Yeah, Right

There are different calibers of actors. Although some are great actors, they are not "Oscar" quality. To quote Lindsay Lohan's mom...

"She will win an Academy Award for this picture," the elder Lohan told Access Hollywood.

I think not. BTW, Lindsay is not on my great actor list nor do I buy her mom's take on things regarding her problems on the set of her latest movie.

My Immortal

Can't wait until The Open Door is released...

Birthday Card and Penny

Just do it!

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/medical/alyssa.asp

Is This Real??

Ghost Sighting at a dungeon...

Morbid But Technically Interesting

I've been reading some National Transportation Safety Board aircraft accident briefs on their "Publications" page. These are final reports detailing their findings and conclusions regarding aircraft accidents and any recommendations. I find them interesting not because of some morbid interest in death but more on the technical aspects of what went wrong. NTSB investigators must understand and analyze every single aspect and viewpoint when investigating an accident and determine an unbiased explanation. More importantly, they must come up with recommendations that might prevent a similar accident from occurring. Granted, most of these reports are dry reading but hey, I bought and enjoyed reading The 9/11 Commission Report.

Guilty

As a follow-up to my Guilty or Not post, the following information just became available...

The driver of a car in which four friends and the unborn child of one of the victims were killed, was sentenced today to two years in prison. Court officials said the driver, who was convicted of five counts of intoxicated manslaughter by a jury in state district court last week, was sentenced to two years on each count, but the sentences are to be served concurrently.

Should I Help?

Went to Sam's Club this afternoon and purchased some items. Among my goods were some relatively heavy items. Two cases of bottled water and a case of soda. The lady at the register was stocky but older. She was huffing and puffing when she scanned the water and soda and put them in my cart. With the newly remodeled register areas, I really couldn't get around to help her. I felt kind of bad that she actually worked up a sweat and was out of breath when she thanked me and gave me my receipt. Well, I guess that's what she gets paid for.

Rude Awakening

The Little One woke me up this morning. She climbed into bed next to me and kept pulling my eyelids open. When I told her to stop and rolled over in the other direction, she proceeded to climb on top of me and started bouncing. I had no other choice but to get up and play. Of course I should have been up and around already but sometimes I just like to be lazy and sleep in on the weekend. Oh well.

Guilty or Not?

Five friends (one is pregnant) get together for a night of beer drinking. They are all drunk and get into an SUV together. The driver loses control and collides with a tree at high speed. The driver is the sole survivor of the wreck. Her blood alcohol level is two times over the legal limit. She is charged with five counts of intoxicated manslaughter (four friends and 1 unborn child) and is on trial. In this state, intoxicated manslaughter is a second-degree felony punishable by two to twenty years in prison and a $10,000 fine. As an outside observer with no ties to any of the families involved, I'm wondering if she will end up in prison.

Appointments

My wife and I had an "appointment" for 11:00 AM at a government office the other day. We got there about 5 minutes early and signed in. We then had to wait 1 hour and 45 minutes before seeing someone. Why operate under an appointment schedule if you can't keep them? Makes no sense to me.

So I Was Bored

I noticed yesterday that there are a whole lot more people in the world than, say, thirty years ago. Without getting into the economics of birth and death rates, I think it's safe to say that the population growth of our cities has increased. And with that said, here's my point. Back then, I could ride my bike down the main street in town to a store and have maybe a couple dozen cars pass me. Now, I'm in fear for my life because of all the traffic zooming past me.

Or maybe I've got this all wrong. Perhaps there are just more drivers now than back then. Or maybe unemployment is up and people are driving around more to get to their interviews. Or maybe the alien infiltration before the takeover of our planet is fueling the increase of people. I think back to the simpler times and...

Oops, gotta go back to work.

Say That Again

I was reading an article regarding the tsunami that hit Pangandaran, Indonesia. It reported the latest death toll at 341 with 230 people still unaccounted for. This area was spared by the tsunami in 2004 but the government still has not installed a warning system. It was planned to be completed in 2007, though. Too little, too late for the people killed in this event. Even though Indonesian officials were alerted by different agencies monitoring the after effects of earthquakes and the possibility of a tsunami, they did nothing. What made me really mad were some of the comments made by the government officials...

Science and Technology Minister Kusmayanto Kadiman said Indonesia received the bulletins 45 minutes before the tsunami hit but did not announce them because they did not want to cause unnecessary alarm.

"If it (the tsunami) did not occur, what would have happened?" he told reporters in Jakarta, noting that there was no effective way to spread a warning without a system of sirens or alarms in place.

Answering reporters' questions as to why no warning was issued on Monday, Vice President Jusuf Kalla claimed there was no need because most people had fled inland after the earthquake, fearing a tsunami.

"After the quake occurred, people ran to the hills ... so in actual fact there was a kind of natural early warning system," he said.

People interviewed in Pangandaran after the devastation said they did not feel any tremors and did not see any people fleeing into the hills before the tsunami hit. These officials need to stand up and admit that they really screwed up.

Welcome Home Discovery

NASA says they are back. I hope they are right.

Weird Dream

This is so strange. I don't know why I would even dream something like this. I don't remember all the fine details of the dream but in a nutshell, I dreamed I was in a Seinfeld episode. We were in Jerry's apartment. George, Kramer, Elaine, and even Newman was there. Jerry couldn't get his laptop computer to work and the others were trying their best to help with the problem. I was standing in the kitchen with Newman eating pizza. That's about all I remember. Oh, there was a laugh track, too. Strange.

What's In A Title?

The company I work for is big into titles. Executive Vice President of Manufacturing World Wide (that's a mouthful). Director of Warehousing Systems and Distribution. You get my point. The way I look at it, they can call me whatever they want as long as I'm compensated fairly. But fairness in the workplace is usually a moot point. What one person sees as being fair could be looked upon by someone else as being unfair. Not going to go there right now but let me say that if I win the lottery, I may not give a two week notice.

Pretty Lights In The Sky Again

But this time not from fireworks. A UFO you ask? Well, kind of. It happened to be the remnants of a test by the Missile Defense Agency's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Weapon System, or THAAD. It is designed to destroy short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles as they close in on their targets and is a long-range counterpart to the Patriot missile system. Although residents in this area were able to see the results of the successful test in the sky, no one seemed to have had a camera with them at six in the morning. This photo by Tom Tingle was taken near Phoenix. If you have the time, check out Lockheed Martin's product list if you visit the THAAD site. Scary...

Practical Jokers Dream Come True?

Those clever Japanese...

TOKYO - People stopping to smell the roses can now take that sweet floral fragrance home with them or even send it to a faraway grandmother thanks to a new gadget in Japan that records and replicates the world's odors.

The new device, developed by scientists at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, analyzes smells through 15 sensors, records the odor's recipe in digital format and then reproduces the scent by mixing 96 chemicals and vaporizing the result.

Creator Takamichi Nakamoto says the technology will have applications in food and fragrance industries where companies want to replicate odors. But it could also be a boon for the digital world, allowing smells can be recorded in one place -- by sensors in a mobile phone, for instance -- and transmitted to appreciative noses halfway around the world.

It could also aid online shoppers by letting people check out perfumes or flowers before they buy.

"The sensitivity of the human nose is very good," Nakamoto said. "But to some extent we can replicate the performance."

Nakamoto says his machine, in the works since 1999, is the most advance of its kind in the world, though a similar project is also underway at Keio University, also in Japan. But so far, the machine is too big to be portable -- it measures about the 1 meter by 3 feet by 2 feet.

Still, the breakthrough follows on the heels of a Japanese smellovision project that synchronized smells to movie scenes. That odoroendeavoreor was undertaken by NTT Communications Corp. and emitted smells from under seats in two movie theaters to accompany parts of the film "The New World," a Hollywood adventure film.

Nakamoto's smell recorder has successfully recreated a range of fruit smells, including oranges, apples, bananas and lemons, but can be reprogrammed to produce almost any odor -- from old fish to gasoline, he said.

Making the 15 sensor chips, which pick up aromas and convert them to a digital formula, was the hardest part, Nakamoto added.

But the unit's large size is also limitation because the 96 odor-forming chemicals are contained in separate glass bottles. A more compact version, which includes only the sensors, can record smells but must be hooked up to the blender to regenerate them.

"We also want extend the range of smell and then we can think about commercializing the system," Nakamoto said.

Nakamoto's team of 12 scientists have been collaborating with a Japanese perfume company that produces the raw ingredients for fragrances and with electronics companies interested in the sensor chip technology.

From My Inbox

The real danger to us from the Middle East

This morning, from a cave somewhere in Pakistan, Taliban Minister of Migration, Mohammed Omar, warned the United States that if military action against Iraq continues, Taliban authorities will cut off America's supply of convenience store managers. And if this action does not yield sufficient results, cab drivers will be next, followed by Dell customer service reps.

Lucky Duck, errr, Ibis

This lucky bird lived to fly another day even after being shot with an arrow. It has taken up residence in a Florida pond. Wait...maybe it was Brian Heidik!

Bowling

Went bowling this evening with my 10 year old daughter and a friend. I had not bowled in about 9 years. I was content (and surprised) that my scores ranged between 140-160. Needless to say I think my shoulder and arm will be sore tomorrow. My wrist is already feeling sore. Total price for 12 games and shoes was $46. It seemed kind of high to me but I honestly can't remember how much it cost to bowl 9 years ago. Oh, and this bowling alley also has this huge arcade and an indoor amusement park with a few rides. They even have a small roller coaster but that's outside. Cool.

Turn Around, Don't Drown

We had some pretty heavy rain in a short period that caused a lot of havoc the other day. I came across this picture from the newspaper.

Jerk

ATLANTA -- The man who won "Survivor: Thailand" four years ago is charged with battery and cruelty to animals. Officials said Brian Heidik shot a puppy with an arrow. A Georgia county judge has released Heidik on bond. Atlanta TV station WSB-TV reported that Heidik told the judge he thought the dog was a coyote that has been harassing his pets. But a prosecutor said Heidik's wife called authorities at 3 a.m. to say he'd shot a puppy "and planned to shoot another one." Officials said Heidik fled in his car when sheriff's deputies arrived. He was quickly captured. The prosecutor said evidence at the home also supports a charge of battery for family violence. Heidik is a former North Carolina State football player, used-car salesman and part-time actor.

I Don't Understand

I read a new article this afternoon that warned gas prices in the region would be over $3 per gallon by next week due to higher oil prices. Why? Because North Korea test fired some ballistic missiles and plans to do more tests. Ok, maybe I'm not looking at the whole picture with an economist's magnifying glass but what the hell does North Korea have to do with rising gas prices? In these times where oil companies are making record breaking profits in the billions of dollars, I don't see the correlation between missile tests and oil. Keep in mind this comes from someone who believes in Big Brother and government conspiracies. ;-)

Mentos + Diet Coke = Cool

Ok, a local store had 2 liter bottles of Diet Coke on sale so I bought a couple plus a couple of boxes of Mentos candies (do they still make those in rolls?). Once I got back to the house I gathered the family outside and told them I was about to show them something they have never seen before. As I prepared to drop the Mentos into the Coke, I asked for complete silence and then a drum roll. Boom! Well, it didn't "boom" but there was a geyser of Coke that shot straight up about ten feet. The Little One was just giggling and my other daughter was shouting "do it again". My wife only asked me if I was going to clean up the mess. I of course ignored her as I set up the second bottle of Coke. As soon as I dropped the candies into the bottle I turned and ran but slipped on some Coke from the first try and fell (pretty hard) onto my side. Sadly, I wasn't able to see the second eruption but everyone said it was a little higher than the first. So, skinned knee and hand aside, it was a cool experiment.

Happy 4th

Happy 4th of July! God bless America.

Vital Records

I had to get a birth certificate today for the Little One, formerly Baby, and since I was there decided to get a copy of my marriage certificate. Total price: $30.00!! One was $23.00 and the other was $7.00.

The birth certificate is actually a digitized copy of the certificate of birth that is then printed onto a nice piece of heavy bond, security paper with the county and state seals on it. Illegal to duplicate by the way. The marriage certificate is a copy of the license printed on normal paper and then notarized by hand with the county seal. By my description, you should be able to figure out which of the two costs more. Now, explain to me why they can't just print the certificates on normal paper and manually notarize them? Or, to make more money, use the fancy paper for everything and charge more?

I think this is just another one of those things that makes me think there is a conspiracy.

Pretty Lights In The Sky

No, not from alien spacecraft. Fireworks...so cool. Baby was entertained during the whole show. She was fussy before it started but as soon as the first sky rocket went up, she was enthralled. I wonder how much it costs to put on a great show? Guess I'll have to Google that when I have time.

Mentos Phenomenon

The local rock radio station did this live on the air a couple of weeks ago. I was driving to work so was unable to watch the live webcam as they did it but it sounded really cool. I think I'm going to try this on Tuesday since I didn't buy any fireworks.

Try these links for a good explanation and video.