As first blogged about here on October 13, 2006, a walk on kicker did the unthinkable today: Steve Aponavicius kicked a career-best 37-yard field goal on the final play and the 23rd-ranked Boston College Eagles beat the Navy Midshipmen 25-24 in the Meineke Bowl to extend the nation's current longest bowl-winning streak to seven. Has Dinsey started writing the script, found a director or cast anyone to play the lead yet? Look for the movie to hit about the fall of 2010. As I stated back in October: Go, Sid, Go!
About a month ago, my local newspaper completely revamped its online content and the editor-in-chief published a letter asking for feedback on their new site. I, of course, did and in the same note I asked if they could use a blogger to add additional content to their online presence. I honestly didn't expect for the BOTB to turn into a regular part-time job with my local paper but I thought I would throw it out there, you never know. So what happened? Nothing. No reply. No visit to my blog. Nothing.
At first I was disappointed that I didn't even get a reply from a guy who asked for feedback but it did get me to thinking about what I most enjoyed about my blog in the past 9 months which is posting things from the net that others would enjoy reading, watching, playing with, ect. So starting on January 1st, 2007 I will launch a second blog dedicated to, well I think the title speaks for it's self: Web Of Mass Distraction.
As you can see the first post is there [sans-a-ball-drop video] and for the first week I am keeping this to my closest friends and faithful BOTB readers. In the second week I will send out an email [which I am hoping you can forward to your extended network] about the blog/site.
Thanks to everyone who read this blog over the past year and don't worry, it's not going away it will just return back to it's original purpose: My personal thoughts, ideas, and comments.
PS: For those who have been a long time reader, you may see some of the content from BOTB again on WMD, especially the good stuff.
Can a 2GB iPod Nano hold 500 songs? How about a 4GB SanDisk Sansa player holding 64 hours of music? Neither of these statements are true or at least they need an asterisk or footnote to qualify the statements. Here is the straight dope, MP3 players are portable storage devices that have some finite capacity to store data files. They can hold X amount of data [where X = the storage capacity like 2 or 4 GB].
The iPod Nano has the following statement when referring to storage capacity:
Song capacity is based on 4 minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding; actual capacity varies by content.
This brings up an interesting question, how long are your songs? Well that depends I guess on what you listen to. For example, if your a fan of Green Day's Dookie album you would find 14 tracks with a total running time of 39:46. Average song length: 2:49. Now if you happen to be a fan of Led Zeppelin’s untitled fourth album you would have 8 tracks with a total running time of 42:25. Average song length: 5:18. Almost twice as long! If my MP3's were all twice as long as yours, we would have a much different number of songs that we could store on the identical device - because it's all about storage capacity.
The SanDisk Sansa player has the following statement regarding storage capacity:
4GB of memory plays back over 64 hours of MP3 (128 hours of WMA) music (over 960 MP3/1920 WMA songs)* - based on 128Kbps playback.
This brings up the other major factor is hours of storage, sound quality. When a CD track is ripped into a MP3 file, it has to be encoded at a specific quality or bitrate [or more specifically Kilobits per second - Kbps]. The typical rage of bitrate is from 128 Kbps [PC near CD quality] to 320 Kbps [HI-FI near CD quality]. Each bitrate has it's own "compression" ratio, for example 128 Kbps is 1:11 while 256 Kbps is only 1:5 so if you were to take a full CD [700 MB] of music and rip to 128 Kbps you would end up with 63.7 MB of MP3 data however if you were to use a bitrate of 256 Kbps you would have 126 MB of data - again twice as much.
If you were to mix these two concepts in the worst case scenario, the Zeppelin 256 Kbps rip would be 4 times larger than the Green Day 128 Kpbs rip - even though the Zeppelin album is only 3 minutes longer.
So how many songs [or how many hours] can your MP3 player hold? Exactly, it can store as much music as can fit into it's flash drive until it's capacity is completely utilized.
I'm sure you know that President Ford was the first [and only] President/Vice President to serve without being elected. He was appointed the position of Vice President, via the 25th Amendment, and later became President when Nixon resigned. You probably also know that Ford later gave "a full, free and absolute pardon "for all of Nixon's "offenses against the United States" during the period of his presidency. But did you know:
Born Leslie Lynch King, Jr. and his named was changed to Ford when his mother remarried when he was 1 year old. [He later changed the spelling of his middle name from Rudolff to Rudolph].
The only President whose parents are divorced.
A college football star [Center - University of Michigan undefeated seasons in 1932 and 1933] and turned down pro football offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers to go to law school.
Graduated Yale Law in 1941 and pass the Michigan Bar shortly after, however instead of practicing law he was greatly effected by the attacks on Peal Harbor and...
Enlisted into the US Navy and served from 1942 to 1946 and as a reserve until 1963.
For his Naval Service in the World War II, received the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with nine engagement stars, Philippine Liberation with two bronze stars and the American Campaign and World War II Victory Medals.
Ford faced two assassination attempts during his presidency, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme on September 5, 1975 and Sara Jane Moore just 17 days later. The two attempts were not related.
Administration saw the withdrawal of American forces from Vietnam and the execution of the Helsinki Accords
The longest-lived United States president, having surpassed Ronald Reagan's record on November 12, 2006 and the last surviving member of the Warren Commission.
Died on the 34th anniversary of the death of another U.S. President, Harry S. Truman.
Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. (July 14, 1913–December 26, 2006) may he rest in peace.
Yes I did, get the Dwight Schrute Bobblehead doll from my loving wife for my desk. The DS Bobblehead keeps a watchful eye over my domain while I am away from my desk. If you love the real deal bobblehead doll then your going to love The Bobblehead Bash: Dwight vs The Donald. I love watching those two bobbleheads go mano-a-mano. Hope you enjoyed your holiday as much as I did.
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads. And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below. When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.
With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!
"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky. So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot. A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.
His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face and a little round belly, That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself! A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk. And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight, "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"
Festivus, from the Latin word festivitas meaning holiday, is traditionally celebrated on December 23rd and there are three distinct elements to a real, traditional Festivus party:
1. An aluminum pole is generally used in lieu of a Christmas tree or other holiday decoration, shedding holiday materialism. This type of pole is traditionally used because of it's "very high strength-to-weight ratio and very low-maintenance." If you wish to order your own Festivus Aluminum Pole, The Wagner Companies. a Milwaukee-based maker of hand-railing components, sells them online for just 38 bucks.
2. The celebration of Festivus begins with the Airing of Grievances, which takes place immediately after the Festivus dinner has been served. There is not long standing traditional Festivus dinner however meat loaf or spaghetti in a red sauce with hearty beer, rum, bourbon, or wine is quite typical. If you need some dinner help, maybe you can visit the Festivus Holiday Market in New Orleans. The Airing of Grievances is where each person tells each and everyone else all the ways they've disappointed him/her over the past year. This is the feel-good part of the celebration.
3. After a Festivus dinner, the "Feats of Strength" are performed. Traditionally, the head of the household selects one person at the Festivus celebration and challenges that person to a running match. Tradition also states that Festivus is not over until the head of the household is pinned. This is one example of how to pin the head of the house hold, although not recommended for anyone out of college.
Sometimes there can be a the phenomenon know as the Festivus Miracle that can occur during the celebration and, although none have been scientifically documented and proven, when they occur it can really make your day Festastic!
The time for the big man to make his rounds is getting close now and for those parents who want to use the net this holiday season, here are a few sites that might be helpful:
Ok so this is partially our tax dollars "hard at work" but it is a fun site which you can use to track Santa's progress Christmas Eve. The kids really get a kick out of watching him fly all over. They even have a toll free number you can call on Christmas eve, starting at 2 am mountain standard time. The number is 877-HI-NORAD [or 877-466-6723 for those who hat dialing by letter].
Large site with lots to do but my favorite part is the Santa Claus Naughty or Nice Rating system. Just type in your name, or your child's name, and out comes the results from their patented Nice-O-Meter [or is it niceometer?]. This is my read out from the Nice-O-Meter:
Much more nice than naughty. Can be very thoughtful. Has improved cleanliness, which I like. Could take better care of toys. Says "thank you" often, but still not as much as I would like. Good mood often spreads to others. Hopefully, will keep up the good work!
Guess I have to be better with my toys and say thank you more often, which is just good advice.
Another large website with hours of fun, especially the ElfChat feature. It's not the most intelligent pseudo-chat algorithm however it could be fun to have the kids chat with a real live [programmed] elf just before Christmas.
Santa Claus Live offers some insight into Santa's office, which is apparently located far away in the North of Finland on the Arctic Circle - I didn't know that. The Santa Claus Live indoor and outdoor webcams look like something fun to watch before the big day [they went live on December 1st and will go offline on January 10th.
You can take the level of interaction with the big guy to a new level on telsanta where you can hear from Santa himself. The calls are not toll free but it does record your voice [and your Christmas wish list] and email it back to you. Very clever.
Of course if you want to take your Christmas game to the next level, how about having your very own Real Bearded Santa Claus visit the house on Christmas Eve / Day. Check out the guys from the Eastern USA Santa list. These guys look good, especially Santa Lawrence, Towson, MD - that guy looks like the real deal.
Did you know that approximately 2 billion candy canes will be sold in the four weeks before Christmas and Hanukkah? That's a lot of canes! The candy cane's origin dates back to the late 1600's and The Cologne Cathedral in Köln, Germany (official name Hohe Domkirche St. Peter und Maria). Part of the Christmas celebration at the Cologne Cathedral were pagents of living creches. In about 1670 the choirmaster there had sticks of candy bent into the shape of a shepherd's crook and passed them out to children who attended the ceremonies. This became a popular tradition, and eventually the practice of passing out the sugar canes at living creche ceremonies spread throughout Europe.
The use of candy canes on Christmas trees made its way to America by the 1800's, however during this time they were still pure white. They are represented this way on Christmas cards made before 1900, and it is not until the early 20th century that they appear with their familiar red stripes.
Many people have given religious meaning to the shape and form of the candy cane. It is said that its shape is like the letter "J" in Jesus' name. It is also in the shape of the shepherds' crook, symbolic of how Jesus, like the "Good Shepherd" watches over his children like little lambs. It is a hard candy, solid like a "rock", the foundation of the Church. The flavor of peppermint is similar to another member of the mint family, hyssop. In the Old Testament hyssop was used for purification and sacrifice, and this is said to symbolize the purity of Jesus and the sacrifice he made.
Some say the white of the candy cane represents the purity of Jesus and his virgin birth. The bold red stripe represents God's love. The three fine stripes are said by some to represent the Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Others say they represent the blood spilled at the beating Jesus received at the hands of the Roman soldiers.
From its plain early beginnings to its familiar shape and color of today, the candy cane is a symbol of Christmas and a reminder of the meaning of the holiday.
The first full length Transformers Trailer has hit the net and it does wet the appetite for more. The effects look awesome and man do those robots look real. I wish there were more robots and less humans and a nice full robot sequence, but I'll take what I can get. Only 196 more days till the world wide release...
Are you really struggling with finding that one last gift for your girl/woman/lady? Do you want to get her something very special? Do you want to make this the most memorable holiday season ever? Maybe you might want to get her the D**k in a Box.
This is a really good SNL Digital Short film which really has the boy-band look and feel, featuring Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg, plus the part of the song where they give the 3 steps to creating the gift is, well let's just say this:
1. Gift Wrap Box: 2 Dollars 2. Scissors To Cut Hole: 4 Dollars 3. Nerve to "Put Your Junk In": Priceless
By the way, if you want to see it out of the box, you may want to check out Waiting... The language in the film is bit over the top but when they go for a laugh, they get a big one. Also the movie gives new meaning the the words Bat Wing, Abraham Lincoln, Brain or Goat. You'll have to see it to believe it.
7 shopping days left for Christmas. Do you still need a few more gift ideas? Are you also getting excited about the return of American Idol on January 16, 2007? Well how about an American Idol CD for Christmas, but which one? Taylor Hicks? Daughtry? Kellie Pickler? 3 Idols from season 5 have dropped albums just in time for the holiday season [Katharine McPhee'sNever Saw It Comin' is due on 1/30/07] and here is my take on each album:
Kellie Pickler's Small Town Girl [released October 31, 2006] was the first Idol album released as at times it sounds as if it was rushed. The first single, Red High Heels is lyriclly as simple as country songs get. Many of the songs almost sound the same music and I really couldn't find 1 track that has the hook that keeps you listening. I hope the acting thing really works out for Kellie. Maybe the hardcore country fan will find more to love with this cd than I did.
Chris Daughtry's Daughtry [released November 21, 2006] is a showcase for Chris' distinctive voice and his love of the roots of rock music. The record includes up-tempo rock/pop tracks like It's Not Over, Over You and Feels Like Tonight, power ballad style tracks like Home, Breakdown and All There Lives and a couple of metal like tracks in What I Want and There and Back Again. All in all, Daughtry hits all areas of the rock genera in a single cd. For the Nickleback/Creed/3 Doors Down fan, this album is worth the listen.
Taylor Hicks' self-titled debut [released December 12, 2006] truly encompasses the man who was your American Idol. We all loved Taylor for his soulful sound, fun persona and big song ending who-knows-what. Tracks like The Runaround, Heaven Knows and Soul Thing are just fun sing-a-long songs while Just to Feel That Way, Places I've Been and The Right Place are soulful slow dance tracks that give the album nice balance. If you liked Taylor on Idol last season, you will love this album and his sound.
I would recommend either Daughtry or Taylor Hicks this holiday season. Look for a review of Never Saw It Comin'next month and in the meantime, check out McPhee's album cover art and this might give you an idea of what kind of music we are in-store for.
Check out this very elaborate Lost animation. Love the use of Beck's Loser, um I mean Weird Al's very, very long The Alternative Polka. Looks like the "animation" effect is very similar to the methods used to create Scanner Darkly.
Also check out a holday 24, a nicely done parody of the show 24 and what really get's Santa into all those houses in one night. The clip is slightly longer than 2 minutes but I'll let it slide.
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut is a 2006 film that is a re-edit of the 1980 film Superman II staring Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, and Marlon Brando. As much as half of the film contains never-before seen material filmed by Donner, including 15 minutes of restored Brando scenes as Superman's father Jor-El as well as numerous new Reeve and Kidder scenes. One exception to this is the new alternate scene where Lois discovers Clark's true identity by shooting him. Donner was never able to shoot this scene during principal photography. The take now used in this cut was actually used as a screen test for Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder.
According to the website Supermancinema.co.uk, the Donner cut breaks down thus: 75% is the original Donner shoot, 8% is newly filmed or CGI material, scenes from the first film and also the Niagara Falls Donner-filmed screen-test, and 17% is Lester footage edited to reflect Donner’s vision of the film, specifically removing many of Lester’s trademark sight-gags. About 50 percent of the film is brand-new to the audience.
For those Superman fans, it is worth the viewing and it gives us a chance to see new Reeve footage and as the beginning of the film says "This picture is dedicated in loving memory to Christopher Reeve, without whom we would never have believed that a man could fly".
Last night Lisa finished her last final and now we are both done for school for this fall. It was hard going back to school after a long hiatus for both of us and going to the "all on-line" model for Lisa was very challenging in the first few weeks. Now all of that is finished and we are both looking forward to some relaxing and the holiday season.
OR
We are really looking forward to installing the rest of our new windows [done], removing the wallpaper in the dining room and painting it Wildflower Honey Yellow and Frosted Pomegranate Maroon with new curtains, replacing the shower liner in our circa 1974 "blue" bathroom, installing ceiling fans in all of the bathrooms [that's three] and finishing off the "master" bathroom with a new shower liner, sink/vanity, toilet, floor, lights and paint.
It's actually going to be fun [and frustrating as all house projects are] to do some work on the inside of the house before school starts up again on January 15, 2007.
We all remember the 1987 public service announcement where the father confronts his son about his "box-o-pot" and after pressing him, the son finally retorts "I learned it by watching you". Well now we have a new PSA presented by the Jedi Council for a Safer Galaxy. It's good to see Chad Vader getting out of the grocery store and taking an interest in his own family.
It's a phenomenon known as Déjà Vu. We have all had this feeling and as a matter of fact just Friday morning I was briefly listening to the Opie and Anthony show on my way to work and I had swore I had heard the show before but of course I couldn't have because it was live or did I already hear it 4 days ago?
In the movie, the FBI has found a way to look back in time to just over four days ago and are trying to use this new technology to solve the ferry explosion that killed over 500 people. The story is set in post-Katrina New Orleans and is the first film to be made in that city since the devastating hurricane. I applaud Tony Scott and crew for first filming there and employ the local New Orleans community as well as not sugar coating the destruction there. It's refreshing to see Hollywood reminding the world of how bad it was and still is in the Big Easy.
SPOILER ALERT. Information below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this movie.
Time travel movies can be difficult because you can end up with plot inconsistencies or impossible paradoxes, like the Terminator Timeline issue - Terminator's CPU is used to create SkyNet which in turn creates the Terminator which can not exist until it is sent back through time which is impossible because it does not exist yet. Make Sense? Anyway, in the movie Agent Carlin [Denzel Washington] sees bloody rags at Claire's apartment and we later learn his finger prints are everywhere which is all confirmed when he travels back in time. So why isn't the ferry disaster also a known out come since he clearly saves the ferry in the new time line? Of course that would ruin the plot of the movie but it only makes sense that if in the future he has already come back through time and saved the day then, just like his fingerprints are in her apartment, the ferry would not have exploded in the first place. Also, does the future Carlin [who has already come back in time] need to come back again to really save the ferry and the girl? That would take a much longer discussion.
Overall, once you suspend logic and realism, I liked this movie. It has a really good pace, is visually attractive and does keep you guessing along the way.
I have been thinking about next year and what goals can I set for myself. This year it was a marathon, so what's left? Well here are three things I would like to accomplish next year:
1. Run Heartbreak Hill. Those who know the Boston Marathon know the legend of Johnny Kelley and his, as the Boston Globe reported, heartbreak on the fourth and final of the Newton Hills when he passed then leader Ellison Brown with a pat on the back only to loose the marathon when Brown passed him on the way down the other side. Since 1936, this 100 foot climb over half a mile has been known as Heartbreak Hill. The climb itself is not particularly hard but it is it's location on the marathon route, mile 20.5, which makes it all so difficult. The Heartbreak Hill Striders run an out and back loop every Sunday along the marathon route, including Heartbreak Hill, and one Sunday morning this summer I want to join them and take a historical run over the hill.
2. We going Streaking! No, not the way Will "Frank The Tank" Ferrell did in Old School but starting a Running Streak. The United States Running Steak Association defines it as "running at least one continuous mile within each calendar day under one's own body power". I know I can run at least 1 mile a day, now I just have to make it a priority to get out there [or on the treadmill] for at least a mile everyday. Can I make it 365 days in a row? I'd like to find out and if you want to see other who are currently doing it, check out USRSA's active list - 5 members who have been streaking over 35 years!
3. Swim, Bike, Run. Yup that's right, a Triathlon. I'm thinking about an Olympic length race which is made up from 1.5 km Swimming [.93 miles], 40 km on a Bike [24.85 miles] and a 10 km Run [6.21 miles]. Ironman length is never going to happen for me, I mean I did finish the marathon but not with enough energy to also Swim 2.4 miles and Bike 112 miles. I am currently eyeing the 2007 Cranberry Country Triathlon, which will be held on Sunday, August 26, 2007 in Lakeville, Massachusetts. I really need to get on the bike and into the pool if I am going to do this. Anyone got a wetsuit? Anyone want to join me?
Well that should about do it for next year and don't worry, I would never miss the Harpoon 5-Miler or the Worcester Firefighters Memorial 6K. They have become traditions for the summer running season.
Until December 21st, Blockbuster is offering 1 free movie rental for NetFlix subscribers. You can get one free rental at Blockbuster stores for each address label they bring in from your NetFlix mailing envelopes. On a side note, I wish I still had my address label from the Superman Returns DVD that I have at home. Oh well, next time.
This is a pretty good strategy for Blockbuster because us NetFlix users will just be handing over our name and address to them for just the cost of a single DVD. Almost free and they get to build a nice list of people who like the service just not their's. Also they get an even more refined list of potential customers who are local and willing to drive to one of their locations. This ties in nicely to their brand new Total Access movie rental scheme. Good idea Blockbuster. I'll make sure I drop in to get my free rental as soon as my next NetFlix movie arrives.
Office Max has this fun little site where you can put your face on an elf's body and share it with all your friends. You know a wise man once said, "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is to place your face on an elf body for all to see and hear". Or something like that.
We all know the story of Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, who was searching for the Fountain of Youth when he traveled to present-day Florida in 1513. It seems like ever since, people have been looking for the cure to the natural aging process. The latest fad in the unending search is Resveratrol, which is found in the skin of red grapes and as a constituent of red wine. It came to scientific attention only four years ago as a possible explanation for the "French Paradox" - the low incidence of heart disease among the French people, who eat a relatively high-fat diet.
Resveratrol is a phytoalexin produced by several plants that is sold as a nutritional supplement, which were first sourced from ground dried red grape skins and grape seeds (sometimes from residual byproducts of winemaking), but are now primarily derived from the cheaper, more concentrated Japanese knotweed.
Since supplements are not regulated by the FDA, what do we really know about the effects [especially the long term] of Resveratrol? Well, not much. According to Melissa Q.B. McElderry, M.S., R.D.:
Laboratory tests have clearly demonstrated that resveratrol may help prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer. However, there are several reasons why recommending a population-wide increase would be premature.
- First, little is known about the absorption and clearance of resveratrol, the identities of its metabolic products, or its effects on the liver. A study in rats showed that resveratrol is absorbed in the gut and has a high affinity for the heart and liver. - Second, the research on resveratrol has focused on its short-term effects and has been dominated by in vitro studies on non-human models. Third, its role as a potentiator of breast carcinomas may significantly limit its use, even for its "proven" benefits. - Finally, its main dietary source is red wine. Not only is its concentration in wine extremely variable, but recommending increased consumption of red wine to boost resveratrol intake could certainly do more harm than good. In spite of any beneficial aspects, red wine and other alcoholic beverages pose health risks that include liver damage and physical addiction.
The health-food industry is claiming that resveratrol is the wine component responsible for the "French Paradox." While taking resveratrol pills is certainly safer than heavy consumption of red wine, supplementing with unproven substances is generally unwise. At this point, occasional use of red wine seems far more prudent.
Additionally, according the the Wall Street Journal's recent article on Resveratrol, they state that:
- Shown to prolong life in mice, at doses equivalent to hundreds of glasses of wine a day - Comes in two forms; trans-resveratrol is the form shown to affect aging in mice. - Supplements haven't been demonstrated to be safe and effective.
So buyer be ware when it comes to natural supplements and for those out there who are taking these pills by the fist full [see Harry Highkin or David Sinclair], maybe you should just stick to a glass of red wine a day instead. At least we know what does to the body.
Today at 2:24:43 pm, this experiment called The Bottom Of The Barrel, the 1,000th visitor came to my blog [Note I know who you are and thanks to J for being The Man]. Thanks for everyone who stops by and checks out my random thoughts and sometimes incoherent ramblings. 1,000 down, 990,000 to go!
Interesting [and potential signs of the apocalypse] stats from yesterday's NFL action:
In a 23 to 14 victory over the Oakland Raiders, Houston's Net Yards Passing [which is total yards passing minus total yards lost due to quarterback sack] was -5 yards. That is not a typo, that is -5 yards. Davis Carr threw for 32 to yards on 7 of 14 pass attempts but was sacked 5 times for a total loss of 37 yards. Who needs positive passing yards to win a game anyway?
In a 23 to 13 victory over the Minnesota Vikings, Chicago’sRex Grossman had a quarterback rating of 1.6 with 6 of 19 passing for 34 yards, 4 rushes for -9 yards, 1 sack for a loss of 10 yards and 3 interceptions. 1.6, is that correct? Is the decimal in the wrong place? Nope 1.6 is how low his rating was for yesterdays game. Luckily the 3 headed monster that is Brad Johnson, Brooks Bollinger and Tarvaris Jackson didn't play much better and the Vikings were unable to capitalize on Grossman's continued downward spiral.
In a 20 to 17 victory over the Mighty Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee'sRob Bironas kicked a 60-yard field goal with 7 seconds left in the game. Vince Young and Company were able to move the ball from their own 25 to the Colts 42 in just 2:25 seconds setting up the 60 yard feild goal. This is the second week-in-a-row the Titans were able to come-from-behind and pull out a victory. Given this is Indy's 2nd loss in 3 games, is this yet another year where they just can not go the distance and win it all?
In a 23 to 20 victory over the new York Giants, Martin Gramatica kicked a 46-yard field goal with 1 second left to win the game for the Dallas Cowboys. Gramatica also hit field goals from 35 and 41 yards out and made both extra point kicks. This is from a guy who was added to the Cowboy's roster one week ago after failed stints with both New England and Indianapolis. The continued success of the Cowboy's and specifically Tony Romo reminds us of the rise of one Mr. Tom Brady - out of nowhere into the spot light. Imagine if Dallas could win it all this year? Drew Bledsoe could watch another replacement, in a superbowl, from the sideline.
Well these might not be signaling the end of time, but one thing is for sure, things are a changing in the NFL.
- road - window - car - trash cans - light pole - wall
The graphics are really awesome and I especially like how the alley builds around our hero. If you are unable to find all 9 things you can do to your stuntman, try the keep board. Highlight here for the spoiler keys [spacebar, a, c, l, n, p, s, t & z]. Also check out Action City online. Sure it's in Spanish but again the visuals are really cool. Have a great weekend.
I'm sure you know that President Ford was the first [and only] President/Vice President to serve without being elected. He was appointed the position of Vice President, via the 25th Amendment, and later became President when Nixon resigned. You probably also know that Ford later gave "a full, free and absolute pardon "for all of Nixon's "offenses against the United States" during the period of his presidency. But did you know: 
From the BOTB to you and your family.
Did you know that approximately 2 billion candy canes will be sold in the four weeks before Christmas and Hanukkah? That's a lot of canes! The candy cane's origin dates back to the late 1600's and The Cologne Cathedral in Köln, Germany (official name Hohe Domkirche St. Peter und Maria). Part of the Christmas celebration at the Cologne Cathedral were pagents of living creches. In about 1670 the choirmaster there had sticks of candy bent into the shape of a shepherd's crook and passed them out to children who attended the ceremonies. This became a popular tradition, and eventually the practice of passing out the sugar canes at living creche ceremonies spread throughout Europe.
