Lies, D@%$ Lies, and Statistics

A Facebook "friend" of mine posted on his Facebook page a link to this article, "Diet drinks "DO help you lose weight!"

Funny, huh? And even funnier when you consider the context: He wrote, "Can't stop laughing. You can find evidence to support about any position. Just Monday I was being told that the huge Chinese study says that plant based diets are the bees' knees, only to get home and find my wife watching a long documentary on how me are built to eat largely meat based diets. So now evil, diet sodas, that supposedly caused weight gain, are better than water for weight loss... go figure. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2640557/Diet-drinks-DO-help-lose-weight-Study-finds-theyre-effective-water-alone.html.

I followed the link and glanced at the study. Sure enough, it was funded by the American Beverage Association. I'm probably not the only person who would be surprised if that group found water to be better than soft drinks!

I mean, give me a break! Here is a perfect example of the kinds of advertising---because this whole study is obviously just another form of advertising---and some real, scientific, unbiased studies---are misrepresenting facts, making conclusions not founded in reality, and messing with people's minds.

Is it any wonder no one trusts scientists, doctors, the government, or any of their work any more?

So, I'm going to be writing in coming days about study design, statistics, and so-called "science reporting."

Comic Relief

I love Bloody Mary from South Pacific. The comic relief isn't just to be funny, though: it has to advance the plot, bring in some conflict, or give some of the back-story.

(And they even got Alec Baldwin to do the "Nothin' Like a Dame" song:

One Enchanted Evening and This Nearly Was Mine

Sad love songs, full of longing and/or regret:

One Enchanted Evening, sung by Placido Domingo:

This Nearly Was Mine, sung by Brian Stokes Mitchell:

One thing I love about the second song is how themes, in words and melody, are woven in from the first song. Brilliant!

A Gentleman's Guide --- and Annie

I'm looking at classic and current musicals as I'm thinking about structure---because I think structure is going to be the key to a fun, and therefore successful, musical.

Looking at what's on Broadway now: I thought of "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder" because the cast was on the Tonight Show last Friday performing one of their songs, "I Don't Understand the Poor."

It's funny, but when I looked at more of it on YouTube.com, I was disappointed.

I don't want that kind of stuffy English drawing-room comedy.  And I want some real love, not having to kill 8 people who stand in your way of getting a lordship or whatever.


So then I found this medley of songs from Annie:

And I think this gives the kind of feeling I'm looking for in my story of the Colonel and his wife, in addition to showing the perfect structure for a musical.

More

And Still More Photos

And More Photos