Where'd that T-Rex come from?

Here's a funny photo that Allie and I took at a tourist trap somewhere just off the freeway in Arizona or New Mexico while on our cross-country road trip just after Thanksgiving last year.

My beautiful afternoon and New England quirks

The fact that today's afternoon was beautiful has nothing to do with me. It's mine because I was able to enjoy it. I had dropped Toebzilla off at a pet hotel yesterday for reasons I'm not going into here. On my way to pick him up today, I stopped off at a bagel place for the first bagel I've had in Massachusetts this year. In a rather ironic twist, bagel shops aren't all that common in the MetroWest area. There around, but there's just no prolific quality chains, like Noah's Bagels in the West Coast (to the people that hate Noah's, they are still far better than many places, so I consider them quality by comparison). I'm sure there's a bunch of bagel places closer to the Boston area, but I'm not driving an hour for bagels. Anyway, the place I went to was OK. Service was slow and understaffed for a Saturday. The bagel was fine. I picked up Toebzilla from the pet hotel and then drove to a farm ice cream "parlor". I'm not sure why it's called a "parlor" since you don't actually get to go inside. I think I mentioned this in a previous post. I had a small ice cream in a waffle cone. You got to watch out at the farm ice cream places. Smalls are typically still quite big. Toebzilla was a bit impatient with me as it took me forever to eat my delicious ice cream cone. The farm ice cream shops opened earlier in the season this year since Winter weather ended a bit early. One surprize in New England is that the Diary Queens typically close during Winter too. I've never seen Diary Queens do that before. It was quite disappointing in November to be forced to get soft serve at a McDonalds. As an alternative to Diary Queen, I do miss Foster Freeze, which is a smaller California chain of soft serve ice cream parlors (you actually get to go inside at these places). Oh, one more comment about the farm ice cream shop; they do serve soft serve, but I had "hard serve" today. After coming home, I relaxed on our balcony in the sunny and warm afternoon. Toebzilla doesn't get to go on the balcony often, so he was sniffing around quite a bit, and investigating how far he was above the ground. When I went back inside, he followed quickly. Both of us then sleep for the rest of the afternoon with the Sun peaking through the blinds of the bedroom. I think I'm well rested now. I might actually not fall asleep during SNL tonight.

Meeting Mike Rowe

The Joke
When travelling across country late last year with my wife, I discovered a section of our hotel store at the Grand Canyon that was dedicated to Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe. There was a foam board cut out of Mike Rowe’s image. To joke with my wife, who loves Mike Rowe but who never found her way into the store, I took a photo of me with the 2D cut out. The joke turned out to be so little, Allie forget all about the photo within a couple of days.

Irony a few months later
In a bit of irony, I actually did meet Mike Rowe at SolidWorks World 2012 earlier this year. Yes, he graciously took his photo with me. Can you tell which is the real Mike Rowe?

SolidWorks World 2012 is a design conference dedicated to 3D CAD related products and services for engineering and similar fields. The conference happened to fall on Valentine's Day this year. It was in San Diego. This means, I (and many attendees) were away from our spouses on Valentine's Day. I asked Mike Rowe if he would write a Valentine's Day message to my wife (an autograph written to Allie). He signed my conference badge. I'm not going to show it here because its my gift to my wife. It is an autograph that will never be sold, and it's up to Allie to show it off!

I thanked Mike Rowe a bit too much and then told him that my wife and I have been fans since he was on Evening Magazine in the San Francisco Bay Area. He looked at me surprized, if not a tiny bit consternated.

On Stage
On stage at the conference, Mike Rowe talked about the need to bring recognition and honor back to the blue collar trades (plumbers, electricians, etc). He founded mikeroweWORKS for this purpose and to help people connect with each other in the trades.

Alaska Cruise Day 7: Not Alaska (B.C.)

Day 7 of our Alaska cruise was highlighted by a visit to Victoria, British Columbia. Many people don't realize that the name Columbia was used by our North and South American forefathers to name a bit of land that they really didn't have a name for. Columbia is the "poetic" name for the Americas. There's also Washington, District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) and the actual country of Columbia.

Victoria is a very nice city with many interesting buildings, good food and they freely take U.S. dollars (1:1 with the Canadian dollar these days).





My In-laws liked it a lot. We had a relaxing time, just walking around without too much of a schedule to worry about. We had a great dinner at a local steakhouse. There was this Celtic themed store with some of the highest quality clothes I've seen (and the prices to match). I even have a video around somewhere of Darth Vader playing the violin (street performer).

The vibe in Victoria is definately different than Vancouver, B.C.

One of the reasons we chose to take a cruise with Norwegian is that the cruise starts and finishes in Seattle, WA (within the borders of USA). Many cruises start in Seattle, but then end in Victoria. That means we'd have to take an international flight home; a painful experience which I am always more than happy to avoid.

So, even though Norwegian wasn't everything we expected it to be, it was everything it needed to be. I guess that's not a great endorsement, huh.

Overall, the trip was enjoyable. Some pluses (many of which cost more $$$) and some minuses (many of which were part of the cruise package for no additional $$$). We did our trip to Alaska. We did our first cruise (and prolly last, at least for a long while). We took my In-laws on a big vacation and had a lot of quality time with them. And, I got to see my best friend and his family before and after the cruise.

Please see the full Alaska Cruise article list.

Tuesday Two: powering eyes

Polyplus propel potentional power, providing pertinent p...oh...nevermind. Polyplus new technology will allow for "ultra-high energy density [lithium] batteries " to significantly increase battery charge. This will allow cellphones and many other devices longer times of operation between rechargings.

A microchip may soon be available from the minds at MIT that will allow blind people to acheive some level of sight. It's not a full site, but "blind person to recognize faces and navigate a room without assistance."

Alaska Cruise Day 6: Ziplining

Day 6 of my family's Alaska cruise was marked by a visit to Ketchikan. Suprizingly enough, we didn't spend much time in Ketchikan itself. Our excursion took up almost all of the time.

I did the ziplining canopy tour in the rainforest. By an amazing coincidence, Allie took her parents on a nature walk excursion that was run by the same operation on the rain forest floor. So, while I was zipping around overhead, they were walking on a guided tour below. Allie said she kept an eye out for me, but we weren't in the same part of the forest at the same time.



They got to see a bald eagle, owl, bear markings on a tree, a canoe being made (in progress, not from start to finish), and other natural or native items.


I was zipping around the canopy with a group of people, most of which have never ziplined before. It was a lot of fun. I haven't developed the photos from this adventure on my disposal camera yet. Hopefully the film is still good after all this time (2 years). I do have this shot taken by an automatic "ride" camera.


Note the gratuitous fist pump. :)

The excursion took up so much time in the trip to a from the dock and on the adventure itself, we didn't get a chance to check out anything in the town of Ketchikan itself.

Please see the full Alaska Cruise article list.

Tuesday Two: Straddling bacon

At first, I wasn't sure where to place the Virtual Therapy. Is this a tremendous fail or something that will change the future? Well, so far the results speak for themselves. 95% of patients complete the virtual course, versus only 37% when with human therapists.

Straddling bus will take your car to work and offers to save 860 tons of fuel (who measures fuel in "tons"?) each year by replacing old fashion walk-on buses. Come on, get with the 21st Century, already. (Where's the flying cars which will likely consume far more energy than current ground bases cars?)

Epoch Fail

It's bacon floss! That's right, there is a bacon flavor dental floss! There's nothing quite like spreading that refreshing bacon taste throughout your mouth right after a juicy onion dominated meal.

Alaska Cruise Day 5: Glacier Bay!

The cruise ship itinerary listed this day as a Sea Day. A Sea Day is when the ship doesn't dock at any port. The other Sea Days on this cruise were only of the ship moving fast through the ocean to get to one of the ports. However, this Sea Day is different.

We made the journey up the Glacier Bay to visit the impressive Johns Hopkins Glacier. Along the way, we saw dolphins, whales, cliff dwelling goats, and eagles, all from our cabin patio.



Before arriving, everyone was asked to keep as quiet as possible, so as to not disturb the glacier. Once at the glacier, the port side of the ship was first to view it. Of course everyone was on deck, watching and waiting for the slightest signs of calving.



The moment reminded me of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in the book Restaurant at the End of the Universe. In that book, there's a restaraunt at the literal end of the Universe. People from all over the Universe would go to this restaraunt at the end of time to watch the last bit of the Universe fade into nothing. It felt kind of like that on the cruise ship. People from all over the World go on this cruise to the end of Glacier Bay to watch one of the World's remaining glaciers slowly melt away. I actually was hoping for global warming to work just a little faster so I could see more dramatic scenes of ice breaking off and crashing into the water.



There was a solo seal swimming around in the cold bay water at the root of the glacier. I assume the little guy was busy hunting for food amongst the chunks of ice floating in the water.

The ship then slowly and quietly rotated around so that the starboard side also got a view. Allie's parents relaxed on their patio at this time, along with me and Allie in our own patio next door.



Once we left the glacier, the cruise ship went on a tour around other portions of Glacier Bay. At one point, off in the distance, I saw one glacier with a massive calving of ice crashing into the bay!

The ship later headed south. Allie and I relaxed in the spa at the front of the ship. Several of the reclined chairs faced foward so we could kick back and watch the ocean pass by. We saw more dolphins and some sort of fish that was jumping out of the water.

Seeing Glacier Bay was my main purpose for this trip. Cruise ships are really the only way to see this amazing place for the average person (unless you happen to have your own boat and know how to navigate the World's seas).

Please see the full Alaska Cruise article list.

Senseless Sunday: skin deep lunacy

• The next leap year where Feburaury does not have a full moon is 2572¹.



• The current definition of the term "Blue Moon" dates back to March 1946, in which Sky and Telescope magizine mistakenly misinterpreted the definition of the term from 1937 Maine Farmers' Almanac. "Blue Moon" originally referred to the third Full Moon in a season which has four Full Moons².



• Atheists outnumber all but nine organized religions in the World.



• The skin of a polar bear is black. Though the fur appears white, it's actually clear.



• More often, you will use more gas making a left turn than making a right turn.

I'm feeding Twitter with Mass Pike

The hashtag #masspike has some interesting tweets about the portion of I-90 that runs through Massachusetts, called Mass Pike.  So, since I'm driving on a section of Mass Pike on most days, I've started posting a semi-daily tweet attached to that hashtag which covers some experiences I've have while on that toll freeway.  The fact that I have something to complain about practically everyday should say something about a large minority of poor drivers that frequent this stretch of road. 

People swerving excessivly (worse than drunks, in my opinion) are quite common.  Even worse is when a big rig is actively swerving into adjacent lanes without the intent of changing lanes.  More than once, I've seen hapless cars have to veer, literally avoiding dangerous accidents.

Many drivers treat the road as their own ash tray, flinging cigarette butts out to bounce into the cars behind them.  Many butts have a well inflamed cherry.  Rather unsafe.

I'm sure many people aren't all that clear on the concept of what a lane is.  It seems a dashed line in the middle of the road is an invitation to drive on top of the line down the middle.  This is a particular problem with freeway exits.  A problem with freeway entrances is the opposite. If there is only one lane, lane splitting is employed.  See, here I thought lane splitting was only legal in California with a motorcycle and a car.  Massachusetts, it's illegal, so why not just completely break the law by lane splitting a big rig with another big rig!

These daily events aren't limited to Mass Pike, and they aren't even the half of what goings on.  So, keep an eye on the #masspike hashtag on Twitter to see what your missing. 

 https://mobile.twitter.com/search/%23masspike 

Alaska Cruise Day 4: Skagway and the Safari

This article is long over due. Allie, her mother and father, and I went on an Alaskan Cruise in 2010. The cruise was fun and enjoyable. Day 4 was a visit to Skagway, Alaska.


View Larger Map

Swagway is a small town near the end of the Chikook Inlet. I think (don't quote me on this) that this was one of the Alaskan Gold Rush towns.


On this stop, Allie and I went on an excursion. It was called a safari, though I think any trek in Alaska might be considered the antithesis of "safari". Either way, it was an adventure. We were a part of a larger party that rode a ferry from Skagway to an outcropping of land about an hour's ride south. From there, we took a bus up to the camp in the rain forest. We geared up with rain gear and went for a hike through the forest. Finally, we arrived at a river where some canoes were ready. After rowing up river in the canoes, we reached the foot of a glacier. The glacier was very jagged. Most of the facing surfaces were pristine white, though part of one side had mixed with a recent avalanche for a granite-like appearance. The glacier made the cold day even cooler at its base. As we canoed around the melt pool, we noticed plenty of birds and fish.

Our safari guides had one thing on their mind. They didn't likely get paid much for spending their spring and summer at this outcropping of land between the bay and the glaciated mountains. To pass the time, they enjoy a local beverage. I forget the name, but it's a beer made from spruce tips. To augment their income, they collected spruce tips from the surrounding forest. When they return to town, they trade their spruce tips for the beer that is made from the spruce tips. The guides talked about this beer quite frequently.

When we turned to Skagway, Allie and I set out to find the bar that served this beer. It is at the end of the street directly down from where the cruise ship was docked. If you get a chance to go to Skagway, make sure you try to find this bar and have the spruce tip beer. It's not the best beer you'll ever have, but it is pretty darn good, and a great way to experience Skagway that most other people will easily miss.

Please see the full Alaska Cruise article list.

Some photos from my second cross-country road trip in 2011

Second cross-country road trip of 2011: Day 8 (refuelling made hard and the moon made easy)

(I know this recounting is a bit late.) Day 8 of Allie's and my road trip across the USA was a drive home. This leg of our journey seemed to drag on, even though it wasn't the longest segment on our trip. Along the way, we found this rather humorous posting of a No Parking sign. Clearly, patrons of this gas station are willfully ignoring the posted instructions. Frankly, I'm not sure how one might fill up at a gas station without parking, especially since the motor is supposed to be turned off while refueling. Maybe the driver can have buddy pump the gas while he puts the car in neutral and pushes his car a few feet in one direction and then pushes back a few feet in the other until the gas tank is topped off? Upstate New York isn't quite as beautiful this time as it was the last time I travelled these lands. Fall had long passed its peak, and winter has not yet claimed the earth with snow. On a personally interesting point, while I was not driving, I had plenty of time on my hands, of course. The evening and twilight hours had passed. The moon was out and looking beautiful. I decided to try once again to take a detailed shot of the moon with my automatic camera. Successful execution of this operation has eluded me for 30 years. However, there's enough settings in my Canon Powershot to finally pull this off with a fair amount of success. Usually, when you try to take a photograph of the moon with a standard camera, all you get is a ball of light. This time, after some experimentation, I was actually able to capture some level of detail. Additionally, this photo is taken upward through the passenger side window in a moving car! It's not the best shot ever of the moon, but an achievement, nonetheless. Alas (yes, I actually used that word), we made it home in Massachusetts. This is our home now, not just my home. This is a point that will soon sink in for Allie, but I fear she's going to have a bit of homesickness coming on soon, just like me a few months prior. Toebzilla has been a bit unsettled on our entire road trip. However, today, he seemed to know something was different. He was less nervous. He seemed to know that this home wasn't just another hotel for one night. Time to unpack and recover from the trip.

Second cross-country road trip in 2011: Day 7 (Niagara Falls)

The relatively short drive from Columbus, OH to Niagara Falls, NY meant that we could take it easy. We got started late, yet still arrived in the Buffalo, NY area around 3PM or so. After dropping Toebzilla off at a local PetSmart, we checked into our hotel. (It was very dated, and not really worth saying much about.) Unfortunately, because it's winter and because we are now so far North, the Sun was going down too quickly for us to walk to the American side of Niagara Falls before nightfall. Allie was a little annoyed that I didn't bring my passport so that we could cross over to the Canada side (the fun side). Oh well, some other time. The Falls are huge and incredible. You can easily find the Falls by just following the massive and constant rise of water vapor into the sky. We had diner at The Dove Restaurant. By far, this was the best food we had on our entire road trip. It is an Italian restaurant with excellent and high quality dishes. The service is great. The pace is intentionally leisurely to provide a relaxing and enjoyable experience where you aren't rushed in and out. We wished we could've brought our leftovers with us, but as before, that's not practical on a road trip. If I'm ever in this area again, I would definitely dine here again. After picking up our little dog, we returned to the hotel. I think he's starting to get use to the travelling routine.

Some photos from our recent visit to Grand Canyon

For more of our photos, check out our flickr.com Grand Canyon set.

Second cross-country road trip in 2011: Day 6 (slow start, comments about various hotels)

Our sixth day of travel across America was marked by a late start. Though our trip from St. Louis, MO to Columbus, OH was one of the shorter drives, we didn't get into Columbus until 5PM or so. We didn't do much in Columbus. Actually, we didn't do anything other than get a meal at Chipotle and watch some TV in the motel, er "hotel" room. That's the problem when trying to plan ahead for a trip in cities that you don't know. Finding good hotels for a good price in a good area of town is very hard, even with online reviews.

Our hotel in Lake Havasu was spacious, but dingy.

The original hotel I booked in Albuquerque was in a very sketchy neighborhood, so we opted to cancel the reservation and stay at a Homewood Suites near the airport instead. Homewood is very nice and does accept pets, though for a very hefty fee of $100. The average (even at other nice hotels) was $25, so $100 is a bit over the top; particularly since you can just drop your dog off at the nearest Petsmart for about $30 overnight lodging, and that includes one-on-one human attention and a free meal. Note to Homewood, lower your pet fee!

The motel, er, again I mean "hotel" we stayed at in Oklahoma City, OK was also very sketchy and dingy.

The lesson I'm slowly learning is to stay away from the less expensive nationwide hotel brands that are in the big cities. Spend a little more to get a decent place, and try to pick towns that are a bit outside of the area, as smaller outlining towns tend to have higher quality versions of the nationwide hotel brands.

Second cross-country road trip in 2011: Day 5 (St. Louis)

Although the drive from Oklahoma to Missouri was fairly uneventful, we did take time to stretch our legs. Toebzilla was happy to be in Missouri, or maybe just happy to have plenty of green grass to take care of his business. We drove through the state all the way to St. Louis. Allie has never been to St. Louis before. My first time here was actually back in June of this same year. We dropped off Toebzilla at a nearby Petsmart to be sitted for a few hours while Allie and I had a date night to ourselves for the first time on this trip. We dined at Zia's on The Hill. Located in a quiet Italian neighborhood of St. Louis, simply called The Hill, this restaurant was a pleasant surprize. Eating almost nothing but junk food for most of our road trip, good Italian food was a welcome change from all the fast food we had been consuming throughout much of our journey. Overall, the food was very good. (See Yelp for my full review.) Our hotel was The Cheshire. This is a "British author themed" hotel with rustic atmosphere, yet modernized appeal within the rooms. The bonus is that this hotel is very pet friendly. They even provide Beggin' Strips, doggie bowls, doggie bed and other amenities for your dogs. (Only the Beggin' Strips is complimentary. Everything else should be treated as belonging to the room.) The Cheshire is a comfortable place to rest your head. The only drawback are the old style windows which let a lot of heat escape the room. This means you'll need to keep the heater running on cold evenings. That's not bad for the guess, per se, but it is wasteful when taking the entire hotel into account. Overall, I recommend staying here if you are in the St. Louis area. Allie, Toebzilla and I visited the Gateway Arch later in the evening. Though the weather was clear, the temperature was very cold. We took a few photos, then quickly left to return to our cosie hotel room.

Second cross-country road trip: Days 3 and 4

These two days was occupied by watching the landscape change from pine forests to sparsely sthrubbed desert, and from hills and mesas to nearly completely flat land. One surreal aspect of driving across America is the straight highways that extend off to the horizon.

We spent one night at a good hotel in Albuquerque, but a shady place in Oklahoma City. It's hard picking good places when you don't know the area.

In general, New Mexico is a beautiful state. Oklahoma is a state that does not really mirror that image presented in the movie by the same name.

The weather has been great. Day 3 had gorgeous and sunny skies, while day 4 had a very thin cloud layer for a pleasant break from the sun beating down on us all day as we drove.

Second cross-country road trip 2011: Day 2

Though I'm never likely to end up in Lake Havasu (Arizona) ever again, this is a beautiful place where I would've liked to spend more time. Allie and I got up early to get back on the road in order to get to the Grand Canyon with enough remaining daylight to enjoy the Grand Canyon.


The drive from Lake Havasu to the Grand Canyon was a short four hours with a couple of stops (mostly for our little dog). As you drive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon from the direction of I-40, the land offers no clues as to the huge hole in the ground just a bit to the North. In fact, there is very little clue as you park at the South Rim's visitor center. There's no clue as you walk along the paved trail from the parking lot. There's only the slightest hint as the North Rim becomes visible over the trees. The full impact isn't realized until you are at the rim and look from East to West, and then nearly straight down. It's really true that photographs do not do justice to the Grand Canyon. Nothing really prepares you for the awe you'll experience when you first see it for yourself.




The Grand Canyon is pet friendly. Although my dog did seem to appreciate some aspects of the canyon, he was most interested in every single bush we walked past.

Our hotel was surprizingly good. I originally had booked with another hotel, but cancelled when they hung up on me three times in a row when I was trying to confirm my reservation. I'm glad I cancelled. The Grand Hotel turns out to be the best choice, not just for pet friendliness, but for general comfort and cleanliness.

We will very likely be back to the Grand Canyon some day to experience more of its wonders.

Second cross-country road trip 2011: Day 1

My second cross-country road trip across America is under way. Not only is this my second time, this is my second time this year! This time, I am travelling with my wife and my little dog too.
Due to the time of year, we had to avoid the heart of the Rockies, opting to drive through Arizona. The first day was a long 10 hours from Silicon Valley to Lake Havasu. We made a lot of stops, mostly cuz of my dog being restless during his very first road trip.
Sometimes it is easy to forget how big California really is. It takes many hours to leave the state from the Coastal regions.
We didn't make any stops to see anything. The goal was to get to Lake Havasu as quickly as possible to have a good nights sleep so we'd be able to take off early enough to enjoy the the Grand Canyon the next day.
Our hotel in Lake Havasu was beachside, but we didn't really have time to take advantage of that.
We did stop off at London Bridge (and got to drive over it twice). I didn't see any World War II damage marks on it, but didn't really have time to look all that closely. It was already nighttime when we arrived.

My wife asked to see proof

So, the reason for my previous posting about crows is this.  Allie doesn't like birds.  In particular, she dislikes crows and wishes ill will upon them.  A few days ago, there was a murder of crows outside of her parents home.  When she drove up, the crows didn't get scared off, but rather just moved out of the way of her car.  This freaked her out.  When she related this ominious tale to me, I jokingly told her that was a good thing, and that crows are a sign of good health.  She asked me to provide an online link to prove this.  So, I added the article to my blog and sent her the link.  I was amused.  She was not.

Learn about crows

Crows are a sign of good health.

Casted Branches

I never thought I'd revisit this work, but I believe I've improved it substantially with a rough spot it used to have in the second verse.

Night's pale spirit dashes spiderwebs upon earth,
Like villains cast onto silver screens,
Lying without breath; but breathing, as wind affects,
To spook our children on All Hallows' Eve.

Creaks and cackles echo,
While creep jostles our own essence.
This imparts solace upon howling ghosts,
Who excape from Inferno's demented joy.

Clamoring so, and wailing,
Lost souls seek new abodes;
Haunting our windows as light upon memories;
Whisking about, agitated, frustrated...then night wanes.

Apollo rides out with his own cast of characters,
To sweep away specters and their weeps,
And comfort bring to little ones as they arise,
Oblivious to the crypts under tread.

Never order a Mojito on a plane

I had a particularly bad plane trip early this year. After multiple delays and cancellations, I was finally on my way home. Food was being offered complimentary on my flight, but not the alcohol, of course.

Looking at the food menu, I saw that Mojitos were offered. I let out a brief private chuckle at the very thought of a flight attendant trying to make a Mojito in flight. Mojitos are one of the most labor intensive cocktails, as they require crushing of mint leafs within the glass. How would any of this be accomplished on a plane? So, much to the surprize of others around me, I ordered a Mojito on a plane, just to see what I would actually get.

I was handed the following, along with the same plastic cup you get if you order soda or water.



My travel day had been particularly bad (more than most on the plane) so I give the flight attendant a quick sad story to convince him to throw in an extra Bacardi minibar bottle. A very small consolation for a very crappy day, but nice nonetheless.

That single shot of Bacardi and the bag of mint flavored lime juice was $11....and that's with me "mixing" the drink myself. Without the mint leafs, it would be debated that this was actually a Mojito at all. So, the moral of this story is to never order a Mojito on a plane.

Senseless Sunday: Now that tittle is heavy!

1. A giraffe heart weighs about 24 pounds.



2. Plastic sheaths at each end of a shoe lace are called aglets.



3. The world's largest baseball bat is 120 feet long. It weighs 68,000 pounds.



4. Pat Welsh was the voice of E.T. in the movie E.T. the Extra-terrestrial



5. That dot over the lowercase j and i is called a tittle.

Google's Gumby tribute on the 90th birthday of Art Clokey 10-12-2011 (beat)

Tuesday Two: saves lives, makes lives

Sipuleucel-T is new treatment from Dendreon that uses the body's own immune system to fight prostate cancer. Each dose is personalized by consisting of the patient's own immune cells that have been trained to seek and attack prostate cancer cells.

Who knew this was even an issue. Broken lobster traps sometimes break free from tethers and wash up on beaches and riverfront properties in Maine. Too expensive and bulky to haul off, Kim Boehm created the Trapzilla as a convenient way to compact the traps to a manageable size.

Epoch fail

The Wedding Countdown Bra puts a clock on a bra to let....well, I'm not really sure what the countdown supposed to encourage. It signifies the countdown to when the wedding ring is placed on the wearer's finger. Ironically, press vidoes and images all show the model with an engagement ring instead. Nothing says "Marry me!" more than a countdown to wedding bells attached to a bra.

Roaming around Boston on the last fair weather weekend of the year

Late last week, I decided to do something to enjoy what some were calling the last great weather weekend of the year in New England. So, while others decided to go see the changing Autumn foliage, I went the oppose route, heading into the heart of Boston.

Not wanting to drive around the city, finding parking spots, paying multiple parking fees, dealing with the traffic, etc, I decided to give mass transit a try. The Commuter Rail ride from Southborough was comfortable. In about an hour, it got me to South Station. From there, Dewey Square was just across the street. This gave me a chance to check out the Occupy Boston camp-in protest. There's a lot of people, but the event is not a big as one might think.


After walking around a bit to explore the surrounding area, I decided to get lunch at Sorelle. The day was so nice, I went for a quick margarita at the outdoor bar in the brand new restaurant at the Russia Wharf. I don't remember the name right now. It has a great view of the inlet.

After that, I rode the T subway to the Museum of Science at Science Park. It's a fairly large museum with a lot of interactive displays and several shows. Some areas are for adults, but much of it is a glorified play land for kids (which isn't a bad thing for the kids).


I then walked over to Charleston and Bunker Hill. Foolishly, I decided to walk to the top of the Bunker Hill Monument, all 294 spiraling steps! The view of Boston from the top was great.

Next stop of Chinatown, so called. It's really just a city block or two. There's a few Chinese style restaurants, but just as many Vietnamese places too. The topper is that there's a McDonald's, two Starbucks and two Dunkin Donuts as well. Yes, TWO! So sad.

However, I did stumble upon my second news item of the day. Sirens where everywhere in Boston. It turns out, they where all heading down to Beach St. in Chinatown. A large chunk of bricks fell off several floors from the facade of a parking garage. They smashed up a car below, damaged some businesses across the street and injured one person who was taken to the hospital.



After that, I headed home, back on Commuter Rail to Southborough. On the drive back to my place, I stopped of to get some ice cream. Massachusetts is a strange place. It's winter about 1/3 of the year, and cold much of the rest, yet there are ice cream parlors (out door window service) almost everywhere, especially in the middle of nowhere! I'm not really sure why they are called parlors if there is no actual entry, but hey, who am I to argue with a great tasting treat on a warm Summer...er...Autumn evening. Anyway, Ulhman's Ice Cream Parlor was a good capper to a great day of exploration.

Bricks fell from several stories up in Boston, injuring one person,damage too

Bricks fell from several stories up in Boston, injuring one person, damage too, a photo by fcsuper on Flickr.

Here's the photo close-up the bricks that smashed the car, injuried one person and busted windows in shops across the street today on Beach St. in Chinatown, Downtown Boston!

Aftermath of parking garage brick falls several floors in Boston on Beach St. in Chinatown

Sirens everywhere in Boston today, and I didn't know why until I stumbled upon this. Bricks from a parking garage facade fell on to Beach St. in downtown Chinatown, injurying on person (sent to the hospital) and smashing a car and shop windows across the street.

Only in Amish land

Leave it to an Amish splinter group to conduct home invasions where they only steal hair, seriously!

Amish Men's Beards Cut Off; Police Suspect Amish-On-Amish Violence

An old tree at the bottom of the forest

An old tree at the bottom of the forest, a photo by fcsuper on Flickr.

I took this today near the apartments where I live. In trying to get this shot, I had to dodge an aggressive mesquito, who got a taste of me before she died by the swipe of my hand. The battle with the natural elements was worth the photo.

Flying over dramatic clouds between Evansville, IN and Chicago, IL

Video of flight over dramatic cloud formations on my flight between Evansville, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois last week. The clouds are beautiful, but let's not think about the rain and gloomy day beneath them.

McFlurry at Chicago airport

Today, I got a McFlurry with M&Ms at McDonald's here at Chicago airport during a wait for my flight to Boston. This cute elderly guy comes up after me and tries to order it as "give me what he has but plain". The cashier suggested an ice cream cone instead. He was quite pleased with that option, then procedes to tell me about his trip to Rome with his wife who as to use a wheelchair but can still get up to walk around (as she was presumably doing when he came up to the McDonal's counter with her empty wheelchair).

Solyndra headquarters during weekday, just after bankruptcy announcement

This video is of the Solyndra headquarters in Fremont, California just days after they announced that they are going bankrupt. There's three large buildings around two massive properties.