Radio Shack catalog archives. Revisit your geeky youth.

Never had an Indian mom? You poor, deprived wretch! Meet Manjula.

She’ll be happy to teach you to make Naan, Rotis, Pani Puri, Vegetable Pakoras, Paneer, Raita, Navattran Korma, Palak Paneer, Pulav, Malai Kofta, Aloo Gobi, Chana Masala, Hari Chutney, Ras Malai, Gajar ka Halwa and much more! I can… almost… smell her kitchen. *sigh*

“The multi-million dollar casino will feature unique applications of The Beverly Hillbillies theme. Granny’s Shot Gun Weddin’ Chapel, Jethro’s All-You-Ken-Et Buffet, the Cement Pond, Granny’s White Lightnin’ Bar complete with rain & lightning [“The waitresses are dressed like Elly May but padded like Dolly Parton”], Elly May’s Buns (Bakery) [Link possibly NSFW], gourmet meals from Drysdales’ Fancy Eatin’ Fo Da Richins, Granny’s Vittles & Hog Jowls Coffee Shop, and an oil derrick are just a few of the many attractions … a project of Las Vegas standards will be created!”

Max Baer, Jr. —
that’s Jethro to you — “has the rights from CBS to use The Beverly
Hillbillies theme for casinos, hotels, theme parks, restaurants, cosmetics and consumables.” And by god, he’s going to exercise that right.

Good news: The final hurdle for the casino has been overcome. Over the
objections of the church across the street, County Commissioners gave
the go-ahead yesterday for the 9-story oil derrick that will serve as the casino’s welcome beacon. (Sadly, the original plans for a 200-foot-tall derrick were quashed.)

“Some day we’ll find it, the rainbow connection, the lovers, the dreamers, and me.”
In 1979, Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher composed “The Rainbow Connection” [midi] which served as a radio hit and song for the The Muppet Movie. It was nominated for an Academy Award and reviewed
in the allmusic guide as a song in which “Kermit the Frog sings with
all the dreamy wistfulness of a short green Judy Garland.” Enclosed are
some performances of it I hope you enjoy.

Kermit the Frog – Original Movie
Debbie Harry on the Muppet Show
The Dixie Chicks
Willie Nelson
Jason Mraz
Sarah McLachlan
Kenny Loggins
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Dresden Dolls – Live
Jamie Leonhart
John Michael Higgins in an acapella version
Heartland Men’s Chorus

I tried to cross a span here, but if I had to pick favorites you might
be surprised with what Jamie Leonhart and Kenneth Ascher later did
(with the cast of The Break-Up — John Micahel Higgins et al)

Oh, and my favorite
version – an on-the-prowl Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) singing it, in a sexy
high falsetto voice, accompanied by the banjo, in pig latin.

Almost no traditional Christmas carols were written by Jews (though there have been rumors). But sometimes it seems like almost all the best 20th century Christmas songs were. Many people are dimly aware of this, but few know its full extent. I have compiled a list, with representative performances.

Wikipedia’s (ASCAP) list
of the top 25 most-performed holiday songs is loaded with Jewish
Christmas songs. The list of Jewish-written songs in the top 25 follows
(I may be missing some); links to YT performances:

1. The Christmas Song (“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”) – Mel Torme, Robert Wells
5. White Christmas – Irving Berlin
6. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! – Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne
7. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – Johnny Marks (also responsible for many second-tier Christmas songs)
9. I’ll Be Home For Christmas – Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, Buck Ram (at least two are Jewish)
11. Sleigh Ride – Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish (one Jew)
13. Silver Bells – Jay Livingston, Ray Evans
14. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – Johnny Marks
18. A Holly Jolly Christmas – Johnny Marks
22. (There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays – Bob Allen, Al Stillman (at least one Jew)
24. Santa Baby – Joan Ellen Javits, Philip Springer, Tony Springer (at least one Jew)

And here is a similar list (with slightly different rules for inclusion) that I had the misfortune of discovering after I did all the research for my own. It has brief discussions of the Jewishness of the various writers.

While Adult Swim is generally regarded as the pioneer of irreverent short-form animation — especially for ‘toons that reimagine past hits — it wasn’t always the king. In fact, the late-night programming block arguably found its birth in a series of short toons and interstitials
that ran in the heyday of its daytime alter ego, the venerable Cartoon
Network. The brainchild of C.N. Creative Director Michael Ouweleen and
Hanna-Barbera chief Fred Seibert, these cartoons reinterpreted the
network’s properties through stock footage, indie music, and original
animation in a wide variety of styles, as well as introducing
prototypes of characters that would become some of the most famous in
the history of American animation.

Read the rest of this page »

If you can type, you can make movies.
A website that allows users to create animated movies using
text-to-speech scripts and a surprisingly versatile selection of
characters, voices, actions, camera shots, etc.

Shouting in a datacenter – increased disk latency caused by shouting: Yelling at your computer* may cause an increase in disk latency and a decrease in performance.

*Hitting, slapping, punching and otherwise Fonzi-ing your computer should be considered equally harmfull. Unless, of course, you’re trying the old trick of unplugging everying and dropping the chassis on the ground for the purposes of reseating socketed chips.

Fans of both Dead Space (and comic books in general), will be
happy to learn that the first issue of the new comic book mini-series
based on the game has been released online, in full, for free here. Not a fan of Dead Space but like comic books? There are lots of other comic books online that can be viewed for free, like stuff from DC Comics, Marvel and Image. There’s also a few Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doctor Who comics online for your viewing pleasure (in fact you can even make your own with the latter).

So one of your resolutions was about your lifelong dream of getting into Playboy? Here’s an article
that has all the details you don’t normally hear about.
“Hef is like any normal hot-blooded American who likes pretty ladies:
He took a wife or two, has four kids, and lives in a Tudor-style
mansion with luscious lawns and a personal zoo. Sounds like any old
family man, right?”

Here’s a How-To:

1. Be a Busty Blonde
2. Be Legal (Barely)
3 – 7. Nudity and Sex! (Lots of Sex)
8. Keep to the Right (If Your Name Is Kendra)
9 & 10. ??? (and Sex)
11. Profit!!! (Playboy.com link, otherwise OK)

Or if you have your sights set higher it appears there’s an opening, or two, in the harem!