It's Happy Birthday Time Again!

There's a wonderful 8-year-old girl I know!

(No, not this one, though she's got quite a story.)

Shakspear

It's Shakespeare's birthday. A few factoids from the Writer's Almanac:

He was the first writer to invent or record many of our most common turns of phrase, including "foul play," "as luck would have it," "your own flesh and blood," "too much of a good thing," "good riddance," "in one fell swoop," "cruel to be kind," "play fast and loose," "vanish into thin air," "the game is up," "truth will out" and "in the twinkling of an eye."

Happy Birthday to Wifey

"Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Mari-Rooooose!
Happy Birthday to you!

Saw This Movie Last Night

The Rookie.

I know - it's years and years old. But India and watched it and we both liked it.

I Like This Band A Lot

The Helio Sequence

Good pop!

Insert Homer Simpson Joke Here

It just writes itself:

Guards at a Florida nuclear power plant were found sleeping repeatedly between 2004 and 2006, according to a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposal to fine Florida Power and Light Co. The incident mirrored recent reports of sleeping guards at a nuclear power site in Pennsylvania.

“Security officers at [the] Turkey Point [power plant] were willfully inattentive to duty or served as lookouts so other officers could sleep on duty,” said an NRC statement.

The commission also issued a $208,000 fine in January after learning that plant security guards had removed the firing pins from their weapons as part of a labor dispute with security contractor Wackenhut.

Do You Have a Favorite Number?

I don't think I do.

But there's this new song, "Numbers (AKA Numerology)" by These New Puritans, whose lyrics repeatedly and insistently ask:

"What's your favorite number? What does it mean?"

It makes me wonder if I really ought to have a favorite number. Maybe I'd be better off.

An Amazing Aeroplane!

I want an Aerosonde!

This summer, a fleet of small unmanned aircraft, similar to radio-controlled models sold by hobby stores, is to be launched into the heart of hurricanes to beam back information that may sharpen the accuracy of tropical forecasts, scientists say.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration plans to launch the 30-pound drones, called Aerosondes, from Jamaica or Barbados during the 2008 hurricane season into storms that pose an initial threat to the Caribbean.

Manufactured by Aerosonde, based in Melbourne, Australia, the propeller-driven weather probes, which cost more than $50,000 each, are engineering marvels.

Equipped with a 1.6-horsepower engine and flight management computer, the drone can fly an astonishing 2,300 miles on 1.5 gallons of fuel at a cruising speed of about 60 mph.

With such stamina, the drones can be directed into a hurricane and drift in its swirling winds for more than 20 hours. After enduring the turbulence, they are rugged enough to return to their home base intact.

The Aerosondes are part of a broader NOAA program to use unmanned aircraft to monitor global events, such as arctic ice melting, volcanic lava flows and changes in fish and whale populations. NOAA recently invested an additional $3 million in its overall unmanned aircraft program.

Aerosondes already have flown more than 1,000 hours in the Arctic yet are so flexible that they also can fly in baking Sahara heat, said Daniel Fowler, a drone operator with the Aerosonde firm.

He said the plane is constructed with tough polymers, such as those used in bulletproof vests, and other advanced materials.

30 pounds: That's about what a two-year-old weighs.

1.6 HP engine: That's less than half the horsepower of my cheap lawnmower.

2300 miles: That's about the distance from Bloomington to Vancouver, BC.

1.5 gallons of gas: That's better than 1,500 miles per gallon.

Wow. That's about all I can say. Wow.

Why You Should Drink a Beer Today

It's the 75th anniversary of the end of Prohibition for beer. Hard liquor was still illegal, as it had to wait a few months until the Constitutional amendment was repealed.

Somehow it seems like it would be longer ago than that. I've been alive more than half of that time, and as we all know I'm still a young sporty gentleman.

"My Significant Ex"

I liked the story about this guy who won a $136 million lottery jackpot. My favorite part was how well he seems to get along with his ex-wife. He calls her "my significant ex":

"I called my sister; she didn't believe me. I called my daughter; she thought I was nuts," said [David] Sneath, who said he made his first call to his ex-wife, Deborah.

Deborah, whom he called "my significant ex," attended the Thursday news conference where Sneath was presented with a large replica of a $136 million check. His daughter was there with her daughter, as was his son...

Seems like a good guy - all best to him.

Nice Poem

I never read this one before today. It's Walt Whitman:

Once I Pass'd through a Populous City

Once I pass'd through a populous city imprinting my brain for future use with its shows, architecture, customs, traditions,
Yet now of all that city I remember only a woman I casually met there who detain'd me for love of me,
Day by day and night by night we were together--all else has long been forgotten by me,
I remember I say only that woman who passionately clung to me,
Again we wander, we love, we separate again,
Again she holds me by the hand, I must not go,
I see her close beside me with silent lips sad and tremulous.

Is there anyone who can't relate to this?

Remember Men Without Hats?

The band from the 80s who sang "The Safety Dance" and other silly pop songs?

Well, now there are Men Without Pants.

I'm not sure if this is an improvement.

I Got Nothing

I've been pen-spinning for 20+ years, but compared to these kids I got nothing.

Nothing. At. All.