Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Manhattanhenge


"The Manhattan solstice a.k.a. Manhattan Henge - comes twice a year. This year it falls on May 30 and July 12 - when the sun sets with half the disc sitting above and half below the horizon. Though fans can also enjoy the spectacular views on May 31 and July 11 when at sunset, you can see the entire ball of the sun on the horizon.

The times are calculated every year by the astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, who coined the term 'Manhattanhenge' in 2002, named after the British Stonehenge, which celebrates summer and winter solstice.

Mr deGrasse Tyson notes that the dates correspond with Memorial day and Baseball's All Star Break. He said: 'Future anthropologists might conclude that, via the sun, the people who called themselves Americans worshipped war and baseball.'

He explains that the reason this unique urban phenomenon occurs in Manhattan is due to a clear view to the horizon beyond the grid - as New York does across the Hudson River to New Jersey.

Combine that with the tall buildings which line the streets, creating a vertical channel to frame the sun and you get a rare and striking photographic opportunity."


Absolutely!

Walt Whitman

Today is the 192nd anniversary of the Great Walt Whitman's birth.

One of our favorite poets, EVER, 'ole Walt lives on through his tremendous body of work.

In Honor, today we will post some of our faves. Alas, it is hard to just pick a few.

Black Cat Poems.com has an extensive list of Walt Whitman's poems online.

From Leaves of Grass, our favorite poetry book of all time.

O Captain! My Captain!

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up -- for you the flag is flung -- for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths -- for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.


And a poem in honor of Memorial Day. Whitman lived through the Civil War and much of his poetry is about this time. His book "Memoranda of the War" contains much of this work.

Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night

Vigil strange I kept on the field one night;
When you my son and my comrade dropt at my side that day,
One look I but gave which your dear eyes return'd with a look I shall never forget,
One touch of your hand to mine O boy, reach'd up as you lay on the ground,
Then onward I sped in the battle, the even-contested battle,
Till late in the night reliev'd to the place at last again I made my way,
Found you in death so cold dear comrade, found your body son of responding kisses, (never again on earth responding,)
Bared your face in the starlight, curious the scene, cool blew the moderate night-wind,
Long there and then in vigil I stood, dimly around me the battle-field spreading,
Vigil wondrous and vigil sweet there in the fragrant silent night,
But not a tear fell, not even a long-drawn sigh, long, long I gazed,
Then on the earth partially reclining sat by your side leaning my chin in my hands,
Passing sweet hours, immortal and mystic hours with you dearest comrade -- not a tear, not a word,
Vigil of silence, love and death, vigil for you my son and my soldier,
As onward silently stars aloft, eastward new ones upward stole,
Vigil final for you brave boy, (I could not save you, swift was your death,
I faithfully loved you and cared for you living, I think we shall surely meet again,)
Till at latest lingering of the night, indeed just as the dawn appear'd,
My comrade I wrapt in his blanket, envelop'd well his form,
Folded the blanket well, tucking it carefully over head and carefully under feet,
And there and then and bathed by the rising sun, my son in his grave, in his rude-dug grave I deposited,
Ending my vigil strange with that, vigil of night and battle-field dim,
Vigil for boy of responding kisses, (never again on earth responding,)
Vigil for comrade swiftly slain, vigil I never forget, how as day brighten'd,
I rose from the chill ground and folded my soldier well in his blanket,
And buried him where he fell.


The last stanza of "Song of the Open Road"

Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself? will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?


And the first stanza of "To think of time

To think of time--of all that retrospection,
To think of to-day, and the ages continued henceforward.

Have you guess'd you yourself would not continue?
Have you dreaded these earth-beetles?
Have you fear'd the future would be nothing to you?

Is to-day nothing? is the beginningless past nothing?
If the future is nothing they are just as surely nothing.

To think that the sun rose in the east--that men and women were
flexible, real, alive--that every thing was alive,
To think that you and I did not see, feel, think, nor bear our part,
To think that we are now here and bear our part.


To our Delaware Valley Friends: Walt Whitman is buried in Camden, NJ. His cemetery is BEAUTIFUL and his final resting place is just amazing. Yes, it's in Camden. We've been there and it's worth the trip to go and recite a few poems to the old man in "person".



Monday, May 30, 2011



Have fun grilling your burgers and hot dogs and please remember those who gave the their lives so that you may enjoy it without having to speak German, Japanese or Farsi.

Remember those who fought for a new country, free from the British Monarchist rule during the Revolutionary war and the War of 1812.

Remember those who fought for their rights and beliefs in the Civil War.

Remember those who fought for the US in the World Wars.

Remember those who fought in Korea.

Remember those who fought in Vietnam and came home without fanfare.

Remember those who have come home from Iraq twice now and are still there and in Afghanistan.

And remember those who never came home at all.


America's Wars Total (1775–1991)

Military service during war 41,891,368
Battle deaths 651,030
Other deaths in service (theater) 308,800
Other deaths in service (nontheater) 230,279
Nonmortal woundings 1,431,290


Global War on Terror

Total Servicemembers (Worldwide) (as of Dec 31, 2010) 1,429,367
Deployed to Iraq (Operation New Dawn) (as of Dec. 31, 2010) 85,600
Deployed to Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom)(as of Dec. 31, 2010) 103,700
Battle Deaths (as of May 12, 2011) 4,724
Other Deaths (In Theater) (as of May 12, 2011) 1,294
Non-mortal Woundings (as of May 12, 2011) 43,399

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Official Dr. Hawass Wear


Now you too can dress like the Great Pharaoh. At Harrods in London or at a Neiman Marcus near you is the official Zahi Hawass clothing line and apparel store.

Are we surprised that the modern day Indiana Jones and Pharaoh has his own clothing line? No. Nothing from this man WILL EVER SURPRISE US. He is a one-of-a-kind gift that is to be cherished (and yet, reviled).

The profits from the sale will go to benefit the 57357 Children’s Cancer Hospital in Cairo. This is Dr. H's charity of choice.

Click here to see more fashions from The Zahi Hawass Collection: artzulu.com article

The court case against Dr. Hawass was resolved and he will not be going to jail let alone losing his job. He seems to have stopped rampaging and quitting as well and is reporting all kinds of great things at his blog.

He and his minions have been reclaiming land, artifacts and his Pharaohnic power back from the Egyptian Overthrow and Dr. H seems to be back on track again. And now with the clothing line...well is there anything the great Dr. Hawass cannot do?

Go Big Z!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Mike Bettes Loses It on Air...Rightfully So...

Mike Bettes, of The Weather Channel, and crew arrived on scene at Joplin, Missouri last night approximately one hour after the tornado hit.

He was live on air and instead of doing a report, he and his crew immediately starting looking for survivors.

He then gave a very emotional report where he started crying after witnessing the horrific devastation.

Link to video at Weather.com

Mike searched for survivors:



Cheers to the Weather Channel. Yes, they hype up the "tornado hunt" way too much. THIS ISN'T FUN, guys! But when it counts they are there.

And they have the best news anchors and staff in the business.


Dog Runs 1/2 Marathon - Unintentionally


When Dozer the dog escaped from his backyard on May 15th he may have been just trying to get out and explore.

What he did next though has made him a youtube star.

You see, Dozer got caught up with the 2,000 runners in the Maryland Half-Marathon around mile 5 and crossed the finish line with them.

What's even funnier was that he stopped with the other runners at the watering spots! "Although many runners saw the canine running the course and drinking water from cups at the water spots, nobody realized he was on his own."

"The Maryland Half Marathon is looking at ways to involve Dozer in the future. He currently has his own fundraising page on the race website where he’s raised nearly $1900 for cancer research. He received a finisher’s medal for this year’s race" (pictured above).

WE LOVE THIS STORY. What a great dog!

Watch Dozer cross the Finish Line:




Lance Armstrong Under Fire


Lance continues to angrily deny that he ever took performing enhancing drugs (PEDs) or ever failed a doping control test however more and more these claims are coming under fire.

At least 3 teammates have now testified UNDER OATH that they saw and or participated in taking EPO (erythropoietin - a PED) and having blood transfusions with Lance. Frankie Andreu, Floyd Landis, Tyler Hamilton and now Georgie?

The most devastating testimony - that of close confidante and Lance's right hand man, George Hincapie.

"One of those riders is Armstrong's other close teammate, George Hincapie. We're told that now, for the first time, Hincapie has testified to federal investigators that he and Armstrong supplied each other with the blood-booster EPO and discussed having used testosterone, another banned substance, during their preparation for races."

This all stems from a Federal investigation into whether or not Lance defrauded the United States government as a rider on the US Postal Team.

We think the most incriminating facts to date are that Lance, and his manager at the time, Johan Bruyneel met with Swiss Lab officials after a failed test in 2001. The meeting was arranged by the cycling federation, International Cycling Union.

This is damning if true.

Why would the ICU intervene and kibosh the failed test? MILLIONS OF DOLLARS in marketing and tourism were on the line.

No one even followed cycling before Lance hit the scene. At least not in the numbers they do now. Lance Armstrong personally has made millions of dollars off the sport and so have the sponsors, tour operators and the ICU.

With so much to lose, it seems the ICU stepped in and made the failed test, caught by the Swiss Lab prior to the Tour de Suisse in 2001, go away.

And it cost Lance roughly 125,000 dollars, made in two payments to the ICU. Once for 25,000 and another for 100,000. At lease one official has said this kind of payment to the ICU is unheard of and should have been a red flag, but as even now, people want to believe Lance. Believe in the dream. Believe that this once cancer beleaguered star has been and always has been the greatest natural athlete of his sport...sans PEDs.

We have a personal theory here. Going through all of his cancer therapy, Lance was in the hospital for weeks at a time. He was used to needles, blood transfusions and the idea that the body can handle all of this. It came as no big deal for him to shoot up PED's and then dilute or "clean" his blood with additional blood transfusions. Hell, if all this is true, then he's more of a pro at this than anyone can realize.

Bill Strickland, editor at large of Bicycling magazine, said he has evidence that Armstrong had used drugs. "I wrote a story in May for Bicycling ... that said I thought he was guilty, I knew he had doped. In the course of investigating around him, I finally found the conviction. So I've known for awhile. This is just inevitable, I think."

We're still not sure of what "evidence" he speaks of.

And the UCI denies it covered up anything.

If Lance is found guilty all hell will break loose. We cannot even imagine how it will affect his 7 Tour de France wins. Will the second place "winners" be given trophies after all these years? It boggles the mind.

Lance's vehement denials are strikingly reminiscent of Marion Jones who swore up and down and over and over again she never doped and then in a tear filled press conference admitted guilt, served time in prison and relinquished her Olympic gold medals.

It seems Lance's glass house has finally developed more than one crack. It's literally coming apart at the seams.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

The Executioner's Song


Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins won a historic boxing match last night to become the oldest person to win a Heavy Weight Championship Title.

George Forman had this to say: “I was on the edge of my seat every round. It was such an exciting fight. Bernard was the better athlete, the smarter fighter and in the better condition. Now that 46 has done it, next a 47, 48, 49 and 50 will do it” said Foreman in a media release after the fight. “I’m happy for Hopkins and I’m happy for mature athletes.”

Hopkins beat Jean Pascal and won on all 3 scorecards. The judges seeing the fight 116-112, 115-114, and 115-113.

We have no idea what that means.

The Executioner will live on to fight another day and perhaps make history again, but for now all of Philadelphia is proud of its hometown record maker.

Happy Birthday, Novak! And HELLO French Open!


The French Open at famed Roland Garros stadium begins today! Let the clay court games begin!

It's also Novak Djokovich's 25th birthday and after beating Rafael Nadal AGAIN to win the Rome Open he is the one everyone is talking about.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Can't Say Gay? Say Takei! Because "It's Okay to Be Takei"

George Takei is a wonderful human being. Long known for his sense of humor, George is a loving, happy man that happens to also be gay and a gay advocate and supporter.

We saw him once at a Star Trek convention (yes, proud Trekkies here) and instead of going onstage and rambling on about Star Trek, George did what Brent Spiner (Data) does at these things...he gave us a 20 minute stand-up comedy routine. AND IT KILLED.

George is freakin' HILARIOUS.

For those of you that have followed him for years as an awesome guest on The Howard Stern Show, you know this. As for the rest of you, you can probably youtube or google him to see how genuinely warm and compassionate and funny he has always been. You can find the "Sulu Dance" on youtube...Stern fans have laughed at this for years.

For now, his cause is fighting the gay hating people of Tennessee with humor. It always angers angry people more when you laugh at them. George is a master of this.

Watch this:


And get your It's Okay to Be Takei stuff here: It's Okay to Be Takei.com

Lady Gaga may have been born this way, but it's okay to be Takei.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Don't Believe in Global Warming?

THEN YOU MUST CHECK THIS OUT:
Link: The Polar Bear in a FLOWER FIELD

There's just simply too much in the article to repeat so we'll let you just browse for yourself.

It's something right out a movie. A polar bear that would normally be treading on ice fields is suddenly enveloped this year in a flower field.

IN HUDSON BAY at Point Hubbard, Canada!

It's beautiful but NOT RIGHT.

We're all doomed*.


Definitions of DOOMED:
*1) Condemned to certain destruction or death.
2) Cause to have an unfortunate and inescapable outcome.



Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Rick Santorum is a Loser


Ok. We edited that title like 12 times because we really wanted to call him a douchebag, asshole, slack-bloated spunkwagger, wet-balled carrotjockey and a gummy-balled socksmuggler*.

Rick "I'm a gay basher because the bible tells me so" Santorum had nerve to tell the world that John "POW" McCain doesn't understand enhanced interrogation techniques.

WHA WHA WHAT!

We would never have voted for McCain, we think he's a asshole too, but to say that a man that was held in a POW camp for almost 6 years and tortured on a daily basis does not understand what that means, implies or stands for? What are you Rick Santorum, a fucking idiot?

Alright, we already knew that but this is a new low.

"Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum on Tuesday accused Sen. John McCain of not understanding "how enhanced interrogation works," and Santorum reiterated his support for the use of so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" and argued that such tactics had been crucial in tracking down Osama bin Laden."

Really, Rick? You are a moron, a putz and a slack-livered sausageberry*.

Arizona Sen. John McCain has spoken out in recent days against the use of torture as an interrogation technique, citing information from CIA chief Leon Panetta to argue that enhanced interrogation was not responsible for the discovery of Osama bin Laden, and that, in fact, using such methods could come back to hurt Americans.

"I opposed waterboarding and similar so-called 'enhanced interrogation techniques' before Osama bin Laden was brought to justice. And I oppose them now," McCain said in a speech on the Senate floor last week. "I do not believe they are necessary to our success in our war against terrorists, as the advocates of these techniques claim they are."

"Even more importantly, I believe that if America uses torture, it could someday result in the torture of American combatants."


We know that is true.

Does everyone forget the Geneva Conventions for God's sake? We know that technically this pertains to prisoners of war, but what else do you call the Guantanamo and other black ops prison detainees? Aren't we in the middle of a "War on Terror"? And so wouldn't those rules apply?

McCain is right on this one and don't ever tell a guy that was tortured for 6 years that he doesn't understand it.

What you don't understand Mr. Santorum...is everything.



Santorum - McCain News article

*Funny mean name generator

Family Squabble

Young cub growls at dad for waking him up

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania 2011

A young lion cub learned not to growl at his father the same day the father learned not to growl back or lash out at the cub.

A mother lion, sitting with two unshown cubs off camera, dialed up her maternal courage when the one baby lion got upset at dad for waking him up from a nap. The father, like most, does not tolerate "back talk" and was about to whack the cub as a lesson when mom intervened.

She stood up to the 500 pound male, one of the largest ever captured on film in the wild, and gave him a swipe on the nose.

He took it in stride and the entire family made up before going back to sunbathing.

"The incident was photographed by Elliott Neep who said: 'It was like he was telling him "Don't snarl at me", the mum came over and said "keep it calm" but then slapped the dad with her claws out, leaving a scratch.

'He retaliated and slapped back but kept his claws in. It was extremely brave of her to stand up to him. At just a couple of months old, the cub still needs the protection of its mother.

'If she had not been there the dad would have probably whacked the cub so hard it would have knocked him over.'

The 36-year-old, from Wantage, Oxfordshire, added: 'I have been photographing lions for many years but this was the biggest I have ever seen. Lions normally weigh up 450lbs and I would say this one was at least that - possibly around 500lbs.

'He didn't appear to have any battle marks, which is unusual for a pride male. I imagine he is so big nobody else dares fight him."

Mom and dad have a brief altercation


Mom wins



The family comes together again at the end...




Icelandic Dreams



Photographer Stephane Vetter named this photo "A Starry Night Of Iceland." It's a combination of 6 exposures that captures two auroral celestial "rings", reflecting off of the lake Jökulsárlón.

The Milky Way galaxy, the Pleiades open clusters of stars and the Andromeda galaxy are all visible in the background.

This photo won a prize for landscape astro-photography at the recent 2011 Earth and Sky Photo Contest.

Wow!

"The Northern Lights are formed when particles thrown out of the sun into deep space meet with Earth's magnetic shield and create a circle around the magnetic North Pole when they interact with the upper layers of the atmosphere.

Nasa scientists recently predicted they will shine at the brighest levels seen for 50years in 2012.

The event will be caused by the Solar Maximum - a period when the sun's magnetic field on the solar equator rotates at a slightly faster pace than at the solar poles.

The solar cycle takes an average of around 11 years to go from one solar maximum to the next - varying between 9 to 14 years for any given solar cycle.

The last Solar Maximum was in 2000 and experts have predicted that the next one in 2012 will be the greatest since 1958, where the aurora stunned the people of Mexico by making an appearance on three occasions.

In 2012 scientists have stated that the Northern Lights should at least be visible as far south as Rome."


The Situation's Situation


Holy Family Wars! Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, of Jersey Shore fame, has really pissed off his father this time.

Frank Sorrentino has gone to youtube and posted a number of curse-filled videos aimed at his son and boy are they a doozey!

Here's some excerpts and the situation:

The father of three told the New York post that he resorted to his rants after he asked his wealthy son for help making his monthly medical insurance payments which were running out.

But he claims that his son, said to now be a millionaire, refused to help him.
'It's terrible that I gotta resort to something like this to get someone's attention', he said.

'I've been diabetic for 25 years and my insurance was running out and I called up my son and said, "Listen Mikey, I'm between jobs right now, can you help me out? I don't want to lose my health coverage."'

'What I expected was a call back saying, "Dad, are you ok?" I didn't think he wouldn't have the decency to not call me back.'

'He's a man who up until he hit the lottery on Jersey Shore was having a hard time... and he left me hanging to die.'

'He created more situations for me in my life, than the name he gave himself and put me in more confrontations than any boy I ever had', Frank ranted.

'You're all for yourself. You're full of shit! I put my fucking balls on the line for you a hundred fucking times when you couldn't', he vented to his son.

Not limiting his vitriol to just his son - the then turned on Jersey Shore star Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi and said: 'If I was that girl's father I'd run for cover... she's a 4ft 11in piece of shit!'

'Deena is a first-class Italian pig... any girl who shows her, puttana [Italian slang for genitalia] the first time they're on fucking TV is a pig', he said of Deena Cortese.

'And Ronnie is a fucking cry baby. How do you get on TV and cry like a fucking bitch over a girl? Be a fucking man', he added.

WOW! At first glance this all seems very over the top.

But is it? Mike is a millionaire now and he refused to help his dad pay for medical insurance?

Is it right to go on youtube and vent? Well, is it right to do a reality show where you bang drunk girls all night and then act like you're a god?

The apple, as they say, does not fall far from the tree. And in this case, it's a Italian familigia. They sound like an episode of The Sopranos.

And, we have got to say this...Pops Situation hit the nail on the head with the comment about Deena, Snooki and Ronnie. Deena IS a pig, Snooki CAN BE a piece of shit and Ronnie IS one hell of crybaby.

Mike, call your dad now before he makes more videos! And for God's sake give him a lousy grand or two to shut him up!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Beatrice's Hat

Forget Pippa's lovely derierre, the big talk of the Royal Wedding was Beatrice's hat.

And oh, what an overnight sensation the hat has been!

Here's a reminder:


Then things started popping out of it!







Even the Eye of Sauron was in it!



Then it went "Retro"





And it reminded people of a toilet:



But then Famous People started wearing it!


















Today it is being auctioned off for charity. Good riddance to the dumbest hat ever.

Mishka Says "I Love You"

Mishka, the Siberian Husky, can say I love you. We googled this item and actually came up with TONS of husky's that can talk videos.

Apparently, Siberian Huskies are the Parrots of the dog world and can be taught to speak...and very well!

Check out this video of Mishka and then Youtube her. Her proud parents have posted numerous videos of her saying everything from "How you doin'" to "Obama"!



Bob Marley

We lost this incredible talent 30 years ago today...

Here he is in 1979 in California, at the Santa Barbara County Bowl.

Get Up Stand Up, one of the greatest songs ever.



Stand up for your rights and don't give up the fight!

Monday, May 16, 2011

SURVIVOR: And The Winner Is...

You probably already know and we'll get to the winner in a minute.

First, it's the Finale Show! That means 3 hours of Survivor, 3 Tribal Councils, 2 Challenges and 1 winner.

We started with the final duel on Redemption Island. Up, were Andrea, Matt, Mike and Grant.

Matt, The Undisputed King of Redemption Island, has spent 39 days there having been in the game only 7 days. He faced 11 duels and won 10, as alas, he was not the winner of this last duel.

We really though Mike or Grant had it as well, but no. Andrea wins and gets sent back to camp as one of the final four. The other three throw their buffs in the fire and are sent out of the game, to shower and change and join the jury at Tribal Council.

At the first challenge we can again expect a woman to win as it was a balance beam, run to collect bags and arrange numbers puzzle. Ashley wins immunity for the second week in a row, pissing off Rob and Rob narrowlymisses the win.

The first Tribal Challenge isn't much of a hoot. It's pretty straight forward. The jury files in: David, Julie, Ralph, Grant, Mike, Steve and Matt.

No surprise - we've been expecting this for weeks, Jeff asks for anyone to play the Immunity Idol now because it's the last time they will allow it. So lo and behold, Boston Rob coughs it up. No one seems surprised except, Phillip, who isn't supposed to be surprised at all being "The Undercover Specialist" and all.

Andrea gets voted out for the second week in a row. There was no need to use the idol after all, Rob could have taken it home as a souv.

The second Tribal Challenge is a HUGE MASSIVE maze the players must navigate, while finding hidden puzzle bags in 4 different huts, they must find their way to.

Ashley and Rob begin kicking ass, Phillip can only find 2 bags and Natalie gets lost immediately and only gets one bag, spending the rest of the challenge with her hands on her hips in the center about to cry at any moment.



Rob and Ashley go to the wire and when Rob wins the final challenge, the final immunity win, he starts to cry and then laugh. Later to the camera he cries pretty hard about his wife Amber (former Survivor winner) and his two babies at home. It would've been touching but he's so damn dramatic that we're over it. Plus, he says "The only question now is which one of these idiots I am sending home." Gee, how endearing.

At Tribal Council #2, Ashley finally gets the boot, or the torch snuffed in this case.

The final three: Rob, Phillip and Natalie go back to camp for a BIG feast.

They should be getting ready for the Final Walkabout, a Survivor tradition where the final two/three go walking around the island to the torches of all the voted out Survivors and...it's boring so the producers left it out this year.

The Internet is all abuzz about it, but as Jeff said, "We did shoot the tribute, but we had too much show and had to make a decision. We decided to edit the episode without it and if anybody spoke up during the notes process that they truly missed it, we’d revisit it. Nobody did. The “fallen comrades” has always been a “love it-hate it” part of the show."

Phillip finally threw his red droopy underwear into the fire and burned them forever! He made some big statement about it too: "My manhood was never reflected in these plum colored underwear." We agree Phillip.

At Final Tribal Council, Phillip shows up wrapped in a red blanket with two or three feathers sticking out of his headband. Love him or hate him, after 22 seasons and countless Survivors, Phillip has been the most unique. We love him.

The final Tribal is when the final three plead their case to win and the jurors get to unleash on them.

Rob made the best case. Natalie was stupid and Phillip really disappointed us. All he talked about was Rob. Man, they love that guy! This was his big chance and all he said over and over was I thank Rob for getting me here. Phillip, you're fired!

The jury had the usual questions: "Why should I vote for you? What did you learn? Are you proud of yourself for selling everyone out?"

All three got it pretty bad. Phillip was told he was weird and hated, his behaviour shameful. Natalie got called a coattail rider and useless. Rob got ripped for lying to everyone.

David, the lawyer, then got up and instead of talking to the finalists, he turned to the jury and addressed them. He pointed at Phillip and said he doesn't deserve to be here. He pointed at Natalie and called her stupid. He pointed at Rob and said he's the only one that was strategic.

The jury then cast their vote and Jeff took off with it to...6 months in the future in New York City for the live Reunion show and Winner Reveal.

Natalie didn't get one vote. Phillip only one. From Ralph the Sasquatch, who totally redeemed himself weeks earlier and made us like him. Rob "117 Days" Mariano wins the show finally on his fourth attempt.

The crowd goes wild as they all in his favor. Rob also wins the fan award, an extra $100 grand for the sweep. We can't figure that out, but whatever.

Russell shook hands with Rob, burying the hatchet and told Probst not to lose his number. He'll be back!

Phillip got a couple of cheers but we think they treated him badly trying to prove he was a Federal Agent. No one else has to show their resume to America. Phillip wasn't THAT crazy. We still think Russell should have to prove he's in the oil industry. He lies! Which leads us to the next item:

The greatest surprise? Not even Survivor related. BOTH Russell Hantz and Boston Rob land reality TV shows of their own. Rob a travel themed show on the history channel and Russell a real estate "Flip" show on A&E where he promises to revive Houston's economy singlehandedly. Real estate people lie? Russell will probably kick ass.


Friday, May 13, 2011

Reflecting Pool Upgrade in Washington, DC


This is a heads up to tourists heading to Washington, DC this summer (and fall and next spring!)

The iconic reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial has been drained for a $30 million dollar upgrade and will not be filled until summer 2012.

The pool needed to be drained and fixed VERY BADLY!

It had deteriorated over the last 90 years and was loosing a staggering 30 million gallons of water a year. In order to keep filling it up, the city had to take water from the city's supplies - a massive drain on an already stretched system. To counteract this, the new pool will be filled from tidal waters instead.

Last week workers began driving 2,133 wooden stakes into the ground at regular intervals of every 12ft 9in - at a rate of 100 a day - that will support the new pool from underneath when it is installed. Originally built in 1922 on swampy ground, crews have taken out the massive 618-by-51 meter pool to drive the sturdy wood pilings that will provide a better foundation.

Today, over 3.6 million people visit the memorial annually and in 2007, the Memorial was ranked seventh in the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.


We love it there. The entire National Mall is such a wonderful place and so much fun to visit. Our favorite trips ever are to the Smithsonian Museums and walking along the beautiful sandy stretches of the Mall. It seems every time we’ve gone, we’ve been lucky to have gorgeous sunny days. Now, if they can only do something about the traffic and the horrific parking! Once, you’ve parked the damn car, you know you’re home free to enjoy a great, entertaining and informative experience in Washington, D.C.

News Article

SURVIVOR: “I JUST NEED TO KEEP CONTROL”

Boston Rob

Another season of Survivor is almost over. Wednesday’s episode was the last of the regular season, with the Finale on Sunday night at 8pm.

There are still so many contenders for the win that is hard to see who can make it.

There are 4 people on Redemption Island with one of them coming back into the game yet. We hope that it’s Mike, the Iraqi War Vet. He gave away his reward last week, of seeing relatives, to the remaining Survivors in the hope of garnering some “good will” votes. But it’s still Andrea, Mike, Matt and now Grant, who was voted out last night.

“Put your hand on the handle”, said Jeff Probst to start the Redemption Island duel. But what do you call a race between 4 people? It can’t be a duel…just like Redemption Island isn’t even an island. It ceases to be a duel and becomes a contest.

Ralph, the Sasquatch, had the early lead and blew it trying to solve a puzzle. He’s now on the jury. He did have some funny things to say. To Andrea, who was just voted out – “Rob was usin’ you like toilet paper. Just wipin’ his ass with ya.” And to Andrea again “Go sleep on the floor.” To the camera, “If it was my house, I’d let her in to sleep in the guest room, but this ain’t my house and she ain’t on my tribe” or something close to that.

Matt has been on Redemption Island THE ENTIRE SEASON! THE.ENTIRE.SEASON. We guess God wants him there.

The remaining Survivors, Rob, Phillip, Natalie and Ashley are the “Final Four” so far. We don’t know how the Redemption Island person is going to play out.

Back at camp, Boston Rob isthisclose to his first win. And he wants it soooo badly. The other Survivors do everything he wants them to do. It’s amazing the control he has over those people. They aren’t even playing the game!

Rob gives the best quotes:

“I just need to keep control” – On being the puppet master and only having a few days left

“I’ve already run the numbers on this weeks ago” – On who to vote out next

“Where do you get caramel sauce? Is it like where they have the peanut butter shell stuff”? – On making a spontaneous pretend conversation with Natalie so Ashley won’t know they are conspiring against her.

“I have to do all the dirty work because everyone else is too stupid to do it” – On having to arrange the Tribal Council vote

Don’t forget Rob still has an Immunity Idol that NO ONE ELSE KNOWS ABOUT. He is running out of time to use it and Jeff will announce on one of Sunday’s Tribal’s that whoever has one left will have to use it. Everyone will be stunned to see it.

We are still harboring grudges against the tribe that voted out Russell, even though they aren’t there anymore! They won every challenge for weeks on end and came close to decimating Rob’s tribe. Then they threw a challenge just to get rid of Russell. That was the beginning of the end. They then lost, legitimately, EVERY CHALLENGE and when the merge came, Rob’s tribe chewed them up and spit them out, one by one. Russell told them you need numbers going into the merge and they were too dumb to accept that. Well, Rob’s tribe is too dumb to actually play the game! Even though Russell got voted out early, he was still the second best player of the season and one of the best players ever.

However, Boston Rob is SURVIVOR’s greatest player of all time. He has a way of dealing with people in a way that Russell couldn’t. We hope like hell Boston Rob wins…which brings us to…

Phillip “Secret Agent of Crazy” Sheppard. Please, God, let Phillip really win! His special kind of crazy really made this season and all in all we like him, psycho or not. Plus, he wears a feather on his head and prays to his great- grandfather the American Indian. You can’t beat that.

Rob is betting that he’ll win against Phillip and he probably will.

Tune in Sunday for the Finale and Reunion show!

Thursday, May 12, 2011

21 Times? Piece of Cake!


Apa, the world famous Sherpa, has completed his 21st Summit of Mount Everest yesterday.

He began climbing as most Sherpas do, at age 12 to aid foreign tourists in their climbs and now holds the world record for most Everest summits.

He has consistently and persistently complained about the denigration of the mountain due to all the garbage left behind by climbers and has organized this latest climb to raise awareness of the problem. Apa had said his team planned to clear 8,800 pounds of garbage from the lower part of the mountain and another 2,200 pounds from near the summit.

Way to go!

He also said, that the mountain is showing terrible signs of global warming. "Apa said when he first began climbing Everest, the trail to the summit was covered with ice and snow. Now, it is dotted with bare rocks. The melting ice has also exposed deep crevasses, making expeditions more dangerous."

We hear you, dude. Tell that shit to Dick Cheney and all the other Republican douchebags who continually lie about the problem and bad mouth Al Gore. Global warming is a fact not a political ploy.

We know the human race is in trouble, but to destroy the world's tallest mountain by littering the top with trash is unforgivable. We're sick.

Congrats to Apa for doing what he can to save Mount Everest.

Beatrice's Hat

Forget Pippa's lovely derierre, the big talk of the Royal Wedding was Beatrice's hat.

And oh, what an overnight sensation the hat has been!

Here's a reminder:


Then things started popping out of it!







Even the Eye of Sauron was in it!



Then it went "Retro"





And it reminded people of a toilet:



But then Famous People started wearing it!