Episode 33 - Second Place Is First Loser

Amy had the theme for this time around and asked for "runners up."

• Joe chose the 1980 novel Mockingbird, which just missed winning the Nebula Award
• Randy chose the film Fish Tank, which got the Jury prize at Cannes in 2009

Show notes

Intro Music: "Hello Mary Lou" by Ricky Nelson
Exit Music: "Life's a Bitch" by Nas

• Amy watched the first two episodes of "The Librarians." She has ISSUES with it.
• Joe's recommending lots of movies, including The Obvious Child, I Am Santa Claus, Ida, and Jason X. He's eclectic, our Joe. 
• Randy recommends Citizenfour - the documentary about Edward Snowden
• Christian Kane is 68.5 inches tall. Rebecca Romijn is 71. We swear it looks like more. She's clearly not afraid to wear heels around him.
• The "Academy ratio" is actually 1.375:1. (Which is pretty much 4:3, like Joseph said.) Here's a fun graphic comparing different film aspect ratios.
• The menu project from the New York Public Library: http://menus.nypl.org/
• Minoru Yamasaki was the architect for the original World Trade Center.
• NYC famous building geography time:
• The Chrysler building is at the intersection of 42nd St and Lexington. 
• The Empire State Building is at 5th Ave and West 34th Street
• Rockefeller Center is between 5th and 6th avenues and stretches from 48th to 51st Street
• Traveler vs gypsy - both are problematic terms now, but let's try to untangle it a bit:
  • Traveler can mean:  
  • tramp n.(now dial.); a gypsy; (OED)
  • Gypsy can mean:
  • a member of a traditionally itinerant people who originated in northern India and now live chiefly in south and southwest Asia, Europe, and North America (M-W)
  However, both terms have been used pejoratively in the past to indicate itinerant people who sustain themselves running minor con games. You also have Scottish Travelers, who are like the Romany but Highlanders in origin. And Irish Travellers, well, you get the idea. But then there are the Irish Travellers now in the US and they're their own thing entirely. All of this is to say, it's more than can be covered in show notes. Go read a book about it or something.
• Some music from Fish Tank we talked about but didn't put in the podcast:
  Bobby Womack's "California Dreamin'"
  
  

Eric B & Rakim's "Juice (Know the Ledge)"

  

On the next episode

Randy wanted critic picks for 2014, so Joe's chosen Richard Linklater's Boyhood and Amy's selected The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters.

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