Kory Stamper knows Danielson

Somewhere I once stumbled upon an attractive nerd girl with a tiny bit of a following on the web- This was Kory Stamper who was one of the Merriam-Webster lexicographers who appear in their fascinating YouTube videos. I made a 'Crush of the Day' thread on my message board featuring her vids and moved on with a subscription to that channel.

The Merriam-Webster website has a fun feature where they select a Word of the Day. Yesterday's word was menagerie which caught my notice as I had just watched the two-part episodes of the original Star Trek with that word as their titles. I wanted to leave a clever comment about this word for other possible Trek fans, but couldn't find a comment link anywhere on the site. What I did find lead me down an interesting train of thought.

I fond Kory Stamper' blog. I will now quote my inquiry to show you where this went next:

1. jeffrywith1e

   May 23, 2012 at 8:38 am

   Kory, I have a question for you based on a thin hunch- and if I’m wrong it could be completely meaningless…..

   Have you heard of the band called the Danielson Famile? If so, have you met them or do you know them?

   Here’s the line of thought-
   1. Your last name is Stamper
   2. You are with Merriam-Webster
   3. The Merriam-Webster Podcast’s theme song is credited to Joshua Stamper- relatively safe assumption that this could be a spouse or sibling
   4. Copyright with New Jerusalem Music
   5. New Jerusalem Music is heavily associated with the wonderful and crazy band Danielson Famile.
   6. Therefore… if Kory knows Joshua in any way… then there’s a chance she’s met the folks at New Jerusalem and there the chances of her knowing the band would seem pretty good.

   Or my whole theory lands in the grass way out in left field.

   Reply
   • korystamper

     May 23, 2012 at 11:22 am

     Wow, that’s some serious sleuthing. Should I be worried that you’ve put this much thought into my connections with Danielson?

     The quick answer is yes, HOME RUN, I absolutely know the Danielson Famile and all the fine people at New Jerusalem Music & Sounds Familyre Records. (I’m also a big fan of Joshua Stamper, seeing as how I’m his wife).

     Reply
     • jeffrywith1e

       May 24, 2012 at 8:00 am

       That’s awesome! It wasn’t much thought- (other than making sure my grammar was correct whilst trying to communicate with a lexicographer (did I use ‘whilst’ correctly!?!)). It was a flash thought. It took way more time composing the question than it did to come to the conclusion. The moment I saw Joshua Stamper and New Jerusalem I thought you probably had heard of Danielson. Not many have. And fewer actually like them. My brother and I love the band and were even able to see them once in Minneapolis.

       I’m a big fan of these strange little coincidences.

       Well, now I have another question. You said you absolutely know them. Do you like them? They are an acquired taste as far as music styles go. Of the people I’ve met who’ve heard, or heard of them, or I’ve attempted to introduce Danielson to- few love them and most despise them.

       Reply
       • korystamper

         May 24, 2012 at 8:47 am

         I do like Danielson! Definitely an acquired taste, but I am rather fond of odd things.
     • jeffrywith1e

       May 24, 2012 at 8:04 am

       BTW, I’ve been looking around and listening to some of Joshua’s music online. This is some good stuff. I’m a fan now, too. Different reason than yours, however.

       Reply

So there we have it. Kory and her husband, Joshua are very closely connected to our beloved Danielson Famile.

I love these strange coincidences.

Bolero

I've been listening to a lot of classical music lately. Especially at work while dispatching buses. Pop music and the like (usually 89.3 the Current) is intolerable for some reason while working. More epic classical seems to work well. Lately, in particular I've been fond of Maurice Ravel's Bolero.



An interesting note about Bolero, elements of this piece were used in the music for the famous fight scene in the original Star Trek episode Amok Time, where Kirk and Spock fight each other because Spock's betrothed wife picked Kirk as her champion.

4 Year Anniversary & NCC 1701

Cara and I have been married for four years. Each year has been better than the last.

To celebrate we took Jack to our friend's house and went to an early showing of STAR TREK:

Cara and I saw it finally for our 4th anniversary yesterday. It was fantastic. I agree with Jesse that it cleaned out every bit of its arse with the Star Wars movies. Kirk was great. Pine made the character his own without falling into a Shatner impersonation. Quinto, however, channeled Nemoy with his performance. Spot on. I thought Nemoy, himself, was a bit off character, actually. They succeeded in re-imaging an old and great franchise while keeping with the original continuity in a way. The one criticism I have is there are a few HUGE plot holes requiring a great deal of suspension of disbelief. More than usual for Star Trek. The action and thrill makes it easy to forgive these plot shortcomings. It was beautiful and has made me really like Star Trek more than ever in my life (like, I actually want to own this movie!). But I think Firefly/Serenity and Battlestar Galactica are still superior sci-fi products. [link to discussion]

We left the theater and went directly to Red Lobster. When all was said and done, we were home again with Jack around 5PM. It was a great and relaxing anniversary.