Radio Free Kirkopolis

I’m not sure about the applications of this, but I’m sure the U.S. Military would never dream of wasting the taxpayer’s money.

A joint U.S. Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project is moving speedily along--intended to fly to Mach 20, plus some…
A Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle-1 (HTV-1) is now on the books for a less than one-hour flight in September 2007. Attaining Mach 19 (19 times the speed of sound), the glided air vehicle will briefly exit the Earth's atmosphere and reenter flying between 19 and 28 miles above the Earth's surface. This inaugural voyage of HTV-1 would end in the Pacific Ocean.
The Falcon HTV program is geared to showcase the ability of a craft to attain hypersonic speeds - ranging from 6,000 to 15,000 miles per hour (Mach 9 to Mach 22), and reach altitudes between 100,000 to 150,000 feet. To do so will necessitate an airframe structure designed to survive intense heat and pressure.

Really, Mach 19. That’s is sooooooooooooo cool.
sidenote - Jason, it seems Lockheed has something to do with this- what you got?

No, I’m speaking of the Super Bowl and I won’t be ‘till afterwards. You don’t talk to a pitcher during a perfect game and thus I won’t give you my predictions of the outcome. I’d hate to put on the jinx and be the sole reason for a Steelers loss. That’s an accolade they’ll have to earn on their own.
Nope, I’m speaking of the Winter Olympics, just a few days away now. I really can’t wait, and I’m glad I’ll be able to stay up and watch the opening ceremonies. I’m not sure why, but I get very emotional during these things. Each year they get a little better and better, some might find them boring (and I can see where that comes from) but I usually put that out of my mind. Even the ‘Parade of Nations’, which lasts about as long as the Lord of the Rings Trilogy gets me all quivery. HDNet still shows the last Summer Games every few days and when the opening ceremonies come on, I pretty much watch the whole thing. This event was also the first real test of HD, and you can still see some pixalization (I assume from up-conversion) so I’m hoping for some BIG improvements this time around.
Why do I love the opening so much? I suppose it has something to do with these athletes, most will not even make it past the first rounds of their respected sports get their moment in the limelight. They’ve worked harder at their sport than I’ll work at anything- all for that one moment. Good for them.
Oh, and then there’s the sporting events.
First off, I like the bobsled. Seriously, how cool would it be to ride in one of those things? My question is how someone gets involved in that sport in the first place. How many people do you know have gone out for an ‘evening of bobsledding?’ Or skeleton. How do you even begin to train on this thing? In essence it’s nothing more than a serving tray that goes about 90 mph. I’d probably crap myself during the ride, but it sure would be fun.
One person I’m really excited about seeing is freestyle skier Jeremy Bloom. Also a standout receiver for the University of Colorado, he had some trouble with the perpetual dick-faces of the NCAA and wrote a rather amazing ‘letter’ stating his case. If you’ve ever had the urge to do a “letter to the editor” kind of thing in the newspaper than this is a perfect blueprint to work off of. This letter is one of the most well written acts of defiance and point-making I have ever had the extreme pleasure of reading. I posted it once before on ‘Radio Free- The Lost Episodes.’ Do yourself a favor and check it out HERE. Good luck buddy.
Then there’s Bode Miller.
First off, the guy’s name is Bode. That alone deserves a beatn’. Second, he has already admitted hitting the slopes in a few tournaments drunk. Nice. Ladies and Gentlemen, representing America- a drunk hippie who is also, by his own admission, spooked of narcotics testing (for the obvious reason- like I said, his name is Bode).
Now this blockhead has gone on record as saying that Lance (that’s Armstrong to those new to RadioFree) is doping.

If you say it has to be 'knowingly,' you do what Lance (Armstrong) and all those guys do, where every morning their doctor gives them a box of pills and they don't ask anything, they just take the pills."

Right… That’s what Lance did. He just ‘took pills’ and didn’t ask questions. Hey Bode- if you ever bothered to either a: not hit the bong before a Rolling Stone interview, or b: knew what the fuck you were talking about, you’d know that Lance is the MOST TESTED athlete in the entire world. And one must remember that Lance is in a sport whose testing is so intense that several competitors have been busted not with drugs in their blood system, but OTHER PEOPLE’S BLOOD in their blood system (they go so far as to get full transfusions to not get caught).
I will admit, if something happened and there was real proof that Lance doped, I would be surprised, not shocked but surprised. Until then one must remember two basic things-
1: Of all the speculation, books, reports and evidence, NO ONE has ever been able to show definitive proof that Lance doped.
2: Do a search on Lance’s physiology, this guy doesn’t need to dope. It’s as if some evil genetic scientist said “I want to design the perfect cyclist” and he came up with Lance. From his respiratory system that is a staggering 80% more efficient than a normal person’s, to his extra long femurs that give him 30% more power in the climbs to the his unexplainable ability to produce 40% less lactic acid than the average athlete’s- this guy is a machine. Has he done drugs? Sure- it’s called chemotherapy.

Wow, did I get off my original point or what?

So, in a nutshell- I’m looking forward to seeing the opening ceremonies (hopefully the HD signal will come in), some cool, fast, and potently deadly competition and someone (an American) beating the crap out of Bode.

I’ll be in D.C (Brandywine to be exact) for most of it, so I guess I’ll just have to recap.

Well it seems that just outside of Tijuana, border officials have found and incredibly complex and intricate tunnel system for smuggling drugs.

The tunnel runs 60 feet deep at some points, is 5 feet high, and is nearly half a mile long, extending from a warehouse near the international airport in Tijuana, Mexico, to a vacant industrial building in Otay Mesa, Calif., about 20 miles southeast of downtown San Diego. The sophistication of the tunnel surprised officials, who found it outfitted with a concrete floor, electricity, lights and ventilation and groundwater pumping systems.
"The tunnel is absolutely amazing," said Michael Unzueta, special agent in charge for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's San Diego office. "It is probably the biggest tunnel on the southern border so far."

Already, officials have seized over two tons of marijuana.
Who says NAFTA doesn’t work?

# posted by Kirk @ 5:53 PM 0 comments

Happy birthday Heir Mozart, you're 250 today.
Funny thing, Mozart actually died at 35, about the same age I am now. Well, if I wanna make the splash he did I better get to work huh?
Anyway, do yourself a favor and listen to a little somethin’ somethin’ by the great one- feel free to download it, I don’t think he’d care much.

At this point it’s still breaking news so I have no details, but one of my favorite actors has passed. Chris Penn was found dead late Tuesday.
This guy was so good, he made “Footloose” tolerable.
Read his rather impressive bio HERE.

In a move that will make Justin Timberlake fans across the world wet their pants on the way to their Jr. High basketball game, the WB has merged with the UPN.

The new network — to be called The CW — will debut on many former affiliates, ... Executives for CBS and Warner Bros. Entertainment said Tuesday that The CW will offer the most popular shows from UPN and The WB — programming largely targeted at the hard-to-reach 18-34 age demographic — including "America's Next Top Model," "Smallville," "Veronica Mars," "Everybody Hates Chris" and "Reba."
"The CW is going to be a real competitor, a destination for young audiences, diverse audiences, and a real favorite with advertisers," said Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS, which has owned UPN since 2002. "The CW will be able to do something truly remarkable: program already-hit shows every single day of the week, programs that consistently rank No. 1 or No. 2 in their time slots in the most coveted young-adult demographic."

The spooky thing about this is that it just might work.
You know, I’ve always had this idea going around in my head for a great program that would fit very well on this network- Star Fleet Academy. Take some good looking young actors (probably Canadian, they’re always Canadian) and do a Star Trek show based on their experiences at the Academy. You’ll get the afore mentioned Timberlake fans plus the legions of Trek fans… pure ratings gold baby. I’ve heard that was the original idea behind the last franchise (the one with that guy from Quantum Leap) but it was played around with a little too much and they wound up with something not very successful.
They really need to listen to me.

Although I’m a great fan of the Tour De France, I’ve always felt it had one primary problem - it takes place in France.
That bothers me.
However, last year there was a stage that went into Germany (imagine that, the Frence making their way into Germany) that was very popular. For 2007 the very start takes place in a beautiful stretch of England. Moving it around is something that is becoming more and more popular.
This should be good. Now if they could just move the rest of the race....
Read about it here.
Man, pitchers and catchers reporting soon, Le Tour gearing up, Steelers in the big one- life’s good.

After

About a year ago I was meandering through my LBS (that’s local bike shop for the rest of you) and spied a very nice GT ZR4000, just my size, sitting alone and upsettingly still in road racks. I knew this thing had to be two or three years old as GT was bought out sometime ago by retail bike king Pacific (they supply Wal Mart). Several companies such as Schwin, certain divisions of LeMond and Raleigh went as well. Anyway, it was the last of the real GT’s. My mountain bike is a GT as well, so I was drawn to it via instinct.
Also evident to it’s long-standing in the shop was the price tag. Turns out this bike is a 2000 model, but bike technology at this level doesn’t change that drastically so it’s no big deal, but when you have old inventory that will dictate a change in price. Originally this bike went for about $1000, which in today’s terms would be about $1200, however it was marked down to $800. Now, $800 is nice and all, but still a little much for me, at least at this point. So, I started saving.
Fast forward about a year.
I know its January, and there’s no real reason to go to a bike shop while there’s snow on the ground, but I was bored. So I go meandering through my LBS again, and whom do I see? Why none other than the seed of loins- still in the rack. He was still pretty much the same, except his price tag now said $650. Lucky for me there are very few road riders in Southern Illinois, let alone ones that are small enough for a 50cm frame. So little in fact the bike didn’t move for almost 5 ½ years.
Man was I in luck. I had been saving over the past few months so I was pretty sure I’d be able to pull this one off. So I went home and whined (yes, I whined, a high pitched, nasaly, frumpy whine) to Jennifer about how I promised I was going to ride it all the time (and feed it, give it water, take it for walks etc.) after about two weeks of this she gave up and gave me the go ahead.
So here I am.
Frame constructed of Reynolds 7005 aluminum, Shimano Tiagra components, Mavic XP11 wheels and it all weighs about the same as a gallon of milk.
It was kinda warm today so I put on my winter gear and took if for a 10 mile spin. Holy Crap! My mountain bike was pretty good on the roads but that was like riding a dead cow compared to this. Climbing hills on the roadie took 1/3 the effort than on the MTB. That only makes for longer, more enjoyable rides.
Anyway, I’m sure nobody reading this (if there’s anyone who even bothered to read this far) that gives a rat’s ass about any of this- but I do.
I’m one happy camper.

Continuing the level of class that he showed post-Katrina, New Orleans Mayor (there’s a position that’s on the level and free of any corruption) Ray Nagin has suggested that God is mad at America.

During the January 16 event, Mayor Nagin said: "Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on our country… God also wants a "chocolate New Orleans," referring to the city's predominantly-black makeup prior to Katrina. Demographic predictions suggest the rebuilt city will be smaller and more racially diverse."

Not to long ago Pat Robinson pulled the ‘God is mad’ card out and he was immediately branded as whack-job (well, more so than he already was that is) and rightfully so. Although this Nagin is getting his share of backlash, he’s not nearly getting it as bad as Robinson.
There’s another point here- about the “chocolate” remark. I want you to imagne for one second the upheaval that would occur if any white politician (especially a republican) described a city’s African American population as “chocolate.” The calling for a resignation would wait all of a nano-second.
Also try to imagine if a white politician suggested that God wanted a city of one race- say a vanilla city, why that would be- racist.
So I guess it bears the obvious, something that the left needs a reminder of every so often- yes, minorities can be moronic bigots too.

Depends On What You’re Watching
Seems a TV in the bedroom may interfere with what should really be going on there. Or at least says an Italian sexoligist (why are all the ‘scientits from Italy, why not somewhere like Peru?)

A study by an Italian sexologist has found that couples who have a TV set in their bedroom have sex half as often as those who don't.
"If there's no television in the bedroom, the frequency (of sexual intercourse) doubles," said Serenella Salomoni whose team of psychologists questioned 523 Italian couples to see what effect television had on their sex lives.

May be, but who goes to sleep more satisfied?

In Reality, My Wife Is Almost A Dentist, So This Could Almost Be Me
Well, thank goodness this lady isn’t a proctologist.

LONDON (Reuters) - A British dentist has been banned from working after allowing her unqualified boyfriend to carry out dental work on patients in her surgery, the profession's UK regulatory body said Tuesday.
The boyfriend worked on more than 600 people, drilling out cavities without local anesthetic and installing expensive fillings that crumbled within days, often leaving patients in agony, the BBC said.

So this really begs the obvious question- since when did the BRITISH start giving a rat’s ass about dentistry?

They Did Invent Braunswagger
Um OK, I’ll just let the blockquote speak for itself.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A German cannibal who killed a man who wanted to be eaten told a court Monday that he had only been carrying out his victim's wishes and had not expressly sought to kill him.
"I wanted to eat him, but I didn't want to kill him," Armin Meiwes, 44, told judges in three hours of testimony at his retrial…
…He had admitted killing Berlin-based computer specialist Bernd-Juergen Brandes, 43, but was spared a murder conviction and a possible life sentence because the victim had demanded to be eaten.
Meiwes told the court, repeating much of his testimony from his first trial, that he had severed Brandes's penis at his request and that both had tried to eat it, without success.

I’ve searched in vain for some sort of witty post log to this, but there’s only one thought keeps going through my head- WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH GERMAN PEOPLE???

M. Knight Shyamalan Is Of Indian Descent Isn’t He?
This kind of reminds me of the joke who’s punchline is “Got anything to stop this coffin?”

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An Indian man who was believed dead caused panic when he returned, causing villagers to think he had come back as a ghost, the Times of India reported Monday.
Children screamed "Ghost! Ghost!" and villagers locked their doors when Raju Raghuvanshi returned from jail earlier this month to his village in Mandla district in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
Villagers and family members have ostracized him, forcing Raghuvanshi to file a complaint with local police. The village council has demanded he prove he is not a ghost, but the paper did not say what kind of proof the elders wanted.

It get’s better-

Raghuvanshi's troubles arose after he was jailed last year. In prison, he was admitted to hospital with a stomach ailment from which he recovered but a distant relative told his family he had died.

So it’s not like he stopped breathing and was buried but was somehow revived- nope, people had just been told that he had died.
With that- if I ever see Paul McCartney I’m locking my doors and yelling “Ghost! Ghost!”

Thanks folks, I’ll be here all week.

I hate the radio, that’s no surprise and should be the mantra of anyone who knows an inkling about decent music. But from time to time I have no choice but to listen to it. Well not really, I could listen to nothing but that confounded A.D.D. keeps getting in the way. My drive to work is about 15 minutes so usually a C.D. is out of the question (I like to listen to my C.D.’s as a whole, not just from song to song and mix C.D.’s get really old, really fast). Sports radio isn’t bad, but for some reason the commercial breaks last about 10 minutes and I can’t tell you how bonkers that drives me. (did I just use the word ‘bonkers’ in a sentence?)
Back to my point (see, there goes that A.D.D. getting in the way again) on the occasion when I do listen to the radio I listen to a local station- 103.5 TheX. I’m truly amazed by this station- first of all because it’s a radio station that plays good music, but more so because it’s in Southern Illinois. We must alert NASA.
Anyway, the very best time to listen in is during the noon hour for their alternative-type lunch. Good God, they play some of the best alternative stuff from the 80-present I’ve ever heard.
They play Radiohead, and not “Creep” but “Karma Police.” and “Fake Plastic Trees.” They play R.E.M, and not “Loosing My Religion” but “Radio Free Europe.”
They play The Clash, and not “Rock The Kasbah” but “White Man In Hammersmith Palais.”
They play U2, and not “With Or Without You” but “New Years Day.”
They play Sioxie and the Banshees, and not- well they play Souxie and the Banshees. That pretty much speaks for itself.
Hell, I heard XTC and the Stone Roses last Monday. Who plays XTC and the Stone Roses?
I’ve been searching for a link to listen in via the internet (for you city folk to check it out) but am unable to find one. But then again, I didn’t really look that hard, maybe you’ll have better luck. But if your in the are, give ‘em your support. Good radio is hard to find.

My computer is a nice one, but isn’t all that wonderful. It’s just your run of the mill H.P. with just enough to do what I want it to do; high speed internet, MS Office, photo editing, you get the idea. Apparently however, it also has the ability to read minds.
For the love of David Blaine, please check this out.
It’s the Flash Mind Reader and it’s giving me the willies.
I have no idea how this works, but I’m thinking someone in the vast tens of people who read this, does. I've been looking at the symbols for a while, searching for patternes and what-nots, but still nothing. But then again, I'm not very smart.
If you do know the trick, please ‘splain it to me. Until then, everyone should check it out.
FLASH MIND READER.

Trixter.

According to the self-description it’s apparently “The Blog that oozes swarm on all things pop.” Goodness knows I love me some pop.

All I really got from the profile is the author is from Chicago, thus proving my theory that Illinois breeds, or at least molds, some of the wittiest people in the Northern Hemisphere.

We’re to fake writing what Ireland is to real writing.

Back to the blog- it’s quick, fun and easy to read- much like most of my dating experiences while at University.

Check it out HERE.

I found this while searching for a new profile photo (has anyone even noticed that?) and found what may be one of the greatest photos of all time.
Enjoy-

I’m sure this is probably old news to most of y’all, but I downloaded Google Earth the other day and it has since been the sole propose of me getting about two hours of sleep a night.
As I said when I first hit puberty “I can’t stop playing with this thing.”
If you haven’t downloaded this yet, you should. It doesn’t take up much space and it’s free. Just make sure you have a high speed connection, otherwise it takes forever to view anything.
So far I have looked up every apartment I’ve ever lived in. Every place I’ve ever worked (and there’s a lot), and just about everything else you can imagine.
Here are a few examples-

What you see here is a view of the distribution center I work in. If it looks pretty big, well that’s ‘cause it is. It’s just over 1.3 million square feet (that’s why I have a golf cart, just like Michael Keaton in “Gung Ho). You’ll also notice how fuzzy it is. I suppose it’s either because of cloud cover on the day the picture was taken, some sort of over-my-understanding curve of the earth thingy, or that Marion just ain’t important enough to take up to much focus. I’m betting on the latter of the three.
By contrast you have this- At about 9:00 is where my old apartment in Columbus, Oh. is (just next to Gabby’s bar, oh Gabby’s). The detail, as you can see, is much clearer. If I were to zoom in more you could make out cars and even people walking.
Which brings up this-
Here you’ll see my in-law’s house in DuQuoin, IL. (the light colored rectangle is the built on shed / garage). It’s not far from Carbondale which comes in much clearer than Marion, probably because of Southern Illinois University. Anyway in the driveway is what I’ve positively identified as MY TRUCK.

Yep, Big Brother got me.
As much as if find that to be really cool, I also find it to be a just a little creepy.

I usually regard “Mama’s Family” as the worst show to ever air on television (running a close second by the way would be “Small Wonder”) and was surprised to find out that not only did it actually run for seven freaking years, but was nominated for EIGHT Emmys.
Was television between 1983-1990 so crappy that they just had to nominate anything to make a full ballot?
Good Lord!!
Sorry, but I’m really passionate about how much I hate that program.

Before I go to sleep, I gotta share this-

FORT SUMNER, N.M. - A mouse got its revenge against a homeowner who tried to dispose of it in a pile of burning leaves. The blazing creature ran back to the man's house and set it on fire.
Luciano Mares, 81, of Fort Sumner said he caught the mouse inside his house and wanted to get rid of it.
"I had some leaves burning outside, so I threw it in the fire, and the mouse was on fire and ran back at the house," Mares said from a motel room Saturday.
No was hurt inside, but the home and everything in it was destroyed.

Granted, I really feel sorry for this guy. He lost everything. Then again, why couldn’t he just let the mouse go? Just had to be a badd ass and burn it like you're from Salem huh?

Wasn’t feeling to well when I woke up today yet I slimmed my way out of bed and went to work anyway, after all that’s what good management does, right?

Anyway I was there for about 31/2 or 4 hours and decided I’d had enough. I went home, slimmed my way back into bed and fell into a deep coma.

I’ve been asleep since.

I just woke up ‘cause I’m kind’a hungry and frankly, I need a shower. I’ve got that whole “under the weather” stench about me.

I’m not sure what’s wrong, I’m just feeling a general crappyness about myself, and the result is that I’m very tired. Humm, maybe I gots me that bird flu thingy.

Anyway, I’m going to grab some food and go back into bed.

The worst part is, it’s really nice outside and I can’t go play.

An amazing anthropological find-

LONDON (Reuters) - The preserved remains of two prehistoric men discovered in an Irish bog have revealed a couple of surprises --- one used hair gel and the other stood 6 foot 6 inches high, the tallest Iron Age body discovered.
"The shorter man appeared to attempt to give himself greater stature by a rather curious headdress which was a bit like a Mohican-style with the hair gel, which was a resin imported from France," Kelly told BBC radio.
The fashion-conscious gel wearer has been named Clonycavan Man and Kelly said the fact he was able to buy imported cosmetics suggests he was a wealthy member of Irish society about 2,300 years ago. The other was dubbed Oldcroghan Man.

That’s right folks, seems we’ve discovered the first old gay man and his sugardaddied boy-toy.

I’d Say A Transfer To A Nice, Quiet Pasture Is In Order-

GREAT FALLS, Mont. - A cow that escaped a slaughterhouse dodged vehicles, ran in front of a train, braved the icy Missouri River and took three tranquilizer darts before being recaptured six hours later.

PETA was not involved.

The Most Impactful Thing A Canadian Has Done Since Kids In The Hall-

TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian credit card holder is putting a new twist on an old trick practiced by disgruntled debtors -- repaying his bill in pennies to maximize the collector's inconvenience.
Unhappy when his Canadian bank began outsourcing some of its credit card processing to the United States, the man lodged his protest via the bank's online payment system, jamming its computers by making dozens of tiny payments a day.
Don Rogers said he was worried that anti-terrorism laws in the United States could allow the U.S. government to access his data without his consent.
"I don't want the CIA or George Bush to know how many cases of Viagra I bought last week, or what church or charities I donate to," he told Reuters.

Here’s the best part

Roger's initial attempt at paying in pennies produced a statement over 32 feet long, according to media reports.

I love this guy.
By the way, since when did jobs start outsourcing TO the United States?
If You’re Going To Do Something…

SELDEN, New York (AP) -- A Florida man arrested Saturday for alleged drunken driving slipped off his handcuffs, slid into the driver's seat of a police car and sped off, police said. He was captured a short time later.
Elflein, of Deltona, Florida, was charged with third-degree grand larceny, resisting arrest, third-degree escape, driving while intoxicated and aggravated unlicensed operation.

Well that’s all I got, thanks folks, you’ve been a great audience. I’ll be here all week.

Marcus Vick has been ‘released’ from Virginia Tech, well officially ‘dismissed’. Maybe it’s a day late, and most definitely NOT a dollar short as VT, still counting the dollars from the National coverage pulled in from people watching ‘the next big Vick’ in the Gator Bowl.
Vick now plans on going pro (I love his announcement quote, “It's not a big deal. I'll just move on to the next level, baby").
Think about it for a second, with this turn of events Ron Mexico, er- 'scuse me- the elder Vick, Michael with his litigated, herpes ridden penis is now officially the moral compass of the Vick clan.
It’s a good thing that VT holds all of its students to the highest of standards with an iron-clad, one strike and your out policy. Gosh, maybe they were a little too strict on Vick, after all check it out for yourself in the Marcus Vick Timeline

Sept. 2, 2003: Suspended for one game by coach Frank Beamer for undisclosed reason.
Feb. 17, 2004: Arrested without incident and charged with four misdemeanors -- three for allegedly allowing underage girls to have alcohol and one for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old at a January party. Released on $2,500 bond.
May 14, 2004: Convicted of three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined $2,250. Found not guilty of having sex with the 15-year-old.
July 3, 2004: Charged with reckless driving and possession of marijuana after a traffic stop about 25 miles east of Richmond, Va. at 2:30 a.m. Police said he was clocked at 86 mph, 21 mph above the speed limit, and that the vehicle smelled of marijuana.
July 6, 2004: Indefinitely suspended from football team for off-field problems.Aug. 3, 2004: Suspended from the university for the 2004 season on same day he pleads guilty to reckless driving and no contest to marijuana possession in New Kent, Va. Is fined $300, has driver's license suspended for 60 days and is placed in a first offender program on the marijuana charge, requiring that he perform 24 hours of community service, undergo drug counseling and random drug tests, and give up his driver's license for six months.
Sept. 13, 2004: In plea deal, pleads no contest to one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Receives 30-day suspended jail sentence, is fined $100, ordered to perform 24 hours of community service and stay away from the teenage girls.Jan. 17, 2005: Cleared to rejoin football team and re-enroll at Virginia Tech.
Oct. 1, 2005: Leads No. 3 Hokies to 34-20 victory at West Virginia, and makes obscene gesture to fans who have been calling him names related to past problems throughout the game. He apologized a day later.
Dec. 17, 2005: Pulled over by police in Hampton, Va. for driving 38 mph in a 25 mph zone and driving with a suspended license.
Jan. 2, 2006: Leads Virginia Tech to a 35-24 win over Louisville in Gator Bowl. In the game, he stomped on the left calf of Cardinals All-American defensive end Elvis Dumervil, the NCAA sacks leader. Claims the incident was accidental and that he apologized to Dumervil, who denies ever receiving apology.
Jan 6, 2006: Is kicked off team at Virginia Tech for legal trouble and unsportsmanlike conduct in Gator Bowl.Source: The Associated Press

Well, who hasn’t pulled these exact same stunts?
Way to go VT… keep those morals grounded.
Oh, and Marcus there’s no need to go changing your ways, I hear the Baltimore Ravens are looking for QB this draft.

Two can play at that game!!! Well, one (me) not as well.
After my last post I got to thinking to myself “Self, at one time you had an affinity for messing with Photoshop… you got some almost decent stuff.”
Yeah, I do.
So I fired up the old iMac (apparently it’s still good for something) and transferred a few things. From time to time, as I did with ‘Self Portrait’ I’ll display my work. Usually this will happen when I can’t think of a damn thing to write.
Carry on.

As I was saying before, I have this nasty habit of hitting the ‘next blog’ icon and looking for something almost interesting. From time to time, I’ll find one. But, why keep that all to myself? I think I’ll just start posting the links and sharing with all my minions, under the title “When No So Busy, Check Out…”
Today’s example is Dave’s Pics. It’s a simple page really, not so many of those confounded ‘words’ to get in your way. His page is just some really well done photographs. Actually, they’re quite stunning. Don’t know this guy, or anything about him (ahh, the internet) nor do I know much about photography- but I know what doesn’t suck, and his stuff doesn’t suck.
Do yourself a favor and check him out.

"I was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1974, and tonight, I'm drafted by Pennsylvania to be governor," Swann said.

Jesus wants you to vote Swann.

Wow.

(from BBC News) The White House has been unusually sharply critical of one of the president's most prominent supporters, religious broadcaster Pat Robertson.
Mr Robertson suggested Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for the withdrawal of Israeli settlers in Gaza.
A White House spokesman described the broadcaster's remarks as "wholly inappropriate and offensive". (My emphasis)

So the Bush administration has just slammed the comments of a powerful, religious conservative.
Um, I think that pretty much speaks for itself.

I’m not sure how this will better the human race; cure Asian Bird Flu, create an emission-free car, remove Katie Couric from my television etc. but researchers in Missouri have found the largest prime number- and it’s really large.

The number that the team found is 9.1 million digits long. It is a Mersenne prime known as M30402457 — that's 2 to the 30,402,457th power minus 1.
Mersenne primes are a special category expressed as 2 to the "p" power minus 1, in which "p" also is a prime number.

So, if you have one of those ultra-smart I.T. guys at work who has that nasty habit of making you feel like an idiot, and you've dreamed of getting into his network to ‘alter things’ try using M30402457, after all 1138 is so overused.

I made my world famous Ham ‘n Bean soup yesterday, I was going to post the recipe a few days ago but I was busy…. ah, hell- I just forgot.
Anyway, here goes-
16 oz bag of Great Northern Beans
1 package of cubed ham
1 can chopped tomatoes
½ package of bacon
½ small onion
3 cups of water
Salt, Pepper, Cajun Seasoning (to taste)

Soak the beans overnight (or at least 8 hours). Whatever you do, don’t try the quick soak method- it never really works right. Drain before cooking.
Cut up bacon into squares.
Cut up the onion.
Add up all the ingredients.
Bring to rolling boil.
Continue to simmer about 3-4 hours, or until beans are soft.
Serve with cornbread, lots and lots of cornbread (I suggest johnnycake style).

That’s it.

Being as if it’s January 1st and I have a blog, I believe recent changes in the Patriot Act demand that I whip up a post on what my New Year’s resolution will be.
First off, let me say that I think resolutions are good things. They are a nice little way for everyone to better themselves (or try to at least). I can’t really recall too many people resolving to “smoke more cigarettes,” “eat more fried food,” or “kick more homeless people.” No they seem to be regulated to just making things a just a little better.
My resolution sucks. It’s not awe inspiring like learning a new language or socially conscious like volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, nope- my resolution (like so many other lonely housewives) is to loose weight.
For the past year or so, I’ve developed quite the gut. I really need to eat better and stop making excuses for not exercising.
Eating right is the easy part. I never go out to eat for my lunch so the temptation of the double Whopper isn’t there; it’s really just a matter of packing the right lunch and staying far, far away from soda.
The exercise on the other hand gets a little tricky. First of all, it’s cold. Way to cold to ride my bike that is. Anyone who knows me is aware that during the warm months I’m a pretty avid bike rider. Now there are those guys that put on twenty layers and ride in any condition, but I’m just not that committed. I don’t want to join a gym either as all the places around here call for yearly memberships. I hate that. I only want to work out for the three or four months that it’s cold, and I’m not going to pay for anything above that. I suppose instead of just getting my few months of membership fees, they’d rather just not have any of my money at all.
So the plan is to get a spinner. A spinner is this cool little devise you hook up to your bicycle, turning it into a sort of stationary bike. They’re pretty lifelike (meaning it gives you the same riding position you’re used to) and they have some nice, controllable resistance.
With every journey will come a little sacrifice, and this time it’s that second sub-woofer I’ve been planning on. In addition to biking, my other passion is my audio system. As powerful and accurate as it is, it (and all other systems in the world for that matter) could use a little more bass. I had been planning on getting myself a Velodyine DPS10 with some Christmas money I got (to go along with the CHT8 I already have), but I suppose I’ll filter that money into the spinner.
I don’t mind, in reality I have more bass than I need, it’s just that in my mind I like to say that I’m dual subbing. That sounds so impressive in a geeky way. Like dual operating systems for you computer nerds.
So we’ll see how it goes. I suppose now I should start checking out EBay for the spinner and start that long bike ride that goes nowhere. At least it’ll give me an excuse to wear those dorky shorts for a just a little bit longer.