Random Thinking

Time again for the song of the week from my iPod. Sorry I’m late but life sometimes takes precedence…

Aqua is a Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group. The members of the group are Lene Nystrøm (vocals), René Dif (vocals), Søren Rasted (keyboards), and Claus Norreen (guitar). The group was formed in 1989, had one incredibly huge breakthrough single, “Barbie Girl,” in 1997, broke up in 2001 and then reformed in 2007. The breakup of the group was supposedly caused by Lene leaving René to marry Søren.

The group’s first album sold 10 million copies world wide. The group’s second album went double platinum world wide with most sales in Europe. “Barbie Girl,” released in 1997, was the group’s third single and was an immediate world wide smash hit. Mattel sued the band, claiming they violated the Barbie trademark and turned Barbie into a sex object. Mattel lost their suit at every stage but took it all the way up to the US Supreme Court. Judge Alex Kozinski, in the 2002 ruling, said the song was protected as a parody. He concluded his ruling by saying, “The parties are advised to chill.”

But It’s Better If You Do
- Hi Barbie!
- Hi Ken!
- You wanna go for a ride?
- Sure, Ken!
- Jump in!
- Ha ha ha ha!

I’m a Barbie girl in the Barbie world
Life in plastic, it’s fantastic
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation

Come on, Barbie, let’s go party

I’m a Barbie girl in the Barbie world
Life in plastic, it’s fantastic
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation

I’m a blonde single girl in the fantasy world
Dress me up, take your time, I’m your dollie
You’re my doll, rock and roll, feel the glamour and pain
Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky-panky

You can touch, you can play
You can say I’m always yours, oooh whoa

I’m a Barbie girl in the Barbie world
Life in plastic, it’s fantastic
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation

Come on, Barbie, let’s go party, ha ha ha, yeah
Come on, Barbie, let’s go party, oooh, oooh
Come on, Barbie, let’s go party, ha ha ha, yeah
Come on, Barbie, let’s go party, oooh, oooh

Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please
I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees
Come jump in, be my friend, let us do it again
Hit the town, fool around, let’s go party

You can touch, you can play
You can say I’m always yours
You can touch, you can play
You can say I’m always yours

Come on, Barbie, let’s go party, ha ha ha, yeah
Come on, Barbie, let’s go party, oooh, oooh
Come on, Barbie, let’s go party, ha ha ha, yeah
Come on, Barbie, let’s go party, oooh, oooh

I’m a Barbie girl in the Barbie world
Life in plastic, it’s fantastic
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation

I’m a Barbie girl in the Barbie world
Life in plastic, it’s fantastic
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation

Come on, Barbie, let’s go party, ha ha ha, yeah
Come on, Barbie, let’s go party, oooh, oooh
Come on, Barbie, let’s go party, ha ha ha, yeah
Come on, Barbie, let’s go party, oooh, oooh

- Oh, I’m having so much fun!
- Well, Barbie, we’re just getting started!
- Oh, I love you Ken!

The Japanese eat very little fat, and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans, British or Australians

The French eat lots of fat, and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans, British or Australians

The Japanese drink very little red wine, and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans, British or Australians

The French drink excessive amounts of red wine, and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans, British or Australians.

Conclusion: Eat and drink whatever you like, in any quantities. It’s speaking English that kills you.

Circulatory disease deaths per 100,000:

• Canada: 219
• United States: 265

Child maltreatment deaths per 100,000:

• Canada: 0.7
• United States: 2.2

Digestive disease deaths per 100,000:

• Canada: 17.4
• United States: 20.5

Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births

• Canada: 5.08
• United States: 6.3

Intestinal diseases death rate

• Canada: 0.3%
• United States: 7.3%

Proability of not reaching age 60:

• Canada: 9.5%
• United States: 12.8%

Respiratory disease child death rate per 100,000

• Canada: 0.62
• United States: 40.43

Heart disease deaths per 100,000:

• Canada: 94.9
• United States: 106.5

Life expectancy at birth:

• Canada: 81.16 (#8 in the world)
• United States: 78.14 (#47 in the world)

h/t: Sadly, No where this was stolen.

No Sense of Decency
by Robert Shogan

In the Spring of 1954, Senator Joe McCarthy was one of the most feared men in Washington. In the Summer of 1954, McCarthy had lost his power and no one was afraid of him. What happened in between was the Army-McCarthy hearings and why the hearings changed everything was because they were on TV. For thirty-six days, America got to see Joe McCarthy and what they saw they didn’t like. His fall from grace in the eyes of America gave the Senate the nerve to censure him.

This is the story of those hearings but more it is the story of how television changed the world. The book starts with an introduction to McCarthy and how he came to power by using accusations of communism without actually finding any communists. It also introduces us to how early television covered the news and how the first televised Congressional hearings (the Kefauver organized crime hearings) changed how the public viewed Congress. But all this leads to a detailed look at the Army-McCarthy hearings and how McCarthy’s massive ego led to his downfall.

The book is very well written by a journalist turned historian. Far from a dry historical outlook, the book is written as a fascinating, fast moving (less than 300 pages) view of a few short months of American history. Shogan then ties those events to today showing how TV news has and hasn’t changed through Vietnam, Watergate, and 9/11. I can recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic.

The Consumerist has published their list of the Top 10 Most Ironic Ads. Mostly these are ads for saftey and goodness that turned out to be dangerous and full of badness. One example is wrapping your kids in cellophane which is probably not a very good idea. It’s hard to imagine that the people as DuPont had actually tried this before running their ad.

Time again for the song of the week from my iPod. This one is chosen by Mikey.

The Monkees were an American pop band created for the TV show The Monkees in 1966. The members of the band were Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith. The group broke up in 1970, but they have occasionally gotten together for reunion concerts. Since the breakup, all the members of the group have been involved in the music industry. Mickey Dolenz has done voice acting, most recently as the bear in the Snuggle fabric softener commercials. Peter Tork has been recently diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare cancer. Although the cancer has returned after initial treatment, the doctors have given him an 80% chance of containing it.

What recently brought this song to my attention was an episode of SpongeBob. “SpongeBob vs. the Big One” features two guest stars, Johnny Depp as Jack Kahuna Laguna and Davy Jones as himself. Johnny Depp plays an ultra-cool surfer dude and Davy Jones plays Davy Jones in the scene where The Flying Dutchman finds himself covered in smelly athletic socks in Davy Jones locker. Anyone wondering why Johnny Depp might have agreed to be in an episode of SpongeBob only has to be reminded that Depp has two children, ages 7 and 10. Don’t you think they might want to be able to tell their friends that their daddy was in SpongeBob?

The song, Daydream Believer is played in the scene with Davy Jones as well as during the closing credits. The song was composed by John Stewart of the Kingston Trio in 1967 and reached the number one spot on Billboard’s top 100. It was the Monkees last number one hit.

Daydream Believer
Oh, I could hide ‘neath the wings
Of the bluebird as she sings.
The six o’clock alarm would never ring,
But six rings and I rise;
Wipe the sleep out of my eyes.
My shavin’ razor’s cold and it stings.

Cheer up, Sleepy Jean.
Oh, what can it mean
To a daydream believer
And a homecoming queen?

You once thought of me
As a white knight on his steed.
Now you know how happy I can be.
Oh, and our good times start and end
Without dollar one to spend,
But how much, baby, do we really need?

Cheer up, Sleepy Jean.
Oh, what can it mean
To a daydream believer
And a homecoming queen?

Cheer up, Sleepy Jean.
Oh, what can it mean
To a daydream believer
And a homecoming queen?

Cheer up, Sleepy Jean.
Oh, what can it mean
To a daydream believer
And a homecoming queen?

Cheer up, Sleepy Jean.
Oh, what can it mean
To a daydream believer
And a homecoming queen?

And here’s Johnny Depp playing the bongos and teaching SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward how to surf.

So how much would you be willing to spend for a pack of smokes when you are desperate? Ten bucks? Twenty bucks? $23 quadrillion? Well, that’s how much Josh Muszynski of Manchester, New Hampshire paid. Josh bought a pack of cigarettes at his local gas station and then later checked his balance to find that he had been charged $23,148,855,308,184,500.00 plus $20 for the overdraaft. Yes, that’s a bit over $23 quadrillion (£14 quadrillion for my British readers) which is more than 2,000 times the national debt. Josh raced backed to the gas station to see if perhaps he had bought Europe by mistake but it was just the smokes.

Meanwhile the father of a teen noticed that his son had spent $23 quadrillion at the local Applebees. Dad was fairly certain that his son wasn’t that big an eater and barring getting take-out for the entire third world he didn’t think the number was quite right. The same happened to a teenage girl who was charged $23 quadrillion for a purchase at CVS. In fact, it happened to 13,000 Visa BUXX card holders. The BUXX card is a prepaid Visa card used mostly for parents to give their teenagers.

It turns out that it was a programming bug back at Visa:

“Late yesterday, July 13, a temporary programming error at Visa Debit Processing Services, caused some transactions to be inaccurately posted to a small number of Visa prepaid accounts,” a statement issued on Tuesday said. “The technical glitch, which impacted fewer than 13,000 Visa prepaid transactions, has been corrected and erroneous postings have been removed. Importantly, this incident had no financial impact on Visa prepaid cardholders.”

Visa reports that everything has been corrected and the $20 overdraft fees have been removed.

Today is Bastille Day, the holiday honoring the overthrow of the monarchy in France. It is celebrated much like Independence Day in the US with fireworks and parades. On this day in 1789, the people of Paris stormed the Bastille, a prison/fortress which represented all that was evil with the French monarchy. The storming of the Bastille was more important as a rallying point and symbolic act of rebellion than a practical act of defiance.

And where is France today, 220 years later? The French get two months of vacation, shorter work hours, and universal health care.

So to all the French, Happy Bastille Day! And if any of you want to adopt me, let me know!

Time again for the song of the week from my iPod. This is another song chosen by Beth.

Panic At The Disco is an American rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada. The group was formed in 2004. This month, the band had a major split and two of the members (Ryan Ross and John Walker) left the band. Although the official reason given for the split was “musical differences” rumors suggest that Ross has a cocaine habit which led to the split. The two remaining members are Brendon Urie (vocals, guitar, piano) and Spencer Smith (drums).

The band was nominated for a Grammy in 2008 and 2009. Their first album went platinum and their second album reached number 2 on the Billboard charts. The group’s third album is scheduled to be released in September.

Ryan Ross wrote the song, “But It’s Better If You Do” and describes it this way:

“It’s a song about being in a strip club but not actually liking being in there. So I wanted it to be about the sort of complex inner-monologue,” he said. “It’s not completely fiction, though. It’s based on a scenario when I was going through a breakup with a girl. Because in reality, I don’t like strip clubs. I think they’re kinda perverted,” says Ryan Ross. Ross went on to say, “When I wrote it, I never thought about it being played in strip clubs. But I guess it would be kind of a change from what they usually play in there,” he said. “It would be a surreal experience, for sure.”

But It’s Better If You Do
Now I’m of consenting age to be forgetting you in a cabaret.
Somewhere downtown where a burlesque queen may even ask my name
As she sheds her skin on stage
I’m seated and sweating to a dance song on the club’s P.A.
The strip joint veteran sits two away
Smirking between dignified sips of his dignified peach and lime daiquiri

And isn’t this exactly where you’d like me
I’m exactly where you’d like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety
Oh, isn’t this exactly where you’d like me
I’m exactly where you’d like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety

But, but I’m afraid that I
Well, I may have faked it
And I wouldn’t be caught dead in this place

Well, I’m afraid that I
Well, that’s right, well I may have faked it
And I wouldn’t be caught dead in this place

And isn’t this exactly where you’d like me
I’m exactly where you’d like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety
Oh, isn’t this exactly where you’d like me
I’m exactly where you’d like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety

Well, I’m afraid that I
Well, I may have faked it
And I wouldn’t be caught dead in this place

Well, I’m afraid that I
Well, that’s right, well I may have faked it
And I wouldn’t be caught dead in this place

And isn’t this exactly where you’d like me
I’m exactly where you’d like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety
Oh, isn’t this exactly where you’d like me
I’m exactly where you’d like me, you know
Praying for love in a lap dance and paying in naivety

Praying for love and paying in naivety
Praying for love and paying in naivety, oh

The other night, Beth and her friends went to see the new movie Public Enemies, but they couldn’t get in because the move is rated “R”. The producers made a big mistake making a movie with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale and then keeping teenage girls out. But Beth and her friends desperately wanted to get in so Michel took Beth and two of Beth’s friends.

Beth came in a little while ago so I asked her how the movie was… “It was so good!” she replied with teenage exuberance.

So who was cuter, Johnny Depp or Christian Bale? “That is hard to say. They are both so good looking. But Christian Bale is so pretty and he looked so good with his hair slicked back.” Michel voted for Christian Bale. “He’s just so hot!”

Michel said the girls were fun but loud. Tomorrow she is taking them to the mall so I guess everyone had a good time.