9.29.2005

The Top 50 Science Fiction Shows of All Time

If you are a sci-fi fan like me, you should check out this list at Boston.com. It has some unlikely choices ("Xena: Warrior Princess"?!) but is generally a good list. Enjoy!

9.27.2005

Is that "Kate"?

So I am up watching South Park on UPN, and this commercial comes on for LiveLinks, a telephone "dating" service, and I would swear that the woman who extolls the virtues of LiveLinks is Kate from LOST. Hmmm..... anyone else seen this ad?

I am NOT A REPUBLICAN, but ...

... this is damned funny!!

9.26.2005

From a Great "Arrested Develepment" Tonight!

I stole this from the web! If you don't know why this is funny, YOU AREN'T PAYING ATTENTION!!!


Uh Oh! A Docu on the Failed Kerry Campaign!!

from: http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/349883p-298362c.html

Kerry's not- so-amazing race, on film

I hear that John Kerry loyalists are kicking themselves for cooperating last year with filmmaker Steve Rosenbaum on "Inside the Bubble," a potentially devastating behind-the-scenes look at the Massachusetts senator's failed presidential campaign.
I'm also told that Hillary Clinton partisans are licking their chops to see the film, which "could end up being the silver bullet that kills Kerry's presidential chances for 2008," says a Lowdown spy.

Kerry spinmeister David Wade - one of the senior staffers who allowed Rosenbaum to film his private moments - tried to dismiss Rosenbaum's effort as "a childish home movie destined to be forgotten."

Wade E-mailed me: "The 20 poor souls subjected to this movie will be reaching for caffeine and begging for old Lamar Alexander tapes on C-Span 2. Michael Moore has nothing to fear. I think the working title was 'The Snore Room.'"

But people who've screened the documentary say it's compelling and revealing.

It features, among other not-ready-for-prime-time moments, Clinton scowling and rolling her eyes over an apparent Kerry gaffe during a presidential debate; Kerry pretending to interview himself and babbling in Italian while waiting for a real interview to begin; Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) cursing at reporters during a campaign stop, and Kerry message guru Robert Shrum confidently declaring a few days before the 2004 election: "Zogby [a prominent pollster] just announced who's gonna win. Us!"

Shrum told me he personally didn't cooperate with the movie, which captures him on camera only a couple of times.

Asked if he plans to see it, he answered: "Absolutely not."

As for media critic Michael Wolff - who severely slags off the Kerryites at regular intervals - "I refused to be interviewed by [Rosenbaum], even though at one point he called me from his bespoke tailor."

A press release claims the movie - which won't be shown publicly until Thursday - "turns a harsh but deeply revealing mirror on the campaign ... a disorganized, contentious, self-absorbed team that thought they could win by 'not making mistakes,' and keeping their candidate in the public eye without clarifying a position on anything."

Director Rosenbaum, meanwhile, told me: "I'm a lifelong Democrat and I supported Kerry. I think people will see the film as fair, and maybe searing."

9.25.2005

An Interesting Article from Snopes.Com

I came across this article on the great urban legend site, Snopes.com, and thought I'd share it, because of the very interesting take on the meaning of the legend:

Glurge: Christian girl who prays for protection while walking home late one night is saved from rape by two angels who keep her safe.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2000]

Diane, a young Christian university student, was home for the summer. She had gone to visit some friends one evening and the time passed quickly as each shared their various experiences of the past year.

She ended up staying longer than she had planned and had to walk home alone. But she wasn't afraid because it was a small town and she lived only a few blocks away. As she walked along under the tall elm trees, Diane asked "God" to keep her safe from harm and danger. When she reached the alley, which was a short cut to her house, she decided to take it. However, halfway down the alley she noticed a man standing at the end as though he were waiting for her. She became uneasy and began to pray, asking for God's protection. Instantly a comforting feeling of quietness and security wrapped around her, she felt as though someone was walking with her. When she reached the end of the alley, she walked right past the man and arrived home safety.

The following day, she read in the paper that a young girl had been raped in the same alley, just twenty minutes after she had been there. Feeling overwhelmed by this tragedy and the fact that it could have been her, she began to weep. Thanking the Lord for her safety and to help this young woman, she decided to go to the police station. She felt she could recognize the man, so she told them her story. The police asked her if she would be willing to look at a lineup to see if she could identify him. She agreed and immediately pointed out the man she had seen in the alley the night before.

When the man was told he had been identified, he immediately broke down and confessed. The officer thanked Diane for her bravery and asked if their was anything they could do for her, she asked if they would ask the man one question. Diane was curious as to why he had not attacked her. When the policeman asked him, he answered, "Because she wasn't alone. She had two tall men walking on either side of her."

Variations:
A version circulated in May 2001 omits mention of Diane's being Christian, opening instead with "Diane, a young university student. . . ."
Origins: The above-quoted piece first appeared in inboxes in February 2001. It sometimes concludes with the tagline "Moral of the story: NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF PRAYER!"

This story is best viewed as an inspirational tale meant to stress the importance of prayer in daily life, not as an account of something that actually happened. Nothing in it lends itself to verification; no last name or date or city is given. Indeed, we supposedly know what the rapist said in explanation of his unexpected confession ("Because she wasn't alone. She had two tall men walking on either side of her") but we aren't told his name, a detail that would make running down news articles about this man's conviction and sentence a snap.

As a bit of inspirational fiction, "Angels in the Alley" (its oft-used informal Internet title) not only misses the mark but lands a wicked backhand against the very folks a caring God would look to spare further harm. Because "Diane" prays she is passed over by the rapist, but another girl who traverses the same alley twenty minutes later is not so fortunate — she is victimized in the way Diane would have been. Prayer doesn't stop the rape; it merely diverts it from one potential victim to another. Diane's entreaties to the Lord thus have the effect of precipitating the sexual assault of another woman who otherwise would not have been raped. Hardly a ringing endorsement of God's mercy, that.

Beyond the "displacement of an evil result onto another" concept, (halting the evil as opposed to merely redirecting it would have been a better game plan for these alleyway angels), this story does a huge disservice to the many in real life who have been sexually assaulted. It implies they didn't pray hard enough, else their rapes would have been prevented too. Victims of such attacks carry enough emotional scars without prayer advocates adding one more: God must have intentionally turned his back on them, because he sends angels to protect the truly worthy.

The truly worthy, the truly unworthy, and all manner of folk in between can and do get raped, beaten, murdered, and have any number of horrible fates visited upon them. Belief in a world populated with invincible spirit guards that can be summoned to keep watch over us by the mere utterance of a heartfelt prayer might be ever so comforting, but the reality of life is far different. Good people, even prayerful people, can have bad things happen to them. To think otherwise is to draw comfort from the notion that all those who have been victimized mustn't have prayed hard enough, or that deep down they just weren't good people after all.

Barbara "blame the victimizer, not the victim" Mikkelson

Last updated: 9 July 2001

9.23.2005

Fact-O-Rama

I just discovered this list of facts in my old email, and thought it was worth posting! It was sent to me by my very dear friend Krissy. I was able to find it because of the Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" Mail feature "Smart Folders." If you are a Mac user, and haven't upgraded to Tiger yet, do it! It's well worth it, even if the "dashboard" feature loses something after about a day and a half!
Anyway, here's the list of interesting facts:


If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you
would have produced enough sound energy to heat one
cup of coffee.
(Hardly seems worth it.)


If you farted consistently for 6 years and 9 months,
enough gas is produced to create the energy of an
atomic bomb.
(Now that's more like it!)


The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps
out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.
(O.M.G.!)


A pig's orgasm lasts 30 minutes.
(In my next life, I want to be a pig.)


A cockroach will live nine days without its head
before it starves to death.
(Creepy.)

(I'm still not over the pig.)


Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories a
hour
(Don't try this at home,maybe at work)



The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head
is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by
ripping the male's head off.
("Honey, I'm home. What the....?!")


The flea can jump 350 times its body length. It's like
a human jumping the length of a football field.
(30 minutes..lucky pig! Can you imagine?)


The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds.
(What could be so tasty on the bottom of a pond?)


Some lions mate over 50 times a day.
(I still want to be a pig in my next life...quality
over quantity)


Butterflies taste with their feet.
(Something I always wanted to know.)


The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
(Hmmmmmm......)


Right-handed people live, on average, nine years
longer than left-handed people.
(If you're ambidextrous, do you split the difference?)


Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump.
(okay, so that would be a good thing)


A cat's urine glows under a black light.
(I wonder who was paid to figure that out?)


An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
(I know some people like that.)


Starfish have no brains.
(I know some people like that too.)


Polar bears are left-handed.
(If they switch, they'll live a lot longer)


Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex
for pleasure.
(What about that pig??)


I love stuff like this, so if you come across any, please forward them to me so I can post it --- with proper credit for you, of course!

=108


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Predicting the Future ...

Just some light fun I stole from some website or another ... Enjoy!

640K ought to be enough for anybody. - Bill Gates, 1981

This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us. - Western Union internal memo, 1876.

The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular? - David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.

The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible. - A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances. - Dr. Lee DeForest, Inventor of TV

The bomb will never go off. I speak as an expert in explosive. - Admiral William Leahy, U.S. Atomic Bomb Project

There is no likehood man can ever tap the power of the atom. - Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923

Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons. - Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. - Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year. - The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

But what ... is it good for? - Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper. - Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in Gone With The Wind.

A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make. - Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies.

We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out. - Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. - Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.

If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this. - Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M Post-It Notepads.

So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.' - Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and H-P interested in his and Steve Wozniak's personal computer.

9.22.2005

More Pictures I Love (Part Two)

**All of the below were found on the internet. If any of these images are yours, please email me and I will remove them posthaste**


More Pictures I Love (Part One)




9.21.2005

Again, True......

You are George Orwell





Paranoid and Cynical. You are able to understand society and the human psyche quickly and easily. You are depressed a lot of the time, because you are clever enough to see what is really going on in the world.


Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

A Clip From A Great Movie!

9.19.2005

A "LOST" Mystery ... Solved

Firstly, congrats to LOST for winning best writing and best drama at the Emmys! They certainly deserved it! I am very disappointed that Everybody Loves Raymond beat Arrested Development for best comedy, though. That was a totally outrageous joke.

Anyway, I remember seeing the episode of LOST which this mystery refers to, and I remember hearing exactly what it says in the quote below (from the LOST article on Wikipedia), but I was later dissuaded from this belief by others. They were wrong!

When Boone tried to send a Mayday radio message in "Deus Ex Machina", he identified himself as a survivor of Oceanic Flight 815. The response Boone received was garbled, and led to a debate for some time as to whether it said "We're the survivors of Flight 815" or "There were no survivors of Flight 815." In a recent interview with TV Guide (May 29, 2005), Damon Lindelof solved this mystery, stating that the response was in fact "We’re the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815." However, Lindelof also reminded readers that this was also what Boone radioed over, saying "it's up to extrapolation as to whether or not his own words were being bounced back to him."


This certainly adds another layer!

Oh yes, and one more thing. I recently bought the LOST first season DVD. Interestingly, if you freeze-frame just before the polar bear leaps at Sawyer, a strange figure appears, somewhat like a Chinese or Japanese character, but not exactly. I doubt it's a mistake!!! But what is it?

These pictures made me sick to my stomach!

If you know me, you know I am TERRIFIED of sharks, ever since I saw Jaws in 1975. The first two of these pictures were sent by my very dear friend Krissy Kelleher-Penese, and I almost vomited! The third I found somewhere on the web! Beware! [They are, of course, photshopped!]






9.17.2005

Get sorted! I did!

WIDTH="88" HEIGHT="130" ALT="Want to Get Sorted?">

I'm
a Gryffindor!

I Only Disagree With One of These ("Social")










Your Political Profile



Overall: 35% Conservative, 65% Liberal

Social Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Ethics: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal


9.15.2005

A Joke For All You Computer Nerds ...

What do you get when you combine Wndows CE, Window ME, and Windows NT?

Windows CEMENT!

Hahahah. I can't remember where I saw that - I think it was an anti-Microsoft website. I thought it was funny!

9.14.2005

Some More Pictures From the Wonders of the Web...





Last One, I Promise!

You are The Twins-
You are The Twins, from "The Matrix."
Bad, but with a sexy streak- surprisingly
refreshing. You know what you want, when you
want it.


What Matrix Persona Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Another Quiz, an Acceptable Result!

Click here to take the M*A*S*H quiz!

9.09.2005

This sounds like me......

your humor style:
CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARK




You like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty--after all isn't that the Simpsons' philosophy?--but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat.

I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer.

Your sense of humor takes the most thought to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion.



You probably loved the Office. If you don't know what I'm
talking about, check it out here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice/.



PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais






The 3-Variable Funny Test!

- it rules -



If you're interested, try my latest:
The Terrorism Test

Link: The 3 Variable Funny Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid

These Guys Voted AGAINST hurricane relief??

Courtesy of Radar Online:

No Food or Shelter for You

We couldn’t imagine who would have voted against the federal relief package for Hurricane Katrina/Corrina. Turns out there were 11 heartless bastards who did just that. Just in case you’re keeping score at home:

Rep. Joe Barton - TX
Jeff Flake - AZ
Virginia Foxx - NC
Scott Garrett - NJ
John Hostettler - IN
Steve King - IA
Butch Otter - ID
Ron Paul - TX
James Sensenbrenner - WI
Tom Tancredo - CO
Lynn Westmoreland - GA

Did we mention they’re all Republicans?

"States Rights" Doctrine Leads to Chaos in LA



The outdated notion of "states rights" — championed by conservatives, especially in the South — is partly responsible for the chaos in Louisiana in the aftermath of Katrina. An article in the New York Times online edition describes this struggle, as Governor Blanco (who I hope has updated her resume) feared losing political authority.

9.04.2005

Everyone's to Blame, even in LA

From The Washington Post:


Many Evacuated, but Thousands Still Waiting
White House Shifts Blame to State and Local Officials
By Manuel Roig-Franzia and Spencer Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 4, 2005; Page A01

NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 3 -- Tens of thousands of people spent a fifth day awaiting evacuation from this ruined city, as Bush administration officials blamed state and local authorities for what leaders at all levels have called a failure of the country's emergency management.

...

Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.

The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.

A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor.

Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.

"The federal government stands ready to work with state and local officials to secure New Orleans and the state of Louisiana," White House spokesman Dan Bartlett said. "The president will not let any form of bureaucracy get in the way of protecting the citizens of Louisiana."

Blanco made two moves Saturday that protected her independence from the federal government: She created a philanthropic fund for the state's victims and hired James Lee Witt, Federal Emergency Management Agency director in the Clinton administration, to advise her on the relief effort.

9.01.2005

For those who believe in "creationism"....

...Scientists have discovered that chimps and humans share 96% IDENTICAL DNA!

---
I'm back from a nice almost-week in Maine with my friends the Grueners.... thanks for a great time, all!