Notes on the Prairie Home Companion

I missed the first hour, oh well, I'll be cynical about it later.
7:05: First mention of Zinzendorf. Cold chills go up my spine from my Moravian Academy days.
7:12: Keillor says Bethlehem is in the Poconos. This is untrue; too few crazed woodsmen.
7:17: Gave a brief history of Bethleehem. Not mentioned: union/mangement wars that killed the Steel, boredem among the youth, casino that will bring more New Yorkers into the Valley.
7:22: More local flavor: Morning Star solo. Some androgynous (I say girl) MA Lower School student is belting out that seasonal staple for more than just the Vespers crowd. Poor kid's gonna hear it on wedding day.
7:32: Lake Wobegon. In the words of Homer Simpson, "Stupid (radio), be more funny!"
7:56: A 19th century Martin guitar is brought out to play Silent night Stille Nacht. A nod to the austrians to lead out the show, which they promptly bury by advertisements, couldn't they hold off twenty seconds?
Nope, Prairie Home Companion ain't my style. Keillor's got a great radio voice, but the humor is just too slow and too old-timey. I'll give a fuller review after listening to the first hour, if I ever review it.

I think this counts as Irony

So I return home to the Christmas city, home of offensive pork chops, to find a Prairie Home Companion will be broadcasting from Zollner Hall at Lehigh. The problem, WDUI WDIY doesn't broadcast it! Thankfully, the internet will have a rebroadcast, so I can hear the deliberately speaking Garrison Keillor probably mention Johnathan Frakes, Lee Iacooca or the greatest radio celebrity of our time (A little boy had a great love of polka. Did you know he would grew up to be... Jolly Joe Timmer?). Man, they better play some polka; I don't care if it's a Midwestern folk show, Saturday is Bethlehem's night to shine!

Wanamaker's Christmas

Ever since I was a kid, I've known about the Wanamaker Christmas light show. Since I haven't a clue where I'll be next December, I got down to what is now Macy's today and saw it. It was a fun little thing to do, and if you have a chance when in Center City during the holidays, go see it a the top of the hour.

There was also a little walk through of "A Christmas Carol" on the third floor. It's not Disney's
imagineering, but it's something to do.

Honestly, this is the most Christmas spirit I've seen that didn't involve "ZOMG BUY A TON OF CRAP!!1!" A classy move by Macy's to keep it alive. I have a few more on Flickr, in my Philly Set.

Wikigroaning

I've discussed this with some of my friends, and I saw something on SA that explains why I don't use Wikipedia for classes like immunology and physiology. Compare the quality of the following dyads:
Medical terminology /Anime and manga terminology
Physician / Doctor (Doctor Who)
Timeline of medicine and medical technology / Usage share of web browser

Here are some that I just found in my boredom:
Wiggers diagram / Wiggers
Systole / System Shock
History of immunology /History of web syndication technology
Valsalva Maneuver / Corbomite Maneuver

Medical ones are actually difficult to find, as most conditions in Wikipedia are common or named so strangely that you need to spend actual time finding similar article titles.

Generic Opening

If I ever feel like writing publicly, this is where it will be. Don't hold your breath, this is mainly a way for me to comment with OpenID.