More on Gore and the Nobel faux pas...

I'm not the only one it thinks it in bad taste that the Nobel committee gave a Peace Prize to Al Gore while overlooking some people who were actually worthy of the prestigious award. My buddy Peter points this out:

This year, though, the committee outdid itself. Here's who it ignored in favor of Gore:

Irena Sendler, born in 1910, was raised by her Catholic parents to respect and love people regardless of their ethnicity or social status. Her father, a physician, died from typhus that he contracted during an epidemic in 1917. He was the only doctor in his town near Warsaw who would treat the poor, mostly Jewish victims of this tragic disease. As he was dying, he told 7-year-old Irena, "If you see someone drowning you must try to rescue them, even if you cannot swim." In 1939 the Nazis swept through Poland and imprisoned the Jews in ghettos where they were first starved to death and then systematically murdered in killing camps. Irena, by than a social worker in Warsaw, saw the Jewish people drowning and resolved to do what she could to rescue as many as possible, especially the children. Working with a network of other social workers and brave Poles, mostly women, she smuggled 2,500 children out of the Warsaw ghetto and hid them safely until the end of the war.

Sendler was tortured and nearly killed for her principles.

Peter also links to a post about how old Al Gore doesn't even live according to his own proclamations. Gore's "Carbon Footprint" is BIG!

They'll give these things to anyone...

Al Gore and U.N. Climate Panel win a Nobel Prize. Somebody had a little too much to drink while selecting this one. This was a bad decision for a couple of reasons.

First, it's Al Gore, they guy who "invented" the internet. The really funny thing is I found a site that defends Gore's statement and tries to explain it. It think it is pretty clear irregardless of the context:

But it will emerge from my dialogue with the American people. I've traveled to every part of this country during the last six years. During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system.

Looks like a pretty clear cut statement to me. Anyway, here is a great article by Steven Hayward about Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize. Some highlights:

Parson Al winning the Nobel Peace Prize was as predictable as his Oscar for Best Documentary, and represents the final debasement of a once-prestigious award. It used to be that the award went to people of genuine humanitarian or diplomatic accomplishment, like Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer or Doctors Without Borders. Now it goes to frauds and poseurs like Rigoberta Menchu, Yassir Arafat, the U.N. (three times now, counting Gore’s co-winner, the U.N.’s climate change panel), and Jimmy Carter. About the only way to top this would be to give the next Peace Prize to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. More likely the Nobel committee will, one of these days, simply pat itself on the back and give the award to . . . themselves.

The glitter of the Nobel overshadows the inconvenient news reported last week that a British court of law labeled Gore’s movie as partisan political propaganda, pointing out 11 different errors of fact or scientific judgment, and prohibiting its screening in British public schools without a disclaimer of these defects. The Nobel will be one more quiver in Gore’s arsenal of intransigent moral authority by which he refuses to debate any aspect of the subject and declares the entire matter “settled.” It’s never a good sign when politicians declare a scientific matter settled; we all remember how well that worked out for the Vatican when they told Galileo 400 years ago that astronomy was settled. It is even more problematic to suggest that climate change is not a political issue, but a moral issue, but then to demand massive political interventions in the economy to fix the problem.

Likewise, climate change is a real phenomenon, but the catastrophic scenario of Gore and his fellow climate campaigners is steadily fraying around the edges if you follow the scientific literature closely. Has anyone noticed, for example, that global temperature has been flat for the last decade, after two decades of slow and steady increase from 1980 to 1998? Most of the climate models suggest global temperature should be consistently warming with the rise of greenhouse gases, but it has stopped. This increasingly inconvenient truth will eventually become too obvious for even the media to ignore. Meanwhile, the real world economic consequences of Gore’s policy agenda (which Obama and Edwards—but not Hillary—have signed up for) are so extreme that no self-governing people will ever submit to it, which is why a few environmentalists have gone so far as to say openly, “down with democracy.” Go ahead; make my day; try that out on the American people. The Democratic Congress can’t even pass a modest emissions trading scheme that would barely begin to enact Gore’s agenda, because they are afraid of its cost.

Next, there is the problem with the science of Global Warming. Richard Lindzen, an MIT scientist, is refuting the findings of the U.N. and Gore:

The reports maintain that there's more than a 90 percent chance that human activity—primarily the burning of fossil fuels, resulting in increased levels of atmospheric CO2—is responsible for the earth's recent warming, which amounts to a 1.2-degree-Fahrenheit rise in global mean temperature over the past 100 years. Noting that the current atmospheric concentration of CO2 is higher than it's been in the past 650,000 years, the IPCC predicts that human-induced climate change could spell extinction for 20 to 30 percent of the world's species by the end of this century, cause increasingly destructive weather patterns, and flood coastal cities.

Lindzen doesn't dispute that the planet has warmed up in the past three decades, but he argues that human-generated CO2 accounts for no more than 30 percent of this temperature rise. Much of the warming, he says, stems from fluctuations in temperature that have occurred for millions of years—explained by complicated natural changes in equilibrium between the oceans and the atmosphere—and the latest period of warming will not result in catastrophe.

Okay, that's enough. I'm going to go continue my ground-breaking research into re-creating the internet and put my name in for one of them there fancy and relatively easy to get Peace Prizes...

Hopefully they don't get stuck in the ice as well...

Some of descendants Ernest Shackleton and his crew are attempting to replicate the failed "Nimrod" Antarctic trek of 1908 and reach the South Pole.

Of course, Shackleton is best known for his 1914 Endurance expedition that is known as one of if not the greatest survival stories of all time.

28 crew members trapped on the ice flows of the Weddell Sea for almost 2 years, and they were all rescued. Remarkable.

Pushing Daisies -

We'll start with the fluff today, and that fluff is Pushing Daisies. I would dare say that this is my favorite new show this season. Great fun, especially with Kristin Chenoweth singing "Hopelessly Devoted to You" to Digby the dog while pining away for the Pie Maker.

I hope this one sticks around.

Tastes Like Chicken: Bacon

Peculiar Posts

The world of the weird and peculiar brings us this story from MSNBC: Poisoned tourist saved with vodka drip.

BRISBANE, Australia - Australian doctors said they plugged a poisoned Italian tourist into a vodka drip after running out of the medicinal alcohol they would normally have used to save his life.

The 24-year-old Italian, who was not further identified, was diagnosed as having ingested a large quantity of ethylene glycol, a common ingredient in antifreeze that can cause renal failure.

Pure alcohol is often given in treating such cases because it can inhibit the toxic effects of ethylene glycol.

Dr. Pascal Gelperowicz at Mackay Base Hospital where the man was taken for treatment said he was given pharmaceutical-grade alcohol on arrival, but that the hospital's supplies soon ran out.

"We quickly used all the available vials of 100 percent alcohol and decided the next best way to get alcohol into the man's system was by feeding him spirits through a nasogastric tube," Gelperowicz said in a statement.

"The patient was drip-fed about three standard drinks an hour for three days in the intensive care unit," he said. "The hospital's administrators were also very understanding when we explained our reasons for buying a case of vodka."

The patient made a successful recovery. The incident occurred about two months ago, though the hospital just released information on the case.

Used a vodka drip. Who knew that was going to work?

What I really want to know is how the poisoned tourist got so much Ethylene Glycol in his system in the first place...

Columbus Day

Which essentially means in the educational world a day off.

Here is the obligatory link with info about the explorer the said day is named in honor of.

As for me, here is what the day entails. A few chores around the house. Right now, Pitch Black is in the DVD player, with the Chronicles of Riddick and Hot Fuzz in the queue.

A little reading is on the menu as well. My light reading is Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston and my heavy reading is Six Battles Every Man Must Win by Bill Perkins.

Of course, tonight brings tons of good TV with "Chuck", "Heroes", "Journeyman" and "CSI: Miami".

Have a great day!

Patriots vs. Browns

Wow!!! The Patriots are stomping on the neck of yet another team. The Patties are up 20-0 and have intercepted Cleveland Browns QB Derek Anderson 3 times already.

I almost feel bad for the Browns. Almost.

Bruschi just ran over Anderson like a freight train...

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread

The pumpkin theme continues with this yummy number. Now, this one is a first time recipe and the cakes are cooling on the rack as I write this, so an update will be in order later.

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread

1 can pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease and flour 7x3 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Now we tweaked this recipe just slightly. We used a couple of bundt pans and 1 tbs of pumpkin pie allspice instead of all the separate ingredients.

I'll let you know how it tastes...

Update: This didn't come out so good. Tasted great but didn't cook all the way through. Should of cooked them about 30 minutes longer.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

When we got home from church today, Jess and I looked at each other and said, "Let's make some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!" So, we did. And they taste amazing!

Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 can pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups chocolate morsels

Mix together butter, sugar, egg, pumpkin and vanilla extract. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Stir until just combined. Add chocolate morsels. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350º for 12-14 minutes.

This is an amazing recipe, and fall is a great time for all things pumpkin. Enjoy!!!

The Black Frog's "Naked Lunch" in murky water

And I'm not just talked about Moosehead Lake. The Black Frog, a Greenville restaurant that Jess and I ate at about a month ago, has made the front page of MSNBC.com. I'm not sure that is a good thing. Apparently, the "Naked Lunch" is in jeopardy:

A sandwich called the Skinny Dip, featuring sliced prime rib in a baguette roll, has been offered free of charge to anyone willing to plunge naked from the restaurant's dock into Moosehead Lake.

Since the free sandwich offer was introduced three years ago, owner Leigh Turner has found plenty of takers. "We've had two or three a week," he said.

During that time only one patron has suggested the activity was inappropriate, Turner said. However, that patron apparently suggested to selectmen recently that the activity be curtailed.

The naked lunch issue surfaced this week when Town Manager John Simko presented the Black Frog's application to renew its liquor license. Simko said he had been approached about the nudity and suggested that Police Chief Scott MacMaster speak to the owner about it.

Turner did not attend the selectmen's meeting, but said he would remove the free lunch offer if asked to do so.

The skinny dip was typically done at night, no frontal nudity was exposed to customers and a towel was readily available, Turner said.

"Most everybody applauded" when patrons took the plunge, he added.

Yeah, this is sad that the "Skinny Dip" has become a "national" story. Someone got their undies in a bundle, had some pull with the town selectmen, and when of all things the Black Frog's liquor licence came up, then all of a sudden the "Naked Lunch" becomes a big deal.

Lighten up people. If you're stupid enough to jump in the lake that usually hovers around freezing naked to get a free meal, the more power to you.

TLC

Tastes Like Chicken for this week.

Yup, I figured the whole Christopher Columbus thing went down like this!

Keep up the good work, Josh!!!

I'm no tree-hugging, eco-conservationalist but...

...I was really excited to see that the Friends of Acadia were able to step up and buy a 25 acre parcel of land on the north side of Acadia Mountain that was slated for development.

So much of the natural beauty and landscape in our country has been developed, so it is good to see groups out there trying to save it, and especially saving the natural habitat here in our own beloved state.

More than Meets the Eye once again...

Dreamworks and Paramount commit to "Transformers 2". (Hopefully not the name. I hate movie titles with "2" in the title.)

It sounds like Michael Bay, Shia LeBeouf and Steven Spielberg are in for the Deuce!!!

Boy, its a long time until 2009...

Sad, but not surprising

Britney Spears' long spiral down is now just about complete as she has now lost the custody of her children. How selfish and immature can one person be? Hopefully this is a major kick in the ass for Brit and she'll finally come to her senses.

She's at rock bottom now, so hopefully she can pull herself together for the sake of her kids...

The Week in Review

Some great shows this week on the old TV. Here are some highlights that I haven't hit yet.

"Reaper" was awesome. Sam is a 21 year old slacker who finds out his parents sold his soul to the devil and now he is Satan's bounty hunter returning escaped souls to Hell. Now for some reason, when you have a show or movie that has something to do with the devil and religion, people seem to think they can find some sort of spiritual truth in it. I don't know why. I guess some people are just searching for God. I mean, Constantine was a great movie, but the writers of the movie (maybe is was just Keanu messing up his lines) couldn't even get a scriptural quote from the book of Revelation right. Constantine calls it the "Book of Revelations" which just isn't right.

Any, there is some spiritual truth in "Reaper" though. During the first episode the devil looks at Sam and says something to effect of (paraphrasing here), "You know how this ends, God wins in the end". Amazing scriptural truth there. Must be a Christian on the writing staff...

"CSI" was great and still one of my faves. Except, they saved Sara. I was kinda hoping she would drown pinned under the car.

"Smallville" just gets better each season, and is seriously becoming a TV show of epic proportions. Clark takes on Bizzaro, Chloe finds out what her special power is, Martian Manhunter returns, and cousin Kara gets cut loose from here Earthly prison. Hopefully she teaches Clark how to fly...

I can't wait to see what's in store this week on the tube! Stay tuned...

You're all gonna laugh at me...

Well, a first this week. I used an Iron Maiden song for my English class. We have been reading about Alexander the Great, so I figured I would use the Iron Maiden song. The kids thought it was awesome!

So, in that vain, I found the newest Iron Maiden video called "Different World". (Plus, I wanted to try and post a video.) This is the studio version (way cooler than the foolish CG one). I know, I know, but I have a soft spot in my heart for IM. Ever since I heard the amazing harmonies and driving sound of "The Trooper" I've been hooked. Plus, check out the beautiful guitar that Adrian Smith is playing (the guy with the hat). It looks like a Gibson SG. Gorgeous...

What was this guy thinking?

I saw a piece on "The Today Show" this morning that was about a naval building in Coronado, California that looks like a swastika from the air. And thanks to Google Maps, here it is:


Oops! Designed by John Mock and built in the the late 60's, the plans called for an "L-Shaped" barracks to build and repeated three more times. Not until they broke ground for the project did the Navy realize it looked like a Swastika. And they still built it...

Now 40 years later and Google giving everybody a bird's eye view of the building, it's gonna get a face lift at a price tag of $600,000. Everything looks better on paper...

But I'm not sure what is more shocking. Using Google Maps to look at the Swastika-shaped building, or being able to zoom in at all the ships that are in the water at the base.

Bionic Woman

Watching the Bionic Woman right now. Amazing!!!

Update: Wow, this show was incredible. A great reinventing of the original classic. Michelle Ryan was a great choice to play Jamie Sommers. Plus, you can't beat the beat down that Jaime Sommers and Sarah Corvus (played by Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackoff) gave to each other. Amazing effects as well. Here is the video of the fight from film.com (you might need to watch a commercial first). Good show that we'll continue to watch each week.

I almost liked this better than "Heroes" season premiere...

From terrific to tired...

Very tired... must go to bed... very long day... kids drove me crazy...

All hopes of watching the tube tonight have gone out the window, and my head is going to hit the pillow in mere moments. And with just passing a significant birthday, this doesn't bode well for my nocturnal activities...

I'll have to ramble on about Wednesday's new shows tomorrow. Right now, I'm gonna read a few pages of my new book and then turn out the lights for a long night's slumber.

And winter isn't even upon us yet. Oh, crap...

Terrific Tuesday

Okay, tomorrow brings night two of new TV offerings, and I have to say, Tuesday is gonna be a light viewing night. Only a couple of shows to watch here:

"The Unit" is a favorite and I am looking forward to the new season. Jonas is on the run, and I bet old Uncle Sam has a hard time catching him. He's "On the Lam". Kinda like Tony Soprano...

"Cane" might be a one time shot, especially with all the other shows we are watching. If it isn't amazing we'll just catch it on reruns in the off seasons.

Here on the other hand, is a show I am really looking forward to checking out: "Reaper". A slacker (which don't we all just secretly want to be sometimes) with unrealized potential and a grand destiny who winds up finding out his parents sold his soul to the devil and now he works for the underworld returning all sorts of baddies. I'll let you know whether it's a hit, or a complete miss.

Next up: Wicked Weird Wednesday!

Monday Night TV Recap

Well, the new TV season is off with a bang! "Chuck" was actually quite good and worth a second look. The premise is that Chuck's old college roomate was a rogue CIA spy, and with his dying breath he sent Chuck an email, which essentially ingrains all of the government's secrets into Chuck's brain. So now he is the ultimate computer program for the Feds and they need to protect him at all costs and also use him as an operative. Plus, you can't beat "The Nerd Herd", which is the computer division of the large electronics store he works for. I wonder where they got the idea for that from...

"Heroes" was great, but not as amazing as I thought it would have been, and both Jess and I are feeling a little flat after the episode which was presented with limited commercial interuption with sponsorship from you-know-who: Nissan. Plenty of shameless plugs for the new Nissan Rogue during the show as well.

But on the flipside, they did catch us up to speed with what has been happening with most of the major characters in the four months since the big showdown with Sylar. Plus we get to meet several new "Heroes" including Sark (Remember Alias?)!

"CSI:Miami" and "Journeyman" are recording as I write this, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to check those out.

A Record High!!!

I can't believe it! I just checked my Sitemeter counter this morning, and I got 6o hits yesterday!!! Woohoo!!! Of course, this is surprising because I have been neglecting The World of Tomorrow for most of the year.

Whoever checked out my blog via Captain's Quarters, thanks!!!

If I write it, they will come...

Update: I'm looking at Sitemeter right now, and I'm at 84 visits for today (Monday). What is going on?!?!

Finally, it's Premiere Week!

The Fall TV Season is about to begin, and so won't the insanity! I don't know how we are going to watch it all. The DVR and the VHS will be running ragged each week in a vain attempt to keep up with all the scrumptious TV goodness.

So, I'll start with Monday Madness:

NBC will be the reigning Monday Night King. The first show we are going to check out is "Chuck". Ubergeek turned super spy. Could be entertaining. Worth a peek anyway. But this love affair might not last...

Next up: "Heroes"! After an amazing first season, which was a surprise for most because it was a "Super Hero" show, "Heroes" returns for what is sure to be a stellar second season. Can't wait to watch!

Another new show is up next on the list: "Journeyman". A news reporter and time travel doesn't seem like a new idea (Wasn't there a show that had a newspaper that told the future?), but this looks good. Anything with time travel and tragedy is worth checking out.

And last but not least: Horatio Caine and CSI: Miami! Either you love David Caruso or you hate him, but that not withstanding, I love "Miami". You can't beat the unbeatable "H" sauntering away from a 5 Megaton explosion with his hands on his hips and nary a hair outta place. Great fun!

Next up: Terrific Tuesday!

Movie Mayhem

This morning, very early, Jess and I descended into the third circle of the underworld, known also as Walmart, to do a little shopping before the crowds hit. And what a trip it was...

...because they had $5.00 movies!!! And we got a bunch. Some were just to add to the collection, but some were bought with my birthday bounty. And here they are:

First up, the classic 1994 film "Stargate" featuring James Spader and Kurt Russell. I'm not a particular fan of either guy (I can't stand "Boston Legal"), but mix in a gate to the unknown and Egyptian Mythology, and I'm in!

Next up with have, "Jumanji" starring Robin Williams. The FX in this film were amazing for 1995, and it also helped that it was based on a children' book by Chris Van Allsburg.

Next up in the delicious movie bonanza is: "The Mexican". Now, some of you will be like, "Oh Yeah!" Others will be like, "What are you thinking?" I can't help it, I really dig this movie. I'm not a big Julia Roberts fan (not a fan at all really), but Brad Pitt is awesome! James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano) is amazing as well. Mix in a cursed Mexican pistol and you've got one cool movie.

And last but not least we have, "Twister". Good movie. I don't particularly care for Bill Paxton or Helen Hunt, but the effects are great and I use this movie for my Earth Science class when we do our unit on Tornadoes. Hey, some of us are visual learners!

Back to You Premiere

I just finished watching the new Fox show "Back to You" with Patricia Heaton and Kelsey Grammar, and it was amazing. I haven't laughed that hard during a sitcom since "Frasier". (I never laughed watching "Everybody Loves Raymond. I hated that show.)

I'm adding this show to the weekly watch list, which is insane already.

How am I going to get the DVR and the VCR to record simultaneously...

Watch a video, fight ALS

Every time somebody watches this video, $2 will be donated to fight ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Thanks to Peter for the link.

Stardust

The Missus and I decided on an impromptu date night, and we ended up at the local cheap seats to see the movie "Stardust".

What an incredible film! Based on the graphic novel by Neil Gaiman, there is something for everyone in this film. Action, adventure, intrigue, romance, this movie has it all.

The film stars Charlie Cox as Tristan, a village shop boy with dreams of grandeur, Claire Danes as Yvaine, a fallen star brought to Earth to help Tristan fulfill his destiny, and Michelle Pfieffer as Lamia, and evil witch out to destroy the fallen star and prolong her life. Peter O'Toole, Rupert Everett, and a "flamboyant" performance by Robert De Niro as Captain Shakespeare round out the amazing cast assembled for this film.

I am going to make a bold claim right now: This could possibly be "The Princess Bride" of the new century. This one will definitely be added to the library when it is released on DVD (estimated to be December 2007). I wish I had paid the big bucks to see it at the nice, expensive theater.

More photos

Here is the money shot from the weekend in Greenville. Nice flower!!!

Picture Time

Time to share a picture from our trip to Greenville/Rockwood (and no, I didn't see a moose).

This is taken looking up The Moose River where we stayed.