Recent content by jakbird

The episode was called "To Serve Man". It was the title of a book the alien ambassador carried around. At the very end, when the humans are boarding for the trip to the alien planet, convinced of their good intentions, a woman runs up shouting "it's a cookbook!"

Kingston Trio-Ballad of the Shape of Things - Bing video An example of why the study of geometry is so important to relationships.

Last night it was How The West Was Won, from 1962. Everything about the movie was in epic proportion, from the Cinerama wide screen to the list of stars, the big name directors, to the length. It should have been one of the very best movies of the sixties, except the writing was mediocre at...

Thank God and Greyhound Roy Clark with Lyrics - Bing video A sad ballad by Roy Clark. You can feel it's from the heart in the sincerity of his anguish over a broken marriage. Breaks my heart every time I hear it.

Texas Tornados - "Soy De San Luis" [Live from Austin, TX] - Bing video Nortena isn't just Mexico, the Texas Tornados were from, you guessed it, San Antonio TX. That's Flaco Jimenez on the accordion, none better. Freddie Fender on Spanish vocals and Doug Sahms (remember the Sir Douglas...

This one I still remember well. I was able to listen to the arrival and motorcade description live on the radio, shortwave via Radio Peking. Back in the days before the Internet shortwave radio was one of the few ways to get the other point of view. Unlike all the american networks Radio...

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? From the Roman writer Juvenal, meaning "Who watches the watchers?" What keeps the people we trust honest? But my favorite Roman proverb is as timeless as any words of wisdom in human history. Found on gates preserved in the ancient city of Pompeii, Cave Cane...

I don't see Unobtanium? You know, what everything you can't order because it's out of stock is made of.... Makes sense in a way. It must have been on back order every time the table gets an update.

To leave the world a better place than when I was born. No major accomplishments, but I like to think the small ones added up.

Dear Hearts And Gentle People - Bing video Very early (1962) Dusty Springfield with her brother Tom. Dinah Shore made the song famous in 1949.

Some of the most common answers, if it were today: Chemical Engineer's Handbook The Way Things Work a medical book on physiology

H. G. Welles invented this game back in 1895, at the end of The Time Machine. The Time Traveler takes three books from his study, to be used to restore civilization in the far future. The never answered question...which three books? I'd grab my laptop and backup USB drive. All the physical...

Wastelands are a fragile environment. Solar farms in eastern Wyoming have severely impacted the habitat of the western horned rabbit, better known as the jackalope. These majestic animals who once freely roamed the plains are all but extinct due to loss of habitat to solar and wind farms. I...

San Francisco school board recall: Why Asian Americans supported it, and what happens next. (slate.com) News like this makes me optimistic average people will not tolerate racist politicians like the three who were recalled in San Francisco. The vote was overwhelming, by over a 70% majority...

Several groups had put out psychedelic music by the time White Rabbit debuted, but no one better defined the genre than Grace Slick, not even the Beatles with Strawberry Fields. It makes you look at Alice in Wonderland in a whole new way...