In Passing: Best news headline of the year
[Posted by Adam Forrest on Sunday, 12/11/11 12:10 am]
Leggo my Jupiter probe
[Posted by Adam Forrest on Friday, 08/05/11 7:10 pm] [Permalink] [Tweet This] This morning, NASA successfully launched its Juno probe, meant to explore Jupiter, the largest and most massive planet in the solar system. News coverage of the event today mentions the probe is carrying some unusual passengers this time, three Lego minifigures.
Made by Lego especially for the Juno mission, these figures are made of aluminum to withstand the extreme conditions of space flight and cost $5,000 each to make.
One of the figures is Jupiter himself, the Roman thunder god, the second is Juno, the sister of Jupiter and namesake of the mission, and Galileo, who first observed Jupiter's moons. Galileo was also the name of the last probe NASA sent to explore Jupiter in 1995.
But, am I the only one who thinks including these Lego minifigures on the Juno probe might not be such a good idea?
What if the probe is intercepted some day by some alien space travelers, or it eventually lands on some other inhabited planet? Might not these extraterrestrials believe we really look like this, with hook hands, square feet and a knob on the top of our head which our removable hair helmet fits onto?
Photo funnies: I'm Only Sleeping
[Posted by Adam Forrest on Wednesday, 06/22/11 6:39 am] [Permalink] [Tweet This]
Sir Paul McCartney turned 69 years old last Saturday. We love Paul, but maybe he should think about taking a nap before performances...
Fave Headline: Garbos On Strike
[Posted by Adam Forrest on Tuesday, 11/23/10 10:04 am] [Permalink] [Tweet This] This is a real headline seen this week in the news:
Garbos walk off job in Brisbane
Huh? Greta Garbo impersonators are going on strike in Austraila? Why would Greta Garbo impersonators want to go on strike? And why are there so many Greta Garbo impersonators in Australia that they need to be unionized?
What? "Garbo" means "garbage collector" in Australia? Oh. That's very different.
Never mind.
Pickle Physics
[Posted by Adam Forrest on Friday, 11/05/10 7:19 pm] [Permalink] [Tweet This] Hey! Someone has broken into my apartment and eaten almost all of my pickles!
Well... maybe not. But I think I have just identified a very interesting aspect of the physics of a jar of pickles.
Have you ever noticed this? You have a jar of pickles in the fridge that you take approximately one from per day for a quick snack. For the longest time, the jar doesn't seem to get that much more empty. Then, all of a sudden, one day you notice that the jar looks almost completely empty. Where did all the pickles go?
I think it may have to do with the the geometry of the pickle spears standing upright in the jar, and then being able to become arranged haphazardly when enough room in the jar opens up. But I just don't know for sure.
For now, I guess it will have to remain a mystery. I just wish I knew who was stealing my pickles...
Numerically perfect day creates Good Vibrations
[Posted by Adam Forrest on Sunday, 10/10/10 10:10 am] [Permalink] [Tweet This] It's another numerically perfect day, 10/10/10. Many interesting things happened today in history on October 10, but one stands out for me, personally. On October 10, 1966, The Beach Boys released the 45 single of Good Vibrations, which has always been one of my favorite Beach Boys tracks.
The instrumental track for the first version of Good Vibrations was recorded on February 17, 1966, during the sessions for Brian Wilson's masterpiece album Pet Sounds, which was released on Capitol Records on May 16, 1966. But although the other Beach Boys expected Good Vibrations to be on the album, Brian held it back because wanted to spend more time on it.
Al Jardine said, "At the time, we all had assumed that Good Vibrations was going to be on the album, but Brian decided to hold it out. It was a judgment call on his part; we felt otherwise but left the ultimate decision up to him."
The production of the song is reported to have spanned seventeen recording sessions at four different recording studios, and used over 90 hours of magnetic recording tape, with an eventual budget of $50,000. According to Brian Wilson, the electro-theremin work itself cost $15,000.
Good Vibrations, and the Pet Sounds album, changed rock n' roll by showing musicians they could be innovative in the studio, and was a major influence on the Beatles in the creation of their Sgt. Pepper's album.
The single sold over 230,000 copies in the first four days of its release.
Every day, more and more, I don't get it
[Posted by Adam Forrest on Friday, 06/25/10 7:42 pm] [Permalink] [Tweet This] There is currently a commercial running on TV for Progressive Insurance that, I'm sorry, I just don't get.
In the commercial, two young men come into the fantasy Progressive Insurance store and one tells Flo, the Progressive lady, that money is tight and he needs to save money on his car insurance.
Flo, of course, shows the guy how much money he can save by switching to Progressive, and the guy says, "Oh, good. I can buy my watch back." To which his friend replies, "What, this watch? Not for sale." Flo says, "Oh, that's cold."
I don't know about you, but I don't think it's cold at all.
If I had a friend who was in financial trouble, and I helped him out by buying his nice watch, I would consider the sale final. The friend could have just asked for a loan, but he didn't, it wasn't the deal we made. If he gets the watch back, what do I get? It's unfair to me for him to assume he could just have the watch back whenever he can afford to buy it back.
When I was a kid, this kind of behavior used to be discouraged, and was called being an "Indian giver". That term is politically incorrect these days, but I guess the behavior no longer is.
Adventures in Packaging: Episode 4
[Posted by Adam Forrest on Saturday, 05/15/10 10:10 am] [Permalink] [Related Posts] [Tweet This] Continuing in our series of dumb things printed on food boxes, today I offer for your amusement, Totino's Pizza Rolls.
Here, again, another useless serving suggestion is being suggested. What are they suggesting with this picture? That we should eat these pizza rolls while they are floating in space, while orbiting the Sun?
But, this serving suggesting is not, by far, the most interesting instructional text on the box. Notice, in the lower-left-hand corner the emphatic instructions:
What!? Keep frozen AND cook thoroughly? I can't do them both! Why does the fast food industry insist on torturing me so?
Suspicious minds misunderstand Elvis clue
[Posted by Adam Forrest on Thursday, 03/11/10 2:40 pm] [Permalink] [Related Posts] [Tweet This] Widely reported in the news today is a story that an Elvis Presley record, autographed by Elvis himself, was one of about 20 records up for auction at the Regent Theatre's Anything But Books Sale in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Only one problem. The album, Elvis Sings Country Favourites, was released in 1985, eight years after Presley's death in 1977.
Auction volunteer Barry Morris said he came across the album while setting up for the event. He and other volunteers were attempting to authenticate the signature when they learned the album's release date. According to the Otago Daily Times, rather than be auctioned, the album will be placed among the $1 stacks at the sale tomorrow.
 | | "Fake" Elvis autograph on album cover |
But, I think the auction organizers have missed a very important point. As everyone knows, Elvis has been sighted alive many times since the official date of his death.
So, not only is it very possible that The King actually signed this album eight years after he "died", the existence of this signed album actually proves that Elvis is still alive, and he's currently living somewhere in New Zealand!
If I was in New Zealand, I'd snap up that $1 bargain!
Extreme rain activates the Emergency Alert System
[Posted by Adam Forrest on Monday, 01/18/10 12:56 am] [Permalink] [Tweet This] If you listen to AM radio a lot as I do, you will frequently hear some stations conduct their regular Emergency Alert System tests (this used to be called the Emergency Broadcast System). Over the years, I've heard many of these tests, but I've never actually heard the system in use.
Until today.
I happened to be listening to KABC on the internet this afternoon when the EAS was activated because of the severe rain Southern California is enduring right now.
 Los Angeles weather EAS alert on KABC
Because I was listening to the stream using QuickTime on my iMac, I could rewind the playback and capture it in a file using another Mac app called Audio Hijack.
It's pouring rain right now in LA, flash-flood warnings have been issued, residents are sand-bagging and 6 inches of rain are expected today, and the rain is not expected to let up until Thursday.
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