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The first lines of “Scatterbrain,” the 13th song on Hail to the Thief read:

I’m walking out in a force ten gale
birds thrown around, bullets for hail
the roof is pulling off by its fingernails

The most common definition of gale is simply “wind.” In the OED, the third definition reads:

“1. a. A wind of considerable strength; in nautical language, the word chiefly ‘implies what on shore is called a storm’ (Adm Smyth), esp. in the phrases strong, hard gale (a stiff gale is less violent, a fresh gale still less so); in popular literary use, ‘a wind not tempestuous, but stronger than a breeze’ (J.). Also gale of wind. In restricted use, applied to a wind having a velocity within certain limits (see quots.).”

Today, in stricter meteorological terms, a gale’s force is measured on the Beaufort Scale. One of the most detailed accounts of the scale’s history is available here. As you can see comparing the above Beaufort Scale to the one maintained by the US National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center, a force ten wind is often termed a “storm” or a “whole gale.” Generally, however, these and various other versions of the scale agree that a force ten gale is a wind in which the sea turns white, trees can be uprooted and building damage occurs.

Historically, the definition of gale has shifted slightly as these entries in the OED indicate:

“1923 N. SHAW Forecasting Weather (ed. 2) 456 As a result of the investigation of 1905 we now classify winds with velocity above 75 miles per hour as hurricane winds, those with velocity between 64 and 75 miles per hour as storm winds, and those between 39 and 63 as gales. 1963 Meteorol. Gloss. (Met. Office) 109 Gale, a wind of a speed between 34 and 40 knots (force 8 on the Beaufort scale of wind force, where it was originally described as ‘fresh gale’), at a free exposure 10 metres (33 feet) above ground. Ibid., Statistics of gales refer to the attainment of mean speeds of 34 knots or over.”

In the OED, the second definition of the word, now obsolete, has two entries, the first is subdivided: 1a. Singing, a song; merriment, mirth; 1b. said of the voice of an animal; and 2. Speech, talk.

The following lines are from “A Punch-Up at a Wedding,” the eleventh song on Hail to the Thief:

the pointless snide remarks
of hammerheaded sharks

The traditional phrasing is “hammerhead shark” rather than “hammerheaded.” The adjective “hammer-headed”, according to the OED, was first used in Arthur Golding’s 1567 translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book VII, line 74.

Hammerhead sharks, according to this encyclopedia entry, are often observed “in inshore, brackish water.” The sharks are “both predators and scavengers.” As this page explains, only one of four hammerhead species is considered dangerous. The OED claims the first reference to hammerhead shark occured in an 1861 book titled British Fishes.

There is now an online pin map based on the art work for Hail to the Thief. Depending on where you place the pins, you are allowed to see clips from the video for “There There.”

Notice that the logo on the pinheads is identical to the logo discussed in message 100.

The scene of a cat wedding in the video for “There There” is excerpted below:

The similarity between this scene and Walter Potter’s The Kitten Wedding is mentioned in message 107. One notable difference, however, is that the wedding in “There There” is presided over by a raven (not pictured above), perhaps one of the same ravens that later chases Thom Yorke’s character at the video’s end. Another difference is eye color. The cats in “There There” all have yellowed eyes whereas Walter Potter’s kittens have dark eyes.

Various aspects of Radiohead are discussed in this Metafilter thread. Though it began as a discussion of Radiohead.tv, the discussion has turned to Radiohead as a middle-class music group.

Occasional scenes in the video for “There There” appear based on the work of artist and taxidermist Walter Potter. In particular, the cat wedding upon which Thom Yorke’s character stumbles resembles Walter Potter’s The Kitten Wedding.

Radiohead.tv has available both the full video for “There There” and a 3 minute trailer for The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time. After you register at the bottom of the main page, you’ll be redirected to a “thanks.php” page where you can watch both the video and the trailer. The video is only available in Windows Media Player and RealPlayer formats whereas the trailer is available in those formats as well as QuickTime.

Radiohead.tv, also known as The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time, now has available a 30 second teaser. An excerpt:

You can see the teaser in high-quality quicktime format by following this link: http://stream.qtv.apple.com/qtv/outsideline/teaser_b_300.mov

The number 1-866-868-4433, a toll free call in the US, is the Hail to the Thief Hotline. The At Ease Forums has information on navigating the options callers are presented:

1) Rotary phone – when chosen, you’ll hear a loud long tone until you press a number, at which point you can press # to return to the menu.
2) Any option chosen here will let you hear “I Will”. Press * during “I Will” to hear “2+2=5”
3) Any option here will let you listen to “Go To Sleep”. Press * during “Go to Sleep” to hear “2+2=5”
4) This will read a list of websites Radiohead endorses(like at Radiohead.com), if you press a number while she is reading them she’ll ask to you “Please let me finish!”
5) This will just have the lady saying “Cobweb” over and over and over…
6) This will ask you for a 10-digit social security number. Whatever you put in will just lead to her saying “Hail to the Thief” and sending you back to the menu. How clever.
7) This will let you listen to “Sit Down, Stand Up”. Press * during the song to hear “2+2=5”
8) She will say “I told you not to press 8.” and hang up.
9) This will re-read the menu options

The good folks of W.A.S.T.E. have initiated the process of “passing bits and pieces” onto Radiohead sites. The first batch of bits and pieces included two photos of Thom Yorke. You can see both photos on Pulk-Pull’s W.A.S.T.E Updates page.