crime Classics: "Seven-Layered Arsenic Cake" 10/14/53

Power steering in the 1954 Plymouth available tomorrow!

"Crime Classics" are stories that are narrated by Thomas Highland of crimes (usually murders) that took place in previous centuries. I don't know whether or not these actually occurred or not.

Oh, wait, I'm wrong: Created, produced, and directed by radio actor/director Elliott Lewis, the program was a historical true crime series, examining crimes and murders from the past. It grew out of Lewis' personal interest in famous murder cases and took a documentary-like approach to the subject, carefully recreating the facts, personages and feel of the time period. Comparatively little dramatic license was taken with the facts and events, but the tragedy was leavened with humor, expressed largely through the narration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_Classics

The plot (of a story that takes place in 1839) involves a marriage broker... kind of wish there were still marriage broker ('tho I suppose if I did I would be miserable bring married with kids - though... oh well).

... Although, there's the possibility that you'll get married to a man who is a metalsmith who immediately threatens to create a shackle on you.

... huh - I thought it took more arsenic than that to kill you.

... what appears to have happened that the unhappy wife (threatened with a good shackling) is accused of killing her husband (although it seems like the man who pretends to care about her metalsmith-husband seems to have been the murderer); then the wife ends up being stuck in jail, then kills herself 12 years later (after hard labor). Makes me wonder if threatening hard labor is a good crime deterrent. Don't think so, I'm afraid, although it's a nice thought.

Witch's Tale: "Four Fingers and a Thumb" 10/19/37

Ah, yes: the Witch's Tale. The series which is characterized for me by 3 things that get on my nerves, sound wise: the cackling of the witch (who is the overall narrator); the whiny meowing of her cat ("Satan"; although I'm not a fan of any cat as represented on Old Time Radio); and the sound quality of the series overall (which sounds like it's being flushed through tinfoil).

Ok, so a dead Chinaman's hand is going to kill the bad guy. The Chinaman's hand got cut off, and "the 4 fingers and a thumb belong to the soul."

... the bad guy's getting all whiny - I hate it when jerky guys get all dumb and whiny. Doesn't matter - the whiny guy is killed by the hand (which pulls down an oil lamp on him). Shocker, I know.

"In a world..."

"The Voice of Movie Trailers", John LaFontaine, plays "Not My Job" on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. I started crying with laughter when he does Ira Glass's beginning to This American Life: