RickRolled for internet newbies
I’ve been waiting a long time for this Dinner Topic, and finally I have a reason to include it. The original video used to “RickRoll” people for years has been taken off of YouTube for the old standby of “terms of use violation.” There are still plenty of videos floating around the internet for which to RickRoll people, however, so the attempt by the record company or whoever holds the rights is a bit feeble.
For the small percentage of you not familiar with it, RickRolling is an internet prank in which the prankster will send a friend/colleague/whomever a link to something believed to be of interest. In actuality, the link directs the “victim” to a video of 80s pop “star” Rick Astley, usually his hit Never Gonna Give You Up.
The harmless prank has affected millions over the past few years and has expanded to places like newsrooms and sports arenas. Astley himself has been a great sport about the whole thing and even participated in a live RickRolling at the 2008 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.1
Now, when you here about someone getting RickRolled, you’ll finally know what they’re talking about, even if you are about two years late to the party. Thanks to the internet, however, RickRolling will likely last longer than Astley’s real career. In fact, I will sneak in a RickRoll to a post within the next week. Loyal readers will get it while others will be left bewildered and confused.
(A good video choice for RickRolling below)
Read on:
Erictric.com – Original “RickRoll” Rick Astley Video Gets Removed
Explaining Consumer Confidence
Stories about consumer confidence being at its lowest level in 10 months are being published in business papers and websites this morning. We all know what that means, but do any of us really know how “they” decide how “we” are feeling about things?
Similar to the Nielsen ratings, which track a minute percentage of the population’s viewing habits and translate that into guessing/estimating who is watching what, the same holds true with consumer confidence levels.
A non-profit group called The Conference Board surveys 5,000 households every month, asking them 5 questions about current and future business and employment conditions, as well as future family income. Receiving answers of “positive,” “neutral,” or “negative,” the Board collects the data and compares it to the previous month’s answers to produce a relative value known as the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI). The CCI is “defined as the degree of optimism on the state of the economy that consumers (like you and me) are expressing through their activities of savings and spending.” 1
The result is a number, which only means something if you know the relative value. This month, the CCI was at 46, a low number when you consider that the number was 56.5 last month.
Read on:
Bloomberg.com – U.S. Economy: Consumer Confidence Falls to Lowest Since April
Investopedia.com – The Conference Board
Miracle on Ice facts
It was 30 years ago today that the United States hockey team pulled off one of the greatest upsets in sports by defeating the almighty Soviet team in the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. The story is as timely as ever with yesterday’s impressive victory by the United States over Canada.
The captain of the 1980 squad, Mike Eruzione, has been all over the sports airwaves recounting the 30-year-old story this morning.
Before you embarass yourself and say something like “What a great way to win the gold!”, you need to know a few facts about the “Miracle on Ice” from 1980:
- The win against the Soviets was NOT for the gold medal, but rather one game in a round robin.
- The game was on tape delay in America so it could be broadcast in primetime.
- The U.S. won the gold medal by beating Finland 4-2 in their next game, and they were trailing 2-1 in the 3rd period!
- The famous “Do you believe in miracles” call? That’s Al Michaels.
Read on:
SI.com – 10 interesting facts you may not know about the Miracle on Ice (a must read)
Red herring and idioms
The new Martin Scorsese movie, Shutter Island, debuted yesterday to mixed reviews. The New York Times review suggested the movie was a little too heavy on the red herrings.1 “Red herrings” is a phrase you hear all the time but may have never understood the meaning without some context.
Red herring anyone? I've got plenty!
Red herring is an idiom and describes something that intentionally diverts attention from the actual or more significant event.2 It’s name comes from the name for a herring fish that is smoked and cured and therefore strong smelling and reddish (read: noticeable).
An idiom? Idioms are simply expressions whose meanings are separate from their literal definitions – “caught in a pickle,” “paint the town red,” etc. If you’re over the age of 30, you’ll probably remember this classic cartoon below, using idioms to tell the whole story. If not, then sit back and enjoy six and a half minutes of creativity from the great Tex Avery.
Buddhism Briefing
Everyone will be talking about Tiger Woods’ public apology tonight, and if you haven’t seen or heard it, first of all, you’re not missing anything, second of all, a quick Google search will give you what you need. One item that will likely be discussed as well is Tiger’s mention of returning to Buddhist traditions.1
Say what? You better know your Buddhism before tonight or you’ll be forced to sit silently and smile while everyone else dissects Tiger’s speech word for word. A whole religion can’t be summed up in one simple post, but here are a few bullet points on Buddhism to get you through the night:
- It’s the fourth largest religion in the world.
- Reincarnation is a fundamental belief.
- Buddhist’s follow Four Noble Truths, which involve a deep understanding of the cycle of suffering.
- Prajna is the practice of discernment, insight, wisdom, and enlightenment – this is at the core of Buddhism and is expanded on in something they call the Eightfold Path.
- It’s a non-theistic religion, which means Buddhists don’t pray to a deity or claim that their religion began from a higher power.
- The Buddha is merely a special human being who fulfilled his highest human potential.2
If the above statements don’t help you enough, then follow the links below. Or, just bring up that whack job who ran his plane into an office building in Texas the other day.
Read on:
ReligiousTolerance.org – Buddhism
Gold Medal has little gold metal
Gold medal from 2006
Now that we are knee deep in Olympics coverage and gold is trading at or near all-time highs, I’m sure you’ve had that moment where you thought to yourself, “hey, are those REAL gold medals?!” Not exactly, although the medals were made out of the metals that you would have assumed back in 1912.1
Nowadays, that gold medal is mostly silver. The silver medal? Also mostly silver. Bronze? Yeah, those are bronze.
From About.com:
“The Olympic medals are designed especially for each individual Olympic Games by the host city’s organizing committee. Each medal must be at least three millimeters thick and 60 millimeters in diameter. Also, the gold and silver Olympic medals must be made out of 92.5 percent silver, with the gold medal covered in six grams of gold.”2
Now when you watch Shaun White or Lindsey Vonn atop a podium, you can safely tell people that the medals around their necks are worth much less than the sponsorship deals in the near futures.
(image above taken from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10740157/)
KYZ – Know Your Zinfandels
Most of the Dinner Topics you have read are about things you will be talking about at dinner, but now it’s time for a little knowledge about what you might be consuming at the dinner itself, assuming you are a wine drinker.
Zinfandel is a confusing wine because some people use it in reference to red zinfandel, while others assume they’re getting a white zinfandel. Red zinfandel was the original, but white zinfandel slowly became the standard assumption. In recent years, however, red zinfandel has become more popular and gained some traction with red wine lovers. Let’s set the record straight so you’ll know what you’re drinking later tonight.
There is only one type of grape used to make both wines. Used to make both the red and white varieties, in making white zinfandel, the skins of the grapes are removed. That’s why white zinfandel is more of a blush or rosé color rather than the typical color of a true white wine.
Bonus note: Zinfandels use a different grape now than in the past. The former Zinfandel grape is now classified as Primitivo.1
Read on:
WineIntro.com – White Zinfandel
(image above taken from: http://www.betterrecipes.com/wine/wine-types/red-white-zinfandel.html)
Kick Buttowski – new Disney show
Today, while I celebrate President’s Day by donning a stove top Abe Lincoln hat and shop for half-priced mattresses, I turn the Dinner Topics reigns over to my daughter, Nicole. Her topic of choice is the new animated Disney show, Kick Buttowski. Without further adieu, here is her entry:
Kick Buttowski is a hilarious new Disney TV show (broadcast on the Disney XD station) that most kids will like to watch. He’s a kid daredevil who does not “do fail.” He has an older brother, Brad, who tries to get away with everything and a younger sister, Briana, who is always entering beauty pageants.
Kick’s best buddy, Gunther, is always there for him, whether it’s drinking 100 cases of soda to find a gold key, or convincing Kick the librarian is evil. Either way, Kick Buttowski always succeeds. Or at least, as much as possible…
Read on:
NYDailyNews.com - ’Kick Buttowski,’ Disney XD
YouTube.com – short clip from Kick Buttowski
(image obtained with permission from: http://www.disneyxdmedianet.com)
