Tag Archive: Brian Hart


Bassoon-O-Matic

Filed under: Stories by Reader Submission — Leave a comment
October 19, 2012

(Submitted by friend of the site, and our sound engineer, Brian Hart)

A while back I was listening to a George Hrab podcast, and he related a joke about bassoon players.

 

The joke itself is not too funny, the gist is that it is not a sexy or practical instrument to learn as a career choice in music.

The next day I randomly chose to listen to a 3 month-old WTF Podcast hosted by Marc Maron, this one featuring The Office’s Rainn (Dwight Shrute) Wilson.  A few minutes into the show Wilson mentioned that he played bassoon in High School.

In a Universe this large, and vast, and old, this must happen occasionally, bassooner or later.

 

 [EDITOR: This was submitted by Brian Hart. Brian submits a lot of our stories and is our producer and sound engineer for our podcast. It's for this reason that we've chosen to post his story and not flog him publicly for his awful, awful pun.]

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Comment

Horn-y

Filed under: Stories by Reader Submission — Leave a comment
August 13, 2012

(Submitted by our friend of the blog, and our producer/sound engineer, Brian Hart)

I was in line at Costco, listening to a new episode of The Skeptics Guide To The Universe. My friend, Derek, was being interviewed on the show for the first time, and was discussing his investigation of a Swiss UFO cult.

He got to the part where he mentions the name Michael Horn, the American rep of this cult.  I looked in line ahead of me and saw a girl wearing this sweatshirt that says “Fear the Horn”.


I whipped out my camera phone and took this picture. Me so horny???

[EDITOR: The above story is presented unedited, and its puns do not represent the views of the TOMBC staff. Although we didn't help any by perpetuating them in the title. We're only human.]

Tags: , , , , , ,
Comment

Dancing With Dragons

Filed under: Stories by Reader Submission — Leave a comment
April 22, 2012

(Submitted by friend of the blog, Brian Hart)

I was at Atlanta’s annual Dragon*Con in 2011, waiting in a very long line with about two thousand fans to see a viewing of the latest Doctor Who episode, which had not yet been shown in the U.S.  Dragon*Con has an estimated 40-50 thousand people who attend for the Labor Day weekend.  For about an hour we waited as fans came walking past, dressed in various Science Fiction and Fantasy-based costumes.  Some of these costumes are very elaborate, and always in good fun.

I befriended the people I was standing next to; there were a few Amy Ponds, a Princess Leia, various incarnations of The Doctor, and a pretty woman in a belly dancer outfit.  The belly dancer turned out the be a real belly dance teacher, named Lisa, with a very interesting and memorable story of how she started dancing and teaching. The line finally went in and we all went our separate ways inside the theater.

Poster of Lisa, the Belly Dancer

Two days later, we were visiting Asheville, NC, and walking through the charming downtown area.  In the window of a store, I saw a poster for belly dance lessons.  The teacher?  The same woman I had met in line in Atlanta, 160 miles away, in a crowd of thousands.

[EDITOR: Pssh, wearing your work uniform as a costume is SO cheating. Reminds me of the time I auditioned for the role of a Blockbuster (remember those?) employee for an episode of Entourage. When I arrived it turned out to be what we call a cattle call (TONS of actors for one role), and several of them arrived in their ACTUAL Blockbuster uniforms. But the joke was on them in the end. - Jarrett]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

The Law of Big Bang Theory

Filed under: Miscellaneous by Reader Submission — Leave a comment
April 4, 2012

(Submitted by friend of the blog, Brian Hart)

“Oh, well, this would be one of those circumstances that people unfamiliar with the law of large numbers would call a coincidence.”

Coincidence and The Law of Large Numbers

Season1 | Episode 04 The Luminous Fish Effect | Scene 4 The full context:

Leonard: Okay. I’ll let you get back to fixing your eggs. Sheldon: I’m not just fixing my eggs … (waving spoon) … I’m fixing everyone’s eggs. Leonard: (bowing) And we all thank you. (Sheldon gathers his cooked eggs and sits on the couch. He lays out a journal next to him and takes a photograph of the journal before scribbling a note. He tastes the eggs and pauses a moment in contemplation.) Sheldon: (scribbling a new note) Use … new … eggs. Penny: (knocks on door and looks inside) Hi, hey. I’m running out to the market. Do you guys need anything? Sheldon: Oh, well this would be one of those circumstances that people unfamiliar with the law of large numbers would call a coincidence. Penny: I’m sorry? Sheldon: I need eggs. Four dozen should suffice. Penny: (uncertain) Four dozen?

Quote source: SheldonFAN.com

[EDITOR: I'm a big fan of The Big Bang Theory, and particularly the way in which Dr. Cooper continually fights for accuracy, precision, truth, and knowledge, all while ensuring to alienate everyone around him as much as humanly possible, driving away everyone but his closest of friends; friends who remain by his side through thick and thin, but mostly only because of the strict written agreements binding them to do so. In this sense Dr. Cooper serves as a constant, incessant reminder of how NOT to do my job while making me laugh.]

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment

Bunk or Buncombe?

Filed under: Stories by Reader Submission — 2 Comments
March 23, 2012

(Submitted by friend of the blog, Brian Hart)

I was visiting Atlanta to do a panel discussion on education vs. debunking.  Prior to the panel, I started thinking about the word bunk and debunk and decided to find their original meanings.  A few minutes of Internet research told me that the word was derived from a region in North Carolina called Buncombe County.  A representative from that county in the 1820s named Felix Walker was known to ramble on with long and wearisome speeches for Buncombe.  In Washington, D.C.  the term, “you are full of Buncombe” became a common phrase.  Over the years the spelling changed to bunkum and the meaning morphed into “any kind of nonsense.”  I was able to bring this origin and meaning into the panel discussion that day.

Two days later, my wife and I drove to see her cousins in Asheville, North Carolina.  We arrived in the evening, and when I was talking about my panel and recounting the origin of Bunkum to the cousins, they all laughed and said, “Asheville is the seat of Buncombe County!”  The next day we walked over and took pictures of the courthouse, where the words  ”Buncombe County Court House” are written in stone.

Brian Hart in front of the Bumcombe County Courthouse

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

Occupy Art

Filed under: Stories by Reader Submission — 1 Comment
March 14, 2012

(Submitted by friend of the blog, Brian Hart)

I went to an art opening being held in Santa Monica, California’s Bergamot Station.  One of the many galleries there had an exhibit called Just Occupy, which featured 3 artists’ representation of last year’s Occupy Los Angeles movement.  One of the artists was Ted Soqui, who had photographed a lot of the participants.

One picture in the exhibit that particularly struck me as amusing, was that of a man in a Guy Fawkes mask, relaxing on the sidewalk.  Since my friend, Paula, had attended Occupy Los Angeles, I thought about her, took a picture with my phone, and then e-mailed it immediately to her.

Image seen in gallery. Photo by Ted Soqui

When I checked my mail several hours later, I heard back from Paula.  She told me that not only was she there that night, but she had seen the photographer take that very picture with his high-end camera and had photographed the subject herself, seconds later!

Image from demonstration. Photo by Paula Lauterbach

Occupy this, OddsMakers!

[EDITOR: In this day and age of copyright infringement concerns, can Paula be sued for taking virtually the same photo within moments of original? I've seen crazier lawsuits lately...]

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

Battlestar Portlandia

Filed under: Stories by Reader Submission — 3 Comments
March 5, 2012

(Submitted by friend of the site, Brian Hart)

At a restaurant in Los Angeles one recent Monday, I spotted Battlestar Galactica’s executive producer and writer, Ronald D. Moore, at a nearby table.

It should be noted that the highly acclaimed, re-imagined series went off the air back in 2009, and I saw Moore there in January 2012.

On Friday of the same week, I was watching the show Portlandia on the IFC channel, and one of the comedy pieces revolved around Battlestar Galactica.  Fair enough.

However, the main joke became that the couple watching the show became obsessed with it, and demanded that Ronald D. Moore write new episodes specifically for them.  Several original BSG members appeared on the show, doing a table read, along with Ronald D. Moore himself, playing a local Portland actor, “Kim Reynolds”.

Spin up the FTL drives, and make a Jump into coincidence, these odds are crazy!

So say we all!

[EDITOR: Brian seems to have a penchant for running into celebrities right around the time they're mentioned in podcasts or featured out of place on television. Maybe it's less coincidence and more that Brian relentlessly stalks them until they happen to line up to make a good story...?]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

Boom!

Filed under: Stories by Reader Submission — 1 Comment
February 1, 2012

(Submitted by friend of the blog, Brian Hart)

I was listening to George Hrab’s Podcast (episode #240) on my iPod while heading out to one of my familiar lunch spots in Santa Monica, CA.  In this episode, George did a bit called “The History Chunk”, where he tells what happened on this particular date in history, usually in chronological order, and then makes some kind of joke about it. He mentions how in 1982, boxer Duk Koo Kim died after a bout with Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini.

Thirty seconds later I see Ray Mancini having lunch in the very restaurant I was walking into.  I clandestinely snap his picture.

Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini

You could have knocked me over with a boxing glove!

[EDITOR: You're lucky Ray didn't knock you over bareknuckled for taking clandestine photos of him while he's trying to have a nice meal. Watch your back...]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

Justin Time!

Filed under: Stories by Reader Submission — 1 Comment
September 6, 2011

(Submitted by friend of the blog, Brian Hart)

My wife and I were driving to Hollywood and she put on a random Podcast of Terry Gross’s Fresh Air for us to listen to for the drive.  It happened to be an interview with actor/musician Justin Timberlake.  We got out of the car and started to discuss the only movie of Timberlake’s that we had ever seen, Black Snake Moan.  Walking to our destination building, I a saw a glint on the ground and stooped to pick it up.  It was a home-made DVD of…Black Snake Moan (below)!

Odds Blood, that was quite a coincidence.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

ComiCon Encounter

Filed under: Stories by Reader Submission — 1 Comment
August 25, 2011

(Submitted by friend of the blog, Brian Hart)

My friends Derek, Paula and I are waiting on line at San Diego’s ComiCon July 2010.  We are in line to see the Mythbusters Panel, the first time that all five Mythbusters are appearing on the same panel at ComiCon.  The hall holds about 2000 people and we are way, way in the back of that line.  It looks like we might not get inside.

The line slowly creeps up and they let the three of us in, probably the last few people to get in the room.  It is packed with over 2000 anxious, excited fans.  I look for three seats together, but only find two empty ones, literally in the last row.  Derek decides to sit on the floor and charge up his iPhone, so Paula and I take the last two seats.  We sit down, and in the row in front of us, in fact, in the very two seats DIRECTLY in front of us are our friends, Amy Davis Roth and Phil Plait!

What are the odds?  Crazy?  Crazier? Craziest?

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment