Emmy Blotnick
Appearances
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Thanksgiving Edition!
The conversation between the brain surgeon mother and her 13-year-old non-brain surgeon kid may have gone something like this. Kid, hey, mom, are you sure you want me to use a drill for the first time on a living person? Maybe I should start somewhere low stakes like the foot? Mom, nah, do the skull. Kid, hey, by the way, who is this guy? Mom, you can ask him when, I mean if, he wakes up.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Thanksgiving Edition!
Now don't focus too much and drill, baby, drill.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Thanksgiving Edition!
Wow. Wow. That's like the low point and you're behind the music.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Thanksgiving Edition!
Brain surgery can be a tricky thing. And that's true even if you are a brain surgeon. But it's especially true if you are the 13-year-old child of a brain surgeon and your mom hands you the drill. This was the nightmare scenario that played out during a patient's brain surgery in the Austrian city of Graz last January. Thankfully, the doctor was fired. But how was this ever allowed to happen?
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Amanda Seyfried
It is hard to dance in puffy vests. It's like a Silicon Valley mating ritual.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Amanda Seyfried
Help me. I turn away anybody who's had, if they've got big rocking jugs, they're not allowed on my show.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Amanda Seyfried
Really? No, I don't know. I don't make the rules.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Amanda Seyfried
This is really hard for people who don't know when the stock market is good.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Amanda Seyfried
Reviews of fast food burgers from the driver's seat of a parked Nissan. LAUGHTER
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Amanda Seyfried
You tell it to write 500 words about Watership Down and it's like, what's the point?
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Amanda Seyfried
After this, we've got traffic on the works. Exactly. And the Powerball numbers.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Amanda Seyfried
You've got to be at the Home Depot with a knife and fork.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Amanda Seyfried
The chaos began with an innocent request from Virgin Airlines' corporate office. They were seeking to refresh their in-flight safety video with a catchy new song, and for the first time ever, they were open to submissions from anyone, anywhere. One aspiring musician from Bangor, Maine, believed this was his golden opportunity to break into the music business.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Amanda Seyfried
The multi-instrumentalist Robert McMagnus, who records under the alias McMadness, went to work producing as many demos as he could. He composed 24 original in-flight safety songs in just 24 hours, with titles such as Seat Belt Low and Tight Tonight, Fasten Like an Assassin, and Talkin' Tough Bout Stowin' Stuff.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Amanda Seyfried
Just to be safe, McMadness uploaded each track 300 times from 17 different email accounts. The tonnage of these files crashed the servers so quickly, no one else was able to submit. A spokesman from Virgin Airlines offered their apologies that the song contest ended prematurely.
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
WWDTM: Amanda Seyfried
He added, while none of Mr. McMadness' songs were family-friendly enough for in-flight usage, they were so impressed with his output that they've begun contract talks with him anyway.