R.E.M. and Dan Rather on The Late Show with David Letterman

This is a bizare event that only the 80's could produce!  Back in October 1986, Dan Rather was walking down a Manhattan street when he was punched from behind and thrown to the ground. His assailant kicked and beat him while repeating, "Kenneth, what is the frequency?"  At the time, nobody could explain the bizarre event.  Finally in 1997, Dan Rather identified the man that beat him up.  "The CBS anchorman said his assailant was William Tager, now in prison for killing an NBC stagehand outside the Today show in 1994. Tager was convinced the media had him under surveillance and were beaming hostile messages to him, and he demanded that Rather tell him the frequency being used, according to a forensic psychiatrist who examined Tager after the NBC shooting."  Apparently, Tager was not stalking Rather, but accidentally encountered him.  It's straight out of Conspiracy Theory.  The attack inspired the 1994 R.E.M. hit "What's the Frequency, Kenneth." [Listen]  Being a good sport, Dan Rather accompanied the band when they performed the song on Late Show with David Letterman.  Now, there's an off-Broadway play about the incident.

After reading this, it made me curious about that Phil Collins song, in the Air Tonight.  I've heard for years that it's about Phil Collins watching his friend drown, as he helplessly watched from far away.  In addition, there was a man who could have rescued the friend, but just stood idly by.  Then, Phil writes a song about the experience and give the man a front row ticket to the show.  While he sings the song to him, the spotlight is on the man in the front row.  Sound familiar?

You want to know why barber shop poles have red and white stripes?

The symbolism of the barber pole goes back to the barber/surgeon of the Middle Ages. In addition to cutting hair, he'd pull teeth, let blood, use leeches, lance boils. He'd hang his bandages out to dry, and they'd blow in the wind and twist around red and white together.

If you needed dental work, enemas, or wound surgery during this time, the barber/surgeon was the man to visit. A pole painted red and white (to represent blood and bandages) was an advertisement to potential patients. By the 19th century, barbers began focusing on hair styling and snipping, leaving the ER work to the doctors. The distinctive striped pole remained however.

It's not quite as clear what the blue stripe of a barber pole represents. One interpretation says the blue stands for veins. Marvey believes the blue stripe was added during the turn of the century as a patriotic gesture.

I just watched the trailer for Alexander.  I swear, sometimes Colin Farrell can sound like such an American.  "Conquer your fear, and I promise, you will conquer death!"  He sounded like some macho quarterback giving a pep talk to his team.

Alexander the Great, one of the greatest military intellects in history, conquered much of was what was then the civilized world. Taught by his tutor Aristotle to believe that the Greeks were the most advanced people in the world.  Alexander created a huge empire, encompassing Macedonia, Egypt, Syria, Persia and Asia Minor, but died drunk at the age of 33.

[On June 10th 323 BCE, Alexander the Great died. Historians such as Faure speculated that his death was caused by extreme consumption of alcohol during the celebrations after the defeat of Persia and India and died of a pancreatic ailment. Others wonder whether Alexander died due to fever from malaria inflicted from a mosquito bite (Theulé 56). Alexander's death is still a mystery.  richeast.org]