Crazy Go Nuts

This is incredible... a picture of the empire state building from googlemaps.com. You can see cars from space! Technology is nuts! You're seeing a picture of a building in New York, taken in space, loaded up to Google Maps, and then found on the internet... woh! But even more amazing is that you can scroll left, right, up, or down and see ALL OF NEW YORK (and other major cities) from the same distance. And all this is available to anyone with the internet!

After a couple days absence, I've been wondering. What makes a good blog? Can anyone tell me?

The Pistol

Dasha and I watched this tonight (Dasha saw it for the first time... it was my 20th or so). It's still tough to beat. Especially with lines like:

"What the heck is 'The Pistol', Dad?"

"It's a show business name, like... Houdini."

hehe

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,When sorrows like sea billows roll;Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,“It is well, it is well with my soul”

It is well (it is well) with my soul (with my soul)It is well, it is well with my soul

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,Let this blessed assurance control,That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought!My sin, not in part but the whole,Is nailed to the cross,and I bear it no more,Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord haste the day when the faith shall be sight,The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;The trump shall resound,and the Lord shall descend,Even so, it is well with my soul.

This is mostly for the parents (if they're reading). This is from a concert that I played in at the conservatory. Photography credits go to Dasha...

AMAZING!

A user on the BBC 606 message boards predicted Liverpool's stunning 7-0 win over Birmingham in the FA Cup.
The mystery punter, with the username "Messi better than cesc", posted their forecast at 1905 GMT on Tuesday - a full 40 minutes before the match started.
He or she not only got the score right but they also claimed:
There would be a goal in the first minute.
Three goals in the first half.
Four goals in the second half.
The sixth would be an own goal.
Djibril Cisse would score very late on.
They suggested the deadlock would be broken by Xabi Alonso with a 40-yard strike after 38 seconds.
In reality, Sami Hyypia opened the scoring with a header 17 seconds later.
The prediction that Birmingham would trail 2-0 inside 10 minutes was also correct, as was the claim that Cisse would score late on.
The user thought Cisse would out-run the Blues defence before slotting home.
In fact, Cisse's shot should have been saved by Maik Taylor, but the goalkeeper allowed the ball to squirm under his body.
Still, not a bad prediction, especially when you consider that "Messi better than cesc" only missed out on the time of the own goal by two minutes.
Oliver Tebily put the ball in his own net after 77 minutes - and not 79 minutes by Emile Heskey as he or she had suggested.
Had "Messi better than cesc" done their research better, they would have known that Heskey had an ankle injury and was not fit to play.
Nevertheless, the 7-0 prediction would have netted odds of 100-1 from bookmaker William Hill.
"Oddly enough, although we took a few bets of a fiver or less at 100/1 for the 7-0 result prior to kick-off, the biggest bets we took for the scoreline were placed during game via the internet," said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.
"One customer from Manchester staked £25 at 66/1 when the score was 3-0, and won £1650, while another from Cleveland picked up a profit of £1320 after betting £20. Overall, we lost a five figure sum on the outcome."
It is not known whether "Messi better than cesc" placed a bet on their forecast - but it certainly got the boards talking.
"Heskey" wanted to know what his or her lottery numbers were, while others requested racing tips.
Some even dared to chide the user for failing to predict the scorers in their correct order.
For those interested, the sequence of goals is shown below:

PREDICTION 38 secs: Alonso 40-yard strike 10 mins: Alonso again 22 mins: Crouch with a 40-yard header 46 mins: Reina scores from goal kick 77 mins: Carragher gets his first goal in three years 79 mins: Emile Heskey og 90 mins: Cisse out runs every Brum player to finish

REALITY 55 secs: Hyypia nods in the opener 5 mins: Crouch heads in 38 mins: The England striker makes it two with neat finish 59 mins: Morientes scores three minutes after coming on 70 mins: Riise smashes in from outside the area 77 mins: Olivier Tebily og 89 mins: Cisse's goal completes the rout

Story from BBC SPORT:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport2/hi/football/4832776.stm

Life in the Amazon

Amazon.com is apparently changing some of it's search results. Before the change, if you typed 'abortion' in a search at Amazon you would see the question "Did you mean adoption?" followed by the results for the word abortion.

The question is part of a normal spell check system used by Google and other search engines.

Apparently someone actually E-MAILED and complained about it.

It amazes what lengths people will go to FOR abortion. It seems like such an indefensible position to me. I can ALMOST understand how people are confused about whether it is a woman's right. But it seems some people just want them dead and will go to great lengths to make sure babies don't make it.

Odd...

Mouth Soap

The first post of this blog was destined to be of Seinfeldian character (if I do say so myself).

I realized the other day how odd an item toothpaste is when a bit fell off my brush and became glued to the sink... I was fine with it right up until it fell off. Then it became quite repulsive. I wouldn't touch it... not even with my hand. I turned the water on really high... tried redirecting the water with my hand... splashed water all around the sink. No luck... that stuff is faster drying and much more permanent than most glues. Then I realized... In a ten second span I went from wanting to put that in my MOUTH to not even wanting to touch it with my hand. So which is it? Desirable or grotesque?

I still can't figure it out. But that thought is what drove me to start a blog... hehe.