The Bulgarian Ken Lee Phenomenon

When I lived in Bulgaria, bored teenagers would occasionally try to start trouble by swearing at me and my companion in English. Most of the time they had the swear words down pat – even if that was the only English they knew. The best way to handle these situations was to pretend like we didn’t know what they were saying. In Bulgarian we’d ask them what language they were speaking and what they were trying to tell us. More often than not, this would frustrate the potential troublemakers and give us an in to befriending them – thus avoiding any future problems or confrontations.

I was reminded of this when I saw the following YouTube video from the Bulgarian knockoff of American Idol. Here a wannabe Bulgarian Idol contestant trying to sing a Mariah Carey song “Without You.” However, her English still needs some work. (For those who don’t understand Bulgarian, this version has English subtitles.)

For a few of my readers who I know speak (or used to speak) Bulgarian, who want to see how much Bulgarian they can still understand, check out this version.

And for those who want to see a Bulgarian news follow up (with English subtitles) of the “Ken Lee” phenomenon she started, you can watch that below.

(Thanks to HitCoffee for alerting me to this video.)

Update: You can watch Valentina Hasan entire performance below. What's interesting is skipping through the songs and watching the critiques at the end. They really have tried to model it after American Idol thought the Bulgarian Randy and Bulgarian Simon just aren't as good as the American ones. I like the Bulgarian Paula Abdul better than the real one.

Life Imitates The Simpsons

Life Imitates The Simpsons A freak blizzard hits Springfield, turning it into a winter wonderland overnight. However, Springfield Elementary School is the only school that did not declare a snowday. Only some students from both Bart and Lisa's classes show up while Skinner and Willie are the only faculty members to still be working. To pass the time, Skinner plays the ultra-boring movie "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't, But Then Was". While they are watching the movie, the snow piles up and traps everyone in the school. – The Simpsons, Skinner’s Sense of Snow

Students in the Alpine School District have now been sent home, after dangerous weather forced the schools to keep students who walk or ride a bus in the building after the final bell rang. -- Weather forces students to stay at schools, (Provo) Daily Herald, January 28, 2008

Ideating

I like IBM commercials. No, I’m not a business or technical nerd. I simply like any advertisement that can not only speak to its target audience but effectively communicate a general audience as well. IBM's advertisements generally do that.

Which is why I really like the following IBM commercial.

Even if you never visit their intended website, the message is loud and clear to anyone: To be successful, stop dreaming and get to work.

And then, might I add, once you start working, do a better job and/or make a better product than anyone else.

Anyone can talk.

Only a few turn their ideas into reality.

Way to go IBM.

Life Imitates Fahrenheit 451

Two quotes from Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451:

"But who has ever torn himself from the claw that encloses you when you drop a seed in a TV parlor? It grows you any shape it wishes! It is an environment as real as the world. It becomes and is the truth. Books can be beaten down with reason. But with all my knowledge and skepticism, I have never been able to argue with a one-hundred-piece symphony orchestra, full color, three dimensions, and I being in and part of those incredible parlors...."

***

"It'll be even more fun when we can afford to have the fourth wall installed. How long you figure before we save up and get the fourth wall torn out and a fourth wall-TV put in? It's only two thousand dollars."

"That's one-third of my yearly pay."

"It's only two thousand dollars," she replied. "And I should think you'd consider me sometimes. If we had a fourth wall, why it'd be just like this room wasn't ours at all, but all kinds of exotic people's rooms. We could do without a few things."

"We're already doing without a few things to pay for the third wall. It was put in only two months ago, remember?"

"Is that all it was?"

From The Independent January 8, 2008:

Watching Match of The Day will never be the same again after the unveiling in Las Vegas yesterday of the world's biggest plasma television.

The 150-inch (3.75m) Panasonic widescreen TV, which stands 6ft tall, will enable viewers to watch everything in life-size.

But because of its huge size, the screen can only be comfortably watched from a distance of at least 30ft, making it too big to install in most living rooms. And with an expected price tag of £50,000 [$70,000], the giant TV will be beyond the spending power of most consumers.

The Best and Worst of 2007

It's hard to believe that 2007 is almost over. Thankfully I had enough of a life that I can bring out my annual review and awards to those who are deserving of the honors. Best Blog: Mars No More (Ali's blog). She's a young widow raising two teenagers in Australia. Despite her circumstances, she refuses to wallow in self-pity. Instead we see a woman who's willing to do what it takes to keep her kids on the right path and keep her family together.

Best Movie: With three young kids, Marathon Girl and I don't get out much. (Though we are getting away for dinner and a movie this weekend so this could change.) However, The Children of Men was still the best movie I saw all year. (Technically a 2006 release, I didn't see it until January 2007.) It's a story about the value of human life and what happens when the world no longer has any hope. Read my review here.

Worst Movie: Transformers. I never liked Michael Bay's movies that much anyway but this pile of crap just makes me want to stay miles away from Transformers 2 and anything else he has planned.

Best Non-fiction Book: The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene. Down, boys! Though marketed as a book about seducing a member of the opposite sex, the book is really about politics and how famous people throughout the ages have seduced the masses. (Complete review coming in January.)

Best Fiction Book: Echo Park by Michael Connelly. If you haven't read any Connelly before, this book is a good one to introduce yourself to a wonderful writer and a thrilling story. (Read my review here.)

Worst Book--Fiction or Non-Fiction: I Am Legend. The ending ruined it for me. And if they end the movie version of this the same way, I'm going to have a lot to complain about in a future blog entry. (See my review here.)

Best Fake Book Cover: Trevor did a great job of capturing what I'm sure everyone wanted the cover of Room for Two to really look like.

Best TV Show: American Idol. Okay, that was a joke. I'm not a fan of the show. The real winner in this category is LOST. Come on, did you really think I'd pick something else?

Best Promising TV Show: Moonlight. Marathon Girl and I are enjoying this show more and more. Too bad the writer's strike has put an end to it -- for now.

Best Moment: Holding the first copy of Room for Two in my hands.

Worst Moment: Being unemployed for five weeks. (I didn't blog about this but have an entry about it that I'll be posting soon.)

Strangest Moment: Having all our garden plants and vegetables turn outvery small. I'm really hoping we do a better job this summer.

Best Sports Moment: Watching the New England Patriots amass a 15-0 record with a shot to end the season 16-0 this Saturday. (If the New York Giants top the Pats on Saturday, that that will supplant this entry as my best sports moment.)

Worst Sports Moment: The BCS. Reading about the mess this creates every year has made me glad I no longer watch or care about college football.

Worst Political Moment: Watching the candidates for mayor and city council of our fair town attack each other through anonymous political ads. It was enough to make me think the city would get along just fine without any form of government.

Best Political Moment: There wasn't one.

Best Burger Joint: Apollo Burgers. They make the burgers tasty and filling. After eating one of their burgers you'll never want to eat anywhere else.

Best Web Site: The Drudge Report. Sure, he makes it sound like the world is going to end any minute even if it isn't. However, he has the best collection of current events at any given time. Thank you, Matt!

Best Getaway: Blackfoot, Idaho. Okay, this isn't a place I'd stop at if Marathon Girl didn't have family there. However, our kids love it and it's great in the summer because it's never very hot. And the family Marathon Girl does have there are fun to hang around.

Best Christmas Card: If you can find a way to get on Mr. Sensitive's Christmas card list, you should. He sends the most original cards year after year. And his creativity hasn't waned since he's gotten married.

Hoping you all had a great 2007 and looking forward to an even better 2008!

New Links

I've added two new links to the "Good Reads" section of the sidebar on this page. The first is Laura's blog. She's a friend of a friend and I've always enjoyed reading whatever she has to say. Her latest post about cell phone features is great!

The second is My Extra Life. Mostly about movies, video games, wierd things that can be found online, and pop culture. I've been reading it for awhile and love it. Scott also does some great cartoons. Encourage him to make this his full time job!

Enjoy!

Oops, I Screwed Up Again

So Britney Spears' younger sister Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant. Until I read the story, I had no idea Britney even had a younger sister. But what intrigued me wasn't the fact Jamie Lynn got knocked up, but that their mother, Lynne Spears, had a parenting advice book, Pop Culture Mom: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World, that was coming out on Mother's Day. Now the book has been put on indefinite hold. Go figure. I think they can still save the book but need to have a more accurate title. Here are my book title suggestions:

  • Oops, I Screwed Up Again
  • Jamie Lynn Was an Accident
  • I'll Raise My Grandchildren Better
  • You Don't Have to Be Famous to Get Pregnant
  • I'm Cashing In: How I Raised Two Pop-Culture Screw-Ups
  • I Didn't Raise My Kids in a Trailer Park Even Though They Act Like It

There's No James A. Madison

Many of you may remember this blog entry about a public school in my old public school district that made the mistake of booking the wrong John Stewart for their fundraising event. Well that wonderful school district is back in the news after making another silly mistake.

Utah's James A. Madison Elementary School may have a nice ring to it, but there is a problem since the nation’s fourth president didn't have a middle initial.

No one is really sure how the "A" became included in the name, which was among those submitted by teachers, students and parents from the Ogden School District.

Principal Ross Lunceford told the Ogden [sic] Standard-Examiner he wasn't going to try to get to the bottom of the "A" imbroglio, but will have to have the school's marquee changed along with the greeting on the answering machine.

The school board will also vote next Wednesday to ratify the James Madison name change.

"It's not that critical of an issue. We'll just take the A out and call it James Madison," said board President Don Belnap, who told the newspaper he didn't notice the problem with the initial even though he was a history major in college.

I really think its time the Ogden City School District replaced their current logo

with the modified FarSide cartoon