Tag Archives: mark twain

Mash-up apotheosis?

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I believe that John Hodgman may have achieved the apotheosis of Internet-type mash-ups. The following YouTube clip is video evidence of Dana Gould, doing his impersonation of Maurice Evans, portraying Dr. Zaius, doing a scene from Hal Holbrook’s “Mark Twain Tonight”. Why was this thing done? Do you really need to know? Is it not enough for you that this exists? It’s possible the reasons for this mash-up are lost to the ages.

Now, I say Internet-type mash-ups, because the Internet was not able to provide this on its own. Sure, it’s being provided on YouTube, a part of the Internet, but the entire production required professional help.

Thank you professionals.

Alltop also likes steamboats. No, motorboats. Alltop enjoys motorboats.

The 14 people you need to help you decide if you should publish or not

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There are three things that I love about this:

  1. they are tremendous and witty words of wisdom from Mark Twain.
  2. it is narrated by John Lithgow, who’s voice alone makes me laugh.
  3. the sleeping man scares me, and reminds me to be entertaining, as he should.

In Twain’s own words:

“But the man whom I most depend upon is the man who always goes to sleep. If he drops off within 15 minutes, I burn the book. If he keeps awake three quarters of an hour, I publish, and I publish with the greatest confidence, too. For the intent of my books is to entertain and by making this man comfortable on a sofa and timing him, I can tell, within a shade or two, what degrees of success I’m going to achieve.”

–Mark Twain

via Brain Pickings, and the New York Public Library’s Live from NYPL program.