Via
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Monster Shredder
SSI's November 2007 "Shred of the Month"! SSI just built one of the most powerful shredders on earth. We affectionately call him "The Monster". He eats whole hide-a-beds and super tires for breakfast, without even taking a breath.
Watch it shred!!
Thanks Dad!
Tons more here at watchitshred.com
Watch it shred!!
Thanks Dad!
Tons more here at watchitshred.com
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Longhorn Basketball: Worst Year In A Dozen
Just as I figured.. I have no idea how this team was 17-0 and the #1 ranked team in the country. Tonight they played sloppy, sloppy basketball, and I wonder how they managed to shoot 38%!
Well, I picked them to beat Wake Forest before they went down in flames. But even with TWENTY Demon Deacons turnovers, and a gift traveling call on a last-second inbounds pass, and a lucky trip to overtime, and a nice strong OT lead, they still couldn't close it out. Got outrebounded 56-31! Sigh... Story of the season (or rather the 2nd-half of the season).
But this post isn't about this FAIL. As I said it was pretty much expected. This post is about the huge difference between this season and the rest of Rick Barnes' stellar 12-yr. career as UT's head coach. I want to point out exactly what the guy has to work with this year. Damion James? Dexter Pittman? Avery Bradley?? This team cannot shoot. They have no leader. Both big men have disappointed when it mattered most. No one to dictate. Sloppy play...
Texas basketball has had a handful of guys go pro. OK literally about a half-dozen - until Barnes came into the picture. Let's look at some of the UT greats, focusing on Barnes' 12-year career. First I must mention a few pre-Barnes stars, just for the record:
Johnny Moore, 1977 -- A San Antonio Spurs legend who now has his "00" hanging in the rafters of the AT&T Center.
LaSalle Thompson, 1980-1982 -- A 16-year NBA career with the Kings & Pacers.
Also worth mentioning:
Lance Blanks, 1986-1989 -- 3 NBA seasons
Travis Mays, 1987-1990 -- NBA 1st-rnd pick - played 3 seasons
Chris Mihm, 98-00 -- 9-yr. career (CLE, BOS, LAL)Royal Ivey, 01-04 -- Currently with MIL
T.J. Ford, 02-03 -- Currently with IND
P.J. Tucker, 04-06 -- 1 season with TOR
LaMarcus Aldridge, 05-06 -- Currently a POR starter
Daniel Gibson, 05-06 -- Currently with CLE
Kevin Durant, 07 -- 2nd overall pick, OKC all-star
D.J. Augustin, 07-08 -- Currenty with CHA
A.J. Abrams, 06-09 -- UT's all-time scoring leader, is now playing Pro ball in Greece (for now).
It's no surprise that there has to be a lull in UT basketball. We'll see how next year goes. Barnes deserves some credit, though. I don't think he had the talent to do much more than he did this season.
But how in the hell did they go 17-0 ???
EDIT: I forgot all about Maurice Evans 99-00 -- undrafted, 7-yr. NBA career, currently with the Atlanta Hawks.
A Fun Campus Visit
Click to enlarge..Leah in front of the Texas Tech University sign in Lubbock during our visit a few weekends back. We all enjoyed seeing the campus, and now we just wait for the results of Leah's tenor sax audition.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Nobody Knows It But Me
There's a place that I travel
When I want to roam,
And nobody knows it but me
The roads don't go there
And the signs stay home
And nobody knows it but me
It's far far away
And way way afar
It's over the moon and the sea
And wherever you're going
That's wherever you are
And nobody knows it but me
-Patrick O'Leary
The Story behind the poem
The director was Eric Saarinen. The actress was photographer Sally Gall. James Garner recited the poem. Art Director Brad Neeley had the idea. We shot it in the Yukon and British Columbia. I’m the poet. Yes, it was the poem on that Chevy Tahoe commercial that came out in the fall of 2002. No, you didn't hear it when you were a child. Your Grandmother didn't read it to you. Or your Grandpa or your Dad. But I know what you mean: it was written to capture that childlike carefree sense of wonder and adventure. And Mr. Garner gave it a soothing sitting-on-your-poppa's-lap sort of feeling.
People loved the spot. They really loved the poem. They found it hauntingly familiar. Was is Robert Frost? Robert Louis Stevenson? Walt Whitman? They were amazed and skeptical to hear it was written by an advertising copywriter from Detroit. I got dozens of emails and letters and phone calls. So did GM. Newspapers were flooded with queries about the poem. Radio stations, too. For a few months it seemed that everyone in America was wondering about it. What happened next was weird in the extreme.
People made Christmas cards of the poem. People put it on their office walls. Sent it as a valentine. Insisted on House Silence whenever the commercial played. It gave a unique comfort to people. Cancer patients read it in the hospital. Lonely people found great solace in the words. A middle-school class memorized it and recited it. Dozens of discussion groups online chatted it up. A grammy-award-winning composer wrote a song to the lyrics. So did a bluegrass band. One woman did a beautiful cross stitch of the poem. It is on my office wall.
Today, some five years later I still get the occasional email about it. Last week a disabled woman from Texas emailed to ask if she could put the words on her headstone. It’s strange to be swept up in such a cultural phenomenon. It's very humbling to have moved so many so deeply.
p.o. 6/24/08 (Via)
Image Via
The "2=1?" Answer
The fallacy begins in line 5. While it's surely ok to subtract 2b from both sides, and also to factor out (a-b), you have to realize something very important while you do. It was assumed that a=b in the very beginning, right? That means that a-b = none other than ZERO. And since multiplying any muber by ZERO renders ZERO, all this proof is really prooving is that 0=0.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Every Time
ViaThis has been on my mind recently, as I'm looking for a tool to punch a hole in one of the newest belts I own. The last one fit great but it's about to break. Anyway, why is this picture SO true??
World's 1st 100% Solar-Powered Stadium
The world's first completely solar-powered stadium, located in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, is set to be completed in time for July's World Games. The massive stadium has a 14,155 square meter roof area--every inch of which is covered in solar panels. When completed, the stadium's 8,844 solar panels are expected to produce 1.14GWh of electricity each year. That's enough to power the structure's 3,300 lights, two huge TV screens, and maybe even sell extra electricity back to the grid.
Architect Toyo Ito designed the stadium with Feng Shui in mind, which is why the steel structure resembles a horseshoe. The structure's layout ensures that fans are in the shade for most of the day,and ample open space is available on both sides of the stadium for park land.
Ito's stadium has been called "a wake-up call to Western architects", but stadiums in the U.S. are becoming increasingly energy efficient. The Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia and the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, became the first NBA and NHL arenas to receive LEED certification last month thanks to an array of initiatives, including energy-efficient underground parking, water-conserving toilets, and carpeting made from recycled materials. American Airlines Arena expects to shave $500,000 off its yearly utility bills as a result of its conservation measures. Any guesses as to how much cash Taiwan's stadium will save once the cost of the panels is paid off? (Via)
More images:
All Images Via...and a cool little videoclip:
Via
Click here for more info..
2=1?
Original Via
Let's see.. How can this be? It appears quite valid that if you assume any two numbers are equal (a=b), that it has just been proven that 2=1. Clearly, 2 does not equal 1, so there must be a fallacy somewhere in this argument.
See if you can come up with it - I'll have the answer tomorrow.
Monday, March 15, 2010
March Madness
I will be posting my NCAA picks here. Not now but in a few days.
By the way - Bobby Knight is a basketball genius..
By the way - Bobby Knight is a basketball genius..
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Survivor Update
It was simply one of the best ever Survivor episodes in my opinion. I'm not planning on a weekly Survivor update or anything, but I had to make this post for one primary reason. OK, maybe three..
1. I watched it much later at the CBS site as is very common, and is what I tend to do when I miss it.
2. We'll now have a 2-week break from Survivor while the NCAA does its dance.
3. There were finally some very candid shots of Amanda Kimmel. If you've tried to do Google Image Searches for pictures of her, you already know there aren't many out there - until now! I was able to provide everyone with some great screenshots of such an awesome episode:
There were two incredible challenges. One was a basketball/football/rugby mix that you'd just have to see to understand it, but just know it might have been the best challenge ever which was NOT an immunity challenge, if not the best challenge overall. The immunity challenge involved blindfolded players and one member guiding them to collect pieces of a puzzle, which they'd later have to collectively put together. Both James and Jerri did great jobs directing their teams, but the Villains won both! They got a chocolate feast for the 1st, and of course, immunity for the second.
JT made a strong decision, and helped vote out Tom for the Heroes. Russell found the hidden immunity idol, but was the only one of the villains to look for it, so they're out to get him for doing so. JT is now in control of the game for the heroes.
All Images Courtesy of CBS