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October 30, 2005
Blog Stew: Halloween Edition
For those of you who celebrate or otherwise mark the occasion of Halloween, have a happy and safe one. Here's a few recipes for you (in keeping with the "stew" theme).
Anyway, it's time to resurrect "Blog Stew," which we do here from time to time when there are a few items that capture my attention but don't warrant a whole post to themselves. We just throw a whole bunch of little stories into the pot and make stew. WIth that...
1. NASA builds a giant penis. From Boing Boing comes this delightful piece of humor: In an attempt to demonstrate the capabilities of its new robotic "skin" to sense and respond to movement and the environment around it, NASA engineers arranged for a dance between a ballerina and a giant robotic... um... "arm." This video -- made at taxpayer expense, mind you -- reminded me that this is an agency that has spent its lifetime building giant phallic symbols and launching them into space. Not that I mean to be that dismissive of science, but come on! You watch this video, and tell me that you're not thinking the same thing I was?! (Especially at the end when she lifts her back leg high into the air... funny, I think a lot of us guys have the same reaction as the NASA robot when women do that around us.)
2. Mr. Sulu comes out. George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu on Star Trek, has come out of the closet and acknowledged publicly that he is gay. I'm of three minds on this: a) It's a somewhat courageous move; not that Takei was still in massive demand and could have really dented his career, but he does have a dedicated fan base that could conceivably have been alienated (dig my pun? Get it? Star Trek? Alienated?), so this took guts; b) It shouldn't be a big deal at all, because a person's sexuality is their own damn business and the fact that we still make such a big deal of something like this is kinda sad; and c) could the AP have used any more "gay" a photo of Takei to accompany its story? I mean, I swear they went through their files going, "Okay, give me the most festive shot you can, people!"
3. 250,000 Superballs in San Francisco. Also from Boing Boing... to promote its new line of LCD televisions, Sony decided that their new commercial needed some bounce. So they went to one of the hilliest cities in the world -- San Francisco -- and dropped 25,000 brightly Superballs out of a window and down the street. While you're pondering the connection between Superballs and television (and while I ponder just how -- or if -- they collected and removed 250,000 Superballs that had been bouncing all over San Francisco), take a look at the new commercial here. (For the record, San Francisco is still one of my favorite cities anywhere in the world, and I will live there some time before I die.)
4. Quarterback worth just a dime. The more I watch Michael Vick, the more convinced I am that he is the best athlete in professional sports. And the more I watch Michael Vick, the more convinced I am that he is one of the ten worst quarterbacks in the NFL. You can be a great athlete without being great at your position, Vick is.In fact, he's a poor quarterback. It's time to make him a running back, a receiver, a free safety... anything where his natural ability and nose for the game can really work for him. But leave the quarterbacking to Manning, McNabb, Brady, Palmer, Big Ben, and Culpepper.
5. Daylight savings time. As grateful as I am for the extra hour of sleep today... should I really be excited that from now on, even if I leave the office at 5 pm, it's going to be dark outside? Or that sunlight will wake me up before the alarm does at 5:30 am?
Comments
Joke about NASA if you will, but don't forget we're not the only nation that builds phallic symbols to "penetrate" space. China does it, too, and if building phallic symbols is the way to remain competitive in this world, then so be it, dude.
Posted by: Brent at October 30, 2005 01:57 PM
I still haven't recouped from "The Beav's" Photo on your 'Mudge Map
Posted by: jillian at October 30, 2005 02:49 PM
Daylight Savings isn't observed out here, but my bedside clock doesn't know that (should it be hooked up to the 'Net so it could match my zip code to states which don't?), so I got an hour-late start on the day, much to the chagrin of my dog.
Posted by: Linkmeister at October 30, 2005 03:32 PM
I find it frightening the speed at which my father disseminates information about me. No seriously, I do.
Posted by: Sarah at October 30, 2005 06:35 PM
Actually, don't blame your dad... you tipped me off, thanks to SiteMeter. Don't be blamin' or hatin' here.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at October 30, 2005 07:07 PM
then...uh...how did you know it was me?
Posted by: Sarah at October 30, 2005 08:42 PM
Vick is only effective at QB if he's playing a team with a poor run defense. He openly admits that he has little accuracy in his passing game, thus preferring extra tall recievers like Jay Finnerman and tall TE Alge Crumpler. But if you have the running game of Dunn and Duckett, and Vick to fill in the cracks, there isnt much need for a passing game. Add that to a stellar defensive line and voila.
Look for the Falcons to make the playoffs again this year, possibly even beating Carolina/Seattle/NYG for the NFC.
Posted by: Cuzin Jose at October 31, 2005 07:21 AM
