Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The strangest things. . .

Strange stories tend to make me giggle. I look forward to seeing things that are different in the news. Those stories that make you laugh or think. I get tired of the same old stuff. It is amazing how much energy and time we spend focused on some events but totally gloss over others.

While reading through the news today, I found a story about a lady who some have claimed to have been the first reported case of sleep emailing - or zzz-mailing. I read the story with interest only because I've done this. Not email but I've sat at the computer composing what I thought would be an email or a blog post and, waking up, I find my comments are not nearly what I thought I was writing about. I should have saved my comments though because they were funny. The sleep emailing story can be found here.

Another recent news item of interest is about this family in Pennsylvania who've had a little problem getting their son's birthday cake decorated. I guess the cake decorators refused to put the child's whole name on the cake. The boy's name: Adolf Hitler Campbell. The child is only three years old so I am pretty sure he doesn't realize the commotion is about him. The parents have named their other two children with similar names (JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell, 2 years old; Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell, 1 year old). I won't even begin to consider what I could say about the parents. Adolf is a common enough name in some places in this world - not in America, too much baggage. Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler can be read here.

Even Santa's political ties in New York city couldn't protect him from the parking ticket. Although the politician and the children present weren't happy about the turn of events, a policeman ticketed the SUV that was following Santa's horse-drawn sleigh, carrying gifts and protecting the sleigh from traffic. I think too many people believe certain laws do not apply to them. I think too little enforcement encourages this kind of behavior. The police haven't commented but the politician has given lip service of support for Santa. Nothing in the story here suggests what the ultimate outcome might be.

I'm a pet owner so I found this story reporting a staggering 67% of pet owners claim their pets can talk. The USA Today story continues to report 62% of pet owners assert the pets understand when they speak to them. Look, I love my pets as much as the next guy. I enjoy rough-housing with the dogs, wrestling and knocking them around. When they start to growl or whine or get vocal in most any other way, I'm not going to pretend I know what they might be saying. As for my dogs understanding me? Well, they certainly undestand the tone in my voice. I would not consider claiming they understand what the message is. A shocking story, for sure.

A few months after we first married, I prepared baked chicken for dinner. This wasn't just any baked chicken. This meal will go down in infamy since I over used garlic salt in the seasoning of the bird. Yep, this was a garlic encrusted meal. Dearest and I still joke about that night's epicure dinner. I was reminded of this sad point of my history when I read about the small town in Iowa who is using donated garlic salt as icemelt for their roads. It seems Tone Brothers Inc. donated the salt to the city instead of sending it off to the landfill.

Back to my favorite subject, Politics. It seems that Barack Obama's cabnet picks are pretty good basketball payers. The president-elect himself has reportedly claimed he was possibly putting together "the best basketball-playing Cabinet in American history." USA Today reported today that many of Barack Obama's new advisors could add a little something about basketball to their resume.

The president-elect's national security adviser, General James Jones played forward for Georgetown University in the early 60s. Susan Rice, the nominee to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was a star point guard at the National Cathedral School in Washington. Eric Holder, nominated for attorney general, played B-Ball for Stuyvsant High School in New York City. Timothy Geithner, who is supposed to take over for Henry Paulson as Treasury secretary is reported as saying he "hates to miss a pickup basketball game." This is just the beginning.

5 comments:

Th. said...

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Just a couple apropos links:

Sleepemailing

Governmental b-ball (sorry, this is a meatlink: go to the library and check out Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans and read "No Justice, No Foul"; it's worth it)

Th. said...

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Oops. That first link again.

necrodancer said...

Google's Mail Goggles are certainly a novel idea. Methinks this zzz-mailing damsel might benefit from such a device.

You've peeked my interest. I will have to stop at the local library.

The Accounting Man said...

So Barack and his Cabinet will play B-Ball. OK. Maybe some better decisions can come out of that court than what has come from a bunch of advisors sitting for hours in a cramped space. I once read a study about adolescent boys that showed that they HAVE to have physical exercise in order to allow their brains to work (keeping them cramped at a desk for hours on end is unnatural and will result in either the "fidgets" or the "spaced out"). Maybe politician could use a little more time ON the court and we could have laws that keep us out OF the court.

Just a thought.

necrodancer said...

I can hardly disagree with your appreciation of the situation. I know that I've found I need to get up and wander around when I've been studying a certain problem for too long. After spending an hour or two focusing on a single thing, I'll feel my brain has gone mushy.

This brings up some of my other thoughts. Some doctors have speculated that one way to avoid Alzheimer Syndrome is exercise - physical exercise. When you get you heart pumping, pushing oxygen through your veins, it goes to your head. That oxygen is good for your brain too.