I've just submitted my roster for the 2005 Dead Pool, which is almost identical to my 2004 roster; my only correct pick through 12/29/04 was Marlon Brando. Anyway, game on!. Oh, and I'm offering a bonus prize this year to help drum up interest in the game. Be sure and check out the rules for this year's Dead Pool.

I plan on winning this year. My roster contains old, feeble and mostly unknown celebrities/athletes/politicians. I'll wager than about half my picks will end up as Solo Shot opportunities.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 09:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This week's Carnival of the Recipes is simmering nicely over at Prochein Amy. And she's done some pretty good work renaming all of the submissions so that they're funny. This humor thing is quite interesting. I will have to find some for myself in 2005.

Update: Shameless self-promotion: I'll be the host for next week's Carnival.

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I haven't posted about the tsunami disaster or the relief efforts mainly because others have been doing yeoman's work and they all receive far more traffic than I do. However, if you follow the links to the sites I've listed above, you will find many places where you can send money to help. And kudos to that stingy company Amazon for putting a special disaster fund tip jar. The total has already topped $7,000,000 as I type this. The generosity of people in this miserly, Scrooge-like nation of ours never ceases to amaze me.

Update: Chuck Simmins has more details regarding us stingy Americans.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 03:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Look, I know that not everyone likes the same food, enjoys the same musics, or finds humor in the same places. But how in the world do you NOT think that Animal House is funny? Dated? Sure, but it's aged like a fine wine. Okay, there is a counter argument to be made against Animal House as a comedy. In fact, I've made it myself: I truly believe that the movie falls more into the documentary category. Even so, it's still a damn funny movie.

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Received via email today. A moldy oldie, but still a goody:

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a
particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where
they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.

Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their
travel schedules.

So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with
his wife flying down the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room,
so he decided to send an email! to his wife.

However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and
without realizing his error, sent the email.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from
her husband's funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory
following a heart attack.

The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives
and friends.

After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted.

The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor,
and saw the computer screen which read:

To: My Loving Wife

Subject: I've Arrived

Date: October 16, 2004

I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now
and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I've just
arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for
your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your
journey is as uneventful as mine was.


P.S. Sure is freaking hot down here!

Posted by: Physics Geek at 06:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Pretty soon, it'll rank up there with Fahrenheit 9/11 in terms of accuracy. The increasingly misnamed Kerry Spot has the scoop. Excerpt:

Finally, according to the editor, Coleman's false assertion that he didn't know and we didn't say whether we might be on the take from some campaign, political party or anonymous benefactor, appeared to violate no Star Tribune standard. In his meeting with Coleman after my discussion with the editor yesterday morning, Coleman had told the editor that he "assumed" we received a stipend from the Claremont Institute. (Wrong. As we expressly stated here in response to Coleman's slander earlier this month, "we are not paid by anyone" for our work on the site. What part of "not" doesn't Coleman understand?)

I asked the editor what standards Coleman's column was subject to at the Star Tribune. He said he didn't know; he would have to research the answer to that question and get back to me. But they do have standards, which is of course a relief!

I could write this as a work of fiction and it would get rejected by every publisher on the grounds that even fiction has to be somewhat believable.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 06:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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No I don't, and don't call me Shirley.

I was perusing the Carnival of the Cats FAQ when I came across this little snippet:

I like cats, but I hate the nasty and vile rhetoric of "This Blog Is Full Of Crap." How can I just see the cat posts?

"Hate the nasty and vile rhetoric"? That's the only reason I read the damn thing. Eesh. There's just no pleasing some people.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:58 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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So Al Franken is in Iraq, entertaining the troops. Huh? Which leads to the latest assignment: Why is Al Franken in Iraq?

1) He's building up frequent flyer miles, which can be redeemed for cash, to fund Air America for another year.

2) Al will finally give in to his long suppressed "love that dare not speak its name" towards camels.

3) Franken wanted to deliver his resume to Al Jazeera in person.

Update(sort of): Speaking of the Alliance, how about this compilation of all the fake Evil Glenn quotes. Nice work, Harvey.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 09:57 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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And this week, it'll be hosted ay Prochein Amy's place. My turn will come the week of January 7. Stay tuned.

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I received a couple of gifts this year that I have to mention:

1) Lileks latest book is full of images that would normally cause my most recent meal to swim upstream. Fortunately, I've been laughing too hard at the commentary for nausea to set in.

2) Axis of Weasels has provided me with many, many laughs. I've recommended it to all my friends and family. Yay, Scrappleface! Sorry, Frnak.

Update: I neglected to mention that I also received this collection of essays by Bill Whittle. It should have been in every American's stocking this year. Okay, not Barbara Streisand or Alec Baldwin; the words would be unreadable to them.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 06:10 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And be labeled a heretic

Sounds like fun to me. Anyway, Dean has a good post discussing some of the questions that aren't being asked by many about the HIV-AIDS connection. Of course, no one actually wants to have this discussion, do they? Be sure to read the comment thread. Quite interesting.

Update: Dean continues leading people to certain death. At least, that's what you would think after reading some of the commenters to his posts on this subject.

As a scientist myself, I have to admit that the ad hominem attacks against HIV dissenters have been quite troubling these last 10-15 years. I can remember only one other scientific theory that was as discredited before it was tested: cold fusion. For what it's worth, research on that topic continues today. Excerpt:

Other researchers are finally beginning to explain why the Pons-Fleischmann effect has been difficult to reproduce. Mike McKubre from SRI International, in Menlo Park, Calif., a respected researcher who is influential among those pursuing cold fusion, says that the effect can be reliably seen only once the palladium electrodes are packed with deuterium at ratios of 100 percent—one deuterium atom for every palladium atom. His work shows that if the ratio drops by as little as 10 points, to 90 percent, only 2 experimental runs in 12 produce excess heat, while all runs at a ratio of 100 percent produce excess heat.

And scientists are beginning to get a better handle on exactly how the effect occurs. Stanislaw Szpak and colleagues from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command have taken infrared video images of palladium electrodes as they produce excess energy. It turns out that the heat is not produced continuously over the entire electrode but only in hot spots that erupt and then die on the electrode surface. This team also has evidence of curious mini-explosions on the surface.

Sure, these guys are just huckters and snake oil salesmen. Right?

Posted by: Physics Geek at 05:10 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Looks like rats can really start swinging now.

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This story is near and dear to my heart. Back when I was a materials engineer, I worked on the team that developed a new alloy used on the external tank of the space shuttle. The metal was much lighter than ones previously used, and this allowed more cargo to be carried inside the shuttle. Very cool project. However, the reality is that the shuttle technology is 20+ years old. It's time to modernize the space program. And let's actually get back into space. We've been low-orbit bound far too long. Back to the moon, and on to Mars.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 03:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And double crap. I always enjoyed watching Jerry Orbach, whether on the big screen or the small. So long, Jerry. You will be missed.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 03:35 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And this time, it's Motrin(ibuprofen). Blindness? Stevens-Johnson Syndrome/Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis? Ugh. And remember when Reyes Syndrome caused people to stop taking aspirin? Or maybe most of you aren't old enough to remember actually taking aspirin.

Aspirin. Naproxen. Ibuprofen. As soon as they discover something untoward about acetaminophen, we'll all be able to enjoy pain-filled lifes. Yippee.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 02:38 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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A man goes to the hospital with an infected leg. In fact, the infection is so severe that amputation becomes necessary. So the doctor lops off the other leg.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 02:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Really. Just shut your ever loving pie-hole, you political agenda driven mental effing midgets. Heat wave? Global warming. Cold snap? Global warming. Earthquake? Global warming. Socks don't match? Global warming. Your favorite NFL team loses? Global warming. Martha Stewart? A morality tale of capitalism taken to its logical conclusion. Which causes global warming.

Right after I heard about the tsunami disaster, I predicted to my wife that global warming, and therefore the US, would be blamed for the earthquake. My wife, sweet, trusting person that she is, thought I was full of crap. Okay, she has a point, but I was correct. History books are being re-edited right now and a new entry is being added: "George Bush responsible for 60,000 deaths around the Indian Ocean."

I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

Update: Dean has a more reasoned response, but the gist is the same.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:59 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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It might be a while before I go back.

Steven Taylor links to a story that calls into question the sanity of the people and the legislators in that state. I can't decide which bothers me more: the fact that noodling was actually illegal(I figure it's natural selection at work if you grab snakes with your bare hands) or the fact that the state took the time to deliberate this issue.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Anheuser Busch sues for being excluded due to their product not actually being beer

A study at Tuft's University has determined that drinking beer can help bone density. Excerpt:

“[Tufts’ Katherine] Tucker recently participated in a study that showed beer, either dark or light, protects bone mineral density,” reported The Harford Courant.

According to Tucker – associate professor of nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy – the alcoholic beverage contains high levels of an ingredient which allows the deposit of calcium and other minerals into bone tissue.

“The reason, we think, is that beer is a major contributor to the diet of silicon,” the Tufts expert, who is director of the nutritional epidemiology program at the Friedman School, told the Courant.

And protecting bones may not be the only health benefit of beer. Another recent study found that moderate consumption of dark beer – which contains antioxidants that help prevent clogged arteries -- may reduce risk of heart disease.

"Honey, I'm not brewing beer; I'm creating the elixir of life." Yeah, that'll work.

Thanks to TMQ for providing the link.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 08:11 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Because Zima gave the cows diarrhea.

Time for the nation's dairy farmers to get with the program. Imagine Guinness flavored milk, straight from the tap(so to speak). Agricultural colleges would see a huge spike in their attendance.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 08:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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