Oprah Winfrey Tattoos

40% of Americans have a tattoo. Personally, I've never been tempted to get a tattoo, I think they are unattractive.

But that was until I discovered Oprah Winfrey tattoos! Supposedly it is all the rage. They look awesome. Should I get one?

The video is of a man getting and Oprah Winfrey tattoo. It looks like it hurts, but the end result is that it actually looks like Oprah. And it will last a lifetime.

I've discovered some other photos of Oprah tattoos. These are from http://www.bestweekever.tv/2011-06-24/the-5-most-inspirational-oprah-winfrey-tatts/. See their page for more examples, or just Google for them.

Debris Missed the International Space Station

A piece of space debris missed the International Space Station by only 750 meters today (June 28, 2011). The debris was traveling thousands of miles an hour. The crew had to scramble to get into their rescue craft where they remained till it passed.

Space debris, or space junk, is becoming a big problem. There is so much of this junk orbiting the earth that it is amazing the International Space Station has not been hit already. There have been several other near misses in the past.

Even though this is a big problem, the government has yet to take it seriously. Case-in-point: The Allen Telescope Array has been proven to be a great tracker of space debris, but the government can not seem to find the $2.5M/year that it takes to run the Allen Telescope Array. You can see the program announcement here: http://www.seti.org/afspc, but the Allen Telescope Array ran out of operational funding and had to go into hibernation till the United States Air Force Space Command can release the funding. This is sad and shortsighted.

Space debris has the potential of disturbing all satellites and global communications.

A great article with more details is at Yahoo News.

Photo courtesy of NASA.

Pot Holders vs. Oven Mitt

Over the constant din of human chatter I occasionally hear something that makes my right ear perk up and point. It happened again the other day.

"A lot of people don't really know what a pot holder is.", I heard a young woman (teenager!) say recently.

"What do you mean?" I replied.

She went on to tell me that there is a confusion about what exactly a pot holder is. If she tells her friends she made a pot holder, they ask her what that is.

I had to admit, I was drawing a blank! It was very embarrassing. I am starting to have senior moments. It had been soooo long since I've last even thought of a pot holder and it's place in society. I guess over the years in my mind I was just referring to them as those square thingies in the drawer.

So here I am to set everyone straight.

The square thingy in the picture is a pot holder. It is used for the same purposes as an oven mitt, but is used in situations where less manual dexterity is needed in hot oven situations.

Photo credit: The images above are from http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=983146&navAction=jump&navCount=

Note: I am not associated with the sellers of these products. I just used their picture.

Asteroid Will Miss Earth Today

Update: June 27, 2011 - 2:25 EST - The asteroid must have passed by now. All is OK!

Asteroid 2011MD is going to pass within 7600 miles (12300 kilometers) of earth at 1pm EST today (June 27). Experts say there is no chance it will hit the earth today. It will pass nearest the southern Atlantic Ocean.

The asteroid is estimated to be 5 to 20 meters in diameter. If it actually were to hit Earth it would most likely blow up in the atmosphere. So, no worries.

NASA tracks these things. They have the Near Earth Object Program which tracks what they can and lets the public know what may hit earth. This asteroid was discovered by the LINEAR near-Earth object discovery team observing from Socorro, New Mexico. You can visit their site for full details.

This is another great thing NASA is doing. Who doesn't want near earth objects tracked? But their annual budget is less than the air conditioning costs for tents in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. See my previous blog complaining about this issue. http://elephanttoenailreport.blogspot.com/2011/06/iraq-and-afghanistan-cooling-more-than.html

Peter Falk Died

Peter Falk died yesterday at his home. He was 83 years old. He had Alzheimer’s disease.

Peter Falk is most known for his character Columbo which he played for 35 years on TV.

He has an official website at peterfalk.com. You can learn all about him there. Be patient - his website is understandably slow today.

Interestingly I've had several Peter Falk experiences. Several years ago Peter gave a talk at the Friar's Club in Los Angeles. My friend Bud was there and bought Peter's book Just One More Thing and got Peter to sign it. He gave me the book, I read it. Here is the signature page:

The book was entertaining. It was fun to read about his career. He was talented, but was also very lucky. He has a masters degree in public administration. He worked for Marshal Tito in Yugoslavia. Interesting.

You may wonder why his eyes looked weird. One eye is a glass eye. When he was very young he had retina blastoma, an eye cancer.

I will keep the book. He signed the book, so the side of his palm may have touched the page. A few skin cells may have come off. If the ever are able to clone people from DNA, I'll donate my book to science so they can clone another Peter Falk.

Then, several months ago I was watching the German movie Wings of Desire. The movie was in German, but it starred Peter Falk! Peter doesn't speak German, so all his lines were in English. Nobody seemed to care.

Peter Falk in Wings of Desire

It was a strange film, particularly strange that Peter Falk was in it. But after the movie I decided it was actually a very touching movie. I recommend it.

Goodbye Peter Falk! We'll miss you!

Iraq and Afghanistan Cooling More Than NASA Budget

This obscene!

The annual cost for cooling troops in Iraq and Afghanistan is $20B! This is according to Steve Anderson, a retired brigadier general who was Gen. Petraeus' chief logistician in Iraq.

How much is $20B? This is $1B more than the entire annual budget of NASA! (which is $19B)

We earthlings really have our priorities wrong.

And to make matters worse: at least 1000 soldiers have been killed transporting fuel during these wars. The majority of the $20B cost comes from fuel needed to heat and cool tents on the front lines.

Who should we complain to? I doubt a letter to your congressman would do any good.

Read more about this on Gizmodo.

Here is another way to think about it:

How many cool and wonderful things that are positive for humanity is NASA doing
Too many to mention
How many cool and wonderful things that are positive for humanity happen in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars
Ummmmm...

Man Babies

Have you seen ManBabies.com? Some of the pictures on this site are really cool and creepy.

WARNING: This is a tremendous time waster! You can't look at just one. You will find yourself not only looking at the pictures, but studying them.

People photoshop pictures of a man holding a baby. They switch the heads of the man and the baby. Then they submit it to the site. Viewers can vote for their favorite.

One of my favorites:

Like I said: Cool and Creepy!

Levitating Photographer

Natsumi Hayashi is a photographer in Tokyo who's specialty is photographing herself "levitating". Visit her website to see her blog and her pictures. This woman is truly gifted. I wish I was as creative as her! She calls herself "yowayowa camera woman". よわよわカメラウーマンです. Awesome.

My favorite ones are where she appears to be flying.

There is no more else to say! Look at her pictures and visit her site: http://yowayowacamera.com/

Interstellar Travel Competition

The Pentagon's research agency DARPA is sponsoring a competition for the best idea for facilitating interstellar travel. This is a call for papers submitting ideas. The hope is that around the year 2111 the project may get off the ground. They want to start early. The prize for the best idea is $500,000 US. The entire budget for the program is $1M.

The picture above is of the Nautilus (what else would you call it?), the idea submitted by NASA. See http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/nasa-dares-to-dream-with-new-spacecraft-the-nautilus-x-mmsev/story-fn5fsgyc-1226006485082 for more details about their idea.

DARPA even has a new website www.100yss.org/ as a public interface for this competition:

A symposium? They are serious!

I am 100% in favor of such programs and think this is a great and forward thinking initiative.+1 for DARPA.

But I wonder - have the Republicans Heard About This?

As you may heard about the budget problems in the US. The US government is cutting back everywhere. I can hear it now, "The Pentagon is doing what? How much money are they spending? For this?...."

I bet Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) hasn't heard about this. Here is my prediction of what the scene will be like when someone finally tells him about this evil Democratic party backed program:

Picture 1: Oh! That is a funny one! You had me going there for a minute!
Picture 2: Wait! You are kidding - aren't you?
Picture 3: The Pentagon isn't going to spend that kind of money for something that doesn't kill people! Not on my watch!

---

I really do take the US budget crisis seriously. But we need to continue funding things that help us plan for a better future. Even if that future is 100 or more years away.

Bunny with no ears video

A new video has gone viral. A bunny was born near the Fukishima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. The white one in the video. It has no ears!?!

We really do not know if the earless bunny is the result of the radiation poisoning. But it makes you stop and think.

I did find a picture of another bunny without ears. This one is NOT the result of radiation poisoning:

See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1100030/Whats-Doc-Meet-Vincent-rabbit-born-ears.html for details about this bunny.

Beatles Cartoon

Hypnotic
From 1965 to 1969 on the US television network ABC there was a cartoon called "The Beatles". There were 39 episodes in all. Each episode featured one song of The Beatles.

I was too young to remember seeing this cartoon, although I did watch a lot of TV them. So I was surprised to find them on YouTube.

The above video features the song "Tomorrow Never Knows". I find the whole sequence really hypnotic. Even with the cheap animation they got the feeling right. It is worth a watch.

But, the bats fly to the sounds of seagulls. Maybe I am too picky!

There is a good Wikipedia article about this cartoon series. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_(TV_series)

Unbreakable Movie Review

Rating:A-
Note:May be boing for kids. Read below.

I'm reviewing the movie Unbreakable released in 2000. I finally got around to watching it, 11 years late. This movie stars Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, so I guess it was a pretty big deal at the time.

This what you call a "superhero drama". It is sort-of about a superhero, or someone who has the potential to be one. There are no special effects or expensive scenes. That said, the movie cost $75 to make. I can't figure out what cost that much money? The film ended up grossing about $250M.

Bruce Willis plays a depressed guy whose life is falling apart. He is the only survivor of a bad train wreck, not a scratch on him. He starts to wonder why he can't ever remember getting sick or injured.

The movie is intentionally slow, Bruce Willis' character is pretty much a sloth. Kids will NOT like this movie, there are no special effects or car chases (although there is a train wreck!). But adults will enjoy it if they know to expect a thoughtful drama, not a superhero movie.

There is no bad language or sex references. But there is some abduction violence. But Bruce saves the day - or does he?

Photos of Space Shuttle Docked

NASA released the first ever pictures of the Space Shuttle docked at the International Space Station. The small picture to the left does not do it justice. You have to click on it to pop up the full resolution picture. The clarity is amazing.

The pictures were taken by Expedition 27 crew member Paolo Nespoli from the Soyuz TMA-20 following its undocking on May 23, 2011.

Here is an example of the clarity from the high resolution image. I cut out the part of the full resolution image that shows just the nose of the Space Shuttle.

All the NASA pictures are available at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/multimedia/e27depart.html

Justin Bieber Earrings

Something really bad happened - really bad - you may have been able to guess what it is from the title.

Justin Bieber Got Earrings! And he had the nerve to show up in public! Ewe!

He looks kinda girlish with them. There has also been news of his 2 tattoos. I wonder if his mother is thinking maybe she should not have allowed him to start his career so early?

Justin - stick to singing. Maybe get a bacon watch.

See my original Justin Bieber blog for a review of his movie.

Massive Solar Flare

Update: June 08, 2011 - The flare was supposed to produce an aurora in the northern sky of North America. So far I can not see anything in the Northern sky. 10pm California time.

Original article:
On June 7, 2011 the sun experienced a CME, an acronym for Coronal Mass Ejection, from sunspot complex 1226-1227. The picture to the left is an actual picture from the event.

The flare's peak was at 1:41am (ET) June 8th. The blast was not pointed at the earth, but we will get a glancing blow from the blast around 6pm (ET) June 8, 2011. The effects are unknown exactly, buy there may be disruptions in GPS communication and power grids. Airports may change flight patterns near the poles.

This is the biggest flare up since 2006. The debris from the eruption fell back to the sun, covering almost one third of the surface.


What is a Coronal Mass Ejection? Here is a good explanation from NASA:

The outer solar atmosphere, the corona, is structured by strong magnetic fields. Where these fields are closed, often above sunspot groups, the confined solar atmosphere can suddenly and violently release bubbles of gas and magnetic fields called coronal mass ejections. A large CME can contain a billion tons of matter that can be accelerated to several million miles per hour in a spectacular explosion. Solar material streams out through the interplanetary medium, impacting any planet or spacecraft in its path. CMEs are sometimes associated with flares but can occur independently.

Here is a NASA video of the event:




If only this would have happened on May 21! Harold Camping would have said, "You see! You see? What did I tell you!"

See the NASA information about the CME at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/News060711-blast.html. I love NASA.

Texas Mass Grave

Update: - June 7, 2011 - As of this evening no bodies found! Obviously a dud lead.

Original Story:
This is a strange one. There are reports of mass grave with "a lot of bodies" near Hardin, Texas.

Authorities were tipped off about this on Tuesday afternoon, June 7, 2011. But nothing has been found.

Some news outlets report that the tip was from a psychic.

Initial reports that 30 bodies had been found.

But actually nothing has been found. Some reports say they are waiting on a search warrant.

The owner of the property was contacted, he and his wife are traveling. They said they are stunned about this - they do not know about any bodies on their property. Hey - that's what I'd say!

And to further the plot, there is blood on their porch and in their house! They claim the blood is from their daughter's boyfriend who slit his wrists last week in a suicide attempt. He was AWOL, obviously having problems, and is now in a military hospital. Wrong time and place to try a suicide, bub!

Why all the confusion? My guess is that it is a slow news day and the news outlets pounced on this one.

I'll update when more information is uncovered.

See http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/06/07/mass-grave-found-in-texas/ for a full report - so far.

DASH Diet Is The Best Diet

U.S. News & World Report looked at the effectiveness of 20 popular diet plans, reviewed by a panel of 22 experts in diet and nutrition, diabetes and heart disease.

The DASH Diet seems to be the best at preventing and lowering high blood pressure (hypertension), as well as being the best overall diet.

The diet also seems to be a great one for overweight teen girls to lose weight. See HERE for details about the DASH Diet and teenage girls.

Here are the results of the study:

Best Overall Diets

• 1. DASH Diet
• 2. Mediterranean Diet

Best Diabetes Diets

• 1. DASH Diet
• 2. Mayo Clinic Diet

Best Heart-Healthy Diets

• 1. Ornish Diet
• 2. TLC Diet

Best Commercial Diet Plans

• 1. Weight Watchers
• 2. Jenny Craig

The DASH Diet is the best one.

What is the DASH Diet? It s an acronym for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.
For a 2,000-calorie diet it is suggested:

• 6-8 servings of grains
• 4-5 each of veggies and fruit
• 2-3 of fat-free or low-fat dairy
• 6 or fewer of lean meat, poultry and fish, with one serving being equivalent to an ounce
• 4-5 a week of nuts, seeds, and legumes
• 2-3 of fats and oils
• 5 or fewer, a week, of sweets
• Less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day and work towards 1,500 mg

Nothing groundbreaking, really. This is what we should eat, we all know it!

See the U.S. News and World Report article for full details.

Anthony Weiner Admits

Update: June 7, 2011 - There has been a call for an investigation to see if he improperly used funds while up to these shenanigans. Many in the US House of Representatives want him to resign.

Update: June 6, 2011 - Weiner admitted he has inappropriate internet relationships with several women. He even held a press conference about it! He has admitted having “inappropriate” and “explicit” online “conversations” with six women.

What he really did wrong is lie about it. He flat out denied it, blamed it on a hacker.

Will we see him run for president?!

Original article from May 31, 2011:

Rep. Anthony Weiner has been accused of sending a lewd photo from his Twitter account to a 21-year old college student. Supposedly the picture was of a man's nether region, wearing boxer shorts. He of course denies the allegation, saying his Twitter account was hacked. I think we'll never know the real story.

Now for the embarrassing part. I BET A LOT OF PEOPLE HAD THE SAME THOUGHT! BE HONEST!

I must be up front - I am addicted to spell checking. Many people are. You had the same thought too.


You are thinking, "His name is Weiner, you mean like a hot dog?" He is being accused of that and his name is what?

But alas, no. Not like a hot dog. I had to look it up on Google. The food item is spelled wiener (blush!). Remember the "i" before "e" rule? I remembered it, but second guessed myself, maybe it was one of those words that breaks the rule? But no, it is wiener.

No hate comments, please. I know a lot of people have the last name Weiner. But a lot of people also have the last name Wiener. Now we are all clear on the spelling?

Wiener is German for Viennese, or a German sausage named after Vienna. Wiener is not used in this context in Vienna.

Cat roaming

Ever wonder how far a cat roams when it is outside? I do! A new extensive study uncovers some interesting facts. The study used radio telemetry and a sophisticated activity-tracking device to keep track of feral and house cats. Just in case you don't know, feral cats are wild cats, or cats without owners.

The results? House cats barely roam at all compared to feral cats. See the picture. The red area is the roaming area of one of the feral cats in the study, the one that roamed the most. He roamed and area of 1,351 acres. The really small yellow dot just to the right of the center is the small roaming area of a house cat. Quite a big difference. The mean roaming area for house cats is only 4.9 acres.

The activity monitors showed that house cats are active only 3% of the time. They are either resting or sleeping. Feral cats are active 14% of the time. This makes sense, feral cats have to hunt and be on alert to stay alive.

See http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-05-track-secret-feral-free-roaming-house.html for a full explanation of the study.

Meek's Cutoff Movie Review

My Rating: A
Warning: Little kids may be really bored.

This is an "independent" movie, the film didn't even cover the whole width of the screen. I saw it in a "regular" theater, which is quite a feat for a movie not designed to be a blockbuster.

The story was interesting, but more was the way it was told through the movie, very compelling. I found myself lost in the movie, truly engrossed. The ending is unique and leaves you thinking.

The movie is about a small group of pioneers in the 1850's traveling across the West for California. They have a braggart guide named Meek who gets them lost. They are running low on water. They capture an Indian who is leading them to water, or maybe not.

This movie has no killing, sex or swearing. At least I do not remember any swearing. No car chases! I often have trouble finding adult dramas that are appropriate for kids. This is one for sure.

The only negative thing is the the bad guy, Meek, treats the Indian very poorly. But the others rebel against that, so it evens out. One thing they should have left out of the movie - a woman uses the N- word. Yes, used in a context truthful to the period, but I'm tired of that.

This is an adult movie. Little children will be bored. Children 10 and above may like the movie, especially if they are fresh from studying the pioneer days in school. The movie is very realistic in the portrayal of these pioneers and their plight.

My The Pirates of the Caribbean 4 Review

My rating: B-
Warning: Not for really little kids.

I took my son to the 2D version of The Pirates of the Caribbean 4 yesterday. It was a very grandiose movie, there were a lot of sweeping scenes you know were meant to look good in the 3D version, but they still looked good in the 2D version. The whole movie was visually stunning.

Overall I thought the movie was "OK", but they are getting lazy with the easy successes of these movies. For one - the plot was pretty much the same and very predictable. Just imagine what a breakthrough it would have been if they would have challenged the writers to create a unique and gripping story! But no.

I usually do not like gratuitous scenes or sexy things that do not belong in the movie other than to get a dirtier rating. Especially when I am with my kids. But this movie has Penelope Cruz, truly one of the most talented and beautiful actresses there are.

No revealing bikini, no low neck line, no short skirts. Nothing!

By the way the movie ended you know there will be a fifth one. I assume Penelope Cruz will be in it also. Let's hope for a better costume selection for her next time! With a woman like her they should be able to make her more alluring while still retaining the PG rating and not being gratuitous.

Little children should not see this movie. The scenes with the mermaids were pretty disturbing and will wreak havoc with their angelic ideas of mermaids. No kid's book about mermaids will be the same after they see this movie.

Gunsmoke star James Arness dies

One of the great cowboy actors has died. He was only 86 years old. James Arness was the star of the TV show Gunsmoke which aired for 20 years from 1955 to 1975. 635 episodes! His character was Matt Dillon (like the actor whose real name is Matt Dillon, confusing).

Gunsmoke was a landmark show because it was different than the kid friendly westerns of the past. This show was for adults, but kids could enjoy it also.

I remember watching it growing up, I was too little to really appreciate it. But now I've seen reruns and it is pretty entertaining.

When I was little I was confused about the role of Miss Kitty, played by Amanda Blake. What role did her character play in society? My father had to finally break it to me when I was 10 years old, "She's a prostitute!" he proclaimed. I thought she was real purdy back then. Here is a picture of Miss Kitty with Matt Dillon (James Arness' character):

Someone posted this YouTube video of John Wayne introducing the show before the first airing. They wanted to make sure the audience knew that the show was for adults. With John Wayne backing it, it has to be good!



James, although I haven't even thought of you in 30 years, I'll miss you!

Dr. Jack Kevorkian dies at age 83

Dr. Jack Kevorkian died from kidney problems. He was 83.

The younger crowd may not remember him, but in the 1970's his name is in the news a lot. He was nicknamed "Doctor Death". He was a major component of the "assisted suicide" movement. He spend decades campaigning for the legalization of euthanasia.

The picture to the left is the good doctor with his "suicide machine". It could be built from scraps for around $30.

He spent eight years in prison and is "credited" with helping over 130 people commit suicide.

All this sounds like he was a bad man. But not really, he was trying to help. He only assisted people who were at the end of their life and in really bad condition. People with conditions like multiple sclerosis, ALS and malignant brain tumors.

No matter what your opinion of him, his efforts brought to the forefront the issues of terminal illness and the right to die with dignity. Wait - is that a right? Is it even a privilege?

Read mode: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/dr-death-jack-kevorkian-dies-at-age-83/2010/12/03/AGhktuHH_story.html

Judge Bans Prayer at Texas Graduation

There's gonna be trouble. Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery (picture on the left) has ordered the Medina Valley Independent School District, located in Texas, to not use any religious words at graduation ceremonies.

This includes the words "prayer", "amen", "benediction". Wow.

This is the result of a lawsuit filed by Christa and Danny Schultz, parents of a kid attending one of the schools in the district. Feel sorry for the kid, can you imagine having to go to school after this and your parents did that? Can you imagine the family conversation about this? "Dad, if you talk to a U.S. District Judge about this it will be soooo embarrassing! I'll never talk to you again!"

The judge declared that the Schultz family and their son would “suffer irreparable harm” if anyone prayed at the ceremony. He should have outlawed wedgies while he was at it, which can definitely cause "irreparable harm”.

Is this over stretching the separation of church and state issue? Obviously some are going to complain about this. The judge said ruling be “enforced by incarceration or other sanctions for contempt of Court if not obeyed by District official (sic) and their agents.” How can all those Texas Christians not revolt? Are the county jails large enough for this?

I'm sure many are asking themselves if Judge Fred Biery violated the long standing law "Don't Mess With Texas." This is definitely a case of messing with Texas. Is there going to be a lawsuit over this infringement?

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/06/02/prayer-prohibited-at-graduation-ceremony/#ixzz1OE6SHe4M

New Spelling Bee Champion

This story makes me feel really inept, especially after the article about not being sure how to spell wiener. I know how to spell it now.

Sukanya Roy, a 14 year old 8th grader, won the 84th Scripps National Spelling Bee. Her winning word was cymotrichous. I've never heard of the word, and neither has my spell checker!

Congratulations Sukanya!

Mitt Romney For President

Mitt Romney has finally announced he is running for president. He made the announcement in front of a farm house. (kinda corny).

I'm thinking he is starting off on the wrong foot. "Barack Obama has failed America," Mr. Romney declared. Is he going to have a campaign of mostly saying negative things about Obama?

In my opinion having a campaign based on negative remarks about the other guy is a good way NOT to get elected. Remember the last election. I think Obama won because John McCain was an awful candidate. I remember watching the last Obama and McCain debate, it was embarrassing. Obama was talking ideas, and McCain could only cut him down, expressing nothing new or constructive. Here is a picture of McCain in action at that debate:

(where is he going to stick that finger?)
Why can't Romney base his campaign on his ideas and plans? To be fair, his speech today did outline some of his ideas, but he needs to make sure the negativity does not get out of hand. Maybe using a negative angle is the only way politics works these days?

Will his Mormon religion hurt his chances? Maybe not. Our recent experience with Harold Camping has taught us that a lot of people in America want to believe anything and are accepting of other's beliefs.