Stefy and I are taking Kyra to Potter Park Zoo today. Should be fun. We'll have pictures up soon. Yeah, yeah, I know... it's been a long time since I posted any photos.
Have a good one!
Okay, I'll admit it. I like Star Trek. I can tell you what the "T" in James T. Kirk stands for*, what Captain Picard's favorite drink is**, and the name of Data's cat***.
So, whenever I see news stories like this, my heart always skips a beat:
"British scientists have announced their intent to build a Star Trek-style magnetic shielding system to help protect astronauts from radiation. 'There are a variety of risks facing future space explorers, not least of which is the cancer-causing radiation encountered when missions venture beyond the protective magnetic envelope, or magnetosphere, which shields the Earth against these energetic particles. The Earth's magnetosphere deflects many of these particles; others are largely absorbed by the atmosphere.'"
Okay, shields are pretty cool. Of course, I would much rather have access to a transporter or a replicator –– and don't even get me started on photon torpedoes –– but I guess we can only tackle one piece of Star Trek technology at a time.
*Tiberius | **Tea, Earl Grey, Hot | *** Spot
From the LSJ...
LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- Delvon Roe gave the official word today: He's going to play college basketball for Michigan State.
Roe, a 6-foot-8 junior power forward ranked the No. 5 player in the nation by Scout.com, announced the decision at his high school, Lakewood St. Edward. He becomes the second MSU verbal commitment for the class of 2008, joining Milwaukee point guard Korie Lucious.
Roe told MSU coach Tom Izzo of his decision last week but wanted to wait until today's news conference to make it public. In that time, speculation was heavy that he was going to choose the Spartans over North Carolina.
“It was a tough decision, but I think it had to do with my heart.” Roe said. “I had to follow my heart at the end. ... I knew for a while (it was MSU), but I just didn’t know how to say it. The hardest thing was to tell (North Carolina coach) Roy Williams.”
For the past few months, Roe was considered a sure bet for UNC by recruiting analysts. But that seemed to change quickly.
Man, UNC is a hell of a school, so this is quite a coup for us.
It's funny, during my sophomore year at State, the phrase on the back of the Izzone shirts was "We don't rebuild, we reload." It was a great slogan, but it was also total BS... at the time. The way things have been going, I think it might actually be true now.
I know I shouldn't get my hopes up too much, but I think it would be a pretty big letdown if we don't snag at least one Big Ten title or a Final Four appearance in the next year or two.
Exciting times for MSU!
I put up a short post over on Pohlitics today about the actor Dennis Haysbert (who played President David Palmer on 24) donating money to Barack Obama's campaign, and referred to him as "the best fictional president in entertainment history." Well, I still think that's the case, but here's the rest of my top five anyway:
- David Palmer, 24: The first black president on primetime television, a total badass, and Jack Bauer's only equal on the show. Of course, he loses points for that psycho wife of his, but dude was still amazing.
- Andrew Shepherd, The American President: God, what I wouldn't give to have a Democratic president who had the balls to say things like this: "For the record: yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU. But the more important question is why aren't you, Bob? Now, this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question: Why would a senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the Constitution?"
- Dave Kovic, Dave: Let's see, a jackass of a president gets replaced by a witty, affable guy like Kevin Kline. Can't this please happen in real life?
- James Marshall, Air Force One: Three words: President Harrison Ford. 'Nuff said.
- Thomas J. Whitmore, Independence Day: Bush landed a plane on the USS Abraham Lincoln and decalared "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. Bill Pullman helped shoot down a got-dang alien spaceship in ID4. Once again, I'll take the fake president over the real one.
Maybe my hockey curse has ended.
We went to the Red Wings playoff game against Calgary today, and it was a pretty solid butt-whoopin' from start to finish.
The first period was especially brutal. We scored in the first 62 seconds, and again within the next five minutes. Calgary was lucky it wasn't 4-0 by the end of the first, because the refs called no less than six penalties on them during the period.
Things slowed down a bit in the second, and Calgary made it 2-1, but an easy goal in the third made it 3-1, and the game was basically over at that point. Overall, it was a pretty solid performance from the Wings.
Many thanks to Stef's dad for inviting us along to today's game.
