| Memetic Rick Semi-regular ramblings from a Los Angeles transplant, science geek, and home-brewer all rolled into one guy. |
Current Terror Alert Level |
| Memetic Rick Semi-regular ramblings from a Los Angeles transplant, science geek, and home-brewer all rolled into one guy. |
Current Terror Alert Level |
JibJab.com used a Woody Guthrie song "This Land" in a great little Flash movie. Go give them more site traffic if you haven't seen it yet.
They won their preemptive court battle for fair use recently. It turns out the copyright on the song expired and was never renewed. Ha Ha!
What the hell is with all the doping scandals at the Olympics this year? There seem to be more than usual for some reason.
I do know that the science of testing is amazingly advanced. Mass spectrometry, a merry little technology that's part of my schooling, last year identified a new designer drug using only its metabolized fragments.
A lot of the complaints I've been reading focus on the waste of scientific knowledge on making new steroids when we should be fighting disease and what not. That's valid, but I also shake my head at these "competitive athletes" utterly disgracing themselves and their country.
BBC NEWS | Americas | Cheney rejects gay marriage ban
Good of him to love his daughter. Too bad he is such evil incarnate otherwise.
The Onion | 2004 Election Guide
A nice collection of their political writing... at least as logical as the stuff in USA Today.
For I wish to see this concert, yet live on the other coast and will be flying into Boston that night for the Molecular Parasitology Meeting in Woods Hole. Alas.
Debbie Gibson, September 17, 2004
UPDATE: Less than five minutes later, I see that she's playing in a revival of "Brigadoon" through the end of this week, and that's playing right on the UCLA campus. Eighties crush nostalgia is not $60 ticket price material, however.
Scramjets integrate air and space - The Industrial Physicist
As the 21st century unfolds, a revolutionary engine technology is aiming to fly craft at high Mach speeds and seamlessly integrate air-to-space operations. The supersonic combustion ramjet, or scramjet, uses no rotating parts, will power vehicles hundreds of miles in minutes, and will make rapid global travel and affordable access to space a reality.
These goals drew closer to achievement this spring when the first scramjet-powered aircraft flew on its own. On the afternoon of March 27, an unpiloted X-43A, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) craft mounted on a Pegasus booster rocket, dropped from a B-52 flying at 40,000 ft off the coast of California. The rocket sent the experimental aircraft soaring to its test altitude of 95,000 ft, where the X-43A separated from its booster, and its scramjet engine fired for a planned 10-s test, achieving an incredible Mach 7, or 5,000 mph.
(as /.ed)
It's no Monkey Pit, but this LA-based photographer does have a section in her online portfolio for monkey and ape photographs. There's a gallery exhibit coming to town in October, too. Should be fun.
(via Boing Boing)
Weird.
Still no news to be found after extensive searching online related to the huge fire near Overland and Venice that Jen partially witnessed yesterday. Only maybe four or five blocks from our apartment building, it brought in over six fire trucks and was supposedly at a furniture factory. Something go boom, since the surrounding block was closed to street traffic as late as 7pm.
During the Women's Gymnastics All-Around tonight, one of the commentators, while doing the usual harping on every little detail and how many tenths of a point deduction is made, actually then apologized and acknowledged that these were the top altheles in their sport in the world.
Women gymanists no longer all look like they're eight years old (although they're still kids, mind you). The floor routines were also more modern dance than I remember.
Iraq's Olympic soccer team, who've advanced almost to the semi-finals, have taken issue with GW Bush using their success in political ads. Some choice bits:
"Iraq as a team does not want Mr. Bush to use us for the presidential campaign," Sadir told SI.com through a translator, speaking calmly and directly. "He can find another way to advertise himself."...
But they also find it offensive that Bush is using Iraq for his own gain when they do not support his administration's actions. "My problems are not with the American people," says Iraqi soccer coach Adnan Hamad. "They are with what America has done in Iraq: destroy everything. The American army has killed so many people in Iraq. What is freedom when I go to the [national] stadium and there are shootings on the road?"
Full article: SI.com - Iraqi soccer players upset about Bush campaign ads using team - Thursday August 19, 2004 4:59PM (Sports Illustrated, pointed to by Salon)
Why wasn't this hyped more in advance of the Games? The opening ceremony (boring again) was suddenly on television, though only for a few minutes in my house.
I watched 5 soccer (or fútbol) games on Telemundo this past weekend, and an observation from that time was reinforced by the schedule listing announced on NBC late last night. The TV coverage seems to be heavily programmed according to demographic/stereotype.
I inaugurate a new blog category with notice that I've upgraded to MovableType 3.01D (the D stands for...delicious?).
No more stupid Comments Section spamming, offering links to "Nifty Stories" and "Ingrid scat" (blecch), and a few others I don't feel like repeating. Which spammer robot decided my site was worthy of this annoyance in the first place?
Well, I still get to see and delete them, but at least now there's one convenient screen to do all that before my loyal, non-software-based readers are subjected to the crap.
Tom Tomorrow is a bit more eloquent about this schedule/calendar (link to PDF) than I could be.
On 9/11 itself, there's a "NASCAR race in Richmond" listed. This would be the "Chevy Rock 'N' Roll 400" at the Richmond International Raceway. Obviously, a NASCAR race has nothing -- nothing -- whatsoever to do homeland security. It is, however, a GOP-friendly event in Virginia, a battleground state where Bush's lead is within the margin of error.
Feh.