Tower of Technobabble

This week, we dive into our Christmas festivities by pointing out that "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" is a terrible, terrible story to tell children, and then go into Christmas myths that aren't quite as jolly as our modern society is used to.

Show Notes:

Intro - Why is Ben so upset that the world didn't end?

http://www.brianstoys.com/Category/2603_1/AFA_Star_Wars_Carded.asp

The sad, discriminatory story of Rudolph:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolph_the_Red-Nosed_Reindeer

Knecht Ruprecht:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knecht_Ruprecht

Christmas Dinner in Japan:

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/World/move-santa-claus-kfcs-colonel-sanders-signals-christmas/story?id=12437818#.UNNYlHdvvJg

Spoiler! Ben's Christmas Miracle:

http://www.brianstoys.com/Product/SV3C2JAWAC9.2B_.26_AFA5263966/Vintage_SW_Jawa_20_Back-F_AFA_90_%28C90_B90_F90%29_5263966_-_Actual_Photo.aspx

This week, we prepare to kiss our sweet asses goodbye as we get ready for the Mayan apocalypse. C'mon in, grab a beer, and settle in as we run down the highlights of the late, great planet Earth. Take off your shoes and stay awhile. Hell, take off your pants, too, because it's all over in a few scant days. Set phasers to Par-tay!

Show notes:

There's no time for homework! It's the end of the world!

This week, we discuss getting teenage mice drunk, why racists, douchebags and other undesirables on the Internet should expect no mercy or privacy (and why it's kind of funny when they do), and examine why the scientific method takes such a brutal beating when it comes to bigfoot "evidence." 

Show Notes:

Teens with genes: why binge-drinking is not their fault!
http://www.willitsnews.com/ci_22134041/scientists-find-gene-link-teen-binge-drinking

Discussion Pit:
Shaming the racists and those who behave like douchebags:

http://hellothereracists.tumblr.com/archive

http://gawker.com/5962189/should-this-woman-have-her-life-ruined-because-she-posted-a-stupid-photo-on-her-own-facebook-page

BIGFOOT ROUNDUP: Hosted by Paul!(?)
BIGFOOT DNA!

http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/local_news/water_cooler/new-dna-study-proves-existence-of-sasquatch-also-known-as-bigfoot-according-to-report

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/27/bigfoot-dna-proves-creature-exists-genetic_n_2199984.html#slide=271065


http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoologists/melba-ketchums-official-press-release-on-her-bigfoot-dna-project/

This week, after a brisk round of pledge driving (and appologies to Diane Rehm), The Repeater asks a trick question, we go over the strange and tragic tale of Pope John VIII, find out what social media platform Russians are gaga over and take a ride with a space knight.

Show notes:

Pope Joan - http://wais.stanford.edu/Religion/religion_FirstFemalePope(110503).html

Romney Tattoo dude has the regrets - 

http://gawker.com/5964224/romney-face-tat-guy-wants-the-ink-removed-says-romney-has-no-dignity

ROM Spaceknight to return? And can the Micronauts be far behind? http://io9.com/5962488/the-extremely-tentative-but-potentially-triumphant-return-of-rom-spaceknight

Last 50 images posted to Live Journal - http://www.fuzzysquid.com/LJ.php

A heartfelt wish for holiday cheer from the Tower crew, along with a dire warning for safety in the kitchen.

Show Notes:

Cumin - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumin

Coumadin - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warfarin

Our show quickly flies off the rails as we talk about, believe it or not, Former Senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole's genitalia. It's not quite as gross as it sounds. Almost, but not quite. We also talk about Britney Spears, but back when she was hot. And was in a commercial with Bob Dole.

Show Notes:

Pepsi Is Releasing a New Brand of ‘Fat-Blocking’ Cola - sure not to cause tumors or anything….

http://jezebel.com/5959880/pepsi-is-releasing-a-new-brand-of-fat+blocking-cola-that-will-obviously-totally-work

They Might Be Giants Cryptid Playing Cards

http://www.theymightbegiants.com/news/they-might-be-giants-paranormal-cryptid-myths-and-hoaxes-playing-cards/

ABC Denver station says “oops.”

http://americablog.com/2012/11/abc-denver-reportedly-misnames-petraeus-biography-all-up-in-my-snatch.html

Russia accidentally cuts the cable to all its satellites

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/11/a-single-severed-cable-cut-contact-between-russia-and-its-satellites/265275/

The Dole/Kemp website from 1996 is still up:

http://www.dolekemp96.org/main.htm

and this was briefly available - like looking into an alternate universe

http://mashable.com/2012/11/08/mitt-romney-website/

The Commercial in Question:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt8uNG02ixA

It's apparently Angry Day at the ol' Tower - from Towerbot's depressive spiral to the Conduit's anger at an (Austrian) national treasure. Pick an opinion and stick with it this week!

Show Notes:

Towbot's not in the Robot Hall of Fame...yet.: http://etc.cmu.edu/site/RHOF_Induction_Ceremony/RHOF2012.html and

http://www.robothalloffame.org/news.html

Italian Scientists get six years in prison for failing to predict an earthquake:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20025626

(Source: https://twitter.com/SarcasticRover/statuses/262071961784569856)

Astronomer Allen Epling films strange cigar-shaped UFO type object in sky above Kentucky
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/the-other-side/astronomer-allen-epling-films-strange-cigar-shaped-ufo-type-object-in-sky-above-kentucky/story-e6frfhk6-1226504386462

http://news-expressky.com/news/article_f257128c-1979-11e2-a94e-0019bb2963f4.html

Channel 18 News! Holy Crap Yo!: http://youtu.be/nSd1NW6HeNA

Identified? - You tell me: http://www.examiner.com/article/ufo-identified-after-flying-over-kentucky-virginia-and-tennessee

http://www.chicagonow.com/greenamajigger/2011/03/solar-airship-8-meter-long-floating-craft-doesnt-require-wind/

1948 : 

http://www.ufocasebook.com/Mantell.html

1955 Hopkinsville, Ky alien “attack” :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly%E2%80%93Hopkinsville_encounter

1993 Louisville, Ky alien “attack”:

http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case764.htm

We're so gob-stopped by the news of Disney buying LucasFilm, and therefore Star Wars, that we had to send out for an extra geek to spread the load. Bryan from Movie Meltdown joins our Tower team this week.

Show Notes:

Man, swing a dead cat on the Internet and you'll find stuff on this. This was a particularly good article, we thought:

http://updates.io9.com/post/34698824522/what-we-want-from-a-new-star-wars-trilogy

The Site where our guest hangs his hat: http://moviemeltdown.com

We venture outside, in the spirit of halloween, and tell ghost stories out by the nuclear exhaust port (since we don't have an actual fire pit). Things get strange when the topic of key parties come up. Kid's, for God's sake, don't ask your parents.

Show Notes:

No Tresspassing (turns out Dave lied and it wasn’t a true story at all) -

http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2008/10/no_tresspassing.html

The Tale of Colonel Buck -

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/6159

Stiffy Green - 

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/3637

Creepy Urban Legends -

http://www.cracked.com/article_15628_the-5-creepiest-urban-legends-that-happen-to-be-true.html

(You’ll have to look up Key Parties on your own)

The repeater revamps the sound effects desk for everyone's benefit, we talk about space, far-flung planets and plunging skydivers, and finally get to the bottom of a battlestar galactica mystery that has plagued a member of the technobabble team for decades.

Show Notes:

Space!
• Space jump - at peak, set a record of 8 million viewers on YouTube
http://www.dailydot.com/news/felix-baumgartner-space-jump-live-stream-record/
• Scientists discover Earth like planet (size-wise, anyway) in alpha centauri system
http://io9.com/5952357/scientists-discover-a-planet-in-alpha-centauri-the-star-system-nearest-earth
(it would still take more than 40 years to get there, currently, though - http://io9.com/5952827/how-will-humans-get-to-alpha-centauri)
• NASA uses the film Armageddon in it’s management training program (there are 168 errors)
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/01/nasa-uses-the-movie-armageddon-in-their-management-training-program/


Packin in the Galatica Geek Hole one last time!
Battlestar Galactica: War of the Gods  part 1 and 2
http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/War_of_the_Gods,_Part_I
http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/War_of_the_Gods,_Part_II