Three Random Thoughts (aka Randolph Mantooth!)

[Rollo Tomassi]

I had this morning while walking the dog.

1. You never see Scientology in the news in a positive light. I have no idea whether Scientologists do anything benevolent for this world. I highly doubt it, since it's a business and not a religion (what religions have annual membership fees?) but it occured to me that everytime they make headlines its because one of their members is being a ignorant douche.

2. African American NASCAR stars. I'll admit I don't watch enough of that redneck sport to know if there are ANY black NASCAR drivers, but it seems to me all the "stars" of the sport are good ol' boys and white as a clan sheet. Why is that exactly? I have theories.

3. Randolph Mantooth, star of the 70's TV series Emergency! has an awesome fucking name. If my name was Randolph Mantooth, I'd never play a character with as boring a name as 'Firefighter John Gage' when I had a fucking awesome real life moniker as Randolph Mantooth. And if you ever happen to catch a rerun of Emergency! on RTV or whatever, you can't help but feel the awesomeness of the opening credit sequence when Mantooth, pops not one, but TWO caps off of hypodermic needles and thus is giving a double thumbs up when his picture freezes and his awesome name, Randolph Mantooth comes up on screen. I couldn't find a stillframe of the credits in question, probably because it's awesomeness would blow up the internet.

[vynsane]

(what religions have annual membership fees?)

all i know is the catholic church i was dragged to as a kid got an awful lot of those little colored envelopes every week - so it's not an annual membership fee, more like weekly.

[Rollo Tomassi]

I always got the impression that was more a combination of "voluntary" and "guilt" generously mixed together. If you don't pony up every week, they don't revoke your "catholicism" do they?

Or to put it another way, if I walked into any church in the country right now and asked for some spiritual guidance from a priest, preacher, rabbi, or iman, I wouldn't be turned away. But if i went into a Scientology building and made the same request, I would be asked for my "official scientology badge" and they would make sure my dues were paid and up to date before they did anything (assuming that they "do" anything spiritual in the first place.)

[Ran]

1. I think Mormons donate up around 10% of their income to the church.

2. I don't watch Nascar, but I think there are a 1 or 2 minority drivers. But I don't think they are any good and can't be labeled "stars". It is my understanding that all the Nascar stars come from the Carolinas, Georgia, and Virginia. And there there are a couple guys from Las Vegas. When the race is Vegas, there is no escaping that fact.

3. Emergency was cool show when I was a kid. It was back-to-back with CHiPs. I think they named the fire station on the California Universal Studios lot after the show. Wasn't it #51?

[vynsane]

I always got the impression that was more a combination of "voluntary" and "guilt" generously mixed together. If you don't pony up every week, they don't revoke your "catholicism" do they?

how is that any different from a protection racket?

"you wouldn't want to go to hell, now, would you?"

Or to put it another way, if I walked into any church in the country right now and asked for some spiritual guidance from a priest, preacher, rabbi, or iman, I wouldn't be turned away. But if i went into a Scientology building and made the same request, I would be asked for my "official scientology badge" and they would make sure my dues were paid and up to date before they did anything (assuming that they "do" anything spiritual in the first place.)

i guess... they're a little more up-front about it, is all.

[kidhuman]

I work with a guy named Merlin Mantooth.

Anyways, I watch enough Sportscenter to tell you I have seen a few minority NASCAR drivers, Helio Castroneva comes to mind, but thats about it.

[Diabolical]

Dorothy Mantooth is a Saint!

[Kup]

FUCK YOU!

[Rollo Tomassi]

FUCK YOU!

In your ear with a rubber...beer.

[Rollo Tomassi]

Three more random thoughts:

Is the Kinect for the XBox just Microsoft's way of getting every home in America to voluntarily put a tiny camera in their living room? You just know those things are feeding footage to some grand central computer in Bill Gate's basement.

Why do I keep seeing the same actors and actresses in commercials nowadays? The guy that got dumped by his girlfriend via text, e-mail, and phone while sitting across from her in the fastfood booth, is also already hooked up with a new chick buying a car with a tiny hippie and some weird leopard creature in the trunk. And THAT chick is also conveying disgust that her roommate got engaged at TGIFriday's on a blind date. And there's the chick thats stuck in the airport watching Celebrity Rehab on her laptop thanks to Cloud with one husband, while subsequently tricking another husband into going to a party at the in-laws but everything's okay because they had Scope mouthwash. Enough already advertisers. Spread the acting gigs around.

I saw Yancy Butler on an episode of The Mentalist last week. Remember when she was the next big thing? Then she developed the biggest alcoholic problem ever and stopped acting for over a decade. Oh well, good for her, getting work again. I hope she can stay on the wagon.

[anarky]

The annoying woman from the 1-800-DENTIST commercials works as an annoying call center rep for eSurance, and annoyingly takes some fiber supplement to keep her annoying ass regular.

(On a related note, y'know the woman who did the 1-800-DENTIST commercials before, the one they just brought back? Did anyone else get the impression that she was supposed to be a lesbian, and they were trying to see how much evidence of this they could get away with using in commercials? They start out with her in a call center. Then they move to people recognizing her from the commercials. There are two different commercials in a row where she's with a hot blonde woman--first in a coffee shop, then in a more romantic restaurant. Finally, there's the commercial with her and the same blonde, both wearing bathrobes, in what appears to be a hotel or condo somewhere in a tropical setting. Their body language does not indicate that they are roommates or relatives. It really seems like they're on a romantic getaway and are getting up in the morning after an entire sleepless night of hot sex. Then, BLAM! They end those commercials and move to the annoying woman in the elevator.)

[vynsane]

Why do I keep seeing the same actors and actresses in commercials nowadays? The guy that got dumped by his girlfriend via text, e-mail, and phone while sitting across from her in the fastfood booth, is also already hooked up with a new chick buying a car with a tiny hippie and some weird leopard creature in the trunk. And THAT chick is also conveying disgust that her roommate got engaged at TGIFriday's on a blind date. And there's the chick thats stuck in the airport watching Celebrity Rehab on her laptop thanks to Cloud with one husband, while subsequently tricking another husband into going to a party at the in-laws but everything's okay because they had Scope mouthwash. Enough already advertisers. Spread the acting gigs around.

maybe they're all made by the same ad company who is going to compile them on DVD and make a movie out of basically scraps of film. that would actually be really interesting. like kit-bashing a movie.

also, i'm glad i don't have cable anymore, if this is the shit that i'd have to see between the shit i 'want' to watch.

[anarky]

Speaking of that, I cannot take the newest Progressive Insurance commercial (the one with the unfinished "discount" sign causing one employee to think it's a disco) seriously, as it has the "I'm Spicy!" guy from Wendy's, or Burger King, or whatever fast food joint had that commercial.

[Rollo Tomassi]

1. Why is that new comedy called ¡Rob! ? Based on star power and talent, shouldn't it be called ¡Cheech! ?

2. In some alternate Universe, the USFL is still going strong.

3. Why is finding your own pubes on the toilet not as gross as finding other people's?

[Rollo Tomassi]

1. So, I'm not an Anime afficianado or anything, but I was in GameStop the other day and their in-store Video News whatever was pimping a new Naruto game. They kept pronouncing Nah-Ra-TOE.
I've always pronounced it Na-ROO-Doe. How do you pronounce it?

2. Remember when Myst was popular?

3. I wonder how many kids were named Percival in 2011. I bet there were a couple.