Recent Podcasts
Drinkin’ in Lincoln
Lincoln’s rate is the fourth worst in the nation. Binge drinking – drinking to get drunk – is worse here than in Madison, Wis.; Las Vegas or Minneapolis.
Worse than Vegas? Really? I’m so proud.
from CNN.com:
Porn broadcast stuns news viewers
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Sweden’s state broadcaster SVT on Monday faced ridicule for mistakenly showing a porn movie in the background of a news broadcast over the weekend.
Viewers of a 5-minute news update at midnight Saturday could see explicit scenes from a Czech porn movie on a TV screen behind news anchor Peter Dahlgren.
The monitor — one of many on the wall of a control room visible behind the studio — normally shows other news channels during broadcasts.
But staffers who earlier in the evening had watched a sports event on cable channel Canal Plus — which often shows X-rated films after midnight — had forgotten to switch it back, said news director Per Yng.
Imagine if that happened on The Situation Room… I think poor Wolf Blitzer would have a heart attack 
as seen on Slate today:
SUVs for Hippies? Hummer courts the tofu set.
By Seth Stevenson
While the vehicles have grown less imposing over time, the brand’s reputation hasn’t quite kept pace. According to Hummer spokeswoman Dayna Hart, there was a sense among Hummer’s marketing brain trust that the brand felt “expensive, too big, and out of reach” for many consumers. What’s more, recent Hummer ads have been a little lofty: They’ve featured cool visuals of the trucks romping through dramatic landscapes but have lacked everyday scenes of people enjoying their Hummers.
Enter this new H3 ad, which tries to make the brand feel a bit less intimidating. It shows an ordinary dude (and not, say, Arnold Schwarzenegger) going to a Hummer dealership, making a purchase, and driving out in a new truck. Which may seem basic, but showing the transaction (and portraying it as lightning-quick and painless—the guy points at a Hummer on the showroom floor, and a moment later he’s the proud owner) helps make the H3 seem more like a realistic option and less like a blingtastic pipe dream. And the text that appears at the end of the ad touts the truck’s 20-miles-per-gallon performance and its $29,500 price tag, which further drags the brand back toward the sphere of affordability and normalcy.
Hart says the spot aims to make the H3 a more “approachable vehicle that will appeal to introverts, extroverts, vegans, and carnivores.” She’s right that we wouldn’t expect a tofu eater to buy a Hummer. But at the same time, the spot reinforces the central, classic stereotype about Hummer drivers: They buy big cars because they have small … egos.
I just found out that my roommate wants to move out on his own after our lease is up next month. So I am going to make a list of the positives b/c anyone who knows me understands that I’m not a live-aloner and am finding my already heading towards danger panic zone #1.
That’s all I got, I’m stressed out. It’ll be fine. I will be 26 month. On the other hand the new Animaniacs DVD is #1 on my gift wish list. *sigh*
My sister bought me these kolaches yesterday as a thank you gift. I thought I’d post a picture of them since we’ve discussed our collective love of kolaches on the show before, and I think some of our listeners might not understand what this Czech delicacy is all about. And also because this weekend is Czech Fest in Nebraska’s Czech Capital. Bon Appetit!
Update: according to the newspaper, there is a kolache-eating contest at Czech Fest. Why was I not informed? I’d better start practicing for next year
Neil’s Texas Brownies
Originally uploaded by borderline.
Texas Cake, that is. Or Texas Brownies. Whatever you call them, they’re delicious, unhealthy and fairly challenging for a novice to make.
We’re having a big to-do at work with our board on Thursday and each staff member is bringing a dessert. So I thought I’d give these Texas Brownies a try, all the while knowing that failure could mean a hasty purchase of grocery store bakery items and scornful looks from my coworkers. I’m fairly confident that they won’t cause food poisoning, though the frosting looks a little iffy. If I have a failing as a baker (actually I have several) it’s making an edible frosting. I had some problems getting the powdered sugar to melt, but I think it’ll be okay. Tomorrow night - snickerdoodles!
Big changes are coming for the Borderline gang. Try not to be afraid…be very afraid. Marginal fear is understandable.
“I make $1.45 a week and I love it” | Salon Technology
I saw this article today on Salon and already I am obsessed with the idea. The tagline says it all:
On Amazon Mechanical Turk, thousands of people are happily being paid pennies to do mind-numbing work. Is it a boon for the bored or a virtual sweatshop?
Intriguing, no?
Ah, ye old After the Show section: we hardly use ye! Well, until now.
As the brains of this operation, I’ve decided to switch this section of our site over to Blogger. You might be saying to yourself, “Why on earth would you do that, Neil?” The answer is pure laziness. See, I used to be the only one who could post stuff. So if Lynn or Danni wanted to put something up, they’d have to send it to me and I’d post it for them. Now all three of us can post, cutting out the middleman and hopefully meaning we can update this section more frequently. I’ve reposted our most recent entries, but if you’ve got a hankerin’ to see some of our older posts, you can check them out here.
Building a better blog for you, Borderline listeners: one of the many things I’ve been hard at work on during our short hiatus. Enjoy!
