Category Archives: Brain Bubble
You sometimes hear the quote, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” It’s most frequently attributed to Albert Einstein although it is sometimes attributed to Benjamin Franklin or author Rita Mae Brown.
None of them said any such thing. And poor Albert, he gets more silly quotes (incorrectly) attributed to him than anyone else. I suppose the idea is that, if Einstein said it, it must be right. I’m not sure the actual author is known, but the quote is commonly found in Alcoholics (and others) Anonymous where it references the repeated addictive behavior.
I’ve always thought the insane thing was the quote itself.
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19 Comments | tags: Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, David Brin, insanity, Lawrence Kubie, Rita Mae Brown., sanity, science fiction, Sundiver, The Practice Effect, Uplift universe | posted in Brain Bubble, Quotes
So I’m sitting here getting absolutely no work done on today’s post because I can’t stop getting totally into the music I’m listening to. The problem is that I really love seven of the eleven cuts. Four of the seven rank very high in my favorites list, and one of them is on my all-time favorites short list!
It’s ironic that a fairly vanilla song from a fairly vanilla singer-songwriter is such favorite, but the truth is, a good jam band can go off on anything. Maybe it’s the high degree of contrast between the original, which I think uses only five notes or so, and the mouth-watering jam.
Or maybe Grateful Dead can just play the hell out of Me & Bobby McGee!
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7 Comments | tags: Baker Street, Bat Out of Hell, City To City, Deadhead, Gerry Rafferty, Graceland, Grateful Dead, jam band, Jim Steinman, Meatloaf, Paul Simon, Skull and Roses, Stealers Wheel | posted in Brain Bubble, Music
“My dear Mr. Bond! You just fell for the oldest trick in the book”
So this Brain Bubble popped: Just what is the oldest trick in the book? You know how the villains always say, “Ah ha, Mr. Bond! You just fell for the oldest trick in the book!” Admittedly, your smarter, better educated villains say, “Ah ha, you just fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book,” and that lets them off the hook.
But there can be only one oldest, so just what is the oldest trick in the book? Is it the one with two porcupines, a duck’s egg and a large jar of marmalade? I know that’s a really old trick, but I’m not sure it’s the oldest. They say that prostitution is the oldest profession.. is there any connection there?
How’s that for short? All above the fold!
10 Comments | tags: Blofeld, extremely old tricks, fairly old tricks, heroes, humor, James Bond, less old tricks, Mr. Bond, old tricks, oldest trick in the book, oldest tricks, really old tricks, tricks, tricks so old they're new, villains | posted in Brain Bubble
Brain Bubble posts are supposed to be short side thoughts, but the one just posted is another example of my inability to be brief. What can I say; I love words and the ideas we can express with them. To me, there are very few topics that don’t deserve a detailed discussion (you should see how much I cut out before I post)!
This post began as a comment — a reply to Lila on her recent post, Affluence, Toxic Parenting Buy Lenience for Horrific Teen DUI. It ran long, which you all know isn’t unusual and never stops me, but it concerned a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I’ve always planned to write about driving and drivers, but there are so many other topics I just hadn’t gotten to it, yet.
Here’s what I hope is a short(-ish) intro to my views on driving…
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8 Comments | tags: cars, dance of cars, drivers, driving, freeways, highways, Los Angeles, rules of the road, Southern California, traffic, verbose | posted in Brain Bubble, Life, Rant
I’ve noticed over the years a drift in term (Internet) Troll. It’s possible the original sort of Troll isn’t around much anymore — for several reasons I don’t hang out socially on the internet much anymore. There is also that not everyone agrees with the original definition (although I think the evidence is clear).
So this is either a commemoration or a bid for language purity, I’m not sure which. Actually, it hardly matters which; the point is incredibly trivial, but it’s Sunday, and I’m feeling too lazy for serious thought. (It’s funny, but even in retirement I find I keep a weekly cycle in which the weekend signals different activity — time away from the computer mostly!)
My point is, an Internet Troll is a very specific creature.
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4 Comments | tags: discussion, internet, Internet Troll, interweb, social media, trolling, trolls, USENET | posted in Brain Bubble, The Interweb
Have you ever really thought about the fact that South America isn’t?
Isn’t all that South, I mean. Nearly all of it is actually east of nearly all of North America. Most of it is east of Florida, although residents of Maine can safely refer to “south” America (especially if they mean Peru, Chile or Ecuador). And people on the USA west coast? The closest shores of Hawaii are just about as far west as the closest shores of South America are east.
And it’s nearly as far east from New York City (at 73 degrees west) to Rio de Janeiro (at 43 degrees west) as it is from Rio to Lisbon, Portugal (at 9 degrees west, so only four degrees further).
Perhaps we should rename it South-South-East America!
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16 Comments | tags: Americans, Americas, idle thoughts, north, North America, south, South America, USA, USAnian | posted in Brain Bubble
I was catching up on last week’s shows (a word about that in a moment), and it happened again, twice. It’s gotten to the point of almost becoming another “countdown game.” How long will it be until I hear it again? It might also make a drinking game for people who don’t like to drink all that much, because — while very common — it usually only appears once per story. (Still, multiple sightings have been documented.)
Being common yet infrequent, it wouldn’t normally stand out at all, but it struck me as such an odd thing to say (even the first time I heard it), that I’ve noticed it ever since. I suppose my love of LEO stories brings it my way more frequently. The most common context where you’ll hear it is from a suspect or person of interest being interviewed by cops.
It’s the line, “You gotta believe me!”
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4 Comments | tags: bad script writing, Castle, CBS, Comcast, fast forward, NCIS, OnDemand, Rizzoli & Isles, script writing, stories, storytelling, things I don't get, things people say, TNT | posted in Brain Bubble, Movies, Rant, TV
I gotta be honest: the retired life is wonderful! It’s interesting to see how my mood has changed. It’s not quite a winter to summer change, but there are definitely fewer clouds in my skies these days. I’ve found that some things that always got under my skin don’t have the same power to piss me off they once did.
I noticed that first with regard to fans situated behind announcers mugging the camera. It bugged me producers would set up such distracting circumstances, and it bugged me the damn fans were distracting me from the announcers. The other day I found myself grinning due to a young man aping for the camera from his seat behind the sportscasters.
But that doesn’t mean some things still don’t piss me off or bum me out!
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9 Comments | tags: booing fans, Chris Rose, Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Millar, Mitch Williams, MLB Intentional Talk, MLB Now, MLM, retirement, Seth MacFarlane, Ted | posted in Brain Bubble, Rant
“Far Less” what?
Yesterday I wrote about a TV commercial with a bit of a design flaw (and, yet, without that flaw the commercial wouldn’t work). I generally go to great lengths to avoid having to see television commercials, but sadly one cannot avoid all of them. Still, as a former TV and film student, they fascinate me as much as they annoy me.
Advertisers have under a minute to tell you a story that pushes their product. Some are straight-forward about it, others are more oblique. (Generally, the more real substance a product offers, the greater the chance the commercial is straight-forward.) Some commercials can be real works of art. One of these days I’ll write about some that I find very striking.
Today I want to talk about Toyota Jan. And Bacon.
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19 Comments | tags: bacon, Bebe Neuwirth, commercials, Jodie Foster, Kevin Costner, Laurel Coppock, Lawrence Kasdan, Lilith Sternin, Lisa Edelstein, Steve Martin, Toyota Jan | posted in Brain Bubble, TV
Not this Perkins!
A local chain of (what used to be called) coffee shops was running a commercial touting their inventive use of fresh strawberries in their various breakfast combos. I say “used to be called” because now a “coffee shop” is one of those specialized places that sells a mind-numbing variety of coffee concoctions. The places I’m talking about now call themselves “family restaurants,” which means they serve families, and you can parse that any way you like (“It’s a cookbook!”).
I have absolutely nothing against the commercial, fresh strawberries (love them, especially in champagne) or pancakes (although I prefer waffles). I’m not sure I buy into the idea there are new ways to use strawberries in breakfast dishes, but such is the commercial’s claim. (Hmmm (and Mmmm), perhaps an evidence-gathering field trip is required!)
What does amuse me about the commercial, though, is the misfired mother.
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8 Comments | tags: commercials, conflict, Harry Nilsson, Mother Earth, Mother of Invention, Perkins, strawberries | posted in Brain Bubble, Rant, TV
Logos con carne 