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Random Observations Sept 14, 2008
2008-09-14 16:18:00 Random Observations Sept 14, 2008 The return of our ‘Random Observations’ series. This time around we focus on 2008 awards and players such as Tim Lincecum, Carlos Delgado, Brad Ziegler, Jason Bay, etc.
By: Mop Up Duty
Convention observations
2008-08-30 16:16:00 -By Michael M. Bates The first day of the Democratic convention produced fewer attacks than anticipated on the Bush-McCain administration, as it?s now called. Maybe Daddy Yankee?s endorsement of John McCain threw Democrats off their stride. Undoubtedly they?ll make up for lost time over the next three days. Some thoughts after Day 1 ...
By: Publius Forum
Olympic Bragging ? Medals, Medal Counts & Other Observations by Evan Palmer
2008-08-30 00:25:00 Another Olympics, Beijing 2008, has finished with an especially sublime opening ceremony to remember it by. And world records by Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt. Even if Michael's unlikely run seemed a little too luck-struck by half. How long was the Croatian swimmer suspended in the water about a single millimeter from the touch bar? There has been the requisite chest thumping and teeth gnashing. Medals counts broadcast and fawned over. Reporting that probably can't help being boosterish although a few stars so overshadowed everyone else that we could cheer for them without impairing our patriotic credentials. Usain Bolt leaps to mind. We were told ad nauseum that the USA ?won? the 2008 Olympics because they won the most medals. This is almost equivalent to saying that if China won 49 gold medals and the USA won 50 bronze medals then the US ?won?. In effect, we are weighting gold, silver and bronze the same which doesn't make sense even to the great unwashed hordes. Simon Forst...
Olympic Observations
2008-08-21 10:00:00 We have a thick orange electrical cord winding from a surge protector in the family room past the bathroom, through the hall, up the stairs, through the living room and into the kitchen wall JUST so the guys can get their nightly Olympic fix.I kind of like watching with them but the hours and hours of footage have spawned some interesting thoughts. There's just so much material to poke fun of it's hard to know where to start.1. If you want to succeed at the Olympics get a really great name. On Team America alone there is Damu Cherry, Rafeeq Curry, Beezie Madden and Deontay Wilder. With a name like Deedee Trotter she was absolutely, entirely, contractually bound to have an Olympic career. It's on her birth certificate. However, I wondered if Porntip Buranapraseatsuk representing the lovely country of Thailand found that "Porntip" gave her the edge she needed to bring home the gold.But the award for Best Olympic Women's Name Ever? Goes to Libby Trickett. I could say that o...
By: Scribbit
Pilipinas!
2008-06-09 09:05:00 I took that picture from inside my car while I was waiting for the light to turn green. It’s a shot of Katipunan Ave. without the usual traffic. The man walking on the island (you can only see his back) was selling Philippine flags in different sizes. I don’t know if it’s the fact that ...
Observations from Red Rocks, June 3, 2008
2008-06-04 15:07:00 Copyright © 52 Novels dot com. Saw the R.E.M. last night at Red Rocks. Great show. As always. People may not be buying R.E.M. records like they did in the 80s, but these geezers still know how to entertain a crowd for a couple of hours. The opening band was The Nation. I liked them better when ...SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Observations from Red Rocks, June 3, 2008", url: "http://www.52novels.com/archiv-es/observations-from-red-rocks--june-3-2008/" });
The Bang Factor
2008-06-04 05:16:00 I’m just now learning something that is clearly a science to Cooper: every object has a bang factor. If you’re not quite sure of what I mean by this, read on, and it should become clear to you if you’re a parent of a young child. I define the Bang Factor (BF) as the quality ...
By: Paternal Prose
Sex in the City
2008-06-03 17:05:00 Life had been heavy lately. I haven’t blogged much but I’m doing well for myself. Thank you Meleah for reaching out and thinking of me. I’m fine. Just busy. I’ve been working more hours lately. Getting out of work after the sun goes down has been more routine than foreign. Just the last Thursday I left work ...
Sex and The City
2008-06-03 17:05:00 Life had been heavy lately. I haven’t blogged much but I’m doing well for myself. Thank you Meleah for reaching out and thinking of me. I’m fine. Just busy. I’ve been working more hours lately. Getting out of work after the sun goes down has been more routine than foreign. Just the last Thursday I left work ...
Observations on the passing scene…
2008-05-28 14:00:00 I found this series on You Tube Clips via The Black Republican posted back in April. If you have the time you should watch them together because it really shows why liberalism is such a socially corrosive disorder What is leadership? “Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man ...
Sins and Dreams and Whatnot
2008-05-25 19:58:00 My friend, I think, is making a mistake. I wish I didn’t care, but I do. After analyzing her situation (and after channeling my inner guru), I have come to the conclusion that she is, indeed, committing a humongous mistake. I am an imp, though, so I am - er - aiding and abetting her. Never ask me for ...
Adam?s Maxim & Spinoza?s Conjecture
2008-05-21 19:24:00 A very interesting and thought provoking read. This is an article, written by Michael Shermer and published in the March edition of Scientific American. Explains in a way why we (humans) are so susceptible to belief in irrational ideas: Belief, disbelief and uncertainty generate different neural pathways in the brain During an early episode ...
By: ZA Vibes
Trends Blogging Observations
2008-05-20 17:44:00 Here are some things I've noticed while working on my trend blogging efforts.
By: OpTempo
Take Me Away?
2008-05-17 04:14:00 I got this spam comment on my post about Cooper’s tantrum that I wrote a week or so ago: Low cost airfare. Airfare to philippines?. Cheap airfare. Airfare?. Apparently, taking off to the Philippines is the solution to dealing with your child’s tantrums. It all makes sense now.
By: Paternal Prose
Free Earth Observations from Space: Companion CD
2008-05-16 14:48:00 http://dels.nas.edu/basc/eartho-bservations/request.cgi?product-=1
By: Free Stuff Times
Eat up, Cooper!
2008-05-16 04:13:00 Cooper has got this finger-food thing just about down. His fist usually ends up in his mouth for a few seconds before he finally gets whatever scrumptious morsel he’s eating into his mouth, but he’s got the idea. Elegance will come later. When I’m with him, he claps and smiles each time the food successfully ...
By: Paternal Prose
What?s in a Name?
2008-05-15 11:46:00 I am not going to spend what I have left of my one day off blogging, but since I do miss it, I feel the need to post something really quick. I just finished browsing my trainer’s Multiply site anonymously. (On Multiply, if you’re logged in, people will know if and when you view their ...
Madrid Gym Observations
2008-05-14 16:20:00 Today's blog entry is somewhat of a rant and has little to do with Madrid or with Spain - I hope.DISCLAIMER: The following is not intended to generalize about all health clubs in Madrid or the exercise professionals working in them. It's only my personal experience with one gym in Madrid.I like to go to the gym. Well, I don't LIKE to go but I know that if I don't I'll have more difficulty living daily life in the present AND in the future. I do it not because I love the pain, the heavy breathing, the constant sweating, the hot and humid locker rooms, the frequently empty toilet paper dispensers, and certainly not to look like many of the 20-somethings I see around me with their "fit and trim and hardly exercise to get that way".I do it also to avoid - or to stave off - becoming overweight, which is a greater challenge with every passing year. I do like having visible muscles and a flat stomach but haven't had the latter for quite awhile now even though I only eat two meals a d...
Mormon Church Goes After WikiLeaks
2008-05-14 15:55:00 The Mormon Church has instructed its lawyers to gag the Internet over WikiLeaks’ release of the 1968 and 1999 versions of its confidential handbook for Church leaders. Apart from attacking WikiLeaks, legal demands were sent to Jimmy Wales of the WikiMedia foundation for a WikiNews article merely linking to the material, and scribd.com has also ...
By: ZA Vibes
Msoft Launches WorldWide Telescope
2008-05-14 06:09:00 WorldWide Telescope, developed by Microsoft’s research arm, knits together images from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and others. Windows users (only) can browse through the galaxy on their own or take guided tours of different outer-space destinations developed by astronomers and academics. The application allows viewing ...
By: ZA Vibes
Partielles 2008: nos observations
2008-05-13 11:56:00 Eeeh non! il n’y aura pas eu de résultats surprise lors de ces partielles. Les formations politiques des députés démissionnaires ont conservé leur siège à l’Assemblée nationale. Par contre, chacun a des raisons de se réjouir ou de s’inquiéter avec le résultat des élections partielles. Parti libéral du Québec Positif: les appuis augmentent partout par rapport à ...SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Partielles 2008: nos observations", url: "http://www.quebecpolitique.com-/blog/2008/05/partielles-2008-n-os-observations/" });
The TIME 100: Thoughts and Observations
2008-05-12 12:58:00 A look at the 2008 Time Magazine's Time 100.
Symposium Winners- and further observations
2008-05-10 10:48:00 Evangelical Outpost published the list of essay winners inThe 2008 EO/Wheatstone Academy Symposium Winners. I visited most of them, and will read the remaining over this weekend. One observation that occurred to me, perhaps due to the widespread call to be “humble” and raise the bar generally on public discourse, is how much the new ...
By: TrueGrit
Homeless Workouts
2008-05-10 06:45:00 Focused, I was as I was walking to my connecting train. I felt a tap on my shoulder. Oh, it’s one of my colleagues from one of my many jobs. Any time I see her I know I’m late. SHE: This is twice in a row I’ve seen you this week. ME: I know. Go figure. And ...
Some informed observations from Rookie Camp
2008-05-09 00:20:00 I thought I'd take the opportunity to share some feedback on Rookie Camp from those in a better position to observe than I. As always, consider this informed opinion, so take it for what it is worth--I was certainly not there. Also, please remember that the rookies were in shorts and tees, not exactly how they're going to line-up against Seattle in September. I think there is a tendency among very close observers of the game to be disappointed when they first see the rookies up close. They have scouted them ad nauseum, been enthusiastic about drafting them and see a lot of potential. Then, as people with decades in the NFL, they see chinks and problems under close-up first-hand scrutiny. Last year I recall that when the staff first saw Marshawn Lynch and Paul Posluszny, they were struck by how much better they actually were than on tape. They are equally enthusiastic about this year's class--although sadly my report will only deal with a few of them. Leodis McKelvin de...
Earth Had Multiple Moons?
2008-05-08 06:35:00 I watched a fascinating BBC documentary the other night, called “Rare Earth”. In this documentary, they stated a theory that a Mars-sized object that collided with Earth, created the moon. Now a new study from NASA’s Ames Research Center has suggested that this collision (that created the Moon) may also have resulted in the creation ...
By: ZA Vibes
Training Notes & Observations
2008-05-07 20:32:00 At present, I'm focusing on taking baby steps to rebuild my running fitness & stamina. Most of you who regularly follow this blog already know how I fell off the bandwagon after a several-week-long bout with illness, & have been struggling ever since to get back on course. The good news is that as I keep going, the struggle is not so much of a struggle anymore. ;-) I feel like I'm ever-so-gradually returning to the joy of running, & am feeling more & more motivated every day to workout & keep my running/fitness commitments. Note, I didn't say everything was perfect (yes, I know, I didn't run last weekend!), but the fact that I went ahead & ran by myself when my running buddy couldn't join me is evidence that I'm moving in the right direction.Also, the new job will hopefully give my day a bit more formalized, external structure to my day, which is always helpful towards further solidifying one's running routine. While my fashion consulting services...
MacGyver Film In the Works?
2008-05-05 06:27:00 Looks like everyone’s favorite Swiss Army knife-wielding action hero may be making an appearance on the big screen. The original series creator has announced plans are in the works for a MacGyver film. Serious questions abound: Will Richard Dean Anderson reprise the role? Will filming and editing somehow be done only using a paperclip, duct-tape, ...
By: ZA Vibes
More Astute Observations From Emmitt Smith
2008-05-05 06:11:00 I came across this tidbit while cruising my RSS feed and got a great laugh. We’ve poked fun at Emmitt Smith in the past, but now he’s making it too easy. How much money is he getting paid for this profound wisdom? You’d think since Emmitt was in the league for over a decade he’d have ...
By: Sportaphile
Meet The Press Observations
2008-05-05 01:26:00 Meet The Press aired at 10pm GMT on CNBC here in Ireland and I found the discussion to be quite concise compared to ABC’s previous debate. To my best estimations, they spent 5 min out of the 45 min of total discussion talking about Rev. Wright which is not too bad given the circumstances of ...
Reaction To Blasphemy Case
2008-05-03 16:42:00 In reaction to my previous post: Blasphemy Case To Appeals Court : A completely victimless crime, there is no God and Mohammed died centuries ago. Clearly intimidation has displaced intellect, such abysmal depths of mediaeval barbarity…do these people belong in the 21st Century at all? I don’t think so, this certainly showcases Islam as a gravely retarded ...
By: ZA Vibes
Blasphemy Case To Appeals Court
2008-05-03 16:40:00 Ebtihal Mubarak, Arab News JEDDAH, 21 April 2008 ? The case of a Turkish barber who was sentenced to death at the Jeddah General Court on March 31 on charges of blasphemy will be sent to the Appeals Court in Makkah next week. Sabri Bogday was sentenced to death after two men, one Saudi and the ...
By: ZA Vibes
Observations: Oakland County Housing Market Spring 2008
2008-05-01 10:19:00 Dmitry and I have had our busiest Spring in real estate in years in 2008. We are working with more clients than ever before. Last week we had a couple of closings and we asked the other Realtors and mortgage brokers if they were seeing what we are seeing: a lot more buying activity in ...
By: miOaklandCounty
SARB Seemingly On The Attack
2008-04-30 08:34:00 By Cees Bruggemans, Chief Economist FNB 29 April 2008 In a television interview last week, SARB Governor Mboweni expressed his deep concern about rapidly rising inflation. He laid it on the line, ever so clearly, and no longer quite in code as had been done at the end of the last Monetary Policy Committee meeting earlier this ...
By: ZA Vibes
Know Your Bible (1)
2008-04-29 06:41:00 I know a lot of Christians. A lot of them are also bordering on being fundamentalist, stating that the Bible should be taken literally. Now, if we take this verse in 1 Timothy literally (which I guess was the intention at the time this was written), all women should be treated as inferior to men. ...
By: ZA Vibes
Gossip Girl
2008-04-26 10:19:00 First off, I think it’s a crying shame that Carly’s out of the competition. She’s extremely talented, and everyone knows it. Oh well, I guess Americans are attracted to charm more than to actual talent. But what really, really gets me is that Brooke White and Jason Castro are still in the game. Jason Castro? ...
WordPress 2.5 More Observations
2008-04-26 02:51:00 Manage still exists but Options is gone. The Options have been scattered about various places on the Dashboard. Settings, Plugins, Users are now top right. They aren't on a tab just sitting there to themselves.
Wesley Snipes Tax Scandal
2008-04-25 06:47:00 Wesley Snipes may face up to 3 years jail and a fine of $5 million when his sentence is passed later today. The prosecutors aimed to get Wesley the maximum penalty. He was to become the example of how tax evasion carried severe penalties. Wesley has been convicted on 3 counts of failing to file federal ...
By: ZA Vibes
Humans Nearly Extinct 70,000Y Ago
2008-04-25 06:41:00 A CNN story discussing evidence found by researchers which indicates that humans came close to extinction roughly 70,000 years ago. A similar study by Stanford scientists suggests that droughts reduced the population to as few as 2,000 humans, who were scattered in small, isolated groups. Quoting: “‘This study illustrates the extraordinary power of genetics to reveal ...
By: ZA Vibes
Spontaneous Observations on Commodity Prices - Will Prices Remain so High?
2008-04-23 22:25:00 A multitude of reasons suggest commodity prices might not remain this high for long (oil just might)My post on ?The financials of 2008 ? What will we talk about? has proven itself so far (to my great surprise). True, I didn?t think the credit crisis would prove to be so deep but my thoughts on inflation, commodity prices and the Chinese market were pretty accurate. In this post I?ll be sharing my observations on commodity prices. Naturally, this is my personal opinion and should not be used to make investment decisions.Commodity prices have continued their unprecedented rise. Corn, wheat, rice, oil and many other commodity prices have all skyrocketed. The rise in basic food products? prices have caused riots to erupt in developing countries such as Egypt, Cameroon and Burkina Faso. Other countries such as Vietnam, India and Pakistan have banned grain export as farmers and traders hold on to stock and await more price increases.The whole word is anxiously watching food prices rise li...
Spontaneous Observations on Commodity Prices - Will Prices Remain so High?
2008-04-23 22:25:00 A multitude of reasons suggest commodity prices might not remain this high for long (oil just might)My post on ?The financials of 2008 ? What will we talk about? has proven itself so far (to my great surprise). True, I didn?t think the credit crisis would prove to be so deep but my thoughts on inflation, commodity prices and the Chinese market were pretty accurate. In this post I?ll be sharing my observations on commodity prices. Naturally, this is my personal opinion and should not be used to make investment decisions.Commodity prices have continued their unprecedented rise. Corn, wheat, rice, oil and many other commodity prices have all skyrocketed. The rise in basic food products? prices have caused riots to erupt in developing countries such as Egypt, Cameroon and Burkina Faso. Other countries such as Vietnam, India and Pakistan have banned grain export as farmers and traders hold on to stock and await more price increases.The whole word is anxiously watching food prices rise li...
Quoting Pat Robertson
2008-04-23 11:18:00 If you don’t know who Pat Robertson is, have a look over at WikiPedia. He’s a televangelist, who also ran for the presidency in the USA as a Republican candidate. Now, this dude is seriously deranged. And thousands of people (that is religious, fundamentalist Christians) hang on every word that he preaches over the television! Just to ...
By: ZA Vibes
On This Date: William Shakespeare
2008-04-23 07:23:00 On this date in 1564, William Shakespeare was born in England. He died in 1616. The “master” playwright was eulogized by 19th century agnostic orator Robert Green Ingersoll. In one of his famous lectures, Ingersoll said that when he read Shakespeare, “I beheld a new heaven and a new earth.” (The Works of Robert G. ...
By: ZA Vibes
Stephen Hawking Thinks Aliens Likely
2008-04-23 06:06:00 Noted astrophysicist Stephen Hawking thinks that alien life is likely, albeit primitive, according to a lecture delivered at George Washington University in honor of NASA’s 50th anniversary. It begs the question of if we need to consider a Prime Directive before exploring or sending signals too far into the depths of space.
By: ZA Vibes
Some Lesser Known World Records
2008-04-23 06:04:00 In life, we all have our goals. These people just raised the bar! Here?s some lesser known World Records: Ripley?s Believe it or Not MOST SEMEN SWALLOWED Michelle Monaghan had 1.7 pints of semen pumped out of her stomach in Los Angeles in July 1991. LONGEST PUBES Maoni Vi of Cape Town has hair measuring 32 inches from the ...
By: ZA Vibes
Observations of the Mortgage Market
2008-04-22 23:19:00 Over the past two weeks I've had the opportunity to speak with dozens of potential home buyers around the country. Here are some of the key trends/takeaways I've noticed.1. People in formerly bubble markets - California & Florida specifically - are excited at the prospect of more affordable housing. The question of prices dropping further is not a consideration, affordable monthly payments are.2. Most people are unaware of the changes in the credit markets. Some are still looking for stated income, pick-a-payment and subprime loans.3. It's no longer a matter of how much a borrower can qualify for, it's if they can qualify at all. I'm having to turn down loans that could have been approved as little as three months ago because of low credit scores. As far as minimum thresholds go, 620 is the new minimum for a decent rate and 580 is the new minimum to get any type of loan.4. In general, borrowers are woefully underfunded for reserves and emergencies.5. The borrowers I'm seei...
God Hates America
2008-04-22 06:33:00 This Youtube clip shows why god hates America according to this baptist church in some Hicksvill. Makes perfect sense. NOT!
By: ZA Vibes
Nicholas White?s 41h Smoke Break
2008-04-22 06:07:00 The longest smoke break of Nicholas White?s life began at around eleven o?clock on a Friday night in October, 1999. White, a thirty-four-year-old production manager at Business Week, working late on a special supplement, had just watched the Braves beat the Mets on a television in the office pantry. Now he wanted a cigarette. He ...
By: ZA Vibes
Father Of Chaos Theory Dies
2008-04-17 19:58:00 Edward Lorenz, a meteorologist who became the father of the modern field of chaos theory, died on Wednesday of cancer in Massachusetts aged 90, MIT announced on Thursday. A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Lorenz was the first to recognise what is now referred to as chaotic behaviour in the mathematical modelling ...
By: ZA Vibes
10 observations from a big weekend of sports
2008-04-14 21:20:00 Here’s a list of 10 observations from a busy and important weekend of sports in New England: 1. The first Red Sox-Yankees series should not be played before the middle of May, at the earliest. It really is a waste of three potentially exciting games and overall atmosphere. It was like a Royals game on Sunday ... |
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