Stepping Direct to Video and the Bathtub
March 26, 2007
Make sure you know who (and what) your relatives are — and never receive visitors while in the bath!
Plot summary for
The Stepdaughter (2000)
On Susan’s birthday, while everyone is away, Susan confronts Maggie alone while Maggie is taking a bath, and Susan admits to Maggie that she is Maggie’s daughter, and Susan’s real name is Karen Mills. When Karen was born, Maggie’s parents forced Maggie to give Karen up for adoption. For her entire life, Karen has been hurt by the belief that she was never wanted. Karen spent time in institutions and foster homes, living a life of misery, and now she wants revenge on Maggie for giving her up to that kind of life, so she kills Maggie by dropping a radio into the bathtub water, electrocuting Maggie.
website: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0221581/plotsummary
picture: http://www.flyingfistranch.com/albums/wynonna/AndreaRoth.jpg
Wise Guise
March 21, 2007
Obligatory reference category: When discussing GFI, always refer to the classic example of why you need GFI.
How does an Electrical Outlet Work?
For instance, if a radio fell into the bathtub while you were bathing, you would be in for a bit of trouble to say the least. With a standard two or three prong receptacle, the power would continue to pass through the water and you. In all likelihood, you would be electrocuted. If, however, that radio was plugged into a GFI receptacle, the receptacle would sense the lack of electricity returning to pass through the neutral (since it was passing through you instead) and trip, thus killing the power to the radio and potentially saving your life.
website: http://www.wisegeek.com/how-does-an-electrical-outlet-work.htm
PG&E Pipes Up
March 14, 2007
More pop quizzes on radios in the bathtub from an electric company…
9. Which of these is a safe thing to do?
- a) use a hair dryer while standing in water
- b) use a plugged-in radio near the bathtub
- c) dry your hands before turning off lights
- d) wet an electric shaver cord while shaving
document: http://www.culverco.com/teachermaterials_pge/docs/tests/36320_tests_pge.doc
website: http://www.culverco.com/teachermaterials_pge/
illustration: http://www.lbl.gov/today/images/lab/PGandE-logo.jpeg
The Postman Always Zings Twice
March 12, 2007
There are always the classics in literature and movies. And with both sex and violence involved, it’s got to be a classic, right?
Maybe the reason this novel is so steamy is because of the radio in the bathtub!
Level of Violence: Frank and Cora have a violent love relationship; they plan Nick’s murder with little emotion. There are several fights, blows to the head, beatings, self-inflicted wounds for the sake of making the murder look like an accident;one attempted electrocution (dropping an electric radio into a bathtub), automobile accidents.
website: http://libweb.lib.buffalo.edu/kelley/Kelly/Kelleydetailupdate.asp?Title2=&ID=22
What Do Radios and Minty Valentines Have in Common?
March 9, 2007
More fun with water and electricity! Here’s a pointer to a practical application of mixing the two.
User beware, of course!
intro:Etched Minty Valentines Candy Box
Or.. a good demonstration of why throwing a radio into the bathtub will kill you. I’ll explain later.
Speaking of killing you, as we are using water and electricity here, please be supper-duper cautious. I can’t be held responsible for burned fingers, house fires, dead cats or any combination thereof. Please use some common sense!
Mythbusters — Not Busted!
March 1, 2007
When an idea hangs in there at the fringe of people’s personal reality, it attains a cult, myth-like status. Can this really happen? Did someone just make this up? If it does actually happen only but rarely, it becomes a novel and credible plot item for entertainment, further reinforcing the idea that someone just made the whole thing up. That seems to be the situation with many memes, and radio in the bathtub is no exception.
Enter Mythbusters! Entertainment about ideas that hang far enough out at the fringe that it almost seems like they simply originated within the entertainment business itself.
The Electrical-Appliance-in-the-Bathtub Test, from Episode 19
Does Hollywood have it right? Can you really die from an electrical appliance falling into a bathtub? Jamie and Adam went on the case in episode 19: Quicksand.
text & picture: http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/photogalleries/bathtub/bathtub.html
