Episode 865

Preparations for China
Right now, Leo is in China, probably wearing the Scott-E-Vest Lightweight Travel Pants or Travel Shorts, and carrying the Tom Bihn Tri-Star stuffed with Packing Cubes.

SeV Lightweight Travel Pants and Travel Shorts

When Leo gets back from China, he might talk about the Tri-Star and Scottevest pants on TTTT.

Tom Bihn's Tri-Star with Packing Cubes

It's Time for 4th July Fireworks Again

Jan Reesman is a loyal listener. She last wrote in Episode 382 about the Great Gildersleeve. She has a blog called dogsandcats101. Leo remembers her well because Jan used to call his radio show about her blog, whose old name had the word "bitches" in it and she had to be edited out. Her favourite story from Dick is the way Dick watches the 4th July fireworks on the Hudson River, which he explains again. The only difference this year is Dick's old analogue portable TV won't work.

Listen to Episode 865
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-up
Find DGW Info on GizWizSearch

Episode 864

Strange Bargains
Bill Gaines loved a bargain. When Bill learned from Dick that the Casio Dictionary Watch TE2500 (Episode 45) was available at a reduced price, he thought it was a great bargain and bought one for everyone at MAD. Maybe not such a bargain after all.

Kung Fool
Kung Fu star David Carradine, who played Kwai Chang Caine aka Grasshopper in the show, passed away on 3 June 2009. This reminds Dick of a MAD magazine parody of Kung Fu, featuring "Mosquito" who chose a blade of grass over a sack of gold, and got slammed by his master, rightly so. Check out collectmad.com and look for Issue 164 in January 1974.

A Visit to Skywalker Ranch
Leo had the privilege of visiting the Skywalker Ranch, courtesy of Greg Edmonson and Alan Steinberger, composer and arranger respectively for the sci-fi TV series Firefly, to watch them work with a 70-piece orchestra who were recording music for the PS3 game Uncharted 2. Leo interviewed them on TWiTLive on 10 June 2009, video at odtv.me. Those of us who are less fortunate than Leo would have to content ourselves with watching the virtual tours of the Skywalker Ranch, at Skysound.com.

Skywalker Ranch at Skysound.com
The Sinkable Titanic
This is the 3rd letter from a listener about Episode 844. John Paradox, a parody writer for the Daily Giz Wiz (see Episode 520), reminds Dick and Leo, who were wondering what Titanic musicals there were, about the Unsinkable Molly Brown, which was first a musical, and then a film.

The Unsinkable Molly Brown on DVD
Welcome to Hell
Jeff Lundberg, from Northville, Michigan and long-time listener since Episode 1, has another suggestion for the TWiT Home Office. Dick and Leo have already got Kalamazoo, but how about Hell, Michigan? Dick says there are souvenirs aplenty from Hell. Try e.g. hell2u.com.

Listen to Episode 864
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-up
Find DGW Info on GizWizSearch

Episode 863

A Gadget Double/Triple
Dick remarks that on the day this show was recorded, 9 June 2009, the featured TTTT gadget in the podcast (Episode 847) was the Logitech VX Nano, which had been covered previously not only by Dick, but also by Leo himself, in Episodes 523 and 522.

Train on a Hat
Dick has become quite a ladies' man, as he is getting more and more fan mail from lady listeners, including Jennifer, who shares Dick's love of model trains. However, she wants to correct a slip made by Dick in Episode 841, who mixed up the N- and Z-gauges. The Z-scale is the size of model trains which can fit on to the brim of a hat. For a photo of an example of that, taken at an Easter Parade in NYC, click here.

Listen to Episode 863
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-up
Find DGW Info on GizWizSearch

Episode 862

Palm Pre Unboxing
After the Palm Pre review unit arrived, Leo did an unboxing session on TWiTlive, during which Leo tried out the Palm Pre and gave his first impressions. The video is available at odtv, which is quite a long session. I've taken extracts from the video, edited into 2 parts, which you can watch here.

Leo's First Impressions of the Palm Pre Part 1



Leo's First Impressions of the Palm Pre Part 2


Getting Around in China
Leo is leaving for his China tour in a couple of days, and has some travel tips for foreign tourists. The Chinese apparently don't speak Chinese at all. Just say everything in English and put an "a" at the end. If they appear not to understand it, just turn up the volume. "I WANT-A SOME FOOD-A. NO NOODLE-A. GIVE ME A BIG-A MAC-A," Leo demonstrates.

Solar Eclipse
Dave Kodama, a Caltech alumnus, is a DGW fan. He and his wife have been subscribing to MAD since 1980 and he even had a shot of himself reading MAD with a friend, in a 1969 issue. Dave notes that Leo is coming back home from China a few days too early, and will miss the longest solar eclipse in this century. Dave himself will be near Shanghai for the event. He and his wife have been early testers of electric cars, since 1996, including the GM EV1; and they will be trying out the Mini-E in (Episode 811) soon. You can see Dave's astrophotography and his EV1 experience on his personal website.

Listen to Episode 862
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-up
Find DGW Info on GizWizSearch

Episode 861

Coinstar
Dick is outraged by the practice adopted by some banks in New York City of charging 9% for counting coins, and suggests going to supermarkets which will count up coins for free and give you a store credit. There are also the Coinstar Machines, which count up your coins for free, and you have a choice of donating the money to charity or buying cash cards or e-certificates (for companies like Amazon, iTunes, Starbucks and Lowes). Check out other uses of Coinstar.



A Severe Reprimand from a Listener
In Episode 845, while Dick talked about the cutlery sharpening truck, Leo chipped in to say how stainless steel knives could not be sharpened and chefs generally avoided them. Bruce Moore, a hobbyist knife-maker, appreciates Dick's desire to help Leo along in his career but suggests that Dick hold the reins more tightly on Leo. Bruce says that both of Leo's statements could not be further from the truth, and adds that the higher the carbon content, the harder the steel. He recommends Lansky Sharpeners to Leo, for whom Bruce, reprimand apart, has the utmost respect. Leo is truly humbled.

Bruce was not the only one to point out Leo's mistake. Another listener left a comment on Dick's post for Episode 845.

Euro TV
In addition to the Dutch Klompen Leo mentioned in Episode 841, Leo was given by the visiting Dutch fan a pair of Dutch foam slippers too, which Leo shows off on TWiTLive. The European theme continues when Leo has to fix a problem with the Stickam feed - in an obscure European accent.

Listen to Episode 861
Go to TWiT
Read Dick's Write-up
Find DGW Info on GizWizSearch