massdestruction

Chelsea, Chelsea!!

My team, Chelsea FC, today won the English Premier League. I can only say that I am shedding tears of joy. When I got into this whole thing I had resigned myself to being a fan of a team that was known for underachieving. No longer. This is just the beginning!

Super! Super Chelsea FC!!

Skype

Yesterday I tried Skype for the first time. Its pretty cool but with 30mil downloads, clients for Linux, Mac, and Win, I was a bit surprised to find very few of my friends registered. However, in trying it out I did find, and had the chance to use it for the first time with, Internet Hero, Paul Jones. Sure, it represented a grand total of something like 10 miles for our "internet conversation" but it was pretty good quality.

Certainly its nothing new either but the UI is really nice and worked without a hitch.

Good on them. Now, where are all you losers? It is free unless you dial a 'real phone number'. Free is good.

Closet Boston fan

Today I went to salon.com and noticed the image to the cover story (a not-so-interesting story about recent nuclear weapons books) is way too close to the famous image on Boston's first album.

Wanna see?

I wonder if Tom Scholz is the suing type.

Cornwall

We are back from our journey. It was an excellent trip. Cornwall is a beautiful part of the world and makes for a very relaxing vacation destination. I have taken quite a few photos and, for now, the easiest place to view them is here.

We also went to London to visit our friends Steve and Ness, attend a Chelsea FC match (CFC 3 - Fulham 1), as well as do yet more "hangin". All equally as good experiences.

I must say though that if we, as the "rest of the world", could only convince the citizens of the U.K. that "salad cream" is some of the most foul goo ever created it could make it an even better vacation destination. For a country obsessed with vinegar you would think they would enjoy some variant of that on their salads.

Going away

On the 22nd Cate and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. 10! Quite honetly it doesn't seem that long considering we were dating for about 8 years before we got married... but still... wow! 10 years!

So, in honor of our most amazing, kick-ass marriage - tomorrow we are out of here! Off to Cornwall to live in a cottage by the sea for a while.

Goodbye!

Kid Dynomite

I thought I had written before about seeing a local car dealer all over town - but I can't find it. At any rate, there is a local car dealer who is one of those guys who does his own commercials and generally makes an ass of himself in the process of selling cars. The best commercials are the ones in which he does bits with Jimmy "J.J." "Kid Dynomite" Walker - oh how far he fell.

So the deal is, I see this dude all over town and usually places I love to go - coffee shops, book stores, record stores... you know, *my* places. It disturbs me. I don't want to like the same things as the guy who shrugs his shoulders after J.J. does something asinine. He is a fine car dealer but his commercials make one want to end capitalism in a major way.

So today I had a new experience. I went to the bookstore to look for something to read on an upcoming flight and found myself shopping beside the former Senator and Vice Presidential nominee, John Edwards. As some might recall, despite being a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, I do NOT like John Edwards.

Needless to say. I quietly sighed, went to a different section and got something completely different than intended.

PAW 15

This week's PAW shot is of my dog Zola. While taking a photo of the dog is not terribly challenging for a photographer, for a dog owner it is a must.

Bulls v Mudhens

Last night I went with a couple friends to see the Durham Bulls play the Toledo Mudhens. For some reason it felt like a very classic minor league match-up. Still, my feeling deserved a bit of research:

I know my local team, the Bulls, were established in 1902 but I had to check on the Mudhens. The only thing close to a club history I could find on their web page was in regards to what a mudhen is. It claims the club earned the name in 1896 because of its proximity to some marshlands where the birds gathered. They even have mudhen calls to listen to. Still, that doesn't actually tell me when the club was started but it does certify that the two baseball teams are indeed classic ball clubs.

For what its worth, the Durham Bulls earned their name from a brand of cigarettes whose signs had a bull with very large and visible testicles that a) caused a great stir in the early-1900s South b) sold more smokes than brands without testicles. However, when the team was formed they were known as the "Durham Tobacconists" and only got the name "Bulls" after about a 10 year absence in 1912. My favorite part of the club history is that they used to have a mascot that was an actual bull. Once in 1926 the then commissioner of baseball, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, rode the bull before a game. Today, Bud Selig would probably cower in a corner crying if the current mascot (read:dude in a bull suit) looked at him the wrong way. Oh, one note: the snorting bull on top of the very high left field wall was a prop put up for the movie "Bull Durham". Although it is still there, it is not actually some old traditional relic. Sorry.

The Bulls won last night in a 9th inning come-from-behind classic. I had a seat in front of third base - three rows back. It was 60°F.

Perfect. Classic.

The War on Brains

I can't find a link to get this quote accurate but when asked about Peter Jenning's cancer Fox "News" man, Brit Hume, said he knew Peter smoked but wasn't a chain smoker so he didn't understand how he got lung cancer. Smoking in any amount can cause cancer - period.

Green peace has a campaign to discredit Genetically Engineered food claiming that human and animal genes are used in foodstuff and claiming it undergoes no regulation (etc). This campaign resulted in Zambia "standing up" to the U.S. by refusing genetically modified seeds that could have provided millions of hungry people with food - nevermind that Greenpeace's claims are incorrect.

Stickers are being placed on science textbooks to try to discredit the theory of evolution by pointing it out as a theory (while implying religion and faith is not). Not once has the idea of evolution being part of "God's plan" and scientist are simply trying to further understand that plan ever entered into those hot tempered heads.

Despite his own science commission telling him the human triggered global warming is indeed a scientifically proven phenomenon the President keeps claiming that its either not real or not triggered by humans.

What the hell is going on? Do you remember when scientists used to provide proof for theories and we, the general public, would sit back and say "well, how about that?" instead of "NUH UH! Thats not true!"

There is a serious War on Brains that had been going on for a little while now and it *must* change before we are in serious trouble. Thomas Friedman has a new book out that talks about how the science innovation and creation side of the world's economy has leveled out - as in, it is now a nearly equal field because of the advances in technology. Thanks to technology the genius in Bangalore now has as many outlets for his/her ideas as the genius in New York. He also writes that unless we make drastic changes to eduction (promote tertiary education as we did secondary education in the 50s and 60s) the United States is going to find itself far behind in the game.

OK, I have no arguments against that at all, it makes sense. However, I don't think just a push for tertiary schooling will work at all. I don't think the push would ever happen, and if it did happen I don't think it would work. I have these opinions because of the damage I have seen to reason thanks to the War on Brains. When feeling outweighs proof (or even the rule of law) and feeling starts to settle into the collective mind, that collective mind is in danger of collapse. Oh, the collective mind I'm referring to is society.

Am I wrong here? Science hasn't changed has it? I don't think so. Its theory then proof just as it always has been. No, its the War on Brains and I can only be pessimistic as long as that war is being waged and won.

UNC 75 - Billy Packer's Favorite Team 70

When I was a kid I would listen to UNC basketball on the radio and shoot my nerf basketball into its hoop over my bedroom door (OK, toward the hoop). I thought James Worthy and Sam Perkins were gods. I wanted to be Sam Perkins, he was my most favorite player. Now, I think Sean May might be.

We just opened our front door and can hear the screems, yells, bangs, and dogs all over town (not to mention the news helicopters). The town is going nuts - our middle-age neighbor let out a big Woo! (and even that sounds Southern from her) I would have considered going down to the Dean Dome to watch tonight if it weren't for my sinus infection and my absolutely kick-ass television set. This town is *all* about basketball - tonight's title once again seals that tradition.

My only complaints tonight? 1) the sinus infection I touched on before 2) CBS's announcers *obviously* wanted Illinois to win.

Way to go Roy and Team!!

PAW Week 14

This week's PAW is sort of a cop-out. With the macro settings on modern cameras these shots are downright easy.. but they are still beautiful and this shot allows me to signify the beginning of spring with the Cherry Blossom Tree in my front yard.

Our house looks 100 times better when this tree is in bloom.