The Mental Nomad Podcast: Podsafe music from all over the world. Pod Across America: A journey across America, one state at a time. And other feats yet to be revealed.
A shorter no-talker today. Been busy with winding down the job and moving, but I hope to have the next Pod Across America out Saturday and resume normal shows next week.
Tracks 1 and 9 come from the IODA Promonet and may be downloaded below for as long as their promotions remain in effect. (Again, no Bizarro Files this week, I'm afraid. Hopefully next week.) Tracks 6 and 12 were picked up at Magnatune, and the rest come via Ariel Publicity.
Been a couple of weeks since I've done one of these. I'll do better, I swear. I'm heading into my last few days at work and will soon have an excess of free time.
Name:Lizzy Caplan Hometown: Los Angeles, according to her Wikipedia entry Best Known For: Caplan's highest-profile gig to date has probably been six nudity-filled episodes of HBO's True Blood. There seems to be a theme in her career, with an appearance on the Fox science fiction series Tru Calling and a possible upcoming film called True Love also on her resume.
She co-stars on Starz's sitcom Party Down and had regular roles on the short-lived WB drama Related and the short-lived CBS comedy The Class, also. She also had a role in the monster flick Cloverfield a couple of years ago (which prompted her to say that in the future, she'd want more information before signing up for a project) and was seen on screen this year in Hot Tub Time Machine. The Courteney Cox Factor: Caplan appeared in the video for Jason Mraz's song "You and I Both."
Humble Beginnings: High school performances included Much Ado About Nothing, Wikipedia notes. Early bit parts included the TV series Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared and the movie Orange County. She appeared in the film Mean Girls playing a character named for singer-songwriter Janis Ian, played an ex-girlfriend of Mischa Barton's character on the family drama Once and Again, and appeared twice on Smallville as a "freak of the week." Obligatory Edgy Stuff: I did mention she was all sorts of naked on True Blood, right? I haven't seen the episodes yet -- I'm working my way through season one but am just two episodes into it -- but I enjoyed the stills when they popped up a couple of years ago.
(Don't you judge me, Earl Hickey.) Why Ye Olde Podcaster Likes Her: The attitude her character projected on The Class was what drew me to her -- snarky as hell, but with some vulnerable soul hiding underneath. (That show was fantastic, with great turns from Caplan, Jason Ritter and ... urm, that red-haired guy from Modern Family, and David Keith, among others. Sorta the anti-Friends -- too bad it only lasted one season.)
Her work on Party Down (from Paul Rudd and Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas, among others) keeps up that trend, casting her as a young and not so happily married struggling actress who works with a catering company to pay the bills.
And she's hot. I'll confess to being shallow. Shameless Commerce: Amazon and iTunes links follow. Any affiliate payments earned from your purchase or rental will help pay the hosting fees for my podcasts, so please consider clicking.
More or less a no-talker today. I wasn't feeling too hot when I put this together -- headache after getting a vaccination required by one of my graduate school possibilities. Today blends blues, jazz, rock and world sounds into a 71-minute mix.
Jaime Heras: "If Right Is Wrong Left Must Be Right" (Jamendo)
The Dada Weatherman: "Melancholy for Eternity" (Jamendo)
(Total play time: 1:11:41)
Tracks 1 and 12 come via Magnatune; tracks 4, 9, 16 and 17 are courtesy of Jamendo; tracks 5, 6, 10 and 14 are IODA Promonet tracks and may be downloaded below for as long as their promotions last; and the rest are Ariel Publicity clients. No Bizarro Files today.
No major holidays or festivals jumped out at me for today, but I'm happy to tell you The Manliest Damn Thing You'll Read All Day: The "Four Dead in Five Seconds" gunfight (and really, do you need much more context than that?) happened El Paso, Texas this day in 1881.
Notable folks born on this day includeAnne Sullivan, the teacher of Helen Keller (1866-1936); English actor Sir John Gielgud (1904-2000); American actor Rod Steiger (1925-2002); American policeman Frank Serpico (born in 1936); actor John Shea (born 1949); science fiction author Bruce Sterling (born 1954); British actor Robert Carlyle (born 1961); American actor Anthony Michael Hall (born 1968); actor Adrien Brody (born 1973); actress Sarah Michelle Gellar (born 1977); former Everwood co-star Vivien Cardone (born 1993); and Little Miss Sunshine star Abigail Breslin (born 1996).
Prominent people who died this day include German composer George Frideric Handel (1685-1759); Polish linguist Ludovich Lazarus Zamenhof, creator of Esperanto (1859-1917); French feminist author Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986); American singer and actor Burl Ives (1909-1995); and Hawaiian American singer Don Ho (1930-2007).
The pioneers of the Donner Party set out from Springfield, Ill., for California this day in 1846, beginning what Wikipedia dubbed a "year-long journey of hardship, cannibalism, and survival." (Sounds a lot like watching The Fifth Element but probably less painful.)
Actor turned assassin John Wilkes Booth shot U.S. President Abraham Lincoln this day in 1865 in Ford's Theatre. On the same day, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward (who invented Alaska) and his family were attacked in their home by one Lewis Powell.
The British passenger liner RMS Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 11:40 p.m. this day in 1912. Good think it was designed to be unsinkable. (It sank the next morning, killing 1,517 people, but hey, at least a lot of the rich people survived.)
Videotape was first demonstrated in Chicago on this day in 1956. Paris Hilton's past life invented the sex tape later that evening or the next day at the latest.
The Academy Awards were presented this day in 1969, with Katherine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand receiving a rare tie in the race for Best Actress.
Topping the U.S. singles chart on this day in history: The Fifth Dimension's "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" (1969), The Beatles' "Let It Be" (1970), Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World" (1971), Elton John's "Philadelphia Freedom" (1975), Blondie's "Call Me" (1980), Prince and the Revolution's "Kiss" (1986), Aretha Franklin and George Michael's "I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me)" (1987), Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy" (1989), and Wilson Phillips' "You're in Love" (1991).
And the Human Genome Project wrapped up its work this day in 2003, with 99 percent of the human genetic map sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99 percent. George W. Bush took a nice nap with his blankie.
History: Wikipedia. Music: This site. Snark: All me, baby.
Here's what you'll hear today (right-click to download MP3 or to open in a new tab or window):
Javelin
"Vibrationz" (mp3) 
Buy at Napster
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album
No major holidays or festivals jumped out at me for today, but I'm happy to tell you The Manliest Damn Thing You'll Read All Day: The 