Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Where there's a will...

There's a party. Happy Mardi Gras!

Check out the live web cams:

http://www.nola.com/

Monday, February 27, 2006

Bulletproof mutant frogs

Global Warming Fuels Speedy Evolution
The wood frogs show how resilient and adaptable frogs can be, he says. Contrary to popular portrayals of frogs as the environmental canaries in the coal mine, most frogs are "fairly bullet proof," he said.

That's why when the frogs disappear, as they are in places like the Monteverde Cloud Forest of Costa Rica, there's all the more reason to be concerned about how drastic climate is changing, he said.

Previous post:

It's not easy being green

I'm picking up your sarcasm

First-annual Atrocious GM Summit

This is some really excellent satire from the Sports Guy.

Darren McGavin, 83



Notafinga!
Darren McGavin, an Emmy-winning actor who worked almost constantly in television for almost 50 years and made an enduring mark on popular culture as the grizzled has-been crime reporter in the 1970s series "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," has died. He was 83.

McGavin, who also is remembered for portraying the curmudgeonly father in the 1983 film "A Christmas Story," died of natural causes Saturday at a Los Angeles-area hospital, his family said.

Full story

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Police Station Intimidation


My name is Bob Smiley, and I'd like to register a complaint.

Check out the hidden video in Part 2 of this story to see some of Jeb Bush's deputies on their finest behavior.

Saturday, February 25, 2006

From the Half the World is Below Average Dept.

Wintry Weather Causes 50 Car Pile-Up On Interstate

Near white out conditions Saturday created major problems on area roads, WMUR reported. Interstate 93 in Londonderry was shut down for hours after a 50-car pile-up in the afternoon near exit 4.

Interstate 93 Accident Photo Gallery

Rescue workers transported about 10 people to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Crews told WMUR that the accident stretched about half a mile down the interstate. Police were able to re-open the road at about 5 p.m.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Wrestling with life, after death

By Joe Santoliquito
Special to ESPN.com
On June 18, 2005, as A.J. looked on, his father, Andrew Detwiler, shot his mother, Suzanne, and then turned the gun toward the boys. Moments later, in self-defense, his brother Corey shot twice at his father, killing him.
Full story

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Stop the world I want to get off

Geena's Commander Takes Early Leave



Apparently Americans are still not ready for a female President, not even a fictional one.
Commander in Chief, which had a promising start with 16 million viewers tuning into its September premiere, has been experiencing a decline in ratings since November and then took a dramatic plunge with the arrival of FOX's rival ratings powerhouse American Idol.
Is this show the heir apparent to The West Wing? No, the writing isn't even close. But it's still an entertaining show. Geena Davis has a charming yet commanding presence, and I'd put Mackenzie Allen near the top of my list of fictional characters whom I'd rather see President than the current real-life Commander in Chief. Plus, Donald Sutherland!

The saddest part of this story is that apparently ABC feels it can earn higher ratings with George Lopez and According to Jim. It's times like these that make me really proud to be an American.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Why we can never have a female President

Woman survives driving car into Dorchester Bay
A woman escaped from the frigid waters of Dorchester Bay this afternoon after she missed a turn in her speeding car and flew into the water near the University of Massachusetts at Boston campus.

Witnesses said the woman, who escaped the car on her own and partially swam to shore as a student and UMass police officer swam to help her, was driving at a high rate of speed before the accident, so fast that her car flew airborne more than 30 yards before landing in the water.
Video

Bad trip

Um, are these ads for or against drugs?

Execution, Part 4

Execution halted after anaesthetists walk out

Prison officers at California's San Quentin prison were forced to halt the execution of a man convicted of the rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl when two anaesthetists backed out for ethical reasons.
...
The American Medical Association, the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the California Medical Association have all opposed the doctors’ participation as unethical and unprofessional.

Prison officials rescheduled the execution for this evening, and said that they would employ a different technique: administering a fatal overdose of barbiturate in lieu of the three-drug cocktail typically used in lethal injections.

Morales’s lawyers had successfully argued that the three-part lethal injection cocktail used in California and 35 other states would violate the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment if he were not fully sedated.
...
At his trial, Morales was convicted of having attacked Winchell from behind and tried to strangle her with his belt in January 1981. He then beat her into unconsciousness with a hammer, raped her and started to leave before going back and stabbing her four times in the chest to make sure that she was dead.

This is interesting. In a previous post, I posed the following question:
If we believe we have the right to decide to end someone's life, then why is torture such a big deal? Which is worse?

To which Ed responded,
I think the framers believed that, yes, torture WAS worse than death. That's why they included no "cruel and unusual punishment" in the Constitution. Tis better to go quickly than slowly and painfully.

I agree with that to some extent. If I know I'm going to die anyway, then yes, I would choose to skip the torture part. But it still seems foolish to me that we're so worried about making convicts comfortable right before we kill them. Are we really trying to soothe the condemned, or our own conscience?


Related posts:
With great power comes great responsibility
Voting their conscience
Values a la carte
Keywords:

Must be the new math

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Grizzly Man

I've been wanting to see Grizzly Man for a while now, and when Bill Simmons recently mentioned it I resolved to see it finally. Here's what Bill had to say:
It's the first documentary since "American Movie" that ranks a perfect 100 on the Unintentional Comedy Scale. First of all, it's directed by Werner Herzog, who (incredibly) decided to narrate the movie even though he sounds like he's auditioning for a Hans & Frans sketch. Second, the Grizzly Man guy is an absolute maniac and can't be described even remotely. You just have to see him in action. He's surpassed Mark Byars (from "Paradise Lost") and Mark Borchardt for me, and I never thought I would say that. Third, there are so many ridiculously funny moments (like when Grizzly Man claims that he lost out to Woody Harrelson as Coach's replacement on "Cheers," or when he's playing with the bear poop) that you can't even believe it's happening as it's happening. I kept thinking that this was like the "Blair Witch Project," some sort of elaborate hoax by the creators of "Mr. Show." But it's not. And fourth, this is the first movie that I can remember that glorifies someone who's completely insane. I mean, COMPLETELY. Utterly and totally.

(You have to rent this movie -- it's disturbing, hilarious, creepy, haunting, you name it. I won't even spoil the ending for you. Just see it.)
I think that says it all. This movie is bizarre and fascinating, and I highly recommend it.

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Don't be evil? Don't be stupid.

Google's Private Lives
Its new desktop search application would make your personal files available for government searches without your knowledge.

Google Desktop is one Google application I won't use. Even though I have nothing to hide, it just feels like too much of a personal invasion. But the real lesson here, as always: don't keep records (written or electronic) of your criminal activity.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Blame the Internet

Entwistle researched killing and suicide
Neil Entwistle searched the Internet about ways to kill someone with a knife
Apparently he didn't find my new book:

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Olympics Mini-Blog

Like a spoiled child who refuses to give up his turn, NBC is once again providing exclusive television coverage of the Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. I'll do my best to tell you what they're doing wrong (and occasionally right).

UPDATE: One thing they're doing right: if you miss any events you can watch them on-line the next day at NBCOlympics.com.

Their coverage opens Friday night with a production piece featuring majestic mountain ranges and beautiful cityscapes, all brought to me in spectacular high-definition. I'm actually getting in the Olympic spirit.

Wait, what? All of a sudden I'm watching downhill skiing practice runs. Still in HD and I'm glad of that, but what is going on? Can I get some program notes or something? This is embarrassingly poor directing, and on NBC's opening night, no less.

Okay, now we're at the opening ceremonies. Back on track. A bunch of theatrical stuff happens, some of it mildly interesting. At one point a troupe of acrobats start doing a wire act. Bob Costas helpfully informs us that they will eventually come together to form a dove, the symbol of peace. Way to ruin the suspense, Bob! I'm trying to enjoy this fruity Italian pageant. Now you might as well tell me who will be lighting the torch so I can go to sleep.

(It was Stefania Belmondo, Italy's most decorated Winter Olympian. Whatever.)

Here are some random observations from the rest of the weekend:


Cross Country Skiing

Well, we're off to a roaring start. After all that talk of enhanced coverage and heightened drama, I'm being shown a bunch of people slog through a course on cross country skis. They might as well set up cameras in the aerobics room of the training gym and keep a running commentary of who's burning the most calories. Actually, the crowd is really into this race, hooting and hollering. I guess it takes all kinds.


Luge

One of the competitors was quoted as saying he wasn't sure if he was fit enough to win a medal this year. Fit enough to lie flat on a sled while he hurtles down an ice chute at almost 90 mph. Apparently I've spent the last ten years training for the luge without even knowing it.


Women's Hockey

When you start watching a sport featuring unfamiliar teams, one of the first things you do without thinking about it is identify which team is which and match the color of their uniforms with the computer-generated scoreboard in the corner of the screen. Right now you're thinking, "gosh, that's so painfully obvious why is he taking the time to explain this to me?" Well, here's why. At first glance, based only on the color of the uniforms I assume the team in red is Russia, and by process of elimination the team in white must be Canada. But when I look at the scoreboard, Canada is shown in red, and Russia is white and blue. But then the white team scored and I see that my initial assumption was correct. Canada is in white. Upon further inspection, when the Canadian players raise their arms they reveal a tiny swatch of red fabric, and vice versa the Russians. Now, there were other visual cues such as the maple leaf on the Canadians' uniform, and I really wasn't confused for more than a second or two. But this is just one more example of willful stupidity, first on the part of the uniform designers, and then on the part of NBC. I hate that.

This one's not NBC's fault, but can we please start counting down instead of up? Honestly, I can understand driving on the left, writing from right to left, and lots of other practices that seem completely alien to me as an American. But I can't accept a point of view where it makes sense to count up, rather than counting down the time remaining in the game. Might as well be watching hockey on Pluto.

Canada won 12-0. Is Russia that bad, or is Canada that good?


Freestyle Skiing

I'm watching the women's mogul skiing and I'm really impressed because they're tearing through those moguls and pulling off some pretty amazing jumps. I couldn't even dream of pulling of aerial maneuvers like that. Seriously, if I even dreamed about it, in my dream I would die. But then I watch the men's moguls and they make the women look like, well, kinda like me in my dream. I don't really have a point here. I understand there is a biological reason why they have separate events for men and women. But the disparity in this sport is particularly striking.


Alpine Skiing

Hey, did you hear Bode Miller's in the Olympics? I swear I've seen more Bode Miller practice runs than any other event so far. How about we get a camera crew to follow him into Turin at night for 'training.' Now that would be entertaining television.

Friday, February 10, 2006

Happy Friday!

That's right, it's not even noon on a Friday and I'm already watching videos. But honestly, Who shoves a firecracker in their ass?

Nice.

 


I wonder if the Herald would pay me to write this blog. Hmmm....

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Sigh...

Embassies torched as cartoon furor grows

I was going to write a sardonic post about the reaction of Muslims to the depiction of Mohammed as a terrorist in a Danish newspaper, but I think this Google Images result says it all:

Friday, February 03, 2006

Get with the program

The first episode of Survivor: Panama: Exile Island aired last night. This season the gimmick is they've split the 16 contestants into four tribes to start out: older women, older men, younger women, and younger men (more on this later). After each reward challenge, the losing team has to leave one member behind to spend the night alone on Exile Island. The upside to this is that supposedly there is an immunity idol hidden on the island.

Anyhoo, after five years and a dozen locations, Survivor is still your best destination for reality television. Oh I'm sure a lot of production-y stuff goes on behind the scenes, but toward the end of those 39 days, the contestants are beat-up, weathered and hungry. Some look downright emaciated. That's real.

But you know what would be even more real than Survivor? Survivor in HD.

Since I picked up my first HDTV last summer, I've been gratified to find more and more HD programming available. Surely Survivor would be jumping on this bandwagon soon? It seems like such an obvious candidate. The beautiful, exotic locales are one of the major draws to the show. Witness the abortive attempts to go inland (Survivor 2 - Australia, Survivor 3 - Africa), followed by nothing but tropical island locales ever since. I have been eagerly awaiting the debut of Survivor in all its high-def, widescreen splendor. Last night, to my great disappointment and consternation, the twelfth season of Survivor opened in dreary old 4:3.

To add insult to injury, rather than just leaving the sides of my screen blank (black), some moron has seen fit to fill that space with an inscrutable grey ether. What is that supposed to be? Fog? Who is making these decisions? (This is not just Survivor; a lot of shows have these grey borders. It might not even be part of the broadcast but something Comcast is doing. Whoever it is, I wish they'd cut the shit.)

I've Googled this topic and the consensus seems to be that since HD video cameras are much more expensive than regular ones, and since Survivor cameras are inevitably exposed to a great deal of salt water and sand, Survivor in HD ain't gonna happen anytime soon. Well, to that I say, shenanigans! I have no doubt CBS can afford to replace one or two HD cameras a season, if necessary. Hell, that's probably less than the revenue they make from one 30-second commercial.

Finally, I think this guy said it best when he argued, "Its been said before, but if Discovery can haul their HD equipment out to the desert so I can watch an elephant take a poop in high def or follow the Snakemaster all over the amazon, then CBS should be able to do the same for Survivor."

Don't tell me they can't make this happen. Come on, CBS, get with the program!


Note #1:

I was really trying to sell the appeal of the show above in order to make my argument, but I have to say this latest cast looks pretty weak. The four older men looked the strongest out of the gate, having a good combination of strength and intelligence. The four younger women lost the first reward challenge, but made up for it with a decent showing in the immunity challenge. The older women are helpless, having voted off their only competent member last night. But the really amazing team is the younger men, and not in a good way. These guys looked completely incompetent during the physical immunity challenge, barely managing to beat out the older women. When they finally crossed the finish line, two of them were actually bleeding. How did that even happen?

I also don't see a lot of interesting personalities to create drama, but maybe it's just too early to tell. I do see promise in one older guy who made the questionable decision to leave behind a 3-packs-a-day smoking habit to come on the show. After going barely more than 24 hours without a cigarette he looked about ready to kill someone with his bare hands.


Note #2:

The tribal council looks really cool this time around. It's like a bat cave!

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Bounce

I love these Hahn Premium Light commercials. How can I give them some money?

From the Half the World is Below Average Dept.

Pimping near police station a bad idea
MARTINEZ, Calif. --A married couple pleaded no contest to charges they ran a brothel across the street from a Concord police station, Contra Costa County authorities said. Debra Watts, 52, will serve one year of home detention after pleading to three felony counts of pimping and pandering, prosecutor Jose Marin said Monday.

Her husband, Ernest Watts, 63, pleaded to one misdemeanor count of maintaining a house of prostitution, Marin said.

Investigators said the couple ran the brothel for a year in an apartment located a few hundred feet from the Concord police station and used the Internet to solicit clients.

Police raided the apartment in January of 2005, six months after an informant tipped them off in exchange for leniency in a pending fraud case, according to a search warrant affidavit.
So, really, pimping near the police station wasn't such a bad idea. They were doing it for a year before an informant ratted them out. Who knows how long this could have gone on?
Surveillance of the apartment revealed a Monday-through-Friday operation in which women would arrive by 10 a.m. and leave by 7 p.m. Men would enter and leave throughout the day, staying for about 30 minutes at a time, according to the affidavit.

The women charged $160 for every half-hour and Debra Watts would take half, according to the affidavit.

A third defendant, Michelle Secrist, 22, of Vacaville, pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of prostitution.

The couple, who lived in Fairfield but recently moved to Las Vegas, will be prohibited from working in any business related to prostitution as part of their probation.
So they've moved to Las Vegas where prostitution is legal, but they're prohibited from working in the business because they got in trouble for doing it somewhere else. Well I hope they've learned their lesson! Could someone please explain it to me?