Random Acts of Thursday - (not so) Free Samples

Samples?  Yes, please.  My grocery store (curse upon my life though it is) has started passing out samples of brownies on my last few visits.  Doesn't make up for them raising all of their prices, but still - free brownies.  Anyhow, it got me to thinking and I thought I'd regale you all with a little quiz about samples.  (You're all excited and tingly, I know.)

Below are songs that were sampled into other music, name the artist and song.

It's a hard-knock life (The Cast of 'Annie')
Under Pressure (Queen/David Bowie)
The Ocean (Led Zepplin)
Good Times (Chic)
We Will Rock You (Queen)
Thank You (Dido)
I'll Take You There (The Staple Singers)
I'm a Man (Bo Diddley)

The following films are sampled in song as well.  Name the artist and song.

Full Metal Jacket
Performance
Young Guns
Animal House

Even Mr. Spock got sampled!  Name the song.  You know you know it.

The following bands and artists are mentioned by other bands in their songs.  Name the song where each of these artists is referenced:

Anthrax
T Rex
Falco
Moby
The Beach Boys
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Jimmy Page

Bonus question: Why bother to sample when you're great on your own?  Name three bands that mention themselves in their song titles.

As usual, you don't win anything, except maybe some fine musical trivia knowledge to try out on your friends and family.  Aren't you lucky?

Random Acts of Thursday - Shhhmokin'

Other than a cigar on rare occasions, I don't smoke. I am personally put off by residual cigarette smoke. When bars went smoke-free, it was a positive change for me.



However, cigs and smoking are iconic. In old film, in song, even in early television, what would we have made of it when WC Fields showed up, a la Kojak, with lolly in hand in place of his cigar? (Or Winston Churchill, for that matter. I always get them confused. Drunk and wearing a hat? They could be brothers. Wait...WC? Winston Churchill? Hmmmm...)

Okay, that went a direction I wasn't expecting. Sorry about that. Damn brain cloud...

Now, my little quizlings, dance, dance!

1) What actor starred in a Disney film under the alias Paul Mall?


2) Name the television show that featured a character named Salem?


3) What iconic ad man did Don Johnson usurp for a 1991 film?


4) What brand of cigarettes does Bruce Willis smoke in Die Hard?


5) What about in Pulp Fiction?


6) What Acadamy-award-winning film is set in Newport, RI?


7) Name the brand mentioned by Billy Joel in an iconic 80's song.


8) What series of code phrases does James Bond use to identify a fellow agent?


9) In which film did Clint Eastwood light a match on the face of his opponent?


10) What is my favorite Kool and the Gang song? (Hint - it's featured in one of the films listed above.)
 
Bonus:  What brand did my favorite author notoriously smoke his entire life?

If you think you've got them all, check here for the answers.

The Fun Fact Fat Guy Film Finds Foodipalooza - Expurgated Version

(The one without the gannet...) 

Now I understand from some of you that last Thursday's post might not be (ahem) work-appropriate.  As such, here's an image-free version so you may still win prizes without offending the Political Correctness crowd.


Should you not give a crap, click here.  Either way, since nobody's offered any answers yet, there's still plenty of time to win.

Merry Christmas, kids!  Happy holidays, as well, should you not be of the Christmas ilk.  Winter is upon us and it's time once again for our annual trivial trivia giveaway!  We're currently driving to Wisconsin to be among family and friends for the holiday weekend.

Last year, Nej took top honors and in return, wrote a stellar review of her prize.  You could be next!  Just be the winner of the following scavenger hunt of facts and you could soon be the proud owner of greatness.

This year, first prize is one of a selection of fine art photographs, matted and framed, by Lori Mason Photography.  These works have a retail value of $75, but a current overstock due to our recent relocation means we can offer one of these to you to display proudly in your home or office.  There are a lot of different images, and if you win we'll send you a preview gallery to choose from.    

Second prize is your choice of classic films, all discussed at some point here at Ye Olde CDSe.  First, Leone's classic 'A Fistful of Dollars', a remake of 'Yojimbo!'.  Second, one of Hitchcock's pre-Hollywood films, 'The 39 Steps'.  Or, you can choose 'The Station Agent', one of my modern favorites.


Finally, third prize is that ever popular meat candy, BACON.  Just because it's third doesn't make it less important.  This year, it's Hungarian smoked bacon, enough for two beautiful BLT's or a hell of a lot of bean soup.  You could also opt for Wisconsin-made Nueske's if you'd like your bacon pre-sliced.  This stuff is great under the broiler, and has the true bacon flavor that seems to be missing from many of the store brands.  I fried some of this up to add to a cremini-cheddar risotto last weekend, good stuff.

Now, on to the quiz.  We grade on a curve here at CDS Enterprises, and some of these questions will take some work and creative thinking.  Since many of the questions relate to the previous answer, working in order might be better for all involved.

1) Name two films that featured two future state governors.

2) Name another that featured one future governor and a chimp.

3) Hal Holbrook has never been a governor.  Hal Holbrook has never been president either, but he's played two on TV as well as helping to topple a third in film.  Name two films where his good-guy role turns out to be a front, and he's exposed as the villain (Scooby-Doo style, if you will.)

4) Speaking of Scooby Doo (in an offhand sort of way), explain the significance of September 14, 1985 in music history.  (It has to do, marginally, with the Pointer Sisters and one of their 'upbeat' songs, if that helps.  It went to eleven.)

5) Also on that day, one of the greatest premieres in all of television occurred.  The theme song was originally released by Andrew Gold in 1978.  Name two films to feature Gold's previous hit, 'Lonely Boy'

6) Now that you're all sexed up thinking about the television show mentioned above, maybe thinking about baseball would help.  Who followed Jimmy Blake to the plate, possibly in Massachusetts but just as possibly in California, depending upon who you believe?

7) Speaking of geography, how far is Winnipeg from Montreal? 

8) Who told you that distance?

9) Why is that distance in miles instead of kilometers?  Burma!

(Sorry, I panicked.  I'm not Doctor bloody Bernofsky, you know.)

10) What do they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in France?

11) Finally, which actress was born on the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, and became a global sensation after starring in one of the great films written and directed by the late Blake Edwards?

Ten questions would have been enough, but this quiz goes to eleven (like the Pointer Sisters).  Eleven answers would be impressive, eleven correct would be even better! 

To keep things fair and above-board, please email your answers here to avoid anyone using your answers to better their cause. 

Winners will be announced January 1st, so get cracking!

Random Acts of Thursday - I had to work a double shift at Cinnabons

Oh, October, how do I love thee?  I love the mist in the mornings, the wind overnight, the smell of fallen leaves, fine seasonal beers and the re-appearance of pumpkin pie in the grocery store.  Given proper funding (see button at right) I also have some wonderfully gruesome, children-wetting-themselves Halloween ideas that need to be played out at some point. 

And this weekend, Lori and I will be attending a masquerade ball themed around Poe's Masque of the Red Death.  Among the tarot readers, headless horsemen and the "Guess who's Death" game, I found a new musical genre that just cries out to be loved:  Goth-a-billy.

I'm already a fan of rock-a-billy and psycho-billy, and despite having never worn black nail polish and a floor-length black coat, I love The Cure.  This just screams to be downloaded for my listening pleasure, I'm sure.

The band playing at this little soiree is named Cult of the Psychic Fetus.  If it wasn't already a band name, Cult of the Psychic Fetus would be a GREAT band name.

Speaking of macabre little pagan holidays, I must say I'm rather disappointed in Food Network even more than normal.  As if it isn't bad enough that Sandra Lee gets a Halloween special, last weekend we watched the Food Network Horror Cakes Challenge.  Judged by Leatherface himself, these were kindly little cakes with little actual horror.  Mock horror, perhaps.  Horrificomical?  Maybe.  But the judges were looking for gumpaste intestines dripping with raspberry blood, the glint of some medieval torture device sawing limbs from exchange students.

And really, who isn't?

And speaking of medieval torture devices, I've noticed an alarming number of dead blogs in my random trolling of the web.  People who clutter the limited disk space of the worldwide web with pages that haven't been updated in three or four years or more.  Sure, pages like MyDeathSpace can tell us when someone's page isn't updated for a reason, but how many people just forget their passwords or lose interest with no sort of sign-off? 

I'll do my best not to do that to my readers.  What I will do is leave you with the award-winning costume Lori made for me a number of years ago.

Now, your turn.  What's your best Halloween/Autumn memory ever?  And for my readers in the southern hemisphere, Spring memories work, too.  Until then, stay out of the daylight.

Fun Fact Friday - NFG's In Cleveland Without the Vitamin D

I have a couple of couches, and as a matter of fact, have been known to fall asleep on the loveseat on more than one occasion.

It turns out I have a vitamin D deficiency.  One would find that hard to believe, me, not getting enough dairy?  However, it would seem that adult vitamin D deficiency is relatively common in shut-ins and the institutionalized.  And if you don't think working in an office all day is the same as being institutionalized, you need to wake up and smell the soothing green walls. 

I'm not getting enough sun, eating enough fish or liver, and I apparently need to up my dairy intake.  And apparently as we age, and because the American Cancer Society along with the National Sunscreen Coalition have been harping at us about UV rays, wearing sunscreen actually inhibits the body's natural ability to synthesize Vitamin D.

(I'm already sick of typing 'Vitamin D' but somehow abbreviating it as 'VD' might give readers the wrong idea...)

Vitamin D deficiency can prevent your body from absorbing calcium (hypocalcemia) and potassium from the foods you eat, meaning your body will start stealing those minerals from itself.  I can end up with osteomalacia, or 'adult rickets'.  With my BMI, I don't think brittle bones are a good thing.  Apparently, it could also be driving my RLS.  See?  I'm not kicking Lori in her sleep due to suppressed rage, after all.  Proper vitamin D levels could also help prevent certain cancers.

So what then, is an appropriate level of solublized Vitamin D?  From the office of 'Well, duuuuuuh!', the Vitamin D Council suggests that the minimum level is 2 1/2 times that which was recommended by the doctor's office.  I don't know what my hypochondria is going to do with this conflicting data.

All I know is that I've had it up to here with these damn rickets.

Random Acts of Thursday - Elementary, my dear Watson!

I've been remiss.

Several weeks ago, I waxed (on, wax off) about the chronological advance of my childhood crushes.  Somehow, I neglected to include Jodie Foster on that list.  Also in that episode, despite mentioning Phoebe Cates, I failed to post the quintessence of Phoebiness, her Fast Times bikini shot.

I'm here to rectify that.

I've also been lacking in the movie and music trivia department of late. 

I'm here to rectify that.

Wait, this doesn't cut it?  Fine, then.

Something that bothers me regularly, if you'll forgive the lack of segue, is our nation's need to endlessly remake films.  Sure, there are some original ideas out there, but really, did The Karate Kid cry out for a Jackie Chan remake?  Pat Morita must be rolling over in his grave.  (Wait...is Pat Morita dead?  I should probably check that out...)  And if they're not remakes of old movies, old TV shows, or bad Saturday morning cartoons, they're sequels, which I always assume are bad.  Saves me going to the movies, my couch is far more comfortable.

It's as though we can't come up with original ideas.  I have lots of original ideas, myself, but few of them ever see completion.  I'm recruiting, Crappy Unfinished Novel Time needs more creative input.  I'll keep posting my stuff, but really, anyone is welcome to contribute, free of charge.

I'm also soliciting for reader input here at the CDS.  Email me your questions, however trivial or inane.  It's called filler, people!

Also, while I've not been writing many posts lately, the larger crime is that I haven't been reading many other blogs, either.  And commenting on fewer.  I apologize to the many talented and creative writers who bless the Internet with their work.

But finally, it's quiz time!  I'll bet you thought it would never happen.

Every time it's shown on television, I get sucked into The Fifth Element.  (Happened again last Friday, when I picked up the last ten minutes.)  Besson's editing is quick and I love every minute of it.  Milla Jovovich isn't bad, either.  As far as current science is concerned, there is no 'fifth element'.  However, there are four other elements, earth, water, air and fire, that deserve equal billing. 

Therefore, onto the quiz.

1)  Name three songs (along with the performing artist) that mention earth (or some variation on the theme) in lyrics. 

2)  Ditto for fire.

3)  Ditto for air.

4)  See where we're going with this?  List three songs that mention water in some form.

5)  A question for Bob, name a song that mentions water in addition to my favorite dessert.

6)  Name five bands that reference one of the four elements in their band name.

7)  Name two bands that reference, rather than one of these elements, an element from the periodic table, as their name.

8)  Identify the band whose song about an airborne conveyance, while lyrically not qualified for an answer above, uses two elements to achieve lift.

9)  Name the author and 1962 book whose central premise is the same as the name of that band.

10)  Finally, which band released an album by the same name as the band from question 8 (mysteriously close to the time the band in question 8 took their name)?

As always, we grade on a curve here at the great and powerful CDS.  Show your work, kids!

And with special thanks to Dave Barry (along with Strunk and White) as an early influence on my sensibilities, 'Elements of Style' would be a great name for a band.  Just sayin.

God didn't buy me a satellite

Not that I expected Him to, nor did I ask.  Certainly, there are far larger things going on in the world than my having to listen to broadcast radio.

All the same, having spent the last three months nearly commercial-free, almost always finding music to suit my mood, whatever mood that may be, suddenly being faced with static, lost stations, non-stop ads, unwitty 'witty morning banter' and country music (actually, it's both kinds: country and western) is like torture.

(And not the good kind, with spankings...)

It was something, driving to lunch with typical early-80's new wave in the background, only to get back in the car after some great tacos to nothing.  Well, an XM advertisement looping non-stop, but not early-80's new wave, to be sure.

I can't say they didn't warn me.  I ignored the mail, the phone calls at inopportune times, even the emails.  Because part of me cringes at the idea of paying for radio.  However, that part is the one with no short-term memory, the holier-than-thou part of my brain that forgets we hate commercials, unwitty 'witty morning banter' and country music.  It's also the same part of my brain that hates buying bottled water or paying for cable, but those are completely different subjects.

I'm just going to have to break down and pay the XM piper, aren't I?

On an unrelated note, have you noticed the trusty sidebar here at CDS Enterprises?  There's a nifty little PayPal button over there, where you can achieve great esteem in the eyes of this site's author by donating to the XM cause.  


No?  Then at least click the email link and ask the nerdy fat guy an interesting question.  It's the least you could do.

Random Acts of Thursday - Let the torture continue...

Happy Thursday, kids! It's opposites day here at Worldwide NFG, and since many of you struggled to find the lyrics that fit perfectly around last week's numbers quiz, I figured I'd make life ever so slightly easier. Don't know why, since as you read this, I'm probably here, in traffic.

Or possibly here, also in traffic:

I hope the tunnel's not really as blurry as it seems in the picture.






It's only a day trip for work, (and I have the Cheap Trick version of that song in my head...) but I've neglected you for so long, wouldn't want to leave you hanging for the whole week.  I was out of the house by 4:30 this morning to get to the airport.  Fun times.






Should be a simple quiz this time around for those of you who groused about the pain I caused you last week. Fill in the blanks, children! Unfortunately, as the blanks should explain themselves based on the lyrics, you have to guess at the number of digits, unlike last week where the spaces were properly counted for you on the missing words. Didn't figure that one out, did you?






The man in the coon-skin cap by the big pen wants __ dollar bills, you only got __


I'm a man, I'm __ and I like it


I would walk __ miles and I would walk __ more


Gotta be a big rock star I got it turned up to __

Work __ hours, __ days a week, just so I can come home and kiss your cheek


I'm hot-blooded, check it and see, got a fever of __


Whip out my big __-inch


It was __ years ago today


For __ years, we've been on our own.


In __ we took a little trip


Rollin' in my __.__ got the ragtop down so my hair can blow


By the time we got into Tulsa Town, we had __ trucks in all.


Marie is only __ years old, information please


__ red balloons floating in the summer sky


'Cause it's murder by numbers, __, __, __


I'm not the cat I used to be, I've got a kid, I'm __ baby.


__ holes in Blackburn, Lancashire






And yes, I know a few of these came off the same album. I grade on a curve, so here's hoping you do well.  Bonus points again for the artists.

Random Acts of Thursday - Music by the Numbers

I've been thinking a little more than usual about music, and revisiting a lot of 80's new wave stuff, among others. The XM is addicting, no commercials and almost always a good song somewhere on the dial. (Dial? Am I 90?) Somehow, I got to thinking about numbers in lyrics, and all you have to do is finish the lyric.  Bonus points for naming the artist.



4,3,2,1 _____ _____ __, ________, _______
 1 __ ___ _________ ______


2 __ ______, 2 ______ ____ ____ __ 1


6 ____ __ ___ ____ ___ ___ _____ ____ __ ____ _______


_ ___ 7 _____ __ __ ____


____ ________ ____ __ '63


65 _ ___ 17


____ _ ___ 21 __ ___ _ ____ ____ ____


______ __ 9 ___ _ _____ ___ ______


___ __ ____ 3 ___, ___ ____ _ ____ ____ ____ ___ __ _____


___ ____ _____ __ _____ 66


__ ___ ____ 2525


____ ____ 1 ___ ______ __ 12 ____ __ _____ _____


_______ _____ ______ __ ___ _____ 25 __ 6 __ 4


_ ____ _____ 55


_____ ___ 17


_ _____ __ _____ ____ 6 _____ __ __ ___ 5 ___ ____


______ 187 __ _ ______ ______ ___


______ 16 ______ _________ ___ ______ ____


__ ____ _ ______ _____ ____ _______ ____ _________ 4 ____ __ ___ ___ ___ ____ ____ _____ __ ______
 
Fill in the blanks, kids!  I'm counting on you.

Random Acts of Thursday - Road Trip Randomosity

As I may have mentioned, I had a lot of time to myself in the car on the drive from Florida to Ohio. This meant lots of time to devise quiz questions for the lot of you while taking advantage of my 90-day free trial of XM radio. Show your work, kids!



1) Name four songs about Ohio

2) We drove through a lot of other states on our way here from Florida, but only one of those states features in 'classic' song lyrics (meaning song lyrics I've heard, or song lyrics that WEREN'T first released in the last year.) Name two songs that feature this state in the title.


3) Name three other states mentioned by name in song lyrics.

4) Name three television shows based in Ohio.


5) If you didn't come up with CSNY's 'Ohio' as one of the answers to Question 1, shame on you. This song commemorated a tragic event that passed its 40th anniversary on May 4th. What university is referenced in this song?

6) Speaking of four dead in Ohio, my new state is referred to as 'The Mother of Presidents', having produced eight out of 44 US presidents. All eight are dead. Name four of them.


7) One of those men was president while the events portrayed in the film 'Young Guns' took place. Another later president shares his first name and middle initial with an artist whose song sampled the film. Name the artist and song, along with both presidents.

8) Because the pinnacle of success for any musical artist should be a fine luxury automobile, name three songs that center around Cadillacs.


9) Which Ohio-born former president is the namesake of the elementary school in a holiday classic filmed, in part, in Cleveland, though based in another state entirely? I've told you once.  Go ask Mjenks, he knows.

10) Which movie based in Cleveland and featuring one of the stars of Young Guns was filmed, in part, in my home town of Milwaukee?


As always, I grade on a curve. Partial credit will be given for partial answers. No credit will be given for smart remarks, unless they're really funny.

Same As It Ever Was

As I woke this morning, bleary-eyed and still unsure of my surroundings, the day didn't feel any different from others. Cool, rainy, a perfect day to sleep in while the rest of the family goes off to do their things, while I loll about, eating cake for breakfast and wishing I could work on the projects around the home for which I took off the entire week.  Because we just moved, I did NOT take the second week of May as vacation this year.



It's almost always cold and rainy this week in May, I know this because for many, many years I have taken this week off, in an attempt to ignore our culture of celebrating the aging process so blatantly. I didn't do that this year, this year I faced my aging head-on, and it went remarkably well, I suppose. There were no balloons and confetti in my office, no gibes about my creaking bones as today I achieve the near pinnacle of agedness, I 'turned' 39.

This is not my beautiful car...

It really didn't click over like a cheap odometer, or a 1974 clock radio with the flappy numbers, it just kind of happened. It arrived like so many other days, and as I've passed the years, the days seem less and less significant.


Most recently, I celebrated my 30th. I actually made a point to plan an outdoor picnic for family and friends, a day spent in the park playing volleyball and grilling red meat. Prior to that, I may have celebrated my 12th birthday, with some minor fanfare for the 15th and an impromptu cake-and-candling by my college roommate at 20. Otherwise, I have made every effort to ignore the day, letting it pass like 364 of its brethren.


Today, I found it difficult to tie my shoes. One might blame this on age, but I doubt it. More than likely, I can't tie my shoes due to my mass. Weight, like age, is just a number. A much larger number.

When I was young I set goals and dreams based on age. I thought that by 25, I'd have a job I loved, a career. I'd have a wife and kids, a home in the country. Twenty-five came and went. That subsequent year, time passed and I wasn't sure how to handle that goal lost. I hit 26. No big deal, but when 27 rolled around, I was devastated. No family. Every day going to work was a crushing weight. And while I'd been in my apartment for a few years, that hardly passed for a country estate.

This is my beautiful wife...

Not quite eleven years ago, I met Lori. Shortly thereafter, I met her daughters. Our relationship grew slowly, ever slowly, and since I'd given up my expiration-dated dreams, I fought the relationship for a while. But now, I have a beautiful wife. Beautiful daughters. A large luxury automobile. (Where does that highway go to? Under the water, carry the water.) Six weeks ago, I started a new job, one for which I'm so excited by the possibilities I can hardly contain myself. No home in the country, but it is a beautiful house.

This is me, barely containing myself...

So there you have it. Empirical evidence that 39 is the new 25.  Now I just need a giant suit.

Random Acts of Thursday - Sing a Song of Six Gents

Happy Thursday, one and all.  I started on a 'TMI Thursday' post, and I even understand that LiLu is discontinuing the process.  No problem, I wasn't in full-on rant mode when I started it, so we'll hone that puppy for you another time.  Of course, I managed to screw something else up, and this never posted this morning.  As such, for many of you, this will be a Random Act of Friday.  I wasn't even drinking last night, though I was quite tired when I wrote this. 

I'm sure there are lots of cool Ohio-related things I could be sharing with you, but I'm exhausted and nothing comes to mind.  Not even SkyMall... 

Meanwhile, since I've been here, I've been listening to a lot of radio, I'm quite impressed with all Cleveland has to offer music-wise.  And me, being the Blogger of Quizzic Doom that I am, I thought of a little test for you, dear readers.  

Below are six artists mentioned in some form by another artist or group in their songs.  Your task, name those artists and song titles. 

Elvis Presley

Bo Diddley

T Rex

Neil Young

Jimmy Page

George Clinton

AAAAaaaand.....go!  Remember to show your work.

Oh, and as for fun Clevelandish items, we finally have an address to call our own in this little burg.  Huzzah!