Hey, Let's Politicize Global Warming!

Surprised? Not particularly. Frustrated? Absolutely. I like Pelosi's idea of a new committee to address global warming, but other than that, the Democrats' and enviro-lobbyists' ideas about waiting a year or two to start working on this are maddening:

That is why some environmentalists want Pelosi to delay until she can send a bill to a more sympathetic president in 2009, and why some Democrats want her to delay so they can use the issue against Republicans in 2008.

Don't get me wrong, I have no love for any Republican, but to quote well-known political commentator Eric Cartman, "Democrats piss me off!"

Colbert v. O'Reilly

I didn't see part one of this stroke of marketing genius - I wouldn't even know which channel Fox News uses to pollute DirecTV's signal - but Jenny and I did stay up for part two on the Colbert Report, and it was worth it. The best dig at O'Reilly was probably the Barnes & Noble 30% off sticker, which covered O'Reilly's head on the book cover. And the comment about Jon Stewart being a sexual predator, that was wonderfully vicious. I must admit, O'Reilly was a surprisingly good sport - still a pompous windbag, but a good sport nonetheless.

Brzezinski Tells It Like It Is

This opinion piece by Carter's National Security Adviser is the best - and most succinct - deconstruction of Wednesday's presidential speech that I've read thus far.

Big Three Still Clueless

It's really no mystery why U.S. car companies lose money these days - they employ chief economists who choose to take residence - along with our current administration - in a 'denial-based' alternate universe. No wonder Toyota continues to crush these clowns.

Ah, Winter

So I go out running on Saturday morning, and then following that, I take Marty over to the park for her walk. Now, it's around 70F, I had just run 7+ miles, so I'm obviously wearing shorts. That must have been the reason that local human-interest TV news reporter dude (for the city's NBC affiliate) comes over to me and wants to ask a few questions about the weather. I'm caught off guard, but I don't want to be a jerk, so I agree. What followed was an exercise in banality, as he asks me what I think of the weather (um, it's warmer thasn usual?), isn't it weird to be wearing shorts in January? (uh, yeah), et cetra, ad nauseum. I'm not sure whether it was the dumb questions, or the fact that he didn't look the least bit interested in my oh-so-profound responses, but the whole thing was a bit annoying. Plus I wasn't looking as pretty as I could have, because I had just been out running. Then the cameraman wants to get a shot of Marty, who by this point is really impatient to get on with her walk, and is wondering why this camera guy won't give her a treat in return for her allowing him to film her. Anyway, we were out in DC that night, and weren't even home to see the evening news, but Liz & Jarriel's friend Derek saw it, and I got a call from Jarriel the next day.

Now Marty think she's a TV star, and is demanding a limo to the park and the expensive dog food. And while this morning (32F) felt a bit more like winter, our BGE (gas & electric) bill for December was less than $26. We should probably get used to these winters, because even if we do figure out how to stop global warming in our lifetimes, how are we going to reverse the damage that's already been done - build a big ice maker in Greenland that spits iceberg-sized cubes towards the North Pole?

UFO Sightings

There have been two supposed UFO sightings in the past few months, a recent one in South Africa last Saturday with a lone witness who claims she saw a crash, and one at O'Hare in Chicago back in November that was witnessed by several United Airlines employees.

The Chicago Tribune article also claims that the politically-correct/preferred term for UFO is now UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena).

Continuing with the Comics Theme

Here's a list of the top ten lamest superheroes. Since I only recognize one character (#10, Cypher), I think it's a pretty weak list. Shouldn't a list like this only be populated by superheroes that people might actually have heard of? Just off the top of my head, I would think Aquaman would have to make the list (a rip-off of the Sub-Mariner, who debuted two years earlier, FYI), also Jubilee from the X-Men and Ant Man from the Avengers.

Best & Worst Film Adaptations of Comic Books

Inspired by a recent email thread, I'm soliciting opinions about the best and worst film adaptations of (reasonably well-known) comic books, preferably of the costumed/super-hero variety.

1. My top three, in no particular order: Batman Begins - Christian Bale is the best Batman, period (slight edge over Keaton), and the rest of the cast is awesome also; can't believe Frank Miller didn't get script credit though, plenty of nods to Year One and Dark Knight Returns. Tank Girl - fun movie, well-integrated comic-art cut scenes. Spider-Man 2 - both of Raimi's spider-movies are excellent, I'm just picking this one b/c Doc Oc was always one of my favorite baddies. Just missed my cut: Tim Burton's Batman, X-Men 2.

2. Worst three - so many to choose from here, and I haven't even seen the Fantastic Four or Hulk yet (although I know several people who really liked Hulk). And I'm not even going to link to Catwoman. I'm gonna have to go with Superman IV, which introduced us to Nuclear Man (anyone remember him?). Batman Forever, one of Schumacher's disasters, has to be next; could acting talent be wasted any more than Tommy Lee Jones' was as Two-Face? Fortunately, not many people saw the 1990 version of Captain America, which featured J.D. Salinger's actor son Matt as Captain A(wful).

Upcoming films, which certainly have the potential to make these lists:

• Jon Favreau-directed Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr., due out in 2008.
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, 2007 release.
• Ghost Rider, starring Nicholas Cage. This could be spectacularly terrible.
• Wonder Woman, directed and written by Joss Whedon. Intriguing...
• Spider-Man 3, with Venom! I'm stoked, dudes!
• The Dark Knight, the next Nolan Batman, with Heath Ledger as the Joker (2008).
• X-Men prequel, Wolverine, 2008.
  

Tunneling

A big part of my job right now is building and running simulations to support the design of sewer overflow storage tunnels in DC. There are similar tunnel systems in Detroit, Chicago, and a handful of other places, and most of them are massive. DC is no exception; tunnel diameters from 15 to 30+ feet, depths of up to 100 feet below the surface. They're built using tunnel boring machines (TBMs), which are used for all large diameter tunneling projects these days, including road/transit tunnels.

Maybe I'm just a big engineering geek, but these things are pretty damn cool. They're custom-made for each job, taking into account desired diameter and rock/soil conditions. They not only do the drilling, but the apparatus behind the drills lines the tunnel also. And my understanding is that since they're usually expensive to extract once the job is done (plus since they're custom-made, re-use isn't likely), they're left in the ground when the drilling is complete. Eleven of these beasts were used on the Channel Tunnel.

Here's a promotional video that shows how these babies work.

The Wizard of Ounce?

OK, I'm not the biggest Wizard of Oz fan, and I've never read any of the original books, but I was still surprised that I had never heard of this take on the story.

Am I alone here, or is this a new chunk of trivia for most people?

Last Minute Shopping Idea, Courtesy of SNL

Don't know what to get that special someone this Christmas? Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg have a suggestion (from last night's hilarious episode).

Here are a few more highlights. If NBC was smart, they'd replay this next weekend in prime time, instead of stale old Christmas cartoons (other than the Grinch, who kicks ass):

Opening Monologue Christmas Song w/Alvin & the Chipmunks

Cup-O-Soup/Homelessville

Celtic Solstice

Yesterday, Barry and I ran in the 7th Annual Celtic Solstice Five Miler in Druid Hill Park. It was a new race for both of us, and we both enjoyed it. Nice weather, fantastic course layout, and - unlike other races of mine this year - I was very pleased with the result; an overall time of 40:27, with all five mile splits faster than 8:30. No, I didn't set any land speed records, but those are decent numbers for me, and that's all that really counts, right?

Any runners or would-be runners out there, I would highly recommend this race. The course is of moderate difficulty but very manageable, the field is large but not too large (about 2K registered runners, 1500+ finishers), the premium is awesome every year, and the post-race food & beverage spread is top-notch. Plus, several people run in kilts, and there are a bagpipes player and drummer out on the course. Also, you run right past the statue of William Wallace that's at one end of Druid Hill Lake. Very Scottish. We certainly got lucky with good weather, but I personally think it still would have been fun if it were below freezing (like last year, when it snowed).

Blogger Upgrade, Tags, Site Feed

I just recently upgraded my blogger account to Blogger Beta, which lets one add tags to blog posts (among other new features). I've been slowly going through and adding tags, but when I do that it seems that the RSS feed considers it a new entry. So if use use a reader, sorry about that.

Flickr "Christmas Egg"

I saw this on Lis' blog, who got it from her friend Bill (credit where it's due, after all): Flickr's Christmas Easter Egg - egg nog, maybe? - that lets you add certain notes to photos that will show up as Santa hats and beards. Check it out on my Flickr page if you want to see it in action. [Update - it looks like you have to view an individual photo for the note to show up, it doesn't show up on the index page]

Wow, the notes feature is kinda cool unto itself, I had never used it before...

Mary Cheney

Today's Howard Kurtz column focuses on the attention given to Mary Cheney's pregnancy. His argument, right up near the front in paragraph two, is that it's unfair to her because she didn't ask to be a vice-president's daughter. I would agree - of course she didn't ask for that - but she did voluntarily work on her father's campaigns, campaigns that were based in part on willfully denying legal rights to a group of which she is a member. And while I appreciate any attempts to try to change bigoted thinking from within, it still reeks of sleeping with the enemy, dancing with the devil, et cetera [insert equally tired metaphor here]. Similar to my utter bafflement that a group like the Log Cabin Republicans can exist, it's difficult for me to be very sympathetic towards someone who's been employed by a White House political machine that courts the votes of the intolerant, who are attacking her now for exercising her right to have a kid.

Put it this way: her father is the political equivalent of Darth Vader, that makes her Leia - or Luke, I suppose. If Leia had worked for the Empire, (but secretly hoped to change it into a kinder, gentler force for evil) would any tears have been shed were she onboard the Death Star when Luke blew it up at the end of the first movie? Nope.

For All The Lovecraft/Illuminati Fans

Bring Cthulu home for the holidays! (isn't he cute?!?)

Pity the Congress

Democrats are making Congress work more days next year, so what do poor widdle Wepublicans do? They whine about it:

"Keeping us up here eats away at families," said Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who typically flies home on Thursdays and returns to Washington on Tuesdays. "Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says."

This is so tragic, I can hardly hold back the tears. These people get paid to "work" about half the hours of a typical taxpayer, and get a six-figure salary. Just when I thought that the GOP was incapable of disgusting me any further...

Are 'Good Losses' a Myth? O Christmas Tree!

I had never bought into the idea of the 'good loss', but yesterday's loss to Notre Dame might change my thinking. MD looked a lot like last year's team for good portions of the game - and that is not a compliment. Too much individual play, too many careless passes, not nearly enough 3-point defense.

We already have our Chirstmas tree this year, unlike last year's ten-days-before-Christmas purchase. There's just something very comforting about coming home from work in December, when it's already dark out, to the tree lights peeking through the blinds on the front window. It's not a big tree, but it's got a good shape, and is quite healthy considering its sundering from its roots. It could be a lot taller considering how high our first-floor ceiling is, but this isn't the year for us to be buying a $80 or $100 tree - a $50 tree suits well enough.

Terps in ESPN Power 16

Looks like I wasn't alone in being impressed by the win at Illinois two nights ago. ESPN has the Terps as the 2nd-highest ACC team in its first Power 16 of the year. Yeah, I know, that and $5 will get you a Grande Mocha Ginseng Latte at Starbucks. But still, kinda cool.

Luke Winn over at Sports Illustrated digs the Turtles also.

Venezuelan Amphetamine

When I read about Gary Williams' freshmen this pre-season, gaurd Greivis Vasquez was described as someone who plays with a lot of emotion. Uh-oh, that's sportswriter code, meaning that he makes up for a lack of talent with a lot of high-energy play, right?

Not really. Turns out, at least in the early going, that the kid has plenty of talent. And describing his game as high-energy doesn't quite do it justice, either. Anyone who watched Maryland's solid win in Champaign, Illinois last night could see it; this guy loves to play almost as much as Gary loves yelling at his players! I know, hard to believe, but true. He was also the best player on the floor in the second half last night; he was the difference in getting the win in a very hostile road environment, and with the Terps missing one of their starters. Win or lose though, he'll be fun to watch over the next few years.

Terps are 8-0, up next - Notre Dame in D.C. on Sunday.