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February 28, 2006

I've been saying this for years...

Chocolate linked to lower blood pressure

CHICAGO (AP) — Leave it to the Dutch to help demonstrate the health benefits of chocolate.

A study of older men in The Netherlands, known for its luscious chocolate, indicated those who ate the equivalent of one-third of a chocolate bar every day had lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of death. ...

The findings, published in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine, are based on data collected for more than a decade on Dutch men who were ages 65 and older in 1985. The long-running Zutphen Elderly Study has been used by other researchers to look for risk factors for chronic disease. This time, researchers examined the eating habits of 470 healthy men who were not taking blood pressure medicine. The men who ate the most products made from cocoa beans — including cocoa drinks, chocolate bars and chocolate pudding — had lower blood pressure and a 50% lower risk of death. ...

The men ate the equivalent of about 10 grams of chocolate a day. Link

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February 28, 2006

Uh oh... Dawn isn't going to like this...

Does Airborne Really Stave off Colds?

Americans catch a billion colds a year in this country and spend triple that — almost $3 billion — trying to treat them. But a "Good Morning America" drugstore investigation raises questions about one of America's favorite cold remedies — a product called Airborne.

Victoria Knight-McDowell, the schoolteacher who developed Airborne, appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." The popular talk-show host even endorsed it as a cold fighter. The product's ads are everywhere, and the company says its sales exceed $100 million.

But now Airborne's CEO, Elise Donahue, is saying that the pill is not a cold remedy. "I would never sit here and tell you that it's a cure for the common cold," she said. "We don't know if Airborne is a … cure for the common cold. What Airborne does is it helps your body build a healthy immune system. When you have a healthy immune system, then it allows your body, on its own, to fight off germs." ...

But a number of medical experts and watchdog groups are skeptical that Airborne prevents or cures colds. "Simply washing your hands during cold and flu season is a much more effective way of preventing colds," said David Kroll, a pharmacologist at Duke University Medical School.

Yet the Airborne box tells users to take the product at the first sign of a cold. An Airborne ad testimonial called it a miracle cold buster. And the company said in a news release Airborne would get rid of most colds in one hour. ... Airborne said that a double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted with "care and professionalism" by a company specializing in clinical trial management, GNG Pharmaceutical Services.

GNG is actually a two-man operation started up just to do the Airborne study. There was no clinic, no scientists and no doctors. The man who ran things said he had lots of clinical trial experience. He added that he had a degree from Indiana University, but the school says he never graduated. (Emphasis added)

Airborne insists the results are valid, but the company is removing all references to the study from its Web site and packaging. "We found that it confused consumers," Donahue said. "Consumers are really not scientifically minded enough to be able to understand a clinical study."

Now, Airborne is phasing in new packaging. Before, the box said that Knight-McDowell had created it because she was "sick of catching colds." Now, it says she created Airborne because she "needed help supporting her immune system." The word "cold" no longer appears on the new package or in the advertising. All the new packages will be on store shelves by this summer. [Link]

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February 27, 2006

"Gunsmoke" Actor Dennis Weaver Dies at 81

Actor Dennis Weaver, who starred as the stiff-legged deputy Chester Goode in the TV classic western "Gunsmoke," and the fish-out-of-water role of Sam McCloud, a New Mexico detective who brings his unique crime-fighting tactics to the streets of New York in the series "McCloud," died Friday of complications from cancer at his home in Ridgway, in southwestern Colorado. He was 81.

Weaver's 50-year career included stage plays and movies. But his real success was on television, where in addition to his cowboy roles he shared the screen with a 600-pound black bear on "Gentle Ben" and faced down a murderous big-rig in the early Steven Spielberg movie "Duel." He starred last year in ABC Family's "Wildfire" as the eccentric owner of a thoroughbred racing ranch.

Weaver was a struggling actor in Hollywood in 1955, earning $60 a week delivering flowers when he was offered $300 a week for a role in a new CBS television series, "Gunsmoke." By the end of his nine years with "Gunsmoke," he was earning $9,000 a week. From 1970-1977, Weaver played the title character Sam McCloud in the “McCloud” series, which Weaver called "the most satisfying role of my career."

Weaver also was an activist for protecting the environment and combating world hunger. He and his wife Gerry once built a solar-powered home out of recycled tires and cans dubbed "Earthship." He is survived by his wife; sons Rick, Robby and Rusty; and three grandchildren.

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February 27, 2006

Actor Darren McGavin, the 'Night Stalker,' dies at 83

Darren McGavin, who played gruff, grumpy but often goodhearted characters in a profusion of fondly recalled television series and shows, died Saturday in Los Angeles of multiple organ failure at Olympia Hospital, his son York McGavin said. He was 83.

McGavin is perhaps best remembered as the curmudgeonly father in the 1983 film "A Christmas Story," a holiday classic shown each year, and as fast talking reporter Carl Kolchak, who revealed the occult forces behind the reality of the Chicago streets in the "Night Stalker" series, as well as Mike Hammer, Mickey Spillane's tough-talking New York detective.

His roles in movies included "Summertime"; "The Man With the Golden Arm," in which he played Frank Sinatra's drug dealer; "The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell"; and "A Christmas Story." Spanning almost seven decades, his versatile career took him from "Macbeth" to "Marcus Welby M.D." He played General George S. Patton in the television biography "Ike" and appeared recently in "The "X Files," a show said to have been inspired by "The Night Stalker." He won an Emmy Award in 1990 for playing Candice Bergen's father in "Murphy Brown." He also was the voice for a time on Budweiser's "This Bud's for You" commercials.

He is survived by four children from his first marriage, York, Megan, Bridget and Bogart.

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February 27, 2006

No dance-off needed after ‘Dancing’ finale

The producers of "Dancing With The Stars" are undoubtedly breathing a sigh of relief after Sunday's finale. While last year's conclusion sparked controversy eventually leading to a grudging "dance-off," this year's win by Drew Lachey and his partner Cheryl Burke will go down much more easily with viewers, and rightly so.

Drew and Cheryl utterly dominated Thursday's interminably long two-hour show, so they were in the lead with the judges cruising into Sunday's interminably long two-hour show. After dumping even more endless filler on the audience, the show finally showed a little dancing, as each couple took one more shot at scoring with the judges. ...

By the time the announcement of the winner approached, even host Tom Bergeron was making jokes about how long it had taken to get here. Probably the best line of the night, however, went to Drew, during an interview in which he said, "It's an ugly trophy, but you still want to win it." And it is an ugly trophy, too — a disco ball on top of a post, basically. Why does anyone care?...

For all its silliness and filler and Master P, the season overall was oddly satisfying. Stacy was perfect and chilly and her partner seemed kind of obnoxious, and they went out very late. Jerry was a disaster at first, and overachieved to a preposterous degree just by being in the final two. Drew was a hard-working, talented-but-not-brilliant guy who got along like crazy with his headstrong, very young partner under the watchful eye of his enormously pregnant wife.

My money had been on Stacey Kiebler, Dawn bet on Drew. Michael wants to revoke my "man card." Here's the complete story.

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February 27, 2006

Turin Bids Arrivederci to Winter Olympics

TURIN, Italy -- Arrivederci, eh? Turin bid farewell to its Olympics and handed over custody of the Winter Games to Vancouver in a spectacular, circus-like closing ceremony Sunday night, with a legion of clowns, acrobats and daredevils echoing both the misadventures and magnificence of the past two weeks. (AP Photo)

AOL Sports has a nice collection of photos and event news here.

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February 26, 2006

Wire-to-Wire

A perfect race from start to finish for Apolo Anton Ohno, winning his second Olympic gold medal. In front from the start of the race, Ohno held on to his lead to win gold in the men's 500m. "To lead from start to finish doesn't happen very often," he said. "For me, it was the perfect race."

And the soul-patched American wasn't done. He later anchored the U.S. relay team to a bronze-medal finish. In the final race of the evening, the 5,000 relay, he surged past the Italians on the next-to-last lap to grab the bronze medal -- the first U.S. medal in that event since 1994.

Ohno got off to a shaky start in Turin, failing to qualify for the final of the 1,500 and settling for bronze in the 1,000. He was in danger of going down as just another high-profile American falling short of expectations in Turin. Not anymore. Three new medals make him just the fourth U.S. Winter Olympian to win that many in a single games, joining long-track speedskaters Eric Heiden, Sheila Young and Chad Hedrick, who got his third just a day earlier.

Though only 23, Ohno hasn't decided whether to return for another Olympics. "I've got to figure out what the next part of my journey is going to be," he said. "I'm just enjoying the moment right now."

I hope we see him in 2010. He's demonstrated a great attitude in Turin, unlike idiot Bode Miller... (AP Photo)

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February 25, 2006

So long, Barn...

Actor Don Knotts, the skinny, lovable nerd who kept generations of television audiences laughing as bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show," and would-be swinger landlord Ralph Furley on "Three's Company," died last night of pulmonary and respiratory complications at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills. He was 81.

As the bug-eyed deputy to Griffith, Knotts carried in his shirt pocket the one bullet he was allowed after shooting himself in the foot. The constant fumbling, a recurring sight gag, was typical of his self-deprecating humor.

His G-rated films were family fun, not box-office blockbusters. In most, he ended up the hero and got the girl -- a girl who saw through his nervousness to the heart of gold. They include "The Incredible Mr. Limpet," "The Reluctant Astronaut," and "The Love God?"

He was among an army of comedians from Buster Keaton to Jonathan Winters to liven up the 1963 megacomedy "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." Other films include "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" (1966); "The Shakiest Gun in the West" (1968); and a few Disney films such as "The Apple Dumpling Gang" (1974); "Gus" (1976); and "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo" (1977).

In 1998, he had a key role in the back-to-the-past movie "Pleasantville," playing a folksy television repairman whose supercharged remote control sends a teen boy and his sister into a TV sitcom past.

In recent years, he said he had no plans to retire, traveling with theater productions and appearing in print and TV ads for Kodiak pressure treated wood.

The world laughed at Knotts, but it also laughed with him. He'll be missed by all of us who enjoyed his unique, endearing humor.

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February 25, 2006

My brother Ken sent me a short essay the other day that I'd read before and always found inspiring. It's entitled The Pickle Jar: you may have received a version of it in your email as well. More recently, a variety of endings have been appended by others, a product of email "evolution," and the story attributed to "anonymous" or "author unknown." Such a wonderful and inspiring little story, I thought, deserves proper attribution and so I set out to identify the original author. No easy task, but I finally hit pay dirt when I found that this beautiful little work had been reproduced in the book Chicken Soup for the Parent's Soul and attributed to A. W. Cobb. Mystery solved! And so I've shared the essay here -- I think you'll find it inspiring, too.

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The Pickle Jar

As far back as I can remember, the large pickle jar sat on the floor beside the dresser in my parents' bedroom. When he got ready for bed, Dad would empty his pockets and toss his coins into the jar. As a small boy I was always fascinated at the sounds the coins made as they were dropped into the jar. They landed with a merry jingle when the jar was almost empty. Then the tones gradually muted to a dull thud as the jar was filled. I used to squat on the floor in front of the jar and admire the copper and silver circles that glinted like a pirate's treasure when the sun poured through the bedroom window.

When the jar was filled, Dad would sit at the kitchen table and roll the coins before taking them to the bank. Taking the coins to the bank was always a big production. Stacked neatly in a small cardboard box, the coins were placed between Dad and me on the seat of his old truck. Each and every time, as we drove to the bank, Dad would look at me hopefully. "Those coins are going to keep you out of the textile mill, son. You're going to do better than me. This old mill town's not going to hold you back." Also, each and every time, as he slid the box of rolled coins across the counter at the bank toward the cashier, he would grin proudly. "These are for my son's college fund. He'll never work at the mill all his life like me." [continue reading]

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February 24, 2006

What's All the Fuss About MySpace?

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you've undoubtedly heard or read about at least some of the controversy surrounding this seemingly innocuous web site that's become so popular with teens and pre-teens. It allows virtually anyone to put up a site and post information, including photos, about themselves and receive messages from like-minded "friends." MySpace is one of the hottest Web sites around, with 54 million members and gaining 150,000 new ones each day. It gets more hits than Google. Punch in your zip code and you'll likely find 3,000 MySpace members within 10 miles. Sound harmless? Read on.

Millions and millions of kids, teens and young adults say MySpace is great. In this hyper-busy, computerized world, it’s the new schoolyard, the new neighborhood, the new mall – a place where they can talk to old friends and make new ones. Chances are your kids – or their friends – are on it, along with people who call themselves “Slut Face,” “Joy Ryder” and “I’m blonde and I’m good at it.” Kids and adults put their lives and fantasies online – and, say educators and sex abuse experts, on the line. And that's what the fuss is all about.

“This is the kind of place that clearly attracts sexual predators,” says FBI Child Sexual Victims Agent Jim Clemente of Warwick [New York.] “It’s such a huge risk.”

MySpace allows predators an anonymity that playgrounds, malls and other traditional meeting places for kids don't. One of every five kids online is propositioned. This is why the site is considered “scary stuff” by a growing number of parents.

In some instances, kids put up derogatory or slanderous sites about other kids or school officials. And Wednesday, morning drive talk radio hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty discovered a hateful site put up, possibly by a disgruntled fan, in their names and appearing to be theirs, but which apparently portrayed them as Nazis. The site was taken down later in the day and Jack and Joe are considering legal action.

Be informed. Here are a couple recent articles you should read to learn more: Strangers in MySpace and Teens at Risk on Social Web Sites.

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February 23, 2006

Toonophobia

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February 22, 2006

This falls under the heading of "strange but true"...

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Man Coughs Up Nail 35 Years After Accident

In 1970, a bizarre gardening accident embedded a small nail deep inside Guy "Bud" Hart's body.

More than 35 years later, the nail made an unexpected return, much to Hart's surprise.

The Placerville man was stunned earlier this month when a coughing fit expelled the inch-long sliver of metal, completing its decades-long trek inside the 84-year-old's body...

Since the pair were separated, Hart's been feeling fine and doctors have no reason to think the nail had any lasting impact on his health.

Hart keeps the nail in a small plastic bag but doesn't have any long-term plans about what to do with the strange artifact...

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eBay, man! People pay big bucks for crazy stuff like this..!

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February 21, 2006

So long, Curt

He led a long and illustrious life and his passing probably shouldn't affect me the way it has, but I grew up listening to and watching Curt Gowdy call sports. To me, he was almost as important as the players. It was Gowdy who first sparked my interest in sports and made them exciting to me. He was, I believe, one of the best sportscasters to ever call a game. I'll miss him...

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Sportscaster, outdoorsman Gowdy dies at 86

Curt Gowdy was such a prized and versatile sports broadcaster in his prime that the NBC and ABC television networks simultaneously shared his talents. And he was such a professional that he made the arrangement seem routine. Casual, even.

That was the fly fisherman in him, and the Wyoming, too.

For all of the great sports moments he narrated to the nation, from World Series drama to Super Bowl fireworks to the slippery slope of the Olympic ski jump, Mr. Gowdy never sounded like anything more than a close and trusted friend at the microphone, or felt to a generation of armchair fans like anything less.

"I tried to pretend that I was sitting in the stands with a buddy watching a game, poking him in the ribs when something exciting happened," Mr. Gowdy said in 1984 at the time of his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. "I never took myself too seriously. An announcer is only as good as yesterday's performance."

Mr. Gowdy, 86, died at 3:10 a.m. Monday after a long battle with acute leukemia, surrounded by family in his Palm Beach home.

"He was the first superstar of sports television because he did all of the big events," veteran NBC broadcaster Dick Enberg said. "He's the last of the dinosaurs. No one will ever be the voice of so many major events at the same time ever again." [...]

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Do yourself a favor and read the whole article. The man was a national treasure. There'll never be another quite like him.

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February 20, 2006

Port Holes

Say what..?

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February 19, 2006

National Engineers Week

Take an engineer to lunch. And check out some "engineer humor" here.

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February 18, 2006

Good News From Texas

Harry Whittington, the 78-year-old man shot by Vice President Cheney in a weekend hunting accident, was discharged from the Texas hospital yesterday where he was recuperating.

"We all assume certain risks in whatever we do," Whittington told reporters waiting for him outside the hospital. "Whatever activities we pursue and regardless of how experienced, careful and dedicated we are, accidents do and will happen. And that's what happened last Friday."

Mr. Whittington is a class act. We wish him a full recovery.

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February 17, 2006

Catching Up

Since attending the Winternationals last weekend, I've been sick. Came down with a bug as soon as I got home and have been miserable all week. Must be that awful 80-85 degree sunny weather in southern California. So I haven't felt much like posting anything or, for that matter, doing much of anything but coughing and blowing my nose. So I thought I'd try to "catch up." Here's a little of what happened this week while I've been away from the wheel:

Semantic says that "OSX.Leap.A is a worm that targets installs of Macintosh OS X and spreads via iChat Instant Messenger program. Note: It infects files on the Macintosh OS X version 10.4. The worm will execute on Intel Macs, but cannot spread to other systems from these machines..." If true, then this would mark the first attempt at malware against OSX, certainly a noteworthy event.

CNETNews.com calls it "A malicious program that could be the first Trojan in the wild to target Apple Computer's Mac OS X operating system..." But in the same article, Ray Wagner, a senior vice president in Gartner's information security group, says, "It's not really news as far as threats go. It is news because it targets OS X, and as far as I know, it's certainly the first OS X malicious content in the wild that's been noted at this point."

CultofMac notes that "There's a lot of debate about whether this is a real worm, or merely an elaborate, executable script that the user is tricked into running [...] But it also requires the user to agree to accept it as an iChat file transfer, which is a Trojan trait..."

Obviously I need to do a lot more reading on this. But clearly this requires that you execute the file yourself. Best advise? Don't.

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Road crews scrambled to clear streets and travelers stranded at airports tried to get home Monday as the Northeast dug out from a record-breaking storm that dumped two feet or more of snow across the region...The storm blanketed the Eastern Seaboard from North Carolina to Maine over the weekend, dropping 26.9 inches of snow in Central Park — the heaviest snowfall since record-keeping began in 1869. The old record was 26.4 inches in December 1947...

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Peter Benchley, whose novel "Jaws" made millions think twice about stepping into the water even as the author himself became an advocate for the conservation of sharks, has died at age 65, his widow said  [last] Sunday...The author's interest in sharks was lifelong, beginning with childhood visits to Nantucket Island in Massachusetts and heightening in the mid-1960s when he read about a fisherman catching a 4,550-pound great white shark off Long Island, the setting for his novel...The cause of death was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive and fatal scarring of the lungs.

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Dick Cheney shot a fellow hunter in Texas. Lots of news, lots of yuks about it, but it's apparently more serious than originally thought. The Dems are having a heyday. I hope it all turns out well. Beyond that, here's what I think:

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Adventurer Steve Fossett completed the longest nonstop flight in aviation history with an emergency landing [last] Saturday, flying 26,389 miles in about 76 hours but stopping early because of mechanical problems...

His voyage broke the airplane distance record of 24,987 miles set in 1986 by the lightweight Voyager aircraft piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, as well as the balloon record of 25,361 miles set by Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard in 1999.

Very cool. Wish I'd done it. Here, Fossett is seen being extricated from Global Flyer...

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So there you have it. Have a nice weekend.

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February 13, 2006

NHRA Winternationals

Dawn and I attended the season-opening 46th annual Carquest Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals in Pomona February 10-12 as guests of Werner Enterprises. Werner sponsors Clay Millican, world champion Top Fuel Dragster (IHRA) for the last four (five?) years running. We had a great time and got up close and personal with not only Clay and his car, but the entire Koretsky Racing Team as well. Unfortunately, they brought only one car to the meet, and a few mechanical and traction problems left him finishing 13th overall. But as Clay puts it, "Sometimes you can move the world, sometimes the world wins..."

A few stats on Clay's Top Fuel dragster (shown above): The bodywork is carbon fiber with a wheelbase of 300 inches and weighing 2175 pounds. It's powered by a BAE 496cid HEMI V8 delivering 8000 horsepower. 0-60 is a scant 0.5 seconds, and its 1/4 mile ET is 4.5 seconds reaching 330 mph! I asked Clay if I could take it for a spin; he said, "Maybe next time..."

Here's some trivia compliments of Michael D: A Top Fuel dragster burns 64 gallons of fuel in the 1/4 mile. (That's even worse than my Range Rover!) The 8000 horsepower that the engines deliver put about 5 g's of thrust against the driver as he accelerates, about the same as an astronaut. But what most people don't realize is that the shock from the sudden decelleration when the chutes open can cause retinal detachment. Okay, maybe I'm not ready for Top Fuel...

Melanie Troxel took Top Fuel honors, becoming only the sixth woman in NHRA history to win a Top Fuel event. Her 4.58-second run sealed the deal. Eighteen years after her world champion father Mike Troxel won this event in his family-owned Top Alcohol Dragster, Melanie returned to Pomona's famed winner's circle for the first time in her 41-race career. She becomes the eighth female to win in a Professional category.

There were some very fast times posted at this meet. It was, for example the fastest funny car field in track history. After running the quickest pass in NHRA history during qualifying, a stellar 4.664-second 329.91 mph blast, 13-time Funny Car champion John Force failed to back up the mark to make it an official national record. By rule, any potential record run must be supported by another pass within 1 percent of the original. But it was exciting anyway. Funny Car sophomore Robert Hight (Force's son-in-law and former crewmember) took top honors.

You can view photos of the meet here and here (two albums) ...

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February 10, 2006

I Feel the Need... The Need for Speed!

And loud noise... and bad food... and the searing smell of nitro...

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February 9, 2006

Fossett on Target for Distance Record

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February 9, 2006

Science Team Finds "Lost World"

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An international team of scientists says it has found a "lost world" in the Indonesian jungle that is home to dozens of new animal and plant species. "It's as close to the Garden of Eden as you're going to find on Earth," said Bruce Beehler, co-leader of the group.

The team recorded new butterflies, frogs, and a series of remarkable plants that included five new palms and a giant rhododendron flower. The survey also found a honeyeater bird that was previously unknown to science. [...]

One of the team's most remarkable discoveries was a honeyeater bird with a bright orange patch on its face - the first new bird species to be sighted on the island of New Guinea in more than 60 years.

The researchers also solved a major ornithological mystery - the location of the homeland of Berlepsch's six-wired bird of paradise [...] The team also recorded a golden-mantled tree kangaroo, which was previously thought to have been hunted to near-extinction.

Mr Beehler said some of the creatures the team came into contact with were remarkably unafraid of humans. Two long-beaked echidnas, primitive egg-laying mammals, even allowed scientists to pick them up and bring them back to their camp to be studied, he added. [...]

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Having traveled to New Guinea, I know how primitive some of its regions are. This is an amazing discovery. The animal behavior reminds me of that found in the Galapagos Islands where I've literally had to step around Blue Footed Booby birds engaged in their mating dance. Read the rest of the story here. While there, be sure to click on the link to check out photos of some of the discoveries the team captured on film.

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February 8, 2006

Aviation Adventurer Steve Fossett Takes Off in Attempt to Set Distance Record

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Adventurer Steve Fossett shot down a three-mile runway in an experimental aircraft Wednesday and took off on an attempt to break a 20-year-old flight distance record.

Fossett's lightweight, glider-like airplane lifted off from a runway at Kennedy Space Center normally used for space shuttle landings. It hit two birds during takeoff but wasn't damaged, said Jim Ball, a NASA manager at the Kennedy Space Center. Once it was airborne, the plane's long, flexible wings lifted slightly upward.

“The roll was longer than we anticipated but that's why he wanted to use a 15,000-foot runway,” Ball said.

Fossett's goal is a nearly 27,000-mile trip, once around the world and then across the Atlantic again, with a landing outside London.

If successful, the 3½-day trip would break the previous airplane record of 24,987 miles set in 1986 by the Voyager aircraft piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeanna Yeager, as well as the balloon record of 25,361 miles set by the Breitling Orbiter 3 in 1999. [...]

Fossett already holds the record for flying solo around the globe in a balloon and for being the first person to circle the globe solo in a plane without stopping or refueling. That flight last year lasted 67 hours and also was hampered by a fuel leak.

He is using the same plane, the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer, which has a 114-foot wing span, in his latest quest. Both ventures were financed by Virgin Atlantic Airways founder Richard Branson.

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If I had the $$, this is exactly the kind of thing I'd want to be doing. You can follow Fossett's progress here.

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February 7, 2006

$2M Worth of Wine Destroyed in Silver Oak Winery Fire

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OAKVILLE -- An early morning fire Thursday destroyed more than $2 million worth of Napa Valley’s Silver Oak cabernet sauvignon, a highly-touted wine with a cult-like following.

Fire swept through an historic stone and wood building at Silver Oak Wine Cellars in Oakville, located on the Oakville Cross Roads between Highway 29 and the Silverado Trail. The building was being used to age 70 barrels of cabernet sauvignon from the 2004 vintage.

Each of the oak barrels holds 24 cases of wine. A bottle of Silver Oak cabernet retails for $100, putting the total value of the wine lost at more than $2 million. An estimate of the total loss including the building and an adjoining maintenance shed were not available.

State Department of Forestry officials said the Napa Valley fire started at 6:20 a.m. and took three hours to bring under control. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

It was fought by 50 firefighters from forestry and the Napa, St. Helena, Calistoga and American Canyon fire departments.

Silver Oak, which also owns Silver Oak Cellars Winery in Sonoma County, is known for its cabernet sauvignon. The Oakville site produces 70,000 cases of wine each year. The main winery and barrel aging room were not harmed by the fire.

The fire hit Silver Oak three days before a party celebrating the release of its 2001 cabernet sauvignon. Hundreds of wine lovers from throughout the country will arrive at the Oakville winery to taste and buy the newly released wine. Silver Oak officials said the release party on Saturday will be held as planned.

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Damn!

(Hat tip to Frank)

UPDATE: Damage estimates from the fire last Thursday have been revised to more than $3 million of Napa Valley's Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon. This was a much higher figure than was initially reported, but more important to the winery was the loss of its 'heritage,' the site where the first vintage was bottled, a winery spokesman told decanter.com [...]

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February 7, 2006

In his Sunday post, Jeff writes:

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Five Years of Sticking it to the Man

To commemorate my five years in the blogosphere I have created a mashup or remix of my favorite TV commercial du jour. My wife doesn’t understand why I think the original Sprint commercial (which is the inspiration for this remix) is so funny.

But my eldest daughter and I have memorized both parts and put on impromptu theater, usually at the dinner table. In this online version I play both characters. While I aspire to write, I don’t think voiceover work is in my future.

Like the main protagonist of this video tableau I often feel I play both roles: I am the man, but I don’t mind sticking it to myself. Well, maybe. [...]

Click on the image above to watch a self-tribute to my years in the blogosphere. (Quicktime 4.5 MB). And don’t forget to take a look at the inspiration for this little parody. Link

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I can relate. Dawn agrees it's a cute commercial, I think it's great. I can't help reciting the lines along with the actors. Just one of those things, I guess.

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February 6, 2006

Sometimes I Play with Dolls

Steve Akers is out in LA working for a company that provides blow-up dolls to serve as extras in background shots for films. He made a nicely edited and scored little movie showing his crew inflating, dressing, masking and arranging 5,000 blow-up torsos to fill seats at the Rose Bowl for an upcoming Clint Eastwood film. Watch the slide show, then watch the film. (Via BoingBoing)

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February 4, 2006

Super Bowl XL - Force vs. Finesse

Some are calling this the ultimate matchup of blue collar & finesse, a matter of contrasting styles. There are certainly some notable differences.

Bill Cowher's team is from Steel Town. The Seahawks, coached by Mike Holmgren, are from the Land of Latte.

The Steelers are from the more physical (some would say superior) AFC. The NFC champion Seahawks, with their balanced, rhythm-oriented West Coast offense and a defense predicated on speed and pursuit, are viewed as the glamour team.

The Steelers (11-5 in the regular season) had to win three road playoff games as underdogs to get here. The Seahawks (13-3), four-point underdogs today, had a first-round bye and won two home playoff games.

Force vs. finesse? In Super Bowl XL, we'll see how accurate this perception really is. The Steelers are trying to get owner Dan Rooney, the next generation of one of the NFL's founding families, his fifth Super Bowl victory. The Seahawks are here for the first time, trying to get owner Paul Allen, he of Microsoft fame and riches, his first championship.

These teams are as different as night and day. But when the smoke clears tomorrow, I think Seattle will have surprised everyone.

UPDATE: They surprised us all right. What a dismal performance! I'd hoped for so much more. They sure didn't bring their A-game.

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February 4, 2006

Super Bowl XL Halftime

I don't know how I missed this, but apparently there's been an alternative to the tepid Super Bowl halftime shows the last couple years -- the Dennis Rodman Lingerie Bowl, this year sponsored by Daimler-Chrysler's Dodge unit and hosted by Jenny McCarthy and Cindy Margolis. No, I'm not making this up!

Rodman’s main passions — sport and semi-naked women — were neatly combined last year when he was named as commissioner of the Lingerie Football League (LFL), a pay-per-view television sport in which models play, in the loosest possible definition of the word, gridiron in their underwear. The final game of the LFL season will take place tomorrow during half-time of the Super Bowl, giving American couch potatoes an alternative to the Rolling Stones, who will be headlining the official show. The pay-per-view tab is $19.95.

Our society is doomed.

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February 3, 2006

Which Sports Car Are You?

Are you an Italian exotic or an American muscle car? A classic roadster or a high-tech racer? This test will show you your true "inner vehicle..."

I'm a Ferrari 360 Modena!

You've got it all. Power, passion, precision, and style. You're sensuous, exotic, and temperamental. Sure, you're expensive and high-maintenance, but you're worth it.

Damn they're good! They nailed me! Heh.

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February 2, 2006

Groundhog Day

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. - Punxsutawney Phil has spoken, and the news isn't good. The world's most famous furry forecaster saw his shadow this morning on Gobbler's Knob, suggesting another six weeks of wintry weather. Damn! This changes everything!

Before you ask, Phil has now seen his shadow 96 times, hasn't seen it 14 times and there are no records for nine years according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. The last time Phil failed to see his shadow was in 1999.

So, what in the heck is Groundhog Day, anyway? Find out here. How's your woodchuck wisdom? Take this quiz and find out. Want to become an official member of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club? Obtain an application, along with a bunch of information, at the Official Site of Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. Had enough? Me too.

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February 1, 2006

Amazing Honda Commercial

Honda UK has produced a unique commercial for the Honda Civic using a human chorus for the sound effects -- it's quite amazing. Go to the Honda UK site, skip the "intro" and click "watch." It's interesting also to watch the "rehearsals" to see how they went about selecting the chorus members and rehearsing for the video. The commercial is also mirrored here. (Via)