Alfred Hitchcock quotes

The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.

If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on.

Someone once told me that every minute a murder occurs, so I don't want to waste your time, I know you want to go back to work.

In feature films the director is God; in documentary films God is the director

When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, 'It's in the script.' If he says, 'But what's my motivation?, ' I say, 'Your salary.'"

from http://thinkexist.com/quotation/i_never_said_all_actors_are_cattle-what_i_said/220806.html

Man Changes Name to "Captain Awesome"

In a move that seems like it was lifted straight out of an episode of 'The Simpsons,' an Oregon man has legally changed his name to Captain Awesome. The name change wasn't in homage to lovable oaf Homer's brief stint as Max Power (a name so great it vaulted him into Springfield's power elite), but was instead inspired by the television show 'Chuck.' That show features a character named Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb.

Australian news site News.com reports that Douglas Allen Smith Jr. , an unemployed cabinet maker, appeared before an Oregon judge to make it official last month. After verifying that Smith was 100% serious about the name change (and really, could anyone who wanted to be known as Captain Awesome be anything less than totally committed?), the judge approved Smith's new moniker.

From http://blog.moviefone.com/2010/12/07/captain-awesome-name-change/

Cognitive Dissonance

Overview
According to cognitive dissonance theory, (developed by Leon Festinger, 957) there is a tendency for individuals to seek consistency among their cognitions (i.e., beliefs, opinions).
When there is an inconsistency between attitudes or behaviours (dissonance), something must change to eliminate the dissonance. In the case of a discrepancy between attitudes and behaviour, it is most likely that the attitude will change to accommodate the behaviour.
Two factors affect the strength of the dissonance: the number of dissonant beliefs, and the importance attached to each belief. There are three ways to eliminate dissonance:
(1) reduce the importance of the dissonant beliefs,
(2) add more consonant beliefs that outweigh the dissonant beliefs, or
(3) change the dissonant beliefs so that they are no longer inconsistent.
Dissonance occurs most often in situations where an individual must choose between two incompatible beliefs or actions. The greatest dissonance is created when the two alternatives are equally attractive. Furthermore, attitude change is more likely in the direction of less incentive since this results in lower dissonance. In this respect, dissonance theory is contradictory to most behavioural theories which would predict greater attitude change with increased incentive (i.e., reinforcement).

Example:
Consider someone who buys an expensive car but discovers that it is not comfortable on long drives. Dissonance exists between their beliefs that they have bought a good car and that a good car should be comfortable.
Dissonance could be eliminated by

    * deciding that it does not matter since the car is mainly used for short trips (reducing the importance of the dissonant belief) or
    * focusing on the cars strengths such as safety, appearance, handling (thereby adding more consonant beliefs).

The dissonance could also be eliminated by getting rid of the car, but this behaviour is a lot harder to achieve than changing beliefs.

from http://tip.psychology.org/festinge.html

Black tie

Unlike white tie, which is very strictly regulated, black-tie ensembles can display more variation. In brief, the traditional components are:

• A jacket with ribbed silk facings (usually grosgrain) on a shawl collar or peaked lapel (while a notched lapel is a popular modern choice, it is not traditionally considered correct)
• Trousers with a single silk or satin braid covering the outer seams
• A low-cut waistcoat or cummerbund
• A white dress shirt with a turn-down or wing collar collar, shirt studs (optional), and cufflinks (a marcella front is traditional, but other styles are also accepted. A black ribbed silk bow tie matching the lapel facings (self-tie bow ties are preferred but not necessary)
• Black dress socks, usually silk or fine wool
• Black shoes, highly polished or patent leather Oxfords, or patent leather court shoes

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_tie

White tie

White tie, or formal evening dress is strictly regulated, and properly comprises:

• Black tailcoat with silk (grosgrain or satin) facings, horizontally cut-away at the front
• Black trousers with a single stripe of satin or braid in the US or two stripes in Europe; trousers are fish-tail back, thus worn with braces instead of a belt.
• White plain stiff-fronted cotton shirt (usually cotton marcella (US: piqué))
• White stiff-winged collar
• White bow tie (usually cotton marcella (US: piqué))
• White low-cut waistcoat (usually cotton marcella (US: piqué), matching the bow tie and shirt, which should not extend below the front of the tailcoat)
• Black silk stockings (long socks)
• Black court shoes

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_tie

What is a Dobson Unit?

A dobson unit is the most basic measure used in ozone research.

The unit is named after G.M.B. Dobson, one of the first scientists to investigate atmospheric ozone (~1920 - 1960). He designed the 'Dobson Spectrometer' - the standard instrument used to measure ozone from the ground. The Dobson spectrometer measures the intensity of solar UV radiation at four wavelengths, two of which are absorbed by ozone and two of which are not.

From http://jwocky.gsfc.nasa.gov/dobson.html

Stu Ungar, poker legend

Stu Ungar is considered by most professional poker players to be the best Texas Holdem poker player who ever lived. No poker player equals Stu’s reputation, and currently the only player who could contend is Phil Ivey. Honestly he has a good chance with his WSOP main event final table.

If this were not enough, he is also widely considered to be the greatest player of gin rummy who ever lived, and gin rummy is a rather different game than poker without any bluff occurring.
Stu Ungar was so good at gin rummy and dominated his opponents so artfully than he could not find player willing to play gin for money. This is why he turned to poker and became once more the best player in his game.

Stu Ungar is the only poker player to have won the WSOP main event competition three times (Johnny Moss won three times as well by the first time was by vote). He also has the highest winning rate ever in high buy-in tournaments, winning over ten in the thirty he enrolled in.

from http://ungarpoker.com/