Fox….Fox….Foxx….Ah!, Fox!
Let’s see….is this post about Megan Fox, Current Flavor of the Moment?….no….but, we know how the Internet gets hits, eh?
So is it maybe about 20th Century Fox? (no, chickelit, not The Doors song either!) Nope…
Well, Ron writes about baseball…maybe it’s about Jimmie Foxx, great player of the ’30’s? Nope, again….
Ah, it’s about THIS fox, the Desert Fox, Erwin Rommel! Almost! It’s about his most famous campaign, the 3 year long war between Rommel’s Germans and their Italian allies versus, mainly, the British and their Commonwealth forces, and the subject of my most absurd game example of Board Game Gargantuaness, Campaign For North Africa. The Map!
5 connected maps, each 2×3 feet….The rules are 48 pages long….for The Land Game. You add the Air and Logistics Rules and that’s another 44 pages. Each side has about 24 pages of charts just for them, not to mention the 16 pages of Common Charts & Tables. But, hey, let’s look at that one shall we? “41.39 Mining Harbor by Plane Table” “58.5 Abstract Truck Loss Chart” “52.8 Poisoning and Sweetening Wells Table” Eyeball it yourself!
You keep track of the ammo, gas and water usage of every unit in the entire theater! You role for maintenance for every aircraft in North Africa! Needless to say, I can’t say this game gets “played.” But as a monument to folly, it’s hard to beat in boardgame history.
Let’s close by going back to foxes and let Bogey take us out!
The Mechanism of Modern Fame
This video of a good but routine cover band has gone viral — with good reason: its drummer.
Now watch: how long till you see this guy on Letterman or the Late Show? I’m out of the loop so for all I know he’s already been on. This is his chance to put his kids through college if he snatches it. If he’s got more up his sleeve it could be the beginning of a career. If he’s a one-trick pony he’s still good for a commercial contract. A beer brand, maybe.
Two thoughts:
1) Andy Warhol was a prophet. (Heh! I originally typed “profit.”)
2) Maybe this is what’s replacing work as a way to survive. YouTube as a giant, democratic audition, a do-it-yourself American Idol. We don’t get paid in samoleons or smackeroos anymore. We get paid in eyeballs. (Eww.)
Mommas, don’t let your babies be Westboro Baptists
I kind of liked this singing response to the recent Supreme Court decision upholding the right of the Westboro Baptist church to picket military funerals with signs bearing various vile and hateful messages. Like the singer, I agree with the Court’s decision, but find the Phelpsians quite vile.
h/t: Instapundit
Copy-editor Opening?
Headline for Sacramento Bee front-page article:
Embattled Southern California city of Vernon in a battle to survive
J Finds a Home
At Kyokushinkan Honbu, in the hearts of his fellow students of Sosai Masutatsu Oyama, close to his friend, Kancho Hatsuo Royama.
That’s one of J’s size 16s . . .
Science: Long May It Wave!
The hilarious story of what was “likely the most outrageous scientific presentation of all time.”
(via denialism blog)
Hail Portlandia!
Having lived in the Portland in the ’90’s, I can definitely relate to this funny series of short clips currently appearing on IFC. What I really wanted to embed was this short clip from this series: Hide & Seek, but this trailer is very well done.
(Via Outside the Beltway)
New New Economy
What [Kim] Kardashian does, very cleverly, is sell her ravenous audience to the highest bidder. She charges up to six figures to attend a party, and reportedly can get a million for a party overseas (hey, all that travel!).
How can someone charge for going to a party? Because, like that guy in the Verizon commercial, she brings all those curious people with her, in real and virtual life. Photographers, reporters, blog followers. The party gets publicized because she is attending, which is why the party pays for her to show.
Same goes for Twitter. Kardashian reportedly charges $25,000 to endorse a product with a tweet. Simply by typing “I just used ____ hairspray!” her words go to 6.5 million people, presumably many who have so little imagination about their own lives, they just want to emulate hers. For the hairspray company, that means potential customers.This, by the way, is no different than some of the biggest companies in the New New Economy. Look at Google. Look at Facebook. They don’t actually make anything. You can’t physically touch their product — can’t drive it or hammer with it. But what they deliver is audience. Hundreds of millions of people gathered in one place. And they earn billions by selling that audience to advertisers.
…
My worry is that instead of teaching our kids that skill, dedication and hard work are the path to success, we are teaching them that he-who-makes-the-biggest-jackass-video and she-who-pulls-her-skirt-up-highest can earn the most money.
MRI Follow-up
My physician’s assistant told me this morning that the last MRI result leads the doctor to believe that there is no need for concern at this time. A follow-up MRI will be done three months from now.
Sincere thanks to those of you who extended your good wishes.
Ambiance 