SuperHumans!

Did anybody else see 20/20 two weeks ago? It was an episode on 'Superhumans'.... Real humans with Superhero abilities....

They profiled the following people:

Alain Robert, a real life Spiderman that climbs high rises without any safety equipment and can hang from his ceiling for 20 minutes at a time!

Jeff Corliss, a man who jumps off the sides of mountains and out of planes in a synthetic wing suit at speeds up to 300 miles per hour!

Anna Frasier, a woman (dressed in a mermaid tail) who can free dive 50 feet below the sea and return to the surface with only one breath of air!

Lyndon Whalberg, another 'mermaid' that can hold her breath underwater for up to five minutes and can dive 91 feet below the surface or the water and back with only one breath of air!

Daniel Tammet (Brain Man), an autistic savant who looked at pi to 22,500 digits ONE TIME, and then recited it to a panel of experts from memory.... They showed him learn the Icelandic language in one week!

Wim Hof (Ice Man), a man who can submerse himself in snow for an hour and twelve minutes.... He runs in sub-zero temperatures wearing only shorts.... No shirt! No shoes! No socks! Just shorts!

Dean Karnazes (UltraMarathon Man), a man who has run 50 marathons in 50 days.... He's known to run 30 miles to a marathon, then run the marathon.... He decided to run 30 miles on his 30th birthday, and fell in love with running....

You can see the entire episode by clicking on the sign below!

Is No New News Good News?

This was posted a few days ago by Cal from 'Cal's Canadian Cave Of Coolness', and recommended to me a few days ago by Cotton Blossom from 'Wit Behind The Ears'.... You should check them both out.... They're both fantastic bloggers!


It fascinates me that no one has noticed this before.... It's almost as good as the 'Mall Name Change In 'Back To The Future''. The same newspaper prop (presumably a new newspaper with the same stories) used over and over and over again.... Doesn't Ed O'Neill get tired of reading the same stories all the time? Is no new news good news?

I Learned The Hard Way I'm Not A Thief

A news reporter Sebastian Robertson in Medford, Oregon, takes a little trip out to the Spalding Auto Yard to show the viewers at home how easily your valuable belongings can be stolen from your car.... Turns out it may not be so easy.... All he has to do is break a window, right? Turns out it makes for the best news blooper ever!

Amazing Aerial Footage Of The Icelandic Eyjafjallajokull Volcano

I don't know if you've seen this yet, but ITN reporter John Irvine was able to get amazing aerial footage of the crater of the Icelandic Eyjafjallajokull volcano spewing out the ash and lightning. I can see how this could ground air traffic.....

Mel Gibson On The 'Edge Of Darkness'

Let me start this post off by saying that I don't have a dog in this fight.... Mel Gibson's new movie 'Edge of Darkness' came out in theaters a couple of weeks ago. This is Mel Gibson's first movie since 2002, and his first movie since his drunk driving arrest and his anti-Semitic tirade towards the police officers in 2006.



Mel Gibson went on the apology tour after the arrest, attended the court appointed classes and has stayed out of the limelight since the drunk driving arrest (if you don't count the divorce from his wife of more than 30 years). You don't have to like Mel Gibson, and you don't have to accept his apology.... But he seems to have made a sincere attempt at giving his penance....



Anyway, Sam Rubin, who is Jewish and is one of those schmarmy entertainment reporters, sat down to interview Mel Gibson about his new movie. During the interview, Sam Rubin asked Mel Gibson, 'Some people are going to welcome you back, and some people think you should never come back.' Mel Gibson puts on his crazy eyes and says that the comments were attributed to him (even though he admitted to saying those things in an interview with Diane Sawyer) and asks Sam if he has a 'dog in this fight'. At that point Sam Rubin goes into a hole and sort of backs off....



After the interview, Sam goes back to the studio and gives his two cents, and says that he didn't understand what Mel Gibson meant when he said 'Do you have a dog in this fight?', and that he was mad that he didn't speak up for himself.... Then his news mates tried to pat him on the back (poorly I might add), and told Sam that 'what he didn't say, said more'....



Both parties handled the interview poorly.... On one hand, Mel should have just said 'Look, I said it, I apologized, there's nothing more that I can do', and on the other hand I think if Sam is going to call Mel Gibson on a super touchy subject then he shouldn't have crawled into a hole during the interview and gone on to bash Mel Gibson on his newscast without Mel there to defend himself....

So, here's my question, do you think Mel Gibson has made amends? Or do you think his requests for forgiveness are inadequate. Will, or have, you seen 'Edge of Darkness'? Or has Mel Gibson tainted your view of him? What's your opinion? Do you think that alcohol made Mel Gibson spout out his inner truths, or maybe the alcohol made him talk crazy? Do you think there can be a separation between a person's personal life and his art? What more could Mel do to win you back as a fan?



Looky here! Here's an added bonus! Another schmarmy entertainment reporter interviewed Mel about his arrest and comments.... At the end of the interview, Mel calls the reporter an a-hole....

Can You Guess This TV Theme? #30 - Answer

Over seven seasons and 168 episodes, the protagonist of 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', Mary Richards, played by Mary Tyler Moore, showed the world that it was okay to be over 30, female and single. Mary moves to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a fresh start after ending her relationship with her fiance, and applying for a job at WJM-TV....

Cantankerous news director Lou Grant, played by Ed Asner, gives her the job of producer of the 'Six O'Clock News', and Mary's cute quirkiness shines on from there.... Throughout the show's run, Mary develops wonderful relationships with her neighbors and co-workers, played by notables Cloris Leachman, Betty White, Georgia Engel, Ted Knight, Valerie Harper and Gavin MacLeod.

Did you know that 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', has won a total of 29 Emmy Awards! Three of them being 'Outstanding Lead or Supporting Actress or Actor In A Comedy' awards won by Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner and Valerie Harper won three Emmy's each for lead and supporting actor and actress roles! The record of 29 Emmy Awards, held by 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' for 25 years, was broken by 'Frasier' in 2002. 'Frasier' went on to win a total of 37 Emmy Awards!

I'm not sure I agree with 'Entertainment Weekly', but they list Mary Tyler Moore's throwing her hat up in the air in the show's introduction as #2 on their list of '100 Greatest Moments on Television'..... The #1 selection on their list was the assassination and funeral of John F. Kennedy. Mary tossing her hat in the air beat out:

• #9 - The Beatles first appearance on 'The Ed Sullivan Show',
• #17 - Edward R. Murrow interviews Sen. Joseph McCarthy,
• #36 - The Challenger explosion,
• #51 - The Dick Van Dyke Show - The first ottoman pratfall
• #71 - Bill Clinton playing saxophone on the 'Arsenio Hall Show', and
• #91 - The premiere of 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'

The list was made in 1999, however, I still think it might need some alterations.....

Animal Instincts

Do you remember all the news stories after the huge earthquake and tsunami in Thailand in 2004, about how very few animals died because they may have a 'sixth sense' or 'animal instinct' that may have been able to sense the ground shaking before humans could, giving them the opportunity to run to higher ground before they were in any danger?

Security cameras in newspaper offices in Arcata, California were rolling before and during the magnitude 6.5 earthquake that struck just off the coast of Eureka, California on Saturday, January 9, 2010.....

You can clearly see the dog jumping up and bolting to find its owner before the earthquake occurs..... All reports indicate that the dog and it's owner did get out of the building safely....

What Kind Of Helicopter?

I hear that they're bigger than other helicopters.

Glenn Beck Would Be Horrible At Hangman

Glenn Beck is awfully bad. I can understand why he's losing advertisers. I'll tell you this, if I was being hanged, and I was missing a leg, Glenn Beck is the last person I'd want to pick a letter.

Watch him try to denounce Obama's politics by putting together an incomplete acronym.... Can you guess the missing letter? He can't.

Leaning Tower Of Fail

This video takes me back to the old days.... I remember when I was younger, and I'd build these really awesome towers out of building blocks. There was one, it was beautiful, almost ten blocks high.... Then some kid would walk over and kick it down, and then laugh maniacally.... I ran to my room, tears pouring out of my eyes, screaming "You're such a bully! You're such a bully!". Then my wife would come to console me and tell me, "Your son is only three, he didn't know how hard you worked on that tower."

P.S. Yeah, I know it's fake.... Who needs to answer their phone during a live newscast? Regardless, that sure was a lot of Jenga blocks.

News

We go on a vacation for two weeks to the other side of the country, and when we come back, nobody bothers to tell me that one of the most notable news broadcasters in the country had passed away?


By the way, for all of you who happen to read this blog.... This is Hal Fishman, head anchor of the "Channel 5 News at 10" from 1975-2007.