28 September 2004

Mars Orbiter Spots Rover's Tracks from Space

This is just cool. I love pictures like this because they offer a whole new perspective on things.

Bill O’Reilly's viewers are actually less educated than Stewart's

Now I know that's shocking, but according to Nielsen Media Research, it's true. Read all about how Bill O'Reilly gets to eat his words.

21 September 2004

Without a barrel

The family and I went to visit friends in western New York this weekend. On Saturday, we went Niagara Falls and had a really fun day of it. We did some walking and rode the Maid of the Mist.

Among the factoids that they tell you about during the boat ride is the story of Roger Woodward. He went over the falls wearing only a life vest and lived. It sounds like an urban legend. In fact, it has mutated somewhat. When I was in Buffalo, most people told me it happened "a few years ago." In reality, it was in 1960.

My wife actually found the link when we were trying to figure out whether he was seriously injured. The narration on the boat only said he lived. It never said he was unharmed, leading us to wonder if he was paralyzed or something. In fact, he only suffered a mild concussion and is now a 50 year old father of three.

While searching the net for Woodward's story, though, I found this article. It quotes Woodward, but it's about Kirk Jones. According to Jones he was depressed and tried to end it by going over the falls. Things didn't go as planned, though. He survived virtually unhurt. He says he not as depressed now. Now that's extreme therapy.

On a side note, I got to take a spin through my old campus. It was a healthy bit of nostalgia and I thank everyone in the minivan for indulging me.

15 September 2004

I'm also a complete idiot and I VOTE TOO!

I was listening to WMMR this evening. For those who don't know, in the evenings it's now Dee Snyder Radio, hosted by Mr. Snyder himself. He took a call from a listener who was upset that words like whore and crap were edited out of songs that had played. Of course it's entirely too appropriate for Dee Snyder to be having this conversation, but I digress.

The gist of the conversation that recent FCC crackdowns have the radio stations afraid of their own shadows. Mr. Snyder commented that the FCC is way overboard and needs to be reigned in.

This is when the caller said, "Man, I hate these damn liberals!"

(I now pause to bow my head and shake it in sad bewilderment.)

Zero-gravity flights go mainstream

Okay, this is clearly out of my price range. But man would it be cool!

07 September 2004

The unwinnable war

This is yet another op-ed piece that hits the nail right on the head.

I'm a complete idiot and I VOTE.

Last night Sharon and I were channel surfing. We came across a quiz show on the Game Show Network. It was relatively new; the set was all smoked glass and focused spots a la Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The contestant was asked the following question:

Who held the offices of Vice President and President of the United
States, but was never elected to those offices?

After pondering this question for a quite some time, the contestant responded, "Colin Powell."

Now I know why Bush stands a good chance of being re-elected.