Democracy is Dead

Democracy is dead: NASA has opted not to name a room in the international space station after Stephen Colbert.

Even though Colbert won an online poll by a landslide, NASA instead chose "Tranquility," which came in eighth place in the poll, as the room's new moniker. Space nerds will know that the name is a reference to the Sea of Tranquility, where Apollo 11 landed on the moon.
But it's not all bad news: On Tuesday's The Colbert Report, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams announced that Colbert will get his small piece of immortality after all, as the organization voted to name a treadmill on board the space station after him.
The treadmill in question will heretofore be known as the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT). Williams explained that treadmills are vitally important to astronauts, as they use them to prevent bone-strength loss while in space.

Is American TV Great or what!!!!!!

NBC wants ex-Ill. gov. for Costa Rica reality show
By MIKE ROBINSON –
CHICAGO (AP) — In the span of a few months, Rod Blagojevich could trade the Illinois governor's office for the Costa Rican jungle.
NBC says it wants Blagojevich, who pleaded not guilty to federal racketeering and fraud charges Tuesday, to appear on its upcoming show "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!"
A network statement says 10 celebrities will be dropped into the Costa Rican jungle "to face challenges designed to test their skills in adapting to the wilderness."

MIlk........... natures perfect food

I have been drinking a lot of milk lately... 3 glasses a day......is it just me or does milk actually taste better out of a glass than right out of the carton?

Is it snowing in colorado springs on easter day?

Monetize

Have yall seen the tab that is Monetize on this blog web site? Go to 'customize' and look at the tabs.. last one over to the right is 'Monetize' and read the deal. It says they will pay us money to put ads on our website.

Now I am not suggesting that we sell out to to "the man"......but the really intriguing part of this Monetize deal is that Google says : "Google automatically chooses which ads to show based on your blog's content"

Now my burning question is: just what in the hell would the ads be on our website????

Things that make me scratch my head...

Without making any judgment (cough) - just putting three things next to each other.

1. Catholic abuse scandal in the U.S. a few years back - all may recall.

2. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30134892/ - describes a report coming out in Ireland where thousands of kids were abused by over a hundred Catholic priests.

3. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30134639/ - essentially states that Notre Dame doesn't want Obama to speak at their graduation ceremony because it will "damage the integrity" of the Catholic institution.

Just scratching my head is all...

Dayenu! (let it suffice!)

Leo and I actually learned something yesterday, about faith and tradition and the evil of chametz. We were invited to a traditional Seder dinner, which is a ritual feast held during Passover (although due to scheduling, the dinner was held early). For those who don't know, neither Leo nor I are Jew. Not being a member of the club, I never knew what Passover was. For those of you out there who are also not members of the club, or privvy to the holiday, there is really interesting history behind it. I'll spare you the details of retelling the history, as there are better sources out there than I. The predinner rituals can last up to three hours, but our host referred to the "30 minute Seder" (www.30minuteseder.com)guide and kept it brief. The children hide chametz throughout the house, and then after dark the adults search the house by flashlight to find and rid the house of the hidden chametz. As the tradition goes, once the bread is found, a feather is used to sweep away stray crumbs onto a wooden spoon, which is then burned altogether. We skipped that part. We did, however, look under our plates and pretend to sweep away chametz from underneath. There was candlelighting, reciting of things, and ritual eating and dipping in saltwater of matzah, marror, chazeret, charoset, egg, and karpas. Leo's favorite part was that it is traditional that each persons cup is filled by the person sitting next to them, as though each person had a servant. Furthermore, when drinking the wine you are to recline, to the left, and finish the entire cup.

We were far from the only non Jews at the table. The only Jew, actually, was the host, who is admittedly an atheist, who wants to pass along the tradition to her daughters, who are half jewish half Kazak. And the diversity didn't stop there. Her husband, of course, is from Kazakstan, the husband of the other couple present is from Greece, and one of their two children is adopted, from Guatemala.

Dayenu!

I learned a few new lyrics today.................

You probably didn't know all these words.....neither did I:

Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics(Mercury)Is this the real life?Is this just fantasy?Caught in a landslide,No escape from realityOpen your eyes, Look up to the skies and see,I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy,Because I'm easy come, easy go, Little high, little low,Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to meMama just killed a man,Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he's deadMama, life had just begun,But now I've gone and thrown it all awayMama, ooh, Didn't mean to make you cry,If I'm not back again this time tomorrow,Carry on, carry on as if nothing really mattersToo late, my time has come,Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all the timeGoodbye, ev'rybody, I've got to go,Gotta leave you all behind and face the truthMama, ooh, I don't want to die,I sometimes wish I'd never been born at allI see a little silhouetto of a man,Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the FandangoThunderbolt and lightning, very, very fright'ning me(Galileo) Galileo (Galileo) Galileo, Galileo figaroMagnifico I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves meHe's just a poor boy from a poor family,Spare him his life from this monstrosityEasy come, easy go, will you let me goBismillah! No, we will not let you go(Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go(Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go(Let me go) Will not let you go(Let me go) Will not let you go (Let me go) AhNo, no, no, no, no, no, no(Oh mama mia, mama mia) Mama mia, let me goBeelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for meSo you think you can stone me and spit in my eyeSo you think you can love me and leave me to dieOh, baby, can't do this to me, baby,Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta hereNothing really matters, Anyone can see,Nothing really matters,Nothing really matters to meAny way the wind blows

Ladies & Gentlemen, Sir Elton John!

I learned again Saturday night that some things (people, talent) do get better with age! Lest you think I am just star struck - or simply inhaled some concert "air", both Ribhard and I could compare this performance to previous concerts with the Rocket Man (3 for Ribhard and 2 for me). The show included almost 3 hours of music - including new piano riffs and extended arrangements. Elton played a lot of 35+ year old stuff to which only he and I knew the lyrics - ok, just me, because I noticed Elton was using the rolling screen of a prompter. He still has a profile that reminds me of Aug (if Aug were to have a bad, bloated kind of day). I would just like to say Elton (still) rocks!!

I got your fat finger right here...................

I learned a new expression today while standing next to the copy machine at work pretending to be deep in thought looking at papers.................a fellow worker could not make copies.....her code would not work........ ..another worker bee said "hey, maybe you are fatfingering your pass word?"

"Pick Your Seat!"

re: last entry "It's On..."
Yea, hurry up and get your tickets before all the benches are taken!

It's on . . .

just wanted to announce that we just purchased our tickets to Florida for the 2009 Christmas reunion!

We will be there from December 21st-January 1st

A long stay, we know, but such is life when you're self-employed.

a new wine for me from africa

releaf

Cabernet Sauvignon – Merlot – Shiraz

this is a blended wine with all three of these wines in it....and under $10...seldom have I had such a good wine.....I may have to give up boxed wine....................

That's How I Roll...

This week I learned that Walgreen's registers can misread one of their own coupons to give a loyal customer $5 extra off for the 2 limit deal of 6 double rolls of Charmin. When the intended "-$4.60" reads "-$9.60", that makes 6 double rolls a deal at 99 cents a package! Yea, there's a limit, but there's also a Walgreen's on every corner - each one with a cowboy clerk who comments "Dang! That's a good deal!"

for some reason I could see ribberd having this conversation too?

Interesting....

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koK1z1YnBIQ
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFQlV...eature=related
Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_82kd...eature=related

I hesitate to bring this up.........

I hesitate to bring this up, but.............

I am sure yall recall that I was awarded a very prestigious Science Award last year. The recognition came with a very rare art object and a check. Well apparently my accounting firm has misplaced the check. I would appreciate the award committee issuing a replacement check. You immediate attention to this matter will be appreciated : Check via return mail.

Sincerely,

Ribhard

PS: I am not going to mention the discrepancy in the award amount that was originally announced ($2) vs the amount received ($1). Or the long delay in receiving the original check (08/09/08 vs 12/27/07)

Sunday, August 10, 2008

It is better to give than receive......................
I got a $1 check, note, and coffee cup from Abbzug and Leopold yesterday........and just to show you how god moves in mysterious ways...........the check was hand delivered to me in a catholic church..... now what are the chances I would be standing in a church (or that I would get a check from Abbzug and/or Leopold ) ?
Anyway, I got a check and a genuine "NPR look-a-like" coffee mug with the word SCIENCE magic markered over duct tape stuck to the mug. The note as you can see to the left makes reference to a dollar.
I thanked Abbzug for the dollar, cup and mug. But I said I recall there was talk about $2 and not one dollar in a previous blog posting. Abbzug seemed to have trouble remembering this exact amount.
So when I got home last night, I looked back on a December 29, 2007 blog note from Leopold and found the following :
"Therefore I applaud your efforts and will contribute toward your endeavors by pledging $2 toward a box of wine (does that cover an entire box?) for you."
As yall know, I am certainly not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.........and I do appreciate the money....................even at this late date...................but I don't think recipients of the Nobel peace prize have to shake the envelope and ask for the FULL amount of the prize money.

Lock de door....Lock de door!!!!

I guess everyone knows that you have to use hot sauce to make real buffalo chicken wings. Well I found a bottle of Franks Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce at Targeto the other night. (I was looking for that Asian fish sauce..what ever it is called to make some Rachel Ray Thai Chicken..but that is another story) . I usually use the wing sauce on sale at King Sooper.

I think I read somewhere (maybe on the Franks label) that the very first original buffalo wings ever made in Buffalo NY used Franks as the secret ingredient. So I got the sauce, and cooked the wings like it said: 20 minutes at 500 degrees. I took them out and decided they needed another 4 minutes. Popped them back in and cooked some more. Took them out and put 1/2 cup of the sauce on them , shook and tossed them in my big plastic jar thing. They were GREAT!!!!! I think they are even better than messing around with frying them. Don't be afraid of the 500 degrees.

tried something new today........

I have never shaved with my glasses on. So this morning I tried it. Found out that if you wear progressive trifical glasses...when you lean your head back to see under your chin...the picture in the mirror blurs. So another great idea bites the dust.

Today I learnt . . . that I have Synesthesia

While studying for my Biological Psychology course this evening I discovered that I have Synesthesia. Page 219 of Kalat's "Biological Psychology 1oth ed." reads,

"Synesthesia is the experience of one sense in response to stimulation of a different sense. In the words of one person, 'To me, the taste of beef is dark blue. The smell of almonds is pale orange . . . '"

I have always known in my heart of hearts that the feel of velvet fabric is a deep rich purple.

How about you? Do you have Synesthesia?

BTW This condition is actually visible (diagnosable) on a brain scan.