Quirky Delights

One thing I love about the internet is that it give access to a world of wonderful, quirky things.

Just A Minute
Nowhere but the British Broadcasting Corporation would have a radio program such as this. Just a Minute is a quiz show on the BBC Radio 4. It's rules are simple - speak on a subject for one minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation. Within that simplicity is a devilish trial. Think about it. Could you talk for sixty seconds, extemporaneously, without any of the hemming or stuttering or "you know" verbal crutches we use to allow our brains to catch up with our mouths? Not the slightest hesitation. And could you do it without even once repeating any single word a second time? If your first line is "He threw the book against a wall," then "threw," "book," "against," and "wall" are all forbidden for the rest of the minute. Tricky if the subject is "War and Peace." (Yes, they do allow the little words to be repeated, but not too frequently.)

Most of the contestants are comics trained in improvisation. It's fun and quintessentially British.

Says You
Another game show, of sorts, out of WBGH, Boston public radio, Says You is what the Algonquin Round Table would have sounded like if they had done radio. They describe it as a simple game of "bluff and bluster, words and whimsy." Clearly a labor of love by a collection of very smart, very witty Bostonians, Says You is the only radio program in the world that requires you to have a pen and paper to listen. It is really impossible to describe. Go take a listen.

Starlet Showcase
No radio show this, it is a simple blog that features pictures of actresses from the silent screen to the recent past. Glamorous, sexy, and (rare for the internet) not a hint of porn. The pictures the blogger, C. Parker, finds are a treat.

About San Diego
Purely for local San Diegans or San Diego expatriots, this is a television show that tells the little, out of the way stories about San Diego, California and its history. They tell the story of the "Lady in White" ghost haunting Anza Borrego Desert. There is the story of General William Rosecrans strange non-connection to San Diego.