Rush Limbaugh on ESPN

After the first week of the NFL season, I wrote a positive review of Rush Limbaugh’s performance on ESPN Sunday Countdown. Now, I retract the whole thing. Rush has inserted his own conservative politics into the ESPN Football show more than once. Read about it at Lean Left, they say it better than I could. I think its time to write ESPN and tell them I won’t be watching much longer if this continues.

Huge Crush?

I got an e-mail today saying “Someone has registered a hugecrush on you”. Great! Who is it? I went to the Hugecrush.com website to try to find out more, and I discovered basically unhelpful clues. Apparently, to unlock the secret, you can download a file by clicking on the “Open” button, which lets you download a file.

Don’t do it! This file is a .exe file, in other words, a program that will run on your computer. I suspect this is malicious code, like a virus, or a worm. I can’t prove it, and otherwise the site looks legit, they are not asking me for money. So I don’t know what to think. But if the crush really is from the redhead I was dancing with Saturday night, please let me know directly. Thanks!

The Twinkies Project

“T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S. is a series of experiments conducted during finals week, 1995, at Rice University. The tests were designed to determine the properties of that incredible food, the Twinkie.” For example, one of the tests was the Gravitational Response Test, where a twinkie was dropped from a sixth floor window. According to the scientists who conducted the experiment, “As soon as the Twinkie was released, it began to fall. It fell until it hit the ground.” Other tests were electrical resistivity, rapid oxidation (burning), a twinkies in a blender experiment, and others too gruesome to describe here. Results are presented in normal scientific language, and also in haiku.

Affordable Music

I have complained in the past that music needs to be less expensive. I’m not really thrilled by CDs that are $15.99 and up. I wouldn’t mind paying a small amount per song, or a reasonable amount per CD. Now, it appears there are at least two options that fit into my price range.

My record club, BMG Music Services is now offering CDs for $7.99, with no shipping or handling. Now that’s a good deal! I could go for that. The problems I have with BMG is that their selection is somewhat limited, new CDs are not available until months after they are released, and sometimes big artists also command higher prices. So if you want the latest from Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Aaliyah, Fifty Cent, Hilary Duff (I just had to sneak her name in), Justin Timberlake and a bunch of other top artists, you won’t find it here. In fact, it’s not just the new stuff, you wont find most of these artists’ works here.

A new service has just started, run by MusicMatch. MusicMatch sells a very highly regarded MP3 player for your computer (there is also a free version). Now, through the MusicMatch software, you can download songs at 99 cents each, or $9.99 for an entire CD, with very few restrictions as to what you can do with it then. You can definitely burn it to CD or transfer it to a portable MP3 player. That sounds good, but here’s the catch. There is a small monthly fee. I haven't signed up yet, and so I can’t tell you if the artists I really want are available through this service, and the MusicMatch web-site doesn't really say what artists are available. But I’m still interested, if they do have the artists I want, it sounds like it might be a good deal.

Wesley Clark for Prez?

From the blog Off On A Tangent, some interesting quotes from Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark, as interviewed by Rolling Stone. Clark certainly makes sense in this particular snippet. Says Clark:

I don’t believe that government is made better by secrecy and restraint. It’s made better by transparency, by being open and honest. If you’re right, you’re right. If not, you take your licks.

It would be interesting to hear how he would actually put this particular policy into effect.

Proof That The Apocalypse is Near

Because cash is So Yesterday, you need the Hilary Duff VISA card. Yeah, right, sure. Quite an impressive and large set of fees attached to this card, such a deal! Once you have spent money on this VISA card, you can go to Hilary’s Weblog and tell them what you bought!

La Tengo

I was reminded of one of the funniest baseball stories ever, one that Mets announcer Ralph Kiner was very fond of telling, when I read a column by John Donovan, writing for Sports Illustrated about the similarities between the 1962 Mets and the 2003 Tigers.

Way back in 1962, the New York Mets redefined the word futility. The Mets starting shortstop was Elio Chacon (shown at right), from Venezuela, who spoke no English. Time after time, a pop fly would be hit out to shallow centerfield. Mets centerfielder Richie Ashburn would run in, yell “I got it” and because Chacon didn’t understand English, Chacon would run into Ashburn and the ball would fall for a hit. Finally, Ashburn got wise and asked another Hispanic player how to say “I got it” in Spanish. The reply was “la tengo”. So, sure enough, the next time the ball is hit into shallow centerfield, Ashburn runs in and yells “la tengo”, and Chacon comes to a dead stop. However, Mets leftfielder Frank Thomas, who didn’t understand Spanish, ran into Ashburn and the ball fell for a base hit.

Twins Separated at Birth?

Hilary Duff (left) and Tamsin Bowles from Weatherpixie.com (right) ... spooky, isn’t it?

Comments

It seems that every evening, about 5pm Eastern Daylight Time (2100 GMT), comments on this blog are down .

I suppose I shall have to live with this horrible and intolerable situation, at least until my favorite country bar opens later tonight, or the comments begin to work again.

David Blaine

Could someone explain to me David Blaine’s current stunt? I understand what he is trying to accomplish. I don’t understand why. I don’t understand who cares, anyway? I don’t understand what this has to do with magic. Is it just a publicity stunt? Or will it bring peace on Earth?

Oh, Those Wacky Ukrainians

According to news service Ananova, Ukraine now has placed a ban on classroom brothels and classroom strip clubs.

Apparently, to earn extra money for school functions, headmasters could lease out the facilities to whatever organization was willing to pay for space at the school. The worst problem was at Odessa’s School 5, where “brothel management had converted the cellar at the school and installed a sauna and a bar selling alcoholic drinks.” Children could easily see from the playground as prostitutes and their clients arrived. But no more, common sense and civility will prevail.

Toby Keith — I Love This Bar

Toby Keith’s new song, in case you haven’t heard, is I Love This Bar. For someone like me, who spends a fair amount of time and my favorite local country bar, this song brings a huge smile to my face. When I hear it, I want to sing it at the top of my lungs. In fact, that’s what I did Tuesday night at my favorite hangout while Toby’s song was playing. I feel so bad for you people who don’t like country music, you don’t know what you’re missing. (Oh, and all you non-country music fans, also check out Tracy Byrd’s new song Drinking Bone)

Do Not Call List

A second Federal Judge has stuck down the proposed national “Do Not Call” list, saying it violates the freedom of speech rights of telemarketers. Which I don’t understand at all. Telemarketers certainly have a right to say whatever it is they want, just as I have that right. They do not have the right to physically enter my home, unwanted, and say whatever they want. That is against the law, it is trespassing. And since my telephone is my property, I believe I also have the right to tell them not to call it. That makes sense to me. Apparently it does not make sense to a Federal Judge. And no one is telling the telemarketers they can’t speak their message, of course they can, no one is taking their right of speech away from them. They just can’t call people who have opted out.

Furthermore, in the past, there have been all sorts of advertising that has been censored, the most prominent example being the ban on tobacco advertising on television and radio. If that ban is constitutional, why isn’t it also constitutional to say you can’t call people who opt out?

Before New York instituted its own statewide “do not call” list, I got a lot of telemarketing calls. And I had reached the point where I didn’t care to be polite with the telemarketers who called. As soon as I realized it was a telemarketing call, I hung up. I didn't like being rude like that, but I felt I had no choice, telemarketers had gotten way out of hand. If I was in a particularly peeved mood, I would just put the phone down without hanging up, so no one was listening, and the telemarketer could decide when to cut his own losses and hang up. Now I hardly get any telemarketing calls, and I love it. But, if I have to go back to being rude and hanging up on people, I certainly will.

More Hilary Duff

Seems I am destined to write about Hilary Duff. First of all, WB broadcast her 16th birthday party tonight. She says cool things like “It was so awesome”. She sings songs from her new album. She hangs out with her friends. She looks good in whatever outfit she wears. It’s too bad she won’t be back as Lizzie McGuire, but everyone has to move on. I liked Lizzie’s personality better than I liked Hilary’s tonight. Of course, Lizzie was scripted, while Hilary tonight was just a 16-year old talking about her birthday.

Adrants has an interesting commentary about Hilary Duff, he likens her to Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, although Hilary seems to have hit the bigtime younger than either of those two. It remains to be seen if her career goes the way of Britney’s and Christina’s, with steamy videos and photo layouts, or if Hilary remains the wholesome star that she is now. Hilary already has a #1 CD, Metamorphosis, although it has now dropped to #2, according to Billboard Magazine. The music is, well, okay. No one would confuse her with a singer with a great voice like Martina McBride or Mariah Carey, but that’s okay, perkiness, cuteness, enthusiasm and decent singing go a long ways these day.

Congrats, Presurfer!

The Presurfer celebrates his third year of blogging today. And he is certainly one of my favorite bloggers, do yourself a favor and stop on over to his blog.

“Do Not Call” List on Hold

A Federal Judge has struck down the national “do not call” list, saying it is unfair to telemarketers, and that the Federal Trade Commission overstepped its boundaries in setting up the list. Now, this comes after 50 million people have signed up. This is one of the very rare government services that is actually incredibly popular and well-received. Well, what to do? You would think that Congress could find a way to make this all very legal, especially since each of the 50 million people who signed up is a potential voter. You would think that re-instating the “do not call” list would breeze through Congress. So let's hope it does!

By the way, I live in New York, which has its own statewide “do not call” list, and I love it. I almost never get telemarketing calls any more, and life is much more pleasant. Those of you in other states, you will love it too — if you ever get it.

Microsoft to Close Chat Rooms

I like to bash Microsoft, but when they do the right thing for the right reason, they deserve credit. So, I applaud them for shutting down their on-line chat rooms on MSN, as these rooms have been used far too often by pedophiles and junk e-mailers. As a side issue, some people are criticising Microsoft for shutting down a feature which is free to all subscribers to MSN, while pushing their premium services. I’m sorry, I just don’t see this criticism as justified, if it is a free service, they can take it away whenever you want and if you really, really gotta have it, pay up! Microsoft has a very civic minded reason to shut down this service, they are not trying to boost some premium service by doing this, and so I don’t think they deserve criticism.

Here’s To Old Friends

An old friend of mine won $2,000 from a radio station today. That’s her name and her voice on the commercial where the radio station brags about how much money it gives away. Congratulations! But the sad part is that old friends tend to drift away. I haven't seen this particular woman in about six months now. Her life, and my life, just sort of drifted apart, and before you know it, six months are gone. And of course, neither one of us are at fault, that’s just the way life is. It’s sad when you step back and think about all the friends you used to have, and where they are now, and if you’ll ever see them again or be friends with them like you used to be.

Here’s to a whole bunch of friends I never see any more, I hope we can hang out again sometime: Carolyn, Larry, Steve, Valerie, Dan, Marc, Bruce, Jon, John, Jennifer, Georgeanne, Jill, Sarai, Gina, Heather V., Terrie, Karen, Sara, Denise, Brian, Bill, Kim, Carol, Breann and Casie. I miss you guys.

What A Day!

Whew! Too much happening today, I have a late meeting and so I couldn’t attend my daughter’s soccer game, I get home late and I find out that not only are the comments on this blog not working at all, but Ben and J-Lo might be back together, Alanis Morissette makes a major faux pas, and the California election is on again. Next thing you know, Michael Jordan will un-retire and they will play night games at Wrigley Field.

Experimenting with Digital Photography

I have borrowed a friend’s digital camera and I’m playing around with it, thinking I might actually buy one of my own. I have my eye on the new Kodak DX6490 with a 10X optical zoom, 3X digital zoom and just about every other feature you could ask for. I’m not sure I need all those features, but a friend of mine had one and it sure took nice pictures at my daughter’s soccer game. Anyway, shown here is one of my experiments tonight, have you ever seen such a beautiful avocado?

A Real Conundrum

How do deer know to cross at the deer crossing signs?

An E-Mail Scam

In my e-mail today, scattered between the false Microsoft patches, was an e-mail that informed me that my credit card was charged $234.65, and it was probably because of charges to a child porn site. If I felt this charge was a mistake, they wanted me to type in my credit card number and then click the YES button in the e-mail.

Nice try, scumbags. I am not falling for it. Instead, I pressed delete.

If you get an unsolicited e-mail that asks for your credit card number, password or social security number, delete it. It is a fraud. Only give out this information when you contact a company you wish to do business with; never give it out if they contact you.

Who Was Harley Earl?

The latest Buick ads focus on Tiger Woods (I know who he is) and Harley Earl (never heard of him). The commercials portray Harley Earl as some mythic car engineer in the commercials, and you wonder who was Harley Earl? Was he real, or some advertising invention? If he was real, why would an advertisement glorify someone you had never heard of? Turns out Harley Earl was real, was larger than life, was responsible for many, many innovations in car design for General Motors from 1927 to 1958, and largely unknown outside of the automotive industry. But you can read about the man and his life in an article from The Palm Beach Post here, and browse a web site dedicated to Harley Earl.

The Germans Don’t Like English, Either!

A while back, we reported on the fact that the French do not like English words, like “e-mail” creeping into their vocabulary. They have volunteered a new French word to take its place, and banned the word “e-mail” from all official French correspondence. Now, it seems that the Germans feel the same way, and it is expected that German civil servants will be told to stop using phrases such as der call center, and will have to use a German equivalent. As the world marches towards globalization, France and Germany want to remain in the middle ages. It’s their choice, I wish them luck!

He wanted to wear blue, not Army green

He wanted to wear blue, not Army green. Roy Gleason was a top major league prospect for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1963. In his only major league at-bat, he doubled to left field. Then he was called into active duty with the Army and sent to Vietnam, where he was seriously injured. He lost his ability to play baseball, and he also lost his 1963 NL Championship ring there. He became the only major league baseball player to to fight in Vietnam and to earn a purple heart there.

This Saturday night, Roy Gleason throws out the first ball at the Dodgers game Saturday night.

Paige’s Page beats Local Fishwrap

We reported on Friday, September 12, 2003, that local radio personality Brother Wease had paid $2,000 from his charity to help a girl who was being sued by the RIAA for copyright infringement. The local newspaper and fishwrap, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, did not report the story until Friday, September 19, 2003 in its print editions. I could not find a link to the story in its on-line edition. And what’s odd is that I didn’t hear about it on the Brother Wease radio show, I found it on a news web-site. Nice job, fishwrap! Is this your regular anti-Wease bias, or is it just not keeping abreast of local news?

Galileo to Crash Into Jupiter

Galileo, one of NASA’s most successful spaceships ever, will crash into Jupiter on Sunday. I wish I could be there to see it. Galileo has ended it useful life, it’s power supply is almost exhausted, and so the engineers will take this opportunity to learn tidbits about the Jovian atmosphere before the spacecraft finally disintegrates. The decision to crash Galileo into Jupiter was influenced by the fact that the spaceship may still contain Earthly microbes, which have shown the ability to survive in the harshest conditions, and engineers did not want to take the chance that these microbes could contaminate the moon Europa, a moon that could possibly harbor some form of life. The picture shown is a famous picture taken by Galileo of the Jovian moon Io, with an active volcano erupting on the left rim of the moon, a huge unexpected surprise to NASA engineers.

That E-Mail Really Isn’t From Microsoft

In case you are getting deluged by e-mails that purport to contain the latest Microsoft Security Patch, please don’t open the attachment because it is in fact a virus. Microsoft does not send out security patches via e-mail. Read about it here.

Man Solicited Murder of Kobe’s Accuser

A man has been arrested for soliciting the murder of Kobe Bryant’s accuser. I knew this would happen, the sickos come out of the woodworks. In this case, some “fan” has such a strong need to see Kobe Bryant play basketball next year for the Los Angeles Lakers, that he is willing to resort to murder. This isn’t a “fan”, this is a sick individual. Lock him up, throw away the key. Our society doesn’t need people like this.

Hurricane Isabel Blog

Real-time, almost live reports from people in the path of Hurricane Isabel — well, from those people in the path of the hurricane who still have Internet access.

Humorous Bumper Stickers

“I’m a liberal arts major. By the way, would you like that for here, or to go?”

"Jesus loves you. Everyone else thinks you are a jerk."

Deep Sea Bestiary

Are there really sea serpents? Probably not, but there are a huge number of unusual, ghastly-looking creatures that live at the bottom of the sea. Nova has put together a Deep Sea Bestiary to horrify you. Check out Lasiognathus saccostoma at the right, and try not think about him the next time you go swimming.

Squirrels and Bicycles

I was out riding my bicycle today. I went down a particularly steep hill, picking up a lot of speed, when a squirrel ran out from the bushes right into my path. There was no way I could stop in time. I swerved to the left to avoid hitting the poor little guy, but at the last second, he decided to do an about face, and backed up right into my bicycle. I hit him, but I can’t tell how bad, or where I hit him. When I went back to see if the animal was still there, he was gone. So I guess I didn’t kill him, but I don’t know how badly he was injured.

I’m really sorry, little squirrel, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I hope you are okay.

If anyone finds a hurt squirrel near the Erie Canal towpath trail at the red plus sign on this map in Pittsford, NY, please send me an e-mail.

Humorous Billboard

(from Jen Bennett)

The Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency

You always knew The Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency existed. Now you can read all about it. “From 1868 to 1975, the Federal Vampire & Zombie Agency (FVZA) was responsible for controlling the nation's vampire and zombie populations while overseeing scientific research into the undead.” Read all the details, the case studies, the scientific explanation, and tributes to the men and women who made up this agency. You can file your own vampire and zombie reports, and you can also purchase official FVZA clothing. (via The Cartoonist)

Microsoft CEO Opens Mouth and Inserts Foot

ZDNet quotes Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer speaking at The Churchill Club making numerous comments about computer security. Here is what Ballmer says followed by my comments.

The most important technology area we are focused on is shield technology. We know bad guys keep writing viruses. The goal is to block them before they get on PCs.

Geez, Steve, how kind of you! That's very altruistic. We computer users probably would like to have had your software with those shields already built in, instead of them being put in as an afterthought.

Ballmer warned Monday that recent security vulnerabilities represent a “new and growing challenge to innovation” and conceded that his company is under attack from “thieves, con artists, terrorists and hackers.”

Now, of course, I feel so sorry for Microsoft, they can’t innovate because they have to go back and fix the security holes they created. And they have given these same thieves, etc. the opportunity to attack Microsoft. Give me a break, Steve.

Now you might argue that such a complicated piece of software such as Windows would undoubtedly have a few security holes just by pure old human error. What has happened however, is more than a “few” security holes, there are new patches almost every week. Furthermore, if you believe some computer security experts, these holes were deliberately left open by Microsoft for who knows what reason. According to Steve Gibson, “The Universal Plug and Play service (UPnP), which is installed and running in all versions of Windows XP — and may be loaded into Windows 98 and ME — essentially turns every one of those systems into a wide-open Internet server.” Even when Gibson and other computer security experts pointed this and other security holes to Microsoft, MS disagreed and gave the hackers the keys to break in.

Ballmer is also discusses a recent effort by Microsoft to go through Windows code, line-by-line, to identify and fix security holes. He says:

There is some evidence of progress. Not enough, but there is some evidence.

Some evidence? There’s also some evidence of failure, there are new security holes found this week.

Steve, we don’t want to hear how terrible these hackers are or how much problems they are causing Microsoft, or how Microsoft deserves pats on the back now for their “fix-it” efforts. They are causing problems for me and all my fellow computer users. Shut up and fix it, damn it! Next time, get it right the first time, not several years down the road.

NFL Sunday Countdown, Week 2

We discussed the performance of some of the newer members of ESPN’s NFL Sunday Countdown a week ago. In the second week of NFL Sunday countdown, I think they must have restrained Michael Irvin somewhat, but nevertheless, the exchanges between Rush Limbaugh and the other commentators were full of controversy, and both sides passionately stuck to their positions. In all, very entertaining, very informative, and certainly both sides made good points. I like this format!

You get more information about the NFL here than anywhere else on TV. The good news is that this is a football junky’s paradise. But I have to complain about other aspects of NFL Sunday Countdown. There are parts of the show that just make me cringe. For example, every week there’s Nick Bakay complaining about why he lost bets the previous week. Could you give it a rest, Nick? And then there are the cartoon analysts, Hector and Victor, contributing their opinion (who cares?) about who will win. What about the “Mayne Event” starring Kenny Mayne? I have yet to see any particular humor here, although that’s what it tries to provide. This week, NFL stars were reading atrocious poetry to JLo, hoping she will hook up with them. Yeah, that’s hysterical all right. Dump the “Mayne Event”. And finally, there are prognostications. I understand that betting on NFL games is a huge pasttime in America; however, the track record of these analysts is awful. Furthermore, they also try to predict the top players of the week, out of the 1000+ NFL players. Do you think you even have a chance, guys? No, of course not. No one predicted Anquan Boldin’s record setting game in week 1, no one predicted Jamal Lewis’s record setting game in week 2.

Note to ESPN: drop the prognostication and humor and stick to what you do very well: your very entertaining and informative comments about the NFL.

There is NO porn on this site

This blog has been viewed over 1100 times already. While I feel that is quite a large number considering I never really tried hard to make it popular, it is still a little upsetting to me that many of the visits are from people searching for porn. So, let me say this clearly:

There is no porn on this site!

Now, how do I know people wind up here looking for porn? Because I can track where they came from, and very often these people are at some search engine, and they enter a search for Lizzie McGuire nude, or Paige Davis nude, or Jenna Jameson. All of these searches engines point to this blog, because I did mention Lizzie McGuire, I did mention Jenna Jameson, and I didn’t mention Paige Davis but I did mention California Governor Gray Davis and my name is Paige. All of this is enough for the search engines to point here.

This is a pointless rant, since there’s nothing I can do about it. But all you weirdos out there looking for porn, please go away quickly. Thanks.

PowerPoint is Evil

Imagine a widely used and expensive prescription drug that promised to make us beautiful but didn't. Instead the drug had frequent, serious side effects: It induced stupidity, turned everyone into bores, wasted time, and degraded the quality and credibility of communication. These side effects would rightly lead to a worldwide product recall.

According to Edward Tufte, one of my favorite authors, Microsoft PowerPoint does just this — it enhances stupidity and destroys the quality of communication. Read what he has to say here. Tufte, as he has done in his previous writings, argues in favor of clear communication, and against the standard Microsoft generated charts and documents that look good but fail to tell a convincing story and usually wind up confusing the viewer. (from J-Walk Blog)

Tufte in the past has nominated this chart, showing Napoleon’s disastrous attempt to invade Russia in 1812, as the best statistical chart ever drawn, striking in its clarity and its ability to tell the story. The thickness of the tan line (Napoleon’s advance on Russia) and black lines (his retreat) indicate the size of Napoleon’s army, and you can see clearly how the army dwindled in size due to the harsh winter.

Johnny Cash, RIP

Johnny Cash’s last song and video, Hurt, is autobiographical. It is an extremely dark and difficult video to watch. Yet every time I saw it on CMT, I couldn’t turn away. I had to watch the entire thing. Watch it here.

A Funny Joke

Humor at the blog I Think, Therefore I Croak.

Vanilla Coke, Pepsi Vanilla

Having tried both of these new soft drinks, I have to admit that they’re okay, but I think they’d both be a whole lot better without the vanilla. Just a thought!

Tommy Chong Sentenced to Jail

Tommy Chong, one half of the comedy duo Cheech and Chong, has been sentenced to 9 months in jail for selling marijuana pipes. According to the article at NORML, Chong is the first person to be prosecuted under John Ashcroft’s “Operation Pipe Dreams” and “Operation Headhunter” which shut down national glass distributors nationwide.

Ironically, Tommy Chong was sentenced on September 11, 2003, exactly two years after the worst terrorist attacks in American history. With Osama Bin Laden still on the loose and President Bush admitting that the war on terrorism is far from over, it is preposterous that we would waste valuable law enforcement resources locking up a comedian for selling glass pipes. Can anyone here honestly say they feel safer today because Tommy Chong, a comedian and actor, has been sentenced to 9 months in federal prison for selling pipes on the internet?

(from TalkLeft)

Brother Wease fights RIAA

Fighting an unpopular law, or the effects of an unpopular law, has always been something Rochester, NY radio DJ Brother Wease has done. (Wease, by the way, is also a Vietnam veteran, serving three tours of duty there). So when the RIAA settled with a 12 year old girl for downloading songs illegally in the amount of $2,000, Brother Wease stepped in with an offer to pay part of this settlement. Wease runs the Wease Cares foundation, which is a charity set up to beneift children in need. In the last 5 years, Wease has raised money and donated over $78,000 for needy children, most of which comes from donations from listeners to his radio show. This may be the first time the money has been used to benefit a child outside of the Rochester, NY area. The web site notes: “All the money raised by the WEASE CARES CHILDRENS FUND stays in the Rochester Area. It is used to directly benefit the children. We have purchased clothing, food, games, computers, tickets for events, educational needs, bedding whatever a child in a certain situation needs we try to help. Thank you for helping.”

New Ways to Flirt

Reuters reports: “Adventurous ladies looking for new ways to flirt, here’s a suggestion from New York’s Museum of Sex — go to a restaurant, head for the bathroom, take off your panties and put them on your date’s plate.” Works for me!

Web Site of Note: What’s New by Bob Park

What’s New is written by Bob Park, a member of the American Physical Society. Now before you’re eyes glaze over, What’s New is a column written about the impact of scientific issues on today’s society, including how these issues affect politics. It is written in a style that non-physicists can easily understand. Park often points out where politicians have either mis-used or mis-understood the scientific aspects of a particular issue. He ends each column with the attention-catching phrase: “Opinions are the author’s and are not necessarily shared by the American Physical Society or the University, but they should be.” Reading What’s New is well worth five minutes once a week!

Nice Job, Leopards

The Greece (NY) Junior Varisty Girls Soccer team played beautifully today. They were facing a much larger school, and typically when this happens, the disparity in talent was obvious, and the result is a blowout. Well, the disparity in talent was obvious, their opponents plain and simple had more soccer skills than the Greece Leopards. Thanks to a goal by the speedy Ashley, and two goals by my favorite player (other than my daughter), the scrappy and tenacious Nicky, and super goaltending by Alex, the Leopards were tied at the end of regulation, 3-3. I was very impressed. Way to go, girls! (Sadly, as if it matters at all, the Leopards didn’t do well in the overtime, and wound up losing 7-3).

Paige’s Page passes 1,000 Hits

Thanks to all you wonderful readers who have checked out Paige’s Page. We have gone over 1,000 hits, as you can see. That’s almost 1/4 the number of hits Ty Cobb had!

In Memoriam

Rockford 105, Trinity Bible 0

That’s a football score by the way. It seems Rockford was actually trying to keep the score down. They threw only two passes the entire game, and elected to run the ball on the rest of their plays. Yikes! I wonder what the Las Vegas betting line will be on Trinity Bible’s next game, which will be Saturday September 13 against powerhouse Haskell College. I didn’t know Leave It To Beaver’s Eddie Haskell had a college named after him. By the way, the results of the game were posted to Rockford’s web site, but not to Trinity Bible’s web site, at the time I wrote this.

J-Walk pulls a Michael Jordan

Just a day after announcing that the J-Walk blog would be retired, John Walkenbach has rescinded his decision and un-retires. It’s not a publicity stunt, he assures us. His reversal was primarily due to the kind e-mails he received over his decision. Well, that’s fine, we’re glad he’s back and blogging. Let’s see if John can score 55 points against the Knicks in a few days.

Lizzie McGuire, Enhanced

There is an interesting article in the New York Observer about Lizzie McGuire, the Disney teen TV series and movie, and the apparent photographic enhancements done to Lizzie’s bustline. McGuire is a wholesome young lady in the 7th or 8th grade (depending on which season of the TV show you watch), who goes about dealing with her life’s problems, a life that doesn’t include drugs, violence, sex or hatred; a life that does include respect for adults, respect for friends, an interest in learning, and an annoying younger brother. The movie was true to the same themes, as you would expect from a Disney movie. What is disturbing then, is the way Disney has promoted the movie, showing Lizzie with an apparently photographically enhanced bustline. That really wasn’t necessary, the movie would have been successful anyway. Read what advertising pros have to say in the New York Observer article (scroll down, it’s the second article on the linked page). A higher resolution picture of the movie poster can be found here.

By the way, actress Hilary Duff, who plays Lizzie McGuire, has a new CD, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 this week.

RIAA Sues 12 Year Old Girl in the Projects

See this link. Good publicity move for the RIAA!

Farewell, J-Walk

The J-Walk Blog calls it quits. No particular reason was given. What a shame! J-Walk was probably the first blog I read regularly, and I still read it regularly. John Walkenbach always posted entertaining and interesting things to read. But since like most bloggers, J-Walk was just a hobby for him, so I can understand when someone says it’s time to move on. Farewell, and well done!

Read what other blogs have to say about J-Walk: Off On A Tangent blog,