Morning News Woes

I like to watch to have the news while getting ready for work in morning.  They repeat the stories, weather and traffic often enough that even thought I'm out of the room for large portions on the broadcast I still get the general gist of what is going on in the world and what to expect as I venture out into it.

When I first moved to Seattle in 2005 I started watching KOMO 4 Morning News.  Shortly after I got accustomed to the newscast they made some changes that drove me crazy.  The weather was reported by Jim Castillo who drove me crazy with his beady little eyes (photo here).  The anchor for the news was Natasha Curry who has a freakishly large forehead that I found it visually distracting so early in the morning (photo here).  So after I complaining about it for a few months, I finally switched from KOMO to KING 5 Morning News.

The vibe of the KING newscast was extremely pleasant.  Brad Goode, Joyce Taylor and Rich Marriott are very comfortable with one another and very professional.  I was happy to "wake up" with them everyday for several years.  All that changed in January 2010 when they added Tracy Taylor as the traffic reporter.  From the very beginning she drove me crazy but I didn't want to be too quick to judge so I pledged to tough it out until the vibe returned to normal.

By December it was clear that my annoyance level was getting a bit out of control when I caught myself making faces and yelling at the television early one morning.  I feared that if I didn't make a change I would be throwing things at the television soon.  It still took 2 more weeks to officially make the change, I think I was still hoping that I wouldn't have to do it.

In mid-December I switched back to KOMO 4 Morning News.  It has been 3 weeks and all is well.  I've found my new morning news!  Mike Dardis, Molly Shen, Paul Deanno and Rachelle Murcia help me start the day informed and not at all annoyed.  Because of my sensitivity to the traffic difficulties on KING I've been the most critical of Rachelle Murcia who reports the traffic but she does it in an effective and professional manner, it is just delightful.

Let's hope this change lasts for a while!

Mom's 15 minutes of pink fame

Video clip from Fox 13 in Salt Lake City, Utah. My mom is featured on the video talking about the importance of Mammograms and her employee and dear friend Chris ties a ribbon in her honor. Mom is in the green sweater at the end of the line.

Meet Barney

Barney, originally uploaded by JewellsinSEA.

This is Barney. And Barney is my new dog! :-D

He came home to live with me on Thursday afternoon and I am thrilled. I've wanted a dog for a really long time and finally decided last month that all of my fears and apprehensions about owning a dog would be eliminated if I just got the "right" dog. And Barney is definitely the right dog!

Barney is a 4 year old, 15-inch beagle. He is house broken and well behaved (for the most part). He is very low-key and loves sniffing things, eating, sleeping and meeting new people/dogs. We have had a fabulous weekend exploring the neighborhood and getting him settled into his new home. Many more pictures and stories to come!

Please excuse my mess

I am in the process of making some changes and much need updates to my blog/website. However, in order to do so I need to clean up the many items that have accumulated in my "draft/ideas" folder over the last couple of years so you may see so somewhat random things appearing in the next few weeks.

Stay tuned for more news on the upcoming changes as I will be ready to tell you all about it in the next couple of weeks.

Breaking News Update

In case you spent your weekend under a rock like I did and missed the following important events here is an update.

• Elwood, a 2-year-old Chinese Crested and Chihuahua mix, was crowned the world's ugliest dog at the Marin-Sonoma County Fair in California over the weekend. He placed second last year but won the title, bragging rights and $1,000 dollars this year. When you more closely examine the other contestants you understand what a sweet victory this is. I am a dog lover and didn't think there were dogs in the world *this ugly.* My innocence is shattered. If curiosity is killing you and you must see a pic, click here. But remember, you were warned!
• The Beavs are National Champions again! Oregon State became the first team in a decade to repeat as College World Series champions, following a victory over North Carolina on Sunday night. You can read highlights of the game, here. They received a heroes welcome when they arrived back in Corvallis yesterday afternoon. Pics can be found, here. Go Beavs!

That wraps up the breaking news from my corner of the world! Happy Tuesday!

Reason to be scared

They do attack, I knew it!

Slow SLC Media websites

I am just finishing up my lunch break at work. In my typical routine I ate at my desk so that I could check my RSS feeds and email. Primarily I wanted to get some additional information about the shooting that took place at Trolley Square in my hometown of Salt Lake City last night. But after 30 or so minutes of attempting to watch video of a news conference that happened over 30 minutes ago, I am frustrated beyond belief by horrible websites of the SLC news outlets.

I started off on the KSL website. I was able to find an article but when I clicked on the video player I received an error message and it only works with Internet Explorer. So I launched IE and pulled up the article and got a totally blank screen. I attempted a few additional times and got the same thing.

I then went to the KUTV website and was able to locate the video immediately from their main page. The player launched immediately and played for a few seconds and then stopped to buffer the feed. I thought this would work itself out for after a minute or so but to no luck. I gave up.

Next stop was KTVX website which I was able to find the link to the press conference immediately and it initiated playing an advertisement immediately but upon completion did not play the press conference.

I am so frustrated that I want to scream!

UPDATE: At 13:14 I was able to get the video to successfully play on the KTVX website.

Shooting in SLC

There was a shooting tonight at Trolley Square in my hometown of Salt Lake City. Details are still coming and uncertain at this point they believe a gunman is still on the loose. Scary. Story links below.

Shoot-out at Trolley Square leaves five injured, up to 3 dead

Shooting at Trolley Square

Monday Mutterings

I have been really bad at updates lately. I have read blogs in the past where the owner gives some lame ass excuse as to why they have been so lazy about updating and it just annoys me. So I am not going to tell you that I have been too busy with work and school and life to clean my bathroom let alone update my blog, instead I am going to share with you some of the things that have been rattling around in my brain for the last week or so.

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I love music! I love discovering new talent/artists and immersing myself in a new album. I know that my taste in music is unique and not at all what one may consider *mainstream* but I did the whole "Yeah, I LOVE this song" crap in my teens and twenties. Nowadays I have realized just how annoying it is to listen to music you hate, just to be nice. Needless to say that once I find an artist that I love, I am incredibly loyal. I like adding to my collection and try to stay up with the latest and hippest stuff. I pride myself on the fact that I can pick out the majority of songs from the hottest TV shows like "Grey's Anatomy" and "What About Brian" (e.g. the song used to promote the episode tonight is What About Everything" one of my favorites from Carbon Leaf's "Indian Summer" album). So I would classify myself a music fan and lover of good music. Yet I had absolutely NO interest in watching the Grammy Awards last night. It's commercialized crap! I don't know how else to put it. I have caught up with the Grammy news and highlights on the web and my thoughts:

• Can someone tell me the difference between "Album of the Year" and "Record of the Year." I thought that albums were records and visa-versa.
• I am a huge fan of John Mayer. I love his music. My questions - Does he ever smile? and hasn't he earned enough to hire a stylist.
• Christina Aguleria and Shakira need to do something about the frizz.
• Although I loved it when introduced, I am totally over James Blunt's Beautiful.
• Why in the hell was Al Gore there?

Thank God for iPods, iTunes, KMTT and friends that share music. Otherwise I may be relying on the Grammy awards to tell me what is cool and what is not and then my taste would certainly suck.

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The greatest disadvantage to living alone is there is no one to put lotion on your back. I don't apply lotion everyday but when I do my back is neglected because there is no one around. This is currently the only reason that I would consider getting married so that I would have a legally obligated lotion applicator around at all times. And since that seems a bit extreme I have been looking for alternatives. I was complaining about this on Saturday afternoon to Don while playing pool and mentioned that Katharine had purchased a gadget that serves this very purpose and following a quick inquiry he learned that she had purchased it at the Vermont Country Store. I spent some time cruising their website yesterday afternoon and was unable to find such a gadget but I did find TONS of other treasures and many things that I didn't think they made anymore. It was so much fun to cruise through the pages of the website and reminiscent of the home I grew up in complete with toaster covers, chair cushions and Betty Crocker cookbooks. Some of the highlights included:

• A hands-free dryer. I own a similar model that still works but is worn out. It was my mother's from the 1960's. I haven't known what I would do if it ever broke and now I know.
• Tired Old Ass Cream. I think this is worth the try for the name alone.
• Crack Care is a must try since I have tried nearly every product on the market for dry and cracked heals that plague me during the summer months.
• Dippidy Do! Memories of my childhood and sponge rollers come flooding back.
• Watch out Requip because you have a competitor with this Restless Leg Syndrome Cream.
• Chair Pads for every chair in your home. These were impossible to find in Utah growing up.
• Gauchos!
• Electric Baseball! I always wanted one of these.

I don't know how I have survived this many years without the Vermont Country store! They have great stuff.

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I am thinking about getting a pet. I think I can handle a fish or two. I have had great success with fish in the past. I continue to ponder this. I am not ready to commit yet. I will let you know if anything changes.

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I watched the A Charlie Brown Valentine over the weekend. Although I have an utter hatred for Valentine's Day, I love the Peanuts gang and felt compelled to watch. It was annoying with Charlie Brown going on and on about "the little red haired girl" and Lucy being bossier and bitchier than usual because Schroeder didn't get her a Valentine again this year (somehow I am not surprisd). My love for the Peanuts gang wasn't able to overshadow my hatred of anything Valentiney.

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I finished moving all of my subscriptions from Bloglines to Google Reader over the weekend. I like the features of Google Reader better than bloglines and it's quicker and easier to navigate the pages. I am working with some different services for clippings and links but haven't settled on one yet.

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Don and I synced our music collections over the weekend. I spent some time yesterday adding music to my library and deleting duplicates. iTunes only automatically added 2,200 of the tracks, the remainder I am adding by hand and it's time consuming. I wish that iTunes had a feature that will automatically "hunt for audio files and add them to your library."

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I think that the death of Anna Nicole Smith is untimely and sad. The news that anyone is dead at the age of 39 is sad and tragic. I was not a huge fan of Anna Nicole and in fact she bugged me. When her reality show was on E! a few years back I tuned in once and it was so amazing to me that someone could be so incompetent and ditsy. Let's face it, she was a trainwreck! And we all take pleasure now and then with observing a good trainwreck! Yet it is hard for me to feel sorry for her when the majority of her misfortune was brought on by herself. I just feel badly that her daughter is now motherless.

Oh and a note to the media.... Would you PLEASE stop treating this news like it's the only thing happening in the world. I am sick of the top-story placement and coverage from every possible angle.

It's a wonder they haven't designed a special Anna Nicole logo like they do for storms.

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Okay enough for now. Have a good day!

Seattle among the worst?

I saw a story on the evening news Friday about a new book titled The Absolute Worst Places to Live in America by Dave Gilmartin. Two Washington cities, Aberdeen and Seattle, made the list. I have only driven through Aberdeen so I don’t feel that I am well versed enough to render a fair opinion. However, I have very strong feeling about Seattle. Gilmartin describes Seattle as overrated, overcast and overcaffeinated. I could agree on the overcaffeinated part especially on a day when I have spent several hours parked in a chair at Starbucks but Seattle is not overrated. I was immediately hot around the collar about the idea that this dip shit would write a book about the worst places in America and include Seattle in the same category as Barstow, CA, Camden, N.J. and Carson City, Skid Row, Los Angeles. That was until I found out that this guy is s 30-year-old New York advertising copywriter who was raised in South Jersey (talk about worst places in America) and admits to never setting foot in many of the cities and towns included in the book.

He goes on to say, “When one of your leading citizens rose to prominence for convincing people to pay $2.50 for a 50-cent cup of coffee, earning a modest, honest living loses quite a bit of appeal. The city begins to rot at the core. … Then there’s the price of housing. … Real people can’t afford to live in Seattle yet the biggest newspaper is so stunningly tone-deaf to the Aspenization that it published a how-to section on becoming emotionally attached to your new home.”

I am the first to admit that the housing prices in Seattle are astronomical but there are so many wonderful things about Seattle including the people, the coffee, the breweries, ferry boats, Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, the lakes, beautiful parks and beaches and the rain ensures that it's beautifully green everywhere!

Two additional Washington cities made the dishonorable mention list including Forks which the author described as a "festering wound of a town,” and Vancouver described as a “a run-down methamphetamine junkie haven.”

Let Gilmartin think what he wants. Those of us who love Seattle don't want to share the Emerald City with jerks like him anyway!

And in case you are curious about the other cities that made the list, here they are in alphabetical order: Aberdeen, Albuquerque, N.M., Allston, Mass., Atlantic City, N.J., Baltimore, Md., Barstow, Calif., Beloit, Wis., Birmingham, Ala., Camden, N.J., Campton, Ky., Carson City, Nev., Centralia, Penn., Cincinnati, Ohio, College Park, Ga., Cranston, R.I., Detroit, Mich., Dillon, S.C., Dodge City, Kan., El Paso, Texas, Fairbanks, Alaska, Fitchburg, Mass., Gary, Ind., Gatlinburg, Tenn., Glens Falls, N.Y., Granite City, Ill., Greeley, Colo., Greenville, Miss., Harrison, Ark., Helena, Mont., Houston, Texas, Jacksonville, Fla., Lake Placid, Fla., Lorain, Ohio, Manchester, N.H., Mitchell, S.D., Nampa, Idaho, North Platte, Neb., Philadelphia, Quartzsite, Ariz., Rock Springs, Wyo., Salt Lake City, Seattle, Skid Row, Los Angeles, Springfield, Mo., St. Cloud, Minn., Tulsa, Okla., Virginia Beach, Va., Washington, D.C., Yuba City, Calif.

The deadly history of Bear Camp Road

The water cooler story of the week seems to be the search and rescue of the Kim family. I was elated on Monday to hear about the rescue of part of the family and then devastated on Wednesday with the discovery of the body of James Kim.

I have had several discussions with friend and co-workers about the unfolding events and in one particular conversation we were recalling a story that we had both heard years ago about a man that had survived in his car for several months before finally dying of starvation. We both remembered details of the story but not the entire story. I did an initial google search and did not find anything. Today I was reading a follow-up story about the Kim family ordeal from the LA Times (article titled, Vandalized gate led family astray) and the final paragraph of the story contained the information that I had been looking for. I did a further google search and pieced together the following from multiple sources (see below).

Dewitt Finley, 56, a traveling salesman from Montana decided to travel over the Coast Range when headed from the Oregon coast to Grants Pass on November 14, 1995. Mr. Finley had spent most of his life in the Los Angeles area and was not accustomed to late-season driving in the mountains and did not have much knowledge about the outdoors. His pickup truck with camper kept sliding off the road, despite the 4-wheel drive, and he finally decided to stop on the shoulder and camp for the night. However the storm continued for 3 days and when it was finished the pickup truck was surrounded by six-feet of snow. Mr. Finley passed the time by checking days off his calendar and writing letters to his sons, his fiancee and his boss. According to the letters that were left behind in the truck, Finley decided to trust God for a rescue, waiting in his truck. He wrote, “I have no control over my life. It’s all in His hands. His will be done. Death here in another month or so, so He sends someone to save me. Yet knowing His will, I’m at peace and His grace will prevail. If I’m save to finish my life here, please know I’ll always be thankful to you and remain your servant. If not – I’ll see you in Glory.” The final date check off his calendar was January 19, 1996. His body was found in the cab of his pickup truck by teenagers in late May.

A poem titled “The End of DeWitt Finley” was written by Joseph Harrison and included in his book Someone Else’s Name. An except of the poem:

They found the salesman's body the following spring.
Something struck the observers about the scene
Of the man's death: there wasn't the slightest sign
Of struggle, anguish, or delirium,
No broken glass, no torn upholstery.
All seemed composed, contemplative, serene,
As poised as steady penmanship,
The thoughtful phrasing of his calm farewell,
His mild acceptance of his lonely end.

It wouldn't be correct to call it fate:
Rescue in the form of a ploughed road, remained
Throughout a makable hike away. And though
He didn't know this, did he want to know?
He wanted someone to come, that was the point.
Call it foolishness, or call it faith,
The patience to wait in silence for a sign
That life has something like meaning, and that yours
Has something like meaning, meaning that is yours.

The irony in this tale – The entire nine weeks Finley was waiting and praying, he was no more than a few hundred feet from a clear, paved road which was only a 16-mile walk to a store and safety.

It turns out that the Kim family and Finley were both stranded on Bear Camp Road near Merlin, Oregon. It is horribly sad that the road was not better closed off since it has now claimed 3 lives in the past 12 years. I hope that in the future is is better marked and blocked when impassable.

I am just glad that I was able to find some details on the Finley story, it was driving me nuts.

Links to sources:

Nothing Fails Like Prayer
Theistwatch
Tough choices for stuck winter travelers

Bad Day

The stars have aligned today to make this a really bad day.

• I got 4 hours of sleep.
• My carpool buddy was late.
• I still don't have a fuctional cell phone. (Verizon Wireless sucks!)
• My palm pilot is on my desk at the office.
• I failed a pop quiz in my lab this morning (1 out of 5 correct).
• I got caught up in the traffic trying to leave campus as everyone was trying to get to the game.
• Some of streets in my neighborhood were closed down due to a gas leak and traffic was a nightmare.

I totally understand why kids have meltdowns when they overstimulated, annoyed and tired because I feel like having one right now! AAAAHHHH!

Off to bed I go.

Happy News Story of the Day

Japan princess gives birth to boy

Japan's Princess Kiko has given birth to a baby boy, potentially resolving the royal family's succession crisis.

The 39-year-old princess gave birth by a Caesarean section two weeks early, after complications in the pregnancy.

Princess Kiko, wife of the current emperor's second son, already has two daughters, but women are not allowed to ascend to the Chrysanthemum throne.

Her son becomes the first male heir to be born into Japan's royal family in more than four decades.

The present heir, Crown Prince Naruhito, and his wife, Princess Masako, have a young daughter, while Princess Sayako is married to a commoner, so if she were to have children they could not be considered.

Coverage

Princess Kiko's son was born weighing 2,558 grams (5lbs 10oz) at 0827 local time (2327 GMT Tuesday).

Reports say mother and child are both in good condition.

The pregnancy has attracted enormous interest in Japan.

Princess Kiko has been in hospital since 16 August because of symptoms of partial placenta previa, a condition in which part of the placenta drops too low in the uterus.

Doctors said when she went into hospital that the move was precautionary and the pregnancy was proceeding well.

"I am very glad that the prince was born," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, who is likely to become Japan's next prime minister.

"I truly feel relieved and happy to receive a report that both the princess and the prince are fine.

Princess Kiko and Prince Akishino already have two daughters
"It's a refreshing feeling that reminds us of a clear autumn sky."

Conservatives had hoped Princess Kiko would give birth to a boy, thereby bringing an end to debate on whether the constitution should be revised to allow women to ascend to the throne.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had been advocating such a reform, and there appeared to be support for it amongst the Japanese public.

But the reform plans were shelved, amid strong opposition from conservative palace officials and some politicians, when the royal pregnancy was announced.

"Reforming the Imperial Household Law is an important issue that concerns the stability of the imperial family," said Shinzo Abe.

"We must carry on the debate in a careful and calm manner."

Japan's birth rate has continued to decline in recent years and the government has been working on ways of persuading women to have more children.

Baby and maternity product companies are also hoping the birth will benefit them.

Shares in baby-linked firms rose ahead of the birth, with one baby food company's shares hitting a high for the year on Monday, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Crazy Day in San Francisco

Up to 14 hurt in SF hit-and-run spree
7 critical; driver believed to have struck, killed a man in Fremont earlier

Jaxon Van Derbeken, Steve Rubenstein and Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

More... Printable Version Email This Article

(08-29) 15:56 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- As many as 14 people were injured this afternoon by a motorist who drove around San Francisco running them down before he was arrested, authorities said.

Seven of those injured were in critical condition, police and firefighters said.

Authorities have identified the man who was arrested as Omeed Aziz Popal, who has addresses in Ceres (Stanislaus County) and Fremont.

Authorities said they believe Popal was the same driver who ran over and killed a 55-year-old man walking in a bicycle lane in Fremont, at Fremont Boulevard near Ferry Lane, just after noon. That crash scene is just blocks from Popal's Fremont address, where he had most recently been living.

Popal was arrested at a Walgreens at Spruce and California streets.

In San Francisco, the attacks began around 1 p.m., but it was unclear in what order:

• Two people, one of them a child, were critically injured around by a sport-utility vehicle on the 3500 block of California Street in Laurel Heights.

• Three people were hit at California and Fillmore streets. Witnesses said they included a man with a broken hip and a woman with a gashed head.

• Two people were seriously hurt at Bush and Pierce streets and one person was seriously injured at Bush and Buchanan streets, police said. One person suffered minor injuries in an incident at 1850 Fillmore Street.

• Two other people suffered minor injuries when they were hit at Pine at Divisadero streets, and another two were hit and suffered minor injuries at Divisadero and Bush Street.

"It was like 'Death Race 2000,' " firefighter Danny Bright said at California and Fillmore streets, as an ambulance stood nearby. "Guys were walking down the sidewalk and the guy just came up and ran them over. The guy went crazy.''

Fire Lt. Mindy Talmadge said Mayor Gavin Newsom had been notified and was coordinating the response with the command post at Spruce and California streets.

This afternoon, Newsom left City Hall saying he was en route to a hospital -- presumably San Francisco General, where seven people had been admitted.

"Eleven people were hurt in the field, and police are still finding others," said Lann Wilder, a spokeswoman for San Francisco General Hospital.

Of those, six adults and one child were being treated for blunt trauma at S.F. General, she said.

Wilder did not comment on the patients' conditions, but said she would provide further details later this afternoon.

Three people were taken to St. Francis Hospital, one to Kaiser and two others California Pacific Medical Center, Wilder said.

One victim, Pedro Aglugov, 70, was sitting at a table at a sidewalk cafe at California and Fillmore with his head bandaged with gauze, holding an ice pack to one elbow.

"He was going real fast," Aglugov said of the driver. "I was lucky I wasn't hurt more.''

Eliseo Billones Jr., 24, a canvasser for Greenpeace, was standing on the corner when Aglugov was hit.

"He was going berserk," Billones said of the driver. "It was a red light and he just ran the red light. I saw him (Aglugov) hit the corner of the bumper and tumble.''

Barclay Lynn, 39, of San Francisco, said she and a friend were driving east on Bush when they saw a black SUV driving away and saw a motorcyclist who had been hit.

"The motorcyclist stood in the intersection trying to signal the driver to stop,'' Lynn said. The SUV then "went speeding in reverse on Bush heading west, weaving in and out of traffic. The whole right side of his SUV was smashed in.''

At Frankie's Bohemian Cafe at Divisadero and Pine, a man named William, who asked that his last name not be used, said he was walking south on Divisadero when "we heard the thump, turned around, saw bodies flying.''

He described the vehicle as a black Honda Pilot SUV that looked new and had a windshield that was shattered on the right side.

The driver went down Pine and Bush, "stood on the gas,'' then a couple of minutes later "came flying up through the bus lane'' headed north on Divisadero.

Another man at the cafe, Max Bran, said, "We thought he was going to stop and give up, but instead he just stepped on the gas. It didn't matter, regardless of the lights.''

He saw a woman knocked down. "She was just crossing the street, just crossing the street," he said. "In fact, I had just crossed the street.''

The two men said someone who had been at the cafe earlier picked up a license plate from the SUV.

Authorities believe the same suspect struck and killed a pedestrian in Fremont earlier today.

That victim was walking north on Fremont Boulevard in the bicycle lane when he was struck from behind and knocked several feet into a field, Fremont Officer Alan Zambonin said.

He was pronounced dead at the scene. The black SUV, a Honda described as a Pilot or a CRV, made no attempt to stop or help the victim, police said.

The vehicle had right front end damage and a shattered windshield.

Zambonin said one witness saw the collision from about 1,000 feet away, then stopped to try to help the man, who was already dead.

Zambonin estimated the SUV was going as fast as 50 mph and sped away with a blown out windshield.

"It's a good possibility (the incidents) are all connected,'' Zambonin said.

Chronicle staff writers Vanessa Hua, Matt Stannard, Wyatt Buchanan, Jill Tucker, Nanette Asimov, Cecilia Vega and Susan Sward contributed to this report.

Solar System Mnemonics

It seems that I was not the only one concerned about what mnemonic school children would use to remember the planets now that Pluto has been taken out of the mix. Follow link.

Thursday Morning Randomness

I am surprisingly upset about the demotion of Pluto’s planetary status. I realize that we know a whole lot more about planets then we did when we declared that it was a planet so many years ago and I realize that Pluto doesn't meet the criteria to be classified a planet, but can’t we just “grandfather” little old Pluto in and leave the universe alone.

I remember when I memorized the names and order of the planets; I had trouble keeping them in order so a friend taught me a sentence to aid my memory.

My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizza’s.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

How does that sentence help now? What about the textbooks, maps, posters, movies and encyclopedias used in schools all over the country? And, has anyone asked Pluto how he feels about the whole situation.

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This message is for the jack&*# driving the J and L Excavation truck on southbound I-5 this morning (cause I am pretty sure that he is an avid reader).

The left lane is for passing! It is not appropriate to enter the freeway, immediately veer across 3 lanes of traffic and then drive along below highway speed in the left lane. I don’t care if you are positioning yourself to be ready for the left hand exit to 405 because it was still 3 miles away.

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Today is a day that has been nearly 7 years in the making. We are launching our new *dishwasher* today. I will be running around like a crazy woman this morning ensuring that bows are tied, boxes are wrapped, champagne is chilled and everything is spotless. Then come 1 p.m. I will be in charge of the launch and am just hoping that everything goes perfectly. Wish me luck!

OSU comes out in the rankings

OSU named in publication in top 100 LGBT-friendly campuses across the nation thanks in large part to student-led effort

by Matt Lewis

In two short years, the OSU Pride Center has come out of the closet and hit the ground running. And the success is not going unnoticed.

Recently, OSU was named as being one of the top 100 LGBT-friendly campuses in the United States in “The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students.”

The book is published by Alyson Books, a sister company of The Advocate, the nation’s largest magazine targeted at a gay/lesbian audience.

“I think this shows a very accurate representation of not only the administrative support we have on campus, but also of the student involvement within the actual LGBT services,” Joscelyne Kravitz, a senior in philosophy, said.

The guide provides a resource for students looking at attending college to find an educational atmosphere that would be most conducive to them.

“It’s not a guide that tells students where to go to school, but it is a guide that can be used in conjuction with other research to find the best place for them to succeed,” Bruce Steele, editor-in-chief for The Advocate, said.

“I was not surprised,” dean of students, Jackie Balzer, said of OSU’s appearance in the book.

“If you look at the fact that we have a pride center and a full-time coordinator, those are key factors in having a good program to guide us to be better allies or address areas where our community could be more welcoming.”

In fact, it was mostly because of student efforts that two years ago the then Queer Resource Center moved from its office in the Women’s Center, termed a “closet” by those who worked there, into the newly-opened OSU Pride Center.

“The reason we’re in these rankings is because of the students who looked around and only saw a staff and faculty group and a student social organization,” Steven Leider, OSU LGBT outreach and services coordinator said. “The students’ hard work is what sky-rocketed us into this listing.”

Leider, who began working on campus last fall, is the first full-time employee at OSU whose sole job is to coordinate LGBT-related programs and outreach services.

Last fall, the Pride Center entered into a covenant agreement with the university administration, meaning that there will always be a pride center at OSU and that the university will never try to close or defund the pride center without first talking to the student body.

OSU is the only university in the United States to have such an agreement with its Pride Center.

“(The covenant agreement) is remarkable. It shows that campuses are already gay friendly, are working to becoming more gay friendly and that every week, month, year things are changing — for the better in most part,” Steele said.

Even though the students and staff working for the pride center and with the OSU community have already achieved so much, they show no signs of slowing down.

“I would anticipate that OSU will be well on its way to having a much more supportive environment by the time the next edition is published,” Balzer said.

Depending on sales and response to this edition of the LGBT Guide, the next edition could come out within the next two years, according to Steele.

“(Appearing in the guide) is just a demonstration of OSU’s commitment to its students and the centers they create,” Balzer said.

“The stuff we have for LGBT support are for everyone. This gives people the opportunity to become better allies and just celebrate what we’ve got.”

Today's WTF News Story

Boy, 12, evades security clampdown

LONDON, England -- Despite a high level of alert at British airports, a 12-year-old boy managed to board a plane at Gatwick without a passport, ticket or boarding pass.

Tuesday's incident has raised concerns over security procedures in the wake of an alleged plot to blow up planes on trans-Atlantic flight.

The boy was detected by member of the Monarch Airlines cabin crew only after he was seated and had been given a drink and a snack.

He was removed from the plane by police officers before the flight took off.

"The boy had passed through a full security screening process and we are confident there was no threat to passengers, staff or the aircraft at any time," said Stewart McDonald, a spokesman for BAA, which operates Gatwick, Heathrow and five other major UK airports.

BAA has launched an investigation into the incident, McDonald said Wednesday.

The boy had run away from a care home in northwest England and boarded a plane for Lisbon at 6 a.m. on Monday before the other passengers, the UK's Press Association reported.

His mother, who cannot be named because her son is in care, said she was stunned he evaded the security checks.

"My worry is that if you have terrorists in these airports they could be looking round for someone who is vulnerable, and get them to take things on the planes for them," she told the Daily Mail.

"What happened is frightening, especially given the state of alert we are supposed to be on at the moment. I want to know how on Earth he was able to get through to the plane and take his seat."

The boy has now been returned to his care home after being held by police and picked up by social workers, PA reported.

He is understood to have arrived at Gatwick by train -- unaccompanied and without a ticket, which he has apparently done on a number of occasions, the agency said.

Reports of the incident come as airlines struggled to ease a logjam of passengers after the British government raised the terror threat level and heightened airport security following Thursday's arrest of 24 people suspected of planning to explode devices on as many as 10 planes destined for the United States. (Full story)

British Airways canceled more flights Wednesday and attempted to reunite thousands of missing bags with their owners.

While many British airports were getting back to normal, BA canceled 46 flights -- 35 at Heathrow and 11 at Gatwick, PA reported. (Full story)

The airline said it would not be until Friday that its full service could be resumed.

Copyright 2006 CNN

The Mountain ROCKS!

My favorite Seattle radio station KMTT "The Mountain" was featured in a recent issue of Rolling Stone magazine as one of the top five independent rock radio stations in the country. You can read the article by checking out this link.

Another new development this week is that they have started a blog. They put one of the Programming Assistants in charge of putting together a blog entry every day. They only have a few entries and no RSS feed, so I don't know that I will read it daily, but it is somewhat amusing especially if you know the personalities of the DJ's and powers that be at KMTT.

Bizarre News Story of the Day

This story was the subject of a very disgusting, yet wonderful, conversation last night.

German cannibal sentenced to 8 years in prison

KASSEL, GERMANY - A 42-year-old German man who confessed to killing, dismembering and eating another man who he said agreed to the grisly act was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison.

A German court convicted Armin Meiwes of manslaughter on Friday, ruling he had no "base motives" in the crime and sparing him a murder conviction.

The prosecution, who had been looking for a murder conviction and a life sentence, said they would appeal the verdict.

Prosecutors had argued that Meiwes, who met his victim over the internet, was satisfying a sexual impulse.

They said he filmed himself dismembering the victim before he ate him so he could "admire himself as a human butcher."

But Meiwes' lawyer argued that the slaying was a "homicide on demand." He said it was a form of mercy killing – because the victim gave his consent to be killed and eaten.

In his trial, Meiwes confessed in detail to the March 2001 killing of 43-year-old Bernd Juergen Brandes at his home in the nearby town of Rotenburg.

Brandes had travelled from Berlin in reply to an internet advertisement seeking a young man for "slaughter and consumption."

Meiwes testified that Brandes wanted to be stabbed to death after drinking a bottle of cold medicine to lose consciousness.

"Bernd came to me of his own free will to end his life," said Meiwes in a closing statement Monday. "For him, it was a nice death."

Meiwes said he regretted the killing.

"I had my big kick and I don't need to do it again," he said. "I regret it all very much, but I can't undo it."