Cat Blog Friday

For this Cat Blog Friday...

...what better than a leaping cat.

Happy Leap Friday, everybody.

Awesome Choppering

This came to me via email from Auntie M:

"This photo was taken by a soldier in Afghanistan of a helicopter rescue mission. The pilot is a PA National Guard guy who flies EMS choppers in civilian life. Now how many people on the planet you reckon could set the rear end of a chopper down on the roof top of a shack on a steep mountain cliff and hold it there while soldiers load wounded men in the rear.

If this does not impress you ... nothing ever will. Gives me the chills and a serious case of the vertigo ... I can't even imagine having the nerve ... much less the talent and ability ...

God Bless our military."

I hope this is real.

You Don't Like Me...You Just Don't Like Me

Lewis Switches Support To Obama

First Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), and now Rep. John Lewis (D-GA)...

I saw on the news today that since 2/5/08 Hillary has dropped 5 superdelegates, and Obama has gained 31.

But guess what folks, it's not over until the fat lady screams...

William F. Buckley, Jr. 1925-2008

"I am, I fully grant, a phenomenon, but not because of any speed in composition," he wrote in The New York Times Book Review in 1986. "I asked myself the other day, `Who else, on so many issues, has been so right so much of the time?' I couldn't think of anyone." -- William F. Buckley, Jr.

William F. Buckley, Jr. Dies At 82

His erudition, his intelligent drollery and his facile elocution will be sorely missed.

Ben Chapman 1929-2008

Ben Chapman, achieved movie immortality without uttering a word of dialogue or even showing his face. The 6-foot-5 former Marine played the Gill Man in "Creature From The Black Lagoon," the1954 3-D monster movie that developed an enduring cult following.

Chapman, died Thursday at the age of 79.

This was one of my favorite movies growing up. And although he scared the dickens out of me, I also felt sorry for the poor genetically-engineered creature.

R.I.P.

If You Elect Billary

Bill Clinton: "If You Elect Me" (I'm Speaking as Her)

Don't blink or you might miss the part where Bill says, "So Hillary says...

This is very creepy.

Shirking House

Domestic Surveillance Goes On Despite Expiration Of Law

It almost seems as though the House of Representatives wants to cripple our ability to listen in on the terrorists.

God forbid an attack were to get past our intelligence community. One guess as to who would be screaming the loudest about our inability to to connect the dots...

Bugs. It's What's For Dinner.

I can't make up crazy stuff like this...

U.N. Conference Promotes Insect-Eating For Everyone From Famine Victims to Astronauts

"Prof. Arnold van Huis, a tropical entomologist known as "Mr. Edible Insect" in his native Netherlands, blamed a Western bias against eating insects for the failure of aid agencies to incorporate bugs into their mix.

"They are completely biased," van Huis said. "They really have to change. I would urge other donor organizations to take a different attitude toward this ... It's excellent food. It can be sustainable with precautions."

I don't care how nutritious bugs are, I won't knowingly engage in entomophagy.

Would you?

Turtle News

Pet Tortoise Sets House On Fire

Fred, a 70-year old female tortoise, piled up the straw in her tank under the heat lamp and the rest, well, you know the rest. Luckily, no one was hurt in the fire.

Strangely, another turtle story caught my eye. This one from November 2007:

Rocket Thugs Launch Terrapin

Two extremes of people. One good and loving; the second horrible and cruel.

Oscar Unhappiness

Mink Eyelashes, Cleavage Buffing, Underarm Botox - How The Stars Are Preparing For The Oscars

I don't watch award shows so I don't care one way or the other, but it is shocking to see how far these celebutards go to look good for the camera.

It's sad and pathetic.

Organ Theft

From Lifescience.com comes this interesting article:
The Truth About Sensational Kidney Thefts .

The information provided by Benjamin Radford, LiveScience's Bad Science Columnist, is all well and good, but below lies the real truth...





Beware of Candy Mountain people!

Cat Blog Friday

For this Cat Blog Friday...

... Meatloaf, the cat who survived a 3 week trek in a storage container. An actual photo of the 2-year-old gray cat wasn't available, so I made do.

Curiosity Didn't Kill This Cat: Kitty Heads Home After 3-Week Cross-Country Trek In Locker

This very lucky cat will be given some time to recuperate before being flown back to his home in Florida.

Happy Friday, everybody!

The Cult Of Obama

Out of the Boston Herald comes an article by Margery Eagan that will make you shake your head in disbelief:

When Backing Barack Feels Like Joining A Cult

Eagan likens Obama followers to "Moonies, or Hare Krishnas, or the Hale-Bopp-Is-Coming-To-Get-Me nuts", yet she calls herself "an Obama girl".

Ahh, McCain never looked so good.

Shady Book

Tampa International Airport Passenger Had Box Cutter In Hollowed-Out Book

"Airport security ran Benjamin Baines Jr.'s backpack through an X-ray machine and saw the image of a box cutter, according to a report from the Transportation Security Administration.

When searching the backpack, a security officer found a book titled "Fear Itself." The book was hollowed out, and the box cutter was inside.

Officers also found books in the backpack titled "Muhammad in the Bible," "The Prophet's Prayer" and "The Noble Qur'an." He also had a copy of the Quran and the Bible."

This guy is pretty dumb for such a busy reader.

Cosmic Constant

Cosmic Coincidence Spotted: An Absurdly Large Number Could Hold The Key To Universal Mysteries .

If you like cosmology, this is a fascinating article.

Here's an excerpt:

"The existence of two large-number coincidences (10^40 and 10^122) now presents a puzzle in itself. It is remarkable enough that the parameters of nature should somehow produce one large-number coincidence,” says Scott Funkhouser, of the Citadel. “For the same basic set of parameters to produce two large-number coincidence problems is essentially preposterous — unless the two problems are related.”

But how?

Funkhouser notes that 10^122 is about equal to the cube of 10^40.

That's no coincidence.

Total Lunar Eclipse

On Wednesday evening, February 20th, the full Moon over Europe and the Americas will turn a delightful shade of red. It's a total lunar eclipse—the last one until Dec. 2010.

When should you look? Go to Spaceweather.com
for details.

Whopper Time

Back in June, Hillary told us about her athletic prowess: Hillary Clinton: I Play Pickup Basketball



Now, she's telling us about her prowess with guns and hunting: I've Gone Hunting



Gosh, I think I may have misunderestimated Hillary...

She's an even bigger liar than I thought.

Michelle "The Mouth" Obama

Will Media Ignore Michelle Obama Remark?

“For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country,” Michelle Obama told a Milwaukee crowd, “because it feels like hope is making a comeback.”

I'm so sorry that this country has been so hopeless for so many years for this Princeton (Sociology-major, African American studes-minor) and Harvard Law graduate ** sarcasm off **

It's a hard life, Michelle. Haaard.

Klein Bottle House

From YankoDesign.com comes this radically designed house...

"Is it a bottle in front of me, or a frontal lobotomy? Anyway you look at this mind blowing wonder of math and the space-time continuum, the Klein Bottle House by architects McBride Charles Ryan, is stunning. For us right-brain thinkers; in Mathematics, the “Klein Bottle” is a non-orientable surface, i.e., a surface (a two-dimensionaltopological space) with no distinction between the “inside” and “outside” surfaces. That being said and hopefully understood, this vacation home located just a few clicks outside Melbourne, Australia beautifully reflects a deep desire to mess with both sides of our brains. By constantly challenging our sense of perception, depth, linear orientation, interior/exterior space and pretty much any notion of what a dwelling should look like, the architects have successfully created a space that is surprisingly inviting and warm. Now can someone please show me to the door?"

Architect: McBride Charles Ryan [ Photo by John Gollings ]

For more angles of this awesome home... Alternate Design From Down Under

All I can say is, "Wow, when can I move in?"

Dax 2000-2008

Dax, our beloved German Shepherd, passed away at 7:28 PM on Thursday, February 14th.

Her last day was full of food and many treats. Extra medication made her more comfortable than she had been in a while and she was almost her old self, if only briefly.

She passed at home, with her human pack surrounding her and comforting her to the very end.

Rest in peace, good girl.

Valentine Greetings

I really don't like the build-up to Valentine's Day... the numerous ads for over-priced jewelry are annoying, and the endless Teddy Bear & Pajama-gram commercials are insulting, to say the least.

I do like the chocolate, especially tomorrow when it's discounted by 50% ;-)

Blog Slog?

Is today's GapingVoid comic fair commentary on blogs and blogging?

I wonder sometimes.

Rolling 9/11 Memorial

Have you heard about the trucker who has painted his cab and trailer with the names of all those who lost their lives in 9/11? The trucker's name is John Holmgren from Shafer, Minn. He has been "pulled over" numerous times just so the troopers can get their picture taken with the truck.





More Rolling 9/11 Memorial Photos

This is an amazing tribute.


[The BLOG note: hat tip to Auntie M for emailing this to my attention.]

Super Duper

796 Super Delegates Could Hold Key To Democratic Nomination

I'm not surprised at how undemocratic this process is, but it sure looks like there is a lot of courting and/or arm-twisting going on in the background.

Holy Thunder Clap

Amazing Moment The World's Biggest Christ Was Struck By Lightning

Rio de Janeiro's world-famous statue of Christ the Redeemer was struck by lightning during a thunderstorm over the Brazilian city on Sunday.

The statue, which stands 39.6 metres (130ft) tall, is made of 700 tons of reinforced concrete, and is located at the peak of the 700-metre (2,296ft) Corcovado mountain overlooking the city, did not appear to be damaged by the hit.

Whew.

Jawbreaker

I don't know what this poor hedgehog is eating, but he sure has a time trying to chomp through it. Don't miss the end. It is very satisfying.

Mmmmmm

Yes, This Is A Real Product And You Can Buy It At Archie McPhee's

Each one of these mints tastes like a delicious slice of crispy bacon with just a hint of mint flavor to give it that extra punch! It may sound weird but once you taste it, you'll see that mint and bacon is a match made in heaven. Each 2-1/4" x 2" x 1/2" tin contains one hundred mints.

Pork products make me happy, but I'm not sure about this.

Feel, Don't Think!

Michelle Obama Solidifies
Her Role In The Election

"Barack," Michelle Obama interjected, "Feel -- don't think!"

?????????

This is scary stuff, folks.

Cat Blog Friday

For this Cat Blog Friday...

...I don't have it in me to post about cats today. Our beloved German Shepherd, Dax, is failing. We don't know how much time she has left, but we are making her as comfortable as we know how.

Hoping your Friday is happier than mine.

Confluence

28°N 83°W

or 9.9 miles (16.0 km) E of Clearwater Beach, Pinellas County, FL, USA is my closest point of confluence. There is a confluence within 49 miles (79 km) of you if you're on the surface of Earth.

The goal of the Degree Confluence Project is to visit each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world, and to take pictures at each location.

There are still 10,915 to be found, so don't worry if you can't find the one near you yet.

Pagophagia

Compulsive Ice Chewers

Frankly, I didn't even know this was such a big problem for some people, but now that I do, it just gives me the shivers when I think of all those teeth gnashing all those tiny ice cubes...

Oh, the cubanity!

Giant Bunion?

This is an actual mural on an unidentified street in Berlin.

Good gravy!

I'd be afraid to walk down the street. What's around the next corner? An ugly man foot?

Canned Cheeseburger

Eating A Canned Cheeseburger: The Experience From Beginning To End

Yes, soggy buns and all. I think I'll pass.

Zombie Humor

Sorry, I was reading a book about hidden dimensions and cosmology when my science knowledge and my science fiction knowledge collided.

Cat Blog Friday

For this Cat Blog Friday...

...a cat contemplates the Super Bowl.

Happy Friday, everybody!