Wednesday Overnight Open Thread - December 4, 2024 [TRex]

Good evening Horde. The time has come for mid-week shenanigans of the overnight variety. Please stabilize your cannons before proceeding.

This is the Wednesday night ONT.

I know what you are thinking. TRex, can we start off something to wake up the neighbors? Yes. Yes we can.

The hog, warthog, thunderbolt, or flying gun with a Motley Crue soundtrack:

Did someone say boom, boom, boom, boom?

Did someone say explosions?

Did someone say Muppets? Rita Moreno duet with Animal:

Translation for Rita's conversation with Animal to English:

Hey, buddy. I want to tell you that you shouldn't do that. Its not nice. Understand? Look at me when I'm talking to you. This is my number. And if you annoy me again, I am going to smack you so hard, it will leave you silly. Cool it.

Did someone say drums? The little girl in front has Main Character Energy.

Did someone say invisible drums?

Did someone say drums made out of PVC?

Changes for The Blue Man Group:

The Blue Man Group, the long standing and beloved off Broadway show, will end its 34 year run in New York City in the new year.

Blue Man Group will also end performances in Chicago on Jan. 5, while it will continue in the other cities. The company did not give a reason for the New York and Chicago closures.

Hmmm.... when the shows in Las Vegas, Orlando, Boston, Berlin, a touring show, and a Norwegian Cruise Line show continue and the only places that get shut down are New York and Chicago, seems reasonable to ask whether the issue is those locations rather than the Blue Men. But what do I know?

Anyway, Rods and Cones from The Blue Man Group:

Did someone say winged beavers?

Inspired by ONT discussion last Wednesday: unique High School mascots:

Behold, the Winged Beaver Gold Seal:

Winged Beavers of Avon Old Farms School in Avon, Connecticut. The Winged Beaver come from school founder Theadate Pope Riddle. The wings symbolize the aspiration to soar.

Syrupmakers of Cairo High School in Cairo, Georgia. Cairo is known as Syrup City due to the Roddenberry Syrup plant that existed until 2002. The girls teams are traditionally called the Syrupmaids.

Dateliners of Diomede, Alaska. Diomede is a pair of islands located in the Bering Strait between Alaska and Siberia. Little and Big Diomede Islands are separated by the International Dateline. Big Diomede is the easternmost point of Russia.

Thunder Chickens of Doane Stuart in Albany, New York. Doane Stuart had no mascot when it was founded in 1975. In the early 90s, the students started a campaign for the Thunder Chickens. Administrators objected but a student wore a chicken costume, keeping the name alive. It was eventually embraced (although the web site does not feature the mascot prominently).

Pretzels of Freeport, Illinois. In the late 1800s, there were many German bakeries in the city. Freeport became the Pretzel City and the athletic teams became known as the Pretzels.

More:

Fighting Planets of Mars School District, Pittsburgh

Berries of Cranberry High School, Pittsburgh

Cornjerkers of Hoopeston, Illinois

Poca Dots of Poca High School, Putnam County, West Virginia

Millionaires of Williamsport Area High School, Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Spudders of Ridgefield High School, Ridgefield, Washington (The mascot is a tater tot.)

Acorns of Live Oak High School in Morgan Hills, California (Go, nuts!)

Hot Dogs of Frankfort, Indiana

Meloneers of Rocky Ford High School, Rocky Ford, Colorado (The school newspaper is The Meloneer, the yearbook is Le Canteloupe, and the mascot is a menacing watermelon.)

The Wooden Shoes of Teutopolis High School, Teutopolis, Illinois

Arkansas School for the Deaf Leopards, Little Rock, Arkansas (the name predates the band of a similar name)

Did someone say YMCA?

Village People Founder Victor Willis Writes Lengthy post on Facebook About Letting Trump Use YMCA. TRex is not on FB, but a helpful elf passed along a few excerpts shown below. The whole thing is longer so read the whole thing if you are on FB. Otherwise, do not trust media characterizations of what he said.

Since 2020, I have received over a thousand complaints about President Elect Trumps use of Y.M.C.A. With that many complaints, I decided to ask the President Elect to stop using Y.M.C.A. because his use had become a nuisance to me.

However, the use continued because the Trump campaign knew they had obtained a political use license from BMI and absent that license being terminated, they had every right to continue using Y.M.C.A. And they did.

In fact, I started noticing numerous artists withdrawing the President Elects use of their material. But by the time I said to my wife one day, hey, Trump seems to genuinely like Y.M.C.A. and hes having a lot of fun with it.

As such, I simply did not have the heart to prevent his continued use of my song in the face of so many artists withdrawing his use of their material. So I told my wife to inform BMI to not withdraw the Trump campaign political use license.

The financial benefits have been great as well as Y.M.C.A. is estimated to gross several million dollars since the President Elects continued use of the song. Therefore, I am glad I allowed the President Elects continued use of Y.M.C.A. And I thank him for choosing to use my song.

There has been a lot of talk, especially of late, that Y.M.C.A. is somehow a gay anthem. As I have said numerous times in the past, that is a false assumption.

I therefore wrote Y.M.C.A. about the things I knew about the Y in the urban areas of San Francisco such as swimming, basketball, track, and cheap food and cheap rooms. And when I say, hang out with all the boys that is simply 1970s black slang for black guys hanging out together for sports, gambling or whatever. There is nothing gay about that.

Therefore, since I wrote the lyrics and ought to know what the lyrics I wrote is really about, come January 2025, my wife will start suing each and every news organization that falsely refers to Y.M.C.A., either in their headlines or alluded to in the base of the story, that Y.M.C.A. is somehow a gay anthem because such notion is based solely on the songs lyrics alluding to elicit activity for which it does not. However, I do not mind that gays think of the song as their anthem.

The true anthem is Y.M.C.A.s appeal to people of all strips including President Elect Trump. But the song is not really a gay anthem other than certain people falsely suggesting that it is. And this must stop because it is damaging to the song.

Did someone say football trivia?

Black Friday NFL football never used to be a thing. Why does it exist now? Why does the game start at 3pm ET? Why are there no late NFL games on Black Friday? Why are there no NFL games on Saturdays until later in the season?

The answer lies in a single provision of the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act which sets the terms of the antitrust exemption granted to professional football. Always start with the source of authority. In this case, 15 USC 1293, reproduced in full below:

Intercollegiate and interscholastic football contest limitations The first sentence of section 1291 of this title shall not apply to any joint agreement described in such section which permits the telecasting of all or a substantial part of any professional football game on any Friday after six oclock postmeridian or on any Saturday during the period beginning on the second Friday in September and ending on the second Saturday in December in any year from any telecasting station located within seventy five miles of the game site of any intercollegiate or interscholastic football contest scheduled to be played on such a date if

(1) such intercollegiate football contest is between institutions of higher learning both of which confer degrees upon students following completion of sufficient credit hours to equal a four year course, or

(2) in the case of an interscholastic football contest, such contest is between secondary schools, both of which are accredited or certified under the laws of the State or States in which they are situated and offer courses continuing through the twelfth grade of the standard school curriculum, or the equivalent, and

(3) such intercollegiate or interscholastic football contest and such game site were announced through publication in a newspaper of general circulation prior to August 1 of such year as being regularly scheduled for such day and place.

The text restricts professional football from broadcasting games when there are high school or college games nearby. The original intent was to ensure that professional football did not wipe out amateur football that is usually played on Friday nights and Saturdays.

Historically, there have been no professional games on Friday. Last year changed that when Amazon started hosting a game. How could the NFL and Amazon make that happen legally? Start the game at 3pm ET!

This is also why no professional football games are played on Saturday until late December when high school football is done and college football has only bowl games remaining.

Now you know. Hat tip to Joe Pompliano.

Did someone say new Jaguar?

Jaguar unveiled a new concept car in Miami that signals a major change in design direction, engineering and sales. Looks like the offspring of a Dodge Charger and Tesla Cybertruck to me and their new marketing campaign could not be more odd, but best wishes to Jaguar. Maybe it will be cool, bold and dripping with swagger. Traditional Jaguar buyers are aging out, so they have little to lose by taking a big swing at something different. Being a little crazy is a high stakes gamble but will break with the past if that is the goal. This new car may be a high priced halo car and subsequent models could be more reasonable. In either case, they would target a younger and different customer base. I still wish Jaguar would have made the C-X75 from the James Bond Spectre movie.

The stunning coupe was revealed in Miami in two colors, dubbed London Blue (inspired by the Opalescent Silver Blue used on the Jaguar E Type) and Miami Pink (an expression of the citys spirit). The all electric production cars will be the most powerful Jaguars ever, capable of producing 1,000 horsepower. The new models are set to be sold through brand stores known as Jaguar clubhouses. The first will be in Paris.

According to Gerry McGovern, Jaguar Chief Creative Officer:

Jaguar has no desire to be loved by everybody. It has already stirred emotions and it will continue to. Some may love it now, some may love it later and some may never love it. But that is okay, because thats what fearless creativity does.

Did someone say trading a National Guard Airwing for a sports stadium?

Marylands two U.S. senators are asking for one of D.C.s Air National Guard squadrons as part of the negotiations over a bill that would give D.C. control of the federally owned land that the old RFK Stadium sits on.

The Washington Commanders have a lease at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, that runs through 2027, and the team is looking around for a new home.

If D.C. were to get control of the RFK Stadium site, the city could redevelop the area, and it would be viewed as a major advantage for the District in potentially getting the team to play there.

TRex does not understand such things but is looking around to see what he can trade for a jet squadron.

Did you read this far? Thank you. Here is your reward:

Did someone say Rush? Drum solo on Letterman for a big ONT finish:

Written correspondence can be sent to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Are you lurking? Come out and play. Did someone ask for gentle music with no cannons or drums? Here you go:Pachelbel Canon in D.

posted by Open Blogger at 08:00 PM

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