Innocent Bystanders

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1. Eye of the Amish - March 29, 2008

The guy who does the singing on those commercials was the lead singer for Survivor.

And with that useless bit o trivia, im going to bed.

2. Lipstick - March 30, 2008

Really?

I was thinking that whoever did the singing made a lot of money with all those national commercials.

3. geoff - March 30, 2008

Speaking of Real Men of Genius, it occurred to me that Monty hadn’t shown his face in awhile, which is a cause for concern given his commitment to the National Guard. So I checked up on him and found his spoor at a music site as of this month. So it appears that he’s safe and doing well.

[this was actually spurred by Ace's housecleaning after deleting the Fitna post. made me nostalgic for the old days.]

4. daveintexas - March 30, 2008

Thanks Geoff. I missed him and was worried too.

5. Ann, - March 30, 2008

“Mr. Egg nog inventor”.

“Nog after nog” “ill advised porknog”.. ..heh!

6. Ann, - March 30, 2008

“jelly donut filler”…..are you sure these weren’t written by yous guys??

7. Muslihoon - March 30, 2008

I miss Monty. He’s one of those guys I have been in awe of. He should have his own blog, if he has the time. I’d hit it. Every day.

“Count of Montecarbo.” LOL!

I love those ads.

Molson ads are funny too.

8. Muslihoon - March 30, 2008

Professional Figure Skater: “You may not wear a medal, but sequins are shiny too.”

9. Muslihoon - March 30, 2008

I can’t stop!

10. geoff - March 30, 2008

He should have his own blog, if he has the time.

He used to. Can’t remember the name, but it was Helio-something.

11. fdgfdsre - March 30, 2008

Transmissions from the heliopause

12. Muslihoon - March 30, 2008

I remember that. I was distraught when he took it down.

13. geoff - March 30, 2008

Transmissions from the heliopause

Yeah, that’s it. Thanks.

14. Retired Geezer - March 30, 2008

Wow, what a great post, Lipstick.

The lyrics being sung are very clever.

I recognize that guy from a TV commercial… by… Starbucks?

The band would follow somebody down the street and sing their name.
(Sung to the rhythm of Eye of the Tiger.)

“Bart……. Bart Bart Bart…… Bart Bart Bart…… Bart Bart BART!”

15. Cathy - March 30, 2008

LS Great resource.
Glad you shared it.

16. Russ from Winterset - March 30, 2008

“Mr. Way Too Proud of Texas Guy”

heh.

17. Lipstick - March 30, 2008

Yeah, I thought of Dave on that one.

I keep going back to it and playing more.

18. Muslihoon - March 30, 2008

Why is it an-how-zer and not an-hoy-zer?

19. fdgfdsre - March 30, 2008

an-how-zer Busch?

Not bad if i do say so myself.

I think it’s an-hi-zer

People around here call Vienna Sausages “Vy-EEN-Uh” sausages. We’re morons.

20. Muslihoon - March 30, 2008

I ask because in German, “eu” is usually pronounced as “oy”. (Hence “Deutsche” (”German” in German) is “doy-tsheh”.)

21. Michael - March 30, 2008

I think it’s an-hi-zer

Correct. Sort of. That is how you pronounce the “eu” sound in St. Louis, the home of AB. But it is not originally just a pure long “I” sound.

An interesting feature of written German is that it spells out diphthongs (or gliding vowels) that are usually one letter in English. So, “eu” is actually two vowel sounds that go together. In German, it’s actually An-h-eh-uh-ser Busch, without any glottal stops. English speakers tend to to make this a long “I”.

They also make the initial syllable “ann” rather than “ahn.” In German, it’s a pure short “a” sound.

22. geoff - March 30, 2008

An interesting feature of written German is that it spells out dipthongs (or gliding vowels) that are usually one letter in English.

Japanese does that too. So “samurai” is actually samur-a-ee, but if you say it quickly it sounds like the long “i” sound at the end, just like Americans pronounce it.

23. BrewFan - March 30, 2008

The ‘ea’ in eat as in “Eat Me, Michael” is pronounced like a long e just like Vietnamese.

24. Michael - March 30, 2008

English is actually kind of an unsophisticated language in that it (relatively) omits the significance of diphthongs and glottal stops that are so important elsewhere.

But, perhaps that is why English works well as a global language. Spoken English is simple, and works as a lingua franca or the basis for a creole dialect.

Written English does not work so well. It is a polyglot language with many sources, incorporating both Germanic and Romance languages (thanks to the Normans winning at Hastings) along with incorporated words from many other languages, and the spelling rules are random and difficult to learn.

That does not mean I will tolerate spelling errors at IB.

25. daveintexas - March 30, 2008

I am a real Man of Doofus

26. Norm Peterson - March 30, 2008

Just shut and drink your damn beer Cliff.

27. Michael - March 30, 2008

Brewfan — ăn tôi!!!

I’m so proud that I can spell that right.

28. Michael - March 30, 2008

I’ll bet I can actually get the diphthong right in “tôi” if I say it aloud.

29. Michael - March 30, 2008

I am a real Man of Doofus

And the chicks eat that up. How do you do it?

30. daveintexas - March 30, 2008

No clue. I’m so average. Barely that, really.

Pity, perhaps?

31. Mrs. Peel - March 30, 2008

Michael, didn’t you admit a while back that you had that phrase saved in Notepad so that all you had to do was copy & paste?

I can readily understand why English is difficult to learn as a second language, especially written. What I don’t get is how native speakers fail to master the language. (Yes, I am still irritated by all the stupid mistakes in the paper I had to edit recently. I really hope they don’t survive to press - I would hate to have my name on such badly mangled writing.)

Of course, I also think French is harder than Welsh, so what do I know?

(Seriously. I have no clue how to pronounce, for example, “le loup-garou.” But something like “Mynydd Ceiswyn” doesn’t give me the slightest pause.)

32. BrewFan - March 31, 2008

Tôi is pronounced toy, fwiw. Interesting Vietnamese language fact: Nhà Tôi literally means my (tôi) house (nhà) but it is also the Vietnamese word(s) for wife.

33. Russ from Winterset - April 1, 2008

You know what keeps me awake in the middle of the night? The possibility that I’ll have a dream where BrewFan & Michael shout Vietnamese insults at each other while dressed in leather “Gimp Suits”. That one always leaves me in a cold sweat.

34. Lipstick - April 1, 2008

Ahem. Michael has ignored this catch by Mrs. Peel:

Michael, didn’t you admit a while back that you had that phrase saved in Notepad so that all you had to do was copy & paste?

I remember that too.

35. BrewFan - April 1, 2008

What is a Gimp Suit? Is that what Chester wore on Gunsmoke?

36. Mrs. Peel - April 1, 2008

Presumably, a leather gimp suit is what I would wear.

37. lauraw - April 1, 2008

Like I said; I like this new extra-spicy Mrs. Peel.

Liked the other one too, don’t get me wrong.

But this one is getting surprising, and we all love surprises.

38. Mrs. Peel - April 1, 2008

heh, thanks, lauraw. But actually, I was just preventing anyone else from making the joke, because I knew either Russ or DiT would.

Russ, how is lil’ Mo? We had my nephew this weekend…he’s just getting old enough (4+ months) to give you a big gummy smile when you tickle him. Even I have to admit he’s kinda cute.

Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that my sister is flat-out weird. Guys, in the vanishingly unlikely event that I get pregnant someday, don’t let me descend into this abyss. She even did the thing where they took pictures of her nude belly. I can kinda get the belly pic thing, although I think it is stupid, but please keep it covered. (She had pants and a tube top - it was just the belly that was exposed. So, not as weird as her sister-in-law, who took pregnant belly pictures in just maternity underwear, with her husband’s hands serving as her bra [believe me, I wish I were kidding]. But still.)

ok, time for work. Catch you guys later.

39. daveintexas - April 1, 2008

nuh uh. not me.

noooo

40. Herr Kuffwing Pfloverung - April 1, 2008

Did you know that the FRENCH word for the WIDNOW above a door is LE VASISTAS? During one of sevral times GERNAMY conqueered PAIRS, the kraut troops would point at TRANSOMS and say “WAS IST DAS?” Modern French see Gernam SCHEISSEPRON and say “Le WTF?”

41. Russ from Winterset - April 1, 2008

Moses is home now and quickly adjusting to his environment. Janis said last night that he was pretty good yesterday, but he wouldn’t fall asleep unless she was holding him. She had to put him down quietly & hope she didn’t wake him up, and maybe he’d sleep in his crib for 30 or 40 minutes at a time. He’s still eating better than the charts say he should for his size, but he’s got a lot of catching up to do (he’s probably about 4.5 pounds now). I gave him his 9 o’clock bottle last night, and he ate all 50 cc’s within 15 minutes. He sat there looking at me, the ceiling fan, me, the cats, me, the ceiling fan, me, and then at mom. He finally fell asleep about 9:45, and slept pretty well ’til the midnight meal.

42. Russ from Winterset - April 1, 2008

Brew, rent “Pulp Fiction” if you want to see what a “Gimp Suit” looks like.

43. My Left Arm Feels Tingly - April 1, 2008

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