Marys Peak crime scene (and College World Series)

Today we went hiking at Marys Peak (yes, I’m refraining from using an apostrophe to show possession). Why isn’t it Mary’s Peak anymore? Why? Anyway, we had a nice hike, literally walking through clouds near the summit at around 4000 feet in elevation. So I don’t bore you too much, here are just a few […]

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125-year-old whale killed (plus personal watermelon)

My favorite story this week is the one about the 19th century bomb lance fragment found lodged in a recently killed bowhead whale’s neck and shoulder blade. Here’s a quote regarding the weapon found in the 50-ton bowhead whale (which is a conservation dependent species) that was killed by an Eskimo in May: An old […]

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Beavers back in World Series (plus Chinese mantids)

Earlier tonight, the Oregon State University Beavers advanced to their third straight College World Series with an 8-2 win over Michigan in the NCAA Super Regional. I caught a couple of innings from the parking lot next to Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. Congratulations to the Beaver baseball team! They have been quite good at […]

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Robotic BEAR, badgers, American Zoetrope, French Open

Today is the birthday of two of my friends. Happy Birthday to everyone born today! As usual, I have a number of random things to share. Let’s do this newspaper-style, using three sections: Science & Technology Ever imagined dying in the arms of a robotic teddy bear? Soon this may become a reality for wounded […]

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NBA playoffs, Windows, FDA, Caketown, toothpaste

Tomorrow will be the fifth birthday of this blog. I was not so prolific in the early days, but I nevertheless did make my first blog post five years ago (which also means I’ve been designing websites for 10 years now). Some 100+ posts later, what do I have in store for you in this […]

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A Fair(y) Use Tale, Smashing Pumpkins, NBA lottery

Today I have five things to mention: 1. Eric Faden, an assistant professor of English and film studies at Bucknell University, created a 10-minute video called “A Fair(y) Use Tale” using 400 cuts from 27 different Disney films to mock copyright law (and Disney). It’s certainly worth checking out. As you may know, Disney has […]

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Pink bats, Pink Martini, and Pink Floyd

I have three pink-related stories for you at this ridiculously early morning hour: 1. Yesterday, on Mother’s Day, over 200 Major League Baseball players used bright pink bats during their games. And many more wore pink sweatbands and wristbands. This is the second straight Mother’s Day that MLB and the Susan G. Komen foundation have […]

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Kentucky Derby 133 prophecy

A friend of mine is at the Kentucky Derby this year (right now, actually). She’s the kind of person who throws Derby parties and sips mint julep every year and has always wanted to go to Churchill Downs. So I was excited for her when she arranged to go Louisville this May. Last week, before […]

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Golden State is the new Denver

I knew Dirk’s team wouldn’t make it out of the Oakland Arena alive. (Oh wait, I’m supposed to call the arena The Oracle now?) Tonight’s upset of the top-ranked Dallas Mavericks (67-15) by the Golden State Warriors (the last team to make the 2007 NBA playoffs at 42-40) reminded me of a very similar occurrence […]

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Much ado about J.D. Drew

I don’t care much about the experience of watching Major League Baseball. I read about sports much more than I watch sporting events (or anything) on TV. Though sometimes I get pulled in during dramatic postseason runs (like the Red Sox in October of 2004), or other big sporting events like Bowl games and March […]

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