Escapa Revisited

A few days ago I posted about the game Escapa that I was addicted to. I was "challenged" by my friend Chris, so I got to practicing a few more times. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't take challenges lying down. I played again for about 10 minutes the other night and have now beat my old record (23.284 seconds) as well as Chris' record (24.734).

In trying to beat Chris' record, I had gotten 24.565, then 26.298...

So, Chris, this is for you...my new GINORMOUS record, for you to attempt to beat:

37.454 seconds

hehe...BRING IT ON!!!

News of the Stupid

Okay, so once in awhile we all do stupid things...but, there are some people out there who act ridiculously stupid. What do I mean by ridiculously stupid? Well, I am talking about acts that 95% of the population would never attempt because they show a severe lack of common sense. The following are a few stories I had been reading about recently and decided to share:

Class Watches '40-Year-Old Virgin' Movie
By: Associated Press

Thu Jan 26, 4:18 PM
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Showing the R-rated movie "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" during high school Spanish class this week resulted in suspension for the teacher. (more...)

• Why would a teacher do something like that? Yeah, I'm gonna see a movie title like that and assume it's okay for me to show in a high school class. Either he has been living in a hole for the past year or is just really that stupid.

Pa. Man Signs His Name as 'God'
By: Associated Press

Fri Jan 27, 8:41 PM ET
READING, Pa. - One registered Republican won't be able to vote in the next election unless he appears at a Berks County Elections Board to explain the signature on his registration form. The man is registered as Paul S. Sewell, Elections Director Deborah M. Olivieri said, but his form is signed "God." (more...)

• Hmmm...by this guy's logic, I might as well change my legal name to 'Mom'...ya know, for all those times I've had students call me 'Mom' by accident. Makes sense to me!

Party in Autopsy Room Shocks Norway
By: Associated Press

Fri Jan 27, 5:49 PM ET
OSLO, Norway - Health authorities expressed shock and disgust Friday over reports that employees at a hospital in southern Norway threw a party in a post-mortem room and covered an autopsy table with a white cloth and candles. (more...)

• Wow, I bet that smelled lovely! Who wouldn't want to party with the smell of decay? Note to self...must try this sometime.

Fine for Urinal Art Attacker

Tuesday, January 24, 2006; Posted: 9:45 a.m. EST
PARIS, France (Reuters) -- A Frenchman who attacked and damaged "Fountain," a urinal declared a work of art by Dada pioneer Marcel Duchamp, was ordered on Tuesday to pay a fine of €214,000 euros ($262,700). (more...)

• Don't you have your own urinal to attack? I don't think Misseur Duchamp would be too happy with you destroying his anti-art.

Teacher's True Colors Definitely Not Orange, Blue
By: Julianne Bentley
Denver Post Staff Writer

01/22/2006 01:00:00 AM
Embracing diversity and practicing tolerance had been mainstays of Joshua Vannoy's Pittsburgh-area high school ethnicity class - until the student wore his Denver Broncos jersey to school. A die-hard Steelers fan and teacher at Beaver Falls High School made Vannoy, 17, take a midterm test on the floor because he was sporting a John Elway No. 7 jersey. The honors ethnic relations teacher had Vannoy sit in a circle of desks, then instructed his classmates to throw paper at him. (more...)

• Hey, teacher, leave that kid alone! How about some fellow teachers get to sit in the circle and throw things at you? Seems like a logical thing to do.

I'm No Dentist, But My Girlfriend Is -- Open Wide

Tue Jan 17, 9:02 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - A British dentist has been banned from working after allowing her unqualified boyfriend to carry out dental work on patients in her surgery, the profession's UK regulatory body said Tuesday. (more...)

• Why?...Why?...Why would you do that?

Police: Driver Uses Mannequin in HOV Lane
By: Associated Press

Thu Jan 26, 11:08 PM ET
WESTMINSTER, Colo. - A motorist was arrested Thursday for driving in a high-occupancy vehicle lane with a mannequin dressed to look like a passenger, police said. Investigators said Greg Allen Pringle, 53, was the only human in the car. (more...)

• I think I posted a story similar to this awhile back...this kind of thing just amazes me. The lengths people will go to in trying to get somewhere faster is astounding.

I often wonder...do people actually feel stupid while carrying out these ridiculous acts? Or do they just feel stupid when they get caught?

Actually, it's scary to think that most people who do things like the above probably don't feel stupid...maybe that's the problem.

Remembering the Challenger: 20 Years Later

It's hard to believe that it has been 20 years since the world witnessed the disaster of the Challenger space shuttle, live on January 28, 1986. It is one of those events, like 9/11, that people remember by where they were at the time it happened. I, for one, was in 2nd grade and remember watching it on TV with classmates and teachers in a classroom in my Catholic grade school. Perhaps what made it so devastating, besides the fact that 7 people died, was the fact that those of us watching were watching to witness a piece of space history. We weren't watching it as we would a movie, to be entertained...we were watching it as a nation identifying with real people heading to a place that we still don't fully understand. Christa McAuliffe, the chosen applicant for the Teacher in Space program, was one of those real people.

A documentary entitled Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars will air on CNN this Saturday, January 28th at 8:00 p.m. & 11:00 p.m. It will also air during those same time slots on Sunday, January 29th. Here is a Space.com article about the film.

The National Geographic Channel will also air a documentary about the disaster entitled Challenger: The Untold Story. This will be shown at the same time as the CNN documentary, on Saturday, January 28th at 8:00 & 11:00. However, it will re-air on Monday, January 30th at 12 noon. There will also be a few more airings after that. Check listings for further information.

There are also a number of good resources on the net with information about the Challenger disaster, including images, sound files, and video. Here are a few:

• Kennedy Space Center: Shuttle Mission Archive
• Launch Quicktime Video (with sound)
• Challenger Center for Space Science Education
• NASA: Day of Remembrance (flash presentation)
• NASA:
Various Reports and Info
• NASA: Video files (no sound)
• Space.com - Article, including a Mission Control transmission file

Mindless Entertainment

Everyone needs it once in awhile. Check out the Escapa game, aka The Red Square Game. Don't ask me why I like it, but it was sent to me in an email, and now I'm addicted. My current score is 23.284 seconds after playing for about 10 minutes.

So, do you think you can beat my score?? Let me know what you get.

Currently Listening To....

Okay, real quick, just wanted to share...I've been playing Death Cab For Cutie's album Transatlanticism non-stop ever since I got it for Christmas. Right now, I am in love with two songs, specifically...the title track, "Transatlanticism," and "We Looked Like Giants." If you haven't given DCFC a listen...do it now...alright...I'll give you until tomorrow. You won't be sorry. That is all.......I'm off to bed. G'night.

A Promise Kept

Okay, so my buddy Tom reminded me that I never uploaded my pictures from our November Virginia trip into my photo album...I apologize, Tom...I can be a little absent-minded once in a while. So, in keeping my word, here are the uploaded pictures. And, don't be afraid of the demon...she's harmless.
[site closed - photos removed]

Am I a Music Snob?

Okay, so if you were reading carefully in my previous post, I talked about how some family members have never heard of many music groups that I listen to. This seemed to be the general concensus on Christmas Eve. So, here's what happened. Before my cousins and I opened our polyanna gifts, the kids were playing some music on the radio. A song by the pop group Fall Out Boy came on and, immediately, my younger pre-teen cousins as well as my 17-year-old sister, Kelli, started singing along and professing their love for their music. I just kinda rolled my eyes and made some kind of noise that showed my obvious distaste...Kelli immediately starts questioning me, "What, Col, you don't like them?...What's wrong with them?"...and so on.

Now, fast-forward to about 45-minutes later...the polyanna gift-opening has begun and it is my turn to open. On top of the packages is what appears to be a wrapped CD...so, I go for that first. I have about half of the paper off when I see the words "...Out Boy" appear under the partially-ripped paper. I immediately freeze and carefully look over to my Aunt Mary who does all the wrapping for her kids' polyanna gifts. She wasn't paying attention at the time, so I lean over to my cousin Julianna (Aunt Mary's daughter) and say "Jules, is this gift supposed to be for me from Frankie, or is it supposed to be for Kelli from you?" She stammers (knowing full well that I didn't like this group) and then whispers something to her Mom. Aunt Mary instantaneously pipes up that she must have gotten my CD mixed up with the one meant for Kelli. So, of course, everyone had a good laugh at my expense...Kelli found it hilarious that I received a CD of a group I had slammed not an hour before. When I finally got the right CD, it was The Shins, Chutes Too Narrow...this led to even more snickers and questions from the peanut gallery..."What's a Shin? Are they anything like 'The Elbows?'" So, Kelli starts spouting off that I am a music snob because I like bands like Pearl Jam, The Beatles, Neil Young, Death Cab For Cutie, The Who, etc... My Dad immediately backs me up and says, "She just has good taste in music...she gets that from me..."

So, what do you think? Is there such a thing as a music snob? Am I one?

The Gifts That Keep On Giving

Usually every year at Christmas, I have a good-sized "wishlist" of music and movies that I hope to receive. My parents and other family members ask me to make a list because they always say they'll never remember the names of things I want or that they've never heard of half of the musical artists I put on my list (more on that issue later). It's not that I anticipate receiving my whole list either...I also keep the list for myself, because, many times whatever I don't get from family, I go out and buy for myself with Christmas money. Don't get me wrong, I don't only get movies and music, but ironically, my family seems to have a much easier time picking out clothes for me than some music.

So, here is my thought...music and movies are the perfect gifts for me for two reasons: 1-I love listening to/watching them, and 2-They're the gifts that keep on giving. Think about it, most music and movies you obtain as an adult (or young adult) will be ones you'll continue to go back to for years after. While I don't often reach back to my pre-teen years of listening to NKOTB or MTV Party to Go, I find myself listening to the same artists or watching the same movies that interested me starting in high school.

Anyway, here's the list of CDs and DVDs I was fortunate enough to receive for Christmas from various family members. Some were bought by me after Christmas, noted by ($):

• Batman Begins DVD
• Office Space: Special Edition with Flair DVD
• Seinfeld: Season 5 DVD
• Happy Gilmore: Special Edition DVD
  
• Death Cab For Cutie: Transatlanticism
• The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow
• Neil Young: Prairie Wind
• Audioslave: Live in Cuba DVD
  
• The Who: Tommy and Quadrophenia Live DVD
  
• Beck: Guero (CD w/DVD) - ($)
• The Who: Live at the Royal Albert Hall (CD) - ($)
• Death Cab For Cutie: Plans - ($)
• The Shins: Oh, Inverted World - ($)
• Edwin McCain: Scream & Whisper - ($)
• Edwin McCain: Tinsel & Tap Shoes - Live at The House of Blues DVD - ($)

Holiday Pictures

These are just a few of my recent pictures from Christmas and New Year's Eve. You can see all of my crazy holiday pictures in my Online Photo Albums. I never realized how many times my camera was hijacked...

The Good and The Bad

Penn State Takes Orange Bowl Victory

What can I say? I'm proud to say PSU is my alma mater. I stayed up for the entire game last night...it was impossible to sleep because I was so riled up from all the excitement. I'm not going to recap all the highlights for 2 reasons: 1-I am not known to be a sports whiz, and 2-There are many sports writers out there that have already done that job well enough.

I do want to say though that I thought both teams fought the good fight. However, the multiple missed field goals by both teams' kickers were unbelievably frustrating. The last time Kevin Kelly missed a field goal, I punched my thigh so hard, I nearly saw stars.

The fact that it went into triple-OT was mind-blowing, which made it all the more frustrating, yet exciting...so many ups and downs. It also took me awhile to get the rule changes in OT because, well, again...I am not a sports aficionado...plus anyone I could ask had already gone to bed. I managed to figure it out on my own though...I catch on quickly!

After the game, Bobby Bowden had nice things to say about JoePa and the Lions, which I thought was very respectable. I've gotta comment though...I don't know the name of this one guy on the Seminoles' sideline...he was one of the team coaches or something, wearing a headset. Every time they showed him on camera, I was distracted by his frog-like gum-chewing...I kept waiting for his tongue to lash out of his mouth to catch a passing fly. I know, I know, that's horrible to say...but, I notice things like this...I can't help it! There now, I feel better. Congrats JoePa and PSU!

(Frank, looks like it's time to get rid of that Florida State gear and throw on some Blue & White!)


My First Bad Day of the New Year

Yesterday was a bad day...although, yes, I have had much worse. The only thing that went right about the day was that PSU won the Orange Bowl, which did make me feel better! Anyway, I'll spare you all the details, but what I will say is that I haven't been feeling so hot since last Friday. I've had a head cold and cough, which made me feel even worse by Sunday. So, this week hadn't started off great as it is. I've been very sleepy, probably from the cold meds I'm taking, which makes we want to do nothing all day. So, imagine my feeling when I had to go out yesterday, when I didn't want to. Regardless, though, it was necessary. Basically, it involved a lot of waiting around on my part (or chauffeuring as I call it), when I all I wanted to do was be at home, as well as my annoyance at my sister's irresponsibility. That led to getting in an argument with her and with my dad, for something indirectly related to the whole thing. It was one of those days I felt like crawling into bed and starting it all over. However, I did manage to get an apology from my sister and patch things up with my dad. Now, what to do about those New Year's Resolutions? I'm thinking I need to bring "Move Out" to the top of my list...

Some Love For My Team

Just wanted to quickly wish good luck to my Penn State football team. I'm hoping this game will make me feel better, after the crappy day I had...more on that later, though. Anyway, as an alum, I gotta support my Lions in every way. I am also taking this as an opportunity to broadcast to my fellow PSU friends that my cousin, Frank, has allegiance to Florida State...no, he is not a student there...he is still in high school...but hopes to go there eventually. He is wearing his Florida gear and rubbing it in my face as I talk to him online. (I can forward any hate mail to him...hehe).

Here are his exact words as I told him I will get my Penn State posse against him:
"well i will sick chief osceola on you and the rest of the seminoles with their bows and arrows and spears."

Frank, all I gotta say to you is............Your Seminoles are going down!

WE ARE...


PENN STATE!