SI.com - Writers - Gary Van Sickle's Underground Golfer: Has Tiger been tamed? - Monday September 29, 2003 6:00PM: "It was all right to be long and a little crooked but medium length and a little more crooked is no way to dominate."

Huh huh, huh huh.

CNN.com - Sagittarius being eaten by Milky Way - Sep. 25, 2003 - "Our Milky Way galaxy is gobbling up its galactic neighbor, Sagittarius, and scientists this week offered documentary proof of this continuing cosmic cannibalism."

What does it mean for your horoscopical (sp? existence?) future if your sign's galaxy gets eaten? Damn you Milky Way!

CNN.com - French card deck names 'most dangerous' U.S. leaders - Sep. 26, 2003

This is exactly why everyone hates the French. They're snooty and stupid at the same time -- that's hard to do. Seriously, read this article and just try your hardest not to hate the guy it talks about, it's harder than eating just one Lay's potato chip.

Got a little sleepy this morning so just took a couple more Metabofasts... these things smell like death warmed over on a George Foreman grill. Looking at the ingredient list trying to figure out what smells so bad. Perhaps it's the Spirulina Algae, or the Sarsaparilla root... or the bee pollen? I don't trust that Royal Jelly either.

Allergy season is winding down and they're not bad at all anymore. The new enemy is cold season, but I'm prepared this time: More pills, baby. My Wegman's 500mg Vitamin C is 833% of my vitamin C, and the Wegman's Complete Performance multivitamin adds 200% more. My immune system is going to be the most physically fit bunch of white blood cells and... thyroid glands... that there ever was. So, the count: 1 each of the aforementioned. I haven't needed the MetaboFast since I went on Atkin's last week. I'm never really tired like I used to be. Plus my gut is shrinking. I just miss pizza...

CNN.com - Is life the key to new tech? - Sep. 22, 2003

"Recently the first game-playing bio-molecular device was revealed -- an enzyme-powered tic-tac-toe machine, which could not be beaten." - Holy shit! Read this article if you're a geek like me, it's pretty fascinating.

CNN.com - Clark enters presidential race - Sep. 17, 2003

Can't decide how I feel about this guy. He doesn't really seem like much of a Democrat... but at the same time, I'd feel a lot better with a retired general running our wartime country than Dubya. I don't like that he doesn't support gay marriage... why the hell not? I've never heard one good explanation for that policy beyond "Eww gay people are yucky." I don't understand how a man could ever find another man attractive, but if wants to marry him, why should I try and stop him? What am I preventing by doing so, besides someone else's happiness? All that said, this asshole seems a little better than all the other assholes.

Granted, it's past 6:30 p.m., but I still think it's great when I hear someone shout from across the room to someone else, "What are you laughing at? Are you watching Homestar Runner?"

Google Search: E911 Call-Flow in TDM or IP Telephony

I'm just blogging that to make a note of the crap I've been spending my time doing lately...

2 Benadryl, and 2 MetaboFasts, which are doing a great job of counteracting the drowsiness from the Benadryl. I had a few sneezing fits in the morning, but have felt fine since 10am or so. I think I'll take one more Metabofast for kicks... so make it three.

CNN.com - Report: Antarctic ozone hole sets record - Sep. 12, 2003

"Shanklin, one of the scientists who first discovered the ozone hole in 1985, said he and his colleagues were still at a loss to explain exactly why it had got so big in August.

"The ozone hole is continuously in motion. It is rather like a spinning top," he said.

The 1985 discovery forced a radical review and ultimately a complete change in many industries that were belching ozone-depleting chemicals into the atmosphere.

The consequent drop in output of these chemicals began to bite in 1994 and is now some six percent down on its peak. "

Does this mean that since we discovered the ozone hole in 1985, we've only gotten companies to reduce their ozone-harmful emissions by six percent? Clearly, the hole is still growing, and chicken-shit 6% effort isn't going to be nearly enough help. Time to start investing in reflective body gear and flotation devices...

Yesterday: Three Rite-Aid pills (hereinafter Benadryl, since that's what they're a knockoff of) and two MetaboFasts. Today: Just one of each. Must be a light ragweed day or something.

Bryant's future uncertain: "Even under a best-case post-conviction scenario for Bryant, should he be found guilty, sex offender supervision rules could conceivably create a situation in which Bryant could play only for the lowly Denver Nuggets - and even then appear only in home games.
For anyone facing Bryant's potential fate - a Colorado felony sex-offense conviction - securing authorities' permission for dozens of out-of-state business trips while under supervision is 'not likely,' said Kevin Nelan, sex-offender probation supervisor in Jefferson County.
'I can't recall anyone who has been allowed to travel out of state that frequently, who we've had on probation,' said Nelan."

Looks more and more like his NBA career is over. Good, never liked the guy.

The snoop in your coupe - This is absolute crap. A car device that monitors where your son or daughter goes and how he or she drives there just screams, "I don't trust you! So since you don't have my trust anyway, let's throw all hope for a meaningful relationship out the door!" If you don't give your kids a chance to prove themselves on their own (read: without spying on them), they'll never get to feel as though they've accomplished anything on their own. Then they'll be losers, just like you!

ABCNEWS.com : Officials Fear Terror on High Seas: "How much damage could a ship do? An explosion in the port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1917 gives a clue. A French ship, the Mont Blanc, carrying munitions for the Western Front, collided near Halifax with the merchant ship Imo on Dec. 6, 1917. The impact set off the Mont Blanc's powder, killing 1,900 people immediately in the small Canadian town. There were 9,000 injuries, and almost the entire northern part of the town — more than 300 acres — was destroyed."

If I were a betting man, I'd say the next big thing Al-Qaeda does is try to blow up an American or British harbor. Wait, I am a betting man. Ten bucks, any takers? (Is this a really sick thing to be betting on?)

I'm so glad I decided to play volleyball with Element K on Tuesday nights. I forgot how much I missed playing. It's nice to know I can still dig and set. As for hitting... I think this spare tire might have something to do with my decline in that area. We won pretty easily tonight. My one good hit came at the expense of a girl on the other team, who nearly got knocked over. Did I feel guilty? Nah. Proud? Well...

I think I'll start keeping track of the pills I take every day to control my allergies, and to counteract the side effects from the allergy medication. Today: 3 Rite-Aid Sinus Allergy caplets, 1 Loratadine (generic Claritin) pill, and 6 MetaboFast ephedra-free herbal energy pills, which today proved to be just enough to keep me semi-alert. However, since the ragweed pollen concentration in the air varies from day to day, the same combination probably will never work twice. Yesterday all I needed was one Tavist-D (my last one, actually) and two MetaboFasts.

From the previous link: "The large antennas permit the satellite to monitor extremely faint signals, even individual cell phone conversations."

Speaking of "1984"...

CNN.com - Air Force launches top secret satellite - Sep. 9, 2003

If it's so goddam top-secret, why is it on the front-page news?

I learned a cheap lesson tonight: Don't play hold 'em tired. Played fine until the fact that I have an old man's bed time now kicked in, then folded two hands in a row that I still could have checked on. Trained parakeets don't make that mistake. Went all in on ace-high when it was obvious to the rest of the table that I was ripe for the picking, got called and lost. Only put in $5 so it's no big deal. I should play these college kids early when they're tired.

I haven't had any work to do and the Tavist-D I took this morning for my allergies is putting me to sleep... I think I've already dozed a few times. These allergies are going to kill me, I have to move. From late August to early October, I'm always somewhere in between sneezing uncontrollably and dozing off in the middle of the day. I never even got allergies in Saratoga.

N. Korean cheerleaders a hit in South

If you've read "1984", and you're familiar with the cruelty of the North Korean government, this should remind you of the mindless government-enforced patriotic rallies in the book. It's sick, it's frightening, and I really need to stop reading the news at work.

Unsurprisingly, Bush wants more money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

CNN.com - Bush to ask billions more for Iraq - Sep. 8, 2003

That's all fine and good, but I didn't like one part of his speech: "For the Middle East and the world, there will be no going back to the days of fear -- when a brutal and aggressive tyrant possessed terrible weapons."

The way I see it, you can't use those weapons for political leverage until you find them.