Month: October 2005

Economics made easy. Simply read all of these books.

At the end of each episode, the show’s experts must decide which lucky driver returns to the road while the rest stay behind for more remedial road training.

Canada’s Worst Driver is modeled on the hit U.K. series, Britain’s Worst Driver.

…which then evolved into Britain’s Worst Celebrety Driver with Erik Estrada (not as the host). Pics.

So what does Faith-Ann do in the opening episode of Canada’s Worst Driver? Races down the centre line of a two-lane rural highway at 150 km/h so she won’t get overtaken by Bob, the speed maniac from Guelph. He eventually does pass her, by driving on the shoulder. Of the opposing lane. Cripes.
~
What Jaws did for swimming in the ocean, Canada’s Worst Driver will do for the morning commute.

Video
Radio Ad
Forum

Tatiana is very scared. Madalina is not at all scared. In the end, I think Madalina will be the Worst Driver in Canada.

It’s different this time. It’s all about racing and the things that surround the racing world. NASCAR Racing , that is. And maybe a little humor along the way.

I just found this blog, and so far, I’m liking it. For example:

Back again.. to a 1.5 mile, 24 degreed, all out speed track… most of these guys will tell you Atlanta is one of the favorites.. and if yesterday’s truck race was any indicator.. looks like a heckuva day in store…

A truck race is not the “prestigious” (I’m using that term quite loosely) Nextel Cup Series. Have you ever seen the payouts for a Truck event?
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I was not impressed by the last lap pile-up during the Atlanta race today. I am not taking sides on the matter. Yes, I did see Jack Sprague get loose in the corner and yes, I’m not blind…I did see him trying to defend his line on old tires. Do I think that this manuever was uncalled for? No. Do I think Jack Sprague is an idiot? No. Do I think too many people want to turn racing into some politically correct shenanigan, where we need not “race”…but pull over and hand the checkered flag to whomever we deem has the best equipment? Yes.

National Motor Vehicle License Bureau web site – offering a free searchable database of over 121 million U.S. driver’s license photos and license information.
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The United States B.S. amendment to the Freedom of Information Act enacted on Sept. 3rd 2004 provides public access to motor vehicle driver’s information in an electronic format. Under the Motor Vehicle Operator License Identification Act (MOLIA), all US states are required to adhere to the Driver’s B.S. statute and store an electronic copy of all valid drivers licenses in their state…

It found mine right away – That’s a really old estimate of my weight. :-)

Big Sky Brewing Company has just become the first brewing company in North America to use a revolutionary new aluminum package. The AlumaBottle is shaped like a bottle, but it is a specially lined aluminum vessel. ~ The AlumaBottle allows beer drinkers to take Moose Drool Brown Ale with them wherever they go, without the fear of breakage.

“Glass bottles are a liability to people who fly fish, raft, hike, golf, or participate in many other outdoor recreational activities.”

Aluminum Bottles can also be found around beer outside the United States, although there are differences in the brewing process (take a look at this description from Germany).

The biggest news in aluminum packaging over the past year is without a doubt the success of Pittsburgh Brewing Company’s switch to aluminum bottles for its flagship Iron City Lager beer. In August of last year, the company became the first U.S. brewer to market beer in aluminum bottles on a nationwide scale. The initial 20,000 cases sold out the first day they were shipped, and by year’s end almost 2 million aluminum bottles of the regional beer had been sold around the country.

In the alcoholic beverage market, brewers and vintners who want their product to stand apart from the crowd are increasingly turning to aluminum bottles. In some cases, they are being used to pitch a new product at a niche market.

Demand has been so high that bars, restaurants, clubs and supermarkets are selling out.

The new aluminum bottles were created by real men of genius. Masterpieces like this belong in a museum.

Albert Einstein was a genius.

Set to the stripped-down acoustic sound of Jose Gonzalez, 250,000 ‘superballs’ come flying, in slow motion, over the brow of a typical street in San Francisco, raining down on anything that gets in their way. And it was done without computer graphics.

Video
Pictures

I can’t stop watching this.

Offered here for your enjoyment are four short organic chemistry plays that illustrate reaction mechanisms. These were performed in an actual organic chemistry class. ~ Electrons were drawn on posterboard and exchanged where appropriate. Bonding was illustrated by having the participants hold onto the electrons being shared. ~ but be warned! I had to discontinue the plays because a student complained to the Dean that the plays were sexually offensive, even though: (1) the students were repeatedly reminded that atoms and molecules don’t have gender and (2) students never touched each other and (3) these plays aren’t nearly as raunchy as Shakespeare!

Sample:

Electrophilic Addition
(A Molecular Drama)

Characters: Secondary carbon (Sec) is sharing four electrons with Primary Carbon (Prim) to form a propene molecule. Along comes a hungry electrophilic Hydrogen (Hyd) who is bonded to an electron-hogging Chlorine (Chlor).

Hyd: Oh, look at all those electrons on that propene!
Chlor: What’s with you? Aren’t my electrons good enough for you?
Hyd: (disgusted) Your electrons. That’s the whole trouble with you. They’re our electrons, you pig!
Prim: Hi, Hydrogen! Nice nucleus!
Chlor: You keep your electrons away from my Hydrogen’s nucleus!
Hyd: (to Propene) Would you share your electrons with little old me?

The four plays:

Electrophilic Addition
(A Molecular Drama)

Becoming an Alcohol
(A Sad Tale of a Good Oxygen Gone Bad)

A Blind Date With the Bromine Twins

Adorable Borane
(How Three Propenes Were Led Into Ruin by a Handsome Nucleus)

David Blaine was born April 4, 1973 in Brooklyn New York. In his life he has gone by several last names; Blaine is his middle name. Patrie White, his single mother, raised him while taking on as many as three jobs. He never met his real father.

I like watching his Street Magic.

Learning Center – Balducci Levitation

Lichens are important in many ways:

# Lichens are sensitive to pollution in the air and can tell us if the air is clear and clean.
# Drug companies make antibiotics from lichen substances.
# Some lichens make nitrogen in the air usable to plants.
# Lichens are homes for spiders, mites, lice and other insects.
# Lichens can be used as a natural dye to color wool.
# People eat lichens (careful – a few are poisonous).

What could possibly be more fun than Lichens?