Did you hear about the giant chunk of ice that broke off from the Antarctic ice shelf? It's 1200-square miles and it's floating this way. Dave hears a noise behind him . . and . . . oh my gosh . . . . it is . . . . it's the giant ice berg! Behind Dave in the skyline, a giant iceberg comes in on little cat feet. It sits looking over the harbor and the city on silent haunches and then moves on.

ENDLESS NEWSCASTER BANTER OF THE NIGHT - it's from CNN Headline News - the morning edition - the anchor person and the weatherman engage in a bit of the banter during the telecast. Will it ever end? Will it? After 15, 20, 25 seconds of nonsense, it finally ends. In their defense, not much is happening at that hour in the morning.

Tomorrow starts television's rating period where viewers are counted and commercial advertising is priced based on that. This Sweeps period is an extremely important time for the networks and they save their best programming for this time of year. Have you seen how the Weather Channel is hoping to pump up its numbers? Check out their promo.

"This month on the Weather Channel, we've got the wildest weather yet! We've arranged for a destructive hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast! A freak blizzard to bury Las Vegas! We've planned torrential rains and flooding for the upper Midwest! And wait till you see what we've got in store for California! It's all right here, on the Weather Channel!"

"Happy Secretary's Day, America! If you're a secretary between the ages of 18 and 26, Bill Clinton would like to buy you a complimentary drink for your special day! Just come to the Bennigan's on Route 46 in Parisippany, New Jersey. And if you're an exotic dancer, hey, you're welcome too! No fat chicks. Bill Clinton --- be there!"

And that's just some of the ways companies are cutting back on their products.

CAR TIPS WITH HAROLD LARKIN - With all the technological innovations available these days, cars are more complex than ever. Our head carpenter Harold Larkin hosts a new cable show that offers automotive advice for the layman. Harold? We see a montage of Harold performing simple, everyday car care procedures as an intro to his program. We cut to Harold standing in front of a car on 53rd Street. Harold is holding a baseball bat. Says Harold: "Tip of the Day: Never park in my space." He then smashes the headlights of the illegally parked car.

TOP TEN: Questions to Ask Yourself Before Camping Out to See Star Wars #1. If I had a girlfriend, what would she think?

AMY SEDARIS: Oh, what a lovely dress. She had it made by a friend so she could wear it at a big soiree in honor of her 40th birthday, thrown by friend Matthew Broderick. Sarah adds that Matthew's wife Sarah Jessica turns 50 next year. The dress is adorned with an exquisite senorita back. The shoes? Whenever Amy is on our show, she takes the Worldwide check and buys a pair of shoes.
Amy has a clip she would like to share. No, not of an upcoming film she's in. No, not of a telepic in which she's sharing. It's a clip from Paris Hilton's last visit to the Late Show. Amy noticed during Paris' last visit she threw something on the floor "like a rich person." We see the clip twice. While Ms. Hilton is talking to Dave, she adroitly picks up a plastic bag on her seat and slyly drops it like a litter bug behind her chair. It got past me when it happened, but not Amy Sedaris. Nice catch!
How is Amy's bunny, Dusty? Amy loves her pet rabbit. For Valentine's Day, Amy gave her an ultimate massage . . . . full release. Ewwwwwww.
Amy is preparing to celebrate Greek Easter next week. Greek Easter usually comes later than regular Easter. Amy's mom suspected it was later because then the Greeks could get all their Easter stuff on sale.
Other subjects covered: the babysitter drive home. Has Dave experienced that yet? It's very awkward. After the parents return from their night out, dad then has to drive the babysitter home. And Amy is right; it is very awkward. By the time I pull out of the driveway I've exhausted my conversation list. It's why I don't like going out.
Amy has a new cookbook/hostess book. Not only does it offer tips on what to cook, but it has many ideas on how to entertain as well. Sounds like a winner.
And finally, at the Gourmet Garage where Amy sells her Cheese Balls, she was able to get Dave's Explod-O-Pop Popcorn to be sold there. So why aren't her Cheese Balls for sale at Rupert's? Dave has no explanation and promises to get on that right away.

DANIEL TAMMET: he's a mathematical savant and the subject of a new documentary on the Science Channel, "Brainman." It airs on Friday. Daniel says he's a prodigious savant possessing exceptional mental ability. At the age of 4, he had an epileptic seizure and his father rushed him to the hospital. It is believed his seizures as a child "kicked" something in his brain to unlock this gift. It makes one wonder if we all have this ability hidden deep inside our brain and only needs to find its way out. An example of Daniel's talent is he can solve 37 to the 4th power in a little more than a snap of the fingers. What makes Daniel so special is that other savants do not have the ability to communicate for us to understand. Daniel can. He can explain how his thinking works and what is going on in his brain. He can also explain, or help explain his autism.
Another example of his genius: on a recent Pi Day (no not Pie P-I-E, but Pi the 3.14 number) on March 14, Daniel recited the never ending Pi to 22,514 digits. It took him over 5 hours to recite. (By the way, off the top of my head the 22,515th digit in Pi is 7.)

When thinking of numbers, Daniel says he sees numbers as shapes and colors and images. In the notes for his segment, he is asked to explain what he sees when asked what 37-squared equals. Daniel responds, "I don't see a 3 and a 7 in my head. I see the numbers as shapes, as images. I see a bumpy thing on one side, and another bumpy thing on another side, and a space in the middle and they come together. And then I begin to see a sequence that looks rounded in some way that got bits to it and that look s a bit like lumpy porridge and it clicks . . . and the answer is 1369."

I guess it works in reverse as well. Daniel looks at Dave and starts to explain something, saying, "For instance, you're a very handsome man . . . ." Dave cuts him off and shyly says, "heh heh heh, well, you certainly got my number, heh heh heh." Oh how I laughed at that. Anyway, Daniel says that David Letterman reminds him of the number 117; tall, lanky, a bit wobbly.

What about birthdays? Is Daniel good at birthdays? Dave was born on April 12, 1947. What day of the week was that? Daniel says Dave was born on a Saturday. How about when he's 65? "Also a Saturday." I phoned research and with the use of a computer, they informed me that Daniel was correct on both counts. It took research 2 minutes to get the answer. Dave looks at Daniel and asks him what his birthday is. Daniel says, "January 31, 1979." Dave studies him and says, "You were born on a Wednesday." Daniel brightens, "That's right!" I laughed again.

I was a bit concerned that the segment with Daniel would be like pulling teeth. Googling his name I found that he was described as an autistic-savant. Other places I found him described as being born with Asperger's Syndrome which can be characterized by impairments in social interaction. Imagine my woe when he performed more comfortably and relaxed and was more at ease in this social situation than I ever would. I can only wonder what label I'd be tagged with if I were born today.

I read where Daniel likes to tout his birthday, January 31, 1979 has this distinction: 31, 19, 79, and 1979 are all prime numbers.
My eye went to this: 1/31/1979 - when you add up those numbers, 1, 31, 1979, you get 2011 . . . . also prime!

Dang it, I liked this guy. I wanted more time with this guy. Fascinating stuff. I'll be looking for the Science Channel on my TV this Friday night for "Brainman."

ACT 5: It's time to announce the winner of the ‘What Number Does Dave Look Like?' contest.
Joan Coles of Brooklyn, New York was closest with her guess of 103. Congratulations, Joan. You win a Radio Shack Calculator. Keep on playing the ‘What Number Does Dave Look Like?' contest. Tell your friends."

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - From the new self-titled CD, LCD Soundsystem performed "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House." Sounded like Tom Jones if Tom Jones sounded like that.

And that was our show for Wednesday, April 27, 2005. Wahoo EXTRA!

Perhaps it was because Daniel Tammet was on the show, but whenever I thought of LCD Soundsystem, I thought of the mathematical LCD Lowest Common Denominator.

I was surprised when I read this when studying up on Daniel Tammet. There is evidence to support that when a brain suffers a trauma, like a head injury, damage can be done to one part of the brain but other parts of the brain will take over and compensate. A knock on the head can springboard the brain to genius. This got me to thinking . . . . so when the nuns used to threaten to knock some sense into me back in grade school, they were speaking not figuratively but on a factual scientific basis. Odd. I never pictured the nuns having such a strong science background.

Hey, speaking of Pi, check this out:
http://www.angio.net/pi/piquery

Want to find where your birth date is in the Pi sequence? For instance, Dave's birthday is 4/12/47. Where is 41247 in the Pi sequence? Click on the site:
The string 41247 was found at position 243,294 counting from the first digit after the decimal point. The 3. is not counted.
The string and surrounding digits:
91636494315666700163 41247 31526314664694470222

How cool is that!? And that's only the first time it appears in Pi. It shows up again and again and again.

THIS DATE IN NHL HOCKEY HISTORY
April 27, 1994 - the 9th longest NHL Game - 65:43 into OT; Buffalo Sabres defeat the New Jersey Devils; winning goal scored by Dave Hannan.1-0.