Engaged!

Last night, I asked Julia the BIG question and handed her a wicked awesome rock. No, it's not a cracker jack ring--it's the real deal, believe me. She said yes, so keep Memorial Day weekend free! Mark your calendars.

It turns out that Julie is a closet-Trekkie at heart. A few days ago, I was flipping through the channels and Star Trek: TNG was on G4TV. I expected to hear "NO! Change it!" Instead, she started rattling off the characters names! Halfway through the episode, she acknowledged that she had seen this particular episode--"The Wounded". Anyway, so now you can figure the picture out for yourself.

Do you know Borat?

Borat is a character created by Sacha Baron Cohen. He is a reporter from Kazakhstan sent to the "US and A" to learn about American culture. His adventures are hilarious!

Borat originally had a segment from Da Ali G show on HBO. This November a full feature movie will be released--see the trailer below.

living in a fish tank

Do you have any pets living at your house? We have two cats, George and Seamus, who share the house with us. Yes, if you have pets you understand--you live in your pets' home, not the other way around. By the way, George is orange and white, and Seamus is black and white. The picture to the side was taken last fall. They rarely sleep like this anymore--cooties or soemthing might be the deterrent.

The other day, I was sitting on the floor, and George and Seamus were walking around me. It was like having sharks swimming around you in the water. Anyway, I started to think that having indoor pets is like choosing to live inside a fish tank. If you think about it, it's a pretty good analogy. Now, if I could only find the equivalent of algae-eaters. Oh wait! Julie mentioned that for cats, the algae-eaters are dogs. Yeah, pretty gross.

Here's a picture of a well-known "cat" algae-eater. His name is Bobski. I have spent a couple of weekends with him. If anything, a visit with him is memorable. He specializes in unexpected funiture modfication and occasionally shares his remodelling ideas to his owners while they are away at work. What an amazing animal! He's also had an eye-lid lift. That's right ladies, Bob's had some cosmetic surgery!

Now, I'm not certain if one could say that living with Bob is like living in a fish tank--a little more like a whale tank. But, it is a little amazing to watch animals roam around you while you're sitting still.

Democracy Now! Notes Environmental Damage Attributed to Israel

Today's news summary on Democracy Now! included the following:

Greenpeace: Lebanese Oil Spill Spreads Into the Seabed of Mediterranean
Greenpeace Lebanon has revealed that the oil spill off the Lebanese coastline has spread into the seabed and could threaten marine life for years. Oil on the seabed is so thick that it can be physically picked up by divers. The spill occurred six weeks ago when Israel bombed an electric power plant. Up to 15,000 tons of fuel oil leaked out but the Israeli military blocked any cleanup for a month. Zeina Al-Hajj, Greenpeace coordinator in Beirut: "What we have seen is miles and miles of oil suffocating the seabed. This is an indication that the contamination from the oil spill has spread beyond the shore and beyond the water coastline and into underwater. And that is an indication of the urgency needed to deal with this disaster."

The fact that Israel's blockade prevented any possibility of a cleanup campaign is quite discomforting. Another news brief in the same report indicated that Israel has several nuclear centers capable of enriching uranium, as well. Given the reported destruction of Lebannon, it does not appear that Israel was severely threatened by Hezbollah.

A News Story Unfolds and a Good Laugh

Today, I was reading through my RSS feeds for the Guardian Unlimited News Network based out of the UK. A story caught my attention merely by its headline: "Transatlantic flight in emergency diversion." Reading the story was even more interesting. Apparently, FOX News reported that a female passenger (reported by a US Transportation Security Administration official to be 60 and suffering from claustrophobia and an anxiety attack) "brandished a screwdriver and matches and had a note referring to al-Qaida in her possession." CNN reported that she had two notes--one in English and one in Arabic--and was being questioned by the FBI. At the time of writing this entry, CNN and FOX News were reporting that the possession of a screwdriver, matches, two notes, AND vaseline has been refuted by US officials.

Now, what I want to know is that if she in fact did not have the screwdriver, matches, notes, and vaseline, then who introduced this collection of items? What would the vaseline do? Quite interesting.

Finally, my friend Frank found a video of Stephen Colbert interviewing Eleanor Holmes Norton on the top list from digg.com. After watching the video, I have decided to embed it in this post. It's very amusing--probably the best interview to this day. However, I must admit that the power of editing is likely the key to the humor. Enjoy the video.