Sunday, November 30, 2008

Fun Fact #25

Aluminum cans should be recycled.

It takes 95% less energy to recycle aluminum than to create it from raw materials.


Recycling one can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours or a 100-watt light bulb for four hours.


Recycling 40 cans conserves the same energy as one gallon of gasoline.


Don't throw away your cans!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Ozzy Says Don't Do Drugs

All school children should be forced to watch a video of Ozzy Osbourne trying to have a conversation with someone when they're sitting in the "drugs are bad" class. I mean, they see their friends doing drugs and for the most part nothing bad is happening at the moment. You need them to see what happens to you later in life. The small probability of arrest isn't enough to keep (especially juvie) drug users away from dope. Maybe a before-and-after on Ozzy would make them think twice.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Whale Wars

Animal Planet has a new show airing Fridays @ 9pm called Whale Wars about a conservation group (Sea Shepherd) doing everything it can to stop Japanese fishermen from whaling in an Australian wildlife refuge in the Arctic. The conservationists are more like eco-terrorists, buy you have to sympathize with them. Each person on the conservation ship (the Steve Irwin) is willing to give their life to save the life of a whale.

I recommend watching at least the first episode in this series. You'll want to keep watching whether you're pro- or anti-whaling. If you're a Comcast customer, these episodes are available On Demand.

Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream

DYK that you can mix together ingredients for ice cream, then instantly freeze them with liquid nitrogen and it's ready to eat? Check out this recipe...good luck getting some liquid N2.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Forked Tongue Harmonica

Dan's getting in to the harmonica. Overblows, overdraws, and all that jazz. One of the most fundamental techniques for making chords on the harmonica is the "tongue block" where you plug a hole or two with your tongue and pass air through adjacent holes. Dan was talking about it and said (with a little encouragement from me) that if he got to a certain skill level that he'd consider getting his tongue split. You can control each half of the tongue individually and could thus play chords on the harmonica that nobody else can! Ever think about that?

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The Impossible Quiz

I'm stuck at 42 is the answer to everything on the Impossible Quiz. See if you can beat me. It's pretty fun.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Friday, November 21, 2008

Jensen's Sleeping

I recall a night when Jensen was taking a nap and people were conversing loudly in the common area. Walker came out and said something to the effect of "can't y'all be quiet?...Jensen's trying to sleep." As it turns out, Jensen's a pretty heavy sleeper and can snore through outside noise and even people lightly shaking him. However, Jensen wakes up at the sound of his name. Hence TBW's well-meaning effort to keep J asleep is the thing that woke him up. Ha.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Fun With Statistics

Most people have more than the average number of legs. Honestly.

Waterfall Pool

Check out the Devil's Pool, on the edge of Victoria Falls. There's a 108m drop from the top. That's pretty crazy. Check out the pix.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Fat People & Bathroom Stalls

Sometimes I'm amazed at how little space there is when you're trying to get into a bathroom stall. Why do the doors open in? They should definitely open out. Sometimes I have a hard time fitting in there. What do fat people do? Crap in the urinals?

Also, I went to the North Florida Fair this weekend and seats on the rides were pretty tiny for some of them. I mean, I guess I don't want a bunch of 400lb. behemoths on the swings at the same time I am. I just thought it was funny that I barely fit in the seat. I guess I should stay off the little kid rides. (No, but seriously, seats were small on bigger rides).

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Pick #102

Opeth - "Burden" from Watershed

Video Contest Entry

One of my friends has a friend who entered a contest to make a video for Coldplay's "Lost." Apparently, the more views it has, the better chance it has of winning. It's pretty good. Play it here!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Save!

I can't stand when stores advertise that you can save "up to X% or more." If there's an upper bound, just state it. The phrase "up to" means that you won't necessarily save the entire X%. Aargh.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Color Catcher

Shout makes a product called Color Catcher. You put it in your wash and it absorbs all the loose dyes so that they don't stain your other clothes. Takes care of the proverbial red sock. I guess a lot of people haven't heard of these, but they're really cool b/c you don't have to wash new clothes separately if you use these things.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

You're Caucasian!

Last night, I was walking to Sarah's apartment from a visitor spot in the front of the complex when I came upon 3 black people getting out of a car. There were 2 guys and a girl. The girl was obviously drunk. She walked up to me and asked "Do you have a sister? Because my brother loves white girls...and you're caucasian." I assured her that I didn't have a sister. At that point, she saw that I was wearing a FSU Tri hoodie & asked if I went to Florida State. She told me that she too attends there. She put out her arm to escort me to my destination, much like men do for women at formal events. She insisted that we walk in step. She asked me where I was going. I said "to go see my girlfriend" then she abruptly dropped my arm and turned around. Ha.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Pick #101

Black Lab - "Circus Lights" from See the Sun

TBW gave me this album over the weekend. I listened to it about 6 times through in the car. Awesome album. It starts and ends on very strong notes, just like good relay teams and speeches are supposed to do.

Blog Win

Check out FAIL Blog and laugh.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Botched Shot Attempt

Everybody likes soft serve / down in the June sun /.../talk about the botched shot attempt on the president... - Soul Coughing (Soft Serve).

One of the first thoughts to run through my head last night when I was sure that Obama is the president-elect was: I wonder when the first assassination attempt will be. I think that McCain offered an immaculate concession speech urging us to come together as one nation and support our leaders. That might have deterred some who had thoughts of avenging McCain's defeat.

When Obama gave his acceptance speech, I noticed the glass in front of him and thought it might be a bullet-proof barrier between him and an angry right-wing extremist. I guess we'll see how it pans out. I wish nothing but the best for my country and its leaders and hope that the first assassination attempt will never come, or if it does that it's unsuccessful.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

PimpStar Rims

These things are pretty crazy. They cost more than entry-level brand new cars. Pretty awesome tech. Also, props for a good, non-cheesy theme song.


Pick #100

30 Seconds to Mars - "From Yesterday" from A Beautiful Lie

yet another song I heard on Pandora.

Monday, November 3, 2008

First Swahili Dream

I had a dream last night where I spoke a few words in very broken Swahili. That's pretty cool...I mean, it's not like my first Spanish dream where a lot was said. I think I'll spend more time on Swahili next semester when I have a lighter course load.

Lotto

It bugs me that places won't sell lottery tickets to people younger than 18. I know that you have to be 18 to gamble, etc. and I'll not get into a rant on how I loathe age restrictions. My point is this:
Stores should sell as many lottery tickets to everyone they possibly can. The trick is that they should not let anyone under 18 REDEEM a winning ticket. Youngsters will learn that they lose, even if they win. Someone else must be contracted with in order to redeem the winning ticket, and the prospect of repayment to the child is uncertain and if paid, would be less than the winning amount. After enough such encounters, kids would wait until they could claim all their winnings.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Sweet Lasers

I didn't know that lasers are available in so many colors. Check out CNI's website for some cool pix. I can't seem to find prices.