Things That Need Major Renovation

Yes of course the shutdown continues, mostly because no one will buy John Boehner a table. So...

Twitter is planning an IPO. Is that like IHOP? I'm not sure, but I do know this. If you want to Tweet, you go to Twitter. If you put your money on Tweeter, you are a Twit.

Stephen talked about his favorite Congresswoman/Piano Teacher Who Sits Too Close To You Michele Bachmann. He is sad because she is not going to run for re-election in 2014. Luckily someone is ready to step into her shoes and fill her void as soon as she is out of there. It's Tom Emmer. Interesting tidbit. He has a commercial which highlights his run for office as well as a business enterprise that will put siding on your house. Wow. Stephen wondered why no one has done this before. Mixing politics and private business and endorsements, and stuff like that in the same commercial. The reason why is going to hit your funny bone. Stephen explained it to us. It's kind of illegal! It was (future?) friend of the show Sally Jo Sorensen that spotted that ad and blogged about it here.

Tom Hanks was Stephen's guest on Wednesday. It's sort of a deja vu week. Is that the right term??? We had a boat guy guest on Monday night (James Spithill) and now Tom Hanks talking about his new boat film, "Captain Phillips." And we had some Minnesota politics with Tom Emmer and the other stars in the "Captain Phillips" film are from Minnesota!

Anyway, Tom Hanks was his usual intelligent, witty self, which is why he's so popular, I guess. The two men had a fascinating discussion about beards and how that can affect the personality of the beard grower. (It takes muscles to grow a beard, by the way.) Stephen asked a simple question halfway through the interview. "You actually shot this..." and Tom Hanks finished the sentence for him, "on film." Not quite what Stephen was fishing for. But they actually shot it on board one of the Maersk ships. We even learned a bit of technical pirate tactics. With the ships loaded with stacks of cargo containers, it is very difficult to get on board. But the pirates in the movie went to Home Depot and bought a ladder. So, apparently, one of the first times that ladder technology was used. Stephen had to resort to 20 questions to get more answers from Tom Hanks, but still a great interview.

So, if you are looking for a movie to go to this weekend, how about "Captain Phillips?"