Thursday, August 30, 2007
Falling Behind Already
I haven't even had this blog for an entire month and I'm already starting to fall behind. My "topics to blog about" section is getting huge. I still need to get something up here on my recent trip to Seattle and Kansas City. Hopefully that will be soon.
More Wrestlers and Steroids
More allegations of steroids in professional wrestling. You know sometimes it makes me wonder. Steroids in professional sports and wrestling. For a lot of these guys they have nothing to fall back on. Sure, some are charismatic enough to launch an acting or TV career, but other than that what else do they have? Even though these guys make millions of dollars every year, does a professional athlete salary suffice for a comfortable salary? Its hard for me to believe that it isn't but sometimes this money is squandered early on in a career (see Mike Tyson).
I think college athletes should be called "athlete-students" rather than "student-athletes". Granted only a minority of college athletes make it to a professional team and yet others go overseas to play. But how many of these college kids actually think that they should also have an education to fall back on because they won't make it? I'm not sure, but realistically it is probably not many. Understandable. They are chasing what in many cases is a childhood dream to become a professional athlete.
Once again, the single-mindedness is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, only those who truly put everything they have into attaining the goal to become a professional athlete actually make it (with a combination of innate talent/gift). However, I believe that this single-mindedness also leads athletes to block out any possibility of not making it. Even if this "student-athlete" does graduate college, do you think that he actually cared about his degree let alone remember anything while playing a sport professionally?
A lot of professional wrestlers are former high-school/college athletes themselves who couldn't make it to a professional team either due to injury or lack of talent. These guys are not really that educated. I would be interested in seeing the percentage of college graduates that are in professional wrestling. But, does this lack of education mean that these men are really that dumb/ignorant enough to knowingly take steroids? I would argue no. These men full well know what they are getting themselves into. The choice to take steroids to get them through the sheer pain that they put themselves through day in and day out for their passion in life trumps the option of quitting and trying something else. Given that a top wrestling superstar needs to be "larger than life" in persona and physical stature I don't think that this problem will go away.
I think college athletes should be called "athlete-students" rather than "student-athletes". Granted only a minority of college athletes make it to a professional team and yet others go overseas to play. But how many of these college kids actually think that they should also have an education to fall back on because they won't make it? I'm not sure, but realistically it is probably not many. Understandable. They are chasing what in many cases is a childhood dream to become a professional athlete.
Once again, the single-mindedness is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, only those who truly put everything they have into attaining the goal to become a professional athlete actually make it (with a combination of innate talent/gift). However, I believe that this single-mindedness also leads athletes to block out any possibility of not making it. Even if this "student-athlete" does graduate college, do you think that he actually cared about his degree let alone remember anything while playing a sport professionally?
A lot of professional wrestlers are former high-school/college athletes themselves who couldn't make it to a professional team either due to injury or lack of talent. These guys are not really that educated. I would be interested in seeing the percentage of college graduates that are in professional wrestling. But, does this lack of education mean that these men are really that dumb/ignorant enough to knowingly take steroids? I would argue no. These men full well know what they are getting themselves into. The choice to take steroids to get them through the sheer pain that they put themselves through day in and day out for their passion in life trumps the option of quitting and trying something else. Given that a top wrestling superstar needs to be "larger than life" in persona and physical stature I don't think that this problem will go away.
Do You Work Too Much?
Take my poll about how many hours you work per week in the top right. I'm interested in knowing if the mythical "9-5" job still exists in America? Well, besides in the government. CNN had a little quiz that you might be interested in looking at. I heard that in France people only work 35 hours a week. Wow. Can anyone confirm this? I also heard that they get like 5 weeks of mandatory vacation. Mandatory vacation. There you go. However, I wonder how salaries compare to those here in America.
U.Va.'s Class of 2011 Will be Most Diverse
Apparently this year's incoming first-year class to the University of Virginia will be the most diverse in the University's history. 33.5%. A little bit above one-third. Although this is an improvement from the past I think the University still has a way to go. Take a look at the cover of the University's recent alumni magazine. Do you see any differences between the two pictures? No, I don't mean the colors of the photos or the different clothes. Look at the makeup of the two crowds. Namely, I don't think that 33.5% is a high enough percentage of diversity. Again, encouraging news, but I hope that the University will not be satisfied and will continue to increase diversity on campus.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Tiki, Eli, Vick, and the Metro
The latest report out of New York is that former New York Giants and UVA running back Tiki Barber is in a verbal sparring match with current Giants quarterback Eli Manning. There you go Eli. Way to lose focus by worrying about what a former teammate has to say about you. That's Tiki's job now. To talk about NFL players. Deal with it and stop being a baby. I think Peyton stole all the talent from his parents and left none for Eli. I wonder if Eli remembers his draft day when he demanded to be traded from the San Diego Chargers. I guess he thought having LaDanian Tomlinson as his teammate would have been a bad thing. Good move.
Does anyone think that Michael Vick will consistently be the first pick?...in the prison football pickup games with the rest of the prisoners? All joking aside, he will probably get the "Paris Hilton" celebrity treatment and Martha Stewart house arrest. What a sad story this has become. A few weeks ago on SportsCenter one of ESPN's brilliant commentators stated something along these lines: (Well, the Falcons will be a different team with Joey Harrington at quarterback versus if they had Michael Vick. Joey Harrington is no Michael Vick.) You think??? Thanks for the insight.
In other news, I am going to gripe about Metro some more. I was trying to get into D.C. yesterday during rush hour and one of the trains did not have A/C. Next it was decided that because of this the train was deemed "out of order" and everyone on the entire train was forced to get out and wait for the next one. The next one comes 2 minutes later but does not leave for another 10 minutes as "we are experiencing delays. Thanks for your patience customers". Lastly, why don't people understand that you walk on the left side of the escalator and stand on the right?
Does anyone think that Michael Vick will consistently be the first pick?...in the prison football pickup games with the rest of the prisoners? All joking aside, he will probably get the "Paris Hilton" celebrity treatment and Martha Stewart house arrest. What a sad story this has become. A few weeks ago on SportsCenter one of ESPN's brilliant commentators stated something along these lines: (Well, the Falcons will be a different team with Joey Harrington at quarterback versus if they had Michael Vick. Joey Harrington is no Michael Vick.) You think??? Thanks for the insight.
In other news, I am going to gripe about Metro some more. I was trying to get into D.C. yesterday during rush hour and one of the trains did not have A/C. Next it was decided that because of this the train was deemed "out of order" and everyone on the entire train was forced to get out and wait for the next one. The next one comes 2 minutes later but does not leave for another 10 minutes as "we are experiencing delays. Thanks for your patience customers". Lastly, why don't people understand that you walk on the left side of the escalator and stand on the right?
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Off to Kansas City and Seattle
I will be traveling to Kansas City and Seattle tomorrow night until Tuesday evening so I probably won't get the chance to make any posts until at the earliest next Wednesday. I'll be sure to give a summary of the trips with pictures when I get back.
What Do You Think Of Your Boss?
Apparently there is legislation in the works that would give employees grounds to sue their employers for being mean. The article brought up an interesting point of the generation gap between new hires coming into the work force (Generation Y) versus retiring Baby-Boom generation managers and how the younger generation is more likely to complain about their supervisors and quit. I think this legislation will have problems defining what exactly is an "abusive work environment". It might be hard for an accuser to bring forth the proper evidence other than "he said/she said" especially if the abuse does not take place in front of other employees. If you get the chance to read the article but don't have much time skip to about 3/4 down the page and read some of the "horror" boss stories. Yikes.
Are You Fat?
If so now you can maybe blame it on a virus. An interesting thought that I just had: Do you think it would be possible to "infect" people who are in extremely poor countries with limited access to food with this "obesity virus"? Well, I will shoot down my own idea and say probably not because I would contend that these people obviously need the nutrients provided to them by food because of extreme malnourishment. It'll be interesting to see what further research shows.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Call Me Mr. Produce
I thought I'd take the opportunity to give you a sample of the food that I ate at a restaurant, the food I bought, and the food I cooked today. See if you can tell which is which. As Emeril Lagasse would say, "I wish you had Smell-a-Vision".
Also, not too long ago I had the chance to eat Maryland Chesapeake Crabs in Annapolis, Maryland for the first time. Good stuff.
On a side note, I had another what I would consider successful weekend at the batting cages. I got to use my old little league bats for the first time in a very long while. My friend told me that I should probably upgrade to a high-school level bat which is heavier. That might be added to my wish list. I forgot how much fun it is to hit a baseball. Oh, and I found out that the "fast" pitch I was hitting today was 65 mph. That means I could probably hit a change-up from a 2- or 3-A league pitcher. I think they should just call me up to the big leagues right now. If I had the money to buy a new house right now it would have a gourmet kitchen and a batting cage in the backyard.
Good Morning Sunshine
Up early this morning as I like to be most days. Plan is to hydrate up with water/Gatorade then go out for a run around the area neighborhoods. I started the early morning jog on the weekend habit about five years ago and absolutely love it. Remember those scenes in Rocky IV where Balboa is running through the snow in Russia all by himself in the early morning? I love that. Those training montages are great. One of my fondest memories from Syracuse was recreating that during the winter time. If you've never been up to Syracuse it snows. A lot. And it is absolutely frigid in the winter. So while I was there I decided to "take advantage" of that environment and get myself into Rocky Balboa shape. I remember getting up on those weekend days in the dead of winter when it was even too cold to turn around in your bed stacked with about five blankets to keep warm. I'd get myself ready (minus the whole drinking the raw egg thing), don the multiple thin layers of clothes and a hat, and take out my iPod...queued up with the all of the Rocky soundtracks. Stepping outside of the front door of the house was exactly like the movie. It was just me, the sun, and the snow. I remember one time where it was so cold outside that my iPod stopped working because I guess the hard drive froze. It was really quite an exhilarating experience that I'd recommend if you're up to it. I'd like to if I ever get the chance (like so many others have) recreate the running up the library stairs in Philly scene. Other fond moments come from when I was at Virginia and I would run by all the frat houses early on a weekend morning. One time I ran by this house and actually stopped because I could smell the alcohol emanating from the porch. I stopped long enough to notice that there several drunk kids sleeping outside on the porch. Good stuff. On a side note, does any one else who works a standard desk job feel like sitting at a desk in front of a computer all day is actually more tiring than it should be? I feel like I need to take a nap most days I get home but realize that all I did during the day was sit.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Super Mario
No not Mario Lemieux or Luigi's brother. Mario Batali was featured in this NY Times article. I found it interesting that the man owns his own pizza oven. Nice. That would be great. I must say to me the room that makes a house is its kitchen. The thing about food that can be deceiving is that its not always easy to tell how much time and effort went into making a dish. I think most people overestimate the time and effort it takes to make an appetizing meal. It doesn't have to be hard or complicated. This article talks about how Chicago Public Schools tried to introduce healthier foods into the school lunch menu, even going to the extent to try to add organic foods. I for one don't use organic foods much in my cooking. I've tried cage-free eggs a couple times and some vegetables. I don't really taste a difference, but feel the difference in the wallet.
As far as the kids and school lunch topic goes I feel like a health class should be part of the standard classes like math, history etc. This reminded me of when I volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club a few months ago. One of the activities for the kids was to get them to name and identify certain foods. So the instructor had a bunch of real fruits and vegetables in a basket and picked one out one at a time and asked the kids to shout out what the fruit/vegetable was. Well the kids did fine with standard things like apples, carrots, and potatoes. The funny part was when the instructor pulled out a sprig of parsley. The room went silent, and one kid shouts out: Its weed!
HA. I got a good laugh out of that one. But seriously, kids need to be taught early on the importance of exercise and nutrition. In addition, if there are nutritious options available then I would argue that the kids would eat them rather than going hungry. Makes sense. I can see how it is hard for parents to get a tasteful and healthy meal on the table everyday. Its hard. I don't cook everyday. There just isn't the time. What I do is when I do cook, make more than enough for multiple meals. There's of course a tradeoff here. If you are willing to eat the same thing for a couple days in a row then its fine. You also need to own a decent set of Tupperware containers and a reliable microwave.
Another thing that I like to do is to buy those pre-cooked rotisserie chickens at the supermarket. That is a good option I've found. It comes out to a max of $10 for one. If you look at the price of a package of chicken it is about equivalent except that you don't have to cook it and clean up afterwards. You can use it in pretty much any dish too.
The picture I've included in this post was a lunch I had at a French restaurant in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was duck con fit.
Kayaking on the Potomac
A little late on this one, but last week I had the chance to go kayaking on the Potomac. Good fun, but harder than it looks. It actually gets pretty tiring.
Steroids and Wrestling
Interesting article in the Washingtonpost. I had no idea that even the low-end stars make around $100K a year but have no benefits package. Yeah, its definitely not a glamorous lifestyle: being on the road all of the time, punishing your body taking hits and then having to workout incessantly to maintain a physique. Its no wonder that these guys turn to illegal substances just to get themselves through the day.
The article did make a great point in that there is no off-season. The reason is that professional wrestling is not a sport, it is sports-entertainment. That means it really is basically a soap-opera in that there are scripted storylines involved. In order to give wrestlers time off the storylines need to somehow explain their absence which is usually done through a fake injury. The vicious cycle is that the top stars are the top stars because they are seen by the fans week in and week out. You don't make your way to the top by getting little face time with the fans and on TV.
Then of course there is always the money factor involved. Professional wrestling is afterall a business. As much as it is nice to think that the owner Vince McMahon cares about his employees and as much as this may sound heartless, he obviously knows that for every star that he loses there are at least a dozen if not more up-and-coming hopefuls just waiting for their chance to break into the business.
It will be interesting to see if/how Congress decides to monitor illegal substance abuse in professional wrestling.
The article did make a great point in that there is no off-season. The reason is that professional wrestling is not a sport, it is sports-entertainment. That means it really is basically a soap-opera in that there are scripted storylines involved. In order to give wrestlers time off the storylines need to somehow explain their absence which is usually done through a fake injury. The vicious cycle is that the top stars are the top stars because they are seen by the fans week in and week out. You don't make your way to the top by getting little face time with the fans and on TV.
Then of course there is always the money factor involved. Professional wrestling is afterall a business. As much as it is nice to think that the owner Vince McMahon cares about his employees and as much as this may sound heartless, he obviously knows that for every star that he loses there are at least a dozen if not more up-and-coming hopefuls just waiting for their chance to break into the business.
It will be interesting to see if/how Congress decides to monitor illegal substance abuse in professional wrestling.
Jay-Z
Rapper Jay-Z tops Forbes hip-hop "cash kings" list
Let's see, according to the article Jay-Z made at least $238 million over the past year. Nice. Oh and he's dating Beyonce too. Yeah...definitely far from living a hard knock life.
On another note, I thought this commercial was pretty funny the first time I saw it. Never tried Vitamin Water though. Maybe I'll give it a shot after I finish the case of Gatorade sitting in my pantry. Gotta love the bulk purchase at Costco.
Let's see, according to the article Jay-Z made at least $238 million over the past year. Nice. Oh and he's dating Beyonce too. Yeah...definitely far from living a hard knock life.
On another note, I thought this commercial was pretty funny the first time I saw it. Never tried Vitamin Water though. Maybe I'll give it a shot after I finish the case of Gatorade sitting in my pantry. Gotta love the bulk purchase at Costco.
Zero to Hero
Gilbert Arenas, Gil, Gillyweed, Agent 0. Whatever you like to call him he is the star of the Washington Wizards. I recently added a link to his blog in my "Links to Other Blogs" section. Interesting reads for the most part. I am trying to expand that section so if you know of any other blogs that you read that you think I'd be interested in by all means leave a comment. The NBA regular season starts in a little over 2 months. Let's see if Stern can put Humpty Dumpty together again by then.
Finishing off with some random thoughts:
- Took me 1.5 hours to get into D.C. last night. 1.5 hours. Why do I continue to use Metro?
- Recently bought two shirts advertised as wrinkle-free from here. These shirts are anything but wrinkle-free. Anyone have any good suggestions for quality wrinkle-free shirts?
- Immediate plan is go to cook an egg, chicken, and cheese omelet (mmm protein) then hit up the batting cages for some BP.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Nats, Skins in Town This Weekend
The Washington-Metro D.C. area will be awash in sports glory this weekend as the Nationals and Redskins both have home games this Saturday. What does this mean? TRAFFIC. Although the weather looks like it will be great this weekend the couch and TV remote might be more appealing than the Beltway or waiting in a crowded Metro car. The talk of the town is that even though the Nationals will not be in the postseason, the team is poised and ready to spoil the postseason hopes of its opponents for the rest of the season. Whooppee. God forbid the Redskins also win on Saturday. I won't hear the end of it from Redskins fans I know or on the radio/TV. Folks, its preseason...
Question posed to Redskins Head Coach Joe Gibbs: Coach, what do you hope to see in this weekend's preseason game against the Steelers?
Joe (paraphrased): Well, I'd like to see each unit go out there and play cohesively and smoothly. Then, I'd like to see individuals show me what they have to offer to this team.
Thanks, coach. On another note, do you ever wonder about reporters sometimes? Do they come up with the questions or does someone else feed them the questions? Is it funny to ask questions you already know the answer to? For example, why do you ask the losing coach at the Superbowl how he feels? Are you hoping he is going to say "I feel great"? He freaking just lost the Superbowl. How else is he going to feel???
Note to Metro: There is a Nationals game this Saturday. Have more train cars running more frequently. Thanks.
In other Washington sports news, former Washington Wizards forward-swingman Jarvis Hayes has signed with the Detroit Pistons. I think Jarvis will have trouble getting non-garbage minute playing time on that squad. I mean he was a semi-important part on a Wizards team that is not as good as the Pistons. If he's looking for a team closer to winning a championship then obviously this was a good move for him as long as he's willing to give up some playing time. Oh, yeah, and the money increase probably wasn't too shabby either.
Question posed to Redskins Head Coach Joe Gibbs: Coach, what do you hope to see in this weekend's preseason game against the Steelers?
Joe (paraphrased): Well, I'd like to see each unit go out there and play cohesively and smoothly. Then, I'd like to see individuals show me what they have to offer to this team.
Thanks, coach. On another note, do you ever wonder about reporters sometimes? Do they come up with the questions or does someone else feed them the questions? Is it funny to ask questions you already know the answer to? For example, why do you ask the losing coach at the Superbowl how he feels? Are you hoping he is going to say "I feel great"? He freaking just lost the Superbowl. How else is he going to feel???
Note to Metro: There is a Nationals game this Saturday. Have more train cars running more frequently. Thanks.
In other Washington sports news, former Washington Wizards forward-swingman Jarvis Hayes has signed with the Detroit Pistons. I think Jarvis will have trouble getting non-garbage minute playing time on that squad. I mean he was a semi-important part on a Wizards team that is not as good as the Pistons. If he's looking for a team closer to winning a championship then obviously this was a good move for him as long as he's willing to give up some playing time. Oh, yeah, and the money increase probably wasn't too shabby either.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Attention Mark McGwire
I've got to find the testimony that McGwire gave in that congressional hearing a few years back. "I am not here to talk about the past". What might I ask are you there to discuss then???
I had the chance to see McGwire play during his record-breaking home-run season during a game against the New York Mets. He hit a home-run during the game and literally swatted the ball out of the stadium. Straight-up backhanded it out there like he was holding a tennis racket. SI recently published an article in its latest magazine that chronicles Barry Bonds' stats over his entire career. This includes his height and weight as well as pictures of him. If you get the chance I'd recommend checking it out. If you take a look those pictures you can definitely see the man putting on weight...inconsistently. Being an avid fan of bodybuilding myself and I know that even "professional" bodybuilders when adding mass generally put it on consistently and not in large spurts. For a normal human being putting on 5 pounds of muscle per year is considered great. I know from personal experience. Genetics plays a huge part in being able to add muscle mass and granted these guys are professional athletes so they have that part working for them. I highly doubt that McGwire will ever be voted into the Hall of Fame.
Well apparently being "frank and candid" won't get you punished by the MLB commissioner. I doubt it, but I wonder if this will get anyone else to come forth and be "frank and candid".
I had the chance to see McGwire play during his record-breaking home-run season during a game against the New York Mets. He hit a home-run during the game and literally swatted the ball out of the stadium. Straight-up backhanded it out there like he was holding a tennis racket. SI recently published an article in its latest magazine that chronicles Barry Bonds' stats over his entire career. This includes his height and weight as well as pictures of him. If you get the chance I'd recommend checking it out. If you take a look those pictures you can definitely see the man putting on weight...inconsistently. Being an avid fan of bodybuilding myself and I know that even "professional" bodybuilders when adding mass generally put it on consistently and not in large spurts. For a normal human being putting on 5 pounds of muscle per year is considered great. I know from personal experience. Genetics plays a huge part in being able to add muscle mass and granted these guys are professional athletes so they have that part working for them. I highly doubt that McGwire will ever be voted into the Hall of Fame.
Well apparently being "frank and candid" won't get you punished by the MLB commissioner. I doubt it, but I wonder if this will get anyone else to come forth and be "frank and candid".
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Malcolm X, Donaghy, Becks, Offerman, Stock Market
Quick post here with a variety of topics...
NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty today to two felony charges in connection with the NBA betting scandal. He could get up to 25 years in prison. The question is how does the NBA repair its image? I know for sure when I go to the Wizards games this year at Verizon Center I am going to heckle the referees just for the fun of it. Here's an off-the-wall solution. Have no referees. Let the players call their own fouls. Come on. Its done in pickup games around the world everyday. These guys are professionals, right? No, but seriously in my opinion I don't think that this is more widespread than Donaghy. If it is I think he is going to try to bring down as many people with him as he can. He'd just better make sure he's in jail first, otherwise the Mafia is going to be after him.
In other news the U.S. stock market has been falling faster than Pacman Jones' NFL career. The S&P 500 pretty much erased its gains up until this point this year. One thing to take note of is that if you're looking to buy now might be the time. If you're already in I'd probably say don't look and wait it out. I know my portfolio is down right now but you've got to think long-term.
Plan for the rest of the night is to start reading The Autobiography of Malcom X and watch Becks and the Galaxy play the United again for the second week in a row. There we go. Malcolm X and MLS. What a great way to wind down the day.
And finally, former MLB player Jose Offerman decided to get himself arrested by wielding his bat at an opposing pitcher and catcher (see photo above).
Newsflash: Airplanes Are Dirty
Doesn't surprise me a bit. I read somewhere else that said the handles on grocery shopping carts have more germs than the average public restroom. I believe it. Also, do you ever put your grocery food in the child seat compartment? If you do, why? Think about what sits there. Right.
Tax-Free Holiday
This article talks about state tax holidays in the U.S. If you're interested further in taxation and e-Commerce, ask me about a paper that I wrote on the subject and I can send it to you.
On an entirely different note, this morning I came to two complete stops on the Toll Road going in the opposite direction of D.C. This should not happen. Ever. Drivers with E-Z Pass: the whole point of E-Z Pass is so that you don't stop at the toll booth!!! Slow down if you have to, but please don't go from 60 mph to a complete stop. Thanks.
On an entirely different note, this morning I came to two complete stops on the Toll Road going in the opposite direction of D.C. This should not happen. Ever. Drivers with E-Z Pass: the whole point of E-Z Pass is so that you don't stop at the toll booth!!! Slow down if you have to, but please don't go from 60 mph to a complete stop. Thanks.
Note to Self: Pitching Doesn't Win Championships...
...in Fantasy Baseball that is. So at the beginning of this year's MLB season I, like millions of others around in the U.S. took part in a fantasy baseball draft. I am in two leagues this year. The one I am about to write about I've been in for a couple of years now. The league has a core of returning entrants each year, which are my dorm mates from my first year of college. I think its great to get the competitive juices going year to year with the same people. We also keep the same core for fantasy football and fantasy basketball. Anyway, at the start of this year's draft I had a strategy to use my first five picks to take the top starting pitchers and relievers in the league. I figured that I could possibly trade them away later in the season for some power in the lineup. About 1/4 the way through the season I looked like a genius and was sitting pretty atop the league leader board. Well that was short-lived. I am now in 9th place out of 10 teams after having only traded away one of my star pitchers. I'll admit my strategy didn't work and I'll learn from it the next time around. In my other league however I am in 1st place out of ten teams when I didn't employ my "take the top pitchers" strategy. You'll be hearing plenty more about fantasy sports as time goes on. I am in 4 different fantasy football leagues this year so things could get interesting.
On another note, I heard a report on the radio this morning detailing a British study that experimented with mice and junk food. The radio report said that the study fed junk food to pregnant mice and found that the offspring are more likely to have a penchant for junk food. Makes sense. I've always thought that you develop a taste for different foods while growing up but apparently it starts earlier than that.
On another note, I heard a report on the radio this morning detailing a British study that experimented with mice and junk food. The radio report said that the study fed junk food to pregnant mice and found that the offspring are more likely to have a penchant for junk food. Makes sense. I've always thought that you develop a taste for different foods while growing up but apparently it starts earlier than that.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Making Math Look Good
This article talks about how actress Danica McKellar wrote a book that is aimed at making math appealing to girls. I think that its a great idea because it gives girls an excellent example to follow. I guess not everyone is going to be like Lisa Simpson.
Amen to that!
"When girls see the antics of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, they think that being fun and glamorous also means being dumb and irresponsible," says McKellar. "But I want to show them that being smart is cool. Being good at math is cool. "I want to tell girls that cute and dumb isn't as good as cute and smart."
Amen to that!
Good Night Canada
Is what Tony Kornheiser has been closing the show, Pardon The Interruption (one of my favorite shows on TV) with lately. If you are unfamiliar with the show, he and his co-host Michael Wilbon discuss current sport events in a rapid-fire session in a various entertaining segments. Around the Horn is also quite entertaining. The only problem is I never get home from work early enough to catch them in time...
So today was Day 2 of incorporating some sort of additional oblique exercise in my workout. I hope that this improves my swing.
Be a Better Co-Worker
Read, and send to your co-workers. It's all common sense stuff, but we'll all be better off.
E.A. Sports. Its In The Game.
Are You Getting the New Madden? Vince Young is on this year's cover. He's already missed a game for violating team rules by not staying in the team hotel. Will the Madden Curse continue?
What is the best sports video game of all time? I would have to agree. Tecmo Super Bowl was an extremely addicting game. I remember my brother and I playing the regular season mode. You would have to check you players' status on the roster, hoping that they were in "excellent" condition. If you had a key player injured, and you thought that he should be back the next game and wasn't simply restart the game and sometimes he would return from the injury.
The playbook was only eight plays (four for the original one). There was this one play that worked about 95% of the time. In fact it worked even better when the other team picked the same play and blitzed you because the tight end was always open over the middle. My favorite team was the 49ers. Joe Montana to Jerry Rice was unstoppable. Jerry could catch anything. I think John Taylor was the other wideout. On defense you had Ronnie Lott and I think Charles Haley. The computer was decently good at cheating during the game, by allowing the other team's RBs to run ridiculously fast, but if you really wanted to guarantee your win you could cheat by going into their playbook before the game started and changing all of the plays to ones you could easily stop.
If when you had the ball you ran in a zig-zag it would almost guarantee you the ability to outrun all of the defenders. The hail-mary pass was also an option. Simply hike the ball, keep running backwards until your receiver is out of the screen (and all you see is that arrow) then toss it. More often than not you'd end up with a catch. Oh the memories. When playing my brother we would hide our controllers under a pillow so that we could guarantee the other wasn't cheating by seeing what play was being picked. Randall Cunningham was the Michael Vick back then, and Barry Sanders, Lawrence Taylor, and Reggie White were all equally unstoppable.
What is the best sports video game of all time? I would have to agree. Tecmo Super Bowl was an extremely addicting game. I remember my brother and I playing the regular season mode. You would have to check you players' status on the roster, hoping that they were in "excellent" condition. If you had a key player injured, and you thought that he should be back the next game and wasn't simply restart the game and sometimes he would return from the injury.
The playbook was only eight plays (four for the original one). There was this one play that worked about 95% of the time. In fact it worked even better when the other team picked the same play and blitzed you because the tight end was always open over the middle. My favorite team was the 49ers. Joe Montana to Jerry Rice was unstoppable. Jerry could catch anything. I think John Taylor was the other wideout. On defense you had Ronnie Lott and I think Charles Haley. The computer was decently good at cheating during the game, by allowing the other team's RBs to run ridiculously fast, but if you really wanted to guarantee your win you could cheat by going into their playbook before the game started and changing all of the plays to ones you could easily stop.
If when you had the ball you ran in a zig-zag it would almost guarantee you the ability to outrun all of the defenders. The hail-mary pass was also an option. Simply hike the ball, keep running backwards until your receiver is out of the screen (and all you see is that arrow) then toss it. More often than not you'd end up with a catch. Oh the memories. When playing my brother we would hide our controllers under a pillow so that we could guarantee the other wasn't cheating by seeing what play was being picked. Randall Cunningham was the Michael Vick back then, and Barry Sanders, Lawrence Taylor, and Reggie White were all equally unstoppable.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Office Politics
An interesting article with some advice that I am certainly going to try to remember to do. Because I've always thought of myself as a hard worker, I think the point that stuck out most with me was the last paragraph:
Don't assume hard work is enough. In today's competitive work world, being competent is not sufficient to earn you accolades. Getting ahead requires strategic thinking, subtle self-promotion, and teamwork. People sometimes assume that working harder will result in recognition, but more often than not, all it nets them is more work.
Woe Is Me
To all you complainers and whiners out there, stop it.
The article mostly deals with how women vent their frustration with each other. It would have been interesting if the study had included males as well. I think the study would have been even better had it only used Boston Red Sox fans.
Voicing your frustrations is a natural way of dealing with them — but watch out for when a conversation dissolves into a bitch session.
The article mostly deals with how women vent their frustration with each other. It would have been interesting if the study had included males as well. I think the study would have been even better had it only used Boston Red Sox fans.
Here, I'll Pay You $70 to Lose 9 Pounds This Month
That is what residents of the Italian town of Varallo could get. How much do you think would need to be offered to convince fat Americans to do the same?
Bad Workout Habits
I go to the gym pretty regularly. Over time I've seen people doing things ranging from the downright stupid and ridiculous to downright dangerous. Here you go, I'll share a story. It was back a few years ago in college. This big muscle-head was doing squats with a huge amount of weight. Easily around 400 pounds. So this guy gets done with the squats and begins to re-rack the weights. What's so unique about this story you ask? Well, as it turns out, he took off all of plates from one side of the bar first instead of alternating. I mean this guy must have put the weights alternatively when loading the bar right? Why wouldn't you do the same when re-racking the plates? Needless to say the entire bar came crashing to the ground and everyone just stopped and stared at him.
Anyway, when you're at the gym, make sure you don't repeat that. Also be sure to avoid these workout habits. I'd be interested in hearing gym stories from other people.
Anyway, when you're at the gym, make sure you don't repeat that. Also be sure to avoid these workout habits. I'd be interested in hearing gym stories from other people.
Macho, Nacho Man?
Remember that song? According to this article, it turns out that you if you're a man with feminine facial features then you will be seen by women as being more warm, faithful, and possibly a better parent than men with more masculine features. So there you go. That's the solution to getting more first dates. Now, if you want a second date, you'd better pay for the first.
100 Best Places to Work in IT - Overall Rankings 2007
Computerworld ranked the 100 Best Places to Work in IT for IT professionals in the U.S. What surprised me was that Fairfax County Public Schools cracked the top 10. Your's truly is a product of that school system. Also, here is how the rankings were chosen along with some other interesting statistics.
Greatest Record in All of Sports?
ESPN is asking this question. I believe I stated this in an earlier post, but in my opinion, the greatest record in all of sports is Cal Ripken Jr.'s consecutive games played streak of 2,632. Come to think of it, any record involving consecutive anything deserves to be recognized. Think about it. All it takes is one miss and the streak is done, and you have to start all over again from the very beginning. Aside from any normal human bodily function, is there anything that you consistently do everyday without ever missing a day? Cal never missed a game in I think 17 consecutive seasons! Can you imagine never missing a day of work? If my memory serves me right I think Ripken sat out the next game on purpose in order to break his own streak. The man could have probably gone on for god knows how much longer. Simply amazing. I'd love to hear what record other people think is the greatest in all of sports.
Christ-like smudge fetches $1,000-plus
"There are some people who need this kind of thing to sort of start them on their faith journey. I don't," she said. "That's why I don't mind parting with it."Did you know that if I took a piece of toast out of the toaster and saw that the burn marks on it resembled Jesus I could sell it on eBay for a couple thousand dollars (if not more?). Or, that if I went under a bridge and found that the water marks on the bridge resembled Jesus I could get people from all over the world to come visit and take a look? Pretty amazing stuff, huh? (In case you were wondering both of those things did actually happened, among countless other stories).
....now, where's my toaster?
Microwave Etiquette and Morning Talk Radio
Ok, this post might be a little random, but I'll try my best to stay coherent.
I'll start with the office microwave lunch dilemma. So today at lunch I go to the microwave to heat my lunch and find that someone else's lunch has 18 seconds left on the clock, but no one is around waiting for it. The timer chimes and the microwave stops and still no one. Being the courteous and polite person that I am I wait there for oh say a good 2 minutes, take this person's food out and begin heating mine. Right as my lunch is finished heating the owner of the food I had taken out comes by and apologizes to me. Now, I have had instances where this has happened to me before and the reception I received was not as pleasant. The last time I remember it happening I had to try to reason with the person as to why I took their food out. Again I stood there and waited a few minutes. I stress I tried to reason with this person, but they received no apology from me. I'm sorry but you can't possibly so busy as to not have the time to stand by the microwave for two minutes while your food cooks. Even if you can't spare the two minutes, and you just have to walk away, then be back in two minutes to retrieve your food! I'd love to hear other stories from people. Is there an unwritten office rule to using the community microwave during lunch?
I'd also like to do a quick run-down of some news bytes I remember from listening to the radio on the way into work this morning:
I'll start with the office microwave lunch dilemma. So today at lunch I go to the microwave to heat my lunch and find that someone else's lunch has 18 seconds left on the clock, but no one is around waiting for it. The timer chimes and the microwave stops and still no one. Being the courteous and polite person that I am I wait there for oh say a good 2 minutes, take this person's food out and begin heating mine. Right as my lunch is finished heating the owner of the food I had taken out comes by and apologizes to me. Now, I have had instances where this has happened to me before and the reception I received was not as pleasant. The last time I remember it happening I had to try to reason with the person as to why I took their food out. Again I stood there and waited a few minutes. I stress I tried to reason with this person, but they received no apology from me. I'm sorry but you can't possibly so busy as to not have the time to stand by the microwave for two minutes while your food cooks. Even if you can't spare the two minutes, and you just have to walk away, then be back in two minutes to retrieve your food! I'd love to hear other stories from people. Is there an unwritten office rule to using the community microwave during lunch?
I'd also like to do a quick run-down of some news bytes I remember from listening to the radio on the way into work this morning:
- There was a report out saying that U.S. employers are expecting raises this year for employees around the 4% range, with bonuses for pay-for-performance programs bumping this figure up to 12%. My first year of working...I'll now know what to expect...
- Tommy Thompson has removed himself from the presidential race. I remember going to hear him speak earlier this year about his attempt to run for president. In my opinion, although I thought he was a good speaker, I didn't think that he was presidential material.
- The Boston Red Sox is losing its lead on division rival the New York Yankees. Now if you know me well enough you know that I pretty much despise the Red Sox mostly because I think the fan base is a bunch of whiners. Now don't get me wrong, I don't like the Yankees either, but if Yankees success means Red Sox failure then I'm all for it.
- And finally, the Washington Redskins won its first pre-season game. There will be much, much more discussion on this blog about the NFL season once it starts. I'll just say that it is great living in this area while not being a Skins fan. In fact, I would say that messing around with Redskins fans is a lot more fun than making fun of Boston Red Sox fans. Redskins fans are always so optimistic. "This is our year", "Superbowl-bound baby!". I remember the year that Joe Gibbs joined the team. It was like The Second Coming. Come on people, be realistic. And by realistic I mean 6-10 / 7-9. The same thing with Red Sox fans. The reason why your team didn't win the Series for 86 years was not because of "The Curse". It's because your team was never good enough to win it during those years. Face it. Stop whining. The worst part is that these people were even more obnoxious after the Sox won the Series a few years ago. Ok, one Series win in 86 years. Go ahead, celebrate. Come back when you actually build a consistent winner and maybe I'll start respecting you more.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Let The Battle Begin!
I just finished watching some Iron Chef America. Love that show. I like food. I like to cook. I like competition. I love how Iron Chef America puts all of it together. Great idea. A whole network on food? Brilliant. I'm not that big of a wine guy however. Have you ever bought a $50-$100 bottle of wine? I've done it several times. It hurt each time. I just can't see buying a drink that costs that much money when I know that amount of money could feed me for a week. Give me $100 to buy on food/drink? I'm buying steaks, lobster, and other food. Drinks? I'm fine with Gatorade, tea, juice, protein shakes. Did anyone watch The Next Food Network Star? I picked Jag from the very beginning and I think he would have won had he not disqualified himself by lying. I've listed the shows that I enjoy watching on Food Network. I like taking pictures of food too. I've included some of the things I've cooked recently in this post.
50 Cent vs. Kanye West
"If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on September 11, I'll no longer write music," 50 Cent said. Wow. What a bold statement. I can say that I like the music of both 50 Cent and Kanye West. It would be a shame for there to be no more solo 50 Cent albums. Granted I still think Jay-Z is better than both of these guys.
Buy Low, Divorce High
I couldn't come up with a catchier title than the article so I decided to use it. Wow, what an interesting article. I was thinking about extracting quotes and commenting like I did on a previous post, but I found that I would probably highlight the entire thing.
I read another article that stated 75% of divorces in the U.S. are initiated by the woman! The article (which I can't seem to find at the moment but will look for it) also stated that 54% of American marriages end in divorce, 60% of Americans dislike their job, and 65% of Americans are obese. Now, I'm not going to guarantee the preciseness of any of these percentages, but I don't really see them being too far off. By the way, it was around July 4th when I read this article and the author wrote the sarcastic piece ending with "oh its great to be an American. Happy Birthday America".
I'm going to use that Star War's quote again: "Passion clouds judgment". Why not sign a prenup? According to this article when marriage is on the mind, divorce of course is the last thing on the mind. That's obvious. But, people change, situations change. Think about it. In every other facet of our lives when we enter a high-stakes agreement/deal there is usually some sort of insurance involved. Own a car? Do you have insurance? Own a home? Do you have insurance? Have a kid? Do you have insurance? Get married? Did you sign a prenup? The thinking is "oh, of course not. Not us. Divorce? Neeever". The simple fact of the matter is that you never know what is going to happen in the future. Step out of love for a minute and think.
I honestly don't see why more people don't sign prenups. Think about it: 54% chance of divorce. I feel like there should be a coin toss at the end of marriage ceremonies. I honestly don't know why that number isn't higher. I would guess it is due to the fact that some people cannot fathom the cost of divorce, both monetarily and emotionally on the family so they would rather stay unhappily married than divorced. Is going into a marriage likely to be a successful endeavor? I don't know about you, but I don't generally partake in activities where it is shown that a greater than 50% failure is to be expected and if you do fail you lose 50% of your belongings. Do I condone divorce? Well I generally agree that people should maximize their happiness. Let's try the example thing again.
Imagine instead of saying "I want to marry this man" or "I want to marry this woman" you say to yourself "I want to marry". Replace the word "man" or "woman" with anything. I know, I know, you can't compare a human with an inanimate object. Stick with me here for a minute. Choose anything. It could be your job, your car, anything. Give it some thought. I'll wait.
Did you find a good word? If you did, I'd like to know. Can you name any single thing that is not physically attached to you that you would want to have for the rest of your life? Let's say that you did find something, and say that you do want to maximize your happiness. Suppose that over time the thing you chose became less and less appealing and that you are becoming less happy/satisfied. Now if you saw something else that you could get that you would consider an upgrade, and would make you happier, would you go for that upgrade and leave the original thing?
Ok, let's take the flip side and say you are completely satisfied and happy with the original. If you saw the upgrade would you still not go for it? Or would you say, no, I have the original so I'm going to stick with it now matter how much those others could make me even happier. That is one of the points made in the article. I'm not trying to make divorce sound like a good thing or a bad thing. I just think that it is human nature to try to maximize your own happiness. If that means making a change then that means making a change.
I read another article that stated 75% of divorces in the U.S. are initiated by the woman! The article (which I can't seem to find at the moment but will look for it) also stated that 54% of American marriages end in divorce, 60% of Americans dislike their job, and 65% of Americans are obese. Now, I'm not going to guarantee the preciseness of any of these percentages, but I don't really see them being too far off. By the way, it was around July 4th when I read this article and the author wrote the sarcastic piece ending with "oh its great to be an American. Happy Birthday America".
I'm going to use that Star War's quote again: "Passion clouds judgment". Why not sign a prenup? According to this article when marriage is on the mind, divorce of course is the last thing on the mind. That's obvious. But, people change, situations change. Think about it. In every other facet of our lives when we enter a high-stakes agreement/deal there is usually some sort of insurance involved. Own a car? Do you have insurance? Own a home? Do you have insurance? Have a kid? Do you have insurance? Get married? Did you sign a prenup? The thinking is "oh, of course not. Not us. Divorce? Neeever". The simple fact of the matter is that you never know what is going to happen in the future. Step out of love for a minute and think.
I honestly don't see why more people don't sign prenups. Think about it: 54% chance of divorce. I feel like there should be a coin toss at the end of marriage ceremonies. I honestly don't know why that number isn't higher. I would guess it is due to the fact that some people cannot fathom the cost of divorce, both monetarily and emotionally on the family so they would rather stay unhappily married than divorced. Is going into a marriage likely to be a successful endeavor? I don't know about you, but I don't generally partake in activities where it is shown that a greater than 50% failure is to be expected and if you do fail you lose 50% of your belongings. Do I condone divorce? Well I generally agree that people should maximize their happiness. Let's try the example thing again.
Imagine instead of saying "I want to marry this man" or "I want to marry this woman" you say to yourself "I want to marry
Did you find a good word? If you did, I'd like to know. Can you name any single thing that is not physically attached to you that you would want to have for the rest of your life? Let's say that you did find something, and say that you do want to maximize your happiness. Suppose that over time the thing you chose became less and less appealing and that you are becoming less happy/satisfied. Now if you saw something else that you could get that you would consider an upgrade, and would make you happier, would you go for that upgrade and leave the original thing?
Ok, let's take the flip side and say you are completely satisfied and happy with the original. If you saw the upgrade would you still not go for it? Or would you say, no, I have the original so I'm going to stick with it now matter how much those others could make me even happier. That is one of the points made in the article. I'm not trying to make divorce sound like a good thing or a bad thing. I just think that it is human nature to try to maximize your own happiness. If that means making a change then that means making a change.
Want to Live Longer? Get Out of the U.S.
Apparently there are 41 other countries with life-expectancies higher than the U.S. Some quotes from the article:
- Adults in the United States have one of the highest obesity rates in the world. Nearly a third of U.S. adults 20 years and older are obese, while about two-thirds are overweight, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
- “The U.S. has the resources that allow people to get fat and lazy,” said Paul Terry, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Emory University in Atlanta.
Mom, Dad: Save Those Happy Meal Boxes
Ah, the Golden Arches. It's been out for quite a while now, but if you haven't seen the move Supersize Me I would highly recommend it. A quote from this article:
So what does that mean? Parents, save money on buying your kids lunch boxes. The next time you go to a McDonalds ask for a Happy Meal. Dump the contents into the trash and bring the empty box home. Next, put fruits, vegetables, and other healthy food options in the box. Send your kid to school the next day. Viola. You know have a kid who will eat healthy. Not that easy, eh? Well the article does make some good points. I would agree and say that ideally eating around the dinner table with the family should be non-TV time. Kids develop a taste for certain foods at an early age so getting them exposed to healthy eating early is crucial. Setting an example is certainly important. Having healthy food options available at home is obviously the other. You can't really expect a grade-school child to necessarily know what constitutes "healthy" food. So I think the answer is to try to pack you kid's lunch as often as possible. Sending him/her to school with money to buy lunch means that they are just going to buy what tastes good.
When Stanford researchers gave preschoolers identical foods in McDonald’s packaging and unmarked wrappers, the Golden Arches won the taste test every time.
So what does that mean? Parents, save money on buying your kids lunch boxes. The next time you go to a McDonalds ask for a Happy Meal. Dump the contents into the trash and bring the empty box home. Next, put fruits, vegetables, and other healthy food options in the box. Send your kid to school the next day. Viola. You know have a kid who will eat healthy. Not that easy, eh? Well the article does make some good points. I would agree and say that ideally eating around the dinner table with the family should be non-TV time. Kids develop a taste for certain foods at an early age so getting them exposed to healthy eating early is crucial. Setting an example is certainly important. Having healthy food options available at home is obviously the other. You can't really expect a grade-school child to necessarily know what constitutes "healthy" food. So I think the answer is to try to pack you kid's lunch as often as possible. Sending him/her to school with money to buy lunch means that they are just going to buy what tastes good.
The Green Campus
Found an interesting article that discusses how American colleges are trying to teach students about the importance of the three R's: reduce, recycle, reuse. A couple months ago I made a trip to the Home Depot to buy those energy-efficient light bulbs. After replacing all of the light-bulbs in my house that I could, I was pleased to find that my energy bill for the following month was $8 cheaper. On another note, I don't understand why people don't recycle more. How hard is it to throw your soda can into the recycle bin sitting right next to the garbage can?? Some places don't even provide recycle bins. I've been recycling for as long as I can remember. The one good thing about my trash company is that you don't have to sort your recyclables.
Back to School
Pencils? Check. Notebooks? Check. Bullet-proof backpacks? Obviously, due to occurrence of school shootings, the creation of the bullet-proof backpack is upon us. This is not really a solution to the problem in my opinion. Here's a quote from the story:
"I want to keep my kid safe. I don't care what you do -- if you want to fight the good fight or fix the world's hurts, I can't help you, but my kids are going to be safe because of these backpacks," Curran said.What is this guy thinking? To me he is resigning to the fact that there will always be school shootings. What does he mean by "fighting the good fight"? That's exactly what he should be doing. That means working with school officials and fellow parents to help identify and treat troubled children. That means working to ensure that children don't have access to firearms. He is taking a reactive rather than a proactive approach to the situation.
How Much Is a Life Worth?
http://tinyurl.com/2ye3nr
http://tinyurl.com/2hbazc
Both articles discuss end-of-life issues and how much a life is worth. Is one life worth more than another life? I would say yes. There are some people however that would say without question that all lives are worth the same.
Let's try an example. First a word about how I like to use examples. Remember back in high school geometry when you learned about proofs? If a proof is demonstrated true in all cases then it is a theorem? Now remember when all you had to do was find one, just one, example where the theorem would not hold true and you could break it?
Let's suppose that your theorem is that you value all life equally. Now let's say you are in this situation. There is a fire in a building and there are two people inside. Person A means the world to you. This could be your mother, father, wife, husband, best friend, brother, sister, or whoever else you really love/like. Person B is your worst enemy, this person has done grave harm to you or your loved ones, or may even be a complete stranger. You enter the building and only have time to save one person. Who do you choose? Well, that's an easy one right? Person A.
But remember you value all life equally. Well, if you value both lives equally you choose randomly who to save. Right? Because afterall you value both equally so it doesn't matter who you save. Ok, so now what's the "correct" answer? Yeah, yeah, the correct answer that everyone wants to hear is that you rescue both Person A and Person B.
Now let's say that Person C takes your place and does not know either Person A nor Person B. Person C also values all life equally. If so, then the random choice should also take place. But let's say there is some reasoning involved.
Person C might presumably make some logical choice as to why he/she chose to save one person over the other. Some examples might include: "I didn't have much time, and Person A was closer to me so I saved Person A" or "Person B looked way too heavy for me to carry out and for us to both reach safety in time so I chose to save Person A". In this case Person C values both A and B equally and is making a logical decision. But what is a "logical" decision in this case? I would argue the logical decision for Person C is to save the person that would allow him/her to reach safety as well. Because after all, Person C values his/her life just as much as the others. The question Person C is answering is "how do I maximize the lives saved?".
Here's another thought: If Person A is an infant with his/her entire life in front of him/her and Person B is on his/her deathbed, who do you save? Which life is more valuable? To whom?
In my opinion, the question of "is one life worth more than another" has to be followed by "to whom?". My take is that one life is not valued the same as another life because it depends on who the person is and to whom you are posing the question. If you are a person of religion I bet you like to think in terms of every life being valued equally by your god. The question is do you really value all life equally?
http://tinyurl.com/2hbazc
Both articles discuss end-of-life issues and how much a life is worth. Is one life worth more than another life? I would say yes. There are some people however that would say without question that all lives are worth the same.
Let's try an example. First a word about how I like to use examples. Remember back in high school geometry when you learned about proofs? If a proof is demonstrated true in all cases then it is a theorem? Now remember when all you had to do was find one, just one, example where the theorem would not hold true and you could break it?
Let's suppose that your theorem is that you value all life equally. Now let's say you are in this situation. There is a fire in a building and there are two people inside. Person A means the world to you. This could be your mother, father, wife, husband, best friend, brother, sister, or whoever else you really love/like. Person B is your worst enemy, this person has done grave harm to you or your loved ones, or may even be a complete stranger. You enter the building and only have time to save one person. Who do you choose? Well, that's an easy one right? Person A.
But remember you value all life equally. Well, if you value both lives equally you choose randomly who to save. Right? Because afterall you value both equally so it doesn't matter who you save. Ok, so now what's the "correct" answer? Yeah, yeah, the correct answer that everyone wants to hear is that you rescue both Person A and Person B.
Now let's say that Person C takes your place and does not know either Person A nor Person B. Person C also values all life equally. If so, then the random choice should also take place. But let's say there is some reasoning involved.
Person C might presumably make some logical choice as to why he/she chose to save one person over the other. Some examples might include: "I didn't have much time, and Person A was closer to me so I saved Person A" or "Person B looked way too heavy for me to carry out and for us to both reach safety in time so I chose to save Person A". In this case Person C values both A and B equally and is making a logical decision. But what is a "logical" decision in this case? I would argue the logical decision for Person C is to save the person that would allow him/her to reach safety as well. Because after all, Person C values his/her life just as much as the others. The question Person C is answering is "how do I maximize the lives saved?".
Here's another thought: If Person A is an infant with his/her entire life in front of him/her and Person B is on his/her deathbed, who do you save? Which life is more valuable? To whom?
In my opinion, the question of "is one life worth more than another" has to be followed by "to whom?". My take is that one life is not valued the same as another life because it depends on who the person is and to whom you are posing the question. If you are a person of religion I bet you like to think in terms of every life being valued equally by your god. The question is do you really value all life equally?
Go Sens Go
Very old news by now, but I didn't have a blog back then. I had the chance to go see Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals this past June in Ottawa, Ontario Canada between the Ottawa Senators and the Anaheim Ducks. Amazing experience because hockey is Canada and Canada is hockey. I'm hoping to go see the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins play in October when the Pens come to D.C. to see Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. I also visited the Hockey Hall of Fame when I visited Toronto.
BAM!
No its not Emeril Lagasse or even Dan Le Batard. I went digging through the garage and dusted off the good 'ol Little League Louisville Slugger bats! I've been itching to go back to the batting cages since last month (see my second post). I got to see Albert Pujols at the Nationals game last week. Good motivation. I'm thinking about modifying my workouts to include exercises that will help increase my bat speed. I think Alex Rodriguez published something about his workouts a few years ago. I'll have to go check that out.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Quote from Lance Armstrong Book
I finished reading Lance Armstrong's semi-autobiography: "It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life" a few months ago and I went back to dig up a quote that I found interesting. I am wondering what your thoughts are on the passage below. I think he sums up nicely the way I feel about things. In the chapter "Conversations with Cancer" he writes (on the day before his brain surgery while pondering death):
"I asked myself what I believed. I had never prayed a lot. I hoped hard, I wished hard, but I didn't pray. I had developed a certain distrust of organized religion growing up, but I felt I had the capacity to be a spiritual person, and to hold some fervent beliefs. Quite simply, I believed I had a responsibility to be a good person, and that meant fair, honest, hardworking, and honorable. If I did that, I was good to my family, true to my friends, if I gave back to my community or to some cause, if I wasn't a liar, a cheat, or a thief, then I believed that should be enough. At the end of the day, if there was indeed some Body or presence standing there to judge me, I hoped I would be judged on whether I had lived a true life, not on whether I believed in a certain book, or whether I had been baptized. If there was indeed a God at the end of my days, I hoped he wouldn't say, 'But you were never a Christian, so you're going the other way from heaven.' If so, I was going to reply, 'You know what? You're right. Fine.'"
Science over Politics
The White House is at it again. This report details what has and will probably continue to happen with stifling science for political gain.
I'm very analytical and I believe in science. I think we can all agree that in general people fear what they don't understand, and those in power can control what they want people to understand. As evidenced by the article, the true science was not allowed to come through. Although, even if all of the information was presented unfiltered I think the scientific community in general needs to work on presenting the information understandable to the average Joe American. Which in many cases is excruciatingly difficult because it would have to be brought down to the grade-school level...
I'm very analytical and I believe in science. I think we can all agree that in general people fear what they don't understand, and those in power can control what they want people to understand. As evidenced by the article, the true science was not allowed to come through. Although, even if all of the information was presented unfiltered I think the scientific community in general needs to work on presenting the information understandable to the average Joe American. Which in many cases is excruciatingly difficult because it would have to be brought down to the grade-school level...
Willpower...Do You Have a Weak Mind?
Some thoughts that came to mind after reading this article (I know some might find these thoughts ridiculous but I'd be interested in if anyone has actually done a study):
Is there any correlation between being overweight and being Christian? Is there a correlation between those who are highly disciplined / consider themselves to have a lot of willpower and whether or not they are overweight or religious? If a Christian is fat, do they feel like they've sinned, and do they ask for forgiveness? Is gluttony really as bad as those other sins?
Of course I'd love to hear what other people think.
Is there any correlation between being overweight and being Christian? Is there a correlation between those who are highly disciplined / consider themselves to have a lot of willpower and whether or not they are overweight or religious? If a Christian is fat, do they feel like they've sinned, and do they ask for forgiveness? Is gluttony really as bad as those other sins?
Of course I'd love to hear what other people think.
$290K times 17
Ok, I want you to read this article first. Then read this one. How much is $290K times 17? And they want to have more? How can they afford it? The first thing that came to my mind was The Simpson's character Cletus The Slackjawed Yokel. The similarities are striking...
Easy as PI
I knew this kid from Governor's School years back who memorized a ridiculous number of digits of PI. Impressive, but why?
The WashingtonPost ran an interesting piece about America's Student Physics Team that recently competed in the 2007 International Physics Olympiad and performed really well. Congrats all. I remember those days of high-school AP Physics. Every morning for 1.5 hours learning about Kinematics and Electromagnetism. Good stuff. Saved me from having to take college physics.
On another note, my Master's capstone group project (I can send it to you if you're interested) discussed America's decreasing competitiveness with the rest of the world in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. What are my thoughts? Well, simply put the STEM fields are hard. I remember my freshman calculus class where we were given a pre-test. The scores were posted and a lot of people dropped out of the class and dropped out of the engineering school. For kids who are naturally smart and like STEM subjects then going into these fields is a no-brainer. For everyone else it takes dedication and a good work ethic. From my experience I just didn't see many American college students willing to put forth the effort. For the most part, in America its not "cool" to be smart. Countries like China and India turn out college graduates who not only work harder than the average American but could complete the same job more efficiently. American kids need to be taught the value of education at an early age. Just because something is difficult doesn't mean one can't become good at it. We need to spark children's interest in the STEM fields at an early age. Unfortunately, I don't see the American situation improving a whole lot in the future but it remains to be seen.
The WashingtonPost ran an interesting piece about America's Student Physics Team that recently competed in the 2007 International Physics Olympiad and performed really well. Congrats all. I remember those days of high-school AP Physics. Every morning for 1.5 hours learning about Kinematics and Electromagnetism. Good stuff. Saved me from having to take college physics.
On another note, my Master's capstone group project (I can send it to you if you're interested) discussed America's decreasing competitiveness with the rest of the world in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. What are my thoughts? Well, simply put the STEM fields are hard. I remember my freshman calculus class where we were given a pre-test. The scores were posted and a lot of people dropped out of the class and dropped out of the engineering school. For kids who are naturally smart and like STEM subjects then going into these fields is a no-brainer. For everyone else it takes dedication and a good work ethic. From my experience I just didn't see many American college students willing to put forth the effort. For the most part, in America its not "cool" to be smart. Countries like China and India turn out college graduates who not only work harder than the average American but could complete the same job more efficiently. American kids need to be taught the value of education at an early age. Just because something is difficult doesn't mean one can't become good at it. We need to spark children's interest in the STEM fields at an early age. Unfortunately, I don't see the American situation improving a whole lot in the future but it remains to be seen.
Point Shaving
I'm way late on this one, but I didn't have my blog up and running when this was recent. Thanks to my friend Ed who sent these blog links to me. If you're an econ/stats and sports buff then these are must reads:
Talking NBA Point Shaving with Jonathan Gibbs
Research: NBA Scores Consistent with Occasional Point Shaving
Talking NBA Point Shaving with Jonathan Gibbs
Research: NBA Scores Consistent with Occasional Point Shaving
Friday, August 10, 2007
Nickel per Gallon = Safer Bridges?
For a change of pace today I took the backroads into work this morning instead of I-66 and the Toll Road. By the way, isn't the E-Z Pass lane supposed to be faster than the other lanes? Why do people feel the need to come to a complete stop at the toll booth in the E-Z Pass lane?
I heard on the radio that the federal government is considering increasing the price of gas five cents per gallon of gas across the U.S. to provide funding to fix the nation's bridges. This idea sounds like a great one on the surface. However before agreeing to this I would obviously like to see how much revenue is expected to be gained out of this increase as well as where the budget is going to be allocated. Clear-cut uses for this increased funding to me include buying new materials to replace old bridges as well as paying for increased numbers of inspectors and engineers. However, how about investing in the nation's engineering programs as well as technologies that can better help detect bridge fatigue? Why not build a better bridge to begin with? This starts with having competent bridge engineers and managers at the helm.
I heard on the radio that the federal government is considering increasing the price of gas five cents per gallon of gas across the U.S. to provide funding to fix the nation's bridges. This idea sounds like a great one on the surface. However before agreeing to this I would obviously like to see how much revenue is expected to be gained out of this increase as well as where the budget is going to be allocated. Clear-cut uses for this increased funding to me include buying new materials to replace old bridges as well as paying for increased numbers of inspectors and engineers. However, how about investing in the nation's engineering programs as well as technologies that can better help detect bridge fatigue? Why not build a better bridge to begin with? This starts with having competent bridge engineers and managers at the helm.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
What You Didn't Learn In College
Thought that this article had some good advice. I'm trying to follow some of the same things myself...
Now Introducing...
Adam "Pacman" Jones to Total NonStop Action (TNA...yeah, I bet you they started with the acronym first) Wresting. Mr. Whitaker on SI.com lists the 5 athletes he'd like to see wrestle. His two top choices are interesting picks: Ron Artest and Terrell Owens. Remember Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman going at it back during the WCW days when the Bulls and Jazz were in the NBA Finals? I can't say that I'd like to see any professional athletes in the squared circle, however I probably wouldn't mind seeing the entire Boston Red Sox team in a Battle Royale beating each other up. Did I mention I don't like the Red Sox?
Thanks For The Breaking News
Quick post here...the title of an AP story detailing what the Utah miners are facing right now if they are still alive: "Utah miners would face darkness". Thanks for the extremely insightful headline.
Futbol and Football in August
Just got finished watching the end of the Galaxy-United match on ESPN2 while flipping between the Cowboys-Colts game on FOX. Mr. Beckham made his MLS debut in the 72nd minute. He made a great pass to Donovan late in the game but it was pretty uneventful other than that. It was good to see that the ankle was holding up pretty well given the rainy field conditions.
It was a little weird watching football (yeah that one) so early in the preseason. I watched the starters take a few reps in the early series. Nothing much to note here. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were commentating during the game. They are one of the better announcing crews in my opinion. It kind of makes me cringe thinking of Tony Kornheiser and Joe Thiesmann in the MNF booth again this year. I think Kornheiser should stick to PTI.
It was a little weird watching football (yeah that one) so early in the preseason. I watched the starters take a few reps in the early series. Nothing much to note here. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were commentating during the game. They are one of the better announcing crews in my opinion. It kind of makes me cringe thinking of Tony Kornheiser and Joe Thiesmann in the MNF booth again this year. I think Kornheiser should stick to PTI.
Evangelicals + Environmentalism = ?
I think what I'd like to do here is present a few passages from this article and provide my comments. This is my attempt to show what sections I would highlight with a marker, and what I would probably write in the column of the page if I was reading this article on paper. I would recommend reading the article first then reading my comments. The article quotes will be in bold and my comments will be in italics:
"Anything that draws me closer to God -- and this does -- increases my faith and helps my work for God."
-I think this is definitely how environmentalism should be marketed towards evangelicals. For those people who are very religious, this topic needs to appeal to their desire to work for God.
"Her conversion to environmentalism is the result of a years-long international campaign by British bishops and leaders of major U.S. environmental groups to bridge a long-standing divide between global-warming activists and American evangelicals."
-I wonder how/why/where this "long-standing" divide developed between global-warming activists and American evangelicals? Can someone shed some light on this for me? Why do they single out "American" evangelicals? Fundamentally, why would a global-warming activist view differ so much from an evangelical?
"The two, later joined by the Bishop James Jones of Liverpool, England, started organizing conferences on both sides of the Atlantic to convince U.S. evangelicals that human-generated warming poses a threat to God's creation."
-Again, another marketing point to use on evangelicals.
"What bloc of people has enormous influence, especially on the Republican Party? That group of people is right-wing Christian evangelicals" -- who made up 24 percent of the U.S. electorate in the 2004 and 2006 elections."
-Wow, I had no idea that evangelics made up that much of the U.S. electorate. Definitely a huge group that needs to be reached.
"Hunter and Conservation International's Campbell drafted a tool kit titled "Creation Care: An Introduction for Busy Pastors" to send to evangelical leaders. Within a matter of months, they had produced a package of Bible passages and information on scientific findings to promote action on climate change."
-Hmm...I wonder how much of the scientific findings these people would actually read over the Bible passages.
"The "greening" of Hunter and others still elicits scorn from many evangelicals, including Focus on the Family's James Dobson and Prison Fellowship's Charles W. "Chuck" Colson. They question whether humankind really deserves the blame for Earth's recent warming and argue that their battles against abortion and same-sex marriage should take precedence."
-Now this passage really got to me. In my opinion, there is no topic of greater importance than the environment. Think about it. If we let the environmental situation get out of hand and this planet become uninhabitable, what else matters??? Right. Nothing.
So in summary there are a lot of American evangelicals out there. For some reason there are differences between pro-environmentalist and evangelical trains of thought, and somehow the message needs to get across to these people that protecting the environment is crucially important. The way to do this is to appeal to their sense of serving God. I think this was my first post about religion. Don't worry, I promise a lot more to come.
"Anything that draws me closer to God -- and this does -- increases my faith and helps my work for God."
-I think this is definitely how environmentalism should be marketed towards evangelicals. For those people who are very religious, this topic needs to appeal to their desire to work for God.
"Her conversion to environmentalism is the result of a years-long international campaign by British bishops and leaders of major U.S. environmental groups to bridge a long-standing divide between global-warming activists and American evangelicals."
-I wonder how/why/where this "long-standing" divide developed between global-warming activists and American evangelicals? Can someone shed some light on this for me? Why do they single out "American" evangelicals? Fundamentally, why would a global-warming activist view differ so much from an evangelical?
"The two, later joined by the Bishop James Jones of Liverpool, England, started organizing conferences on both sides of the Atlantic to convince U.S. evangelicals that human-generated warming poses a threat to God's creation."
-Again, another marketing point to use on evangelicals.
"What bloc of people has enormous influence, especially on the Republican Party? That group of people is right-wing Christian evangelicals" -- who made up 24 percent of the U.S. electorate in the 2004 and 2006 elections."
-Wow, I had no idea that evangelics made up that much of the U.S. electorate. Definitely a huge group that needs to be reached.
"Hunter and Conservation International's Campbell drafted a tool kit titled "Creation Care: An Introduction for Busy Pastors" to send to evangelical leaders. Within a matter of months, they had produced a package of Bible passages and information on scientific findings to promote action on climate change."
-Hmm...I wonder how much of the scientific findings these people would actually read over the Bible passages.
"The "greening" of Hunter and others still elicits scorn from many evangelicals, including Focus on the Family's James Dobson and Prison Fellowship's Charles W. "Chuck" Colson. They question whether humankind really deserves the blame for Earth's recent warming and argue that their battles against abortion and same-sex marriage should take precedence."
-Now this passage really got to me. In my opinion, there is no topic of greater importance than the environment. Think about it. If we let the environmental situation get out of hand and this planet become uninhabitable, what else matters??? Right. Nothing.
So in summary there are a lot of American evangelicals out there. For some reason there are differences between pro-environmentalist and evangelical trains of thought, and somehow the message needs to get across to these people that protecting the environment is crucially important. The way to do this is to appeal to their sense of serving God. I think this was my first post about religion. Don't worry, I promise a lot more to come.
Does Your Dog Hate Michael Vick?
Go ahead, ask your dog. I'll wait.
If at the mention of the words Mike Vick your dog turned into a snarling, fighting machine you might want to consider buying it this.
If at the mention of the words Mike Vick your dog turned into a snarling, fighting machine you might want to consider buying it this.
You're Not That Fat Afterall
Apparently Americans don't really see themselves as being fat. Although I keep reading that a large percentage of Americans are overweight or obese, I haven't really noticed this that much. I've seen a couple of episodes of Shaq's reality TV show Shaq's Big Challenge. Basically, Shaq goes around and tries to get school-aged kids in shape. Judging from the girth of some of these kids' parents, I can see how they themselves are overweight. I can also see how easy it is for people to not exercise and eat healthy. Personally, I go to the gym pretty regularly and only see a handful of regulars there. One thing that I did learn from Shaq's show is that less than 10 percent of American schools mandate physical education past I think 9th or 10th grade. With the increased focus on getting kids to pass tests, phys ed, music, and other extracurricular activities are being tossed out the window. Going into the lunch room, kids are of course going to choose hamburgers, pizza and fries. Is it a lack of care for personal health? Maybe, maybe not. The obvious answer is that those things just taste better than vegetables. The acquired taste for healthy food is not there for a lot of American kids because they've grown up eating fast food. Whose to blame? The parents. Easy answer. I grew up eating mom's food and not eating out a whole lot so eating healthy became a habit. I continued that through college and now on my own to the point that eating unhealthy food for an extended period of time makes me sick.
Now about exercise. What's easier? To go home and sit on the couch or go outside and run a mile? Most American kids just don't want to put forth the effort. Why do people quit things / don't even try? Answer: I'm no good at it, or It's too hard. Unless you are genetically gifted, there is some truth to the no pain, no gain saying. Anyway, I've probably gone on too long for this post, but more to follow later. And I hope you're reading this on your PDA while running outside.
Now about exercise. What's easier? To go home and sit on the couch or go outside and run a mile? Most American kids just don't want to put forth the effort. Why do people quit things / don't even try? Answer: I'm no good at it, or It's too hard. Unless you are genetically gifted, there is some truth to the no pain, no gain saying. Anyway, I've probably gone on too long for this post, but more to follow later. And I hope you're reading this on your PDA while running outside.
Interview with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/jimmy-wales-2-million-articles-down-and-more-to-do/
I thought this was a really interesting interview. Wikipedia is one of the most popular websites on the entire Internet. I've written some articles, some of which include: Microsoft Interview, Hilary Hahn, Jim Boeheim, American Competitiveness Initiative, and Eddie Jordan. There are a few others which I can't remember at the moment, but now I mostly police edits on various entries. Obviously, I think the concept of Wikipedia is a great one. Simply put, people who use Wikipedia need to understand that not everything there is accurate. In the ideal world people would only write on topics they are knowledgeable about and cite their sources. I do however feel that the "anyone can contribute" policy should be tweaked just a bit to only allow edits by people who create accounts. Most of the vandalism that I see come from completely anonymous IP addresses. I think changing over to this policy would reduce the amount of vandalism because it is easier to block certain accounts rather than IP addresses because those sometimes are shared. Also, people going through the effort to create an account are generally those who wish to contribute to the website as intended and would be less likely to vandalize/provide misinformation if their name is attached to a post.
I thought this was a really interesting interview. Wikipedia is one of the most popular websites on the entire Internet. I've written some articles, some of which include: Microsoft Interview, Hilary Hahn, Jim Boeheim, American Competitiveness Initiative, and Eddie Jordan. There are a few others which I can't remember at the moment, but now I mostly police edits on various entries. Obviously, I think the concept of Wikipedia is a great one. Simply put, people who use Wikipedia need to understand that not everything there is accurate. In the ideal world people would only write on topics they are knowledgeable about and cite their sources. I do however feel that the "anyone can contribute" policy should be tweaked just a bit to only allow edits by people who create accounts. Most of the vandalism that I see come from completely anonymous IP addresses. I think changing over to this policy would reduce the amount of vandalism because it is easier to block certain accounts rather than IP addresses because those sometimes are shared. Also, people going through the effort to create an account are generally those who wish to contribute to the website as intended and would be less likely to vandalize/provide misinformation if their name is attached to a post.
Beckham Visits D.C.
The L.A. Galaxy is scheduled to play D.C. United tonight at RFK. It looks doubtful that Beckham will actually play, and this event has been sold out for a while now in anticipation of his visit. If I were the Galaxy coach I would leave it up to him to decide whether or not to play. It would probably satisfy some fans to just see him run around the field for a few minutes. At the same time this guy is getting old and doesn't need to be risking the few good years he has left by rushing back from an injury. On another note, I was listening to the Beckham press conference this morning. This guy sounds Australian, not British. Think of the Geico Gecko voice.
On yet another note, the D.C. Metro system has been struggling as of late. I've heard reports that there haven't been enough trains to handle the recent increased ridership as people are encouraged to take mass transit instead of driving alone to work. Metro needs help. All I can say is that I hope Metro doesn't drop the ball tonight with the expected huge crowd going to RFK to see the Galaxy-United match.
On yet another note, the D.C. Metro system has been struggling as of late. I've heard reports that there haven't been enough trains to handle the recent increased ridership as people are encouraged to take mass transit instead of driving alone to work. Metro needs help. All I can say is that I hope Metro doesn't drop the ball tonight with the expected huge crowd going to RFK to see the Galaxy-United match.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Interracial Relationships
This is a really interesting topic and I hope I can get some feedback from readers on this one:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/personal/08/02/o.marriage.questions/index.html
The article discusses how more black women around the country are considering interracial relationships. Race has never been an issue to me in making friends or trying to find a mate, however I see how it really is a problem for a lot of people. You'd think that in this day age that race wouldn't be so important to people. As the saying goes, Think again. I'd be interested in hearing people's thoughts on this issue. And no, I don't want all the responses to be "I don't find interracial relationships a problem either". Let me hear from those of you that prefer to date one race over the other and why.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/personal/08/02/o.marriage.questions/index.html
The article discusses how more black women around the country are considering interracial relationships. Race has never been an issue to me in making friends or trying to find a mate, however I see how it really is a problem for a lot of people. You'd think that in this day age that race wouldn't be so important to people. As the saying goes, Think again. I'd be interested in hearing people's thoughts on this issue. And no, I don't want all the responses to be "I don't find interracial relationships a problem either". Let me hear from those of you that prefer to date one race over the other and why.
Will You Marry Me?
No. There's this video I remember seeing on GoogleVideo a couple years back that shows some guy asking his fiancee to marry him during halftime of a Wizards game and she runs away! Ouch. I'll try and find it. I found this article on CNN that talks about questions couples should ask each other before marrying. I recently read an article that stated around 50% of marriages end in divorce in the U.S. That number seems high, but frankly I don't believe that it actually isn't higher. You'll get to know my viewpoint in some of my later posts, but here are the questions if you're thinking about asking THE question:
http://tinyurl.com/272kjk
http://tinyurl.com/yro9ds
http://tinyurl.com/272kjk
http://tinyurl.com/yro9ds
Wrestling Makes You Smarter
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/24/law.nowinski/index.html
Of course it does. Just anyone who takes head-shots for a living. Two things about this post. One, I use CNN as my homepage so a lot of the posts here on my blog will probably include links to CNN. Two, I used to enjoy watching wrestling but now its a bore. I'll catch parts of RAW every now and then, but its become pretty boring now. I blame it on the lack of competition with other wrestling networks.
Anyway, the point of the article is that Chris "Harvard" (yes he did actually attend Harvard) Chris Nowinski doesn't wrestle anymore because he suffered too many concussions. I don't blame him. Simple fact of the matter is that no matter how "fake" you think wrestling is, there just aren't too many ways to gently hit someone over the head with a real steel chair, or land on tacks, or fall from the top of a 15-foot steel cage. Just ask Mick Foley. In the end, wrestlers and other professional athletes in contact sports know what they're getting themselves into.
Of course it does. Just anyone who takes head-shots for a living. Two things about this post. One, I use CNN as my homepage so a lot of the posts here on my blog will probably include links to CNN. Two, I used to enjoy watching wrestling but now its a bore. I'll catch parts of RAW every now and then, but its become pretty boring now. I blame it on the lack of competition with other wrestling networks.
Anyway, the point of the article is that Chris "Harvard" (yes he did actually attend Harvard) Chris Nowinski doesn't wrestle anymore because he suffered too many concussions. I don't blame him. Simple fact of the matter is that no matter how "fake" you think wrestling is, there just aren't too many ways to gently hit someone over the head with a real steel chair, or land on tacks, or fall from the top of a 15-foot steel cage. Just ask Mick Foley. In the end, wrestlers and other professional athletes in contact sports know what they're getting themselves into.
Build Your Own Burger
https://www.thisismyburger.com/Default.aspx
Ok, if you don't know this about me already I love food. I can eat. I forgot where I found this link but Wendy's basically has a virtual "Build Your Own Burger" website HA. Apparently you can win $25,000 for building a great burger. I tried making a burger with just beef patties but it wouldn't let me. I suppose if I had ever worked in a fast food restaurant I would find this website a tad bit less exciting.
Ok, if you don't know this about me already I love food. I can eat. I forgot where I found this link but Wendy's basically has a virtual "Build Your Own Burger" website HA. Apparently you can win $25,000 for building a great burger. I tried making a burger with just beef patties but it wouldn't let me. I suppose if I had ever worked in a fast food restaurant I would find this website a tad bit less exciting.
Google Knows Where You Live
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-google7aug07,1,3569070,full.story
So it turns out that Google is starting to introduce street-level detailed maps. I actually think that this is a great idea. However, I think there should be limits. I think this level of detail should only be shown in public, and not residential areas. The faces of people who happen to be captured in the images should be blanked out. First of all I am absolutely terrible with directions, but I can't tell you how many times I've still gotten lost even with the directions from GoogleMaps. The street level detail would have helped, however, zooming in with this much detail might make GoogleMaps hard to maintain. Businesses, restaurants, and shops close down and move sometimes. This would require the maps to be updated. Major road repairs and construction could leave pictures outdated pretty fast. I guess if Google's mission is to digitally index every single thing on this planet then this would certainly help them in that sense. I think someone should remind the celebrities in Hollywood to not fear people using GoogleMaps to stalk them at home because Google's motto is "Don't be Evil".
So it turns out that Google is starting to introduce street-level detailed maps. I actually think that this is a great idea. However, I think there should be limits. I think this level of detail should only be shown in public, and not residential areas. The faces of people who happen to be captured in the images should be blanked out. First of all I am absolutely terrible with directions, but I can't tell you how many times I've still gotten lost even with the directions from GoogleMaps. The street level detail would have helped, however, zooming in with this much detail might make GoogleMaps hard to maintain. Businesses, restaurants, and shops close down and move sometimes. This would require the maps to be updated. Major road repairs and construction could leave pictures outdated pretty fast. I guess if Google's mission is to digitally index every single thing on this planet then this would certainly help them in that sense. I think someone should remind the celebrities in Hollywood to not fear people using GoogleMaps to stalk them at home because Google's motto is "Don't be Evil".
Reggie Miller back in the NBA?
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2966170
Reggie Miller is contemplating a comeback to the NBA at age 42. I don't think this is a good idea. Granted, Miller was one of the greatest clutch players I've ever seen play. Boy were those Knicks-Pacers games great. I still remember the 7 point flurry within about 3 seconds against the Knicks. Scottie Pippen was considering a comeback late last season and nothing came of that and I always thought of Scottie being a better all-around player. I think Reggie would be a liability on defense, but if he did come back he would be best fit to come into games late when the games are on the line and need a clutch 3 pointer. Although with the core that the Celtics have now with Garnett, Allen, and Pierce, I'm not sure where Miller would fit in. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
Reggie Miller is contemplating a comeback to the NBA at age 42. I don't think this is a good idea. Granted, Miller was one of the greatest clutch players I've ever seen play. Boy were those Knicks-Pacers games great. I still remember the 7 point flurry within about 3 seconds against the Knicks. Scottie Pippen was considering a comeback late last season and nothing came of that and I always thought of Scottie being a better all-around player. I think Reggie would be a liability on defense, but if he did come back he would be best fit to come into games late when the games are on the line and need a clutch 3 pointer. Although with the core that the Celtics have now with Garnett, Allen, and Pierce, I'm not sure where Miller would fit in. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
756
Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants broke the MLB career homerun record last night. Congratulations Barry. When asked by reporters whether or not he thought his record was tainted, Barry replied "No". Frankly, I don't agree with that answer. Do I think his record should be erased? Nope. You can't deny that he actually hit all those homeruns and it would be difficult to tell which homeruns to erase when he was hitting them while on steroids.
A lot of people say that being stronger doesn't help you hit a baseball. That's B.S. I'll tell you why. About two weeks ago I made a trip to the batting cages for the first time since little league. That must have been at least eight years ago and probably longer. Since that time I hadn't touched a baseball bat let alone swing at a live pitch. I did however start lifting weights since starting college (and no, no steroids. Just a lot of hard work and determination). So I stepped into the batting cage (slow pitch to start out) and whiffed for about the first five pitches. I then started to make contact fouling a few pitches off. By about the third round of pitches I was hitting solidly. Pitches I didn't make full contact with were going pretty far (note the ball in the picture at the top). By the end of the day I was in the Very Fast pitch lane. So, speaking from personal experience being stronger DEFINITELY makes one a better hitter. Now imagine if you are a pro baseball player AND you are on steroids. I guess we can start cheering for Alex Rodriguez now right?
Monday, August 6, 2007
First Post
This is my first post. I am a little over one year removed from school and probably the thing I miss most is the intellectual discourse. People tell me that I'm quiet but have a lot of interesting things to say so I've decided to start a blog.
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