Zamboni Google Doodle

Zamboni Google Doodle

(say that three times really fast)

Maybe Google is celebrating the return of ice hockey, but it's also the birthday of Frank Zamboni, the inventor of his namesake, the iconic ice resurfacer.


The game is easy to play; Press the arrow "start" button and a little skater will come out, skate around and leave a trail on the ice.

Then, using the arrow keys, drive the Zamboni around to resurface the ice.

Not an exciting game, but like most doodles done with a pencil and paper, it's simply a way to pass time.

As if there's not enough ways to do that on the Internet.

Here's another time waster, but at least it will increase your trivia knowledge:

8 Things You Don’t Know About the Zamboni Machine

Quickie Wiki

The other day I was listening to an online radio sports talk show and they announced "This just in! Marion Barber retiring!"

Being a fan of the Cowboys and always enjoying watching Barber run the ball (his nickname was "Barbarian") when he played for Dallas, I did a quick search to see how well he had done after he had left the Cowboys. Quite a few results came up, most from football websites like NFL.com, ESPN, various fan sites and the official Cowboys site.

I also noticed news articles on Barber's announcement and most had "fifteen minutes ago" as the time the article was posted, which was about the same amount of time since I had heard the news on the online show. Also in the results was Barber's Wikipedia entry. I clicked on it and saw that it had already been updated with his retirement.

That wasn't surprising, though. It's been something I've been doing after hearing news of note - checking Wiki to see how fast it's updated. I've noticed that with other news stories, one recent one being the death of Whitney Houston. The Wiki entry for the last Super Bowl was changed to reflect the final score within moments of the game being over.

Now, you might think it's pretty sad or a sign of having too much time on my hands for me to check Wiki for updates when breaking news is announced. You would be correct, but what does it say about those who rush to the site to update the entry before anyone else?

---

Update to add: Another example would be that of the NBC show Celebrity Apprentice. It's just now ending as I type this, but the results/who won the challenge/who was fired has already been posted. I realize there are different satellite feeds, one earlier on the east coast, so that accounts for the quick update, but it would be a spoiler for anyone who read the Wiki entry before the show airs in their time zone.

A disclaimer: I've never watched Celebrity Apprentice much before this season and I haven't seen all the shows this year.  I watched a few of the shows last year because Meat Loaf and Gary Busey were contestants and they had a huge fight during one competition.  (either one could be/should be the poster child for "Just Say No")  I don't care much for Donald Trump and, for the most part, don't care much about celebrities. The thing I like the most about the show is watching the celebrities stab each other in the back in order to be kept on the show for the next week.

Rumspringa

That's a new word I learned today. I saw it in a reply to a post in Big Hollywood - the topic was Katy Perry, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson and how they were raised in a church, but weren't being Christian in their careers. I like to read Big Hollywood but don't really like it when they interject religion or politics into their articles. (because 99% of Hollywood is liberal and the posts and replies mostly bitch and moan about it... and criticisms of religion almost always wind up sounding "holier than thou".)

One of the replies said the girls might be on their Rumspringa "and they'll get over it." From the context, I had an inkling as to what the word meant, but I wasn't familiar with it. Wiki says Rumspringa is a time when Amish youth "sow their wild oats". It was an interesting and informative read, so I did a little more research. I've read about Amish kids being busted for selling/using drugs and I seem to recall a recent murder that shocked the Amish community, but the funniest thing I have read about Amish crime has been beard cutting assaults. (Well, funny to me, but I wasn't the one getting my beard cut off.)

Maybe I'm insensitive about that, but I've never been able to grow a beard, just a mustache and Amish men don't wear mustaches. (I'm not sure about the Amish women) I could never be Amish, I guess, because I like my 'stache and my TV and microwave.

I also found out there's a band named Rumspringa and this is where I'd normally add the video, but I'm not in the mood for alternative music.

I do know an Amish joke, though:

What goes "clip clop clip clop - BANG BANG BANG - clip clop clip clop"?

An Amish drive-by shooting.

No, Thanks

I already have a set.

Couldn't sleep, so I got up to check my reader and noticed a new posting from WikiHow, my subscription to their "How to of the Day" feed. I had to laugh because it looked like they were talking about either obtaining some incredible intestinal fortitude or making something that could only be made on an expensive and advanced lathe or milling machine.

There was another similar post from WikiHow that hit my reader while I was clearing out the rest of the posts - this one was about making Brass Ball cocktails.  The article was blank, as was the original one and I noticed that it had already been edited a dozen times.  That's the trouble with the Wiki sites, namely that anybody can edit them.  "I know that's true, I just read it on Wiki!" "Oh yeah, that's not a good source."  "Well, I know it's true because I just wrote it!"

Back when I was active in MSN Groups, the help group "Community Feedback" had a Wiki listing.  They had a description that went like this: "Community Feedback is dedicated to giving help to MSN Group managers." along with a bunch of other self-congratulatory crapola.  I used to go in and put "dubious" in front of "help" in the sentence. Petty of me, I know (some might say infantile or even passive-aggressive), but I loved to annoy them.  It was cheap entertainment.

Speaking of brass balls, I watched one of my favorite History Channel programs Saturday morning: "Heavy Metal".  The show is about all things military, but my favorites are when they highlight ships, tanks and airplanes. This program was about the B-17, one of the best U.S.bombers of WWII. One segment detailed the heavy losses incurred during the raids on the Schweinfurt ball bearing plants.

After the program was over, it made me think of ball bearings and different situations in my life involving them. One time when I was a driller on a rig I had a bearing out of the drawworks and was about to replace a couple of the small ball bearings when one of the guys who worked for me accidentally kicked it and sent them rolling everywhere.  We were down for quite a while until I could scavenge enough to replace the ones that we couldn't find.  Wasn't my fault, but guess who got the butt-chewing?  I passed it along, of course.

Thinking of the rigs - and ball bearings -  reminded me of a joke about a govt. man sent out to test the intelligence of rig workers.  He started the tests out with a roughneck, giving him three steel balls and told him to do something with them. The govt. man turned his back, but when he turned around again, the roughneck was gone.  He looked around, but couldn't find him.

Getting another three balls from his briefcase, the govt. man went to the roughneck's immediate boss, the driller, gave him the three balls and told him to do something with them.  The driller looked at the balls for a while, scratched his head and then put two balls side-by-side, then balanced one atop the bottom two.  It was a fairly difficult and ingenious feat, so the driller got a good score.

The govt. man looked around for the roughneck, but still couldn't find him so he then gave the three balls to the driller's boss, the tool pusher.  The pusher looked at the balls for just a little while, then stacked one on top of each other, nearly impossible to do...but that was why he was the tool pusher.  He got a great score from the govt. man.

About that time, the roughneck came ambling up.  "Where are those balls?" asked the govt. man. "What balls?" replied the roughneck. "Those three balls I gave you an hour ago!" exclaimed the exasperated govt. man.

"Oh, THOSE three balls." the roughneck sheepishly said. "Well," he went on "I lost one...broke another..."

"But the other one's here in my lunch box!"

P.T. Barnum Born Today

P. T. Barnum

According to Wiki, P.T. Barnum did not say "There's a sucker born every minute.".

That said, whoever said it spake the truth, at least for the minute I was born.

I Ain't Marching Anymore - Phil Ochs

From Wiki:

Philip David Ochs (pronounced /ˈoʊks/) (December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was a U.S. protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer) and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice. He wrote hundreds of songs in the 1960s and released eight albums in his lifetime.

Ochs performed at many political events, including anti-Vietnam War and civil rights rallies, student events, and organized labor events over the course of his career, in addition to many concert appearances at such venues as New York City's Town Hall and Carnegie Hall. Politically, Ochs described himself as a "left social democrat" who became an "early revolutionary" after the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago led to a police riot, which had a profound effect on his state of mind.

After years of prolific writing in the 1960s, Ochs's mental stability declined in the 1970s and eventually he succumbed to a number of problems including bipolar disorder and alcoholism, and he took his own life in 1976.

Some of Ochs's major influences were Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Bob Gibson, Faron Young, Merle Haggard, John Wayne, and John F. Kennedy. His best-known songs include "I Ain't Marching Anymore", "Changes", "Crucifixion", "Draft Dodger Rag", "Love Me I'm a Liberal", "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends", "Power and the Glory", "There but for Fortune", and "The War Is Over".

Stranger on the Shore - Acker Bilk

I've been meaning to put up this tune for a long time now; it's one of my favorite songs.

The reason I just remembered it was because of today's post on the Word of the Day, "bilk". I looked at my mp3 version and decided to alter the tag because the artist wasn't credited in it. I then noticed the genre tag was "negerpunk" and had to go look it up.

Wiki entry on Acker Bilk.

LIKE MIKE TYPE CAPS

You Are a Ski Cap

You are a comfortable, low maintenance, and even practical person. You use fashion to look good, and you don't stray too far from the mainstream. You are friendly and accepting. You don't really judge other people for their fashion choices. You enjoy clothes and accessories as much as the next person, but you're not superficial about it!

What Winter Hat Are You?

I love sock caps, especially during the winter and most especially since I've been shaving my head. When I had hair I liked them, but my hair is so thin and fine it would practically tie in knots under the cap.

Back when I was a kid, there was a TV show called "Then Came Bronson" which starred Michael Parks who often wore a sock cap.



He wasn't a bad singer, either. I remember my big sister having this album:



I specifically remember "Long, Lonesome Highway" from the television show, plus he did a great version of "Oklahoma Hills".

Here's a couple of clips I found on YouTube:

Opening sequence



Closing Credits



Michael Nesmith of The Monkees (mentioned in a recent post) was another Mike who wore sock caps:

The Munsters Theme Song

According to Wiki, The Munsters had higher TV ratings than The Addams Family.

Al Lewis, who played Grandpa Munster, was a self-proclaimed anarchist.

The Addams Family Theme

Addams Family on Wiki

Carolyn Jones, who played Mortitica, was born in Amarillo.

Thump

(click for a little bit larger view)

I found this after downloading the contents of my MSN Groups storage site which means I have it on one of my many clipart disks. I love these old trippy posters. A friend of mine had one that had so much detail on it, I would see something new each time I saw it. The main theme of his poster was an overpopulated Earth, with people edging out into the water, either to try to find space to live or a peaceful place to die. I think what I really like is the apocalyptic nature of these things.

Speaking of trippy, I need to find my old Freewheelin' Franklin rug.

Vince, The Pack & Mrs. Olsen

I'm sure looking forward to the Packers/Cowboys game tonight. I hope the Pokes can beat 'em, and I think they will. (probably jinxed 'em, right there)

I thought it another one of those insignificant - but cool - coincidences that a day or so ago there was a Vince Lombardi quote on the Quote of the Day feed in the right-hand column. Lombardi was the coach of the Green Bay Packers and is considered to be one of the best football coaches of all time.

I had a coach for the first couple of years in h.s.; he hadn't been out of the Army for very long, had a wife and a young girl. He was fresh off his first coaching job, having some success, so his gung-ho atttitude was still fierce...but I think my home town drained him of a lot of it in the short time he was there.

Anyway...he was fond of Lombardi quotes and had them plastered all over the locker room, a few nicely printed out and framed in his office. There were a few I thought silly, such as

"A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall."

What a crock. So self-serving...of course if your life is football, you'll defend it even with nonsensical "facts".

There were, however, a few that I've remembered all my life and thought them profound then and still do:

"Fatigue makes cowards of us all."

And "Luck is where preparation meets opportunity."

During my sophomore year I injured my knee and was out of practice for a game and a week's practice. My mom bought me Jerry Kramer's book, Instant Replay to read while I was recuperating. I admired Kramer; we played the same position, both of us were pulling guards, but I'll go to my death thinking he beat the snap on the winning touchdown in The Ice Bowl.

(4:27 on the video, it's certainly debatable, I'll admit)



My pop and this coach became good buddies, but that sure didn't curry me any favor with the coach. If anything, he seemed to go harder on me, almost more than I could bear. One time when I was at my breaking point, ready to quit the team crying, he told me "Mike, I wouldn't be so hard on you if I didn't think you had good potential." Looking at it from that perspective, I could see that he didn't spend nearly as much time (especially yelling time) with most of the other boys as he did with me. I think he realized that I was one of those guys who needed to be pushed, but also appreciated. I think most people are like that, actually.

I remember a time when we were playing basketball in Booker; I rode with my folks and we were early by quite a bit, even for my sister's game which came before mine. We rode around the tiny town for a while, then Dad saw the coach and got him to get in the car with us; we drove a couple of blocks away from the school to a burned-out house. Dad pointed at it and with a snicker told him:

"That's where last year's coach lived."

And now for my Green Bay Packers joke:

Mrs. Ollie Olsen, a Scandinavian immigrant to the U.S. was drawing attention because of her size, 6'8", 345 lbs. Reporters were interviewing her, asking her questions such as "Gee, Mrs. Olsen, how'd you get so big?"

"Ah, from eating dot gud Svedish cheese." she replied with a good-natured smile.

Another reporter yelled out: "You're big enough to play for the Green Bay Packers, Mrs. Olsen!"

Turning serious, she grimly replied:

"Nein, I play wid nobody's packer but Ollie's."

Blood Types & Personality

While looking at a post in an MSN Group about donating blood, I saw a post about a Japanese theory that claims one's blood type influences their personality.

From Wiki:

Japanese Blood Type Personality Chart

Type A
Best Traits: Earnest, creative, sensible, calm.
Worst Traits: Fastidious, overearnest.

Type B
Best Traits: Wild, a doer, cheerful.
Worst Traits: Selfish, irresponsible, arrogant.

Type AB
Best Traits: Cool, controlled, rational.
Worst Traits: Critical, indecisive.

Type O
Best Traits: Agreeable, sociable, an optimist.
Worst Traits: Vain, careless, ruthless.

---

Since I'm AB+, I'm pretty sure there's nothing to this by my own "best traits". I'd like to think I am cool and controlled, but rational???

Since you've read this far, why don't you tell us what YOUR blood type is in the poll in the right-hand column?

You can chime in on this post, or in the "What's Your Blood, Bud?" thread.

Life in a Northern Town

Heard this song a week or so ago on the country music station and couldn't remember who had released the earlier version.

Here's (Wiki Warning!) The Dream Academy version, released in 1985



Wiki - for what it's worth - explains about the song.

Here's the Sugarland version, just as I saw it on CMT.

Best and Worst Legislators

Reported by: Micah Taylor
Friday, Jun 22, 2007 @04:11pm

(Note: Inserted links below are my own, also be aware of Wiki Warning)

AMARILLO -- Texas Monthly magazine came out Friday, and a couple of our local legislators are in it.

It's called Best and Worst Legislators of 2007.

Representative Warren Chisum of Pampa is on the worst list. The writer says Chisum got in a position of power and did not set a good example. Chisum says the article is one man's opinion, and he's confident with his performance.

Over on the best list -- Amarillo Representative John Smithee made honorable mention.

There's also an article in there about Palo Duro Canyon.

Eagle News

No, not the football team in Philadelphia. The only way they're going to be mentioned in here is if...when...Dallas stomps 'em twice this next year. I refuse to link to their website and will probably never even mention the Liberty Bell.

Yes, that's how badly....

I'm talking about the Bald Eagle, that iconic symbol of America. It seems as though the proud bird has been taken off the endangered species list. I am so happy for that.

They don't taste as good as spotted owl, but....

My Trip to NYC

My sisters are taking a trip to NYC at the end of the week. I wasn't asked to go and I'm sure that's because they knew I would decline. It also could've been, since they're both older, that they remember much shorter trips with a much shorter me where I whined all the way there and back.

Besides that, I went to NYC a year or so ago, just after downloading the Google Earth program. Ain't the Internet great?

First, I zoomed out from the Panhandle, took a good look at North America.

(click any pic for a larger view, then use your back button to return. Need to see about "new window" script to add to posts w/ photos/screenshots/links)



Then I zoomed in on the Eastern Seaboard; the topography is fascinating to me, especially the Niagara Escarpment.



Wow, Long Island really IS long, ain't it?

Down, down, down to the Big Apple.



Going to the max resolution, one can even see ships in the Hudson River. This tanker is on the NY side of the state line with New Joisy Jersey.



Over to the Statue of Liberty.



A literal birds-eye view, no crowds, no admittance fee.

(and no Staten Island Ferry. We'll leave off the jokes)



Zoom out, get our bearings, use the hybrid view for the streets of Manhattan.

(this is the Christopher Cross satellite; it's the one between the moon and New York City)



Zoom in a little bit more; hey, there's Broadway!
(give my regards, etc. Couldn't make out Joe)

Note the wakes of the ships and other smaller watercraft. I dunno 'bout the Hudson, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to water-ski in the East River.



Let's get a closer look at that empty spot.



Ground Zero



We must never forget.

If I travelled to New York City, I'm sure I would want to do the same things my family is doing; take in a Yankees game, a Broadway play, visit the Empire State Building...all the "touristy things"... but if I couldn't visit the WTC site it wouldn't have been worth going all that way.

(I'm fairly certain there's a double negative in that last sentence, but you do know what I mean, don't you? Do you? Do you not? )

I'm sure my family is planning on stopping by the site. When I sent my "big sis" those screenshots above, she sent me the link to some Times Square Webcams.

She said she'd wave at me.