FAMOUS PEOPLE:  It’s a well told story that contracts for bands or speakers often have absurd hidden clauses- like Van Halen’s brown-free bowl of M &Ms backstage.  I recently stumbled upon the absurdly detailed contract of Richard Stallman, a computer programming and software freedom activist. This line is golden:

“If you can find a host for me that has a friendly parrot, I will be very very glad. If you can find someone who has a friendly parrot I can visit with, that will be nice too.DON’T buy a parrot figuring that it will be a fun surprise for me. To acquire a parrot is a major decision: it is likely to outlive you.”

OCCUPY WALL STREET:  Catch up with updates from the field of Occupy Wall Street- many protests are being allowed to proceed peacefully while some (Oakland, Nashville, San Diego, to name a few) are being violently broken apart.

WEATHER: I guess the rest of the Northeast caught that storm too, 2.3 million people have no power and at least 9 deaths have been attributed to the storm.  What gives, October?

HEALTH: New research has come out about screening for certain cancers, stating that early detection often does not help and can even cause more harm than good.  Pretty interesting, given the emphasis  the medical community has placed on early detection as a life-saving opportunity.

SCIENCE: Beautiful piece about Sandy Wood, the voice of “StarDate,” a 2 minute long radio segment about astronomy hosted by a regular star-enthusiast.  It has over 2 million listeners each day.   I really love profiles of people on the radio getting to know “the person behind the voice.”

TV: Over the next four Sundays, PBS will be airing a documentary called America in Primetime that will trace American television through the best programs in television history, how certain styles and characters have developed and where we are going in tv today. You can watch the 8 minute intro trailer here.

And here’s your video of the week:  (this film is inspired by The Borrowers, I always loved the book and movie as a kid)

Episode 3: “A Pig Walks Into a Gay Bar…”

Real World round three begins when the housemates drive Frank ’11 and Sam to one of San Diego’s gay bars. In the car on the ride home, windows up and driving away at top speed, Zach, Nate and Ashley make a number of homophobic comments…regrettable, but not surprising. Inside the club, Frank is taken aback by the dancing men in Speedos (Vermont’s gay nightlife was apparently no comparison. Surprise?). He knocks back a few drinks, though, then gets comfortable- on a couch. on top of another guy.  A heavy makeout sesh ensues (reminded me of the Bunker, RIP). The drama starts when the makeout turns takeout; Frank and unnamed man return home and make sloppy love in some shared spaces, including the hot tub and the shower. The rest of the housemates express varying degrees of “ew, gross,” which leads to another Frank breakdown about not feeling accepted.

Later, after another night out with Sam, drunk Frank walks in on Nate and unnamed girl hooking up  in the bedroom and loses it big time. He claims that there’s a double standard in the house;  his gay hookup caused a house meltdown, but Nate’s straight hookup (also including hot tub canoodling) was “no big deal.” When the dust settles, a number of vases and a postdmodern wall sculpture are among the victims. After a tearful conversation with the girls, Frank stumbles out of the house, leaving everyone to wonder whether it would be best for him to leave for good.

Sam, Priscilla, and Alexandra meet up with Frank the next morning. He has no recollection of the night before but when briefed on it, he is quick to acknowledge that his behavior was unacceptable. The girls express their concerns about everyone’s safety after Frank’s “extreme” bouts of drinking. The girls are happy to welcome Frank back into their “home,” under the condition that he change his behavior. He promises not to drink “to the same extent” anymore and says he’ll “go to therapy.”

So…the prodigal son returns home and makes amends by taking the house out to a fancy dinner. Roomie Nate graciously accepts his apology, but it appears that Zach and Ashley aren’t as happy about his return.

Over the course these first three episodes, the castmates have settled into more predictable roles.  Priscilla and Alexandra often play the sensible mediators, Sam is the reliable wingwoman, and Ashley has yet to say anything of substance. As for the hombres: Nate is both friend and foe, Zach is a bigot, and Frank is the lighter fluid just waiting for a spark. The roles may be predictable, but the circumstances may not be….more to come next week!

Some of the Twitter highlights from last night:

@MTVFrankSweeney couch makeout! reminds me of my first steamy hookup in the chateau grand salon. #realworld #couchaction—
nick jansen (@NickJansenMidd) October 13, 2011

and thank god we can see frank's mic wedged between his butt cheeks for this meltdown! @MTV_FrankSweeney—
  (@middtwitt) October 13, 2011

Behaving outlandishly never gets the point across. Don't ever let bullying or feelings of isolation lead you to act in the way I did tonight—
Frank Sweeney RW 26 (@MTVFrankSweeney) October 13, 2011

Sophie Clarke ’11 joins Frank Sweeney ’11 in what’s shaping up to be Middlebury’s big brush with TV stardom this Fall. Clarke taped the 23rd season of the popular reality show just after graduation and was pegged as: “one of the smartest women to ever play the game [and] one of the most athletic.” This season takes place in Upolu, Samoa. Take a look at the promo videos below. The series begins September 14th.

Read Sophie’s public bio. Also check out Sophie’s Facebook fan page.

Click on this image for a short preview of the segment

ESPN’s show E:60 will run a segment on the 50th anniversary of the tradition of bringing Butch Varno, a local man with cerebral palsy, to basketball and football games. Basketball players give him a ride to football games and football players perform the opposite favor.

Middlebury’s best sports fan has also earned recognition in various other media outlets, including Sports Illustrated (during that magazine’s best days, if I may say so myself).

Tune in to ESPN at 7 p.m. Tuesday night to watch the segment.

Update: You can watch the segment in its entirety here, and let me say these 12 minutes are absolutely worth your time.

McKibben: “Take an example. Middlebury College, where I work, is probably the greenest college campus in the world. I’m always telling the kids there, changing the last lightbulb here is less important than going out and building the political movement.”

Letterman: “Well, Bill, thanks for scaring the crap out of me.”

The revelations:

1) Larry King has children of little league age.

2) Larry King’s show has lasted this long. He’s really not a good interviewer; he’s been cutting guests off with absurd non sequiturs for at least the past 15 years.

3) Larry King knows how to blog.

If you’re tired of sitting in front of the tube tuned into Jeopardy! on late weekday afternoons, or you actually think, “It can’t really be that hard,” this is your chance to make your dream come true and prove them non-believers.

On February 9 at 9:00 p.m. (ET, 6:00 p.m. PT), you can try your luck, or rather, test your wits, and take the Jeopardy! College Online Test to become a contestant on the college tournament of the classic Merv Griffin game show (the edition with the college sweatshirts… not the one with the 12-year-old punks looking really proud they know that the capital of Vermont is Montpelier… I mean, duh…). Just make sure to follow the link above and register ahead of time.

“Do you have what it takes to become the next Jeopardy! champ?” One MiddKid did. His name was Keith Williams, class of ’07, though he was a first-year when he won the tournament back in 2003. A native of New Hampshire Manchester, Vermont (edit), eventually an economics major, and a Dissipated 8 member, Williams snagged a total winnings of $50,000 and a 2004 Volvo S60R in the nail-biter of a final (brought to you by MiddBlog in 2008).

Since then, the cash prize has doubled to $100,000. Students from Notre Dame, Mississippi State, UCLA, Stanford (the only school to have won twice), and Carnegie Mellon have won; the Ivies have yet to make a showing on the champions’ board, according to the tournament’s well-catalogued Wikipedia (a resource Jeopardy!-alum Williams was later quoted in the NY Times as frequently using… by the way…).

Make yourself useful over Feb break, study up on your world populations and famous quotes, and bring that cup back to Midd! Or, sit back on your couch a’whistlin’ that 30-second theme song (REEmix!), you daydreamer, you, and enjoy classic SNL spoofs and sassy Ken Jennings comments (below) .

(via Katie Clagett)

But no matter how much work you have, you’re going to find time to keep up with your favorite TV shows. The real question is if you’re making the right TV choices this Fall. Still stuck watching Grey’s, Lost, and Entourage? You need some new options:

Prof. Jason Mittell recommends (for more reviews visit Prof. Mittell’s blog):

• Curb Your Enthusiasm (Sundays at 9 p.m. EST on HBO):  I was an ardent fan of this show for the first three seasons, found the fourth season underwhelming, and then let HBO lapse without going back to the DVDs. So season 7 is a return for me, and so far, I’m loving it. There’s still nothing more cringe-worthy than Larry being Larry, and when it’s working, the joy of watching a perfectly structured episode is unmatched – the “Vehicular Fellatio” episode was spectacular. While last week’s episode was more shaggy than I like, I can’t wait to see how the Seinfeld anti-reunion plays out. A-
• Parks & Recreation (Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. EST on NBC): I enjoyed the first mini-season of this show last spring, recognizing that it was a work in progress with some solid talent on board. This season it’s made the leap, tackling some political topics with a great attitude and confidence. The penguin marriage episode was a highlight, and Louis CK’s guest role has been utterly charming. I only hope that NBC keeps it on despite weak ratings (but isn’t that the norm for all NBC shows these days?).  A-
• Community (Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on NBC):  I’m enjoying this series quite a bit – I expected the show to be much more frenetic and snarky in tone, but it’s actually a fairly traditional single-camera show. The characters still need more development and there’s been a weak storyline most episodes, but there’s a lot to work with and the performers seem up to the task. B+

The Campus recommends:

• Lie To Me (Mondays at 9 p.m. EST on Fox): After finding an audience in its first season and getting renewed for a second, the show made an intriguing decision – bringing in Shawn Ryan ’88, creator of “The Shield” and “The Unit,” to run the show.  Ryan, a Middlebury alum, is known not for one-episode procedural story arcs but rather for serial narrative stories.  Transitioning “Lie To Me” from a procedural to a serial, therefore, is an interesting decision. The series follows Dr. Cal Lightman, the world’s leading expert in deception.  He uses face-reading and physical cues to spot lies. Such a character could be captivating when involved in continuing personal storylines, rather than simply in solving cases. It would be interesting to see this ability develop in relationships and other scenarios outside of Cal’s career.
• Modern Family (Wednesday, at 9  p.m. EST on ABC): The show follows three families: a white suburban family with two kids, an overprotective mother and a dad just trying to be cool; a rich, older man remarried to a young Hispanic woman with a son; and a gay couple just back from adopting a daughter in China.  At the end of the first episode, you discover that the three families are related. …This show reminds me of “Arrested Development” but less risky and “The Office” but with less heart.

Middblog wants to know: what are you watching?

A value of TV, as epitomized by watching a Federer night match at the US Open, is that it is relaxing.  But it is important that we as college students (and as people) remember that we are not relaxing only to be able to perform better, whether academically, socially, or in other “serious” pursuits.   Watching Federer’s dominance is critical as an end to itself.  Yes, it’s important to relax in moderation; hedonistic pleasure should not be our only goal.  Nevertheless, kicking back must be valued.

For those of you in suites, sign up for cable is from 2-6 today in McCullough.  Federer faces Djokovic Saturday.

Note: I don’t mean to imply that the value of TV is only in relaxation; Jason Mittell’s class on the wire is an excellent example of the expressive value of TV.

For those of you who haven’t seen it, The Colbert Report is a satirical (and hilarious!) late-night TV show that criticizes politics, media, and just about everything else. Its fictional anchorman, Steven Colbert, is a right-wing bully who has often declared his skepticism of global warming. Going on The Colbert report is very exciting, and it gives us a chance to reach a very wide audience with the 350 message. It’s also a bit of a gamble—Colbert himself is sharp as a tack, and his writers come up with questions designed to embarrass and flummox his guests. Which is probably why Bill didn’t want to publicize tonight’s show.

We’ll let you know when we have the archived video of his appearance so you can watch it online. Just a few months ago, Middlebury’s President emertius John McCardell appeared on Colbert to advocate for Choose Responsibility.

Update: here’s the full episode that aired last night. And now, just McKibben’s segment.

On-campus group viewing locations (10AM onward?):

The Grille: It probably won’t be as crowded as Election Day coverage with Professor Dickinson, but students should flock to The Grille because you can maybe even get a little lunchtime goodness while commenting on whatever style Michelle Obama is wearing…

Dana Auditorium: You have to be a bit of a straight-shooter to hit up Dana. If you’re caught between classes or running off to meetings, swinging by Dana is your best bet because people come and go at will. Won’t be as raucous as The Grille but then again, that could be a good thing if you’re into starting to drink at 11AM…

Axinn 232: Join the film & media junkies in Axinn for a hoot and you may even see some faculty at this gig. Bring your popcorn and a buddy for this location.

Your Local Dorm TV Lounge: This is where it could get a little hairy as students party in style. Bring your solo cups and O-jamas (Obama PJs).

Online: Any number of sites will be streaming coverage live on the Web. Just make sure you’re not at the snowbowl and outside of WiFi range. A handful of Middkids are hitting up the Facebook integration with CNN.com and then live commenting through their facebook statuses. Similar to what MiddBlog did for our Election Day coverage but with online video integration. A sampling of comments so far:

“obamapalooza! anyone making baraktails?” -P.C. (’08.5)

“can’t watch the inauguration because “This product is not available in your service area.” G.S. (’10) from Japan

“feels like he’s standing on the top of a mountain, listening to the thundering entrance of the New Age.” – R.M (’09)

“awaiting renewal.” – J.H. (staff)

“amazed at the number of cases of hypothermia in the crowd.” – C.L. (alumnus)

“feels proud to be American today, watching Obama getting inaugurated from here in France!!!” A.L. (’09.5)

“had a ticket in the first section for inaug and was denied because they oversold.” – S.L. (’09)

“humbled, grateful and mindful…” – E.A. (’09)

And, finally if you can’t get enough:

“The Meaning of Barack Obama’s Election and Inauguration”

4:30 p.m., Juice Bar, McCullough

Associate Professor of History Bill Hart, Professor of American History and Culture Jim Ralph, College Communications Writer Maria Stadtmueller, and first year student Mugo Kennedy will lead a discussion on the 2008 Presidential Campaign and Inauguration.

And then the closer where Keith comes through with a nailbiter at the end…