April 1, 2014 11:55 am

‘Phineas’ recruits Dempsey, 'Top Gear’ gang

Fans of BBC America's Top Gear may want to stick around Saturday morning when the kids watchDisney XD's Phineas and Ferb (8 a.m. ET/PT).

This weekend’s episode, “Live and Let Drive,” is a veritable party for petrolheads (or gearheads, as we call them in the USA). The story centers on aFormula One race where Agent P (aka Perry the Platypus) must save the day after attempted sabotage by resident baddie Heinz Doofenschmirtz.

You’ll note that the guys in the announcers’ booth look and sound exactly like the hosts of the BBC’s “pokey little motoring show.” That’s because it is them – Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May – just with more British-sounding names (Adrian, Ian and Nigel).

Why them? “It’s three adults who pretty much do things that Phineas and Ferb would do," Jeff "Swampy” Marsh, one of the show’s co-creators and executive producers explains in a video featurette. “We’d originally drawn them as other characters, but the more we wrote them, the more we realized we wanted it to be them.”

Curiously, this is not the first time the Top Gear guys have appeared in cartoon form.They got the Family Guy treatment in a December magazine spread.

The episode also sends up Scottish-Italian Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti, replacing him with an ethnically vague character named Paolo Vanderbeek – who was “born in the Scottish enclave of a Swiss town in the Alps to Dutch parents." He'splayed by Grey’s Anatomy star and part-time race-car driver Patrick Dempsey.

"We started a conversation with him and came to find out, his kids watch Phineas and Ferb and he’s a big fan,” recalls Marsh, alongside fellow creator and producing partner Dan Povenmire. “I went, 'Would you like to come do a voice?’ and he said, 'Oh my god, I’d love to!' When (Dempsey) came in and said, 'What voice do you want?’ we said, 'Well, Swiss … Scottish … Dutch … and Italian in there somewhere.”

Source: USA Today

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March 28, 2014 2:42 pm

General Sir Phineas Riall, KCH (15 December 1775 – 10 November 1850) was the British General who succeeded John Vincent as commanding officer of the Niagara Peninsula in Upper Canada during the War of 1812. In 1816, he was appointed Governor of Grenada.

For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Riall

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March 21, 2014 4:10 pm

Phineas Warren Hitchcock (November 30, 1831 – July 10, 1881) was a Delegate and a Senator from Nebraska. Hitchcock County, Nebraska, is named after him.

Hitchcock was appointed a United States Marshal from 1861–1864; a Republican, elected as the Nebraska Territory Delegate to the Thirty-ninth Congress and served from March 4, 1865 to March 1, 1867, when the Territory was admitted as a State into the Union. He was appointed surveyor general of Nebraska and Iowa from 1867-1869. In 1870, Hitchcock was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1871, to March 4, 1877. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection.

For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Hitchcock

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March 14, 2014 2:13 pm

Phineas Parkhurst Quimby (February 16, 1802 – January 16, 1866), was an American spiritual teacher. Quimby was a philosopher, magnetizer, mesmerist, healer, and inventor, who resided in Belfast, Maine, and had an office in Portland, Maine. Quimby’s work is widely recognized as leading to the New Thought movement.

For more info, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Quimby

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March 12, 2014 11:02 am

Phineas Finn is a novel by Anthony Trollope and the name of its leading character. The novel was first published as a monthly serial from October 1867 to May 1868 in St Paul’s Magazine.^[1] It is the second of the “Palliser” series of novels. Its sequel, Phineas Redux, is the fourth novel in the series.

It deals with both British parliamentary politics of the 1860s, including voting reform (secret ballot and eliminating rotten boroughs and Irish tenant-right) and Finn’s romances with women of fortune, which would secure his financial future.

For more info, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Finn

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February 19, 2014 2:31 pm

Believed to be a descendent of Poseidan, Phineus (nee Phineas) - King of Thrace - was married twice and had a total of four sons. The king led a rather interesting and intriguing life. One legend states that Phineas was tricked into blinding his own sons.

Read more about Phineus and see other famous Phineas.

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February 19, 2014 2:30 pm

Believed to be a descendent of Poseidan, Phineus (nee Phineas) - King of Thrace - was married twice and had a total of four sons. The king led a rather interesting and intriguing life. One legend states that Phineas was tricked into blinding his own sons.

Read more about Phineus and see other famous Phineas.

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February 19, 2014 2:27 pm

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February 19, 2014 2:22 pm

The First American Coal-Burning Railroad

The Tom Thumb locomotive, built by Peter Cooper, represented one of America’s first attempts at heavy hauling. The engine reached a top speed of four miles per hour carrying a load, and fifteen miles without. Fledgling railroad company Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was impressed with the design, but not entirely sold on the idea. Instead of ceasing locomotive development at the first glimpse of success, they sponsored a contest to see who could build the most impressive machine to haul long distance.

The Winning Design

It was Phineas Davis, a clockmaker from New Hampshire, who invented the first locomotive to burn coal as fuel. The locomotive was four wheeled, with a vertical-style boiler. Two vertical cylinders drove the main rods, which propelled the engine as it kicked into gear. Though Cooper took the prize for the contest, and won the initial contract, it was Davis who eventually delivered to B&O.

Final Production

The so called York design incorporated much of Cooper’s work into Davis’ existing designs. The engine carried 50 pounds of steam, and burned through one ton of coal for an inaugural run of 40 miles.

Unfortunately, Davis was killed during a train wreck shortly after the first run. A problem with the tracks near the Washington Branch of the B&O railroad caused Davis’ train to derail. He and his staff lost their lives, but the legacy of Phineas Davis doesn’t end there. Apparently, Davis was spotted multiple times after his death, “confirmed” in numerous papers like the Hanford Post-Gazzette reporting on incidences of his sighting.

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February 19, 2014 2:18 pm

Phineus from Greek Mythology

During the voyage of the Argonauts, the group comes across a seer and king of Thrace named Phineus. Believed to be a descendent of Poseidan, he was married twice and had a total of four sons. The king led an intriguing life, especially after he had been tricked into blinding his own sons.

The Blinding of Phineus

It is said that the king also suffered a blinding, but his was by choice. The logistics of this choice differ, but the outcome is always the same. Either Phineus lost sight because he preferred long life, or he gave false directions to the traveler Phrixus and was blinded as punishment. It is also believed that he was tormented extensively by harpies who stole his food and hounded him to the corners of the world. Jason and the Argonauts would eventually help liberate Phineus from his plight, fulfilling his role in the Odyssey.

Deliverance

Phineus explained to the Argonauts that it was their destiny to free him from the harpies. The Argonauts reluctantly agreed, setting down for a meal with the king. As soon as the king attempted to eat, the harpies showed up to steal and defile his food. His brothers-in-law, the Boreads, pursued the flying creatures to “The Floating Islands.” Iris, the messenger of the gods, stopped the Boreads from killing the harpies but Phineus was free.

In the end, King Phineus revealed the path the Argonauts should take to get home safely. In doing so, King Phineus fulfilled the role of oracle just as Cerci had done for Odysseus.

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My Name Is Phineas

‘Phineas’ recruits Dempsey, 'Top Gear’ gang

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