I am not a big Billy Joel fan — in that after a minute of his music starting to play I want to reach inside both my ears with salad tongs and pull my brain out — but watch this video. If, like me, you are not a big fan, skip to the 1:59 mark. See the guy with the glasses? Who do you think he is? No cheating by reading the video comments!
Hint: he’s a famous skeptic.
The answer in the box below. Click and drag your mouse inside the box to read it.
| It’s my close personal friend Adam Savage, from the Mythbusters! FWIW, he told me to call him "my very good friend", but if I’m gonna name-drop, it’ll be on my terms. |
For the sake of others, please don’t reveal who it is in the comments for the first, oh, say, ten comments. By then they’ll be below the fold and it won’t ruin the surprise.
And more trivia: he was in a Charmin toilet paper commercial as a wee ginger lad, too. I can’t find a copy of it online, sadly.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Wow. That doesn’t look like him at all. I knew who you meant when you mentioned the Charmin commercial, though.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Ah, skeptics, like wooden nickels we keep showing up in the most unusual places,,,
GAry 7
August 10th, 2008 at 10:12 am
You don’t like Billy Joel???
The only way I wouldn’t like him is if he had to drive me anywhere.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Dear Phil, It’s obvious to me that you won’t need salad tongs to pull your brain out. A simple pair of tweezers ought to do the trick. Sincerely, Billy Joel
August 10th, 2008 at 10:18 am
I see the face of Jesus!
August 10th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Man…I dunno about anyone else, but, I’d say it looks like Mr. Pixelation to me. Am I doing something wrong that I can’t even begin to make out a face in this very low quality video??
August 10th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Billy Joel’s not one of those musicians I like, but he does have some great songs. But, I just wouldn’t go too out of my way to see him in concert or pick up one of CDs or whatnots.
Other than that, is it sad that I actually remember that Charmin commercial?
August 10th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Hey now Bilyl Joel ain’t so bad…OMG is that what he looks like with hair!!
August 10th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Oh Crap, For clarification……at the 1:59 mark there are a group of graduates, one of whom is wearing glasses, and that’s about all you see, a guy wearing glasses tusseling about with his friends. Continuing on in the video, a nerdy looking kid is “Saved” from drowning and his face is quite clear, this is the subject of the “Guess The Geek in Cameo” game here. So if you wanted to freeze frame the moment, it would be at 2:30.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Barely president of the JREF, and already you’re fishing for your first schism.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Hey, it’s Michael Shermer!
(just kidding, heh heh)
August 10th, 2008 at 10:50 am
I recognized him when is hat blew off.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:51 am
WRT BJ: I like “Goodnight Saigon”.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Yuck. Must… cleanse… ears… with… Melt-Banana…
August 10th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I’m curious now, what kind of music does The Bad Astronomer like?
Myself, I like a little of everything, Metal, Jazz, Blues, etc.
August 10th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Was that Adam Savage?
August 10th, 2008 at 11:16 am
That’s what I thought! Hilarious. I do hate Billy Joel though.
August 10th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Never would have recognized him.
August 10th, 2008 at 11:29 am
He’s also in an amateurish but not terrible movie called “After the World Ended,” where he plays (surprise) a guy who’s good with gadgets.
August 10th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Holy crap, it’s Waldo!
August 10th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
wow, ease up on billy joel guys. I don’t know anybody that lived through the 80s that didn’t do some really embarrassing stuff. Go listen to some of his 70s stuff.
August 10th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I’m not a big fan of Billy Joel either but it’s not like I’m going to perform wall-to-wall projectile vomiting when I hear him, I’ll preserve that particular event till someone puts a steaming plate of haggis in front of me.
I would never have recognised bleep if I hadn’t been told.
August 10th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Phil I think you want to edit your entry to say that the mystery man appears from 1:56 to 2:40 in two scenes.
I like this song.
August 10th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
The mystery man is also at the 3:17 mark over the grave and at the 3:51 mark in the wedding scene.
August 10th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Sorry, but Piano Man and Scenes in an Italian restaurant are two if the best songs ever. And that’s from a Black Sabbathv/ Wishbone Ash fan.
August 10th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
So, what’s the difference between “my close personal friend “and “my very good friend”? Which is better? Seems a rather curious distinction to make,
August 10th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
@Kevin F: My niece lives on Long Island, and whenever we visit, she tells us to drive carefully, because Billy Joel may be on the road.
@Phil: This is just great. I can just see the CT comments after the Mythbusters Moon Hoax episode. Adam isn’t a mythbuster….he is an ACTOR!!!!!1111eleventy-eleven
August 10th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Ahh, Phil, you’re just ticked that he ruined your chance with Christie…
It’s so ugly when a nerd cries.
August 10th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
“This video is not available in your country”.
Great, so I guess I must spoil myself and highlight the box.
August 10th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
And here’s another proof that some people DO get sexier as they age.
August 10th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
The contents of the box are plainly visible in the RSS feed.
August 10th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Not a Billy Joel fan (from what I have heard of him), but I am a fan of his music. The man is unquestionably quite talented, but he unfortunately seems to believe that his gift makes him an all-around more important instance of a human. Another result of our pop culture society, I guess.
I have no problem separating the artist from the art and will continue to listen to his music on occasion, but I won’t be joining his fan club any time soon.
August 10th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
@Thomas Siefert: I know it seems like haggis ought to be gross, but it’s actually incredibly bland.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Billy Joel doesn’t do it for me, either. Thus, the mute button is my friend
August 10th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
@Thomas Siefert and Wildride: I had some haggis when I visited Scotland recently, and I thought it was pretty darn tasty. Is there a lot of variance in preparation from place to place or something?
Oh, and I wouldn’t have recognized Adam if I hadn’t cheated and read the box first.
August 10th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
*wags finger*
Well, sir, a man so clearly unfit to judge musical genius should NOT be president of JREF!
I, for one, shall begin my letter writing campaign posthaste! Right after I get done rocking out to Creed!
August 10th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
BA really doesn’t like like Billy Joel– enough to risk brain salad surgery. Hmm
Who does BA like?
Could it be Neil Diamond?
Or–GASP!—Barry Manilow?
Well, it doesn’t really matter now, as the LHC just ended the world.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
@C: Wasn’t that title “Ever Since the World Ended”? Just askin’ …
August 10th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Even if you dislike Billy Joel as a person, his music will live on and eventually only the music historians and trivia buffs will make any note of his antics. Many musicians through history have been less than steller personalities and yet leave their mark in the musical world. Quite a few of his tunes get cranked if they come on the radio while I’m driving down the highway.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
I’m proud of myself that I immediately knew who it was after reading “Charmin commercial”.
Fun fact: James Randi was in a Bounce commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqk3wzGyBho
Is there something about fabric softener, toilet paper, and other hosuehold products that skeptics are drawn to?
August 10th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
I used to like reading your blog when it mainly stayed on the topic of astronomy. Sorry Phil, but you have sold out and become a boorish name-dropping fanboy. No one cares with who you have been hobnobbing. You’ve also bought into Al Gore’s global warming idiocy. Only James Hansen at NASA/GISS support’s that and that’s based on a highly flawed model using dubious input (garbage in-garbage out). They won’t even publish their method of analysis which speaks volumes. As a scientist and skeptic, you should know that just dismissing others arguments without backing up your position with facts is NOT scientific. I was considering buying your next book, but I’ll pass.
August 10th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
More like 1:56, phil, you can see adam graduate.
August 10th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
jtradke: Creed! Boom goes the internets
August 11th, 2008 at 12:31 am
Why’d the guy climb the bridge? Wouldn’t it have been easier to just walk out onto the span and climb over the rail?
Is he on the trip too? How’d you find this tidbit out, Phil? Drunken confession? Seasickness-induced delirium?
@ None of Your Business: Bring it up in a related post or piss off. Your “points” have been dissected and scattered to the winds a dozen times over here. Better yet, make this blog truly “None of Your Business” and take your tired tomfool talking points elsewhere. Glenn Beck’s dumb enough to still buy that crap (that or dishonest enough to still disseminate it). Go post there and be warmly embraced by your fellow ignorant brethren.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:22 am
I give up trying to download videos. My laptop plays them too slowly.
August 11th, 2008 at 6:12 am
I’m pretty sure the lifeguard is actually Jamie Hyneman.
August 11th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Oh yeah! Didn’t they show it on one episode of Mythbuster or something? At least, didn’t they mention it?
August 11th, 2008 at 7:10 am
About Adam being on commercial, I meant.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Dang. I’ve been familiar with this video for years. It was included in a double disk of greatest hits years ago. I had no idea who that kid with glasses was! Sheesh.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:01 am
The graduation clip was actually shot at my high school, Monsignor Farrell, in Staten Island, NY. I was a junior at the time and specifically remember the whole set up and break down of all their gear; although I was not present when they filmed it. I never realized Adam was in the music video even though I’ve watched that specific segment of the video dozens of times over the years.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Haggis should be neither bland, nor gross. There are considerably worse ways to consume meat.
It’s one of the things I miss most about not living in Scotland anymore.
August 11th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Entrails are not meat.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Phil, I’m sorry this Billy Joel song makes you want to kill yourself. That runs counter to the message in the video.
Perhaps you’d prefer old school.
August 11th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
bjn Says:
Entrails are not meat.
You’re right: they are hot dogs and sausages.
August 11th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Jase Says:
Haggis should be neither bland, nor gross. There are considerably worse ways to consume meat.It’s one of the things I miss most about not living in Scotland anymore.
There is a cure for missing haggis. This place is pretty spendy, but their products are great. (This is not a commercial I do not work for them. It is merely a tip to aid a person in need).
http://www.caledoniankitchen.com
They have several varieties in tins or frozen. The one thing I have not been able to bring myself to try is the –gag– vegetarian haggis! Talk about an oxymoron. FDA law prevents them from using the lights–so to some this is haggis light, as it were.
Oh–and they are now carrying Irn Bru.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I had NO CLUE that was him in that video. I remember seeing that video way back when, and certainly rememebred the character he played, but never made the connection to the current fellow we know so well
Bravo!
August 11th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
@ Dave Hall:
You’re wrong on that, sausages are all lips and anuses filled into rectums.
August 11th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
I like “Only the Good Die Young” by Mr. Joel. It’s a nice atheist-boy-meets-catholic-girl love song…
Lyrics: http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Only-The-Good-Die-Young-lyrics-Billy-Joel/956D520953E906A248256870001B64DD
August 12th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Thomas Siefert Says:
You’re wrong on that, sausages are all lips and anuses filled into rectums.
I’m not eating at your house!!
When I make sausages, I use standard sized casings which are made from the small intestines. What you describes would make one bigass sausage.
August 12th, 2008 at 1:24 am
Gee, “none of your business,” where have you been the last TWO YEARS?! Phil’s blog has never been about just astronomy. It’s always been about the principal of skepticism, just applied through the career and subject he knows best, which is astronomy.
I think if you ever actually read the blog at all, you’d know this. Either that or your intelligence is just too sub par.
August 12th, 2008 at 7:43 am
You don’t like Billy Joel?!? Crazyness.
Admittedly, I don’t love this particular song, but some of his others are awesome.
Further, since I was too young in the 80s to have followed any of the Billy-Joel-related torrid gossip, I am unsullied and can just enjoy the music. Sometimes it’s nice to be too young for your music.
August 12th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Ok, I’ll take your {name edited out} and raise you a Penn & Teller. They even dance!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C2b8XWJnfE
I find this video interesting because Penn has changed a lot, Teller has lost a little more hair but otherwise looks the same and it was done 22 years ago.