Not Intent on Arriving

1) National Treasures Through the Years: Time compiles snapshots from Yosemite National Park dating back more than 100 years.

2) Time to Catch Up Politicians: Senators may have voted against debating the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (despite large public support for doing so), and a tragic episode of cyber bullying may have caused a young man to commit suicide at Rutgers University, but there is some good news for the gay community this week.  Archie Comics published an issue with the first gay character and, for the first time ever, the issue sold out so quickly that it prompted a reprint.

3) Man, It’s A Hot One: In case you were hibernating or asleep for the past months, the summer of 2010 was really hot. The 4th hottest ever.

4) This Cartoon Sums Up Politics Today:

5) Rumors: Could any of these be true? Rolling Stones tour in 2011?  J.K Rowling could write more “Harry Potter” books?

6) Here’s Something Refreshing: A wealthy politician refusing to use his own money to buy run a political campaign. The same can’t be said for California’s $119 million woman— Meg Whitman. She’s still behind in the polls.

7) Must Read: Obama’s Rolling Stone interview.

Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon do an awesome history of rap music. The next viral vid?

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Wow, how is it already October?

1) And the Winners Are….On September 30, the Ig Nobel Prize awards were given out. These awards hail achievements in research that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” See the complete list of winners here. My favorite award went to a team of scientists that researched fellatio practices in bat.

2) Speaking of “Research”: One recent Duke graduate created a “thesis” of all of her hookups, going into excruciating detail about each man she slept with. You guessed it. That list is now on the internet.

3) San Francisco’s Gay Community Speaks Out: A group of adult, well-adjusted gay people send a video postcard to all teens who feel isolated and alone, reminding them “It Gets Better!”

4) Wash Those Bags: One reporter demonstrates that reusable grocery bags may actually carry millions of bacteria, if not washed between uses.

5) Street View Now On All Continents: Google now shows scenes from Antarctica.

6) Jack Johnson Is Awesome: Even if I’ll miss his show this weekend.  His new video called “At or With Me” features SNL star Andy Samberg.

7) Wait, There’s Another “Law & Order”: Yes, and this one is based in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times created a front page ad for the show, featuring fake content. Surprisingly, some people object.

8) Every Life Matters: Words to live by. Read this.

We came out on top at trivia last night. Out of the 9 teams, we took the entire $45 pot. The categories:

1. The Beatles— Did you know they were the Quarrymen before they became the Beatles? We missed that one, but got a bonus point for knowing Pete Best was the original drummer.

2. Twin Peaks— No one in the bar liked this category at all.  I learned later that the show lasted two seasons, was set in a small Washington state town and followed the FBI’s investigation of a brutal murder. One question: name the fictional soap opera that played throughout much of the first season. Yeah, we didn’t know that one.

3. NFL Coaches— Yeah, I rocked this category and I have no idea how. We got all 6 questions right. I got that Jim Mora was responsible for the legendary clip below and remembered that Ray Rhodes coached the Eagles from 1995 to 1999.

4. Cities Before They Were Cities— Before it became New York, it was known as New Amsterdam. Mumbai was Bombay for years. Didn’t know what Melbourne was known as (and still can’t remember).

5. Washington State History— Another category where our performance was average (luckily none of the other groups liked these categories either). A previous trivia night had asked for Washington’s date of founding so we got a point for remembering 1889 exactly. Treaty of Oregon? Pig War? Didn’t know those tidbits.

6. Technological Innovations— This was the visual round. We nailed pulley, electron microscope, antibiotics and sextant, but missed the ballista.

All and all, a great success.