Archive for October 2008
Wonderful video of a Japanese zoo preparing for a rhino escape. Watching it without sound makes it even funnier.
From Fox News:
The socialite turned reality star is afraid that when she takes her journey to the final frontier, she might not return for 10,000 years.
“I’m very scared about it,” Hilton said. “What if I don’t come back? With the whole light years thing, what if I come back 10,000 years later, and everyone I know is dead? I’ll be like, ‘Great. Now I have to start all over.’
It’s hard to imagine that even someone as goofy and isolated from reality as Paris could come up with something like this. This is not someone taking a spaceflight because it’s in the name of science, fulfillment of a lifelong dream, or anything like that. It’s someone doing it because everyone else is, and she’s got the cash to say “I’m as cool as they are, even though I’m a poser.”
I can only dream of what it must be like to be born into so much money I never have to think for myself.
The top picture (from Reuters):
Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain reacts to almost heading the wrong way off the stage after shaking hands with Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama at the conclusion of the final presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, October 15, 2008.
The bottom picture is from a Clifford: The Big Red Dog childrens book.
Spooky, huh?
This weekend was the SVRA season finale at Road Atlanta. A friend of ours, Colbi Bradley, raced a 1972 MGB GT 300 horsepower V8 (group 8AP) and a 1970 Lola T-200 Formula Ford (group 2FF). Overall, she did well.
In the group 8AP race, she placed 2nd in class, and 4th of 19 overall. For the group 2FF race, she placed 3rd in class, 11th of 14 overall.
Colbi comes from a karting background, racing since she was 4. She most recently raced 125cc shifter karts, before moving into full size cars.
Collection of photos from the Road Atlanta SVRA Season Finale on 2008/10/19, and some selected photos on Flickr.
Years ago, I remember staying up late to watch Saturday Night Live. Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Gilda Radner. Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman, and Garrett Morris. It was funny. It was cutting edge. It was great.
After 1980 or so, I pretty much stopped watching it. Other interests, playing on my Apple II and Z-80 CP/M systems, tinkering on the car, etc. Every so often I’d catch an episode and think “It’s just not what it used to be…”
So this weekend, Sarah Palin and Tina Fey were on. I thought I’d give it a watch, since I’d seen one of the Tina Fey segments in a YouTube video, and Sarah is pretty hot. So I tore myself away from an ARM7-based embedded Ethernet project I’ve been working on, and plunked down in front of the tube at 23:30.
The opening segment was funny. The next half hour, of which 15 minutes was commercials, absolutely sucked. Not just bad, but BAD. Stupid bad. So bad, I let TiVo finish recording it, and wandered off to bed, hoping that it will look better in the morning.
Sunday evening I decided to watch the rest, or at least fast forward through it. More total suckage. More commercials. Even MORE commercials. And then there were some more commercials. Oh wait, here’s some more SNL. The ‘Weekend Update’ (still running, after Dog knows how many years) was mildly amusing. Not much Sarah action in it, and I despise rap “music”, but it was cute.
And the more commercials. A 3 minute SNL segment, surrounded by 10 minutes of commercials.
Then I realized SNL was simply so bad that they had to run lots of commercials, because the commercials were more entertaining than the show! In fact, two of the commercials actually made me laugh. Unlike the idiotic “MacGruber” sketches. Of which I had to suffer/fast-forward through three. Insanely stupid, and I swear I saw the same ones 3 years ago by accident.
And some crap of businessmen sitting around the table calling each other ‘Fart Face’ or something. After 30 seconds of that, I fast-forwarded to the next segment, er, I mean, commercial break.
The rest of the show is seriously unmemorable. I’d rather have a migraine than sit through and hour and a half of this garbage. Why is it even still on the air?
I understand that SNL experienced it’s best ratings in 14 years. *14* years. The last best rating was in 1994. That was so long ago, I can’t even remember what happened in 1994. Wikipedia says Burt Lancaster died in 1994. Maybe that’s why there’s been no better ratings since then…
I doubt Lorne Michaels will ever read this. I’m sure he gets plenty of hate mail and doesn’t have time to read blogs. I can only assume that having been in the television industry as long as he has, the “this is funny” judgment brain cells have died. Because if he had functional brain cells, he’d realize the crap he’s allowing to be produced under the title “Saturday Night Live” is complete disrespect to the comedic geniuses that built the show.
Lorne, cancel SNL now. No one will miss it. In fact, consider broadcasting a test pattern. It’s funnier, and far less annoying. Or run more commercials (preferably ones with kittens and puppies, people like those). Or run the old shows. But get these no talent-hacks off the air and back to the Wal-Mart cashier positions you stole them from.
After the agony of watching this episode of SNL, be assured I won’t be watching any more. I’ll stick to sitting in the front of the PC with my dog at my feet, swilling Diet Coke.
Yet again, the Boston Globe has an amazing photo set, this time of the Sun.
Title says it all 